This, obviously, could be a very long point. I’ll try to keep my subjects, and quotes, to a minimum.
I finished Part 2 with this quote:
“The end is near, and now is the time when Satan will make special efforts to distract the interest and separate it from the all-important subjects that should arrest every mind to concentrated action.” {3 Selected Messages 23,24}
I would like to present what I believe are some of “the all-important subjects that should arrest every mind.” They’re subjects that are found everywhere in the writings of Ellen White. They’re subjects that should “absorb [our] attention.” As you read through them, ask yourself the questions—Are these all-important subjects truly a part of the message of the New World Order? or, as this last quote so solemnly warns—Is the message of the New World Order a “special effort of Satan to distract the interest and separate it from these all-important subjects?”
Subject #1—The Word of God
“As a means of intellectual training, the Bible is more effective than any other book, or all other books combined. The greatness of its themes, the dignified simplicity of its utterances, the beauty of its imagery, quicken and uplift the thoughts as nothing else can. No other study can impart such mental power as does the effort to grasp the stupendous truths of revelation. The mind thus brought in contact with the thoughts of the Infinite cannot but expand and strengthen.
“And even greater is the power of the Bible in the development of the spiritual nature. Man, created for fellowship with God, can only in such fellowship find his real life and development. Created to find in God his highest joy, he can find in nothing else that which can quiet the cravings of the heart, can satisfy the hunger and thirst of the soul. He who with sincere and teachable spirit studies God’s word, seeking to comprehend its truths, will be brought in touch with its Author; and, except by his own choice, there is no limit to the possibilities of his development.” {Education 124,125}
Subject #2—The Law of God
“From the very beginning of the great controversy in heaven it has been Satan’s purpose to overthrow the law of God. It was to accomplish this that he entered upon his rebellion against the Creator, and though he was cast out of heaven he has continued the same warfare upon the earth. To deceive men, and thus lead them to transgress God’s law, is the object which he has steadfastly pursued…The last great conflict between truth and error is but the final struggle of the long-standing controversy concerning the law of God. Upon this battle we are now entering—a battle between the laws of men and the precepts of Jehovah, between the religion of the Bible and the religion of fable and tradition.” {Great Controversy 582}
“The warfare against God’s law, which was begun in heaven, will be continued until the end of time. Every man will be tested. Obedience or disobedience is the question to be decided by the whole world. All will be called to choose between the law of God and the laws of men. Here the dividing line will be drawn.” {Desire of Ages 763}
Subject #3—The Health Message
“Every law governing the human machinery is to be considered just as truly divine in origin, in character, and in importance as the word of God.” {Counsels on Diet and Foods 17}
“The health reform, I was shown, is a part of the third angel’s message and is just as closely connected with it as are the arm and hand with the human body.” {1 Testimonies 486}
“It is not possible for us to glorify God while living in violation of the laws of life.” {Counsels on Diet and Foods 44}
“We need to learn that indulged appetite is the greatest hindrance to mental improvement and soul sanctification.” {Counsels on Diet and Foods 45}
“Here is a work before you which will come closer and be more trying than anything which has yet been brought to bear upon you…You are stumbling over the very blessing which heaven has placed in your path to make progress less difficult.” {Counsels on Diet and Foods 39}
“The controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of thousands, when, if they had conquered on this point, they would have had moral power to gain the victory over every other temptation of Satan.” {3 Testimonies 491,492}
Subject #4—Character Building
“Character building is the most important work ever entrusted to human beings; and never before was its diligent study so important as now.” {Education 225}
“A character formed according to the divine likeness is the only treasure that we can take from this world to the next.” {Christ’s Object Lessons 332}
“The only way to obtain an inheritance in the heavens is to become like Christ in character.” {Our High Calling 72}
“When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own.” {Christ’s Object Lessons 69}
Subject #5—Perfect Obedience
“Never, till exemplified in the sacrifice of Christ, were the justice and the love of God more strikingly displayed than in His dealings with Moses. God shut Moses out of Canaan, to teach a lesson which should never be forgotten—that He requires exact obedience.” {Patriarchs and Prophets 479}
“The law of God will be satisfied with nothing short of perfection, of perfect and entire obedience to all its claims. To come halfway to its requirements, and not render perfect and thorough obedience, will avail nothing.” {1 Testimonies 416}
“It is not the greatness of the act of disobedience that constitutes sin, but the fact of variance from God’s expressed will in the least particular; for this shows that there is yet communion between the soul and sin. The heart is divided in its service. There is a virtual denial of God, a rebellion against the laws of His government… “Not by one word, not by many words, but by every word that God has spoken, shall man live. We cannot disregard one word, however trifling it may seem to us, and be safe. There is not a commandment of the law that is not for the good and happiness of man, both in this life and in the life to come. In obedience to God’s law, man is surrounded as with a hedge and kept from the evil. He who breaks down this divinely erected barrier at one point has destroyed its power to protect him; for he has opened a way by which the enemy can enter to waste and ruin.
“By venturing to disregard the will of God upon one point, our first parents opened the floodgates of woe upon the world. And every individual who follows their example will reap a similar result. The love of God underlies every precept of His law, and he who departs from the commandment is working his own unhappiness and ruin.” {Mount of Blessing 51,52}
Subject #6—Separation from the World
“The first angel’s message of Revelation 14, announcing the hour of God’s judgment and calling upon men to fear and worship Him, was designed to separate the professed people of God from the corrupting influences of the world and to arouse them to see their true condition of worldliness and backsliding.” {Great Controversy 379}
“God has called His church in this day, as He called ancient Israel, to stand as a light in the earth. By the mighty cleaver of truth, the messages of the first, second, and third angels, He has separated them from the churches and from the world to bring them into a sacred nearness to Himself.” {5 Testimonies 455}
“The great Head of the church, who has chosen His people out of the world, requires them to be separate from the world. He designs that the spirit of His commandments, by drawing His followers to Himself, shall separate them from worldly elements. To love God and keep His commandments is far away from loving the world’s pleasures and its friendship.” {Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students 329,330}
“God would do great things for His people if they would come out from the world and be separate…Their only hope of being partakers of the divine nature is to escape the corruption that is in the world.” {2 Testimonies 125}
“God calls for separation from the world. Will you obey? Will you come out from among them, and remain separate and distinct from them?…You cannot mingle with worldlings, and partake of their spirit, and follow their example, and be at the same time a child of God. The Creator of the universe addresses you as an affectionate Father. If you separate from the world in your affections, and remain free from its contamination, escaping the corruption that is in the world through lust, God will be your Father, He will adopt you into His family, and you will be His heir. In place of the world, He will give you, for a life of obedience, the kingdom under the whole heavens. He will give you an eternal weight of glory and a life that is as enduring as eternity.” {2 Testimonies 44}
Subject #7—The Sanctuary
“The subject of the sanctuary and the investigative judgment should be clearly understood by the people of God. All need a knowledge for themselves of the position and work of their great High Priest. Otherwise it will be impossible for them to exercise the faith which is essential at this time or to occupy the position which God designs them to fill. Every individual has a soul to save or to lose. Each has a case pending at the bar of God. Each must meet the great Judge face to face. How important, then, that every mind contemplate often the solemn scene when the judgment shall sit and the books shall be opened, when, with Daniel, every individual must stand in his lot, at the end of the days.
“All who have received the light upon these subjects are to bear testimony of the great truths which God has committed to them. The sanctuary in heaven is the very center of Christ’s work in behalf of men. It concerns every soul living upon the earth. It opens to view the plan of redemption, bringing us down to the very close of time and revealing the triumphant issue of the contest between righteousness and sin. It is of the utmost importance that all should thoroughly investigate these subjects and be able to give an answer to everyone that asketh them a reason of the hope that is in them.
“The intercession of Christ in man’s behalf in the sanctuary above is as essential to the plan of salvation as was His death upon the cross. By His death He began that work which after His resurrection He ascended to complete in heaven. We must by faith enter within the veil, “whither the forerunner is for us entered.” Hebrews 6:20. There the light from the cross of Calvary is reflected. There we may gain a clearer insight into the mysteries of redemption.” {Great Controversy 488, 489}
Subject #8—The Redemption Plan
“The central theme of the Bible, the theme about which every other in the whole book clusters, is the redemption plan, the restoration in the human soul of the image of God. From the first intimation of hope in the sentence pronounced in Eden to that last glorious promise of the Revelation, “They shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads” (Revelation 22:4), the burden of every book and every passage of the Bible is the unfolding of this wondrous theme—man’s uplifting—the power of God, “which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:57.
“He who grasps this thought has before him an infinite field for study. He has the key that will unlock to him the whole treasure house of God’s word.
“The science of redemption is the science of all sciences; the science that is the study of the angels and of all the intelligences of the unfallen worlds; the science that engages the attention of our Lord and Saviour; the science that enters into the purpose brooded in the mind of the Infinite—“kept in silence through times eternal” (Romans 16:25, R.V.); the science that will be the study of God’s redeemed throughout endless ages. This is the highest study in which it is possible for man to engage. As no other study can, it will quicken the mind and uplift the soul.” {Education 125,126}
Subject #9—Christ
“One interest will prevail, one subject will swallow up every other—Christ our righteousness…” {Sons and Daughters of God 259}
“One question will be all absorbing—who shall approach nearest the likeness of Christ?” {1888 Materials 1014}
For my part, I honestly cannot see where the message of the New World Order has much, if anything, to do with these “all-important subjects.” Therefore, I can’t help but come to the conclusion that the message of the New World Order is actually a fulfillment of that quote we began the chapter with:
“The end is near, and now is the time when Satan will make special efforts to distract the interest and separate it from the all-important subjects that should arrest every mind to concentrated action.” {3 Selected Messages 23, 24}