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Heritage Academy

Dee Casper

You’re Justified, He’s Satisfied

I work with Unseen Media Group, but the reason why I'm here is because I used to be the junior Bible teacher, the second semester of 2012-2013 until last school year.

And this particular graduating class, they're mine.

I know they have parents and stuff, but they're also mine.

And it's a tremendous, tremendous privilege of mine to be able to speak at their graduation.

This is probably the most exciting speaking engagement I've ever had in my life, to be brutally honest with you.

So I've been asked to speak specifically this evening on the theme of justified in a moment, sanctified in a lifetime, and a subtitle, May We Be Found Faithful.

Tonight, I would like to focus on the idea of being justified in a moment.

So we've been speaking in different schools, academies, whether they be self-supporting or whether they be conference schools, whether it be churches.

We've been all over the country and I'm finding a consistent theme throughout the country and it's this.

They're wrestling with not feeling like they will ever be good enough and that God cannot accept them.

And many are already deciding to check out of the Christian experience because they keep failing and see 0 hope for themselves.

Even feeling that God must be unreasonable because they find a sincerity at 1 season in their life to do right, but they find the inability to carry it forward.

Much like Paul's experience in Romans 7, and we'll address that specifically in the second part of the message.

But it's not just our young people that are hurting, I'm finding.

As someone who's a former Bible worker and an elder, our older generation is wrestling with this very same premise of acceptance with God, with assurance of salvation.

I know someone who actually...we are partnered with 3ABN, my ministry is, and I was speaking with someone from the pastoral department at 3ABN, and he shared with me that they are getting an alarming amount of calls from adults, Seventh-day Adventist adults who have 0 assurance of salvation.

Now, these are parents and grandparents of our children.

There certainly seems to be a scenario in the Seventh-day Adventist Church where some of us are wrestling with the basic tenets of the faith.

Does God love me for who I am or only based upon what I do?

And seeing this consistent theme, this may startle you this evening, but I have good news for you because in spite of what seems like a really bad state of affairs in the world and in God's church, we should view this as a wonderful opportunity.

And we don't have to go looking high and low to find an answer to this.

We already have the answer in the scriptures and in the spirit of prophecy.

I'd like to read a few brief lines from the spirit of prophecy, just to set the context for the rest of the message, regarding her diagnosis and solution to this problem.

Faith in Christ as the sinner's only hope has been largely left out not only the discourses given, but of the religious experience of very many who claim to believe the third angel's message.

The third angel's message calls for the presentation of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment and this truth must be brought before the world.

But the great center of attraction, Jesus Christ, must not be left out of the third angels message.

By many who've been engaged in the work for this time, Christ has been made secondary and theories and arguments have had the first place.

The glory of God that was revealed to Moses in regard to the divine character has not been prominent, But here's the answer.

Hanging upon the cross, the next quote, Christ was the gospel.

This is our message, our argument, our doctrine, our warning to the impenitent, our encouragement for the sorrowing, and the hope for every believer.

Lastly, from 1888 material, she says, The preaching of Christ crucified has been strangely neglected by our people.

Many who claim to believe the truth have no knowledge of faith in Christ by experience, and it is this neglected part of the ministry which will be found the great instrument in the conversion of souls." Now, as Seventh-day Adventist mission-minded Christians, are we looking for the conversion of souls?

She says, the preaching of Christ crucified is essential for this and in leading to a high standard of holiness which every church needs in order to become a living church.

Maybe some of us had attended a church that we would classify as dead.

She says the answer for that too is the preaching of Christ crucified.

And that high standard of holiness, the gospel leads to that as well.

Lastly, she says, there must be a life-giving power in the ministry and life must be infused into the missionaries in every place, that they may go forth giving the trumpet no uncertain sound, but with heaven-sent awakening power, such as can be found only in the preaching of Jesus Christ, his love, his forgiveness, his grace.

The answer we are looking for is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the everlasting gospel.

Now, notice that she ties the importance of the gospel preached to the third angel's message.

Our young people and our older generation desperately need the message of the grace of God and the message of a righteousness that can only be found by faith.

And my charge to the young people this evening, to this senior class, is centered in the importance of this message lived out in the life and in the tongue.

But Charles Spurgeon will often remark to his students, Wherever you begin in your sermon, make tracks as fast as you can to Calvary.

I believe it's found in the everlasting gospel.

We're hearing lots about this, you know, lawless gospel or this cheap grace gospel.

Then we have other gospels apparently that are being shared.

Well, in Matthew chapter 24, Jesus is rather specific.

He says that this gospel will be preached in all the world as a witness and then the end shall come.

Now, this sounds to me as if if we get this part right, then the second thing is going to happen.

So this is the gospel we need to be preaching, the gospel that Jesus was preaching.

Well, he preached of a suffering Messiah and the disciples did not like this at all.

They didn't want to hear anything about a suffering Messiah.

The Old Testament foretold a suffering Messiah.

Jesus on the road to Emmaus was beside himself and the disciples did not understand that the Messiah had to suffer.

And the disciples preached a suffering Messiah after his ascension.

Now, this is all significant because the Gospel in Revelation, the everlasting Gospel in Revelation 14 that goes to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people, the Spirit of Prophecy tells us, is the same gospel that was preached in the Garden of Eden and has been preached throughout salvation history.

Well the first thing we were told is that the Messiah would suffer.

Many pulpits today are preaching a gospel that is heavily centered upon a legal justification, that Jesus died the death that you deserve, and because of this, you now have access to heaven.

Which is true, but we're leaving out a crucial detail that the whole Bible has been screaming is going to happen and did happen.

Jesus had to suffer in everything that we suffer in to be a complete Savior.

And this is where I'd like to go this evening is to explain to you what that looked like.

We're told in 2 Corinthians 5 21 that God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Jesus didn't just have to write a check to pay off the debt of sin, he had to literally become sin and receive the wrath of God towards sin to set us free.

This is the gospel that Jesus referred to.

This is the gospel that the disciples were referring to, and this is a gospel laden throughout the Old Testament.

The sanctuary service was to tell us that a suffering Messiah is coming.

So what does this look like according to Scripture in the spirit of prophecy?

Here's how they depict this, but I want to set the framework here.

Let's imagine that Each of you are standing, let's say that there is such a thing, I don't know if there is a judgment bar of God, if there's an actual seat or whatever it may be, but you're standing before a holy God and a holy law with just 1 of your sins, only 1.

A holy God and a holy law stands before you, you are bearing 1 of your sins and there is no 1 to protect you.

No protection whatsoever, you're standing before a Holy God and a holy law stands before you.

You are bearing 1 of your sins, and there is no 1 to protect you.

You're standing before a holy God and a holy law, and this is when I need your feedback, verbal feedback.

How would you be feeling in this point in time, right before God the Father and a holy law?

Terrified they say it's a great answer any other answers Condemned deplorable, that's a big word anyone else Unworthy how about ashamed Wishing you could change something at that point in time.

It would be absolutely overwhelming, wouldn't it?

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You’re Justified, He’s Satisfied

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