Editor’s Note: Below is a transcript of a message, posted to You Tube on April 24, from president of the Adventist Church, Ted N.C. Wilson. Elder Wilson will release a new video each week, during the Coronavirus pandemic, which you can view here.
It's great to be back with you again. It's been quite a journey, all through this situation with coronavirus COVID-19 all over the world, but God is with us, through the 100 Days of Prayer, through outreach, through social media, all kinds of activities that people are involved with. What a special opportunity to be able to share God's love, His soon coming, and the profound understanding that He is with us to the very end of time. God wants us to be a witness for Him. He wants us to show personal kindness to people. He wants us to help people as He did—physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. Christ's approach in helping people, total member involvement. The Three Angels' Messages—what an opportunity to understand, especially that third angel of Revelation 14, helping us to understand in a powerful way that we are not to be in any way connected with the Mark of the beast, but to worship God on his Holy seventh day, the Sabbath day.
What an opportunity to turn people back to the true worship of God. It's time for revival and reformation. It's time for God's great days of witnessing just ahead. In the beautiful book of Joel, chapter 2, we read in verses 12 and 13 these marvelous understandings of what God wants us to do in terms of touching and connecting with Him in a powerful way in these last days of Earth's history.
In verse 12 it says, “’Now, therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.’ So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God. For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm.”
What a wonderful promise God has given to us to understand that we are to open our hearts to Him and not just do something on the exterior. To allow Him to work in us during this challenging pandemic time; to allow Him to work in our hearts for revival and reformation.
And then in the beautiful book of Second Chronicles, and in chapter 7, we read where Solomon was pleading with the Lord and allowing God to speak to him. And then God spoke to him, saying, “If My people who are called by My name,” Second Chronicles, chapter 7, verse 14, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
You see, the Lord is calling for us to have revival and reformation. In the wonderful book of Christian Service, page 37, it says here, “God's people must take warning and discern the signs of the times. The signs of Christ coming are too plain to be doubted, and in view of these things everyone who professes the truth should be a living preacher.”
Everyone. All of us to be witnesses for the Lord. “God calls upon all, both preachers and people, to awake. All heaven is astir. The scenes of earth's history are fast closing. We are amid the perils of the last days. . . . The Lord calls for the pardoned souls,” those of us who have salvation through Him, “those who rejoice in the light, to make known the truth to others.”
God is calling for revival and reformation at this time. And this beautiful quotation from first Selected Messages, page 121, “A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs. To seek this should be our first work. . . . A revival may be expected only in answer to prayer.”
I invite you to be part of this worldwide movement where God is calling each of us to be part of revival and reformation and sharing the three angels' messages with Holy Spirit power. Jesus is coming—get involved! Let me pray with you.
Father in heaven, please come close to each of us as we focus upon Your soon coming. As we look to the opportunities that are all around us, even through social media, through telephone calls, through appropriate social distancing, help us to be a witness for You. And in just a number of weeks, when things begin to open up, You will offer to us amazing opportunities to touch the lives of people and prepare them for Your soon coming. Thank you for hearing us. Help all of us to realize that You are coming soon and that we need to be involved. In Jesus' name we ask it, Amen.