Seventh-Day Adventist Church

January 23, 2021

One of the greatest global revivals witnessed in 200 years broke out in Wales in 1904. The Welsh Revival was the global climax of a worldwide awakening, emphasizing what became known as “the Spirit-filled life,” with emphasis on sanctification. Sincere Christians were growing weary of legalistic, dry, intellectual religion, much like what Seventh-day Adventist were experiencing in the 1870s and 1880s. The Keswick Convention, an annual Bible conference, was instrumental in bringing about a revival. In 1902, participants at the Keswick Convention formed a prayer circle and pledged themselves to pray for revival around the world. House to house visitation took place sharing Jesus and letting the people know that they must confess their sins, put away evil habits, obey the leading of the Holy Spirit, and share their faith in Christ publicly. The Spirit of God took hold of Wales by storm. In five months, half a million people became Christians. Taverns went bankrupt for lack of patronage. Unwed pregnancies practically disappeared. Judges were given white gloves: not a case to try – no robberies, no burglaries, no rapes, no murders, no embezzlements. Crime had simply stopped. The revival spread, in Wales, one of every ten citizens was converted. In Japan, the number of Christians doubled by 1910, India Christianity grew 70% in 1905-1906, Latin America experienced a 180% growth from 1903 to 1910. In the USA 35,000 members were added to the Methodist Church, Southern Baptists increased 25% in one year, etc. What does this say to me? God was preparing the world, and will do so again, for the message he has given us to share. In 1904 Ellen White wrote: “Why do we not hunger and thirst for the gift of the Spirit, since this is the means by which we are to receive power? Why do we not talk of it, pray for it, preach concerning it?” Let us turn to God pleading for the Holy Spirit to fill us and develop a deeper relationship with Jesus.

January 16, 2021

When it comes to truth, Adventists beat them all! In the late 1800s, Adventist Ministers not only knew the truth and teachings of the Scripture, but it was difficult to defeat the Adventist Minister in debates. The result was self-satisfaction thus leading to a spirit of lukewarmness. We had the twin truths of “righteousness by faith” and the “commandments of God.” Unfortunately, it was all head knowledge. The working love of Jesus in the hearts of the people was not really a personal experience. What was really needed was for all selfish ambition to be laid aside, focus on Jesus in what He had done, and was doing in our behalf, and plead with God for the Holy Spirit to descend upon them. Are we any different today? God raised up the Seventh-day Adventist Church, He gave birth to the remnant of Bible prophecy (Revelation 10), and His desire was that the church would prepare the world for the Second Coming. The truths of the Sabbath, the non-immortality of the soul, the manner of Christ’s coming, the sanctuary ministry, and the investigate Judgement, the validity of God’s commandments including the Sabbath, and care for the body temple were all restored, for a perishing world to understand the work and character of God. We have the truth, but we lost sight of Jesus like the Jews did in losing sight of the Messiah. The Jews were so determined never to return to following pagan ways of worship and became so legalistic that they lost sight of the true meaning of the coming Messiah. Adventists became so full to the law that at one point we were told that we had become drier the hills of Gilboa.  We had lost sight of the love of Jesus. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit had been held back. Let us search our hearts, persevere in prayer, awake out of our sleep, and share together the love of Jesus with the great teachings He has given us. 

January 2, 2021

We are living at a time in history as never before when the Holy Spirit is working and moving in a special way. Are we taking advantage of it? Are we asking Him to fill us and our families? Are we asking Him to fill our church? Are we insisting that we be filled and fit? Jesus promised the disciples that the Holy Spirit would come. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would abide with you and would be in you (John 14.16,19). Jesus promised that He would send “another Helper” (John 14). “Helper” in the Greek literally means “one alongside.” The Holy Spirit runs beside each of us and is actually God with us. But Jesus didn’t say that the Holy Spirit would merely be with us, as Jesus was with the disciples, but the Spirit is to be in us. Jesus brought up the subject of the Spirit several times on the evening of the Passover. The Spirit would teach all things and bring them to memory (John 14:26). The Spirit would bear witness of Jesus, and we would thus ourselves bear witness (John 15:26, 27). The Spirit would guide us into all truth and let us know what is to come (John 16:13). Jesus leaving was an advantage because then the Holy Spirit would come (John 16:7). Jesus expected to be closer to us after His departure because He could dwell in all of us and was not limited to being in only one place at a time like when He was here physically. But none of this could happen before Calvary. The reason is that we needed to see the full sacrifice of Christ for our lives. We needed to see how much love God has for us and once seeing and grasping the love of God we would repent, accept Jesus as our substitute, confess our sins, and be open for the filling of the Holy Spirit. How much does God love us? (See Desire of Ages, pp. 755, 756. “Ask, and it shall be given you...”  Matthew 7:7).