God’s Love Through Leaders and Messengers

God raises up special people, at different times, for the challenges and situations His people face. Some of them were early Christian leaders like Martin Luther, John Huss, John Knox, John Wesley and even William Miller, the forerunner of our denomination. In biblical times, He raised up special people to serve as prophets like Enoch, Noah, Isaiah, Jeremiah and John the Baptist. These people were special messengers to help guide God’s people through their specific times. These messengers served as a channel of truth and light in times of darkness and falsehood. In today’s world, just before the Second Coming of Jesus, the Bible describes the times as being difficult and challenging. Revelation 12:12 (NKJV) tells us that “the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” Revelation 12:17(NKJV) says that “the dragon or Satan is enraged with the church and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments and have the testimony of Jesus. 

The testimony of Jesus is described in Revelation 19:10 as the spirit of prophecy. If you study 1 Corinthians 1:6,7 along with that, you will see that God would give the gift of prophecy to the last-day church to help it deal with the devil's attacks. When the disciples asked Jesus what would be the sign of His coming and the end of the world, the first thing he said was “Take heed that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name and deceive many,” Matthew 24:4 (NKJV). He said there would be false prophets and false teachers. 

To help protect us from deception and keep us focused on the truth of God’s Word in these last days of earth’s history, God inspired Ellen G. White as His messenger. She provided guidance, comfort and encouragement during her lifetime, and her writings do the same today. Her writings also inspired the Seventh-day Adventist Church to establish a worldwide Christian educational system, along with a medical and health system. Her writings on health are being followed by many world-renowned health practitioners today. 

Those who read her writings with a sincere desire to know the truth find that the same Holy Spirit that inspired the Scriptures is seen in her writings. God is love and His message of love is shared through His messenger to our generation. 

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By James Shires
President