(Read the full Sermon here)
1 Peter 5:8, 9: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
Patriarchs and Prophets, pages 503, 504: “Satan is ever at work endeavoring to pervert what God has spoken, to blind the mind and darken the understanding, and thus lead men into sin. This is why the Lord is so explicit, making His requirements so very plain that none need err. God is constantly seeking to draw men close under His protection, that Satan may not practice his cruel, deceptive power upon them.”
As Seventh-day Adventists at this 2014 Annual Council, we affirm without hesitation that God has given us a special mission for these closing hours of Earth’s history, and the devil is furious.
We see this vividly portrayed in the book of Revelation. Chapter 10 foretells the experience of our Advent pioneers as they looked forward to Christ’s return. After the disappointment, an experience described as “bitter in the stomach,” their attention was turned to Christ’s work in the heavenly sanctuary and the divine mandate to “prophecy again to many people, nations, tongues, and kings.”
This prophetic movement, described in Revelation 12:17 as God’s remnant people who “keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus,” is constituted in only one body of faith today: the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Thus it is no surprise to see Satan warring against us with unbridled fury.
Chapter 13 outlines Satan’s twofold war plan to destroy God’s last-day people: 1. an ideological war of lies and errors challenging the truth; and 2. firefights — outright persecution culminating in a death decree against all who defy his presumed authority.
Yet, God’s people are not merely victims of Satan’s assaults. Revelation 14 reveals the Lord’s counteroffensive — His remnant people demonstrating His character and proclaiming His final appeal to the world. The three angels’ messages.
The powerful truth of these unique messages would break completely the deceptions of Satan if proclaimed as God intends. The message of the first angel gives the gospel to the world, announces that we are living in the time of the pre-advent investigative judgment, and calls on every nation, tribe, tongue and people to honor God as their Creator by keeping holy His seventh-day Sabbath. The second angel heralds Babylon’s fall. While finally the third angel warns us — in language too plain to misunderstand — not to worship the beast, the image of the beast, or receive the mark of his rebellion, which is a sign of disloyalty to God’s Word.
It is little wonder then that Satan is doing everything he can to attack the Seventh-day Adventist movement in an attempt to neutralize our influence in the territory he claims as his own. As we pray for the converting power of the Holy Spirit and for a revival and reformation of genuine godliness, the devil opposes every of us every step of the way.
In The Great Controversy, page 396, we are told, “The prince of evil contests every inch of ground over which God’s people advance in their journey toward the heavenly city. In all the history of the church no reformation has been carried forward without encountering serious obstacles.”
Though large-scale persecution will certainly come, currently Satan is trying to work from the inside to weaken the church through dissension, discord, and conformity to the world.
Testimonies Vol. 3, page 434, tells us that “Satan is ever seeking to divide the faith and hearts of God’s people. He well knows that union is their strength, and division their weakness. It is important and essential that all of Christ’s followers understand Satan’s devices and with a united front meet his attacks and vanquish him. They need to make continual efforts to press together even if it be at some sacrifice to themselves.”
Satan also tries to neutralize our efforts by secular diversions such as competitive sports, the Internet, social media, television, entertainment and so many other distracting activities. He seeks to absorb people in financial deals and materialistic matters. He uses poor health habits and lack of respect for God’s natural laws to enfeeble the mind and benumb the senses. He uses skepticism about the veracity of the scriptural record of the origin of life and early history. He tries to bring in controversy and discord over Bible doctrine to sidetrack our evangelistic witness by getting us to distrust and fight each other.
He urges people to move independently from the main body of the church. (Manuscript Release 20, page 369). But the Spirit of Prophecy compares the church to a victorious army that should move together in unison. Manuscript 37, 1886, reminds us that “None must act independently of the center” and independent action “will do harm and bring in a disorderly state of things.”
We are even warned that at the end of time Satan will inspire individuals who will preach that reformation within the church consists in giving up our unique doctrines in order to make it easier for others to join us.
But listen to what The Great Controversy, page 509, says: “Conformity to worldly customs converts the church to the world; it never converts the world to Christ. Familiarity with sin will inevitably cause it to appear less repulsive. He who chooses to associate with the servants of Satan will soon cease to fear their master.”
Brothers and sisters, our only hope is an abiding faith in the Word of God, trust in inspired counsel, fervent prayer, and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Without these heavenly compass points, we would most certainly fall to Satan’s misdirection.
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Ecumenism and Charismatic Music
Pray for those in God’s remnant church whose distinct witness is being neutralized by ecumenical activity.This is my counsel, it’s not an order: Stay away from any ecumenical associations and events that undermine the truth revealed in Revelation 13. We are to be leaders in public affairs and religious liberty. We are to make friends with people and organizations but avoid ecumenical entanglements purporting to bring unity. Real unity will only be realized when Christ returns to take us home.
We can see right before our eyes that the prophetic chapter of Revelation 13 is being fulfilled as Rome takes ever-greater opportunities to influence the world. Leaders in God’s church, encourage your pastors to avoid inviting clergy of other faiths to preach to our churches on Sabbaths. While it is important to be friendly to those in other churches including clergy and provide opportunities for spiritual growth, we must not ask those who do not know God’s full truth to preach sermons from our pulpits. Don’t succumb to the temptation to be so cozy with other religious organizations that you fall into the devil’s trap of neutralizing your own effectiveness through unbiblical ecumenical bonds.
Jesus said in Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” This is happening, now.
We are also told that society will become like Sodom and Gomorrah just before Jesus’ return. This is happening now, as well. We are seeing the general, popular acceptance of the sins that brought down fire from heaven destroying cities.
Lying and deception of all kinds have entered every phase of our society. Predictions of financial collapse are heard on every hand. Natural and man-made disasters are seen throughout the whole world. The Great Controversy pages 587, 590, 592 and 607, tell us that disasters, moral decay, and financial woes in this very country will lead apostate ministers to rally citizens to demand the enactment of the Sunday law, and the world will follow this lead.
The devil is attempting to neutralize God’s church through a tendency to accept charismatic and Pentecostal music and worship approaches that focus on the church members and those leading out in services rather than to focus on truly worshiping God. A false understanding of worship brings us to the core of the three angels’ messages since those messages are to turn people back to the true worship of God and not a false, euphoric experience but rather a genuine spiritual connection with God through Bible study and prayer.
Just on Thursday, Pastor Mansfield Edwards, president of the Ontario Conference, was sharing with me his great burden about this subject and a book which he has written. I hope all of you will carry a burden to turn people back to the true worship of God.
In addition, spiritualism will take greater prominence. Television programs depicting the workings of departed spirits in the affairs of the living are becoming commonplace. Spiritualism has entered into the lives of average citizens in many ways and its influence is spreading in every culture around the world. No one is exempt. The Great Controversy, page 554, tells us, “Spiritualism teaches ‘that man is the creature of progression; that it is his destiny from his birth to progress, even to eternity, toward the Godhead.’”
What are children taught in public schools? Man is a creature of progression, ever evolving upwards. The Great Controversy, page 588, confirms that in the final conflict “the line of distinction between professed Christians and the ungodly is now hardly distinguishable. Church members love what the world loves and are ready to join with them, and Satan determines to unite them in one body and thus strengthen his cause by sweeping all into the ranks of spiritualism.” It is becoming clearer and clearer that our only defense against the deceptions of the enemy is to fortify our minds with the Word of God
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Devil Loses, God Wins!
Brothers and sisters, Jesus is coming soon! As we near that wonderful day of Jesus’ return, the devil’s attempts to neutralize God’s Word will be completely defeated by God’s power and His everlasting biblical message of love and truth. The devil loses; God wins! This is the ultimate message of the Great Controversy theme and it is our great privilege to allow God to use us in this last great spiritual effort to bring the truth of Jesus to every human being on the planet — to “reach the world” through God’s incredible power.If you have any doubt as to God’s overriding power and ultimate triumph in the fight against the devil, read the last three chapters of Revelation revealing God’s incredible victory. Read the last three chapters of “The Story of Redemption.” Those chapters titled, “The Coronation of Christ,” “The Second Death,” and “The New Earth” will give you incredible comfort and assurance.
Our only future hope is in our personal connection with Christ. Our hope as God’s people, your hope and my hope, is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.
Are you willing to submit today to God’s power in your life, to bring about revival and reformation, to protect you from the roaring lion and his attempts to neutralize God’s remnant movement? As a Seventh-day Adventist leader on the brink of eternity, are you willing to empty your heart of self and allow Christ His rightful place? Heaven is depending on our allegiance and submission to our crucified, risen and soon-coming Savior, Jesus Christ. “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.”
Now let me ask each of you: Are you willing to allow Christ to fully control you now and in the exciting future God has prepared for His remnant church? If so, would you stand with me as we sing that marvelous testimony in Hymn No. 522 that our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness and that when darkness seems to veil His face, I rest on His unchanging grace? What a powerful testimony to the One who has called us to submit to Him and see His final victory fulfilled in the proclamation of the three angels’ message!
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