In Romans 13 Paul outlines the duties of the Christian believer in society:

"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. . . . Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor" (Rom. 13:1-7).*

Why is the Christian to do all these things? Why is the Christian to be a good citizen?

The answer is outlined in verses 11-14: "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed."

What time is it? When we look around us, we see a world in revolt, enveloped in violence, destruction, and protest. The old norms of conduct are no longer respected, the old clich�s no longer work, the old formulas no longer produce the results they used to.

In this technological, computerized age, the world has become one global village. Knowledge has increased with incredible speed. All the scientific wonders of the past have now coalesced, forming a peak upon which to stand ready to hurl this generation into the full and final glory of human scientific outreach. Once it was the moon we aimed for, then it was the planets, next time it will be the stars. After that, who knows?

What Time Is It?
It's the time when humans will keep on pressing their claim for the conquest of outer space. This age of scientific exploration is indeed the great second renaissance, the glory of which is destined to reach its peak in our generation.

It's the time of a new religion abroad in the land, a religion created by science. The computer, satellite communication, and the communication highway are causing millions of their devotees to bow the knee in adoration. This new religion makes us into our own god, worshiping at the shrine that we have dedicated to ourselves. As one scientist has said, science has opened the gateway to heaven. In the area of morality we have reached a new low. Collapsing moral standards are strewn in great profusion along the pathway of our decadent society. The moorings have been removed, and we are being buffeted back and forth by the winds of loose passion, sexual promiscuity, marital infidelity, and the so-called new morality. This ever-rising flood of immorality threatens to engulf all of society. The few minority voices raised in alarm at the approaching disaster sound strangely off-key and unreal. In fact, very few are even listening or concerned. We cannot begin to fathom the great depths of moral decay into which our society has fallen. We even have the sad spectacle of clergy and religious leaders putting their approval on homosexuality and premarital sexual relations. Such is the situation that even the clergy is brainwashed and sin is being called righteousness.

Our cities are sick, our society is sick, our generation is sick. A terrible plague has broken out in epidemic proportions, and a moral cesspool threatens to engulf us all.

And what is the picture like in the field of religion? I wish things were brighter here. I wish I could tell you that there is evidence of a great revival.

Unfortunately, the opposite is true. Religion in general has become formal, dead, and arctic-like. Here and there can be found a little stirring and flurry. But the cruel fact is that the church in general is not being taken seriously by the world at large. To most people, God is dead. Most religious people are content to have their ministers drug them to sleep on Sunday mornings, and sometimes Sabbath mornings, with some soporific potion of attractive, secularistic, materialistic, and ecumenistic concoction. Religion, for most people, is something to be put on and taken off like a coat, to be worn only in church. It must not affect their private lives. They want just enough religion to cover them with a veneer of respectability.

It is time for us as Seventh-day Adventists to go out into this sick and dying world and declare the binding claims of God's holy law as exemplified in the life of Christ. "The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts" (verses 12-14).

God's remedy for sin is found in Jesus Christ. In this battered, bleeding, sin-sickened, dying world of ours, we confidently point men and women to the soon return of Jesus Christ our Lord.

So Little Time
Time is running out on us. It could very well be that we are nearer to the coming of Christ than we even think! Ours is a wonderful opportunity to witness with our own eyes the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. This is the period that is destined to witness the climax of the ages.

Today the human race finds itself sitting on top of a rumbling volcano and crying out desperately, "What shall we do?" Brothers and sisters, this is our opportunity to tell them that all things are now ready for the return of heaven's King and that the kingdoms of this world are soon to become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. As James Stewart of Edinburgh, Scotland, once said: "Our task is to confront the rampant disillusionment of today and smash it with the cross of Christ and shame it with the splendor of the resurrection." And, I add, shatter it with the glorious news of the second coming of Christ in apocalyptic glory. Whatever department of the church we serve, this is the touchstone of our hopes, the raison d'�tre of our service, the ultimate consummation of our earnest desires.

Now let me say this, my fellow Seventh-day Adventist Church employees: we must not be mercenary servants; we do not work just for the dollars and cents. Our service for God and His church is based on His love for us and our love for Him.

Permit me also to say a word to our vast number of highly educated, beautiful young people of this church. You have great talent that God can use in the proclamation of His message and the finishing of His work on earth. You should bring to the cause of God an alert mind, a dedicated life, and a surplus of good common sense.

What a great blessing it is to the church for our young people to be well trained academically, and then have that training baptized by the Holy Spirit!

I say to you today, young people, get all the education you can and then use it for the glory of God.

In the Advent Review and Sabbath Herald of November 13, 1913, Ellen G. White wrote: "All heaven is astir, engaged in preparing for the day of God's vengeance, the day of Zion's deliverance. The time of tarrying is almost ended. The pilgrims and strangers who have so long been seeking a better country are almost home. I feel as if I must cry aloud, Homeward bound! Rapidly we are nearing the time when Christ will come to gather His redeemed to Himself."

Brothers and sisters, the times demand that we take an agonizing reappraisal of our objectives and our methods. We must keep pace with the demands of this tremendous hour. This is no time for timid leadership or play-it-safe techniques. The times demand bold, adventuresome, untried methods in order to keep abreast of the exigencies of today.

We are nearing home, and I believe that the revival we so much need will indeed come. There will be a revival among us not seen since the days of Pentecost. It will come with ten times the power of Pentecost. Under the Holy Spirit's outpouring and unction, this Advent movement will not peter out on the rocks of oblivion, but rather it shall gather momentum with every passing day until it reaches a grand and glorious climax.

Send Out the Music
Many years ago John Evelyn visited Amsterdam and went into the Tower of Saint Nicholas to observe the playing of those marvelous chimes. He found a man way below the bells with a type of wooden gloves on his hands pounding away on the keyboards. The nearness of the bells, the clanging of the keys when struck by the wooden gloves, and the clatter of the wires made it impossible for him to hear the music. But many people in the town paused in their work and listened to the chiming and were glad.

And so it may be, fellow laborer, that in your watchtowers when you are wearily pouring the music of your lives out into the empty lives of others, the rattling of the keys, the heavy hammers, the twanging of the wires, and the very nearness of the work may all conspire to prevent you from catching the music. But across the crowded cities and villages full of weary sin-sick souls, and far out on the eternal sea, the melody of your work will blend with the song of the angels. Do not ever be discouraged in your work for the Master.

Those who have stood on the heights above the city of Naples, Italy, tell us that as the sound comes up from that populous city and reaches the upper air, it meets and mingles on a minor key. There are the voices of traffic and of command; the voices of affection and rebuke; the shouts of sailors and cries of itinerant vendors in the street, as well as the chatter and laughter of children. But they all come up, forming an indistinguishable moan in the air.

That moan in the air is the voice of the world as it reaches the throne of God. It is a cry for help. Christ, who poured out His soul unto death that the world might be saved, hears that cry and waits with unutterable longing for souls to hear the message, for channels through which His divine love can flow to every part of the world.

Will you become involved in its proclamation? Will you go forward with fortitude and resolute purpose to point men and women heavenward? I believe God is counting on you and me, for He has made no other plans.

Time to Act
Now is the time and, thank God, we are the people. I am sure that we all recognize that we have come to the now time. If ever the time was auspicious for striking out for God, it is now! If ever the time was ripe for the harvest, it is now!

Now, while the hearts of humanity are failing them for fear; now, when men and women have become disillusioned with the fleeting pleasures of earth; now, when the universal cry is for something lasting and eternal; now, while the forces of good and evil are consolidating for the last great struggle to the death; now, while science is exploding in ever-breathtaking marvels; now, while men are reaching for the planets of outer space and on to the stars; now, while the doors of opportunity are still open for the preaching of the gospel; now, while the stupefying, crippling, corroding epidemic of sin seems about to envelop the whole of society; now, while the youth of the world are looking for a challenge, something to live for, something to die for; now, while the confused, bewildered masses of earth are groping blindly in the darkness of misery and despair; now, while our decadent society seems bent on destruction; now, while moral laxity and marital infidelity and the new morality are doing their destructive work; now, while the angels of God are holding back the winds of strife from increasing into a global hurricane; now, when the prophecy of Joel concerning the outpouring of God's Spirit upon His people in latter rain proportions is about to be fulfilled; now, in this hour of history, God's call to service comes to each of us to do our part to bring to a great triumphal conclusion the sharing of the Advent message throughout this great, challenging, desperate period of the world's history.

We are a people of prophecy, a people of destiny, a people with a mission, a people with a deadline. We are the people with the message for these times. We are the people of the remnant, and our redemption draweth nigh.

The time is ripe, the message is right, and God is ready! The question is, are we ready?

Someone has said the church's whispers must become shouts, her lethargy must become enthusiasm, and her subdued light must become a beacon upon the hilltops of the world. We are the people of the book-we love the Bible. We are the people with a Saviour-we love the Lord. We are the people of hope-we look for Christ's return. We are the people of prayer-we talk with God. We are the people of law and order-we love God's commandments. We are the people with the Sabbath-we keep holy the seventh day of the week. We are the people of principle-we hold high standards. We are the people with a program-the globe is our limit. We are the people with a heart-we help the needy. We are the people with a past-we go back to Pentecost. We are the people with a future-heaven is our home.

So, knowing the time, let us awake and join hands together in the glorious proclamation of the third angel's message as it sweeps to its mighty climax.

*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture texts are taken from the New King James Version.