A Critical Time
TimeWatch Editorial
April 10, 2017
We presently face a critical time in the history of those who have chosen to follow the Word and Will of God. Satan recognizes that the time is fast approaching when the final movements will reach their conclusion. He has spent an incredible length of time is attempting to prepare for this. Gradually, he has inserted pieces of error in the framework of truth. He has not started with the fundamental beliefs; however, rather he has begun with the peripheral issues. We have been taught to focus upon the style of presentation, the standards by which success is measured, the demanded educational level of those in leadership positions. All this has provided a framework for error that has been effective in isolating real substance. The original paths are considered old fashioned. Like the pointless technology that surrounds us today, which actually accomplishes nothing, vagueness has entered the church of Christ, appearing to be an advancement of means and method, when in actuality they create the same kind of vacuum that exists ever since the “smart phone” has caused us to not even recall our own phone numbers. The genius of stupidity has taken the place of the humility of wisdom and we wallow in the dark cesspool of deception and destruction.
We have become satisfied with pretense, not even willing to admit to ourselves our own lack. We are told what to wear by those who advertize, and we are deceived into believing that how we look is who we are. Below the paper covering that blinds us to the truth, we accept the illiteracy of reading words without grasping their significance. Our wishes are by no means connected to our convictions because our convictions are few and far between. This is what our world looks like; not just in the secular context of our daily endeavors, but also in the church. Our amens are nothing more that punctuation marks as we stumble through the maze of emotionalism, and when the noise is through, we return to the yoke of our uncertainty. A most cautionary quote is found in Testimonies Volume 5 regarding the dwindling of the faith of many.
“While the light has continued to increase, the church has not advanced proportionately. The fine gold has gradually become dim, and deadness and formality have come in to cripple the energies of the church. Their abundant privileges and opportunities have not led God's people onward and upward to purity and holiness. A faithful improvement of the talents God has entrusted to them would greatly increase those talents. Where much is given, much will be required. Those only who faithfully accept and appreciate the light God has given us, and who take a high, noble stand in self-denial and self-sacrifice, will be channels of light to the world. Those who do not advance will retrograde, even on the very borders of the heavenly Canaan. It has been revealed to me that our faith and our works in no way correspond to the light of truth bestowed. We must not have a halfhearted faith, but that perfect faith which works by love and purifies the soul. God calls upon you in California to come into close relationship with Him.” {Testimonies Volume 5, page 534.1}
As sobering as that statement is, we must be willing to take responsibility for the study of God’s Word, allowing the Holy Spirit to work the work of transformation in our hearts. We cannot, we must not allow ourselves to become dependent upon the interpretation of others but ask God to lead us as we devote the necessary time to careful examination of the truth. Why is this important? Because we have also been warned concerning this. In Selected Messages, Volume 1, page 204 it says the following.
“The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. The founders of this system would go into the cities, and do a wonderful work. The Sabbath of course, would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement. The leaders would teach that virtue is better than vice, but God being removed, they would place their dependence on human power, which, without God, is worthless. Their foundation would be built on the sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away the structure.” Selected Messages, Volume 1, page 204
So here we are. What we need now is a determination to stand on the side of truth. But in order to stand on the side of truth, we must first study the truth. Then we must surrender our entire beings to the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we might be transformed in character. Listen to what the little book Steps to Christ says:
“God desires man to exercise his reasoning powers; and the study of the Bible will strengthen and elevate the mind as no other study can. Yet we are to beware of deifying reason, which is subject to the weakness and infirmity of humanity. If we would not have the Scriptures clouded to our understanding, so that the plainest truths shall not be comprehended, we must have the simplicity and faith of a little child, ready to learn, and beseeching the aid of the Holy Spirit. A sense of the power and wisdom of God, and of our inability to comprehend His greatness, should inspire us with humility, and we should open His word, as we would enter His presence, with holy awe. When we come to the Bible, reason must acknowledge an authority superior to itself, and heart and intellect must bow to the great I AM.” Steps to Christ, page109.3
Cameron A. Bowen
