October 3, 2024 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Ted N.C. Wilson, President, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Greetings, friends! For the past several months we have been going through the marvelous book, The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan. Throughout its pages, we have seen how this battle has been raging ever since Lucifer determined to rebel against his Creator.
In the chapter, “The Origin of Evil,” we saw pride rise up in the heart of this once highly exalted angelic being, leading him to harden his heart against God’s law of love, and through cunning and deception convince one-third of the angels in heaven to follow him.
The Bible tells us that “war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Rev. 12:7-9, NKJV).
Of course, we know the tragic story of Adam and Eve succumbing to the devil’s temptations, plunging the earth into sin and sorrow. However, it was when Christ came to earth as our Saviour that the great controversy came to a head. Satan did everything possible to thwart God’s plan of salvation. But praise God, Jesus triumphed as He gave His life for us on the cross and rose from the grave. Ascending to heaven, He promised to one day come again in the same way, to take us home to live with Him forever.
The book, The Great Controversy, covers the history of the Christian Church since the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D. Through its pages we have seen how God has always had faithful people willing to follow Him no matter the cost. In the first centuries, the early Christians faced tremendous persecution by Rome, with many giving their lives rather than giving up their faith in Christ. Following in those faithful footsteps were the Waldenses, who carried portions of Scripture with them to share among those who had open hearts and minds to receive the message.
We saw how God raised up more standard bearers such as Wycliffe, Huss and Jerome, Luther, Zwingli, Tyndale, and many more to carry His truth to as many as possible despite persecution and hardship.
In the chapter on the French Revolution, we saw the terrible consequences suffered by an entire nation after rejecting God’s messages of mercy and truth.
Traveling further down through history we followed the pilgrims as they left Europe to find religious freedom in a new land.
This inspired book then traces the events of a great religious awakening, focusing on a man named William Miller. Miller, once a deist, became convicted of the truth of the Bible when he studied it for himself. With only the help of a concordance he went verse by verse, determined to go no further than what he could understand. Coming to Daniel 8:14, Miller carefully studied the 2,300-day prophecy, calculating that the end of that prophecy must be very near.
While Miller’s prophetic date calculations were correct, he mistakenly assumed the “cleansing of the sanctuary” referenced in that verse meant Christ would come to the earth to cleanse it at that time.
After “The Great Disappointment” of October 22, 1844, the early Advent believers continued studying their Bibles to discover where they had gone wrong. Through prayerful study, they discovered that while Christ did not come to Earth on October 22, 1844, a supernatural event did take place that day as Christ entered the Most Holy apartment of the Heavenly Sanctuary to begin the work of cleansing it through the Investigative Judgment.
As we continued our journey through The Great Controversy, we have learned more about these and other important Bible teachings, such as the immutable law of God, the work of reformation, enmity between human beings and Satan, the agency of evil spirits and the snares of Satan, including the state of the dead.
We’ve also seen how one day very soon liberty of conscience will be threatened as everyone will be forced to make a choice, showing their allegiance by worshiping God on His holy day, or following human traditions.
Finally, we learned how in preparing for the impending conflict, the Bible is our only safeguard. Now is the time to learn all we can from God’s precious Word, developing our relationship with Him through prayer and Bible study, and following wherever He leads, as we trust fully in Him.
In last week’s video, we discussed the final warning to be given around the world just before Jesus comes, and the part we are to play in giving that special warning.
Friends, it has been quite a journey through this amazing book, and we have just four chapters left in this important series. However, before we conclude, it is important to reflect on the lessons presented in this inspired book, and to put into practice what we have learned.
So, for the next few weeks, we will pause our review of The Great Controversy and focus on how we, as individuals, can help carry the torch of truth forward, and what God’s Church is doing, through His power, to lighten the earth with His glory.
If you would like to review previous episodes of this Great Controversy series, you may access the playlist on YouTube at the URL shown at the bottom of the screen. In addition, if you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to download the book at thegreatcontroversyproject.org
My brothers and sisters, we are living in exciting times—Jesus is coming soon! I invite you to join us right here in the weeks ahead as we move forward in Him.
Let’s pray together just now.
Father in Heaven, we ask your blessing upon us now as we embark, in a new focus on how personally we might be able to put into practice the beautiful things we have learned from the Great controversy. And then later, to finish our review of the book, The Great Controversy. Thank you for helping us to be part of your final proclamation. Just before Jesus return in Christ’s name, we ask it. Amen.