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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Dennis Priebe Weekend 2008

Dennis Priebe

Confusing the Gospel

We do look forward to our times down here and we are really looking forward to this weekend again.

I'm amazed people remember 4 years ago, my basic series.

How old were you, Norman, when I first came to Portland, Tennessee?

That's the first time we met before you ever got around here to Loma Linda.

Well this weekend, this evening and tomorrow afternoon we're going to do some analyzing.

And our subject to analyze is going to be the relationship of justification and sanctification to salvation.

Justification and sanctification, how do they relate to our salvation, and what is the biblical understanding.

Now you might be asking the question, why do I always talk about righteousness by faith?

Because That is my primary subject and you've heard me talk about it from different angles.

This is just another angle from the very first 1 that we did here 4 years ago.

Number 1, the gospel is the heart of salvation.

Doctrines are important, prophecy is important, current events are interesting, but the gospel is the heart of everything.

No matter how much head knowledge we have up here, no matter how much we know about what is happening in our world, If we don't have a saving, strong, secure relationship with Jesus Christ, nothing else really matters.

So I make no apologies for talking often about righteousness by faith.

And the second reason is that the challenges to the true gospel keep coming.

The challenges to the way salvation works just keeps coming harder and harder and therefore sometimes we need to go back over it and back over it so we know what we believe and are not distracted by the various views that are out there, some of which are very persuasive.

So what I'm going to do tonight is to analyze with you a column that appeared in the Adventist Review written by the current editor of our Sabbath School Quarterly.

I'm going to read the relevant parts of this article first and then we're going to break it down and analyze it point by point.

An independent ministry published a while back a special issue of its flagship magazine.

Its definition of the everlasting gospel was that, quote, every man, woman, and child must die daily.

We must surrender our will moment by moment to God, the heart united with his heart, the mind united with his mind.

Only then can we think the thoughts and live the life of Jesus." End quote.

Here we are in the 21st century, more than 113 years after 1888, and this is how some still define the everlasting gospel?

Isn't the everlasting gospel the good news that Jesus the God-man lived a life of perfect obedience to the law and then died as my substitute in order that I by faith can claim his perfect righteousness as my own, a righteousness that comes only by faith in his righteousness, a righteousness credited to me apart from the works of the law?

Through the power of God's Spirit a believer can indeed die to self daily and indeed think the thoughts and live the life of Jesus.

But the moment these internal actions become conditions for justification, the moment they become the means by which a person is saved, the good news gets blunted like with a sledgehammer.

The magazine's theology is just like Roman Catholicism.

Notice how humanistic, how sinner-centered this understanding of the gospel is.

The argument that it's God doing the works in us and thus not our own doesn't let them off the hook.

If some folks do good works and some don't, it's only because some have made a choice to allow God to work in them and some haven't.

It's still the people themselves doing these works and if these works justify them then they're saved by faith and works period.

God does work in us so that we can become righteous.

That's an undeniable part of the Christian experience.

But no matter how righteous we become by what God does in us, our salvation still comes only from what God has done outside us in the life and death of Jesus.

Our hope of salvation must never remain centered upon ourselves or what happens within.

Instead, the righteousness that saves us, the obedience that redeems us, and the holiness that justifies us always remains external to us—a righteousness that exists in heaven itself, the righteousness of God Himself.

There is no Christ on their cross, which means that whatever good they offer comes burdened with the unbearable weight of salvation by works, which is no gospel and certainly not the everlasting one." Well, that's the column.

Truth, error, combination of both, what is it And how can we tell?

Some things sound very good and some cause question marks to come in our minds.

Do we have, Do we have a clear enough understanding of how salvation works so that we can sort it out, the truth from the error, and know why some parts are truth and some parts are not?

Before I actually go into an analysis of this column.

I thought you might be interested in some letters that came into the Adventist Review after this column was printed.

Quite a few came in, and here are some samples from some letters that came in.

Did Clifford Goldstein say there were no conditions to salvation?

There are certainly conditions that human beings must meet to gain salvation, and some of them can be difficult to meet, but meeting those conditions does not count for merit, does not qualify us for heaven, and does not constitute payment for, fitness for, or title to heaven.

All are based initially, always, and solely on the righteousness of Christ.

The conditions merely guarantee that heaven's population is limited to those who think it's a good idea to have Jesus in charge.

This was a masterpiece on righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cruel cross of Calvary.

It is a matter of record that in recent years some who have been most eloquent in preaching the cross have left the denomination, carrying their entire church with them.

I like what I once read, if legalism has killed its thousands, antinomianism, no law, has killed its 10 thousands.

There must have been a better way to express what Goldstein was trying to say.

I am not sure that it is accurate by merely quoting from just a piece of an article to say that, quote, they believe in righteousness by works.

According to Goldstein's view of the gospel, Christ should have addressed Nicodemus in something like the following manner in John 3.

Nicodemus, you are a master of Israel, but what you need to understand, Mr.

Pharisee legalist, is that you are justified by faith alone, outside of and apart from what happens inside of you.

There are no conditions to your being justified or retaining justification other than your believing.

Once you understand this objective gospel, we can talk about being born again in the heart change that comes.

Trouble is the master teacher did not say it this way.

Instead he insisted, another must, that Nicodemus be born again with water, cleansing, and with the Spirit.

Well those were some of the letters that came in.

Someone also sent me a letter that they wrote directly to him, not printed, but directly to him, that went like this.

Regarding sanctified obedience having no part in man's salvation as I follow your teaching to its logical conclusion, a few questions arise.

If the Holy Spirit's work in us and its result in obedience does not enter into salvation's picture because both are works, whether or not it is God working in us, then do we have to do anything by his grace to avoid receiving the beast's mark?

Why is every man judged according to his works if works, the inward working of the Spirit, which produces both inward and outward righteousness, have nothing to do with his salvation?

Adventism is a restorative movement, 1 that not only restores God's law but restores to mankind the genuine gospel of Jesus Christ which gives him the power to keep from sinning.

If there is a truly definitive Christless cross it is found in the theology that denies the essential saving work of his indwelling Spirit.

It is a direct contradiction of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is hailing Him as Savior while denying His Lordship with a kiss.

No Father worthy of the name would attempt to raise His children without conditions of obedience.

The Creator of the heavens and earth not only has conditions of obedience, He fills us with His own power of love to obey Him, to bear His image to the world, and to vindicate His name before the onlooking universe.

From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is full of conditions that have a direct bearing on our salvation.

It is so clear I cannot think how good minds become confused over this issue." Well you can see some of the concerns that various people had as they looked at this material and read it in the review column.

So we need to kind of break it down a little bit.

What are the real issues and what does the Bible say on these issues?

I'm going to begin by a little comment that someone made from time to time we read articles that astonish us.

Is Jesus Really Coming Soon?

How many of you believe that Jesus is coming soon?

Were your parents at a camp meeting maybe 1950, 1960 And were they asked the same question back then?

Some of you who are long time part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church back in the year 1910 or 1920.

How about when Jones and Wagoner were preaching in 1988, 89, 90, 91?

What do you think the answer would have been then?

And the question would be asked, is Jesus coming soon?

Would they have said yes or would they have jumped up and shouted?

We've been asking that question too many times, giving the same answer to it.

Do we really have a clear answer to that question?

Could our sons and our daughters and our grandchildren be asking the same question 20, 50 years from now?

Would I shock too many people if I said that we have no guarantee that Jesus is coming soon.

I do not believe that I can say unequivocally that Jesus is coming within the next 05:10, or even 20 years.

Now before you all depart the church let me tell you what I do believe would you take your Bible and turn to Revelation chapter 7 and we will And we will read the first 3 verses.

And after these things I saw 4 angels standing on the 4 corners of the earth, holding the 4 winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth or on the sea or on any tree.

If you want to know where we are exactly in the Bible we happen to be living in Revelation 7 verse 1.

And I saw another angel ascending from the east having the seal of the living God.

And he cried with a loud voice to the 4 angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." There was a very dramatic vision that Ellen White saw.

She recorded it in early writings page 38 regarding these 4 angels of Revelation chapter 7.

The vision focused on a moment when for whatever reason the angels felt that their commission was finished and they were letting the winds go.

Now remember this was early writings which is in the very early part of our church's history 1850s and 60s.

She says their hands were loosening and the 4 winds were about to blow.

The merciful eye of Jesus gazed on the remnant that were not sealed and he raised his hands to the Father and pleaded with him that he had spilled his blood for them.

Jesus gazed in pity on the remnant, then raised his hands and with a voice of deep pity cried, My blood, Father, my blood, my blood, my blood.

I saw an exceeding bright light come from God who sat upon the great white throne and was shed all about Jesus.

Then I saw an angel with a commission from Jesus swiftly flying to the 4 angels who had a work to do on the earth and waving something up and down in his hand and crying with a loud voice, Hold, hold, hold, hold until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads.

Back a hundred and 50 years ago all this was transpiring as Ellen White saw it in vision and God said, wait, wait, my people are not ready for that dramatic sealing time that has to come.

The 4 angels have been holding the winds for a long time now, 150 years past this time that Ellen White saw that it was ready to be loosed.

They have been specifically ordered to keep holding the winds until God finds that special people that He will seal with his name in their foreheads.

That tells us 2 things because we're still here.

First the sealing work has not been finished.

Second and this is the important part the sealing that God Christ coming to this earth and the end of this earth's history will wait until that sealing work is done.

When he finds that people that are sealable, then the winds will be loosed and Jesus will come.

Now having said that we have no guarantees that Jesus is coming soon, may I hasten to add my conviction that I believe that the coming of Christ could be very, very soon.

You see, we're talking about guarantees which we don't have and possibilities which we do have.

It seems that there are certain points in Adventist history when Jesus moves events in the world to climax points and then he waits to see if his people are ready to follow him, ready to move with him.

1 of those climax points happened within 10 years after 1844.

If the Millerite movement would have held together instead of totally self-destructing after the disappointment.

If the Millerite movement of thousands and thousands of dedicated sincere believers would have survived the great disappointment everything could have been finished within 10 years after 1844.

And then things went into a plateau of over 40 years, significant time period, and again in the 1890s God was moving events in the world, in our United States, in our government, and in our church toward climax point.

And once again the message came to God's people, are you ready to be sealed and to be translated without seeing death?

And once again God said, Hold, my people are not ready.

And now we have gone into a holding period of over 100 years, not 40 anymore, but over 100 years.

And it is my conviction that God is moving events in this world once again into climax point.

This world is now coming back to that situation in which it was 100 years ago in the world, in the church, and in our United States government, ready for final action to take place.

And once again God is asking the same question, are you ready to follow me this time?

Are you ready to move with me as I move into the final events of Earth's history?

Catch the vision of eternity and this time finish it all completely.

But that's the wrong question because it's we.

It's only a question of which generation make it possible for that to happen.

And it wasn't my fathers, and it wasn't my grandfathers who preached the soon coming of Jesus Christ as a Seventh-day Adventist minister, and my great-grandfather who was a delegate to the 1888 conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

It wasn't to any of those people who wanted Jesus to come as much as we do.

If we today decide that we are going to be serious about our chosen name, Seventh-day Adventist, then this thing could be over in a very short time.

But if we keep on sleeping along and congratulating ourselves about our beautiful churches and our fine organs and the surging number of baptisms in other parts of the world than North America, then we'll be here for a long time congratulating ourselves as to how well we're doing in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

And we'll go to our graves in disappointment, every 1 of us, no matter how young you might be.

Now you may be wondering if my reading of the Spirit of Prophecy has been rather meager, and I haven't seen that statement that the church will go through, although it seems to fall.

I have read that statement, and I have treasured that statement and held on to that statement because I believe in it with all my heart.

This church will go through and it will be God's final church.

But beloved brothers and sisters in Christ I have also read some other statements in the spirit of prophecy that either we don't like to read or that are not easily accessible for some reason or another and I doubt you've heard any of these statements from the same author that said that the church will go through.

But before I read those statements I want to take you back to the Old Testament because you see we have the same problem exactly as the Israelites had.

They wanted to have peace and happiness for all eternity just like we do.

Turn to the book of Jeremiah with me, chapter 31.

When Jesus Christ gave some of His very disturbing, and they were disturbing, messages to the people of Israel about the temple being destroyed, about not 1 stone being left upon another, The Jews had some statements to fire back at him.

They had some very treasured statements that they held on to with all their heart.

Thus saith the Lord which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar, the Lord of hosts is his name." So God is placing his name behind these stars and suns in the sky.

"'If those ordinances depart from before me, ' saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever." Have those ordinances disappeared from the sky?

And then Israel is promised that it will be a nation, not just a spiritual people like we believe we are.

Thus saith the Lord, if heaven above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord." Well, that hasn't happened either.

And God has said, if that can be done, which it can't, I will cast off the seed of Israel for all that they have done.

These words the Jews applied to themselves.

And because God had shown them so great favor and mercy, they flattered themselves that, notwithstanding their sins and iniquity, he would still retain them as his favored people and shower a special blessings upon them.

This has been the danger of the people of God in all ages, and especially is this the danger of those living near the close of time.

If they, now that's we, shut their eyes, as did the Jews, to their own corruption and choose their own ways.

The Lord will give them up to blindness of mind and hardness of heart that they cannot discern the things of the Spirit of God." There's Ellen White's warning.

That text just doesn't apply to the Jews, but to us.

Current Issues In Justification

Read it before you need to go and read it carefully for yourself.

A whole chapter that you need to read carefully this is 1 paragraph from that chapter in the book Fundamentals of Christian Education page 475.

The Lord would have his people bury political questions.

Christ calls upon his followers to come into unity on the pure gospel principles which are plainly revealed in the Word of God.

We cannot with safety vote for political parties, for we do not know whom we are voting for.

We cannot with safety take part in any political schemes.

We cannot labor to please men who will use their influence to repress religious liberty and to set in operation oppressive measures to lead or compel their fellow men to keep Sunday as the Sabbath.

The people of God, listen carefully now, are not to vote to place such men in office, for when they do this they are partakers with them of the sins which they commit while in office." It's a very, very important statement that we tend to overlook when we get caught up in the excitement and the activities of who's the best candidate for this position, that position, or whatever it is.

Notice she does not say we should not vote.

She does say we cannot with safety vote for political parties.

We should not, that we should bury political questions.

My friends, no matter where our human citizenship resides, no matter where our human loyalties are, we are citizens of heaven.

And no human government, even as good a government as the United States of America has been for 200 years is to be had is to have our primary loyalty.

So I would suggest we think carefully about our political activities during a year as eventful as this year promises to be with all kinds of things exploding around us.

I do have a few, not many, a few extra copies of this.

If you would like to have 1, ask me later.

Now again, I'm going to add a few announcements to what Norman already told you.

The program is as you will find as he has announced it to you.

Matthew's presentation will be a new presentation a different 1 than he did here last time.

We will have available our CDs, DVDs, books, etc., available for your perusal after sundown, and you are welcome to look at those at your leisure.

In addition to that I always bring with me little booklets, a number of them from Amazing Facts and some other ones, some that GreatControversy.org has been printing in the last year or 2.

And so I bring with me some of those little booklets.

If you would like some of these to take home, study for yourself, extra material for your own personal study, just ask me at any time today and I will be delighted to share these with you.

It is all I ask is that you desire them enough to ask for them.

And lastly, if you would like to probe a little farther and if you haven't come across my website, my website is available.

It is a study website available for your study downloading of materials etc.

Most of my materials that I present are on that what I do this afternoon is not on that website or is it.

Yeah I forget what's on there and what is not.

Yes most of my materials is on the website are on the website and you're welcome to get them for yourself and study them over again if you want to or new material.

The new thing, the brand new thing that I have just put on the website is a Bible study course on the basic issues that I covered here 4 years ago, you tell me, that we covered on the issues of the nature of sin, the nature of Christ, and the nature of perfection.

And I put this into the kind of Bible study course that we're familiar with from Voice of Prophecy, Amazing Facts, etc., where you can read the question.

There is a Bible text and a place for you to answer, standard Bible study format.

So if you would like to review or go into this for the first time on these issues, if you've not heard my presentation on the basic gospel issues, that would be a good way to do it.

So that Bible study course is available on my website.

As I said last night, the material we're covering this weekend is more advanced material than that basic series.

We're now moving into the upper echelons of trying to understand righteousness by faith, dealing with the more subtle issues sometimes that are not easily seen and understood.

OK, I think that covers our announcements and we're ready to begin.

Make sure you spell it right or you'll be in trouble.

Now before we get into current issues in justification, we're going to take a brief 10 minute or so review of what justification is, because if we do not know what it is, We will not be able to figure out where there is a problem that is coming from another direction just like how do you figure out counterfeit money you know the genuine and then you can see the counterfeit more easily.

So we're gonna look first at what justification is and so we're gonna start with what is up on the board right here.

Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works.

Saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered.

So the imputing of righteousness is forgiveness of sin and covering of sin.

Iniquities are forgiven and sins are covered.

Bible Commentary, volume 6, page 1070 puts it this way.

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Dennis Priebe Weekend 2008

Confusing the Gospel

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