GYC 2014: At The Cross

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Generation. Youth. Christ. (GYC)

1888's Everlasting Gospel

Eugene Prewitt

1. Lots of Phone Numbers Start with 1888.... Confused About the Number?

This message was presented at the GYC 2014 conference at the Cross in Phoenix, Arizona.

For other resources like this, visit us online at www.gycweb.org.

I suppose you know this, that this particular lecture room is the most exercised to get to of any of the seminars.

So even though we're gonna start in about 30 seconds on time, we're not gonna feel bad about anyone who comes in late because this was quite a hike to get here and my hat is off to those of you who made this hike successfully and I hope it will make you alert.

The walk should make you alert so I should have good attention and breakfast wasn't overly large so this should work out for me and I'm happy that you're here.

Just tell me, do you have room to kneel where you are if we kneel to start?

Then let's kneel for a prayer and we'll begin.

Our Father in Heaven, I ask that you will bless our time here, that by your Holy Spirit you would make these moments useful to you, that you would let your Bible speak clearly to us.

And I ask for this in the name of Jesus, Amen.

For the last couple months of my life, I've been involved in an evangelistic campaign in Arkansas.

And it's made me keenly aware that you could come into the Seventh-day Adventist Church through an evangelistic series, seriously study everything you hear, be very interested, review all of it, and when you are baptized, have never even heard the numbers 1888.

That you could go through that whole process and then imagine what could happen to you, like could happen to some of to the young man that we baptized a couple weeks ago.

That then you meet someone who talks about 1888, and you just can't place it.

And it could just really be a confusing thing, right?

And maybe for some of you it is confusing and I want to speak to that group, even though there's a bunch of the rest of you here, I want to speak to that group in particular.

1888 is a date, and as a date it is not connected with any time prophecy in Daniel, nor any time prophecy in Revelation.

It is not a date related to a fulfillment of a time prophecy.

Rather, It's kind of like that experience when you're driving with a GPS in an unfamiliar city, and you come to where the road splits off into 2 or 3 exits, and you can't tell by the purple line exactly whether it's this 1 or the next 1.

And just as you choose 1, you realize it was the...

1888 is like that in the history of the Adventist Church.

It was guaranteed to be a turning point, and we made the wrong turn.

It was significant because it was an opportunity, and it's significant because it was a missed opportunity.

Both of those are so significant that they have a lot to do with how the church is today.

That is, in the first sense, 1888 was an opportunity for the church to begin to fulfill its mission of taking the gospel to the whole world in 1 generation.

It was when God was ready and willing to start the mighty work that would finish everything.

But if you have such a big opportunity, what is it when you miss it?

That is, if it's a big opportunity and you miss it, then that's, you've lost a great deal.

What I'm trying to do is to help you sort of catch up to people who are all around you who just seem to have known about 1888 for years and understand why they've been talking about it.

They've been talking about it the same way that if you were driving on that trip and you missed a turn on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and now you have to go 30 miles before you get to another opportunity to turn around.

Has anyone ever been in the fence when you turn a bike or on some road like that?

Like, there are some times when you make a wrong turn, you can't just fix it.

You're going to be going the wrong way for some time.

And probably, if you're me driving, and you miss the turn, and you have the wrong people in the car, you're gonna be talking about it for some time.

Aren't you talking about that for some time?

You're gonna be talking about it because the question is why didn't you make it?

Well That's what happens when you miss a real opportunity.

People have been talking about this for a long time.

But there's something more to it, and it's why we're gonna have 6 hours instead of 1.

Because of the great opportunity that we missed as a people, because of what God intended to do, Satan has taken advantage of that, ever since that time, to have 1 man or another or a group of men arise, saying that they have the same blessing that God was bringing to us at that turning point, and if we will only follow them, we'll all end up happily ever after.

That is, there are many messages who are hitchhiking on this history that we're talking about.

1888 is really big because of what could have been and what wasn't.

Does anyone here have an 1888 phone number?

You know 1-888 and then something something else?

I just noticed recently that they've opened up 1844 phone numbers.

I just thought that would be something, we live in an age, and you can get those.

But 1888, the 3 eights are just a coincidence.

It has nothing to do with numerology or anything else.

1888 just happened to be the year when a number of things converged together.

It was just a few years, less than 10 years after James White had died.

And maybe you've heard the name James White.

You could almost call him the founder of the church.

I mean, the church wasn't founded by 1 man, but if you were going to put the weight on 1 man, he would get more of it than someone else.

James White had died and he did that from overwork.

If There's some lesson that you can just learn from James White's experience.

It's that even if you do ministry, you need a rest.

That you were not created to work, work, work, work, busy, busy, busy, busy.

You work, even if you have the type of work that can be done legitimately on Sabbath, you ought to freshen up with periods of rest and then go forth braced for another strain.

We were made that way and it was by just working incessantly that James White died before 1888.

Like I can't say how things would have gone but it just seems to me as a lover of history that if James White had been alive in 1888, that maybe I never would have been born.

That the world possibly could have ended already.

And I just wouldn't want it to be that anyone here who could make that kind of difference on the planet would just work to such an extent that you wouldn't be here at the moment we needed you.

Turn your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 5.

Deuteronomy chapter 5 should be to you almost as familiar as Exodus chapter 20.

Deuteronomy 5 is the other place where you find the 10 Commandments.

Deuteronomy 5, and we're going to begin in verse 27.

This is after the thunder and the lightnings and the smoke and the trembling mountain.

The people said to Moses, Go thou near and hear all that the Lord our God will say, and speak thou unto us all that the Lord our God shall speak unto you, and we will hear it and do it." You see that when God made that mighty experience on the mountain, that there were people who were afraid, and they wanted to be in God's favor, but they didn't want to be in His presence.

Can any of you relate to that, wanting to be in His favor, but not wanting to be in His presence?

It was just too exciting, too much thunder, too much shaking, too much smoke, and they said, Moses, you go listen to God, you have that private communion with Him, and then you come back and tell us what we should do, and we'll do it.

Which is almost how people relate today to preachers.

Almost like, you go and have a special experience with God, and you come tell us what we should do, and we'll do it.

But I don't think that does it for anyone.

And it wasn't good enough here, although to say they would obey a prophet is better than saying you obey a preacher, right?

And the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spake unto me.

And the Lord said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken unto you.

They have well said all that they have spoken." They were speaking to Moses, and in a way it sounded like they wanted Moses to go speak to God.

But was it necessary for Moses to go speak to God?

Did God hear when they were talking to Moses?

And so it was not necessary they could skip that step, right?

And what did God say about their promise to obey?

2. The Repetition of 1888’s History on a Personal Level

I mean, some of you didn't go anywhere, but I'm glad you're here.

Because Audioverse, you could like hear Clinton talking about Hebrews, even if you're not in his room.

And that's what I want to do, is hear Clinton talk about Hebrews.

So that's what I'm going to have to do after, because I've come to know him in the Tosk meetings.

Those of you who are in the back, there are seats up here, kind of middle-like, and it's like that in churches generally, right?

You can always find room near the front if you have the courage to go.

I had a stimulating conversation during the break, but boy, the breaks are short when you end late, and that's my fault.

All right, as you're able and willing, let's kneel for a prayer and we'll begin.

Our Father in heaven, I ask that as we talk about the everlasting gospel and about the experience of 1888, that you would make a difference for us as a people.

We ask that you would teach us about Jesus.

When God has a message for His people, His standard method of operation is to choose someone to deliver it.

Typically, when God wants to teach me something or you something, it's not always so, but often so, He chooses someone to teach us.

You can See this in the conversion of the Apostle Paul.

When he was converted, God didn't send him first right away to Arabia before anything else.

First he had to go to a man and the man was to instruct him in the way of the Lord.

Apollos was a really great student of the Bible, but he had to sit down at the feet of...

I just forgot the couple that was teaching him.

And they instructed him in the way of the Lord.

Often God teaches me something for you, and He teaches you something for me.

That is, He really doesn't want us to be a bunch of atoms.

And This is why as we approach the end of time, that we ought to meet together more often.

If you read that in Hebrews 10, that we ought not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.

In fact, so much more so, as we see the day approaching, we ought to be meeting together.

Or squishing together, for example, we can be doing right here.

Let's just finish off the last hour, because I see a lot of people here that were here during the last hour.

Hebrews chapter 8 is the New Testament passage that talks about all those Old Testament verses we looked at in the last lecture.

But now has Jesus obtained a more excellent ministry?

I know someone is going to have a question about this.

It is the King James Version, and I just change it as I go.

So, if it doesn't read what yours says, that's the version I have as I'm going.

But now Jesus has obtained a more excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises." When you read that, when God makes a promise, Can He lie?

In terms of reliability, you can't compare 1 of God's promises to another 1.

Does that make any sense to you what I just said?

But when we read about that old covenant in Deuteronomy 5, not every promise in Deuteronomy 5 was made by God.

They said, all that you said, we will do.

And those kind of promises are illustrated by Ellen as ropes of, like they could be really sincere, but they don't work out.

It could be for you, you really want to live a better life, you really try to live a better life, you try to obey.

And that could be when you're young, obey mom and dad, and when you get older, obey the Bible, and somewhere the transition is really awkward, right?

But you learn to obey, but you can't manage it.

So the new covenant is based on better promises, verse 7, for if the first covenant had been faultless, then no place should have been sought for the second.

Them can't be the covenants, and it can't be God.

Does that make any sense to you what I said?

For finding fault with them, he said, behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant.

Now do you remember when we read that verse, did God find fault with them in that verse?

And the fault he found, he said, which covenant they break, even though I was a husband to them.

You remember reading that in Jeremiah 31?

In other words, when they break it, you can't blame it on Me.

Even when you're in your unregenerate state, you can't blame your disobedience on God.

He's still caring for you and helping you and doing all that can be done to win your heart.

And he said, though I was a father, they break my covenant, so he found fault with them.

It doesn't make any sense to start in the middle of verse 8, so I'm going to start over.

For when in thought with them he said, Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

Which now that doesn't bother you, because you remember, for he is not a Jew which is 1 outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is 1 inwardly.

And was that a brand new idea of Paul's, or is that a very ancient idea?

He said the reason that God gave circumcision, I'm paraphrasing Romans 4, verses 11 through 13.

The reason that God gave circumcision as a symbol of the covenant was because circumcision extended not only to Abraham's genetic children, it wasn't just Isaac and Ishmael, it was all his hired hands, it was all of his servants, the men's servants, it was everyone under his teaching.

So that circumcision showed as a symbol that it was those who followed the faith of Abraham that were part of the covenant blessing.

Not his descendants, but those that follow his faith.

It could be his descendants, if they follow his faith.

It could be those who aren't his descendants, if they follow his faith.

So then, He that is of faith is the child of Abraham.

This is like an idea over and over again in the New Testament and in the Old.

This new covenant, I'm adding, it says, is not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they continue not in My covenant." So we read about that in D&F.

That was the day He had just led them out.

And did he anticipate they would not continue?

He said they don't have a heart in them, oh, that there was such a heart in them that they would continue.

Because they continued not in My covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord.

I will be to them a God, and they will be to me a people.

They will not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest.

And I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." Someone asked during the break, how do you harmonize sins and iniquities I will remember no more with the Adventist doctrine of the investigative judgment, which says there is a memory made of sins again once every year, which of course is the next chapter here, right?

But the idea is that when God says that we're not going to teach every man his brother and neighbor anymore because all are going to know Him, is that a promise fulfilled right now or is that later?

3. The Repetition of 1888’s History on a Corporate Level

I think we should be starting in about 1 minute.

I haven't heard from anyone who says there must need to be announcements.

And it looks like I see quite a number of new faces.

That is people who listened to me this morning decided not to come back and those who listened to other people this morning decided to go listen to someone else.

And that's probably fair because with Audioverse you can catch up on what you missed everywhere, right?

But I might wait a whole minute to see if more people pour in, just because I know it's a 10-minute walk down here.

We can't wait forever, so we'll just have to start without them, and then they'll feel guilty, and they'll stay for the second session just because of it.

Is there anyone that was here this morning that had a question about what was said this morning?

It was in, I think you referenced something in 1 Corinthians where you talked about debating and argumentation.

And I lost that thought, and then I couldn't find it on something in 1 Corinthians.

In my head right now, I feel like it's in 2 Corinthians 2 and 3.

But just let me just look and see where it is.

Whenever I give a reference and I give a chapter number instead of verses, You should always know that it's doubtful.

It's 1 Corinthians, I did talk about 2 Corinthians 3 when I talked about the law and Moses' administration.

I also referred to 1 Corinthians 3 when I talked about carnal arguing in the church.

So that can cause real confusion when I talked about both in 1 meeting.

And before we pray, I had another question and I just want to clarify because I confused a young man this morning.

I mentioned this morning how God could have made the gospel very short, like a page or 2, you know?

But he gave enough content, enough information, with enough things that we could study and enough mysteries that we could study it for a long time.

Like we could really be looking into it and keep learning and learning and learning about the gospel.

And by doing that, it could be in front of our faces.

But the young man who came to me at lunch thought I was saying by that that the gospel wasn't easy to understand.

And I hope you notice the title of my next lecture.

Does anyone know what the title of the next lecture is?

The title of the next lecture is, The Everlasting Gospel Should Be easy to understand.

So I just want to clarify, that's not what I was trying to say.

I think God made the gospel such that a wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein, but that the scholar could study it as long as he is alive and continually find new gems and plenty to keep his attention.

Somebody was here at an earlier meeting and was really blessed by it.

They said they would donate this book, free, to anybody attending this class.

They could just write their name in that.

So there has been a nice person who I don't know his name, but it might be him.

An anonymous person who has agreed to give a copy of this precious book to anyone who will go through the trouble of putting their name and address.

Is it because it's going to be mailed to them or just so you'll have it?

And so I don't know who wouldn't put their name and address there.

Let me just talk to that man for just a minute.

I got a copy, but I gave it away to someone in Europe.

The book is called The Return of the Latter Rain.

It is the most comprehensive history that I know of on the market about the 1888 dabacle, the experience.

It has, like I have 6 hours here to talk about the topic generally.

This book would be a good 90 hours on the history of it specifically.

So you never can compete with a lecture as what can be done in writing.

Series

1888's Everlasting Gospel

2. The Repetition of 1888’s History on a Personal Level

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Biblically Correct: How to be Male in the 21st Century

6. Review and Your Questions/Testimonies

1h 10m

Seminars

Your Problem Solved

1h 2m

Above and Beyond: Keys To Personal Revival And a Lifestyle of Vibrant Living in Christ!

2. Above & Beyond Humility at the Foot of the Cross

59m

Being True to Our Trust

What the Law Could Not Do

50m

Knees, Keys, and Please!

2. Encountering God

1h 5m

Breakout Session #2

The High Priest and the Second Advent Movement

1h 14m

Seminar: Lift Him Up

Lift Him Up: Evangelism’s Last and Only Hope

1h 20m

Bryan Choi Weekend

02 Appropriating the Righteousness of Christ

52m

Plenary

Our Greatest Need

1h 30m

Sanctuary Under Siege

5. Last Generation Theology

1h

Knees, Keys, and Please!

5. Victory in the Final Conflict

1h 4m

Sound Doctrine