Sermon Notes: He Became Poor

Sermon/Bulletin Information


Speaker:      O. Kris Widmer
Date:     December 5, 2015
Place:     Antioch, California

Theme:     The Birth of Christ
Title:     “He Became Poor”
Texts:     Romans 1:1-7, Philippians 2:5-11, 2 Corinthians 8:9

Love’s simple fact none should ignore
For all our sakes God became “poor”.
The manger babe is heaven’s treasure.
Pesos or dollars?  Impossible to measure!

Today, Pastor Widmer continues a holiday sermon series on the Advent of Jesus. Today’s teaching will center on other verses, besides Matthew and Luke, that reveal the importance of the Advent of Jesus.  Adventists can rightly remember the first advent of the Christ while we anticipate the second advent of “this same Jesus.”

Welcome Phrase:  Welcome to this fellowship of the Adventist church in East Contra Costa County.  If you are looking for a church home, we invite you to join ours.  Fill out a pew card for baptism, profession of faith or transfer of membership.  Welcome. You’re Home!

Bulletin Cover:          Church Photo or See Email
(Please put this phrase, centered, below the picture on the cover.)
“Yet for your sakes, He became poor…”

Baptism:         (None Scheduled)
Baby Dedication:              (None Scheduled)
Scripture Reading: Responsive Reading: The Plan of Salvation    #841

Sermon Synopsis: for Children Story:

Closing Song:     Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne     # 140





Quality Quotation
 “The advent of Christ was the greatest event which had taken place since the creation of the world. The birth of Christ, which gave joy to the angels of Heaven, was not welcome to the kingly powers of the world. …The Jews manifested a stupid indifference to the story of the wise men. But Herod is intensely interested and excited. …The careless indifference and apparent ignorance of the scribes and chief priests, as they turn to their books for the words of prophecy, irritate the fully aroused king. He thinks they are trying to conceal from him the real facts in regard to the birth of the Messiah. He authoritatively commands them to make close search in relation to their expected king.” —   Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, December 24, 1872  (Written just after her 45th birthday, which is November 26), reprinted in Spirit of Prophecy, Vol 2, page 22.

Quality Quotation
 “The advent of Christ was the greatest event which had taken place since the creation of the world. The birth of Christ, which gave joy to the angels of Heaven, was not welcome to the kingly powers of the world. …The Jews manifested a stupid indifference to the story of the wise men. But Herod is intensely interested and excited. …The careless indifference and apparent ignorance of the scribes and chief priests, as they turn to their books for the words of prophecy, irritate the fully aroused king. He thinks they are trying to conceal from him the real facts in regard to the birth of the Messiah. He authoritatively commands them to make close search in relation to their expected king.” —   Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, December 24, 1872  (Written just after her 45th birthday, which is November 26), reprinted in Spirit of Prophecy, Vol 2, page 22.

Introduction
Favorite Quote:   “The advent of Christ was the greatest event which had taken place since the creation of the world. The birth of Christ, which gave joy to the angels of Heaven, was not welcome to the kingly powers of the world…..”  RH 12/24/1872
Ellen is 45 years of age.  November 26.  Happy Birthday.
I am older now than she was then.
November 26, 2015 (Birthday) - Ellen was born.
Last Sabbath…188 years ago.
2019 years ago…Jesus was born (or there abouts…)
4 BC
We don’t know precisely when:
We know what:  Jesus’ birth…in flesh.  God made man.
We know where: Bethlehem
We know who: Mary and Joseph and the other people.
We know why: 
Redemption…motivated by love for man.
The only way to redeem humanity was to become human.
To show us the Father! 
To defeat the works of satan.
Favorite Quote for Several Reasons
Greatest Event
Invites us to not be
Indignant:  like Herod.  Nothing about Christmas should make you mad.
Indifferent or ignorant…
but to make a careful search
Part of my on going “careful search” is this sermon.
Gave Angels Joy….
So Joy to the World
Joy to the Antioch Church
Because…We need Joy….in this Sad world.
Sad World:   Sister Greta:  98 years young.  
Here 2 son, her only sons, died this past weekend…2 days apart.
Say Prayers!
Send a card!
Sad World:  David and Sandra:
Redding Friends: Now in Massachusetts.
Lost Levi: at 33.5 weeks. 
He was to be a Christmas Baby.  His life will resume in heaven…but not here.
Debbie and I sent a sympathy card/note to Grandma-to-be Dorothy.  (a Widow, raised their only son, David to the husband/nurse anesthetist….now her First Grandchild and Grandson is dead.)
There is weeping in Ramah….and Redding and Massachusetts this Christmas.
Sad World:  News: Wednesday:  14 Dead…a stones throw from Loma Linda.  (San Bernardino)
Elementary School - I did a Week of Prayer there.
Academy 9 -12:  Hear their choirs sing at Azure Hills in November.
University Education:  Wife, Sister, Brother-in-Law, Cousins, Aunts.
University:   Employer of my Dad…for years.  Employed me too: mouse cage technician.
Your children at that University RIGHT NOW.
Same road Debbie’s nephew worked… (Former Employee)
One of the Injured:  an Adventist sister:  Amanda Gaspard
Shooting Terrorist Couple:  apartment the other side of a sense from Redlands Adventist Academy.
The dead couple…parents…left their 6 month old daughter with Grandma…before heading off to shoot people!  A parent-less child.
Terrorism …. ISIS.
355th Mass Shooting in America, more than 1 per day.
In fact Wednesday…it was not the only one.  Bullets killed 1 and injured 3 in Savanna, GA.
450 killed in the US this year.  some gang related..
By the way:  45% fatal to law enforcement.  Using the new modality of intervention: 
Go in, gun’s blazing. 
No more stop, assess, isolate, negotiate.  
People are dying.   Go stop it. 
Other’s may die in the process…too bad.  We know others will remain alive because we stopped the bad guys and gals.
Yes…we need Joy.
Jesus brings JOY!

Pause and Pray for San Bernardino and our World.

Shannon Johnson, 45, Los Angeles (DOB: 03/06/70)
Bennetta Bet-Badal, 46, Rialto (DOB: 03/08/69)
Aurora Godoy, 26, San Jacinto (DOB: 02/01/89)
Isaac Amanios, 60, Fontana (DOB: 06/29/55)
Larry Kaufman, 42, Rialto (DOB: 08/12/73)
Harry Bowman, 46, Upland (DOB: 06/08/69)
Yvette Velasco, 27, Fontana (DOB: 04/03/88)
Sierra Clayborn, 27, Moreno Valley (DOB: 06/15/88)
Robert Adams, 40, Yucaipa (DOB: 05/02/75)
Nicholas Thalasinos, 52, Colton (DOB: 10/14/63)
Tin Nguyen, 31, Santa Ana (DOB: 04/06/84)
Juan Espinoza, 50, Highland (DOB: 06/24/65)
Damian Meins, 58, Riverside (DOB: 02/02/57)
Michael Wetzel, 37, Lake Arrowhead (DOB: 04/29/78)

People
Families
Parents
Children
Grandchildren

Transition
The O.T. says “He’s Coming.  Joy is coming!”
The Servant:    The Root!   Nazareth
The Lamb….
The Deliverer Judge
The N.T. says “He Came!”
In Flesh…like us.
Born
Grew
Baptized
Tempted
Lived
Taught
Helped
Healed
Rejected
Suffered
Died
Buried
Risen
Ascended
Interceding
Returning!
Both predict our day -  “He’s coming a second time.”
Adventists:
Can and Must Speak of Both Advents
Second Advent…is going to be great!
First Advent…was great.
Three Sermons This Holiday
The Netzer from Nazareth
Today  “He Became Poor”
“Time for Another Star”  Favorite Holiday sermon…Morris Venden…beloved preacher.  My pastor for a few years…and the pastor who baptized me.
Transition
The Saga of the Savior  - Luke and Matthew
Zacharias in the Temple - Scheduled Duty
Zacharias back home, Elizabeth in Seclusion
Joseph and Mary are Betrothed.
Mary and the Angel
Joseph’s planned unbetrothment
Joseph and the Angel - Marry Her!
Mary at Elizabeth’s House + Magnificat
Elizabeth gives birth, “John”, Zacharias Speaks and Prophecies
Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem - Taxes/Cencus
The Child is Born…laid in a manger.
The Shepherd Incident
Mary and Joseph in Temple: Circumcision
Mary and Joseph in Temple:  Anna and Simeon
The Magi Incident
Joseph and the Angel!   Run!
Herod’s Evil Deed in Bethlehem
In Egypt
Joseph and the Angel.   Return Home!
Nazareth (Luke 2:39, 51) and Nazareth (Matthew 2:23)
Jesus is 12 Years Old
Other Verses Outside The Nativity Stories…about the First Advent/Birth/Incarnation.
Body - Non Birth Advent Verses
Acts 7:54 - Steven’s Defense
“your fathers persecuted and killed many of the prophets who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One…whose betrayers and murders you have now become.”
Weymouth Translation : “the advent of the”
Old Testament Verses of Promise
Genesis 3:15 - the Seed of the woman will stomp on the head of the serpent.
Merry Christmas, Adam and Eve.
Genesis 12:3 - “in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Genesis 17:6 - “kings shall come forth from you, Abraham”
Genesis 22:18 - “and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed…”
Merry Christmas, Abraham and Sarah!
Deuteronomy 18:15-19 - 14 The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so. 15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”
The Christ and the Anti-Christ
The Prophet and the Anti-Prophet
The Prophet in Type was Joshua
The Prophet in Anti-type was Yeshua, Jesus!
Merry Christmas, Moses and Zipporah
2 Samuel 7:12
vs 4-17 - Natan’s 2nd Response to King David’s desire to build the temple.
First Nathan said “Yes.”
Then God told Nathan to say “No.”
vs 5 - Shall you build me a house?
vs 6 - I’m more of a “tent” God.
vs 7 - Did I ask anyone before you to build a “house.?”
vs 8 - I took you from the sheep!
vs 9 - I’ve been with you
vs 10 - I will appoint a place…
vs 11 - I will give you rest, I will make you a house.
vs 12 - When you die, I will raise up your descendant after you….I will establish his kingdom  and HIS KINGDOM.
vs 13 - He will build a house…  I will establish the throne of HIS KINGDOM forever
vs 14 - I will be a father to him….son to me.
vs 15 - my lovingkindness shall not depart from him…as I took it from Saul.
vs 16 - your house, and your kingdom shall endure before me forever.
Fulfillment - Type:  Solomon and the line of David that continued through the Kingdom of Judah….  The Wisest Earthly King Ever.
Fulfillment - Antitype:  Jesus…the King of the Spiritual Israel.   Even Wiser Still!
Merry Christmas: David and Bathsheba! 
Merry Christmas: Solomon and your 1000 wives and concubines.
Jeremiah 33:14-18
The days are coming I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken….
I will cause the righteous branch of David to spring forth
He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth
Israel shall be saved.
Jerusalem shall dwell in safety.
Spiritual Israel shall be saved
The People
New Jerusalem shall dwell in safety.
Safety for all cities/towns/communities.
Savannah shall dwell in safety (A Wednesday Shooting)
San Bernardino shall dwell in safety
Cairo shall dwell in safety
Paris shall dwell in safety
New York…shall truly be new.
Gaza Strip shall dwell in safety
Richmond shall dwell in safety
Oakland shall dwell in safety
Sycamore Street in Antioch shall dwell in safety.
vs 17 - David will never lack a man on the throne
vs 18 - the Levitical priests shall never lack a man to offer burnt offerings.
for Jesus is the King/Priest…and the Lamb of God.  Jesus is all things!
The Son of God….and Son of Man.
Merry Christmas: Jeremiah
New Testament Verses about Jesus’ Birth/Incarnation (Outside of Matthew and Luke Nativity Stories)
John 1:9 - the true Light, coming into the world, lights every man. - John’s Merry Christmas Message.
John 1:14 - The Word became flesh…dwelling among us.
John 1:15-18 - John’s Witness
for of His fulness - Jesus is the fulness of God.
we have all received - Jesus is heaven’s gift.
grace upon grace.  - full measure of grace.  a heaping helping of grace.
The law through Moses.   Grace and Truth through Jesus.
The only begotten God, in the bosom of the father…HE has explained Him. - Jesus is the explainer of God.
The one to show us the Father…came!
John 1:46 - Q:  Can anything good come out of Nazareth?    A:  Yes, Come and See!
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world…that He gave His only begotten Son….
John 8:56 - “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.”  58: “Before Abraham was, I am.”
John 13:3 - Jesus, knowing that…He had come forth from God and was going back to God…rose from Supper. 
Merry Christmas, John!
John 18:36, 37 - My kingdom is not of this world…it was for this that I was born. -
Merry Christmas, John!
Romans 1:1-7
A bondservant of Jesus Christ
An apostle of the Gospel of God - Good News
Which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.
The Birth
The Life
The Ministry
The Death
The Resurrection
The Heavenly Ministry
All promised!
vs 3 - concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David, according to the flesh.
Merry Christmas, Paul!
vs 4 - declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.
Happy Passover (First Fruits), Too!
Romans 8:3 - What the law couldn’t do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did:  SENDING HIS OWN SON IN THE LIKENESS OF SINFUL FLESH and as an offering for sin…he condemned sin in the flesh…
The body-ness of the Christ is very important.
The Spirit God became flesh…so that we who are flesh…may live in and after the Spirit.
Merry Christmas, Paul!
Romans 8:32 - He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all.
The delivery was not just the cross…but it was also the cradle!
The delivery was from the foundation of the world - Yes.
But the delivery of salvation: in earnest…began in Bethlehem!
If He gave you Jesus…don’t you think He will give you everything else you need?  YES!
Merry Christmas, Rome!
Romans 15:12-13   —>  Isaiah 11:1-10  The Shoot!
Galatians 4:4 - when the fulness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order that he might redeem those under the law…that we might receive the adoption as sons.
Jesus came in the flesh…a human.
So that you could be adopted…he is our “elder brother.”
Oh the joy!  It’s a boy!
God With Us!
The Baby Provided  Immanuel!
Merry Christmas, Galatia!
Philippians 2:5-11
vs 6 existed in the form of God
equal with God
didn’t regard it as something to be grasped.
vs 7 emptied himself
taking the form of a slave
made in the likeness of men, appearing as a man.
Merry Christmas, Paul!
vs 8 - obedient to death
death on a cross
vs 9 highly exalted
name above every name
every knee bow, every tongue speak
Jesus…is KURIOS.  Lord.  Supreme Leader!
Jesus is THE BOSS!
Merry Christmas, Philippi!
Colossians 1:9-20 - READ
Colossians 1:19
It was the the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him.
That God…came here.
Merry Christmas, Colossae!
Colossians 1:22
He reconciled you in his fleshly body
Colossians 1:26
the mystery once hidden (God’s nature)
has no been manifested to His saints (Jesus, here, with us.)
Colossians 2:9
In Him, (Christ) dwells all the fullness of God in bodily form.
2 Corinthians 8:9 -
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Though He was rich
Yet for your sakes, He became poor.
That you through His poverty, might become rich.
Merry Christmas, Corinth!
1 Timothy 3:16 - a common confession - The Mystery of Godliness
He was revealed in the flesh - Birth
He was vindicated in the Spirit - Resurrection
Beheld by Angels - Birth and Resurrection
Proclaimed Among the Nations - Go!  Tell!  Commission. 
Believed on in the World - Results of the Proclamation
Taken Up to Glory - Ascension
     *** These things is what they had witnessed.
AND - Seated at God’s Right Hand - High Priest
AND - Returning in Power and Glory.
Merry Christmas, Timothy!
Hebrews 1:1,2
God spoke to the fathers long ago through prophets…many portions and ways. (books, passages.)
God spoke to us, now in the last days, in His Son.
When the Son of God came…It was God’s last and best Word to humanity.
The Son of God
The One Angels’s Worship
Hebrews 2:9, 10
We see Him….WHO FOR A LITTLE WHILE WAS MADE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS
vs 11 - he was not ashamed to call the “brethren.”
Hebrews 2:14-18
vs 14 - Since we share flesh and blood
HE (Jesus) partook of the same…flesh and blood.
vs 17 - Therefore…HE had to be made like his brethren in all things….
If there was no incarnation…there could be no salvation through intercession!
vs 18 - (since he was like us in flesh and blood….and since he was tempted (and victorious)…he can come to the aid of those who are tempted.
Jesus is a first responder!   Sin is the problem.  God came personally to respond.
He did not come to negotiate with satan.  He came in… to defeat the devil.
Hebrews 4:15
We don’t have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses.
How can He sympathize with us…
He became us!
1 John 1:1ff
From the beginning
We heard
We saw with our eyes…we beheld
We handled
THE WORLD OF LIFE.
THE eternal life that was with the Father, was manifested to us.
John 1:14 - the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…and we beheld His glory…full of grace and truth.
1 John 4:1-6
Don’t believe every spirit
Test the spirits…for there are false prophets.
The Spirit of God:  Jesus has come in the flesh.
The Spirit of Anti-Christ:  Jesus is not from God
2 John 1:7
Many deceivers have gone out.
They do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh.
Conclusion
God…came in the flesh.

The Birth of Jesus was the start of the fulfillment of the long expected promise.
The plan made in heaven from the foundation of the world….
The plan that had been prophecies and typed out in types to humanity from Adam/Eve…and to Abraham…to Moses, to Isaiah…. WAS NOW FINALLY HAPPENING..
The birth of Jesus is part of the Believer’s Universe View (World View).
Put your hand into that manger…let that little baby wrap his little hand round your finger….so that the man can wrap his arms around your heart.
He became poor…so that you could be rich! 
He went to a hellish death so you could have a heavenly life.
Birth Announcement:  It’s a boy!  Have some Joy.
For you see….

Love was when God became a Man,
Locked in time and space, without rank or place;
Love was God born of Jewish kin;
Just a carpenter with some fishermen.
Love was when Jesus walked in history,
Lovingly He brought a new life that's free,
Love was God nailed to bleed and die
To reach and love one such as I.



Love was when God became a Man,
Down where I could see Love that reached to me;
Love was God dying for my sin
And so trapped was I my whole world caved in.

Love was when Jesus met me, now it's real;
Lovingly He came, I can feel He's real!
Love was God, only He would try
To reach and love one such as I.

Closing Song: Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne.

A Bible Study about the Sabbath

Seventh-day Adventists

Observe the Bible Sabbath Because…

Short Version

1.      Revelation 1:10 – The Lord has a day.

2.      Mark 2:28; Luke 6:5 – The Lord’s Day is Sabbath.

3.      Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15 – The Sabbath is the seventh-day of the seven-day week.

4.      Luke 23:54-24:1 – The Sabbath is the day between the day Jesus died (Friday, also called “Preparation Day”, to prepare for the Sabbath) and the day Jesus rose from the dead (Sunday, also called “first day of the week.”)

5.      Mark 2:27 – The Sabbath was made for man (to be a day of rest and renewal and restoration and relationship with God and man) and not man for the Sabbath (to keep the day scrupulously, so as to have the day be a day of downers and drudgery.)

Long Version

1.      Genesis 2:1-3:  God instituted the Sabbath on earth at the end of a week of creative “work.”  He rested, blessed and sanctified this day.

2.      Exodus 5:1-9   : This verse indicates that Moses tried to get his people – all slaves for 400+ years – to observe Sabbath.  Vs. 3 speaks of a request to Pharaoh for a 3 day journey to the wilderness.  (Fri – Sun?).  vs 5 – in the Hebrew, has Pharaoh objecting, that “you would have them cease from their labors!”   They Hebrew word is “Shabbat” or “Sabbath”.

3.      Exodus 16 – This whole chapter indicates that Heaven’s gift of food/manna was also given to the Israelites on a 6 day on / 1 day off schedule.  No manna was found on the 7^th day.  Apparently the manna making miracle and the manna delivering angels get Sabbath off…as a day of rest.

4.      Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15 – Both versions of the 10 commandments “command” the Sabbath to be observed.

5.      2 Kings 4:23 – This verse indicates that the Israelites kept Sabbath during the period of the prophets and kings after the wilderness wanderings and the period of the conquest of Canaan. 

6.      Isaiah 56:1-8 – This verse reveals a call to keep the Sabbath to Israelites/mankind (vs 2) , Eunuchs (vs 4) and Foreigners (vs 6).

7.      Isaiah 58:13, 14 – An exhortation to “take your foot off the Sabbath”…and call it a ROYAL delight!  If you do, there is an amazing blessing promised.

8.      Nehemiah  10:31 – In this book written after the Israelite return from Babylon exile, the leaders once again led out in observing Sabbath, and the 7^th “sabbatical” year.

9.      Nehemiah 13:15-22 – Read a fascinating story about the practical realities of national Sabbath reform about 450 years before Jesus.  Shut the gates…it’s Sabbath!

10.  The 7 Sabbath Miracles of Jesus (see parallel passages also)

a.    Mark 1:21-28 – Exorcism of an Evil Spirit

b.    Mark 1:29-31 – Peter’s Mother-in-Law’s Fever.

c.     Mark 3:1-6 – The man with the withered/deformed hand.

d.    Luke 13:10-17 – The woman that was bent double.

e.    Luke 14:1-6 – The man with dropsy.

f.      John 5:1-18  - The man at the pool of Bethesda.

g.    John 9:1-41 (vs 14) – The man blind from birth.

11.  Luke 4:16 ff – Jesus, on the Sabbath in a Synagogue, read a verse from Isaiah…and proclaimed that He was the Messiah!

12.  Matthew 12:1-8, Mark 2:23-28, Luke 6:1-5 – The Grain-field Incident   Jesus says on Sabbath there are emergencies (sheep in a pit) that need to be tended to….and humans are much more valuable than sheep.  It is lawful to do good on Sabbath.

13.              Mark 2:27 – Jesus says that “The Sabbath was made for man…and not man for the Sabbath.”   Always remember this when contemplating how to observe the Sabbath.

14.  Luke 13:15,16 – Jesus says that animals need to be watered on Sabbath (and fed, and milked and …..)  All things necessary and deeds of mercy and good are welcome on Sabbath.

15.  John 5:17 – In the context of the Sabbath…Jesus declares that “My father is working until now…and I Myself as working.”  Ponder this for a while.  The sun comes up on Sabbath.  God did that.   Your heart still is beating on Sabbath.  God did that too.   Just because it’s a day of “rest.” Doesn’t mean it’s a day of nothingness.  It is a day to appreciate what God has done

16.  Luke 23:54-24:1 – A reflection on the creation week along with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus reveals that: Jesus made and saved man on the 6^th day and that on the first day Jesus did the “work” of raising from the dead starting “something new.”  In both moments…Jesus “rested” on the seventh-day / Sabbath.

17.  The “First Day” Texts

a.    5 “first day” texts (Mt 28:1; Mk 16:2, 9; Lk 24:1; Jn 20:1) simply state the fact that when disciples came to the tomb, they found it empty, or saw angels or the savior himself.  They received the glad news that heaven had “worked” on that day…and “He is risen!”

b.    John 20:19-25 – this passage is about what happened that same day, at evening. The sun isn’t set…and it is still “the first day of the week.”  It’s not a worship service of church…for “the doors are shut, for fear of the Jews.” (vs 19).

c.     Acts 20:6-17 – This passage tells the story of Paul at Troas.  Having been there ministering for “seven day” (vs 6), a weekly cycle of activity…now it is the “first day of the week.”  The context indicates a Saturday evening all night (vs 8) farewell meeting.   Supper together. (vs 7)  Long preaching. (vs 7) A miraculous resurrection. (vs 9, 10)  Morning food (vs 11).  Then when the day dawned (vs 11), Paul’s companions traveled by ship, while Paul “took a hike” (vs 13).  If the day we call Sunday is not the Sabbath to Paul (a converted Jew), one should ask him why he is walking/traveling and not in church on that Sunday morning!   Troas to Assos is at least a 17 mile trek!

d.    1 Corinthians 16:1-9:  Rather than being a Pauline offering call for Church offerings, Paul is suggesting a personal giving plan for the Corinthian church.  “put aside and save.” (vs 2) are key words.  He is telling them to lay out their cash and coin on the table and put some in a container on the first day of the week…so that then he comes, they will have the money to give, rather than having spent it all before hand.  When we do our personal budgets, we should “give to God first” making our stewardship of tithe and offerings the highest priority.

18.  Paul and the Sabbath – There are several verses in the Book of Acts that reveal that Paul was a Sabbath observer, as a Christian Apostle.  Luke, the gentile author of Paul’s biographical book  for his friend gentile Theophilus (Acts 1:1) records the following Sabbath references.

a.    Acts 1:12 – A Sabbath day’s journey distance is mentioned.

b.    Acts 13:13-  - Paul at Pisidian Antioch went to synagogue on Sabbath and preached a powerful sermon.  (vs 27)  In the middle of his sermon he makes mention of the prophets being read “every Sabbath”.  (vs 42-44) when the meeting concludes, people ask for him to speak again “the next Sabbath”…and there is an even bigger and more diverse crowd the next Sabbath.

c.     Acts 15:21 – James, in the Jerusalem Counsel about being open and affirming to the Gentiles, mentioned Moses being read in the synagogues on Sabbath.

d.    Acts 16:11-18 – When Paul was at Philippi, the group sought out a place of prayer on the Sabbath.  Apparently there was no synagogue…so they found a riverside place of prayer…and lead a conversation…that resulted in a convert: Lydia. (vs 16) As they were going to “the place of prayer” (was this the next week?) they cast out a demon from a slave girl. (Sabbath: a day of healing and wholeness.)

e.    Acts 17:1-9 – In Thessalonica, Paul’s custom of Sabbath keeping found him in the synagogue of the Jews…preaching the risen Christ!

f.      (Acts 17:10, 17 also refer to synagogue events.  Though Sabbath isn’t mentioned…it is implied.)

g.    Acts 18:1-11 – In Corinth, Paul set up residence, even working in a tent shop by day to make money so he could preach and travel with the  gospel.  (vs 4) Every Sabbath he went to synagogue reasoning with the Jews. And Greeks.   (vs 11) he did this for a year and six months.  Do the math.  That’s a lot of Sabbath’s recorded for Paul to keep.

h.    (Acts 19:8) – Deeper study into the Book of Acts records many synagogue preaching moments. (on Sabbath is implied).  Here Paul ministers at Ephesus for 3 months… (12 Sabbaths?)

19.  Hebrews 3:1 - 4:16 : Perhaps the most amazing and neglected passage about the Sabbath in the New Testament.    Here the writer (Paul?) says to the Hebrew people they should consider Jesus (3:1).   And that to reject Jesus is to reject “entering into God’s/His rest.” 3:11, 18, 19; 4:1, 3, 5)  He links the rest in Christ with the Sabbath rest and the land of Canaan rest.  The high point is the bold statement.  “There remains therefore a (Greek word: sabbatismos) Sabbath rest for the people of God.”   When you enter Jesus rest…you rest from your works of law attempting to earn (work) for heaven…just as God rested from his works at creation (vs 10).   For the Jesus follower…Sabbath takes on new significance.  It is not just about remembering the creation of the world by the pre-incarnate Christ…but also about remembering  the redemption of the world by the incarnate Christ on the cross.  Sabbath remains!

20.  Revelation 14:6-12  - The first angel of three angelic messages calls all humanity (vs 6) to… “Worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of water.” In language drawn from the 4^th commandment, God’s end time people are called to worship the creator…through the memorial of creation, the Sabbath.

21.  Isaiah 66:22-24:  In this verse of prophecy about the new heavens and earth, vs 22),  it anticipates worship of God in that new time and place from “Sabbath to Sabbath.” Vs 23.

Bible Study by….

Elder O. Kris Widmer; BA, MDiv

Ordained Minister -  Seventh-day Adventist Church  - 1989.

Parish Pastor:  Antioch, California, U.S.A. : January 2009 to the Present

Printed:    October 31, 2015

Permission is Given to Share Freely

Raw Notes: Ellen White's Last Whisper

Sermon Notes

Theme: Adventist History

Title: Ellen Whites Last Whisper

Texts: 2 Timothy 1:12

Topic Sentence:  We have often contented ourselves with asking the questions:  What, When, How Where, Why?   But the most important question of faith is Who?   (The answer is Jesus)

Ellen White’s Last Whisper (Her final spoken words.) were Scripture.   “I know in Whom I have believed.”

Scripture Reading Matthew 7:21-23

Closing Hymn/Song Number:   I Know Whom I Have Believed  511

Speaker:  Elder O. Kris Widmer: 

Date: July 18, 2015

Place: Antioch, California

Commemorating 100 Years 

From the Death of Ellen G. White

1. Introduction
1. This Weekend is Commemoration of Ellen White’s Legacy…on the occasion of 100 years to the Day of her Death.
2. EGW Died 1.5 hours from here…at her home…Elmshaven. 
3. Which was July 16, 1915 at 3:40 p.m.
4. PUC is having a big weekend….speakers, art exhibit, etc.
5. Elder Jim Pedersen…our Northern Conference President in his prayer at that moment July 16 3:40 is reported saying…

1. He acknowledged the sacredness of the place, because angels visited Mrs. White there. 
2. He gave thanks for her and her guidance to the community. 
3. Then he asked for forgiveness for the times when we have ignored her advice, 
4. for when we have put her words above the Bible, 
5. for when we have used her words to judge other people.

1. I have known some of EGW’s living relatives
1. Charles White, Pastor in Arizona Now…used to live in Paradise.
2. Grace Jaques - used to give the tours at Elmshaven.   I have met.
3. The Kubrock Family
1. Gladys and Daniel Kubrock
2. Their Children and Grandchildren
3. Still Serving the Church
4. I Pastor’ed the Eemshaven Church for 4.5 years.
5. I lived 2 Driveways Down…off Glass Mountain Road
6. I’ve sung and given communion to the residents of Rosehaven…a nursing home.  It’s in Willie White’s old house.
2. We…here in Antioch… are marking it by this sermon.
3. One of EGW’s 3 funerals was held in what is now Contra Costa County….so nearby.
4. Northern California and the Bay Area have deep history in our church…Pacific Press, Healdsburg College, Elmshaven.
5. Today’s Sermon:  Two Parts…
1. A Historical Account of Ellen White’s Death and Burial.
2. A Meditation for Us Today…on Ellen White’s Last Whisper.  (Inspirational)
3. Pause in Adventist Hope.   100 Years.   We are still here.
1. Body

1. First the History….
2. In the 6 Volume Biography…grab volume six.  
1. Last Two Chapters
2. Chapter 31 - The Last Mile
3. Chapter 32 - The Messenger of the Lord at Rest
3. Ellen’s Injury
1. On Sabbath Morning, February 13, 1915  Ellen White was entering her study…upstairs at her retirement home at Elmshaven.
2. At the age of 87+ she may have reached “shut-in” status.
3. She fell.
4. Her nurse, May Walling, lifted her to a rocking chair and pulled her through the hall…to the bedroom…got her to bed.
5. No 911 Phone Call. No Ambulance.
6. Hot and Cold Fomentations were Applied
7. Dr. came to her bed…said it was either a sprain or break.
8. Painfully she was taken…down stairs, out the house, to a horse drawn buggy…and taken up the hill to St. Helena Sanitarium.
9. No Spring Legged Gurney.  No Muscular EMT’s
10. X-Ray:   Broken Femur…at the junction of head and neck.
11. Then the painful return trip back to Elmshaven.
12. Willie…telegraphed… the news out.   "Sabbath noon, Mother, entering her study, tripped and fell, causing an intracapsular fracture to the left femur. " 
13. As a Tweet, he would still have 28 characters to spare.
14. Sunday: the Sanitarium sent down a hospital bed to make her more comfortable.
4. Ellen’s Death
1. Thus began the next 5 months and 3 days…or the final 153 days of Ellen G. White’s life.
2. She had good days and bad days…
3. Keeping her sense of humor.  “I had a good day - in spots.”
4. June…rapid decline…not eating much.
5. Friday, July 16…her family and staff gathered around her bed.
6. 3:40 p.m. - stopped breathing…after her respirations had reached 10 per minute.
7. Willie: “it was like the burning out of a candle…so quiet.”
5. Ellen’s Funeral Preparations Were Ready…
1. Even today…in the news organizations…they write obituaries in advance…so they are ready.   Aged stars, aged politicians.   Billy Graham’s obituary is already written.  He is 97 this November.
2. Elmshaven had already sent pictures and articles to the news papers:  California, New York, Michigan.
3. All they needed to do was send a telegram.
4. Friday…Willie sent that telegram.
5. And…they also printed 220 invitations to the first of 3 public services.
6. Ellen’s Funerals
1. She was served by undertakers - Friday to Sunday
2. But Saturday: she was laid out in her bedroom, already in a casket.
3. Simple Black… Silver Tag “At Rest”.  (We have pictures.)
4. Sunday: She was in the living room, downstairs.
5. “Visitation” it is called.
6. #1 was Sunday  5 p.m.…on the Elmshaven Lawn.
7. California Conference President Spoke. Elder Farnsworth.
8. Monday morning Willie and Sara McInturfer took her body by train to Richmond
9. #2 - The California Camp Meeting was Going On.
10. Monday Morning:  1000 People
11. They people has asked…knowing she’d be transported their direction.
12. “Bring her to camp meeting.  If she had been well…she’d be here.   She’s been to so many camp meetings.”
13. Pacific Union Conference President. E.E. Andross Spoke.
14. 3:00 on the Train…East.
15. Thursday, July 22…arrival in Michigan.
16. Edson and another man got on the train early…and discussed arrangements in route.
17. #3 - Battle Creek
1. Sabbath Morning  July 24, 2014
2. 8:00 to 10:30 a.m.  Viewing for 2,000 people.
3. 11:00  Church was pre-empted by Funeral
4. (Confirming my theory that funerals should be worship services.)
5. (Confirming my theory that funerals are just fine for a Sabbath event in the church.)
6. We have the program from that day.
7. Plaform filled with green palm plants and floral tributes.:  Broken Wheel, Broken Pillar, Open Bible, Cross
8. A.G. Daniels - G.C. President - Life Sketch
9. S.N. Haskel - The Message
10. 3,500 inside, 1,000 outside.
11. And they were not alone either.  Many Adventist Churches…nation wide had memorial services…either for church or in the afternoon.   Walla Walla did!
12. After the service, it was out to the grave.
1. Every carriage in the city.
2. A few cars
3. 9 Street Cars:   This is funny: So Adventist
4. “No Fares: The church has pre-paid the fare!”
18. Later…Willie got a message:   All funeral expenses, and his and Sara M.’s travel..paid by a three way split:  GC, NAD, RH Publishing.   Trains, Casket, Mortitian, Head Stone, Lodging, …from the time of death until they got home to California.
19. Everyone went home….
1. 6BIO pg 447 - Staff was Separating….going here and there.
1. Mtn. View - Pacific Press
2. back to Australia
3. Willits Pastorate
4. RH Publishing
5. Home care for step-daughter.
6. Crisler:  Editor:  Final 2 Chapters on Prophets and Kings…then China
7. Willie was left…alone.
20. Thus Ended Ellen G. White’s Productive Life
1. No Computer.  No Email.
2. A Staff of Helpers and Servants, to be sure.
3. 100,000 Adventist World Wide…now there are 19 million.
4. 37 Publishing Houses
5. 34 Sanitariums
6. 70 Intermediate Schools, academies and colleges
7. 510 Elementary Schools
8. Time in U.S., Europe, Australia.
9. 3,000,000 words…long hands
10. 5,000 Articles
11. 40 Books
12. Thousands of Sermons/Talks
13. Thousands of one-on-one conferences.
14. 2,000 visions and dreams.
15. Pretty good for a 5’2’’ tall woman with a broken nose and who had had a stroke back in her mid-life!
16. And…still we can’t find the biblical mandate to ordain other women whom God calls and gifts!?

1. Scriptural Meditation - Inspiration.
1. Now I want to go back to Ellen’s White Last Words.
2. They were Whispered.

1. Friday, July 9 - Her last spoken words . a Whisper.
2. 8 (inclusive) days before her death.
3. Quoting Scripture:  “2 Timothy 1:12  
4. “I know in Whom I have believed.”
5. Victorians particularly took note and recorded the last words of the dying.  They were thought to be important.
6. This was put on a Ribbon…and staked to a White Rose Cross at the Battle Creek Funeral…It’s in the pictures of the front of the church and at the grave.

1. Body
1. Most of us know WHAT we believe.
1. 6 Key Divisions:    God, Man, Salvation, Church, Christian Life, Last Things
2. The S’s - Salvation, Sabbath, Sanctuary, State of the Dead, Second Coming, Stewardship, 
3. 28 Statements of Belief
4. Charts, Graphs, Time Lines
2. We have often contented ourselves with asking the questions:  What, When, How, Where, Why?   But the most important question of faith is Who?   (The answer is Jesus) 
3. What:  Topics
4. What:  Second Coming
1. When:  Soon
2. How: In the Clouds
3. How: Power and Glory, Resurrection, Feet won’t touch.
4. Where: Earth
5. Why:  To destroy the Devil and Raise the Dead.
6. Who? - 
5. What:  Sabbath
1. When: Sundown to Sundown, Seventh-day
2. How:  No Pleasure, no swimming, no _____
3. Where: Church, Nature
4. Why?:  God said so.  4th Commandment
5. Who? - The Lord of the Sabbath, The Sabbath was made for Man.
6. What:  Sanctuary
1. When:  1844
2. How:  Blood of the Cross
3. Where:  2nd Apartment of Heaven (not the second phase of Jesus’ ministry)
4. Why:  to blott out sins of humanity.  To see if you are savable. Doubt.
5. Who? :  The Heavenly High Priest and Judge is the Savior that LOVES you.
7. The Whole Verse  2 Timothy 1:12
1. “For this reason I also suffer these things. (vs 8 talks about suffering for the gospel.)
2. “But I am not ashamed”…no, Ellen.  You had nothing to be ashamed of.   Good Job, Girl!
1. We as a church should be ashamed of the last 100 years how we twisted and used and abused you.
2. It is amazing to me how the General Conference can vote “Confidence in the Spirit of Prophecy” one moment….
1. and this weekend celebrate the amazing accomplishments of our first female minister….
2. and then ignore all her counsel about men and women being fitted, trained for pastoral ministry on Wed, July 8, 2015.
1. How does this happen.   
2. We are fallen human beings.
3. We see through a glass darkly
4. We interpret all things through our preconceived cultural biases.
5. Only the Spirit can guide us into truth.
3. “For I know whom I have believed”
1. Faith is not a what, a when, a why, a how, where.
2. It’s a WHOM.
4. “I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him…
1. What are you trusting to Him, Ellen.
2. My Last Whisper
3. My Final Breath on July 16, 1915
4. My Next Breath on the Resurrection Morning.
5. until that day.”
1. Which Day is That
2. “A great day is coming…heaven’s gates will open wide..”
3. “What a day that will be…when my Savior’s face I’ll see…..What a day, glorious day that will be.”
8. Bible Verses About Knowing Whom
1. John 17:1-3 - This is eternal life…that they may know you…and Jesus Christ Whom You have sent.
2. Titus 1:15 - They claim to know God…but their actions deny him.
3. Galatians 4:6-9 - formerly you did not know God…but now you know God…rather are known by God.
9. Bible Verses About God Knowing Us
1. Jeremiah 1:5 - Before I formed you…I knew you.
2. Luke 12:7 - The very hairs of your head are numbered.
3. Psalm 103:14 - He knows we are but dust…
4. Psalm 139:1-5 - You searched me and no me…
5. Psalm 139:23 - Search Me…Know Me.  Test Me.
6. Matthew 7:22 - Jesus says in that day  “I never knew you.”
7. Matthew 25:12 - Depart from me…I do not know you.
8. Luke 13:22-30 - Parable:  Owner of the House.  “I don’t know you or where you are from.”
10. Ellen White Knew God.
1. Teen Conversion to Jesus - 1842 Camp Meeting
2. One Sermon:  Esther and the King….Reach Out and Touch the Septer.   God the King will always hold it out to you!   It touched her and gave her hope.
3. Baptized: at about 15 yrs of age.
4. After 1888…Righteousness by Faith…embracing Jesus.
11. It’s possible…to know about God…but not know God.
1. Formal Religion
2. Legal Religion
3. Personal Religion
2. Conclusion
1.   This Week….the White Estate Released some Letters and Documents….
2. It was hard to figure out exactly what was new on the site I visited.
3. But I believe this to be her last written message to her grandchildren.
4.   Here it is…..
5. “Remember the Lord will carry us through. 
6. I am guarding every moment, so that nothing may come between me and the Lord. 
7. I hope there will not. 
8. God grant that we may all prove faithful. 
9. God grant that we may all prove faithful.
10. There will be a glorious meeting soon.” {Ms1-1915 (April 3, 1915) par. 6} to her Grandchildren.
11. God grant that we may all prove faithful.
3. Closing Song:  511
1. Based on 2 timothy 1:12
2. It’s perfect.
3. “I Know Whom I Have Believed”
4. I know not Why
5. I know not How
6. I now not When
7. But I know Who!