A couple months ago I was traveling and happened to see C-Span. They were covering the returns for one of the Presidential primaries in a Southern state. As I watched it occurred to me how blessed we are to live in a country that has a democratic republican form of government, all held together by the most significant political document of all time, the Constitution of the United States.

In this sermon we will explore the question, "How shall we as Seventh-day Adventist Christians relate to the political process?" I say Seventh-day Adventist Christians because there are certain unique doctrines held by our church which greatly influence the way we understand last day events and therefore impact how we see the political process.

As a church we have a clear understanding of last day events. Our eschatology, or teaching about last day events, is completely from Scripture. There might be some who would say that it is from the Spirit of Prophecy. No, it is from Scripture, but there is no doubt that the Spirit of Prophecy has played a major part in interpreting Scripture for us. As far as last day events are concerned, the book The Great Controversy is the best there is.

I hope you are aware that when a person says they believe in the Bible and the Bible only they should always add, the Bible and the Bible only as interpreted by someone. Inasmuch as the Bible writers are no longer with us, we must interpret what has been written. Our church was given a special gift of prophecy in which God anointed a person who would be a lesser light leading to the greater light and that person was Mrs. Ellen G. White. The Spirit of Prophecy is not greater than the Bible or more of the Bible, but it is definitely an inspired interpreter of the Bible.

But back to the matter of our view of last day events. We believe that one of the events in the future is that the Christian day of rest will become a significant issue. We believe that events will come about in which the first day of the week will by law become the mandatory day of rest. It will be expected that everyone will conform to the law either by belief or simply by financial necessity, and that those who resist will not be able to buy or sell. Finally, as things go from bad to worse, the death penalty will be decreed.

It is no wonder then that, because as a church we believe this, we are very sensitive to issues having to do with church and state. For years our church has published Liberty Magazine . This magazine is a champion of religious liberty and the separation of church and state and is considered one of the best in the field.

When I say that we have been sensitive to church and state matters, this means that whenever there is a move to make laws that have to do with our relationship with God, as an organization we do all we can to stop them. As a result of this we not only have tended to fight laws that have to do with religious liberty, but we have tended to be against any law that has to do with what we consider to be moral issues.

I am sure you have heard people say they believe that society must not try to legislate morals. I am convinced that here is where we may be "throwing out the baby with the bathwater." But think for a moment. Why should we fight laws that uphold morals? Let me illustrate. Laws having to do with social law and order are moral laws, are they not? Laws to protect property, laws against sexual abuse, laws against perjury and child abuse are all moral laws based on at least one of the last six commandments.

Many people seem to have forgotten that the Ten Commandments are divided into two parts--the first four have to do with our relationship to God and the last six our relationship to each other. We do not believe that the state should make laws that have to do with the first four commandments; but how can we say that the state should not make laws having to do with the last six commandments? To put it another way, while I don't believe that the state should make laws that legislate spirituality, I believe that the state must make laws that have to do with morality. We should remember that morality is an issue of not only the heart but also of behavior.

The next time you hear someone say they do not believe in legislating morality, ask them what they mean. Do they mean there should be no laws against rape or stealing? Of course, there must be laws having to do with morality or society would be in chaos. Unfortunately, when people say we should not legislate morality, they often mean the sixth and the seventh commandments. Those are the ones that directly impact on abortion and the attempt to normalize deviant sexual behaviors.

The Ten Commandments were given by God to protect us from the evil in this world. We may not be saved by the law, but we are definitely protected by it. I can't understand how a person can be an enemy of the Ten Commandments or feel that somehow they are only optional. In the community, we as Christians should be advocates of the Ten Commandments--the first four commandments as the standard between a person and God and the last six commandments as a standard between a person and their fellow human beings.

Have you ever considered that the condition of our society today is not because we don't have prayer in public schools, but is to a large extent due to the fact that the religious leaders for more than fifty years have preached that we don't have to keep the Ten Commandments? Of course, they were trying specifically to lock up the fourth commandment; but in the process their teaching that we don't have to keep the Ten Commandments has dealt a near death blow to the morals of the nation.

In recent years a change has come. Have you noticed that now more and more ministers in the first day churches are preaching sermons in which they are calling on the nations to keep the Ten Commandments? I am glad this is happening. Also, as they are telling the people we ought to keep the Ten Commandments, we are beginning to hear more and more about the importance of keeping a day of rest. A few years ago the Pope came out in favor of the importance of the Sabbath, and a few months ago I noticed there was even an article in the Reader's Digest about the Sabbath.

While all of this is happening we are reminded of what we believe about the last day events and the eventual law that will make it mandatory to keep the first day of the week.

I believe we must be careful not to appear to be against those who are preaching, teaching and writing about the importance of keeping the Ten Commandments, including the fourth. Many of us have forgotten that, even though people may go to church on the first day of the week, there are few in this generation who truly treat Sunday as a day of rest. Some of you though may remember there was a time in which those who went to church on Sunday actually kept Sunday holy. You know what I mean. They kept Sunday just like we believe the Sabbath should be kept. By the way you know, don't you, that when we sing, "Don't Forget the Sabbath," the song was actually written about Sunday? Our spiritual ancestors believed that Sunday was the Sabbath and referred to it that way.

When people were keeping Sunday holy, it was not difficult for them to understand what to do when they heard how the day of rest had been changed by man and not by God. They would simply continue to keep the "Sabbath," but now on the seventh day of the week instead of the first.

The point is that if we are to go out, as the servant of the Lord has said, and "give the Sabbath more fully," we must do so in a climate in which the people are once again convicted about the necessity of keeping the fourth commandment and having a day of rest. For more than fifty years, in the eyes of many Christians, the law of God was nailed to the Cross. How can you give the Sabbath more fully in a society that doesn't believe in the Ten Commandments much less in a day of rest?

We must be careful not to appear to be enemies of the move toward a day of rest. Of course, we are aware that the devil will use this movement to bring on the laws in favor of Sunday observance, but in the meantime we must take advantage of the increasing interest in the fourth commandment to preach the Sabbath more fully.

We must not be reactive but proactive. As mentioned earlier, we often appear to be fighting the Ten Commandments when we should be their greatest champions. Do we believe in legislating morality? Definitely. Do we believe in legislating spirituality? Definitely not. Do we believe that mankind needs to keep the fourth commandment? Definitely. Do we believe they should make laws that say we should keep the fourth commandment? Definitely not. But, nevertheless, we must take advantage of the current atmosphere to preach the truth and, as the servant of the Lord has written, to preach the Sabbath more fully.

More than one-hundred-fifty years ago God gave a message to a group of Sunday-keeping, pork-eating Christians. This message would be necessary for those who would be translated alive at the second coming of Jesus. Friend, we must not forget that the message was given to God's people, and those people were Sunday-keeping, pork-eating Christians. Neither must we forget that there are still Sunday-keeping, pork-eating Christians and that they are not our enemies but our brothers and sisters in Christ.

We go out to give the Sabbath more fully, not to the devil's people but to God's people. The Scripture is clear that the Lord knows those that are His. The message God gave to the Seventh-day Adventist Church is not for a particular denomination of people but for all God's people--those who are members of other denominations and those who are not members of any church. Before this is over all God's people, who will be true to Him and who are alive when Jesus comes, will have bought into it.

Can't we see that, though God gave our forefathers the doctrines that would prepare a holy people to meet a holy God, it would be necessary that people would have to have a question before the answer God had provided would make any sense. Though we know there will be a false revival just before the coming of Jesus, we must not forget that there will also be a true revival just before the coming of Jesus among God's people wherever they are.

Though we know there will be a great movement to honor the first day of the week, God's people who are Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, and all the rest will see the issue clearly and will become Sabbathkeepers. Therefore it is safe to say that, while in the future there will be a move to enforce Sunday observance, there will also be a great movement among God's true people in every land to honor and keep the seventh day of the week. The point is that we must take advantage of the current and growing interest in spiritual things to preach the truth in an even greater and more effective way.

There is a danger, however, that once we understand that God has people in other faiths, we then begin to believe that it makes no difference what you believe as long as you believe. We can even begin to think that, inasmuch as God's people in other faiths have salvation, we have nothing to say to them, or worse still, that we ourselves have been going to a lot of trouble for nothing.

But to think this way is an error. The message that God has given this church is one that will keep His people in other faiths from being deceived and lost in all that will happen just before the close of probation.

I am very concerned to observe in some places Adventists who say we don't need to preach our doctrines only the gospel. I am even more concerned when I observe that in many places those who profess to keep the seventh-day Sabbath are honoring it less and less. If things continue as they are, it is not inconceivable that five years from now there will be large numbers of professed Sabbathkeepers who will be keeping the seventh day the way the majority of Sundaykeepers currently keep the first day. That means they may go to church on Saturday, but after church just about anything goes.

This is no time for us, who have been called with a special message, to give it up, play it down, or in any way diminish it. We have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. This is no time to back down, but rather it is a time to affirm our faith and be prepared to proclaim it in a powerful and persuasive way as society becomes more and more inclined toward spiritual things.

Among the Sunday churches there is an ecumenical movement. That means the churches are beginning to play down their doctrinal differences for the sake of unity. More and more they are doing things together, even exchanging pulpits. I do not believe that we as a church organization ought to be a part of the ecumenical movement of churches. We were already there and have, as they say, "been there, done that." Our forefathers were Baptists, Catholics, Charismatics, and Methodists. The Seventh-day Adventist Church has not been called to "mix it up" with other denominations. To do so would mean that we must put aside our doctrines, and this would result in a compromise of the truth that has been revealed to us.

Having said that, I do believe we should have an ecumenical spirit as individuals. By that I mean we should be in favor of God's children coming together in unity. After all, Jesus prayed that we might be one. You see, in principle we are not against Christian unity. We are just against unity at any price. We believe in unity, but it must be unity based on strict adherence to the Word of God.

Just before Jesus returns there will be a great coming together. There will be a world-wide call for unity. People will answer this call by uniting into two groups. One group will be those that have chosen to be faithful to the Word of God no matter what the price, and the other group will be those who have chosen to follow the traditions and the laws of men.

I say this because we must be careful lest we become like or be seen as having a mind-set that is "us against everyone else" or maybe "everyone else against us." There has always been the danger that a person could become an Adventist, not because he was for the truth, but because he was against something or other. We don't need to fill the church with people who hate other people. Jesus Himself said that He did not come into the world to condemn the world but to save it.

Though the truth as taught by this church does condemn error it is not a condemning truth, but one that affirms faith and calls men and women to fear God and give glory to Him.

I suppose that you have heard that there are independent groups around the country who are buying entire pages of newspapers and making what amounts to a front on attack against the Catholic Church.

Though the information being disseminated may be true, the method being used is not appropriate and is not the spirit of Christ. These kinds of attacks engender hate on both sides. Did you notice I said on both sides? These kinds of presentations of truth are not presentations that tend to bring conviction, but rather they are presentations that tend to harden hearts and cause even those who might be receivers of truth to question the spirit and motive of what is being done.

Those who have this attitude do not have a clue as to what persecution is all about. Jesus said there would be a time of trouble such as never was. The messenger of the Lord has told us that things are usually worse in anticipation than in realization, but that the things that will happen just before the coming of Jesus will be worse than we could have imagined. This means it is not wise to seek to unleash the winds of strife. We must not forget that God has commanded the angels to hold the four winds until the servants of our God are sealed. If God in His mercy is holding the four winds, then who are we to try to loose them before the appointed time?

The true people of God have special characteristics. One is that they are kind. The spirit of confrontation and argument is not kind. We have heard that if we were as kind and loving as we should be, there would be a hundred converted where there is now only one. I hope I am wrong, but there are probably people out there who would have come to the truth but for the fact that the people they have known who professed the truth were not kind but rather argumentative and confrontational.

Scripture tells us that we are to preach the truth in love. There are many who know what the truth is and they know what love is, but they haven't discovered how to bring the two together. On one side there are those who emphasize love but throw out truth, and on the other side there are those who emphasize truth but seemingly have thrown out love.

It reminds me of when I was in high school. We had to take a physical education class. One of the games they tried to teach us was basketball. In basketball there are several ingredients to being able to play the game well. Two of the fundamental ingredients are: 1) You have to be able to run, and 2) You have to be able to dribble the ball. Unfortunately, I could not do them at the same time!

Another characteristic of the people of God is that they are intercessors. If a person is interceding on behalf of another person, it means they are not against the other person but for them. When Scripture tells us that Jesus lives ever to make intercession for us, that means He is always trying to get us saved.

If we are to have the spirit of Christ, it means we are not trying to tag people out between first and second base but actually are trying to help them make a home run. I think I unconsciously used to have the idea that there were only so many places in heaven, and that if too many people came to the Lord there might not be room enough for me. You can come to this conclusion if you have the wrong idea about the 144,000. I have my ideas as to who they are, but in no way do the 144,000 keep anyone out of heaven or take the mansion of someone who was farther back in the line.

Though Scripture is clear that "narrow is the way that leads to eternal life and few there be that find it," this way is wide enough for anyone who wants to get on it. We must not forget that Jesus is calling on everyone to accept the invitation to salvation, and we are to be coworkers with Him in extending the invitation to any and all who will receive it.

I will say something here that could be misunderstood. I hope I say it correctly. We often use the term "finish the work." We refer to this as something we are supposed to do, and when we have done it Jesus will come.

A while back I was in New York City. I have also been in London, Paris, Calcutta, and Hong Kong. The term "finish the work" becomes overwhelming when you see these great cities.

When we say we must "finish the work," it reminds me of the time the Lord proclaimed the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai and the children of Israel responded, "All that the Lord hast said we will do and be obedient." As we look back on it, we say they shouldn't have responded that way but rather should have said, "Lord, what You have asked us to do we can never do. You will have to send a Sacrifice to stand in our place. We can only do what You are asking us to do by His righteousness. Only He through the Holy Spirit will be able to write Your law in our hearts so that we delight to do Your will."

But no, although they were well-intentioned, the children of Israel had no idea what it meant to do the will of God from the heart or what it would take to bring that about. And, so to speak, off the tops of their heads they said, "All that the Lord hast said we will do and be obedient."

Though we take pride in the fact that our denomination has twelve million members, we seem to have forgotten that this planet has more than five billion people; and to make matters worse, of the twelve million members only about half of them in this country go to church regularly.

If the coming of the Lord is going to depend on our "finishing the work," then it seems to me He will never come. I believe when God called us to "finish the work," we should have said, "Lord, we can never finish the work. In the first place, Your work is a heart work, and only You can read the heart. How can we speak to the hearts of five billion people? But Lord, we want Your work to be finished. We will be glad to work for You and let You use us as You finish the work. We can't imagine how it will be done. But You can count on us to make that the most important thing in our lives, because it is our purpose to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness."

If we were smart, we would not only be working more than ever to preach the gospel, we would secretly and together be telling the Lord that, unless He does something, we are in real trouble down here.

The prophet has written that the spirit of God would be poured out on all flesh. Before Jesus comes God will call everyone to repentance. We must understand that when He does this there will be two tracks--the true and the counterfeit.

We must realize that the conflict before Jesus comes is between truth and error, not between flesh and blood. We must recognize that, when we refer to God's people, we are not talking just about people who happen to be members of our own denomination. We have been given a message to prepare God's people wherever they may be to be ready for His coming.

We must not be against unity if it is based on the Word of God. And we are in favor of a return to a day of rest as long as it is based on the Sabbath of the fourth commandment.

May God help us to have a wider and more inclusive vision as the time of the coming of Jesus draws nigh.