The Advent Truth. POV: You remind someone that the Ten Commandments are still God’s moral law—and suddenly you’re told you’re denying grace, rejecting Jesus, trying to “earn salvation,” or putting Christians back under the Old Covenant. But Scripture presents a very different picture. The same Bible that says we are saved by grace also says: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” — John 14:15 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” — 1 John 5:3 “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” — Romans 3:31 Grace does not turn sin into righteousness. Grace forgives the sinner AND transforms the life. And what is sin? “Sin is the transgression of the law.” — 1 John 3:4 Here’s the strange part: most Christians have absolutely no problem saying we should have no other gods, reject idols, honor our parents, not murder, not commit adultery, not steal, not lie, and not covet. But mention the FOURTH commandment— “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” — Exodus 20:8 —and suddenly keeping God’s commandments becomes “legalism.” Why is the commandment that begins with REMEMBER the one Christianity has worked hardest to forget? Jesus never abolished the Sabbath. He declared Himself “Lord also of the sabbath” (Mark 2:28). He said it was “made for man” (Mark 2:27). Isaiah describes Gentiles keeping it (Isaiah 56:6-7). Jesus told His disciples to pray concerning the Sabbath decades after the cross (Matthew 24:20). Revelation identifies God’s final people as those who “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12). We don’t keep the commandments to GET saved. We keep them because Christ HAS saved us, writes His law upon our hearts (Hebrews 8:10), and produces loving obedience in the surrendered life. The gospel doesn’t save us in rebellion against God. It saves us from rebellion against God. And yes—that includes the commandment that says REMEMBER.

The Advent Truth The real reason Catholics attack sola scriptura is because if they admit it’s the truth, they’d have to let go of their idolatrous beliefs. That’s the issue. Sola scriptura does not mean Christians cannot learn from pastors, history, or other believers. It means Scripture alone is the final, infallible authority for doctrine and practice. And Scripture repeatedly points us back to the written Word. 📖 Isaiah 8:20 — “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” 📖 2 Timothy 3:16–17 says Scripture is inspired by God and able to make the man of God “perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” 📖 Acts 17:11 praises the Bereans because they tested even Paul’s preaching by the Scriptures. Jesus Himself repeatedly answered religious controversy with, “It is written.” (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10) Why does this matter? Because once Scripture becomes the final authority, every doctrine has to stand before its judgment. Where does Scripture command Christians to pray to Mary? Where does Scripture teach us to invoke dead saints? Where does Scripture authorize the veneration of images in worship? Where does Scripture establish a human priesthood with power to absolve sins? Where does Scripture teach purgatory? Where does Scripture give one bishop universal supremacy over the church? If a doctrine cannot survive the Bible, adding “tradition” does not make it biblical. Jesus specifically warned about allowing religious tradition to override God’s Word: “Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition.” — Mark 7:13 That is why the authority question comes FIRST. If Scripture is merely one authority alongside an institution claiming authority to interpret Scripture and preserve binding tradition, that institution can defend doctrines Scripture never teaches. But if the Bible is the supreme standard, tradition must bow. Don’t ask, “What has my church always taught?” Ask, “What saith the scripture?” — Romans 4:3 Truth has nothing to fear from an open Bible.

The Advent Truth. Jesus and the apostles warned us that false teachers don’t normally announce themselves as false teachers. They come from among God’s people, speak religious language, use Scripture, and appear to be Christians. Paul’s warning to the Ephesian elders was chilling: “For I know this, that after my departing shall GRIEVOUS WOLVES enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also OF YOUR OWN SELVES shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” — Acts 20:29-30 Notice: Paul wasn’t primarily warning them about atheists outside the church. He warned about wolves INSIDE the flock. Jesus said the same thing: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” — Matthew 7:15 That’s what makes spiritual deception so dangerous. The wolf doesn’t show up LOOKING like a wolf. He wears wool. He carries a Bible. He talks about Jesus. Paul warned that there would come a time when people would “not endure sound doctrine,” but would gather teachers who tell them what they want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3-4). Peter warned that “there shall be false teachers among you” who would secretly introduce destructive heresies (2 Peter 2:1). John said, “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God” (1 John 4:1). And Isaiah gives us the standard: “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” — Isaiah 8:20 The question isn’t: “Do I like this preacher?” “Is he popular?” “Does he mention Jesus?” “Did his sermon make me feel good?” The question is: IS WHAT HE’S TEACHING BIBLICAL? Don’t outsource your discernment to your favorite preacher. Open your Bible. Be a Berean. “They received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” — Acts 17:11 And yes—test what I teach by the exact same standard. The sheep who know the Shepherd’s voice won’t easily follow the voice of a wolf.

The Advent Truth. There is a difference between struggling with sin and settling into sin. A struggle means there is a WAR. You fall, you hate that you fell, you confess it, you get back up, and by the grace of Christ you keep fighting. “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again” (Proverbs 24:16). But we need to stop calling deliberate, planned, cherished disobedience a “struggle” simply because the word makes us feel better about it. Jesus did not die merely to forgive us while leaving us enslaved to the very sins that nailed Him to the cross. The angel said, “Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Grace does not make sin safe. Paul asked the question plainly: “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid” (Romans 6:1-2). Biblical repentance is more than feeling guilty afterward. It is a change of mind that produces a change of direction. Yes, Christians can stumble. Yes, Christians can have deeply rooted sins that take earnest warfare, prayer, discipline, and dependence upon Christ to overcome. But there is an enormous difference between falling in battle and making peace with the enemy. God knows the difference. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). And here is the good news: you do not have to remain a slave. Jesus says, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). Don't lower God's standard because you've fallen short of it. Run to Christ. Confess it. Forsake it. Get back up. Surrender again. We don't need a gospel that teaches us how to become comfortable in bondage. We need the Gospel that sets captives free.

The Advent Truth Isaac Newton did NOT simply predict, “The world will end in 2060.” That headline leaves out the most interesting part of the story. Newton was a serious student of Daniel and Revelation, and he recognized something many Christians today reject: the 1,260 prophetic days represent 1,260 literal years. The Bible gives this same prophetic period three different ways: 📖 Daniel 7:25 — “a time and times and the dividing of time” 📖 Revelation 12:6 — 1,260 days 📖 Revelation 13:5 — 42 months Using the biblical prophetic calendar, 42 months × 30 days = 1,260 days. Three and a half prophetic years × 360 days = 1,260 days. Applying the day-for-a-year principle seen in Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6 gives us 1,260 years. Newton understood the year principle, but he differed on the starting point. He considered A.D. 800 significant because of developments surrounding Charlemagne and papal temporal power. Add 1,260 years and you arrive at 2060. Yet Newton specifically cautioned that he was NOT setting a date for the end of the world. Historicist Adventists understand the stronger starting point to be A.D. 538. Daniel 7 connects the 1,260 years with the period in which the little-horn power would exercise its persecuting supremacy. Following Justinian's recognition of Roman ecclesiastical supremacy and the breaking of Ostrogothic control at Rome, 538 marks the beginning of that prophetic period. Now do the math: 538 + 1,260 = 1798. And right on time, in 1798, French forces under General Berthier entered Rome, abolished papal political government, and took Pope Pius VI prisoner. Newton had the prophetic principle right. The crucial question was where to start the clock. Daniel and Revelation give us the 1,260. History gives us 538–1798. Bible prophecy isn't guesswork. It is history written in advance.

The Advent Truth What are the first and second greatest commandments? Jesus answered that question plainly: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” And, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (Matthew 22:37–39) But here’s the part law-haters conveniently leave out: Jesus wasn’t abolishing the Ten Commandments. He was summarizing them. Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18. And what surrounds those verses? Deuteronomy 5 gives the Ten Commandments, then Deuteronomy 6 explains that obedience flows from wholehearted love for God. Leviticus 19 likewise commands honoring parents, keeping God’s Sabbaths, rejecting idols, refusing to steal, lie, defraud, murder, hate, or covet—and then says, “thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” So what does loving God look like? The first four commandments show us. What does loving our neighbor look like? The last six commandments show us. That is precisely why Jesus concluded: “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” — Matthew 22:40 Notice He didn't say, “These two commandments replace the law.” He said the law hangs upon them. Imagine someone saying, “The whole door hangs on these two hinges,” and responding, “Great! Then throw away the door!” 😂 The two great commandments are the principles upon which God's law hangs. Love doesn't abolish God's commandments; love fulfills them. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” — 1 John 5:3 You cannot use LOVE to abolish the very commandments Scripture says love causes us to keep. Jesus settled this one.

28 Beleifs # 24 CHRIST'S MINISTRY IN THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY There is a sanctuary in heaven, the true tabernacle that the Lord set up and not humans. In it Christ ministers on our behalf, making available to believers the benefits of His atoning sacrifice offered once for all on the cross. At His ascension, He was inaugurated as our great High Priest and, began His intercessory ministry, which was typified by the work of the high priest in the holy place of the earthly sanctuary. In 1844, at the end of the prophetic period of 2300 days, He entered the second and last phase of His atoning ministry, which was typified by the work of the high priest in the most holy place of the earthly sanctuary. It is a work of investigative judgment which is part of the ultimate disposition of all sin, typified by the cleansing of the ancient Hebrew sanctuary on the Day of Atonement. In that typical service the sanctuary was cleansed with the blood of animal sacrifices, but the heavenly things are purified with the perfect sacrifice of the blood of Jesus. The investigative judgment reveals to heavenly intelligences who among the dead are asleep in Christ and therefore, in Him, are deemed worthy to have part in the first resurrection. It also makes manifest who among the living are abiding in Christ, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and in Him, therefore, are ready for translation into His everlasting kingdom. This judgment vindicates the justice of God in saving those who believe in Jesus. It declares that those who have remained loyal to God shall receive the kingdom. The completion of this ministry of Christ will mark the close of human probation before the Second Advent.

Conflict and Courage. Habakkuk Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. Habakkuk 2:4. At the time Josiah began to rule, and for many years before, the truehearted in Judah were questioning whether God's promises to ancient Israel could ever be fulfilled.... These anxious questionings were voiced by the prophet Habakkuk. Viewing the situation of the faithful in his day, he expressed the burden of his heart in the inquiry: “O Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear!” ... And then, his faith reaching out beyond the forbidding prospect of the immediate future, and laying fast hold on the precious promises that reveal God's love for His trusting children, the prophet added, “We shall not die.” With this declaration of faith he rested his case, and that of every believing Israelite, in the hands of a compassionate God.... The faith that strengthened Habakkuk and all the holy and the just in those days of deep trial was the same faith that sustains God's people today. In the darkest hours, under circumstances the most forbidding, the Christian believer may keep his soul stayed upon the source of all light and power. Day by day, through faith in God, his hope and courage may be renewed. “The just shall live by his faith.” ... We must cherish and cultivate the faith of which prophets and apostles have testified—the faith that lays hold on the promises of God and waits for deliverance in His appointed time and way. The sure word of prophecy will meet its final fulfillment in the glorious advent of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as King of kings and Lord of lords.... With the prophet who endeavored to encourage Judah in a time of unparalleled apostasy, let us confidently declare, “The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.” Let us ever hold in remembrance the cheering message, “The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come.” 36Prophets and Kings, 384-388.

The Advent Truth If the end times make you anxious, remember the illustration Jesus Himself gave us. In Matthew 24:8, after describing wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, and turmoil, Jesus said, “All these are the beginning of sorrows.” The word translated “sorrows” carries the idea of birth pains. Birth pains can be frightening. They intensify. They become more frequent. But they aren't meaningless pain—they are announcing that something is about to be born. Jesus didn't give Matthew 24 to terrify His people. He gave it so that when these things happen, we would recognize where we are and know that He already saw it coming. Think about what birth pains mean: the closer the pains come, the closer the arrival. Yes, this world is groaning. Yes, prophecy is moving toward its fulfillment. But God is also preparing a people to meet Jesus. And while prophecy moves forward, heaven is not looking for an excuse to shut people out. God is doing everything consistent with His character, His Word, and human freedom to bring people IN. “The Lord is... not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” — 2 Peter 3:9 Every additional moment is mercy. Every conviction is mercy. Every sermon, Bible study, providential encounter, warning, and invitation to repentance is evidence that heaven is still reaching for souls. So don't spend the final moments trembling over what Satan is doing. Look at what Jesus is doing. The same Christ who told us the birth pains would come also said, “Let not your heart be troubled.” (John 14:1) Prophecy isn't telling God's children, “Be terrified.” It's telling us: Jesus is coming. Jesus is preparing His people. Jesus is still saving souls. And Jesus will not abandon you now. The birth pains aren't merely telling us that this world is ending. They're telling us that something infinitely better is almost here.

The Advent Truth. CONSCIOUSNESS DOES NOT DETERMINE HUMAN VALUE. One increasingly common argument says that ending the life of a developing child isn't really taking a human life because the child isn't yet conscious. But think carefully about that standard. Since when does consciousness determine whether a human being has the right to live? A person who is asleep isn't consciously aware of the world around them. A patient under general anesthesia isn't consciously experiencing their surroundings. Someone knocked unconscious in an accident may temporarily have no awareness whatsoever. Would that make intentionally ending their life acceptable? Of course not. That's because our value as human beings isn't created by our current level of consciousness. And there's another problem: newborn babies don't possess anything close to the developed self-awareness, reasoning ability, memory, or cognitive capacity of adults. If consciousness determines human worth, exactly HOW MUCH consciousness is enough? Where is the line? And who gets to draw it? The Bible gives us a radically different foundation for human value: "So God created man in his own image..." — Genesis 1:27 Our value comes from WHO created us—not how much we can currently think, understand, communicate, remember, or accomplish. David said: "Thou hast covered me in my mother's womb... Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect." — Psalm 139:13,16 Jeremiah was told: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee." — Jeremiah 1:5 And Luke describes John before birth using the Greek word brephos—"baby"—the SAME word used for Jesus after His birth (Luke 1:41,44; 2:12,16). Before birth and after birth: a developing human life. Human worth cannot safely be based on intelligence, independence, size, location, development, or consciousness. Once we make human dignity dependent upon possessing certain abilities, human rights stop being inherent and become something the powerful decide who qualifies for. Human life has value because human beings bear the image of God.