23rd General Conference Session Special Report
Let us go back to nearly 2,000 years ago—when a cloud of angels received our Lord Jesus Christ at His ascension. The angels in Heaven eagerly awaited and rejoiced at the reunion of the Redeemer back into the celestial courts.
Yet two angels that had been walking with Jesus for 33 years1 evidently paused. Now I can imagine these two angels wanting so much to join in the glorious moment there in Heaven, yet they stayed back to come close to the disciples and give them a message that must have sounded like a beautiful melody to their ears: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11. Hence this name, “Adventist.”
It is interesting that when Christ was there on the Mount of Olives, He remembered how much humanity had rejected His call of love and mercy. He remembered that His own disciples whom He had so greatly loved had rejected Him. But He did not take this moment as a chance to rebuke them for their faults. Instead He loved them till the end.
I want to tell you this morning, that regardless of your faults—even though you may have often rejected the invitation of Jesus, you may have rejected the call of His word, you may have rejected the preachers that God has used to call you to repentance—yet Jesus loves you to the end. He will never give up on you. You may give up on Him; you may give up on yourself. But Jesus will always have hope to redeem you. Jesus loved even His enemies. He surprised the world—because who else has called their enemy “brother”? Who has called their traitor a brother? He calls us brethren. He called Judas, “brother,” “friend.”
The Lord of the universe is eager to welcome us with the privilege of being together with Him in that glorious kingdom. He calls us His friends—and when on earth, He loved even His enemies and tenderly yearned for their souls. Even Judas, the betrayer, the Lord addressed as “Friend” in the hope that somehow that hardened heart could be touched. Yes, we have a Master that loves both His friends and His enemies.
This same Jesus is the One who made an earnest prayer to His Father in behalf of all His disciples: “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.” John 17:11.
Jesus prayed that we might be one—but we can only be one if we are united with Jesus.
The Lord tells us something very beautiful here in His prayer to His Father, referring to “those whom thou hast given me.” God gave you to Jesus; you belong to Jesus because He created you and redeemed you on the cross of Calvary. You are the most important thing in this world to Him.
If you are united to Christ, you are a disciple of Jesus—and you will show to the world that you are His disciple. How do we do this? It is by loving our neighbor. Jesus explained: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:35.
If Jesus is abiding in your heart, you will be capable of praying for your enemy; you will be capable of looking upon those who have betrayed you and deceived you, and think about each of those persons and see in each one a soul for whom Christ has died.
What are some areas of life in which we can fulfill the prayer of Christ? In a practical sense, referring to our topic this morning, what does it mean for God’s people to be united and work together at the close of this earth’s history?
Inspiration tells us: “Like every other one of God’s good gifts entrusted to the keeping of humanity, marriage has been perverted by sin; but it is the purpose of the gospel to restore its purity and beauty.”2
Jesus is here this morning to restore your marriage—and the work of the church is to help restore marriages. So many people are confused in their marriages, deceived, full of anguish—but the work of the gospel is to restore marriage. Inspiration continues:
“The divine love emanating from Christ never destroys human love, but includes it.”3
Do you understand what Jesus is telling us here? Divine love is not there to take away the pleasure of human love, but rather it includes human love. God wants you to be happy and enjoy the life that He gives you with the wife He gave you, with the husband He gave you. He wants us to be happy in our marriages. He does not destroy human love. . . .
That wonderful sentiment that you had the first time you looked at that young lady, your young eyes sparkled . . . you had a desire to be near her . . . you wanted always to be with him. There was something beautiful when you held hands. The love of Jesus is to strengthen, refine, and purify this love. And we have an even stronger desire to be together, to hug each other and show love to one another in every sense.
By the love of Jesus, “human love is refined and purified, elevated and ennobled. Human love can never bear its precious fruit until it is united with the divine nature and trained to grow heavenward. Jesus wants to see happy marriages, happy firesides.”4
If your home is not happy, if that chemistry that was there at the beginning of love is dying or even is gone, it is because the divine love has somehow been renounced. But there’s a solution because the gospel transforms marriages, restores marriages.
Some steps that the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy give us:
Let us read together The Adventist Home in our homes and ask for God to perform the miracle that your marriage and my marriage need. Because in a corrupted world like this one in which we live, a marriage that lasts 50, 60, 70 years is a miracle—and the gospel has the power to create this miracle.
God is calling us that we may be united and work together:
In this hurried world in which we live, many are tempted to leave the house without morning worship. We come home tired and are tempted to neglect evening worship. We may sometimes say, “Oh, I don’t have time.” Do you realize what you are saying when you don’t have morning worship? You are saying, “I don’t have time for Jesus.” But in reality, to live without having time for Jesus is to be losing time. Jesus is everything in this world. He should be everything to you and to me.
Speaking of family worship, let’s see what Inspiration tells us. Let’s see what happens when you pray together with your family in the morning and the evening:
“As [the human father] bows with his family, at the altar of prayer, to offer up his grateful thanks to God, for his preserving care of himself and loved ones through the day, angels of God hover in the room, and bear the fervent prayers of God-fearing parents to Heaven, as sweet incense, which are answered by returning blessings.”5
What do the angels of God do when you are having worship? The angels of God come to your home and take to Heaven the fervent prayers of God-loving parents as sweet incense that are answered by returned blessing. The response of God is blessings upon your family.
Do you want to have the companionship of angels throughout your day? Do you want the angels to go with your loved ones throughout the day? This is what Inspiration tells us: Have morning worship.
Visitors to your home may not know why, but your home will be a peaceful place with the angels hovering around, taking care of you and your family.
God is calling us that we may be united and work together:
To sanctify the Sabbath according to Bible principles is so needed in a stressful world. People are suffering in this world because of stress and depression. If they had only heard about the Sabbath and could learn how to keep it holy according to the Bible, they would find help for their depression and sorrows. Let us keep the Sabbath and share the Sabbath. Inspiration tells us how to keep the Sabbath:
“On Friday let the preparation for the Sabbath be completed. See that all the clothing is in readiness, and that all the cooking is done. Let the boots be blacked, and the baths be taken. It is possible to do this. If you make it a rule, you can do it. . . . Before the setting of the sun, let all secular work be laid aside, and all secular papers be put out of sight.”6
When should we finish doing our work? Before the setting of the sun. We are told to put the secular newspapers out of sight. . . . But nobody reads the newspaper anymore. What is God telling us to lay aside? Do I need to explain? No? May God give us strength to put away those things that distract us—advertisements that distract us and make us see things that are not in harmony with the Sabbath.
“There is another work that should receive attention on the preparation day. On this day all differences between brethren, whether in the family or in the church, should be put away.”7
God is telling you that on Friday before the sunset, confess your faults to those whom you have offended. Talk with those people and perhaps tell them why you, too, were offended, but be sure to enter the Sabbath in peace. Do everything in your control to achieve this. How many families would be saved if this action were put into practice! If every Friday we would go through everything that had happened and I would say, “My dear wife, forgive me; the Holy Spirit told me of something that did not make you happy,” it would be a blessing. Children would be asking forgiveness from the parents and parents from the children. You can’t imagine the difference that would make in that beloved person in your life. But God knows and that’s why He said to do this before receiving the Sabbath.
“Before the setting of the sun, let the members of the family assemble to read God’s Word, to sing and pray. There is need of reform here, for many have been remiss. We need to confess to God and to one another.”8
Do we have the habit of getting together to sing and pray before the Sabbath? Do not neglect this joyous privilege!
God is calling us that we may be united and work together:
“It is the Lord’s design that the restoring influence of health reform shall be a part of the last great effort to proclaim the gospel message.”9
The gospel is in health reform. Health reform is part of the gospel message, to be a blessing to humanity, to bless your friends, family members, and neighbors who do not know this precious message. You are the person to share it with them.
“The subject of Christian temperance should find a place in our sermons. . . . Let this phase of the message be revived, and let the truth go forth as a lamp that burneth.”10
As pastors we should teach this message and the members should share it.
The pen of Inspiration is so specific in regard to health reform. It enters into details essential to our life. And many times, it’s true, it says things that we don’t always like—for example, when the Lord’s messenger testified: “I frequently sit down to the tables of the brethren and sisters, and see that they use a great amount of milk and sugar. These clog the system, irritate the digestive organs, and affect the brain. Anything that hinders the active motion of the living machinery affects the brain very directly. And from the light given me, sugar, when largely used, is more injurious than meat.”11
We may not like that reality, but we can pray that our Heavenly Father will work in our hearts. Another statement says:
“The habit of drinking [black] tea and coffee is a greater evil than is often suspected.”12
Why do you think God is telling us these things? There are even stronger messages. Please don’t get offended at me; I’m only the messenger—and the way God said it is the way I want to give it to you:
“Tea and coffee drinking is a sin, an injurious indulgence, which, like other evils, injures the soul. These darling idols create an excitement, a morbid action of the nervous system.”13
There’s no room for doubt here. Why do you think God tells us these things? It’s because He cares about you and me! He wants us to have health and a clear mind to understand the gospel. He tells us about these things that are wrong because they do us harm. These are only a few examples, but this applies to anything we know to be harmful to our health—because He loves us!
God is calling us that we may be united and work together:
The Bible says: “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?” Matthew 5:13.
Isn’t it beautiful when you’re in a bus station full of people and can say, “That person must be a brother or a sister from the church”? How do you know? By the way our brethren and sisters dress themselves. God’s people are different; they are the salt of the earth and it brings great joy to Jesus to see you testify of Him. But what if we are inconsistent? What if the salt has lost its savor? What message is given to the world?
“There is a terrible sin upon us as a people, that we have permitted our church members to dress in a manner inconsistent with their faith. We must arise at once and close the door against the allurements of fashion. Unless we do this, our churches will become demoralized.”14
“Fashion is deteriorating the intellect and eating out the spirituality of our people.”15
People are tired of being slaves to sin. Even children and youth are tired. I met a 10-year-old girl who said she was already tired of her life. All of us are tired of this world. We want something better that will bring us hope. Your heart—a converted heart—will make the difference in this world: Jesus in your life.
Some who are just coming to the faith ask, “Isn’t the most important thing just my heart?” That’s right, that’s the only thing that God wants. Only your heart. Because when we give Jesus our heart, we give Him everything. And the messenger of the Lord tells us: “I saw that the outside appearance is an index to the heart.”16
So, our exterior shows what our heart is like. If there is something wrong in our dress at some moment in our life, we have lost communion with Jesus. You could be dressed a certain way today; it might be the same as the first day you visited the Reform. The first time I came to the Reform, I got very embarrassed. I was coming from the Catholic church and I came for the first time to a church of believers. And I came dressed in a way that was not in harmony with the worship of God. But the brethren treated me with so much love and care—and that’s why I’m here today. I want you to know that it doesn’t matter how you’re dressed here today. The church loves you very much and we want you to be here with us always. Jesus cares about you more than anyone in this world and He will make the difference in our lives as we follow Him.
God is calling us that we may be united and work together:
The world is hungering and thirsting for the message of Righteousness by Faith. There are many sermons preached about faith; there are many sermons preached about works. But the gospel of Christ brings a balance of faith and works. This is our work—to unite together and preach the message of Justification by Faith as it is found in the Bible.
“There are two errors against which the children of God—particularly those who have just come to trust in His grace—especially need to guard. The first . . . is that of looking to their own works, trusting to anything they can do, to bring themselves into harmony with God. He who is trying to become holy by his own works in keeping the law, is attempting an impossibility. . . .
“The opposite and no less dangerous error is that belief in Christ releases men from keeping the law of God; that since by faith alone we become partakers of the grace of Christ, our works have nothing to do with our redemption.
“But notice here that obedience is not a mere outward compliance, but the service of love.”17
It is an error to think that our works can save us, but it is also an error to think that our works have nothing to do with our salvation. Why? Because the redeemed person is saved to produce good fruit as a result of love for Jesus because of the wonderful sacrifice He made for us on Calvary.
Dear brethren, Jesus is coming. The signs are all around us. Just as the days of Noah were, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. From the time I was young, they said that Jesus would come again soon. But He’s still not here. Our parents and grandparents waited for Him. But Jesus will fulfill His promise given with clear words:
“I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:3.
In His first advent Christ did not come as the world expected.? Many expected Him to come as a king, but He came as a babe in a manger. He was crucified on the cross of Calvary for our sins. In His first advent, He did not come as people expected.
?In 1844 He did not come where the church expected.? The church expected Him to come to this world, but instead He went to the Most Holy Place.
?And now, at His second advent, Jesus will come when the world is not expecting. Nobody is expecting Jesus to come, it seems—even among Christians, Adventists, Reformers. Many are discouraged. But today I want to let the Holy Spirit rekindle the hope: “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Matthew 24:44.
Jesus is coming. People will come to you to talk about problems—political, environmental, physical, whatever. Brethren, there’s an easy way to tell them about the gospel: They will come to you with a problem and you will tell them there’s a Solution and it is Jesus. Hallelujah! May this be the hope and joy that we have—that Jesus is coming soon!
I want to be with you entering into those gates of Heaven. Let not anything in this world disconnect us from Jesus, that we may enter into the pearly gates with Him. May this be a reality in your life and in mine!
Amen.