And uh so now we start this afternoon and this is the third of our talk today and I’ve called this one standing for
truth. And um I I want to uh talk this afternoon about um what do we find in
the scriptures and in the spirit of prophecy about standing for truth. And the reason I speak about this is because
you never know when the spotlight’s going to fall upon you. You have no idea when in life um in
God’s providence the spotlight is going to fall upon you. And you just pray that
when the spotlight falls upon you, it will not find any spots.
You pray that when the spotlight falls upon you, it will find you walking in the light. Amen.
And in a world that is increasingly hostile to those who bear the name of Christ, if any spots are found, then
people will make much about that and try and discredit you. Um, but if the spotlight falls upon you, um, you want
to be found spotless. You want to be found walking in the light. You want to be make make sure there’s no shadow or hint of darkness in
how you live. And you know I uh in you know part of my own experience last five years I had no idea the spotlight would
fall upon me but it did. And so I’m speaking this kind of from personal
experience here this afternoon. Um none of us has any idea when the spotlight will hit us. There’s a story from the
Soviet Union of uh um it was in just after Yuragarin went into space where he
went into low orbit around the world and the Soviets they celebrated him and they they were saying there is no God on
planet earth because Yuri Gagarin went up into space and he did not see God and the story was going that there was a
kindergarten teacher in Moscow and she was telling the little children there is no God because Yuri Gagarin didn’t see
God and this little girl a four-year-old raised her hand and she simply said please ma’am she My God lives higher up.
Amen. And wherever the story of Yuri Gagarin not seeing God is told, so the story is
told to that faithful little four-year-old girl who obviously came from a Christian home and she realized
that what this man the teacher was saying was not true and that her God lives higher up. And so you never know
in life when the spotlight’s going to fall upon you and when your words or your deeds are going to be the subject of public scrutiny. And when your words
and deeds are the subject of public scrutiny, um, believe you me, everything you say will be taken down and used in
evidence against you. Absolutely everything. Um, and so, uh, I I I I
received last week, um, from one of the conferences in America. It wasn’t directly to me, but somebody sent it to
me. They sent a letter to all their pastors warning them not to invite me to their churches. And then attached to
that, there were three pages, three documents. And these documents they obviously came from um church
headquarters because every sentence had a number attached to it like 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 down the left hand side. That’s
how the secretariat of the church operates. So this is kind of like a legal looking document and it had dozens
and dozens of quotes from all the sermons last 10 years with chapter and verse and dates and time and YouTube
link and the bits in bold underline. There was no comment that said this is why it’s heresy, but it was just pages
and pages of documents. And I realized, oh, somebody’s watching every word I say and they’re watching every word I say
because they want reason to accuse. And so I said to if I should just start sending my sermon notes to the general
conference from now on and say, you know, here you are, have a look at it and then you see there’s nothing heretical there. But you have no idea
when the spotlight’s going to hit you. Um, all you can do is pray that somehow you’ll be ready and you’ll be able to
stand in the glare of that light. Amen. Because that light is not meant to illuminate you. That light is meant to
overwhelm you in its glare. When that’s when the spotlight hits. So, um I’ve entitled this afternoon’s talk standing
for truth. And um uh let’s bow our heads first and ask for a word of prayer. Our
heavenly father, Lord, we thank you so far for the blessings of the Sabbath day. Lord, we thank you for the freedom
we have to worship here in America. Lord, we thank you for this Methodist church up here in Graing and for their
pastors and leadership team who’ve opened their church to us so graciously today. And Lord, I pray your blessing
upon us now as we share these moments together. Lord, I pray that your spirit who inspired these words will speak
through me and bring conviction to each of our hearts and minds. Uh Lord, may this time be used for the edification,
the building up of the body of Christ. This I ask in Jesus’ holy name. Amen.
And so our journey today, as you see on the screen, um that’s the journey. There’s Oh, there’s a long long thing
there, isn’t there? Um there’s seven points, then a conclusion. So that’s not a normal sermon. Most sermons are three
points than a conclusion, but I tried to squeeze a bit more extra in here because it was a Sabbath afternoon and I kind of
figured we will have a bit more time. Um so the lady who’s keeping my my clock can Okay. Can you remind me at 45
minutes this time? Well, my hand, but I think you were busy. Oh, you did, did you? All right.
Okay. So, there’s the keeper of the royal watch down there, and she’s going to indicate to me when it’s time for me
to draw this to a close. All right. So, there’s our journey. We’re going to look at a very famous Adventist quote. Then, we’re going to look at uh the next
headings. Our love matters, unity on a scriptural basis, thus sayith the Lord, watchmen, what of the night, reproofs,
counselss, and warnings, and sighing over the body. And then we come to our conclusion. So, that’s the journey we’re
going to make today. And really the focus here was is on um standing for truth when the spotlight is upon you and
that spotlight is not your friend. And that is happening more and more particularly with cancel culture even
within our own church. And so let’s come first to a very famous Adventist statement and um there’s a quote if you
can show it on the screen there the next slide. This is a very very famous quote that Adventists talk all the time and it
says this. The church may appear as about to fall but it does not fall. And it’s amazing to me how often when when
Adventists go through a crisis, they immediately fall back on the comfort blanket of two or three famous quotes in
the spirit of prophecy. And then they keep quoting these back and forth to each other. And the re the reason they
do it, it seems to me, is not just because it provides comfort, but it excuses them from the need to stand up
and speak out about something. God has said it’s it will be like this. Therefore, there’s nothing we can do
about it. So, we don’t need to speak up about things. So, this is a very famous Adventist quote. Would you agree with
me? The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. Now, uh we hear this a lot when people are talking
about what’s happening when they talk about, you know, cultural Marxism and, you know, critical theories going
through our colleges and so forth, our alliances with the United Nations, USAD, the World Health Organization, and so
forth. And so people, they quote this all the time as if somehow God has
ordained that this is going to happen, but the church will somehow pull through at the end of time. And therefore it’s
like a it’s like a spiritual comfort blanket. Why is it a comfort blanket? Because implicitly it relieves the
members of any responsibility to to speak up or to rebuke or to seek administrative correction or spiritual
renewal because the church will will only appear as if it’s about to fall but it won’t.
In fact basically we believe on this verse here that everything will work out fine despite today’s shortcomings and
struggles. And is that what the quote is actually saying?
I don’t think so. What is the quote saying? Well, let’s ask ourselves because Sister White is
giving this expression here. We’ll come to the the quote in its context in a minute, but let’s ask how does she
define the word church. So, on the next slide there, we have a very famous quote there from 17 manuscript releases. It
says, God has a what? Church. Okay. It is not the great cathedral. Neither is it the national
establishment. Neither is it the various denominations. It is the people who love God and keep his commandments.
So in the eyes of God, his church are comprised of those who love him and who
keep his commandments. And Acts of the Apostles read from the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the the
church on earth. So in this sense, when Sister White uses the word church in
this sense, she’s not talking about everybody who ever sat in a church throughout salvation history. She’s
saying that from the beginning of time through to today God has always had a faithful people. They’re known only to
God because in any in any church in any time in any country in any century you’ve always got wheat and tear sitting
next to each other. But in this sense of the word church, Sister White is saying that God knows that in every visible
congregation, there’s an invisible faithful remnant to God in that moment and in that time. And the God has always
had that from Abel and Seth all the way through to today. So that’s one way in
which Sister White uses the word church. Now, she also uses the word church in another sense. Um and and in this this
particular sense, the first sense that the pure church that we’re talking about here, by definition, there are no
unfaithful or commandmenting members in that particular church. And only God who reads the heart knows its true
membership. So this church that Sister Dwight is talking about here, this true church through the ages, it has no
physical building. It has no denominational structure or label. And it is visible and known only to God
because it goes from Abel all the way down to us. So by extension it can’t be the 7th avenist church from 1863 onwards
and it can’t be ancient Israel from you know old testament times. It goes all the way back to Abel. And so God has a
in every generation God has those who are faithful to him and they are known to him regardless of who happens to be
worshiping around them at that time. Then the next sense that sister white uses the word church is found in the
next quote that you see in the screen. This is from fifth testimonies and she says there if you can change the slide
there. Um there are thank you there are both believers and unbelievers in the church and Christ represents these two
colasses in his parable of the vine and its branches. And then she goes on to say the advancements of the church is
by the wrong course of its members. Uniting with the church although an important and necessary act
does not make one a Christian nor ensure salvation. So what do we learn from this? So on in
the one sense when sister white uses the word church she means the those who are faithful to God who love him and who
keep his commandments spanning all the centuries of human history. And the second way in which she uses the
word church is then there is also a visible church in every generation and that visible church comprises wheat and
tears simultaneously. So when she uses the word church, you have to think carefully what sense of
the word is she using when she uses the word church in a given quote. And the next slide here, she talks more about
the wheat and the tears. Um she says um has God no living church. He has a
church, but it is the church militant, not the church triumphant. We are sorry that there are defective members that
there are tears amid the wheat. And so she’s basing this on the parable of the wheat and the tears and that so uh God
has a church. He has a faithful remnant in every generation and they they they cross all denominational boundaries.
They go back to faithful Abel and Seth all the way through to us today. And then God has a visible church. And that
visible church in any generation has got a visi has got those who are wheat and tears. But that is known really only
unto God. Even Elijah in first kings 19 when he said I only I am left and he
couldn’t tell what there were any other wheat in the in the among Israel. But God says no I have reserved unto me yet
7,000 who have not not bowed the knee to Baal. So even Elijah as one of the most
famous prophets the Old Testament he couldn’t see any other wheat in the in the people of Israel but God could. So
often times when there is the wheat and the tears, it’s sometimes hard even for the wheat to recognize who the other
wheat really are. And we see that from first kings 19 in the story of Elijah.
And so um then you have so the question how long will the wheat and the tears exist in the church? And um so the
living church in the p passage you see on the screen refers to the visible organized body of Christ within which
there is the wheat and the tears until Christ separates them. Now when is when
does the there are two separations that take place. There’s a separation at the
close of probation. Then there is a separation at the second coming. And the separation at the second
coming is a visible manifestation of the second of the separation that takes place at the close of probation. And so
um let’s move on to the next slide. There it says the tears and the wheats are now co-mingled but then uh but then
the one hand that can that alone can separate them will give to everyone his true petition or position. The pure ore
and the dross will no longer co-mingle. Then she goes on to talk about when that will be. It says the time is not far
distant when the test will come to every soul. The mark of the beast will be urged upon us. Revelation 13. In this
time the gold will be separated from the dross within the church. So there is a
test coming upon the church and the visible church which has wheat and tears within it. Um God will use a a test that
will coming upon the world in order to separate the gold from the dross or the wheat from the tears. And the next quote
talks more about when that happens. It says, “Sunday keeping is not yet the mark of the beast and will not be until
the decree goes forth causing men to worship this idol Sabbath. The time will come when this day will be will be the
test, but that time has not come yet.” And so there is a test coming upon the
world over false worship and true worship, coerced worship or free worship. And so with this kind of
background in mind, we understand therefore there is a there’s an invisible true church that goes from
Abel through to today. that’s comprised of those who keep the commandments of God and who love God. And because they
go from Abel through to today, you can’t say that is a particular denomination. It’s a faithful group in every
generation. And then there is the visible people of God, whether it be ancient Israel or the apostolic church
or you might say the Reformation Churches in the 1500 and so forth. And as you go through history, you can
identify a visible people of God. Um, but within that visible people of God, within that visible kingdom, you will
always have wheat and tears side by side. And only God knows who really is wheat and who really are the tears. So
let’s come to the quote that we’re we’re talking about here. It says, “The church may appear as about to fall, but it does
not fall.” And if we turn to the next slide, please. Um, this is the quote uh in its entirety.
And it says this, “Nations will be stirred to their very center.” And she’s talking about Revelation 13 here.
Support will be will be withdrawn from those who proclaim God’s only standard of righteousness, the only sure test of
character. And all who will not bow to the decree of the national councils and obey the
national laws to exalt the Sabbath instituted by the man of sin to the disregard of God’s holy day will feel
not the oppressive power of popery alone but of the Protestant world the image of
the beast. Satan will work his miracles to deceive. He will set up his power as
supreme. And so what we’re talking about here um and this is the immediate context for that quote like the church
will appear as if it’s about to fall. Sister White is talking here about when when the national Sunday law is passed
at the end of time when church and state unites to impose
coerced worship on the world. That’s the context what she’s talking about. Then the next slide um says that quote it
says the church may appear as about to fall but it does not fall. So which
church is she talking about here? Well, she goes on to say, “It remains.” That is the church that will appear as if it
will fall, but it does not. It remains while a sin is in Zion will be sifted out. The chaff will be separated from
the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless, it must take place. None but those who’ve been
overcoming by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with the loyal and true without
spot or stain of skin, without gile in their mouths. You must be we must be divested of our self-righteousness and
arrayed in the righteousness of Christ the remnants that purify their souls by obeying truth gather strength from the
trying process exhibiting the beauty of holiness amidst the surrounding apostasy. So then we ask ourselves so
when she has that phrase the church may appear as about to fall but it does not fall what exactly is she talking about?
Well, in that context there in second selected messages, she’s not talking about the visible corporate church as a
whole. She’s not talking about that group.
Many assume that she’s talking about the visible corporate 7th avenous church with our legal structure as if somehow
the structure is not able to fall. It will appear as if it’s about to fall, but it does not fall. But that’s not
what Sister White is talking about here. the church that she’s talking about here um is not identifiable until the
imposition of the Sunday laws because it’s when the national Sunday laws are imposed and then when the
national Sunday laws are imposed and everybody has to make a choice whether to obey the commandments of God or to
follow the commandments of men that’s when this church will appear as if it’s about four that is those who are
faithful to God will be revealed for who they really are so it’s not A it’s not a
visible denomination. She’s talking here not about there.
Remember there are two understandings of the word church. One is God has a faithful remnant in every generation. That’s the first understanding. And the
second is God has a visible people that comprises the wheat and the tears. So when she’s using the passage here, the
church may appear as about to fall but it does not fall. She’s not talking about the church that is visible with wheat and tears. She’s talking about the
vi the phys the the faithful remnants in each generation. But this this context here is the faithful remnant in the
final crisis and they will be revealed for who they are in the final crisis.
Does that make sense? So if this is the case,
if this is the case, then we need to do all in our power
spiritually to be counseledled among that group.
And character is not revealed in times of crisis. It’s not formed in times of crisis. It’s revealed in times of
crisis. Charact Crisis reveals who you really are. Crisis reveals what your
default position is. If somebody were to shout fire in this building now, we’d all rush for the exits. We look for the
red exit sign. There’s three at the back there. And we’d all rush for the exits because that’s our default position in
times of crisis. Very few people say, “No, we’re not going to leave the building. We’re going to carry on worshiping and you let the fire brigade
come and take fair take care of the fire in their own time.” No. Our default position is revealed in times of crisis.
And so this phrase the church may appear as about to fall but it does not um site is talking about in the final crisis
when the final coercion of conscience is going on and there’s immense pressure on us to follow the false Sabbath and do
not honor the true fourth commandment Sabbath in that moment those who are true to God will be revealed
and they’re going to come under worldwide pressure and persecution but they’re not going to it’ll appear like they’re about to fall but God’s going to
carry them through. So, we’re not talking here about the structure.
That may be heretical to some, but we’re not talking about the structure here. And sometimes we say the church may
appear as about to fall, but it does not as an excuse not to stand up and speak out about anything because the church as
a structure will always make its way through. But that’s not what she’s talking about in this passage here. She’s talking about a faithful remnant
who will be revealed in the final crisis when she says the trying process. You see the last line there. Um they they g
they gather strength from the trying process. So that final period of the trying process, proving process, the
final coercion of conscience will reveal who that faithful remnant are at the end of time. So with that in mind, how then
should we stand? Um how should we stand when the spotlight falls upon us? And
the first headline I want to show here, the first point, next slide, please, is that love needs to be the basis for
defending your truth. The truth that is love matters. You know, if if if somebody knows that
you love them, you can say an awful lot more to them than if they know that you don’t love them.
Is that true? Yeah. I think it’s generally true. If if if a teenager knows that you love them,
they’re willing to accept what you have to say as a parent more than if they think that you hate them. Will you just
hate me anyway? That’s why you’d say that kind of thing to me. So, when you know that you’re loved, you’re more
willing to accept what somebody is going to say to you. And there’s there’s a biblical um um passage that illustrates
this nicely. The next slide is from Mark 10:17-21. And in this passage here, this is a
story of the rich young ruler. And we’re not going to look at all the the text here, but if you look at the bit in red,
the line above, um it says the bit in red says, “Jesus looking at him loved
him and said, “You lack one thing. Go sell what you own, give money to the poor, and you’ll have treasure in
heaven, then come and follow me.” Now, what’s interesting about this passage is this is the only time in the Gospels
that it says that Jesus loves anybody. doesn’t even say he loves his mother.
This is the only person in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John where it says that Jesus loved X, Y, or Z. It doesn’t say
he loved the disciples, not by name. This is the only individual that says Jesus explicitly loved him. And it says
Jesus looking at him loved him and said, “I accept you as you are.” Is that what
the text says? No. No. No. No. The text says Jesus looked at him and he loved him and
because he loved him, he was willing to tell him the truth about his spiritual condition.
You follow on that? If you love somebody, you’re willing to tell them the truth in order to help them be
saved. If if there’s somebody hurtling in a car towards a cliff and you look at it,
think, “Oh, that’s kind of interesting that they’re all going to die off that cliff there.” Most people are apathetic. But if you then if they realize that’s
my son or my daughter in that car, you’re going to start yelling at them as loud as you can to change the course of
direction or they’re not going to survive the crash. And so Jesus looked at this man and he loved him and he
said, um, you need to change the way of your life. You can’t stay the way you are. So love
is not the same as acceptance. Apathy leads to acceptance because you don’t care about their eternal outcome. If you
love somebody, you’re going to share the truth with them in love so that they might be saved. Even if it means risking
that relationship. So Jesus looked at him and he certainly loved and he loved him, but he didn’t
accept him for was he as he was. He said, “If you want to be saved, this is what you need to do. Sell everything you
own and give it to the poor, then come and follow me.” And that’s a principle that we need to keep in mind as as a
fundamental principle when we talk about standing in the light and standing up for truth is that you have to love those
you’re speaking to. If you don’t love the people you’re speaking to, they know you’re not going
to love them. They’re not going to listen to what you say. You My mom used to give us spoons of cod
liver oil when we were growing up. Vile stuff. We were vegetarian, but we got a
big tablespoon of cod liver oil once a week. And you know, every time we brought up air for the next two or three
days, up came cod liver oil smell. It was disgusting. And so my mom knew that the only way to
get that cod liver oil down us was to chase it down with a glass of orange juice. Now this was, you know, just after rationing in England. Orange juice
was like like liquid gold in those days. We get orange juice on like Christmas day if we were lucky. And on Christmas
we get like an orange and a banana. on during the week we used to eat margarine because margarine was invented in World
War I by the Germans because they couldn’t have butter anymore. So it was a chemical composition and it was vile
stuff. But on on the Sabbath, my mom would bring out a little pout p of butter and all of us kids would say,
“Oh, mom, real butter.” And she’d say, “Hush now, hush now.” In front of all the guests. But um we lived in that kind
of era growing up in the 70s in England. And my mom knew that the only way to get the cod liver oil down, the truth of the
cod liver oil was only palatable if we chased it down with a glass of orange juice. So because there was orange
juice, which was a rare thing back then, we were willing to take the cod liver oil.
And when you speak the truth to somebody, speaking it out of a basis of love and
concern for their eternal well-being helps that truth go an awful lot further. And if they think you don’t
care about them and that you’re just saying it because you you’re filled with spite or you’re celebrating their demise, they’re not going to accept what
you have to say. So at the next slide there, we have the commentary on this from Desire of Ages, page 356. We read
there, Jesus himself never purchased peace by compromise. His heart overflowed with love for the whole human
race, but he was never indulgent to their sins. He was too much their friend
to remain silent while they were pursuing a course that would ruin their souls.
He the souls that he had purchased with his own blood. He labored that man should be true to himself as true to his
higher and eternal interest. The servants of Christ are called to do the same work and they should beware lest in
seeking to prevent discord they surrender the truth.
So uh very sobering thoughts here, aren’t they? that Jesus was never indulgent to the
sin of others because he loved people. He was willing to say the truth in love
in order that sinners might be saved. And so if we’re to follow in the example
of Christ, if we are ever called to if the spotlight falls upon us and we are called to we find ourselves in the
public arena and the spotlight is shining us, we have to speak out as Christ, we need to do so out of love for
those we’re speaking to. Love is going to make what we say go a whole lot further. The next quote goes
on a bit more. This talks about preachers here. It says those min ministers who are men pleasers who cry
peace peace when God has not spoken peace might well humble their hearts before
God asking pardon for their in insincerity and their lack of moral courage. It is not from love for their
neighbor that they smooth down the message entrusted to them, but because they are self-indulgent and easel
loving. True love seeks first the honor of God and the salvation of souls. Those
who have this love will not evade the truth to save themselves from the unpleasant results of plain speaking.
When souls are in peril, God’s ministers will not consider self, but will speak the word given them to speak, refusing
to excuse or paliate evil. Sobering thoughts. Yes. So I think, you
know, whenever I’m writing a sermon, there’s always the temptation to um let’s just kind of like tone this down a
bit. Yeah. Who’s the audience? Are they going to be offended? Do they have any
financial influence over me in the future? Um are you going to read the opinion polls before you write your
sermons? Are you going to consider which way the political winds are blowing before you prepare your sermons? Well, John the
Baptist didn’t, and he was the greatest of all the prophets. And as Jesus says, who did he go out to the desert to see,
a reed blown in the wind? No. People listened to John the Baptist because he
was willing to speak that which was politically incorrect in his time. He was willing. There were no sacred cows
in John the Baptist heard. Uh he just wanted to proclaim truth and win souls for Christ to prepare the way for the
Messiah. And so here says sister Dwight homes in on ministers and she’s she’s
absolutely right. There is often a reluctance to speak the truth from the pulpit because we don’t we don’t like
the side effects of preaching truth from a pulpit which is rejection or exclusion or cancellation.
So if you’re an elder here, if you are a preacher, I encourage you to think about this. God has called you to speak the
for seek the honor of God and the salvation of souls. That’s what’s written down there. the honor of God and
the salvation of souls come what may. Come what may
and then we leave the consequences in God’s hands. So the first principle is that we are love is to be the basis for
those who are speaking the truth. Uh the next uh slide please is that unity only comes on a scriptural basis. And the the
text I’ve chosen for this is 2 John uh verses 7-11. And the apostle John is
speaking here about the the spirit of uh the deceivers and the antichrist within the early apostolic church. And he says
this, “Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. Any
such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Be on your guard so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but
may receive a full reward. Everyone who does not abide in the teaching of Christ, but goes beyond it does not have
God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the father and the son. Do not receive into the house or welcome anyone
who comes to you and does not bring this teaching. For to welcome is to participate in the evil deeds of such a
person. And so in the early church they would there were big debates about the nature of Christ. And in the first and
second centuries there was something called gnosticism. The word gnosis means knowledge. And the idea these were
mystery religions that you were saved by knowledge. And they had like levels of knowledge. They like the Freemasons
today. They had degrees of knowledge within the mystery religions. And in the mystery religions and in gnosticism um
there was a branch that that they call doseticism. And doseticism is from the verb do. It means to seem. And so they
said that that which is spirit is good and that which is physical is bad. That was the basic idea. If it’s spirit, it’s
good. If it’s physical, it’s bad. So they would say Jesus appeared to walk along by the Sea of Galilee but his feet
left no footprints. And so because of this some people said
if the spirit is good and the physical is bad then we should deny the body and go into aeticism like monks living in
the desert. And other people say if the spirit is good and the flesh is bad then let’s abuse the flesh as much as we can.
Rioters living in immorality. These are kind of the two extremes that it led to. And so um the the antichrist you see
there it says who indeed is the antichrist is the person those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come
in the flesh. So in the first and second century people said Jesus is the son of god but he did not come in the flesh and
those who said that um were John denounced as a spirit of antichrist. And today the exact opposite is the case. We
have people that say that Jesus was a physical literal man in human history, but he wasn’t the son of God. So we’ve
just reversed the whole situation from the first century to to the century in which we are dealing with here today.
But what John makes clear is that unity is only possible when we’re grounding it
in truth. Unity must have a scriptural basis. On
the next slide here, we read there that our church members see that there are differences of opinion among the leading
men and they themselves enter into controversy regarding the objects under dispute. Christ calls for unity, but he
does not call for us to unify in wrong practices. I urge our brethren to unify upon a true scriptural basis.
You know, it’s easy to cover up things, but it’s much harder. But if you cover
things up, when you know there’s a division, it’s easy to pretend that it’s not happening. And that doesn’t help
your church at all. It’s a harder thing to do to study something out, but at the end of it, the
conclusion is much stronger because the Holy Spirit has led you all in that study. When I first came to a church in
America, um they were divided over the the question of the new covenants and the old covenant. And some people were
saying we’re new covenant Adventists which means we’re going to go and start eating pork and all the rest of it. And
and so the churches were divided over this and this was a big thing 20 25 years ago and rather than saying to the
members when a preacher s about this I said to them well let’s spend the next quarter sitting around after potluck and
we’re going to study for a few hours every Sabbath afternoon all the covenants in the Bible and we’re going
to see what the Bible says about this. It was really hard work but by the end of it the church was united and say okay
this is where we stand because we’d all gone through that process together. So if if there is going to be unity in the
church it must be on a scriptural basis and that means studying the Bible
together so we can come to a common conclusion and being honest with ourselves that maybe the ideas I was
cherishing or pushing maybe they aren’t as strong when we shine the light of scripture upon them. Now the next next
slide here um to talk from great controversy explains this in a bit more detail. Um this is about the early
church uh in in the early centuries there. It says after a long and severe conflict the faithful few decided to
dissolve all union with the apostate church if she still refused to free herself from falsehood and idolatry. So
we’re reading here about the third and fourth centuries when you have um the idolatry coming into the church and
pagan ideas coming in and you had people who had then become the ward denses up in northern Italy and they’re refusing
to accept the idolatry and superstition coming into the church. And she goes on to say they that is the faithful
Christians of northern Italy at the time saw that separation was an absolute necessity if they would obey the word of
God. They dared not tolerate tolerate errors fatal to their own souls and set an example which would imperil the faith
of their children and children’s children to secure peace and unity. They were ready to make any concession
consistent with fidelity to God. But they felt that even peace would be too dearly purchased at the sacrifice of
principle. If unity could be secured only by the compromising of truth and righteousness, then let there be
difference and even war. Sobering words. Yes.
That if there is to be unity, it must be on a common understanding of scripture.
And we call that doctrine. And the challenge we face as Adventists
is when you say, “What is an Adventist?” Well, we believe in the 28 fundamental beliefs. We we are a product of the
modernist era and we’re now living in a post-modern world. And in the post-modern world, people don’t accept
the idea of doctrine. And let me give you an example. Uh when
you d when you drove to church today, did anybody drive by a stop sign?
Yeah. What did you do when you saw the stop sign?
You stopped or at least you tried to stop. But you’re thinking with a modernist
mindset because a modernist mindset says there is a sign that that case there
must be an author to that sign and that author had the authority to put that sign out there and that author has
authority over me in this moment of my life. And if I don’t obey that author,
um, then there’s going to be consequences for me. And if I see the sign and I stop, then everybody else who
sees the stop sign at a four-way junction, they’re all going to stop when they see the stop sign as well. And that’s how society gets along. And those
are the assumptions of the modernist world. But now we live in a post-modern world where young people are looking at
a sign like this and saying, “There’s a stop sign. How interesting. I wonder who put that there. Nobody will ever know
who put that sign there. It’s an unknowable author. And I certainly don’t accept that the author has any authority
over me in my life and my subjective lived experience. And who knows what the word stop mean?” Because legit meaning
is in the eye of the beholder, not in the eye of the author. We don’t know what he was trying to con communicate to
us. So, I’m going to glide through and you’re going to stop and you’re just going to take a right-hand turn and somebody else is going to reverse. But
that’s okay because that’s your truth.
And that’s how the postmodern mindset looks at the words the stop sign. And we may laugh at it, but we’re all
living in a postmodern world now. And the idea that the stop sign everybody in
this room and in this room we’ve got people from all around the world including myself.
Everybody knows to stop at a stop sign. That’s common understanding of a text. That’s called doctrine in theological
terms. In a post-modern world, doctrine is no longer possible because everybody
has their own interpretation of scripture. Nowadays, you get the men’s New King James Version and you get the
women’s New King James Version. You get a teenagers edition of the New King James Version. You get a women’s
devotional version of the King New King James Version. You get a men’s group reader of the New King James. I mean,
there are so many versions of the Bible. We’re producing Bibles for for ever small and niche markets because we
recognize we’re all postmodern and we interpret it from a certain perspective. you know, there’s the strong man’s
version of the Bible now for Samsons out there. Okay? And so, it’s not that the text has
changed, but the comments all around it. The commentary has all changed is aimed at a certain group in within society.
And the point about this is that we as Adventists have 28 fundamental beliefs that made sense in the 1880s and 1920s,
but in a postmodern world, the idea of doctrine is kind of unsustainable
just because we’re postmodern. So when we’re in saying we need to uphold the beliefs that God has passed
on to us, people are saying, “But why? That’s your truth and this is my truth.”
And that’s why it becomes harder and harder to main scriptural unity on a scriptural basis because fundamentally
in our western world, we deny the possibility that we can all read the same text and have the same
interpretation of the text. And so we have a new generation being raised in our churches of young people who say,
“Well, yeah, that’s fine. That’s your truth. But my truth is this. Because philosophically, nobody can have
the same interpretation of scripture, particularly in the modern, you know, the last 20 years with critical theory and so forth. This I read the Bible and
say, “Well, pastor, that’s because you’re white, heterosexual, and cisgender and male.” But I’m African and
I’m female and I’m transgender and I’m whatever else I want to identify as. Therefore, I have a different
interpretation of scripture equally as valid as yours. And because we’re so we are so sliced
and dice in different identity groups, so we expect the scripture to reflect and speak to our different identity
groups in different ways. So this idea of scripture of unity on a scriptural
basis is becoming harder and harder for us to to achieve because we are living more and more in a post-modern world
where the concept of doctrine is no longer possible of common understanding of the text. So this is becoming a real
problem for us as as Adventists as we uphold what we believe because everybody
wants to believe what they want to believe now regardless of what the rest of the church believes. Okay. So let’s come to the next um the next principle
here. So if if unity is supposed to be on a scriptural basis um even more um
fundamental is there needs to be a thus sayaith the lord for everything. Not just this is my conclusion from
reading all of scripture but ideally there is a thus sayaith the lord for the positions that we take. Acts chapter 5
we read an example here uh verses 27- 29 we see in red it says but Peter and the
apostles answered we must obey God rather than any human authority. As
simple as that. And so if we must obey God rather than any human authority, uh
that means if a human authority is saying do X, Y, and Z, then I need to be able to show from the word of God that
God says no, you do e you do A, B, and C. Society says do A, B, and C and the
God says no. God says do X, Y, and Z. You not you need to have thus sayaith
the Lord. The next slide, Acts 4:18-19. And it says there the Sanhedrin, they
called them Peter and John and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John
answered them, “Whether is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge.”
And so when we when the spotlight falls upon us and we have to speak up for truth, we need to make sure that if we
can’t have unity on a scriptural basis, at the very least, we need a thus sayaith the Lord.
And if we’re to have a thus sayith the Lord, it means that we need to know the scriptures for ourselves. You can’t just
say, well, I think this because a lot of people think a lot of nonsense in all honesty. A lot of people have got a lot of opinions that haven’t been thought
through. A lot of people live in pretty much thought-free zones
really. And what’s what’s trending on Twitter is guiding their thoughts for the day.
Doesn’t mean there’s not much going on up there. And so if we’re to have when the spotlight falls upon us and you’re
going to say something that could cause you to lose your job, cause your career to be canceled, cause you to lose your
professional license, cause you to fall behind on your mortgage, cause you to have your house repossessed, cause all
those different consequences. You need to make sure that you’ve got a thus sayaith the Lord behind you when you
stand up for something. So the next slide here, I’ve got another quote related to this. It says, “This
principle in our day, we are firmly to maintain. The banner of truth and religious liberty held off by the
founders of the gospel church and by God’s witnesses during the centuries that have passed since then has in this
last great conflict been committed to our hands. The responsibility for this gift resides with those whom God has
blessed with a knowledge of his word. We are to receive his word as supreme authority.” So she goes on to say this
from acts of the apostles. She says in the next slide there she says we are to recognize human governance as an
ordinance of divine appointment and teach obedience to it as a sacred duty within its legitimate sphere such as
stop signs on the road. But when its claims conflict with the claims of God, we must obey God rather than men. Now
listen to this bit in the red text. It says, “God’s word must be recognized as above all human legislation.”
And this is the the sentence that really catches my eyes. A thus saith the Lord
is not to be set aside for a thus saith the church or thus sayaith the state.
The crown of Christ is to be lifted above the diadems of earthly potentates.
And we say well when we read in the book of acts it’s always Peter and John and the apostles against the Sanhedrin. So
it’s the apostles against the union of church and state. But here Sister White is saying that um if there is a thus
sayaith the church that does not set aside a thus sayaith the Lord.
So it doesn’t matter what the executive committee votes. It must always be tested against the
scriptures. Doesn’t matter what your church board votes. We must always if we’re on the
board we need to make sure that those decisions have a clear thus sayith the Lord behind them.
We need to have a thus sayaith the Lord. And if somebody says to you, thus sayaith the church, and that is final,
your answer is to be no. We need to find a thus sayaith the Lord. Because as Luther said, the councils of
men have made mistakes many times over, including our own councils. Let’s be
honest. And if you don’t believe me, then for many decades, we paid women less than we
paid men for the same work. And it was only because one lady took the Pacific press to church back in the
1970s and she was roundly condemned at the time for doing that that now women and men get the same pay for the same
work working for conferences in the SDA church. So the councils of men that said women’s work women paying doing the same
work as men are worth less than men that decision that thus sayith the Lord had to be replaced with a thus sayith thus
sayaith the church had to be replaced with a thus sayaith the lord. So if there is to be if you are to stand
up and you are to speak out your primary concern is not what does the church say or what does the state
say your primary concern is what does the word of God say
and I’ve noticed over many years and I’ll say it again whenever there’s a new social issue come along transgenderism
is a great example many members rather than studying it out for themselves the issue they wait for an official position
statement to come out from the general conference to tell us what we’re supposed to believe on the topic.
And that’s just intellectual and spiritual laziness on my part and on all of our part. Each one of us needs to be
thinking these things through for ourselves and understanding what the word of God might say on these things rather than
just saying this is what the church says. Therefore, automatic that is what I automatically think. It doesn’t work
like that. Thus sayaith the Lord is not to be set aside for thus sayaith the church.
And so the next next quote there is from fourth biography here fourth biography
there it says we let them know that we are seventh adventists because we believe the Bible the Bible and the Bible only is the foundation of our
faith. Before these meetings close that people know from the scriptures why we are a peculiar people. The word is the
foundation of our faith and our dependence is upon Christ. So, do we order our lives in such a way
that people know that our life is built on a thus sayith the Lord? Do we make decisions because it’s the
popular thing to do because it’s the cool thing to do because everybody else is doing it because we’re trying to keep
up with the Joneses or do we make decisions and have opinions on matters because the Bible is the foundation of
our faith and we have a thus sayith the Lord for everything we say and do. Now, these are hard questions to ask and
uh we can answer those questions in the crevices of our own hearts. But I encourage you today to be thinking this through. Is the Bible and the Bible only
the foundation of your faith? And do you have a thus sayaith the Lord
for the decisions that you’re making in life? And so if we when the spotlight falls
upon you, if your life is to be a reflection of your heavenly father, then
your life needs to be a reflection of his revealed will in scripture. And therefore, it matters not what the
church says. What really matters is what the word of God says. And is my life in alignment with that first and foremost?
Which brings us to the next um stage of this journey this afternoon. And it’s watchmen What of the night? Kind of a
graphic picture up there. So if the church is to stay true to thus sayaith the Lord rather than the
councils of men, the church needs watchmen on the walls. And throughout if you look at old
testament history, there were three branches of government. Today we have three branches of government. Yes. We
have the executive that’s the president. We have the judiciary that’s the supreme court. And we have the legislature
that’s the congress. And in the old testament you had the same three branches. You had the kings, you had the
priests and you had the prophets. And God had all three all the way through Old Testament times when his people were
a nation. There were the the kings, they were the prophets, and there were the priests. And the kings were charged with
civil governance. And the priests took care of the religious liturgies that had to go on the sacrifices every day. But
God also needed prophets out there to bring correction to the priests or the kings when they went astray. And so God
had this kind of the triple three-legged stool for how Israel was to be governed uh during uh most of its ancient history
from the time of Samuel onwards. And so God has always had watchmen on the walls
to guide his people. Those watchmen were not the administrators but they were raised from
time to time to speak warnings to his people. And uh we find the first example is in Jeremiah chapter 6. Watchmen what
of the night and it says take warning O Jerusalem from Jeremiah 6 or I shall
turn from you in disgust and make you a desolation and uninhabited land. To whom shall I speak and give warning that they
may hear? See their ears are closed. They cannot listen. The word of the Lord is them an object of scorn. They take no
pleasure in it. From the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain. And from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely. They’ve treated the wound of my people carelessly, saying, “Peace, peace.” And the text
goes on to say, “Thus sayaith the Lord, stand at the crossroads and look and ask for the
ancient paths where the good way lies and walk in it and find rest for your souls.” But they say, “We will not walk
in it.” Also, I raised up sentinels or watchmen for you. Give heed to the sound of the trumpet, but they said, “We will
not give heed.” Therefore, here, O nations, and know, oh congregation, what will happen to them. And so God raises
up watchmen on the walls to save his people from themselves.
And I’m not saying I’m a watchman or not, but every congregation needs some kind of watchman.
Every congregation needs someone who is as true to duty as a needless to the pole.
every congregation. Thank you, sister. Who can remind the preacher that he’s gone over time? Is that 45 minutes or 30
minutes? 45. Oh, okay. I was being optimistic at 30 then. 45. Thank you for that reminder. A
watchman on the wall here. Thank you, sister. I appreciate that. Um, every preacher needs someone with a clock like
that to say, “Time out.” But every congregation needs a watchman on the wall. Someone who will speak the truth
in love. Someone who will sigh and cry for what is happening among God’s people. Someone who will say thus
sayaith the Lord rather than thus sayith the church board. Uh someone who will appeal to unity on the basis of what the
Bible says rather than what’s um politically popular within the church in that moment. Every congregation needs a
watchman on the wall. And let me tell you this, it’s not some it’s not easy to be a watchman on the wall.
And it’s not something you go looking for to be a watchman on the wall because when you’re a watchman on the wall, believe me, um people look at you with
less than love in their eyes. It comes back to haunt you if you’re a watchman on the wall. But God raises up
watchmen on the wall and they’re to give the trumpet a certain sound that everybody can hear and everybody can
know. And those watchmen are raised by God in order to save the people of God from themselves and the path that
they’re taking away from the word of God. The next question, the next quote goes on to say this. It’s from third
testimonies. It says, “It is not enough to many profess to believe the truth. All the soldiers of Christ virtually
obligate themselves to enter the crusade against the adversary of souls. That is a great controversy to condemn wrong and
to sustain righteousness. But the message of the true witness reveals the fact that it is terrible deception is
upon our people which it makes it necessary to come with warnings to break their spiritual slumber and to arouse
them to decided action. You know, I preached a sermon today, this morning of the parable of the 10 virgins, the the
the five wise virgins, the five foolish, and the coming of the groom precisely because part of my job as a preacher is
to wake people up to the the seriousness of the situation in which we find ourselves. Nobody wants to be lost. We
all need to turn away from being the tendency to become foolish and we need to embrace what it means to be wise. And
so we preach these things not because we’re trying to preserve the institutions of the past, but because we
want to be souls, want souls to be saved for the future. And that’s why preachers really should preach. It’s not to defend
the physical infrastructure. It’s to prepare a people to meet Jesus when he comes again. And to speak the
unvarnished truth so that people know this is my true spiritual condition. The preacher is not sugarcoating this for
us. He’s not giving us a placebo for a sermon, but he’s saying the the truth to me. And I’m gratefully speaking the
truth because nobody else will say it to me. And so the message of the true witness to the church of God reveals
that the church is in desperate trouble. They are in a spiritual slumber and they
needs to arouse to take decided action. The next slide is another quote along these lines. It says, “If God abhors one
sin above another of which his people are guilty, it is doing nothing in case of an emergency. Indifference and
neutral neutrality in a religious crisis is regarded of God as a grievous crime and equal to the very worst type of
hostility against God. We’re not just to pass by on the other
side of the road. We’re not to be like the priest and the Levi Levite who saw the injured man on the road and just
walk by on the other side and pretend I’m not looking there. You know, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
If we’re going to be watchmen on the walls, then we cannot have indifference and
neutrality is is a manifestation of apathy that I call you my brother, but I really don’t care about you. As you saw
in the very beginning here this afternoon, Jesus looked at that man and he loved him and he said, “If you wish
to inherit eternal life, go and sell all you have and give to the Paul and come follow me.” Which means um indifference
and neutrality are an expression of the fact that I don’t love my brother as I should.
And so God is calling people today to be watchmen and watch women on the walls.
Are you ever have you look back in your life? Have you ever are you grateful for the people that took you to one side and
said something to you that at the time was painful, but when they said when they said it to you, you realized this was probably God speaking at that time.
There have been people said things to me. They’ve pulled me to one side and said, “Brother Vine, I need to tell you something.” And they’ve told it they
told me something. And I’ve realized, yeah, they’re right. I hate to admit it, but they’re right. And I’m grateful for those kind of
people. We have that in marriage. At least I have that in marriage as well. My wife
says, my wife says, “Connor, I have an idea.” And she gives a really good idea. I think, “Why didn’t I think of that?”
And I’ll say, “Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I’m not going to commit to anything.” Then a week later, I’ll say, “You know, I just
had a brilliant idea.” And I’ll say exactly what she just said to me. My wife being a wise wife, she
doesn’t say, “Oh, I see I told you that a week ago.” She says, “What a wonderful idea, Conrad.”
Amen. Says somebody, “Thank the Lord for wise and judicious wives.” Yes. Yes. And
so, but there are people who call pulled me to one side and said, “Brother Vine, this and this and this is wrong in your
life. This is what I see. I’m not going to announce it to the world, but I counsel you to change the course that you’re taking here.” At the time it
wasn’t pleasant, but I’m grateful for those people. Being a watchman on the wall doesn’t necessarily mean you have to stand in
the pull pits and preach. It may mean that you take somebody out for a meal and you fast for two days beforehand.
You fast for that meeting and you say, “Look, I’m going to say this in love and I won’t say it again, but this is what the Lord has impressed upon me to share
with you. This is what you need to hear. I’m not going to put it on Facebook. I’m not going to announce it to the world. I’m not going to gossip over potluck
about it, but this is what you need to hear. I say this because God loves you and I love you and I want you to be saved.
That’s also being a watchman on the wall and it takes courage and love for the person to actually give them a message
like that. So our next slide discusses this last this last slide in this particular section here.
It says it is the duty of both watchmen and laymen to give the trumpet a certain sound. Some are inclined to think that
too great a stir is being made. But their position that their pos but in their position of ease they say to the people peace and safety when sudden
destruction is about to fall upon the world. God calls the watchmen and and privates connected with his army to
strengthen the outposts and to guard the fort. What site is basically saying is
this uh some people would rather have peace and safety and comfort and pretend not to notice anything rather than be a
watchman on the walls. And the tragedy is God will raise up somebody else. He just won’t be able to
work through you. And you won’t receive the spiritual blessing of being a watchman on the wall because you’ve
passed it by because you don’t want to upset the apple cart. You don’t want to risk making somebody upset with you. You
don’t want to lose your social standing. You’re afraid they’re going to use it against you in the future. You may lose a business contract or something. And so
it’s easy just to pretend to look the other way and to pretend everything is okay.
And but God is asking the watchmen and the layman, it says there, to give the trumpet a certain sound.
And so I want to challenge you here today. When the spotlight falls upon you or you’re called to speak up about
something, give the trumpet a certain sound and ask God to work through you in
a way that is redemptive rather than destructive. Ask God to work you through in a way that will redeem a soul from
some from from eternal loss. that will um bring them back into the narrow path of righteousness that may actually
change the way that you live your life. God may convict you to say somebody something to somebody else and in the
same time he’s convicting you of the same matter yourself. And so if we when the spotlight falls
upon us, we to speak out for the Lord. Um God is looking for watchmen and watch women and lay people, it says on the
screen there from the reviewing from the review and herald there. and to give the trumpet a certain sound. Which leads us
to We’re almost at the end, brothers and sisters. Okay. It’s been a long afternoon. So, how much time have I been
on this now, sis? Was that 50 45 minutes you said? You’re about 15. I’m about 15 now. All right. Okay.
More like 55. More like 55. All right. Okay. Better if you said more like 49, but never mind.
Say, so next slide there, it talks there about reproofs and warnings. And next slide then. And thank you. And so this
is a quote from the from the Apostle Paul, his testimony to the elders of Ephesus. And uh this is he’s he’s
describing his ministry among them as an elder. And he describes how he did a house-to-house ministry. And look at the
bits in red. I’ll just read the bits in red here. It’s taken from Exodus 20:18-27. The Apostle Paul says this. He said, “I
did not shrink from doing anything helpful, proclaiming the message to you and teaching you publicly and from house
to house.” Then he goes on to say, “Therefore, I declare to you this day that I’m not responsible for the blood
of any of you, for I did not shrink from declaring the whole purpose of God.”
So what does the Apostle Paul says? He says, “I didn’t shrink from doing anything that was in your for your
benefit. I didn’t just go home after potluck and talk with my wife about something and
grumble about something. I actually dealt with the issues. I didn’t shrink from it.
He says, “And therefore, because I didn’t shrink from doing the right thing, I’m not responsible for the blood
of any of you. I may have given you warning. You could have accepted it or rejected it, but the fact is I warned
you. I’ve discharged my responsibility as a minister of the gospel. Now, it’s up between you and the Lord how you
respond.” And so part of the role of watchmen, part of the role of ministers of the
gospel, part of the role of elders and deacons and deaconesses is to not shrink from laboring for the
salvation of others, including not shrink from saying things that may be
kind of difficult to say. And the next slide goes on. Sister White commends this. She speaks explicitly
about this passage and she says in acts 20 17-35 this this example of the apostle Paul
she says we see outlined the character of a Christian minister who faithfully performed his duty he was an allround
minister and the word for minister and pastor and
elder in the new testament it’s all the same word the word for pastor and elder is the
same word there’s no difference in the new Testament between pastors and elders.
Nowadays, we see there’s a big difference. Pastors are paid by the conference. Elders are local local business people. They have their own
business or employees of a business locally. But in the New Testament church, there is no difference between
pastors and elders. So you could fit into this slot here. In Acts 20 was outlined the character of a Christian
elder who faithfully performed his duty. And that means if if God calls you into
a leadership position as an elder, please don’t shrink from the duties that come along with it. Don’t shrink from
laboring for souls. Don’t shrink from pointing out to people that their current course of action is going to
take them over a cliff. Don’t shrink from it because if you’re not going to do it, God’s going to have
to raise somebody else. And maybe God has put you into this role for such a time as this. So don’t shrink from these
responsibilities. We want to be able to, if you’re a pastor, leave one congregation, go to another, and say, “I
declared to you all the will of God. I did not shrink from it. How you respond to it is now on your own heads. But I’m
not responsible for your blood. I’m not going to turn a blind eye to a couple living in sin in the church. I’m not
going to turn a blind eye to someone who’s got a gambling addiction in the church. I’m not going to turn a blind eye to someone who’s cheating on their
taxes and boasting about it or cheating on their credit card insurance. It’s my responsibility as a minister of the
gospel to point these things things out to you in love with the thus sayith the Lord and to appeal to you to change your
course so that this path does not lead you to eternal destruction and that’s the responsibility of every elder within
this gathering here today not just the pastors is every elder has that responsibility
and if you look at the New Testament deacons in the time of Steven did what pastors do today essentially if you look
at what they actually did and so deacons also have that responsibility and deaconesses
to be faithful watchmen on the walls to form the duty of a Christian minister faithfully. Uh the last quote in this
passage here is from first selected messages. It’s the next slide. It says the word of the lord
um no it’s the next slide after that please. Oh okay go back a slide then. Yes I’m
sorry. So the word of the Lord comes to us all who have not resisted his spirit by determining not to hear and obey.
This voice is heard in warnings, in counsels, in reproof. It is the Lord’s message of light to his people. If we
wait for louder calls or better opportunities, the light may be withdrawn and we left in darkness. The
word is this, go forward, discharge your individual duty and leave all the consequences in the hands of God.
And so we do as God asks us to do. we discharge our spiritual responsibilities and then we can leave the consequences
in the hands of God. And the thing about this warning here is the light may be withdrawn and we will be left in
darkness. Like you may receive a warning from the Lord through a brother or sister and you
you harden your heart to it. You may not get that warning again. God may just say Ephraim is joined unto idols. Let her
alone. And that has terrible consequences. So if somebody speaks the
truth in love to you, don’t be angry with them. Go home and pray about it and say, “Lord, what would you have me learn
from this? How would you have me change my life?” And if God asks you to bear that kind of
message to somebody else, you know, examples like Nathan coming before David to rebuke him for the sin of Ba Sheba,
that wasn’t an easy thing for Nathan to do. It wasn’t easy for Elijah to come before Ahab in First Kings 17 and 18 and
they say, “Uh, for three and a half years there’ll be no rain in Israel.” That’s like going in front of Congress and saying there’s going to be no money
printing for three and a half years and the whole economy is going to collapse for three and a half years because that’s what’s going to happen if there’s
no money printing. And so it’s not an easy thing to do this which leads us to the final the final uh
se section of our e afternoon journey here which is sighing over the body of Christ. You know, if you’re going to if
you’re if you’re being if you’re going to be a watchman on the wall, if you’re going to be a faithful minister of the gospel, there has to be an emotional
connection to those you’re serving. There has to be a grieving over the path that we’re on. And there needs to be a
yearning for them to walk in the paths of righteousness. And so, the first quote we have there is
from Ezekiel chapter 9 3-6. I’m just going to read the bits in red because time is moving on. Says, “Go through the
city, through Jerusalem. put a mark on their foreheads of those who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are
committed in it. And so in in this story, this is judgment coming upon Judah just before the final destruction
by Nebuchadnezzar. And God knows among his people those who
are they’re not in positions of leadership, but they are deeply grieved over what is happening among God’s people. And you may not be able to
change what’s happening among God’s people, but at least you’re not participating in it, but you’re deeply
grieved by it. And God sees that. And this passage here, God says, “Put a mark on them that they’re going to be
protected because they weren’t in a position to change anything, but they didn’t encourage it either. They were
grieving over what is happening in the body of Christ.” The next slide goes on to say this from third testimonies. If
wrongs are apparent among his people, and if the servants of God pass on indifferent to them, they virtually
sustain and justify the sinner and all alike and are alike guilty and will just
as surely receive the displeasure of God, for they will be made responsible for the sins of the guilty. And she goes
on to say in the next slide she says in vision I have been I have been pointed in many instances where where the
displeasure of God has been incurred by neglect on the part of his servants to deal with the wrongs and sins existing
among them. Those who have excused these wrongs have been thought by the people to have very amable to be very amiable
and lovely in disposition simply because they shuns to discharge a plain scriptural duty. The task was not
agreeable to their feelings therefore they avoided it. I mean, she could have been writing about what’s happening in
2025 that there are some people today and everybody thinks they’re very lovely and
amiable and it’s easy to get along with them and we think that because they are not they’re refusing to discharge their
plain scriptural duty which may be to confront sin, open sin in the body of Christ. So, it’s easy to take the
comfortable path. It’s easy to take the popular path. It’s easy to take the path of silence and pretending we don’t see
anything. And sister White says it happened in her day and it’s happening in our day as
well. But that’s not what brings God honor and glory. The next quote talks
about this, the last quote in this section in a bit more detail. She says, “The true people of God who have the
spirit of the work of the Lord and the salvation of souls at heart will ever view sin in its real sinful character.”
I’ve often thought about this this phrase here. I think the reason that we take sin so lightly is because we’ve
lost a sense of how serious sin really is. It was one sin took Adam and Eve out of
the Garden of Eden. It was one sin kept Moses from entering the promised land. I
don’t think we realize how serious sin really is. And when we’ve lost a sense of how serious sin really is. Oh yeah,
they just have Yeah, that’s a young couple. They’re living together. Everybody does that now. We turn a blind eye to it. We excuse it.
because we’ve lost a sense of how sin how evil sin really is. Therefore, we’ve
lost a sense of our wonder, how precious salvation is. If you don’t think the problem is a big
deal, you’re not going to think the solution is a big deal either. But when you realize how how terrible sin really
is, then you realize how wonderful salvation really is.
And so we we are told here that we are to view sin in its real sinful character. Especially in the closing
work of the church, we read in the sealing time of the 144,000 who had to stand without fault before the throne of
God where they feel most deeply the wrongs of God’s professed people. So uh
when we talk about the spotlight falling upon you, maybe you having to stand up and speak out. There are there are occasions in life and ministry where you
can’t change anything. But God still knows whether you are sighing and crying in your heart over the abominations that
done in Israel or not. God knows whether you’re emotionally on board with the sin or and he and he also knows whether
emotionally and spiritually you’re rejecting the sin in its entirety. God sees these things. And even if you’re
not in a position where you can stand up and speak out about anything, at least God knows in your heart you’re not going along with it. And so in the book of
Ezekiel, we’ve just read there, chapter nine, we see that um before that final judgment came upon God’s people there,
God put a mark of protection upon those who were in society. They couldn’t influence society. They weren’t in
positions of leadership, but they were sighing and groaning in their hearts. They knew that things were wrong.
So I want to encourage you to say don’t lose don’t become so blasze and
and used to sin that you lose a sense of how serious it really is.
Don’t lose the sense of sinfulness because if you if you lose the sense that sin is sin, you lose the sense that
salvation is important and salvation is everything.
Therefore, we need to recapture a sense that sin really is at the destruction of eternal life. That’s that’s a huge deal.
It’s a huge huge deal. So, what are we going to say in conclusion here today?
Our next slide in conclusion. There’s a very famous passage here from
early writings. She I asked the meaning of the shaking I’d seen was shown that it was caused by the straight testimony
called forth by the council of the true witness to the Leodysans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the
receiver and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear the straight
testimony. They’ll rise up against it. And this is what will cause a shaking among God’s people. So we speak about
the shaking in Adventism before the coming of Christ before the close of probation is going to be a shaking. What
causes that shaking? Shaking is called by the straight testimony. And the straight testimony elsewhere is consists
of councils and warnings and reproofs given to God’s people before the close
of probation to wake them up to our true spiritual condition, mine included, and appoint us to a better way with our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. And so the shaking
doesn’t happen because God is upset with his church. The shaking is God trying to wake us up and realize the urgency of
the of our true spiritual need. And it comes through reproofs and
councils and warnings. It comes through the the council of the true witness to the Leodysans. You know the Leodysian
church, they’re lukewarm. Yes. And is that lukewarm church heading for
destruction or is it heading for salvation in Revelation 3? It’s heading for destruction.
So the church as a whole is heading for destruction. But then Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door.” Then he
says, “If and knock and if any man hears my voice and opens, I will come in and suck with him and he with me.” And so
what Jesus is saying in that passage is is you may be in a congregation or a church that is so lukewarm it’s heading
for destruction, but if you open the door of your heart to me, then you can still be saved. Don’t go down with the
ship. Don’t go down with the ship. The Leodysian church without repentance and
be turning hot instead of lukewarm is facing eternal destruction. But it’s possible to be saved even
within the midst of the Leodysian church. So in conclusion, I’d say this very simply, summary of all I’ve said
today. It’s been a long journey today. Actually, my brain’s getting tired at this stage, but um we spoke we spoke
about two things this morning. One was the 10 virgins and the one was about the doctrine of the church for Sabbath school. I would say there’s four things.
One is kneel down. Kneel down in prayer before God.
Confess your sins and ask for the infilling of the Holy Spirit. So kneel down. And secondly, stand up. Don’t be
afraid to stand up for what you believe in. Don’t be afraid to stand up for the truth. Don’t be afraid to be a watchman
on the wall. I’ve lived through my affair of council culture. And let me tell you this, it’s not the be all and
end all of everything. It’s not the end of the world. You can still live in the midst of cancel culture.
I’d rather be canceled by men and seek the pleasure of God than seek the approval of men and live in the
displeasure of God. So kneel down in repentance and
confession and asking for the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Stand up. Stand up for what you believe in. And the third
thing is speak out. Speak out in due season. You don’t have to speak out all the time, but there are
seasons when it’s somebody is called to speak out. I have sat in plenty meetings where I’m sitting there thinking,
“Somebody needs to say something. Somebody needs to say something. Oh Lord, let it not be me, but somebody
needs to say something.” And when somebody did say something, I’m saying, “Thank you, Lord. That person
risked their relationship with the entire group to speak out. I’m grateful that person spoke out. And
I’m grateful it was them. And I’m grateful it wasn’t me. And I Lord, I would have done it if you give me another five seconds. But Lord, I’m
grateful it was that person. We liked reading about Martin Luther,
but it can’t been easy to be Martin Luther. So, kneel down, stand out, stand up,
speak out, and trust God. We started out this morning, Matthew 24.
The disciples want to know about the end of time and the destruction of the temple and the end of the world as they knew it and the end of the ages and and
they they want to know about the time of the end. And Jesus responds by saying, “Lo, I’m with you always, even to the
end of time.” Whatever else happens, Jesus promises to be with his faithful disciples. He
promises to be with you. So, I encourage you again, kneel down, stand up, speak
out. There’s an emergency. is called sin and there is salvation possible. And if
we don’t speak out in our generation, who will speak for us? Who will speak for us? Kneel down, stand
up, speak out, and leave the consequences in the hands of God. And may God bless us as we shine for him
until Christ comes again in the clouds of glory here in Upper Michigan. Let’s close here with a word of prayer. Our
dear heavenly father, we thank you for the privilege we have of worshiping you, Lord. Thank you that as the Simon says,
“What is man?” That you’re mindful of him. And uh Lord, I thank you that this little speck of dust that hangs in space
that you have a deep concern for every being on this planet. And Lord, as we live our lives, as we shine for you here
in Michigan and up in Canada as well, Lord, I’m asking that um our faith will
be intelligence intelligent. It will be robust. It will be articulate. It will be unashamed. It will be forthright. It
will be winsome. It will be loving. and it will lead people to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So I pray Lord that
we will not be on the injured reserve in the armies of God, but that we will indeed be watchmen on the wall. We’ll be
active members of the armies of God um standing up and speaking out and speaking forth and winning souls in the
in the battle for souls. So Lord, speak through us. Guide us for when to speak. Guide us when to be quiet. May your Holy
Spirit um bless all that we do. May May we speak the truth, but may it always be tinged with grace. And may people know
that we are a people who spend time with the man from Nazareth. We ask you these mercies in Jesus’ name. Amen.