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FPB Seminars

Plan of Salvation

Jimmy France

Plan of Salvation: Introduction

I want to begin by saying thank you to several people for inviting me to this pulpit.

First of all would be to Loa Amai, I believe I'm saying that correctly, and Doug Baker for my meeting both of them at the ASI last year.

Also I want to mention to say thank you to my cousin Ashley Christian.

I got a call from Luami and he was saying that he and the class were studying a chart that this is drawn from and saying your cousin has mentioned that that you are the 1 that actually produced this this material.

Also I want to tell say thank you to Leland Crum and all his active staff in helping make this a technological feasibility.

I want to thank my sweet wife also because she has heard this for at least, what would you say, about 50 times practicing.

This is the 11th time I've actually given this presentation.

But the 1 I want to say thank you most to is our Heavenly Father Because being 45, I can look back to when I was baptized at age 12 or 13, and if I would have understood then what I now know from his helping me the last 3 years about his plan of redemption and assurance of salvation, my walk with him would have been exponentially more than it has been the last 45 years.

So hopefully, having said that, you, a little bit more than 12 years, 13 years of age, will grasp the beauty of his plan of redemption in a way that you don't have to wait until you're 45 years old and say, I have an assurance of my salvation in the context of the plan of redemption in the pre-advent judgment.

So as you see on your screen, this is actually part, this is the second of 2 parts of a broader seminar.

A few years ago, I was asking God to help me understand Daniel chapter 2 in a simpler way, and he gave me that, which is this first part, and an additional 2 other things, the plan of redemption in simplicity that I hadn't seen before and assurance of my salvation.

And so this evening we're going to go over the actual second part of that presentation.

What we'll notice this evening is the assurance of salvation is actually very simple.

It's very biblical, meaning it's not hype.

It also is intertwined more intimately than perhaps we may have thought with all of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation.

Also it's a precious gift that each 1 of us can have every day and that we can share with with others.

In fact what I have found is that we as Seventh-day Adventists, and we'll come to a slide here in this presentation, that we as Seventh-day Adventists should be the foremost denomination to understand the gospel in its simplicity, in the context of the pre-Advent judgment, also known as the investigative judgment, with full assurance of our salvation.

And so the the presentations this evening and over the next 3 tomorrow are structured in that way.

And so having that in mind, I would like us to think of 4 specific questions.

Number 1, and I'm not asking for any raised hands, you may if you wish, but number 1, do you understand God's simple plan of salvation?

Secondly, with your current understanding of God's plan of redemption, do you have assurance of your salvation?

Thirdly, with your current understanding of the plan of redemption, Do you have assurance of your salvation in the context of the pre-advent judgment?

Many times it's easy to think, I don't know, but we don't need to actually wonder.

But fourthly, what I'd like us to consider is, do we have the ability to share that simple plan of redemption in the context of the 3 angels' messages which unite both the plan of redemption and the pre-advent judgment?

But what I want us to do now is actually take a look at 2 verses that actually tell us as clearly as Exodus chapter 20 verses 8 through 11 that the assurance of salvation is biblical, just like Exodus 20 says clearly the seventh day is the Sabbath.

This very first verse is found in Isaiah, Isaiah 32 17.

And it's interesting to notice that the idea of assurance is not a New Testament novelty.

This is actually part of the everlasting gospel, therefore the assurance should be in the Old Testament and in the New, and in this verse you have on your screen, Isaiah 32 17, we find that.

And we see here it says, the work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance, how long?

Okay, now let's take a look at the New Testament.

He that has the Son has life, and he that has not the Son of God has not life.

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may what?

That you may guess, that you may hope, that you may know.

So this is the beloved apostle John saying the same words as the gospel writer in the Old Testament.

In other words, assurance of salvation is part of the everlasting gospel, thus it's biblical and it's not hype.

Now I was saying that this is the eleventh time I've given this presentation, and at the end of the fourth presentation, this illustration that you're seeing on your screen actually came to my mind.

It makes it easier to understand this plan of redemption and assurance of salvation.

What you should see here is an employer and an employee.

Pink is frustration, green is confidence.

There are 3 ways that this employee, and project yourself a few years into the future, you're an employee.

There are 3 ways that this employer can frustrate the employee.

Number 1, that the employee doesn't know what the employer expects.

Secondly, whatever she thinks the expectation is, she doesn't think it's simple, reasonable and doable, therefore she's not doing it.

So what do you think will happen when the employer walks through the door?

But turn that around, it's just as true on the positive.

What happens if the employer, employee knows what the employer expects?

And she thinks, you know what, That's simple, sweeping the floor, it's reasonable, it's doable, and she's doing it, she's sweeping the floor, now what's the response?

Do you realize that that's the same thing in this next illustration?

Here again we have pink, no assurance, green, assurance.

If the repentance sinner does not know what his Savior expects, doesn't believe it's reasonable, whatever he thinks that his Savior expects, and doesn't do it, what's the result?

Anytime there is a last-day event scenario, a seminar, anytime there is a Christ is coming soon seminar, there's panic registering in the person's heart.

What happens if that repentant sinner, you, myself, know what God expects, believes it's doable through Christ, and is doing it?

He has gone, we have gone from not knowing to knowing God expectations.

We have gone from thinking those things are impossible to they are possible to not doing them to doing them and we're eager to say, lo this is our God.

But I want us to take a look at something here I call the recipe for disaster.

I think this is something we need to consider, especially you as teenagers, because both Prince Charming, Jesus Christ, and Prince of Darkness, the devil, is going to be appealing to your hearts.

Both want your talents, Both want your intellect, both want your everything.

So let's take a look at this recipe for disaster.

The dish is the sinner leaving the Savior, And potentially it is for any follower of Christ.

It doesn't matter what the denomination, it doesn't matter what your title, you could be a student, you could be a faculty, you could be the president of a corporation.

If you are following Christ but you don't know what God expects, then that is going to cause a potential leaving of the Savior.

So the ingredient is simply that the repentant sinner doesn't believe in his heart that I can ever please my Heavenly Father.

And let's pause here for a moment and think of this not in religious terms but in family terms.

What happens if a child does not believe that he can ever please his parent?

He's waiting to leave, and the same thing is true here.

So what is this repentance center going to do?

He's going to leave either emotionally, but still stay in the pew, or he will leave physically, out the closest door, side, back, front, doesn't matter, just, let's just go.

And this is the part that people need to realize.

He's going to go to the world whom he mistakenly thinks does not make such unreasonable expectations of him.

So my question then is, do you understand, in the understanding that you have of the plan of redemption, do you understand what your Savior expects?

Or do you think, I'm just shooting at an unknown target?

Let's take a look at that idea for a moment.

Do you feel like you're just shooting a lot of arrows?

Hopefully to hit something, hopefully what God expects.

But is this what you feel like right here?

No matter what seminar you go to, you're always hitting, hitting, hitting, but never feeling you are hitting the target.

You're shooting a lot of errors, taking a lot of time, taking a lot of effort, hitting the unknown.

Let's say that you hit the bullseye, whatever God expects, but the fact that it is unknown, you'd have no clue that you hit it, and you're still day by day, class after class, church after church, frustrated.

Plan of Salvation: How to Be Forgiven

Before we begin, I'd like to open with a word of prayer.

Heavenly Father, we want to thank you for the opportunity to see once again the beauty of the plan of redemption and its simplicity.

Help us to understand how we are to be like you in this morning's presentation to be holy.

Thank you very much for making this provision from all eternity past in Jesus' name, amen.

Last evening we had looked at an illustration that has helped me explain this assurance of salvation with the idea of an employee-employer knowing the expectations, then seeing the process by which we meet those expectations, and then actually seeing the promises by which we can meet each 1 of those expectations.

And so what we want to do this morning is actually approach this morning's topic, Be Holy, from that same 3 format structure.

So what we're going to look at first is to make sure we're clear from the Bible what the expectation is.

And what you're seeing on your screen is a little picture of a gentleman here smiling at a law that used to condemn him.

And so the expectation that our Heavenly Father has is to be holy, that's just a biblical theological word that means to be in constant agreement with God.

So the question is, given that expectation, what is the process by which we are like Christ in this respect?

So what we're going to do is actually look at the 4 steps that we have this morning in this section of the expectation be holy.

It actually begins, like all the steps do, we will discuss this morning, this afternoon as well, that we begin with Christ.

So what we're going to do is look at a Scripture here on your screen, and it shows that when Isaiah, if we look at Isaiah chapter 5, we see Isaiah correctly under inspiration telling a nation, woe against that nation, woe against this nation, etc.

But it wasn't until chapter 6 when we pick up this verse that we actually see that Isaiah realized, Yes, those nations are out of harmony.

But when he saw Christ for himself, listen to the language change.

It says here, Isaiah 6, 1 and 5, in the year the King Uzziah died, what does it say?

It didn't say my grandparents saw the Lord, I saw the Lord.

And notice the difference that it made when he actually saw it.

When I go from my self-righteousness to beholding Christ, my experience is the same thing.

When I, not my parents, see Christ for myself in this law of the mirror, I begin to realize, oh, I'm undone.

I can have all the eloquence, I can have all the beauty, I can have all the handsomeness, I can have all of whatever this world says is of value, But when I stand in front of that mirror myself and I see my Savior reflected to me, I begin to see I'm a man undone.

So the very first step is to actually see for myself that Christ is holy and by contrast to Him I am not.

And so in Numbers chapter 21 verses 4 through 9 we see this serpent illustration where they got pretty confident about their victories and they lost confidence in God.

And so at that point, God said, alright, I will allow these serpents that are actually around you, I will remove my protecting hand from you and you will actually be bitten from these serpents.

And so long story short, God gave them a serpent and what was the instruction?

And so what we have here is again the same thing, until I see for myself that I'm a man undone.

Every topic, every time we listen at Sabbath school, church, week of prayer, it's a meaningless debate.

But when I see I need Christ, then all of a sudden it makes a difference in my life.

So the question then is, given what we saw in that illustration with the employer-employee, we saw that until that employee knew not only what the expectation was, but that it was simple, reasonable, and doable, he wasn't doing it.

And so we've started with the goal is to be in constant agreement with God.

The first step is to behold Christ, and so the next logical question is, now that we know his expectation to behold Christ, look and live, the question to be asked is, is that step here simple, reasonable, and doable?

And the next question would be, how many of us can actually look and live?

And so again, you see the process, expectation, be holy, The step, look at Christ, how many can do that?

Even a child with reasoning powers can look at Christ and live.

I want to take a look at this next slide.

Does Romans 6.23 say, the wages of the large sins are death but the small ones aren't.

This 1 strikes a little bit closer to home for me.

The wages of others sins are death but not mine.

Instead, what Romans 6, verse 23 says, the wages of all sin is death.

The little ones in my life and the large ones, my sins and other sins, in other words, until I come to Christ and see for myself who I am in front of that mirror, it's everybody else that needs Christ.

Their sins are wrong, Hitler's wrong, but I'm okay.

Little bitty bad sins, but it's not that deadly.

But when I realize the impact here, I go from woe is that nation like Isaiah said in Isaiah 1, Isaiah chapter 5, to woe is me.

Let's look at another slide that says the same thing.

When this understanding comes to my mind, it produces 2 very healthy attitudes in my mind.

Number 1, the understanding that my sins cost the death of Christ are just as offensive to God as the ones I perceive in the vilest offender.

And here's an illustration I would like to pause and share with each 1 of you here.

I don't know how many of you have read the book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, excellent book, Joshua Harris.

He tells a story of going down before he was married in 1 of the streets here in America.

He was walking along a river, a guy full of, a carload of guys drove by and whistled at him and he thought, they're gay, and it just crawled all over him.

Well 1 of the characteristics of God and the Holy Spirit is their gentleness.

So after he got back to his room that evening, the Holy Spirit gently tapped him on the shoulder and said, Josh, do you remember how offensive and repulsive their homosexual lust crawled all over you?

He said, do you realize that your heterosexual lust is just as offensive to God?

Do you see, until I see that I am a vile sinner outside of Christ.

This topic this morning is just another debate, but when I see I need Christ, it makes a world difference.

And Then notice when I see an offending brother, what happens?

A humble attitude, I approach fellow brothers and sisters at the foot of the cross.

That is, I no longer approach others with an air of superiority as if their sins were more offensive to God than mine.

The step number 1 in coming to full harmony with God is I have to see I am a sinner.

That is the number 1 step, number 1 step.

Now that God has helped me see that, what's the next step?

Look at this verse, Proverbs 28, verse 13, "'He that covers his sins shall not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them shall have no consequences.

And this is 1 of the warnings our Heavenly Father kindly gives us.

I can understand this mercy now more as being a parent with our three-year-old daughter before as abstract theological debate.

Now I understand that there is mercy and justice, but anyway.

Notice that God in His fatherly heart says, I can forgive any sin, but there are sometimes some things that we do will have consequences for life.

It says, he that confesses and forsakes his sin may live with the consequences for life like David did, but you will have mercy.

Every person who comes to the foot of the cross and says, I am a sinner, can choose to let sin go.

So let's take a look at the next step, and that is to accept Christ.

And I'm looking forward to actually getting down to the promise section like we did last night.

We had expectation, then process, then promise because there are some really rich promises that go along with this step right here.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Plan of Salvation: Doable Christ-centered Obedience

Let's begin then by looking at the expectation that we have in this section.

Like the last section, we're going to look at this in 3, or 4 actually, structures, 4 sections.

We're going to look at the expectation first.

Second, we're going to look at the process by which through Christ we can meet that expectation.

Third, we're going to look at the promise and promises actually and there are some powerful promises in this section.

I'm looking forward to actually showing this to you this morning.

And then finally we'll review what we've just gone over.

So let's take a look at this expectation is to obey Christ.

Do you realize that any 1 of us can actually take a look at Christ and find in His Word what He expects?

For example, our sitting here this morning gives evidence of the fact that we believe expectation of keeping the seventh-day Sabbath.

Also diet, that's another, the way we dress, our entertainment, things like this.

But the bottom line is this, If I do not believe that my heavenly Father cares for me, guess what my result is to Him?

I mean I can sugarcoat that with all kinds of words.

I love Him, but in reality if I don't think that my Heavenly Father cares for me, I won't care for Him.

If I truly am convinced that my Heavenly Father and His Son, Prince Charming Jesus Christ, really cares for me and that actually the prince of darkness, the devil, does not, my heart is after Christ.

And actually that is the place that we're going to find the strength to obey God.

So let's again begin with the expectation.

Component or step number 1 is simply, I have to know what pleases Christ.

And so the place that we go in the Bible is in Psalm 119, 105, you have, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

In other words, if I want to know what God expects as a Christian, this is my ultimate how-to book to know what He expects, seventh-day Sabbath, tithe, whatever happens to be his expectation, this is the place, I find that.

The thought next would be, is this expectation simple and reasonable and doable?

And how many of us can actually keep the Sabbath day?

It certainly doesn't come from me, I can tell you that.

But what you're going to actually find is that the verse that Pascal read this morning, that we've read many, many times, actually hints at where the strength comes from.

This is actually relatively new to me and perhaps to you too, but I want us to take and look this, take a look at this process.

There is a gentleman, I don't know how many people have had the privilege of hearing Ravi Zacharias, that's spelled R-A-V-I, Ravi Zacharias, his title says it all, Let My People Think.

And so what I'm hoping through the next several slides, we have 20 this morning, is actually help God's people, us, to think.

So on this promise we have Philippians 4, 13, I can do all things through Christ who does what?

But have you ever paused to ask yourself where and how He strengthens me?

I didn't know this until I started reading the material in the Scriptures, and like the Bible says, the Holy Spirit will guide us.

Take a look at this next verse on your screen.

In Proverbs 24, verse 5, it says, a wise man is strong, yea a man of what?

So according to the scriptures where does strength come from?

So if we tie these pieces together, where does my strength come from?

It has to be knowledge of something or someone.

Those of you who love the book of Daniel, this should helpfully open up just, not just visions of medals and dates, etc.

This should begin to open up the very place where we should see it is in knowing God.

It says, Daniel 11, verse 33 ties these 3 verses together by saying, the people that do what?

Why is it that David is down there on the field of battle and his taller king, like we said last night, is not.

It's because David knew his God and was down on the battlefield and won, and Saul was not.

But what specifically about God's character?

Notice this, 2nd Corinthians 4 6, For God who commended the light to shine out of the darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory, and God's glory is what?

When Moses said, show me your glory, God showed him not a big bank account, but his character, love, mercy, etc.

Tying all these together, we see that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me through a knowledge of the character of my God.

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