August 29, 2024 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Ted N.C. Wilson, President, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Greetings, friends. For the past few months, we have been going through the incredible book, The Great Controversy, highlighting the main points from each chapter. This inspired book is based solidly on the Bible, and records Christian history from the time of the fall of Jerusalem, down through the centuries to our time today, and into, what I believe, is the very near future of Christ’s soon return. If you have not yet done so, I encourage you to download your free copy of this amazing book at: thegreatcontroversyproject.org [Insert: the greatcontroversyproject.org].
Today, we are looking at highlights from Chapter 36, titled, “The Impending Conflict.” In this chapter, we see that while the Bible is readily available, there are few people in the world today who really accept it as the guide of life.
Satan has so distorted the truths of the Bible, such as the teaching that God is a God of wrath who condemns sinners into an everlasting burning hell, where He delights to see them writhing in the flames forever! No wonder this terrible teaching has turned away countless people from believing in God.
On the other extreme is the lie that since God is a God of love, everyone will be saved, regardless of their profession, and that God’s law of the 10 Commandments is longer important. As we have seen, this teaching has led to the breakdown of society, contributing to a rise in crime, chaos, and tragedy.
Jesus warned us in Matthew 24 that conditions in the world would continue to worsen leading up to the time of His second coming. Natural disasters will increase, wars, widespread disease, crime and more will get worse. And as we read in Chapter 36 of The Great Controversy, there will come a time when the world will cry out for order to be restored and will claim that the only way to do that is to enforce the observance of the so-called “Christian Sabbath,” that is, Sunday. We are told that “This claim is especially urged in America, where the doctrine of the true Sabbath has been most widely preached” (The Great Controversy, p. 587).
Without the Bible as their guide, people will be swept away by spiritualistic manifestations by Satan, causing them to believe that all the catastrophes in the world are caused by those who refuse to bend the knee to Sunday sacredness.
“It will be declared that men are offending God by the violation of the Sunday sabbath, writes Ellen White; “that this sin has brought calamites which will not cease until Sunday observance shall be strictly enforced; and that those who present the claims of the fourth commandment, thus destroying reverence for Sunday, are troublers of the people, preventing their restoration to divine favor and temporal prosperity” (The Great Controversy, p. 590).
This accusation is very similar to what was spoken regarding the prophet of Elijah, when, during a time of severe drought in Israel, King Ahab said to the prophet: “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?” (1 Kings 18:17, NKJV). Elijah responded, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals,” that is, idols. (vs. 18).
Through the power of God’s Spirit, Elijah spoke the truth, pointing out the importance of being faithful to God’s commands. In these end times, we are assured that “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 . . . not one nor all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith.” We are urged that, “Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain ‘Thus saith the Lord’ in its support’” (The Great Controversy, p. 595).
Friends, I believe we are truly living on the very edge of eternity. Things that seem unimaginable are soon to take place. But we do not need to fear. Now is the time to put full confidence in our Savior, Jesus Christ, and develop a strong relationship with Him. Now is the time to dig deeply into God’s Word, the Bible, and to commune with Him in prayer. Now is the time, as never before, to share the powerful three angels’ messages found in Revelation, chapter 14. My brothers and sisters, let us go forward in faith, remembering that “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV).
Let’s pray together just now.
Father in Heaven, we thank you for the marvelous instruction and encouragement we find in the Word of God. Help us to realize that it is only in understanding Your Word, in your instructions, and only your word, that we can find hope for the future. Help us not to be in any way swayed by human tradition, or by the sayings and instructions of human beings, but help us to stand firmly and only on the Word of God. Lord, take us through the challenging times ahead. Help us to realize our strength is in you and you alone and your precious, wonderful, Holy word. In Jesus name we ask it. Amen.