Kingsley Clarke Lay member, Inter-American Division

There is a war going on, and we are all in it. We have no choice but to be a part of it, but we can decide which side we are on. It’s a war between good and evil, right and wrong, life and death, truth and error. The great controversy is between Christ and Satan.

When it began on earth God made the official announcement: “I will put enmity between thee [Satan] and the woman [the church], and between thy seed [Satan’s followers] and her seed [Christ and His followers]; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15).

God made a similar announcement toward the end of the controversy: “And the dragon [Satan] was wroth with the woman [the church], and went to make war with the remnant of her seed [the last-days church], which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 12:17).

Satan is warring against God’s church. He is the adversary, and the church needs to keep this in mind. Paul declares, “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” (Eph. 6:12). We must remain focused. Our enemy is not our brothers and sisters. Our enemy is the archdeceiver.

“Woe to the inhabiters of the earth . . . for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Rev. 12:12). Ever since Christ defeated the devil through His life, death, and resurrection, the devil has known that his time is short. Not being able to attack the now-ascended Christ, he concentrates his revengeful attacks on the remnant of Christ’s followers. As his time gets shorter, his work becomes more intense, deceptive, and cruel. No wonder the angel pronounced a woe on the inhabitants of the earth. Those who are living in the last days cannot take any risk with their salvation. They must at all times be found anchored in Christ, for the devil’s intent is to take our lives as soon as we fall into sin.

Let us establish two things before we examine the evidence for the last days.

First, no one knows the year, the day, or the hour of Christ’s return. “Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matt. 24:36). Christ considers this statement so important that He dedicates 29 verses to emphasizing it (Matt. 24:36 to Matt. 25:13). Nobody now knows and nobody in probationary time will ever know it. We must, therefore, refrain from all setting of dates.

The devil plans to have us participate in date setting, for when the time passes we become discouraged and others become unbelievers.

Second, we may not know the date, but we can know when it is near. “So likewise ye, when ye shall see these things, know that it is near, even at the door” (Matt. 24:33). Weather watchers know what signs to look for and what the signs foretell. We have to be spiritual weather watchers, knowing what signs to look for and what they mean.

Are we in the last days? This is a pertinent question, as every generation since Christ believed they were the last generation. Do we have sufficient evidence to show we are in the very last days?

I will concentrate on the signs given in our Lord’s prophecy in Matthew 24.

Signs on earth. There shall be wars, rumors of wars, famines, pestilence, earthquakes in different places (verses 5-7). I often wonder about these signs, for Christ says when we shall see them the “end is not yet.” So why give these as signs if they do not establish the nearness of the end?

These are not signs to tell how near Christ’s coming is, but to establish that things will not get better. No matter what politicians have promised, no matter how promising technological advances are, things will get progressively worse. It may seem as if humans will end the world, but God says, “No, I will do it before man does.” God will destroy those who are destroying the world (Rev. 11:18).

Signs in the natural world. A great earthquake, the darkening of the sun, the moon looking bloody, and the stars of heaven shaken (Matt. 24:29, 30; Rev. 6:12, 13)—these have all been fulfilled. The great Lisbon earthquake came November 1, 1755; the Dark Day (sun darkened, bloody moon) on May 19, 1780; and the meteoric shower on November 13, 1833.

According to the prophecy, the next major event in the natural world is the parting of the heavens, the coming of Christ to take us home. We are living in the last days; we are almost home.

Signs in the political world. Daniel 2 records the history of the world from the time Babylon, under Nebuchadnezzar, ruled the world to the coming of Christ.

“First, the Assyrian kingdom ruled the world, then Medo-Persia’s banners were unfurled; and after Greece held universal sway, Rome seized the scepter—Where are we today?” According to Daniel: “Down in the feet of iron and of clay, weak and divided, soon to pass away; what will the next great, glorious drama be? Christ and His coming, and eternity” (F. E. Belden, “Look for the Waymarks”).

We are almost home!

Signs in the religious world. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matt. 24:14). This is the supreme sign, and it is the only one that we can influence in a positive way.

Now more than ever, with the advance in technology in the area of communication and the crumbling of Communism, we are able to spread this gospel in all the world in a short space of time. This, too, is evidence that we are living in the very last days and that we are almost home.

As the end of all things earthly rapidly approaches, Satan puts forth desperate efforts to ensnare the world (see The Acts of the Apostles, p. 219). How is he doing it?

1. Increase in sinful activities. The devil is causing iniquity to abound. People are getting so used to sin that it does not look terrible anymore. His best medium is television, which sets forth crime and sexual immorality as a part of acceptable daily life. We are now used to crime. When we hear of a homicide it does not affect us as it used to. We are now used to sin, and it is affecting the church: “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (verse 12).

2. Drunkenness with the cares of the world. Jesus warned, “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares” (Luke 21:34).

It is one of Satan’s plans to cause us to be too busy to spend time with Jesus and His Word. The deception is that the cares of the world are not sinful in themselves. These are the things we need to pass by every day, but the devil causes us to become so preoccupied with them that we can find no time for God. We soon become spiritual dwarfs and “easy pickings” for the devil.

3. False prophets working signs and wonders (Matt. 24:24). Paul declared that the ministers of Satan have transformed themselves into ministers of righteousness (2 Cor. 11:15).

John the revelator gives us a little more detail. “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty” (Rev. 16:13, 14).

The dragon primarily is Satan (Rev. 12:9), but also represents paganism, the system through which he reveals himself openly (Rev. 13:4). The beast represents Roman Catholicism. The false prophet (beast with lamblike horns) represents false Protestantism.

These seem to cover all religious systems in the world today. The devil’s plan in the last days is to work signs and wonders (miracles) and so attract people away from the simple truth of the gospel.

Through paganism he performs signs and wonders in the name of the occult, devil worship, witchcraft, and magic. Through Roman Catholicism and false Protestantism he performs his signs and wonders in the name of Jesus Christ and dead saints.

“As spiritualism more closely imitates the nominal Christianity of the day, it has greater power to deceive and ensnare. Satan himself is converted, after the modern order of things. He will appear in the character of an angel of light. Through the agency of spiritualism, miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be performed. And as the spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and manifest respect for the institutions of the church, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of divine power” (The Great Controversy, p. 588).

Three Spirits, Three Angels
God’s three angels of Revelation 14 stand in contrast to the devil’s three spirits. God’s angels are preaching while the devil’s spirits are healing and working miracles. The true system will concentrate on a preaching/teaching ministry. The false system will concentrate on a “signs and wonders” ministry. The devil knows that if his ministry were to depend on the preached word, he would be easily uncovered by the Word. So he concentrates on emotionalism and signs.

Christ says, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matt. 7:22, 23).

Let us always remember that prophets must not be tested by their gifts, eloquence of speech, or the miracles they perform. All must be tested by the Scripture. “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isa. 8:20). Note that both the law (what God wrote) and the testimony (what the prophets wrote) are called “this word”—singular. That’s because the prophets’ testimony is in accordance with the law, and they are one.

4. Satan’s impersonation of Christ. “As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. . . . In different parts of the earth, Satan will manifest himself among men as a majestic being of dazzling brightness, resembling the description of the Son of God given by John in the Revelation” (The Great Controversy, p. 624).

The Overcomers
There is no doubt that the devil is powerful and will deceive many. If it were possible, he would deceive the very elect. But it is not possible, for the elect know how to overcome: “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Rev. 12:11).

Christ’s death for our sins must be accepted and His blood applied to our hearts daily, so that we can live a sanctified life. The overcomers also use the word of their testimony, which in effect comes from the Word of God. The Scripture is our only safeguard to test doctrines and the only standard to live by. “And they loved not their lives unto the death.” Paul puts it another way: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

The signs tell us that we are almost home. Satan’s increased activities and deceptiveness tell us we are almost home. But almost home is not home.

A drunken man left a bar one night heading for home. He traveled a few miles and then reached the familiar spot where he needed only to get in his boat and row 200 feet across the river to be home at last. He got in his boat and rowed and rowed and rowed, but could not reach home. He rowed all night and still did not reach home. When day came he looked around to see where he was and what was the problem. To his surprise, he had not moved. He rowed all night in vain because his boat was still tied to the dock.

“Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares” (Luke 21:34).

Watch therefore and pray always!