We are living in a world in which the real facts are not the same as what appears to be the truth. Ellen White says, “We are living in a most solemn time.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 608, 609. Do you believe that? I personally believe that it is even more solemn than when she wrote it.
We are living in that period of time that the Bible calls the time of the end. We have been in that period now for over 200 years, so people have become used to it. But we are not just in the time of the end now; we are in the end of time. We are living in a most solemn time, because we are living in that period of time when the plan of salvation is going to be completed.
A Solemn Time to be Living
It has always been very serious and very solemn to be alive in this world, because no one ever knows how long they are going to live. If you had talked to any one of the people who have died in recent tragedies, an hour and a half beforehand, they would have had no idea that they were going to die. When Ellen White says we are living in a most solemn time, she is talking about the time of judgment. When judgment is over and probation closes, your eternal destiny is fixed, and it cannot be changed.
In view of that fact, Ellen White said, “In the last vision given me, I was shown the startling fact that but a small portion of those who now profess the truth will be sanctified by it and be saved.” Ibid.
Who are the people who profess the truth? Seventh-day Adventists.
“Many will get above the simplicity of the work. They will conform to the world, cherish idols, and become spiritually dead. The humble, self-sacrificing followers of Jesus will pass on to perfection, leaving behind the indifferent and lovers of the world.” Ibid.
There are several interesting points in that statement. She said that she was shown the startling fact that but few who profess the truth would be sanctified by it and be saved.
But now she talks about the many, the many who will not be saved among those who profess the truth. Well, what is the matter? You know the message of truth, you know the truth for the last days, you know what the Three Angels’ Messages are, you know the Sabbath, you know about the law of God, you know that it is binding on all generations, and you know the times in which we are living.
Will You be Deceived?
A young man from a Seventh-day Adventist home said, “Oh, I will not be deceived! I know that when Christ comes, it is going to be a public event that everybody will see. I will not be deceived by a false coming beforehand.” Listen, even if you know the truth, if you are not sanctified by it, you are going to be deceived. You will be one of the many.
I want to come back to why and how it is that people who know the truth can be deceived. You would think that if you knew the truth, you could not be deceived. But it is not enough to know the truth, you have to be sanctified by it.
As we look at a few of these statements about the many, we find that the many, the majority of those who know the Three Angels’ Messages, will be lost. That is whom she is talking about. She says they will get above the simplicity of the work, and they will conform to the world. Conformity to the world is one of our most dangerous practices in Adventism today.
The Bible gives very specific instruction about this. It says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:2.
The Bible says that people are like sheep. (See 1 Peter 2:25.) I knew a minister one time who said if one sheep finds the hole in the fence, the whole bunch will go through that one hole. People are like that. That is how people become conformed to the world. It is amazing what people will do if they believe that everybody else is doing it. Have you ever noticed that?
If everybody were not doing it, they would say, Well, I would never do a thing like that; I would be embarrassed to do a thing like that. But if everybody else is doing it, they will do it, and they will not even be embarrassed. People are like sheep, and people watch to see what other people are doing. Now, of course, this can be both good and bad. This is the way a child learns. Everything a child learns, he learns first by imitation. That is how a baby learns to talk. That is why, in just a few years, a baby can learn any language in the world. It just imitates what it hears. So this process of imitation is very, very strong through childhood.
Who Controls You?
When people get to be teenagers, they love to think that now they are grown up and they are independent, but they are not nearly as independent as most of them think. They are much more controlled by peer pressure than they have any idea. I have never seen a teenager who was totally independent. I am not saying that there are not any, but teenagers are controlled, to a very great degree, by what they see other people doing around them. The danger is, if everybody around you is doing something that is not right, then you become conformed to what everybody is doing. One time while talking with my son about a certain matter, he said, “But, Dad, everybody is doing it.” He was attending a Seventh-day Adventist school at the time.
I said to him, “If all the people who are doing that burn up in hell someday, do you want to burn up with them?
He said, “No.”
“Well,” I said, “then you had better not do it.”
The Bible tells us to not just look around and become conformed to what everybody else is doing. (See Romans 12:2.) This is what has happened to the morality of the society in which we live, even in the United States. There used to be a time when we demanded that civil servants, the leaders of the people, tell the truth. Not too many decades ago, we forced a President of the United States out of office because it was said that there was proof that he had committed perjury. What is perjury? It is telling a lie. Of course, it has a special definition. When you have given an oath that you are going to tell the truth and then you tell a lie, you have committed perjury. But have you noticed, we do not think perjury is nearly as bad today as we did 25 years ago. What has happened? Everyone is looking at each other, and they are becoming conformed to the world. Wickedness is increasing, and as wickedness increases, people become used to a lower standard of morality.
How Bad Can it Get?
I do not believe that any human being knows how bad it can, or will, get, but I know that Ellen White said that just before the end there are only going to be two kinds of people in the world. (See Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 1, 29.) There are going to be people who perfectly reflect the image of Jesus Christ, and there are going to be people who perfectly reflect the image of the devil.
They are going to be filled with demons, inspired by demons, speak, talk and act like demons. That is one of the reasons, Paul says, why the righteous are going to rejoice so much when they see the Lord coming to deliver them out of this evil world. (See Testimonies, vol. 9, 11; Great Controversy, 638.)
When Ellen White talks about the many who know the truth, who will not be sanctified by it, who will be lost, one of the first things she mentions is that they will conform to the world.
Becoming Conformed
Maybe you think you are totally independent, but you are not. You are becoming conformed, day by day, to something. You are either becoming conformed day by day to the world, or if you are spending enough time with Jesus, your mind will become conformed to something else. Notice what it says in 2 Corinthians 3:18. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
What is this talking about? Ellen White mentions this in many places. One place is Patriarchs and Prophets, 91, but there are several other references where she said the same thing. She says that it is a law of the mind, that by beholding we become changed. (See Ibid., 596.) How can you be undeceived and understand the truth?
Let me tell you, friends, if we are spending our time studying, looking, watching, and listening to what is going on in the world, we are going to become conformed to it, because it is a law of the mind. By beholding we become changed. I am frightened, as I visit among God’s people, to find out how much time they are spending looking and watching what is going on in the world, in comparison with how much time they are studying their Bibles and religious books.
I am frightened because I know something. I know it is a law of the mind that by beholding you are going to become changed—period! God is not going to work a miracle to keep His law of the mind from operating. Have you noticed that God does not annul His laws, even if you get hurt by breaking them? He does not do it.
You cannot jump off a cliff and, on the way down, pray hard enough so that you will not get hurt. The law of gravity will still operate. God does not annul His laws. God does not change His laws. When He makes a law, it is in force, and it is a law of the mind that by beholding you will become changed.
Growing Up in Disorder
Why does Ellen White give us so much counsel about country living, about not living in the cities? (See Country Living, 5.) Why does Ellen White say that, if we have children, it would be good for us to have flowers around our home? Why is it important for a child to learn to keep his room neat? Why is it important for us to look trim and neat in our dress? (See Ibid., 531.) Why are all those things important?
One of the main reasons it is so important is because of this law of the mind. If your child grows up in the midst of disorder, what is going to happen when that child is grown? He is going to be used to disorder and not think anything about it. That is what he has beheld in his parental home all the time he was growing up. But it has a lot more parameters than just simple things like that.
I suppose most of you are aware of the fact that there are people in public life in the United States today, who, as a result of what happened in Littleton, Colorado, and in some other places recently, are very concerned about that which our young people are watching and looking. Let me tell you, if you are a young person and you would like to get out of this world and become a part of the 144,000, you are not going to be living the way everyone else lives.
Living Like the World
The 144,000 are going to have a completely opposite character from the characters that are being developed by the multitudes of this world. If you are going to have an opposite character, you have to be looking at something other than they are. What everybody is doing around you does not count. Let us face the absolute, painful truth. The painful truth is, that the people who are around you, doing all these different things, might all burn up in hell fire. That is the truth.
I remember several years ago when I was in the church in Keene, Texas, I was standing out in the hall, and I heard some of the leaders in the church talking about the young people and young people’s activities. I do not even know what they were talking about, except I did overhear a comment made by a very godly woman with whom I am acquainted. She said to the other church leaders in the group, “But, after they do these things, what good is it going to do if they burn up when Jesus comes? I believe that we are living in this most solemn time and we need to think very, very clearly about why we are doing what we are doing and what kind of lives we are living.
We have been told that the great majority, even of Seventh-day Adventists, are going to lose out. Why? Because they are going to be deceived.
I will introduce one of the most basic principles in regard to deception for you to think about.
Remember, the devil is a master deceiver. The focal point of the devil’s deceptions, today, is not the world at large. He already has them. Today, the focal point of the devil’s deceptions is Seventh-day Adventists and historic Seventh-day Adventists.
Deceived and in Darkness
There is one basic, fundamental, elemental truth about deception that you must understand, and that is that when you are deceived, you do not know it. Do you understand why that is true? Because, just as soon as you know it, you are not deceived anymore. Am I deceived about anything? Whatever I am deceived about, I do not know it. Are you deceived about something? Well, whatever you are deceived about, you do not know either, because as soon as you know, you are no longer deceived.
We are living in a time when the great majority of Seventh-day Adventists, right now, are deceived about a number of things. I am not talking about in the future—I am talking about right now!
It is not because I can read their minds. I am not saying what is in the heart or what is the motive and character. I am not judging that. I do not have to. All I have to do is look at the fruit of the tree. Jesus said, by their fruits you can tell.
(See Matthew 7:20.) The fruit shows that the majority of our people are deceived, and they are deceived about some very basic issues.
There are people who think they can look at anything, read anything, watch anything, listen to anything, and still be all right. They say it is just entertainment. By beholding, the mind becomes changed. It does not matter whether it is entertainment or not, it is worldly conformity.
Now just so nobody will misunderstand, let me clarify one thing. We do not attempt to be different from the world on any point just to be different. If there is nothing wrong with something that the world is doing, we can do it too. If it is righteous, if it is in harmony with the Law of God, we can do it, and if the rest of the world is doing it, that is fine.
The Things on Which We Feed
The problem is, that is not the way it is. This is especially the case with young people—the younger you are, the faster your mind becomes changed into conformity with whatever you are viewing. Are you spending enough time studying inspired writings so that your mind is becoming changed into the image of Jesus Christ?
The Bible is the Word of God, the whole book. The last book in the Bible is called “The Revelation of Jesus Christ,” but the whole book is a revelation of Jesus Christ. Are you spending enough time in this book so that something is being changed in your mind?
You say, Pastor John, you do not realize how busy I am. Maybe I should say to you, You do not realize how busy I am. Did you know that the preachers and church elders also have to struggle to get time to study the Word of God? Did you know that we have to do the same thing you have to do? We are living in busy times.
At the beginning of every day I take a pen or pencil, and I write down on paper a list of the things that I need to get done that day. I almost never get them all done. We are all busy, but no matter how busy a person is, everybody takes time to eat, because they know that if they do not eat, they will die.
Spiritual Death
That is the way it is with your spirit. It is not enough to listen to the preached word on Sabbath morning or even in prayer meeting. It is not enough to simply hear the Word of God through the medium of a preacher or teacher. As good as that is, and God ordained that it should be done, that is not enough. If you do not take time to study the Word of God, you will die spiritually. Ellen White stated over and over again that it was God’s will for every single person to study the Bible for himself. (See Sabbath School Worker, December 1, 1892.)
There are so many aspects of world conformity that are happening in Adventism today. Let me just mention one. We are not even going to get into the things that are often mentioned in regard to diet, dress, entertainment, recreation and many things like that. Those things are all applicable. But we are living in a world where worldly philosophy is taking hold of a large number of God’s people, and the Bible has something very specific to say about this.
“Beware lest anyone cheat you [that is, plunder you or take you captive] through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.” Colossians 2:8. It says, Watch out lest you be cheated. Cheated out of what? Cheated out of your eternal inheritance, because you have been learning the basic principles of the world—empty deceit and philosophy and the traditions of men.
What is this philosophy, the traditions of men, the teachings of the world? What is this? It has many aspects and, of course, it changes with time, to some extent.
We are living in a world today where, more and more, it is becoming the philosophy that nobody should say anything bad about anybody, no matter what they do. Reproof or rebuke is totally out of vogue today. Nobody is supposed to be rebuked or reproved for anything, and anybody who does this is told that they are not Christ-like. I have often thought, as I have heard such talk, if Jesus were here in person, He would be told that He is not Christ-like.
Are You Politically Correct?
Of course, that is precisely what He was told when He was here. They told Him, We know that you have a devil. (See John 8.) Let us think that principle through just a little bit. “I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.” 1 John 2:21.
Notice, the Bible teaches that there is such a thing as the truth and there is such a thing as a lie, and you cannot mix them together. So if I am deceived on some point, it does not matter what it is, when I hear the truth, it is not going to agree with what I formerly thought.
We are living in a time when we are not to hurt anyone’s feelings by telling them something that is different than what they think or believe. We even have laws and treaties about that. The day is coming, I believe very soon, when governments of the world, by means of these treaties, will make it illegal to preach the Three Angels’ Messages, because you are not supposed to say anything to which anybody could take offense.
This sort of thinking has greatly affected Seventh-day Adventists. I remember the first time I ran into this was over 20 years ago. A Seventh-day Adventist preacher and I were talking about Revelation 14:9–11.
He said, “Well, I just cannot preach that. Do you know what those verses say?”
I thought, this is very interesting. You are an Adventist preacher, and you cannot preach the Third Angel’s Message. That is the truth for which we stand. That is what we are all about. We are living in a time when, to be conformable to this world, we must not say anything that might hurt someone’s feelings.
Now, please do not misunderstand. Jesus was a Person who never gave needless pain to a sensitive soul, and we should practice that same principle. We should be sure that we have no unsympathetic spirit or hardness in our character or our voice when we teach people the truth, especially when it is a testing truth that is going to determine their eternal salvation. We should pray and ask the Lord for tact like the apostle Paul and Jesus had when we tell people the truth, so they will be attracted to the truth because of the way it is presented. We should do all of those things, but after we have done them, that does not give us permission to not tell the truth.
Unwilling to Proclaim the Message
We are living in a time when more and more Seventh-day Adventists are being conformed to the world to an extent that they are not willing to proclaim the Three Angels’ Messages anymore. Those who still have a conviction that they must proclaim these messages to the world are being persecuted by the organized Seventh-day Adventist Church today. It is quite a time in which to be living, when God’s professed people are persecuting the true church.
I started asking myself many years ago, Where is this going to end? I do not claim to be a prophet. I am not here to tell you exactly how it is going to end, but, if you want to be one of the few who is sanctified by the truth, who is ready to meet Jesus, and not lose your soul with the many in the Adventist Church, whom Mrs. White wrote about, you need to be studying day by day. You need to pray, Lord, help me not to be conformed to this world. When people become conformed to this world, they are afraid to proclaim the Three Angels’ Messages anymore. It is worldly conformity that has silenced the voice of the church so that the messages of the Three Angels are not being proclaimed with a loud voice to all the world, like the prophecy says is to be done. I want to tell you, friends, if we do not do it, the rocks will cry out, and the Lord will finish the work with somebody else. (See A New Life: Revival and Beyond, 62.) Worldly conformity has silenced the voice of the great majority of Seventh-day Adventists today.
When the papal visit occurred in St. Louis a few years ago, there were some people who were very upset that there were groups of Seventh-day Adventists going there to hand out literature. One of them sent a letter appealing to the General Conference to some way force the groups not to do what they were doing—a very interesting thing to do for someone who claims to be an historic Seventh-day Adventist. I was interested to find out what this person thought should be done. He thought the groups ought to pass out Steps to Christ, The Desire of Ages, or Ministry of Healing, but not The National Sunday Law or The Great Controversy.
I do not understand the human heart. I do not understand how people get all the different ideas about how to do what they think should be done. Incidentally, this same person was not in St. Louis passing out The Desire of Ages, Ministry of Healing or Steps to Christ. He thought that the people there should be doing that, but he was not there to do it.
Setting Up the Image
Friends, do you believe that the image to the beast is being set up in the United States today and that we are very close to the end of the world? Do you think that Seventh-day Adventists have more to do than teach people how to fix a good breakfast? I believe in good, healthful breakfasts, and I have taught a lot of people how to fix one, but that is not the sum and substance of our work. It is very similar to what happened in the days of Christ and the apostles. You can read about it in books like Sketches from the Life of Paul.
In the apostolic church there was a large Judaizing party. This party even had an influence with 11 of the 12 apostles. The one person they were never able to influence was the apostle Paul. It says in Acts of the Apostles, 199, 200, that the apostle Paul often had to stand alone. Mrs. White is talking about standing alone in relation to the other apostles. Now that is quite a position to be in, is it not?