<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>

Advent HOPE Sabbath School

It's Time Someone Finally Told You the Truth About...

Mark Howard

The Last Generation

Revisionist Adventist History

The Human Nature of Christ - Part 1

The Human Nature of Christ - Part 2

The series of what we're talking about this weekend I'm calling It's Finally Time Someone Told You the Truth About.

And tonight's topic is the last generation.

Now it sounds a little facetious, it actually sounds a little bit arrogant in a way.

It's fine, I know the truth and you don't know it, I'm going to tell you that.

It's kind of tongue in cheek, what I'm doing here.

But I'll tell you what this grows out of.

Tonight, the title is, it's time someone finally told you the truth about the last generation.

Tomorrow morning, about the Adventism's invisible gorilla.

I know tomorrow morning is, you know, visitor Sabbath and all that.

Even though it has Adventist right there in the title and all that, you're gonna like it.

Tomorrow afternoon, it's going to be it's time someone finally told you the truth about the human nature of Christ.

And then the last message will be It's time someone finally told you the truth about the grace of God, I'm sorry, grace and the imputed righteousness of Christ.

Now, you're going to have to bear with me through some of these and I'll tell you what this grows out of.

And you'll get a little bit more of this as we go.

My mom and dad separated when I was young and my mom was remarried.

She left the Adventist church and I along with her when I was about 14 years old.

So I'd gone to Adventist education up and through my eighth grade year.

We left not just Adventism, but we left Christianity.

We had no Christianity in our home for 10 more years after that.

The Lord, through some really amazing and miraculous events in my life, was able to redirect my attention to him and I praise him for that.

I shared it when I was out here for restoration.

And so I've been back in the Seventh-day Adventist church for 22 years now.

I will tell you that something that especially in recent years wearies me, and I'm not verbally inspired so I may not say everything right.

There's a saying that I think is especially fitting in our day.

It says, we finally mastered the art of almost saying something.

There are certain topics in our church that we're not even allowed to talk about without getting labeled and marginalized.

I don't think that, incidentally, it generally happens in the context of people who are supposed to be free thinkers.

And so I recently was at a, I don't want to give everything away.

But I was recently at a conference where there was a panel discussion on the last generation.

At the end of it, I kind of felt like, wow, they almost said something.

Because we're so afraid of what people might think if we say what we think about, or more than that, what's clear.

Tonight I want to talk to you about, and incidentally, that panel discussion was on the last generation.

I can't, I've sworn, I've gotta break my silence on this.

And when I even say that, break my silence, as I look back even in past years in my ministry, there's certain topics that I just wouldn't get into a lot.

Not because I didn't believe them, not because I didn't think they were clear from Scripture, but because I knew there would be repercussions.

Well you know what, a minister can't just preach what people want to hear, especially in the days we're living in, especially if it's a topic that directly applies to the days we're living in.

So with that said, I want to start with a word of prayer, ask the Lord to bless our time as we discuss the truth about the last generation.

I'd invite you to bow your heads with me at this time if you would please.

Father in heaven, Father I ask tonight, as we've entered upon the hours of the Sabbath, the Holy Sabbath.

Your presence is with us in a special way during these hours.

So Lord, don't fail us now, and we know you won't, but I pray your spirit would be present to speak to our hearts and minds with clarity.

Not from a vantage point of debate, Lord, but to help us to be clear in our hearts and minds about the truth for this time.

That we may be the people that you've called us to be.

And we ask and pray this in the name of Jesus and for his sake.

How many of you have heard that term, the last generation?

How many of you have heard that term in a negative connotation?

The final generation is another way that the term is used.

Now the term the last generation at least in recent years has been credited, not just the term but what's called last generation theology has been credited to a man named M.

He was a well known and respected scholar, pastor, evangelist, administrator, seminary teacher and author, among other things, in the 1930s and 40s and 50s.

Well I think he retired in 50 or 51, maybe it was 49, but right around there.

Andreason's, incidentally, how many of you have the Seventh-day Adventist Bible commentary?

The commentary section on the book of Hebrews, that was written by Andreason.

He was the contributor on that particular chapter.

He wrote a book called the Book of Hebrews.

I mean he had a lot that people are aware of and maybe some things that they weren't.

1 of his most well known and widely circulated books even to this day is a book that he wrote called the Sanctuary Service.

The second to last chapter in that book, chapter 21, is a book entitled The Last Generation.

And therefore, Andreason became known as the last generation guy, and last generation theology grew out of Andreason, and this is the guy who came up with it and incidentally has been blamed for much of what's going wrong in Adventism.

It's interesting that sometime later a man by the name of Leslie Harding.

Anybody know that name in Adventist history?

Harding was an Adventist scholar known for his work, especially on the sanctuary and other things, but he has done some fantastic things on the sanctuary.

A little book of his entitled Shadows of His Sacrifice.

Leslie Harding, he has a little selected bibliography in that book, and the very first book listed with his comments is Andreasen's The Sanctuary Service of which he says, quote, this is the best book published on the subject, period.

Okay, no qualification, this is the best book except for there's some things in there.

That's just to help you understand that at least for some period of time in the Adventist Church there wasn't any concern with Andreason.

Now, in an article, And I don't have the date, this is online.

You ever look up those things on the internet?

You look up the Adventist Review and you read an article and you're like, when was this thing published?

I guess they do that to keep it timely and fresh.

But this article, I can't tell you the date, but it's an article by Dr.

Series

It's Time Someone Finally Told You the Truth About...

The Last Generation

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Attachments

Present Truth or Cunningly Devised Fables

Present Truth or Cunningly Devised Fables-Part 3

1h 15m

Sons of God

1h

Gospel First

49m

Restoration 2006: Prepare Me

Cardiology of Commitment: The Heart of the Matter

58m

Not Just Any Church

1h 2m

Restoration 2006: Prepare Me

The Ultimate Thanksgiving: Family Friends Forever

1h 14m

SWYC 2006 Plenary Sessions

The Early Rain

50m

0 + 0 = 0

57m

ECYC 2011 Plenary Meetings

Possessing the Land: The Empowerment of Destiny

49m

Present Truth or Cunningly Devised Fables

Higher Ground

1h 13m

Plenary

Jesus Wins, Satan Loses

54m

GYC 2011 Plenary Sessions

Fitting In To Heaven

59m

Sound Doctrine