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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Ted N.C. Wilson

I Did It My Way

Thank you for that beautiful rendition of Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me, and that's what we want this morning.

Because when you have Jesus, when you have the spirit, you have everything.

You can make it through the week, you can meet the challenges, you can find the strength to carry on, not just for yourselves, but to tell somebody else about Jesus.

It's a real privilege to be back again at Advent Hope.

What you do not only to nurture yourselves in the Word, but to nurture others, to bring onto the campus, into the classroom, into your professional setting, the spirit of the living God, and into the community.

What a blessing to be able to have restoration.

And I'm glad you're holding these meetings.

By God's grace you will see good results.

Catherine's been part of it, some of the technical aspects of it, and she's told me some of the frustrations the devil has thrown in your way.

You ought to praise the Lord for that, Because it just shows how God can overcome that and he's going to bring you wonderful rewards and I do want to thank this group also as a fellowship as a body that worships the Lord for the blessing that you have been to our 2 daughters Emily and Catherine.

And they've been privileged to be part of this group and Catherine still is.

Emily is actually living with us Some of you may not know that, but she has moved back and is in a nursing program at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, a very intensive program.

And after 16 months, she will have what she needs to take the exam to become a nurse plus a Master of Science degree.

So we praise the Lord for her goal of trying to become a medical missionary.

And I noticed in your bulletin, and it's being postponed, but those of you who are involved in the medical aspects of the church, become part of a group that helps you to know better how to become true medical missionaries in the Spirit of Jesus.

And as we come to the very end of time, we know from the spirit of prophecy that medical missionary work will be 1 of the last ways in which we will be able to affect people's lives.

So be sure to become part of that group and other groups to find out better how to use what God has given to you to the best advantage to help others.

She may be embarrassed for me to kind of relate it in church here, but recently, just a few days ago, she became engaged.

And to a longtime friend, Pastor Cameron DeVasier.

He's a pastor in the Florida Conference, and interestingly his parents and his sister are with us today.

Just wave your hands we want to see where you are.

They are health professionals and are attending a professional meeting in Newport Beach and so they happen to be with us today.

You know that beautiful hymn that you sang as an opening, It Is Well With My Soul, we could talk about the origins of that and many of you know the story of how that came about but we don't have a lot of time and I have a message I want to share with you.

But when you read the words of that hymn, you know, when peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul." You know, that only comes from a close, close connection with Jesus.

And those words were written out of a terrible event that took place, and I'll let you do some research on Google or wherever to find out what that event was.

But for the man who wrote these to say that it is well with his soul because of his connection with Jesus, because of all the hassles and difficulties that came to his family because of certain circumstances, it is only because of his connection with Christ that he was able to say that.

Because you see, 1 of the greatest challenges that we have facing us today, you as young health professionals, as individuals in this part of Southern California trying to reach out to people.

1 of the greatest challenges we have in these last days is for you to learn that it isn't your way that has to be supreme, it is God's way.

It is well with my soul because I have depended completely upon Jesus.

Our Sabbath school lesson touched on that And I hope you had a good study.

We had a good round of Bible reading and discussion.

It is well with my soul because I am completely and wholly trusting in Jesus.

Now because we are human and sinful, from the earliest experiences in our own life we seem to always want it our way.

You know, when you were really small, maybe you weren't even thinking about it, you couldn't even process it.

If I can't get my way, I'm just gonna sit here and cry." And then maybe a little bit further on in life, if you don't play my way I'll take my ball and go home.

And then a little further in development, if you don't see it my way I'm gonna pout until you do.

Maybe some of us use that at times, don't we?

And then, further on in your development, I'll withhold my love and affection until you see it my way." And then perhaps something very contemporary, if you don't vote the way I think you should vote, you're going to pay for the consequences my way.

We develop methods to manipulate situations and people to do it my way.

And as we come to the end of time, I want to tell you, the normative behavior in society is going to be so selfish that everyone will want you to do it their way, to do it my way, not God's way.

Consider what Scripture says, Proverbs 12, verse 15, "'The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise." Of course the counsel of the Lord.

And then in Romans 10 verse 3, speaking about Israel, for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." I want to do it my way, my own righteousness, my own understanding of what God is, not God's righteousness.

These texts illustrate the human tendency against submission to God, to God's will for our lives and for maintaining our own willful way as opposed to God's way.

1 of the most dramatic and actually tragic illustrations in Scripture about doing it my way is found early in the history of this earth in the book of Genesis chapter 4.

I invite you to turn to that chapter because we're going to spend a little time, A little time in understanding how it was that the very first person to be born in this world became the first murderer.

You'll recall, of course, Adam and Eve had sinned.

They did it their way, not God's way, and were chased out of the Garden of Eden.

And as a result, they had to work harder for life and for the existence.

And then it says in the first verse of chapter 4 that Adam, in loving his wife and in being part of God's plan that she had a child.

And it says here that she bore Cain and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.

Now in some interpretations of this particular text it will actually say God has sent this child, I am happy for it.

In another interpretation, Eve may have been reflecting the very promise that God had given in the previous chapter in Genesis 3 15 which said that a Redeemer, a Savior, would come.

And can you imagine in your own mind that Eve, understanding that particular promise, was expecting that this child who was born to her would be the Redeemer and would take them out of the difficulty.

In verse 2 it says that she again bore his brother Abel, and Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground." Now some people think that Cain and Abel could have been twins, that Cain was the firstborn and just a few moments later Abel came along.

It isn't exactly specific as to how that happened, but in any case they were very closely tied together.

Cain became someone who was a good farmer.

Abel was a someone who was forerunner of those who were shepherds.

And in verse 3 it says, "...in the process of time..." Now we skip a big period of time there where they were brought up by Adam and Eve.

"...in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord." Now you have to understand that both of them had been trained carefully by Adam and Eve, their parents, to understand the whole process of the plan of salvation.

They understood the offering of a sacrifice, the shedding of blood pointing to Jesus' sacrifice as the only way in which to come to the Lord in true worship.

And yet somehow Cain, the firstborn, the 1 to whom Abel looked up to, decided to do it his way.

We don't have a lot of time this morning to develop all the nuances of this, but here comes Cain.

Cain and Abel both performing the ritual building of the sacrifice on the altar, but with different sacrifices.

And so you have Cain coming with the best that he could offer, that which he had done himself in cultivating the ground.

And then you have Abel who did the best that he knew God wanted in bringing a lamb.

And of course that system of sacrifice where God instituted this sacrificial system when man was expelled from the garden was an understanding that the blood of the Son of God would atone for the sins and was pointing to the crucifixion of Jesus.

But Cain proposed to justify himself by his own works.

And ever since that time, Seventh-day Adventists included, have always been trying to do it their own way, salvation by works.

It is only through the incredible, beyond comprehension, sacrifice of Jesus.

As we pointed out or talked about in our Sabbath school class in Philippians chapter 2.

Go back and read that chapter of how Jesus came from being the king of the universe to the absolute bottom of society and gave his life for you and for me.

And so it says here that Abel in verse 4 also brought of the firstlings of the flock and of the fat thereof.

And the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering.

And in reality fire came down from heaven, consumed the offering, and here we have these 2 brothers looking at their sacrifice.

And we see 1 with the approval of God, and the older, the more informed, the 1 to whom Abel looked up to, standing there with his sacrifice still on the altar, unconsumed.

And this created an incredible anger in the heart of Cain.

Listen to what Patriarchs and Prophets page 72 says about Cain.

He felt as many now feel that it would be an acknowledgment of weakness to follow the exact plan marked out by God.

You say, well you know Lord, I'm a graduate of Loma Linda University.

Lord, let me just adjust the plan a little bit.

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I Did It My Way

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