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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Being True to Our Trust

Mark Howard

The Law of the Lord is Perfect

It was mentioned that I have served as the director of the Emanuel Institute, which is a late training program in our conference.

In addition to that, and many of you are aware of this, I work as the associate director for our Sabbath School and Personal Ministries Department in the Michigan Conference with Pastor Cameron DeVasier.

And we're really thrilled with what Advent Hope has been doing and continues to do as a Sabbath school.

Now this weekend, as you can see on the screen, the theme that I've chosen to speak on is being true to our trust.

And I'll explain a little bit more about that after a word of prayer.

I'm gonna ask if you would bow your heads, I'd like to kneel and ask God to bless our time in his word tonight.

Gracious Father in heaven, we are thankful for the Sabbath, a time to come aside and find spiritual rest, rest unto our souls.

Lord Jesus, you've invited us to come unto you and learn of you.

And I pray that that would be the result of the time we spend this weekend.

I pray that your spirit would open our understanding, especially Lord in the times that we're living in, I pray that you would give each 1 here, myself included, a genuine spiritual experience with you and not just a hollow form that has been so prevalent throughout the history of your church.

I pray now Lord that you would give us ears to hear and hearts to respond or we ask it in Jesus name amen.

So this weekend I need to let you know that there are 3 messages that I have chosen to speak on, let me back up a little bit.

So, trying to remember here, Last fall in Michigan, I was asked to present at 1 of our conference events called our High C Weekend, which is where we invite public high school students to come for a retreat at our camp.

And I'll be honest with you, we had a lot going on at the time and I was reluctant to do it and I actually told the campus director, look, you might wanna find somebody else.

And he said, no, no, no, we've been praying about this.

And I said, OK, listen, I'll pray about it.

And if the Lord brings something to mind, and I don't know how many of you do any kind of speaking in church or whatever kind of leading out, but especially speaking, I don't like to just, the pulpit is not a place for my soapbox.

It's a place for the Word of the Lord to be preached.

And so I don't like to just pick what I want.

And it was Thursday afternoon I was asked to speak.

And Sabbath afternoon, I just had the whole concept of what I needed to cover come to me.

Now, what I'm going to tell you is going to sound a little crazy, and it's going to sound a little crazy for half the weekend.

And the theme of the weekend was the thread.

That's what they called the theme of the weekend.

And what they wanted to do is cover something that could be called the thread that would run consistently through Scripture.

So I did that backwards for you, from the beginning.

Well, of course, the obvious answers came up first.

I don't know how many of you work with little kids, but when you work with little kids in the Adventist Church, you work in the cradle rolls in the Sabbath school, and you ask them questions, little kids learn real quick that in church the answer to everything is Jesus.

Not a bad thing, but sometimes as adults we do, and it's just kind of like, well just, Okay, that's a thread that runs throughout Scripture for sure.

That's a good thread that runs throughout Scripture.

And both would be more popular votes than what I came up with.

So as I prayed about this, the thing that impressed my mind, the 1 theme that runs throughout Scripture, is the Law of God.

I have to tell you that I had the whole...

Initially there were 5 parts to this series.

But at the same time, I thought to myself, what kind of sadist speaks to a bunch of high school kids about the law?

Right, I mean, right away I knew that when I went back to the youth directors who were asking me to speak, and I said, yeah, by the way, this is what I'm gonna speak on the law I knew there was gonna have to be an explanation how many of you are picking up what I'm saying here like even when I said the law how many of you were thinking don't raise your hands here really seriously and you're gonna talk to the young people at the why don't you talk to him about Jesus I gave you that Jesus right the love of God you're gonna pick the law of all things you're gonna talk about the law Don't we have counsel that says that we've preached the law, the law, the law until?

And of course, this is going through my head.

So I basically explained to the leaders, look, this is what I've got.

If you guys want to get somebody else, you know, go ahead.

And I think that in that whole context...

It really struck me as a very odd thing...

That talking about the law of God is such a negative among Adventists.

In fact, the last time I was out here, I had somebody tell me in the crowd, Oh, we're always talking about the law.

I don't know how it is out here with you folks, but I've had people say, we talk about doctrine all the time, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

I work with young people, whether high school, academy students.

I'm gonna tell you from grade school, to academy, to college, to adults, there is a major lack of practical understanding of Adventist doctrine.

If I ask regularly and put in a situation to ask people, I mean we can give the patek, oh yeah, this is what we believe.

Do you know where it's found in the scripture?

Maybe an overgeneralization, but my point is It really struck me as even having to explain this.

I remember going to the youth leaders and saying, I'm gonna talk about the law of God.

And I was like, you know, just so you understand, I thought that's weird that we would have to defend talking about the law of God.

And that pressed me on my study a little bit.

And incidentally, when I was asked to speak out here, I knew what I was going to speak on.

Now, I told you it was a five-part thing.

And then through the weekend, they said, well, you know, some things changed over the weekend.

And then you're thinking, OK, now I've got to fit the perfect 5 that the Lord gave me to download into 3 pieces.

And incidentally, that's what I'm going to do this weekend.

And it's not exactly what I did on that weekend, but in fact, I think I had 4 that weekend.

But I'll tell you this, tonight and tomorrow morning, we're gonna lay groundwork for tomorrow afternoon, because tomorrow afternoon is really why I'm covering the whole thing.

Like all of this, not that this isn't important, but you know, if you're not aware, I think you guys are kind of aware because you do this as a, but in Adventism, when you go anywhere to speak, you already know that your crowd is Sabbath morning at church.

Now I'm not Doug Batchelor or Mark Finley, but I've worked with these guys.

Friday night, I don't know, I think we just want to start in the Sabbath rest a little early.

And so there's gonna be, I already know, the tendency is that tomorrow morning is gonna be our biggest crowd, tomorrow afternoon, second biggest, you guys are Gideon's band.

But tomorrow afternoon is where tonight and tomorrow morning are going to tie together.

And the reason that I am presenting it is because I think what we're talking about, what we're going to cover, just bear with me, I think it's of vital importance to us as Seventh-day Adventists.

Being true to our trust is the title of our message.

Now, as Seventh-day Adventists, we understand that the whole universe, and we're in the midst of this whole universe of what we as Seventh-day Adventists have come to call the Great Controversy.

The controversy between the battle between good and evil.

What the Law Could Not Do

It was interesting to me when the question was asked about how many were enjoying the sunshine, it sounded kind of quiet to me here, And so I wanted to share something with you from my phone that is home for me, 20 degrees and snow.

I don't know, maybe some of you would really prefer that.

I mentioned last night that it is greener than it usually is when I come out to Southern California.

So in fact it was beautiful this morning just looking at all the green on the hills surrounding this area.

And we had studied last night that God's works are testified to by His creation.

I'm glad to be here with you, as I mentioned, and I want to begin our presentation this morning with a word of prayer and then a little bit of an introduction recap from what we talked about last night.

So I'm going to invite you to bow your heads while I pray this morning.

Gracious Father in heaven, I do thank you for your many blessings.

Lord I thank you for the tokens of love that surround us in nature, many of which we tend to take for granted.

It reminds us of the new life we have in Jesus.

And the life-giving power that comes through Him.

And Lord, now as we turn our attention this morning to Your Word, we pray Your Holy Spirit would guide our understanding that we would not just be hearers but doers of the word.

We ask it in Jesus' name and for his sake, amen.

Now, it was mentioned that the theme I chose for the weekend was the law, which is, I just have to tell you, this day and age, in any church, including the Adventist church, it's just 1 of those themes like, why would you choose something like that?

I shared a few things last night, I'm going to recap some of them, but a statement came to my mind that I did not share last night.

This comes from the book Christ Object Lessons, page 128.

It says there, no man can rightly present the law of God without the gospel or the gospel without the law.

If there were no law, there would be no need for a gospel.

And I asked the question last night, if there were a person, you'll probably think of 1, who kept the law of God perfectly in their lives.

I'm not talking about outwardly, pharisaically.

I'm talking about perfectly as God's law spells out.

I mean, that was the whole point of Jesus.

He came and he, you know, you've got this, the religious people of Jesus say who are claiming to keep the law.

And it's like people look at that and say if that's what law keeping is, I don't want anything to do with it.

And Jesus came and exemplified what it would really look like to live by the law of God.

The law is the gospel embodied, the gospel is the law unfolded, the law is the root, the gospel is the fragrant blossom and fruit which it bears.

And so last night our subject was the law of the Lord is perfect.

Now I'm going to tell you what I said last night when I told them I was going to tell you again this morning and that is that this afternoon's presentation last night and now are just setting up for this afternoon.

Sometimes you have to lay groundwork to get to the point.

And the point is this afternoon, specifically for Seventh-day Adventists living in the time that we live in.

When the third angel's messages are being proclaimed in the earth and the final events are about to unfold, are unfolding I should say, and about to come to their conclusion.

I believe this topic is extremely relevant.

So last night, 1 of the things we looked at was that the great controversy has always been over God's law.

Great Controversy, page 582 says, From the very beginning of the great controversy in heaven, it has been Satan's purpose to do what?

This is why the Bible says in Revelation 12 and 17 the dragon was enraged with the woman and went to make war against her offspring who do what?

And it's been said before that if there's anything that makes the devil mad, it's probably a good idea to do it.

From the very beginning of the great controversy in heaven, it has been Satan's purpose to overthrow the law of God.

It was to accomplish this that he entered upon his rebellion against the Creator.

And though He was cast out of heaven, He has continued the same warfare on the earth.

To deceive men and thus lead them to transgress God's law is the object which He has steadfastly pursued.

The last great conflict between truth and error is but the final struggle of the long-standing controversy concerning the law of God.

That's what the controversy has been about.

You know, and you may say, well I thought the controversy was about the character of God.

What is the law but a transcript of God's character?

You read the giving of the law, you read Moses getting the tablets on the mount, you read Moses in Exodus chapter 33 saying, Lord, show me your glory and the Lord says, okay, I'll show you my glory.

I'm going to make my goodness pass before you and I'm going to proclaim the name of the Lord.

And the Lord comes before Moses and he has to remember, hide him in the cleft of the rock.

And he begins to say, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful, gracious, abundant in goodness and truth, etc., etc.

And Moses leaves the experience with what?

2 tables of stone written with the finger of God.

The law of God is a transcript of his character.

Yes, the great controversy about the character of God which is revealed in the law of God.

And the last great conflict between truth and error is but the final struggle of the long-standing controversy concerning the law of God upon this battle we are now entering.

So we looked at how the great controversy has always been over God's law And that everyone, 1 of the things we looked at last night, is everyone lives by some law.

Everyone that you talk to has an idea of things that should be done and shouldn't be done.

If I said right and wrong, there are some people that say, I don't think right and wrong, what's right for you might not necessarily right for me But even in saying that right for me means there's something right for me How do I know what's right for me or what's right for you or what's wrong for anything or anybody?

There has to be some law to determine that so I don't care who and I mentioned last night Even the atheists have a law or not the atheists the anarchists who are against law have a law and that is you can't have law.

Everyone lives by some law by which right and wrong are determined.

And the litmus test of any law is its ultimate outcome.

If it's really the right law, then following it should be beneficial.

And if it's the wrong law, then disobeying it is going to have dire consequences.

So anybody can say well this is the right and this is the wrong and this is the way you ought to go but the outcome is what has to determine that.

Should come as no surprise to the Christian that according to the Bible, God's law is the universal and absolute standard of right, and it should say wrong there.

It is the absolute standard of right and wrong because God promises, as we read last night in 1 place in the Proverbs, happy is he who keeps the law.

Blessed is the man who meditates in the law.

David says in Psalm 19, in keeping the commandments of God there is great reward.

You know, repeatedly this, so this is the Bible's claim.

Now somebody can disagree with that claim and people do, but I'm going to tell you that when everything unfolds at the end, and I don't know what your experience is here, so whether you've been a Christian or not a Christian, and what law you follow and what law you don't follow.

When it all comes down, you mark my words now.

Any other law is not gonna produce the results you want, like God's law.

Nothing else will bring the happiness, the contentment and eternity like the law of God will.

That's God's claim, I believe that claim.

And God has made us depositaries, was the word we looked at a statement last night.

Countdown to Glory

Welcome back to Advent Hope, a Sabbath school of the Loma Linda University Church.

We are happy that you guys are here with us today for the final message from Pastor Mark Howard for the series titled, Being True to Our Trust, and the message for today is titled Countdown to Glory.

So in case you missed it this morning, Pastor Mark Howard is the Associate Director of the Sabbath School and Personal Ministries Department of the Michigan Conference.

He and his lovely wife Stephanie are empty nesters.

His son Caleb is in his last year of law school at the University of Alabama and his daughter Annalise is in her second year at Southern.

She's studying for the physical therapy assistant program.

And so before we hear from Pastor Mark, let's have 1 word of prayer.

Lord and Heavenly Father, thank you for the rest that we found today in you, Lord.

Thank you so much for your love towards us.

Thank you for giving us such a beautiful day.

I pray that as Pastor Mark comes forward to speak, that your Holy Spirit may fall upon him and that you may speak through him, to him, to us, that the message that you have for us today, that we may apply it to our hearts, Lord, and that it may draw us closer to you.

We pray these things in Jesus Christ, precious and holy name, amen.

I trust you had a pleasant Sabbath so far.

And I hope and pray that this afternoon won't change that.

I mentioned to and I'm hoping, hoping that you're returning.

Hoping you're returning because what we did last night and this morning was laying groundwork for what I would like to cover this afternoon, really, which is the heart of this series.

So before we go any further, I want to ask the Lord to bless our time in His Word.

I invite you to bow your heads with me and pray as we do that.

Gracious Father in heaven, again we are thankful for the Sabbath.

We are thankful for the beautiful day you've given us.

We Thank you for the privilege we have of knowing you, Father, and your son, Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

A privilege that you've entrusted us to share with others.

And Lord, as we gather here now this afternoon, we pray that the Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth, would guide our understanding.

And Lord, may it not just be a theoretical lesson that we learn, but a practical 1 that will find its way into our lives so that the people that we come in contact with in this coming week will take note that we have spent time with Jesus.

Okay, I want to briefly review what we have talked about so far.

Last night we studied how the law, how law in general is the determining factor between right and wrong.

And just Again, 1 of the reasons I think that's so important is that nobody is going to go through life on the fence, despite their claims.

Everybody has to subscribe to some rule of life.

Now, as a Christian, somebody may say, oh, you're a Christian and you do this and you can't do this and you can't do that.

And the reality is we all have laws that shape us.

And the final outcome determines whether the law you've chosen to follow is the right 1.

There will be a final outcome for everybody's opinion.

The people who don't believe in God, this is my conviction, are going to face him, whether they think so or not.

And whatever path a person has chosen, today we have this, sometimes this mindset that hey, nobody can judge me and the way I choose and live and what have you.

I'm going to do things my way and you have your way and that's fine for you.

But we're all going to have to come before the judgment seat of Christ and answer for the things done in the body.

And the reality is, it's not just as we've touched on already, this is not just an arbitrary thing like, well, we got to answer to God, I had a great life, but now I've got to face Him.

No, there are consequences to living in any other way.

Everybody has an idea of right and wrong, but God has told us, in fact that's our next point, I believe God's claim is that His law is the only 1 that will bring true happiness here and hereafter to those who obey.

However, our fallen natures, we looked at this this morning, are incapable of rendering acceptable obedience to God.

The purpose of the gospel is to restore humanity to obedience to the law of God.

Because as I mentioned this morning, nobody's going to heaven who doesn't obey God.

And we can talk all day long about how we don't have any strength to obey.

And it puzzles me sometimes that there's this mindset, even among Seventh-day Adventists, that, well, I'm just gonna go through life sinning all the time, we don't have ability to obey, but somehow some miracle is going to happen in heaven and I'm going to be able to obey.

But God can't do that miracle here in the minds of some people.

Let's go to Romans 8, and I want you to see this in Romans 8.

That this purpose of the gospel is to restore man, mankind, to obedience to God and His law.

I'm reading in the New King James Version here.

The Bible says, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

For the Spirit, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

It's the same law from a different standpoint of experience.

When I'm not in Christ Jesus, all the law of God can do is condemn me to death as a sinner.

But when I've accepted Jesus and been crucified with Him, now it becomes a law of liberty to me.

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Being True to Our Trust

The Law of the Lord is Perfect

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