Of all professing Christians, Seventh-day Adventists should be foremost in uplifting Christ before the world. . . . The great center of attraction, Christ Jesus, must not be left out. It is at the cross of Christ that mercy and truth meet together, and righteousness and peace kiss each other.
The key here is that the cross of Christ must be at the center of any great Adventist preaching, according to Ellen White. The cross provides the place where mercy and truth will unite. If you want to make sure that you are providing the balance between mercy and truth, then you must have the cross of Christ at the center of all of your expositions.
In the 1888 era, Ellen White again argued for the centrality of Jesus in great Adventist exposition. She noted in her celebration of the preaching of A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner on pages 91-92 of Testimonies to Ministers, that their message
"was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It 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...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.
What we see here is that the cross and the power and pardon that we receive from there is at the center of our presentation. She even calls it the third angel's message that is to be proclaimed. Again it is only at the cross where justice and peace meet.
No we do not preach the cross sometimes and some conception of "Adventism" at other times. If Sister White is right here, then we must only preach the cross and uplift the savior. This point is key to any Adventist preaching methodology.
I agree, with what is written hereabove. Really we need to preach the cross, but in context with Matt 24:14 and Rev 14:6-10. My prayer is, may GOD help us to preach and teach it as it should be.
ReplyDeleteWhat would the Bible message be, without the Righteousness of Christ and His toning work? I'd lovw to believe that we can only stay revived and focust when we aim at lifting up Christ through the doctrines we have found and believed. in that way we can even be distinct from Babylon and her daughters. ( I hope I don't hurt any one. but if be so, then there is a balm in Gilead)
ReplyDeleteAs I have said elsewhere...We must preach the cross otherwise we would not be Christian....we must preach our doctrines...otherwise why must it be us that preach? It is our job to find a way to bridge the gap between these two...that is ultimately my point...
ReplyDeleteThis article challenges us to teach and preach the cross throughout the year.
ReplyDeleteOne SDA member told me recently that, of over 3000 sermons that he heard since becoming an SDA, Christ was not mentioned in any of them. Thus the cross was left out, also. He has been a member of several different congregations during this time.
One exception -- Evangelist, Elder Ron Halvorsen almost always mentioned the cross in his messages. One time he said it isn't preaching if the cross is not mentioned.
Coming from the United Methodist Church, these first day folks lifted up the cross and Christ especially during the lent and passion season. SDA's are afraid of the cross because of the name Easter. Yes, it is pagan, but is that any reason not to preach the cross?
Brother Weaver,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments. I am always leary of speaking about preaching amongst Adventists or any faith community for that matter. There are definitely, as you note the example of Ron Halvorsen, preachers who make the cross a core component of their preaching. My father who has just retired after over 40 years of preaching has told me about great preachers in Adventism who made the cross the center of their preaching. So I always want to recognize that there are many who preach the cross.
But, I do think that there is a misconception (which you identify as a fear) among some Adventists who feel that the cross is taken care of by the preaching of other denominations and that we must put an emphasis on other aspects like apocalyptic prophecy or some other doctrines.
I like E. J. Waggoner's contention that we must find a way to preach both the cross and our doctrines. If we did have to choose between setting one or the other aside, then the cross must remain. However, Waggoner gives us a way to retain both in our proclamation.