Humanity is inside a “Box” of rock-solid limitations. In order to understand reality and live effectively, we need Revelation from outside the “Box.” But “the Box” is not empty! Reality consists of natural and supernatural. Understanding reality helps us recognize why science often doesn’t agree with the Bible. How can science and math help us better understand God and His incredible creative power? Our purpose is to point to Jesus through science and Scripture!

ASI 2017: Called. Chosen. Committed.

<p>Humanity is inside a “Box” of rock-solid limitations. In order to understand reality and live effectively, we need Revelation from outside the “Box.” But “the Box” is not empty! Reality consists of natural and supernatural. Understanding reality helps us recognize why science often doesn’t agree with the Bible. How can science and math help us better understand God and His incredible creative power? Our purpose is to point to Jesus through science and Scripture!</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

1-Defending the Faith

Cindy Tutsch

Ellen White and Her End-Time Relevance

Father, we thank you so much for Jesus, that he lived and died and rose again and now is engaged in this beautiful ministry in the most holy place of the sanctuary.

I pray that today our hearts will be knitted together as believers in Jesus and in his soon coming, and that we will understand the urgency of the times in which we live, and ask you by your grace, under your instruction, to teach us what we should be doing in earth's last hour.

Thank you for each person that's here and I pray most of all that your Holy Spirit will be present among us.

So I love the spiritual that the King's Heralds used to sing.

If you ever needed the Lord before, You sure do need him now.

So, do you think we're living in the last days?

Some recent images that come into my mind include the unprecedented political polarization, the willingness of nearly the entire world to call the Pope the spokesperson for not just Christianity but for world morality.

The increasing willingness of Americans to trade off civil liberties for security at whatever cost, the disregard of humanity for Earth's resources and for the poor, wars, tyranny, terrorism, abuse, terrible violations of human rights, violence in our US cities and around the world, LGBT sexual activity mainstreamed, unlawed in the media and entertainment, and Supreme Court decisions, such as the Trinity Lutheran ruling on June 26, 2017, that blew a huge hole in the wall between church and state.

If we ever needed the Lord before, we sure do need him now.

And apparently journalists are wondering, what's going on in our world?

The cover of Newsweek some time ago said, apocalypse now, tsunamis, earthquakes, nuclear meltdowns, revolutions, what's next?

Well, we know what's next, the coming of Jesus.

In Time magazine said, the decline and fall of Europe and maybe the West.

In the Times of Israel posted online the gloom and doom of Brexit.

We have to mention the systematic continuation of black Americans being unjustly targeted and killed by authorities along with the equally wrongful retaliation perpetrated on peace protecting police officers.

So what is the role of a prophet in a time of crisis?

According to Revelation chapter 1 verse 1, prophets receive messages from God to give to the people.

Let's look at how the prophet receives these messages.

The Trinity passes the messages on to the angel who gives the message to the prophet, and the prophet passes the messages to the people, that is to us.

So prophets open our eyes to help us see our potential, our calling, our purpose as God sees it at this time of earth's history.

The work of a prophet is to open our eyes so that we can see where Jesus is active.

We can see what God is doing, what he will do, and best of all, the kind of people that he wants us to be at this time of earth's history.

Because he wants us to be effective witnesses today.

Some prophets give us a peek at eschatological or last day events.

Some prophets also predict future events.

In 2 Kings 7, verse 17 we read that everything happened exactly as the man of God had predicted.

And let's also note Daniel 10, verse 14, the angel told the prophet Daniel, now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days.

We want to know what's going to happen to God's people in the latter days.

So today we're going to see how the prophets open our eyes to see what God is doing right now to wake us up so we don't sleep through the greatest crisis this world has ever seen.

And by the way, as we get closer and nearer and understand who Jesus is in greater ways through his prophets and through his spirit and we respond to his invitation to get involved in kingdom work because we recognize the urgency of the times in which we live?

We've heard some of those testimonies already, haven't we, just since we've been here at ASI.

And you know this in your own life, that God has adventures and opportunities and divine appointments that are just beyond what we could imagine.

And let's remember, God hopes to mobilize an inclusive church.

God is looking to empower a gender-inclusive, race-inclusive, age-inclusive movement.

God empowers us not just to witness in these end times, all as essential as that is, but to personal holiness.

Now holiness isn't exactly a hot topic among Christians today, but Jesus calls us, all of us, to confess our pride, our materialism, our addictions, be those addictions alcoholism or pornography or eating disorders or obsession with the internet or obsession even with work.

God calls us to confess and forsake our addictions and to live passionately and radically for him.

So what does possessing a good character have to do with last day events?

Well, just before Jesus comes, the population is going to be divided into just 2 groups.

Those who have the seal of God, and those who have the mark of the beast.

And as we move into this presentation on who receives the mark of the beast, I want to say something particularly to those of you who may be listening on AudioVerse, whose religious background may not be Seventh-day Adventists.

I may quote something today that you will find intriguing or even disturbing or maybe challenging to the belief system that you have held all of your life.

And if that is the case, I'd like to invite you to dialogue with these issues with a Seventh-day Adventist pastor or just spend a little extra time in your Bible, particularly the books of Daniel and Revelation, may be concurrent with the last 10 chapters of the book, The Great Controversy by Ellen G.

In our discussion of last day events today, we're going to be reminded that there are organizations, there are systems through which Satan accomplishes his deceptions.

But there are honest, hearted individuals, believers we can say, within those systems.

Isaiah 56, 7, these, in other words, these honest believers and other faith communities, I will bring to my holy mountain.

And I will make them joyful in my house of prayer.

For my house of prayer shall be called a house of prayer for how many people?

So where is God going to bring these believers that are currently in other churches?

He's going to bring them into 1 faith, 1 fold, 1 baptism according to Ephesians 4-5.

And how does God call his people out of Babylon, out of these other belief systems?

We are his agents to give the loud cry, to come out of Babylon, to come out of doctrinal confusion.

And I heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins and lest you receive of her plagues.

And according to John chapter 16, verse 13, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit will ultimately guide his people into truth, into biblical truth, and out of organizations and systems and faith communities which deny biblical truth.

And by the way, the heart of the discussion of last day events is not exactly when a national or a universal Sunday Law will occur.

It's not a superficial excitement over the latest novel interpretation of Daniel 11, even though the study of Revelation and the study of Daniel is essential for God's people in this time.

But the focus is a deep commitment of heart and mind and soul to Jesus who died for us.

It's loving the lost as Jesus loved them and reaching out with him in his redemptive mission.

So, okay, let's return to our 2 groups into which the whole world is divided just before the coming of Jesus.

In Revelation 9, we find mention of the group who receive the seal of God.

Revelation 9, 4, they were told not to hurt the grass or the plants or the trees, but to attack all the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

And The seal of God is also the theme of Ezekiel 9, verses 1-6.

According to Exodus 20, verses 8-11 and 31, verses 12-17, we are reminded that the elements of a seal are contained within the fourth commandment.

The creator of heaven and earth, his area of jurisdiction, heaven, earth.

Thus those who would have the seal of God in their foreheads must keep the Sabbath of the fourth commandment.

The fourth commandment alone of all the 10 contains the seal of the great lawgiver, the creator of the heavens and the earth.

The Sabbath draws a separating line between us and the world, not faintly but in plain distinct colors.

To those who have received the light of the truth, the Sabbath is a test.

It's not a human requirement, but God's test.

It will distinguish between those who serve God and those who serve him not.

The Sabbath, will come the last great conflict between truth and error.

All who profess to keep God's laws should stand united in the sacred observance of the Holy Sabbath.

And what will be the spiritual condition of those who receive the seal of God's approval?

Those who overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil will be the favored ones who shall receive the seal of the living God.

Is that even a possibility in today's culture?

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

All God's biddings are enablings, Yes, and we can cooperate with him by avoiding reading, seeing, or hearing that which will suggest impure thoughts.

The seal of the living God will be placed upon those only who bear a likeness to Christ in character.

So if you're listening to this presentation today on Audioverse, I'm not sharing where this is found, but I'm giving them my presentation.

Mark Finley

The Authority of the Scriptures

We're delighted that each of you are here to study on the authority of scriptures.

Larry Bogus, a dear friend, president of the West Virginia Conference, and Mike Hewitt, the secretary of the conference, introduced the class.

I have a special affinity for them because we just have hosted all the pastors from the West Virginia Conference at our Living Hope School of Evangelism.

They came for a number of days and we studied evangelism and its practices.

At the Living Hope School of Evangelism we have 3 kinds of seminars that take place.

We have what we call the Sunday Seminar where area churches come in, they study from 9 to 5 o'clock on things like lay Bible instruction, maybe 1 Sunday, another Sunday they'll study health evangelism, another Sunday how to reach former Seventh-day Adventist.

Then we have a 5 to seven-day seminar where pastors bring their lay people or pastors come in.

And we study principles of church growth and evangelism.

Then every summer we have an academic program where we teach graduate students the varying topics.

They are taking a master's degree in religion and specifically in evangelism.

These students, this summer I was studying with them the Book of Acts.

I was telling some of you earlier, I told my students this summer, there are Only 2 questions on the final exam, that's all in the book of Acts, just 2 questions.

Question number 1, tell me in specific detail what's in every chapter of the book of Acts.

Question number 2, tell me what that means in your life and how that's going to change your ministry.

So 1 of my students was a CPA and he said, the last exam I took that was this tough was my CPA exam and it took me 4 hours to write it.

So I will not give you that exam at the end of this class.

When I attend a seminar I like to know a little bit about the seminar itself and I have really 3 objectives in this particular seminar.

Objective number 1 is to create greater confidence in your heart in the Word of God.

Whatever your confidence is when you came into class, I want you to leave with greater confidence in both the integrity, the clarity, the purity, and the authority of the Word of God.

Second thing is I want you to have some general understanding of the issues that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is facing today in the authority of the Word of God.

We are facing some incredibly complex and very important issues.

Thirdly, I want to try to put in your hands a few effective tools so that your own Bible study will be more effective for you.

So with that background, let's dive right into our subject.

Most of you when you came in received a study guide and I'm going to ask Mike to go to the back of the room so that as people come in they can get 1.

Is there anybody that does not have a study guide?

It will be very helpful to you as you go through the seminar together.

I'm going to move quite quickly as we go through the material.

But if you have a study guide in your hand, you will be able to follow along.

Some of you may want to write different notes in your study guide.

The study guide is not an exhaustive manual on what we are going to present today, but it does give you an outline and I will point out certain things in the study guide as we go.

The authority of Scripture has become a major issue today, not only in Christianity in general, but surprisingly enough in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Now the question that some people are going to raise is this, isn't the Bible as the basis of authority rather a given in the Adventist church?

Why would we even have a seminar on the authority of the Bible?

It's really remarkable that a denomination that is based on the Bible as its foundation of faith and the reason for its existence is even conducting a seminar on the authority of the Bible.

But we find that there are inroads being made and questions are being asked on the authority and the role of the Bible that are pretty serious.

For example, should the Bible be the final authority on matters of lifestyle, in all matters of belief?

Is the Bible reliable only when it speaks about subjects of salvation or its statements on creation, morality, marriage, divorce, history, science?

What role do social or cultural factors play in shaping the biblical text?

In other words, is the Bible largely a cultural document that reflects the culture of its time?

We need to take a look at some of those questions.

Now more importantly, what difference does all this make in the life of the church?

How does the authority of Scripture really impact our lives?

Is this an academic exercise or does it make practical difference in how we view Scripture?

Now we're going to look at all of this in 7 different parts.

We're going to look at the Bible's own claims for its authority.

What does the Bible say about its own authority?

Then we're going to look at Jesus' claims on the authority of Scripture.

Then we'll look at the Protestant Reformation and its claims on the authority of Scripture.

We'll look at early Adventists and their belief in the authority of Scripture.

And then we'll look at history, science, and lifestyle and how that relates and impacts the authority of Scripture.

Then I want to take a very serious look at some limitations in certain methods of Bible study that are being promoted today.

We're going to take a look at some of the limitations in those methods and I want you to understand some of the pitfalls of them.

And then lastly, we'll look at some of the principles for genuine Bible study and how to get the most out of the Bible.

If you have your Bible with you, I really hope that you'll be able to follow along because we're going to look at a lot of texts.

It's hard to really get into the authority of the Bible and not get into the Bible, right?

So let's look at section 1 and you'll find this in your study guide, the Bible's claims regarding its own authority.

In more than 3, 000 places, the Bible claims to be inspired by God.

Expression after expression are like this, and the Lord said, God spoke through the prophets, the Lord declared.

Take your Bible and turn to Isaiah chapter 43 through 45.

In fact, they appear more than 3, 000 times in the Bible.

Isaiah 43, We're looking at the Bible's own claims about its authority.

Isaiah 43 verse 1, but now says the Lord.

So when Isaiah wrote Isaiah 43, who did he believe God was speaking through?

He didn't believe that these were his words.

He didn't believe that they were merely shaped by a Israeli culture.

Thus says the Lord who made you, again, same expression.

You look at Isaiah chapter 45, thus says the Lord, he is anointed.

So when the Bible writers wrote, they believed that they were writing down the authoritative Word, the eternal Word of God.

Now when you find this both in the Old and New Testament, Take your Bible and turn to 2 Peter 1.

It's a very familiar passage, but I want to look at it with new eyes.

I want to look at it with a fresh look today.

You recognize that the New Testament was written in the Greek language.

And there's an expression in 2 Peter 1, verse 21, that is often overlooked.

Now the text as it reads in the New King James Version, and King James says something very much like this.

It says in 2 Peter 1, verse 21, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." So obviously what Peter is saying is that the writers of the Bible did not write merely with the context of their own background or the context of their own will.

That they were guided, directed, and moved by the Holy Spirit.

But there's a nuance in that passage that sometimes we overlook.

You see, look at verse 21 again, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God.

The question is, does the expression of God modify men, where it says holy men of God, or should that expression come after the word spoke?

I believe that it should come after the word spoke.

Of in that passage is better translated from, And if you do it that way, it's much stronger in the text.

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation.

Ron Duffield

Righteous by Faith- Seeing Further than Martin Luther

Father, we thank you for the opportunity to be here at ASI.

And Lord, we recognize that your work is continuing around the world and we pray your blessing on every ministry that's represented here.

But Lord, we also ask that you will open our minds to this thought, the message of Christ our righteousness and the importance that it will play in the final scenes in earth's history.

Lord, please bless us today, open our ears to hear and give me the words I pray to speak.

So we're going to start with Martin Luther here and a lot of what I'm quoting from you'll find in the Great Controversy or other places where Ellen White talks about the Reformation.

And so we're just going to start, cover a little bit of the Reformation and then come into Adventist history as well and see if we can carry this theme all the way through.

Ellen White said in Great Controversy, she wrote this 1888 edition, there was a present truth in the days of Luther, a truth that time of special importance, at that time of special importance.

There is a present truth for the church today, but truth is no more desired by the majority today than it was by the papists who opposed Luther.

And you know, this is really the great controversy.

It's Satan who wants to misrepresent God, And that's why the topic of righteousness by faith has always been a debated topic, and that's because the devil wants to stir up strife and hatred and confusion.

Desire of Ages, I was looking up for this quote this morning, the principle that man can save himself by his own works lay at the foundation of every heathen religion.

Wherever it is held, men have no barrier against sin.

So wherever there is a religion or whenever we feel somehow that we have within us the power to save ourselves, there's no barrier against sin because we are incapable of overcoming that nature that all of us has.

And of course this was the case in Luther's day, Luther never meant to start a reformation against the church, he wanted just to reform the church itself.

And of course there was an antagonism against his message because he was speaking against the mores that had lasted, that had been going on for, you know, nearly what a thousand years in those dark ages.

But notice here, Luther didn't come fully out of that darkness of the dark ages in that 1 generation, but he did, of course, present light and live up to the light that he understood.

Unfortunately, now this is a normal piece in a manuscript written in the 1940s.

Unfortunately, Luther allowed or followed Augustine rather than Paul in his teaching of predestination, freedom of will, and kindred doctrines.

The middle of the 16th century found Therefore 2 dominant Protestant schools of thought in Europe, Lutheranism and Calvinism, both were striving to emancipate thousands from the bondage of medieval Catholicism and both were defending violently certain scriptural doctrines.

Both systems, however, possessed glaring weaknesses.

And so we have to recognize today, although we're not throwing stones at Luther or other reformers, They did not have all the light there is in the Scripture, but they were moving away from the darkness there in the dark ages.

This is what Ellen White says in regard to this topic.

She says, the Reformation did not, as many suppose, end with Luther.

It is to be continued to the close of this world's history.

Luther had a great work to do in reflecting to others the light which God had permitted to shine upon him, yet he did not receive all the light which was to be given to the world.

From that time to this, " and she's speaking in 1888, a new light has been continually shining upon the scriptures and new truths have been constantly unfolding.

And so, simply here put, it just means that Martin Luther was a great reformer, but he did not have all the light there was to find in the Scriptures.

But not only that, there was a tendency to not want to move beyond the reformer, And this is often the case.

Now, these are principles that we should learn today because sometimes we're slow to move ahead beyond our fathers, so to speak.

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Series

1-Defending the Faith

Jesus and Science

Transcript

Description

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Parts

Ellen White and Her End-Time Relevance

1h 11m

The Authority of the Scriptures

1h 15m

Righteous by Faith- Seeing Further than Martin Luther

1h 17m

Jesus and Science

1h 16m

Sound Doctrine