The Search for Certainty
By Mark Finley
 Tonight, as we enter into this vital lecture, will you bow your heads and pray with me please? ‘Father in heaven, tonight in a maze of confusion in the religious world, we pray for certainty. Grant to us that understanding of Your word and the courage to follow it. In Christ’s name, Amen.’
Our topic tonight is ‘The Search for Certainty.’ Deep within the hearts of men and women everywhere is the desire to know Truth and the desire to know something that is certain, something that is secure, something that won't let us down. And deep within our hearts is the desire for a church that will maintain apostolic faith, a movement and a body of believers that will live in harmony with the principles of the Bible. We ask ourselves the questions, ‘Does God have a church on Earth today? Does God have a body of believers on Earth today? And if He does, how can we identify it? How can we find it?’
Jesus said to the Apostle Peter in Matthew 16:13-19, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” Peter answered, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” Jesus then asked, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ.” Then Jesus said, “I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock…” (this statement you just made, this declaration of faith, this ‘rock’ solid reality that I'm the Christ, the Son of God) “…I will build my church...” (Notice that Jesus said, “I will build my church’ so to say that Christ has no church on Earth today is to say that Christ failed His mission.) He said He was going nto build His church “…and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” If Christ has no church on Earth today, no visible church, no tangible church, no organized body of believers, if He doesn't have that, then He did not build His church (or He built it and the gates of hell prevailed against it.) I would not put a lie in the mouth of Jesus, would you?
Jesus said that He WAS going to build His church and that the gates of hell would NOT prevail against it, and that, down through the centuries, He WOULD have a group of believers who were loyal and true to Him to represent Him in this world. In fact, in Acts 2:41,47, the Bible says, “Then those who gladly received His word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them… and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” Now, notice that those who were baptized weren't left out here alone to struggle --- they didn't merely worship in some invisible body in their homes.
The Bible says, “they gladly received His word,” as so many coming to this "Discoveries In Prophecy" series have been gladly receiving God's Word. And the Bible says when they did, they “were added to them” --- they became part of the corporate body, the New Testament church of apostolic faith. Well, to whom were they added? Read the last part of the verse with me, starting with "and" after the two dots… “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” When they were baptized, were they baptized into the church, folks? Were they? The Bible says, “And the Lord added to the church.” They “gladly received” God's Word --- they accepted the principles of the Bible and became part of the apostolic faith, part of the pure True Church. In fact, Jesus, speaking in Matthew 28:18-20 to the disciples, said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on Earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, even to the end of the age.”
So the disciples were to teach, preach and baptize. As men and women accepted Christ in the Bible, as they understood the commandments of God, because they loved Jesus, they obeyed Him and were organized into God's church or God's movement --- and that church would exist until the end of the world. But if God has a church, how can I find it? If God does have a body of believers, is it the largest church? I know --- I'll just look for the largest church! In the days of Noah, the majority was wrong. And in the days of Jesus, the popular church --- the church that was so-called orthodox, the Jewish faith --- rejected Jesus. If I were a Jew in the days of Jesus, could I just say, ‘My father was a Jew, my mother was a Jew, my grandfather was a Jew, my great, great grandfather was a Jew; therefore I'm not going to change now, because I'm nervous? Everybody in the community is Jewish.’ Look, friends, if your attitude is ‘I can never make a change in my life because of my parents’ or my grandparents’ faith’, if that had been your attitude in the days of Jesus, could it be possible that you would have been in the crowd throwing the stones at Jesus? Because friend of mine, the most popular church isn't always right. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13, “Broad is the way, that leads to destruction…and narrow is the way that leads to life” --- not narrow because God has hidden the way, but narrow because few are willing to walk in the way that He's marked out. So when you are looking for the church, you don't look for the church that is the largest and you don't look for the church that is the most popular --- you look for the church that is the most faithful, the church that goes by the living Word of God. There are over three hundred different Christian denominations in North America alone, and around the world there are close to a thousand Christian denominations! Well, with that number, is finding God’s True Church complicated?
The Bible provides an answer once again… Tonight we go to the writings of John the Apostle in that great book of Revelation, the book written for the last generation of men and women to live on a planet called Earth. We have already seen in the book of Revelation the four horsemen --- the white horse representing apostolic purity, the red horse representing persecution, the pale horse representing compromise --- and we've seen that a flood of error swept into the church in the Middle Ages. We've also studied in Revelation 17 in our last meeting about the harlot woman, that church that drifted away from Christ and deceived people with false doctrines.
 But tonight we turn our attention to the object of Satan's attack. The object of Satan's attack is recorded in Revelation 12. Revelation 12 describes an enormous struggle between the forces of good and the forces of evil. It pictures God’s True Church in Revelation 12 as a woman with a crown of twelve stars upon her head, a church guided by the twelve apostles. Robed in white, she is the object of Satan's attack. (‘White’ symbolizes apostolic purity, the True Doctrine.) In Revelation 12:1,2, the Bible says, “Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labour and in pain to give birth.” This woman (this church) is going to give birth to a ‘child’--- the New Testament church is about ready to begin. The bride of Christ, His church, bore Jesus in the womb of the Old Testament church to launch the Christian church. The Bible says in 2Corinthians 11:2, “I am jealous for you with Godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” So in the Bible, a woman dressed in white, a virgin espoused to one husband, represents the church of Jesus --- Jesus is the husband in the illustration and the church is His bride. When the church remains faithful to Christ, the church is thus pictured as a pure woman, but when she drifts from Christ she is pictured as a harlot woman.
This woman, the bride of Christ, is the object of Satan's attack. Revelation 12 gives us a snapshot of Satan attacking Christ in heaven and Satan being cast out of heaven. It focuses on Satan's attempt on Earth to destroy Christ, by destroying the church in the Middle Ages. Then it focuses on God's last church and tells how it is just like the first church and how to identify it --- right now, at the end of the second millennium, before the year 2000. What a fascinating chapter! --- a description, before our very eyes, of how to identify God's True Church. You need not be in doubt. You can leave here tonight, not confused, but with certainty. Yes, God has a church! Yes, God describes it in His Word.
In Revelation 12:7 the Bible says, “And a war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Satan is a ‘dragon’ because he destroys, and he's a ‘serpent’ because he deceives. He's the deceiver! In heaven, he tried to deceive one third of the angels --- the Bible says he was cast out of heaven and his angels were cast out with him --- in heaven God won and Satan lost, so Satan was cast out of heaven. He tempted Adam and Eve, and down through the centuries tempted Israel, God's church in the Old Testament. Satan came to the Christ Child to destroy Him, Revelation 12:13 tells us: “Now when the dragon saw that he was cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.” The dragon desired to destroy Christ when He was born. You remember that Herod passed a decree that all male children under two years of age should be killed. And Jesus’ father, Joseph, had a dream, in which he saw Satan's vicious attempt to destroy the Savior, so Joseph was instructed by an angel to take the lad down into the land of Egypt. So when the Roman soldiers attempted to destroy the Christ Child with all the other babies who were destroyed, God had already supplied a refuge for Christ. Isn't that just like our Lord? Satan viciously tried to attack, and God provided a refuge.
You may be under terrible attack by Satan right now. Satan may oppress you --- there may be problems in your family, problems on your job, problems with your friends. But just as Satan viciously tried to destroy Christ and just as God opened up a place of refuge in Egypt, when we face our greatest difficulty, Jesus is there. When we face our greatest hardship, Jesus is there. Jesus opens up for us in our sorrow, in the disappointments of our life, a place of refuge. Christ went to the cross loyal --- Christ hung on the cross with nails through His hands and with a crown of thorns upon His head, but He did not break His loyalty. And when Jesus died paying salvation's price for you and for me, He said, “It is finished!” Satan --- seeing that a death knell was struck at the cross, seeing that through the cross sins could be forgiven, seeing that through the cross death would no longer hold its victims, seeing that through the resurrection of Jesus the grave was now unlocked by Christ, Satan now turned his attention to the church. The Bible says, Mary “brought forth a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.” Continuing in Revelation 12:5, “And her Child was caught up to God and to His throne”--- this man Child, Christ, after His death on the cross, was resurrected and ascended into heaven.
Satan now turned his attention on the object of Christ's supreme regard, the object of Christ's love, His church, the church that Christ had left. So we read of martyrs in those early centuries being burned at the stake and thrown to the lions. The Bible says in Revelation 12:11, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death” --- here were men and women who faced persecution! Are you facing persecution? God's faithful people down through the ages faced it. Are you facing some difficulty in your life? God's faithful people down through the ages faced it, but “they loved not their lives unto death.” They put their lives on the line for Christ! The medieval church united church and state to enforce its decrees, and during the Middle Ages we read again that those who did not go along with the popular church, those who clung in faith to God's Word were martyred again. They were taken in chains and burned at the stake, but their courage was undaunted.
John Huss, that great Czechoslovakian reformer, when he was being burned at the stake in Prague Square, said, “Bring the fire to my face --- if I was afraid, I would not be here.” What a legacy left for you and me --- a legacy of faith and courage and obedience to God! The Bible says in Revelation 12:6, “Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” What does the woman represent, everybody? The church. Where does she flee? Into the desert, where she might be taken care of for 1260 days. In Bible prophecy, as you're well aware, the Bible says in Ezekiel 4:6, “I have appointed thee each day for a year.” Each day was appointed to be a year, so 1260 prophetic days equal 1260 literal years. So this woman, the church, would be in hiding during the Dark Ages, during the time of the church/state union. After the break up of the Roman Empire in 538 AD, Justinian, the pagan Roman emperor, united with the head of the church in a church/state union that lasted until Napoleon of France attacked the head of the church and took him captive. That lasted for 1260 years --- during that period of time, God's True Church, God's faithful believers, were in hiding “in the wilderness.”
God did not have a visible church during that time --- it was a ‘church in the wilderness.’ The popular church from Rome, the church that united with the state, persecuted faithful believers. But faithful men and women of God, during the days of the medieval church, kept the lamp of truth burning. Faithful men and women of God would not have their consciences bound! Today as we stand for the Word of God, today as we champion the truth of God's Word, we stand in the line of those faithful men and women from the days of Christ until now, who would not have their consciences compromised. The Bible says that they would be persecuted, and history testifies to it. I'm quoting the historian… “Great numbers were driven from their habitations with their wives and children. They were stripped naked, many of them inhumanly massacred.” Ladies and gentlemen, in the face of the rack, being torn apart limb by limb, in the face of the sword, in the face of the dungeon, in the face of being burned at the stake, they were loyal.
But wait! At the end of that 1260 years period, what would happen? The Bible says in Revelation 12:15,16: “And the serpent…” (who is the serpent, everybody? Satan) “…spewed out of his mouth water…” (what does water represent? Peoples --- so the devil mobilized many people like a flood after the woman) “…that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood” of people. “But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened up its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.” What does it mean, that ‘the earth helped the woman’? If the ‘sea’ represents peoples and nations, the ‘earth’ (the opposite of that) must represent an unpopulated desert-like area, and Revelation 12 says that it does. So during the days of the medieval church, God's people fled to northern Italy and to southern France to mountain hideouts and caves and copied his Word. God's people were faithful in enhancing His Truth. Some of them left the Old World for a New World of religious freedom. And here in the New World, they also found a place of refuge. The Bible says that the medieval church would persecute, and the Bible says that the True Church, faithful believers who held fast to God's Word, would be in places of refuge and hiding.
But, what about after 1798? What about after the Dark Ages? At the end of the 1260-year prophecy sometime after 1798, Revelation predicts the rise of God's last-day movement. So if we want to find God's last-day movement, we must look sometime after 1798 to see a group of people who rise faithful to God. Revelation 12:17 (the last verse in chapter 12) describes God's True Church, “And the dragon…” (who is the dragon? Satan) “…was wroth...” (what does ‘wroth’ mean? Angry) “…with the woman...” (who is the woman? The church) “and went to make war with the remnant of her seed…” (what does that word ‘remnant’ mean?) Whomever this ‘remnant’ is, they are “ --- those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” What does the word ‘remnant’ (or the ‘rest of her offspring’) mean? The remnant of the True Church is the offspring of apostolic faith, the offspring of God's true believers, who were faithful to Him in every age.
What is a remnant? Well, if you have a bolt of cloth, and there is some cloth left over after the rest of the cloth has been used, a remnant is that portion that is left over --- and exactly like the original. The Bible says that there would be a remnant. The word remnant means ‘that which remains and is like the original.’ The remnant means ‘the remaining portion.’ If, for example, after laying a beautiful new carpet on the floor, the carpet layer often will leave remnant pieces, so if my carpet gets a hole in it, I can put something just like the original back there.
So God would have a remnant, a people who remain true, a people who are loyal to Him, a remnant that remains in the last days, people who champion apostolic faith from God's Word, who haven't compromised their consciences. I wonder how the Bible describes this remnant? The book of Revelation reveals the characteristics of the remnant. It is not difficult to discover God's church. Satan is angry at the church --- he goes to make war with the remnant, the last group of men and women who are faithful to God, who keep the His commandments.
So any church that does not keep the commandments of God is not the remnant. If it's the remnant church, it must keep the commandments of God. So if I'm looking for the True Church, I go knocking on the door --- knock, knock, knock, knock --- and I say I'm looking for the remnant. Oh, this church says, ‘We love Jesus, come in.’ I say, ‘But are you the remnant? I'm not looking for any church --- I'm looking for a special church.’ ‘Oh, come in. We love Jesus --- and our preacher preaches great sermons.’ ‘But are you the remnant? Do you keep the commandments of God?’ ‘Oh, the commandments were nailed to the cross.’ I say, ‘Sorry, goodbye. I can't go there, because I'm not looking for any church --- I am looking for the remnant that keeps the commandments of God.’
So, where is God's true church today? The book of Revelation says, “Here is the patience of the saints…” (read it with me, please) “…here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” The true church will have ‘the faith of Jesus.’ Did Jesus believe in the Bible as the only rule of faith in practice? Did He, friends? Will the True Church believe that? Did Jesus say that there was no other way to salvation except through Him? Did He say that? Will the True Church teach that salvation is by grace? You see the True Church has the faith of Jesus --- it's the faith of Jesus that we want. Did Jesus teach that He was coming again? So the True Church will be an Adventist church, because the Bible says in Revelation 1:7, “He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him.” Jesus said in John 14:1-3: “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And…I will come again!” Psalm 50:3 says, “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent.” Acts 1:11 says, “This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
In fifteen hundred places in the Bible, it says that Jesus is coming again! Will the True Church teach that Jesus is coming again? Indeed it will. Will the True Church teach the Truth about death? The Bible says that Christ will come to resurrect the dead. The Apostle Paul said in 1Thessalonians 4:16, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first…” (If they already went to heaven, why is He coming the second time to bring them to heaven, friend?) The True Church must be a Bible-believing, Christ-centered, grace-teaching, Second Coming-believing, Adventist church that teaches the truth about death and keeps the commandments of God, including the Bible Sabbath. It must be --- because the Bible says it will be the remnant, God's last-day church.
People say to me, ‘Pastor, why are you a Seventh-day Adventist?’ I am not a Seventh-day Adventist because I was born a Seventh-day Adventist --- I was born into a lovely Roman Catholic home. I was born and educated at the altar, brought up to participate in the mass with the priests. But as I studied the Bible, I learned that the Bible is the only source of faith. I learned that Jesus is my Savior. I learned that Christ is coming again --- and I discovered that God had a Sabbath-keeping movement on earth! Based on the book of Revelation! Seventh-day Adventists are not simply another denomination, but they are a divine movement that God has raised up,. based on this prophecy. “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Now don't misunderstand me --- there are wonderful Christians in every religious denomination who love Jesus --- and salvation is not a matter of what church you belong to. It's not, friend.
Salvation is a matter of knowing Christ and having a passion to follow His truth. It's one thing to be in the true Church, but it's another thing to have a passion for Christ and follow His Truth. And God, in His final movement, is leading all men and women back to the Truth of His Word. What does the text say? Let's read it together: “Here is the patience of the saints; here are they who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Now the two distinguishing characteristics of the remnant are this: It lovingly obeys God's commandments, and it has the testimony of Jesus Christ. I wonder if Revelation 12:17 talks about this ‘testimony of Jesus.’ I wonder what the ‘testimony of Jesus Christ’ is --- I wonder what that's about? You remember Revelation 12:17 says that the dragon was angry at the church and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus…
John saw an angel come down from heaven. And the Bible says, “And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’ ” This angel that came down from heaven was going to bring to John, who was on the island of Patmos, a witness or a testimony from Jesus. John wanted to worship this angel, but the angel said, ‘Don't worship me, but I am bringing to you, John, the gift of prophecy’--- the gift of prophecy that has beaten in the breast of every prophet in the Old and New Testament.
So the testimony of Jesus, according to the Bible, is the gift of prophecy. “Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus…” (read it with me, please, in Revelation 19:10) “…is the spirit of prophecy. The dragon is angry with the church and goes to make war with the remnant of her seed --- the last church, the church that keeps the commandments of God and has the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy. So the God who guided His church down through history with the gift of prophecy would guide His last-day church with the gift of prophecy. Just before the coming of Jesus, God would raise up a divine movement of destiny based on the prophecies of Revelation, which would be different from any other religious denomination, because it would keep all of God's commandments, it would uphold the apostolic faith of the past, and it would be guided by the gift of prophecy. In fact, let's read Corinthians 1:6,7 --- do you agree with the Apostle Paul, friend? I sure do --- “The testimony of Christ…” (the gift of prophecy) “…was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Would the church waiting for the coming of Christ have the gift of prophecy? Would it? The Bible says that it would! Notice in Ephesians 4:11, when Jesus ascended into heaven, “He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.” When Jesus ascended into heaven He gave to His earthly church, pastors --- would those pastors be in the church to the end of time? Does the church need good pastors today? Amen! Does the church need teachers today? Yes. Does the church need evangelists? I hope so, yes. Does the church need administrators and apostles? Yes. But God's last-day church also would be guided by the gift of prophecy. You say, ‘Mark, does that mean that in the early days of the Advent movement that one of the characteristics is the gift of prophecy?’ To deny the gift of prophecy in the remnant church is to deny that portion of the Bible that says the gift of prophecy would be in God's last-day church --- the gift of prophecy is never to take the place of the Bible. But to accept the gift of prophecy is to accept the gift that God gave to His church, the same church that would keep His commandments in the last days of Earth's history.
Faithful Bible students studied the word of God. Do you remember that the True Church was to be raised up sometime after 1798? They were studying the prophecies in Daniel 8:14, and they read this one --- “And he said to me, ‘For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.’ ” (Now, in Bible prophecy one prophetic day equals one literal year.) They studied this prophecy --- we've studied it here in our meetings, and we've seen that this 2300-year prophecy began in 457 BC and ran out in 1844 AD, and that since 1844 we've been living in what the Bible calls the ‘time of the end,’ the time when the gospel is to go to all the world, the time when we are to prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ. Faithful Bible students studied that prophecy, but they misunderstood it, and they thought Jesus was actually going to come back in 1844. You know they were kind of like the first disciples --- do you remember that the first disciples thought that Jesus was going to set up His kingdom, not die on the cross? In fact, just the night before Jesus died on the cross, James and John said, ‘Can we sit, one on your left hand and one on your right hand, in your kingdom, Lord --- could we sit there?’ The disciples thought Jesus was coming to set up His earthly kingdom in 31 AD.
So likewise, God's last-day disciples thought He was going to set up a ‘kingdom’ in 1844. They misunderstood the prophecy just like the first disciples. Out of the disappointment of the cross, God raised up New Testament Christianity --- and out of the disappointment of 1844, God brought together a group of believers. They were Methodists, they were Baptists, they were Episcopalians, they were Catholics, they were people from every faith who believed in Jesus and His Word, who accepted that He is going to come again --- and, as they studied the Bible, they believed that the Bible Sabbath was God's Word. What would happen to this band of believers? Would they be split up? Would they be divided? God blessed with visions and dreams a young woman, Ellen Harmon (later to become Ellen White) who foresaw the gathering of the Methodists, the Baptists, the Catholics, the Episcopalians, these men and women who longed to keep the commandments of God, these men and women who longed to keep the Sabbath, these men and women who longed to follow Truth. She saw them scattered, but then she saw them coming together with a great bright light behind them --- and she saw the world filled with the glory of God and with people who loved Jesus. Yes, God raised up in these early days the gift of prophecy. What would God do? How would God bless His last-day church? Indeed, He would have a church based on the Bible, a church that loved Jesus, a church that teaches the truth about the second coming of Christ, a church that was faithful to Him and kept the seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday), a church that taught the truth about death, a church that in its early formative days was guided by the gift of prophecy. Faithful to His word, God raised up the gift of prophecy to guide His disappointed people and lead them to a worldwide movement to proclaim the gospel to the ends of the Earth. Someone may say, ‘How can I identify God's church?’ It would arise after 1798; it would trust Jesus and keep His commands; it would be guided by the gift of prophecy; it would proclaim God's final message to the world.
My brother, my sister, friend of mine tonight --- around the world this message is being heralded. “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth --- to every nation, kindred, tongue and people --- saying with a loud voice, ‘Fear God and give glory to Him. ’” We're in the judgment hour! In the judgment hour, God would raise up a worldwide body of believers --- and friends around the world, it's happening tonight! I saw God move in Moscow, in the Kremlin auditorium. There inside the Kremlin, thirteen thousand people came, with Bibles delivered by army trucks, and over two thousand were baptized! I've seen God work around the world, friend. God is reaching out tonight in China where this message of the Advent Truth is growing. In one province in China, fifteen thousand have been baptized! There in Poland, I've watched as hundreds were baptized! And in Yugoslavia, hundreds baptized! God is doing something special. Do you know that, in one place in Siberia, the largest radio station shortwave that can beam radio messages to much of the world used to beam messages for communism, now is being used to beam the message of the Bible and Jesus Christ! Around the world, God is gathering His people because this is closing time. This is the final hour.
Tonight, friends of mine, whatever you have gone through in your life, whatever heartache you've gone through, whatever sorrow, whatever disappointment you've gone through, God has brought you here. God has known you're a Truth-seeker. God has known that you're looking for the Truth in His Word. He has known that you have had a heart open to His word. I'm not a Seventh-day Adventist because I was brought up a Seventh-day Adventist. I'm not a Seventh-day Adventist because the Adventist church is just another denomination. Personally to be faithful to God, I opened my Bible as a 17-year-old lad, and I said, ‘Jesus, I want to find Your remnant.’ And God said, ‘Here are those who keep My commandments and have the faith of Jesus Christ.’ God has a remnant people on Earth today, and He's brought you to this meeting specifically to lead you to His Truth, to lead you to His Word. And as you step out to follow Him, and as you put your hand in His, however weak you are, He is strong. However frail you are, His might is yours. Whatever challenges you have, God is greater than those challenges.
Tonight as we bow our heads to pray, would you like to say, ‘Jesus, it's no accident that I sit here. I've seen that You would have a remnant, a last-day people faithful to You. It's no accident that I sit here. I've sensed You calling me and tugging on my heart. And tonight I want to tell You, Lord, that I want to follow Your Truth. I want to follow Your Word. Tonight I give my life to You, Lord, because I know that whatever I give up, Jesus is going to give me an inner peace and an inner joy. The sense of following Truth is the greatest joy in life.
Tonight as we bow our heads to pray, would you like to say, ‘Jesus, I'm yours'? ‘Oh, my Father, we've heard the call of God to our hearts tonight. We've seen that You have a people on Earth - not another church or denomination, but a group of people who are committed to follow Your Word, a group of people who are committed to following Your Truth, a group of people who are passionate about sharing Your message to the ends of the Earth. And Lord, we sense that there's a great revival movement going on in the world, that tens of thousands of people are accepting Your message and becoming part of Your Truth. Father, I pray that You would open our hearts to the still small voice of the Spirit and You would lead us to follow You. In Christ’s name, Amen.’
Tonight, friend, Jesus invites you to make a decision. I'd like no movement in the auditorium just now, except for our ushers. Our ushers have response cards that they are going to give out to you right now. It's one thing to listen to Truth, but it's another thing to say, ‘Jesus, I want to follow it.’ I invite you to take a card just now wherever you are, just take that card… It's an invitation to follow Truth. It's an invitation to say, ‘Jesus, I want to make a decision to go with You.’ On November 9th, next Sabbath evening, we're having a worldwide baptism, tens of thousands! Maybe you once knew Jesus and in these meetings, you drifted away and you're coming back, we invite you to check that card tonight. Maybe you never knew Him. You want to look forward to baptism, I'm going to invite to you check the card tonight. I'd like to go over the card with you. It's called, ‘Why So Many Denominations?’ Just in the quietness, please take a card, and as you fill it out, you will encourage somebody else to fill his out. As the person next to you sees you fill it out, they will be inspired as well. Maybe you filled out another one, but every night I pass out the cards… There are another 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 people here who are making decisions - and all around the world, there are thousands of people who weren't here last night who missed their opportunity.
This is your opportunity to make a decision for Christ. The first line says, ‘I believe God will restore Truth to His faithful followers in the last days.’ (If you need a pencil, raise your hand.) If you believe that God will restore Truth to His followers in the last days, check that first box. The second box says, ‘I desire to follow all of the Truth Jesus has for me.’ If you desire to follow all the Truth Jesus has for you, check the second box. The third box says, ‘I'd like to say, Yes, Jesus, I want to be baptized soon.’ If you've never been baptized the Bible way, check that box. If you've been baptized the Bible way, but want to become part of God's people, check ‘I'd like to look forward to rebaptism.’ If you have drifted away and want to come back, you sense we're living in the final hours, check that box. If you would like more reading material on the True Church and ‘Why So Many Denominations,’ check the fourth box. Write your name and your phone, your address and city, whether you are a church member, yes or no, and if so, what denomination.
As you fill out your card, listen to the ladies sing… ‘Come to Jesus now, come to Jesus now, with arms wide open, He waits for you, come to Jesus now. He's preparing a home for the faithful, and He holds the winds of strife, He longs to hold each one of us and grant eternal life. Will you keep on closing your heart to Him, never trusting in His Word? Or will you turn your life over to Him and accept Him as your Lord?’ Ushers will pass across the buckets. You can drop your cards in them right now. They are the symbols of commitment to Christ, symbols that you've made a decision to follow Him. To say, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that You have a people on Earth, a last-day movement, Lord, and I sense You are calling me. I feel the tugging in my heart. I want to be part of Your people and be baptized and follow Christ.’ Just now our ushers will pass the buckets across. You can drop your card in as you listen to the chorus…
‘Come to Jesus now, come to Jesus now, with arms wide open, He waits for you, come to Jesus now. We don't know the time of His coming, but our hope should not grow dim. Come with a host of angels, singing wondrous praises to Him. His redeemed ones will be changed in a moment, to join with Him in the sky. We will all sing and shout hallelujah, in the sweet by and by.’
Now, with our cards, we're going to pray that the Holy Spirit will take every decision --- God knows every decision that's made for Him. God will give you the power and the strength that you need just now. You make a decision to follow Christ, you put your life in His hands, you say, ‘Lord, I'm going to follow You.’ I'd like to invite you to stand wherever you are --- here in Orlando, across the United States and Canada, throughout Europe and in South America and Inter America, we would like you to stand to pray...let's bow our heads together. Tonight maybe you have a special prayer request. Maybe you've checked a card for baptism, but you're really concerned that you might be too weak. Maybe there's a habit like tobacco or alcohol or maybe some other problem in your life such as Sabbath work --- you need special prayer. If you really want to make this decision, but you're struggling, or if you have made it and you need strength, you need special prayer. Would you just lift your hand right now?
‘Oh, Jesus, You know our hearts. Thank You for Your strength and power, thank You that You have given to us the courage to make this decision. But we lay it all in Jesus' hands just now and ask Him to come down into our lives and give us the strength we need. In Christ's name, Amen.’
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