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Sabbath, July 24, 2004 Pastor Tom Hughes
Newark Seventh-Day Adventist Church


“THE FOCUS OF OUR FAITH”


I’m going to put a transparency up for you to study (on the overhead projector). And then, while the picture is up, I’m just going to talk to you about our message today.

The bottom (of the picture) says, “The Way of Life. From paradise lost to paradise restored.” This picture was prepared by a man I love. When this man would come in to church (I’m going to show you how he would come in to church), he’d come up the back aisle of the church like this— If you were singing “Power In the Blood,” this is what James White would do: (pounding out the beat with his hand on a Bible) “Would you be free from your burden of sin? There’s power in the blood! Power in the blood!” And he would beat on his Bible, and keep time with his Bible.

James and Ellen White were what were called at that time “shouting Methodists.”
I don’t think James White would have much (of a) problem with VBS!

Now, I’m not going to come in the church beating my Bible. That’s the only time I’m going to do it. It’s just an illustration. But what’s the most important thing about Vacation Bible School or anything? It’s to teach the children about Jesus, to make Christ the focus of our faith.



Now this was the picture James White prepared to sell to fund evangelistic meetings. Back then, they would sell these pictures for a dollar apiece. They would often commission an artist to do a picture; publish it, then, they would raise the money to do their evangelistic work.

Ellen G. White was asked after her husband died – before he could get the picture painted and put out, he passed away. The artist had already painted the picture, and so he went to Ellen White and he said, “Sister White, are there any changes you would like to make to this picture?” And Ellen White said, “Yes, there are.”

Now this was what the church was emphasizing. According to James White, the church had this view of the Bible of Jesus Christ, and of the truths that they were proclaiming. Many of the men who were arguing about theology during this time period agreed with this presentation, and Ellen White did not argue with people.




For years, Uriah Smith and James White believed that Jesus was a created being. They had an Arian view; a heretical view of the Trinity and the nature of Christ, and
Ellen White never argued with them. She just quietly went around telling people (that) there are three in heaven: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And she said rather meekly, (that) Jesus has always existed and always will exist. But she didn’t argue with James! He believed something that wasn’t true.

But, quietly, as she bore witness to her faith, she was able eventually to help them to see what the Bible taught and, eventually, these men came around and adopted the biblical position. But she was not the kind of person to push her views on people. She would just quietly bear witness to the truth and she would preach with great power and conviction. But she never tried to force her will on people.

Now when you study the themes of justification by faith, I thought this might be a nice one just to read since you’re doing VBS (Vacation Bible School) this week.

“The themes of justification by faith, the righteousness of Christ, should be presented in our schools that the youth and children my understand these important subjects. Sacred and eternal principles connected with the plan of salvation have long been lost from sight and they must be restored to their proper place in the plan of salvation…”

“Some who will gossip over the Bible subject of justification by faith and cavil and question and throw out their objections do not know what they are talking about.

She’s pretty straight, isn’t she.

“They do not know that they are placing themselves as bodies of darkness to intercept the bright rays of light which God has determined shall come to His people.”

“The danger has been presented to me again and again of entertaining as a people a false idea of justification by faith. I have been shown for years that Satan would work in a special manner to confuse the mind on this point…The point that has been urged upon my mind for years is the imputed righteousness of Christ. I have wondered that this matter was not made the subject of discourses in our churches throughout the land when the matter has been kept so constantly urged upon me and I have made it the subject of nearly every discourse and talk that I have given to the people.”

What was the center of Ellen White’s message? What was the focus of Ellen White’s faith? The righteousness of Jesus Christ, the grace of God manifested through our Savior, Jesus Christ. That was her focus.

She said…

“There is one great central truth to be kept ever before the mind in the searching of the Scriptures: —Christ and Him crucified. Every other truth is invested with influence and power corresponding to its relation to this theme. It is only in the light of the cross that we can discern the exalted character of the law of God.”

Isn’t that beautiful? She says very clearly (that) when you teach on the (subject of the) Sabbath, the state of the dead, or music, or anything—when you teach on another subject besides the cross, there is power in the presentation of that subject only in as much as you have related it to the cross of Jesus Christ. When you take the cross out of the Sabbath, you have no power to teach or preach the truth on the (subject of the) Sabbath.

Many of you have told me that you have witnessed about the Sabbath for years and years and years and (have) had no results, and no one has accepted it. And you’ve wondered why there isn’t more power in your sharing of the Bible study on the Sabbath. Might I suggest to you that if you have been teaching the Sabbath as a doctrine; apart from the cross of Jesus Christ, that is why you have had no power and no success. (“Amen!”)

I keep the Sabbath because I am saved in Jesus Christ. I’ve accepted Christ as my Savior and I keep the Sabbath because I am converted, not in order to be converted; (but) because I am saved; not in order to be saved.

I use that term in the sense not of being “once saved always saved,” but in the same way Ellen White used it. We don’t teach “cheap grace” where, once you accept Christ you can never be lost even if you do things that are evil. That’s not what the Bible teaches. But “our focus has to be on the Savior and not on our behavior.” Okay? And for years, we’ve done the opposite.

When you teach on (the subject of) the Sabbath, or the state of the dead, please ground it in the cross, and in Jesus Christ, and in salvation. We keep the Sabbath because we love Jesus and that’s the day He kept. Christ, His cross, and His example are why we keep the Sabbath.

We’re the people that love Jesus and lift Him higher than any other denomination. That’s what I want people to say about you.

When you go into Newark and they say, “Oh, he’s a Seventh-Day Adventist.”

“What’s a Seventh-Day Adventist? Aren’t they the ones that don’t get blood transfusions?”

“Don’t they have more than one wife?”

“Aren’t they the vegetarians? They’re the ones who don’t eat any meat, aren’t they?”

“Oh, they’re the ones that go to church on the wrong day.”

“Oh, that guy. Oh, all he wants to do is argue about religion. Don’t bring the subject up around him! All they want to do is argue.”

How about, “Oh, yeah! Man, that guy, he really loves Jesus. He loves to talk about Jesus. He goes to church on Saturday ‘cause he says that’s the day Jesus goes to church, but every time I see that guy, all he wants to talk about is Jesus.”

That’s what I want to hear.

Now in Exodus chapter 34, Moses asked God to show him his glory. And the glory of God is His character that is manifested in the plan of salvation that was made by God before the creation of the world.

Exodus 34:6,7…

6“And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
7Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”

The dictionary definition of “focus” is to “center ones activity or attention on one thing. To fix or settle on one thing, to concentrate ones attention on one thing.”

So what is the focus, the focal point of our faith? What would be the one thing God wants us to focus on?

The focus of our faith should be Jesus Christ and His righteousness. God should be our focus. We should center our attention upon the character of Jesus Christ. We should concentrate on Him. We should fix our gaze upon Him, and settle our attention on Him. Jesus should be the center of every sermon, of every lesson, of every life! To be Christian, means to be focused on Christ. We are Seventh-Day Adventist Christians!

When I look at this picture, I see the law tree: love to God, love to man. The law is a wonderful thing and, back in James White’s day, they really pushed the law. That was their favorite subject. And that’s why, to these gentlemen when they designed this picture, they made that law tree the big focal point.

What’s at the center of this picture? The law tree—Jesus is off to the right. Here’s the center. Christ is over here (right). What’s bigger? What’s higher, the law or Jesus? The law is higher than Jesus. The law is the focal point of this picture. I just want you to think about this picture in a way that you haven’t been thinking about it.

When Moses asked God to show him His glory, God chose to present Himself by telling Moses about His character. All other messages, doctrines, and teachings should be centered in Jesus. God and His great love should be our center. His perfect righteousness should be the very center of our lives. His person in the sanctuary in heaven should be the object of our attention and the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit should be our deepest joy.

At the one church I pastored, we chose as our motto: “To know and make known the character of God.”

What has God said about His character?
He is:

“…merciful, gracious, longsuffering, abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy, forgiving in iniquity, transgression and sin, and will by no means clear the guilty.”

He reveals himself as a God of goodness, kindness, mercy, graciousness, patience, truthfulness, and forgiveness. He is also a God of justice; who will not excuse the guilty. But the justice of God is not the focus of His revelation of Himself. The fact that He will not clear the guilty is mentioned, but that’s not the focus of this passage.

At the beginning of the passage, He directs the hearer to the only way the guilty can be cleared—through the mercy, forgiveness, and goodness of God. He is the only one who is righteous, holy, or good. All other righteousness comes from Him and Him alone. None of us has or can manufacture any other righteousness that is acceptable to God but the righteousness that comes from Christ.

We have often focused on God’s character. But, rather than dwelling on His goodness and crediting Him with it, we have stressed our own need for character development. Instead of emphasizing God’s holiness, we have even taught that in the end time we would have to be as holy as Jesus, and live a sinless life apart from Christ, or be lost in the time of trouble.

The hardest lesson for fallen humanity to learn is this: As long as we are confined to this carnal nature, even our acts of obedience are tainted with sin! This means that all the things we do right ascend to the heavenly sanctuary in a defiled state and require the application of Christ's atoning blood to make them pure and acceptable to God.

Regarding the righteous actions of “true believers,” Ellen White tells us that these good deeds are brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Then she adds,

“…but passing through the corrupt channels of humanity (that’s us), they are so defiled that unless purified by blood, they can never be of value with God. They ascend (to the heavenly sanctuary) not in spotless purity, and unless the Intercessor, who is at God's right hand, presents and purifies all by His righteousness, it is not acceptable to God. . . Oh, that all may see that everything in obedience, in penitence, in praise and thanksgiving, must be placed upon the glowing fire of the righteousness of Christ. . .”

Dear Lord, please anoint the hearers, please drive back the evil angels, please keep him from spinning his web and causing people to not listen or hear. May they not be asleep spiritually, Lord. May they hear this message because this is the message that will set them free and enable them to be victorious in Christ. Anoint our ears, Lord, and our lips, we pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Don’t let Satan lull you into a spiritual sleep today. Pay attention and listen, and try to understand this. This is a very, very important subject. You see, we have this misconception that when we’re in church and we’re praising the Lord, and our praises are ascending up that God is pleased with our praises because we’re doing something good—we’re praising the Lord. You have to understand righteousness by faith.

Beloved, your prayers and your praises are foul and corrupt if Jesus doesn’t sprinkle His righteousness upon them. Even your prayers in church, even your praising God is (from) a sinful person praising God; is a sinner. You have sinful blood flowing through your veins.

Some people who are mislead into the doctrine of perfectionism will say, “I can gain victory over a sin.” The question is not just an action; the question is one of your nature. You are a sinner and you are always a sinner until Christ comes. Now you might be a born again sinner, you might be a converted sinner, you might be a saved sinner, but we can never claim the we’re not sinful. And when you praise the Lord, your prayers ascend and God rejects them as unholy and unacceptable.

But then something beautiful happens. Jesus steps in and He says, “Father, (your name) has praised you. Please, take my righteousness and sprinkle it in his/her praise because he/she is my son/daughter and has accepted me as his/her Savior.”

And the Father says, “Oh, my beloved Son, you have give your life for (your name)?”
“Yes, I have.”

“Well, when I look at (your name), all I see is You. All right, Son, on your behalf, I’ll accept her praise now because of your good deeds. Because of your righteousness, my Son, even though she’s a sinner I will accept his/her repentance. I will forgive him/her and I will accept her praise now as holy and it’s okay to offer it on the altar.”
Now see, if you’re like me, you think, okay, when I do something bad, when I get angry or I lie, or I yell at somebody, or talk rude, or do something that isn’t nice, then, you know, God’s displeased with me. But when I’m in church kneeling in my best clothes and I’m praising the Lord (I have a wedding today so I had to spiff up a little bit). But when I’m on my knees praising the Lord, Oh, then I’m holy, I’m doing what’s right, I’m okay. I don’t need Jesus for that; I can just praise the Lord ‘cause God will accept that ‘cause I’m doing something good. Uh. Uh.

Everything in obedience has to be placed on the glowing altar of Christ’s Righteousness. And when you say, “Father, forgive me for my sins, fill me with Your Spirit” and then you praise the Lord; with the white robe of Christ’s righteousness on, then your prayers are acceptable to God.

Now it’s important that we realize that.

Consider it this way. Suppose I offered you a drink of pure, clean, distilled water in a clean glass. Would you take it? Of course, you would. Would you have any hesitancy about drinking it? Of course, not. But what if I went out and found an old, dirty, plastic jug in a ditch along the highway, poured the clean water into it, and then offered it to you to drink? Would you drink that? You see, the work of the Holy Spirit is kind of like this. What He does in us is pure and clean. But the problem lies with the corrupt and filthy container that the Holy Spirit has to work with. We’re the dirty milk jug, unfortunately.
The Holy Spirit comes in and He does His work. Now, the carnal nature we possess even after we are converted is like that dirty plastic jug. But what if I then took the water, which had become contaminated by being in the jug, and ran it through a distiller and then through a water filter and made it totally pure? Would you drink it then? I would. Would it now be fit to drink? Yes! Praise the Lord. Thank God, for the distilling, purifying effects of Christ's merits in our behalf in the sanctuary above!

The Holy Spirit comes He ministers to our heart, we do the best we can trying to be obedient children of God, and then the Holy Spirit takes our offering of obedience to God and then, even though it comes out of that impure container, He takes it to God, mixes it with the righteousness of Christ, and God accepts it.

This is an understanding of how faith and works operate in the salvation process and it should humble us and keep us from having a haughty, carnal atti­tude concerning what we accomplish in this life. It should pre­vent us from thinking that we can do something that will be more acceptable in God's sight than what someone else can do.

SIDE TWO

“There is none righteous, no, not one.”

We are like the lepers In Christ's day. As God draws near, we must yell out “Un­clean! Unclean!” Like Isaiah, when he went into the temple of God and came face to face with true righteousness, we must recognize our undone condition.
Now this message can often be difficult for those among us who are of good character. Perhaps, over the years, you have grown in Christ and (have) developed a pretty good character. Most of the time you’re very obedient, the only sins you commit are the unconscious ones or the ones that are really hard to see like spiritual pride. “I am an Adventist. We’re better than all those other churches.”

Spiritual pride: “Oh, I’m not reading that. They’re not an Adventist, what do I have to learn?”

Spiritual pride, spiritual arrogance. “I’m superior to another person simply because I have a better religion.” Okay?

Spiritual pride in your accomplishments: “I’m not like that person. I’m not like that person struggling with drugs or alcohol.”

“I’m not like that sinner over there.”

Now that was like the Publican, remember, and the Pharisee. He was looking at the sinner and the sinner was saying, “Oh, have mercy…” and the Publican was saying, “Oh, I thank you, God, I’m not like that guy!”

Now, those sins are very subtle and so those of us who have walked with the Lord for many years have to be careful when someone preaches the righteousness of Christ, and we are compared with Christ, even if we’ve developed our character for many years and (have) developed our spiritual gifts, compared with other sinners, we might be way at the top of the list.

But if you compare yourself with Jesus, you know, because somebody’s down in the ditch ten feet and you’re on a hill ten feet up, but Jesus is on the top of Mount Everest…

Is that ten feet between you and that sinner down in the ditch really all that significant and you think about it like that? No it isn’t. So we have to be very careful.

Failure to comprehend this truth is the real root of Laodicea's failure to sense her need of God. This is why Martin Luther declared:

“Every good work of the saints while pilgrims in this world is sin. I have taught that our good works are of such a kind as cannot bear the judgment of God. . . . I repeat, that a good work in itself is unclean if the covering cloud of grace is removed.”

And Ellen White taught the same thing, that,
apart from Christ, even our good works are sinful.

Now it is so hard for us to see that. Our spiritual pride really fights against this. “You mean to tell me, Pastor, when I’m on my knees in my best prayerful mode praying, that my prayers are sinful? How can you say that?”

Because we’re sinners and even our prayers come from self-centered, sinful heart. But—God knows that! He loves sinners and He longs for us to come to Him just as we are. Isn’t that the song we always sing “…without one plea but that Thy blood was shed for me…”?

We come to Christ just as we are, we pray, we read our Bible, we do our very best, and then Jesus takes His righteousness, puts them with our good works and offers them to God as a pleasing sacrifice and God says, “My son, my daughter, I will accept your praise.” But in and of itself, it is sinful apart from Christ. And it’s kind of a deep concept; it’s different than we normally look at it.

Inspiration supports Luther's conclusion. The wise man said,

“For there is not a Just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.”

Ellen White taught that…

“Man's obedience can be made perfect only by the incense of Christ's righteousness, which fills with divine fragrance every act of obedience.”

No doubt this is the same lesson Isaiah was trying to teach when he wrote,

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness’ are as filthy rags,”

and this is the way it is going to be all the way down to the Second Coming. Now, during the time of trouble and a hundred million years from now, Christ’s meritorious grace will be the only legal right any of us will have to be in God’s kingdom.

The trouble we have is we will try to teach some perfect level of holiness through the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying power, or else be unable to endure the time of trouble.
I’ve had people preach the time of trouble so much they became troublemakers! (laughter).

The interpretation that we must reach a perfect level of holiness through the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying power or else be unable to endure the time of trouble is straining the meaning of certain inspired statements.

If we go around teaching that unless you’re as perfect as Christ you can’t be saved, and unless you strive for perfection in the sense of absolute sinlessness…

In the Bible, the word “perfect” means mature. All the Bible is trying to say is God wants to make you as mature and healthy, and as (a) full grown a Christian you can be. It doesn’t mean flawlessly perfect. That’s what the King James and the English version has translated it. But in the original Greek, it’s “teleios,” which means “mature.”

Matthew 5:48…
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

Greek translation…

“Esesqu oun umeiv teleioi wy o pathr umwn o ouraniov teleiov estin.”

Now when we place before people this ideal that unless you’re as flawless as Jesus you can’t be saved, it will ultimately either unsettle your faith in the plan of salvation or seal our fate in bogus creature worship. We will begin to worship ourselves and our own accomplishments. It breeds rebellion and hatred towards God because it portrays Him as a hard taskmaster, a stern judge who requires the impossible.

“You better be perfect. You better not make a mistake!” And we kind of think of God then as this giant thumb in the sky who’s just waiting for us to make a mistake so He can smash us. “Gotcha!” “Oh, you messed up! Gotcha!” “Oh, oh! You sinned! Gotcha!” That’s not our God. Our God loves sinners. He said, “I died for you while you were yet a sinner. While you hated Me, I loved you and died for you.”

Jesus does not like sin, and I’ll give you a very short sermon on sin: I’m “agin’” it. (laughter). I’m agin’ Sabbath breaking, I’m agin’ adultery, fornication, stealing, lying, homosexuality…yes, homosexuality. I will tolerate a homosexual, but I will not tolerate homosexuality. I love those guys…not too much (laughter). And I’ve seen many a homosexual find Jesus and get deliverance! Amen! That’s just like any other sin the Bible lists. They’re no worse than a fornicator or an adulterer. They’re all sinners. They’re all going to go to hell. It doesn’t matter which one you focus on, it you let it rule your life, you’re going to be lost. So, sin: I’m agin’ it. But Jesus came to save sinners.

And Paul said he was the chief of sinners. And he was my hero; he was the greatest Christian, I think, in Bible times ever! And Paul, the great man of God said he was chief of sinners.

When we fail to live up to such unrealistic ideas, many conclude that God is unreasonable and many young people have left the faith because their parents talk to them constantly about their behavior and never communicated to them the love of a Savior. And, sadly, we have to admit that we’ve done that to many of our young people.

And when we start emphasizing the Savior and the love of God, and the grace of God, and the forgiveness of God, and when they realize that we will accept them even though their behavior is not what we would like it to be, then we will win back their friendship and then we will win them back to the faith.

But as long as we portray God as this strict perfectionist who says, “Unless you measure up and do everything I’m teaching you to do, I will reject you,” they will never come to Christ because they will look at God as a stern, judgmental person who is critical. God, forgive us for doing that sometimes to those that we teach.

How did God portray Himself to Moses?

Thousands of our young people have left the faith, not because they didn’t agree with the truths of the church, but because when confronted with such a perfectionist religion, concluded that they could never be good enough, so why try.

No wonder we lose so many who join our ranks. We draw them into the church with the precious message of Christ's covering righteousness, and then turn right around and tell them they must eventually develop a state of righteousness comparable to that which Jesus had or be lost during the time of trouble!

What kind of heresy is that! May no one teach that kind of thing from any Adventist pulpit.

Paul's stinging reproof to the Galatians no doubt applies to us today,

“O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you?…Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit (through justification by faith) are ye now made perfect by the flesh (by what you can do, by what you can earn, by what you can accomplish in this life)?”

For a long time now, God has been trying to help steer us clear of this satanic delusion!

Our focus on performance has led us to misrepresent the character of Christ not just to our young people but to the world. Our focus should not be on measuring our works to see if “we are good enough to make it through the time of trouble,” our focus should be on the “weightier matters of the law”— Christ, and His righteousness.

Now, Christ told them what that was. If you want to talk about the Law, let’s talk about it.

Matthew 23:23, Jesus said…

23 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”

Luke 11:42, he says…

42 “But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”

Where is the love of God? Where is the mercy of God? Where is the faith of God? Faith, love, mercy, and judgment are all the weightier matters of the Law that we need to emphasize and preach.

The Judgement – yes, we’re doing pretty good on that. And you need to preach a coming judgment or people won’t accept Christ because they’ll have no need of a Savior if they don’t realize they’re lost. But then we have to present the love of God; we have to present the mercy of God, the graciousness of God.

Notice the similarities to our opening text in Exodus 34. Judgment, mercy, faith, and the Love of God—these were the matters that carried the most weight with Jesus. These were the truths that He wished His church leaders had stressed—a God of love, a God of mercy, a God who has already paid the price for everyone so they can be acquitted in the judgment! A God who you can have faith in!

We have to come to the place in the church where we proclaim a God who is merciful, gracious, kind, accepting, loving, forgiving, and just. He will not clear the guilty, but he will forgive them, if they accept his righteousness! This is the kind of God we have to lift up at the Newark Seventh-Day Adventist Church! (“Amen!”)

The focus of our faith should be on Jesus Christ, not be what we have to do for God. It should be what God has done for us! A legalistic, dry, narrow-minded religion, with a judgmental, demanding God who will destroy you at the slightest excuse if you don’t perform perfectly, is not the God we find in Exodus 34.

The focus of our faith should be on Jesus Christ. Notice how Paul put it:

1 Corinthians 2:1-2…

1“And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2 For I am determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”

What is the focus of our faith? Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Galatians 6:14…

14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”

Christ and His cross—this is to be the central focus of the Christian faith!

Jesus alone is righteous! God alone is righteous! There is only one kind of righteousness in the universe, and that’s God’s! Once again, hear the apostle Paul:

Philippians 3:9…

9 “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”

Some among us think that when we exalt Christ’s righteousness, we are subtly trying to undermine the law of God and say that obedience is not important. God forbid! Nothing could be further from the truth. The more we exalt God’s righteousness, the more we exalt the law of God, because the law of God is nothing but a transcript of God’s character. Only those who recognize their helplessness can ever be able to “exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees.”

Perfect, absolute sinlessness is the only righteousness that God will accept. It is only thing that God will accept to meet the demands of the law. If you love the law, this is what the law says: “You have to be absolutely, flawlessly perfect in every way or you must die!”

Now, is the law your friend? No. The law is not the sinner’s friend. The law is the sinners’ judge. The law will condemn you to death. If you embrace the Ten Commandments in stone and hug that rock, it will kill you. So, love it all you want.

Now is the law a bad thing? No! The law is holy, just, and good. Is God a bad thing? No! God is holy, just, and good. The problem with the law is, it’s so doggoned right all the time! It’s absolutely right—I shouldn’t kill, I shouldn’t lie, I shouldn’t steal, I shouldn’t commit adultery, I shouldn’t lust, I shouldn’t covet, I shouldn’t take the Lord’s name in vain. Is it right? Amen! Do we all need to be obedient to God’s law? Absolutely.

Now, how are we going to get there where we can be obedient? —only through Christ and His righteousness! That’s the only way! Once we accept Christ, Christ’s perfect life fulfills that law and the law says, “Well, Tom, I’m not going to kill you. I can see that you’ve met all my requirements. You may live.” And justice and mercy kiss each other in Jesus on the cross. Isn’t that beautiful?

Christ is our only hope, our only salvation!
Speaking of this struggle between the law and the message of justification by faith, Ellen White told the participants at a Bible school in 1890:

“When you go from this place, oh be so full of the message (of justification by faith) that it is like fire shut up in your bones, that you cannot hold your peace.

“It is true men will say, ‘You are too excited; you are making too much of this matter, and you do not think enough of the law.’ Now, you must think more of the law; don't be all the time reaching for this righteousness of Christ, but build up the law.”

Then she added…

“Let the law take care of itself. We have been at work on the law until we get as dry as the hills of Gilboa, without dew or rain…

(That’s about the time that this picture was being picture was being painted.)

…Let us trust in the merits of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. May God help us that our eyes may be anointed with eyesalve, that we may see. . . .
Do we believe? Will we come in God's appointed way? May the Lord help us and enlighten us, that we may go forth from this place as they went forth to proclaim the truth after the day of Pentecost; and there were souls converted; they could not resist the testimony.”

She said the eyesalve that will open our eyes is the righteousness of Christ.

So, focus on Jesus! Focus on God, and His righteousness! Make His character of love, mercy, graciousness, forgiveness, and justice known to the world! The eyesalve we all need is the righteousness of Christ, according to the Spirit of Prophecy. Will you apply it to your eyes or do you think you have need of nothing? It’s a matter of emphasis, a matter of focus.

Remember the sanctuary in heaven. When you look into the most holy place, do you see the Ten Commandments? No. You can’t see them. Are they there? Where are they? They’re in the Ark. Why don’t you see them? Because they’re in the Ark. Are they the focus of the sanctuary service? No, you don’t see them. They are there, but they are inside the Ark of the Covenant. What do you see when you look in the Ark? You see the mercy seat! You see the blood of Christ! You see the Shekinah glory of God! The focus is the glory of God!

Let’s pretend this is the mercy seat. Here’s the Shekinah glory. As God looks down on the Ark, what does He see? He sees two angels and the mercy seat with the blood of Jesus on it, and then inside the Ark, what do you see? The Ten Commandments. So the blood of Jesus covers us and shields us from the law and when God looks down He doesn’t see the law, He sees the blood of Christ and the mercy seat. That blood was put on that mercy seat for you and for me.

The focus is the glory of God, and His glory is His character of mercy, goodness, forgiveness, and love! Why do we have such a difficult time settling into the truth that while sin is forgiven in this life it’s results are not now wholly removed. It is at His Coming that Christ will change this vile body that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body! We cannot say “I’m sinless” till this vile body is changed and fashioned like unto His glorious body.
Beloved, you have a carnal nature. You get converted; you still have a carnal nature. It remains, but it doesn’t reign; Christ and His Holy Spirit reign.

The problem is when you start saying, “I’m free from sin, and I’ve been converted and now I have to be perfect.” You don’t know what you’re talking about when you make those statements. Because there’s no way you can equal the perfection of Christ’s righteousness. If you try and say you’re going to use that to stand before God, you would be lost in a heartbeat.

All the good works of man added up together could not save even one person. It’s only through the righteousness of Christ. Jesus is your only hope. Do you understand that?

Focus on His perfection, His character, and you will become like Him! By beholding, we become changed! Look at Jesus!
Historically, Adventism has created a parched theological land­scape with its focus on perfection through obedience. But this will create a generation that is ready for “the times of refresh­ing,” the outpouring of the “latter rain,” which is the message of perfection that is based solely the merits of Christ's achievements, and not on our performance. May it be our generation!

For the most part, mainstream Adventist theology has corrected false views that distort the pure gospel. However some among us still are determined to hang on to this strained, “final-generation” theory. Many of these have become bitter and condemning of church leaders who have tried to help them correct these theological errors. In their blindness, they have refused the eyesalve and denounced these leaders as “new theologians” and destroyers of the true Adventist faith but this is only a smokescreen behind which these misguided souls hide their own personal frustrations.

They have given it—the attempt to reach a state of sinlessness—their best try, and if they were honest would admit that it just doesn't work. Like the Pharisees of old, their pride keeps them from admitting their failure, and they denounce as error the very truth that would correct their extreme views.
Why do we have such a difficult time settling into the truth that:

“while sin is forgiven in this life, its results [the carnal nature] are not now wholly removed? It is at his coming that Christ is to ‘change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body’”
“We cannot say, ‘I am sinless,’ till this vile body is changed and fashioned like unto His glorious body.”

Such a realization will all the more help us become riveted on the great hope of Christ’s soon return, because that is when we will be completely liberated from our carnal natures that are antagonistic to our spiritual desires.

Turn with me to the book of Revelation Chapter 15. Here we find the 144,000—those who have been absolutely true to God, who have overcome the beast and his image, the most perfected generation who have ever lived. Do they claim any holiness, or perfection of their own? Do they claim that the Holy Spirit’s works in them has made them perfect, or holy? Do they even lay claim to the good works (that) they did while on earth? Absolutely not!

Revelation 15:2-4…

“2And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, (the 144,000) having harps of God.
3They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: “Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!
4Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You (and everyone else who accepts You…is that what it says? For you, what?) alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested.”

God alone is holy. All our righteousness comes from Christ. Every good thing we ever do comes from the Holy Spirit. I always say I’ll take all the blame for everything I do wrong and give Jesus all the credit for anything I do right. Because it’s only in Christ. She (Ellen White) says, The greatest and noblest of men are but a faint reflection of the character of Christ.

After coming through the time of trouble; after gaining the victory over the mark of the beast, and at the Second Coming, they will conclude like Moses did thousands of years before that God alone is holy and the He alone is righteous. “You alone are holy.”

Even the 144,000 will be sinners who are going to be saved by grace and they are going to acknowledge that only God is holy and that they are not.

Strive for holiness. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments,” but always keep that umbrella of Christ’s righteousness over you. Never, never, never try to earn your way to heaven or work your way to heaven. And always make Christ the focus of your faith; not what you do. The focus must be on the Savior; not on the behavior. And it’s hard for us to get that.

He is our wisdom. He is our righteousness. The focus of our faith must be on Jesus Christ. We must preach Him as the great central doctrine. We must rely only on His good works and His holiness and never upon our own for we will surely be lost.

Beloved, what you believe can kill you. Theology is not just an exercise in futility. The study of theology is very important because what you believe, if you believe a false gospel you can actually be lost because you did not follow what God said in His word. You are saved by grace through faith to work and it is only through Christ and His forgiving righteousness that you can be saved and not by your own works. You need to understand that, it’s very important.

Now, Ellen White, being a woman, when they asked her “Would you like, Ellen, to change something in the painting? This is what James had, but would you like to change it?” Now, knowing men and women as husbands and wives, what do you think she said? “Yes” absolutely! (laughter)

Now I want you to notice the focus of Ellen White compared to the focus of James White and the other theologians of her day who were so concerned about lifting up the law of God. Do you see the difference?

Where’s the law tree? It’s not there. She took it out. Now, the law is there—(do you) see Mount Sinai? That’s where the Ten Commandments were given. So the law is still represented but it’s in the background now.

What is the great central theme? What is the great focus of our faith? All these other things are brought to very small, and look what is the great focus; the center, the theme of Ellen G. White’s message? She said, “It was the theme of nearly every sermon I ever gave.” Justification by faith, the righteousness of Christ was the central theme of almost every sermon Ellen White ever gave. So if you wonder why I talk about it so much, it’s because I have a good example to follow, don’t I.

Now, let me show again; compare them again.

There’s a little Jesus, and there’s a big law.

And that law is a pretty big obstacle but I’m thankful that Ellen G. White understood that the Christ of Calvary was big enough to pay the price.

And now, look at Jesus now! Doesn’t He shine? Isn’t He the central focus of this painting now?


Christ, and Him crucified, has to be the focus of our faith.

In my fifth year of ministry, I said to
H. M. S. Richards, Sr., “Elder Richards, I would like to ask you a question about righteousness by faith.” He said, “Good, because that’s the only kind there is!” How right he was.

Throughout the Bible, it is called the “righteousness of God.”

He alone is righteous.
He alone is holy!
He is our perfection and holiness!
He is our sanctification!
Again, note the apostle Paul:
1 Corinthians 1:30…

30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”

He is our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption! We receive all these by faith! Keep your eyes upon Jesus and He will change your into His image. He will accept you as His child, changing you each day, accepting your best efforts as only a loving, merciful and kind heavenly father could. He’s crazy about you! If you love Him, keep His commandments by faith, and live a life more fulfilling than you could have ever dreamed possible!

May the focus of our faith be upon God, and His righteousness, the righteousness of God found only by faith in Jesus Christ. May we be Seventh-day Adventists who are truly Christ-centered Christians, focused on our blessed Savior until the day of His appearing.

Father in heaven as we sing the closing hymn we pray that You will cover us with the life of Jesus. Please forgive us for our sins and help us all to appreciate the righteousness of Christ and His white robe. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Closing Hymn: No. 412 “Cover With His Life”(Seventh-Day Adventist Hymnal, Review and Herald Publishing Association, ©1985)

Our Father in heaven, how we need to be covered with Your life “whiter than snow” our life of scarlet. Lord, we have so many sins; so many evil things that we have done and we would give anything to be forgiven and have them washed away. But we can’t buy forgiveness, we can’t earn forgiveness, we can only accept forgiveness.
So while our heads are bowed and our eyes are closed, if you’d like to say “Jesus, forgive me for my sins. I accept your white robe of righteousness. Cover me with your white robe whiter than snow, and wash all my sins away and forgive me for my sins today.” If you’d like to say that, would you raise your hand right now? Oh, God bless each one of you. Raise that hand! Go ahead, I know you want to. God bless you.

Father, thank you for this good news the gospel, the good news that we can be forgiven for even the most horrible sin—in the blood of Christ. Wash us and cover us with His life we pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen.


Organist: Ardyth Loveridge

Special Music: (Not recorded) “Brighten The Corner Where You Are” Men’s Chorus (Leon Brown, Pastor Tom Hughes, Jim Spitler, Clyde Whitling)

Accompaniment: Ardyth Loveridge
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All Scriptural References: King James Version

Ellen G. White References: www.whiteestate.org


Transcription: Wendy J. Riebel

This sermon is also available on cassette tape.

Visit our church website: www.ProphecyWatch.biz


*Special thanks to my friend Keavin Hayden, whom I quoted often in this sermon, i.e.: Saving Blood, pp. 163-168; and Surviving the Shaking, p.73