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Hillside O’Malley SDA Church

Faith and Works

David Shin

Faith and Works - Part 1

Father in heaven, we thank you for the opportunity and the privilege that is ours to come apart from the cares of this life as a community of faith to worship you this morning.

We pray that you would speak to our hearts, inspire us by your presence.

For we ask these things in the precious name of Jesus, amen.

On the screen I have a photograph that was taken by the Hubble Telescope of the planet Mars, that is the fourth planet from the sun.

And this was taken when the planet Mars was the closest to the Earth's orbit, still 34 million miles.

And there have been for centuries, individuals that have been interested in the planet Mars and in the last 20 years or so there have been rovers that have been sent to the planet and this is a photograph that is taken of the landscape of the planet of Mars, it's amazing how they can transmit an image from 34 million plus miles away.

And in 1605, Johannes Kepler was studying the planet Mars orbit around the Sun and the math wasn't making any sense.

And he came to the conclusion that the orbit of Mars around the Sun was not a perfect circle, but rather it is an ellipse.

And it came to be known as Kepler's Law of Planetary Motion.

And an ellipse is different than a circle.

You can get 2 tacks and a piece of string and draw an ellipse.

The difference between an ellipse and a circle is that an ellipse centers on 2 central points and a circle centers on 1.

And all of our planets in our solar system circle the sun in a perfect ellipse, centering on 2 central points instead of 1.

1 scholar reflecting on Christian theology has come to the conclusion that much of the theological disagreements in the last 2, 000 years of Christian theology can be solved and reconciled by not centering our theology on 1 central point, but rather on 2.

So this is an ellipse, 2 central points, and I took a class on Christology in my graduate studies, and when you look at the history of thinking on the nature of Christ, you have 2 things that seem to be contradictory.

You have the divinity of Christ and the humanity of Christ.

And when you look at the early thinkers and the theologians, some of them came up with some Gnostic or Docetism teachings, and they said, oh, Jesus is divine, And he just appeared like he was human.

And during the Enlightenment, other individuals came along and said, Jesus was just a human.

Now what do we have if Jesus is just a human?

If Jesus was divine but not human, then the plan of salvation could not work.

And when we come to Christology, we need to have an elliptical approach.

We need to appreciate both the humanity and the divinity and hold them in attention.

And there is mystery and be okay with that.

Then we come to the whole theological thinking and discussion on whether it's about faith or reason.

Is it about the head or is it about the heart?

Is it about knowing God intellectually or is it about the experience?

And people kind of gravitate to 1 pole or the other and sometimes someone will come along and say hey Christianity needs to be intellectual.

We need to know God with our mind and then someone comes along and says no you just need to experience him.

It's about the emotions and the feelings And the Bible brings these together and says, Thou shall love the Lord your God with what?

All your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

You can't say to your wife, honey, I love you intellectually.

It'd be kind of funny to say I love you emotionally but not intellectually.

Okay, so it needs to be both, the heart and the head.

You need some counseling if you're going to do that.

All right, when 1 of the points becomes the circle of truth, we have what we call heresy, a partial truth that becomes a whole error.

Even though each point in the ellipse emphasizes truth worth dying for, arguments will never end until a person accepts the total picture of the truth emphasized in both points.

There's a lot of these types of tensions in scripture.

And we go back and forth on the pendulum.

And in the last 2, 000 years of Christian theology, in my studies, it can be summarized with 1 word, pendulum.

It just goes back and forth in a reactionary biographical theology.

In other words, it's not either or, It's both and.

It's not the humanity or the divinity of Christ.

It's both the humanity and the divinity of Christ.

It's both the head and the heart, and the same is true for faith and works.

Now, I want to be very sensitive this morning because we have, in our own community of faith, a history, and in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, before I was born, there was an emphasis more on the side of works, more legalistic background.

So we have a whole generation of Seventh-day Adventists that are growing up and growing out of a very legalistic background, and I call it spiritual abuse.

And the challenge is that sometimes when I mention the word works, because of the history, It's easy for blood pressure to rise, right?

I mean, how do you feel when you hear the word works?

It's kind of like, and some people break out in hives and hyperventilate, no, I'm just joking.

But you know what I'm saying is that we have this history.

And the challenge is that right now, I believe, in our understanding of the gospel experientially, that many times you have a reactionary theology that goes back and forth.

And that's why my ministerial director said that when you have conservative parents, they have liberal children.

And then when you have liberal parents, sometimes you have conservative children, and that's kind of how it goes back and forth.

Now, when we talk about faith and works, it's important for us to realize, first of all, we're not saved by our works, amen?

We don't believe in meritorious salvation.

We don't earn our way to heaven and The challenge is if we take a works emphasis it becomes legalistic We know that How about if we take a faith emphasis and say works don't have any part of the Christian experience.

We have very extreme versions of this where we say hey we don't have to keep the law anymore we can do whatever we want.

We can kill, steal, commit adultery, anti-nominalism.

Nominalism, can't say it right but you know what I'm talking about.

And then you have a faith emphasis to the negation of works, but the important thing, just like the humanity and the divinity of Christ, is to realize that there is a relationship between each 1.

In other words, if you let God work in your life, there will be a visible change.

There will be a visible change, and we'll be talking more about that.

So today, We are talking about biblical balance, and we use this in our children's story this morning about this gentleman that walked across the tightrope using a pole, a 38-foot pole that he used to walk across the twin towers, or on a cable between the 2 twin towers.

He had both sides, on both sides of the cable, an equal amount of the pole.

And That tension helped him stay right in the middle in My second presentation.

I'll be talking about the biblical concept of balance very difficult to achieve It is a tightrope the devil doesn't mind He wants us to fall off on the right side or the left But there is a tension between these 2 realities to help us in our Christian experience No, there's grace through the whole experience I think my biographical history of my Christian experience has been a pendulum swinging back and forth depending on the experiences that I've had and By the grace of God he can help us to stay centered in Christ.

That's what he wants us to do so for the next 3 weeks Actually caveat on that.

This is the first part of a 3 part series and then next Sabbath we have a Mother's Day special.

We have our men cooking for us for our fellowship meal and we'll have a special Mother's Day service put on by our Sabbath school divisions and I'll be preaching a sermon, Mothers in Israel or something along those lines.

And then I'll have the second part of our series on faith and Works on May 19 and then May 26.

So it'll be a three-part series on faith and works, a theological reflection on that.

And let's go very quickly and define our terms.

We're talking about faith in what God and Jesus does for us and what Jesus does in us.

It is what Jesus does for us and what Jesus does in us.

Psalms 32, verse 1, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered.

If you find a naked, dirty baby in Anchorage, what do you do?

You cover, and then you take the baby back home, and then you give the baby a bath.

Faith and Works - Part 2

Father in heaven, Lord, we have been blessed already with this worship service as we've heard the songs and the praises that have gone up to the throne of grace.

And we pray that that blessing would continue as we open Your holy Word.

We pray that You would speak to us, that the Holy Spirit, the divine Teacher, would attend us this morning, guide our thoughts and our minds, for We ask these things in the precious name of Jesus.

This morning, I invite you to open your Bibles to Revelation chapter 13, Revelation chapter 13 verse 1, Revelation chapter 13 verse 1, and the Bible indicates that there is a final conflict that is going to come upon us before Jesus comes the second time.

Revelation chapter 13, verse 1, then I stood on the sand of the sea, and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having 7 heads and 10 horns, and on his horns 10 crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.

Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth was like the mouth of a lion, And the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.

Here's a artist's depiction of the beast.

Like I said during the children's story, this is not a beast that you see in your local zoo.

You don't find a seven-headed beast anywhere.

And it has these characteristics, the lion, the bear, and the leopard.

And interestingly enough, if you want to see a parallel chapter to this, read Daniel chapter 7, because you see the exact same animals in reverse order in Daniel chapter 7.

1 scholar said that Daniel is looking forward and John is looking backwards.

But this is an amalgamated beast comprised of all of these pagan powers in Daniel chapter 7.

This beast is a sea beast, and the Bible indicates who gave this beast his power.

The dragon gives this beast his power, and later on in Revelation chapter 13, it indicates that the dragon is none other than the serpent and Satan.

So ultimately behind this beast is the devil.

And I saw 1 of his heads and it had been mortally wounded and his deadly wound was healed and all the world marveled and followed the beast." So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast and they worshiped the beast saying who is like the beast who is able to make war with him.

This is a prophecy that is coming to fruition right now.

There is a beast power that all the world is wondering after and worshiping.

And then in Revelation chapter 13, verse 11, this is the Clifton version, by the way, there is another beast that comes up out of the sea, in verse 11, then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth.

So you have a sea beast and a land beast, and he had 2 horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon, and he exercises all authority of the first beast in the presence and causes the earth and those who dwell on it to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed.

The Bible indicates that in the end of time there will be 2 world superpowers.

And these 2 world superpowers will join together and it says that the second beast will cause people to worship the first beast.

Now I read an interesting article a number of years ago when I was going through seminary and it was written during the 1970s and it indicated that our understanding of Revelation chapter 13 should be Reinterpreted because there was no way that in the end there would be 2 world superpowers because of communism and It's interesting because right now this interpretation of Revelation chapter 13 is more accurate than ever.

When we go Down to verse 13, it says, he performs great signs so that he even makes fire come down from heaven in the sight of men, and he deceives those who dwell on the earth by the signs of those who are granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.

He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as who would not worship the image of the beast to be what?

Now, in summary, this is what's going to take place.

In the end of time, worship is going to be a key issue.

Everyone is going to be worshipping someone.

Everyone is going to be spiritual in the sense that worship is going to be taking place.

The Bible indicates that all the world will be worshipping this beast.

And if you don't worship the beast, there will be fear tactics that will be put into place, that you will not be able to buy or sell, or ultimately there'll be a death penalty if you don't worship.

That's what the Bible indicates in Revelation chapter 13.

So there's fear, there's worship, and there's a host of individuals, a universal movement to give glory to this beast.

Now this is the context in which Revelation chapter 14 plays a role.

So skip 1 chapter over or just turn 1 chapter over to Revelation chapter 14, while this is taking place, while there is a convergence, a unity that is taking place in the world, there is a final message that is to go to the world before Jesus comes.

In Revelation chapter 14, verse 6, this is known as the first angel's message.

Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment has come and worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water." Notice that this message is to go to how many people?

So while there is a unity taking place on 1 side, a false type of unity centered around beast worship, the Bible calls people to worship the Creator.

And notice the sequence of how this takes place.

It says, fear God, give glory to him, and worship him.

It's interesting because in Revelation chapter 13, there's fear of the beast, there's giving glory to the beast, and there's worshiping the beast.

But in Revelation chapter 14, God is calling for a message to worship the creator, to give glory to him, and to fear God." I'd like to go through each 1 of these verbs this morning as we unpack the first angel's message.

I wondered in my study this week why this didn't begin with love God, but it begins with fear God.

And when you unpack it a little bit more, here it is in the Andrews Study Bible.

It says, fearing God means to revere, and I've highlighted the second 1, to respect and hold in awe.

The emphasis of the first angel's message seems to indicate by implication that there will be a lack of respect for God in the end of time.

Just by the emphasis of this, to respect God.

It says it's a feeling of deep admiration for someone.

Respect means to demonstrate high regard for someone.

Now, this is an emotion, a feeling of admiration, respect for God.

I have in my library a book that I highly recommend for married couples.

Oh, it's a great book, highly recommended for all married couples.

And it is on this notion that what women want and desire in a relationship, according to this book, is love.

And according to him, when a woman feels unloved, how does she respond?

And how does a man respond when he is disrespected?

It's fascinating because I watched a seminar by this doctor, and he said that when you ask a man whether his wife loves him, there's no question usually.

They say, oh, my wife loves me, I have no question about that.

But when you ask the man, does your wife respect you, They're like, they have to think about that.

And sometimes they say, oh, I don't think so.

Now, there can be arguments made each way.

This is not indicating that women do not want to be respected.

But from an emotional standpoint, it's interesting.

It says, his love, according to the book, his love, the husband's love motivates her respect, her respect motivates his love.

And he gives an account of how this relationship is spiraling out of control, And so the wife decides that she's going to stop the vicious cycle and she writes a card to her husband and says honey I want to let you know I Respect you Whoa, so he takes that card and goes to his wife.

Did you really mean that and He he talks about how that caused him to be motivated to love or to act out in love to his wife.

And it's interesting in Ephesians 5, verse 23, so each husband should love his wife as much as he loves himself.

Faith and Works - Part 3

I want to invite you, as we do a brief review this morning, to open our Bibles to Revelation chapter 13.

Revelation chapter 13, as we set the context for the first angel's message, the political context at least, Revelation chapter 13 verse 1.

The Bible says, "...and I stood on the sand of the sea and I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having 7 heads and 10 horns and on his horns 10 crowns and on his heads a blasphemous name.

Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth was like the mouth of a lion, and the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.

The Bible depicts in the book of Revelation a world power that will emerge.

This world power is symbolized by this artist's depiction of the beast power.

Revelation chapter 13, this is a symbol, This is not a literal beast that you find in the Alaska Zoo It has 7 heads 10 horns 4 different beasts It's a composite beast and just for reference you can find all of these beasts in the book of Daniel, Daniel chapter 7.

And the Bible indicates that this beast will be worshiped.

Go to verse 2, now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, his mouth was like the mouth of a lion, and the dragon gave him his power, his throne and great authority.

And I saw 1 of his heads as it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed, and all the world marveled and followed the beast.

The Bible indicates that this beast power will reemerge on the world scene and will be worshiped.

It says all who dwell on the earth will do what?

Will worship him whose names have not been written in the Lamb's book of life, slain from the foundation of the world.

Later on in the book of Revelation, it tells us about the mark of the beast which will be enforced.

So this beast will be worshipped, it will be feared, and there will be a concerted world movement to bring this beast power into preeminence in the end of time.

Now when we go to Revelation chapter 14, we see another message that emerges.

Revelation chapter 14, verse 6, we saw this last Sabbath, that I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, fear God, give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come, and worship Him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the springs of water.

Revelation chapter 13, they worship the beast.

They give glory to the beast, and they fear the beast.

But in Revelation chapter 14, verse 6, there's another message to worship the Creator, to fear God, and to give glory to Him.

These are the 2 opposing messages that are going to emerge in the end of time, and you can see that this angel is holding in his hand the everlasting gospel.

And the message that is to be proclaimed is to fear God, and as we said last Sabbath, the Andrews Study Bible cites saying that fear God means to respect God and give glory to Him and worship the Creator.

Now there is this tension in theology between God's part and man's part.

And as was illustrated today by our children's story, there tends to be a pendulum that swings back and forth between these 2 seemingly contradictory ideas in Scripture.

We have an emphasis on God's part and an emphasis on man's part.

And when you look at the last 2, 000 years of Christian theology, there has been 2 opposite poles, 1 emphasizing what God does for us, and the other side emphasizing human works and human merit.

On this side, 1 illustration of this is the notion or the idea of predestination.

God chooses who's gonna be saved and who's going to be lost.

Man's part is completely taken out of the equation.

And then on this side, you have more of an emphasis on man's part, our friends, the Roman Catholics.

In other words, what we do earns us credit towards salvation.

When you choose, there's little merit, as was evidenced by Erasmus when he was writing his letter to Luther back in the 16th century.

When we choose God, do we get the credit?

And That was the argument that Erasmus was making at the heart of the gospel according to the Roman Catholics.

John Wesley comes along and he brings this beautiful synthesis between these 2 and he comes up with this idea of prevenient grace.

Woodrow Wilson, who's retired now from Andrews University, the religion department.

He says, on prevenient grace, sinners do not naturally seek for God, but that he earnestly seeks for them to come into a redemptive relationship with him.

Such gracious seeking creates a proto-renewal which enables the convicted soul to respond to God's redemptive offer.

In a nutshell, prevenient grace is this idea that we are in so need of help that we can't even choose without God's help.

It's this idea that God's grace comes to every person and vivifies our nature so that we can choose.

So that when we do choose, God gets all of the credit.

So what John Wesley was able to do was preserve human choice and yet give all the credit to God.

What a beautiful concept, a biblical concept.

Now, when we look at the first angel's message, it's interesting, And I scratched my head when I was studying this from a certain hermeneutic of letting the Bible speak.

Here we have the everlasting gospel by implication.

That's God's part, what God does in and through and for us.

The angel is carrying the everlasting gospel.

But look at the emphasis of what the angel is saying.

Who's the 1 that's supposed to give glory to Him?

Who's the 1 that's supposed to worship Him?

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Series

Faith and Works

Faith and Works - Part 2

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Bold Hospitality

46m

Jonathan Walter Weekend

Driven by a Higher Loyalty - Step aside, Star Trek

1h 2m

The Characteristics and Titles of Jesus

Jesus: The Creator

45m

Who In the World Would Want Us?

46m

Morning Devotional

Nevertheless

41m

The Two Witnesses of the Two Witnesses

42m

The Summer Of Me

The Summer Of Me- Part 1

41m

Morning Devotional

Surveying the Cross: The Power

49m

The Cross and the Super Bowl

40m

Why Does God Allow Difficult Trials?

43m

Plenary Meetings

Humble and Proud Of It

1h 17m

The Lord’s Prayer

37m

Sound Doctrine