ASI 2011: Inspired to Finish Strong

<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>

ASI 2011 Plenary Meetings

Doug Batchelor

Be Courageous

Frank Fournier

Marred in Our Hands

David Kulakov

Giving Our Best to Our Loving Lord

Members in Action

Just a Thought

Matt Parra

Why Should You Believe in You

Ivor Myers

The Blueprint

Beyond the Righteousness of Angels

Lyndi Schwartz

Worship and Song and Praise

Ted N.C. Wilson

God’s Remnant Church - Finishing Strong

ASI Presents

Chester Clark

The Patience of the Saints

I'm glad to see that you're here, those of you who are, intrepid souls you are.

My name is Frank Fournier, I'm from Eden Valley in Colorado and it's been a tremendous honor, blessing to be asked to do the morning devotions.

I'm glad that you're here and I see there's quite a few more people coming in.

I'll have you turn in your Bibles to Malachi chapter 3.

Malachi chapter 3 and I'm going to ask you after you get there I'm going to ask you to bow your heads with me and we'll talk to the Lord about this little moment shall we bow Heavenly Father Lord you are God.

Down here we find ourselves when comparing ourselves with you to be very weak, to be very sinful, to be very needy in every respect how much we need you.

We recognize that you have a purpose for your people down here in this world, that you long to bring salvation to every soul and that you long to use us.

Heavenly Father, our lives are short and how much we need you.

And this morning we could use some inspiration, we could use some guidance, we could use your words to our hearts.

And so we're asking you by your Holy Spirit that you would communicate so that we may be better prepared after having come here this morning and we thank you in Jesus name, Amen.

Had you turn in Malachi chapter 3 and we're going to start right there with verse 1.

Behold I send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple even the messenger of the covenant whom you delight in, behold he shall come saith the Lord of hosts." And then if you look at verse 2 you begin to get a sense of how important or how dangerous or how I don't even know the words that we need to use here this morning but it says who may abide the day of his coming and who shall stand when he appears for he's like a refiner's fire and a fuller's soap and naturally I think if we were to look at these verses just on a shallow level, we would begin to think that this is talking about the second coming of Jesus.

But those of you who have been scholars long enough, you recognize this is not talking about the second coming.

This is talking about his coming to his temple.

We're talking about 1844 when Jesus transferred from the holy place of the sanctuary to the most holy place.

In Review and Herald 5, I guess that's May 9, 1893, paragraph 8, it says, after quoting these verses, the coming of Christ, which is here referred to, is not his second advent to this earth, but his coming to the investigative judgment in the most holy place of the sanctuary in heaven.

Thus the message is especially to us who are living in the time of the judgment.

And then we get a little hint here in verse 3 as to what this is exactly talking about.

Verse 3, he, Jesus, who is in the most holy place of the sanctuary, he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.

He shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness then shall the offering of the church members be pleasant unto the Lord as in the days of old as in former years.

We're living in the anti typical day of atonement.

Last night, I hope you were here, we heard from Pastor Doug Batchelor, amazing, wonderful sermon.

As a matter of fact, I think 3 or 4 or 5 people came over to me and said that sermon was just for you.

But in any case, he was talking about courage and sometime during his talk, he was saying how there are 17 million Seventh-day Adventists in the church today.

But I wonder, I just wonder, at least it would be very interesting for me, if we could grasp how many of the 17 million actually know what Jesus is doing in the most holy place of the sanctuary.

What do you suppose would happen to that number?

I mean, it seems to me that if we're going to be Seventh Day Adventists, understanding that aspect of who we are is probably the most important thing of all and I just wonder how many Seventh Day Adventists who are baptized Seventh Day Adventists actually understand what Jesus is doing in the most holy place of the sanctuary.

We're living in the anti-typical day of atonement.

Ellen White says that Jesus entered upon his final atonement And I like to say that Jesus entered upon his, the final phase of the atonement.

I say it that way because the atonement has come to us by phases.

I believe that when Jesus was in heaven, he and his father covenanted together that if there should be a fall there would be a rescue in that fall.

That began the first phase of the atonement as far as I'm concerned.

And then Jesus condescended to come to this world and then Jesus lived a perfect life while he was here, died an atoning death, resurrected, went to heaven, took up his ministry in the holy place, and finally in 1844 he transferred into the most holy place of the sanctuary to take on the final phase of the atonement.

And you and I need to understand what that means.

Ellen White says we cannot possibly exercise all right faith unless we understand what Jesus is doing in the most holy place of the sanctuary.

When he's done that work there, whether you understand it this morning or not, when he's done, then Revelation 18 verse 1 says that the whole world will be enlightened with the glory of his character because Jesus will have placed his character in his people.

What a blessing that will be, to be sealed with the seal of the living God.

Well, in order to accomplish all of that, Jesus sent 3 messages called the 3 angels messages.

There's 2 purposes to the 3 angels messages.

The first purpose which is the least important which is very very important and I think you'll agree with me but the first purpose of the 3 angels messages is to warn the world as to what is going on, the investigative judgment, the hour of his judgment is come, Jesus is working in the most holy place of the sanctuary and our names are going up before a review and he's trying to determine whether we live up to our opportunities, whether we live up to our privileges as Seventh-day Adventists.

Also the world needs to be warned that Babylon is fallen is fallen.

And of course lastly the third angel's message, the world needs to be warned about the mark of the beast and of course What happens if we receive the mark of the beast?

Ah But there is more important I believe The 3 angels messages were sent to prepare a people to give that warning It's no point giving the warning if we're not prepared to give it.

If we do not reflect what the warning is trying to get to our souls, if we don't know what Jesus is doing in the most holy place, how are we going to do that?

And so in the end, and that's how I would like to start this is all by way of introduction we need to realize that Jesus is trying to seal to himself a people.

He's trying to get his character in our lives.

He's trying to get us not to be deceived or to be led astray.

You know, it says in the 3 angels' messages that they were not deceived with, or they were not corrupted, or they were not, I forget the words, but corrupted with women, which really points to the church.

You know, they're not, how have I got it here, not defiled with false doctrine is really what it's trying to say.

It also says that these people when it's all done will follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes, especially as he went into the most holy place of the sanctuary.

And lastly, and this is to accomplish, this is what it is to accomplish, is that these people will be without fault before the throne of his glory.

So then the whole world will be lightened with his glory when God's people come into line with what Jesus is trying to do.

Now the reason I got interested in studying this at this time is because of a question that a certain young lady asked me.

I was going through my cafeteria there at Eden Valley in Colorado.

It was convention time and we were feeding people and my vice president was cutting watermelon, I believe she was cutting watermelon.

In any case, as I'm walking through this cafeteria, she said, she stopped me and she says, I have a question for you.

She has a lot of questions, not just for me either.

And so she landed this question on me and I would wonder, it would be a blessing to me if I could get you all up here 1 by 1 to answer the question if it was posed to you.

But here's the question, she says, Alan White said that the 3 angels' messages is righteousness by faith in verity.

Actually, Alan White asked, how Alan White said that justification by faith is, or the third angel's message is justification by faith in verity.

And so there's a question there, but never mind, it actually comes out to the same thing as far as I'm concerned.

Justification is the foundation, it's where we go to the cross.

And I think we need to make that precise definition of it.

But I'll tell you what, when you look at the whole 3 angels messages you find out that the object of it all is sanctification.

I have a quotation in third selected messages page 202 paragraph 2.

Sanctification is the object of God in all his dealings with us.

Sanctification is the object of God in all his dealings.

So it doesn't matter what Jesus is doing.

It doesn't matter if he's going to the cross, if he's resurrecting, or if he's going to minister in the holy place of the sanctuary or the most holy place, or if he's moving in your life providentially, in all his dealings with you and with me, what's the object?

Ellen White says the third angel's message is justification or righteousness by faith.

Why is it that when we listen to sermons on the 3 angels message or the third angels message, why is it that our preachers always focus on the mark of the beast and the resulting wrath of God?

Where is righteousness by faith in all of that?

Now, off the cuff, what would you have answered?

I didn't have much time to think, but here's what I said, kind of, you know, I can't reproduce it now, exactly what I said, but I said something like this, righteousness by faith is not explicit in the text, it's not expressed clearly in the text, it's there by implication, it's there by Contrast.

If you look at the beast, you're not going to find righteousness by faith.

You're going to find righteousness by works.

You're going to find righteousness by force.

Series

ASI 2011 Plenary Meetings

Marred in Our Hands

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

When the Truth Stagnates

19m

The Two Revelations

1h 24m

The Ripple Effect

1h 19m

Seminar: Lift Him Up

Lift Him Up: Evangelism’s Last and Only Hope

1h 20m

1888's Everlasting Gospel

5. The Everlasting Gospel Should Be Easy to Share

55m

Dennis Priebe: The Real Gospel

What is Possible for Us?

1h 42m

How YOU Can Bring Closure for Jesus

1h 4m

Being Adventist

Born Adventist or Born Again?

1h 2m

Plenary

Our Greatest Need

1h 30m

Experiencing Righteousness Through Faith in Christ

2. Power of the Word Brings the Righteousness of Christ

41m

Taking the Kingdom by Force

48m

ASI 2011 Plenary Meetings

Just a Thought

49m

Sound Doctrine