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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Ted N.C. Wilson

Self

What a privilege it is to be back with Advent Hope and to see the eagerness that each of you has for spiritual things, things which are of eternal value.

You know that beautiful hymn that we sang, Higher Ground?

What a challenge to each of us to achieve a higher experience with Christ every day.

We could be talking about things of world importance this morning, but for a few moments I want to spend time talking about something which is the antithesis of international activity.

Now in just a few days on Wednesday, the General Conference will be holding its spring meeting right here on this campus, Wednesday and Thursday.

And leading up to that we've had a lot of meetings last week and 1 of the special reasons for having spring meeting here rather than Washington is because Loma Linda is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

And so it's kind of being showcased in a special way.

This very special place that you are working at, serving, studying.

The place that God has chosen 100 years ago through the direct intervention of Ellen White.

In fact, the building that we're meeting in is named after the individual that went ahead in faith.

I don't know if some of you were out just in the quadrangle here yesterday and heard the very end of the little story about how they had gone ahead in faith, put money down and at the very last minute they were in a room filled with anxiety because they didn't know what was going to happen next.

They had to produce about 03/04/5000 dollars in order to put the complete down payment on the property and the money wasn't there.

And then as they were in real turmoil, they heard the steps of the postman coming up to where they were meeting.

They brought a letter that had been mailed weeks before from Atlantic City, New Jersey.

It took its way across the United States and it came at the right moment.

They opened it and there was a check for $5, 000 from a dear sister in New Jersey.

That's the beginning of this institution and by God's grace you have the privilege of carrying on according to the spirit of prophecy God's special plan for this place.

Now we can talk about all kinds of exciting things like that and worldwide activities but I want to focus down and we're going to pull in our Sabbath school lesson as well during a portion of it.

I want to talk about something that is very personal, very much singular, and that is self.

You know I don't think that the greatest challenge to the church today is a massive legislation of Sunday laws.

I don't think it is some kind of terrorist activity.

The greatest threat to the church and to you and to me is not some nuclear dirty bomb, but I'll tell you what it is, it is the dirty bomb of self.

That is the greatest stumbling block to what God is wanting to do in the Seventh-day Adventist Church as we are sitting at the very edge of the end of time.

Because I believe that Jesus is coming very soon.

And right now, the Lord is wanting to prepare us for some incredible exploits that will take place, not because of anything that you have necessarily Prepared for in a technical way here at Loma Linda But what you have been preparing for in your own personal walk with Jesus.

Evil began in an unknown way, as you know.

Lucifer somehow caught the evil spirit of pride.

In fact, when he tempted Eve and then Adam, he said, He said, you will be like gods.

Increasing that feeling of false self-worth, of being important in your own eyes.

I don't know about you, but it's something I fight.

Wanting to be appreciated, wanting to be noticed, wanting to be of value, and there's nothing wrong with those things if it's done within the context of God's plan for our lives.

But not just to feel that warm glow that, hey, I've achieved something, but because I've contributed something to God's cause.

There's a fine line of distinction between self and selflessness for the glory of God.

Self always seems to want to strive for power.

You know, in the beautiful book of Proverbs, I love that book, it has so many beautiful, short, pithy maxims and sayings.

And in that book, there are a few things that Solomon talks about in terms of pride.

In Proverbs 13.10 it says, only by pride cometh contention.

You know, you want to bring about a little bit of contention in a group, act a little proud and a little self-centered.

In Proverbs 8.13, the fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride, and arrogancy.

And then of course Proverbs 16, 18, 1 that's very familiar to all of you.

Proverbs 16, 18, pride goeth before destruction and an haughty spirit before a fall.

Now you can give lots of illustrations of how that has happened perhaps even in your own personal life.

And as here in Advent Hope you prepare yourselves not only for some future activity, but for activity this coming week, you're going to be faced with the challenge of pride and self.

How can the Holy Spirit help you to combat that?

This whole quarter we're going to be talking about the Holy Spirit.

You remember some, I'm sure you can give illustrations.

I remember when I was young, and some of you who are not of my age will at least have remembered from reading it, about Nikita Khrushchev.

I had the privilege of living in Russia for about 3 years and working in that area.

I see 1 of my brothers back here, Moses Ostrovsky, who is president of Belarus Conference.

We had the privilege of working together.

1 of those that, of course, controlled the Soviet Union at a particular time was Nikita Khrushchev.

And some of us will remember some of the arrogant ways in which he presented his belief, system of belief, and also his own political power when he went to the United Nations.

You may have heard this story where when he was angry with what was being said, he took his shoe off and he began pounding his shoe on his desk to get attention and to bring about a spirit of rebellion and anger.

He was the 1 who actually used that phrase, and some of you will remember it, we will bury you.

The communist system will be all-powerful.

And he made a statement about Christianity.

He said, we're going to destroy Christianity, but we are going to save 1 Christian, and we will put him in a museum so people in the future will be able to see what a Christian looked like.

And then of course, he fell out of political power, because pride goeth before a fall.

And now, praise God, The power of God is moving throughout the former Soviet Union.

And in the country that Moses represents, Belarus, a challenging place from many respects, God's Spirit is moving in unusual and miraculous ways.

Even if you look at the newspaper or internet today, you will see a very powerful, former powerful congressman from a southern state who is in the midst of resigning from his position because he's been caught within the web of scandal.

After being tough as nails and playing hardball, He's now been pushed into submission.

Covetousness, the desire of benefit for self's sake, cuts the soul off from life.

The greatest battle we have to face in the Seventh-day Adventist Church is the battle of self.

If we were completely humble and submitted to what the Holy Spirit, what we're studying about this quarter, can do through us, unbelievable things will be achieved.

I believe they will be because God's going to have a people who are going to submit themselves selflessly to his power.

Now, how does the Holy Spirit come in and bring us this kind of new life?

Well, we're reborn in Christ and that ought to happen every morning.

The Holy Spirit helps us to refocus our lives, lifts up truth and eternal things.

It helps us to focus upon why we're here because of our eschatological belief that Jesus is coming so very soon.

There are going to be enormous challenges that you and I are going to face in the future.

Externally, yes, Sunday laws, They are coming.

But internally, within the church, we're going to face challenges.

Do you think you of yourself can combat the challenges?

Or are you going to be so submissive to the Holy Spirit's power?

That you are going to allow a selfless approach To become the power that will win others We need young people and older ones, of course, to allow the Holy Spirit to bring this humility, to bring this submission, to fill us with the zeal that is going to help finish this work.

Humble people of God who are submitted to the power of the Holy Spirit.

I had a teacher, a professor 1 time, who had an interesting saying.

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