"Raising the Right Arm" Prophecy & Medical Ministry Camp Meeting

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Uchee Pines Institute

Plenaries with Norman McNulty

Norman McNulty

Revelation’s Sanctuary Theme

Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this opportunity to have a week of convocation where we reflect on our prophetic identity and of the right arm of the third angel's message that you have entrusted to us as a people and I pray that you would speak through me and each presenter this week and that you would allow this week to stir our hearts to make changes where change is needed and to follow you completely and to be ready for your soon coming.

So we thank you for this opportunity to come together this morning and I pray that these next few moments will prove to be a blessing.

So I have been asked to give the presentations for the morning 8 o'clock meeting as well as the evening meeting.

So I'm going to do 2 different series I guess you would say.

So in the morning what I'm going to be doing is going through the book of Revelation and we are going to progress through the Sanctuary as seen in the book of Revelation and we will see how that connects to the medical missionary work So that's what we're going to be doing in the morning meetings now Today's presentation is going to be an overview of where we are headed the rest of the week.

So I probably won't spend as much time this morning on medical missionary topics.

It will be more of a prophetic overview of the book of Revelation, but we will get into the medical missionary side of things especially tomorrow and Wednesday.

So the title for this presentation is Revelation's sanctuary theme, and I just have a couple of statements about why we study prophecy.

You know sometimes Adventists have a tendency to say, you know we've already studied all the prophecies, let's just talk about Jesus.

Well I would submit to you as you're going to see through this series of meetings that when you study prophecy correctly, you'll see Jesus even better.

Now Testimonies to Ministers, page 116, those who eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God will bring from the books of Daniel and Revelation truth that is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

They will start into action forces that cannot be repressed.

So if we're spending time with Jesus, eating His flesh, drinking His blood, we will bring from the books of Daniel and Revelation truth that is inspired by the Holy Spirit, and this will start into action forces that cannot be repressed.

That is going to lead to the final movements of this earth's history.

Continuing on, Great Controversy 423, the subject of the sanctuary was the key which unlocked the mystery of the disappointment of 1844.

It opened to view a complete system of truth connected and harmonious.

Friends, God has blessed this church with a complete system of truth.

Now, I'll just say what I'm thinking here.

I get concerned when I hear people going to non-Adventist sources to gain a more complete understanding of Bible truth.

God has given to us a complete system of truth.

Now I'm not saying that you couldn't get some devotional value out of a source outside of our church, but I'm saying If you're trying to add a deeper understanding to the truth that God has given to us, you're going to find it in the truth that God has given to us.

Continuing, this is 1 of my favorite statements about the sanctuary.

The great plan of redemption as revealed in the closing work of these last days should receive close examination.

Friends, we need to be giving close examination to the great plan of redemption as it is connected to our last day message.

Continuing, the scenes connected with the sanctuary above should make such an impression upon the minds and hearts of all that they may be able to impress others.

All need to become more intelligent in regard to the work of the atonement which is going on in the sanctuary above.

So 1 thing that stands out to me is that when we see what Jesus is doing in the sanctuary above, that should make such an impression upon my mind and heart, that when I share it with you, it would leave an impression with you.

And then when you share it with someone else, it leaves an impression upon them.

That is what the sanctuary message is designed to do when we follow Jesus into the most holy place.

The quote continues, "'When this grand truth, ' the truth of what Jesus is doing in the sanctuary, "'is seen and understood, "'those who hold it will work in harmony with Christ "'to prepare a people to stand in the great day of God and their efforts will be successful.

Do you want to have efforts that are successful?

Do you want to work with God in a way that you know will lead to true success?

What this statement says is that when we understand the grand truth of what Jesus is doing for us in the sanctuary above, we will have such an impression on our hearts and minds that we will impress others and then we will work in harmony with Christ to prepare a people to stand in the great day of God, and our efforts will be successful.

You know, there's lots of strategies that the church has tried.

This is the strategy that will prove to be successful.

So many times we come up with all these ideas of ways to grow our church and to do this and to do that when God has given us the blueprint to be successful.

The statement finishes by saying, By study, contemplation, and prayer, God's people will be elevated above common earthly thoughts and feelings and will be brought into harmony with Christ.

The great work of cleansing the sanctuary above from the sins of the people.

And again, that's Testimonies, Volume 5, page 575.

So what we are going to do today is we are going to look at an overview of the sanctuary in the book of Revelation.

And when I started studying this and seeing how harmonious and connected the sanctuary message is in the book of Revelation, it really blew my mind away.

And it underscored in my mind that our understanding of the sanctuary message is not a cunningly devised fable.

You know, Desmond Ford came along almost 40 years ago now and said that our understanding of the sanctuary is a mistake, and he had all these fanciful ideas to try to confuse people, when in reality his arguments don't stand the test of time and they don't hold up to the testimony of inspiration.

And we're going to see today just how accurate and truthful the sanctuary message is.

Now, I suspect that most of you have a basic understanding of the sanctuary.

What you may not see, though, or what you may have not seen is just how connected and systematic the sanctuary message is in the book of Revelation.

Now, we understand the basic outline of the sanctuary.

And those of us who have studied the sanctuary for a while understand that there's the 3 apartments, so to speak.

There's the outer courtyard to the sanctuary, where there's the altar of sacrifice and the labor where they did the washing.

And then there's the holy place where you have the table of showbread, the 7 candlesticks, the altar of incense.

And then you have the most holy place where you have the Ark of the Covenant with the mercy seat where the law of God with the 2 tables of stone was contained, and also there was the pot that had manna and Aaron's rod that miraculously budded.

That was in the Old Testament sanctuary, which is a pattern of the heavenly sanctuary.

So, what we're going to see is that we can follow this very pattern in the book of Revelation.

How many of you have spent some time following this pattern in the book of Revelation?

I'm sure many of you have, so that's good.

Now what we're going to see, as we go sequentially, you would think that you would find some texts that refer to the outer courtyard as it relates to Jesus.

The Revelation, or the Book of Revelation, the full title is not the Revelation of Saint John Divine.

So when we study the Book of Revelation, we are going to see Jesus more completely.

Now what I hope you will see from the presentation this morning is that there is so much more to the book of Revelation than some beasts.

Now I'm going to say this as someone who is a strong believer in Adventist prophetic preaching.

Sometimes I think we have done our people a disservice because the only things we preach about from Revelation are maybe Revelation 12, 13, and 14.

And the only things people know is that there's 2 beasts in Revelation 13, the first beast that comes up out of the sea and the second beast that comes out of the earth, and the first beast is the papacy and the second beast is the United States, and we're just waiting for a Sunday lawn and then Jesus will come.

Oh no, there is something about some 3 angels' messages in the 144, 000.

Friends, if that's all you know about the book of Revelation, you have missed the point.

The book of Revelation is way more than about 2 beasts in Revelation 13.

Now, it's important to understand that chapter.

It's important to understand that, but there's a lot more to the book of Revelation than Revelation 13.

Let's look now at this pattern in the book of Revelation, starting in the courtyard.

So when we go to the courtyard the first verses that we find that would, well some of the first verses that we find that would make sense if you turn in your Bible to Revelation chapter 5 verses 5 and 6.

Speaking of Jesus, remember this is a book about the revelation of Jesus Christ.

It says, And 1 of the elders saith unto me, Weep not.

Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the 7 seals.

Now notice verse 6, And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the 4 beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood what?

And we see again, Revelation chapter 13 verse 8, speaking of Jesus, it says, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Now in John chapter 1 verse 29, John the Baptist speaking of Jesus says, behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.

So here we see in the book of Revelation, the first 2 verses that I've shared with you, we see Jesus in the courtyard fulfilling the purpose as the anti-type of the Lamb.

He is the anti-typical Lamb who is slain from the foundation of the world to lead to the salvation of souls.

So as we come to the book of Revelation and as we see Jesus being revealed, we see that Jesus in the courtyard is a lamb who was slain, who takes away the sin of the world.

Now Interestingly though, the book of Revelation does not spend a lot of time in the courtyard.

Now this helps us to understand a bit better our prophetic message of Seventh-day Adventist.

Listen, the courtyard is absolutely essential.

The holy place work and the most holy place work do not take place if Jesus is not the Lamb slain in the courtyard.

However, Most Christians are still camped out in the courtyard or perhaps the holy place.

And Seventh-day Adventists have a message that follows the Lamb withersoever He goeth.

Christians want to stay at the cross and not follow Jesus all the way.

The Third Angel for Our Time

Father in heaven, we want to invite the presence of the Holy Spirit into this meeting tonight.

We thank you for the blessings that we've received today, and I pray that you would pour out your Spirit this evening as well and give me the words to speak that will provide a source of conviction and challenge and encouragement all in the same and so I pray that you would just speak through me and may Christ be lifted up, I pray in Jesus' name, amen.

The title for our message this evening is the third angel for our time.

You know, as a Seventh-day Adventist, I will proudly say that the third angel's message has not lost its relevance.

The third angel's message is needed now more than it ever has been needed before.

Now is not the time for us as Seventh-day Adventists to be making excuses for our distinct message as a people, especially as it relates to the 3 angels' messages.

And I want to start by reading a statement in Great Controversy, page 464, which says, "...before the final visitation of God's judgments upon the earth, There will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times." Now let me stop right there and say this, the future of Adventism is not worldliness where we become more and more like the world so that we are indistinguishable from the world.

That is not the future of Adventism that goes through to the Kingdom.

The future of God's people is a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times." Now interestingly the quote continues, and this revival will not only happen among Adam's but among those in the other churches.

She goes on to say, The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon his children.

At that time many will separate themselves from those churches in which the love of this world has supplanted love for God and His Word.

Many, both of ministers and people, will gladly accept those great truths which God has caused to be proclaimed at this time to prepare a people for the Lord's Second Coming.

Friends, we need to be praying for that revival of primitive godliness.

That is the future of Adventism and many generations now have come and gone as Seventh-day Adventists and we have yet to see that revival.

We are still waiting for the outpouring of the latter rain.

We are still waiting for Revelation 18.1 to take place where an angel comes down from heaven having great power and the earth is lightened with His glory.

I'm sad to say that at this point if God were to try to pour out the Holy Spirit in latter rain power, many of us would say, did you see what we did?

Look at how many people are noticing my posts on Facebook and how many downloads my sermons are getting or whatever it may be.

Look at how our ministry has shaped the trend in Adventism right now.

God is looking for a people who will have primitive godliness, who will also have a spirit of humility so that God can use us for the finishing of the work.

And that is what this message is about tonight.

Review and Herald, April 1, 1890 is the famous statement.

Several have written to me inquiring if the message of justification by faith is the third angel's message and I have answered it is the third angel's message in verity.

Now what I have often seen in Adventism is that people just read that one-line sentence and they don't read the rest of the quote.

And yes, it is true, justification by faith is the third angel's message in verity, but Ellen White gives us some clues as to what that will look like because there are a lot of confusing views about justification by faith in Christianity and in Adventism today.

And your understanding of justification by faith, if it's correct, won't save you.

But if you have a wrong understanding of justification by faith, there's a very good chance you could be deceived and receive the mark of the beast.

So Ellen White goes on to say in this statement in Review and Herald, April 1, 1890, right after she says, it is the third angel's message in Verity she quotes Revelation 18.1 and she says, ìThe prophet declares, ìAnd after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory.î And she closes that quote and goes on to say, "...brightness, glory, and power are to be connected with the third angel's message, and conviction will follow wherever it is preached in demonstration of the Spirit." Here's what Ellen White is saying, when we experience justification by faith as God designed for it to be experienced, Revelation 18 1 takes place which is the outpouring of the latter rain which gives rise to the loud cry where the character of God illuminates the earth.

Now, if you believe that justification by faith is a legal declaration only without a heart change, how can it be that you have an experience that reflects the character of Jesus that illuminates the world.

Ellen White is saying that yes justification by faith is the third angel's message in Verity and with that third angel's message is an experience that leads to Revelation 18.1 where the earth is lightened with the glory of God's character.

Brightness, glory, and power are to be connected with the third angel's message and conviction will follow wherever it is preached in demonstration of the Spirit.

You've probably heard a bad sermon if you didn't come under conviction.

You've probably heard a bad sermon if you haven't come under conviction.

The Holy Spirit, The work of the Holy Spirit, it's not to pat you on the back for living in sin, it's to convict you of sin and of righteousness and of judgment.

And the third angel's message leads to that experience.

When the minister, the preacher, is under the influence of the Holy Spirit, you will come under conviction for sin in your life.

And the fact that Jesus hasn't come yet tells me and tells us that we are still dealing with a sin problem in our church.

And so, yes, we need messages of encouragement.

Yes, we need times of encouragement when we've perhaps been downtrodden.

But when we look at the prophetic message for God's last day people, God's last day people need to be brought under conviction.

It's too late in Earth's history to be in a lackadaisical state, in a malaise where you feel perfectly comfortable just floating along in a Laodicean state as if nothing is ever going to change and Jesus isn't going to come for 5, 10, 15, 20, or even 30 years and you just think you can live your life the way you always have.

Friends, a day is coming where it's going to all wrap up very quickly, and I believe it may be sooner than we think.

Now what is it that makes justification by faith the third angel's message?

I'm going to take you through the Bible to show you this very thing.

I've shared with you some statements from Ellen White just to lay a foundation, but this is something that can be clearly shown from the Bible.

And I invite you to turn to Romans chapter 1 verses 16 and 17.

This should be a familiar passage of Scripture to every single 1 of you.

But I hope that as you see this verse, these 2 verses again tonight, you are going to see it in a fresh way.

Here the Apostle Paul says, "...for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.

For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Verse 17, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith." Now let's unpack these verses.

Paul is writing this letter to the church at Rome and the gospel to the church at Rome is 1 of the best theological expositions of the Gospel.

And he goes through a variety of things in the book of Romans, but as he sets out at the beginning of the book he can hardly contain himself and he says, I've got to tell you why I am so excited to preach the gospel to you here at Rome.

I am preaching it to you through writing and let me tell you why this gospel is so powerful.

Here is why I am not ashamed, because it is the power of God unto salvation.

Now the word power in the Greek is the Greek word dunamis which is similar to dynamite.

What Paul is saying is that the reason why I am not ashamed of the gospel is because it has dynamite power to blow up your life of sin.

That rock hard heart that won't change it can change under the dynamite power of the gospel of Christ.

The gospel is not a lifestyle modification improvement plan.

You put dynamite into a rock quarry and it blows the rocks up.

And that is what the gospel is designed to do in the lives of everyone who believes or the word in the Greek is the same as everyone who has faith everyone who has faith can experience the power of the gospel.

Now verse 17 shows us just how powerful the gospel is.

What is it about the Gospel that has dynamite power?

In other words, here's why the gospel is so powerful.

It's because that in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed.

Now notice, Paul does not say the righteousness of God is declared.

Many Christian scholars today say that the point of the Gospel in the book of Romans is that justification is declared only and we're saved by an outward covering without a heart change.

And yet that's contradictory to the very thing that Paul is saying here in Romans 1 verses 16 and 17.

Because in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.

As it is written, the just shall live by faith.

In other words, those who are the just, who live by faith, have the righteousness of God revealed in their lives and that is why the gospel has power.

Justification by faith, faith to believe in a dynamite power to change your life brings justification by faith into your experience and when you are truly just by faith the righteousness of God is not only declared in your life it is revealed in your life and that's why Ellen White says justification by faith is the third angel's message in verity.

That's why Ellen White says when we have justification by faith as a people Revelation 18.1 takes place because Revelation 18.1 is the righteousness of God revealed to the world.

And as Adventists some of us have fallen into a false Babylonian gospel thinking that justification by faith is righteousness declared only in which our lives do not change and somehow we'll just scrape through heaven living a sinful life while we're covered with a garment of Christ's righteousness still living a sinful life and yet that is not the power of the gospel.

The power of the gospel, The third angel for our time is justification by faith which reveals the righteousness of God in the lives of those who believe.

Now interestingly in the New Testament we see this phrase coined by the Apostle Paul also in Galatians 3, 11 Paul is dealing with Gospel issues in Galatians.

But we also see it in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 38 in the context of the Second Coming.

Hebrews chapter 10 and I'm going to actually pick it up in verse 35.

Hebrews chapter 10 starting in verse 35, cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense or reward.

For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God ye might receive the promise for yet a little while.

And he that shall come will come and will not tarry.

Here is what the Apostle Paul, who is the author of Hebrews, is saying in this passage.

Those who are waiting for Jesus to come will have the experience of justification by faith, and that is the experience that we must have in order to be ready for Jesus to come.

The Straight Testimony from the Most Holy Place

Father in heaven, we thank you for waking us up this morning and for bringing us out to receive a blessing again today.

Pray that you will be with all the presentations today, and I pray that you would give me the words to speak right now that would be a blessing to each 1 of us and that it would stir our hearts with what we need to surrender to you.

So I pray that you would be with me now as we go through this presentation I pray in Jesus name, Amen.

So the morning meetings as I said yesterday are walking through the sanctuary message in the book of Revelation.

Yesterday we did an overview and so hopefully that gave you a big picture understanding of how The book of Revelation is basically the sanctuary message.

And what we are going to do today is we are going to dig more deeply into the sanctuary message aspect of the message to the Laodicean Church.

Now I want to read a statement as we start this message, and this is from Publishing ministry, page 389.

And I think you're going to see the contrast that we can sometimes have because as Seventh-day Adventists we know that God has given us the truth, but sometimes because we know that we have the truth, it leads to carelessness in our daily walk.

So notice the statement from Publishing Ministry, page 389.

It is as certain that we have the truth as that God lives.

And Satan with all his arts and hellish power cannot change the truth of God into a lie.

While the great adversary will try his utmost to make of none effect the word of God, truth must go forth as a lamp that burneth." And you know this can lead sometimes to us saying we have the truth as surely as God is living, so as long as I'm going forth proclaiming the truth, even if my life isn't right with God, at least I have the truth.

And it is true that it is as certain that we have the truth as that God lives That's a powerful statement friends.

Don't let anybody ever Make you doubt the truths of Adventism.

And by the way, if any of you here are struggling with certainty about the truths of Adventism, talk to me.

Talk to anybody that you trust, the other speakers, whoever it is.

I mean, we'll be happy to sit down and open the Bible with you and show you why the truths that God has given to us for this time are the truth.

And I know with all of my heart that the truths that we have are the truth for this time.

It is a certain that we have the truth as that God lives.

We are the remnant church of Bible prophecy who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus.

And it's not a coincidence that the commandments or obedience, as well as the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy, are under great attack in Adventism today.

So, we have this 1 side of the coin that we are the remnant church, But Jesus from the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary has another message for his last day church as well.

He's telling us, you have the truth, just as certain as God is alive, We have the truth.

God has given that to us But there's something else That he says to us and let's go to Revelation chapter 3 Verses starting in verse 14 and under the angel of the church the laity see and write These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.

Series

Plenaries with Norman McNulty

Adventism and the Vindication of God

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