L. Tudoroiu — Canada

Science fiction no longer

On Sunday, October 30, 1938, at 8:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, Orson Wells announced on national radio that planet Earth had been invaded by men from Mars. It was actually only a drama, but it was taken seriously. Within minutes people all over North America were praying, crying, and fleeing to escape death at the hands of Martians. Telephone lines were jammed as people telephoned farewells or warnings to their friends and loved ones. Churches were filled to capacity with those who rushed to "end-of-the–world" prayer meetings. In a western city a woman ran into a church screaming, "New York is destroyed! This is the end! You might as well go home to die. I just heard it over the radio."

A countless number of suicides were seen, and droves of people were running about hopelessly, aimlessly. It is tragic to consider such a generation of men without an understanding of the real value of life.

More than 63 years have passed, and recently the world witnessed the actual reality of seeing New York almost paralyzed with terror as two of its tallest buildings toppled to dust. Shocking! The television and news commentators were speechless—they simply could not believe what their own eyes were beholding. Some cried out to One whom by many had long been forgotten—God.

America was under attack. How could it be? Was a huge "empire" to fall suddenly? This time the situation was real, not just a drama.

"In this time of prevailing iniquity we may know that the last great crisis is at hand." 1

The power of the Word

One day, an angel of God spoke to Daniel, saying:

"But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased" (Daniel 12:4).

Have you ever wondered why for nearly 6,000 years the fastest speed attained by men was the speed of a good horse? As little as 100 years ago, some scientists claimed that to exceed 15 m.p.h. would be dangerous because it would take away men’s breath. But the world was suddenly changed. We now live in an era of speeds of which our grandparents never even dreamed.

Yes, this is a sign that shows we are living in the time mentioned by Daniel the prophet—the end of time. It is interesting to ponder the thoughts of various people who have had a broad view about this time.

An amazing statement was made on April 7, 1869, by the French chemist, Pierre Berthelot:

"I forecast that in one hundred years of physical and chemical science man will know what the atom is. . . . It is our belief that when science reaches this stage . . . God will come down to the earth with His big ring of keys and will say to humanity, ‘Gentlemen, it’s closing time.’ "

What gave power to the sermons of Jesus were His simple words: "Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:14, 15).

To many there may have seemed no apparent basis on which to believe that any special time was being fulfilled. John was in prison, Herod was more than satisfied, the nation of Israel was blind in vice and sin, yet still the Lord had power to say, "The time is fulfilled, . . . the kingdom of God is at hand." Keen spiritual eyesight is clearly needed in order to make such a statement. This was the debut of His ministry. He noted the fulfilling of prophecy. He knew that His time had to come to die for a world without any other hope of deliverance.

Christ came to the earth with neither force of arms nor money, but in meekness and humility He created an immortal church, a church that no power would be able to destroy—neither through fire, torture, or temporal death. "And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" (Matthew 24:3). As far as we can see, this question once again stirs the society in which we live, because people do not like to live in uncertainty—with their "hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth" (Luke 21:26). They want to know more about what is soon to take place.

Face to face with history

Let us consider for a moment the testimony of the prophet Daniel:

"In the first year of [Darius’] reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes" (Daniel 9:2, 3).

In his earnest prayer Daniel recognized that the time of bondage for the Jewish nation was a direct result of their transgression of God’s law. As a youth he had been brought to Babylon, and he remembered all the experiences he had made with God during the captivity. Now, as an old man, he asks forgiveness for his own sins as well as those of his nation. What a beautiful testimony as to the loyalty and devotion of this faithful man. What a wonderful example of altruism and sacrifice for all those whom God brought with him to Babylon. Oh, if the people of God today would search the Bible with the same spirit that Daniel had, if men and women would humble themselves as this beloved brother did, what a miracle might happen with us! Perhaps the Spirit of God would give us a mouth like his to speak of the solemnity of our time—perhaps with words like these: "The time is fulfilled"—that would move the earnest souls of this world to repentance.

Our time in prophecy

"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, . . . then . . ." (Matthew 24:15, 16).

Do these words resound in our minds more than ever before? Is this the sign that our time is fulfilled and we need to cover our faces as did Daniel? Is this statement the powerful sign proving we are in the perilous "Antichrist Era"? Is this statement going to prefigure our deliverance? Do we feel that it is our privilege and opportunity—as the most degraded generation that has ever existed on planet Earth, but transformed through the marvelous grace of God—to reflect before all the universe that God is right and Satan is wrong?

Is this the mission of the last generation? Are we afraid to say "no" when six billion people will say "yes"?

This is our time to reveal before the world what the "Antichrist Era" means. All the prophetic events point to a time when the entire world is to be gathered together for the final battle, when the "few" will fill up the world with "their teaching," and then another christ—a false christ—will be revealed, and Satan, the old enemy of God, will exercise his power to destroy the last seed of good on the face of the earth. "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God" (2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4).

Let us take a look at what the Spirit of Prophecy says about this issue:

"By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near." 2

Mistakes come easily

In recent years, prominent voices from among the political arena of nominal Protestantism are showing themselves to be well on the way to expressing more and more openly the notion of repudiating the United States Constitution supposedly as a way to save the nation (and eventually the whole world). How reminiscent this is of Caiphas’ comment in the time of Jesus, "Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation" (John 11:47–51). On that occasion, government policy was to be altered to allow for Christ’s pure, wholesome life of goodness and truth to be sacrificed in favor of preserving a group of corrupt religious hypocrites. Very soon, will not a similar scene take place before our own eyes? Outspoken religious leaders of the professedly Protestant world today are surely echoing the sentiments of Caiaphas, with similar notions of converting the world through oppressive legislative means.

The voice of Rome

Now beyond the "gulf" is another voice which is even more powerful than ever before—the voice of Rome. It is a voice speaking the same "great words against the most High" (Daniel 7:25) that it has spoken throughout history, a voice as shamelessly boastful as it ever was. When the U.S. Constitution was first established, the reaction of the pope was very aggressive:

"‘Pope Pius IX, in his Encyclical Letter of August 15, 1854, said: "The absurd and erroneous doctrines or ravings in defense of liberty of conscience are a most pestilential error—a pest, of all others, most to be dreaded in a state."’" 3

This papal aversion to freedom of conscience has been reconfirmed in recent years in the book, The Keys of This Blood, as Roman Catholic author Malachi Martin, a staunch defender of papal ideals and purposes, speaks out against what he calls "Minimalists"—conscientiously steadfast religious minorities.

Yet, by God’s grace, the U.S. Constitution still guarantees all people the right to choose. But most importantly, God Himself assures man of this right, as He declares in the Bible, "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19).

The Spirit of Prophecy warns:

"Those who are making an effort to change the Constitution and secure a law enforcing Sunday observance little realize what will be the result. A crisis is just upon us." 4

Jesus knew!

All these things are happening under the eyes of Jesus. He knew about the abomination of desolation, the son of perdition, the man of sin, the alter christos—"another christ." He knew about the abomination of Israel, that they would reject Jesus not as a man, but as God. They did acknowledge Him as a Master Teacher or Rabbi and were inclined to receive Him as a prophet, but when He claimed to be the Son of God this was enough for them to kill Him as a blasphemer. When they accepted Barabbas the symbol of antichrist instead of the Son of salvation, that supposedly wasn’t blasphemy. Their declaration, "We have no king but Caesar" seemed to follow them through all the centuries like a shadow on their conscience. As Martin Luther said: "It is not safe, and it is dangerous to work against conscience." They knew that Jesus was the Son of God, yet they worked against the appeals of the Holy Spirit, until they were finally enveloped in total darkness.

The most powerful statement that Jesus made regarding the antichrist and the signs of our time is found in John 5:43: "I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive."

In essence He was saying, "If I will come as the Son of God you will not receive me, but if another will come as the Son of God (who in fact is the son of perdition) you will receive him as the Son of God." Let us see how amazingly the prophecy has been and continues to be fulfilled in ever increasing measure:

"Thou art the Shepherd, Thou art the Physician, Thou art the Director, Thou art the Husbandman; and finally, Thou art another God on the Earth"— The Oration of Christopher Marcellus (R.C.) in the 4th session of the 5th Lateran Council, 1512 (and addresses to the Pope); History of the Councils, Labbe and Conssort, vol. 24, col. 109.

"We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty"—Encyclical Letter, June 29, 1894, the great Encyclical of Leo XIII, p. 304.

In his book, The Keys of This Blood, p. 143, Roman Catholic author Malachi Martin states,

"If tomorrow or next week by a sudden miracle, one world government were established, the Church would not have to undergo any essential structural change in order to retain its dominant position and further its global aim."

Indeed, it is becoming just as John the Beloved foresaw in Revelation 13:3, 4, "And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?"

There’s no more time

On October 8, 1871, D. L. Moody opened a one-week series of meetings in Chicago, drawing one of the largest crowds in the city’s history. His subject was What then shall we do with Jesus? On that night Moody gave to the audience one week to decide what they would do with Jesus. That very night most of Chicago was destroyed by fire. Hundreds of people died. Moody did not get to hold another meeting in that place until 23 years later, on the anniversary of that great fire. As he looked over his audience that night, he said:

"Twenty-three years ago I made the greatest mistake I have ever committed. I gave an audience a week to decide what to do with Jesus. I have looked over this congregation and I do not see a single soul to whom I preached that night. I shall never meet those people again until they rise up against me in the judgment. . . . If you haven’t made that decision, don’t wait one more day, or even an hour."

"We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation)" (2 Corinthians 6:1, 2).

So, my dear friends, if today this same Jesus is gently knocking at the door of your heart, do not say "We have no other friend but Caesar." Do not take this great risk. We are almost at the point when our Saviour is going to come to recognize His people, and we will have to be ready to withstand the beast in the power of the Holy Spirit. Let the church of God say:

"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city" (Revelation 22:14).

References:

1 Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 178.
2 Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 451.
3 The Great Controversy, p. 564.
4 Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 753.