02/01/2025
THE HOUR IS LATE - JESUS IS COMING VERY, VERY SOON!
DEAR Friends in Christ:
We, as Seventh-day Adventists, now face the end time; the very last moments of not only our probation but also of this world's history. Soon, the conflict of the ages will reach its climax in the great final struggle toward which all other events have been tending. As we read The Great Controversy, we cannot but realize that very soon we will be facing the image-to-the beast power, brought to view in Revelation 13. Even now we can recognize in the events taking place around us indications that the lost papal power is rapidly being restored. It is apparent to even the casual observer that the world no longer looks upon the Roman hierarchy with the abhorrence it once had, but that it is now viewed with almost universal favor. Soon those prophecies that speak of the deadly wound being healed will no longer be a future event toward which we look in anticipation, but a stark reality of the serpent. Very soon Catholicism will, in the full restoration of its lost power, again exert her will over the civil governments of the world, seeking to coerce the consciences of those who cannot be persuaded by fairer means. Once again, persecution will rage as it did during the 1,260 years of the church's wilderness wandering.
We can now only dimly comprehend the experience soon to face God's people in this crisis hour. "It is impossible to give any idea of the experience of the people of God who shall be alive upon the earth when celestial glory and a repetition of the persecutions of the past are blended. They will walk in the light proceeding from the throne of God. By means of the angels there will be constant communication between heaven and earth." (Testimonies, vol. 9, 16)
"Fearful tests and trials await the people of God. The spirit of war is stirring the nations from one end of the earth to the other. But in the midst of the time of trouble that is coming - a time of trouble such as has not been since there was a nation - God's chosen people will stand unmoved. Satan and his host cannot destroy them, for angels that excel in strength will protect them." (Ibid., 17)
MAY EACH OF US HAVE SUCH A PERSONAL WALK WITH JESUS THAT WE CAN TRUST HIM TO HELP US THROUGH EVERY DIFFICULTY.