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Advent Productions

Benjamin Ng

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Father in heaven, thank you for this time that we have again to study together.

Thank you Lord for the glorious Sabbath day that is outside.

Thank you Lord for giving us this good weather.

Thank you for peace in our hearts and our homes.

And I pray Lord that you'd please be with us even now, as we spend some time to meditate upon your word, as we reflect upon this message.

I pray, Lord, that you would speak to each of our hearts, that through the words that I speak, frail as they may be, I pray that your Holy Spirit would empower those words, and that you would convict us of sin and righteousness and of judgment to come.

That you would draw us closer to the throne of grace and mercy at this time.

That you would hover over us with your spirit, Surround us with your angels, O Lord, and help us to know the message that you have for us today.

Bless us now, guide us, O Lord, we pray, in Jesus' name.

So I'd like to encourage you to keep your Bibles handy.

I'd like you to keep your Bibles there with you as we're going to be turning to Scripture.

And also I'll be referencing some Ellen White quotes.

So we're starting in Matthew 24 verses 4 to 8 this morning.

For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many.

For ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, see that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places.

What's happening today is echoing the words of our Savior found here in this chapter of Matthew 24, pestilences, something that we've been focusing on, I'm sure, from the Bible prophecy standpoint, And probably my message this morning is nothing new and maybe even expected.

But the Bible pointed this out long before COVID-19 became a pandemic.

If you'll go over to Psalms 91, the promise for our time, I believe that Psalms 91 is the Psalm for the 144, 000.

Psalms 91 and verse 5, look at what King David writes.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flyeth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and 10000 at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee." I'm sure that many of us have been claiming this promise and we have nothing to fear if we are found dwelling under the shadow of the Almighty.

But I'd like for you to, if you're able to, turn with me to the book, Great Controversy, GC, page 589, paragraph 2 and paragraph 3.

It'd be great if you could turn there, GC 589.2.

Ellen White says this, "'Satan works through the elements "'also to garner his harvest of unprepared souls.

He has studied the secrets of the laboratories of nature, and he uses all his power to control the elements as far as God allows.

He's able to harness them, of course, only as far as God allows though.

When he was suffered to afflict Job, how quickly flocks and herds, servants, houses, children were swept away, 1 trouble succeeding another as in a moment.

It is God that shields his creatures and hedges them in from the power of the destroyer.

But the Christian world have shown contempt for the law of Jehovah, and the Lord will do just what He has declared He would.

He will withdraw His blessings from the earth and remove His protecting care from those who are rebelling against His law and teaching and forcing others to do the same.

Satan has control of all whom God does not especially guard.

He will favor and prosper some in order to further his own designs, and he will bring trouble upon others and lead men to believe that it is God who is afflicting them." Friends, this first paragraph in GC 589.2 tells us that Satan is the 1 that he's concocted all these things in his own laboratories and God allows him to do this and yet somehow when this happens, people will blame God.

589 paragraph 3, while appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal all their maladies, he will bring disease and disaster until populous cities are reduced to ruin and desolation.

Even now, He is at work, in accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power.

He sweeps away the ripening harvest and famine and distress follows.

He imparts to the air, listen to this, he imparts to the air a deadly taint and thousands perish by the pestilence.

These visitations are to become more and more frequent and disastrous.

And what's gonna happen at the end of this?

He will get the people and lead men to believe that God is the 1 that is afflicting them.

There's no doubt that the author of this virus that is going around is Satan himself and as we sit here and speak this morning, it is no doubt that he's the 1 that has concocted this and I want you to turn back with me into Matthew 24.

We read verses 4 to 8 but now we want to continue this.

After all those signs have come, earthquakes, pestilences, nations against nations, kingdom against kingdoms, look at what it says next.

Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

Just a couple of verses before, nations were fighting nations.

The earthquakes, the pestilences, the natural disasters, the famines.

And they are all united to persecute God's people.

And then shall many be offended, and shall betray 1 another, and shall hate 1 another, and many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold, but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

What unites the whole world to hate us and to kill us?

They won't hate us because we're worshipping on Sabbath when the whole country is on lockdown.

I don't think we should be rebellious like that.

If we're persecuted because of that, I think in some sense we deserve it.

What I'm talking about is, you know, Malaysia has issued a lockdown for our country right now.

I don't think we should rebelliously go out and worship on the Sabbath just to, in the face of the other people and get persecution and put in jail.

That is not the persecution that we should be facing.

There is coming a day when the persecution will come because the law in the land is saying you cannot worship on this particular day, you have to worship on a different day.

That is then when we should stand up for the right.

But because of lockdown, I think we should obey the laws as far as possible.

I wanna encourage you, please share a praise as you are watching.

Just type on that little chat icon, not to chat with your friends, but just to share a praise for this past week of what you've been thankful for, how God has blessed you and been with you.

Just to encourage each other along this journey, hey?

So look, at the end of time, the whole world will hate God's people because of famines, pestilences and earthquakes.

Yes, 1 of the things that we're facing now is bringing us closer towards the end of time.

But I want you to come back to Great Controversy.

I'm going to read the next paragraph right after that, talking about the laboratories of Satan and how all these disasters will increase during the end of time, but now 590 paragraph 1.

And then the great deceiver, Satan, will persuade men that those who serve God are causing these evils.

The class that have provoked the displeasure of heaven will charge all their troubles upon those whose obedience to God's commandments is a perpetual reproof to transgressors.

At the end of time, and I believe that we're pretty much there, but there's gonna come a day when virus, pestilence, COVID-19, it will be charged against God's commandment, keeping people.

It will say, these are the ones that are causing this pestilence.

They are the reason why the pestilence and the earthquakes and the famines continue.

They are the ones that will be pointed out and singled out and the whole world will be united against them thinking if only we could get rid of them the pestilence and the earthquakes would stop.

Remember there's coming a day that all that live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

There's coming a day that John tells us when they persecute you and they think they are doing God's service.

So friends, let me share with you just some things that have been taking place.

President Trump declared on March 13, it was a Friday, that March 15 should be a national day of prayer.

He declared a national day of prayer because of the pestilence, because of the virus that's been going around.

All you need to do is look up 3 words, Trump, prayer, Sunday, You'll find it.

It's on the major news outlets, Fox News, Newsweek, New York Post.

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