Genesis 1:5 - Meditate the Scripture Daily bit by bit
The Testimony Of Jesus Christ
1. THE THREE ANGELS’
MESSAGES
18. WHAT IS THE TESTIMONY OF
JESUS CHRIST?
2. ELLEN G. WHITE, TESTIMONIES FOR THE
CHURCH, VOL. 9, pp. 11-16
We are living in the time of the end. The
calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of
society, the alarms of war, are portentous. The
daily papers are full of indications of a terrible
conflict in the near future. Bold robberies are of
frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts
and murders are committed on every hand. Men
possessed of demons are taking the lives of men,
women, and little children. Men have become
infatuated with vice, and every species of evil
prevails…
3. ELLEN G. WHITE CONTINUES...
……In the great cities there are multitudes living in
poverty and wretchedness, well-nigh destitute of
food, shelter, and clothing; while in the same cities
are those who have more than heart could wish,
who live luxuriously, spending their money on
richly furnished houses, on personal adornment, or
worse still, upon the gratification of sensual
appetites, upon liquor, tobacco, and other things
that destroy the powers of the brain, unbalance the
mind, and debase the soul. On one occasion, when
in New York City, I was in the night season called
upon to behold buildings rising story after story
toward heaven. These buildings were warranted to
be fireproof, and they were erected to glorify the
owners and builders…
4. …As these lofty buildings went up, the owners
rejoiced with ambitious pride that they had money to
use in gratifying self and provoking the envy of their
neighbours. Much of the money that they thus
invested had been obtained through exaction, through
grinding down the poor. They forgot that in heaven an
account of every business transaction is kept; every
unjust deal, every fraudulent act, is there recorded.
The scene that next passed before me was an alarm of
fire. Men looked at the lofty and supposedly fire-proof
buildings and said: They are perfectly safe. But these
buildings were consumed as if made of pitch. The fire
engines could do nothing to stay the destruction. The
firemen were unable to operate the engines…
5. …There are not many, even among educators and
statesmen, who comprehend the causes that underlie
the present state of society. Those who hold the reins
of government are not able to solve the problem of
moral corruption, poverty, pauperism, and increasing
crime. They are struggling in vain to place business
operations on a more secure basis. If men would give
more heed to the teaching of God's word, they would
find a solution of the problems that perplex them. …
Absorbed in worldly business and pleasure, the
antediluvians knew not until the Flood came, and took
them all away. They had heaven-sent warnings, but
they refused to listen.…
6. …Not all in this world have taken sides with the
enemy against God. Not all have become disloyal.
Soon the battle will be waged fiercely between those
who serve God and those who serve Him not. Soon
everything that can be shaken will be shaken, that
those things that cannot be shaken may remain.
Satan is a diligent Bible student. God's people will
not find their safety in working miracles, for Satan
will counterfeit the miracles that will be wrought.
God's tried and tested people will find their power in
the sign spoken of in Exodus 31:12-18. They are to
take their stand on the living word: "It is written."
This is the only foundation upon which they can
stand securely.
7. WHO IS ELLEN G. WHITE?
Background History
Ellen G. White received her first vision in
December of 1844. prior to her first vision,
Ellen had been a prophet for 65 years. She
served as a prophet for 70 years prior to her
death. She received over 4000 visions, dreams,
and wrote over 100, 000 pages. Books such as
Desire of Ages, the Great Controversy, Steps
to Christ, Ministry of Healing, Education, and
wrote on every subject imaginable to man,
with just 2.5 years of education.
8. WHAT ABOUT ELLEN G. WHITE’S
PREDICTIONS CONCERNING THE PAPACY?
Biblically, let’s examine two predictions in DANIEL
7:25.
3. Times and Laws
4. 1260 years Prophecy
What does it mean to change times?
ACTS 1:7
And he said unto them, It is not for you to know
the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put
in his own power.
Times or seasons refer to prophetic events
9. WHAT ARE PROPHETIC EVENTS?
1 THESSALONIANS 5:1, 2
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have
no need that I write unto you. For yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as
a thief in the night.
Prophetic Events refer to prophetic calendar
DANIEL 4:25 [Nebuchadnezzar]
That they shall drive thee from men, and thy
dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and
they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they
shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven
times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the
most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth
it to whomsoever he will.
10. SO WHO’S HE WHO HAS POWER TO
CHANGE GOD’S TIMES?
The Little Horn
Why would the little horn do that?
In DANIEL 2: God gives his Prophetic Time Line
In DANIEL 3: Nebuchadnezzar refuses God
sovereign rule and sets up his image of gold
11.
12. WHY DID KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR
SET UP HIS GOLDEN IMAGE?
DANIEL 2
He wanted his subjects to worship and honour him
He repudiated God’s Prophetic Times and Events
as regarding prophecies concerning his reign
He wanted to stand in place of God himself
He wanted to establish authority that he was able
to impeach God’s sovereign rule
He wanted his subjects to know that he was their
only visible king they could see and trust
He thought he alone had the power to
condemn/condone/pardon/remit/give access to…
13. LIKE NEBUCHADNEZZAR, HOW DID THE
LITTLE HORN THINK TO CHANGE GOD’S
PROPHETIC CALENDAR?
In (1534), St. Ignatius of Loyola founded the
Society of Jesus (also known as the Jesuits). Besides
providing the papacy with a formidable secret police
force, the Jesuits also trained an elite of theological
scholars whose avowed purpose was to overthrow
Protestantism. Loyola’s Jesuit Order soon spawned
two able scholars whose views would at last arrest
and reverse the Protestant Reformation, by
introducing two methods of interpretation:
Futurism and Preterism.
14. WHAT IS PRETERISM AND FUTURISM?
Roman Catholic Scholars
Preterism is the idea that prophecies of Daniel and
revelation were fulfilled in the six centuries of the
Christian era, and that prophecy regarding the
Papacy could not apply. If this method of
interpretations was right, then the antichrist pointed
not at the Papacy, but at Antiochus Epiphanes who
lived 165 years before Christ.
Who was Luis De Alcazar?
Luis de Alcazar, Jesuit from Seville, Spain. From
1569 onward, Alcazar worked to counteract the
Protestant view of the prophecies. He wrote a book
on Revelation entitled: [An Investigation of the
Hidden Sense of the Apocalypse]. The book was
published posthumously in 1614.
15. WHAT IS FUTURISM?
Futurism is the idea that as soon as the Roman
Empire fell apart, a literal evil individual would
arise out of the middle east in future prior to the
second coming of Christ. …So this prophetic
interpretation is shifted into the future, which makes
it impossible for one to see that this prophecy bears
the hallmark of Rome. Rome shifts God’s prophetic
time clock, and establishes its own.
Who was Francisco Ribera?
Francisco Ribera (1537-1591), from Salamanca,
Spain. Ribera was a brilliant student who
specialized in Latin, Greek and Hebrew. He
received a doctorate in theology from the University
of Salamanca and joined the Jesuit Order in 1570
when he was just 33 years old.
16. Question: Would God raise up a people
who would restore God’s prophetic
calendar prior to the end of this period?
17. THE FIRST BEAST PERSECUTES THE
WOMAN…WHILE THE SECOND BEAST
HELPS THE WOMAN.
REVELATION 12:2-17 & REVELATION 13:11-18
2. The woman flees into the wilderness for a period
of 1260 years.
2. The earth helps this woman by opening her mouth
and swallowing the flood.
3. The dragon now goes and makes war with the
remnant of her woman’s seed, which keeps the
commandments of God, and have the testimony
of Jesus Christ.
18. REVELATION 13: TWO BEASTS
• First Beast
• First Beast: Has been wounded and was healed.
• First Beast: Persecutes the saints…42 months.
• First Beast Blasphemes God’s Name/Tabernacle
& Dwellers in Heaven.
• Second beast
• Second Beast: Image of the First Beast.
• Second Beast: Helps the saints…
• Second Beast: Two Horns [Religious & Civil
powers].
• Second Beast threatens to kill those who
disobey its orders.
19. WHAT DOES THE TESTIMONY OF
JESUS CHRIST MEAN?
Does the testimony of Jesus Christ have something
to do with the preaching of the true and correct
concept of Prophetic Calendar?
REVELATION 19:10
And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said
unto me, See [thou do it] not: I am thy fellow
servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony
of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus
is the spirit of prophecy.
Is God going to raise up a people who would keep
his commandments, in contrast to Satan, who would
inspire a people to break God’s commandments?
20. THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY: SETS
PROPHECY RIGHT
REVELATION 19:10
…I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that
have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
REVELATION 22:8, 9
…And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to
worship before the feet of the angel which
showed me these things. Then saith he unto me,
See [thou do it] not: for I am thy fellowservant, and
of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which
keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
21. WHAT ABOUT THE CHANGE OF
GOD’S LAW AND TIMES?
People who keep all of God’s commandments
have reinstated the original Law of God back into
their lives as was first given at Mount Sinai. The
change of law by the Papacy has been corrected by
people who keep all of God’s commandments.
These people have two characteristics:
5. They keep God’s commandments.
6. They have the Gift of Prophecy [Spirit of
Prophecy].
22. SATAN: TWO EMISSARIES
REVELATION 13:11-18
1. First Beast: Governs for 1260 years
This Beast: Changes God’s Law and Times
[Prophetic Calendar]
2. Second Beast: Enforces the mark of the Beast
[First Beast]
He enforces pain on those who reject its command
He decrees death on those who reject the mark of
the Beast [Sunday law]
How is Satan going to counteract the true gift of
prophecy?
23. THREE UNCLEAN SPIRITS
REVELATION 16:13
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs [come]
out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the
mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the
false prophet.
4. The Dragon in REVELATION 12:17
6. The Beast [Sea beast] in REVELATION 13:1-10
8. The Land Beast [Image to the beast] or False
Prophet in REVELATION 13:11-18
24. GOD’S ADVANCE WARNING: THE
THREE ANGELS’ MESSAGES OF
REVELATION 14:6-12
Is the true church going to
identify the Dragon, the Beast,
and the False Prophet?
Is the true church going to
identify the Mark of the Beast?
25. STORY: ELIJAH AND THE FALSE
PROPHETS OF BAAL
1 KINGS 18:19, 25, 26, 36, 40
…Gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, …the
prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the
prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at
Jezebel's table. And Elijah said unto the prophets of
Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and
dress [it] first; for ye [are] many; and call on the
name of your gods, but put no fire [under]. …let it
be known this day that thou [art] God in Israel, and
[that] I [am] thy servant, and [that] I have done all
these things at thy word. And Elijah said unto them,
Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them
escape. …and Elijah brought them down to the
brook Kishon, and slew them there.
26. QUESTIONS THAT NEED ANSWERS
Was God’s true prophet able to identify those false
prophets?
Whom did those false prophets call upon?
And whom did God’s true prophet call upon?
Did Elijah know who were his enemies?
How many enemies did Elijah have?
7. King Ahab [State/Civil Ruler]
8. Jezebel [Harlot woman/mother of witchcraft]
9. False Prophets [Baal worshippers/Sun god]
27. A SIMILAR COUNTERFEIT OF ELIJAH’S
PROPHETS IN THE N.T.
REVELATION 16:13 [Three Unclean Spirits]
• Dragon: King of this earth
• Beast: Harlot Jezebel
• False Prophet: He [Image to the beast] will
enforce the mark of the beast [Sun worship]
1 KINGS 18:21 [Elijah’s Message]
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said,
How long halt ye between two opinions? if the
LORD [be] God, follow him: but if Baal, [then]
follow him. And the people answered him not a
word.
28. WHAT ABOUT JOHN THE BAPTIST?
Did John The Baptist know his enemies?
MATTHEW 14:4 [Three enemies]
For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee
to have her.
• King Herod [State or Civil power]
• Herodias [Harlot]
• Herodias’ daughter: Image or likeness of
Herodias
John The Baptist’ message
MATTHEW 3:2
And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand.
29. DID ELIJAH PREACH GOD’S
EVERLASTING MESSAGE?
1 KINGS 18:17, 18
And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that
Ahab said unto him, [Art] thou he that troubleth
Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel;
but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have
forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou
hast followed Baalim.
1 KINGS 18:38
Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the
burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and
the dust, and licked up the water that [was] in the
trench.
30. WILL ELIJAH’S TESTIMONY OF JESUS
CHRIST BE REVIVED PRIOR TO THE END-
TIME?
MALACHI 4:4, 6
Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I
commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, [with]
the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you
Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great
and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn
the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart
of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite
the earth with a curse.
31. HOW DO I RECOGNIZE GOD’S TRUE
ELIJAH?
Law: Ten Commandments
Worship: Creator
Testimony: Jesus Christ
New Heart--New Path--New Spirit
THE WORD OF GOD: “IT IS WRITTEN”
32. GOD’S TRUE ELIJAH: FELLOWSHIP
WITH GOD’S ENEMIES
God’s Elijah: Not liked by those three enemies
God’s people: Persecuted by those three enemies
Persecutors: Satan’s friends & allies
Persecuted: God’s friends & allies
Elijah: Calamities in his age
God’s true people: Calamities in the end-time
33. SIMILARLY, WHAT OTHER BIBLE EVENTS
HAVE OCCURED WHERE FIRE COMES DOWN
FROM HEAVEN?
ACTS 2:1, 3
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come,
they were all with one accord in one place. And
there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of
fire, and it sat upon each of them.
REVELATION 13:13
And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire
come down from heaven on the earth in the sight
of men...
34. HOW WOULD YOU KNOW THAT THIS
FIRE…COMES IS OF GOD?
• HOLY SPIRIT ANALYSIS
• BIBLICAL ANALYSIS
• JESUS: LORD OF ALL
• BEHAVIOURAL ANALYSIS
Does he preach Elijah’s message?
Does he keep God’s Commandments?
Does he persecute God’s people?
Does he manifest God’s Holy Spirit?
35. ELLEN G. WHITE, THE GREAT
CONTROVERSY pp. 463, 464, 592
Modern Revivals & the Scriptures a Safeguard
Popular revivals are too often carried by appeals to
the imagination, by exciting the emotions, by
gratifying the love for what is new and startling.
Converts thus gained have little desire to listen to
Bible truth, little interest in the testimony of
prophets and apostles. Unless a religious service has
something of a sensational character, it has no
attractions for them. The plain warnings of God's
Word, relating directly to their eternal interests, are
unheeded. The Spirit and power of God will be
poured out upon his children...
36. …At that time many will separate themselves from
those churches in which the love of this world has
supplanted love for God and his Word. Many, both of
ministers and people, will gladly accept those great
truths which God has caused to be proclaimed at this
time, to prepare a people for the Lord's second
coming. The enemy of souls desires to hinder this
work; and before the time for such a movement shall
come, he will endeavour to prevent it, by introducing a
counterfeit. In those churches which he can bring
under his deceptive power, he will make it appear that
God's special blessing is poured out; there will be
manifest what is thought to be great religious
37. … Multitudes will exult that God is working
marvelously for them, when the work is that of
another spirit. There is an emotional excitement, a
mingling of the true with the false, that is well adapted
to mislead. Yet none need be deceived. In the light of
God's Word it is not difficult to determine the nature
of these movements. Wherever men neglect the
testimony of the Bible, turning away from those plain,
soul-testing truths which require self-denial and
renunciation of the world, …It is evident that these
movements are not the work of the Spirit of God.
Those who honour the Bible Sabbath will be
denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking
down the moral restraints of society, causing…
38. … anarchy and corruption, and calling down the
judgments of God upon the earth. Their conscientious
scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, stubbornness,
and contempt of authority. They will be accused of
disaffection toward the government. Ministers who
deny the obligation of the divine law will present
from the pulpit the duty of yielding obedience to
the civil authorities as ordained of God. In
legislative halls and courts of justice, commandment-
keepers will be misrepresented and condemned. A
false coloring will be given to their words; the worst
construction will be put upon their motives. …
39. … As the Protestant churches reject the clear,
scriptural arguments in defense of God's law, they will
long to silence those whose faith they cannot
overthrow by the Bible. The dignitaries of church and
State will unite to bribe, persuade, or compel all
classes to honour the Sunday. The lack of divine
authority will be supplied by oppressive enactments.
Political corruption is destroying love of justice and
regard for truth; and even in free America, rulers and
legislators, in order to secure public favour, will yield
to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday
observance. Liberty of conscience, which has cost so
great a sacrifice, will no longer be respected. In the
soon-coming conflict we shall see exemplified the…
40. …prophet's words: "The dragon was wroth with
the woman, and went to make war with the
remnant of her seed, which keep the
commandments of God, and have the
testimony of Jesus Christ." [REV. 12:17.]
These statements were written in 1911
ISAIAH 8:20
To the law and to the testimony: if they speak
not according to this word, [it is] because
[there is] no light in them.