Amen, Richard, and such will be our experience also as we "come and see" Jesus from day to day in these powerful and transformational times we spend reading, meditating, and reflecting upon the life of Christ in each chapter of Desire of Ages in conjunction with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, from which a clear understanding of the gospel allows us to more fully appreciate how all of Scripture points us to the same truth in Christ. One thing that is very clear in this chapter is the necessity of a personal experience. Many in the churches depend upon the teachings of a pastor, a leader, or someone in their family as the guide of conscience or the one who will determine for them "what is truth." Often this is not done from a living person, but from what a person reads or hears on television, radio, or receives via the internet. Yet one must test things for themselves. We must individually "come and see." If I choose to spend a "thoughtful hour" upon the life of Jesus each day, while it is true that my character can be a witness, it is not the same as someone personally beginning to spend that time with Jesus for themselves, and having that blessed experience of beholding Him, and being changed into His lovely character more fully each day.
If Nathanael had trusted to the rabbis for guidance, he would never have found Jesus. It was by seeing and judging for himself that he became a disciple. So in the case of many today whom prejudice withholds from good. How different would be the result if they would "come and see"!
While they trust to the guidance of human authority, none will come to a saving knowledge of the truth. Like Nathanael, we need to study God's word for ourselves, and pray for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. He who saw Nathanael under the fig tree will see us in the secret place of prayer. Angels from the world of light are near to those who in humility seek for divine guidance.
There are so many "gospels" that are created and sustained by only human authority and cannot be sustained by a consistent study of the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. But there is really only one "everlasting gospel" (Revelation 14:6) that is consistent from Genesis to Revelation, and which the Spirit of Prophecy consistently reveals.
The everlasting gospel reveals the sinfulness of humanity and the constraining loveliness of God in Christ who gave His Son to live, die, rise, and intercede for us in preparation for an eternity with Him. The everlasting gospel reveals the need for an entire surrender to take place before a new birth experience can be realized in which the first gospel promise to implant "enmity" (Genesis 3:15) in the heart against sin can be fulfilled in the believing child of God. By beholding "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), the heart is softened and subdued; the new birth transformation becomes the fulfillment of Ezekiel 36:26-27, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." This new heart and mind comes to each soul who comes to behold the Lamb of God and fully surrenders to that revelation, and by beholding the soul is changed from "glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18), from character to character. The child of God who lives by faith upon Jesus is imbued with the Holy Spirit by becoming a partaker of the "divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4), so that the Holy Spirit fills the life with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing. Such a conversion must be continually maintained by a living-faith surrender to Christ by the indwelling Holy Spirit, which will continually transform the character to be more like Jesus, as through trials character is formed (Romans 5:1-5) and the soul is prepared for greater trials before the second coming of Jesus. Learning one's continual need of Jesus, the soul comes to hate sin because it crucifies afresh the Son of God (Hebrews 6:6), and reveals a separation between the soul and God (Isaiah 59:2). "When we know God as it is our privilege to know Him, our life will be a life of continual obedience. Through an appreciation of the character of Christ, through communion with God, sin will become hateful to us" {DA 668.3}. The weak, vacillating character is transformed into one of steadfastness through Christ's strength made perfect in the weakest of His children who continually trust themselves to His keeping grace and power. They are His witnesses, and are enabled to reveal His character to the onlooking universe.
What a privilege the gospel bestows upon humanity, who, born in sin and unable to do anything good by nature, are made partakers of the divine nature and are enabled through divine grace to keep the flesh under, so that Christ may live out His life in us, for, "not even by a thought did He yield to temptation. So it may be with us" {DA 123.2}.
Our thoughts are where the battle of the Great Controversy between Christ and Satan lies--and we can truly believe that Christ has the power to keep us from allowing our minds to wander away from Christ. We are empowered to have such an experience as we consistently learn to spend a "thoughtful hour upon the life of Christ" {DA 83.4}, daily learning of our constant need of Jesus! Such is the power of grace to keep us from falling into sin! All praise and glory goes to Him!
Similar to the temptation of the first disciples who could have trusted to the religious leaders of their time, we find that such is the condition now in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in a Laodicean condition. It is never safe to trust to human authority for a source of truth. We must come and see Jesus for ourselves, and daily be learners who desire to have our entire lives conformed to His divine image. Once we consent to surrender our will, heart, and mind entirely to Him, and allow Him to give us a new heart and mind, there is no limit to what He can teach us from the pure sources of truth uncontaminated by the chaff of man's utterance, opinions, and traditions. Let us learn to study and search for ourselves. Here, as we see Jesus in today's reading, we find a fresh revelation of His loveliness, and in beholding Him, as we surrender our lives to Him continually, there cannot but be fruit in a life that is more fully like Him.