SDA's Just Approved as MEMBERS of French Federation of Churches
“God has given us plain
directions regarding our work. We are to proclaim the truth in regard to the
Sabbath of the Lord, to make up the breach that has been made in His law. We
are to do all that we can to enlighten those in ignorance; but we are never to confederate with men
of the world in order to receive financial assistance.” {9T 233.3}
Dear Reader,
Dr. B.B. Beach once told me that
we became ecumenically involved to receive discounts on radio and TV
rates. Nice enticement from Satan’s
confederacy!
I now have discovered proof positive—BEYOND ANY POSSIBLE DOUBT, that
the SDA church is a member of the World Council of Churches via its
subsidiary National Councils of Churches.
First of all, I checked the European News outlets to find on Sunday,
April 2, 2006, that the SDA church was approved as a MEMBER of the French
Federation of Protestant Churches.
(Monday, April 3, 2006, a.m.) I just checked my Directory of Christian Councils,
published by the World Council of Churches, copyright 1985, and it lists the
French Protestant Federation, as the National Council of Churches in France
which is also listed as a FULL MEMBER of the World Council of Churches. Now read below that the SDA church now
admits, in fact rejoices, over MEMBERSHIP in the French Federation of
Protestant Churches.
The
first announcement of the new ecumenical MEMBERSHIP of the SDA church
involving the French Protestant Federation is from the following source:
According to Vance Ferrell, an SDA minister, who resigned because he
felt he could not follow principle and remain in the employ of the
Seventh-day Adventist General Conference Church, the only way a church
becomes a member of the World Council of Churches is by being a member of one
or more National Councils of Churches, and all National Councils are MEMBERS
of the World Council of Churches.
So don’t let the professing Seventh-day Adventist church leaders lie to
you any more concerning this serious issue for which the church will be
broken in pieces, Isaiah 8:9-13.
Ellen White on Ecumenical Involvement
"The peculiar work of the third angel has not been seen in
its importance. God meant that His people should be far in advance of the
position which they occupy today. But now, when the time has come for them to
spring into action, they have the preparation to make. When the National Reformers began to urge
measures to restrict religious liberty, our leading men should have been
alive to the situation and should have labored earnestly to counteract these
efforts. It is not in the order of God that light has been kept from our
people--the very present truth which they needed for this time. Not all our
ministers who are giving the third angel's message really understand what
constitutes that message. The National
Reform Movement has been regarded by some as of so little importance that
they have not thought it necessary to give much attention to it and have even
felt that in so doing they would be giving time to questions distinct from
the third angel's message. May the Lord forgive our brethren for thus
interpreting the very message for this time." {5T 714.2}
In the World Council of Churches’ 25the Silver Anniversary
Booklet, they trace their lineage back to Phillip Schaff’s
Evangelical Alliance of 1846. The
National Reform movement evolved from the Evangelical Alliance and the
Federal Council of Churches evolved from the National Reform Movement. The Federal Council of Churches then became
the World Council of Churches in 1948.
The Reader’s Digest has published three scathing articles on the
World Council of Churches. Here is one of them. Keep in mind while reading this article
that a portion of your tithe goes to support this abominable organization,
even by the world’s standards, for ever MEMBER of any National Council of
Churches must pay annual dues which run into the thousands of dollars, and I
verified this in 1988, with the GC Treasurer, Butler:
https://omega77.tripod.com/WCCRDigArt.htm
"Any connection with infidels and UNBELIEVERS which would
identify us with them is FORBIDDEN by the word. We are to come out from them
and be separate. In no case are we to link ourselves with them in their plans
or work." E. G. White, Fundamentals of Christian Education, 482.
"I saw that since the second angel proclaimed the fall of
the churches, they have been growing more and more corrupt. They bear the
name of being Christ's followers yet it is IMPOSSIBLE to distinguish them
from ...Satan has taken FULL POSSESSION of the churches as a body." E.G.
White, Early Writings, 273.
If any church should link itself with unbelievers, we are to come
out from them and be separate. The instruction is clear. Notwithstanding the
SDA church’s links with the ecumenical movement, it has linked in PARTNERSHIP
with the Catholics at their hospital in Colorado. Every MEMBER of the church is
responsible for this corrupt liaison with unbelievers. This act alone calls
for separation.
"Worldly policy is taking the place of true piety and wisdom
that comes from above, and God will remove His prospering hand from the
conference. Shall the ark of the covenant be removed from this people? Shall
idols be smuggled in? Shall false principles and false precepts be brought
into the sanctuary? Shall antichrist be respected? Shall the true doctrines
and principles given us of God, which have made us what we are, be
ignored?.... This is directly where the enemy, through blinded, unconsecrated
men, is leading us." E. G. White, Manuscript 29, 1890.
“’For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me
that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A
confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy;
neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.
Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let
Him be your dread.’ ‘To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not
according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.’ Isa.
8:11-13, 20. The world is not to be
our criterion. Let the Lord work, let
the Lord’s voice be heard.
Those employed in ANY DEPARTMENT of the work whereby the world may be
transformed, must not enter into alliance with those who know not the
truth. The world know not the Father
or the son, and they have no spiritual discernment
as to the character of our work, as
to what we shall do or shall not do. We must obey the orders that come
from above. We are not to hear
the counsel or
follow the plans suggested by unbelievers. Suggestions made by those who
know not the work that God is doing for this time, will be such as to weaken
the power of the instrumentalities of God.
Bay accepting such suggestions, the counsel of Christ is set at naught….” E.G. White, Life Sketches, p. 322.
Note by Ron: The plea has oft
been that we go as observers. Tell me
friend, if we go as observers do we “hear” the counsel of unbelievers? Ellen White said that they are led as a
body, by Satan, and that it is impossible to distinguish the fallen churches
from the world, EW, 273. Is the world
classified as “believers?”
“The steps now being taken by the few cannot be followed by the remnant
people of God. Your course cannot be sustained by the Lord. It is made
evident by your course of action that you have laid your plans without the
aid of Him who is mighty in counsel." LS 328-9.”
The above statement is a principle that always applies when the few are
making policy for the remnant surreptitiously. "There is no time now to range
ourselves on the side of the transgressors of God's law, to see with their
eyes, to hear with their ears, and to understand with their perverted senses.
We must press together. We must labor to become a unit, to be holy in life
and pure in character. Let those who profess to be servants of the living God
no longer bow down to the idol of men's opinions, no longer be slaves to any
shameful lust, no longer bring a polluted offering to the Lord, a sin-stained
soul." {LS 330.2}
“One sinner may
diffuse darkness which will exclude the light of God from the entire
congregation. When the people realize that darkness is settling upon them,
and they do not know the cause, then they should earnestly seek God in great
humility and self-abasement, until the wrongs which grieve God's Spirit are
searched out and put away from among them. {RH, September 23, 1873 par. 1}
Earnestness Is Necessary
In this age, just prior to the second coming of Christ in the clouds of
heaven, the Lord calls for men who will be earnest and prepare a people to
stand in the great day of the Lord. The men who have spent long terms in the
study of books are not revealing in their lives that earnest ministry which
is essential for this last time. They do not bear a simple, straightforward
testimony. Among ministers and students there is need of the infusion of the
Spirit of God. The prayerful, earnest
appeals that come from the heart of a whole-souled messenger will create
convictions. It will not need the learned men to do this; for they depend
more on their learning from books than upon their knowledge of God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.
All who know the only true and living God will know Jesus Christ, the
only-begotten Son of God, and will preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. . .
. {2SM 152.3}
“Does anyone suppose that
the messages of warning will not come to those whom God reproves? The ones
reproved may rise up in indignation and seek to bring the law to bear upon
God's messenger, but in doing this, they are not bringing the law upon the
messenger, but upon Christ, who gave the reproof and the warning. positive
harm to the cause of truth, and souls. When men endanger the work and cause of God by their own wrong
course of action, shall they hear no voice of reproof? If the wrongdoer only
were concerned, and the work reached no farther than him, he alone should
have the words of warning; but when his course of action is doing positive
harm to the cause of truth, and souls are imperiled, God requires that the
warning be as broad as the injury done. The testimonies will not be hindered. The
words of rebuke and warning, the plain "Thus
saith the Lord," will come from God's appointed agencies; for the words
do not originate with the human instrument; they are from God, who appointed
them their work. If a suit is instituted in earthly tribunals, and God
suffers it to come to trial, it is that His own name may be glorified. But a woe will be upon the man who gives
himself to do this work. God reads the motives,
whatever they may be. I pray that the Lord will teach our brethren to be
straightforward, and make no compromise in the matter. The cause of God has been bruised and
wounded by any such men connecting with it, and the sooner they are separated
from it, the better. . . . {2SM 152.4}
Laborers for God
We are in the greatest peril when we receive praise of one another,
when we enter into a confederacy to exalt one another. The great burden of
the Pharisees was to secure the praise of men; and Christ told them that that
was all the reward they would ever receive. Let us take up our appointed work
and do it for Christ; if we suffer privation, let it be for His sake. Our
divine Lord was made perfect through suffering. Oh, when shall we see men
laboring as He labored! {5T 133.2}
Chap. 49 - A Distinctive Name and
People—Not Ashamed of Our Name
We are Seventh-day
Adventists. Are we ashamed of our name? We answer, "No, no! We are not.
It is the name the Lord has given us. It points out the truth that is to be
the test of the churches."--Letter 110, 1902. {2SM 384.1}
We are Seventh-day Adventists, and of this name we are never to be
ashamed. As a people we must take a firm stand for truth and righteousness.
Thus we shall glorify God. We are to be delivered from dangers, not ensnared
and corrupted by them. That this may be, we must look ever to Jesus, the
Author and Finisher of our faith.-- Letter 106, 1903. {2SM 384.2}
Our Distinctive Sign
The banner of the third angel has
inscribed upon it, "The commandments of God and the faith of
Jesus." Our institutions have taken a name which sets
forth the character of our faith, and of this name we are never to be
ashamed. I have been shown that this name means much, and in adopting it we
have followed the light given us from heaven. . . . The Sabbath is God's
memorial of His creative work, and it is a sign that is to be kept before the
world. {2SM 384.3}
There is to be no compromise with those
who are worshiping an idol sabbath. We are not to spend our time in
controversy with those who know the truth, and upon whom the light of truth
has been shining, when they turn away their ear from the truth to turn to
fables. I was told that men will employ every policy to make less
prominent the difference between the faith of Seventh-day Adventists and
those who observe the first day of the week. In this
controversy the whole world will be engaged, and the time is short. This is
no time to haul down our colors. {2SM 385.1}
A company was presented
before me under the name of Seventh-day Adventists, who were advising that
the banner or sign which makes us a distinctive people should not be held out
so strikingly; for they claimed it was not the best policy in securing
success to our institutions. This distinctive banner is to be borne through the world to the
close of probation. In describing the remnant
people of God, John says, "Here is the patience of the saints: here are
they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Rev.
14:12). This
is the law and the gospel. The world and the churches are uniting in harmony
in transgressing the law of God, in tearing away God's memorial, and in
exalting a sabbath that bears the signature of the man of sin. But the
Sabbath of the Lord thy God is to be a sign to show the difference between
the obedient and the disobedient. I saw some reaching out their hands to remove the
banner, and to obscure its significance. . . . {2SM 385.2}
When the people accept and
exalt a spurious sabbath, and turn souls away from obedience and loyalty to
God, they will reach the point that was reached by the people in the days of
Christ. . . . Shall anyone then choose to hide his banner, to relax his
devotion? Shall the people whom God has honored and blessed and prospered,
refuse to bear testimony in behalf of God's memorial at the very time when
such a testimony should be borne? Shall not the commandments of God be more highly
esteemed when men pour contempt upon the law of God?--Manuscript 15, 1896. {2SM
385.3}
The World is Watching
God's commandment-keeping people are described by the prophet as
"men wondered at." We
are to be a people distinct from the world. The eyes of the world are upon
us, and we are observed by many of whom we have no knowledge. There are those who know something of the doctrines we claim to believe,
and they are noting the effect of our faith upon our characters. They are
waiting to see what kind of influence we exert, and how we carry ourselves
before a faithless world. The angels of heaven are looking upon us. "We
are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men" (1 Cor.
4:9).--The Review and Herald, June 18, 1889. {2SM 386.1}
The Future of God's People
Our people have been
regarded as too insignificant to be worthy of notice, but a change will come;
the movements are now being made. The Christian world is now making movements which will
necessarily bring the commandment-keeping people to notice. There is a daily suppression of God's truth for the theories and false
doctrines of human origin. There are plans and movements being set on foot to
enslave the consciences of those who would be loyal to God. The law-making
powers will be against God's people. Every soul will be tested. O that we would as
a people be wise for ourselves and by precept and example impart that wisdom
to our children! Every position of our faith will be searched into, and if we
are not thorough Bible students, established, strengthened, settled, the
wisdom of the world's great men will be too much for us.--Letter 12, 1886.
{2SM 386.2}
The Outlook
"Lift up your eyes, and
look
on the fields; for they are
white already to harvest."
God's Purpose in the Church
It is God's purpose to manifest through His people the principles of
His kingdom. That in life and character they may reveal these principles, He
desires to separate them from the customs, habits, and practices of the
world. He seeks to bring them near to Himself, that He may make known to them
His will. {6T 9.1}
This was His purpose in the deliverance of Israel
from Egypt.
At the burning bush Moses received from God the message for the king of Egypt:
"Let My people go, that they may serve Me." Exodus 7:16. With a
mighty hand and an outstretched arm God brought out the Hebrew host from the
land of bondage. Wonderful was the deliverance He wrought for them, punishing
their enemies, who refused to listen to His word, with total destruction. {6T
9.2}
God desired to take His people apart from the world and prepare them to
receive His word. From Egypt He led them to Mount Sinai,
where He revealed to them His glory. Here was nothing to attract their senses
or divert their minds from God; and as the vast multitude looked at the lofty
mountains towering above them, they could realize their own nothingness in
the sight of God. Beside these rocks, immovable except by the power of the
divine will, God communicated with men. And that His word might ever be clear
and distinct in their minds, He proclaimed amid thunder and lightning and
with terrible majesty the law which He had given in Eden and which was the transcript of His character.
And the words were written on tables of stone by the finger of God. Thus the
will of the infinite God was revealed to a people who were called to make
known to every nation, kindred, and tongue the principles of His government
in heaven and in earth. {6T 9.3}
To the same work He has called His people in this generation. To them
He has revealed His will, and of them He requires obedience. In the last days
of this earth's history the voice that spoke from Sinai is still saying to
men: "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." Exodus 20:3. Man
has set his will against the will of God, but he cannot silence this word of
command. The human mind can never fully comprehend its obligation to the
higher power, but it cannot evade the obligation. Profound theories and
speculations may abound, men may try to set science in opposition to
revelation, and thus do away with the law of God; but stronger and still
stronger will the Holy Spirit bring before them the command: "Thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." Matthew 4:10.
{6T 10.1}
How is the world treating the law of God? Everywhere men are working
against the divine precepts. In their desire to evade the cross bearing
attendant on obedience, even the churches are taking sides with the great
apostate in claiming that the law of God has been changed or abrogated. Men
in their blindness boast of wonderful progress and enlightenment; but the
heavenly watchers see the earth filled with corruption and violence. Because
of sin the atmosphere of our world has become as the atmosphere of a
pesthouse. {6T 10.2}
A great work is to be
accomplished in setting before men the saving truths of the gospel. This is
the means ordained by God to stem the tide of moral corruption. This is His
means of restoring His moral image in man. It is His remedy for universal
disorganization. It is the power that draws men together in unity. To present
these truths is the work of the third angel's message. The Lord designs that
the presentation of this message shall be the highest, greatest work carried
on in the world at this time. {6T 11.1}
Satan is constantly urging
men to accept his principles. Thus he seeks to counterwork the work of God.
He is constantly representing the chosen people of God as a deluded people.
He is an accuser of the brethren, and his accusing power he is constantly
using against those who work righteousness. The Lord desires through His people
to answer Satan's charges by showing the result of obedience to right
principles. {6T 11.2}
All the light of the past,
all the light which shines in the present and reaches forth into the future,
as revealed in the word of God, is for every soul who will receive it. The
glory of this light, which is the very glory of the character of Christ, is
to be manifested in the individual Christian, in the family, in the church,
in the ministry of the word, and in every institution established by God's people.
All these the Lord designs shall be symbols of what can be done for the
world. They are to be types of the saving power of the truths of the gospel.
They are agencies in the fulfillment of God's great purpose for the human
race. {6T 11.3}
God's people are to be
channels for the outworking of the highest influence in the universe. In
Zechariah's vision the two olive trees which stand before God are represented
as emptying the golden oil out of themselves through golden tubes into the
bowl of the sanctuary. From this the lamps of the sanctuary are fed, that
they may give a continuous bright and shining light. So from the anointed
ones that stand in God's presence the fullness of divine light and love and
power is imparted to His people, that they may impart to others light and joy
and refreshing. They are to become channels through which divine
instrumentalities communicate to the world the tide of God's love. {6T 11.4}
The purpose which God seeks
to accomplish through His people today is the same that He desired to
accomplish through Israel
when He brought them forth out of Egypt. By beholding the goodness,
the mercy, the justice, and the love of God revealed in the church, the world
is to have a representation of His character. And when the law of God is thus
exemplified in the life, even the world will recognize the superiority of
those who love and fear and serve God above every other people on the earth.
The Lord has His eye upon every one of His people; He has His plans
concerning each. It is His purpose that those who practice His holy precepts
shall be a distinguished people. To the people of God today as well as to
ancient Israel belong the words written by Moses through the Spirit of
Inspiration: "Thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord
thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself, above all
people that are upon the face of the earth." Deuteronomy
7:6."Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord
my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to
possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your
understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes,
and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For
what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord
our God is in all things that we call upon Him for? And what nation is there
so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law,
which I set before you this day?" Deuteronomy 4:5-8. {6T 12.1}
Even these words fail of
expressing the greatness and the glory of God's purpose to be accomplished
through His people. Not to this world only but to the universe are we to make
manifest the principles of His kingdom. The apostle Paul, writing by the Holy
Spirit, says: "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is
this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the
mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who
created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the
principalities and powers in heavenly places might be [made] known by the
church the manifold wisdom of God." Ephesians 3:8-10. {6T 13.1}
Brethren, "we are made
a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men." "What
manner of person sought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
looking for and hasting the coming of the day of God?" 1 Corinthians
4:9; 2 Peter 3:11, 12, margin. {6T 13.2}
In order to manifest the character of God,
in order that we may not deceive ourselves, the church, and the world by a
counterfeit Christianity, we must become personally acquainted with God. If
we have fellowship with God, we are His ministers, though we may never preach
to a congregation. We are workers together with God in presenting the
perfection of His character in humanity. (14) {6T 13.3}
The Work for This Time
We are standing upon the
threshold of great and solemn events. Prophecies are fulfilling. Strange,
eventful history is being recorded in the books of heaven. Everything in our
world is in agitation. There are wars and rumors of wars. The nations are
angry, and the time of the dead has come, that they should be judged. Events
are changing to bring about the day of God, which hasteth greatly. Only a
moment of time, as it were, yet remains. But while already nation is rising
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, there is not now a general
engagement. As yet the four winds are held until the servants of God shall be
sealed in their foreheads. Then the powers of earth will marshal their forces
for the last great battle. {6T 14.1}
Satan is busily laying his
plans for the last mighty conflict, when all will take sides. After the
gospel has been proclaimed in the world for nearly two thousand years, Satan
still presents to men and women the same scene that he presented to Christ.
In a wonderful manner he causes the kingdoms of the world in their glory to
pass before them. These he promises to all who will fall down and worship
him. Thus he seeks to bring men under his dominion. {6T 14.2}
Satan is working to the
utmost to make himself as God and to destroy all who oppose his power. And
today the world is bowing before him. His power is received as the power of
God. The prophecy of the Revelation is being fulfilled, that "all the
world wondered after the beast." Revelation 13:3. {6T 14.3}
Men in their blindness boast
of wonderful progress and enlightenment; but to the eye of Omniscience are revealed
the inward guilt and depravity. The heavenly watchers see the earth filled
with violence and crime. Wealth is obtained by every species of robbery, not
robbery of men only, but of God. Men are using His means to gratify their
selfishness. Everything they can grasp is made to minister to their greed.
Avarice and sensuality prevail. Men cherish the attributes of the first great
deceiver. They have accepted him as God, and have become imbued with his
spirit. {6T 14.4}
But the cloud of judicial
wrath hangs over them, containing the elements that destroyed Sodom. In his visions
of things to come the prophet John beheld this scene. This demon worship was
revealed to him, and it seemed to him as if the whole world were standing on
the brink of perdition. But as he looked with intense interest he beheld the
company of God's commandment-keeping people. They had upon their foreheads
the seal of the living God, and he said: "Here is the patience of the
saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of
Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the
dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they
may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them. And I looked, and
behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud One sat like unto the Son of man,
having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And
another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that
sat on the cloud, Thrust in Thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for
Thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And He that sat on the
cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. And
another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a
sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over
fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying,
Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth;
for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the
earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great
winepress of the wrath of God." Revelation 14:12-19. {6T 15.1}
When the storm of God's
wrath breaks upon the world, it will be a terrible revelation for souls to
find that their house is being swept away because it is built upon the sand.
Let the warning be given them before it is too late. We should now feel the
responsibility of laboring with intense earnestness to impart to others the
truths that God has given for this time. We cannot be too much in earnest.
{6T 16.1}
The heart of God is moved.
Souls are very precious in His sight. It was for this world that Christ wept
in agony; for this world He was crucified. God gave His only-begotten Son to
save sinners, and He desires us to love others as He has loved us. He desires
to see those who have a knowledge of the truth imparting this knowledge to
their fellow men. {6T 16.2}
Now is the time for the last
warning to be given. There is a special power in the presentation of the
truth at the present time; but how long will it continue? Only a little
while. If there was ever a crisis, it is now. {6T 16.3}
All are now deciding their
eternal destiny. Men need to be aroused to realize the solemnity of the time,
the nearness of the day when human probation shall be ended. Decided efforts
should be made to bring the message for this time prominently before the
people. The third angel is to go forth with great power. Let none ignore this
work or treat it as of little importance.
The light we have received upon the third
angel's message is the true light. The mark of the beast is exactly what it
has been proclaimed to be. Not all in regard to this matter is yet
understood, nor will it be understood until the unrolling of the scroll; but
a most solemn work is to be accomplished in our world. The Lord's command to
His servants is: "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a
trumpet, and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their
sins." Isaiah 58:1. {6T 17.1}
There is to be no change in
the general features of our work. It is to stand as clear and distinct as
prophecy has made it. We are to enter into no confederacy with the world,
supposing that by so doing we could accomplish more. If any stand in the way,
to hinder the advancement of the work in the lines that God has appointed,
they will displease God. No line of truth that has made the Seventh-day
Adventist people what they are is to be weakened. We have the old landmarks
of truth, experience, and duty, and we are to stand firmly in defense of our
principles, in full view of the world. {6T 17.2}
It is essential that men be
raised up to open the living oracles of God to all peoples. Men of all ranks
and capacities, with their various gifts, are to co-operate harmoniously for
a common result. They are to unite in the work of bringing the truth to the
people, each worker fulfilling his own special appointment. {6T 17.3}
The three angels of Revelation
14 are represented as flying in the midst of heaven, symbolizing the work of
those who proclaim the first, second, and third angels' messages. All are
linked together. The evidences of the abiding, ever living truth of these
grand messages, that mean so much to the church, that have awakened such intense
opposition from the religious world, are not extinct. Satan is constantly
seeking to cast a shadow about these messages, so that the people of God
shall not clearly discern their import, their time and place; but they live
and are to exert their power upon our religious experience while time shall
last. {6T 17.4}
The influence of these
messages has been deepening and widening, setting in motion the springs of
action in thousands of hearts, bringing into existence institutions of
learning, publishing houses, and health institutions. All these are
instrumentalities of God to co-operate in the grand work represented by the
first, second, and third angels, the work of warning the inhabitants of the
world that Christ is coming the second time with power and great glory. {6T
18.1}
Brethren and sisters, would
that I might say something to awaken you to the importance of this time, the
significance of the events that are now taking place. I point you to the
aggressive movements now being made for the restriction of religious liberty.
God's sanctified memorial has been torn down, and in its place a false
sabbath, bearing no sanctity, stands before the world. And while the powers
of darkness are stirring up the elements from beneath, the Lord God of heaven
is sending power from above to meet the emergency by arousing His living
agencies to exalt the law of heaven. Now, just now, is our time to work in
foreign countries. As America,
the land of religious liberty, shall unite with the papacy in forcing the
conscience and compelling men to honor the false sabbath, the people of every
country on the globe will be led to follow her example. Our people are not
half awake to do all in their power, with the facilities within their reach,
to extend the message of warning. {6T 18.2}
The Lord God of heaven will
not send upon the world His judgments for disobedience and transgression
until He has sent His watchmen to give the warning. He will not close up the
period of probation until the message shall be more distinctly proclaimed.
The law of God is to be magnified; its claims must be presented in their
true, sacred character, that the people may be brought to decide for or
against the truth. Yet the work will be cut short in righteousness. The
message of Christ's righteousness is to sound from one end of the earth to
the other to prepare the way of the Lord. This is the glory of God, which
closes the work of the third angel. {6T 19.1}
There is no work in our
world so great, so sacred, and so glorious, no work that God honors so much,
as this gospel work. The message presented at this time is the last message
of mercy for a fallen world. Those who have the privilege of hearing this
message, and who persist in refusing to heed the warning, cast away their
last hope of salvation. There will be no second probation. {6T 19.2}
The word of truth, "It
is written," is the gospel we are to preach. No flaming sword is placed
before this tree of life. All who will may partake of it. There is no power
that can prohibit any soul from taking of its fruit. All may eat, and live
forever. {6T 19.3}
Mysteries into which angels
desire to look, which prophets and kings and righteous men desired to
understand, the remnant church will carry in messages from God to the world.
The prophets prophesied of these things, and they longed to understand that
which they foretold; but to them this privilege was not given. They longed to
see what we see, and to hear what we hear; but they could not. They will know
all when Christ shall come the second time; when, surrounded by a multitude
which no man can number, He explains the deliverance wrought out by the great
sacrifice He made. {6T 19.4}
The truths of the third
angel's message have been presented by some as a dry theory; but in this
message is to be presented Christ the Living One. He is to be revealed as the
first and the last, as the I AM, the Root and the Offspring of David, and the
bright and morning Star. Through this message the character of God in Christ
is to be manifested to the world. The call is to be sounded: "O
Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift
it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold,
the Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him:
behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He shall feed His
flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them
in His bosom." Isaiah 40:9-11. {6T 20.1}
Now, with John the Baptist,
we are to point men to Jesus, saying: "Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29. Now as never before is to
be sounded the invitation: "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and
drink." "The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that
heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let
him take the water of life freely." John 7:37; Revelation 22:17. {6T
20.2}
There is a great work to be
done, and every effort possible must be made to reveal Christ as the
sin-pardoning Saviour, Christ as the Sin Bearer, Christ as the bright and morning
Star; and the Lord will give us favor before the world until our work is
done. {6T 20.3}
While the angels hold the
four winds, we are to work with all our capabilities. We must bear our message
without any delay. We must give evidence to the heavenly universe, and to men
in this degenerate age, that our religion is a faith and a power of which
Christ is the Author and His word the divine oracle. Human souls are hanging
in the balance. They will either be subjects for the kingdom of God
or slaves to the despotism of Satan. All are to have the privilege of laying
hold of the hope set before them in the gospel, and how can they hear without
a preacher? The human family is in need of a moral renovation, a preparation
of character, that they may stand in God's presence. There are souls ready to
perish because of the theoretical errors which are prevailing, and which are
calculated to counterwork the gospel message. Who will now fully consecrate
themselves to become laborers together with God? {6T 21.1}
As you see the peril and
misery of the world under the working of Satan, do not exhaust your God-given
energies in idle lamentations, but go to work for yourselves and for others.
Awake, and feel a burden for those who are perishing. If they are not won to
Christ they will lose an eternity of bliss. Think of what it is possible for
them to gain. The soul that God has created and Christ has redeemed is of
great value because of the possibilities before it, the spiritual advantages
that have been granted it, the capabilities it may possess if vitalized by
the word of God, and the immortality which through the Life-giver it may
obtain if obedient. One soul is of more value to heaven than a whole world of
property, houses, lands, money. For the conversion of one soul we should tax
our resources to the utmost. One soul won to Christ will flash heaven's light
all around him, penetrating the moral darkness and saving other souls. {6T
21.2}
If Christ left the ninety
and nine, that He might seek and save the one lost sheep, can we be justified
in doing less? Is not a neglect to work even as Christ worked, to sacrifice
as He sacrificed, a betrayal of sacred trusts, an insult to God? {6T 22.1}
Sound an alarm throughout
the length and breadth of the earth. Tell the people that the day of the Lord
is near and hasteth greatly. Let none be left unwarned. We might have been in
the place of the poor souls that are in error. We might have been placed
among barbarians. According to the truth we have received above others, we
are debtors to impart the same to them. {6T 22.2}
We have no time to lose. The
end is near. The passage from place to place to spread the truth will soon be
hedged with dangers on the right hand and on the left. Everything will be
placed to obstruct the way of the Lord's messengers, so that they will not be
able to do that which it is possible for them to do now. We must look our
work fairly in the face and advance as fast as possible in aggressive
warfare. From the light given me of God I know that the powers of darkness
are working with intense energy from beneath, and with stealthy tread Satan
is advancing to take those who are now asleep, as a wolf taking his prey. We
have warnings now which we may give, a work now which we may do; but soon it
will be more difficult than we can imagine. God help us to keep in the
channel of light, to work with our eyes fastened on Jesus our Leader, and
patiently, perseveringly press on to gain the victory.
"'They that forsake the law praise the wicked.' Proverbs
28:4. When those who are uniting with the world, yet claiming great purity,
plead for union with those who have ever been the opposers of the cause of
truth, we should fear and shun them as decidedly as did Nehemiah. Such
counsel is prompted by the enemy of all good. It is the speech of
timeservers, and should be resisted as resolutely today as then. Whatever
influence would tend to unsettle the faith of God' people in His guiding
power, should be steadfastly withstood." E.G. White, Prophets and kings,
p. 660.
SDA leaders are praising the wicked when they speak of how
rejoicing they are that they are now linked with Babylon’s Councils, Associations, Girdings
and Confederacies. It is the same as
uniting with the world, for Ellen White said that it is IMPOSSIBLE to
distinguish the fallen churches from the world, EW, 273.
God bless all who will heed His Council,
Ron
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