[A message given at a workshop on "Increasing Prayer Meeting Attendance," at the General Conference Ministerial Council. Atlantic City, New Jersey, June 10, 1970. --EDITORS.]
As Seventh-day Adventist ministers we believe that this generation is on a collision course with global catastrophe!
We believe that 3 billion people are face to face with millennial oblivion! We used to preach that these things would happen; today we preach Look, they are happening! Today we see the final phase of Revelation 13 being fulfilled before our eyes.
Since this is true, how important it is for us to lift up our voices like a trumpet to explain the times in which we are living and to prepare a people for the crisis of the ages.
The most thrilling and rewarding experience of my entire ministry has come to me from preaching on the last-day events of earth's history. Again and again my heart has been rekindled as I have preached on the closing events and have witnessed the revivals that have followed. Our people everywhere are vitally interested in the last-day events and the preparation they must make for the impending crisis.
A study of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation brought the Advent Movement into existence. The Seventh-day Adventist Church came into being in direct fulfillment of Bible prophecy. And the Lord has blessed as it has gone forth to preach these great prophecies to the world. The messenger of the Lord assures us that a restudy of these two books, Daniel and Revelation, will bring revival to the church.
Let us therefore study and preach as never before on these two great books of Bible prophecy that focus on the closing events of earth's history the image to the beast, the national Sunday law, the shaking and the sifting, the fall of Babylon, the latter rain, the loud cry, the sealing of God's people, the defeat of Satan, the vindication of God, and the second coming of Christ!
Four Great Facts
1. This glorious event the second coming of Christ is waiting for the defeat of Satan and the vindication of God.
2. The defeat of Satan and the vindication of God is dependent upon the revelation of the character of God in His people all over the world. (Christ's Object Lessons, p. 69.)
When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own. Ibid., p. 69. The last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love. Ibid., p. 415.
[And the message of righteousness by faith] is the third angel's message in verity (Evangelism, p. 190). [This is the message that vindicates God, defeats Satan, and closes the work of the third angel.]
The message of Christ's righteousness is to sound from one end of the earth to the other to prepare the way of the Lord. This is the glory of God, which closes the work of the third angel. Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 19.
3. The revelation of the character of God in His people cannot take place until we have a revival and reformation of the church.
4. What will bring revival and reformation to the church is the preaching of the great prophecies of Daniel and Revelation concerning earth's closing events. The very heart and center of last-day events is the third angel's message, which is the message of Christ our righteousness in verity.
The honor of God, the honor of Christ, is involved in the perfection of the character of His people. The Desire of Ages, p. 671.
Preaching the Third Angel's Message The preaching of the third angel's message, the very heart of which is righteousness by faith, is the only message in the world that will revive the church, perfect the saints, warn the world, defeat Satan, vindicate God, bring earth's history to a successful close, and usher in Christ's second coming.
How better can we do this than by preaching on the last-day events of earth's history and the necessary preparation for them? Thousands of letters from our people in many parts of the world testify to the fact that they are hungering and thirsting for this kind of preaching.
Pastor, if you want to revive your church, preach on the closing events. If you want to establish the faith of your people in the inspiration of the Spirit of Prophecy writings, preach on the closing events.
If you want to confirm your young people in the conviction that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is the remnant of Bible prophecy, and that it is soon to triumph gloriously, preach on the closing events.
We are a special people with a special message for a special time in earth's history. As F. D. Nichol declared, "We are a tailor-made people with a tailor-made message for a morally bankrupt world!"
If you want to fortify your people against stray movements, confirm them in the faith, and keep them loyal to the church preach on the last-day events.
The reason offshoots gain a foothold in the church from time to time is because of the vacuum of preaching on these great subjects. Self-made reformers have filled the vacuum with some wonderful truth and some serious error which tear down in stead of build up.
If we pastors and evangelists would do more preaching on these great prophecies concerning earth's closing events, the false movements would fizzle out, our people would be nourished, revived, built up in the faith, and would remain loyal to the church.
Increasing Prayer Meeting Attendance
Our people will attend prayer meeting to hear preaching on last-day events and preparation for the coming of Jesus. This has been forcibly impressed upon my mind many times through the years as I have witnessed it in my experience. An average preacher can draw as large a congregation by preaching on the closing events as the best preachers can by preaching on other subjects. This has been demonstrated again and again.
We ought to preach on the last-day events because they are upon us and our people are not prepared. Concerning God's people, God's messenger to the remnant laments: Nearly all who profess to believe present truth . . . are wholly unfitted to receive the latter rain. Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 466.
Brethren, this should really alarm us! Let there be a revival of preaching on last-day events!
