Elder Ted Wilson

Presentations on this page were done by Ted Wilson, President General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

To open the Global Campmeeting Elder Ted Wilson, President of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists had conversations with the presidents of the world divisions and two unions attached to the General Conference.

In these discussions each of the presidents shared the marvelous work being done in their regions as well as the challenges they are facing in spreading the Gospel.

Opening Dialog with divisions in the Asia Pacific region which includes the Norther Asia Pacific Division, Southern Asia Pacific Division, South Pacific Division, Southern Asia Division and Chinese Union Mission.

Opening Dialog with Division Presidents #1

Opening dialog with divisions in the Euro-Africa region which includes Euro Asia Division, Inter-European Division Trans European Division, East Central Africa Division, West Africa Division, Southern Africa and Indian Ocean Division, and Middle East North Africa Union Mission.

Opening dialog with the Americas Region with includes the North American Division, Inter-American Division and South American Division. (two videos below which include the opening comments followed by the interview)

Opening Dialog with Division Presidents in the Americas Part 1
Opening Dialog with Division Presidents in the Americas Part 2

Sabbath Sermon: Based on Isaiah 6:8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Sabbath Divine Worship Sermon

Artboard 1Elder Ted Wilson Sabbath Sermon: Global Campmeeting May 22, 2021
Sermon Transcript (click here to read)

Isaiah 6:8

Welcome to each of you in the vast Asia-Pacific Time Zone Region. Special greetings to all of you from your world church headquarters for this Adventist Virtual Global Camp Meeting.  Each of you is so important to God’s last-day proclamation of the three angels’ messages.  God has called you to go forward for Him in every country of the Asia-Pacific Time Zone Region in witnessing to others about Christ’s soon coming. 
 
What a privilege for us to worship God together as one heartbeat in this Adventist Global Virtual Camp Meeting, even though we may be separated by many kilometers.  Although the COVID-19 pandemic has isolated so many during this unusual time, God brings us together electronically and, most importantly, through the power of the Holy Spirit binding us together.  Certainly, with all of God’s goodness during this difficult time, it is an opportunity to praise God even during the pandemic and the after affects.  To know that God will lead us step-by-step, as He has been doing, is cause for praise to our Lord and Coming King.  Yes, Jesus is coming soon!  I believe it with all my heart.  As we look around us, we see multiple signs of His soon return.  These signs are God’s blessings to us.  One of the greatest blessings is to study and read God’s Word—the Holy Bible.  Today, we’re going to be looking at the beautiful aspects of Isaiah chapter six and understand that God has a plan for each of us and His people living at the end of time regardless of where we are living.  He’s asking you to say, “Yes, I will go. I will be part of God’s great last proclamation to this world”……yes, what a privilege to worship together as God’s people even during this pandemic and all the challenges we face………we are God’s remnant people under His care.
 
As His remnant people, we have a message and a mission……….and I know He’s using every one of you in Total Member Involvement as you humble yourself before the Lord.  Without a doubt, we are living in the tips of the toes of that amazing prophetic statue found in Daniel chapter two.
 
The next thing that happens is the coming of the Lord in that prophecy that Daniel saw……..that statue of Nebuchadnezzar and those toes and feet that were mixed with iron and clay………….Jesus will be coming represented by that stone cut out without man’s hands that will come and smash the statue and set up the final kingdom of God that will last forever.
 
And, of course, that’s all in God’s plan and what a privilege to be part of God’s worldwide work. God calls all of us during this time of intense stress…..people have lost their jobs, people are fighting COVID-19 or some other illness, people have become discouraged with all the restrictions placed on them, frustrations have developed in families and with others, people have become depressed, ……many people have lost hope and have asked, “Is this the end of the world? Is this one of the seven last plagues found in the book of Revelation in the Bible?”
Well, it’s not quite the end of the world and it is not one of those seven last plagues because they’re very specific, but I want to tell you something with absolute certainty. This is a huge wake up call for all of us for Jesus is coming soon. God is calling for you to be part of an amazing outreach in proclaiming the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14 verses 6 through 12 telling people about the everlasting gospel powerfully shared by that first angel…..the amazing everlasting gospel that goes to every nation, kindred, tribe, and people reaching out to people on a national basis, across local communities, across neighborhoods………reaching people with that message of amazing events that will soon appear.  God is saying, “Wake up, everyone, and worship God, worship the Lord, not other beings or other aspects of life.”
 
That first angel’s message tells us to worship God and give Him the glory for the hour of his judgment has come. What a precious message! The everlasting gospel is the saving power of Jesus Christ who was in that wonderful council with the Father, the Son, and the Holy spirit. Three persons in One……we believe in the Godhead—-the Father, the Son, and the Holy spirit, working together, even before the establishment of this earth.
 
They knew, because of their omniscience….because of their all-knowing power…. that this earth would fall because of the temptations of Satan. So, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit made a plan of escape……. and Christ volunteered….and He said, “Yes, I will go.”   I will be the One to save the creatures that We created……so Jesus came to this earth.
 
He came in a humble way, not to a five-star hotel, but to a one-star barn……And there He was born. He grew up in Nazareth, lived a perfect life, and conducted His ministry for three and a half years of unselfish service………..and then, He died on a cruel cross for you and for me.
 
But He didn’t stay on that cross. He didn’t stay in the grave. He rose and He is interceding in heaven for you and me as our High Priest.  As Hebrews 4:16 says, you can come boldly to the throne of grace because we have a High Priest who understands our own lives and situations.   Praise the Lord, He is the Creator, the Lamb, the High Priest, and coming King. What a plan of salvation—-the gospel, thank God for the everlasting gospel……and then, of course, that second angel’s message proclaimed in Revelation 14:8 which indicates that Babylon is fallen, that Babylon is full of chaos and confusion…….and that Babylon will be completely distant from God and from His truth……and that’s what we have today. Then, of course, that third angel’s message telling people to stay away from worshiping the beast and his image and not to receive the mark of the beast represented by Sunday keeping…..a false day of worship—–which is in complete opposition to Christ and His seventh-day Sabbath….the very day on which He asked us to worship Him.  When you accept the mark of the beast, it is a sign of your allegiance to that which is false, self-centered, and satanic. But when you honor God and, by His power, keep holy His sacred seventh-day Sabbath, you receive God’s seal for His special seal is the seventh-day Sabbath.  That’s why we’re worshiping on the seventh-day Sabbath in honor of God’s creative power and His recreative power.  It is the sign of His authority as the Creator……and as our Redeemer!  Praise God for the Holy Sabbath day, the seventh day of the week. What a privilege to be able to proclaim God’s true day of rest and to realize that in the three angels’ messages have, at the very core of those messages, the righteousness of Jesus Christ—–His justifying righteousness…….righteousness by faith…….and His sanctifying righteousness.  When we allow Christ’s righteousness to work within us, His power works to will and do of His own good pleasure so that we might be wonderful letters, as Paul says, written of God exemplifying His power so people can see in our lives the amazing opportunity of overcoming our sinful tendencies and the temptations of the devil……..completely through the power of God.
 
Yes, we will have temptations. We’re going to have sin all around us and we are sinful human beings. We fall at times into sin, but we have a Savior who will picks us up and, as we submit to His control of our lives, He takes us on into glory all through His righteousness………and that’s the very core of the three angels’ messages……Christ’s overcoming power in our lives as we completely submit to Him moment by moment.
 
Adding to the three angels is that fourth angel of Revelation 18:1-4 which help us to understand even more fully the call of the three angels’ messages to come out of Babylon and confusion and stay true to God in His precious remnant church. What a message you and I have to share in this age of confusion right now, when everything that can be shaken seems to be shaking.
 
God is calling you to be a vital part of God’s last day proclamation. He wants to use you. He wants you, a man or a woman, a boy or a girl, a teenager, to be an example……..someone who is completely committed to Jesus Christ and wholly allows the Holy Spirit to work in your life in a powerful and wonderful way.  You see, God wants you in your daily life to be a witness for Him……..and He’s calling for you right now.
 
As you may know, the world church has made strategic evangelistic plans for the future where everybody can be involved.  For this quinquennium’s strategic plans, we have kept the particular theme of “Reach the World” as we had last quinquennium.  That’s what our mission is…….the great commission of Matthew 28: 19 and 20 telling us to go into all the world to preach the gospel. It’s part of that everlasting gospel indicated in Revelation 14:6 that we are to be part of this amazing outreach to the world, to the nation, to the community……to your family.
 
God is calling you into this wonderful participatory activity right now. Now, in this special plan, Reach the World, we thought we needed something very personal in it and so we thought about various additional themes.  We heard about a marvelous, small, short title……a motivating motto and response that young people created.  In fact, those young people were in Argentina, South America at Universidad Adventista del Plata……..such mission-minded and evangelistically enthusiastic young people……………young people focused on sharing God’s Word and the promise of Jesus’ soon coming…….those young people developed a three word response—-“I Will Go.”
 
We heard about that and we thought……Wow, that’s a really great phrase….simple, forceful, personal, and full of commitment. “I Will Go.” So we had someone contact those young people asking if we could use that special motto for our worldwide program………and, of course, the young people readily agreed for us to use it…….but, I think they wanted us to let the world church know that young people came up with that beautiful motto…….So, the motto became “Reach the World—I Will Go.”   You see, in the book of Isaiah, chapter six, we read an amazing story that developed in terms of Isaiah’s being called by God to proclaim a very special message.
 
The book of Isaiah is a beautiful book with so many fantastic chapters in it that appeal to all of us and help us to know that God is constantly calling us all throughout our experience. God says, “Come to Me and I will make you something special and will show My truth through you.
 
 Now, back to Isaiah chapter six……….I want to begin with verse one and I want you to focus on this in a very special way.  It says here that “In the year that King Uzziah died”…..that was giving the period of time and what was developing….”I saw the Lord sitting on a throne.” Now, obviously God took Isaiah into vision.  He helped him to see the very throne room of heaven itself, and it says this throne was “high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.” It was an amazing sight. Imagine entering the throne room of heaven. Isaiah was given that privilege through vision. Well, what does it say next?
 
In verse 2, it says, “Above it stood seraphim;”…….now, these are angels….. “each one had six wings;” Now this is interesting…… Six wings. Well, what did the angel use them for?  Well, to cover his face with two, “with two he covered his feet, and with two, he flew.”  Well, if you only needed two to fly, why cover your face? And why cover your feet?
 
This was a sign of great respect to the King of the universe. As you may know, I grew up in Cairo, Egypt. I love the Middle East. It’s my home………..even to this day, I love the culture, the people, the food, the setting. I love the desert. I mean, I like green trees and lots of nice vegetation and forests and the mountains and all that.  But, I also love the desert. There’s something very special, I suppose, about where you grew up.  You have an affinity to that setting.  In Egypt and in the Middle East, when you are visiting with someone, if you are sitting in their living room, you have to be careful about cultural practices and you’ve got to be careful about what you do and what you don’t do.
 
Now, for instance Americans many times, as you know, are very casual.  They’ll sit down in a chair and maybe cross their legs showing the bottom of their shoes. You would never do that in the Middle East since the bottom of your shoe is dirty and offensive.  Instead, you want to show respect……..and that is what those angels are doing…..showing respect by covering their feet and faces………showing amazing respect to the Almighty God. Well, these angels cried one to another and in verse three it says. They said, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory!”
 
Now, if you want to read another beautiful rendition of this, read it in Revelation  chapter four.  There are just eleven verses……you can read it later today.  It’s an amazing chapter because it tells about what true worship is and an understanding of how to worship God in order to truly bring glory to Him and not to yourself.  In verse 4, it indicates that “….the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out and the house was filled with smoke.” Now get the picture. I mean, this is an amazing experience. Isaiah was having so many sensory impressions…….a huge throne……the robe of the Lord is filling the entire area……..these angels crying to each other, showing great respect saying, Holy, holy, holy……..and then there’s all this shaking going on because these voices are so powerful…..and then smoke. I mean, this is an amazing experience.
 
Isaiah was just overwhelmed. Well, I would be and I’m sure you would be, too. Well, it says then in verse five that it was just too much for Isaiah. He just says, “Woe is me, for I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips.”  He felt like he didn’t belong there……probably thinking, “I don’t understand why God has brought me here because I just feel so unworthy.  I’m sinful. What am I doing amidst all of this amazing throne room activity?”   Verse 5 continues with Isaiah saying, “And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”  Isaiah was so impressed and was in awe.  He felt his worthless condition because he was a sinner. Now, I don’t know what you’re experiencing right now…..perhaps you maybe are a bit discouraged today. Maybe something has happened in your life that has distracted you from looking to Christ and the beauty of knowing Him or maybe you’ve got some health challenge or maybe you have a problem in your home.  Perhaps there’s a really fractious situation where you work or perhaps you are working from home and are having problems.  Maybe there is something that’s really troubling you………you may just feel like Isaiah……….very much undone……and you may also identify with Isaiah saying, “woe is me, you know, I’m, I’m undone.”  I’m, I’m…….just…..I’m feeling really low.  
 
Well, the Lord knows exactly what’s happening to you and He knows how to remedy that situation. You see, before Isaiah could even put more thoughts together it says in verse six that one of the seraphim, one of those angels, flew to Isaiah having in his hand, a live coal, which he had taken with the use of tongs, from the altar.
 
Verse 7 says, “And he touched my mouth with it.” You see, God knew that Isaiah needed to be encouraged and that he needed to be purified, that he needed to be justified and sanctified through the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  So, this coal was taken off the alter and symbolically was a cleansing of his sins. Now you don’t take a hot coal and put it on tender, sensitive lips, but this was a figurative understanding that Isaiah was being purified by God…….and what did the angel say to him?  “Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away and your sin purged.”  Oh, Isaiah was so excited because, let me tell you, as you know yourself in your own personal experience, when you confess your sins, God is faithful to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness as I John 1:9 promises us.
 
Coming back to those three angels’ messages, the righteousness of Jesus Christ is the core of those three angels’ messages……turning people back to the true worship of God and not to some kind of religion that mixes error with truth…….not some religion that is humanly focused, not some religion that has so much humanism in it that it doesn’t have anything about God. No, it’s all about God as we focus upon Christ and His righteousness.  So, Isaiah, after having this amazing experience and feeling the burden rolled away, hears a voice and it was the voice of the Lord in verse 8.  The Lord is speaking to you right now and to me as He spoke to Isaiah.  God said, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for Us?” I think the last word there is very important.  In the English language, and it may be different in other languages, it has the “Us” capitalized which signifies that this pronoun is referring to God Himself. Now it didn’t say just who will go for “Me.” It says who will go for “Us?” It means the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit……three Persons in One. Now, can’t I explain that…..no one can…..but I believe it.  I accept that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three persons working together as One in a powerful way.  So, they say, “…..who will go for Us?  Then I said”………this is Isaiah saying this……….“Here am I! Send me.”…….. in essence, “I Will Go.” The Lord is calling you today in this very difficult and tough time………so many challenges that we’re facing…..uncertainty and an unknown future humanly speaking……God is calling you to share with others the wonderful, good news that Christ has made a way of escape for all of us and that soon He is coming to take us home to be with Him. Will you respond affirmatively? Will you say, “Yes, Lord, I Will Go?”  I will do everything I can to share with my neighbors, with my friends, with my loved ones, this precious wonderful message. You see, God wants you to be involved. He could have asked the angels to the work, we’re told, but He decided that we needed that participation in His whole plan of salvation and what a blessing it is to be part of it.
 
Let me read you something from the Spirit of Prophecy from Last Day Events, page 75, it says, “Everywhere there is a tendency to substitute the work of organizations for individual effort…..” Oh, well, let the conference do that……let the evangelists do that………why not let the teachers do that in the school?  I don’t need to do that. So, we get organizations to do what should be done in an individual way. The quotation goes on to say, “Multitudes leave to institutions and organizations the work of benevolence; they excuse themselves from contact with the world, and their hearts grow cold.”  You see, when you’re not involved in helping somebody else, your heart gets spiritually cold.
 
Then it says, “They become self-absorbed and unimpressible.”  It means God has a hard time touching them in sensitive situations. It says, “Love for God and man dies out of the soul.”  Well, I want to tell you, we are facing some very big challenges ahead, and the Lord wants you to be of good courage and to stay connected to Him through Bible study, through the study of the
Spirit of Prophecy, through prayer, and then saying in response to the Holy Spirit’s promptings, “Lord, yes, use me.  I Will Go. I will do whatever I can with the talents You have given to me.”
 
In closing, let me share just a few additional thoughts from an amazing book. If you have it close by, you can reference it. It is the Spirit of Prophecy compilation of Ellen White’s writings in the book entitled, “Christian Service.”  It is an amazing book with marvelous counsel on so many aspects of serving God in these last days of earth’s history.  I strongly recommend that you get a copy and read it.  After having read it myself, I have all kinds of notes and underlining in the book……..it’s an amazing book, covering many different subjects.  Let me read to you just a little bit. On page 158 we read, “The work, which the church has failed to do in a time of peace and prosperity, she will have to do in a terrible crisis under most discouraging, forbidding circumstances.”
 
Now the COVID-19 pandemic that the world has gone through was not an easy situation at all. It is difficult, but let me tell you, we’re going to be facing a lot harder situations in the future as we know from the books of Daniel and Revelation and from the wonderful book, The Great Controversy. If you haven’t read that book recently, please read it. My wife, Nancy and I have been reading some of the last portions of the book looking at some of those amazing things that are going to happen.  We know we’re going to face many miserable troubles and trials ahead, but don’t get discouraged. God is with us. “Emmanuel”—– “God is with us.” He’s going to be with us, as Matthew 28:20 tells us, to the end of the world. He will be by our side even in the most difficult situations so that God’s work can continue.
 
Now, let me read another one on page 136 of Christian Service, “There are stormy times before us but let us not utter one word of unbelief or discouragement. Let us remember that we bear a message of healing to a world filled with sin sick souls.”
 
There are so many people who need to hear the “good word of the Lord” from you.  They need to understand that you have strong belief in God and that you’re not discouraged.  Let’s not utter one word of unbelief or discouragement for the Lord wants to use you and me in a powerful way. Now talking about those angels in Isaiah 6 and those amazing seraphim that were flying and serving God and helping Isaiah……..listen to this in Christian Service, page 258, “Cherubim and seraphim,” those that were referenced in Isaiah 6, “and angels that excel in strength, stand at God’s right hand, ‘all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.’” And then this last quote, before I ask you again, if are you willing to go. It says on page 260, “All the heavenly angels are at the service of the humble, believing people of God….” That means, why don’t we just put your name or your local church right in there. It goes on to say, “…..and as the Lord’s army of workers here below sing the songs of praise, the choir above join with them in ascribing praise to God and to his Son.”  May God bless each one of you as you respond to this amazing call in these last days of history for truly Jesus is coming soon and He asks you, “Are you willing to go?  Are you willing to be part of My last day message before I return?”  
 
One day, very soon, you’ll look into the eastern sky and see that little dark cloud about half the size of a man’s hand.   It gets brighter and brighter and larger and larger as soon as it fills the entire sky.  As you look up into that cloud, you see millions of angels, all of heaven poured out for this climactic event…….and there in the very middle of that cloud, you will see the King of Kings, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has come to take us home.  We’ll look up and we’ll say, “This is the God that we have waited for and He will save us.”…………And Jesus will look down say, “Well done, good and faithful servants, enter into the joy of your Lord.”  God wants you to say to Him, “Yes, Lord, ‘I Will Go’ and invite others to be there that day when Jesus comes.” 
 
 Are you willing to allow the Holy Spirit to work through you to influence as many of your friends as possible to fall at the foot of the cross before Christ , accept the Lord and His everlasting gospel, and then for them to become missionaries for Him saying, “I Will Go.”  If you are willing to say, “Yes, Lord, I Will Go,” would you just raise your hand wherever you are right now? May God bless each one of you as we look forward to Christ’s soon coming and share the three angels’ messages with Holy Spirit power.
 
Let me pray with you——- Father in heaven, we thank you so much for the privilege of being part of Your last day proclamation proclaiming the messages of scripture, proclaiming the wonderful prophecies, proclaiming the three angels’ messages………proclaiming that You are coming soon.
 
Thank you for the appeal in Isaiah 6, where we are asked, who will I send and who is going to go for Us?  And Lord, the privilege that we have of saying, “Yes, Lord, here I am. Send me. I Will Go.” Lord, use each one who has raised his or her hand, who has committed themselves to your great proclamation of spreading this last-day message to the world——a message of hope, a message of encouragement……yes, a message of warning, too, but all pointing back to Jesus Christ, our righteousness, the One who is the center of everything that we do and our Redeemer, who is soon to come and take us home. Lord bless each one today as they respond to You and say, “I Will Go.”  We ask this in the precious and powerful name of Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.