THE DAY IS AT HAND
EVANGELIST STEPHEN LEWIS
Father in Heaven, We thank you so much for the presence of your Holy Spirit. And we’re thankful for the type of control You have over Your presence. The ability to come into a room and visit us, and yet some have cherished and dear idols and You are not allowing us to be consumed; Thank You Lord. We pray that Your Holy Spirit would have a lingering presence in this place, but even more in our hearts. And as we open Your Word, we really need Your assistance, we really need You to speak to us. We don’t know how many of these opportunities we’ll continue to have. And it seems like, because things are not happening as outwardly as many believe that we become more and more relaxed. But please, speak to us today. In Christ’s Name – Amen.
Happy Sabbath!
Each night at the meetings we’ve been going through a series on how to trust in the Word of God. And it’s very important, brothers and sisters, because the day, in which we’re living in, is extremely unpredictable. We don’t know what will take place first of all on a day-by-day basis in our individual lives. We can’t predict it; we just don’t know. No matter how good things seem to be going we just don’t know when we’ll hear bad news.
I was speaking with and praying with a minister this morning on the telephone, and you know many have this ‘call waiting’ and he said ‘hold on a moment’, when he came back he told me of a death of someone in his family. And I said to him, “You know it’s interesting that we were just rejoicing in the Word of the Lord, and you were sharing some of the things that the Lord had given you to share with your church today and through the excitement you put me on hold and come back and your whole countenance, I can feel the change that has come over it; An ENEMY hath done this!”
And brothers and sisters, we don’t know what’s going to take place in our families. We don’t know which family member will come up with the next great surprise. We don’t know whether or not a family member will be tragically assaulted or hurt. We just don’t know. We don’t know what our children will go through when they are married. They start off happy and then one day you get a phone call; and that, all this way. This world is unpredictable.
But we have been taught and told in the Word of God that certain prophetic events will take place and I want to talk to the church for a moment today because I think it’s extremely important that we not be self centered in this day and hour and we get out and get people to these meetings. We are not going to be able to continue to have bold signs up on our major highways announcing prophecy seminars. We are not going to be able to continue to keep teaching what we believe without some type of consequences. It’s already being talked about everywhere and it’s being said and even in our midst, in our own ranks at least I’ve received two or three calls during my ministry saying, “Tone it down!”
I say, “Tone what down?” “Tone what down?”
Because I’m honest now, if it can be done more effectively I want to know, I don’t believe that I know it all. There have been men who have spent much more time on their knees and men who have fought to get us where we are today, but I need to understand- ‘Tone what down?’
“Maybe you don’t need to say publicly- who the Antichrist is.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well- well, get people who believe and pull them in the private corners and tell them, but don’t say it publicly because when you say it publicly it seems like we- we’re condemning someone.”
The Bible says, ‘I saw an angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach unto all them that dwell on the earth and every nation, kindred, tongue and people, saying in the back corner of a room of believers??
No! With a loud voice! ‘Fear God, give glory to Him for the hour of His judgment is come.’ And the message that we really have to give to the world is a message of hope! It is not a message of condemnation. It’s a warning from the pit of hell that Satan wants to drag people in to. And so when I look out in congregations today, the thing that frightens me most is Seventh-day Adventists don’t know what they believe!
In the second chapter of Desire of ages, it talks about how the Jewish system, prior to the coming of Christ no longer knew what they believed. They had toned down the preaching of the promised Messiah. They had gotten so caught up in the outward religion, and proud of their schools, and proud of all the riches and wealth of God had bestowed upon them, that the heathen nations started knowing more about that which was spiritual than they knew.
You are going to be called to give an account of what you believe. If you do not know what you believe, you’re not going to make it. I’m concerned that Seventh-day Adventists are more professional in their careers than in their knowledge of the Word of God. I’m concerned that Television is courting us and television is being imprinted in our minds to such an extent that we’re living the lifestyle of the screen, which is a life style that isn’t reality! And when things take place we’re surprised because it didn’t happen that way in the script. And scripts can be changed week after week, each sit-com can change drastically but not with us, brothers and sisters.
The things we’re putting in our minds. The things we’re putting in our minds are solemn and important. And I don’t know about you, but I have enough trash in my mind to last three or four lifetimes. It is horrible! To get on my knees and to start praying and submitting to God; get off my knees and study for an hour maybe, or maybe fifteen minutes but become immersed in whatever moments that is they are that I’ve spent with God. To become so immersed in His Word and then become convicted and when you lay down or prostrate yourself to say, “Lord, I want my heart to belong to You!” SONGS start coming up from the nightclubs! Movies, pictures, start coming to your mind, that you sat down and watched; and now you’re saying, “No, Lord, No!”
And some of us are still putting it in our minds! We have given the devil enough to work with. And the Bible says in the book of Romans chapter 13-
Oh God of Heaven, please make simple and clear to us today where we are in the prophetic drama that is soon to come to a close. In Christ’s name- Amen.
And brothers and sisters...We need to study to know how to make it when the time of trouble hits and it’s not something that we’re going to be able to cut on when it happens; we’re going to have to be in Christ. We’re going to have to be solid! You are not going to start all of a sudden coming up with childhood memory verses and thinking that that’s going to allow you to stand. You’re going to have to have an experience, which we do not now possess.
And I always think and I always pray and I think about what Ellen White says in Great Controversy about what we are about to experience. When she says that normally trouble in anticipation is much worse. You know, when I did something wrong as a child and I knew my mother found out about it, I said, “Oh, boy!” I would be scared when I would get home. But when I would get the spanking or whatever it would never be as bad as I anticipated. She said normally trouble in anticipation is much worse than in reality, she says but not so in this situation. She says the most vivid presentation cannot bring to our minds what we are going to have to go through.
I’m telling you, we’re living in a day and hour where we should rejoice when family members die. Why? When they die in Christ, I should say. We should be able to rejoice, if there’s any tears it should be because we are just so excited that they’re out of it and weeping because we’re still in it. Trouble is about to hit that the earth has never seen. The devil doesn’t even understand the fury that he is about to be able to put on this earth. And we must be ready!
The Bible puts it this way in Romans 13, beginning with verse 11, “And that knowing the time, now it is high time to awake out of sleep for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand, let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, let us put on the armor of light.”
It’s ‘high time’ in other words it’s past time, we should have been awake long ago. We should have been studying long ago. We must start learning what we believe- number 1- as Seventh-day Adventists when it relates to salvation and victory. What do you mean- when it relates to salvation and victory? In other words, in the final analysis, there’re going to be two camps. Now we can’t come up with a new organization, brothers and sisters, what do I mean by a new organization?
Ellen White says in Selected Messages- she says that a ‘new organization’ is an organization that changes their teachings. That’s what she says. She says we can’t step off the platform now and change our teachings. I’m afraid that the majority of Seventh-day Adventists who have come up in my generation and under are already learning something that’s totally different. We’re not reading our books. Everything has been infiltrated in 1984, even when our Sabbath School lesson changed because it- quote- unquote “Had too much Spirit of Prophecy in it!” And yea, they may be good- but you see a little less quoted. And you see all the different versions being quoted of the Bible, and nothing wrong with reading Bible versions at home. I like to do a comparison too but brothers and sisters, the one that we promote, we need to make sure that that one will support everything we believe. An enemy has a planned assault against us, and we’ve been sleeping through the preparation.
We can go all the way back- let’s just back up- to 1984. That was a heavy year, for not only Seventh-day Adventists, but for all Christians. That was when the United States sent an ambassador to the Vatican. And I was just coming back into the church. And I never saw a church so excited at that time. Write your congressman, write the president. Warn them of what they are doing. Tell them this is not Biblical. And the church on a worldwide scale appeared to be very alarmed because something was transforming that was clear and prophetic. Well things had transpired way before then but know they could really see it. “We’re sending an ambassador to the Vatican??”
But what happened? You see if our Christianity is built on shock waves that seem to shock our neural system and all of a sudden get us alert for a minute; and emotional fear or scare- we’re not going to make it! If your religion is set up on seeing something prophetic happen and all of a sudden picking up the phone and getting serious and getting on your knees- you have a works religion and you believe that- “OK, I only have a little left to clean up before the sun sets” so I can kind of take my time and then I’ll look up at the clock and say “Oh, it’s an hour before the sun set ” and you can rush in and clean it up.
Well if your spiritual life is like that, where you think that once you see some sign of the times taking place, that you’ll get shocked into reality and you can work and fix your life up… And this is what we believe. Either we believe that OR we believe that our life really doesn’t matter and the way we live really doesn’t matter because Jesus in His crucified state and when He resurrected covered our life style as long as you choose Him.
You see these are the two things that are floating through Adventism. One is a strong conservative reform act that seems to hang on to their little darling sins and believes that if a crisis comes they could shake themselves and be ready. The other believes that they can just kind of live how they want to because God did it all. And BOTH are LOST. Both are lost.
Because our only hope for salvation, that we have always taught, and that we believe, and the doctrine that split this church wide open in 1888, was that our only hope for salvation is in resting in Christ. And in being so immersed in what He has done for us, that we allow Him to do it in us now. And so the standard doesn’t drop; we’re not working on ‘getting right’, we’re not trying to change ourselves, we are just allowing Him to live out His change in us. And that cannot be done overnight. This is a concept that you have to study and practice because it’s so simple it can be easily confusing.
So in ’84 the church got alarmed. People came to church that hadn’t been to church for a long time. But nothing happened. And then all of a sudden, we see the Iron Curtain going down. And we get excited, but not quite as excited as we were before. And now all of a sudden, and let me tell you, everything that happens, when we see the United States of America joining hands with Catholicism, everything is happening at a pace that appears to be slow, but it’s happening only because God is trying to tell His people to wake up. The only reason why it hasn’t happened even faster is God is setting these things in place, trying to give us time to wake up.
What would have happened in 1984, some of you remember exactly what I am talking about- what would have happened in ’84 had you really immersed yourself in the Word of God and started really studying and really teaching and really trying to prepare others for the coming of the Lord? Where would your spiritual life be today? You might be translated by now!
But the Bible says, because it seems like God doesn’t just immediately do something we become relaxed; or because judgment isn’t executed speedily, is what the text says in Eccl. 8- it says because it’s not executed speedily, we become relaxed and more engrossed in our sins.
And then some of you remember this statement, it was an alarming statement; “It is a big idea, anew World Order, where the diverse nations are drawn together in a common cause. Only the United States has both the moral standing and means to back it up.” You remember when George Bush made that announcement; At least when it first came out. It was quoted and handed out in all Adventist circles, saying, “Look- he has publicly announced the ‘New World Order!’ It’s about to take place!”
Listen to what Dan Quail says, he comes on and he says, “Under the courageous leadership of Pope John-Paul II, the Vatican State has assumed its rightful place in the world as an international voice. It is only right that this country show its respect for the Vatican by diplomatically recognizing it as a world State.”
So at first, this power that we are told in Revelation 13, that the world is going to follow; and it doesn’t say that the world is going to actually join ranks with it. It says,” and the whole world wonders- in other words their minds will be captivated by what it’s doing; and interested in its every move; and so interested that they will reverence it.
And so now, like any good soldier, who has won a lot of good battles, he lets others do his talking for him. So Ronald Reagan does the talking for him; George Bush starts talking for him; Dan Quail starts talking for him; and now it’s time for me to speak. They’ve invited me to the platform- you know how it is when someone’s being honored? They’ll get up and one person will say all these great things about him and then someone else will get up and say something and then someone else and then when everybody hears so many wonderful things, then they’ll say- “Listen, come on up, let us hear from you.”
So he gets up early one morning, two years ago, can you believe two years have passed? Two years ago, he gets up early in the morning and goes to a regular mass, and people who are gathered outside, he stands up and he announces, “It is time for us to re-establish the sacredness of the Sabbath. The world’s troubles are the result of the ignoring of God’s ten commandments and we must do al that we can to restore Sunday worship! The Sabbath is being desecrated.”
And he writes this thick letter. And he wrote two copies; the one that was supposed to stay inside, and the other that the world could look at. And I’ll never forget out of all the newspaper articles that I gathered and that came to my attention, the one was the Detroit news that now they will not even re-print or give you a copy of, and they’re trying to apologize for it. That was the one that said, “ It is time for Sunday sacredness and anyone who violates it should be persecuted, or treated as a heretic.” And if you don’t know what a heretic is treated like, then what you need to do is get the new illustrated Great Controversy or get brother Mole to give you a copy of the Jesuit order where they tell you what happens to so-called heretics.
And they pulled that paper! They said, “This was not supposed to go out. You put the wrong one!” And guess what brothers and sisters, you can call right now, I can give you an original copy of the paper, and you can call the paper and they will denounce everything about it.
“He announced boldly” Now why should that alert me more than anything? When I read that article brothers and sisters, I’m having a family talk, I’m concerned that as a family, we’re not ready for what is about to take place. And when there’s a crisis in a family, those who aren’t ready make it more difficult for the one who is. You know you always have that one family member that any body else in the family in trouble, that’s who you call. Every family has that person that is called when someone’s in trouble. Seems to be the loan agent for the family, or the co-signer for the family or the housing complex when you’re put out or maybe some of you have been so far removed from some of these situations.
And when the family’s not ready, pressure comes on everybody. And we’re not ready. And I know it because I don’t see you bringing people to meetings; non-members to learn this gospel. To learn this gospel, brothers and sisters, what we don’t do now, we’re going to be forced to do under the most difficult circumstances. And when I first read that letter, I opened up the Bible and I went to Revelation 13 and I started looking at verse 11 where it said this two horned image, notice what it says here; I’m talking about two years ago and I’m- believe me, I’m going to bring you up to where we are right now and make sense out of it all.
Oh God of heaven, please open my mind and allow my mind to touch the hearts of my brothers and sisters, by the power of the indwelling Christ. In Jesus’ Name Amen.
Revelation 13 verse 11, “and I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth and he had two horns like a lamb and he spake as a dragon. He exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him and causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed.”
And I started thinking about this and I said, “Wait a minute, Lord, what does this mean?” The Lord said, “It means that the end is here!” It was just as clear, and I said, “What do you mean, Lord?”
And the Lord directed my mind back to ‘Patriarchs and Prophets’, the very first chapter. If you’ve never read the first chapter of ‘Patriarchs and Prophets’ you need to read it, because that chapter will help you understand every assault that Satan will throw on you. Because it shows everything that he did to deceive the angels and you’ll see that none of his tactics, none of his methods have changed. There all exactly the same, they’ve just been modified and perfected for our times.
And I read that chapter, and as always, I was convicted by that chapter, but I said, “lord, what are you really saying here?” And the Lord said When Satan spoke out in heaven, (and we don’t know how long he kept this rebellious spirit in his mind) but when he finally got to the point where he spoke out, was where he believed that he had enough support to conquer.
The Pope believes that he’s God. The Roman church does not hide the fact that they believe that he is the Vicar of Christ. The average member will tell you, “Oh, no, we don’t really believe that”, but if you read there’s a book that he just came out with, and on the third page he not only says that he is the Vicar of Christ, but on the third page he says, to be a Roman Catholic you must believe that he is the second Person of the Godhead. In HIS autobiography, coming out of HIS mouth, this is what HE says in a book HE wrote two years ago. And it’s on the third page. As a matter of fact, I believe I have that book and I’ll make copies and bring the copies of the direct quote.
So no matter what YOU try to say he believes, HE knows who he’s supposed to be. And the devil would never announce to the world before he knows that he can pull off what it is he’s talking about. He is not a fool to just utter something. No, not like many of us, we just splurt out or blurt out ideas and before you know it somebody grabs them and runs with them and when it’s time to execute them, they’re shut down. No, when he stands up and blurts something out, he knows that he has the full power and authority to finish it.
Well, what slowed down the progress? GOD! God. Now why did God slow it down? ME! Why? Me. Now I don’t know if you can say the same thing but when I reflected this morning and I started praying and saying, Lord, what can I..? and just reading and studying and the Lord said, “Talk to My people about getting ready. They’re not taking this thing called life serious. They don’t believe My Word; and all the obvious signs, rather than causing them to wake up, is allowing them to become desensitized.”
Me, Me; two years ago I didn’t understand what it meant to be in Christ. I knew all that we are supposed to do, understood clearly and became frustrated when I looked around and I see a church who has all the right teachings seemingly to be worse than some of the most paganistic people in the world. When I would look into certain churches and the type of worship that would be going on, would be worse than any nightclub I ever visited. The type of reverence towards God was were children playing and talking and chewing gum. One church, children in the back eating in church; just eating and the parents sitting down and people talking and the minister just talking and maybe two or three people listening to him; And his message coming directly from what he called and showed us, the latest issue of ‘Newsweek’. And after reading that article he just simply said, “Well, let’s pray and go home. By the way, there’s a pot-luck.”
This is where we are. And I knew this isn’t God’s plan, I knew that this is apostasy. But Lord, how do you perform what it is You’re asking us to do? And so two years ago, I would not have been ready! I would have caught myself trying to work on loving my enemy! Or cleaning things up. But now it’s even come closer to home. It’s come closer to home, brothers and sisters, do you understand what is happening in our world right now? Do you know what it means for the Pope to be able to make an announcement to the world that anyone who wants salvation must come through the Catholic Church?
Do you understand that every major denomination is supporting the Pope’s agenda? Not secretly; every major denomination has awarded him, even ours, we gave him a gold medal. And if somebody says, “Whew?” You’ve really been asleep because that’s been publicized and drug out and talked about; everybody is acknowledging him.
And now we have before our eyes, the United Nations trying to pull off a world government. It’s not a secret, brothers and sisters, now we have before our eyes, the United Nations trying to establish a presence by an United Nations army, which you all know exists, which you also know are on the borders of America. And I wonder well why would you need the United Nations army when we have such a mighty force? Because if certain laws change and certain things go down, it’s such a small world, and if I sent U.S. troops in they’re going to run into relatives, they’re going to run into friends, so they won’t do to an American what a non-American army would do because they don’t have the association.
You say, “What is he talking about?” I’m talking about realities, brothers and sisters, and every time the dear pastor Pope comes to America, often he stops and he speaks to the United Nations. Which should tell all of us that the worlds respect what he has to say. Has your Pastor ever been invited to speak at the United Nations? Has your Pastor ever been invited to speak at the United Nations? Have they ever sent any of the leaders of your church anywhere to be an ambassador? And I’m not talking about as a member; I’m talking about as a leader of your church to be an ambassador. And so now we have this thing coming right together, brothers and sisters, before our eyes and we’re not ready; and we’re not ready.
And so what are we going to do? Are we going to keep sleeping? Are we going to be found like the disciples in Gethsemane when He woke them up and said, “Wake up but sleep on.” Wasn’t that interesting? That’s how He addressed them, He said, “Listen, Wake up but sleep on.” What do you mean, wake up but sleep on, in other words, physically you’re awake, but spiritually, you’re not going to have any idea about what really happens to Me. And every miracle that I’ve performed in your life, And every miracle that I’ve performed in your life, and everything that you have seen Me do to prove Who I am, you’re going to forget about.
You remember the disciples in that moment of trouble?
Oh God of Heaven, I pray right now; I pray for the Holy Spirit to come into this room in a mightier way. I pray that you would subdue our precious children, Lord. And I pray that you would remove those demons that are causing people to sleep. Please Lord, in this hour; we need you to arouse us to the importance of learning who we are and what we believe. In Christ’s Name we pray, Amen.
Brothers and sisters let me say this, none of these things are happening accidentally. Now how is it going to be played out? What are we going to see next? God forbid; but people have all these talk shows, it’s amazing if you listen to them because you’ll find yourself saying, “Wow, this is going to happen and that is going to happen.” They have a microchip coming out, and a world passport, and a world driver’s license, and these things are true but as Adventists we can’t get caught up in all that! We can’t get caught up in microchips and, yes, they may be able to put them in babies and use it and say, “well listen now, if your baby is kidnapped within ten minutes we’ll know right where the baby is.” The same way they can do an automobile, those ‘low-jacks’.
As a matter of fact, a friend of mine was jacked and they put him in the trunk of his Mercedes-Benz and they were taking him to kill him! He’s a rapper; popular rapper, and he yanked off his Rolex off of his wrist and his 30,000 dollar watch had a low-jack on it so the police traced and pulled the car over, an he was in the trunk so – good security ideas but it isn’t the Mark of the Beast.
But Adventists believe it. I was listening to one Adventist Pastor spend all this time about microchips and that- and that has nothing to do with the mark of the beast! It’s not it, brothers and sisters; do you understand that they’re not going to need a chip? You see when Christ says, “OK, let’s go.” In other words, He’s going to say, “Throw your final move, Satan. Throw your final one, I’m giving you permission.” Now remember, the devil, he’s been wanting to throw it, but he can’t. And when he throws his final move brothers and sisters, it’s going to be just like the destruction of Jerusalem, very few people just prior are going to get in a condition where they could be saved. That’s a surrendering condition. The rest are going to become very convinced that they’re strong enough to protect themselves.
And what is his final move? We talk about it all the time. The final move is not going to be microchips, they’re not going to need in any way to gather you up real quick and convince you. The final move is when Satan comes appearing like Christ. That’s about to happen; how do I know? Because if we read the prophecies that we have always taught brothers and sisters, everything has taken place except that last event. What must take place just prior to the personation of Satan? Let me show you- go with me to the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 11, this is what must take place, and this is why we must start praying!
Come on right now, if I start going through this congregation right now and start asking you how much time do you spend in personal prayer? Now we can judge people, we can talk about people, we can give our ideas of what we think about people and sermons but let’s get personal, how often do you get up and spend serious time on your knees talking to this God who you claim you love? How much studying do you do, not to preach, not to teach, not to become intellectually sound, but because you’re trying your best to acquaint yourself with God? How much time do you spend in this book that we say is the only for eternal life?
Because as I said last night we’re not going to get better. But if a doctor tells you that you have a certain ailment and you’re not going to get better and if you don’t take these every day you’ll die; guess what you’ll do? You’ll take them every day! I’ve seen people get sick because they haven’t taken their medication and get ready to fall out and they start telling people where the purse is. And they take it and even the medication hasn’t even worked yet, but psychologically once they get it in their mouth their body relaxes.
Now we’re told that if we don’t study this, we’re told that Satan invents ways to keep us from studying and praying. We’re told that he knows that all who don’t study and don’t pray are going to be lost. We’re told that by our prophet, and the Bible shows us that this is the reality. If you don’t study, if you don’t pray, you’re not going to make it! Because you’re not going to acquaint yourself with the One Who is to live in you and give you the power to make it!
So you know you’re dying, you know you can’t make it unless you take a certain medication, but- we’re not taking it. We don’t believe the True Doctor. We don’t believe Him. And so if we stopped and said and went through here, do you know how embarrassed everybody-? If that one point alone- if God said, “OK, everybody who spent at least one hour with Me a day really loves Me and can go to heaven.” If He said that, how many of us would be lost? And he’s not going to say that because your study habits is not the thing that saves you. You’re not saved by any outward act that you do. We’re saved by Grace. We’re saved by the power of God; but when this Grace comes into your life it wakes you up in the morning…
And 2 Cor. 11 notice what the word of God says beginning with verse 13, “For such are false apostles deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ and no marvel for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light, therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works.”
Now, what am I saying? Prior to Satan transforming himself into an angel of light will be ministers that will represent him, that will be preaching the heresies of hell. Now brothers and sisters, whenever we read the Bible, when God gives warnings, when God gives instruction, when God talks about apostasy you find God dealing with the church, not with the world. When He said you’re sick from the head to the toe; when He said I’m sick of your offerings, I’m sick of your sacrifices, I’m sick of everything- you know God was talking to the church. In other words, if it was today, Jesus would be in here saying to the Seventh-day Adventist church what He was telling the Israelites of old.
Now for some reason we can’t get our minds set on the fact that the strongest rebukes were to the church! And so prior to Satan doing his grand act of deception, apostasy must not only come into the remnant church, but Satan must have preachers in the remnant church, preaching lies. Now let me read a quotation to you. Because some of you may say, “Oh-Oh!” I’m not picking on our church! But if we don’t believe the Spirit of Prophecy, then stop getting rich with the high- high prices that you’re selling it for, and take it off the shelves, and just stand up and say you don’t believe in it! Simple as that.
But if you claim that you believe in it, then don’t be embarrassed when anybody reads from it. I mean- it baffles me! How we don’t like to read from it. You take the Review and Herald of today and go and look at the Review and Herald of her day. You see a drastic difference! A DRASTIC difference!
The prophet says- “Unsanctified ministers are arraying themselves against God. They are praising Christ and the god of this world in the same breath. While professedly they receive Christ, they embrace Barabbas, and by their actions say, "Not this Man, but Barabbas." Let all who read these lines, take heed. Satan has made his boast of what he can do. He thinks to dissolve the unity which Christ prayed might exist in His church.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers -PG- 409
Now one of the key words is ‘unity’, ‘let’s work together’, Amen? Now if you’re in any type of corporation, the key is unity. If you’re in the Adventist ministry, the key is ‘unity’. When I’m in meetings all we hear about is, “pastors, we must work together. What can we do to work together?”
Well, what causes disunity? It is not the person who stands up and preaches what we say we believe; it’s the person who won’t teach what we believe! That’s what breaks the cycle. That’s what causes the division. Listen, now watch, I’m going to let it come out of the prophet’s mouth. She says, “He thinks to dissolve the unity which Christ prayed might exist in His church. He says, "I will go forth and be a lying spirit to deceive those that I can, to criticize, and condemn, and falsify." Let the son of deceit and false witness be entertained by a church that has had great light, great evidence, and that church will discard the message the Lord has sent, and receive the most unreasonable assertions and false suppositions and false theories. Satan laughs at their folly, for he knows what truth is.”
In other words, let a church play with truth; just play with it. And before you know it, I’ll be able to breath my spirit and you will find yourself accepting the most false suppositions, the most foolish theories. I mean brothers and sisters, we have circles where we have committees where we are paying money, and flying men in, to research on how to handle homosexuality in the church!
How do you handle it? You grab the homosexual, you take him in a room; you tell him that there is power to save! That there’s power to be delivered! And that there’s power in God to live a victorious life and that God wants to use your testimony to prove that other’s can be delivered and you pray over him and you bind those forces of evil and by the grace of God they walk out in Christ victorious! That’s how you handle it! What other way do we handle it?
Committees talking about what’s wrong with dinner wine! Well, ask the physicians what’s wrong with it if you don’t believe the Bible. It tells what one sip does to the brain. Committees! Even in our recent GC. When you get your new church manual that now they have voted is not optional. I don’t know whether you know that or not, but the church manual used to be an optional, instructional book that you use for instruction and if you didn’t use it- fine, but now it is the voice of the church!
And their going to have a whole section in the new manual telling you about its authority. This is why in the early 1900s when the General Conference met and the leaders got together and spent many days on the issue, they came out on one accord, unified saying we should never have one! Because they said, one of the points was, the time will come when men will look to it instead of the Word. They said, “We have the Word. We have the Spirit of Prophecy. That tells us what we should and should not do.”
But now it is- and by the way for years people have been living by it like it was the Spirit of Prophecy anyway. And so now they can add little things every five years, like it’s OK to put a ring on; it’s OK to wear this; it’s OK to do that. Suppositions! Theories that years ago people wouldn’t have even thought about. And in that same manual, when you read why divorce is permitted and what allows a member to be in ‘good and regular standing’- as a matter of fact, they wanted to drop- I don’t know if they did or not, but they wanted to drop the ‘good and regular standing’, I know they wanted to take it out. “What do you mean, ‘Good and regular standing’? We’re being too hard on people.”
And this is serious, brothers and sisters, you know, this is my church. And what they voted on adultery! And it’s not a secret to the world that they did it underhanded; they waited ‘til almost over a thousand delegates on the committee weren’t there to do it! North America, Europe and Australia did it when the rest of the world wasn’t there. Am I the troubler of Israel because you did this?
You see- and members are asleep snoring away- “It doesn’t matter; we’ll eat anything somebody gives us; just feed me more because I’m too busy during the week to study myself. And what difference does it make? God loves us, let’s be unified.” Falsehood breaks unity, brothers and sisters. And Jesus is about to come.
Why did we have someone from the United Nations address our church at the General Conference? And thank us for cooperating and supporting them? Do we understand what this is? You see brothers and sisters, the prophet said a hundred years ago that this would happen to us. Listen; let me finish the quote-
“Many will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of Satan.”
In our pulpits- many will stand in our pulpits, and it’s happening! You’ve got ministers who speak in tongues! Who speak in tongues! Who speak in tongues! Right now you can get a copy, at your camp meetings, you can get a copy of a video I saw, where your key-note speaker was talking about Peter and he stopped in front of all of you and spoke in tongues! And you guys were shouting Oh yes and didn’t even pick it up!
Now your tape sales will go up brother, turn and put your hand up so they know who you are- He got it on video- come on don’t be.. When somebody called me and told me I said, “No it’s not true!” I said, “I have to see it.” And when they sent me the video, I said, “My Lord! My Lord” I’m talking about- do you understand what the tongue-speaking movement is about? Do you know that in Volume 1 of the testimonies, she said, along with this Pentecostal music that we bring into our church will follow the tongues speaking movement?
People of God, these crusades are final crusades! Jesus is about to come- prior to His coming the false prophet must come to the remnant to get them secure in their carnal security. To get them relaxed and so that their trust is so full in man and then Satan’s going to pop up! Personating Christ! That’s going to be the final one. He’s going to pop up in nations and do you know what? It may not happen right now but it’s ripe.
Palestinians, they don’t believe in our Jesus; the Israelites, the Jews, they don’t believe in our Jesus. America believes in Jesus but doesn’t do what He says to do. So you got three forces right now, the one mediating is the one who is supposed to be the one who has established his principles upon God, which is us. That’s that image that comes up with the two horns, the lamb-like beast; it pretends to be like the lamb of God but inside it’s a dragon brothers and sisters.
And so what would happen, just what would happen- tongues speaking- and we don’t care; we don’t care, you know, we DON’T CARE! A leader could do anything. I’m so glad that God didn’t let me see things earlier- I mean anything- everything goes! I’m not talking about not forgiving people, I’m not talking about not loving people, I’m not talking about being kind to people, but I’m talking about certain things should not be tolerated! If this is your life-style and this is the life-style that you are projecting and it becomes publicized, you cannot be up in front of everybody. Why? Because we have a different standard.
I was in a meeting and they brought this beautiful proposal to all of us and they said, “Look. We want to implement spirituals and hymns and start having more concerts because our kids don’t know anything about our heritage.” They said. And they said, “We want to use, “ and they quoted two names, “And build scholarships in their names.” And I bowed my head and I said, “Lord you know, just when I’m in agree-ance and everything is going good, why me?” I said, “Let someone else say it, come on Lord, please?” and nobody else said it so I said, “OK.”
He said “ah- I know what you’re going to say, Pastor Lewis, because the Holy Spirit gave me a vision and showed me that you would be in this meeting and that you were going to be the one to object.”
And I said, “Well before you finish what the Holy Spirit showed you, because he may have showed you that I was going to be here because I travel so much nobody knew I’d be here, but the Holy Spirit didn’t tell you for us to honor those names. We can’t place two blatant homosexuals who have died of AIDS and everybody knows it, and put them up as a standard for all our young people!”
“Oh, you’re being harsh, you’re being- God forgives…” It has nothing to do with forgiveness, brothers and sisters, it has nothing to do with not loving. It has to do with the fact that our standards are that none of us are any good- but the bottom line is- we want to put our best foot forward- amen? And here we are where everything goes. And the false prophet is going forth and telling us we need to embrace the world.
Our logo has changed. From 3 angels, they say it’s still 3 angels, but why does our logo match perfectly some of these 1st day logos now? why do they look so similar to all these other logos? Because we want to embrace and we want to be included- it’s called ‘inclusive’, come on, we’re OK and we’re spending millions on public relations to prove that we love the world and it’s OK; and don’t you put a billboard up teaching what we believe! No-no-no-no don’t do that! Don’t you do it!
And the sad reality is the next step, which again as I said before could take place today. It doesn’t take a Bush or a Gore candidate to get in, it doesn’t take the Pope making another announcement, all it takes is God in His timetable saying, “OK, shoot your best shot.” And she says, and she says when he does it brothers and sisters, when he does it, it says “Satan is preparing his deceptions that in his last campaign against the people of God, they may not understand that it is he.” Spiritual Gifts. Volume 4B -PG- 100
It’s his last thrust. And she goes on to say he appears. Can you imagine? Him appearing over there? In Jerusalem? Saying, “Listen Arafat”- and she says that the splendor, because he’s going to look like Revelation 1 describes Him (Christ) she says that the splendor and his presence is going to be so beautiful it says more glorious that any eye has ever seen, it’s going to be glorious. And when he speaks it’s going to be melodious and it’s going to be beautiful. Can you imagine him healing and now saying peace- you’ve got it all wrong people?
And then he comes to America, which is the ones to make the key role, and she says in this same article that he’s going to work the organs of man. She says he’s going to plug into the mind of man. And he’s going to beguile them or work witchcraft on them; hypnotize you. and it says that everyone that is used to doing his bidding, is going to now serve him forever.
In other words, if we’re not in Christ, brothers and sisters, and this is why I spent this whole week dealing with the Word, and the Power of the Word, and how we must be submitted to the Word because our own works will never do it. And how Christ must be in us and must own us. Because if He doesn’t OWN us- I’m not talking about you saying “I’m a Christian”, I’m not talking about you manifesting the power to cast out demons, I’m not taking about you manifesting the power to do many good works, - this is the description of all those Christians who are lost. ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t I prophecy in Thy name? and didn’t I cast out demons in Thy name? And didn’t I do many wonderful works?
“I never knew you!” “I never knew you!”
“Why do you say you didn’t know me?”
“Well look at my Word, and look at your word. You see when My Word takes the precedence in your life, your word stops. You don’t have a voice when you surrender to Me. You allow My voice to become your voice. ”
And the problem is- too many of us have a voice, brothers and sisters, too many of us are doing what we want to do and not what God wants us to do and we’re finding ourselves in a condition in the final stages of earth’s history where it’s going to be too late! Too late! We won’t be able to bounce back! WE MUST WAKE UP RIGHT NOW! I’m not talking about putting it off; I’m not talking about you trying to think right now about meetings you need to cancel; or what videos you need to destroy; or what food you need to get out of your refrigerator; or what articles you need to take off of your body; or what you need to stop watching. No, no. I’m not talking about that at all.
What you need to do is focus right now on Lord, How? How- do I get You in my heart? What will stop me from allowing You to come in this heart? What will? Because once you let Him in there everything else is nothing, because he cleans it up for you. You will find your hand grabbing that video and throwing it in the trash and won’t think anything about it, because the power of God will be doing it through you.
And you will find yourself, IF things go another year, another two years, you will find yourself living the same victorious life, the same excited life and you’ll have more anticipation! But I don’t believe it’s going to keep going like that. It’s high time that we awake brothers and sisters, that we awake out of sleep. Now is our salvation, right now is our salvation nearer than we first believed. It’s time to surrender to God. Get off of this ‘self religion’ and surrender to God.
Father in Heaven, In the Name of Jesus I come before you. And Lord, my prayer is that You would please help us, right now help us, because we don’t know how to surrender. If you were anything like the IRS Lord, when it came to our tithing, when it came to our giving, when it came to our own handling of the finances that you have said we can keep, we’d be in trouble, Lord.
When it comes to our time dear God, some of us have acquainted ourselves with new sit-coms that are on their way out. Anticipating the next feature to come on, we’re hooked, Lord. Some of us are in relationships Lord, that have no business ever being started. Some of us feel like we are better than other people and it is easy for us to talk about the faults of other people. I mean- Lord, and normally the things that we see are not even the real problem. But I know that the real solution is that you want to take first place in our lives. I know that the real solution is that you want to forgive us for all of our sins; and you want to be able to bring us to a condition where sin will never be brought up again, where it will never be remembered.
As your heads are bowed and your eyes are closed- I want to see Jesus, brothers and sisters, but we must see Him here if we ever plan to see Him in His glory. We must ask God to teach us how to surrender to Christ so that Christ could work reforms in our life that will lead us to the tree of life. The prophet of the Lord talks about how, when we’re all on the sea of glass, how Jesus is going to lead Adam to the Tree of Life, and how we’re all going to watch and he’s going to eat from that tree; well, she goes on to say that we can begin eating from that tree by just simply reading the Word of God!
And God wants to take your hand personally today, and He wants you to just cancel your agenda right now, and surrender your heart to Him and then listen to Him, and then let HIM tell you what to do next. He wants desperately to have first place in your life. Prophecy is about to end. But Charity is going to be here forever. And that’s the true undeserved love of God. Don’t you want to be here with it? Don’t you want to live forever with the love of God?
What has Satan done so nice to you that will cause you to be so loyal? What has he done? He hurts our children-kills our children; he disrupts the peace in our home, our marriages; he kills our spouses; brings pain to our bodies; afflicts our finances; and you want to serve that kind of god??
The God of heave awaits the gift of your heart right now, just like it is. Somebody right now needs to give their heart to Jesus. You need to say, “Lord, yes, OK, I want to give my heart to you right now Lord, I want to take a stand and say Lord here’s my heart.”
And before you do it, I want to tell you something, once you do that, right after you do it, you can look Jesus in the face and say- “Now I hold you responsible for my salvation.” Because He takes personal responsibility for those who give Him their heart. It’s not up to you any more! And you tell Him, “Lord, here’s my heart, that’s all I can do is surrender it. I hold You responsible for building a devotional life in me; I hold You responsible for developing a prayer life in me; I hold You responsible for disciplining my ear and allowing me to understand when You speak. I hold you responsible for helping me to be kind to my wife or kind to my husband; I hold you responsible to help me get out of this situation that I’m in- I’ve been stealing on the job or I’ve been cheating… YOU are now responsible!”
And God says, “I’ll gladly take the responsibility, if you’ll give Me your heart. I’ll work out whatever situation is in your life but I can’t have you- and you keep it.”
This is serious, brothers and sisters. Let’s pray- Jesus is about to come, and He wants us to be ready. I’m telling you brothers and sisters, He wants us to lead and not follow, the head and not the tail. And the only reason that some of us are alive still is He wanted your heart today. He’s not anxious that anybody be lost. He wants us to be saved. He wants us to be saved.
Lord; I know I don’t study, I know I don’t pray, I know that I’m absorbed in the things of this world and I don’t steal and I don’t curse but I’m not right! And today I want to make it right. I want to say to you that you can take control, I need help, I am acknowledging that I can’t do it on my own. I admit, dear Father that the things of this world are attractive to me. I admit that sin is not only enticing but I find joy in participation. But today I ask that you would help me, regardless of what my life is like, I know that we really want a relationship that is bound in Eternal life with you and I recognize that the works of the flesh are nothing. And today I surrender those works and I accept the righteousness that comes by faith, believing that You can perform Your good will in my life. Forgive me for my sins, and help me Lord, Help me- in Jesus Holy Name I pray, Amen.
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