On November 1, 1755, an earthquake struck in the Atlantic Ocean. It is commonly known as The Great Lisbon Earthquake. The total duration of the shaking lasted ten minutes, comprising three distinct jolts. A devastating fire following the earthquake destroyed a large part of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, and a very strong tsunami caused heavy destruction along the coasts of Portugal, south Spain and western Morocco. Geologists today estimate that the earthquake approached magnitude 9. The effects from the earthquake were far reaching, with shaking felt in North Africa.
May 19, 1780, stands in history as The Dark Day. Since the time of Moses, no period of darkness of equal density, extent or duration has ever been recorded. “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.” Joel 2:31. The moon became as red as blood on the night of the Dark Day, May 19, 1780. Milo Bostick in Stone’s History of Massachusetts says, “The moon which was at its full, had the appearance of blood.”
On November 13, 1833, the skies over the eastern United States were lit up by thousands of shooting stars every minute. This display lasted for four hours preceding dawn that day.
These phenomena were the fulfillment of the signs given before the coming of Jesus. At first, the people were afraid and gathered themselves together to pray. However, when nothing happened they soon went back to their former lifestyles.
“We are living in the time of the end. The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare that the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are solemn and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth. Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God. The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude.
“The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.” Lift Him Up, 356.
Then is described the condition of the world at that time. Ellen White says, “Bold robberies are of frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts and murders are committed on every hand. Men possessed of demons are taking the lives of men, women, and little children. Men have become infatuated with vice, and every species of evil prevails.” Ibid.
“On one occasion, when in New York City, I was in the night season called upon to behold buildings rising story after story toward heaven. These buildings were warranted to be fireproof, and they were erected to glorify the owners and builders. Higher and still higher these buildings rose, and in them the most costly material was used. Those to whom these buildings belonged were not asking themselves: ‘How can we best glorify God?’ The Lord was not in their thoughts.
“I thought: ‘Oh, that those who are thus investing their means could see their course as God sees it! They are piling up magnificent buildings, but how foolish in the sight of the Ruler of the universe is their planning and devising. They are not studying with all the powers of heart and mind how they may glorify God. They have lost sight of this, the first duty of man.’
“As these lofty buildings went up, the owners rejoiced with ambitious pride that they had money to use in gratifying self and provoking the envy of their neighbors. Much of the money that they thus invested had been obtained through exaction, through grinding down the poor. They forgot that in heaven an account of every business transaction is kept; every unjust deal, every fraudulent act, is there recorded. The time is coming when in their fraud and insolence men will reach a point that the Lord will not permit them to pass, and they will learn that there is a limit to the forbearance of Jehovah.
“The scene that next passed before me was an alarm of fire. Men looked at the lofty and supposedly fire-proof buildings and said: ‘They are perfectly safe.’ But these buildings were consumed as if made of pitch. The fire engines could do nothing to stay the destruction. The firemen were unable to operate the engines.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 12, 13.
The day before 9/11 when the twin towers in New York came down, there was a special documentary aired on the television explaining how the buildings had been erected and how they had withstood the 1993 bombing attempt to bring them down. They were declared to have been built from the most costly material, were fireproof and that nothing could bring them down. Some, since the attack, claim that there had been bombs put inside, and that there was an explosion because of the way the building fell. No, the prophet of God said buildings would come down. Angels touched those buildings. That was our modern day sign, a wake up call. God said, “I am coming.” If you want to know how the people reacted in November of 1755 and how they responded in 1780 and again in 1833, just remember how the people responded after 9/11. All of a sudden, sports were no longer important and churches of all different denominations filled up.
In The Review and Herald, September 10, 1901, Ellen White says, “Satan has devised a multitude of ways in which to keep men from serving God. He has invented sports and games, into which men enter with such intensity that one would suppose a crown of life was to reward the winner.” The purpose of this is to take the minds of God’s people so that they will not think of God. But now, after a tragedy, everybody agrees, no baseball games, no football games; all of the evening talk shows and laugh shows were stopped. All of sudden, people who were not interested before, were interested in talking about God.
When I first moved into my neighborhood, my neighbors invited us over for little housewarming parties and would offer me beer, which I would refuse. I told them I am a minister and they would say, Well, my pastor is cool. My pastor and I are buddies and he knows that he can come to my house and have a beer and no one is going to know. I told him I don’t drink, but you can go ahead and drink. Because I refused to join them we were known as killjoys and are no longer invited to their parties. I would see neighbors run by my house to their parties thinking I did not see them with their wine bottles and beer, etc. When they got so far, often I would call out the door and ask them how they were doing.
But after 9/11, it was different. These same people who had shunned me now wanted me to come and pray in their homes. Everybody in our area would drive by and wave. Everybody was afraid. They became solemn and serious about God. This is the same way people responded in November of 1755 when the great Lisbon earthquake struck, and also how people responded in 1780 when the sun went black and the moon turned red. It is how people responded in 1833 when all the stars were falling. These were all events beyond their control and they were scared.
In the days of Noah, when the animals boarded that ark, directed by an unseen hand, everybody was interested and intrigued. These were intelligent people, some of whom lived to be 950 years old; they were not cave men. You can only imagine what inventions there were and what your computer skills would be like with 900 years of experience. When the people saw this, everybody was frightened, just like now. But, in those next seven days after the door of the ark had been shut, when nothing else happened, they went back to business as usual. Fear will never convict a person to be loyal to God. The prophet of God says that when that angel swirled around in the sky, dropped down and got hold of that massive door of the ark and shut it, everybody was afraid. There was quiet. If the rain had started right then the people would have said, “Lord, if you would only have given me a few more days, I was going to get on board.”
Instead, God allowed that emotion to wear off. The first day, everybody was praying; the second day everybody was praying. You can just imagine Wednesday night prayer meeting—all the churches were filled just like they were after 9/11. But when nothing happened, somebody cracked a little joke and before you knew it, by Thursday, they were all laughing and saying that Noah was a wild fanatic. All of the preachers were preaching on that next Sabbath and planning on doing whatever they do after sunset Saturday.
Out of nowhere on that eighth day, dark hellish clouds came together and with combustion that man had never experienced, from the top and from the bottom. Water came from everywhere but by then it was too late for help. Then, the people wanted God and cried to Noah but the door was shut and the opportunity to be saved was passed.
Some today are trapped in regard to their siblings, children and parents who do not want to know their God. It comes to a point when each needs to ask, Who is my brother; who is my sister; who is my mother—they that do the will of my Father. When Noah entered that ark he had many family members who remained outside. The Bible said his father had more children, so there must have been sisters and brothers and maybe his mother was still alive, screaming for help when the rain started falling. Noah had to keep trusting in God—his name means rest. Salvation is an individual decision and Noah rested in his confidence in God.
“There are not many, even among educators and statesmen, who comprehend the causes that underlie the present state of society. Those who hold the reins of government are not able to solve the problem of moral corruption, poverty, pauperism, and increasing crime. They are struggling in vain to place business operations on a more secure basis.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 13.
Few understand the time in which we are living. Shortly after these disasters we are being told that the economy is coming back and everything is going to be good. This is not true; we are at the end of time. God did not leave us without a witness. In detail He tells us to listen. We must believe in the prophets. These testimonies were not written for one hundred years ago; they were written for our warning today.
Because nothing more happened right away after 9/11, people have become relaxed again. Now we see the economy is gone and is not coming back. Everybody is crying for the government to support them. Take care of us; take care of us; you are responsible for us! They are going to take care of us with their many schemes, but not without a cost. There is healthcare—at what cost? Save your home—at what cost?
This dear little lady prophetess is trying to tell us, through the Holy Spirit, that we should have our houses in order. There is no time to pretend that you have an experience that you don’t really have. Only you know what goes on when no one else is looking but God. Only you know how interested you really are in His Word. We need to ask God for help now for He will not cast us out, but some will not consistently ask. Are we too busy being occupied with the cares of this world to seek Him with all of our hearts? Do we leave the sanctuary after a seed of truth has dropped into our hearts and then not allow it to take root because of casual talking and neglecting to pray and praise God for what He has done for us? We should be able to go home and spend time in prayer, pleading with God for help, lest we perish. Ask Him for help and then linger to hear His voice. The prophet of God said that when she was 15 years old, she used to wait until her twin sister was asleep and then get out of bed and plead with God and agonize with Him and tell Him that she would not go to bed until He blessed her. She said that sometimes the sun would come up before she slept, but the Lord blessed her because she had prevailed in prayer. You have to search and ask God and the promise says that you will receive it. It is worth asking for.
The world in this condition cannot continue to go on indefinitely. Are you ready for Jesus to come? Have you really embraced eternal life? The Bible says that this is life eternal that you know Jesus (John 17:3). Do you really know Him? Jesus desires to have an intimate, personal relationship with you. The younger you are the easier it will be without having to fight through all of the different things you have conditioned yourself to believe. John the Baptist was a young man, preaching and doing ministry before Jesus came and commenced His ministry. When Jesus approached where he was baptizing, He said, “This is the Lamb of God” (John 1:36). God wants us to know Him, to recognize Him like John did. How angels must weep seeing so many unprepared and not interested in getting ready to go home.
Whatever the enemy of souls offers you, it is only temporary. Life in this world is so short. “Why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth.” Ezekiel 18:31, 32. To those who reject the offer of eternal life God asks, Why will you die? Take a look at your life and ask, Are the pleasures of this world worth losing heaven over? The Lord says that He has no pleasure at all in your death, so why will you die?
Isaiah 5:4 says, “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?” What more could God have done for you? These are pertinent questions. When the world turns their back on you and when nobody else understands, the Lord says, Come; it is going to be alright. Choose life and spend eternity with Jesus, the One who loves you and shed His innocent blood that you might live. Though you have rejected Him and spat in His face in the past, when you are ready, He says, Come. He never mentions the spit. He says, I want to give you My victory. When we walk in the flesh, we crucify Him afresh. Jesus has a personal interest in seeing you in heaven. You were created for His pleasure and for His joy. He wants to save you.
“Why will ye die, O house of Israel?” “What could have been done more to my vineyard?” Make your choice today. Make a decision right now to give your heart to the Lord. He longs to create in you a new heart right now.
“A new heart also will I give you.” Ezekiel 36:26.
Pastor Stephen Lewis is an international speaker and director of The Present Truth. This article is from a sermon he preached at Steps to Life Camp Meeting, 2009. He can be contacted at www.thepresenttruth.org.