in the series, those things which have been will be repeated. This is the fifth presentation. The title of this presentation is the modern national reform movement, the Christian coalition. And in our first presentation in this series, we focused on the truth that history and prophecy would be repeated, particularly at the end of the world. This is the focus of Bible prophecy, is the end of the world. And we identified certain premises in that first presentation which we would use as we went through the following studies. One of them that we want to remind ourselves of as we begin this study is that these events will come suddenly and unexpectedly, that probation will close upon Adventism at the Sunday Law Test and ultimately upon everyone in the world. In our second presentation, we looked at Matthew 24 and 25 to see the overall context that we find the parable of the ten virgins in, which was our third presentation. We noted that the end of the world is clearly identified in Matthew 24 and 25. These are one presentation that the judgment is clearly identified, the close of probation is clearly identified, that one of the main focuses of Matthew 24 is verse 15 in the abomination of desolation, which Sister White identifies as the Sunday Law. So we see woven into this testimony of Matthew 24 and 25, a warning about the close of probation at the end of the world. And then the focus of these chapters for us as God's people at the end of the world is the parable of the ten virgins, which our third presentation looked at. And the reason that we identify that as the focus of Matthew 24 and 25 is because we were told that the parable of the ten virgins illustrates the experience of the Advent people. We're told that this parable was fulfilled in the 1844 time period, that it will be fulfilled again to the very letter at the end of the world. And we looked at what took place during the 1844 time period, and that one of the characteristics of the parable of the ten virgins and of the history that was transpired in the 1844 time period that fulfilled that parable was the midnight cry, and that the midnight cry was a mighty movement of the Holy Spirit that was brought about by an understanding that came from prophecy, the very prophecy that the Millerites had been preaching. Suddenly there was a new light on that prophecy that brought about a revival experience, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which clearly the midnight cry was. And it culminated with the great disappointment where the door was closed on the foolish virgins and the wise virgins entered into the most holy place experience. And we suggested from that study that for us at the end of the world the door will close also at the Sunday law, but that we should expect to see information on the very prophecy that we've been proclaiming for the last hundred and fifty years, the focus of our message, which is the third angel's message, a message about the Sunday law. We should expect to see information from the prophetic word about the Sunday law that would be used by the Lord to bring about the final revival, paralleling the experience of the 1844 midnight cry time period. We've identified the prophecy of Daniel 11, 40 to 45 as at least part of this understanding, this prophecy identifying that the end time events of prophecy were underway when verse 40 was fulfilled at the collapse of the Soviet Union, the next verse describing a Sunday law in the United States. We looked at the fact that the latter rain begins prophetically immediately after the Sunday law when the church is purified by the Sunday law test, but prior to that time there is a sprinkling of the latter rain that begins upon the wheat that are still associating with the tears at this time because the church hasn't been purified, and we looked at a passage out of the Great Controversy where Sister White says the power will begin to come into the third angel's message when the Sunday issue is agitated, and we pointed to the fact that in July the Roman Catholic Church has begun to agitate the Sunday issue, giving us confirmation that we are at this time period just before the Sunday law when the latter rain will begin to be trickling down upon those that are preparing to receive it. We also looked at a passage from the Great Controversy identifying the threefold union and identifying that papists, Protestants, and worldlings will look to this union as something that will usher in the millennium, and the millennium in their understanding begins in the year 2000, so we should expect the threefold union, the clasping of hands between the United States and Rome to take place somewhere before the year 2000, which the clasping of hands between Rome and the United States in Bible prophecy is the Sunday law in the United States. Once again the prophetic word emphasizing the nearness we have to the closing of the door in the modern fulfillment of the parable of ten virgins. Then in our last presentation we looked at a combination in Bible prophecy of the three-one, which identifies the three angels message to be followed by the fourth. We noted how many places it was identified in the Bible, not all of them, but several of them, and we identified these messages as three tests, tests that in order to be involved with the second test you must pass the first test, in order to be involved with the third test you must pass the second. Successive steps that each step must be mastered before you're involved with the following step, and that these three tests, the three angels messages, were fulfilled in agreement with the parable of the ten virgins, and therefore we should expect to see three tests for God's people here at the end of the world. We referred you to our study the prophetic pattern where these three, this three-one combination is looked at in depth, but we identified enough of it that we could at least point you to the three tests that confront us at the end of the world. The first test being the spirit of prophecy. We must receive the information found within the writings of Sister White if we are going to be involved in the second test, and we identified the second test in our day as a visual, a spiritual visual test called the image of the beast test, which consists of us recognizing that church and state are coming together in the United States, and this recognition will identify us, for us, that a Sunday law is imminent. Our probation is about to close. We pointed out that it would be very, very hard to see the significance or even see these truths if you had not accepted the first test, the spirit of prophecy, where this information about these end time events is so clearly identified, but when we have accepted the spirit of prophecy and these things begin to happen as they are happening in the United States today, then in this second test, the image of the beast test, we will see church and state coming together, and in agreement with the parable of the ten virgins and the history of 1844, somewhere during the time period when the image of the beast test is underway, when church and state are coming together in the United States, there will come the midnight cry, which is prophetic information that is designed by God in relation to the very message that we're preaching that will bring the final arousal to God's people and lead into the final test, the third test, and we are suggesting that the information that would qualify for the midnight cry would be in relation to the Sunday law, but that as we look at the current events that describe the coming together of church and state in the United States, we find one particular aspect of all these things that Sister White talks about as the one that is emphasized more often than any other as a wake-up call, the final wake-up call. When we begin to look at this material here in this presentation, you'll see that when Sister White is speaking about this particular issue, she's always speaking in terms of it's time to wake up now, it's the wake-up message, and the midnight cry message is the wake-up message that precedes the third test, the close of probation, the Sunday law. Now, if you aren't familiar with our previous presentations, the prophetic pattern, where we look more closely at the image of the beast test, we identify the image of the beast test as the formation of the image of the beast in the United States. It's not a statue, it's a principle. It's the principle that the papacy works upon. It's when secular power is used to enforce or sustain religious dogma or institutions, and we in those studies where we look at it in depth, we look at some of the events, preparations, and movements that have transpired in the world and particularly in the United States, demonstrating that the very heart of the Constitution of the United States is about to be cut out by the legal rulings, the legal precedents that have taken place. And recently, in this last month, November of 1998, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of parochial school funding. This issue had come from a ruling in the state of Wisconsin, and parochial school funding, if you're not aware of it, when the Constitution was written, 12 of the 13 states allowed for their secular money, the tax dollars in their particular states, to be used to support religious schools. And only one of the 13 colonies at that time, or states, had chosen not to do that. And in the writing of the Constitution, even though this one state had opposed that particular use of taxpayer dollars, even though they were in the minority, they argued their position, and there was a great deal of discussion and debate on this issue. And when the Constitution was finally written up, the founders of the Constitution specifically wrote into our Constitution, wrote out of the Constitution, the possibility that tax dollars, that secular funding, would be used to support religious schools. And brothers and sisters, it's these kind of issues that are taking place that you need to understand in relation to the image of the beast. The definition of the image of the beast in the spirit of prophecy is when secular power is used to sustain religious institutions or religious dogmas. And a religious institution is a religious school, and secular power is money in some circumstances. And this is exactly what the Constitution did not want to happen. It did not want to see tax dollars used to support religious schools. But today, as of last month, in the United States, for the first time, the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of allowing tax dollars, secular funding, to be used to support religious schools. And in the state where this issue was brought up, in Wisconsin, 50% of the schools that will receive this, of the religious schools that will receive this secular funding, are Catholic schools. So what that means to a Seventh-day Adventist in Wisconsin is that he knows that a certain percentage of his tax dollar is going to go to support a Catholic school. And that's, I'm only using the Catholic and Adventist scenarios to make the explanation. The founders of the Constitution wanted to prevent it from any religion. It wasn't simply, there was no Adventist at that time. It wasn't an Adventist Catholic thing. It's the idea that, as an Adventist, it was part of my constitutional right to know that my tax dollars would not go to support a Catholic school. And that is no longer recognized by the Supreme Court as part of the freedoms that the Constitution protects. This legal precedent that just took place last month is one type of the things that we look at as far as identifying that the image of the beast is being developed in the United States. And when the image of the beast reaches full maturity, in Revelation 13 11, the United States will speak it as a dragon and a Sunday Law will arrive. So that study that we're not looking at closely at this time, that's what we look at in the prophetic pattern when we come to the conclusion. The truth that the current events in the political and the religious world in the United States are identifying that church and state are coming together. We look at, in connection with that, the passage that talks about the image of the beast test out of seven Bible commentary that we referred to in our last presentation, talked about preparations, events, and movements. And we look at some of the movements. We look at a movement about 20 years ago called the Kansas City Prophets, a group of pastors in the Kansas City area that began to receive dreams and visions. And their dreams and visions, among other things, predicted that the United States was going to return to God as if the United States ever was a Christian nation by their definition. It never was. But in any case, their dreams and visions, they seen the United States returning to God. And one of the ways that the United States was brought back to God in their dreams and visions was that they seen a mighty movement among the men of the United States. And when this movement took place, these Kansas City Prophets seen the men of the United States coming together. And there was so many of them that they seen them meeting in the large football and baseball stadiums in the United States. And the Kansas City Prophets, after they disbanded, they became associated, some of them, with a branch of the Baptist Church called the Vineyard Movement. And in our study on the prophetic pattern, and in our study on Revelation 16, we look closely at the Vineyard Movement because it's from the Vineyard Movement that the Toronto Blessing in Canada began. It was from one of their pastors. And we identify this super charismatic experience as the false revival that Sister White speaks about that precedes the true revival and great controversy. And so we see the Vineyard Movement directly related to the Kansas City Prophets, directly related to the Holy Laughter Movement, the false revival that's taking place among the Protestant world. And we also, in looking at the movements that are identifying the image of the beast test is underway, we consider the church in Ann Arbor, Michigan, called the Catholic Word of God Church. And we consider that for a couple reasons. It was blessed by Pope John in 1975. But after that, the Detroit Free Press exposed this church as requiring its members to sign a secret pledge. And the pledge went like this, we pledge our loyalty with all who fight with us. We are ready for every sacrifice, even death. We will be loyal to our commanders. We will keep our plans and movements hidden from the enemies and his agents. And their agenda, by signing this secret oath, was to dedicate themselves to fight against the enemies of Christianity, which they identified as feminism, Marxism, secular humanism, and Islam. But in any case, it caused quite a stir for a while in Michigan that there was a Catholic church, that its members were signing a secret oath to bring America back to God. And what's interesting about this church is it had a member named Bill McCartney, who later moved to Colorado. And when he moved to Colorado, he ceased going to a Catholic church, and he began going to none other than a vineyard fellowship church. And during his time in the vineyard fellowship church, with his fellowship with the pastor of that church, he came up with the idea of what we know today as promise keepers. And it was his idea on how to bring America back to God. And what began in 1991 as meetings in his garage, grew to where in 1996 there had been over a million people that attended the promise keeper gatherings. And in 1997, in one meeting alone in Washington DC in October, there was over a million people in just that one meeting. This is one of the movements that Sister White was speaking about. And the promise keeper movement would be considered by most as a Protestant movement. But when you consider the seven promises of a promise keeper, as we do in our other studies, you realize that its guiding principles are none other than Roman Catholicism. And that you also recognize that the founder, the brainchild of this movement, comes from this Catholic church that has secretly dedicated itself to bring America back to God. And that it is directly related with the vineyard movement which has spawned this revival that has swept around the world. And so these are the movements that we discuss in the prophetic pattern and in Revelation 16 that identify that the image of the beast is coming together. But this particular study, rather than looking at in depth in these many issues, we want to just consider what we believe is the very heart of this message of the image of the beast test. The very heart in the sense that we think that when we see this information come to light at the end of the world, that we are at the very climax of the image of the beast test. I'm paralleling what would be the midnight cry time period just prior to the Great Disappointment in 1844. Or in other words, paralleling a time period when we should expect to see the latter rain begin to sprinkle out and that a Sunday Law should come. And I would like to remind you that one of the things in our first presentation that we identified and we've tried to emphasize all the way through is that this final test, this Sunday Law, these end time issues, they come suddenly and unexpectedly. You may be listening to this information and because you have not been looking closely at what's going on around you, or for whatever reason, you may not believe that these things could be so. But no matter what, when the Sunday Law arrives in history, either next year, two years, ten years, fifty years, when it finally arrives, you'll find that the majority of people, the majority even of Seventh-day Adventists, will not intellectually believe that it is possible that a Sunday Law is going to arrive because it is always portrayed as coming suddenly and unexpectedly. Now the test of the image of the beast consists of recognizing the events, the preparations, and the movements that contribute to the coming together of church and state. And what we're going to suggest here that the primary movement in our day, the one that is identified most clearly by the spirit of prophecy as the one to watch out for, is the Christian Coalition. In Sister White's day and age, in the 1900 time period, there was a move for a Sunday Law in the United States. There was an amendment written to the Constitution and there was an organization that had pushed for this amendment and they were called the National Reform Movement. And Sister White wrote about the National Reform Movement in connection with the amendment for a Sunday Law. And when you compare the characteristics of the National Reform Movement with the characteristics of the Christian Coalition and the implications of what she says about that amendment with what is transpiring in our day, you see that once again, and this has been the very foundational premise of our study, that we have a history set forth through inspiration. It's this history of the National Reform Movement that is identifying the end-of-the-world scenario. And this history of the National Reform Movement is none other than the history that's transpiring today with the Christian Coalition. Now Pat Robertson ran for the President of the United States in 1988 and he lost, but they took the names of his supporters, 50,000 people, in 1989. And Ralph Reed began to take that list of names and develop it. And every year after 1989, that number developed up until 1995. It doubled up until 1995, I believe. But by 1994, the Christian Coalition swept the Congress of the United States. Brothers and sisters, by 1994, five years after its birth, the Christian Coalition had representatives in every voting precinct in the United States. Now, what that means is that for 450 years, the Republican and Democratic Party have been in existence and never once have either one of them have representatives in every voting precinct in the United States. But in five years, the Christian Coalition accomplished that feat. Now, when I say in 1994, they swept the Congress. We'll talk about 1994 a little bit more in a moment. But in 1996, the Christian Coalition being a faction of the Republican Party, in 1996 you would expect to see the Christian Coalition lose some of its strength because that particular voting year, a Democratic President won the presidency. And normally when a Democratic President wins re-election or election, the congressional vote during that year goes with the party that the President is in, and it didn't happen that way. Even though Democratic Bill Clinton won the presidency in 1996, the Christian Coalition continued to grow in strength in 1996. They reached a point numerically in 1996 that should the representatives that were put into Congress by the Christian Coalition unite with the Catholics that were in the Congress of the United States, they had the numbers to pass any law they wanted to pass if they would just come together. Now, here recently we had another election this month, this last month, and the Republicans lost five seats and the Christian Coalition are part of the Republican Party. And this particular message we've been sharing for the last three months, and we've been implying that based on prophecy, we should expect to see the Christian Coalition grow in strength in this election because they were pushing hard to do so, and because Bill Clinton had been so scandalized by the Monica Lewinsky situation. But the Republican Party lost five seats, and I've had people call and write in saying, well, you know, what's the implications of this when we were expecting to see them grow in strength? But an analysis of what took place is not necessarily that the Christian Coalition lost any strength in this last election. The Republican Party lost some seats, but the people that are watching Congress are identifying that Randy Tate, who's now the new replacement for Ralph Reed, he's the leader just underneath Pat Robertson in the Christian Coalition. Randy Tate is the one that put pressure on Gingrich to resign, and he did resign, and the Congress, the House of Representatives, has elected now as the new Speaker of the House Bob Livingston, who is a Christian Coalition point man. He has a nearly perfect voting record in terms of the Christian Coalition perspective. So even though Gingrich was used by the Christian Coalition and sympathetic with him, if you had to pick a congressperson that was the pro-Christian Coalition congressperson in Congress, he's the one that is the head of the House of Representatives now. His name is Bob Livingston. So even though the Republican Party overall lost five numbers, the Christian Coalition during this last election consolidated its power and took the lead position in the House of Representatives. So don't be fooled, they're still moving forward. And then the other factor to read into that is when we begin to look at these passages where Sister White is speaking about the National Reform Movement, one of the most important ones, and one that was also mentioned in our last presentation, is during this time period, we're in the beginning verses of Revelation 7. We're at the point where the angels are holding back the winds of strife. And because of this, it tells us that everything is in place for the Sunday Law, and the only thing that is waiting is for God's people to prepare their character. So when we see some of the things that you would expect to happen stalled, it isn't because the Sunday Law is far, far away. It's simply that in God's mercy, he's given his people more time to get ready. Now back to the description of 1994 when the Christian Coalition swept the Congress. The Catholic Church has always hated the Constitution. If you read very carefully the Great Controversy, even Sister White has a passage from one of the popes where he's attacking the principle of separation of church and state and religious liberty. And she's using that in reference to the Constitution of the United States. And you can go back into the Catholic writers since this country began and read all the diatribe that they have against the Constitution of the United States. They believe that it requires moral leadership in order for a secular government to function correctly, and that the United States does not have that because of separation of church and state. And therefore, they've written much about their opposition to the Constitution of the United States. And since Vatican II, they identified clearly three points of constitutional law that they thought were the points that should be attacked. And if they could prevail in these three areas, they would overturn the Constitution. One of them was parochial school fundings. And here this last month, the Catholic Church won its point there, and now it is understood to be okay by the Supreme Court of the United States for tax dollars to go to support a Catholic school. Friends, when you understand the significance of that, it's alarming. But that's just one of the points of attack. The other one was abortion, and another one was prayer in school. And the issue of prayer in school is one that we want to talk about here. There was two rulings against prayer in school, one in 1962 and one in 1963. And it's understanding those rulings that allows you to see what happened in 1994 when the Christian Coalition took over the Congress of the United States, even though we may not have recognized that took place. But in 1995, and when the Christian Coalition won Congress in 1994, they didn't sign into office until January of 1995. And in October of 1995, ten months later, I had the privilege of attending the annual gathering or weekend gathering for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. And at their banquet dinner, their keynote speaker was Pat Schroeder, and she'd been a congresswoman at that point for 22 years. She was from the state of Colorado. And Americans United for Separation of Church and State, if you're not familiar with them, is an organization that focuses on attempting to defend the separation of church and state in the Constitution of the United States. They have a monthly magazine they put out called Church and State that focuses on these issues. That's the reason this organization exists. And at their annual conference, that's the things that are being discussed. So their keynote speaker at that banquet in October of 1995 is this congresswoman Pat Schroeder. And her opening statement was, ladies and gentlemen, we've lost the war. And that can only mean one thing in a group like that. They all knew that what she was speaking about was the Constitution, the separation of church and state within the Constitution. And when she came and said we've lost the war, it was a very serious statement and it was understood by all there. And then she went on to explain why she believed we'd lost the war. Now remember, she's been a congresswoman for 22 years, so she has experience in the ways of Congress. And she told a story to illustrate why she believed that. And it's an interesting story. It has to do with one of these three points of attack that were identified by Catholicism, even though I'm not sure, I kind of doubt that she understands the Catholic power behind all this. But here's the story that she told. She said in 1962 and 1963, there were two rulings against prayer in school. And for the next time period until 1995, until January of 1995, which would amount to 32 or 33 years, there had only been one law submitted in Congress that was designed to overturn the ruling against prayer in school in the United States. That law was submitted during the Reagan years by the Reagan branch. And that law that was submitted, that was designed to overturn the ruling on prayer in schools, never even made it out of committees. It never came up for a vote. It died. So what you need to see is from 1962 until 1995, for 33 years after the Supreme Court correctly ruled against prayer in school, only one attempt to overturn that ruling, and it never even came up for a vote. But here's how she went on to explain why we've lost the war. In January of 1995, the new members that had been put in Congress by the Christian Coalition signed in, and we were in October of 1995 when we were at this banquet meeting. So you're looking at a 10-month time period. And she said, ladies and gentlemen, in the last 10 months there has already been 86 laws submitted to overturn the ruling on prayer in school. 33 years, one attempt. The Christian Coalition sweeps the Congress, and in 10 months you have 86 attempts. Now in Bible prophecy there's a characteristic about the papacy and Satan that you need to consider. And that's when the papacy or Satan comes in. They come in as a flood. And from the elections of 1994 when the Christian Coalition swept the Congress, a flood has begun in the Congress of the United States. And the flood is laws that are designed to overturn the Constitution of the United States. Now, Pat Robertson has not just in a unpredictable fashion, not in an unplanned fashion, entered into the Christian Coalition. What I mean to say is that he has an agenda and he's been working for it. For instance, when we say that they had representatives in every voting precinct, he had said this is what they wanted to do. This is what he said. The mission of the Christian Coalition is simple. It is to mobilize Christians, one precinct at a time, one community at a time, until once again we are the head and not the tail and at the top and not the bottom of the political spectrum. And they've done that. And he continues, the Christian Coalition will be the most powerful political force in America by the end of this decade. And they've done that. And he continues, when we have enough votes to run this country and when the people say we've had enough, we're going to take over. That's Pat Robertson. He knows what he wants to do. He knows what he's waiting for. He's waiting for when the people say they've had enough. And if you read The Great Controversy, you'll find that one of the environmental conditions in the United States that leads to a Sunday Law, in the chapter, The Impending Conflict, the very last paragraph, Sister White tells us that one of the reasons for the Sunday Law is political corruption. And brothers and sisters, today in the United States, the people of the United States are saying concerning political corruption, we've had enough. And what Pat Robertson's saying is when the people get to the point where they said they've had enough, they're going to take over. Well, they're in, they're positioned to do just that. Now, if they were going to take over and they were going to defend the Constitution, that would be one thing. But that isn't going to happen. And we know that when the Constitution is overturned, there'll be a Sunday Law. When there's a Sunday Law, the Constitution will be overturned. And to identify the Christian Coalition as the movement that does that is made very easy when you see what their agenda is. And it's clearly stated by Pat Robertson in an address in 1993 for the Center of Law and Justice. I mean, this is an address to attorneys. This is what he says. There is no such thing as separation of church and state in the Constitution. It is a lie of the left and we're not going to take it anymore. Brothers and sisters, the intent, purpose, and goal of the Christian Coalition is to overturn the principle of separation of church and state in the Constitution. That is the definition of the image of the beast. When the churches of the United States take control of the secular power to push their agenda, the image of the beast is formed. The Christian Coalition, that is why they exist and they've grown in the strength of where they are poised and ready to strike. Now, as we read these passages where Sister White's identifying the National Reform Movement of her day and we draw the parallel to the Christian Coalition, she identifies that the National Reform Movement and those that are leading out for a Sunday Law, even though they do not understand the implications of what will happen when a Sunday Law arrives, but she indicates that they're working in an underhanded and deceptive fashion. So, this movement, the National Reform Movement of Sister White's day, one of her characteristics that she places with it is that they are deceptive and underhanded. Now, Ralph Reed, who was the director of the Christian Coalition, he's been replaced by Randy Tate, although he's still sympathetic with the Christian Coalition. He's just doing another work at this time, but early on in the Christian Coalition, he identified how they operate. Now, I want to read a couple quotes by him to see how the way that the Christian Coalition operates is just exactly what Sister White identified as the characteristics of the National Reform Movement. This is from the Los Angeles Times, March 22nd, 1992. Ralph Reed, director of the Christian Coalition. It's like guerrilla warfare. If you reveal your location, all it does is allow your opponent to improve his artillery bearings. It's better to move quietly with stealth under cover of night. You've got two choices. You can wear camis and shimmy along on your belly, or you can put on a red coat and stand up for everyone to see. It comes down to whether you want to be the British in the Revolutionary War or the Viet Cong. History tells us which tactive was more effective. Now, in another place, in the Norfolk, Virginia pilot, November 9th, 1991, Ralph Reed said this about the way the Christian Coalition would operate. I want to be invisible. I do guerrilla warfare. I paint my face and travel at night. You don't know it's over until you're in the body bag. Now, this is an agreement with what Sister White says about underhanded and deceptive way. In this meeting at the Americans United for Separation of Church and State that we just referred to, I met a former congressperson from Ohio, I believe. I've forgotten his name and I'm pretty sure it was from Ohio. But he had been defeated by the Christian Coalition, and he explained to us how he was defeated by the Christian Coalition. And the way he was defeated is that the election was due to be on Tuesday. And on Sunday, in every Christian church in his precinct where he was running for congressperson, at the door of the church when people came to church Sunday morning, there were representatives of the Christian Coalition handing out what they call voter guides, which gave an overview of this gentleman's philosophy, political philosophy. It gave a list of his voting records on issues that were important to the Christian Coalition. It identified that he had been arrested for child molesting. Now, this took place on Sunday and the election was on Tuesday, and he didn't even know that the Christians in his voting precinct had been told that he had been arrested for child molesting before the election was here. He was in the body bag before it was over. And of course, on Wednesday, the Christian Coalition issued an apology for that mistake that hadn't been accurate. But by that time, the righteous indignations of the Christians in his precinct had rose up and voted him out of office. They work in an underhanded and deceptive fashion. Now, as we look through these passages where Sister White is identifying the national reform movement of her day, there are certain characteristics. Number one, she emphasizes it's time to awake. It's time to awake. She emphasizes the underhanded fashion that they work, the national reform movement of her day, the Christian Coalition of her day. But she places it in the context of, it's time for God's people to wake up now or you're going to be lost. As we read these passages, that's what we're hoping that you'll see in this presentation. That when we see the amendments, because that's what she's speaking about in this presentation, when we see the amendments coming into the Congress being discussed that are designed within them to attack the separation of church in the Constitution of the United States, that we know at that point that we've reached the point that Sister White's speaking about in these passages of the national reform movement. And in an earlier presentation in this series, we read a passage, and I pointed out for you because I wanted to make sure you remembered it. There was a passage where she says, any movement against religious, any law that's against religious liberty, this is a paraphrase because I'm not calling those words directly in my mind. Maybe I can turn to it real quick here. Any movement in favor is really a movement in favor of the papacy. And what I want you to understand here is that in the national reform movement of Sister White's day, you had an amendment to the Constitution that was specifically calling for a Sunday law, but she identifies that any movement that's going to attack separation of church and state is qualifies for something that is going to undermine the very heart of the Constitution. I'm not finding that passage here. I hope that you remember where we spoke about it in an earlier presentation. But what we're suggesting to you in this presentation that these amendments that fulfill this prophecy are underway in the United States today. When the Christian Coalition came into office, came into Congress in 1994, they began to write laws, and they've been going through the political process since then. And the first amendment that qualified for this type of definition that Sister White sets forth here, one that would ultimately destroy the Constitution, it was voted on in January of this year, the Religious Freedom Amendment. They knew, the Republicans knew if they brought this up for a vote, that it was going to be defeated. Gingrich called Pat Robertson and said, we're going to be defeated on this vote. Do you want to go ahead and vote on it, or do you just want to table it? And Pat Robertson told him, go ahead and vote on it. We want to identify the men that are opposing us. So they voted on it, but that law is already resubmitted. And there's many other laws. The flood is underway. And as we go through this presentation, this following presentation, these quotes from the Spirit of Prophecy that are speaking about this issue, you're going to see that Sister White's talking about this, an attack by an amendment. And sometimes, even in the United States, but sometimes when I'm outside of the United States, I take time to explain the difference between a law and an amendment. And sometimes, even in the United States, we haven't thought much about it. But in these passages, Sister White is going to speak about the amendment to the Constitution. And there's a difference, even though an amendment is a law, there's a difference between an amendment and a law that we need to consider. And that is this. A law can be written by the Congress, and it can take effect and go out into society and bounce around for, you know, who knows how long, until somebody chooses to oppose the principle of that law and take it to court. And it'll work, it potentially can work its way up the court system until it reaches the Supreme Court. And then the Supreme Court can rule that this law is constitutional or this law is unconstitutional. That's what happened recently with this parochial school funding bill out of Wisconsin. But that's a law. And many times when we think about the Sunday law, that's what we think about, a law. But Sister White, in these passages where she's speaking about the National Reform Movement of her day that was seeking to bring in a Sunday law, they were doing it through an amendment. And an amendment, even though it's a law, is a little bit different. When an amendment becomes law, when it's voted into effect, it immediately becomes part of the Constitution. It's not a law that will float around in society until it's challenged and works its way up through the court system. It becomes embodied in the Constitution. So it virtually instantly can change the whole philosophy, the whole principle underlining the Constitution. And I think as we read these passages where Sister White is speaking about the amendments, we need to realize that what's happening in Congress today is that these religious right congressmen are writing amendments that are, in their mind, designed to bring America back to God. And when these amendments finally start getting ratified, the very principle that the Constitution is built upon will be overturned instantly. And the principle that the Constitution is written upon is the separation of church and state. It is a reflection of what Seventh-day Adventists know as the definition of the image of the beast. Now, we're going to look at some of these passages here. And what I hope you see in this is a history during the time period of Sister White that parallels our history today. And when we read National Reformers, we need to substitute the Christian Coalition. And please hear in here the call to wake up. This is a call to wake up in the sense that wake up now or you're lost. We'll also read a couple passages in here where Sister White's going to identify what the message is for our time. And you're going to find that the message for Adventism today, the message that we are to be proclaiming, understanding, teaching, is this message. Now, this is a rather long passage and there's a lot of information in here, but we need to consider it. This is Testimonies, Volume 5, starting on page 711. A great crisis awaits the people of God. A crisis awaits the world. The most momentous struggle of all the ages is just before us. Events for more than 40 years we have upon the authority of the prophetic word declared to be impending are now taking place before our eyes. Please remember that the image of the beast test is a visual test. You're going to see Sister White talk about events and movements and visual things throughout these passages. These events, we're supposed to see, we're required to see these current events in relation to prophecy. If we don't, we are the foolish virgins. Events which for more than 40 years we have upon the authority of the prophetic word declared to be impending are now taking place before our eyes. Already the question of an amendment to the Constitution restricting liberty of conscience has been urged upon the legislators of the nation. The question of enforcing Sunday observance has become one of national interest and importance. We well know what the result of this movement will be, but are we ready for the issue? Have we faithfully discharged the duty which God has committed to us of giving the people warning of the danger before them? There are many, even of those engaged in this movement for Sunday enforcement, who are blinded to the results which will follow this action. They do not see that they are striking directly against religious liberty. There are many who have never understood the claims of the Bible Sabbath and the false foundation upon which the Sundayist institution rests. Any movement in favor of religious legislation is really an act of concession to the papacy, which for so many ages has steadily warred against liberty of conscience. Sunday observance owes its existence as a so-called institution to the mystery of iniquity, and its enforcement will be a virtual recognition of the principles which are the very cornerstone of Romanism. When our nation shall so abjure the principles of its government as to enact a Sunday law, Protestantism in this act will join hands with potpourri. It will be nothing else than giving life to the tyranny which has been eagerly watching its opportunity to spring again into active despotism. The national reform movement, or in our day, the Christian coalition movement, exercising the power of religious legislation, will, when fully developed, manifest the same intolerance and oppression that have prevailed in past ages. When God has given us light showing the danger before us, how can we stand clear in His sight if we neglect to put forth every effort in our power to bring it before the people? Can we be content to leave them to meet this momentous issue unwarned? We as a people have not accomplished the work which God has committed to us. We are not ready for the issue to which the enforcement of the Sunday law will bring us. It is our duty as we see the signs of the approaching evil to arouse to action. Let none set in calm expectation of the evil, comforting themselves with the belief that this work must go on because prophecy has foretold it, and that the Lord will shelter His people. We are not doing the will of God if we sit in quietude doing nothing to preserve liberty of conscience. Fervent effectual prayer should be ascending to heaven that this calamity may be deferred until we can accomplish the work which has so long been neglected. Let there be most earnest prayer, and then let us work in harmony with our prayers. It may appear that Satan is triumphant, and that truth is overborn with falsehood and error. The people over whom God has spread His shield, and the country which has been an asylum for the conscience oppressed servants of God and defenders of His truth, may be placed in jeopardy. But God would have us recall His dealings with His people in the past. God would have us recall His dealings with His people in the past. Here is the very premise of our study, with His people in the past, to save them from their enemies. He has always chosen extremities when there seemed no possible chance for deliverance from Satan's workings for the manifestation of His power. Man's necessity is God's opportunity. It may be that a respite may be granted for God's people to awake and let their light shine. If the presence of ten righteous persons would have saved the wicked cities of the plain, is it not possible that God will yet, in answer to the prayers of His people, hold in check the workings of those who are making void His law? Shall we not humble ourselves greatly before God, flee to the mercy seat, and plead with Him to reveal His mighty power? If our people continue in the listless attitude in which they have been, God cannot pour out His Spirit upon them. They are unprepared to cooperate with Him. They are not awake to the situation and do not realize the threat and danger. They should feel now as never before their need of vigilance and concerted action. The peculiar work of the third angel has not been seen in its importance. God meant that His people should be far in advance of the position which they occupy today. But now, when the time has come for them to spring into action, they have preparation to make. When the national reformers began to urge measures to restrict religious liberty, our leading men should have been alive to the situation and should have labored earnestly to counteract these efforts. When did that take place, brothers and sisters? Let me read that again. When the national reformers, when the Christian coalition began to urge measures to restrict religious liberty, 1994, the flood began. Actually, 1995, when their Congress people signed into Congress. 1995, the flood began and the measures began to be submitted into Congress that were designed to overturn the Constitution, that were designed to overturn the separation of church and state, which Pat Robertson says is a lie of the left and they're not going to take it anymore. That began in 1995. When the national reformers began to urge measures to restrict religious liberties, our leading men should have been alive to the situation and should have labored earnestly to counteract these efforts. It is not in the order of God that light has been kept from the people, the very present truth which they needed for this time. Not all our ministers who are giving the third angel's message really understand what constitutes that message. The national reform movement, the Christian coalition movement, has been regarded by some as so little importance that they have not thought it necessary to give much attention to it and have even felt that in so doing, they would be giving time to questions distinct from the third angel's message. May the Lord forgive our brethren for thus interpreting the very message for this time. The people need to be aroused in regard to the dangers of the present time. The watchmen are asleep. We are years behind. Let the chief watchmen feel the urgent necessity of taking heed to themselves, lest they lose the opportunities given them to see the dangers. If the leading men in our conferences do not now accept the message sent to them by God and fall into line for action, the churches will suffer great loss. When the watchmen, seeing the sword coming, gives the trumpet a certain sound, the people along the line will echo the warning, and all will have opportunity to make ready for the conflict. But too often the leader has stood hesitating, seeming to say, Let us not be in too great a haste. There may be a mistake. We must be careful not to raise a false alarm. The very hesitancy and uncertainty on his part is crying peace and safety. Do not get excited. Be not alarmed. There is a great deal more made of this religious amendment question than is demanded. This agitation will all die down. Thus he virtually denies the message sent from God, and the warning which was designed to stir the churches fails to do its work. The trumpet of the watchmen gives no certain sound, and the people do not prepare for battle. Let the watchmen beware less. Through his hesitancy and delay, souls shall be left to perish, and their blood shall be required at his hand. We have been looking many years for a Sunday law to be enacted in our land, and now that the movement is right upon us, we ask, Will our people do their duty in the matter? Can we not assist in lifting the standard and in calling to the front those who have a regard for their religious rights and privileges? The time is fast approaching when those who choose to obey God rather than man will be made to feel the hand of oppression. Shall we then dishonor God by keeping silent while his holy commandments are trodden underfoot? While the Protestant world is by her attitude making concessions to Rome, let us arouse to comprehend the situation and view the contest before us in its true bearings. Let the watchmen now lift up their voices and give the message which is present truth for this time. Let us show the people where we are in prophetic history, and seek to arouse the spirit of true Protestantism, awaking the world to a sense of the value of the privileges of religious liberty so long enjoyed. God calls upon us to awake for the end is near. Every passing hour is one of activity in the heavenly courts to make ready a people upon earth to act a part in the great scenes that are soon to open before us. These passing moments that seem of so little value to us are weighty with eternal interest. They are molding the destiny of souls for everlasting life or everlasting death. The words we utter today in the ears of people, the works we are doing, the spirit of the message we are bearing will be a savor of life unto life or death unto death. My brethren, do you realize that your own salvation as well as the destiny of other souls depends upon the preparation you now make for the trial before us? Have you that intensity of zeal, that piety and devotion which will enable you to stand when opposition shall be brought against you? If God has ever spoken by me, the time will come when you will be brought before councils, and every position of truth which you hold will be severely criticized. The time that so many are now allowing to go to waste should be devoted to the charge that God has given us of preparing for the approaching crisis. At this point in the passage, Sister White begins to speak about the American Sentinel, which was a religious liberty magazine that was being produced in her day that was addressing these issues that were taking place. But it's the same theme, so we continue on. God employs various agencies in preparing His people to stand in the great crisis before us. He speaks by His word and by His ministers. He arouses the watchmen and sends them forth with messages of warning, of reproof, and of instruction that the people may be enlightened. The Sentinel has been in God's order, one of the voices sounding the alarm that the people might hear and realize their danger and do the work required at the present time. The Lord intends that His people shall heed whatever He sends them. When light is presented, it is their duty not only to receive it, but to pass it along, adding their influence in its favor, that its full force may be felt in the church and the world. The Sentinel is like a trumpet given a certain sound, and all our people should read it carefully and then send it to some relative or friend, thus putting to the best use the light that God has given them. For three years, warnings have been sounding forth to the world through the columns of the Sentinel, but those who profess to believe present truth have not been influenced by these danger signals as they should have been. Had our brethren used the Sentinel as it was their privilege to do, and had all been united in recommending it in every conference and in every church as God would have them to do, had the attention of our people been called to this work, which was so essential to be done for this time, had they appreciated the light which God permitted to shine upon them in warnings and counsels and in the delineation of events that are taking place, we should not now, as a people, be so far behind in making preparation for the work. There have been surprising indifference and inactivity in this time of peril. Truth, present truth. I'm going to break in here. There are several things in this passage I want to comment on, of course, and I won't on all of them, but on this one. We hear many times about present truth, what the flock of God now needs is present truth, and here she's going to identify the present truth that we need for this time. Truth, present truth is what the people need, and if the startling significance of the movements now in progress in regard to the religious amendments had been realized by our brethren in every church, if they had discerned in these movements the plain, direct fulfillment of prophecy, calling upon them to arouse to the demands of the crisis, they would not now be in such a stupor and death-like slumber. Brothers and sisters, the present truth right now is that the Christian coalition is submitting amendments in the Congress of the United States that are, by design, part of their very goal to overturn the principle of separation of church and state in the Constitution. It's taking place now. They already are controlling the Congress. That's the present truth that is designed by God to arouse us, if we'll be aroused. It's the present truth that we're to be sharing, and friends, if you have any conviction about these messages, don't just listen to them, share them. Continuing on, the Word of God is not silent in regard to this momentous time, and it will be understood by all who do not resist His Spirit by determining not to hear, not to receive, not to obey. Let me read that again. The Word of God is not silent in regard to this momentous time, and it will be understood by all who do not resist His Spirit by determining not to hear, not to receive, not to obey. The Lord's messages of light have been before us for years, but there have been influences working indirectly to make of no effect the warnings coming through the sentinel and the testimonies, and through other instrumentalities which the Lord sends to His people, much more might have been done with the sentinel if these counter-influences had not been at work to hinder it. Even though nothing may be said against it, actions reveal the indifference that is felt, and so long as the watchmen do not give the trumpet a certain sound, the people are not alarmed and are not on the lookout for danger. The rebuke of God is upon us because of our neglect of solemn responsibilities. His blessings have been withdrawn because the testimonies He has given have not been heeded by those who profess to believe them. Oh, for a religious awakening! The angels of God are going from church to church doing their duty, and Christ is knocking at the door of your hearts for entrance, but the means that God has devised to awaken the church to a sense of their spiritual destitution have not been regarded. The voice of the true witness has been heard and reproved, but has not been obeyed. Men have chosen to follow their own way instead of God's way because self was not crucified in them. Thus the light has but little effect upon minds and hearts. Will the people of God now arouse from their carnal lethargy? Will they make the most of present blessings and warnings and let nothing come between their souls and the light God would have shine upon them? Let every worker for God comprehend the situation and place a sentinel before our churches explaining its contents and urging home the facts and warnings it contains. May the Lord help us all to redeem the time. Let not unsanctified feelings lead any to resist the appeals of the Spirit of God. Stand not in the way of this light. Let it not be disregarded or set aside as unworthy of attention or credence. Testimonies, Volume 5, page 711-720. Brothers and sisters, I hope that you're seeing the present truth for this hour is the truth that the attack of the Constitution is underway. It's an attack through amendments that are brought about by a movement in Sister White's day that was called the National Reform Movement. But this movement at the end of the world is the Christian Coalition and that attack is underway. And this is the message that is designed by God to arouse His people, His people that are asleep. This is the wake-up message. And if we don't wake up now, the next thing to happen is a Sunday Law. And if we come to the time of the Sunday Law, still sleeping, we're the foolish virgins. We're lost. This is the wake-up message. I hope you heard in here the emphasis that when the watchman, whether it be a man or a publication like the Sentinel, when he gives the warning and you hear the warning, it's your responsibility to echo it down the wall. Now, recently we were in Columbia. We spoke in several different places there. We had a prophecy school in the country. I had two to three hundred people there for five or six days where we went through the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation very thoroughly. And we ended up by looking at this material that we've covered in this series, only a little bit more in depth. In a prophecy school you can do that. And during that time, there was a black brother that was right next to me. We were under a grass roof, open, just a bamboo post with a grass roof to keep the water off. And it was full of people. And there was a black brother that was recording the messages on audio cassette. So he was sitting right up next to me. He was just behind my shoulder. We were crowded in. And I never seen him that much, but my wife, who was with me, seen him throughout the presentations, was watching him because he had his two sons with him. And she just was really blessed by the fact that he was there without his wife and that these two young boys, about seven and nine years old, were so well behaved, even though we would start when the sun come up and go till the sun went down. And in any case, for whatever reason, my wife really took note of this one brother amongst all the couple three hundred people that were there. And then the next place we went was for a meeting in a city in Columbia. And this brother was there again. And in that particular meeting place, we spoke on Friday night, Sabbath and Sunday and didn't have nearly the time to cover the material as you do in a prophecy school. But he was there recording the information again. That was a full house as well. There was probably maybe up to four hundred people there. And up on the stage where we were speaking, there was people sitting up there because it was standing room only. And I remember noticing one brother that was up on the stage area with us that was there intentively. In any case, this passage we just read, they were really touched with. They were under the conviction that yes, the Sunday Law was imminent and they had a responsibility to go out and share this information. So, the following Sabbath after we left, this black brother, the brother I mentioned up on the stage and one other brother, were in an Adventist home in that city. And they spent the Sabbath sharing the audio tapes and discussing the information. And when the day was over and they were done with the discussion, they got up and they left. And as they walked up the front door, a car pulled up and men stuck automatic weapons out of the windows and shot all three of the men down. And one of the men was shot seven or eight times. The one man that was up on the stage, the other man was shot a few times in the leg and the black brother that we're talking about died. And in Colombia, with the political condition there, you don't know if it was a misunderstanding because of a dispute with the drug lords of who there are several or if it was a mistaken identity with the guerrilla groups of which there are several or if it was just the army or some of the paramilitary groups. In Colombia, there's 6,000 murders a year in Colombia and they'll probably never know who did that. But the place that we were speaking in that city was a public rented auditorium with anyone that chose to be around and listen could have. So it could have been even Catholic brethren that were riled up about the identification of who the King of the North was. But nevertheless, the reason that I tell this story is this. I'm under conviction that whoever was pulling that trigger was being used by Satan because those three brothers saw the significance of this message. The message that Sister White says is the very present truth which we need for this time and they heard the call and they began to echo the call down the wall and they paid the ultimate price for doing so. From Review and Herald, December 24th, 1889, Sister White is once again speaking about this national reform movement and I hope you see some of these same themes again. This is titled an address in regard to the Sunday movement. Dear brethren and sisters, I have been much burdened in regard to movements that are now in progress for the enforcement of Sunday observance. It has been shown to me that Satan has been working earnestly to carry out his designs to restrict religious liberty. Plans of serious import to the people of God are advancing in an underhanded manner among the clergymen of various denominations and the object of this secret maneuvering is to win popular favor for the enforcement of Sunday sacredness. If the people can be led to favor a Sunday law, then the clergy intend to exert their united influence to obtain a religious amendment to the constitution and compel the nation to keep Sunday. Remember, the tactics of the Christian coalition is to act as a guerrilla soldier acts and that is you don't know that you're in a problem until you're in the body bag. And this is what Sister White is characterizing these people that are pushing for a Sunday observance. In other places she identifies as well that the Sunday movement is going on in darkness. If we're seeing anything about the Sunday issue in Congress, primarily what we're seeing is amendments that are clearly going to impact the separation of church and state and religious liberty, but we're not necessarily hearing Sunday articulated a great deal in Congress. But if we're hearing anything at all, it's just the tip of the iceberg because the Sunday movement goes on in darkness. But nevertheless, it's going on. It's going on with secret maneuvering in an underhanded manner, Sister White says. Continuing on, there are many who, if they understood the spirit and result of religious legislation, would not do anything to forward the least the movement for Sunday enforcement. There are many who are at ease, who are, as it were, asleep. They say if prophecy is foretold, the enforcement of Sunday observance, the law will surely be enacted and having come to this conclusion, they set down in calm expectation of the event, comforting themselves with the thought that God will protect his people in a day of trouble, but God will not save us if we make no effort to do the work he has committed to our charge. We need to read that one over and over again. God will not save us if we make no effort to do the work he has committed to our charge. We must be found faithfully guarding the outposts, watching his vigilant soldiers, lest Satan shall gain an advantage which is our duty to prevent. We should diligently study the word of God, and pray in faith that God will restrain the powers of darkness, for as yet the message has gone to comparatively few, and the world is to be lightened with its glory. The present truth, the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, has not been sounded as it must be. There are many almost within the shadows of our own doors for whose salvation no personal effort has ever been made. We are not prepared for the time when our work must close. My brethren, you must have Jesus enthroned within, and self must die. We must be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and then we shall not sit down, saying unconcernedly, what is to be will be, prophecy must be fulfilled. Oh, awake, I pray you, awake, for you bear the most sacred responsibilities. As faithful watchmen you should see the sword coming, and give the warning that men and women may not pursue a course through ignorance that they would avoid if they knew the truth. The Lord has enlightened us in regard to what is coming upon the earth, that we may enlighten others, and we shall not be held guiltless if we are content to sit at ease with folded hands and quibble over matters of minor importance. The minds of many have been engrossed with contentions, and they have rejected the light given through the testimonies because it did not agree with their own opinions." Review and Herald, December 24th, 1889. If you remember one of our earlier studies in this series, we read the passages where there were fireballs falling on mansions and houses were being burnt down all around, and there were people that were coming to Adventists and saying, you knew these things were going to take place, and you didn't warn us? We will not be held guiltless if this is how we are acting. And if this is how we are acting, it's because we are asleep. And if we are sleeping during the time we are supposed to be in awakening, then we are going to be found to be foolish virgins at the testing time, at the Sunday Law. Testimonies. Review and Herald, December 18th, 1888. We see that efforts are being made to restrict our religious liberties. The Sunday question is now assuming large proportions. An amendment to our Constitution is being urged in Congress, and when it is obtained, oppression must follow. I want to ask, are you awake to this matter? And do you realize that the night cometh when no man can work? Have you had that intensity of zeal and that piety and devotion which will enable you to stand when oppression is brought upon you? It does not seem possible to us now that any should have to stand alone. This is the second time in these passages concerning the amendments to the Constitution that are brought about on the National Reformers that she's going to say virtually the same thing, only she's going to say it in a different way, and it's something that we really need to take to heart, because the way she emphasizes it in both places is by saying, if God has ever spoken by me. It does not seem possible to us now that any should have to stand alone, but if God has ever spoken by me, the time will come when we shall be brought before councils and before thousands for His namesake, and each one will have to give the reason of his faith. Then will come the severest criticism upon every position that has been taken for the truth. We need then to study the Word of God, that we may know why we believe the doctrines we advocate. We must critically search the living oracles of Jehovah. Now, we have more to read in this passage, but I want to look at one point here. In our day and age, the obvious conclusion to the statement that we're going to be brought before thousands is television. It says we're going to be brought before councils and before thousands. In our day and age, when there's a famous court trial going on, you can watch it on television. It gets blasted all over the newspapers. Brothers and sisters, there's good evidence to believe that when the Sunday law arrives, you and I, if we're faithful, we're going to go to court. It's going to be such an important issue because national apostasy is followed by national ruin. Suddenly, it's not simply going to be an issue of Sunday law. It's going to be, how come the whole world's falling apart? How come these people won't join with Sunday with us? They're offending God. Everything's falling apart. They're going to put us on television, and before thousands, we're going to have to give a defense of our faith. Are we studying the Word of God as we should, where we can do that, where we can defend God's glory and His honor, where we can give the clarity of testimony necessary to bring people out of Babylon that are still in a time of mercy for those that have never known the truth, even though it's a time of destructive judgment? We need to ask ourselves these things. How much time are we spending doing things that have nothing to contribute to our preparation for heaven, and are we spending that same amount of time studying the Word of God on our knees in prayer? Continuing on with this passage. Has the present world stopped to look back at the suffering caused by potpourri and attempting to bind men's reasons so that they should not worship God as seemed right to them? Can they not see how the Roman churches exercised her revengeful and cruel power? Those who would now bow to her mandates had to endure the prison. Those who would not bow to her mandates had to endure the prison and the stake, torture, and death. And when those were swept away, who would not bow their conscience to any but their God of heaven, others would spring up to fill the ranks and lift the standard of religious liberty and right. And now this nation, the greatest nation of earth, under whose governments we are blessed with every religious and temporal advantage, which has been the recipient of unrivaled mercies, which providence has watched over and shielded, by which the standard of liberty and religious freedom has been lifted, will it follow the course of the papacy and make void God's law? And shall we sit with folded hands and do nothing in the crisis? Shall we let this religious amendment movement come in and shut us away from our privileges and rights because we keep the commandments of God? God, help us to arouse from the stupor that has hung over us for years. There are more souls to be saved and a far greater work to be done in warning our world than has yet been accomplished. We should seek God, especially that His grace and His power may be revealed on behalf of His people. We believe that God lives. We do not think the time specified in prophecy when our liberty should be restricted has fully come. We don't think we're at this point. Remember, it comes as an overwhelming surprise. We don't think we're at that point. It comes suddenly and unexpected. It can't be happening right now. It comes as a thief in the night. Continuing on in this next paragraph, brothers and sisters, this paragraph identifies right where we're at today because they already have the votes in Congress. In 1996, the Supreme Court became a majority of Catholics. The President would sign a Sunday Law in effect. It's already prepared for the Sunday Law. There's just one factor that isn't quite at the point it should be. And Sister White in this next paragraph identifies it. She places us in the prophetic events in Revelation 7. Revelation 7, 1 says, Here was a work to be done before the angels should let the four winds. And if we shall awake to what is transpiring right around us, we must admit that we are not ready for the contest and the perplexities which are to be brought upon us after the decree shall go forth. We are to cry to the God of heaven in earnest united prayer for the angels to hold the four winds till missionaries shall be sent to all parts of the world till we have proclaimed the warning against disobedience to the law of Jehovah and against worshipping the beast in his image. The claims of God's law must be made known to the inhabitants of the earth. This is our work. But every conceivable thing that the enemy can do will be done to hinder the people of God from awakening. The Lord bids us to watch for we read that while men slept the enemy sowed tares in the field. The work of these national reformers has been done in a deceptive underhanded way. The work of the Christian coalition has been done in a deceptive underhanded way to sweep in the whole Christian world if possible. And if they shall carry this move to its result and we are brought into straitened places, what are we to do? I beg of you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth to awake out of sleep. We need not to go to foreign lands to become missionaries. All around us are fields white all ready to harvest. Do not be inactive now. God calls upon you in Battle Creek. God calls upon you in Adventism who are dying of spiritual sloth to go out into the highways and hedges and labor so earnestly and interestingly that you will compel men to come to the light of truth. Let there be a moving out of Battle Creek even though it be at sacrifice. Go where you may be a blessing to others. Go where you can help in some weak church. Shake off your spiritual lethargy. Work with all your powers to save perishing souls and the heavenly benediction will fall upon you and you will finally hear the words, well done thou good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the joy of the Lord. Awake, awake I pray you. Arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee light. Go out and do your little and he will increase your capabilities and you may keep growing in grace and in the love of the truth. The more you use your talents, the more they will increase. We are drawing near the close of probation. We should put our talents out to the exchangers that when the master comes he may receive our talents as his own but he will return to us again both principle and interest. May the God of heaven place your feet upon the eternal rock. I beg of you to be followers of Jesus Christ and to bring many sheaves to the master. Review and Herald December 18, 1888. Brothers and sisters, the easiest thing to do in Adventism today is to present prophecy. The signs of the times, the current events are easy to line up with the testimony in the scriptures and the spirit of prophecy. But when Sister White was talking about the National Reform Movement of her day, it was in the context of wake up. And when we look at the end of the world, just before the Sunday Law at the end of the world, there once again will be a movement that brings this Sunday Law about. That's why this information about the National Reform Movement was recorded. It was recorded for the benefit of the last generation upon whom the ends of the earth have come. That's the principle of repeating history and prophecy. That's the very premise of prophetic study. And here we see that the movement that parallels the National Reformers is here. It's developed its strength. It's controlling the Republican Party. It's controlling the House of Representatives in the Congress. The Supreme Court's ready. We have religious movements, so-called Protestant movements in the United States today that are building their so-called Protestantism on the principles of Catholicism. Everything is in place. You can see the angels holding back the strife all around us. And the very present truth for this time is identified by Sister White as the events connected with the movement that is going to push the amendments to overturn the Constitution. We're here, they're happening, and Adventism sleeps on. Brothers and sisters, it comes as an overwhelming surprise. Our probation is about to close. We must go to work warning our neighbors, our friends, our relatives. We must begin to identify those among us that are presenting this final warning message and helping. It's our prayer at Future for America that this series will be of benefit to you in your effort to bring your character into agreement with the truth that the parable of the ten virgins is about to be fulfilled again and our probation is about to close.