3-31-2018 "Let Us Go On to Perfection" | by Pastor Dennis Priebe

[Music] [Music] Jesus [Music] never [Music] never [Music] I'm captain [Music] - Jesus [Applause] by [Music] my mommy [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] there we are one more hour together and then I have finished what I wanted to share with you today again let's go over those the procedures one more presentation then another break by the way I would be willing if you want to to have a little question time I'm not against that so yeah we'll see about that if you'd like to have that we can incorporate that and then after sundown we have our materials available and again remember extra material extra things little booklets if you'd like one one person has already asked me and come ask me if you want some extra material my website Dennis pre be calm let's pray father in heaven for one more hour we ask your Holy Spirit to guide our minds as we open your word may we not do it in our own self-will but in total dependence upon you I pray in Jesus name Amen the patient is not in good health there are warning signs circulation is poor some vital organs are not receiving nourishment a stewardship official reported in the year 2003 about 30 percent of Adventist Church members worldwide give tithe 30 percent in parts of Africa and South America as few as 10% give tithe didn't jesus warned us where your treasure is there will your heart be also now I agree that tithing is not the most important part of a saving relationship with Christ but it is a strong indicator of our priorities because our money is our precious possession it's our survival day-by-day like a thermometer tithing takes our spiritual temperature of the church as a whole and of us as individuals but you know the thermometer doesn't tell you much about the cause of the disease does it tells us there's a problem but know result no cause is the cause of this problem and it is a problem Laodicean apathy the cares of the world or maybe lack of baptismal preparation now all of these may be contributing factors but I submit that the basic cause of this problem is the gospel specifically the gospel which has been drummed into us for the past 30 years by scholars and pastors and writers in books and articles and sermons and tapes and even Sabbath school lessons not the gospel of the Bible unfortunately but a different gospel I'm gonna share with you a little bit from an Adventist review article the title of it was can I know I'm saved and I'm gonna read a few things from this article justification is not a transformation of inherent character it does not impart righteousness justification is God declaring a person righteous because of Christ it does not make a person intrinsically righteous sinners enjoy the assurance of salvation because they're standing rest not in what has been done to them but in what has been done to Christ justification is like an umbrella and then there's a little illustration in this article of justification covering us justification complete the work of Christ for us and then under that is sanctification in complete the work of Jesus in us when you messed up in your family as a child were you kicked out no you were still part of the family when we mess up in God's family he does not kick us out Christ blood still covers us we do not lose our salvation every time we sin we lose our salvation only when we decide that we no longer want to be surrendered to go when we no longer want him in our lives did David always do only what was right in God's eyes no he did not but because he lived and surrendered to God and was always repentant when he sinned God looked at him as if he had never sinned in the same way God looks at us through Jesus Christ now we can all recognize some truths in what we have just heard right there but there are deadly errors mixed in with the truths that I have just read errors which convince sincere people that they are on the narrow road to heaven when they are still walking the broad road to destruction the first error is that justification does not change our character it's just a declaration on the books of heaven you've been pardoned just the first error is that justification does not change our character it does not make us righteous we have the assurance of salvation before heart surrender before transformation of minds before the new birth that's the first error that we are justified before we are changed in our hearts the second deadly error is the result of the first justification which is God's forgiveness is complete and it saves us while sanctification which is victory over sin is incomplete and has nothing to do with our salvation the third most deadly error is the result of the first - justification is like an umbrella which covers us with Christ's blood while we are sinning even continuing to sin without repenting the example of David is given that said he did not lose his salvation even while committing adultery and murder and by the way he didn't repent of those sins for a full year until Nathan came to him and you know the story there so David he was saved during that entire year because he a man after God's own heart no he wasn't not during that year not during that experience so the third deadly error we can be saved while sinning as long as we do not totally reject Christ in our lives we can be saved while sinning so it's pretty easy to see why tithing is down in the church tithing is part of sanctification isn't it not justification which is always incomplete according to this and does not save us since I'm still part of the family even when messing up as it was said I remain covered by the blood of Christ even when I'm withholding my tithe which by the way is stealing from God according to what I read in the Bible when I know it's one of God's commands but I'm still covered by the blood of Christ because I have been pardoned this gospel teaches that I remain saved while willfully knowingly disobeying God whether it's tithing or adultery or anger or jewelry or Sabbath breaking or alcohol or diet or whatever it is I remain saved as long as I have a connection somehow with Jesus Christ I still pray and I still come to church so it's ok can a host of acceptable sins be ever covered by the blood of Christ without repentance the Bible doesn't teach that that is another gospel that is a gospel which has been penetrating the Adventist Church for thirty years now that I can be right with God while I'm disobeying him knowingly is there any wonder why the patient is sick and why tithing is not very strong and we don't have a lot of help in what our representing whatever we're representing to the world outside there's a very important warning by Ellen White that is often made fun of because of this gospel she says in heavenly places page 254 when you go where sin is and place yourself on the enemy's ground you place yourself where the angels of God do not deserve you from evil influence that's a strong statement when you go on the enemy's ground you go where angels cannot protect you and the idea that angels do not accompany us on the enemy's ground is ridiculed today openly ridiculed because the false gospel teaches that we are justified and saved even while we're willfully sinning on the enemy's ground so why shouldn't angels be there on this point I found a very insightful quotation from a modern writer enemy ground is not so much a place as it is a mindset enemy ground can be a movie theater or your own living room enemy ground is right here the reality is that most of the dangerous places were Satan entraps us exist in our minds when we allow him in to excite our imaginations we have those imaginations don't we to be the director of our fantasy productions right up here that's enemy ground and that's the most dangerous place where Satan attacks us well my friends the false gospel has caused incalculable harm in the seventh-day Adventist Church so we must must must be sure that we know the real gospel and are experiencing it in our daily lives we must know that by the way let's just address that one point do we lose our salvation every time we sin it all depends what you do next the human response let's say you lose your temper let's say you say cutting unkind cruel words to someone else maybe a husband or a wife or a son or a daughter or a parent let's say you say something that you know you shouldn't have said there are two possible reactions one reaction is the normal human reaction fold your hands behind your back and say I will say I'm sorry when she says she's sorry I have the right to be mad she did something that was not right I reserve that right to be angry and we keep that little thought in our heads then there's the other way which I call the divine way when those words come out of our mouths and even when we're justified in saying those words the other person was at fault and when were justified in criticizing the other person we recognize that something has happened that we don't see angels of Satan are right there writing all those words down there they're around us and they are taking those words and they are throwing them in the face of Jesus Christ and they quote the Bible text which we profess to believe Ellen White says all of that by the way that those angels of Satan throw those words in the face of Christ as proof that his gospel really doesn't change much of anything for just the same as we used to be we just profess that we are Christians and we recognize that the moment those words come out of our mouth we recognize that we have just given Satan ammunition to use to continue the great controversy we have voted for Satan by those words because those are his ways not God's ways and we immediately dropped to our knees or figuratively dropped to our knees right then at that moment say Lord I am so sorry I have dishonored your name I have given Satan ammunition to use against your character I have extended the great controversy and we say lord please forgive me for being UNCHR iced like even when I had the right to say those words please forgive me if that is the response you don't lose your salvation because God isn't counting milliseconds my friends did you sinned were you out of Christ for 3 seconds no you said Lord please forgive me in other words the the principle is this when there is repentance there is relationship with the Lord when there is excuses or blame or holding on to feelings there is disconnection from the Lord the Holy Spirit is not there it is not in control for one year David was a lost man absolutely 100% lost and we can be thankful that God protected him during that year so he could come to repentance does he do the same for us we are lost individuals I've been there I've been a lost individual for a part of my life professing one thing living a different life and God protected me and I'll do the same for each one of us to bring us to that point the Kalen White says as long as there is hope of repentance with repentance there is connection if the sin is followed by repentance you do not disconnect from God if the sin is followed by blame by excuses by defenses you disconnect from God so that's my answer to the question do we lose our salvation every time we sin no if there is repentance immediately following but don't put that repentance off for a day or a month that's dangerous we're living on the wrong edge I want to direct our attention again this afternoon to that non-adventist author that I started with earlier of the 19th century Andrew Murray because he wrote another book a book with a very theologically unpopular title be perfect Wow be perfect I'm gonna read a little from it there can be only one opinion as to the fact that God asks and expects his children to be perfect with him that's a great way to start it they're gonna believe me one opinion on that well there are many opinions in the Adventist on that there can be only one opinion that God asks and expects his children to be perfect with him it is only he who has accepted the command be perfect in adoring submission and obedience who can hope to know what the perfection is that God asks and gives in other words we really may not even know what it is until we're willing to say Lord I'm willing I don't know how I don't even know what but I'm willing until the church is seen prostrate before God seeking this blessing as her highest good it will be no wonder if the word perfection instead of being an attraction and a joy is a cause of apprehension and anxiety of division and offense and you know that word has become that way hasn't it among us division and offense and words are not very positive about it trusting ever less to men's thoughts and teachings we will often retire into the secret of God's presence with the assurance that the more we see God's face and hear the secret voice that comes directly from him be perfect the more the Holy Spirit dwelling within us will unfold the heavenly fullness and power of the words once again he's saying that we will not even understand what the words mean until we are willing to say Lord do whatever it takes to make me that way someone has said Lord make me as holy as a pardon sinner can be made that's not bad make me as holy as a pardon sinner can be made well if this is the true gospel and I really believe it is I believe he hid it and remember about any Adventist background with any spirit of prophecy just his Bible it's all he had and he came to these conclusions if this is the will of God for us then we didn't know again how don't we how this can be done how it can be since it's so impossible in human perception so let's start at the beginning of the process at the moment when the change is made from being a member of Satan's family to being a member of God's family and I'm gonna start with a little thing that you'll have a hard time looking up unless you have a cd-rom or some access to the Ellen white writing sermons and talks Volume one page 72 a transformation has taken place she says and you are a different man and remember now man as generic men and women included you are not the same passionate man that you used to be you are not the same worldly man that you were you are not the man that was giving way to lust and evil passions evil surmisings and evil speakings you are not this man at all because a transformation has taken place what is it the image of Christ reflected in you my friends it all begins with a miracle it's called the new birth that is a miracle it doesn't it's its brains being transformed rewired changes being made in our in our attitudes it's a miracle the miracle of justifying Grace when God turns our value system upside down and we hate what we loved and we loved what we hate changing everything when Christ comes to dwell and rule in our life that's a miracle we are no longer what we were the old man is dead the old way of thinking we are a new creature never to be what we once were that's a miracle and that's how it starts perhaps maybe we have neglected a practice in teaching of the early church which emphasized the miracle of the new birth which you turn to Hebrews 6 Hebrews 6 speaks of the foundation of being a Christian we're going to look at verse to Hebrews chapter six and verse two just the first half of the verse is the interesting part of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands that's an unusual phrase baptisms I thought its baptism baptisms is an unusual phrasing here in the plural form could it refer so let's go back to another place could it reverse something in the book of Mark let's go back to the book of Mark chapter 1 [Applause] and verse 8 John said I indeed have baptized you with water but he Christ shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost are those the baptisms that Hebrew 6 is talking about plural not just one but two things involved here perhaps we need a little more emphasis on the baptism of the holy spirit then we have traditionally done because that's even more important than baptism in water the baptism of the Holy Spirit there's another fun foundation it's in Acts chapter 8 verse 17 Acts 8 verse 17 another fundamental foundation at the beginning remember we're just talking about the beginning of our walk with Christ here acts 8 verse 17 then laid they their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost how many of us do that anymore I've not seen that being done in any churches that I'm aware of following baptism it just doesn't happen I think we need a clearer focus on the miracle of the new birth and I think they had it right in the early century that it is through water baptism Holy Spirit baptism by the laying on of hands which kind of emphasizes the miracle now none of these things will make it happen because we lay on our hands and it'll all be automatic but it's a symbol then I think we've neglected to our hurt and we don't think about it because we just say the person is baptized newness of life and it's all good from that point on could this be why too many of us are buried alive and we come up with the same nature in the same self that we went into the water with the baptism through the hole by the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands I think would make it much clearer that this is a miracle of God and a transformation which is like night and day so again I think we've lost something there and maybe in your local church in your Sabbath School class you need to ask questions think about it maybe we could do better if the beginning is properly taught and accomplished the beginning step transformation we might not be so fearful of continuing that process of transformation right on through to maturity because it's already there now we're just moving it ahead to the ultimate goal of perfection this is from Acts of the Apostles page 532 the work of transformation from unholiness to holiness is a continuous one day by day God Labor's for man's sanctification and man is to cooperate with him putting forth persevering efforts in the cultivation of right habits of God is laboring every day to get us moving along this transformation pathway as he thus works on the plan of addition the human being God works for him on the plan of multiplication that's kind of neat we add something and God multiplies it and makes it happen faster before the believer has held out the wonderful possibility of being like Christ obedient to all the principles of the law man's obedience can be made perfect only by the in sense of Christ's righteousness which fills with divine fragrance every act of obedience he the individual has not the wisdom or the strength to overcome these belong to the Lord and He bestows them on those who in a human and humiliation and contrition seek him for hell please notice that any let us go on to perfection gift is a gift from God it is not something we can accomplish it's a gift of God which is to lead to the goal of righteousness by faith she continues non need fail of attaining in his sphere to perfection of Christian character so none of us need to feel that we're gonna fail in that God calls upon us to reach the standard of perfection and place us before us the example of Christ's character the Savior showed that through cooperation with divinity human beings may in this life attain the perfection of character Wow there it is black and white in this life we can attain the perfection of character this is God's assurance to us that we too may obtain complete victory so I say do we really believe the promise of grace this is the promise of grace that God is giving are we really asking God for this gift and it is a gift of transformation moving at step by step onward to the goal of ultimate perfection now we need to remember that the word perfection has at least two different meanings maybe more it can refer to an attitude or spirit which is perfect at every stage of Christian growth the attitude and the spirit are right with God or it can refer to the mature development which is the result of experiencing this grace day by day so it can either refer to the daily attitude or to the end process and sometimes that's what's confusing for instance a 10 year old child can have a perfect spirit while immature in so many ways but the spirit can be right Christian growth is designed to lead to that mature perfection the same as Christ character God and here's the key point God always accepts a perfect spirit even when we are immature if our life is cut short he accepts that perfect spirit that we can have in him we are told for instance that King Hayes's heart was perfect with the Lord all his days that's a nice testimony that's in first Kings 1514 Andrew Murray once again there can be no hope of comprehending what perfection is except as we count all things loss to live for it to accept it and to process it we must first accept and give up our lives to it before we can understand it so maybe the best thing is not to be so precise and defining everything about what it is but plead for it and then maybe we'll understand it perhaps we debate so much on the word perfection that we don't plead for perfection at all it's just an intellectual debate again from Andrew Murray have I given myself up to say that there must be nothing nothing whatever to share my heart with God and his will is a heart perfect with the Lord my God the object of my desire my prayer my faith and my hope would you turn to the book of Genesis Genesis chapter 17 verse 1 a Genesis 17:1 and when Abram was ninety years old and nine the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him I am the Almighty God walk before me and be thou perfect does God command things that are impossible does God command things that will cause us to be burdened or does he command things that will only bring us peace joy and happiness so we want to know how to walk before God I'm going to share a couple of statements and how that are set very interesting because we don't ever talk about it in these terms these are statements from Ellen White at every step she says our prayer should ascend to the throne of God while working as if everything depended upon our diligence and faithfulness what's going on here let's try again prayer and effort effort and prayer will be the business of your life you must pray as though the efficiency and praise were all due to God and labor as though Duty were all your own Wow you must pray as if we're all do to God and you were as though you had to do it on your own that's testimonies volume 4 page 538 here's another one you should engage in the work as though all dependent upon you and yet with perfect trust God has entrusted to us the great work of warning the world of the coming judgement we are to act our part in bringing this truth to all we can we must pray to God to water the seed sown that they may spring up and bear fruit to his glory so we work as if everything depended on us and then we pray because we know nothing commenced on us we are really in a dilemma here review and Herald July 8 1890 I humbled myself before God and earnestly pursue that my faith was tried to the utmost I received no ever that my prayers were answered but I decided to go to work as though I had received the help - great so greatly needed so she didn't get any evidence that her prayers were heard but she decided she'd work as if every word had been understood and accepted and God was right there with her signs of the times January nineteen eighteen eighty two one more be in earnest pray and work and work and pray and then act as though success depended upon your efforts do to the best of your ability and God will cooperate with you you ought to work with all the powers of your being awake awake I pray you review and Herald December 18 1888 Wow what a delicate and I mean delicate combination here of prayer and work of dependence and effort how do we put these two together this is one of the most shall I say challenging parts of righteousness by faith how do we make those work in the right proportion and not overemphasize one or overemphasize the other all we're told is that we work as though the success depended entirely on our efforts and pray because we know our efforts will lead only to failure how do you keep that all together this is one of the challenging mysteries of the gospel prayer dependence versus effort and I just look I guess I'm still on so all of this is an area in which I suggest that we spend a lot more study time than we do on this area of doing and trusting yielding and working how does it all fit together how can we make it work right Ellen White said this in another passage she said let the churches who claim to believe the truth who are advocating the law of God keep that law and depart from all iniquity let the individual members of the church resist the temptations to practice evils and indulgence sin see there is the work part of it there is just let the church commence the work of purification before God by repentance humiliation deep heart searching let the individual members of the church be pure steadfast unmovable always abounding in the love of Jesus I want not only to be pardoned for the transgression of God's holy law but I want to be lifted into the sunshine of God's countenance salvation is not to be baptized not to have our names upon the church books not to preach the truth but it is a living union with Jesus Christ to be renewed in heart doing the works of Christ in faith and labor of love in patience meekness and hope well may the question be asked with earnest anxious heart is envy cherished is jealousy permitted to find a place in my heart if so Christ is not there that's selected messages volume 2 377 - 382 so there we have again perhaps we need to have a clear understanding of what a perfect heart or attitude really is the Spirit is whatever your will is God I want to do it and I'll go ahead but Lord I'm gonna fail unless you're there with me I am NOT gonna succeed I can't resist temptation on my own but I will make the decided decision to walk away from that place where temptation comes there are a delicate balance friends we can have a perfect heart while we're advancing to maturity that is the promise a perfect spirit now can we have a perfect heart while we are ignoring God's commandments and here I want to share something with you that is from Clifford Goldstein in one of his columns in the Adventist review when the laws of England wouldn't allow England's King Henry the eighth to divorce his wife what did he do he changed the law that's what Henry didn't change his actions in order to meet the demands of the law no he changed the demands of the law in order to meet his actions now wouldn't it have been so much easier if God did what Henry the eighth did that is change the law to meet the transgressor where they were in their transgressions when you think about the cost of the Cross God bearing in himself the sins and the suffering and the guilt of all humanity wouldn't it have been less costly to modify the law in order that acts once deemed violations of the law no longer were interesting option how much easier for God himself to have changed the definition of sin to meet humanity in its sin rather than to bear in himself the penalty for that sin you see God handled the situation completely differently than Henry the Eighth did right Henry the Eighth said I'll change the law so I can do what I want to do instead Christ took the punishment for the law so that we wouldn't be punished and so he continues let's be reasonable if God didn't change the law before Christ died on the cross why do it after why not change it before head and save himself the punishment Jesus death shows that if the law could have been changed it would have been before not after the Cross nothing then shows the continued validity of the law more than does the death of Jesus a death had occurred precisely because the law couldn't be changed how could the death of Christ change the law when that death proves that the law can't be changed I thought that was very insightful couldn't be changed after that nevertheless Christians all over the world say it over and over again the death of the cross was the decisive event that ended the rule of law in the Ten Commandments therefore we don't have to obey them they point to Christ's grace as something that negates the obligation to the Ten Commandment law so we just don't have to do it so obviously one of the problems here the obviously the debate is not over the Ten Commandments it's over one of the Ten Commandments and you know obviously which that one is they're really this whole thing is an argument against sabbath-keeping it's not about coveting it's not about taking the name of the Lord in vain it's about the for the seventh-day Sabbath if the seventh-day Sabbath was not the bone of contention all the arguments against keeping the law I think would never have been uttered even once but by fighting against the fourth commandment as it reads the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God many find themselves unwittingly fighting the whole law because of one troubling commandment many mainline churches have been playing down the entire Decalogue for generations yet it was only a matter of time when this playing down of the Ten Commandments uprooted the basic moral principles of society - what we see today in which there's a text that says they have sown the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind and you know that our immorality today has reached an all-time high no matter what it is if it's same-sex marriage if it's on D what demand abortion if it's assisted suicide and a blizzard of other moral issues that we're facing today many Christians now change their thinking after September 11 2001 all of a sudden Christian leaders began talking about the law of God and a renewed interest and they said let's have a ten commandment day remember that Ten Commandment day here's what they said finally a day in which we can come together and celebrate God's eternal moral law and we want to restore the supremacy of the tenets precepts and principles contained in the Ten Commandments so now we're getting an emphasis on the law and we even wanted having to post it in public places as the moral guide to our society today but unfortunately in all of this process we still find the same antagonism to that one commandment don't we that hasn't changed one bit while we want to restore the law as reinterpreted by us human beings so it isn't quite so difficult for us today I want to share something with you that comes from a non seventh-day adventists source in fact he is the professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College in Illinois which is an evangelical college and he said something which I think every one of us needs to hear he wrote it specifically to other evangelicals most Christians believe here's what most Christians believe God gave the Ten Commandments to Israel to let them prove how impossible it was to obey the Ten Commandments therefore under grace we don't have to worry about those Ten Commandments anymore look at Israel see what they did God gave that to them as a an object lesson of how impossible it is to obey for us today that's what most Christians believe so here's what he said why would God rescue the Israelites from the burdensome and death-dealing slavery of Egypt only to impose upon them an even heavier burden of the law which they in any case were unable to keep and which would sentence them to an even more horrible fate damnation under his own wrath so he delivers them from his from from Egypt and they gives them a law under which they couldn't obey it and therefore would be damned to eternal burning Hellfire when you look at the Exodus this way it turns out to be not such a good deal after all and then he makes his point God and Moses God and Moses perceived obedience to the laws not as a way of or precondition to salvation but as the grateful response of those who had already been saved by grace alone through faith they crossed the Red Sea to freedom God and Moses perceived obedience to the law not as the precondition for salvation but as the precondition to Israel's fulfillment of the mission to which she had been called and the pre-canned to her own blessing in other words not the precondition to salvation that's by grace alone but the condition of God's blessing upon his people the condition of God's blessing God and Moses perceived God's revelation of the law to Israel as a supreme and unique privilege contrary to contemporary evangelical opinion obedience to the law for the genuinely faithful in Israel was a delight and in fact right here we just got to look up one text because his point is so important Deuteronomy would you turn to the book of Deuteronomy it's in chapter 4 and we look at verse six chapter four verse six it's talking about the commandments keep therefore and do them for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations which shall hear all these statutes and say surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people for what nation is there so great who have gods so nigh unto them as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for and what nation is there so great that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day that's what commandment-keeping was supposed to do for Israel so all the nations would look on them and say this is really special this is the people blessed by God you know there were many laws around in those days each nation had its own laws and these laws that God had given were to be the example for all other nations as the way to find happiness and peace and joy and all the rest and that's what law-keeping was supposed to be all about and that's what he was referring to in this statement right here let's see what else he said on this matter he said that Moses and Paul are in perfect agreement in fact Paul himself says it is not the hearers of the law who were righteous before God but the doers of the law which are justified unless the New Testament this is really important unless the New Testament expressly declares the end of an Old Testament ordinance we assume it's Authority continues for believers today we are concerned about a Salvation that works that is a salvation that results in a life that conforms to the will of God at issue is the believers sanctification while obedience is not a prerequisite to salvation it is the key to the blessing of the redeemed and I say I saw a marvelous marvelous call to obedience on the part of an evangelical scholar right there to say look let's take another look at lawd God let's find out what it really is and why its importance calling modern Christians to take another look at the commandments given by God a perfect heart my friends a perfect spirit means whatever God says I will do that's what a perfect heart is I may not understand everything but whatever I know about God I'm gonna commit myself to that that's a perfect heart a perfect spirit not relative to changing circumstances but God's Authority is permanent let's really begin 2nd Corinthians 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 second corinthians chapter six beginning with verse 17 here is Paul's counsel to new covenant Christians today wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you and will be a father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord Almighty having therefore chapter 7 verse 1 having therefore these promises dearly beloved let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit perfecting holiness in the fear of God perfecting holiness in the fear of God if God is willing to dwell in us if he really is willing to dwell in us and that makes us holy should we not be motivated to accept this gift of perfection and holiness should not our hearts desire me to be cleansed from all defilement so that there's no barrier inward or outward again from Andrew Murray beloved having these promises let us perfect holiness Lord make me as perfectly holy as a redeemed sinner can be on earth I desire this day to come as near to perfection as Grace can make it possible for me some have said that they have seen perfectionism slay its thousands all must admit that imperfection ISM has slain its tens of thousands multitudes are soothing themselves in a life of worldliness and sin with the thought that as no one is perfect imperfection cannot be so dangerous and guess what that is just permeating our beloved church today and we are being destroyed by it inch by inch true I'm one warning though one warning true perfection will never act superior to others I know more than you do I'm doing God's will better than you're doing because we were always be conscious of what we do not know yet about ourselves and God's will and how much still needs to be perfected in us will not be looking at others will be looking at us and our own heart you know the greatest beauty of perfection is humility that's the greatest beauty that perfection can offer us is a humble heart one more text and then we're done Hebrews chapter five hebrews chapter 5 verses 8 & 9 this is talking about christ though he were a son yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered and being made perfect made perfect he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that believed him if Christ was made perfect by learning how to obey that's what the text says and it's using the fourth definition of perfection obviously the result if Christ was made perfect by learning how to obey and shouldn't we want the same experience can we learn to obey can we do it yeah Christ was always sinless yet he needed to be perfected matured fully matured his perfected obedience is then given to us he gives us that gift we can have his mind in his attitude are we willing to be perfected in obedience so Paul urges us let us go on to perfection that's the title of my message this afternoon is directly what Paul said let us go on unto perfection do we believe that the God who perfected Christ will perfect us in the same way statement again from Ellen White not all who Pro this is testimonies volume 5 to 14 - to 16 not all who profess to keep the Sabbath will be sealed that's a warning not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them it is left with us to remedy the defects in our characters to cleanse the soul temple of every defilement no one needs say that his case is hopeless that he cannot live the life of a Christian ample provision is made by the death of Christ for every soul Jesus is our ever present help in time of need only call upon him in faith and he has promised to hear and answer your petitions it is now that we must keep ourselves and our children unspotted from the world it is now that we must overcome pride passion and spiritual slothfulness those who are distrustful of self who are humbling themselves before God and purifying their souls by obeying the truth these are receiving the heavenly mold and preparing for the seal of God in their foreheads now what's the purpose of all this purifying what's the purpose of all this sealing the Christian Church has the assignment the remnant Church has the assignment to vindicate the character of God it's not about our salvation it's not about our hope of heaven it's about whether or not God's character can be vindicated and it can't be vindicated by disobedience it can't be vindicated by sinning and repenting and sinning and repenting and sinning and repenting until Jesus comes it can be only vindicated as Jesus did when he was on this earth by total obedience to God can God be trusted that's the question can his word produce the results it promises can we draw on the same power that Jesus drew on when he was here on this earth will the power of the gospel really restore men and women to the character of Christ does it have that power did God place an impossible burden upon his people when he said be perfect did he ask too much when he found when he said that there would be a people who would keep the commandments of God is that just too much to ask of any human beings the main issue in the great controversy has always been who's telling the truth God our Satan who has the blueprint for happiness who do we trust and when the last words are said the universe will have all the evidence it needs by looking at God's last generation people on this earth after the close of probation invulnerable to the attempts of Satan to get them to sin again for the rest of eternity and robery believer have you longed for this Oh claim it claim it now I desire to serve you with a perfect heart I thank you O my father for the blest prospect your word holds out of being perfected in love here on earth to him be the glory amen and I say what else can we say the promises are there a pastor of a century ago looked in his Bible and he found this can we find it in our Bible today and can we live it and plead for it I'm going to ask as far as possible that we kneel together and make a commitment to God to be that people that will vindicate his name father in heaven we come to you as very weak Christians we have tried but we find out that we cannot carry out what we want to do we have lived in Romans seven and Lord we want out of it we want to find that peace that happiness that assurance that comes because your Holy Spirit is controlling has rewired our brain circuits has changed us from the moment of our new birth to growing us up every day so that we can become helpful in vindicating your name Lord it is not about us that we ask this miracle it is about the ending of Satan's rule on this planet we are asking for this mighty demonstration of your power in obedience because we want no more time under Satan's rule and we realize that's the only way out there is coming a close of probation there is coming a seal of God there is coming a time in which all the evidence must be on the table and all the universe will decide once and for all who is lying and who is telling the truth and Lord may our commitment be for you not for Satan ever again I just pray this for our hearts that we will make a can decided commitment that we will not be among those who are extending the great controversy by our carelessness by a false gospel by our sleepiness but we will be among those who are sealable right now today by your Holy Spirit we want to go home Lord we want this to be an end of this plan that Satan has devised of sinning and repenting and sinning and repenting and sinning over and over again on the same thing Lord make us what we cannot be by ourselves make us holy and make us perfect I pray in your in Jesus name Amen well I thank you for your attention to two areas in which I am convicted that we really really need to take a second look absolute surrender and growing to perfection now I said that we might have time for some questions and I see Steve has gotten some microphones oh you anticipated and so if there are some questions I'd be delighted to have them we'll take a little time here for questions and then we'll let you have a break and we'll have our last meeting with Matthew after that so the time is yours as long or as short as you want it to be who would like here's one right here so let's start right at this point that's right I volunteer would help our cake excellent and the first one was right here if I remember yeah very good all right is it on and let's see let's give it a shot see if it's turned on maybe it's not on yet up there one more try okay there we are good so as what we just heard now this afternoon how does that compare with the message of righteousness by faith of 1888 and a teach owns where the people were brought in freedom from fear I guess or if you could expand on that number one and number two we are the the the purpose that we have is to vindicate God's character so I don't want this to come the wrong way does God need us yeah God needs us what I'm gonna say on that last point and then we'll go back to the first one God never ever operates independently of the people that he calls because he's on trial remember that he is on trial Romans 3:4 is really important that God this is God on trial in this experience and therefore if he does not have witnesses for his side how can he be vindicated he tried to do that through Israel did he not and that was to be the witness to all the world of the character of God and instead they turned in upon themselves with their own prejudices against people that were not like them and so that failed and they crucified the Son of God he tried it again in the first generation didn't work out so well he tried it in the Reformation it didn't work out so well and now he's come to the last generation of people on this earth and therefore if this people does not show the universe what God says can happen who will Israel didn't do it the Reformation did not carry it through and so God is in I would say desperate need of a final generation called 144,000 which will demonstrate to the universe because they are the jury they will decide who's right and who's wrong demonstrate to the universe that God's Way works and His grace carries a miracle with it so yes I believe they read that God depending on this last generation does that mean us well if we just kind of play along it'll be another generation and another generation it'll be some generation some generation now back to the first point that you asked what about the 1888 message elder Jones would say something like this if he were standing here today he would say you've come to this meeting and you've heard about all of the things that we must do and be to receive the seal of God and you're about ready to die because you're saying Lord this is impossible we might as well go home in despair and Jones would say just go ahead and you need to die - every anticipation than feeling and what you can do and what you can't do just go ahead and die and then God can lift you up God will take your death and death to self once again and everything we're talking about right now is impossible for self and when we die - our way of doing it our Lord whatever it is your will be done in my life make me willing to be willing then you will find peace then you will find happiness and then you will find joy what I found remarkable when I read Andrew Murray's books was how much in parallel his material was with a the material that I've read in Jones and Waggoner and it just seemed to blend together like it was seamless and which sells me that it doesn't have to be just a seventh-day Adventist it can be any Christian with his Bible that can come to these conclusions so once again once again I'm going to say that this is the 1888 message and it means to die to everything that can be accomplished by human effort and live for Christ every moment of every day in absolute surrender alright now where was the next one I thought I saw over here but maybe not over there then I hope I can say what I'm thinking I've got it all in my mind my own experience and that is the effort is in choosing is in choosing to have victory - one victory God gives us all of that the will and to do of course but I know like for instance if you're dealing with bitterness or whatever kind of thing that you are having in your own heart in your own life I tell God I can't get rid of it myself but I ask God to do that and say you've hit it you have hit it the effort is in making the choice to be that whatever it is to say lord I do not want bitterness in my life anymore I am sick and tired of letting this control my life and feeling negative toward peace I want to be free from that I want to have freedom from that experience so I choose to lay that on the altar I choose to give it into your hands I haven't had no success so here's a prayer that I suggest we pray Lord I have this problem with and it will be different for every one of us because we're all have our unique problems just take one of them just take one not five or six Lord I have this problem with it is taking me down I'm feeling like a hypocrite I don't feel like I'm do anything I lay this on the altar I'm going to give this into your hands I choose not to be this kind of person anymore I choose not to think these thoughts anymore but I can't carry out my choice Romans seven proves that so I will ask you and this is the hard part I will ask you to do whatever it takes to deliver me from this sin and that's a huge huge statement that we pray if we're willing to pray it do whatever it takes because it may mean it may mean that we will have some problems coming up in our life that we didn't anticipate maybe God has to bring us into sickness or an accident or loss of a job or failing an exam to get us flat on our back and talking to him again and allowing him to work a miracle in our lives we don't know what that will be but we're asking God to do whatever it takes to deliver me from this way of thinking this attitude that is destroying my life and so at that point we're saying I choose that's the effort to really mean what you say I choose if it is an area let's just make keep it really simple here if the problem is alcohol abuse I choose not to go anywhere near the bar I choose to avoid the liquor aisles in the grocery store I choose to go where to not go where said where enemy ground for me is now Lord keep my feet going past that bar keep my feet going in the right direction keep my mind on you so again the choice must be made and we as far as possible carry out that choice realizing that our best efforts will fail unless we have the miracle of God in our hand go ahead okay and then what I wanted to add to that was when you do give it to God that way there's where faith comes in but he gives you what peace and rest is because I know I don't have to I don't have doesn't mean I'll never be exposed to that feeling again but it gives me that peace and rest to know that he's taking care of it that's right he helps that's right we can have the peace that comes by the faith that God has answered our prayer there is one prayer God always answers with yes a lot of times he says no a lot of times he says wait a moment but one prayer he always answers with yes deliver me from this sin in my life he will always answer that with yes because there's no issue there except your willingness to be delivered and so at that point he gives you the peace that comes right then and when that next thought comes into your mind drop to your knees and say Lord I made a commitment now can't help you carry out this commitment deliver me from this thought right now and God can give that victory your point is well-taken who else anyone else right up here in the front right here on this side raise your hand up high so you can find you very good so what you mean by the last generation is can you explain that please yeah thank you last generation should have been 10 years after 1844 I'm depending now on inspiration not just my opinion the last generation should have been when the millerite movement can you imagine that movement Ellen White says there was never a movement like that since the days of the Apostles people were selling everything they had they were not plowing their fields because the Lord was coming now they were having experience in the Lord of total total dependence and total trust what if those 50 to a hundred thousand Millerites had kept faithful after the great disappointment Ellen White says the Lord would have come before the 1850s that should have been the last generation in other words last generation means any generation which will allow God to do his final miracle work that has ever been seen in the universe obvious you know the story most of them lost their faith lost their heart after that time there were about 50 left that had to start all over again so God waited 40 years and then he sent two messengers and I would suggest to you if you haven't been reading them get those books they're easily available now they were not available when I was growing up I knew nothing about Jones and Waggoner I was not taught anything about Jones and Waggoner on by the best teachers in Adventism I had great teachers and I was not taught anything at all because they didn't know anything the books had disappeared for 5060 years and only by the dedicated work of a couple of missionaries from Africa did those books get on the shelves again and are now easily available you can read for yourself what the translation message was of 1888 and when we say 1888 were really referring to 1888 through 1895 that was translation message material get ready Ellen White was clear on that point that there should have been a coming Christ within three to four years after that I have a presentation called five years to the gates of heaven 1893 should have at least been by that time when the last generation had been formed the translation messages of Jones and Waggoner were there Ellen White said that this was the loud cry which was to go to all the world this was the last generation except they said well the leaders are not kind of going with this message maybe maybe it isn't the right message Jones is kind of a a breast man he kind of is an in-your-face kind of guy we don't like his personality all that much they like Wagoner a little better but they didn't care too much for Jones folks I don't know if we'd cared for Elijah it is not the personality of the man or the woman that matters it is the message that matters and that in that case their message was a message of how to be sinless that's what they talked about just as Christ was sinless so can God's last generation be sinless and people got discouraged by that sometimes too but they would say this and I like the way elder Wagoner said it once you have accepted Christ that's the hard part once you have surrendered your entire life to him once you put everything on the altar once you've said whatever your will is Lord I want to do that we'll once you have made that commitment then salvation should be an easy process just learn a little more tomorrow a little more tomorrow and a little more tomorrow and salvation will be that growing experience which is as natural as breathing and eating so in this whole process they said don't be afraid of becoming sinless let God do it in your hearts and see what happens and so that message was given and again the opposition was so strong by the leaders of the Church of that time good men and women but not seeing clearly and Ellen White had to say to them if you continue in this resistance any further you will be lost the warnings were very very strong if you really want to read the whole story and are dedicated to a lot of study get the 1888 study materials by Ellen White in which there's a compilation of everything she said during those years and it's four volumes that's right so it takes some study time if you really want to invest the time but there you will see what inspiration had to say about the last generation of the 1888 period so we went back into kind of a asleep eNOS we're doing the things that are good holding evangelistic meetings winning souls getting sanitariums transferred transmitted transmuted I guess I would say into hospitals that was one thing we did during those years getting our educational system in line with the way education was done throughout the world instead of the divine blueprint that God gave to Ellen White and was manifested in places like Immanuel missionary College for two years and then down to Madison Institute down near Nashville and then that all died out so we began to make the changes and those changes were not positive changes during those 50 years following that message and here we are today because of not following the 1888 message we have allowed a even in evangelical form of the gospel to come directly into our midst through evangelical scholars that began in the mid 1950s and we have not changed from that position and you've all heard of desmond ford who was my co religion teacher at Pacific Union College for several years his office was right next door to mine and it led to him as being the natural result of saying look why should we be so concerned about this perfection business it was all done at the cross and judgment don't need a judgement in heaven if you've accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior it's done pure evangelical gospel not partial pure evangelical gospel and that gospel died out for a little bit after the 1980s and then is coming back again in articles and presentations and books and camp meetings in the 2000s period and we are facing the same problems again all over again so that's where it's been but I would say this last generation is there any hope is there any hope that this could be the last generation or are we spiraling downward into a no-man's land and I'm gonna say one thing 15 years ago I would have said I don't see anyone coming on the scene that can give us much hope right now the ones I've trusted are dying off my teachers the ones that I really gained spiritual help from they're all dying I'll just give you one example we've lost a champion of righteousness by faith and the vindication of God Herbert Douglas if you get a chance to read his material don't miss it god at risk available from amazing facts says everything that I've been sharing this this weekend and so the champions are going down they're not there anymore some of us are getting older - and I have got a little discouraged where is anyone going to take the place of the ones who are leaving going disappearing not there for us anymore in about 10 to 15 years ago I saw something I would never ever have guessed would ever happen right here in Loma Linda is where it started it started here right over there in a building right on the campus of Loma Linda University generation of use for Christ they first called themselves remember general con of general youth conference and people said that's confusing you can't have that generation of youth for Christ and it began and I had the privilege of talking to those young people and all of a sudden my faith began to increase because they I saw something there I would never have guessed before now I mean these young people and I'm talking about ages 17 to 30 these young people began to see things and understand things in ways that they weren't getting I knew from their teachers they weren't getting it from the books that they were assigned to read where were they getting this from they were they were basically asking two questions that I could figure out what is the truth and how can we share it that's what they wanted to know what is the truth and how can we share it an Advent hope began really to be a lighthouse on the on the horizon they didn't have everything right they still don't have everything right we're all kind of growing Christians aren't we and these young people were just trying to get it right because they saw something was wrong and they didn't want to go down that road and so I began to be greatly encouraged that just maybe just maybe a last generation could be possible because it has to be a combination of generations doesn't it it's not just men or women young or old it is men and women young and old moving together getting arms linked and walking together so I see and I've lived quite a while in Adventism by now I see more hope right now that this could be the last generation that I've ever seen in my lifetime I certainly wasn't around in 1888 and so we're a hundred and twenty years plus beyond that so I have not seen in my lifetime and been an adventist all my life I've gone to Adventist churches Adventist schools I have been involved in Adventism from day one and I have never seen anything like what I'm seeing today I have greater hope today than I've ever had in my life that this could be the last generation my testimony anyone else right there so talking about the last generation can we parallel that with rapid prophetic events that are happy yesterday yes so we can we see maybe that being a little bit more positive meaning saying yes this could be because of what's happening or is it that independent is the prophetic events independent from oh no they're not here's what I'm gonna suggest to you don't be looking to what's happening in role as how when and when Jesus will come don't be looking to what's happening in Washington DC as when Jesus will come that is not what will determine the second coming of Christ don't be looking to how wicked can the world become so Jesus has to come revelation seven one two three we read it remember God is going to hold the winds of destruction he's gonna hold Rome he's gonna hold Washington DC he's gonna hold prophetic scenarios until his people are sealed and I like to say sealable sealable when his people are sealed then these events are going to come together in Rapids suggests succession thank you very much in succession in which we are going to see all those prophecies of the 13th and 14 12 and 13 we're gonna see the image to the beast form fully we're seeing it partially so I'm going to say because we're seeing some evidences of this world crumbling because we're seeing evidences of church state union becoming stronger not here not just here in the United States but in Europe as well because we're seeing the prophecies coming to fruition I'm gonna say and I'm gonna say it hopefully maybe God is finding his people to seal because he's allowing some of these things to take place that we wouldn't have guessed at 30 or 40 years ago and and so at this point it is my best hope and I'll simply say that because I can't go any farther than that I don't have any knowledge of the future that it is my best hope by looking at these events coming to bear around the world that God is finding that hundred forty-four thousand generation that he is finding the people therefore he's letting the Angels loose a little bit of the winds around us right now and so I say they go together but the primary issue is the sealing of God's people everything depends on that and then come the rapid fulfillment of prophecy anyone else here again all right back there first yes oh just this the first presentation this afternoon on dying to self alright where you say how much singing preaching is done by self instead of waiting for God's Holy Spirit ya know thinking of how you know I may want to work and in it at the same time we say no we pray and then by faith yeah we believe so then how do I know that this is how do we know it's Willie this is God's leading now meal how do we know if it's by self or by the Holy Spirit yes that's a difficult question it's not an easy answer because right at this point listen some of us are excellent musicians so we can sing that's what we can do and we can sing wholly good songs and praise God some of us can it can do excellent mechanical work so we can be witnesses as mechanics and we say look I'm witnessing for the Lord I'm doing the Lord's work so there are many ways in which we can buy natural abilities do a work for the lord and that becomes the difficult question in which we have to say Lord I have some abilities I can speak a little bit I can sing a little bit I can do a little bit but I need Lord to put every one of those abilities at your feet I need to lay them aside as abilities that I have because you've given them to me by birth state genetics I need to say Lord if you want me to change my life completely if you want me to direct my life in a new direction if you want to take some of those abilities and channel them in a new way Lord I lay them all at your feet a little testimony I'll give to you I planned to be in education for the rest of my life that's what I thought the Lord was leading me to I was teaching at Pacific Union College I was totally committed to the classroom I loved it I wanted to do that for the rest of my life I worked on my doctoral program because that's the way you have to do it if you want to be a teacher for the rest of your life in our educational system today and so all of that was moving in the direction that I believe that the Lord had guided me to do and I had some abilities in the teaching area and the Lord was blessing those and all of a sudden the Lord shut the door completely on me and he said you're done as a teacher you're not going to be in education anymore in your lifetime it's not going to happen and he directed me to this ministry which we are doing today which is an interesting ministry but it is also a very uncertain ministry because the salary doesn't come anymore and the same perks don't aren't there anymore that I depended on for the first half of my life as a minister of the gospel and now it was only by the grace of people like this Church and other churches that we go around too that we survive it is truly totally 100% by faith that this ministry has continued for thirty years I thought it would last five or six years at most I couldn't continue to do this so the Lord took whatever abilities he had given to me and he said this way not that way and that's what I think we have to do we have to say Lord I don't know what you want me to do with the rest of my life I don't know what my best abilities are I'm going to put those abilities into your hand you tell me what you want me to do you guide me you shut doors for me you open doors for me you show me what you want me to do with the with the abilities you have given to me and we do what the disciples did on that day of Pentecost in which they simply said Lord whatever you ask of us you will provide and they went out and spoke in tongues which none of them had any training for at all and they continued to speak languages for the rest of their lives as God had given them a gift which they have never even dreamed of before and God I think will change our gifts and our abilities and to able us to do things we never never would have thought possible for us I would never have dreamed that we would have had 30 years of going to churches all around the world and giving this message I would never have dreamed that 30 years ago just impossible so that's one way I think we can ask the Lord to redirect our gifts to make sure we're not depending on our own abilities to say Lord do whatever you want me to do with whatever you want we want to give me it's a delicate area am i doing it like make it because I have the ability or am i doing it because the Holy Spirit is directing my life it's not always easy to determine but he will help Ellen White is that marvelous promise that she says that when we get on the other side and look back that we will see that God has led us in exactly the way we would have chosen could have we have seen the end from the beginning I'm gonna trust that promise anyone else right up here again alright are we cutting her off with our microphone that doesn't work alright does it not work at all let's try another one here comes another one we'll take just about I would say two or three more questions and then you need a little break this was you know just thought since proverbs says that that which has been it is that which shall be yeah there's nothing new Under the Sun or Ecclesiastes sighs that's right if we look back at what happened in 1888 and we believe the statements that Ellen White said that year this Jesus would have returned for his people yeah can we then look back at exactly what happened in those years to prepare and then see if these things are coming back into our church to then shows that the coming is soon like this resurgence of mess of the message of righteousness by faith coming more and more into our churches giving us an insight that God is preparing the people to stand if there's any hope of getting it right we have to figure out what made it go wrong that's a crucial crucial issue if we don't know what delayed the coming of Christ for 100 years back then we're gonna delay it for another hundred years I'll just be brutal on that one and say that one because we've got to know what destroyed the plan of God for that generation I believe there were people ready to be sealed I think Ellen White would certainly would have been one ready to be sealed and there were others but there were not that generation as a body that God needed to have to demonstrate to a watching universe so at this point I think we desperately need to go back read the books that are available there is a great book available right now it has been circulating for about five years or so written by a lay person his name is Duffield Rhonda field it is called the return of the latter rain really important to study and understand what was and what wasn't during that period and another book by the same author wounded in the house of his friends taken from Jesus who was wounded in the house of his friends we did that to Jesus 100 years ago wounded in the house of his friends you can get those books they're easy to get you can get them on Amazon boy you can get anything on Amazon and you can get them from the publisher you can do yes ok didn't know that thank you you can get out on Ellen White audio dot org okay see how easy it is these days to get material that was totally inaccessible sixty years ago didn't exist so that's the way I think that we can have access to finding out what not to do this time and get it right this time around good point back there okay you were mentioning the latter rain and the former rain and the baptism of the Holy Spirit so I'm kind of wondering if maybe the former brain is well I know we think of it as what happened in the days of the Apostles but could it be also the daily baptism that we asked the Holy Spirit is that the former brain preparing us okay the former rain is those bringing the seed so it can sprout and grow and it's what what I tried to share was that we are we have a transformation when we're born again and then we allow that to grow throughout our experience that's the former rain ladder rain is just gonna do two things it'll ripen the harvest get us ready for the close of probation and take the witness to the world in this generation so that all can and can make it a decision so the latter rain does for us what we cannot possibly do for ourselves and that is getting the gospel to all the world in this generation but the former rain is how to prepare for that experience without the former rain there's no ladder rain you know in Matthew 24:14 we've often used that as saying well since Jesus said the gospel has to be preached in all the world's first well we're making progress we're getting into here we're doing this we got to do more we got do more and we forget that it's well I didn't even realize until one day I I said God said it shall be preached all we need to say is Lord make me part of that that's right the word is shalt God promised it will happen but whether we're part of it depends on our choice you know how well we're doing at getting the gospel to the world I read this in ministry magazine so I'm gonna trust their analysis they said that if we continue reaching new language people groups at the same rate we have been reaching them since 1975 it's going to take us six hundred more years to reach all the language groups in the world that's how much we're getting the job done with all the technology and the available at things that we can use at the gospel to the world can we all say it's going to take a miracle of all miracles to complan it's not about our abilities to get the gospel to the world it's allowing the Holy Spirit to seal his people pour upon them the latter rain and prepare them for the loud cry we don't even know what that means okay maybe one more question up here alright right up front here and then it's time for you to have a little break last evening you said there were two steps that we needed to do and we were neglecting the first one and we need to do both and one was to get ready for the ceiling is I think and the second one was to throw it to the world all right go ahead and I think the two work together they do because I can't can't see one first and second I understand that what I suggested last night is that there is a primary mission and a secondary mission of the seventh-day Adventist Church the remnant Church called into existence and the reason that I put them in that phrasing is because if we take the secondary mission which is taking the gospel to the world and make that the primary mission then we've lost the primary mission completely and were substituting a good thing for the important thing we're substituting taking the gospel to the world for a heart preparation for the seal of God that's why I phrased them as primary and secondary what I really and I thank you for your help on this I want to clarify that when the primary mission is seen clearly that we are here to receive the seal of God and to be a witness to the world that fallen human nature can obey God 100% of the time if we are willing to let that be our dominating purpose in life then we can't help but share that with people we can't hold that to ourselves we can't say well Lord I'm just going to make myself holy because that's just an impossibility we've got to be sharing it with everyone we can while we may not have the television technology we can talk to our friends we can talk to those around us we can talk to our loved ones about what God is doing how he's changing my life and making it better so if the primary mission is in focus the secondary mission is part of it and I thank you for that kind of putting it together what I am concerned about is that we substitute a secondary mission for a primary mission and don't talk about the primary mission at all and then we think we're finishing the work I see what you're saying yeah putting cell first and so yeah it can it you would that you have to again there's this balance between doing it for selfish reasons because I want to go to heaven and I want to be in all that business or for vindicating God's name no matter what happens to me and I would say that if there is any right way to be to do the primary mission is to say Lord even if I'm Deborah if I if I don't walk in heaven with you if I and never see your face if if if that is what is going to happen I am still going to prepare for your seal to do your work in your way to vindicate your name it doesn't yeah I will say like Moses blot my name out of the book of life if your name is discredited either through me or your people and so I'm going to say that yes we have to guard against doing it for selfish reasons I want to go to heaven I want to get out from a bad situation and we've got to say Lord it is for your name that I want to be sealed not for my abilities there are delicate balance this here okay I thank you for your questions once again mental always comes up with great questions and so we'll take a little break right now it's five o'clock enjoyed the rest of this day a little bit but don't go home because you've just missed you know you've met you'll miss the the icing on the cake and so you want to come back if possible for this last meeting at 5:30 in which again we will talk Matthew will talk a little bit about God's second book and what we can learn from it so again thank you enjoy the next half hour we'll start right at 5:30

Channel: Mentone Seventh-Day Adventist Church

Views: 6,796

Rating: 4.7818184 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: KYvEpgbCV4k

Length: 99min 36sec (5976 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 31 2018