"Said the angel . . ."

"Said the angel: 'If light come, and that light is set aside or rejected, then comes condemnation and the frown of God; but before the light comes, there is no sin, for there is no light for them to reject.'" 

"Said the angel . . . 'Think ye, feeble man, that ye can stay the work of God? Feeble man, one touch of His finger can lay thee prostrate. He will suffer thee but a little while.'"

"Said the angel: 'Be a living example . . . Let your works show that you are God's peculiar people, and that you have a peculiar work, to give the last message of mercy to the world. Let your works show to those around you that this world is not your home.'" 

"I saw that decided efforts should be made to show those who are unchristian in life their wrongs, and if they do not reform, they should be separated from the precious and holy, that God may have a clean and pure people that He can delight in. Dishonor Him not by linking or uniting the clean with the unclean." ~excerpts from Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 1, pages 116-118

"The leaders are responsible not only for their own unsanctified mistakes, but for the mistakes of those who follow their example.  When reproved for bringing in wrong principles they manifest a perverse spirit, a spirit that will not be corrected or humbled." ~Manuscript 139, 1903, p.14 

"The spirit manifested by the leader will be, to a great extent, reflected by the people.  If the leaders professing to believe the solemn, important truths that are to test the world at this time, manifest no ardent zeal to prepare a people to stand in the day of God, we must expect the church to be careless, indolent, and pleasure-loving." ~Christian Service, p. 177

We Are Not Alone in This Battle

"We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. The battlements of heaven are thronged with a great crowd of angels watching the conflict of man with the prince of darkness. They bend from the eminence and with intense interest watch to see if the child of God, harassed, perplexed, persecuted, denounced, defamed, and condemned as was the Master, will look to heaven for strength. Heaven waits our demand upon its resources. Will we cast away our false props and false theories? Will we reject the words and sayings of men and look to God through the one Mediator for grace, for strength and power? We will never look in vain. Angels are waiting as messengers to minister unto those who shall be heirs of salvation. They are close by every one who needs their help while fighting the good fight of faith."--Manuscript 38, 1887 (Manuscript Releases, Vol. 9, page 277)

A Psalm for the Present

Psalm 5

 ¹Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.
 ²Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray.
 ³My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
 ⁴For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.
 ⁵The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
 ⁶Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing [falsehood]: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.
 ⁷But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
 ⁸Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.
 ⁹For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.
 ¹⁰Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.
 ¹¹But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
 ¹²For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

The Great Controversy a Present Reality

The age-old battle between Christ and Satan, good and evil, is always being waged. Each new generation experiences this spiritual war, and new satanic challenges to truth occur which are designed by him to deceive and to destroy God's people. As I look around me and take in the Great Controversy, 2011 edition, I am reminded that there are sides being taken by God's people. The remnant church is being sifted and shaken mightily. God is drawing a line of righteousness. He is drawing His people into a fuller and more consecrated experience, while the enemy Satan is pulling God's people away from truth and integrity. I've heard it said that there is a polarization taking place in the Adventist Church, due to traditional Adventism being preached. If that is the case, the straight message of the True Witness, Jesus Christ, is what is causing the separation. People are taking sides. They are making choices either for Christ or against Christ in their everyday lives.

Here is a simple yet valid way of summarizing the two sides--the two groups of people--in this Great Controversy: 

The Side of Jesus: A love for the truth; a love for Scripture; a love for Spirit of Prophecy; a love for God that is stronger than any other claim to one's affection or allegiance; a delight in God's law; a respectful fear of God; a longing for heaven; a longing for holiness; a strong desire to share one's faith, including the warning message God committed to the Seventh-day Adventist Church; a strong desire to help those in need; a steady strategy to draw family and friends into the safety of the remnant church; a ready acceptance of God's counsels on diet and health; a cherishing of the Sabbath and a guarding of its sacred hours; a disdain for anything unbiblical or anything that blends truth with error; a desire to not partake of this world's evil while reaching this world; a willingness to admonish a brother or sister when they are making decisions against the Lord; an active prayer life; a daily reading of Scripture; a regular reading of Spirit of Prophecy; full surrender to Jesus/conversion; a dislike of violence, competition, magic, mysticism, immorality, and dishonesty. 

The Side of Satan: A disregarding or relativizing of the truth; a love for only those portions of Scripture which do not condemn one's lifestyle; a minimizing of the importance of the Spirit of Prophecy or outright denial of the validity of the Spirit of Prophecy for modern Adventists; a tendency to place a love of God on the same level as filial or romantic love; confused priorities; a relegation of God's law to the Old Covenant or merely that which leads us to the cross; a lack of the fear of God; a coziness with the comforts/thrills/entertainment/possessions of this earth; an equating of holiness with legalism; a strong desire to share one's faith, but limiting the sharing to non-doctrinal and non-testing-truth; a disdain for the concept of "remnant"; a strong desire to help those in need (but not making an effort to bring them into God's remnant); equating of diet and health reform with legalism, and regularly embibing caffeinated beverages and eating whatever tastes good; a careless observance of the Sabbath, complete with shopping, sports, business; not noticing or caring when truth is blended with error; an embracing of this world's violence, competition, magic, mysticism, immorality, and dishonesty; a keen desire to be accepted by other faith groups and to be like them; a equating of admonishing with judging and therefore avoiding it; a sporadic prayer life; a sporadic, surface-level reading of Scripture; a regular reading of non-Adventist books and blogs; a lack and procrastination of full surrender to Jesus; an absence of conversion.

The devil hates the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and he will do whatever he can to keep us off of the Lord's side, while still calling ourselves Adventists. He knows that he can get far more usage out of us if we are living as we please and professing to be members of the remnant church.

The sides are being drawn, brothers and sisters. Which side are you on?

Onward to Victory

"The course of God's people should be upward and onward to victory. A greater than Joshua is leading on the armies of Israel. One is in our midst, even the Captain of our salvation, who has said for our encouragement: 'Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.' 'Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.' He will lead us on to certain victory. What God promises, He is able at any time to perform. And the work He gives His people to do, He is able to accomplish by them. If we live a life of perfect obedience, His promises will be fulfilled toward us." ~Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 2, page 122

It's Time for True Revival!

The General Conference is promoting genuine revival and reformation. They have a wonderful site dedicated to this: http://www.revivalandreformation.org 

These two books have been prepared for God's people to use in their families and churches. These are great resources that can be picked up at your local ABC. True Revival is a compilation of Mrs. White's writings on the topic of genuine revival, prayer, and the Holy Spirit. This is a powerful little book, and I highly recommend it!

The second book is Revive Us Again by Mark Finley. This  too is a great resource to use in family worship, prayer  meeting, etc. I hope you take advantage of these  resources. As God's people, we must be able to tell the difference between a feelings-oriented false revival and the deep repentance and consecration that are associated with true revival. This is it, my brothers and sisters! This is the time for us to get serious about the Lord, His work, and our great need for the Holy Spirit. God bless you and yours!

My Sermon Site

For sermon audio podcasts and transcripts: 

http://www.lifesavingtruth.webs.com