Friday September 18
Further Thought: “God has called His church in this day, as He called ancient Israel, to stand as a light in the earth. By the mighty cleaver of truth—the messages of the first, second, and third angels—
He has separated them from the churches and from the world to bring them into a sacred nearness to Himself. He has made them the depositaries of His law and has committed to them the great truths of prophec y for this time. Like the holy oracles committed to ancient Israel, these are a sacred trust to be communicated to the world.
“The three angels of Revelation 14 represent the people who accept the light of God’s messages and go forth as His agents to sound the warning throughout the length and breadth of the earth. Christ declares to His followers: ‘Ye are the light of the world.’ Matthew 5:14. To every soul that accepts Jesus the cross of Calvary speaks: ‘Behold the worth of the soul. “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” ’ Mark 16:15. Nothing is to be permitted to hinder this work. It is the all-important work for our time; it is to be far-reaching as eternity. The love that Jesus manifested for the souls of men in the sacrifice which He made for their redemption, will actuate all His followers.
“Christ accepts, oh, so gladly! every human agency that is surrendered to Him. He brings the human into union with the divine, that He may communicate to the world the mysteries of incarnate love. Talk it, pray it, sing it, fill the world with the message of His truth, and keep pressing on into the regions beyond.”—Ellen G. White, Counsels for the Church, pp. 58, 59.
Discussion Questions:
• How do the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14 identify the essence of the Seventh-day Adventist Church?
• Think about the Sabbath and the importance of what it represents. As we saw this week, the message it contains is so important that God commands that we set apart one-seventh of our lives in order to remember Him as our Creator and our Redeemer. Also, unlike a holy mountain or a holy city, we don’t have to go to it to worship. Every week, at about a thousand miles per hour (at least, near the equator), the Sabbath comes to us. How does this truth also help us to understand the importance of the day and what it points to?
• How can we explain the idea of the fall of Babylon, or the concept of the mark of the beast, in the most winsome way? That is, how can we present these truths in the least offensive way possible, even though we must understand that despite our best efforts some people will be offended?
Inside Story
Adventist in the Next Life
By Andrew Mcchesney
The elderly woman listened attentively in Sabbath School in Southeast Asia.
Her Sabbath School lesson book was filled in meticulously. She looked up every verse in her Bible. Many verses were underlined in it. She placed money in the Sabbath School mission offering.
The woman, known to church members as “Grandmother,” looked like a model Seventh-day Adventist.
Visiting U.S. church leader Gregory Whitsett met with Grandmother after church to ask why she had left her non-Christian world religion to become an Adventist.
Grandmother related a tragic story about losing her parents in an accident at the age of five and suffering years of harassment by evil spirits. She sought help from doctors and spiritual mediums, but the medicine offered only temporary relief.
One day, an Adventist pastor moved next door, and Grandmother curiously watched people gather at his home every Friday evening. She stood at his gate to find out what was happening and heard music. Peace filled her as she listened to the music week after week. The pastor couldn’t convince her to come into the house, but he learned about her spirit problems and offered to pray. Grandmother agreed, and the evil spirits left permanently. Filled with gratitude, she accepted Jesus and joined the Adventist Church.
Whitsett, director of the Center for East Asian Religions, part of the Adventist world church’s Global Mission program, asked Grandmother to explain what Jesus meant to her.
“Jesus means everything to me,” the old woman said, speaking through a missionary-interpreter. “He healed me and has given me peace. I cannot help but speak about Jesus to everyone whom I meet. I am an old woman, and I don’t have much longer to live. I love Jesus so much that I have decided to be Adventist in my next life too.”
The missionary-interpreter was stunned. She had studied the Bible with Grandmother and thought that she had left her old views completely.
Grandmother’s situation is not uncommon among people who become Christian after following other world religions and traditional animistic practices, church leaders say. This is a major challenge in gospel outreach and a reason for the establishment of the Center for East Asian Religions and other Global Mission Centers at globalmissioncenters.org. Please pray for the work of the Global Mission Centers and for people like Grandmother.
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