The 20th century was a century of wars. Of course, other centuries had wars. In Europe there was a war that lasted 30 years. It was called the Thirty-Year War. War is not new. Since Lucifer declared war on God and then Cain declared war on Abel, there has been war. But the 20th century saw the biggest wars that were ever fought. Over two hundred million people died in the lifetime of some of you who are listening to me. Those two hundred million people died as a result of political decisions.

When the 20th century was not in what they call a "hot war," it was in a "cold war." The Cold War was a battle of ideas for the hearts of men and women and nations. All the while that the battle for hearts was going on, there was an unprecedented preparation for a hot war.

During the 20th century weapons of war were created that were so powerful as to be able to actually vaporize its victims. Those who would be unlucky enough not to be vaporized would die a slow death from radiation poisoning in which their hair falls out as the organs of the body shut down.

Then there are the other weapons, such as the poison gas and the deadly disease bombs, carrying anthrax and other diseases. During the preparation for the future, hot war armies numbering in the millions were mobilized, and in its later stages, the preparations for war were removed into outer space. They called it "star wars."

But then something happened that no one could have ever imagined. The great ideology called "international communism," that at one time controlled a third of the planet, began to disintegrate. Almost an entire international movement collapsed in a matter of months.

As a family we lived through a part of the drama that represented the struggle between the forces of totalitarianism and the forces of liberty.

We landed with our four children in Chile in 1972. I can remember the pastor who picked us up at the airport. He said, "Welcome to our socialist paradise."

In a matter of weeks the basic staples that we depended on began to disappear from the shelves in the stores. We began to have to stand in long food lines. My wife, Betty, returned from the store one day and said, "We were tear-gassed at the store today. I don't think that this is worth it."

I can remember when the government would take over the radio stations. It is an eerie feeling to turn on the radio, and as you go up and down the dial you hear the same song.

I remember one night when a station, not far from where we were living, broke what they called the "cadena"--that means the "chain." A neighbor threw open his window and put a radio playing full blast on the window ledge. A station called "Radio Agriculture" had decided to throw the switch on the government programming and tell the city what was really going on. When they did this the government cut the power to the station, but then the station turned on its generators. The police began to mobilize to take over the station, but thousands of citizens took to the streets and formed a great human wall to keep the police from getting into the building. That night I felt the sting of tear gas and heard the rumble of tanks as they took to the streets.

I can remember the day of the showdown. I was working with ADRA in Chile. ADRA was receiving food from the United States government, which we were distributing to children. A large shipment of flour had arrived in the port, and the local governor had confiscated it.

We knew that it was no use, but protocol demanded that we go to the port to lodge an official complaint. I had agreed to go with the representatives from another voluntary agency whose office was located on a dead-end street.

I can remember going down that street to the office. Just then I saw a man come running out of the office building and turn on his car radio. At the same time a window was thrown open and a little old lady began to wave a Chilean flag.

The voice on the radio was the voice of the military. It was calling for the communist president to resign by eleven o'clock. It told all of the citizens of the city to return home; a curfew was being instituted in the whole city.

By the way, it was in that experience that I learned why the servant of the Lord has counseled us not be in the large cities when the Time of Trouble comes. In just a matter of hours the city was, you might say, locked up. You could not get off the street you lived on; in fact, they told the people on the main streets not even to look out the windows or they could interpret that as a hostile action.

Of course, it is history now. The president refused to step down. We lived about two miles from his house. We stood in our yard and over our wall watched as the helicopter gun ships strafed his compound. He wasn't there; rather he was downtown at what you might call their White House and seat of government. He committed suicide with a machine gun given to him as a gift by his friend, Fidel Castro, and the palace was bombed.

The history of the world would have been different had Chile fallen to communism.

But then, as I was saying, in a period of a few short months the world stood by in amazement as country after country, which had been under the control of a Marxist government, broke free.

The result of all of this has been that the great war machines that were literally chewing up the wealth of nations are grinding down. Defense budgets of the nations worldwide are being cut. Armies are being scaled back. The threat of a world war seems, for the moment, to have passed.

While it appears that the Cold War is over and that there is a diminishing possibility of a hot war, there is another war that is, in fact, heating up. This war was never a cold war; it was always a hot war. This war began in Heaven. This war has been so bad that only two people have gotten out of it alive. It counts its victims in the tens of billions. One of its victims was the very Son of God. You know what I am talking about. It is the war between Christ and Satan. It is the ideological war between good and evil.

I was never drafted to serve in the armed forces. My sons were not in the army, because in their day the army had become a volunteer force.

On the other hand, the great war that began in Heaven and spread to this planet is different. Everyone who has been born here has been a fighter in the war; not only a fighter, but also a victim of it.

This war has results in the short term and the long term. By that I mean, everyone who is born here spends their life suffering, and then there will be the Day of Judgment. This war will not finally be over until the fires of hell have cooled, and behold all things have been made new.

I mention that we are all fighters in this war and also victims. I sound like I am kidding, but it is serious when I say that we are all born "old-age positive." A newborn child is born infected with old age. It may not show any symptoms until the child reaches the age of 40, if not 45 for sure.

You can live as healthy as you want, but old age still will get us all. The mortality rate for this race is 100%. When will we get it through our thick heads that we are all on death row?

By the way, let me say something here about healthy living. You might be thinking, "If what you say about having to die anyway is true, I had might as well enjoy myself while I am at it."

Aside from the fact that we are not our own and that our bodies do not belong to us, a real practical reason for living a healthy life is to reduce the time of our disability. Death is inevitable; the question is, how long will we take to die? Some become infirmed and suffer for years; for others death comes quickly. A healthy lifestyle then gives us the greatest opportunity to shorten the time of our disability that comes at the end of our lives, if Jesus hasn't come first.

But that is an aside. We are talking about a war that is being fought. The Bible tells us that the Christian life doesn't take us out of the war; rather it only changes which side we are fighting on, which side we are suffering on, and which side we will be on when it is all over.

As you know, the winner of the great war between good and evil is not up in the air, neither, though it may seem otherwise, is it too close to call. The Word of God is clear that God will win this war, and that all that is about the other side will be forever destroyed.

We are in a war. Listen to these texts:

1 Corinthians 9:26, "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:"

1 Timothy 6:12, "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses."

2 Timothy 4:7, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished [my] course, I have kept the faith:"

Hebrews 10:32, "But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;"

2 Corinthians 10:4-6, "(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled."

Then in Ephesians 6:12, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

Over in 1 Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"

These are not the only texts that tell about the war that we are in. The whole Bible is about the battle from the beginning to the end. The Bible not only tells us the history of the war, but it tells us where it is all going to end up.

I don't need to tell you that the worse is yet to come. The Scripture tells us that at the end the devil will make two final attacks--one just before the coming of Jesus and the other one a suicide attack against the Holy City.

Let me say something here about the coming of Jesus. We say we hope that He will come soon, and surely we do. The truth is that if Jesus didn't come before the death decree was carried out, the next day there would be no God-serving people left on this planet and it would 100% revert to the devil. On the other hand, when the great celestial chariot of the saved from all ages rises to meet the Lord in the air, this planet will be left a total broken ruin with more than five billion people dead.

By now you might be thinking, "Pastor O'Ffill, now that I am thoroughly depressed, tell me what you are trying to say. Where are you going?"

Stay with me now. I am not telling you something that you don't already know. It is just we don't like to think about these kinds of things. You know the old saying, "Let us eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die."

Thank God we are not left in the dark in all of this. Don't forget, though, that a person who doesn't have the Bible is in the dark. The majority of the people on this planet don't have a clue as to what is about to happen; yea, as to what is indeed happening right now.

Thank God we have a more sure word of prophecy wherein we do well to pay attention. It is like a light that helps us to see in dark places.

I don't know whether you are aware of it or not, but the Seventh-day Adventist Church has the most advanced insights as to the future of anyone in the world. Though there are some things that may not be clear in all of their details, with what we have it is enough, so that you can, as they say, bank on it.

Do you realize that our brothers and sisters in the other Christian churches are very excited about the possibility that we could for once put away our differences and work together as one in Christ? They remember the words of our Lord when He prayed that they might be one. This is why they are talking about joining together. You see, they don't have the book The Great Controversy like you and I do.

Let me say here that I hope you realize, my brother and my sister, that the members of our church are not the only true Christians. You understand that being a true Christian is not being a member of something. However, true Christians can be expected to be praying for more light and for grace to live up to all the light that they have no matter what denomination they are members of.

I will also have to say that not all of those who will finally be true Christians in the end are even Christians at all yet. Do you see what I mean?

A little more than a year ago I attended a meeting for ministers in Atlanta. The meeting was sponsored by Promise Keepers. There were 42,000 ministers present. On the last day of the meeting a speaker stood up and said that one of the evils in our world was denominationalism. After he spoke, a well-known speaker named Max Lucado stood up and preached a dynamic sermon. He said, "When I count to three, I want you to shout out the name of your denomination. One, two, three." You can image that with 42,000 men shouting out their denomination, you couldn't tell one from another. Then Pastor Lucado said, "I am going to count to three again, and this time I want you to shout out the name of the one who has saved us. One two, three," and then like a mighty roar, there it was: "Jesus." The message was clear. He then set out to make lite of our doctrinal differences. When he finished, Steve Green sang "Break Down the Walls," and the place went to its feet, and as they say, went crazy. Tears flowed down my cheeks.

It was then, ladies and gentlemen, that I knew what the Seventh-day Adventist Church is for. We are not just any church or every church; neither are we just another option. We are the church that God has raised up at the end of time whose message will basically keep the saved from being deceived and losing their salvation when the great deception comes.

I knew then that our mission is not just to preach to some "unchurched Harry," but to our brothers and sisters in Christ who have been deceived by the long accumulations of human traditions and errors that have nigh well covered up the truth.

Ladies and gentlemen, unless we are faithful to the task that God has given this church, untold millions of honest Christians could be lost. You must understand that the doctrines of this church must not be taken lightly. Here, at the end of the 20th century, the unique doctrines of the Adventist Church are present truth that will prepare a holy people, by the grace of Christ, to meet alive a Holy God. If you think that the doctrines of this church, that make us different than our other Christian brothers and sisters, are just a small detail, please think again.

Friends, I don't need to prove to you that virtually every prophecy that has been given, that would indicate that we have come to the end of the age, has been fulfilled or is clearly in the works. We are on the verge of the close of probation and the end of all things. The coming of Jesus is at the door. We get excited when we hear about the Christian Coalition, the appearances of Mary, and the movements toward the union of church and state. Some even get more excited in speculating about comets and the like.

Yet, my friends, what is the bottom line? The bottom line is that generally, in the face of fulfilled and fulfilling prophecy on every hand, we seem to be spiritually demobilizing. While the cry goes out to look up because our redemption is drawing nigh, there are a growing number among us who are looking the other way or looking at ourselves in the mirror.

Speaking of looking at ourselves in the mirror, someone told me the other day that there are more mirrors being sold than ever before. I guess that should come as no surprise. A generation that is narcissistic, that loves itself before even its own children, would admire itself in the mirror as much as possible.

Maybe there is some other significance in the popularity of the mirror these days. You know, mirrors can be used to give an illusion of depth to a room. In other words, they can make things appear more important than they really are. Do I need to say more?

Our church--excuse me, but I mean--the Adventist Church, which was founded on the evidence and hope in the soon coming of Jesus--our church, which even has the coming of Jesus as a part of its name, is generally less and less concerned with the coming of Jesus and more and more concerned with the here and now.

It seems that in many quarters that as a whole we have become burned out on the coming of Jesus. Every day our world is a more dangerous place for our bodies, minds and souls to be.

The battle for our souls is not about to begin, it is actually on, and we are taking causalities by the thousands.

The church, which was supposed to gear up the world for the coming of Jesus is, in the lives of many of its members, actually gearing down. We seem to be in it now for the long haul.

My son-in-law was recently invited to speak in a church. In fact, this was not just any church. He had actually done his internship at that church some years ago. A few weeks before he was to preach he received a letter from the pastor. Without mentioning names and places I would like to read it to you. Please don't let me bore you, but I am going to read the whole thing. Here goes:

"Dear----------,

"We're delighted that you've agreed to speak for our worship services at (our church) on (a certain date). So you'll be able to more effectively minister to our congregation, I'm writing to tell you a little about us. You may already know most of what I'll share, but we'd rather have information overkill than to say too little. Thus we're sending you the same letter we send to every guest speaker.

"(The name of the church) is a predominantly Anglo congregation made up primarily of young to middle-aged professionals, many of whom work in the health-care field and are employed by (Adventist hospitals). The members are generous with their funds, strongly supporting the local church budget and contributing substantially to the Conference through tithe and other offerings.

"The church, with a membership of just over 700, has an average weekly attendance of about 400. We conduct two services that are essentially identical; one starting at 9:00 am and the other at 11:30 am. We have some 400 children and youth between birth and college age--although on any given Sabbath probably only half that number will be in attendance.

"(Church name) is open and tolerant. It traditionally has seen itself as 'the congregation that welcomes home the prodigal.' Many disaffected Adventists have come back into church fellowship through the ministry of (church). Our Statement of Mission reads: 'The Mission of the (church) is to bring the healing power of Jesus Christ to broken relationships with God, with family, with others, and with the church and with nature.'

"Our Statement of Philosophy says, in part: 'Our church family is not a fraternity for the perfect, but a support group for those needing growth. Our goal is to accept people where they are on their spiritual journey, providing an environment where less than perfect people can be confident of love, acceptance and forgiveness in a spiritual family.' And one of our stated goals is to 'create an environment where diversity becomes a means of mutual enrichment rather than a barrier between individuals.' Thus our congregation is a real potpourri of humanity."

The letter continues...

"Numerous non-Adventists regularly attend our services. Some are the non-Adventist spouse of a member, others are friends of members, but some come in 'off the street.' Our goal is to nurture them, make them feel a part of us, put them to work, and over the months and years almost imperceptibly absorb them into church membership. Several baptisms have resulted from this process."

But why am I going into such detail? Because your sermon can do much either to enhance our church's ministry or hinder it. Ours is not a typical Adventist congregation. Thus it's imperative that guests who occupy our pulpit understand this. You can complement our approach by doing the following:

1. Make your presentation Bible-centered, Christ-centered, salvation-centered, hope-centered and service-centered.
2. Structure your sermon with the idea that you're presenting a totally Adventist message to a totally non-Adventist audience and you'll have the right balance.
3. Avoid Adventist jargon and clichés. Don't refer to 'God's Messenger,' 'The Pen of Inspiration,' the 'Spirit of Prophecy.' Speak in simple, straightforward words that the spiritual novice will understand.
4. Don't quote extensively from Ellen White. Use the Bible as your basis. If you do quote from her, introduce the first quote with a comment such as, 'Ellen White, one of the founders of the Adventist Church and probably the most influential thought leader of our denomination, had this to say,' but don't make it sound as if her comment is a pontifical statement that constitutes the last word on the topic.
5. Avoid haranguing, brow-beating and guilt-tripping. Simply present the love of God, the plan of salvation and the joy of service.
6. Don't in any way put down other religions, Christian or non-Christian. And avoid anything that smacks of self-congratulation and triumphalism for our own denomination.
7. Don't run overtime by more than a couple of minutes. Our services last one hour. We've allotted you 25 minutes for your sermon. If you need more time, please let us know as soon as possible beforehand so we can streamline other components of the service and still keep the total service to one hour.
8. Again, we're delighted to have you on our preaching schedule, and we look forward to the blessing we know God will bring through you.

I would like to ask you a question: Would Jesus have been able to preach at that church, or Paul or John the Baptist?

If this had been the criteria that the founding leaders of our church had followed, would we have had a church at all, or would we still be Baptists, Methodists, and all the other churches that we have come out from?

Another question: Had Martin Luther had this kind of a philosophy, would there have ever been a reformation?

In the business world, I don't think a person could make sales if they followed the advice not to show the superiority of their own products.

The Scripture is clear that we are not fighting against each other, but we are definitely at war with the devil and with lies and error. I may be missing the point, but the gospel of Jesus Christ is a put-down to all that is not truth. The Apostle Paul put it this way, "There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved," and in another place he said that there was only one true gospel, and if anyone wanted to preach something else let him be called anathema. Doesn't sound like Paul was into the diversity thing, does it?

The devil is giving his trumpet a certain sound, while many of us have resigned from the gospel band. The devil is gearing up for the final thrust to take as many people to Hell as he can, and yet in many places it seems that we are stepping back or aside so as not to face the challenge.

The title of this sermon is, "Close Your Eyes and Be Surprised." You have heard that saying. We have had it said to us and we have said it to others. When we say that we usually mean that we have a good surprise for someone.

But a Christian who will close their eyes to what is going on at this, the close of the 20th century, is going to be surprised all right. But it will not be a happy surprise, but a sad heart-wrenching disappointment.

Friends, this is no time for us to back down. This is not the time for us to compromise our unique mission. The mission of this church is to preach and practice a message that will result, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in preparing a holy people to be translated alive without seeing death, and to come face to face with our Holy God.

Listen to what Jesus tells us to do:

Mark 13:33, "Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is."

Mark 13:34, "For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch."

Mark 13:35, "Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning:"

Mark 13:37, "And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch."

Ladies and gentlemen, this is no time to close our eyes. If we do, we will be surprised all right.

Listen to the words of Jesus:

Luke 12:35-40, "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not."

Close your eyes and be surprised. But when our eyes are finally opened, it will not be a pleasant surprise.

Listen to the words of our Lord:

Matthew 8:12, "But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Matthew 13:42, "And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth."

Matthew 22:13, "Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Matthew 24:51, "And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Luke 13:28, "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out."

Ladies and gentlemen, this is no time to close our eyes to what is happening around us. Our salvation is indeed nearer than when we first believed.

Not long ago a group of ministers gathered together. They were talking about what they considered to be the mission of their churches. One of the pastors of a very large church stood up and said that it was his goal to have a church where the people could feel safe.

Now a person could say, "What is wrong with that?" Listen, I am not trying to be nitpicky, but I don't think that the mission of our church is to make people feel safe.

When Peter preached, full of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, those who heard him felt anything but safe. Listen to this:

Acts 2:37-41, "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls."

Notice who felt safe in the end. It was those who gladly received his word. "Create a church where people can feel safe?" It depends on what you are about. A person who likes themselves the way that they are, a person who is into selfishness, pride, bitterness, resentment, lust and lack of self control should feel very threatened by the preaching of the gospel.

The Apostle Paul says it right. He asks the question, "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? No way!"

What about John the Baptist preaching? Did it make the listeners feel safe? Listen to this:

Luke 3:7-14, "Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him,"

My brother and my sister, check it out for yourself. The ministry of the prophets was never to make the people feel safe. The prophets always had a price to pay. When they preached the true message, they were usually eliminated.

Listen to this, the words of Jesus:

Matthew 23:31, "Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets."

Luke 11:47, "Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchers of the prophets, and your fathers killed them."

The Apostle Paul points out those "Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:" (1Thessalonians 2:15).

My friend, this is no time to close our eyes. If you have time, read the book of Jeremiah. Things have not changed too much since then. Messages that are not positive and affirming have never gone over with sinners. But not to worry. There have always been messengers for hire. They will tell you what you want to hear.

In the world around us the Cold War seems to be over. The armies are demobilizing, and budgets are being cut. But in the greatest of all battles we haven't seen anything yet. Jesus told us that it would be this way. He told stories about those who were supposing to be waiting. We are talking about the people who knew something was going to happen. He said that they would get tired of waiting.

This is why in the judgment, God will be much more generous with those who didn't know any better than with those who knew better but turned away when they got tired or bored.

A person who is just going with the flow is going to be lost. Get serious. The hot war is on. By grace through faith, not asleep, but awake, we will be more than conquerors through Him who loves us.