It is an absolute thrill to be a part of the proclamation of the three angels’ message. It is a growing, dynamic movement raised up by God. The very essence of Adventism, of what it means to be a true Seventh-day Adventist and to truly give the three angels’ messages, is being revived around the world. The fellowship is truly a foretaste of heaven.
Ellen White wrote that “The world is preparing for the closing work of the third angel’s message. The truth is now to go forth with a power that it has not known for years. The message of present truth is to be proclaimed everywhere.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 10, 218. The world is preparing for it. People know that something enormous is about to happen in the world. Pope John Paul II believes that there is going to be a cataclysmic event that, as a result, the papacy will emerge as the ruler of this world. But even the man on the street has a sense that something is impending in our world.
Right now, we are at a crisis point in the history of humanity. Every person on this earth is to have the opportunity of understanding what the issue is regarding the mark of the beast. To meet the challenge, if God’s people will rise up and improve the opportunity that has come to them so providentially and miraculously, they will be given by God the most powerful tool for the proclamation of the loud cry.
We are part of a movement that is going through to glory. It is the unfolding of the power and the principles of the kingdom of God in these latter days. We have always known that this message of the three angels is going to triumph gloriously, but the vision of how it is going to take place is now beginning to unfold before our eyes. The message of present truth is to be proclaimed everywhere, and how can we proclaim it so cost effectively as through this shortwave radio station? With this station, the most powerful available, the billions of people on earth can hear the message at the speed of light. The developments that take place step by step as we approach the second coming of Jesus can be analyzed and proclaimed in the setting of the three angels’ messages.
In order for the rays of light to penetrate everywhere, those who are giving the message must have a way to carry the message everywhere. This is not going to be very effectively done by our opposition. We must have a voice, and God is giving to us that voice—the most powerful tool of communication available at this time. There is going to be a great harvest, and the radio station is a key factor.
“The last great conflict is before us; but help is to come to all who love God and obey His law, and the earth, the whole earth, is to be lighted with the glory of God.” Review and Herald, April 19, 1903. How many cities have you been through in China recently, proclaiming the message of truth? Do you know that through your gifts and this radio station we have the potential of being able to proclaim that message to every town in China, in inner and outer Mongolia, and in Tibet? Do you see the significance of it? We can blanket the entire globe at the speed of light. The whole earth is to be lighted with the glory of God. That is the commission that God has given to us. That is the glory of the hour, the time upon which we stand—the proclamation of the loud cry of the third angel, which will be attended by the fourth angel, which reinforces the second angel, all bound up with the first angel and the everlasting gospel.
The knowledge of the truth places us in a position of great responsibility because the blood that was shed at Calvary’s cross is of infinite value. The proclamation of the truth that makes known the knowledge of this infinite gift is an integral part of the plan of redemption. While all around, the principles of Satan are being acted out, the heavenly light is to shine upon this generation; and it will shine through the tongues, the pens, the generosity in giving, and the activity of God’s people, and through the improvement of opportunities that He has given them at this time. There is nothing that can compare with the thrill of being a part of it. If you are bored with life, all you have to do is begin following the truth, and you will have more adventure than you can endure.
Let us not be found with those who say, “It is not time to give out The Great Controversy now,” or “Be careful that you do not mention the mark of the beast.” As a result of the loud cry, every person in this world will know what the mark of the beast is; and if we cannot tell what it is now, how will we do it when the laws forbid it? The world must be prepared. Every person must know exactly what Rome did in changing the day of worship. Every person must know what the mark of the beast is and what the seal of God is so they can make an enlightened decision before the seven last plagues fall. Someone is going to do it. As Pastor John has said, “If not us, who? If not now, when?”
Do you realize now what it means that we have the satellite uplink? We are able to hold telethons that we could not have held two years ago. As this movement grows, you see, it feeds on itself; it is cyclical. Once this station is purchased, who knows what opportunity the Lord will open up next, and on and on and on. As we act on the opportunities that God gives us, he gives us more opportunities. What started out as a tiny mustard seed, as in the parable of Jesus, is sprouting and growing until it becomes a great tree, and the birds can nest in its branches. But those people who are holding the truth in unrighteousness are never going to give this message until they repent and come into line with the operation of the Holy Spirit right now.
There have been times when my heart has said, “How will God’s people be able to stand the forces coming against them?” In the Old Testament, over and over again a few men of Israel stood up and resisted the enemy and overwhelmed them in the Spirit of the Lord; and it will be the same way again at the end of time. I love that story of Gideon’s army and especially the test that God gave them when they came down to the water. Three hundred scooped it up and kept on running. Of the ones who stopped and took their time, God said, “Sorry. We can’t use them.” They turned the armies of the aliens to flight, and this is the spirit that is going to seize control of God’s people today.
During crisis times in the Reformation, Martin Luther spent three hours a day in prayer. One man, with a heart anchored by faith to Christ, is greater than the whole world. I pray to God, “Make my heart so broad, so strong, that it can bear up when these forces are applied against us. Give God’s people a heart and a spirit that is so broad, so strong, so powerful in You, that it will not be overcome and it will emerge triumphant over all obstacles.”
It is the work of the third angel’s message to reach every person and convict them regarding the claims of the law of God, the Sabbath of God, and expose the man of sin and what he has done in altering the law of God in insinuating his own authority where the authority of God is supposed to be. Every person has to have these things clearly delineated; that is the work of the third angel. God will allow that work to go on until it is complete, and that is the one safe place to be.
You see, the issue of sacrifice is complete surrender. If it will glorify God’s name to allow us to be martyred to show the character of Satan in contrast to the character of God, then it will advance God’s work. When the fires of Smithfield were lit in England and Ridley and Latimer were led to the stake, they said to each other, “We are going to light this day in England a fire that will not be extinguished.” As they were about to be burned, they encouraged each other with these words. So it will be, but your eternal life is secure in Christ. He will look out for your eternal best interest. There is nothing in the world that can even begin to compare with standing on that sea of glass and realizing that you have been fully redeemed, that you are there for eternity along with those who have listened to the message because you gave a gift to purchase the most advanced communications tool known to man.
There are many Adventists who are afraid to proclaim the third angel’s message. They do not want it proclaimed; they want to hush it up. They are writing articles in the periodicals to quiet it down; but I tell you, it is going to be given. And as it swells into a loud cry, great power and glory will attend its proclamation! I want to be a part of that power and glory! That power and glory is wrapped up in the third angel’s message. Ellen White says that if you separate the mark of the beast from the proclamation of the Sabbath, it loses its power. That is why the mark of the beast issue is so significant.
If we cannot proclaim the third angel’s message now, what about after the national Sunday law is passed? What will you do once a national police force is firmly established, which we are in the process of witnessing right now? I listened to an intelligence advisor, who used to serve in the United States military as an intelligence analyst and a counter-intelligence coordinator for years, give a seminar. He described what it will be like when the new world order takes effect. He spoke of various police agencies, such as the MJTF police, a multijurisdictional task force that most Americans have never even heard of. He told how they will do house to house searches and seizures and sweeps through the cities of our land, rounding up those who are dissenters from the new world order. He said that twelve years ago he would not have even considered talking about these things, but recently he has been discovering one piece of evidence after another.
“Some, I saw, have a prejudice against our rulers and laws; but if it were not for law, this world would be in an awful condition. God restrains our rulers; for the hearts of all in are in His hands. Bounds are set, beyond which they cannot go. Many of the rulers are those whom Satan controls; but I saw that God has His agents, even among the rulers. And some of them will yet be converted to the truth. They are now acting the part that God would have them. When Satan works through his agents, propositions are made, that, if carried out, would impede the work of God and produce great evil. The good angels move upon these agents of God to oppose such propositions with strong reasons, which Satan’s agents cannot resist. A few of God’s agents will have power to bear down a great mass of evil.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 203, 204
There is a struggle going on between the rulers of the earth—some under the control of the evil angels and some under the control of good angels. I have been amazed as I have been doing research, to see that there are people who are opposing gigantic evils that I did not even know existed. You heard on the news about the Iran Contra hearings and all that is involved. As I listened to the reports, little did I know that there were programs involved in that affair to suspend our Constitution and that there were good agents who resisted this, at great cost.
God will use His agents who are rulers in this earth to hold back a mass of evil so that this message can be proclaimed. That gives me great encouragement as I think about the proclamation of the message through this radio station. God is going to see to it that His message is proclaimed; and the safest place that you can be is right in the center of the proclamation of this message, because God will work through His angels on the hearts of rulers to allow the proclamation of this message.
“During the loud cry, the church, aided by the providential interpositions [This means that God is going to say, “We are going to adjust this and that, move out in this direction, correct this, block this evil, give this message.] of her exalted Lord, will diffuse the knowledge of salvation so abundantly that light will be communicated to every city and town. [You can do that with this shortwave station.] The earth will be filled with the knowledge of salvation.” Evangelism, 694
“As the third angel’s message swells into a loud cry, great power and glory will attend its proclamation. The faces of God’s people will shine with the light of heaven.” Maranatha, 202. I tell you, God’s people are going to be the most powerful force on this earth. They are united with the most powerful Being in the universe—God—God providentially interposing and blocking evil and opening up opportunities, crowning with success their intense efforts. Great power and glory will attend the giving of the message of the third angel.
The time has come for the nominal Adventist to awake out of his Laodicean state, seize the message, and join this movement! There is no time to delay. Every hour, you are approaching more closely the crisis of the ages. At any moment the sudden terror that Ellen White described that would come with blinding force and as an overwhelming surprise may spring upon you. And the Seventh-day Adventist sitting in the pew week by week is no exemption. I tell you, the one safe place will be under that covering that God extends over every person who is decided upon the three angel’s messages.
“When Jesus leaves the most holy, His restraining Spirit is withdrawn from rulers and people. They are left to the control of evil angels.” Ibid., 268. Then there will be none of these rulers who are God’s agents still there to resist them. Every one of the rulers then will be evil. That is what happened in the destruction of Jerusalem, which is a type of what it will be like in the great time of trouble. What a picture. They are left to the control of evil angels. Do you see, fellow Adventists, if you do not join this movement of the three angels’ messages and give it all that you have, where you will be left? You well be outside of the ark of safety where only evil angels are controlling humanity.
Do you think that people will know who is proclaiming the message? They will be known. Someone came up to me last night with a quote from the Mackelvane Intelligence Advisor, about a Univac computer in which are one million names already targeted for arrest when the new world order goes into effect in this country. Other figures about which we are hearing is that under the new world order, seventy-five percent of the population of North America and half the population of the world will have to be eliminated. Does it sound outlandish? Listen, before World War II, who took Hitler seriously when he wrote Mein Kampf, where he laid out his plan? It sounded too fantastic. It was not until after the war that the truth began coming out! We need to learn a lesson because, according to the occult agencies of the world, that was a trial run for a new world order.
God is going to allow a real demonstration at the end of time. He is going to let the universe see what it would have been like if Satan would have been given a free hand in heaven. He will show the entire universe what it would have been like if Satan had had his way. On this earth it will be demonstrated, and we are called upon to live during that time.
Yes, the proclamation of the third angel, which identifies the mark of the beast, will involve persecution; but the glory of the experience is impossible to describe. You cannot imagine what it will be like when you get to heaven to be able to tell stories about this ruler and that ruler who accepted the message of the third angel. You will be able to tell worlds afar what it was like to be under God’s protection during that time of Satan’s power here on this earth, when the earth was desolated and wasted by famine, pestilence, and plague, and every element of strife and evil was cut loose on humanity.
“Those who have held the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end will be wide-awake during the time that the third angel’s message is proclaimed with great power.” Maranatha, 218
Now is the time. May God help us to make the best use of it.
The End