❤️EVIDENCE OF OCCULT OPPRESSION AND SUBJECTION. Part 3 of 3. (7) Magic practices. Continued. In the neurotic person, for example, a symptom may be only the outward indication of more serious inner disturbances. An alcoholic may be suffering, not merely from a bad habit, but from a serious neurosis. Such nervous afflictions as stuttering may be relieved through hypnosis, only to be replaced by neurotic tensions which affect the entire personality. Migraine headaches relieved through hypnotherapy may be replaced by some form of psychosis. In the second place, contrary to popular opinion, there are many instances where criminal or immoral acts have been performed by a person subjected to someone else through hypnosis, which the subjected person would not have done in his conscious state of mind. When one thus surrenders his will to another individual, he then wills to do whatever the person who hypnotized him cares to suggest. He may even perform ridiculous or morally reprehensible acts, if the hypnotist uses the correct techniques of suggestion. For example, a hypnotized individual may be led to disrobe in public if told that he is in the privacy of his own bedroom. From time to time, the newspapers report cases such as the woman who plotted to murder her husband, while under hypnosis by her lover. Women have been abused, crimes committed, and other scandalous acts performed by individuals under hypnosis. To make matters worse, cheap literature on the newsstands today popularizes the subject, encouraging young people to practice hypnotism on one another, sometimes with serious mental, emotional, and psychic consequences. The danger of amateur hypnotism is that it can induce psychoneuroses or arouse deep-seated complexes, compulsions, phobias, and other permanent mental and emotional disturbances. Even professional therapists are not always able to cope with the results of hypnotherapy. How much less can a stage hypnotist or novice, who lack the knowledge of the functioning of the mind and emotions! When one thus surrenders his will to another, he becomes susceptible to hypnotic suggestion from then on. In fact, he may even become "psychically dependent" upon the other person. This danger is also encountered in telepathy, especially if these practices are carried on repeatedly. However, the greatest threat in the hypnotized state of the surrendered will is the fact that the individual is open to the invasion of evil spirits. In order to be hypnotized, he has set aside the one divinely endowed moral and spiritual safeguard against such intrusion: the free and independent exercise of his personal will. In other words, he has at that point forfeited his independent, moral right to say "yes" or "no." So-called medical or therapeutic hypnosis obviously has no more safeguards against this danger than does the amateur hypnotist. Demons have admitted through the lips of those possessed that Satan himself is the power behind the hypnotist! The moral and spiritual implications involved in hypnotism of any sort should be obvious to any concerned person. (8.) Spiritism and mediumistic powers. In addition to the extrasensory powers of clairvoyance, telepathy, divination, psychometry, and so forth, certain other paranormal or psychic abilities can result from occult subjection. These include self-induced trance states; spirit writing; levitation (the lifting or floating of objects) and table-tipping; astral projection (projection of the spirit or psyche out of the body to another place); spirit knockings or rappings; telekinesis (objects are caused to move mysteriously about the room; musical instruments play as by unseen hands); apports (articles made to appear in locked rooms); materializations (the power to materialize the alleged spirit of the dead, as well as other objects, into visible form); parakinesis (PK, or the ability to control objects by the power of the mind and will); and many other forms of psychic phenomena. Many of these occult and psychic powers are found, not only in those who are practicing mediums, but also in those who have had occult associations. Involvement in occultism often results in such total subjection to these powers that the individual is almost, if not entirely, dependent upon fortune tellers for information and advice; astrologers for guidance in the daily affairs of business and life; magical practices for healing, controlling the forces of nature, or influencing others; and so on, until the victim is hopelessly entangled in a labyrinth of evil influences and control. 2. Occult Oppression. The foregoing forms of psychic powers and extrasensory abilities, which result from occult involvement, are indicative of occult "subjection"; that is, such persons have been brought into subjection to the powers of darkness (although they do not always recognize their source). As a result of having opened themselves to these demonic forces, they have become "psychically" subjected. However, occult participation does not always result in such sensitivity; often only a form of "oppression" occurs. In any event, oppression in some form will be the final outcome; but those who have become "psychic" or clairvoyant will usually suffer the most. At this point we shall note the most significant forms of psychic oppression which result from occult involvement. (1) Poltergeist activity. Poltergeist (German for "noisy ghost") activity is not uncommon, and has been observed by many reliable witnesses. These are malicious works perpetrated by demonic spirits to terrify victims as a consequence of occult involvement. This form of oppression involves psychic attacks in the form of bizarre occurrences. The individual sees objects floating about the room. Sometimes they fall to the floor with a loud crash, as though thrown by some unseen power. Mysterious fires break out in his home. He hears strange noises, rappings, knockings, and often rattling chains, moaning, weeping or crying. Disembodied spirit voices speak threats and obscenities. Articles suddenly appear or disappear in closed and locked rooms. Furniture moves about the room. Unseen hands begin to play the piano in the middle of the night. The bed suddenly rises off the floor and the covers are unceremoniously yanked off the victim. Doors mysteriously open and slam shut. The doorbell begins to ring incessantly, but upon investigation, the frightful confusion ends as suddenly as it began. Light bulbs burst. Rocks, dirt, broken glass and other rubble pour down through the ceiling leaving no trace of how they entered, for the ceiling remains undisturbed. All the lights in the house suddenly flash on and off. Phantom footsteps are heard on the stairs, or strange noises, such as a trunk sliding across the floor, are heard in the attic. Stones and china are sometimes thrown about with abandon, or the furniture is upset. Personal objects disappear or are hidden from the owner, and it is not uncommon for violent and vicious attacks to be made upon the victim himself. Incredible as it may seem, few people seem to realize the relationship between this form of oppression and the occult involvement of the victim. As a result, even Christians have been unable to cope properly with it in their attempts to liberate the oppressed. Unless one deals with this oppression from an occult standpoint, there can be no assurance of deliverance and liberation from these psychic or poltergeist attacks. Poltergeist activities are sometimes confined to the particular residence or area in which they occur, often as a result of seances, Spiritualist meetings, or some other form of occult activity having been conducted there at some time. Nevertheless, it is the present or past occult involvement of the individual, or within his family, that makes him personally susceptible to these attacks. A certain pastor seen further evidence for this from their counseling experience in that, before liberation, one oppressed individual continued to suffer even after moving to other places of residence. (2) Apparitions, specters, monstrous phantasms. Appearances of ghostly figures, specters, and demonic creatures, such as headless figures, weird animals, or other hideous creatures (often dismissed as hallucinations), are frequently experienced by those who have had some kind of occult connection. One oppressed victim was almost driven insane when, upon smelling fire and brimstone in the room, turned and saw a filthy, slimy demonic creature. Another was confronted by a headless body. Another encountered a faceless specter upon opening the door. Such things as dwarfs; dark, ugly, leering faces; disembodied hands; serpents; and other fearsome phantasms are sometimes seen. The voice or apparition of a friend or relative of the oppressed individual may appear as a portent, warning of an impending accident or serious illness, or the death of the friend or relative, often at the moment of the tragedy or shortly thereafter. Others under occult oppression may sense the presence of an invisible intelligence or some oppressive, dark creature or power, which lurks about the room, or even follows its victim about. At times, malevolent spirits may actually attack an oppressed individual, choking, biting, throttling, or otherwise molesting the victim. Psychic attacks in the form of persistent nightmares are also common. (3) Incubi and succubi experiences. This is an attempted assault upon a human by an unclean spirit or demon of lust for the purpose of gratifying its sexual appetites. Women and men alike are known to have suffered such attempts at sexual molestation, as well as actual attacks. Both history and a certain pastor’s counseling experience confirm the reality of such experiences. II Peter 2:4, and Jude 6-7, taken literally, provide adequate Scriptural basis for the reality of such bizarre occurrences. C. Spiritual Subjection and Oppression. Occult involvement invariably affects one spiritually, frequently causing serious damage to one's spiritual life and faith. The spiritual effects and influence of the powers of darkness are readily apparent in the symptoms which follow, not all of which would necessarily be found in any one individual, nor to the same degree. Often there is progressive spiritual deterioration, and disintegration in the area of faith, unless deliverance is effected. Evil influences continue their destructive work even in the lives of Christians. This is true even if the occult participation was insignificant; regardless of how far in the past it took place; and even if it took place before the individual became a Christian. 1. Indifference to spiritual things. Spiritual deterioration is seen in a noticeable indifference to the Word of God, prayer, worship, and spiritual matters in general. Often this happens against the individual's own will, and he has little success in overcoming this state, though he may try repeatedly to reverse his increasing spiritual apathy. 2. Serious problems concerning doubt and unbelief. Extreme and persistent doubts concerning the teachings of Scripture, especially the supernatural, or difficulty in exercising faith, are clear evidence of spiritual deterioration as a result of occult associations. Often these individuals seem to be powerless to resist the temptation to doubt, waver, question, and distrust God, His promises, and His ministers. At times they feel almost overwhelmed by skepticism, suspicion, incredulity, disbelief, indecision, and other misgivings. 3. Religious aberrations. Religious delusions, heresies, and errors, ranging from agnosticism to affirming the doctrines of Spiritualism, Modernism, New Age religion, or other religious cults, indicate occult subjection. Other aberrations include pious self-righteousness, spiritual pride, and hypocrisy. Many religious extremes, such as abnormal aversion to certain foods (which the individual is well prepared to justify on personal, religious, or medical grounds), serious deviations from Scripture in doctrine or practice, asceticism, and extreme antagonism toward other religious bodies or Christian groups, are also found. 4. Inability to receive the Holy Spirit. Frequently, those with occult associations find a spiritual barrier when they wish to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, although some have earnestly desired and sought the experience for years. Liberation from occult powers, which act as hindrances, is the only solution we have found. Resistance. A very significant indication of the spiritual effect upon some who have had occult involvement is their resistance to the teaching concerning the reality of occult subjection and oppression, and their indifference to the dangers involved. This is one of the characteristic marks of occult delusion and enslavement in some who have been guilty of occult sins. Their hostile reaction is often the work of a spirit of pride which prevents them from admitting their gullibility, sin, and delusion. It may be motivated by their reluctance to sever occult connections. The powers of darkness struggle against being discovered and removed from their position of influence and control. The very resistance itself, in view of the plain teachings of Scripture condemning these practices, is evidence enough of occult subjection in such individuals. This resistance is often expressed as unwillingness on the part of the oppressed individual to accept the fact that a Christian can be oppressed by Satan-even though this individual is usually suffering such oppression at the time! Of course, he blames his problems, for which he is seeking help, on some other source or on causes unknown. Experience has shown that, unless the oppressed or subjected person recognizes and admits the source of resistance to the fact of occult oppression and subjection, and unless he personally resists in faith the powers of darkness at this point, deliverance from this condition is impossible. 6. Occult bondage and opposition to God. Where spiritual damage is severe, the person may be in such a state of bondage to the powers of darkness that severe forms of occult subjection are observed: . Inability to believe on or confess Christ, even where there is a desire to believe; . Difficulty in praying or reading the Word of God, often accompanied by extreme drowsiness or an inability to concentrate; .Too easily being distracted during the preaching or teaching of the Scriptures, or difficulty understanding them; . Inability to acknowledge the fact of the efficacy of the blood Atonement, or the Deity of Christ; . Unclean thoughts and sexual images entering the mind when trying to enter into a time of private devotions or prayer; . Dependence upon, or enslavement to, various forms of occultism. . Opposition to God, as seen in the following characteristics, is unmistakable evidence of demon possession: . Blasphemous thoughts against God, Christ, and the Trinity; . Opposition to the work of the Holy Spirit; Aversion to all references to the blood of Christ or His Deity; . Scorn, mockery, and ridicule toward the Bible, preaching, believers, Christianity, or divine and holy things in general. Such persons often manifest violent raging, cursing, and blasphemous opposition against all attempts at deliverance-even when this liberation is being sought by the subjected individual himself! Usually, however, their bondage to occultism is greater than their will power or desire for deliverance from such enslavement. D. Physical Oppression. Certain physical symptoms indicate the presence and activity of demonic powers. These are related to outward behavior, bodily appearance, and to the physical condition. Of course, the mere presence of just one of these symptoms is not conclusive proof of demonic oppression and activity, but could be the result of some other cause. Inexperienced individuals need to be warned against the temptation to evaluate the spiritual state of others on the basis of these symptoms alone. 1. Speech and behavioral abnormalities. The oppressed individual will frequently manifest one or more of the following symptoms, and usually in a noticeably abnormal manner: excessive talkativeness; unusual loudness of tone and voice; hysterical laughter; persistent restlessness and uneasiness; silliness; giddiness; unusually foolish talk and behavior; incongruity of actions; muttering to oneself; incoherence in speech and thought; compulsive shouting or screaming when provoked; the absence of certain normal reflexes, or the exaggeration of others; peculiar postures (e.g ., unrelaxed, abnormally rigid and ramrod straight; or exactly the opposite state of lethargic, sluggish droopiness); deep sighing, denoting despondency or feelings of self pity; shunning or withdrawal from public scrutiny; odd, annoyingly repetitious eccentricities of speech. In actual cases of demon possession, especially when the evil spirits in the individual feel threatened with exposure or expulsion, or when they find themselves in the presence of the power of the blood and the Name of Jesus, more violent physical manifestations are often seen, such as: foaming at the mouth; retching; screaming; cursing, blasphemy; raging against Christianity; physical resistance; threatened or attempted violence; and at times, convulsions, with pains and cramps, or a state of catalepsy. Often at such times spirits will speak through the possessed victim. An intelligence is manifested that does not belong to the individual himself. Sometimes a possessed individual can understand or speak a foreign language which he has not studied (not to be confused with Biblical tongues, since in demon possession it is the demon, who knows the language, speaking through the person). Frequently, there is knowledge of hidden facts, a prognostication of future events, a display of physical feats of supernormal strength, or other supernatural phenomena. 2. Abnormal facial characteristics. The face of an oppressed individual is often contorted by fear, chronic doubts, incredulity, or anxiety; his countenance maybe strained, uneasy, or tormented. Such individuals seldom smile, and have no joy in their conversation or life. They commonly wear a morbid expression, and often think of suicide. Others display a defiant, wicked, scowling, perverse, dark or sullen appearance. At times the complexion is also affected, being dark and somber, or pallid and corpse-like. Other extremes of facial expression are a stereotyped, frozen smile or grimace, or an impassive, stoical absence of expression. Some have abnormally bright and protruding eyes; others, a glazed, trance-like, or hunted, animal-like stare. In others there is a wicked, defiant glare, or a demonic leering in the eyes. 3. Abnormal physical ailments. Chronic, persistent physical ailments, diseases, or pains that do not respond to prayer or treatment of any kind, but which seem to linger on and on, may indicate occult oppression. Mere prayer for healing is insufficient, since one must deal with the occult cause of the affliction, not just the physical effect. In these cases, deliverance from occult bondage is a crucial step in receiving liberation. E. Material, Domestic, and Social Forms of Oppression. Most people are unaware of the far-reaching effects of occult participation. Occult associations can also result in oppression which affects the lives of others. It may, for example, produce serious marital problems, often culminating in divorce. One person traced the beginning of marital strife and incompatibility to the day following a visit to a seance. Discord between parents and children; disputes with neighbors; friction and strife between business associates or others; and church divisions and irreconcilable schisms can result. This form of oppression is the operation of divisive and factious spirits whose primary objective is to work in the affairs of men to divide, disrupt, confuse, deceive, distract, disturb, perplex, and disorganize. Their sole aim is in every way to destroy unity, harmony, and peace; to cause as much affliction, sorrow, agony, anguish, grief, misery, misfortune, privation, distrust, suspicion, doubt, anxiety, and confusion as possible in the daily circumstances of life. Persistent financial distress, material loss, and subjection to poverty, need, scarcity, and other material privations, can also result from occult involvement. Deliverance from all forms of oppression and subjection resulting from occult involvement can come only in one way, and it is to this that we now turn to in our next studies. Edited. Shared. To be Continued. ❤️ God willing, more will be posted soon. All glory to Jesus alone.

❤️DEMONISM IN THE LIGHT OF SCRIPTURE. Part 1 of 2. Having established the widespread influence and effects of the occult in the world today, we now want to show the Scriptural evidence concerning the evil power behind the occult. After establishing this on Scriptural grounds, our next study will deal with the basic strategy of Satan, the arch deceiver. We will show how the first step in his scheme to gain control of the minds and lives of men and women everywhere is to ensnare them somewhere in his demonic web of occultism. The Bible clearly reveals the existence of an unseen kingdom of darkness. It consists of a complex hierarchy of evil forces, together with an invisible host of malevolent spirits, all actively engaged in an insidious plot to deceive, control, oppress, and eventually destroy the human race. The reality of the existence of these demonic powers is clearly affirmed by the Old Testament itself, as seen in the stringent legislation against any traffic in the occult by the Israelites. Such involvement was punishable by death (Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 20:27). The satanic confederacy and its warfare against the whole creation, beginning with the manifestation of Satan himself at the very inception of the human race (Genesis 3), can be traced throughout the Old and New Testaments. With the Advent of Christ and the establishment of the church, the conflict between the forces of righteousness and the powers of darkness for control of the created order breaks forth on a scale hitherto unknown. It is exceeded only by the present demonic flood of wickedness being unleashed against the world now at the consummation of the ages. This is precisely what the Scriptures predict (II Thessalonians 2:1-12; I Timothy 4:1-3; II Timothy 3:1-5; Matthew 24:11; cf. Ephesians 6:10-13; I John 4:1-3; II John 7-11; II Corinthians 11:13-15; Revelation 13). Apart from the testimony of the Scriptures, there is no satisfactory explanation for the present-day revival of witchcraft, spiritism, and occultism in all forms, nor the alarming increase in war, crimes, suicide, racial strife, social unrest, mental illness, disease, divorce, juvenile delinquency, sexual perversion, adultery, and revolt against law and order. The contemporary church, to a great extent, lives in a world of make-believe with regard to recognition of the extensive influence of deceiving and malevolent spirits working against the human race. It is deluded by the unscriptural idea that Satan presents no serious threat to the Christian today. The popular notion is that Satan was defeated by Christ at Calvary; therefore, his present work is largely limited to blinding the eyes of the lost to the truth of the Gospel and harassing Christians by tempting them with worldly allurements or sinful pleasures. Such a naive attitude has no basis whatever in Scripture. It is significant that the apostle Paul still calls Satan "the prince of the power of the air" and "the god of this world" after Calvary (Ephesians 2:2; II Corinthians 4:4)! The Scriptures warn believers that they should "be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith"(I Peter 5:8-9; cf. Ephesians 6:10-13). Satan's invisible hosts are engaged in a ceaseless warfare against believers in an effort to hinder, deceive, discourage, defeat, oppress, maim, and destroy. Moreover, much of the church today denies any need for the charismatic gifts (I Corinthians 12). They contend that these supernatural manifestations were merely a temporary foundation in the erection of the first century church. But in abandoning the charismatic gifts, they have surrendered the very weapons God placed in the church to cope effectively with the forces of darkness. The church was called and invested with sufficient power and authority to conduct an effective warfare against the powers of darkness. Casting out demons, binding the forces of evil, and loosing victims from the oppression and bondage of Satan are still as much the duty of the church as the proclamation of salvation in Christ. In fact, these are a vital and inseparable part of the Gospel itself which Christ commissioned His church to preach (Mark 16:15-20). Another result of this surrender of the charismatic power to heal and deliver from satanic oppression is that the pastoral ministry today is largely limited to "soul-care." Consequently, persons suffering mental, physical, or psychic disorders are referred to other professionals for medical or psychotherapeutic treatment. The typical pastor may try to cope with the effects of these insidious powers in the lives of men and women through counseling and prayer; but he often fails to deal with their cause-Satan. When the church dissected the Great Commission, separating the Word from the signs given to confirm it, it lost the power to convince the unbelieving world. Thus, after three centuries of turning the world upside down, the church began to waver and then steadily to lose ground to the powers of darkness. But in these closing days of history we are seeing a fresh enduement of power from on high, a restoration of charismatic ministry, in which the church is once again arising victorious to meet and overcome the flood of demonic wickedness sweeping across the earth. A. Existence and Reality of the Kingdom of Darkness. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. -Ephesians 6:12. The Scriptures inform us that God created not only a material or physical world but also an invisible, spiritual realm consisting of angels and other spiritual intelligences, such as cherubim (Genesis 3:24; Ezekiel 28:14-15), seraphim (Isaiah 6:1,6), living creatures (Revelation 4-5), and other unnamed hosts and ministers of God (Psalms 84:1; 103:20-21; 148:2-5). The creation and existence of an invisible, spiritual realm, as well as the visible, is shown by the apostle Paul in Colossians 1:16: "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him" (cf. Nehemiah 9:6; Psalm 148:2-5). The Invisible hosts, dwelling either in the presence of God or in heavenly regions in close proximity to the earth, are of two orders: the good and the evil. The Scriptures further divide these two orders into a hierarchy consisting of thrones, dominions, principalities, authorities, powers, world rulers, spirit-forces in the heavenlies, angels, archangels, princes, cherubim, seraphim, and other spiritual hosts. Some of the designations refer to holy angelic authority, others denote evil supernatural forces, while some may refer to either, depending on the context. Certainly, the powers of darkness and the satanic confederacy are under consideration in such passages as Romans 8:38-39, Ephesians 6:12, Matthew 12:24-26, Ephesians 1:20-21, and perhaps also in Colossians 1:16; 2:10. In Isaiah 14:13, Satan refers to the reality of his kingdom, saying, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God." Christ Himself acknowledges its existence in Matthew 12:26 saying, "If Satan cast out Satan ... how shall then his kingdom stand?" The apostle Paul speaks of him as "the prince of the power of the air" (literally, "the ruler of the authority of the air," or the regions in proximity to the earth) and as "the god of this age." When Satan offered Christ the kingdoms of this world in return for His acknowledgment of Satan as god, Jesus did not challenge his right to offer them. In fact, Christ Himself referred to Satan three times as "the ruler of this world." John designates him as the head of the present world-system (I John 5:19). He rules in world affairs and directs them from his throne in the heavenlies. Men and governments, as well as educational, social, economic, financial, political, and in some cases, religious institutions, are under Satan's power to whatever extent they yield to his influence. B. Origin of Evil: Satan and the Demonic Powers. There is no simple answer to the perplexing question of the origin of Satan and his host of demonic spirits. God is not the Author of evil, for the Scriptures show that He created all things good in the beginning (Genesis 1:31). But how could sin originate in a perfect universe, or holy angels and spirits fall in the first place into the sin of rebellion against God? In order to shed light on this mystery, we must first examine what God has revealed in His Word concerning Satan, whom the Scriptures designate as the father and source of all that is evil. 1. Satan. First of all, the Scriptures clearly show that Satan is not merely an impersonal evil "power" or "influence," the "negation of good"; but he is an intelligent, spiritual personality, ruler of a vast kingdom, and god of this world. The Scriptures contain many references showing that Satan is a personality. 1. Personal pronouns are used in reference to him (Job 1:8; 2:1-2; Matthew 12:26). 2. He possesses intelligence and cunning (Genesis 3; 2 Corinthians 2:11; Ephesians 6:11); memory (Matthew 4:6); knowledge and emotions (Revelation 12:12); will (Isaiah 14:12-15); speech faculties (Job 1-2; Matthew 4). 3. He will be punished as a moral, responsible being (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10). What do the Scriptures reveal as to the origin of Satan, the source of evil? From the fact that the Bible shows that God is the Creator of all things, both visible and, whether they be thrones, dominions, principalities or powers (Colossians 1:16; John 1:1-3), and that He created all things good (Genesis 1:31), we may conclude that the spiritual being designated Satan in the Scriptures was not originally a fallen creature. Do the Scriptures shed any light on this? We believe that they do. It is highly improbable that this archenemy of God and man, the source and cause of all the evil and misfortune in the universe, would be unceremoniously introduced into Scripture (Genesis 3) without some revelation in the Word of God as to his origin and subsequent apostasy, as well as some insight into the nature of his kingdom. There are several passages of Scripture which refer to Satan's creation, apostasy, and fall from his original exalted position in heaven. Two of these deserve special consideration, namely, Isaiah 14:1-20 and Ezekiel 28:1-19. What is the true identity of the person described in these passages? A careful study will reveal that the description in these passages cannot be limited to the historic kings of Babylon and Tyre. The language, although addressed to them, clearly goes beyond these kings and characterizes Satan himself. In the first place, the scope of Isaiah's prophecy is future, looking even beyond Israel's return from the Babylonian exile. Chapter 14:1-3 introduces the time of Israel's millennial blessings when she is restored to the land of Israel (14:1), ruling over her oppressors (14:2), and has been granted rest in her own land (14:3). The language in verse 12, which is addressed to the king of Babylon, is also used of Satan (Luke 10:18; Revelation 12:7-10), who, as the prince of this world, was the directing spiritual influence and power behind the king. Moreover, the language in verses 13-14 is inappropriate if limited to that earthly monarch. There are five "I wills" of Satan in this passage which cannot be applied to the king of Babylon. Satan boasted: "I will ascend into heaven." "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God." "I will sit upon the mount of the congregation." "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds." "I will make myself like the Most High." The language, like that in Ezekiel 28:11-19, clearly goes beyond application to the historical king, and is directed to Satan. Ezekiel 28 describes the original, unfallen state of Satan and his apostasy, whereas Isaiah 14 records his fall and ultimate destruction. Why then are these two prophecies addressed to the historical kings of Babylon and Tyre, if they describe Satan and his career? It is a characteristic of divine prophecy, and not uncommon in Scripture, for a message clearly to refer to or be directed to someone other than the individual named. Other passages where Satan is addressed indirectly through another are Genesis 3:14-15, Matthew 16:23, and John 13:27. In the Messianic psalms, while David apparently speaks of himself, he is actually describing Christ (cf. Psalms 16:10; 22, etc.). Thus, we find that the kings of Babylon and Tyre are addressed in language which, by its very nature, describes someone other than themselves, because: (1) in the characters and careers of these earthly monarchs, the wicked character and career of Satan is seen; (2) Satan fulfills himself and his evil administration in and through these earthly kings who rule over his earthly dominions (Luke 4:5-6); and (3) these rulers, like Satan, arrogated to themselves divine honor and prerogatives (Isaiah 14:13-14; Ezekiel 28:2). Next, observe the extraordinary nature of the description in Ezekiel 28:11-19, and the inappropriateness of limiting it to the historic king of Tyre: "Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty" (28:12). He was complete and perfect before God. "Thou wast in Eden, the garden of God" (v. 13). This is not the Eden of Genesis 3, but the paradise of God (v. 14, "the holy mountain of God") where he was arrayed with all imaginable splendor: "every precious stone was thy covering." "In the day that thou wast created" (v. 13). Twice his "creation" is mentioned (cf. v. 15), which is inappropriate if applied to the king of Tyre. Of the human race, only Adam is said to have been "created"; his descendants are always said to be "born." "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth" (v. 14). No satisfactory explanation of the designation "cherub" has ever been offered when applied to the king of Tyre. The cherubim in Scripture are spiritual beings who always appear in the closest relationship to God (Genesis 3:24; Exodus 25:20; I Chronicles 28:18; Psalm 18:11; Ezekiel 1:9-11). "I set thee, so that thou wast upon the holy mountain of God" (v. 14). He was appointed by God Himself to an exalted position. "Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire" (v. 14). Doubtless this signifies the divine presence of God and His glory (cf. Ezekiel 1:13. Exodus 24:10,17). "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till unrighteousness was found in thee" (v. 15). Certainly this is unsuitable and inappropriate when applied to the king of Tyre, who was not "created," never "perfect," so did not later fall into a state of unrighteousness. This is, however, an accurate description of the career of Satan. Compare Colossians 1:16 with Ephesians 6:12, and John 1:3 with John 8:44, which suggest the fall of Satan from an original state of righteousness. Satan, we are told, "abode not in the truth." "Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness" (v. 17). The Scriptures always designate pride as the cause for Satan's fall and condemnation (I Timothy 3:6; Isaiah 14:13-14). "Therefore have I cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God; and I have destroyed thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire ... I have cast thee to the ground ... I have turned thee to ashes ... and thou shalt nevermore have any being" (verses 16-19). This is the exact fate predicted for Satan in Scripture (Revelation 12:7-9; 20:10; Isaiah 14:12, 15-20). Satan was not alone in his apostasy and fall, for the Scriptures indicate that he was able to persuade numerous angels, and perhaps other spirit beings, to join in his rebellion and attempt to usurp the throne of God. Apparently the angels, possessing moral freedom, underwent a period of probation and testing just as Adam, for we read that some "sinned," and "kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation" (II Peter 2:4; Jude 6). The angels of the devil are referred to in Revelation 12:7. Others who kept their integrity are designated as "holy angels" (Mark 8:38) and "elect angels" (I Timothy 5:21). As a result of Satan's rebellion and fall, sin entered and polluted the universe which God had created good, and Satan became the source of all evil and misfortune (John 8:44). His character and purpose are now given over entirely unto evil. He is called a "murderer," "the father of lies" (John 8:44), and an incorrigible sinner (1 John 3:8). He became the adversary of man, deceiving, oppressing, accusing, and seeking to destroy all that God has created (Genesis 3; Job 1-2; Acts 10:38; Revelation 12:9-10). The present realm and sphere of this evil one and his hierarchy of wicked powers is not in "hell" (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 12:7-9); but the seat of his kingdom is in the heavenly regions, doubtless in close proximity to the earth (Revelation 12:7-12; Ephesians 2:2; 6:12. "High places" in 6:12 literally means "heavens" or "heavenly regions"). He walks up and down in the earth at will (Job 1:7; I Peter 5:8), and has access to heaven's throne as the "accuser" of believers (Job 1-2; Zechariah 3; Revelation 12:10). His present position is one of royal dignity and authority, so much so that even the archangel Michael "durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, 'The Lord rebuke thee"" (Jude 8-9). His present dominion is that of king and ruler over a vast kingdom and hierarchy of dark powers (Matthew 12:26,29; 25:41; Ephesians 6:12), being designated as "ruler of this world," "ruler of the power of the air," and having the whole world under his power and influence (John 14:30; Ephesians 2:2; I John 5:19). As prince of this world, he rules over the godless political systems, in world affairs, in the realm of agnostic science and philosophy, and in the social and economic orders. His designation as "the god of this world" (II Corinthians 4:4) signifies his present spiritual and religious power and influence. His influence and control in religion are to be found in various forms, ranging from subtle perversions of doctrine, including Liberalism, Modernism, Neo-orthodoxy, and New Age, to the revival of witchcraft, false cults, and devil worship. The worship of Satan and demons is not unknown in Scripture (Leviticus 17:7; Deuteronomy 32:16-17; Psalm 106:37; I Corinthians 10:20; I Timothy 4:1-3). Satanic churches exist today; and covenants with the devil, as well as prayers to him for assistance, have occasionally been disclosed by the oppressed in counseling with them. Thus, Scripture actually sheds much light on the origin of evil in the universe and the present extent and work of the kingdom of Satan. However, a perplexing question yet remains: "How could sin originate in a perfect universe, or holy angels and spirits fall into the sin of apostasy and rebellion against God apart from outside influence?" Adam transgressed and fell from his state of innocence through the temptations of an outside influence, Satan. But in the transgression of Satan, the "anointed cherub" himself (as well as the holy angels who sinned), there was no one to influence nor tempt him. Sin actually had its origin in him: Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee" (Ezekiel 28:15). While Scripture does not give a direct solution, it does offer some help in solving this mystery. We offer two suggestions. 1. Free moral agency. Satan, angels, and other spirit beings, like man, were created as free moral agents. That is, they were created intelligent, rational, and spiritual, with the power of free moral choice. By God's divine intention, they were given the power of self-determination with respect to their obedience to God. Obviously, before sin entered the universe, Satan was still the anointed cherub. He and the angels who later sinned did not have a choice between good and evil as realities, inasmuch as evil did not yet exist. But the potential for evil existed, in that God had created other free moral beings and had given them the power to say "no" to Him and to rebel against His will. Before sin entered the universe, only one form of transgression was possible: disobedience to God's revealed will and commands. Satan's only choice initially was to obey or to disobey, as it was later in the case of Adam, whose transgression introduced sin into the world (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-6). Irrational beasts do not have this power of choice, nor the right of self-determination; but neither can they, for that matter, worship God and by their own volition serve, honor, and obey Him. Free response based on love, not forced obedience, would alone satisfy and glorify God, the Father of all creatures, in exactly the same way a parent is honored and pleased by the loving, willful response and obedience of a child. The initial choice was God's. Irrational beasts or sub-human robots without the ability of moral choice would present no threat to sanctity of the universe; but God wished to bring into existence beings who could freely worship, honor, and glorify Him. As God certainly knew of beforehand, this would require giving them the right of self-determination and the potential power of disobeying Him and His will. A creature who could not willfully say "no" to God, likewise could not willfully say "yes" to Him. So evil did not exist from the beginning as a reality but as a potentiality. God created a free, moral universe and it is for this reason that Satan could choose not to abide "in the truth" (John 8:44). We may certainly infer from this that at one time he walked before God in truth and perfection, as Ezekiel 28:15 also indicates But, by an act of his own will, he chose not to abide any longer therein. So also, many of the angels, having the power of self-determination, "sinned" and "kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation" (II Peter 2:4; Jude 6). 2. Finiteness. Satan, angels, and other spirit beings were, like man, created finite. To be "finite" means to be subject to limitations. It is a state of not being perfected (in the absolute sense); it is to be incomplete. Finiteness stems from the fact of creation. It is impossible to create an infinite creature-this would be a contradiction. Only God, as uncreated Spirit, without beginning or end, is infinite: that is, He is without limitation; He is perfect in righteousness, power, wisdom, holiness, and love. Finiteness is inherent in creation. Satan's finiteness was the door to his fall, as it was with Adam. If one is finite in his essential nature, then his character, actions, motives, conformity to God's will, power to obey and not to sin-in a word, all that he is and does-will also be subject to this limitation or finiteness. Finiteness itself does not imply imperfection or defectiveness, but it implies limitation and susceptibility to failure or defeat under certain conditions. Satan, as the anointed cherub, was preeminent in beauty and wisdom, possessing many other glorious attributes (Ezekiel 28:14). But being finite, he allowed pride to enter his heart because of his beauty ("Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty," Ezekiel 28:17; I Timothy 3:6), and sinful ambition, because of his great position ("I will exalt my throne above the stars of God... I will be like the Most High," Isaiah 14:13-14). Due to his incomparable beauty and wisdom, and because of his exalted position, his finiteness caused him to look away from the truth unto himself. The result was catastrophic: "he abode not in the truth" (John 8:44). 2. Demons. We turn next to the hosts who comprise Satan's kingdom: demons and fallen angels. Satan, as god of this world, rules over a vast host of demonic spirits and directs an extensive kingdom and hierarchy, consisting of principalities, powers, world rulers of darkness, and spirits of wickedness in the heavenly regions (Ephesians 6:12). Demons and fallen angels are never equated nor used interchangeably in Scripture. No angel is said to be "in" a person as in the case of the demon possessed. We do not read of a person who was possessed by an "unclean angel" (cf. Luke 4:33-36). Angels and other spirits are distinguished in Acts 23:9. The Scriptures speak of many kinds of spiritual creatures. In our modern age of science and technology, with advancements in medical knowledge and psychiatry, and as a result of the rise of critical Biblical scholarship, it has become popular to deny the reality and existence of such personal entities as Satan, demons, and evil spirits, dismissing such beliefs as unenlightened superstition. Several theories have been proposed by the skeptics in an unsuccessful attempt to explain rationally the manifestation of demonic powers. One such theory contends that the Bible, when it speaks of the presence and activity of demons, merely reflects prescientific superstition. From ancient times, we are told, every culture has held to the superstitious belief that the world is inhabited by unseen forces or spirits, some having good intentions toward man and some evil. In this way they were able to explain the mysteries of life and death, accident and disease, prosperity or famine, plagues, floods, storms, and so on. With our present day knowledge of science and the operation of physical laws, it is no longer necessary to resort to unrealistic explanations based upon unseen spirit forces. Within Christendom some rationalistic theologians propose the theory of accommodation in an attempt to explain Jesus' references to demons and His exorcism of the spirits which in some instances possessed those to whom He ministered. Jesus, we are told, was actually aware that such personal intelligences as demonic spirits did not really exist, but inasmuch as the people to whom He ministered held to these superstitions, He merely accommodated Himself to their unenlightened views concerning the cause of physical and mental illness. His purpose, we are told, was not to teach science, but religion. Hence, He did not attempt to correct their unscientific beliefs. To say the least, such preposterous theory is ethically out of harmony with the moral life and teaching of Jesus Himself as set forth in the New Testament. Edited. Shared. To be Continued. ❤️ God willing, more will be posted soon. All glory to Jesus alone.

In an age where the foundations of certainty are being systematically dismantled by the spirit of compromise, the call to stand as a watchman has never been more urgent. To offer a Defense of the Truth is not merely to engage in an academic exercise or a polite debate; it is to engage in a spiritual militancy for the preservation of the faith once delivered unto the saints. We live in a generation that asks, with the same cynical sneer as Pilate, “What is truth?” while ignoring the very Word that stands as an eternal rock against the shifting sands of modernism. As it is written, “For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth” (2 Corinthians 13:8,). Our mandate is clear: we are not called to evolve with the times, but to endure them, holding fast to the ancient landmarks that our fathers have set. The essence of this defense lies in the recognition that truth is exclusive, absolute, and inherently divisive. It separates the wheat from the chaff and the light from the darkness. To defend the truth is to protect the purity of the Gospel from the leaven of the Pharisees and the worldly philosophies that seek to “deconstruct” the divine. We see the world reeling to and fro, intoxicated by the wine of apostasy, yet the Remnant must remain sober. We are instructed to “Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding” (Proverbs 23:23). This “buying” suggests a cost—a willingness to sacrifice reputation, comfort, and cultural acceptance for the sake of that which is eternal. Our defense is built upon the infallible testimony of the Holy Scriptures. We do not look to the latest “revelations” of men or the consensus of the masses, but to the “more sure word of prophecy” that shines as a light in a dark place. This is a forensic stand—a systematic examination of the evidence provided by the Almighty against the counterfeit claims of the adversary. When the world cries “peace and safety” while drifting into the Great Falling Away, the defender of truth sounds the trumpet of warning. We must be as the men of Issachar, who had understanding of the times, knowing that the King is at the door. To stand for the truth is to stand with the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Any defense that does not center on His literal Return and His absolute Authority is no defense at all. It is a high calling to be a steward of these mysteries, and it requires a heart that is unashamed and a forehead set like flint against the errors of the day. “Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day” (Psalm 25:5). Let us, therefore, put on the whole armor of God, that we may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. The Truth is not a matter of private interpretation or subjective feeling; it is the objective reality of God’s Word. In these final hours, neutrality is a luxury we cannot afford. We must decide if we will be swept away by the current of the age or if we will be anchored to the Rock of Ages.

This Week's Post from China Partnership Editor’s note: This month we are praying for Xiangtan, a Hunan city not far outside of Changsha. Xiangtan church leaders say recent years have brought many ministry challenges: increased persecution and pressure, economic stress, and generally hardened hearts. It’s difficult to evangelize students, and they worry they are losing the next generation. These days, both discipleship and evangelism require intentional relational ministry, and Xiangtan leaders say they must walk with people a long time before they are willing to become open to the gospel. Xiangtan: Ministry Challenges China Partnership: What are some common challenges, fears, and struggles that you and your church encounter as you minister to people in your city? How can we pray for you? First Quality, Then Quantity Brother Hu: How can we build genuine spiritual life among believers? That is an enormous challenge. Hunan people eat spicy food, are blunt, and tend to be “strong in the flesh.” For instance, 15 years ago I was in a park and saw a woman slap her husband’s face, right there in public. In the Xiangtan church today, we have many sisters, but it is difficult for them to lead their husbands or children to receive God’s word, come to church, and be blessed in the Lord. How can we build life, so we live abiding in Christ’s blessing? There must first be quality, then quantity. These days, it’s harder and harder to share the gospel. Some elderly believers at our church have been Christians for more than 30 years. They love God and are willing to give. Their children are successful, but not one is willing to come to church. Another man I know brings his 90-year-old mother to church every week, but he himself does not believe. How can we build life, so we live abiding in Christ’s blessing? There must first be quality, then quantity. It’s as if there is a door that has been shut. We need God to open a door for the gospel. If God does not open that door, our lives won’t grow and our evangelism won’t bear fruit. The key issue is we are losing young people. Old Modes Don’t Work Pastor Li: Our challenges begin with evangelism. We used to share openly, but post-Covid, people are more and more guarded. We used to hand out gospel tracts or small gifts — none of that can be done now. The government doesn’t allow it, and people are more guarded, because there are too many scammers. If you offer someone a small gift, they throw it away because they are afraid. That is the state of society today. Old modes of evangelism don’t work any longer. University ministry is restricted, and the church can’t go on campus. It’s even hard to organize social charity activities for the church, because our church is “illegal.” Right now, we teach believers to let “life influence life” in the sphere God has given us, because our gatherings are hidden and the church’s social influence is smaller. It’s as if there is a door that has been shut. We need God to open a door for the gospel. If God does not open that door, our lives won’t grow and our evangelism won’t bear fruit. We also have to pay attention to the “informant culture” in China. China operates using grid-style management. Oversight works through neighborhoods or local residential communities where people are encouraged to report one another. There are rewards for reporting illegal gatherings – even family gatherings – with too much noise or movement. This means there is immense pressure when we gather, and brothers and sisters feel this. Although believers grew a great deal after our church was persecuted, not everyone is willing to face warnings from society or the government. If school officials or neighborhood committees or the police come to speak with someone, that’s tough. During the first wave of persecution, probably 70 to 80 percent of our church was called in for questioning. That’s a huge challenge. Although believers have grown, there is still fear. People understand the doctrine of suffering for the Lord – but when the moment really comes, there is still a struggle. Fear and Fitting In Brother Yang: The first challenge is government reporting. The second is government propaganda – in schools and workplaces and communities – about “cults.” Many people misunderstand house churches, thinking we are illegal. On top of all this, because Xiangtan is the hometown of a great leader [Mao Zedong], a lot of people think their political stance will seem suspect if they enter our community. Some have strong reactions because of that. In the countryside, where there is a tradition of ancestor worship, people think believing in Jesus means they won’t be able to stay in line with their clan. This makes them unwilling to take this step. “We Have to Walk with Them a Long Time” Brother Tan: These issues are partly because persecution is more intense. Many families are zealous and willing to dedicate themselves to the Lord. But some households have only one believing spouse – in those homes, the unbelieving spouse puts a lot of pressure on the Christian. Because house churches don’t have legal status, our gatherings can be disrupted. Believers who work in public institutions often face pressure, and a lot of ministry can’t go forward. Many young people are depressed… If we just try to reason with them, they are annoyed. It takes a lot of time and energy to build relationships, and we have to walk with them a long time before we can communicate truth. Xiangtan people are full of anxiety because of the economy. They can’t keep up financially, and coming to gatherings can be difficult. Some are so occupied just trying to survive that they have no time or energy to hear the gospel. Students have similar issues. Their culture is online, and it highly values personal entertainment, not social or outdoor activity. It’s hard to enter their world, which has its own circles and highly-stimulating entertainment. When students hear the gospel, it feels too traditional, too old-fashioned. They seek novelty, and tire of things quickly. Students are influenced by post-modernism, and their schools repress them with constant pressure to study hard. Many young people are depressed or emotionally heavy. If we just try to reason with them, they are annoyed. It takes a lot of time and energy to build relationships, and we have to walk with them a long time before we can communicate truth to them. It is not easy. “Love Has Cooled” Sister Jiang: In this age of rampant material desire, people want to eat, drink, and be merry. They don’t have time for Jesus. They just want to have fun, play mahjong, and pursue things that profit them. One woman came to church for a while, but it didn’t seem like her heart ever really came in. She said, “There’s no payoff in going to church – but there is in playing mahjong!” It’s very hard to shepherd and support people. When you evangelize, you have to be constantly attentive, accompanying people, building relationships. That takes a lot of thought and effort. Sometimes people come, but after a while they stop. It’s like the fellowship life of our church does not suit their tastes or fit what they are pursuing. Those who share the gospel can feel discouraged, because it’s getting harder and harder. We need to recognize that life-on-life influence is harder than before. Before, if you handed out a tract, someone might show up. But it’s very difficult now. Even believers have grown cold in heart after the pandemic and the persecution that followed. Love has cooled. What’s more, it’s hard to make money and the economy is sluggish, so some are just focused on earning a living or worrying about finances. Brother Hu, Pastor Li, Brother Yang, Brother Tan, and Sister Jiang are pseudonyms for house church leaders in Xiangtan, Hunan Province.

ARE YOU DRIFTING? Text: Hebrews 2:1–4 "Two young men were fishing above a low dam on a river near their hometown. As they were concentrating on catching fish, they were unaware that they had drifted until they were not far from the water flowing over the dam. When they realized their situation, the current near the dam had become too powerful for them to keep their boat from going over. Below the dam the water was dashing with strong force over great boulders and through crevices in the rocks. Caught by the swirling waters under the rocks, they never came to the surface. After days of relentless searching, the divers finally found one body, and then, a few days later, the other." The danger of drifting is not limited to the physical realm... Hebrews 2:1 Sadly, it is not uncommon for Christians to drift toward destruction! I. THINGS WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT DRIFTING A. DRIFTING REQUIRES NO EFFORT... 1. Just stop oaring or tracking against the wind, and a boater will begin to drift 2. The same is true for the Christian, which is why we are told: "We must give the more earnest heed..." - Hebrews 2:1 B. IT IS AN UNCONSCIOUS PROCESS... 1. It is possible to drift unaware a. In a boat, or undercurrents are often unnoticeable from the surface b. In a plane, the wind or gravitational forces move the plane without you realizing it 2. The same is true in the spiritual realm a. Many individual Christians have slowly drifted away b. Many churches have gradually drifted into error only one day to find themselves far removed from the Scriptures C. WE NEVER DRIFT UPSTREAM OR AGAINST THE TIDE... 1. Faithfulness to the Lord is like oaring upstream 2. You must constantly be "adding to your faith..." - 2 Pe 1:5 3. You must continue to grow - 2 Pe 3:18 The moment you stop growing, you start going backwards or downwards D. THE SPEED DOWNSTREAM INCREASES... 1. The dangers increase with the speed of the drift a. When we can hear the noise of the waterfall, it is already too late b. When we lose sight of land, it is more difficult to discern that we are drifting 2. As we move farther and farther from the Lord, we care less and less about what we do E. IT IS DANGEROUS TO OTHERS... 1. A ship, just drifting, is a hazard to all other vessels at sea 2. Parents who are just drifting, will soon loose golden opportunities to teach their children - Ep 6:4 3. Many are tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine - Ep 4:14 F. IT ENDS IN SHIPWRECK... 1. A boat adrift will crash on the rocks or go over the falls 2. For those who drift spiritually through their own neglect, there shall be no escape from a just punishment - He 2:1-3 II. COMMON SIGNS OF DRIFTING A. DIMINISHING DESIRE TO STUDY GOD'S WORD AND PRAY... 1. The Bible is a unique book - a source of information not found anywhere else. When one loses their desire to study God's word, they are drifting! 2. Prayer is a wonderful blessing - an avenue to communicate with God! When the Christian prays less and less, he is drifting more and more! B. DIMINISHING DESIRE TO BE WITH GOD'S PEOPLE 1. This includes attending services to worship God a. If we no longer rejoice in the worship of God in the presence of brethren, we are drifting! 2. Fellowship with God's people extends beyond the services of the church a. We are to be concerned with edifying one another - Ro 14:19 When a Christian prefers the companionship of people of the world, rather than fellow Christians, he is drifting toward the rocks of spiritual destruction! C. DIMINISHING DESIRE TO SHARE THE GOSPEL... 1. When one obeys the gospel, he knows God has blotted out his sins, made him a new creature in Christ, and he wants to tell the world about Jesus 2. When a Christian no longer has the desire to take the message of salvation to others, he is drifting! D. INCREASING THRILL OVER THINGS OF THE WORLD... 1. Such as greater thrill over worldly honors; a. The apostle John warns us against the love of the world and the things in the world - 1 Jn 2:15-17 2. Such as increasing enjoyment in worldly pleasures a. Paul described some who were "lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God" - 2 Ti 3:4 b. If we reach the point when we find more pleasure in some worldly activity than meeting with others to worship God, we definitely are spiritually adrift! III. REMEDIES AGAINST DRIFTING A. KEEP ROWING... 1. Spiritually speaking, this involves diligence - 2 Pe 1:10 2. It also means to keep abounding in our Christian graces 3. There is no place for "retirement" in living the life of a Christian B. WATCH OUT FOR UNDERCURRENTS... 1. We must always be on guard for undercurrent of temptation 2. For we have a fleshly nature which wages war against the soul C. EXPECT TO GO AGAINST THE TIDE... 1. There are many tides to sweep us away a. Popularity, peer pressure, the praise of others b. Modernism, skepticism, humanism c. false doctrines of all kinds d. Liberalism and worldliness in the church - probably the greatest enemies of the church in our lifetime e. Neglect -- indifference, apathy, lack of interest and concern 2. If one drifts along with the majority, he certainty will be lost CONCLUSION 1. Brethren, are we drifting? a. The danger is real, we would be foolish to say otherwise b. Many have drifted away from the Lord, we would be arrogant to say it could not happen to us! 2. Are there signs of drifting in your life? Honestly ask yourself: a. Is my desire to study God's word and pray diminishing? b. Is my desire to be with God's people not what it has been in the past?

Today in Apologetics, we dove into Pluralistic Modernism and how it’s reshaping our society. Imagine standing in a food court with 20 different options. You have to choose one. Now, imagine that 20 becomes 100s. In our current secular environment, it’s no wonder people are confused about what to believe. Spirituality has become an endless buffet of "choose your own truth," making the path to Christ feel increasingly narrow. Why does Christianity get so much "heat" in this environment? It usually boils down to three things: Exclusivity: The message that Jesus is the only way to salvation is often labeled as "offensive" or "rude" today. People want multiple paths, but truth, by its nature, is exclusive. Cross-Pressure: It’s that internal "fragility" we feel when we see non-Christian neighbors living happy, moral lives. We forget that God isn't a genie or a "prosperity" tool. Jesus warned us that the world would hate us (John 15:18-19) and told us to carry our cross—a symbol of sacrifice, not a guarantee of an easy life. Pre-packaged Opinions: Many people reject Christianity before they even hear the Gospel because they’ve labeled us "bigots." While some use religion to feel superior, true Christianity is the opposite: it’s the realization that we are flawed and desperately need a Savior. We don't come to Jesus because we’re flawless; we come because we aren't. The Result of "Your Truth"? When we swap Biblical morality for individual feelings and opinions, we create a recipe for chaos. Feelings are fickle. One person’s "freedom" becomes another’s "oppression." Without a set standard, we become a society driven by impulse rather than justice. Today, God’s guidance is seen as "oppression" because it challenges our lifestyle. But have we become like children throwing "adult temper tantrums" when we're told something is morally wrong? The Bottom Line: I’m not writing this to look down on anyone. I struggle with the same sinful nature as everyone else. The only difference is the realization that I need Jesus. It’s not about being perfect or checking off religious boxes—it’s about recognizing the path we are on and accepting the way out that God has provided. #Apologetics #Faith #Christianity #Truth #Jesus #Modernism

DAILY SERMON # 18 Never Doubt—God Is in Control. Matthew 14 presents a powerful and practical message set against the backdrop of a fascinating experience in the life of Christ, His disciples, and His church with strong applications for us today. Jesus had just received word of the beheading of His cousin and predecessor in ministry, John the Baptist, and obviously needed some time alone. Matthew 14:13 records, “He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.” Even amidst the sorrow of the death of John, Jesus’ heart went out to those in need. His mission was ever before Him, as, even during the most difficult times, it must always be before us. Weeping and working with Jesus for the people of the cities must be our passion. Praise God for the wonderful way that the world divisions have so powerfully accepted the call to implement “Mission to the Cities.” This is a direct result of God’s Spirit working through revival and reformation. By God’s grace, the prediction in Medical Ministry, page 304, will come true: “There is no change in the messages that God has sent in the past. The work in the cities is the essential work for this time. When the cities are worked as God would have them, the result will be the setting in operation of a mighty movement such as we have not yet witnessed.” Today, let us look at two important inter-related burdens of Christ in Matthew 14 as they relate to our experience as His remnant church poised for the proclamation of the loud cry: Burden #1. Our need for a full understanding of medical missionary work and health reform as an integral part of Mission to the Cities Burden #2. Our great need for selfless unity in Christ as we proclaim the three angels’ messages. Let’s focus on the first burden of medical missionary work, or a more current term, “comprehensive health ministry,” as part of our Mission to the Cities. Jesus had wanted a quiet place from the constant demands of the people who sought His presence and the truth He shared. Take time to allow the Holy Spirit to repair and rejuvenate your soul for ministry and service to others. However, the people missed Jesus and asked where He was. Some noticed what direction Jesus went and followed Him on land and sea. Thousands gathered from the cities to see Him. Ministry of Healing, pages 143-144 tells of Christ’s method in reaching these people: “Christ's method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me.’ There is need of coming close to the people by personal effort. If less time were given to sermonizing, and more time were spent in personal ministry, greater results would be seen. The poor are to be relieved, the sick cared for, the sorrowing and bereaved comforted, the ignorant instructed, the inexperienced counseled. We are to weep with those that weep, and rejoice with those that rejoice accompanied by the power of persuasion, the power of prayer, the power of God’s love, this work will not, cannot be without fruit. We should ever remember that the object of the medical missionary work is to point sin-sick men and women to the Man of Calvary who taken away the sin of the world.” How did Christ exhibit this comprehensive health ministry? He had landed undetected on the other side of the sea but could see the multitudes that had gathered and His heart went out to them with sympathy. Desire of Ages, page 364: “Interrupted as He was, and robbed of His rest, He was not impatient. He saw a greater necessity demanding His attention as He watched the people coming and still coming.” How sympathetic and caring are we when it comes to giving up our private time to lovingly care for the needs of others? Christ’s ministry must be our ministry. It was my privilege to visit Israel for the first time this last June for the very successful Third International Bible Conference organized by our Biblical Research Institute. During part of the conference, we stayed on the Sea of Galilee not far from where this Matthew 14 event may have taken place. It was thrilling to imagine the setting on those hillsides as Jesus met the needs of people. Verse 14 says, “….when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.” Jesus’ heart yearned to help the multitudes find the spiritual and physical healing they needed. He opened before them the comprehensive health ministry in which all of us are called to participate since it is part of the three angels’ messages. In III John 2 we read, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” As Seventh-day Adventists, we believe in the whole person concept of ministering to those around us in a comprehensive way. God, our Creator, was declaring that He wanted us to be revived and reformed and in full health-----physically, mentally, socially and spiritually. Our magnificent Redeemer wants us to prosper through our relationship with Him and our service to others. Matthew 9:35-38……..”Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them…….” This ministry of Jesus is to be the burden of every Seventh-day Adventist. In following Christ’s work for the people of the cities, where possible, we are to work with an “in” and “out” concept as found in the Spirit of Prophecy. This expansive work will involve every church member and the use of every evangelistic resource employed in every possible outreach and witnessing activity. In every city Seventh-day Adventists should minister to people not only from their local churches but also from such centers of influence such as health clinics, vegetarian restaurants, reading rooms, counseling centers, and community service centers. Health lectures, literature evangelism, small-group outreach, door-to-door mission work, innovative media evangelism, social work that follows Christ’s methods, personal and small-group Bible studies, public evangelism, comprehensive health ministry, and a myriad of other creative outreach initiatives still to be developed through the leading of the Holy Spirit should be the hallmark of our work in the cities. This work will require the involvement of lay membership as well as established denominational ministries such as Adventist Community Services, ADRA, Adventist World Radio, Hope Channel, Adventist Book Centers, and many, many others. Manuscript 117, 1901: “Every minister of the gospel should be prepared to do practical medical missionary work. The medical missionary work is to be as closely united with the gospel ministry as the arm is united to the body. The reluctance shown to the promulgations of the principles of health reform is caused by an unwillingness to deny self. In our large cities, the medical missionary work must go hand in hand with the gospel ministry. It will open doors for the entrance of truth.” In this vital work of soul winning in the large cities, God is calling us to reinvigorate the use of a balanced comprehensive health ministry and unite the efforts of our denominational organizations and supporting ministries. The “out” part of the city approach involves outpost centers or small institutes in the countryside just outside the cities where city workers can live or visit to be refreshed for their work, where a simple health lifestyle center can care for guests who want to learn a new approach to life, and a place where young people can be trained for city evangelism. We need Holy Spirit-inspired strategic planning by administrators, pastors, and health professionals for every city around the world that will produce the kind of “beehive” of comprehensive evangelistic, health, and community activities Ellen White described taking place in San Francisco around 1906. This is the type of work to be done in New York City as we plan for a giant evangelistic outreach in 2013. Leaders and evangelists from the General Conference and around the world along with many local pastors, health professionals and lay members will participate in approximately 350 evangelistic meetings in the metropolitan area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Nancy and I will hold one of those evangelistic meetings for three weeks in the very location where I started my ministry…….the Manhattan Church on West 11th Street in Greenwich Village. All this will be preceded and followed-up by community outreach and comprehensive health ministry to reach New York and many other cities of the world. Ellen White declared that New York was to be a “symbol” as to how the rest of the world should be worked. Pray for this outreach that will help fulfill that prediction and be the catalyst for divisions to then reach, the power of the Holy Spirit, approximately 650 of the world’s largest cities by 2015. It was a privilege to recently join church members in New York City on Sabbath, September 22, in praying for the Holy Spirit to control comprehensive urban evangelism in Metro New York. I appeal to each of you, especially young people, to study, plan, pray and engage in God’s great plans for comprehensive urban evangelism and comprehensive health ministry. He is calling you to be part of His blended team of pastors, health professionals, church workers, and church members to show compassion on those who are weary, scattered and broken in body and spirit bringing them into a relationship with Christ. Comprehensive health ministry is meeting people’s needs in a practical way that shows them the love of Jesus whether it is sharing a loaf of whole wheat bread with a neighbor or treating a patient with Christlike kindness at one of our many technologically advanced Seventh-day Adventist health institutions. In Ellen White’s Letter 110, 1902, we read “Medical missionary work has been presented as the entering wedge of present truth. It is by this work that hearts are reached, and those once prejudiced are softened and subdued. This is the work that is to be done today.” Ministry of Healing, p 144: “Medical missionary work is the pioneer work of the gospel. In the ministry of the word and in the medical missionary work the gospel is to be preached and practiced.” We can show Christ’s love and compassion in turning the local church into a center of life and health thus fulfilling the General Conference Health Ministries Department’s goal of making every local Seventh-day Adventist church worldwide---- a community health center. Resource materials produced by Health Ministries departments and other health entities can be used for practical Christian witnessing with church members easily sharing with neighbors the benefits of heaven-inspired health habits, preventive health strategies, and simple, inexpensive home health procedures and interventions. “Every church a community health center” is one of the most inexpensive and effective preventive health care approaches presenting healthy lifestyle modifications and “telling the world” about God’s complete plan of restoring the whole person. Medical Ministry, page 188: “The medical missionary work is as the right hand and arm to the third angel’s message which must be proclaimed to a fallen world….” The three angels’ messages of Revelation 14, full of hope, grace, righteousness and judgment are to be presented through God’s power. Comprehensive health ministry and health reform is to play a strong role in that loud cry. Stressing the importance of this work, we read in Counsels on Diet and Foods, page 75: “The health reform is as closely related to the third angel's message as the arm to the body; but the arm cannot take the place of the body. The proclamation of the third angel's message, the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus, is the burden of our work. The message is to be proclaimed with a loud cry, and is to go to the whole world.” Seventh-day Adventists are the only ones proclaiming the third angel’s message and they will proclaim the loud cry. Changes need to take place in us and through us to accomplish this heaven-directed work. The loud cry is going to be given amid a storm of persecution which will have an effect on all of us. Counsels on Diet and Foods, page 32: “God's people are not prepared for the loud cry of the third angel. They have a work to do for themselves which they should not leave for God to do for them. He has left this work for them to do. It is an individual work; one cannot do it for another.” Because of the close working relationship between health reform and the third angel’s message, there is work to be done in personal health before pastors and people will be given the power to proclaim the third angel’s message as the loud cry. Leaders and church members, have we become hesitant in strongly proclaiming and decidedly living the clear link between Biblical truth and our physical wellbeing? Do we truly believe that God has given unique light to Seventh-day Adventists regarding a healthy lifestyle and charged us to “tell the world?” Of course, we need wisdom, not fanaticism, in our presentation of the health message. Selected Messages, Book 3, p 285: “Health reform, wisely treated, will prove an entering wedge where the truth may follow with marked success. But to present health reform unwisely…….has served to create prejudice with unbelievers…..leaving the impression that we are extremists.” Let us wisely expand the work of this powerful blending of the physical and spiritual ministry without fanaticism as the world becomes more chaotic. Counsels on Health, p 533: “I wish to tell you that soon there will be no work done in ministerial lines but medical missionary work.” Comprehensive health ministry----the practical presentation of God’s health principles-----is the answer to post-modernism, the New Age movement, mysticism, and pagan philosophies which are part of the last day deceptions of the devil. Do not fall prey to the “strange fire” of mystic belief and practice whether in health or in spiritual life. Stay close to the Bible, the Spirit of Prophecy, and a personal prayer connection with heaven so the Holy Spirit will help you to discern truth and avoid error and extremism. God is calling us to revival and reformation both spiritually and physically. Participate in Revived by His Word as we read at least one chapter a day in the Bible. We are not to be satisfied with only the rich heritage of the Seventh-day Adventist health ministry but to renew our commitment to innovative approaches of health practices, health promotion, and comprehensive health ministry which will be absolutely instrumental in the last proclamation of this Advent movement. I appeal to our pastors and health professionals to unite under the power of the Holy Spirit. I thank God for the wonderful things that are happening in many of our churches, healthcare institutions, schools, and supporting ministries. I appeal to our seminaries and colleges to have health courses for theology majors and all students. Let us realize the power of a united and blended approach since Christ is the origin of all life and health. Medical Ministry, page 12: “The influence of the Spirit of God is the very best medicine that can be received by a sick man or woman. Heaven is all health……..” It is our privilege at this Annual Council to accept Christ as the Master Physician Who unites us. Ministry of Healing, page 143: “The world needs today what it needed nineteen hundred years ago---a revelation of Christ. A great work of reform is demanded, and it is only through the grace of Christ that the work of restoration, physical, mental, and spiritual, can be accomplished.” The General Conference has established a Comprehensive Health Ministry Committee chaired by Mark Finley with co-vice chairs of Allan Handysides and Jerry Page. This committee will share at this Annual Council and in the future about comprehensive health ministry. I challenge you to go from this Annual Council committed to the practical implementation of comprehensive health ministry. Returning to that experience of Jesus in Matthew 14, allow me to share with you the second great burden I feel and I hope you do for our church at this time... that we be unified in Christ as we finish His work on the earth. Matthew 14:15 suggests that all day thousands had been watching Jesus heal people and had been fed by Him spiritually but had forgotten to eat anything physically. Evening came and the disciples urged Jesus to send the people away to buy food. But Jesus had some important lessons to teach the disciples and us today. Jesus said in verse 16, “You give them something to eat”-----An interesting command challenging the disciples to realize their constant dependence on God and not on themselves. They missed the point completely. They had self-centered, personal agendas that kept them from fully realizing God’s power in their lives. They responded in verse 17 that all that was available were five loaves and two fish. Never forget what God can do with very little if we submit to His plans instead of our own willful ideas. Jesus simply said, “Bring them here to Me.” He asked the entire crowd of probably 20,000 to sit down. Then He took the small lunch, looked up to heaven recognizing where all blessings come from, blessed the food and began the incredible miracle of multiplication……..He broke the bread and fish and it continued to produce! Verse 20 says, “So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.” God is the God of the impossible! He can accomplish everything with nothing if we have faith in Him to do so. Christ had them gather all that was left showing how careful we should be to make sure there is no waste. He wanted the blessings, physical and spiritual, to be taken back to others who had not been there that day. After you have had a good day and a good meal you feel satisfied and comfortable. Desire of Ages explains that a movement developed in that large crowd which included the disciples that now was the time to crown Jesus king. If Jesus were king, who would take the positions of honor and trust around Him-----His disciples, of course. The people realized that Jesus could inspire the Jews to rebel against the hated Romans. When Jews got wounded, Jesus could heal them. When they got hungry, Jesus could feed them. When they became discouraged, Jesus could encourage them. Now was the time to proclaim Him king! But Jesus realized what was happening and in verse 22 told His disciples to get into the boat and go to the other side. He realized that if He were proclaimed an earthly king that His mission of salvation and humble submission on the cross would not be accomplished. Unbelievable! What was Jesus doing? What was He thinking? Didn’t He realize this was the best time to make His move for power? The disciples couldn’t believe their ears. Christ was frustrating their plans! He was changing their perception of power and eliminating their opportunity for advancement and status. Disgust and disunity grew in their hearts. They even began to doubt if Jesus was the Son of God. They were filled with anger and suspicion. We can see them heading to the sea shaking their heads and muttering how Jesus should have allowed the people to crown Him king! These self-willed disciples had to be brought to the point of total dependence, humility and submission to Christ. Only then could they truly be effective disciples for Him in the second burden earlier mentioned which is spiritual unity. The people were just about to lift up Jesus and proclaim Him king, when He turned and spoke with such heavenly authority that the people could do nothing but turn around and go home. The disciples, full of stormy and doubting thoughts, finally got into the boat. As they headed out into the Sea of Galilee, dissension, disunity and selfish desires clouded their hearts. The tender work of soul-winning needed in the early Christian church would never succeed with such a selfish spirit. You and I are also subject to the temptation to think that our own plans are better than Christ’s plans. Only the Lord’s love, justifying righteousness, and sanctifying power can bring us into unity and fulfill Christ’s prayer of John 17. The progressing story of Matthew 14 shows us the great implications for the church when God’s people have been fed the truth and prepared for proclaiming the message but then decide to go their own way instead of Christ’s mission. This causes disunity and disruption. What happened next? Jesus was left alone and verse 23 tells us, “And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray.” You see, Jesus knew His real power did not come from people making Him king, but from the quiet time spent in prayer with His heavenly Father. It is the same place from which our power will come……quiet time with the Lord in study of the Bible, the Spirit of Prophecy and personal prayer. From that mountain top, Christ could look on His disciples and the Sea of Galilee. The minds of the disciples were full of spiritual darkness and as The Desire of Ages says (page 380), “Their thoughts were stormy and unreasonable….” They questioned if Christ was an imposter. Cynicism, skepticism, defiance, and selfish independence are intoxicating. If not checked, they can take people into false rationalization and self-deception which is what happened with the disciples and which can happen to us. The disciples had fallen into sullen anger and darkening doubt. The disciples needed revival and reformation. Christ in His compassion prepared a special storm to take their minds off themselves and put the disciples into a humble setting where Jesus could again speak to them with clarity. Many times God does this for us when we are headed in the wrong direction. Probably many of us have experienced that in our own lives. Verse 24 tells us that “the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves….” In this terrible storm, the disciples tried everything to save themselves. As experienced fishermen they probably tried to set the sails just right and throw things overboard to make the boat lighter but finally gave up! This storm was unusual and they resigned themselves to dying. Finally when they had been humbled and realized they could not save themselves, Jesus could go to them. Never think we can save ourselves by our own efforts…..we are to be constantly dependent on Christ and His righteousness for our salvation and for instruction as to how to work together in whatever situation we find ourselves. Our future work in the mission of this precious Advent movement is based on humility and recognition that we are to press together and not act unilaterally or independently as the disciples had been attempting to do. In order to unify them, the Lord had to bring His disciples back to a quiet realization of His role as Savior. We read in Verse 26 that He “….went to them, walking on the sea.” The disciples said “’It is a ghost!’ And they cried out for fear.” Can you imagine their surprise to hear the words in verse 27, “Be of good cheer! It is I: do not be afraid.” Peter, in speaking before thinking, responded immediately by saying in verse 28, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” Can you imagine Peter’s shock when he heard the word from Christ, “Come?!” I suppose Peter thought he was going to die anyway, so why not try it. I can just see him looking out at the sea, hanging onto the side of the boat and putting one foot out. It didn’t sink. He put the other foot out and let go of the boat. He was standing on the water----something humans don’t do! He looked at Christ and began walking on the water. Impossible! Amazing! The Desire of Ages indicates that in Peter’s self-satisfaction, he turned his head to look back at his friends to make sure they were watching what he was doing. He took his eyes off Jesus. At that time a wave came between him and Christ and he began to sink. How often do we count on our own personal self-confidence instead of humbly keeping our eyes on Christ. As Peter sank, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus could have said, “Peter, you have a lot to learn. I think I’ll let you go down a couple of times before helping.” But, no, the Bible says in verse 31, “…..immediately, Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him….” We serve a Savior who never sleeps on the job……never is far from us……always ready to immediately reach out to us. Jesus pulls Peter out of his self-centered predicament. Peter and Jesus walk back to the boat with Peter holding Christ’s hand in complete trust. As they enter the boat, the wind ceases. The Creator God who commands the wind, the sea and the universe was in control. Immediately, the humbled disciples who only recently were doubting Christ’s very divinity, bowed in complete submission to Him, saying in verse 33, “Truly You are the Son of God.” The God of the universe was in full control and He is in control of His church today. Is He in control of your heart….of mine? The Desire of Ages, page 382: “Those who fail to realize their constant dependence upon God will be overcome by temptation……. Only through realizing our own weakness and looking steadfastly unto Jesus can we walk securely.” Never doubt that God is in control. Unity will be preserved by God Himself as we humbly advance with the great mission of proclaiming the three angels’ messages. He will lead us into complete victory as we keep our eyes fixed on Christ and His plans in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. His church will not fail. You and I are to be part of that victorious Advent movement that works in harmony with His orders. Listen to the following citations from the Spirit of Prophecy. Acts of the Apostles, pages 95-96: “The order that was maintained in the early Christian church made it possible for them to move forward solidly as a well-disciplined army clad with the armor of God. The companies of believers, though scattered over a large territory, were all members of one body; all moved in concert and in harmony with one another.....’God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.’ 1 Corinthians 14:33. He requires that order and system be observed in the conduct of church affairs today no less than in the days of old.” The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, page 45, provides wonderful counsel for unity: "It is the word of the living God that is to decide all controversies. It is when men mingle their own human smartness with God's words of truth in giving sharp thrusts to those who are in controversy with them, that they show that they have not a sacred reverence for God's inspired word.” I speak to myself as well as to all others that in whatever discussions take place, let us always say things in a Christ-like spirit and with respect allowing the Word of God to decide all controversies. Let us follow the pattern of the early Christian church in the Book of Acts where they came together in one accord in prayer, study and humility. A few days ago, the senior leaders of the General Conference and the North American Division convened for a full hour simply to pray. Last week, the top leaders of the General Conference and the world divisions spent more than a day in Bible study, prayer, singing and Holy Spirit-led discussion. God has told us to press together in the proclamation of the Advent message. The other day, five General Conference employees who are Prayer Committee members came just to pray with me…..Delbert Pearman, Lily Snider, Jaya Singh, Ian Nugent, and Joy Alexander surrounded me in prayer. What a precious experience to have friends pray for you. Let’s spend more time in earnest prayer together and alone. We look forward to a unifying Annual Council as we pray for each other and follow Biblical principles in how we work together. Many of us have fallen into the temptation to criticize, berate and tear down. At times we may act independently and unilaterally tempted to maintain our own way instead of working together. Christ calls for us to come together and focus on the mission of the church even if we don’t agree with everything that the church votes. God’s church is bigger than our own personal opinions. We are to humble ourselves before God and each other in gratitude for allowing us to be part of such a mighty Advent movement. In Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, there is a beautiful section on pages 27 through 30 about unity and the resulting mission of the church. The following selected quotations speak to me personally and to all of us as God’s people: “Let none entertain the thought that we can dispense with organization……In the name of the Lord I declare to you that it is to stand, strengthened, established, and settled……..Those who have the unction from on high, will in all their efforts encourage order, discipline, and union of action, and then the angels of God can co-operate with them. But never, never will these heavenly messengers place their endorsement upon irregularity, disorganization, and disorder. All these evils are the result of Satan's efforts to weaken our forces, to destroy our courage, and prevent successful action………He well knows that everything connected with Heaven is in perfect order, that subjection and perfect discipline mark the movements of the angelic host. It is his studied effort to lead professed Christians just as far from Heaven's arrangement as he can; therefore he deceives even the professed people of God, and makes them believe that order and discipline are enemies to spirituality; that the only safety for them is to let each pursue his own course…….These devoted souls consider it a virtue to boast of their freedom to think and act independently……I was shown that it is Satan's special work to lead men to feel that it is God's order for them to strike out for themselves, and choose their own course, independent of their brethren…..God is leading a people out from the world upon the exalted platform of eternal truth, the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus……They will not be at variance, one believing one thing, and another having faith and views entirely opposite; each moving independently of the body. Through the diversity of the gifts and governments that He has placed in the church, they will all come to the unity of the faith…….Though we have an individual work and an individual responsibility before God, we are not to follow our own independent judgment, regardless of the opinions and feelings of our brethren; for this course would lead to disorder in the church.……if hearts are teachable, there will be no divisions among us………It is necessary that our unity today be of a character that will bear the test of trial……..As long as we hold to our own ideas and opinions with determined persistency, we cannot have the unity for which Christ prayed.” My brothers and sisters representing the world church and those viewing around the world….never doubt-------God is in control! This is His precious church. The Advent movement has many challenges ahead far bigger than anything we may currently face. Reading the books of Daniel and Revelation as well as The Great Controversy, we see the unbelievable challenges that will face us as individuals and the church. Humanly speaking, it seems impossible to predict victory for God’s church. But fortunately we are not dependent on human power. From a heavenly and Biblical standpoint, we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. He will conquer evil and will victoriously bring His people through their unimaginable trials and challenges in His name and to His glory! We will declare that it was by His mighty and righteous hand alone that we overcame and can live and stand before the throne of God! God is working through His church in a marvelous way. Over the last two years, Nancy and I have visited so many of you and in various places around the world. It has been tiring but very rewarding. We have seen what the Holy Spirit is doing during “Tell the World” through revival and reformation, the 777 prayer movement, the distribution of The Great Controversy, Mission to the Cities, Revived by His Word, Comprehensive Health Ministry, and through so many other local and global church activities. God’s spirit is powerfully moving this church towards its final loud cry to the world as a unique Advent movement proclaiming the three angels’ messages. The personal testimonies of church members as to how God is leading in their lives and how they are able to share this message with others are extraordinary! People are excited and the church is on the move----not through meager human efforts but through the power of the Holy Spirit! Pray for the latter rain of the Holy Spirit. The coming of the Lord approaches. I appeal to each of us----as church members, as local churches, as missions, as conferences, as unions, as divisions and as the General Conference----to unite in lifting up Jesus, unite in proclaiming righteousness by faith in Christ, unite in pointing people to the mighty Word of God as it reads and urging them to read it daily, unite in our Biblical beliefs, unite in reading the Spirit of Prophecy, unite in earnest prayer, unite in sharing the sanctuary message, unite in proclaiming the three angels’ messages, unite in the loud cry, unite in revival and reformation through God’s power, unite in pleading for the latter rain, unite in sharing The Great Controversy and other precious publications, unite in Mission to the Cities, unite in personally sharing God’s message using every possible method including integrated media and internet evangelism, unite in accepting heaven’s messages of comprehensive health ministry and health reform, unite in following God’s last day commands for His Advent movement, unite in working together as we have collectively agreed to do under God’s guidance, unite in submission, humility and respect before the Lord and each other, unite in daily living out the practical ministry of Jesus in loving service to others, unite in believing that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is God’s remnant church, unite in the heavenly prophetic messages given in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, unite in the love and grace of Christ, unite in the grand mission entrusted to Seventh-day Adventists to “Tell the World” that the last days of earth’s history are unfolding before us………and unite…….in actively proclaiming the second coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ…..and….He….is….coming….soon!! Today…..do you wish to unite in commitment to these grand objectives of Christ?.......If so, would you join me in quietly standing to your feet……..I invite you to seal that commitment of uniting in Christ and His great mission for us by singing that marvelous song portraying His command to unitedly go into all the world in His name……”So Send I You---#578----a song indelibly fixed in my mind by that great sweet singer of Israel, the late Pastor C. L Brooks of the General Conference Sabbath School Department who sang this song at the 1985 General Conference Session at the end of the Mission Pageant thrilling our hearts with God’s call to mission. Let’s sing……”So Send I You.” I invite you to seal that united mission for Christ by praying together two by two and I will close to finish our service together. …….And now in the quietness of this united prayer time, take the hands of those on both sides of you as you unite in God’s mission for this remnant church…….”Now to Him Who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.” Unitedly, join with me in singing that Adventist hymn of unity, hope and mission…..”We Have this Hope.” Go on God’s mission united in His love, His Word, His righteousness and His peace. Amen.

DAILY SERMON #13 ‘Remembering God's Plan’. The following is a transcript of the sermon that Adventist Church leader Ted N.C. Wilson gave at the 2016 Annual Council in Silver Spring, Maryland, on Oct. 8, 2016. Ecclesiastes 12:1 says, “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth.” Memory is a wonderful thing. God created the potential to remember information and catalog it for future use. We can remember dates, places, events, people’s faces, names, facts, and God’s Word. However, even the best of us forget now and then. As we get older, the recall slows down a bit. Apparently, God knew that we would forget so He admonished us in His Word to “remember.” The most notable instance is the fourth commandment to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. A close second is to “remember your Creator in your youth.” God wants us to remember that He is in charge and that in our youth, as we attend school, He is able to take charge of our lives. We are to remember God’s educational model, remember your Seventh-day Adventist education, remember the Christian teachers who taught you, remember the Bible truths you absorbed, and remember that life is precious making good use of it through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Israelites kept forgetting God’s leading and blessing. After crossing through the Red Sea and heading into the Sinai Desert, they became embroiled in a quick case of amnesia. Exodus 16 explains when they came to the desert Wilderness of Sin, they complained about the lack of food and in verse 3 uttered the strange words, “‘Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full!’” They forgot how God led them through the Red Sea, how He had just turned bitter water to sweet at Marah. Our memories are very short. God had just told them in Exodus 15:26: “‘If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.’” With that promise, they should have known that God would provide as He then did with manna. How soon we forget. Patriarchs and Prophets, pages 292-293, explains: “Had they possessed faith in Him, in view of all that He had wrought for them, they would cheerfully have borne inconvenience, privation, and even real suffering; but they were unwilling to trust the Lord any further than they could witness the continual evidences of His power. They forgot their bitter service in Egypt. They forgot the goodness and power of God displayed in their behalf in their deliverance from bondage. They forgot how their children had been spared when the destroying angel slew all the first-born of Egypt. They forgot the grand exhibition of divine power at the Red Sea. They forgot that while they had crossed safely in the path that had been opened for them, the armies of the enemies, attempting to follow them, had been overwhelmed by the waters of the sea.” It says they forgot, they forgot, they forgot. Let’s never forget God’s merciful hand moving in His Advent movement and in giving us God’s precious educational model. Let’s never forget to lean completely on the Holy Spirit’s guidance in our work for Adventist education. Continuing in Patriarchs and Prophets, we are told, “The history of the wilderness life of Israel was chronicled for the benefit of the Israel of God to the close of time.” So, let’s remember to fully use God’s instructions for His educational model found in the Holy Word of God and the Spirit of Prophecy. Don’t forget where God has led us and what He wants to do in the future for Adventist education. For those of you who have gone to Adventist schools, remember what God has done for you in placing you where you are today as a leader. Don’t forget. It’s too easy to forget. Forgetting God and His leading seems to be a constant problem for us as leaders, at times, if we are looking to ourselves and the world instead of leaning completely on Jesus. Unless we are constantly placing ourselves in the hands of God and maintaining a strong relationship with Christ, we will forget Him and His precious educational model. We lean on our own understanding too much. We begin to think we are advanced enough in our own wisdom that we don’t need to remember God’s model. Success in life and even in church activities seems to cloud our minds into forgetting God and His leading in our lives. That’s why God said to remember your Creator in the days of your youth — and let’s keep remembering Him! Uzziah’s Strange Amnesia 2 Chronicles 26 records a strange case of amnesia. Uzziah was only 16 when he became king of Judah and he reigned for 52 years. 2 Chronicles 26:4 says, “He did what was right in the sight of the Lord.” Verse 5 asserts that “as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.” What a lesson for us as leaders in Seventh-day Adventist education and in the church in general today. If we seek the Lord in all we do, He will prosper His church with the great mission task of proclaiming the three angels’ messages. Verses 6 through 8 say Uzziah had victory over the Philistines, Arabians, Meunites, and Ammonites and that his fame spread far. Subsequent verses detail his strength: towers built, wells dug, farmers employed, an army of 375,000 that fought with “mighty power” with efficient battle gear, and war machines that shot arrows and large stones. Verse 15 adds, “So his fame spread far and wide, for he was marvelously helped till he became strong.” Remember what verse 5 said: “As long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.” Our Seventh-day Adventist educational system has grown from a small beginning in Battle Creek to a worldwide system of 5,705 elementary schools, 2,336 secondary schools, 54 worker training schools, 114 colleges and universities, six medical schools, and legions of well-trained, bright, dedicated teachers and professors. We’ve become the largest Protestant educational system in the world. Our consecrated educators have become proficient in many different disciplines. The world has taken notice. Thousands of students apply for admission to many of our schools, enlarging our enrollments in various parts of the world. Our schools have produced thousands of professionals in many areas of study. Millions of dollars are involved in Seventh-day Adventist education, coming from appropriations, tuition, grants, and donations. We have become strong. God has blessed us as long as we sought Him and His educational model. But what happened to Uzziah? 2 Chronicles 26:16 proclaims a warning for each of us to stay humble and rely on God for all things. “But when he was strong his heart was lifted up, to his destruction, for he transgressed against the Lord his God by entering the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.” Azariah, the priest, went into the temple after him reminding him that it was not his duty to burn incense but only that of the priests. Azariah said, in verse 18: “Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed! You shall have no honor from the Lord God.” King Uzziah had forgotten who gave him the power to become strong. He had taken the glory to himself and even had the ungodly boldness to take on a role that he was not authorized to perform. He forgot God’s rules and regulations. He forgot to give God the glory and took upon himself the power to create his own rules. He forgot God’s model. Upon hearing the reproof of the priest, verse 19 says: “Uzziah became furious; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead.” The king who had done right in the sight of the Lord and prospered because of his connection with God became so sure of himself and so filled with self that he left God’s pathway and God’s model to exalt himself and in so doing received God’s penalty. He was not supposed to be inside the temple because he was not a priest, and now with leprosy prominently visible on his forehead, the priests threw him out of the temple. Verse 20 adds, “Indeed he also hurried to get out, because the Lord had struck him.” Verse 21 says he was a leper until his death. If only Uzziah would have remembered where he came from, how he got there, and had given God the glory with humble respect, he could have continued to be described at the end of chapter 26 as he was at the beginning of the chapter: “He did what was right in the sight of the Lord.” Have Adventist Educators Forgot? In our work as church and institutional administrators, have we become so successful at times, so filled with our own accomplishments and the trappings of honor around us, that we have not remembered the Creator in the days of our youth? Have we built “towers” and large institutions and researched so many new ways of accomplishing our goals that we have forgotten God’s model for education? Yes, there are many who are wholly consecrated to their tasks. But at times have we fallen to the false understanding that we are where we are because of our own intellectual prowess? Have we become so strong in our academic pursuits that we have failed to listen to the Master Teacher’s model for education? Have we at times felt so competent in our own right as to outline the future of Seventh-day Adventist education without consulting the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy? Have we taken the “censer” in our own hands, feeling that we have “arrived” and are more capable of determining the educational direction of our institutions than a simple “Thus saith the Lord” from the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy? Have we allowed outside, non-biblical intellectual influences to shape our vision of the future rather than looking to the Lord, the Master Educator, and saying, “Be Thou My Vision?” As board chairs, as institutional presidents, as board members, as faculty, as staff, and as church members, have we allowed our memory to slip and forgotten to consult God’s model for the future? As with Uzziah, have we become strong with our hearts lifted up in self-pride and self-determination so that we are headed to destruction? Have we personally and corporately seen God’s hand move in ways that would rebuke us with “leprosy” because we have forgotten God’s simple, straightforward educational model? I want to honor so many of my teachers and professors — earnest, dedicated teachers — my dear mother being one of them. Teachers who understood the need to lean on Christ, the Master Teacher, at all times. I could list the names, just as you could, of many God-fearing, humble Seventh-day Adventist teachers from elementary, secondary, college, and graduate schools who made a long-lasting impression on my life. Today, I honor them and praise God for them! If that has been your experience, can you say, “Amen?” We praise the Lord for the faithful teachers who have blessed us and brought us here today and for those who are currently teaching thousands of young people in our global Adventist school system. Never lose that humble dependence on God for His direction and His model. Never think you are better than God and His holy instructions. In our educational work according to God’s model, we are not to seek for self-willed independence, for academic freedom that pulls us away from the elevated and sacred responsibility to train students as part of God’s great final proclamation of biblical truth and prophetic understanding. We are to resist any efforts to employ higher criticism and the historical-critical method in our teaching and relation to the Bible which only alienates us from God and exalts self instead of Jesus. In the classrooms, we are to lift up Christ, His Word, His righteousness, His sanctuary service, His saving power in the great controversy, His three angels’ messages, His creative power of a six-day recent creation, His health message, His last-day mission to the world, and His soon Second Coming. We are to challenge students to allow revival and reformation to be the dynamic foundation of their lives in their relationship to God. We want them to be part of Mission to the Cities and Comprehensive Health Ministry. Let them focus on Christ and His righteousness and faithfulness to God and His Word. Let them be part of Total Member Involvement under the leading of the Holy Spirit so they can actively participate in the last warning to the world. Jesus is coming soon! Powerful Goal for Teachers Education, pages 29-30, gives a powerful goal: “The true teacher is not satisfied with second-rate work. He is not satisfied with directing his students to a standard lower than the highest which it is possible for them to attain. He cannot be content with imparting to them only technical knowledge, with making them merely clever accountants, skillful artisans, successful tradesmen. It is his ambition to inspire them with principles of truth, obedience, honor, integrity, and purity — principles that will make them a positive force for the stability and uplifting of society. He desires them, above all else to learn life’s great lesson of unselfish service. These principles become a living power to shape the character, through the acquaintance of the soul with Christ, through an acceptance of His wisdom as the guide, His power as the strength, of heart and life. This union formed, the student has found the Source of wisdom.” The world is in the process of neutralizing the Bible and biblical truth. Next year, we will mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation when Bible-believing, God-fearing people said that the only rule of faith was the Bible alone and that we believe in salvation by grace alone — our trust and faith in the righteousness of Christ which He offers to us. Since that time, millions of people through the ages have turned to the simple and yet, profound, pure Word of God as the foundation of our faith pointing us to the Living Word, Jesus Christ. Seventh-day Adventists pastors, teachers, administrators, and church members, let us stand firmly for the heavenly principles that guided the Protestant Reformation almost 500 years ago. These are the biblical principles that will guide us into the last days of Earth’s history and give us strength for the proclamation of Christ and His prophetic truths. Don’t forget what God has done for His church and His people. As much of the religious world mixes truth and error and turns back to tradition, emotionalism, and ecumenism, stand firm for the powerful Word of God! Do not allow the neutralization or deconstruction of truth to find any entrance into our schools, churches or into your personal life. A few months ago, I was on an unusual trip in Israel with a number of senior church leaders to reflect on God’s leading in His church throughout the ages, in our lives today, and to gain strength and vision for the critical times ahead when men’s and women’s faith will be tried in the fire. Only through complete dependence on God and total confidence in God’s Holy Word will we be able to stand secure. Two men led our trip — Mark Finley and Michael Hasel. We were blessed by the spiritual lessons we learned. Dr. Michael Hasel is an archeologist and professor at Southern Adventist University. I heard Dr. Hasel share vital information about the current attempts in the deconstruction of Scripture, attempts to neutralize God’s Holy Word. Dr. Hasel, shared with us these unusual attempts and how that will affect the vital work of those engaged in educating our young people in the foundation of all true education which is an understanding of God. (Michael Hasel begins his testimony) Hasel: It was a privilege to travel through Israel just a few months ago, and it’s a part of the world I spend a great deal of time in. It’s not a glorious work; my life is in ruins! [Laughter]. It’s a wonderful experience because you can see history come to life and you’re also able to see prophecy fulfilled. We’ve been talking about Uzziah this morning. During my first time in Israel I got to see evidence of the great earthquake that took place during the days of Uzziah. For the last two centuries, as our church has grown, the adversary has not been idle. The Bible and biblical authority has faced an unprecedented onslaught with the rise of modernism and postmodernism in the Western world. Since the French Cultural Revolution a new philosophy has sought to abolish the institution of the church and with it the Bible, the Living Word of God. In its place, philosophers established autonomous reason with its spirit of criticism and doubt, human experience with its emphasis on the present as the interpreter of the past, and philosophical naturalism asserting that humanity should operate without any reference to the working of God. In 1844, just when our founders had experienced the Great Disappointment, the popular book Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation was published anonymously by Richard Chambers and openly promoted the concept of evolution. That same year Charles Darwin completed his initial manuscript On the Origin of Species. The result is that evolutionary thinking has found its way into most disciplines. But Chambers and Darwin did not write their influential works in a vacuum. Biblical scholars had begun deconstructing the Bible by redating its contents and denying the very fabric of its history. The unique nature of the Bible as a work constituted in history was removed. Today postmodern literary approaches have divorced the Bible from history and relegated it to the interpretations of the shifting sands of culture. Earlier in the Age of Enlightenment, Moses was rejected as the author of the first five books of the Bible. In the 1970s, Abraham and the patriarchs were described as myth, in the 1980s scholars turned to the event of the exodus. In the 1990s postmodern scholars moved to the reigns of David and Solomon. This is the battle that still rages today in the scholarly world. As the Bible has been rewritten, and its history deconstructed, predictive prophecy was deemed impossible. Because the Bible began to be studied merely as literature and because these scholars came to believe that God did not inspire its writers through direct revelation, biblical writers could not predict the future. Both history and prophecy were removed and reduced to metaphor and idealistic interpretations. The Prophetic Word – which gave rise to the Reformation and gave its identity to our Remnant church has been reinterpreted today, leaving Adventists as almost the only church to still teach the books of Daniel and Revelation from a Historicist perspective. In my library I have a book of 600 pages titled The Dying of the Light. It documents how the great universities like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton were founded by Protestant Reformers and were bastions of Biblical education and the Historicist interpretation of prophecy. Its early presidents wrote volumes on prophecy and the soon coming of Jesus. But today all vestiges of that history is gone. Society and our church has been beaten and battered by modernism and its challenges to the truths found in the Bible, but today, we are no closer to the promised utopia of modernist thinking. We have witnessed the greatest World Wars in human history that have left 60 million to 80 million dead on the battlefield and in the homes and streets of Europe’s greatest cities. We see the spread of diseases and epidemics that modern science has not been able to end and cure (AIDS, malaria, ebola, cancer, heart disease). Our society has become apathetic towards any truth claims, disillusioned with the promises of the past. Will we survive the moral, social, political, and religious deconstruction surrounding us? How do we counteract that influence as a church? How do we accomplish revival and reformation in our schools? Our students are desperately searching for mission, for purpose, for meaning in a broken world, but there has been a growing disconnect between the mission and message of the Bible and its prophetic message that gave us that meaning and mission. How are we to instill this identity to a generation that will be empowered to finish the work? Let us turn to Scripture. In 1 Peter 2:1-6: “Desire the pure milk of the Word, Coming to Him as to a living stone ... you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Jesus is the chief cornerstone. And for Jesus, the Bible was the foundation. As an archeologist I spend much of my time in Jerusalem. In two weeks I will be there again. There in the Old City is the Temple Mount, the location where the temple once stood. It is the largest structure of its kind ever built in the Roman Empire, six times larger in its footprint than the coliseum in Rome. On the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount is the cornerstone, placed there over 2,000 years ago. It is an enormous stone weighing between 80 and 100 tons. The entire building project that Herod started and that stretched over a period of almost a century, rests on the alignment of that one Cornerstone. And so I ask my brothers and sisters who make up the living stones of this Spiritual House, how are we aligning ourselves with the Living Word of God today? Are our schools, which are training this generation of young people to finish the work aligned in mission today? Are we aligned with Jesus, the chief cornerstone? I have a dream, a dream that our entire educational curriculum will be based on a biblical foundation. That our courses in psychology, in history, in biology, in business, in literature be taught from a foundation of biblical thinking and world view. That we do more than simply have a prayer in the beginning of class and then repeat the thoughts of Freud, Darwin, and tickle down economics. That our students be are not only trained for Harvard, but for heaven. I have a dream that our students are saturated in the word of God not in 12 hours of a 130 hour university education, but that in every class they encounter the Living Word on our campuses. That they leaving our campuses not more confused about life than when they came, but with a greater sense of our mission, and a zeal for the work that God has called each of us to do in these closing moments of Earth’s history. I have a dream that our young people when they leave our campuses not only accept the Word, but that one year, five, years, and 10 years after they leave our institutions they are those living stones, that obey and live by the Word. I have a dream that we will educate as Seventh-day Adventists. Our name describes a people who believe and teach the entirety of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The Seventh-day in our name points back to Jesus, who was the Word at the beginning, “All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3). We are a movement called to uphold Jesus and His creation in six literal days. Jesus said, “For if you believed Moses, you believed Me; for He wrote about Me” (John 5:46). The word Adventist in our name points forward to a prophetic voice called for this time to proclaim the three angels' messages. We are a movement that proclaims the words of Jesus “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book” (Revelation 22:7). I have a dream that the words of Ellen G. White in The Great Controversy, page 595 be fulfilled today: “But God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms. The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent, the voice of the majority — not one nor all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith. Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain “Thus saith the Lord” in its support.” (Michael Hasel ends his testimony) Wilson: Thank you so much, Dr. Hasel, for the insights shared that will help us to make the Bible our rule of faith as we depend wholly on Jesus and His Word for the mission ahead. This is reinforced in Education, page 30, “In the highest sense the work of education and the work of redemption are one, for in education, as in redemption, ‘other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.’” Basis of Educational Model Remember the educational model outlined in God’s Holy Word and the Spirit of Prophecy. God spoke through Ellen White to provide instruction to His Advent movement. The Spirit of Prophecy is one of God’s greatest gifts to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Don’t forget to listen to God’s prophets in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. Unfortunately, there are those who would think they don’t need the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, that somehow we have now arrived at a higher level of understanding than what those heavenly instructors can give us. Let me tell you with all humility and conviction, the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy are as valid today as they were when they were written! God’s truth is never old-fashioned. It is relevant today and will be relevant until Jesus comes. You cannot outdo or outgrow God’s precious truth in His Word and His instructions through the Spirit of Prophecy! But there are efforts to neutralize the Spirit of Prophecy and its instructions for our activities on many fronts including education. Don’t forget. Remember God’s educational model. Dwain Esmond is an associate director of the Ellen G. White Estate. He is a longtime friend and colleague who is a vibrant young leader in God’s work. Dwain, share with us the precious understanding of how the Spirit of Prophecy is a vital part of instructing our Seventh-day Adventist system of education, but also how there are efforts to attempt to neutralize those precious messages. (Dwain Esmond begins his testimony) Esmond: I’ve often wondered what did I get from an Adventist education? I’ve wondered whether or not it was worth my time, being a product of that education. I must tell you that my life changed drastically because of something my father did — he gave me two books from his library: Mind, Character, and Personality, Volumes 1 and 2 for my high school graduation. To pry anything lose from his library was special! And I read in that volume where it says that as an educating power, the Bible is without equal. I read about how the BibleI increased the power of the mind to take in the education I was being given. I found out what I had gotten in that education when I got to graduate school and I had a professor — a skeptic from the South. He would ask me, “Mr. Edmond do you believe in the Bible? Yes, I said.” “Can you love your enemy?” “No, sir.” “But isn’t that in the Bible? You should actually love your enemy?” “ Yes.” “Are you fooling with me?” “No, sir. Except Christ be in us, we can do absolutely nothing.” I want you to know today that Ellen White builds upon scriptures like this on education — Isaiah 54:13. “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.” I want you to know today, and you’ve heard this already: “True education means more than the perusal of a certain course of study. ... It prepares the student for the joy of service in this world and for the higher joy of wider service in the world to come.” But I want you to know that our understanding of education from the Spirit of Prophecy has painted a target on our back! The enemy of our souls isn’t excited about what is happening during this time. He is bothered that we would dare shore up this education. He will come with verocity and intensity to make of non effect counsel from Ellen White. In my estimation I am not so worried about attacks from the outside, but from the inside. I think the greatest attack is being aimed at the family and the Spirit of Prophecy in the family. “Upon all parents there rests the obligation of giving physical, mental, and spiritual instruction. It should be the object of every parent to secure to his child a well-balanced, symmetrical character. This is a work of no small magnitude and importance — a work requiring earnest thought and prayer no less than patient, persevering effort.” (Child Guidance, page 17). This is a work, education within the family structure. This is a work of no small matter or importance. But as the family becomes more consumed with the concerns and cares of this life, the family altar breaks down. Then we begin to define education as the world defines it — just focusing on [worldly things]. That’s not God’s plan for us. Satan also goes to church. When was the last time you heard a sermon on the philosophy of Seventh-day Adventist Christian education in the local church? Why are our pulpits so quiet about this great resource in the church. The devil also goes to school, and specifically, he attacks the Spirit of Prophecy in school. His objective is that our young people never meet Christ. “Through Christ had been communicated every ray of divine light that had ever reached our fallen world. It was He who had spoken through everyone that throughout the ages had declared God’s word to man. Of Him all the excellences manifest in the earth’s greatest and noblest souls were reflections” (Education, page 73). If people never meet Jesus, they remain in darkness. There is a focus on the subject matter, and not the subject who matters most! In the U.S. right now, everyone is taking about science education. I don’t know about a scientist or technologist better than God — Who continues to govern this planet! I don’t know a better mathematician than God. The objective of the enemy is that Word who reveals Him is never taught. Ellen White says, “It is by the perusal of the Bible that the mind is strengthened, refined, and elevated. If there were not another book in the wide world, the word of God, lived out through the grace of Christ, would make man perfect in this world, with a character fitted for the future, immortal life. Those who study the word, taking it in faith as the truth, and receiving it into the character, will be complete in Him who is all and in all” (Fundamentals of Christian Education, page 445). She says we would be complete in Him! “There will be a hatred kindled against the testimonies which is satanic. The workings of Satan will be to unsettle the faith of the churches in them for this reason. Satan cannot have so clear a track to bring in his deceptions and bind up souls in his delusions if the warnings and reproofs and counsels of the Spirit of God are heeded” (Letter 40, 1890). I can also tell you about a flood — it’s online. Just Google Ellen White, and the flood will find you — the flood of misinformation. Disinformation is brought out everyday online about Ellen White. We feel this tension very closely and are working proactively about that. But I’m more concerned about the rot that’s on the inside. I’m concerned not just about defense. If we stay true to what God has given us — “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19). I have one more slide: “Heaven is a school; its field of study, the universe; its teacher, the Infinite One. A branch of this school was established in Eden; and, the plan of redemption accomplished, education will again be taken up in the Eden school” (Education, page 301). The Spirit of Prophecy is for this life. May God help us to lift up His standard and get it back to the schools. (Dwain Esmond ends his testimony) Wilson: Dwain, thank you so much for your beautiful testimony showing God’s intentions to guide us in Seventh-day Adventist education in these last days of Earth’s history. Seventh-day Adventist education is one of the vital keys to the advancement of God’s great Advent movement and proclamation of prophetic messages. Christ and His Word are to be central in all that Adventist education accomplishes. In Counsels to Parents, Teachers and Students, page 453, we are counseled that: “Christ is the center of all true doctrine. All true religion is found in His word and in nature. He is the One in whom our hopes of eternal life are centered; and the teacher who learns from Him finds a safe anchorage.” Adventist education stands at the center of imparting urgency to students and faculty as we understand the weighty subjects to be shared through education and then to the world. Counsels on Education, page 128, tell us, “The third angel’s message, the great testing truth for this time, is to be taught in all our institutions. God designs that through them this special warming shall be given, and bright beams of light shall shine to the world. Time is short. The perils of the last days are upon us, and we should watch and pray, and study and heed the lessons that are given us in the books of Daniel and the Revelation.” This precious work in Adventist education is to prepare God’s people for His last-day proclamation and living for Christ. Counsels on Education, page 129, says, “The great, grand work of bringing out a people who will have Christ-like characters, and who will be able to stand in the day of the Lord, is to be accomplished.” Let us trust our young people to accomplish great things for the Lord through His power. Education, page 290, says “Lead the youth to feel that they are trusted, and there are few who will not seek to prove themselves worthy of the trust.” We must never forget the great objective of Adventist education is developing character so that God can speak through His people. Education, page 225, tell us: “True education does not ignore the value of scientific knowledge of literary acquirements; but above information it values power; above power, goodness; above intellectual acquirements, character. The world does not so much need men of great intellect as of noble character. … Character building is the most important work ever entrusted to human beings; and never before was its diligent study so important as now.” Case of San Gabriel Academy Let me tell you about an Adventist institution that is doing great things in developing character in students and instilling them with a great desire to be part of God’s last-day Advent movement. Many months ago, I received an email from a long-time schoolmate and good friend, Bonnie Iversen. Bonnie and I went to Takoma Academy together, sang in the chorale, played clarinets in the band. She played the bass clarinet. And we were both involved in student government. Bonnie, currently the director of development at San Gabriel Academy in the Southern California Conference, asked me if I would come to speak to the students. My schedule was very full but I finally worked out a time in February of this year after a board meeting at Loma Linda University. Interestingly, I had attended part of the third grade at San Gabriel Academy after our family returned from mission service in Egypt. So going to San Gabriel Academy was kind of like a “home-coming.” Nancy and I were overwhelmed by what we found: a school of 500 students from kindergarten through secondary school, a vibrant and happy faculty with a mission, students with a purpose in life and a mission focus. We had a delightful time with faculty and students on that Friday night in February. On Sabbath, we had a combined worship service at the White Memorial Church in Los Angeles focusing on Adventist education with about 1,200 people in attendance coming from many schools in the Southern California Conference. I was so impressed and grateful to the Lord. At that meeting, we unveiled the first large replica of Nathan Green’s painting of the Second Coming to be given to an academy. You can see that painting in the General Conference atrium. Hart Research Institute is providing beautiful reproductions to every academy that wishes one in the North American Division. San Gabriel Academy was the first to receive one. I left that weekend with San Gabriel Academy and the other schools praising God for what was happening. Now let me introduce you to three special people who help to make all of that happen in the Southern California Conference: Paul Negrete is principal of San Gabriel Academy. Bonnie Iversen is director of development. Pastor Velino Salazar is the president of the Southern California Conference. (Ted Wilson begins interviews with Paul Negrete, Bonnie Iversen, and Velino Salazar) Wilson: In February, when I visited San Gabriel Academy, I was so impressed with the spiritual and mission focus of the school, administration, faculty and students. Why is there such a mission focus at the academy, how did it come about, and what does the book ‘Education’ have to do with it? Negrete: Well, I think in the U.S., our education system is being challenged. We began to look as a team how we can improve our educational system. We focused on our four competencies and what differentiates us from other schools. It was really looking into the book Education that makes us different. We studied Education and what that would look like in the classroom, and a revamping began to take place. This year we’re sitting down with teachers and documenting the principles and how they align with what we’re trying to accomplish. As an outsider who came, I saw the results of that incredible study of Education. Wilson: Paul, I’m so proud of you and your team! Bonnie, you and I are products of Seventh-day Adventist education having gone to school together right here in Maryland at Takoma Academy. You thought of going into law and then God changed your direction to teaching in Adventist education.And you’ve never been the same again and have made a profound impact on hundreds of students. How long have you been in this work and why do you have such a passion for nurturing students within Adventist education to help them love the Lord and His mission? Iversen: I had such a good time at Takoma Academy, and it was such a wonderful experience. I felt I wanted to teach and make that happen for other students as well. I did teach for a little bit, but I didn’t realize what a battle Satan and Christ were having over me. And I thought to pursue law. That was for me, not for God. During my second year of a four year program at Southwestern School of Law, I couldn’t shake the feeling of missing the classroom. I decided to get my resume ready. I took my resume and made it more educational for a teaching job. It was a Tuesday early in August. I knew I couldn’t get a job then, but maybe for next year. On Wednesday I got a call from San Gabriel Academy. It shows me that when we take a step out in faith, He [God] starts working. Tuesday, I prepared my resume. Wednesday, I received a call for my resume. On Thursday, I got the call, “Would you come and meet with me on Monday?” Thursday I interviewed with the committee and then 30 minutes after arriving home, I got the offer. I took quite a pay cut. But, God kept working with me. He never gave up. Sometimes it was through the memory of my mom and dad, what they had told me. So I did it and I’ve made it through thousands of days since. God happened to call me to a school whose model is Education for Eternity. When I realized the responsibility that we all have for our young people. When I realized how passionate God is about them, he instilled in me a passion for my students. I feel blessed to continue the work that God has me do. I love what I do. That’s why, at my age, I’m still doing it and will do it as long as I can. Wilson: I left San Gabriel Academy with volumes of things that are produced explaining why San Gabriel Academy is leading the way in so many ways telling people, you need to put your child in Adventist education. Velino Salazar, you and I attended that wonderful conference-wide educational rally at the White Memorial Church on Sabbath, Feb 27, 2016. I was so impressed with the dedication of the representatives from the conference and schools attending and their students as they focused on Seventh-day Adventist education and the mission of the church in the Los Angeles area. Why is the Southern California Conference so committed to Seventh-day Adventist education?” Salazar: I could respond easily: simple — we want to take our children to heaven with us. When Moses said, we are not leaving without our sons and daughters. In a more elaborated response—we couldn’t believe the education we have as Seventh-day Adventists, we have to prepare to serve in this life and also in the life to come. Intentionally, five or six decades ago, plans were made. Every single church would have a constituent school. All churches must support Christian education. An intentional decision. This is an opportunity for the pastors and teachers to form school boards and sit and plan together. This ownership, the sense of ownership came up. Another decision is that we consider the educators as ministers. They are in front of the students, talking and praying. Every day. Sometimes when the student has a problem, they go to the teachers. We have committed teachers. Another decision that was intentional was to make these teachers delegates to constistuency sessions. They could participate in all of the decision making processes. This is part of what we do. And of course as officers we participate on the boards. We want to cross the pearly gates with our children when the Lord comes. (Ted Wilson ends interviews with Paul Negrete, Bonnie Iversen, and Velino Salazar) Wilson: What a privilege to see what God is doing through dedicated Seventh-day Adventist educators in metropolitan Los Angeles to inspire young people to love Jesus, serve Him in Total Member Involvement and be part of the last-day proclamation of the three angels’ messages. Praise God for what all of you are doing for Adventist education! Fellow leaders in administration and education, God has a great plan for His biblical and Spirit of Prophecy model of education. God intends to use His schools to be a witness of what He can do to change lives, to inspire young people to proclaim His Word and to make a huge difference in the destiny of millions of people. This church and its educational system are not destined to simply become one church among many in the patchwork of denominations. No, this is a unique movement with a unique message on a unique mission led by the Captain of the Hosts, Jesus Christ, the Master Teacher. The Seventh-day Adventist Church will not be neutralized and its educational system taken over by secular influences if we will humbly submit to the Lord and remember His biblical and Spirit of Prophecy counsels. We are not to blend with the world but to shine with heavenly distinction as we proclaim Christ and His distinctive Christ-centered biblical doctrines. Don’t forget God’s eternal instructions for Adventist education in the Bible, in the book Education, and in other Spirit of Prophecy writings. Don’t worry about criticism and attacks against you personally if you are following God’s leading and His Word. Be strong and stay the course against all odds. God is on your side. Lean completely on Him in all things. This is what I try to do personally as I face issues and challenges. In God’s hands you are safe as you proclaim and promote God’s incredible educational principles and His model for Seventh-day Adventist education. Be defenders and enactors of God’s sacred educational plans for the “schools of the prophets” throughout your conferences, unions, and divisions. God’s church is depending on your personal commitment and the truth you hold in your hands. Be strong and realize the Lord has power over everything you face. Visit to David and Goliath On that recent trip to Israel with Mark Finley and Michael Hasel, we stopped on a mountaintop to overlook the Valley of Elah. You remember it as the place where Israel was confronted with the Philistine army and Goliath. That story is a favorite of all children and has great implications for adults. As we looked down on the valley, Michael described the possible line-up of Israelites on one ridge and the Philistines on a facing ridge. The valley was between them where David met Goliath. It brought the story alive as we imagined the scene that unfolds in 1 Samuel 17. David, the young student taught by God as he shepherded the flocks. David, who learned to trust in God with a simple faith, faced Goliath who represented all that humanism and paganism could offer. Goliath, who defied the army of Israel and in essence the God of heaven. Goliath represents all that the devil will throw against you as Seventh-day Adventist educators and administrators. But fear not, God has a plan and it is a simple one: uphold Bible truth, heed the counsel from the Spirit of Prophecy, and in so doing fulfill His model for education. You will recall that David chose five smooth stones from the brook in the Valley of Elah. I hold in my hand a stone from that brook. When we finished looking at the valley from the mountaintop, we urged Michael to let us go to the valley and seek some stones from that brook. Nancy and I collected some and will be placing them in small boxes for each of our 10 grandchildren as reminders to them of God’s great power in simply following His instructions. David met Goliath with those great words of faith found in 1 Samuel 17:45-47: “Then David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.’” You well know the ending of that story and the complete victory of Israel over the Philistines because a young student of the Lord believed His Word and God performed a miracle to His glory just as He will do for you in Adventist education as you follow God’s amazing instructions in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. A “Stone” for You I want to put something in your hands: a “stone” that can help to destroy the “Goliaths” facing you. A “stone” that represents the real power that can give you victory over worldly influences and propel your schools to victory all through the blood and grace of Jesus Christ, the Master Teacher. I want you to have a new copy of the book Education, one of the most valuable “stones” you will ever possess in your work that is a complement to the educational instructions in God’s Holy Word. Many of you already have your own copy of Education, and that is good. However, the fresh reading of this book under the leading of the Holy Spirit turned around San Gabriel Academy, and it will reinforce your pathway toward heavenly instruction in your life and in your school. I hope you read it. I’m reading my personal copy. Take that copy in your hands now. We have one for everyone here, and some in Spanish as needed. The principles in this book, if read carefully and prayerfully, can change your life and the direction of your institution. God’s instructions in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy will help prepare this generation for Christ’s soon coming. The second coming of Christ is the greatest culmination of the Seventh-day Adventist educational process, when men and women from all over this globe will be prepared, through the grace of Christ, to meet Him. One of these days very soon, we will look up and see a small, dark cloud about half the size of a man’s hand. It will get larger and brighter. All of heaven poured out for this climactic event. Right in the middle of that cloud will be the One we have waited for, our Savior and Lord, the Master Teacher, Jesus Christ. We’ll look up and say, “This is the God we have waited for,” and Christ will look down and say, “Well done, good and faithful servants in Adventist education, enter into the joy of your Lord.” We will join Him in the air with all those who have been blessed by Adventist education and many more to be with Him forever all through His grace and righteousness as we head to the eternal classroom of heaven, learning throughout eternity from the Master Teacher Himself. Today will you commit yourself to God’s great plans for Seventh-day Adventist education to use you in preparing young people and their characters to meet Jesus in the air? Are you willing to redouble your efforts to remember God’s incredible and amazing biblical and Spirit of Prophecy instructions for Adventist education and give Him all the glory? If so, would you stand with me in commitment to Christ and His plans for Seventh-day Adventist education? Please hold your copy of Education high as we pledge ourselves in prayer to not follow our plans but God’s plans alone for Adventist education.

Daily Sermons # 7 All These Things Fulfilled By John Thiel, Jesus spoke and said: Luke 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. We have been made aware in the study of prophecy that the children of the veterans of World War Two, that generation, will experience the return of Jesus. It will happen within the life span of that generation. It shall not pass, said Jesus. Luke 21:32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. Which generation? The study of the fig tree, the Hebrew nation coming back to a position of nationhood shooting, is a powerful direction in prophecy that identifies that generation since 1948. But there is something more here. We notice in the words of Luke 21:25-28 that it points to the Second World War and after. Luke 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. … 32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. What generation? In the time when men’s hearts are failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. When did men’s hearts begin to fail them for fear because of the things that are coming to pass on the earth? The Testimony of Jesus describes the two world wars: I was shown the inhabitants of the earth in the utmost confusion. War, bloodshed, privation, want, famine, and pestilence were abroad in the land. As these things surrounded God’s people, they began to press together, and to cast aside their little difficulties. Self-dignity no longer controlled them; deep humility took its place. Suffering, perplexity, and privation caused reason to resume its throne, and the passionate and unreasonable man became sane, and acted with discretion and wisdom. {1T 268.1} My attention was then called from the scene. There seemed to be a little time of peace. Once more the inhabitants of the earth were presented before me; and again everything was in the utmost confusion. Strife, war, and bloodshed, with famine and pestilence, raged everywhere. Other nations were engaged in this war and confusion. War caused famine. Want and bloodshed caused pestilence. And then men’s hearts failed them for fear, “and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” {1T 268.2} The First World War, a little time of peace, and then the Second World War. The description that is given here: Want, famine, the Great Depression between the two world wars, and then, after the Second World War, the fear that was uppermost in the minds of the leaders of this planet – The Cold War, the fear – and the terrible scenes of nature unfolding ever since the Second World War. It is to this generation that Jesus says, It shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled. Why was it that men’s hearts were failing them for fear? We have an indication already. Armageddon John . . . was a witness of the terrible scenes that will take place as signs of Christ’s coming. He saw armies mustering for battle, and men’s hearts failing them for fear. He saw the earth moved out of its place, the mountains carried into the midst of the sea, the waves thereof roaring and troubled, and the mountains shaking with the swelling thereof. He saw the vials of God’s wrath opened, and pestilence, famine, and death come upon the inhabitants of the earth. {7BC 982.3} Men’s hearts were failing them for fear because of the warfare that was mustering, the scenes of nature. These are all frightening circumstances which Jesus is referring to, and He says in reference to all this, Watch therefore. Luke 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, That is why men’s hearts were failing them for fear – because of the things He just described. And He said we are to watch and pray always that we may escape all those things. Besides the terrible events of nature and warfare, there are also the social, economic and religious atrocities that are described in Jesus’ words for the last days. In reference to all these things, Jesus says, You need to escape, you need to avoid this. When it comes to the war of Armageddon, there is another reference of this nature where we are told to be careful that we don’t find ourselves in an embarrassing situation. In the context of these brooding wars Jesus tells us: Revelation 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed [is] he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. Jesus is warning and saying, Watch carefully, pray always that you can be worthy of escaping. To those at this time heeding this voice and revelation of Jesus, as we see these things begin to come to pass, what should we be doing? We should lift up our heads and rejoice for our redemption draweth nigh. To the true believers in these last days, with all these things that we need to escape from, and men’s hearts failing them for fear, we should be rejoicing. We should be filled with joy at the thought of Christ’s soon appearing. To those that love His appearing He will come without sin unto salvation. {HP 355.3} We should be rejoicing because of that: our beloved Saviour is about to come. So while men’s hearts are failing around us there should be rejoicing. But if our minds are filled with thoughts of earthly things, we cannot look forward with joy to His appearing. {Ibid.} We can’t look forward with joy if what? If our mind is not occupied with what He was saying – praying always, watching thereunto, so that we might be accounted worthy. If we are not doing that and our mind is occupied with the things of this world, then what is our danger? We will not look forward with rejoicing because something will trouble us. In fact Jesus warns us of what will cause us grief during this time. Luke 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares. That day should be a day of rejoicing. As these things begin to come to pass we should be rejoicing and anticipating; but what is the danger that our Lord and Saviour warns us of? He says, Take heed to yourself, lest your heart be overcharged. While others’ hearts are failing them for fear, what could be happening to ours? We may be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness. Is this not the plight of today? We are living in a superfluous lifestyle. We don’t think so, but we are. We think we need this and we need that and we need the other thing, and as a consequence people are working and working to get more and more because they want to keep up with the surfeiting and the vastness of possibilities that lie before them. The more they earn money the more pleasure and the more surfeiting they can have. But as they do that, it creates cares and perplexities – the cares of this life. Our heart becomes overcharged. Can you identify how the cares of this life do affect your heart? So Jesus is warning: Scale down, don’t permit your thoughts upon earthly things to overcharge your heart. We see the plight of our age; and Jesus speaks to us directly and tells us to take heed to ourselves that we be not overcharged. Angels were represented to me as looking on with intense interest to mark the appearance of the weary yet faithful watchers, lest they be too sorely tried, and sink under the toil and hardships made doubly severe because their brethren had been diverted from their watch, and become drunk with worldly cares and beguiled by worldly prosperity. {2T 193.1} Are we associated with brethren and family that are so bent on pursuing the cares of this world, of gaining prosperity, and having to work more than what is normal to keep up with the Joneses (as the term is)? As this happens to God’s people the angels are looking on, and they see those who are faithful watchers sorely tried, in danger of sinking under the toil and hardships made doubly severe because of their brethren who pursuing these things. These heavenly angels grieved that those who were once watching should, by their indolence and unfaithfulness, increase the trial and burdens of those who were earnestly and perseveringly endeavoring to maintain their waiting, watching position. {Ibid.} You can see the drama described here. That is our perplexity. I saw that it was impossible to have the affections and interests engrossed in worldly cares, to be increasing earthly possessions, and yet be in a waiting, watching position, as our Saviour has commanded. {2T 193.2} It would be impossible to be in a waiting, watching position if we are engrossed and our affections and interests are engrossed in worldly cares, to increase and sustain the increase of our worldly possessions. The Delusive Snares of Satan Said the angel: “They can secure but one world. In order to acquire the heavenly treasure, they must sacrifice the earthly. They cannot have both worlds.” I saw how necessary a continuance of faithfulness in watching was in order to escape the delusive snares of Satan. {Ibid.} Did you notice the word escape? What are we to escape? The delusive snares of Satan. That is what Jesus was talking about that we should be accounted worthy to escape. We see then that Jesus is referring to a multiple danger, whether it be the dangers of world wars, the dangers of pestilence, etc., but also the delusive snares of Satan by which he is working systematically to bind us to the cares of keeping our sumptuous life. When I was in Kenya, there was not such a sumptuous life. I was living in a mud house. It was very primitive, and yet some of modernism had come there. But we live a sumptuous life, and to keep that life sumptuously going on, we keep on thinking we have to overdo it, and our heart is challenged all the time to keep up with these delusions of Satan. We must escape these. [Satan] leads those who should be waiting and watching, to take an advance step toward the world; they have no intention of going further, they have no intention of going further, but that one step removed them that much further from Jesus, and made it easier to take the next; {Ibid.} Have you experienced that you were really on fire once, but then you took certain steps and you were removed from the intimacy of Jesus by that step? …and thus step after step is taken toward the world, until all the difference between them and the world is a profession, a name only. They have lost their peculiar, holy character, and there is nothing except their profession to distinguish them from the lovers of the world around them. {Ibid.} These are the things that Jesus is talking about when He says that we must be worthy to escape. To escape all these things requires something. What does it require? It requires a full attention on Jesus Christ. Accounted Worthy to Escape Christ bids us watch, that we may be accounted worthy to escape the things that are coming on the earth. It is of the greatest importance that we heed this warning. The enemy of all righteousness is on our track, seeking to lead us to forget God. {HP 355.2} What is it that makes us worthy to escape all these things? What is the worthiness? Jesus gave us the example: The Saviour’s life on earth, though lived in the midst of conflict, was a life of peace. While angry enemies were constantly pursuing Him, He said, “He that sent Me is with Me: the Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him.” John 8:29. No storm of human or satanic wrath could disturb the calm of that perfect communion with God. {MB 15.2} What is it? Perfect communion with God. Jesus said that we are to pray always. What does praying always mean? Perfect communion with God; and Satan is at work to break into that perfect communion with God, because it is that perfect communion with God that makes us worthy to escape all these things. We often think, Well, I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy of anything. Yes, that is correct, we are not worthy of anything. But to be worthy, in this respect, is not an item of goodness in myself, it is my conscious need to rely on the Lord. That is “accounted worthy.” I am absolutely bereft without focusing entirely upon my communion with, and my direction from, the Lord, praying constantly. Let us explore this “being worthy” in reference to this activity of constantly paying attention to our Lord, and not permitting Satan to separate us from close communion with God. Enoch is given as an example for us today who should be translated. Enoch walked with God. He was of one mind with God. The prophet asks, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” If we are of one mind with God, our will will be swallowed up in God’s will and we shall follow wherever God leads the way. {TMK 250.2} Enoch walked with God, so must we if we would escape. What will we do? We will follow wherever God leads the way. Is this not the simple answer? If I want to be able to escape from all these things that Jesus delineated, then I will make God’s will my own and I will commune with Him by just humbly doing precisely what He says in leading me along the way that He says. Just see yourself holding hands with your heavenly Father. As a loving child places his hand in that of his father, and walks with him in perfect trust whether it is dark or bright, so the sons and daughters of God are to walk with Jesus through joy or sorrow. {Ibid.} A lovely thought, isn’t it? But put it into practise. When we are surrounded by this and that perplexity because Satan has put upon us circumstances that we have submitted to by his sophistry, we find ourselves bound. For instance, if you are bound with a debt, what do you have to do? You keep on working hard to get rid of the debt, because Satan comes along and says, But you need this and you need that; and so you go into more debt. And then he says, Now you need this and you need that; and you go into some more debt. This is one of the problems in the last days – the cares of this world take you over. So it is that we are not listening because our heart is overcharged. We haven’t been listening, so the Lord is trying to point out to us that we are to listen to His way carefully in these last days, like a child ready to obey the father. What does this require? What is the blessing that Jesus pronounced on the mount? Blessed are the who? The meek! What is a meek person? He has no drive of his own, he is just meekly following instruction. That is the “accounted worthy to escape.” Satan presses his temptation upon them and urges them to follow the inclinations of the natural heart. But those who desire to be true to Christ will listen to the voice that says, “This is the way, walk ye in it” (Isaiah 30:21). They will decide to take the course of the righteous, although it is more difficult to pursue, more painful to follow, than the way of their own heart. {TMK 251.2} We read these words so glibly, but this is precisely what I have found modern Christianity is doing. People say, “I love the Lord. Oh it’s so nice to walk with Him, look at how He is blessing us with all these goods, all these riches.” But what is Laodicea’s problem? “You don’t know you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.” So we praise God and we think that in following Him we are entering into an easier path. But then comes the path that He is really calling us to and we say, No, that’s too hard, that’s too uncomfortable. But those who want to be true to Jesus “will decide to take the course of the righteous, although it is more difficult to pursue, more painful to follow, than the way of their own heart.” We will listen to the voice that says, Here, this way; the voice of Jesus. We need to receive divine wisdom in the daily concerns of life in order that we may display sound judgment and choose the safe path because it is the right one. {TMK 251.3} We need to have divine wisdom, a divine instruction that we must follow in the daily concerns of life. He who acts upon his own judgment will follow the inclination of the natural heart, but he whose mind is opened to the Word of God will prayerfully consider every way of his feet, so that he may honor God and keep the way of the Lord. He will remember that “even Christ pleased not himself,” {Ibid.} This wonderful Saviour followed a path that was not pleasing to Himself. He is praying for us. We are to escape these things. He is saying, “Here is the safe path; for you to escape follow My instructions. Hear My voice.” So we are to remember that “even Christ pleased not Himself,” He will remember that “even Christ pleased not himself,” and he will consider it a great privilege to follow in His steps. He will take his perplexities to God in prayer and ask the guidance of Him whose property he is. {Ibid.} Do you like the idea that you are not your own? We are God’s property. Isn’t that a humbling mentality? I can’t do as I please, I will do as God pleases, so I will come with my perplexities to God. He will realize that he belongs to God–soul, body, mind, and strength. {Ibid.} We are not our own, we belong to God. We will realise this and we will do as we are told. Do we? This is the challenge. We must be worthy to escape all these things. What were the key thoughts? Follow wherever God leads the way. Listen to the voice that says, This is the way, walk ye in it. Let us go into some depth of applying that principle of meekly following the instruction, doing as I’m told and not doing as I want to respond to my circumstances; because Satan is creating them. Let’s apply it to escaping all these things. What are we to escape? Social Decadence One of the things that we need to escape is the social decadence of these last days. What are the social horrifying circumstances that surround us? These are the things we need to escape, the perils of the last days: 2 Timothy 3:1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: If you are surrounded with all that, let your imagination under inspiration help you understand what kind of things you need to escape here. Are you a parent? Are you a child? What is the description of the last days? Disobedience to parents. How strong is that today? Do the young people obey their parents? No, sir. And how does the parent manage that? They’re pulling their hair out. They are trying all sorts of ways and means, but while they are trying to do all this, they are not going to God and saying, How do I handle this, Lord? In every given situation, whether it be disobedience to parents, unthankfulness, unholiness, you are surrounded with these things. But to be meek what must you be prepared to do? What does it mean to be meek? It means to be patient and gentle under wrong. You are surrounded by people who will do you wrong, and you need to escape that. How can you do it? Be meek. You can be meek by obeying God’s instructions. When men are going to be “accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,” as you are under that experience, how are you going to escape to survive? These details that are written in 2 Timothy 3 will affect people in the negative, and this is precisely what we see. We need to escape from all these terrible influences. Matthew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound [in all those details of 2 Timothy 3], the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. The same is escaping. We must be accounted worthy to escape. What must I do? I must listen to the instructions of my Lord and Saviour implicitly, no ifs and buts! none whatsoever. But we keep on saying, But, but, but, this person is such a lovely person, I have to win them to the Lord; therefore I will go their way. Nonsense! If you say ifs and buts and don’t follow the exact instruction of the Lord, you and I will get unstuck. In 2 Corinthians 6 is the exact instruction, and this is what I must listen to and act upon. I cannot bind with people who will not follow Jesus exactly. 2 Corinthians 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: Yoked means you work together. You just can’t. If you want to do what Jesus tells you to do, the one who is an unbeliever in Jesus will not do it the way you want and you have to give in to him. 2 Corinthians 6:14 …for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; It is a wonderful communion – God inside of me, 2 Corinthians 6:16 …as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you, What a beautiful relationship concept. Jesus did it, He stuck with it. 2 Corinthians 6:18 And [I] will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Study this in your interaction with people and we will follow what Jesus says. We will hear God’s word and we will do it. This is how we will be accounted worthy to escape the social decadence around us. Religious Decadence Remember the words of Jesus, There shall arise false Christs, and false prophets (Matt. 24:11, 24). What will they do? They will say, We are the ones, come. And we feel guilty if we don’t unite with those who have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. What is the call when the world around us is religiously demanding what they think is right and Jesus says something different? In Revelation 18 is the call that Jesus promotes through the angel. The description is plain; we know exactly that what is described here is what we are living under. Babylon is described in the previous chapter, the multitude of churches: Revelation 17:5 And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. We are surrounded by the harlots, the daughters of Babylon, all the different churches uniting with the world in some way or another, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. So as they all fall flat on their face under the pressure of Satan’s sophistry, here is the message: Revelation 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, Isn’t it wonderful how the Lord gives us guidance in these last days, not just in a small muffled voice, but with a loud voice, powerfully, Come here, Revelation 18:2 …Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, If you study this carefully, this deals with Adventism as well, another daughter of the mother. Revelation 18:2 …Babylon the great is fallen, … and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. If you study that in detail you discover the situation we are in with the churches. What is the call? Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. This is the voice of Jesus, the voice of God that is saying, This is the way, walk ye in it. Do it! This is how I will escape all these things. Political Warfare You read of the political warfare in Jeremiah 25:31-38 Jeremiah 25:31 A noise shall come [even] to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them [that are] wicked to the sword, saith the LORD. 32 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. 33 And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from [one] end of the earth even unto the [other] end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground. 34 Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves [in the ashes], ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. 35 And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. This is a very detailed account of the political warfare in these times where God is orchestrating the world events to create war among the nations. But as the whole world is plunging into war, what is the call of Jesus? What did He say to Pilate in the judgment hall? John 18:36 …My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. This is the word of Jesus to God’s people today that they may escape the destruction of the political warfare in these last days. But poor Christians believe they can safely go to war as they did in the First and the Second World War. They think it’s safe to do so; they are not listening to Jesus. And as a consequence they won’t escape, that they might not receive of her plagues, and not be partakers of her sins. Economic Peril What did Jesus say was our danger? Luke 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares. To be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and the cares of this life. That creates economic upheaval that I want to escape from. There is the counsel from Jesus. Pestilence Have you heard of SARS? Have you heard of bird flu? Have you heard of swine flu? I am so sad that a soul with whom I studied has died of swine flu. He was a wonderful soul. It was a joy to share God’s word with him, and he died of swine flu. Why? Because he was not heeding the voice of Jesus through all the morass of the confusion that exists in the churches, and he followed a different voice than what saved him from his terrible plight of pestilence and disease that he himself had and was saved from. My mind is overwhelmed if I think about it. But here is the word of Jesus in the Old Testament, the call to save us from pestilence. There are many other scriptures I could use, but this one summarises them beautifully. Exodus 15:26 And [he] said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I [am] the LORD that healeth thee. We must be meek and ready to follow His instruction. When pestilence is around, this needs to be followed. I must follow the directions of my Lord, no matter how I feel, no matter what confuses me. I must do what He says, and no ifs and buts. Oh but I’m so weak; no buts. I’m so frail; no buts. There is a plain direction and when God says, Go this way, I must go that way and I will escape. Remember what Lot did? He said, I don’t want to go up into the mountains; I want to live a bit of a comfortable life, send me to another city. So God sent him to Zoar; but then he had to go eventually anyway. The point is, the cushy life that we are dependent upon prevents us from doing exactly what God says. In all the concerns of life I should follow the divine direction. So if there is something troubling you, seek divine direction. Do what the Lord says, not what you think, not what I think, not what is my particular individual preconception. I think this and I think that with regards to health, nothing like that. A plain “Thus saith the Lord.” Satan has got it all sewn up with regards to health. He has all sorts of doctrines and teachings out there in regards to our health message to take us further than what God is saying. Don’t go further than what God is saying specifically. He will tell you straight. Don’t go to extremes beyond His direction. Have we learnt to surrender entirely to the Lord by simply obeying the one who loves me enough to become one with me, so that He can die with me? You know, I’m finding this now the most important message for our time: to enter into an intimate, trusting, absolutely warm relationship with my Lord and Saviour, to have my will bound up with His will, rather than my will being different to His. We need to have an exact communion with God, praying always, as Jesus said. Look at the beautiful picture that is described when we do this. Here is the description of the worthiness we must have so that we may escape. What does it mean to be accounted worthy? Psalm 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I must dwell under my God’s direction. Psalm 91:2 I will say of the LORD, [He is] my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. If you trust in someone, don’t you do what he tells you to do? But how many people do? A plain direction from God is not as comfortable as a little variation like with Lot; and Lot scarcely escaped. In fact he didn’t escape from the corruption, did he? His two daughters… what a story. Psalm 91:3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, [and] from the noisome pestilence. You will escape if you trust Him, if you do what He says. Psalm 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth [shall be thy] shield and buckler. So whether it be the social, or religious, or political, or economic decadence, or the earthquakes, the pestilences, etc., if any of these things are there, follow the direction. When I was studying with someone through the week, he was talking with me and saying, I’m already doing this and that and the other thing, and still I’ve got problems and there’s still more expected of me. He was in a bit of a state of perplexity, and he was talking to me as we were going on through the subject, and he said, “I was really perplexed and I just said to myself, Well, it should be easy as just obeying!” And light shone into his brain; the Lord smiled upon him and said, That’s the very thing I’m waiting for. As simple as that. It’s not complicated, it’s just to obey. That’s all. “But, but, but…. This doesn’t look right. It doesn’t look right. I’m not being Christian if I separate myself from my relatives in regard to certain things,” like doing what Jesus says when they say do something else. “Oh, just a little bit.” Nothing. Exactly as He speaks, in every respect. He will be thy shield and buckler. Psalm 91:5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; [nor] for the arrow [that] flieth by day; 6 [Nor] for the pestilence [that] walketh in darkness; [nor] for the destruction [that] wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; [but] it shall not come nigh thee. See what Jesus said? Watch and pray always that you may escape all these things. That is what this is talking about. Psalm 91:8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Why? Psalm 91:9 Because thou hast made the LORD, [which is] my refuge, [even] the most High, thy habitation; What does that mean? Cohabitating together, communing. Psalm 91:10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. That is what this is all about to be worthy to escape all these things. God looks upon us as worthy if we trust Him as a child trusts his father and obeys without any internal argument. When Jesus wanted to save Israel, when He came the first time, what was His plaintive cry? Matthew 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [thou] that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under [her] wings, and ye would not! The chickens come running and the hen puts up her wings up and covers her chickens. God says, “I have tried to do it. I have called you like a mother chook. I have called you, and I called you, and I knew that the hawk would come and get you, but you would not listen to me.” The hawk has got the majority of Adventists and believers today. They are caught; and while he might be ravaging the chickens, which you and I are, we can still get an opportunity to flee under His wings. We must do what He says. We must obey Him be the cost what it may. Then we will escape these things. Amen.

Daily Sermons # 4 Worthy to Escape By John Thiel, Jesus spoke and said: Luke 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. We have been made aware in the study of prophecy that the children of the veterans of World War Two, that generation, will experience the return of Jesus. It will happen within the life span of that generation. It shall not pass, said Jesus. Luke 21:32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. Which generation? The study of the fig tree, the Hebrew nation coming back to a position of nationhood shooting, is a powerful direction in prophecy that identifies that generation since 1948. But there is something more here. We notice in the words of Luke 21:25-28 that it points to the Second World War and after. Luke 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. … 32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. What generation? In the time when men’s hearts are failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. When did men’s hearts begin to fail them for fear because of the things that are coming to pass on the earth? The Testimony of Jesus describes the two world wars: I was shown the inhabitants of the earth in the utmost confusion. War, bloodshed, privation, want, famine, and pestilence were abroad in the land. As these things surrounded God’s people, they began to press together, and to cast aside their little difficulties. Self-dignity no longer controlled them; deep humility took its place. Suffering, perplexity, and privation caused reason to resume its throne, and the passionate and unreasonable man became sane, and acted with discretion and wisdom. {1T 268.1} My attention was then called from the scene. There seemed to be a little time of peace. Once more the inhabitants of the earth were presented before me; and again everything was in the utmost confusion. Strife, war, and bloodshed, with famine and pestilence, raged everywhere. Other nations were engaged in this war and confusion. War caused famine. Want and bloodshed caused pestilence. And then men’s hearts failed them for fear, “and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” {1T 268.2} The First World War, a little time of peace, and then the Second World War. The description that is given here: Want, famine, the Great Depression between the two world wars, and then, after the Second World War, the fear that was uppermost in the minds of the leaders of this planet – The Cold War, the fear – and the terrible scenes of nature unfolding ever since the Second World War. It is to this generation that Jesus says, It shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled. Why was it that men’s hearts were failing them for fear? We have an indication already. Armageddon John . . . was a witness of the terrible scenes that will take place as signs of Christ’s coming. He saw armies mustering for battle, and men’s hearts failing them for fear. He saw the earth moved out of its place, the mountains carried into the midst of the sea, the waves thereof roaring and troubled, and the mountains shaking with the swelling thereof. He saw the vials of God’s wrath opened, and pestilence, famine, and death come upon the inhabitants of the earth. {7BC 982.3} Men’s hearts were failing them for fear because of the warfare that was mustering, the scenes of nature. These are all frightening circumstances which Jesus is referring to, and He says in reference to all this, Watch therefore. Luke 21:36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, That is why men’s hearts were failing them for fear – because of the things He just described. And He said we are to watch and pray always that we may escape all those things. Besides the terrible events of nature and warfare, there are also the social, economic and religious atrocities that are described in Jesus’ words for the last days. In reference to all these things, Jesus says, You need to escape, you need to avoid this. When it comes to the war of Armageddon, there is another reference of this nature where we are told to be careful that we don’t find ourselves in an embarrassing situation. In the context of these brooding wars Jesus tells us: Revelation 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed [is] he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. Jesus is warning and saying, Watch carefully, pray always that you can be worthy of escaping. To those at this time heeding this voice and revelation of Jesus, as we see these things begin to come to pass, what should we be doing? We should lift up our heads and rejoice for our redemption draweth nigh. To the true believers in these last days, with all these things that we need to escape from, and men’s hearts failing them for fear, we should be rejoicing. We should be filled with joy at the thought of Christ’s soon appearing. To those that love His appearing He will come without sin unto salvation. {HP 355.3} We should be rejoicing because of that: our beloved Saviour is about to come. So while men’s hearts are failing around us there should be rejoicing. But if our minds are filled with thoughts of earthly things, we cannot look forward with joy to His appearing. {Ibid.} We can’t look forward with joy if what? If our mind is not occupied with what He was saying – praying always, watching thereunto, so that we might be accounted worthy. If we are not doing that and our mind is occupied with the things of this world, then what is our danger? We will not look forward with rejoicing because something will trouble us. In fact Jesus warns us of what will cause us grief during this time. Luke 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares. That day should be a day of rejoicing. As these things begin to come to pass we should be rejoicing and anticipating; but what is the danger that our Lord and Saviour warns us of? He says, Take heed to yourself, lest your heart be overcharged. While others’ hearts are failing them for fear, what could be happening to ours? We may be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness. Is this not the plight of today? We are living in a superfluous lifestyle. We don’t think so, but we are. We think we need this and we need that and we need the other thing, and as a consequence people are working and working to get more and more because they want to keep up with the surfeiting and the vastness of possibilities that lie before them. The more they earn money the more pleasure and the more surfeiting they can have. But as they do that, it creates cares and perplexities – the cares of this life. Our heart becomes overcharged. Can you identify how the cares of this life do affect your heart? So Jesus is warning: Scale down, don’t permit your thoughts upon earthly things to overcharge your heart. We see the plight of our age; and Jesus speaks to us directly and tells us to take heed to ourselves that we be not overcharged. Angels were represented to me as looking on with intense interest to mark the appearance of the weary yet faithful watchers, lest they be too sorely tried, and sink under the toil and hardships made doubly severe because their brethren had been diverted from their watch, and become drunk with worldly cares and beguiled by worldly prosperity. {2T 193.1} Are we associated with brethren and family that are so bent on pursuing the cares of this world, of gaining prosperity, and having to work more than what is normal to keep up with the Joneses (as the term is)? As this happens to God’s people the angels are looking on, and they see those who are faithful watchers sorely tried, in danger of sinking under the toil and hardships made doubly severe because of their brethren who pursuing these things. These heavenly angels grieved that those who were once watching should, by their indolence and unfaithfulness, increase the trial and burdens of those who were earnestly and perseveringly endeavoring to maintain their waiting, watching position. {Ibid.} You can see the drama described here. That is our perplexity. I saw that it was impossible to have the affections and interests engrossed in worldly cares, to be increasing earthly possessions, and yet be in a waiting, watching position, as our Saviour has commanded. {2T 193.2} It would be impossible to be in a waiting, watching position if we are engrossed and our affections and interests are engrossed in worldly cares, to increase and sustain the increase of our worldly possessions. The Delusive Snares of Satan Said the angel: “They can secure but one world. In order to acquire the heavenly treasure, they must sacrifice the earthly. They cannot have both worlds.” I saw how necessary a continuance of faithfulness in watching was in order to escape the delusive snares of Satan. {Ibid.} Did you notice the word escape? What are we to escape? The delusive snares of Satan. That is what Jesus was talking about that we should be accounted worthy to escape. We see then that Jesus is referring to a multiple danger, whether it be the dangers of world wars, the dangers of pestilence, etc., but also the delusive snares of Satan by which he is working systematically to bind us to the cares of keeping our sumptuous life. When I was in Kenya, there was not such a sumptuous life. I was living in a mud house. It was very primitive, and yet some of modernism had come there. But we live a sumptuous life, and to keep that life sumptuously going on, we keep on thinking we have to overdo it, and our heart is challenged all the time to keep up with these delusions of Satan. We must escape these. [Satan] leads those who should be waiting and watching, to take an advance step toward the world; they have no intention of going further, they have no intention of going further, but that one step removed them that much further from Jesus, and made it easier to take the next; {Ibid.} Have you experienced that you were really on fire once, but then you took certain steps and you were removed from the intimacy of Jesus by that step? …and thus step after step is taken toward the world, until all the difference between them and the world is a profession, a name only. They have lost their peculiar, holy character, and there is nothing except their profession to distinguish them from the lovers of the world around them. {Ibid.} These are the things that Jesus is talking about when He says that we must be worthy to escape. To escape all these things requires something. What does it require? It requires a full attention on Jesus Christ. Accounted Worthy to Escape Christ bids us watch, that we may be accounted worthy to escape the things that are coming on the earth. It is of the greatest importance that we heed this warning. The enemy of all righteousness is on our track, seeking to lead us to forget God. {HP 355.2} What is it that makes us worthy to escape all these things? What is the worthiness? Jesus gave us the example: The Saviour’s life on earth, though lived in the midst of conflict, was a life of peace. While angry enemies were constantly pursuing Him, He said, “He that sent Me is with Me: the Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him.” John 8:29. No storm of human or satanic wrath could disturb the calm of that perfect communion with God. {MB 15.2} What is it? Perfect communion with God. Jesus said that we are to pray always. What does praying always mean? Perfect communion with God; and Satan is at work to break into that perfect communion with God, because it is that perfect communion with God that makes us worthy to escape all these things. We often think, Well, I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy of anything. Yes, that is correct, we are not worthy of anything. But to be worthy, in this respect, is not an item of goodness in myself, it is my conscious need to rely on the Lord. That is “accounted worthy.” I am absolutely bereft without focusing entirely upon my communion with, and my direction from, the Lord, praying constantly. Let us explore this “being worthy” in reference to this activity of constantly paying attention to our Lord, and not permitting Satan to separate us from close communion with God. Enoch is given as an example for us today who should be translated. Enoch walked with God. He was of one mind with God. The prophet asks, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” If we are of one mind with God, our will will be swallowed up in God’s will and we shall follow wherever God leads the way. {TMK 250.2} Enoch walked with God, so must we if we would escape. What will we do? We will follow wherever God leads the way. Is this not the simple answer? If I want to be able to escape from all these things that Jesus delineated, then I will make God’s will my own and I will commune with Him by just humbly doing precisely what He says in leading me along the way that He says. Just see yourself holding hands with your heavenly Father. As a loving child places his hand in that of his father, and walks with him in perfect trust whether it is dark or bright, so the sons and daughters of God are to walk with Jesus through joy or sorrow. {Ibid.} A lovely thought, isn’t it? But put it into practise. When we are surrounded by this and that perplexity because Satan has put upon us circumstances that we have submitted to by his sophistry, we find ourselves bound. For instance, if you are bound with a debt, what do you have to do? You keep on working hard to get rid of the debt, because Satan comes along and says, But you need this and you need that; and so you go into more debt. And then he says, Now you need this and you need that; and you go into some more debt. This is one of the problems in the last days – the cares of this world take you over. So it is that we are not listening because our heart is overcharged. We haven’t been listening, so the Lord is trying to point out to us that we are to listen to His way carefully in these last days, like a child ready to obey the father. What does this require? What is the blessing that Jesus pronounced on the mount? Blessed are the who? The meek! What is a meek person? He has no drive of his own, he is just meekly following instruction. That is the “accounted worthy to escape.” Satan presses his temptation upon them and urges them to follow the inclinations of the natural heart. But those who desire to be true to Christ will listen to the voice that says, “This is the way, walk ye in it” (Isaiah 30:21). They will decide to take the course of the righteous, although it is more difficult to pursue, more painful to follow, than the way of their own heart. {TMK 251.2} We read these words so glibly, but this is precisely what I have found modern Christianity is doing. People say, “I love the Lord. Oh it’s so nice to walk with Him, look at how He is blessing us with all these goods, all these riches.” But what is Laodicea’s problem? “You don’t know you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.” So we praise God and we think that in following Him we are entering into an easier path. But then comes the path that He is really calling us to and we say, No, that’s too hard, that’s too uncomfortable. But those who want to be true to Jesus “will decide to take the course of the righteous, although it is more difficult to pursue, more painful to follow, than the way of their own heart.” We will listen to the voice that says, Here, this way; the voice of Jesus. We need to receive divine wisdom in the daily concerns of life in order that we may display sound judgment and choose the safe path because it is the right one. {TMK 251.3} We need to have divine wisdom, a divine instruction that we must follow in the daily concerns of life. He who acts upon his own judgment will follow the inclination of the natural heart, but he whose mind is opened to the Word of God will prayerfully consider every way of his feet, so that he may honor God and keep the way of the Lord. He will remember that “even Christ pleased not himself,” {Ibid.} This wonderful Saviour followed a path that was not pleasing to Himself. He is praying for us. We are to escape these things. He is saying, “Here is the safe path; for you to escape follow My instructions. Hear My voice.” So we are to remember that “even Christ pleased not Himself,” He will remember that “even Christ pleased not himself,” and he will consider it a great privilege to follow in His steps. He will take his perplexities to God in prayer and ask the guidance of Him whose property he is. {Ibid.} Do you like the idea that you are not your own? We are God’s property. Isn’t that a humbling mentality? I can’t do as I please, I will do as God pleases, so I will come with my perplexities to God. He will realize that he belongs to God–soul, body, mind, and strength. {Ibid.} We are not our own, we belong to God. We will realise this and we will do as we are told. Do we? This is the challenge. We must be worthy to escape all these things. What were the key thoughts? Follow wherever God leads the way. Listen to the voice that says, This is the way, walk ye in it. Let us go into some depth of applying that principle of meekly following the instruction, doing as I’m told and not doing as I want to respond to my circumstances; because Satan is creating them. Let’s apply it to escaping all these things. What are we to escape? Social Decadence One of the things that we need to escape is the social decadence of these last days. What are the social horrifying circumstances that surround us? These are the things we need to escape, the perils of the last days: 2 Timothy 3:1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: If you are surrounded with all that, let your imagination under inspiration help you understand what kind of things you need to escape here. Are you a parent? Are you a child? What is the description of the last days? Disobedience to parents. How strong is that today? Do the young people obey their parents? No, sir. And how does the parent manage that? They’re pulling their hair out. They are trying all sorts of ways and means, but while they are trying to do all this, they are not going to God and saying, How do I handle this, Lord? In every given situation, whether it be disobedience to parents, unthankfulness, unholiness, you are surrounded with these things. But to be meek what must you be prepared to do? What does it mean to be meek? It means to be patient and gentle under wrong. You are surrounded by people who will do you wrong, and you need to escape that. How can you do it? Be meek. You can be meek by obeying God’s instructions. When men are going to be “accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,” as you are under that experience, how are you going to escape to survive? These details that are written in 2 Timothy 3 will affect people in the negative, and this is precisely what we see. We need to escape from all these terrible influences. Matthew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound [in all those details of 2 Timothy 3], the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. The same is escaping. We must be accounted worthy to escape. What must I do? I must listen to the instructions of my Lord and Saviour implicitly, no ifs and buts! none whatsoever. But we keep on saying, But, but, but, this person is such a lovely person, I have to win them to the Lord; therefore I will go their way. Nonsense! If you say ifs and buts and don’t follow the exact instruction of the Lord, you and I will get unstuck. In 2 Corinthians 6 is the exact instruction, and this is what I must listen to and act upon. I cannot bind with people who will not follow Jesus exactly. 2 Corinthians 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: Yoked means you work together. You just can’t. If you want to do what Jesus tells you to do, the one who is an unbeliever in Jesus will not do it the way you want and you have to give in to him. 2 Corinthians 6:14 …for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; It is a wonderful communion – God inside of me, 2 Corinthians 6:16 …as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in [them]; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you, What a beautiful relationship concept. Jesus did it, He stuck with it. 2 Corinthians 6:18 And [I] will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Study this in your interaction with people and we will follow what Jesus says. We will hear God’s word and we will do it. This is how we will be accounted worthy to escape the social decadence around us. Religious Decadence Remember the words of Jesus, There shall arise false Christs, and false prophets (Matt. 24:11, 24). What will they do? They will say, We are the ones, come. And we feel guilty if we don’t unite with those who have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. What is the call when the world around us is religiously demanding what they think is right and Jesus says something different? In Revelation 18 is the call that Jesus promotes through the angel. The description is plain; we know exactly that what is described here is what we are living under. Babylon is described in the previous chapter, the multitude of churches: Revelation 17:5 And upon her forehead [was] a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. We are surrounded by the harlots, the daughters of Babylon, all the different churches uniting with the world in some way or another, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. So as they all fall flat on their face under the pressure of Satan’s sophistry, here is the message: Revelation 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, Isn’t it wonderful how the Lord gives us guidance in these last days, not just in a small muffled voice, but with a loud voice, powerfully, Come here, Revelation 18:2 …Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, If you study this carefully, this deals with Adventism as well, another daughter of the mother. Revelation 18:2 …Babylon the great is fallen, … and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. If you study that in detail you discover the situation we are in with the churches. What is the call? Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. This is the voice of Jesus, the voice of God that is saying, This is the way, walk ye in it. Do it! This is how I will escape all these things. Political Warfare You read of the political warfare in Jeremiah 25:31-38 Jeremiah 25:31 A noise shall come [even] to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them [that are] wicked to the sword, saith the LORD. 32 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. 33 And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from [one] end of the earth even unto the [other] end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground. 34 Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves [in the ashes], ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. 35 And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. This is a very detailed account of the political warfare in these times where God is orchestrating the world events to create war among the nations. But as the whole world is plunging into war, what is the call of Jesus? What did He say to Pilate in the judgment hall? John 18:36 …My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. This is the word of Jesus to God’s people today that they may escape the destruction of the political warfare in these last days. But poor Christians believe they can safely go to war as they did in the First and the Second World War. They think it’s safe to do so; they are not listening to Jesus. And as a consequence they won’t escape, that they might not receive of her plagues, and not be partakers of her sins. Economic Peril What did Jesus say was our danger? Luke 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares. To be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and the cares of this life. That creates economic upheaval that I want to escape from. There is the counsel from Jesus. Pestilence Have you heard of SARS? Have you heard of bird flu? Have you heard of swine flu? I am so sad that a soul with whom I studied has died of swine flu. He was a wonderful soul. It was a joy to share God’s word with him, and he died of swine flu. Why? Because he was not heeding the voice of Jesus through all the morass of the confusion that exists in the churches, and he followed a different voice than what saved him from his terrible plight of pestilence and disease that he himself had and was saved from. My mind is overwhelmed if I think about it. But here is the word of Jesus in the Old Testament, the call to save us from pestilence. There are many other scriptures I could use, but this one summarises them beautifully. Exodus 15:26 And [he] said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I [am] the LORD that healeth thee. We must be meek and ready to follow His instruction. When pestilence is around, this needs to be followed. I must follow the directions of my Lord, no matter how I feel, no matter what confuses me. I must do what He says, and no ifs and buts. Oh but I’m so weak; no buts. I’m so frail; no buts. There is a plain direction and when God says, Go this way, I must go that way and I will escape. Remember what Lot did? He said, I don’t want to go up into the mountains; I want to live a bit of a comfortable life, send me to another city. So God sent him to Zoar; but then he had to go eventually anyway. The point is, the cushy life that we are dependent upon prevents us from doing exactly what God says. In all the concerns of life I should follow the divine direction. So if there is something troubling you, seek divine direction. Do what the Lord says, not what you think, not what I think, not what is my particular individual preconception. I think this and I think that with regards to health, nothing like that. A plain “Thus saith the Lord.” Satan has got it all sewn up with regards to health. He has all sorts of doctrines and teachings out there in regards to our health message to take us further than what God is saying. Don’t go further than what God is saying specifically. He will tell you straight. Don’t go to extremes beyond His direction. Have we learnt to surrender entirely to the Lord by simply obeying the one who loves me enough to become one with me, so that He can die with me? You know, I’m finding this now the most important message for our time: to enter into an intimate, trusting, absolutely warm relationship with my Lord and Saviour, to have my will bound up with His will, rather than my will being different to His. We need to have an exact communion with God, praying always, as Jesus said. Look at the beautiful picture that is described when we do this. Here is the description of the worthiness we must have so that we may escape. What does it mean to be accounted worthy? Psalm 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I must dwell under my God’s direction. Psalm 91:2 I will say of the LORD, [He is] my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. If you trust in someone, don’t you do what he tells you to do? But how many people do? A plain direction from God is not as comfortable as a little variation like with Lot; and Lot scarcely escaped. In fact he didn’t escape from the corruption, did he? His two daughters… what a story. Psalm 91:3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, [and] from the noisome pestilence. You will escape if you trust Him, if you do what He says. Psalm 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth [shall be thy] shield and buckler. So whether it be the social, or religious, or political, or economic decadence, or the earthquakes, the pestilences, etc., if any of these things are there, follow the direction. When I was studying with someone through the week, he was talking with me and saying, I’m already doing this and that and the other thing, and still I’ve got problems and there’s still more expected of me. He was in a bit of a state of perplexity, and he was talking to me as we were going on through the subject, and he said, “I was really perplexed and I just said to myself, Well, it should be easy as just obeying!” And light shone into his brain; the Lord smiled upon him and said, That’s the very thing I’m waiting for. As simple as that. It’s not complicated, it’s just to obey. That’s all. “But, but, but…. This doesn’t look right. It doesn’t look right. I’m not being Christian if I separate myself from my relatives in regard to certain things,” like doing what Jesus says when they say do something else. “Oh, just a little bit.” Nothing. Exactly as He speaks, in every respect. He will be thy shield and buckler. Psalm 91:5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; [nor] for the arrow [that] flieth by day; 6 [Nor] for the pestilence [that] walketh in darkness; [nor] for the destruction [that] wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; [but] it shall not come nigh thee. See what Jesus said? Watch and pray always that you may escape all these things. That is what this is talking about. Psalm 91:8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Why? Psalm 91:9 Because thou hast made the LORD, [which is] my refuge, [even] the most High, thy habitation; What does that mean? Cohabitating together, communing. Psalm 91:10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. That is what this is all about to be worthy to escape all these things. God looks upon us as worthy if we trust Him as a child trusts his father and obeys without any internal argument. When Jesus wanted to save Israel, when He came the first time, what was His plaintive cry? Matthew 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [thou] that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under [her] wings, and ye would not! The chickens come running and the hen puts up her wings up and covers her chickens. God says, “I have tried to do it. I have called you like a mother chook. I have called you, and I called you, and I knew that the hawk would come and get you, but you would not listen to me.” The hawk has got the majority of Adventists and believers today. They are caught; and while he might be ravaging the chickens, which you and I are, we can still get an opportunity to flee under His wings. We must do what He says. We must obey Him be the cost what it may. Then we will escape these things. Amen.