“Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.  But they said, We will not walk therein.” Jeremiah 6:16

New fashions are changing our minds; some books are losing their original titles, confusion is increasing—soon the church of God may have many questions to answer. Who has been taught about “The Great Controversy?” Now the book has a different title. The title of this book was replaced by the title, “Great Hope.” But, the sovereign God will provide our needs through His faithful servant. Satan is working seriously in our midst. Let our weapon be “It is written,” otherwise false teachings will spread.

“The army of the Lord is on the ground, seeking to save souls. Satan and his host are also at work, trying in every possible way to deceive and destroy.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 41

But God bids us, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against the rulers of darkness, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6: 11–12

Nowadays, disobedience is increasing, even in our church, between the elderly people and the younger ones. Some of the youth are well educated, and in this point Satan takes this opportunity to arouse pride. In the Bible, we find a good counsel to us in 1 Timothy 5:1. “Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren.” It is true that when you are young, you are still active and able to do many things, more than the old; but don’t rebuke an old man, he is your father, he has experience in many things. When he was your age, he suffered, trying to provide for your needs, sacrificing even his sleep.

Jesus also talked about this counsel in John 5:19: “Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” If we do what is right before God He will bless us. We have our inheritance in our God. And He is the One pleading for us to obey our parents.

When it comes to this word “parents” some people think about their fathers and mothers. But the good example in 1Timothy 5:1 does not distinguish between parents and elders.  We shall praise our Lord in this way, for righteousness is given by Him. He asks, what is His gift to us? He says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me” Revelation 3:20

He will rejoice if we repent and come near His feet. “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love; He will joy over thee with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

When one soul repents and confesses before God, all the heavenly inhabitants rejoice. It is a great joy to God. Satan is roaring around, seeking someone to devour, since he knows that his end result will be death. He is deceiving and planting bad seeds in people. Be watchful in order to know what is good and leave evil doing alone.

Nobody can achieve God’s will and obey His commandments without the Holy Spirit. The Scriptures in Daniel 9:21 shows how things were revealed to him. His prayer was answered even while he was speaking.

Many Scriptures prophesy how things would be changed and be replaced by the world’s doctrines. Daniel 7:25–26. Prophesies about the changing of times and God’s laws. Nobody in our faith fails to know that it has been changed, and it started slowly. But after this, prophecy was fulfilled. It begins like a stream and ends like a river. It will be difficult to teach people in order to undeceive them, because the deception has become universal. In the Seventh-Day Adventist church now, the books which show these things are no longer read. Many are not even aware of them. Even if robbers enter your house, these books cannot be left behind, because they unmask Satan’s teachings. These events will be observed by those who are watching in prayer, humbling themselves in asking God to help them in this life, to distinguish between good and evil. Many books of counsel have been written by Ellen G White. Let us buy eye salve, and put it on our eyes in order to see. God will help us to finish the work.

Jerome Mpawenayo

BAMI Student-Burundi