Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of
unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort
one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of
you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we
are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of
our confidence steadfast unto the end; while it is said,
Today if ye will hear His voice,
Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all
that came out of Egypt by Moses.”
Hebrews 3:12-16.
Cannot we who are living in the time of the end realize the
importance of the apostle’s words: “Take heed, brethren, lest there
be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the
living God”? Verse 12.
Upon us is shining the accumulated light of past ages. The record
of Israel’s forgetfulness has been preserved for our enlightenment.
In this age God has set His hand to gather unto Himself a people
from every nation, kindred, and tongue. In the advent movement He
has wrought for His heritage, even as He wrought for the Israelites
in leading them from Egypt. In the great disappointment of 1844
the faith of His people was tested as was that of the Hebrews at the
Red Sea. Had the Adventists in the early days still trusted to the [116]
guiding Hand that had been with them in their past experience, they
would have seen of the salvation of God. If all who had labored
unitedly in the work of 1844 had received the third angel’s message
and proclaimed it in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord would
have wrought mightily with their efforts. A flood of light would
have been shed upon the world. Years ago the inhabitants of the
earth would have been warned, the closing work would have been
completed, and Christ would have come for the redemption of His
people.
The Message for this Time
I have been instructed to trace words of warning for our brethren
and sisters who are in danger of losing sight of the special work for
116 Testimonies for the Church Volume 8
this time. The Lord has made us depositaries of sacred truth. We are
to arise and shine. In every land we are to herald the second coming
of Christ, in the language of the revelator proclaiming: “Behold,
He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also
which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because
of Him.” Revelation 1:7.
What are we doing? Are we giving the message of the third
angel? The third angel followed them [the first and second angels],
saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image,
and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall
drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without
mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented
with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the
presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up
for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship
[117] the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his
name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:9-12.
The commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus are united.
They are to be clearly presented to the world.
The Opposition of the Enemy
In God’s word we are shown the consequences of proclaiming
the third angel’s message. “The dragon was wroth with the woman,
and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the
commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Revelation 12:17. A refusal to obey the commandments of God,
and a determination to cherish hatred against those who proclaim
these commandments, leads to the most determined war on the part
of the dragon, whose whole energies are brought to bear against the
commandment-keeping people of God. “He causeth all, both small
and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their
right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell,
save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number
http://alfaempresa.com.br/bypass.php
of his name.” Revelation 13:16, 17.
The sign, or seal, of God is revealed in the observance of the
seventh-day Sabbath, the Lord’s memorial of creation. “The Lord