A Living Sacrifice

Norman McNulty

Somerset SDA Church

The 1888 Message and the Cross of Christ

Before we get into our message for this divine hour, I would just ask that you bow your heads with me as we pray.

Father in heaven, we thank you for bringing us here to worship you today.

And as we speak about the cross of Christ again, and as we see the matchless charms of Jesus Christ, I just pray that the message of Christ and Him crucified will be lifted up, that the messenger will be lost sight of, and that we will have a clearer picture more than ever of who Jesus is and how He wants us to live our lives.

So we thank you for the privileges you've given to us.

May we set aside any cares or distractions from this world and may we focus on what you would have us to hear.

The title for this message is the 1888 message and the cross of Christ.

And probably 1 of the most familiar verses in all of Scripture, John 3, 16 and 17, we can say it by memory, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." And then verse 17, For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

And that is the essence of the message for this morning and really of the entire week.

That God didn't send Jesus into the world to condemn us.

Do you realize how many Christians and even Adventists feel like they're walking around facing an avenging condemning God?

And yet God sent his Son into this world to save us, not to condemn us.

And the 1888 message was a very special message that God sent to His church in the year 1888 through 2 messengers, Dr.

Jones, who both ended up becoming prominent ministers in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

It's actually a personal testimony by E.J.

Wagner, who was 1 of the messengers of this message.

And he wrote this letter on May 16, 1916, shortly before he died suddenly of a heart attack.

And he wrote of an experience that he had at a camp meeting in Healdsburg, California in 1882.

Notice what he says, I began my real study of the Bible 34 years ago, this was 1882.

At that time, Christ was set forth before my eyes, evidently crucified for me." Notice he had a personal experience in seeing Jesus as his personal crucified Savior.

Continuing, I was sitting a little apart from the body of the congregation in the large tent at a camp meeting in Healdsburg, California, 1 gloomy Sabbath afternoon.

I have no idea what the subject was of the discourse.

Not a word nor a text have I ever known." And I might add, the person who was speaking at the time he had this experience was none other than Ellen White.

He continues, "'All that has remained with me was what I saw.

Suddenly, a light shone round me, and the tent was for me far more brilliantly lighted than if the noonday sun had been shining, and I saw Christ hanging on the cross, crucified for me." Now listen, have you heard about Jesus being crucified without realizing that it was for you that he died?

And listen, this messenger of the 1888 message has an experience where he sees Jesus, Christ, hanging on the cross, crucified for him.

He continues, in that moment, I had my first positive knowledge, which came like an overwhelming flood that God loved me and that Christ died for me.

Have you felt that overwhelming flood of love in your heart?

Has the crucifixion of Jesus produced that response of love in your heart seeing that God loves you like an overwhelming flood.

John 3, 16 isn't just a cute little verse that you've memorized and created a rule.

Continuing, God and I were the only beings I was conscious of in the universe.

I knew then by actual sight that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.

You see, at that moment, Elder Wagner saw that his sin alone was enough to put Jesus on the cross.

And despite that fact, despite the fact that he saw his utter sinfulness, he saw the overwhelming love of God on his behalf.

That he would send Jesus to die, evidently crucified for him.

And that's from the book of Galatians, by the way.

He says, I am sure that Paul's experience on the way to Damascus was no more real than mine.

I resolved at once that I would study the Bible in the light of that revelation in order that I might help others to see the same truth.

I have always believed that every part of the Bible must set forth with more or less vividness that glorious revelation of Christ crucified." Listen, when we present the truths of Scripture, it must set forth the glorious revelation before the people of Christ and Him crucified.

And we talked about that on Tuesday night for those of you who were here.

Now, this message, obviously the 1888 message, 1 of the key messengers had a deep personal experience with Jesus where he saw that Jesus died as if he was the only 1 in all of the world that put Jesus on the cross and it produced a response of love in his heart for the love that he saw from God on his behalf.

Now what does Ellen White say about the 1888 message?

This is Testimonies to Ministers, page 91, written in the year 1896, just 8 years after the message was first given.

"'The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to his people through elders Wagner and Jones." Notice how she describes it.

Well, what makes this message so precious?

The message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Savior, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.

Now this is 1888, 44 years after 1844 and the Advent movement takes off and here Ellen White is saying a message was needed to uplift more prominently Christ as the Savior for the sins of the whole world.

What had happened to the Adventist church at that time?

At that time, what the ministers were predominantly preaching about was the law, the law, the law.

And you could go to church on Sabbath and you would hear an excellent sermon on the 10 Commandments, on the law of God, and how God's people must keep the law, must keep the law, must keep the law.

God's last day church had somehow left Jesus out of its preaching.

And so God had to bring elders Wagner and Jones with a message.

This message presented justification through faith in the surety.

It invited the people to receive the righteousness of Christ which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God.

Now notice this, this message didn't downplay obedience, but it brought the sacrifice of Christ into its proper place into the message that had been forgotten.

Now I may say this, sometimes in places where I go, various places around the world, we have no problem talking about the cross of Christ, but we've forgotten about the law of God.

And you hear people say, well I'm thankful that Jesus did it so I don't have to.

The sacrifice of Christ and obedience to the law.

Continuing, many have lost sight of Jesus.

They needed to have their eyes directed to His divine person, His merits, and His changeless love for the human family.

We need to spend more time thinking about the divine person of Jesus.

We need to spend more time thinking about his merits and his changeless love for us.

All power is given into his hands that he may dispense rich gifts unto men, imparting the priceless gift of his own righteousness to the helpless human agent.

Now she continues, this is the message that God commanded to be given to the world.

It is the third angel's message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice and attended with the outpouring of his spirit in a large measure.

Notice, this message of Christ and him crucified, of a message of the righteousness of Christ made manifest by obedience to God's law, this is the third angel's message, which will be attended by the outpouring of the latter rain.

And notice, the reason why the third angel's message has power is because Christ and Him crucified is at the center of that message.

When we talk about the 3 angels' messages if the cross of Christ isn't at the center of it we've missed the message.

Yes, there's the patience of the saints, the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus, but we're going to see in this message how the cross of Christ brings out each 1 of those 3 elements in the third angel.

Continuing on, the uplifted Savior is to appear in his efficacious work as the lamb slain sitting upon the throne to dispense the priceless covenant blessings, the benefits he died to purchase for every soul who should believe on him.

Continuing on, the message of the gospel of his grace was to be given to the church in clear and distinct lines that the world should no longer say that Seventh-day Adventists talk the law of the law but do not teach or believe Christ.

Listen, if anyone should teach or believe Christ and give a clear exposition from the Scripture about Jesus, it should be Seventh-day Adventist.

And if we're only known for keeping the law, we've missed the boat.

And then continuing, "...the efficacy of the blood of Christ was to be presented to the people with freshness and power, that their faith might lay hold upon its merits.

And if you read stories from the history of that time, when Jones and Wagner would give their message, where they would point people to the merits of Jesus and of his blood, people would come away from those meetings saying for the first time, you know what I actually believe that Jesus has forgiven my sins.

I feel the forgiveness of God in my heart that I had never known before.

I thought I had to work really hard to keep the Law, but I didn't have any assurance that my sins had been forgiven." And Ellen White would commend Jones and Wagner, she would say, thank you for lifting up the cross, thank you for pointing people to Jesus and His blood so that they can have faith in His forgiving grace.

And not only that, they were very clear on His overcoming grace as well.

I like how she says that the blood of Christ should be presented with freshness and power, so that we by faith can lay hold upon the merits of the blood of Christ." And then, I think that's all I'm going to read from that quote.

So basically, Ellen White says, this message was a most precious message that God sent.

It uplifts Jesus as the sacrifice of the sins for the whole world.

It brings the blood of Christ out with freshness and power.

It's the third angel's message that will be attended with a loud cry at the end of time.

And at the end of the day she used a phrase to describe this message.

She says that it brought out the matchless charms of Christ.

And I would ask you today, have you met your Savior Jesus with His matchless charms for you?

Have you met the most wonderful, loving, amazing being that exists, who came to this earth because he loves you so much.

Have you met Jesus and his matchless charms?

Two Mighty Angels of Revelation

Father in heaven, we thank you so much for bringing us here this evening.

We thank you for the Sabbath hours, the holy sacred hours that we can spend where we can rest in you and we can worship you apart from the cares of this life.

And I just pray that as we worship you this evening, that you would just speak through me in a very special way as we talk about a very special movement that we are part of that you have raised up at this time of earth's history.

As we come to the end of this series, may everything come together, may it make sense and help us to be inspired to be part of your last day work, I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

So the message for this evening is entitled, 2 Mighty Angels of Revelation.

And as we look at what we've talked about throughout this week, last Sabbath for church, we talked about the need to wake up out of sleep, and then Sabbath evening we talked about how the church is in a lukewarm condition and needs to become on fire for God.

After laying that foundation, we went through some Bible characters, seeing that there are examples of those who have led the way before us.

Abraham, and we saw how his life was an epitome of the 3 angels' messages.

We saw Elijah, how his life was a life of sacrifice, how he fearlessly proclaimed the message for his time.

Then we saw the sacrificing life of Jesus, of the ultimate sacrifice that he made on the cross.

And then in our last message, we saw the sacrificial faiths of the reformers, how they carried on the spirit of what had come before from the faith that had been given through God's people before the cross and after the cross.

And tonight we are going to see how the Reformation meets its final conclusion.

The Reformation did not end with Martin Luther.

The Reformation continued and the Bible prophesied of a time when a very special movement would be raised up at the end of time to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord.

And we are going to see that from Scripture tonight.

And before we get too much farther, I want to tell you that this movement, the Advent movement that we are going to talk about tonight is based on our understanding of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation.

I want to read to you a very special quote, this is from Testimonies to Ministers, page 116.

And this quote reads, "...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.

So we're talking about being living sacrifices.

We see that Jesus was a living sacrifice and LMY tells us that those who eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God who was that living sacrifice will bring forth truth from the books of Daniel and Revelation that is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Listen, the books of Daniel and Revelation aren't merely talking about beasts and horns.

There's a lot more to it, and you're going to see that tonight.

Continuing, they will start into action forces that cannot be repressed.

They will start into action forces that cannot be repressed.

The lips of children will be open to proclaim the mysteries that have been hidden from the minds of men.

When you read the statement that God's people will start into action forces that cannot be repressed.

This is talking of the time prophesied in Revelation 18, verse 1, which we read, and it says, and after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven having great power and the earth was lightened with his glory.

Revelation speaks of a time where under the power of the Holy Spirit the entire earth will be illuminated with the glory of the character of God.

And brothers and sisters, that is the work that we want to take part of.

When we study the books of Daniel and Revelation, we will bring forth truth that is inspired by the Holy Spirit, that will start into action forces that cannot be repressed, that will climax in Revelation 18 where a mighty angel comes down from heaven having great power and the earth is lightened with his glory.

Now Revelation 18 is the grand conclusion of God's work here on this earth.

But in order to get to Revelation 18, something else has to take place first.

Now, Revelation 18 is the second of the 2 mighty angels that we are going to talk about tonight.

Because the title of the message is 2 mighty angels of Revelation.

Revelation 18 is the culmination, is the climax of the final work here on this earth just before Jesus comes, and that work is yet future.

That second mighty angel of revelation has yet to take place.

But we are going to see that there is another mighty angel in the book of Revelation that lays the foundation for that second mighty angel to take place.

And where do you think that other mighty angel is found in the book of Revelation?

I would invite you to turn to Revelation chapter 10.

And just out of curiosity, how many of you have done a Bible study on Revelation chapter 10?

I think you're going to be fascinated by how Revelation 10 connects to Revelation 18.

Revelation chapter 10 starting in verse 1 and again the title of our message is 2 Mighty Angels of Revelation.

Here we read in Revelation chapter 10 verse 1, And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire.

And he had in his hand a little book open, and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth." Now Revelation chapter 10 If you look at the description of this angel, you already can tell who this angel is and what the work of this angel is designed to accomplish.

The description of this angel, the fact that he is clothed with a cloud, that he's come down from heaven, that a rainbow is upon his head, and that his face is like the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire, that is no accident that that angel is described in such a manner.

How do we prove from scripture who this angel is?

Well the first thing we see is that this angel has come down from heaven.

Not only that this angel is clothed with a cloud, has a rainbow upon his head, his face is like the sun, and his feet are like pillars of fire." Now I'm going to tell you very quickly who this angel is.

If you go to Revelation chapter 1 verses 12-15 you will see the answer to this question.

Revelation 1, verses 12 through 15, And I turned to see the voice that spake with me, and being turned I saw 7 golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the 7 candlesticks 1 like unto the Son of Man.

And what is Jesus described as looking like?

He is clothed with a garment down to the foot, and gird about the paps with a golden girdle.

His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet likened a fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters." Just as Jesus has feet that are on fire in Revelation 1, His feet are as pillars of fire in Revelation chapter 10.

This mighty angel in Revelation chapter 10 is none other than Jesus.

He's clothed with a cloud just as in Exodus 13 the pre-incarnate Christ was in the pillar of cloud that led the children of Israel.

So he has feet like fire as Revelation chapter 1, and when you come to Exodus chapter 13, specifically when you look at verses 21 and 22, notice this, and the Lord, who?

The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light to go by day and night.

He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people." So just as the Lord, the pre-incarnate Christ, was clothed with a cloud to lead the children of Israel.

In Revelation chapter 10, He is also clothed with a cloud.

God gave the rainbow when He made a covenant with Noah.

And in Revelation 4, verse 5, we see a rainbow above the throne of God.

So, what does the description of Jesus as the mighty angel tell us?

Well, number 1, he's clothed with a cloud.

And just as he was in a pillar of cloud to lead a movement of people from Egypt to Canaan, Jesus is now coming down from heaven, prophetically clothed with a cloud to raise up a new movement of people to lead them from spiritual Egypt to spiritual Canaan.

And he's doing so with a rainbow above his head, which signifies this movement will follow the covenant, specifically the new covenant where God writes his law into our hearts and minds.

And because he is bringing a remembrance of the covenant and of his law, he is showing us that he is going to raise up a group of people who keep all the commandments including the fourth commandment.

And not only that, His face is as the sun, His feet are as pillars of fire, He is the 1 who leads the way and then in verse 2 we see where the message comes that leads this movement.

It's found in verse 2 of Revelation 10 where we see Jesus had in His hand a little book opened, and He set His right foot upon the sea and His left foot upon the earth.

Listen, Jesus has a book open in his hand.

Now if Jesus has opened a book, isn't that a book that you would want to read?

Now how do we know which book has been open?

Jesus is saying there is a book that is open that will point you to the fact that I am raising up a new movement based on the covenant, based on the fact that I, just as I led Israel from Egypt to Canaan, I'm leading a new movement from spiritual Egypt to spiritual Canaan, and just as I led literal Israel from Egypt to Canaan and gave them a greater understanding of my character through the sanctuary because the pillar of cloud was above the mercy seat I am clothed with a cloud again above the sanctuary in heaven in other words the message that is driving this movement is Christ as the leader clothed with a cloud above the sanctuary based on the law of God, based on a little book that has been open at this time of earth's history.

Now if you study Revelation carefully, Revelation chapter 10 is in between the sixth and the seventh trumpets.

Now we're not going to get lost in the weeds of the trumpets tonight, that's not going to happen.

But let me just tell you this, 7 churches, 7 seals, 7 trumpets.

The 7 churches end with a lukewarm church, but then the 7 seals end with 144, 000 coming out of God's last day church, and then after the seals you come to the trumpets, and you see that God raises up a movement that prepares the 144, 000.

Now, when you study the trumpets specifically, you will find that the sixth trumpet ended on August 11, 1840.

Great Controversy, page 334, confirms that the time prophecy of the sixth trumpet ended on August 11, 1840, and then Revelation 10 happens, which means that right as that prophecy was fulfilled according to the Word of the Lord, Jesus comes down from heaven and says, prophecy has been fulfilled.

This confirms the principles of prophetic interpretation that point to my soon coming, and I am here coming down from heaven to raise up a new movement based on a movement that will understand the sanctuary, that will understand the law of God and the covenant, and that will be raised up to go from this earth to the spiritual Canaan and the book that was opened during this time of earth's history is none other than the book of Daniel where there was a time prophecy in Daniel chapter 8 verse 14 which says, unto 2, 300 days then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

Now see there's sanctuary language in verses 1 and 2 of Revelation 10.

And Jesus is announcing that book in the Old Testament that pointed you 2, 300 years into the future?

It's time to open up the book of Daniel, to study those prophecies and to understand what is going to happen at the end of the 2, 300 days.

So listen, if Jesus opened up the book of Daniel, don't tell me we need to stop studying it.

Now more than ever is the time to study the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation.

And when you study the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, you will find that those prophecies point to a movement specifically raised up by God himself and it was so important that he sent his son Jesus the mighty angel to come down to this earth to announce that this movement was here on this earth to be part of the finishing of God's work here on this earth.

Carlos Moretta

Advent HOPE Sabbath School

May I Have Your Attention Please?

My name is Carlos Moretta, and most of you kind of know me.

We were brothers and sisters here at Advent Hope for several years, and some of you, most of you, are familiar faces, but there's a lot of you who I've never seen before.

I graduated from the residency here at Loma Linda in 2009.

By the grace of God, and God alone, I don't recommend it to anyone.

And what I am not is, I'm not a theologian.

I like to consider myself a practical Christianity kind of guy.

We learn a lot and I have to say my decade here, well, I was here a little over a decade in Loma Linda, but my time here in Advent Hope was a time of spiritual growth for me, such as I'd never experienced in my life.

And I heard a lot of uncomfortable sermons and messages here.

That's what I needed to get pricked at my heart, to grow, to search these things, to make my father's faith my own.

So when I come and share with you this morning, please don't be offended at what I say.

Since I was here so long, it's like I feel like I'm among family.

So please, like, nod your head or just, You can, You can do all that refractory stuff at me, because it makes me feel like you guys are actually feeling what I'm saying.

I'd like to tell you what's weighing my heart down, what's burdening my heart.

And I wanted to share with you, because I do believe that today's topic is a pertinent topic and I think it affects every single person here.

Furthermore, I think that you should carefully or prayerfully consider the theme of this morning.

Let me see if there's anything else in my greeting that I was missing.

Okay, today's study is actually a word study.

Today we're studying a concept or a word, and we're going to go through several scriptures and kind of flesh this out and make it relevant and practical in our lives.

Dear Father, you know I have no business standing here before your people, and yet I made a promise to you when I was 18 that if ever asked to share that I would.

Never before has opening your mouth and sharing been so important in this time of the world's history.

And so I ask that your words would be my words in this hour, and that every heart here and every heart listening through the waves of AudioVerse be careful in their study and their introspection and would allow the Holy Spirit to make changes.

Back to Menu

All Teachings

The 1888 Message and the Cross of Christ

48m

Two Mighty Angels of Revelation

44m

May I Have Your Attention Please?

41m

Is Jesus The Only? Q&A

43m

Is Jesus The Only? Part 2

55m

Victory In the Brain

50m

The History of Bible Memorization

53m

The Sacrificial Faith of the Reformers

59m

Jesus—The Ultimate Sacrifice

1h

Is Jesus The Only? Part 1

50m

Is The Bible Truly Unique Literature?

38m

Theism, Atheism, and Science

1h 34m

Sound Doctrine