Participants: Dan Jackson
Series Code: 12POP
Program Code: 12POP000001
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00:46 Well it is a beautiful night here in West Frankfort, IL.
00:51 It is... it's beautiful outside. 00:53 The temperature is just perfect. It is. 00:54 It is. I told you when you came here... 00:56 He asked me about the weather. He said: "Well I don't know. 00:59 How's the weather? " I said: "It's perfect year round. " 01:02 Well it's been perfect today. And it got him here, 01:04 and he got here in about November. 01:06 We had an ice storm in December. Yeah. 01:08 He called me and said: "What about the perfect weather? " 01:10 I said: "It's the first time I've ever seen anything 01:13 like this. I guess you brought it. " 01:15 Anyway I'm sorry to interrupt. We're here at Camp Meeting 01:19 already. We are! You can tell it's going to be a fun, relaxed 01:21 but spiritual time, right? We've got a wonderful group 01:23 of people here and we had a wonderful whole busload 01:27 that came from Huntsville, AL. Oh, I'm looking forward to that. 01:30 Yeah. They come just about every year. 01:32 If you're from Huntsville, raise your hand. All right. 01:34 There you are, right. Praise the Lord! 01:36 Let's welcome them. OK. All right; all right. 01:39 I was... I was there this last week. 01:42 I was there just the other day, Sunday night, 01:43 at a wedding down there. OK. 01:45 Yeah. Lot of great folk from there. Amen. 01:48 Well listen, we are looking forward to a tremendous weekend. 01:54 Elder Dan Jackson is our keynote speaker tonight. 01:57 Elder John Bradshaw will be next after our music program. Um-hmm. 02:03 And then we have... the rest of the week we'll be 02:06 studying Bible prophecy. 02:08 Bible prophecy is so important to Seventh-day Adventists. 02:12 It is... without Bible prophecy we would not exist. 02:17 And so it is something that we feel needs emphasis 02:23 at this particular time. 02:25 We have lined up we really believe 02:28 the finest teachers and speakers of Bible prophecy 02:33 that are in this denomination today. 02:35 And if you look at that list 02:37 I think you'll just about have to agree with me. 02:39 Incredible speakers and then then the music we have. 02:42 You know, we have Reggie and Ladye Love Smith 02:45 going to be here for tomorrow night and Friday night 02:47 and basically much of the weekend. 02:49 We have a number of folk who are coming in. 02:51 And so it's going to be a spiritual feast, folk, 02:54 for real... it really is. 02:56 And it wouldn't happen without all of you here. 02:58 So we're glad that you are here. 03:00 Those of you that can't make it - couldn't make it - 03:02 for whatever reason we want you to stay tuned 03:05 because between Friday night and Sabbath all day, Jim, 03:08 I don't know. What do we have? Twelve hours or something. 03:10 I think it's 13 hours. Thirteen hours. 03:13 I do, and I'm looking forward to it. 03:16 I want you to know that. All right. 03:18 Well listen, part of that is going to be we have some 03:21 young people that have done a project here. 03:24 We call it Love Rules! 03:26 And Sabbath morning you're going to get to hear a bunch of 03:29 young folk singing for Jesus. 03:31 And they do such an incredible job. And it was such a pleasure 03:34 working with them. They really do, and Danny wrote 03:37 the songs that are... Every one of them 03:40 the Lord gave them to you. It was an exciting experience, 03:43 wasn't it? Well it was, and we'll talk more about it 03:45 later. But I decided... I was thinking about our 03:48 Pillars of our Faith and the music and how 03:50 people have received it so well and I thought 03:53 "What about our young people? " 03:54 So I began to ask people: "Do you know... could you recite 03:57 the Ten Commandments? " Yeah. Most said: "Well, I don't 03:59 know if we could. " Then I started asking the adults 04:02 "Well, we're not sure. " So we said: "Well, maybe we need 04:05 to write some songs like the Pillars of our Faith 04:08 except bring it down to youth. 04:11 That's easy for me to do... I relate to that - 04:13 with my mentality - so that works pretty good. 04:16 And the Lord blessed. And so we have some 04:18 key doctrines and songs and music that'll be here this week 04:21 also. So we've got lots of things going. 04:23 And I think the weather's going to hold out to not be 04:25 too hot and too cold. 04:27 Just like I told you... it's always perfect. 04:28 It's supposed to be beautiful here this weekend. 04:30 Perfect weather in southern Illinois. Perfect, that's right. 04:32 Well we've got some music coming up now. 04:34 We do. We have some of the... These are some of the dearest 04:37 people that I've ever met in my life: 04:39 Allison and Brian Speer. 04:41 Now Brian... gettin' him on camera is a chore. 04:44 He won't get on camera, but he's always working behind the 04:47 scenes... her husband. He told someone back stage 04:50 "I've only been on television once in the last many many years 04:53 and that was... Danny got me up front for some reason. " 04:56 I won't do him that way tonight. 04:57 But Allison has been singing... Many of you have probably 05:00 seen her on the Gaithers. I don't know if anybody watches 05:02 the Gaithers stuff? OK, quite a few of you do. 05:05 And on It Is Written. Yeah, she's been on It Is Written 05:08 singing. Of course with 3ABN our Camp Meetings in the past. 05:11 But it's been a while since she was here, and we're privileged 05:13 to have Allison Speer here from Nashville, Tennessee. 05:16 And she's just going to... We've told her: "Just bless us 05:18 and when you're through we'll come out and 05:20 just keep going as long as the Lord is blessing. " 05:23 Allison, are you here? Come on out. 05:25 All right. Let's welcome Allison, all right? 05:27 Thank you, Danny. All right. Thank you. Love you. 05:42 You ask me why I believe like I do. 05:46 Why I'm so convinced that the Bible is true. 05:51 I'm here to tell you it's only because 05:57 I've come through enough 05:59 to see what faith does. 06:04 Faith sees the invisible, 06:07 believes the impossible, 06:09 receives the incredible no matter what was. 06:14 Faith moves the unmovable, 06:16 proves the unprovable 06:19 for anyone willing to trust. 06:23 Believe and you'll see what faith does. 06:31 If there's a mountain that stands in your way, 06:36 for all you can see it will be there to stay. 06:41 God said with the faith of a small mustard seed 06:46 that mountain will move. 06:48 Believe and you'll see! 06:53 Faith sees the invisible, 06:56 believes the impossible, 06:58 receives the incredible no matter what was. 07:03 Faith moves the unmovable, 07:06 proves the unprovable 07:08 for anyone willing to trust. 07:12 Believe and you'll see what faith does! 07:20 Faith sees the invisible, 07:23 believes the impossible, 07:25 receives the incredible no matter what was. 07:33 Faith moves the unmovable, 07:35 proves the unprovable 07:38 for anyone willing to trust. 07:42 Believe and you'll see what 07:45 faith does. 07:50 See what faith does. 07:55 Believe and you'll see. 08:00 See what faith 08:03 does. 08:07 Amen! 08:13 Allison will be back with us in the next hour... 08:17 will be doing a mini-concert and presenting more music 08:22 at that particular time. 08:24 Our message tonight will be brought to us by 08:27 Elder Dan Jackson. 08:29 He is the President of the North American Division 08:32 of Seventh-day Adventists which involves 08:36 of course the United States. It involves Bermuda 08:40 and it also involves Canada. 08:43 It's a wonderful, wonderful division and has been... 08:48 It was the original division for Seventh-day Adventists 08:52 as this particular organization was founded 08:55 in the United States. 08:57 But the President of the North American Division 09:02 which also involves Canada is a Canadian. 09:07 And he is the first Canadian to hold the position 09:12 of president of the division. 09:14 And he was elected by a strong majority 09:18 at the General Conference that took place 09:22 a few years ago now in the beautiful town of 09:27 Atlanta, Georgia. 09:29 So we are excited about him. 09:31 We've appreciated his leadership. 09:34 A number of decisions that he has made that we know to be 09:39 very positive decisions. 09:42 Pray for him because he faces a lot of challenges. 09:47 In the church today there are many, many challenges. 09:51 And so pray that God will always give him 09:54 the judgment that he needs to make those decisions. 09:59 We ask for your prayers here at 3ABN 10:01 for the same reason as well. 10:04 Elder Jackson will pray for us as he begins the service, 10:09 and we will ask him to come at this time. 10:20 Good evening. Good evening. 10:23 How are you this evening? Good. 10:25 I have a simple and a fundamental question 10:27 that I want to ask this evening. 10:29 As you sit there and I stand here 10:32 I want to ask all of those who are with us tonight 10:36 who are ministers to please stand up. 10:41 Now you all believe in the Bible, don't you? 10:46 You're a little confused about that. 10:50 Will all the ministers in the congregation please stand up? 10:54 You know, I'm going to talk about that tonight. 10:57 I'm so glad to see that the scriptures have sunk in. 11:02 Please be seated. 11:04 And praise God, the reality is this: 11:07 that at the moment you accept Jesus Christ 11:12 as your personal Savior 11:14 you have become a minister of the Most High God. 11:18 You have accepted privileges and responsibilities 11:23 that you did not have before. 11:25 And it does not matter whether you intend to or not 11:29 you have become a witness to God. 11:34 Would you pray with me as we begin? 11:38 Our God and our heavenly Father, 11:40 we thank you so much for Your grace and Your goodness. 11:45 We want to honor You because You are the King of Kings 11:49 and the Lord of Lords. 11:52 And heavenly Father, we anticipate that very soon 11:55 Your Son and our Savior, Jesus, 11:57 will return to this planet. And we are anxious for that. 12:02 We appeal to You as John did to come. 12:06 And heavenly Father, we pray that as we are here 12:09 anticipating that return that You will change each of us 12:15 to the extent that we know and understand all the time 12:19 what our responsibilities are 12:21 and the privileges that we share. 12:23 In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. 12:26 She woke up one morning in Hamilton, Ontario, 12:31 and she went to her father and she said to him: 12:35 "Dad, I've got to go to Sacramento. " 12:40 And he said: "Why do you have to go to Sacramento? " 12:45 And she said: "I don't know, 12:48 but I believe that God told me last night that I need 12:52 to go to Sacramento. " 12:54 And her father - who is a dear, understanding man - 12:57 said to her: "If you believe God wants you to go to Sacramento, 13:01 then you'd better go to Sacramento. " 13:03 Now she wasn't going to go to school there... 13:06 she had done that already. 13:07 But she had a burden laid on her to go to Sacramento. 13:12 And so she did. She got a jet; she flew to Sacramento. 13:16 And once she got there and the plane landed 13:20 the Lord directed her: "Go and find a lady 13:24 you have been studying with previously. " 13:27 She couldn't remember the woman's name. 13:30 She couldn't remember where the lady lived. 13:32 There's a little bit of a predicament, right? 13:35 Not too many people get up in the morning and say: 13:38 "Well I think I'll just go to Sacramento today" 13:40 and then do their best to get on a jet and get there. 13:43 But that's what she did. 13:45 And she tried to remember as best as she could 13:49 how to find her way to the woman's house. 13:52 And she drove in that section of the city that she thought 13:56 might be the right place, but she felt that she was 14:00 hopelessly lost. And so she pulled into a garage station. 14:04 And there as she pulled into that station 14:06 a young man in a car pulled in behind her. 14:11 And he got out of his car. 14:15 And this again... this is not a good thing, right? 14:17 We don't do this. 14:19 But this young man got out of his car 14:22 and he went and knocked on her window. 14:24 She rolled the window down and he said: 14:26 "It looks like you are lost. " 14:28 And she said: "That's exactly right. I am lost. 14:33 I'm looking for a lady that I used to study the Bible with 14:39 and she lives around here. 14:42 And her name is... " And she gave the name. 14:45 And the young man just stepped back from the car 14:48 and he said: "That's my grandmother. 14:51 That's my grandmother! " 14:54 And she went and studied with that woman 14:57 and she studied with him, and they both are SDA's today. 15:00 God touched her mind. 15:03 Now why would we be surprised about that? 15:06 I mean, it's a thrilling story, isn't it? 15:08 But why would we be surprised about that? 15:11 Because the Word of God tells us that "In those days 15:15 God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh. " 15:20 You see, as Seventh-day Adventists we have been known as 15:24 the people of the Book. 15:27 The people of the Book. 15:29 And yet that is not just a flippant statement. 15:32 That is not just an appellation that we give to ourselves 15:36 to make us feel good about ourselves. 15:39 The reality is that we have by God's grace 15:43 and at the direction of the Holy Spirit 15:46 a prophetic heritage. 15:48 We have almost forgotten about it in some circles. 15:52 But the reality is this: when you begin to study 15:55 the commencement of the Seventh-day Adventist movement 15:59 and you begin to look back at how our forefathers 16:03 understood the Word of God you come to see where we fit in 16:09 in the Word of God itself. 16:11 I want to turn you... I hope you have a... 16:13 I want to turn your attention; I don't want to turn you! 16:16 But I want to turn your attention to an important part 16:20 of the scripture. One that is so relevant and so invigorating 16:24 to us as Seventh-day Adventists. 16:26 I hope that you have a Bible with you. 16:28 Please, if you do, turn to Daniel chapter 12. 16:31 It's an amazing chapter. 16:34 You know Daniel... as you look at his prophetic ministry... 16:38 he had so many different kinds of circumstances. 16:42 God had shown him over and over again 16:47 how things would happen... not only during the time 16:51 in which he lived but way off into the future. 16:54 And I always love Daniel for his humanity. 16:58 Because Daniel didn't understand all of these prophecies, did he? 17:02 Daniel didn't understand every word that he had written down. 17:06 As a matter of fact, there were times... Like in one place 17:10 where Daniel says at the end of Daniel 8 17:13 "And I fainted and fell sick certain days. " 17:17 He was out of it... He didn't understand 17:19 but he continued to be faithful to God. 17:22 In spite of what appeared to him 17:25 to be unintelligible at times... 17:27 He could not understand what was ahead of him. 17:30 Daniel was faithful, and he transcribed those things 17:34 that God showed him. When you get to Daniel 12 17:37 Daniel has had more visions. 17:40 I want you to look at Daniel chapter 12 17:42 beginning with verse 1. 17:44 An amazing time being described in Daniel 12 verse 1. 17:48 "And at that time Michael, the great Prince 17:51 who protects Your people, will arise. 17:54 And there will be a time of distress and a time of trouble 17:57 such as has not happened from the beginning of the nations 18:01 until then. But at that time 18:03 Your people - every one whose name is found written in the 18:07 Book - will be delivered. 18:09 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: 18:12 some to everlasting life and others to shame 18:15 and everlasting contempt. 18:18 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the 18:21 heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness 18:25 like the stars forever and ever. " 18:28 Interesting allusion to ministry. 18:33 "But you, Daniel... " in verse 4... 18:38 "roll up and seal the words of the scroll 18:42 until the time of the end. 18:45 Many will go here and there 18:47 and knowledge will increase. " Seal up the book; 18:52 roll up the scroll. And later on in this chapter 18:56 in verse 8 you hear Daniel expressing again 19:02 his feelings. " I heard but I did not understand 19:05 so I asked: 'My Lord, what will be the outcome of all of this? 19:10 What will happen in the end? ' " 19:12 And this is what we read: "Go your way, Daniel, 19:15 because the words are rolled up and sealed 19:18 until the time of the end. " 19:20 Then if you skip down to verse 13 19:23 "As for you, go your way till the end. 19:26 You will rest, and then at the end of the days 19:29 you will rise to receive your allotted heritage. " 19:33 Amazing. He ends the book, he ends the writing 19:39 in some level of misunderstanding. 19:43 He is told to roll up the scroll 19:45 and to leave it alone until the time of the end. 19:50 We find our heritage right there, friends. 19:55 You know, in the mid part of the 19th century 20:01 a group of people began studying the Word of God. 20:06 And they came to the conclusion when they studied the prophecies 20:10 of Daniel chapter 8 and Daniel chapter 9 20:13 that Jesus would return again. 20:15 There are all kinds of people who look back at that movement 20:19 and who say that was just a fanatical movement 20:23 of a bunch of freaks. 20:25 But the reality was there was a sincere attempt 20:29 to study and understand the Word of God. 20:31 And those people who went through that experience 20:35 were bitterly disappointed. 20:38 We call it the Great Disappointment of October 22nd 20:42 1844... the Great Disappointment. 20:46 But in the aftermath of that disappointment 20:50 they began to read and study again. 20:53 And you know, I want to make this point: 20:55 you know, those men and women - those young people - 21:01 who were graced by the Spirit of God to start this movement... 21:07 those very brave and heroic people 21:11 who moved through the disappointment of 1844... 21:16 they began to study the Word of God more than they ever had. 21:20 I want to say this to you: 21:23 that by God's grace our people, all of us today, 21:28 need to get back into that habit. 21:31 Amen! We need... You know, I... 21:34 I tell people all the time now. 21:36 We need to get back into the barns. 21:39 We need to get back into the barns. 21:41 We need to have more Sabbath conferences. 21:44 We need to get our people together around tables 21:48 and in barns and in back yards 21:51 and wherever we can, and we need to open the Book again 21:54 and begin to study it again for ourselves to know what it says. 21:58 It is too late in the process of time for me to rely 22:02 upon you or you to rely upon me. 22:06 We need to understand the Word of God for ourselves. Amen. 22:13 So they were studying the Book 22:16 and they began to read through the book of Revelation. 22:20 And they came to chapter 11... or chapter 10, pardon me... 22:25 and it's an amazing chapter. 22:28 And I want you to turn to Revelation chapter 10. 22:30 "Then I saw another angel... " This is Revelation 10 verse 1. 22:35 "I saw another angel coming down from heaven. 22:38 He was robed in a cloud with a rainbow above his head. 22:41 His face was like the sun, and his legs were like 22:44 fiery pillars. He was holding a little scroll 22:50 which lay in his hand. " 22:52 Now I want you to know that is not a picture of Jesus 22:55 because later this same... this same being 23:00 swears by Him who created the heavens and the earth 23:03 and the sea. You read that in this chapter. 23:05 But it was a glorious being. 23:08 But he almost symbolizes... Or not symbolizes 23:11 resembles the picture of Jesus walking in the midst of the 23:16 candlesticks in Revelation chapter 1 23:18 and the same one who spoke to Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapter 3. 23:24 The appearance was very similar. 23:26 He obviously was in a place very close to the presence 23:31 of God because he radiated it. 23:35 "He was holding a little scroll which lay open in his hand. 23:41 And he planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot 23:44 on the land and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. 23:47 When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 23:51 And when the seven thunders spoke I was about to write 23:54 but I heard a voice from heaven say: 23:56 'Seal up when the seven thunders have said 23:59 and do not write it down. ' 24:03 And the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on 24:06 the land raised his right hand to heaven 24:09 and he swore by Him who lives forever and ever 24:12 who created the earth and all that is in it 24:15 and the sea and all that is in it 24:17 and said: 'There will be no more delay. ' " 24:19 But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his 24:24 trumpet something is going to happen. 24:29 "In those days the mystery of God will be accomplished 24:35 just as He announced to His servants the prophets. " 24:38 And if you look over to Revelation chapter 11 24:41 you look at the passages that precede the blowing of the 24:46 seventh trumpet in verse 13 of Revelation chapter 11 24:51 "At that very hour there was a severe earthquake 24:54 and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people 24:56 were killed in an earthquake and the survivors were 24:59 terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. 25:02 The second woe had passed; the third woe was coming. 25:05 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet 25:07 and there were loud voices in heaven which said: 25:10 'The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom 25:13 of our Lord and of His Christ. 25:16 And He will reign forever and ever. ' " 25:18 So just before Jesus was to come again. 25:22 You know, when our pioneers began to study the Word of God 25:25 they got into the six seals... the seven seals... 25:29 and they discovered that at the end of the sixth seal 25:32 there was this earthquake. 25:40 "But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound 25:42 his trumpet the mystery of God will be accomplished 25:45 just as He announced to His servants the prophets. 25:48 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me 25:50 once more: 'Go take the scroll 25:54 that lies open in the hand of the angel 25:58 who is standing on the sea and on the land. ' 26:01 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me 26:04 the little scroll. And he said to me: 26:08 'Take it and eat it. 26:12 It will turn your stomach sour 26:14 but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey. ' 26:17 I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. 26:23 It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth 26:26 but when I had eaten it my stomach turned sour. 26:31 It was sweet in the mouth but bitter in the belly. " 26:36 And then the angels says to him: 26:38 "Then I was told 'You must prophesy 26:42 again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings. ' 26:46 The middle part... 26:48 or after October 22nd of 1844 26:53 our people were studying the Book 26:57 and they looked back at how sweet the message 27:02 of the return of Jesus had been. 27:07 They praised God for what He had led them into. 27:12 And now at this point in time 27:16 as they are now studying Revelation chapter 10 27:22 they are concluding that their experience had been 27:26 prophesied... that it emerged right out of Revelation 27:28 chapter 10. Because indeed that which had been so sweet 27:32 to them now had created great bitterness. 27:37 And they believed when they read this passage 27:40 when they heard the words of the angel: "You must prophesy 27:45 again to many peoples and nations etc, etc" 27:49 they believed that God was calling them to do a mission 27:53 for Him. You think about it for a moment. 27:56 It's always amazing to me 27:59 how people can deny the power and the authority 28:02 of the Spirit of God. It's amazing to me. 28:05 Because we generally when we do those kinds of things 28:08 we wind up looking very foolish. 28:10 Because here is the reality: you think of those 28:15 little band of people... that little flock. 28:21 That little flock. 28:23 That little flock today is 17,000,000 people. 28:28 Twenty million at Sabbath School time 28:30 and at church time probably around 25,000,000. 28:35 And they tell us - our statisticians tell us - 28:39 that by the year 2020 we will have 30,000,000 28:42 Seventh-day Adventists if Jesus doesn't come 28:45 at the present rate of growth. 28:50 Our forefathers came to the conclusion 28:56 that what they had experienced in 1843 29:01 and then again in 1844 was no fluke 29:05 but that this was the movement, 29:08 the empowerment, of the Spirit of God in their lives. 29:13 And though they were wrong in their interpretation 29:16 of Daniel chapters 8 and 9... 29:19 though they were wrong in the sense that Jesus was not 29:23 going to come... the reality is they were right 29:26 in terms of the date and the time and what was 29:30 going to take place. Amen. 29:35 So what were they to prophesy about again? 29:41 What were they to actually prophesy about? 29:44 Well, you look over to Revelation 14 and you find 29:47 what we call over there the Three Angels' Messages. 29:52 Warnings... blessings... encouragement. 29:57 As a matter of fact, Ellen White makes the statement 29:59 that the three angels' messages are righteousness by faith 30:03 in verity. And when we preach them in any other way - 30:09 when we try to understand them in any other way 30:13 than with Jesus in the center of them and with the plan 30:17 of eternal salvation at the core of them - 30:19 we are misunderstanding them. 30:21 And I think that here alone is a subject for the study 30:26 of God's people in these days. 30:28 We need to get the books out again - 30:30 I mean the Bibles out again and the concordances out again - 30:34 and we need to pour over those messages - 30:37 Amen - and try to understand for ourselves 30:40 why is it that she would say "righteousness by faith 30:44 is the message of the third angel in verity. " 30:51 Would God speak so strangely 30:53 about people who have disappointed Him? 30:55 How is that righteousness by faith? 31:01 A message was given. 31:04 Mrs. White also makes a very interesting comment. 31:07 She makes this statement. She says 31:09 that the three angels are symbols of those who will 31:13 present the messages. Amen. 31:18 So that you and I... you and I 31:22 are the angels. Amen. 31:25 Now there is a dualism here because there are angels. 31:29 There is the ministry, the power, the authority of 31:31 the Holy Spirit flying in the midst of heaven 31:35 crying out. Working in the minds of men 31:39 to bring them to the reality of the last warning - 31:44 divine warning - to earth and to earthlings prior 31:48 to the return of Jesus. 31:49 There is that divine representation 31:54 by the Holy Spirit that convicts the minds, the lives, 31:58 the hearts of men and women. 32:00 "But... " she says: "those angels are symbolic 32:06 of those who deliver the message. " 32:10 That means you and me. Amen! 32:14 That means all of us in this room. 32:17 Do not be confused 32:21 by the systems that we have set up 32:25 because we are all ministers of the Most High God. 32:30 Amen. Some of us get paid for it... 32:33 others don't. But that does not preclude 32:37 any human being. So who will do it? 32:41 Who will do the proclamation? 32:44 I want to turn your attention to II Peter - 32:47 or to I Peter rather - chapter 2. 32:50 This is a significant passage that I believe 32:53 we ought to study as well. 32:56 Because when you talk about our prophetic heritage 32:59 you can't just deal with it theoretically. 33:02 Like... "Let somebody else do it. " 33:05 Or "Let's hire angels to do it. " 33:07 Or "Let's hire Three Angels Broadcasting to do it. " 33:11 No, the message must be personalized. 33:14 It must come to you and to me directly. 33:18 And I want to say that there is a link here. 33:21 Go to verse 4. 33:23 "As you come to Him, the living Stone - 33:28 rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to Him - 33:33 you also like living stones 33:37 are being built into a spiritual house 33:40 to be a holy priesthood 33:43 offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God 33:46 through Jesus Christ. " 33:48 You could also for your own reference look up 33:51 I Corinthians 3:16, 33:53 Ephesians chapter 2 verses 13 and 19-22. 33:56 This is not... this is not just Peter. 34:00 This is a New Testament understanding that you and I 34:03 are being built into a spiritual house 34:07 that is to show itself or demonstrate itself 34:09 in a priesthood. 34:12 Now I love the... I love what he talks about here 34:15 when he starts talking about stones. 34:17 I... Many years ago I built a house. 34:20 I have only ever done it once. 34:22 And I'm not going to tell you why I've only ever done it once. 34:27 But I did it one time! 34:31 And I did it... I bought a very poor lot. 34:34 And that was a part of inexperience as well. 34:37 But I had that house... or I built that house 34:40 and behind the house there was a clay bank. 34:45 And so every so often when it would rain 34:49 the clay would slop out onto the grass. 34:51 And I decided to build a stone wall. 34:55 So I rented a half-ton truck. 34:58 I went to a rock quarry and I asked them 35:02 to give me a whole half-ton load full of stones... 35:07 which they did. And I took them home 35:09 and I piled them up against that clay bank. 35:12 Of course I didn't know enough to put a foundation in 35:14 or to put mortar in between them. 35:16 So when it rained, you know, the clay came between the rocks 35:20 instead of directly on the lawn. 35:23 But I have seen a master. 35:27 I have seen a master builder. 35:30 I saw him build... I saw him build a wall 35:34 the width of this... this room 35:37 out in front of the church. He was a stone mason. 35:41 And I was amazed at... 35:44 I was the pastor of the church and I would come and I would 35:47 watch him. It was an amazing thing to watch. 35:49 When he completed that wall you could have put a marble 35:53 on top of it and it wouldn't have rolled 1/4". 35:56 And it was perpendicular. 35:59 It was a thing of beauty. 36:02 People used to drive to come and see the wall. 36:05 It was a small town. 36:08 It was a little like they sing about Toledo, Ohio: 36:11 the only entertainment is going to the bakery to watch 36:13 the buns rise. In that town the only entertainment 36:17 was to look at the wall! 36:19 But it was a masterpiece. 36:22 I watched him as he worked on that wall. 36:26 He would pick up stones and with his big old glove 36:30 which seemed three times bigger than his hand 36:32 he would look at the rocks and he would look at the wall. 36:36 And then he would kind of dust them off with his hand. 36:38 Then he'd take his chisel and he'd work away at them 36:41 and he'd find a place for each stone in the wall. 36:45 There were some stones that he had to cast aside. 36:48 But you know, the reality is this: that God is building 36:52 a spiritual house. He calls you and me "living stones. " 36:58 It is a masterpiece. 37:00 It is something that He alone is capable of doing. 37:03 But in the process of doing that, He links us 37:07 and we are linked back to the delivery of the message. 37:11 Because what God is doing... what God is doing 37:15 is building a spiritual house for the purpose of ministry. 37:19 Of priesthood. 37:24 Three things about this passage, 37:26 and I'm going to move on through it. 37:29 Verse 6: "For in scripture it says 37:32 'See I lay a stone in Zion... 37:36 a chosen and precious cornerstone. 37:38 And the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame. 37:41 Now to you who believe this stone is precious 37:44 but to those who do not believe the stone that the builders 37:48 rejected has become the Cornerstone 37:51 and a stone that causes people to stumble 37:53 and a rock that makes them fall. 37:54 They stumble because they disobey the message 37:57 which is also what we were destined for. 37:59 But you... " Peter says... 38:02 "But you... " Meaning those of you who have accepted 38:06 Jesus as your personal Savior. "But you 38:09 are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, 38:12 a holy nation, God's special possession 38:16 that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of 38:20 darkness into His marvelous light. 38:23 Once you were not a people but now you are the people of God. 38:27 Once you had not received mercy 38:29 but now you have received mercy. " 38:32 Amen. 38:35 We cannot avoid the conclusion 38:37 that things that have happened to this movement 38:41 have happened for a purpose. 38:44 That you are not here by accident. 38:47 That God did not call you into the Seventh-day Adventist 38:52 movement... And by the way, it is still a movement... 38:55 it is not a denomination. 38:57 Even though we call it a denomination it is a movement 39:00 and it is intended to be a movement! 39:04 Three things this passage tells us about the church 39:07 and tells us about you and me. 39:08 Number one: it tells us first of all 39:11 about the nature of the church. 39:14 It's interesting when you think about this. 39:17 It talks about the nature of the church. 39:19 You see, God is building... God is building 39:23 a spiritual house and you're just a stone. 39:26 And I'm just a stone in His hand 39:31 for His purposes for His use. 39:33 But you know, if you've ever looked at a stone wall 39:37 or a stone house, you come to understand 39:40 something very quickly about it. 39:42 That is you start pulling too many of those stones out 39:44 and that wall is going to come down. 39:48 The church first of all... the nature of the church... 39:51 is that it is a commonwealth. 39:54 The church... we are interdependent. 39:58 Now people sometimes get a little upset with me 40:01 when I begin into this subject, you see. 40:04 Because I'm a believer that God's the one that dusts 40:07 off the rocks and the stones. 40:10 And He's the One that chisels them 40:12 and finds a place for them in the wall. 40:15 God never gave that process to you and me. 40:20 He did not ask you and me to judge even one other person. 40:26 Amen! As a matter of fact, Ellen White says 40:29 "Before you ever criticize another person 40:32 you first must become... " And she doesn't give 40:36 authorization for it but she says: "You first must become 40:38 a center of spiritual influence. " 40:41 We are called upon interdependently 40:46 to be centers of spiritual influence. 40:49 It is not my job to condemn you 40:52 and it is not your job to condemn me. 40:55 We may talk to one another in love 40:58 and share and grow. And the Bible says 41:01 "Exhort one another to good works. " 41:03 I'm not excluding any of that. 41:06 And I'm not saying that God just accepts everything 41:09 because you know, like my friend the stone builder, 41:12 there were some stones that wouldn't fit in the wall. 41:14 But it's God's business to decide which ones those are. 41:19 The church is interdependent. 41:22 It is a commonwealth. We cannot act effectively 41:27 as the people of God if we are spending time 41:31 throwing stones at the wall or at each other. 41:34 Amen! We can't do that. 41:36 We cannot be effective. We need each other. 41:41 And I tell people... People ask me from time to time 41:45 "Well you show up at different places. And you know, there's 41:48 people at those places where you shouldn't be, Pastor. " 41:53 And I tell them 41:55 "Those people are my brothers and sisters in Jesus" - 42:00 Amen - "and if they live and they breathe 42:04 as Seventh-day Adventists in the North American Division 42:07 whatever their problem I'm not going to judge them 42:12 But whatever their problem... I'm not going to accept 42:16 if they're way out in one field or the other. 42:19 I'm not going to personally accept that, but they're still 42:21 my brother, they're still my sister. I need them. " 42:27 The time has come for us to realize 42:30 that if there are problems in the church 42:33 they're my problems. 42:37 They're all of our problems. 42:39 The church by nature is a commonwealth. 42:43 It is interdependent. 42:46 "You yourselves... " Peter says "are living stones 42:49 being built into the household of faith. " 42:52 Then the second thing we discover about 42:54 the household of faith and about us as stones 42:58 is found in the first part of verse 9. 43:01 And we love this passage because it says: 43:04 "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, 43:08 a holy nation, God's special possession. " 43:11 You know, do you ever wake up in the morning...? 43:13 You wake up in the morning and you just say: 43:17 "Praise God! I'm a child of the King! 43:21 I'm a child of the King! 43:22 With Jesus my Savior, I'm a child of the King! " 43:26 Because that's the reality. Amen. 43:29 Every day you wake up the Supreme Ruler of the universe 43:34 calls you His child! 43:36 And you know... I know that we don't want to do 43:40 a lot of demonstrative things 43:42 but I've often believed that as Seventh-day Adventist 43:45 Christians when we meet each other we ought to 43:48 high-five each other 43:50 and say: "Praise God! I'm a child of the King. " 43:55 Amen. 43:56 You're a chosen generation. 44:01 But he goes on. He says: 44:05 "A royal priesthood. " 44:09 A royal priesthood. Now a priest 44:14 was essentially a mediator. 44:19 And you and I have been called to be mediators. 44:24 A royal priesthood. 44:26 Mediators of the grace and the goodness of God 44:31 not just to people in Sabbath School 44:34 but to people in all our world. 44:37 You know the law... When we come to understand 44:42 the scriptures the law basically 44:44 condemns anyone who is guilty of breaking them. 44:47 Am I right in saying that? 44:49 And so you and I naturally by birth have accrued 44:54 a debt to the law. We are indebted to the law. 44:56 But Jesus paid that debt. Amen. 45:00 Jesus took the guilt 45:02 so that we are no longer debtors to law as we live in Him. 45:06 Am I right? Is that right? 45:09 But you know, when we become free from the guilt 45:13 and the penalty of the law because of what Jesus has done 45:17 for us, He makes us a debtor in another way. 45:23 We become debtors to grace. 45:25 We become debtors to grace. 45:28 I am telling people over and over again 45:32 "Please do not accept grace 45:34 if you don't intend to be gracious. " 45:39 Do not accept grace if you do not intend to be gracious. 45:45 The church has been called into the world for this time 45:49 and this place to demonstrate the love of the heavenly Father 45:53 for the human family. 45:57 We are to be a priesthood mediating to the world around us 46:03 the goodness and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 46:08 Amen. 46:10 Yes, there are things wrong in the church. 46:13 Years ago I was preaching a sermon and somebody jumped up 46:18 in the balcony in the church I was pastoring 46:21 and they said: "You're trying to save everybody! " 46:26 And I said: "And so is God. " 46:30 Then he said: "But the church is filled with hypocrites. " 46:34 And I said: "I know... because I'm one! " 46:39 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. " 46:44 Think about it, friends. 46:47 How is it that we as sinners can say to other sinners 46:51 "You can't come to the banquet. " 46:55 We need to be so eternally grateful to our heavenly Father 46:59 as priests of the Most High God. 47:02 You know, you can't jump away from this. 47:05 Prophetically this church was called into existence 47:10 to deliver the goods 47:12 in the last days of earth's history. 47:15 Yes it is about Revelation chapter 14 verses 6 through 12. 47:20 I'm not trying to water that down. 47:23 I'm not trying to diminish it. 47:24 That is at the core of our message. 47:27 Worship God... fear Him... honor Him 47:30 because of the everlasting gospel. 47:32 Stay out of Babylon and don't accept the mark of the beast. 47:38 But grace is at the center of it. 47:41 "Those who I love I rebuke and chasten. 47:44 Be zealous therefore and repent. " 47:48 My job is not to condemn and to judge. 47:51 My job is to be a living witness to the grace and the 47:56 graciousness of God - Amen - 47:58 and to be active in my ministry 48:01 reaching out to the men and women, the young people, 48:04 my fellow students, my fellow workmates, 48:08 the people I meet. Everywhere I go 48:11 I need to be a witness to the grace and the graciousness 48:17 of God because I'm a priest. 48:22 I'm a minister. You may not have that on a business card 48:30 but that does not change the reality. 48:34 Do not be so absorbed 48:38 in the systems that men have made 48:42 that you don't see the reality that emerges out of the 48:45 scripture that lays upon you and me the burden of ministry. 48:50 You are a chosen generation. 48:53 Praise God and high-five each other. 48:55 Amen. 48:58 You are a royal priesthood. 49:02 God's own people 49:05 with a prophetic heritage. 49:10 And there's a third thing. 49:12 Not only have we discovered the nature of the church 49:16 as a commonwealth - interdependent - needing 49:18 one another so that we can deliver what God wants us to 49:23 prophetically. Amen. We are a priesthood. 49:28 But finally, Peter talks about the glory of the church. 49:32 The glory of the church. 49:35 Have you ever thought about that? The glory of the church? 49:41 You know, sometimes you know... We had that movie 49:45 a few years ago that was done by Mr. Doblmeier 49:48 on the Adventist Health System. 49:50 And you know all of us as Adventists as we watched that 49:52 we said: "Boy that's pretty good. We're doing all right. 49:56 We're doing all right. 49:58 I mean, we've got 14 colleges and universities 50:03 and hundreds of schools and over 6,000 congregations 50:08 in North America. " And by the way, North America 50:10 Jim Gilley, doesn't just include Canada, the United States, 50:15 and Bermuda. It now includes Guam and Micronesia. 50:18 So the North American Division spans from Bermuda 50:23 all the way to within 700 miles of the Philippines 50:26 and four hours north of Australia by plane. 50:35 We're doing pretty good, right? 50:40 Amen. 50:43 We have a lot of things, right? 50:47 You remember Hezekiah? 50:54 Peter tells us that the glory of the church 50:58 is that we will show forth the praises of Him 51:03 who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. 51:06 That's the glory of the church. 51:09 There is no glory in an institution... 51:13 even though that's nice and it makes us proud. 51:17 The fact is we can only assess ourselves as doing the work 51:20 of God if we are bringing glory to His name. 51:23 Ellen White makes the comment that praising the Lord 51:27 is the most effective method of soul winning. 51:30 Praise God, Amen! 51:35 Built a house. 51:41 It was a new adventure. 51:44 I was a lot younger than I am now 51:49 and I was having a lot of fun doing that. 51:52 I did one smart thing: 51:55 I hired a contractor to put in the foundation. 52:01 And it was on a crawl space, so I came and I 52:05 put up all the floor joists and put on the sub floor 52:09 after he had put the foundation in. 52:12 And I started setting up walls. 52:15 And it was kind of neat to see it start emerging. 52:22 And one day the building inspector showed up. 52:29 And you have to know that when a building inspector 52:33 gets out of his car with his arms up like this 52:36 that this is not a good day. 52:39 Because that's exactly what happened. 52:42 He jumped out of his car and he threw his hands up in the air 52:46 and he said: "You have built your house on the wrong lot! " 52:59 And I looked at him 53:03 and at the top of my lungs I yelled back 53:07 "I have not built my house on the wrong lot 53:12 because John Hanks put the foundation in 53:16 under this house and he knows what he's doing! " 53:20 And the man looked at me and said: 53:22 "Well if John Hanks put the foundation under your house 53:25 you're house is on the right lot. " 53:30 And then was red-faced. 53:33 He turned around and left. 53:36 And I said: "Praise the Lord! " 53:47 Friends, we are living at a very critical time 53:51 in the history of humanity. 53:57 Jesus is coming again. Amen! 54:00 I am very convicted about that, very convicted. 54:05 We are living in the final stages of earth's history. 54:08 You can't read this Book... You can't read this Book 54:12 and come to any other conclusion. 54:18 If that is true and if we as Seventh-day Adventists 54:24 look back and we see what our forefathers saw 54:29 and what they believed 54:32 and then we come to recognize the responsibility that is 54:36 upon us... First of all, there is no other foundation, 54:41 right? We know the Master Builder. 54:46 We need to have our lives founded, established, 54:50 rooted in Him. 54:53 And we need to be so active, so involved for Him. 54:59 You know it's interesting. As we look across this 55:02 vast field called the North American Division - 55:06 1,260,000 members - 55:10 we praise God for that. 55:13 And by the way, this is not a contest, right? 55:17 To see who can have... you know. 55:19 If we just have 4,000,000 by the time Jesus comes 55:22 it'll be OK. 55:23 It's not about numbers. 55:26 Must never be about numbers. 55:27 It must always be about the establishment of the 55:30 kingdom of God on earth. Amen. 55:34 But you know, the fact is this: that God is counting 55:38 on you and upon me. 55:39 Upon His ministers. 55:42 Upon those who will recognize 55:46 that connected with the words "Jesus, to You I surrender 55:51 my life" is the call to Christian ministry. 55:55 It is not a call that you and I can avoid. 55:59 It is not a call... You cannot... 56:01 You cannot look our Lord in the face and say: 56:04 "I'm a faithful servant" if you don't say with that 56:09 "I'm your minister. " Amen. 56:12 Want to ask you a question. 56:16 Would all the ministers in the congregation please stand? 56:27 And for those who are finding it difficult to stand 56:29 just raise your hand. That's good enough. 56:35 Friends, let's take this seriously. 56:37 We need each other. 56:40 We need to pull together as a church 56:43 to finish the task that God has given to us. 56:46 It is our task. 56:48 He is calling you and He is calling me. 56:51 Would you bow your head with me as we pray? 56:54 And heavenly Father, we want to thank you 56:58 for Your grace and Your mercy. 57:00 We want to thank you that as we look back in history 57:03 we can see where we came from... 57:06 the prophetic heritage that is ours. 57:10 Oh Lord, I plead with You tonight 57:13 to pour out Your Spirit upon every person here... 57:17 every person who has stood to say "I am a minister 57:20 of the Most High God. " Lord, 57:23 burn it in our minds. Give us no rest until we find 57:26 our rest in You, and we will praise You and honor You. 57:29 In Jesus' name, Amen. |
Revised 2018-01-18