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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Derrick Williamson

The Science of Faith

I'm glad to be back here with you again at Advent Hope.

Last time I was here, it was a different setting than this.

We were out at the Pine Springs Ranch there having the Advent Hope weekend retreat there, and it was a good experience.

We got some preparation for the end of times.

I remember huddling underneath all the clothes and sleeping bag that I had as it was 40 degrees, shimmering and shaking like, Lord I got to speak tomorrow and getting about an hour or so of sleep.

And I just thank God that He gives you strength when you need it, amen?

And today, as many of you are probably sleeping or just getting up and having breakfast on your way over here to be here on time, We were making a mad dash all the way across from Glendale.

I was able to actually get to Glendale last night.

I'm coming to you at this moment from Simi Valley, California.

And it's quite a drive, but it's good to be here.

And you should have seen the wave of relief that came upon Carlos' faith as he saw me come in.

I've been coordinating with him and he was not sure that I was gonna be able to make it today and it's good to be here with you.

As has been mentioned, I teach at Souls West.

It's a leadership and evangelism training institution of the Pacific Union.

And also during the summertime, we get to be a part of 1 of our biggest evangelism thrusts that we call the Youth Rush Program.

As a matter of fact, we have several students that I didn't know had joined us from the Southern California Conference, Southeastern California Conference Youth Rush, and I'm coming from Southern California, where we take and have students that come from all over Southern California and Southeastern California and even other parts of the states, and for 10 weeks, they go door to door, leading literature with people, especially books like The Great Controversy.

And it's very interesting, we've been having some very particularly interesting experiences with The Great Conversy here lately.

I can recall just the last 2 weeks that we've got great conversations to, I can remember a Catholic priest, a person self-proclaimed neo-pagan, I don't even know what that is, to several Protestant ministers of different types of denominations and to a Muslim lady here recently got a great connoissee knowing that we're Seventh Day Adventists and to a special experience for most call putters we got great connoissees to some Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons.

And, you know, they are kind of like our holy rivals that we war against.

So, you know, when you get your message book into their hands, it just makes you really excited.

Today is a day that I'm very excited for because I get to talk about something that I love.

You know, it's also a blessing to add this, that in today's economy, I get to do a work that I love, a work that makes a big impact and difference every day, and guess what, I get paid to do it.

You know, to work with young people and spread the truth that changed my life.

8 years ago, I had a experience where I was saved miraculously by the grace of God, and it was the book Steps to Christ that made the difference in my life and now for 8 years I've been a part of a ministry that I coordinate either myself or the hundreds of students underneath me passing out thousands of Steps to Christ every single summer And if there's just 1 other Derek out there that will read that book and become an active member in the Seventh-day Adventist Church And become an evangelist.

Amen Today we're going to go to the basics of our faith and that is to actually look at what is faith And how is it?

What does it look like in the life of a righteous person?

And before we do that and open up the Word of God I want to add a short word of prayer for the Holy Spirit to instruct us.

Gracious Father in heaven we come to you this morning as sinners.

We have nothing by which we can approach your throne except that you and your infinite mercy sent your son to redeem us the moment sin came into existence.

And I just pray that you will step in here today, Lord, and speak to those that need to hear this message.

Some need to accept it and to be changed by others, need to just be strengthened and encouraged.

Lord, I don't know what that, who they are and how to do that.

So I just plead for you, the all-seeing and all-powerful and all-knowing God to step in and do that for us.

Why would we talk about what is faith and how does it affect a person, a righteous person?

Well, Jesus in Luke chapter 18, ask a very interesting question.

If you'll turn with me there to Luke chapter 18.

Jesus has just finished speaking parabolically about the unjust judge and the widowed woman.

And in summary, I'm not going to read this parable, but basically this woman comes to an unjust judge that says he neither feared God nor man, and she pressed her petition to be avenged of her enemies to this judge.

And he said, I'm not gonna do it, I'm not gonna do it, I'm not gonna do it.

And finally, as she continually pressed before the judge, he says, I'm going to avenge her unless she worries me.

So what was the motivation for him taking action to do something that was not out of fear for God or for man to help someone, it was simply he was tired of being pestered.

But it goes on and says that, And shall not God, verse 7, avenge his own elect that cry after him day and night?

So God's elect are to be crying out to him how often?

But he ends in verse 11 or 8 and he says I tell you that he God will avenge them speedily But notice the question that he brings to pass here Nevertheless when the Son of Man comes will he find faith on the earth?

If Jesus thought it important to ask the question, I think it's important we address it, don't you?

And I want to tell you that the most hopeful of us here today need to be careful, and we must be very watchful, because there are forces in play at this very moment, ever increasing in number and strength to misplace, displace and replace our faith in the word of God and the God of truth.

You can read about it and I encourage you to do that.

Go home and pick up a book called Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers.

It's a chapter or a section of a chapter entitled The Snares of Satan, page I believe 472.

Where Satan, the prophet is given an opportunity to listen in on Satan's devices and plan and his counsel on how, and it says, specifically to overthrow the faith of those calling attention to the Sabbath.

People who are calling attention to the Sabbath.

And she goes on and says the reason why is because the same light which reveals the true biblical Sabbath reveals Christ's last work of man's redemption in the heavenly sanctuary.

And he wants to hold our minds from looking to that.

Testimonies of Ministers Gospel Workers page 472.

And it's very interesting look with me here in Revelation chapter 14 We read this verse in the sabbatical class.

1 of the defining characteristics of God's faithful remnant, Revelation 14 12, is simply, it says, here are they that do what?

Keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.

Do you wanna have the faith of Jesus today?

I've made it a point here just recently as I've been studying this issue of faith to plead with God to give me the faith of Jesus I want to have the faith of Jesus Amen because it identifies right here in the revelation of Jesus Christ the last book of the Bible that the people that are going to be in the remnant have the faith of Jesus.

So I think it would be good if we could look back and see how Jesus identified and treated faith.

And as you're turning there, it's very interesting that if I were to do a survey and ask the members in this audience or just a Christian audience in general, what is faith?

Well, faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things unseen.

Faith is knowing that God is going to pull you through when everything's against you.

Faith is just trusting that God is going to get you through this situation.

We might even as Adventists start quoting some things and say, you know that Faith is taking God seriously and doing what he says.

The problem is they're not entirely true.

They don't have the fullness of the faith.

Well, as a matter of fact, as Adventists, we often have a definition of faith, but sometimes, and I know myself until here recently, I didn't even grasp the full idea behind it.

And I wanted to go and see what Jesus had to say about it.

We're going to read through this rather quickly.

In verse 5 it says, And when Jesus had entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion beseeching him.

And he said, Lord, my servant lies at home sick of palsy, grievously tormented.

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