In the Congo, Wilson Praised Hichilema but said nothing about the Beast Power, while the Congolese President Urged Adventists to Form a Rome-like Partnership

On Saturday, February 11, 2023, Ted Wilson joined the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Felix Tshisekedi, in a special Sabbath celebration of the 100-year anniversary of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the nation. Pastor Ted Wilson, the church’s global president, traveled to Kinshasa to mark the occasion with division and union leaders, as well as Congolese government representatives, at the People’s Palace, the seat of the National Assembly.

Pastor Ted Wilson began his message by recounting his previous week’s visit with Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema. Wilson praised Hichilema as a “very faithful member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church” during this meeting in the DRC, just as he did in Zambia. This was the same Hichilema who bowed to Pope Francis and called him the Holy Father. [1] Wilson also expressed gratitude to Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi for the opportunity to share God’s word with the crowd, and he mentioned his meeting with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Tanzanian government representatives.

Ted Wilson announced that the Seventh-day Adventist Church does not involve itself in politics but works with governments and society. He talked about the importance of religious liberty, serving others, and following in the footsteps of Jesus, both socially and spiritually. Ted Wilson also emphasized the work of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in education, hospitals, and ADRA, the relief and development agency.

He encouraged people to work together to bring encouragement to the people through reconciliation. He stated that our mission is to instill peace in the hearts of the people. Everyone needs to do something for God, whether it’s through Bible studies, prison ministry, or cooking classes. Ted Wilson encouraged people to enlist in God’s service and to point others to Christ. Pastor Wilson also prayed for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, emphasizing the church’s commitment to the country.

Ted Wilson, unfortunately, made no mention of the beast, the image, or the coming mark. There was no mention of Babylon, no calls to come out, no warnings about Sunday being the false day of worship, and certainly no mention of Pope Francis, who had been there the week before, captivating the nation, performing mass, and promoting ecumenism. When Pope Francis and Ted Wilson, the leaders of two major world religions, appear side by side on local billboard advertisements, does Ted Wilson’s tongue suddenly become withered and tied? After all the talk about sharing the Three Angels’ Message, his voice on these critical end-time messages has gone silent in Africa.

Who benefits today from our silence? Who stands to gain the most when we diminish nearly every word from the Three Angels’ Message? Who wins when Bible truth and Reformation history are replaced with social work with Rome and secular governments? The Vatican wins, and her objective is complete.

Instead of becoming preachers of righteousness, many of our ministers have become champions of silence. They deviate from our divinely appointed mission and instead seek common ground with the world on many social and political issues. Much of the church today has lost faith. We today have an end-time, present-truth message that has been ordained by God to be given to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Have our lives on planet earth become so comfortable and our institutions so prosperous that we will instead purchase peace at the cost of our silence?

Following Ted Wilson’s sermon, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi also expressed some words during this worship ceremony. He praised the achievements of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in health and education. Tshisekedi welcomed Ted Wilson (YouTube: hour 1:42:30) and wished him a pleasant stay in the nation. He thanked the entire Seventh-day Adventist Community for ADRA, the relief agency of the church, and asked to “strengthen these partnership relations” by joining the government in the “visions of consolidation” by providing “free basic education” for the “improvement of the socio-economic life of our populations.”

Tshisekedi then asked the President of the General Conference, as well as “all the religious communities here present,” to pray for peace in all the territories of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He spoke about strengthening the Seventh-day Adventist partnership with the government. However, the very same sentiments expressed to Ted Wilson by President Felix Tshisekedi were also expressed to Pope Francis a week earlier. Tshisekedi welcomed the Pope to the DRC by saying:

• Your Holiness, With great joy, the Congolese people and I welcome the honor you do to the Democratic Republic of Congo by coming for a pastoral visit here starting today under the motto, “All reconciled in Jesus Christ.” On behalf of all our people, in the diversity of their religious sensitivities; on behalf of all present and those who, for various reasons, could not make the trip, as well as on behalf of my family, I wish you a warm welcome. [2]
• These populations remain appreciative of your presence on Congolese soil, and the echo of your pastoral visit, as well as your prayer on the land of our ancestors, will bring them comfort. [2]
• Thank you on behalf of the entire Congolese population for the interest you have always shown in the security situation in our country, praying fervently for peace in the eastern region of our nation. [2]
• Indeed, successive governments have always maintained and consolidated their partnership with the Church, and the Catholic Church in particular, to ensure upstream education and the management of educational and hospital infrastructure to meet basic social needs, particularly in education and health. [2]
• It is with this in mind that we encourage and call for mutually beneficial partnerships in the exploitation of our wealth so that it contributes to increasing job opportunities and improving the living conditions of our people; at the same time, we work vigorously to combat corruption and capital flight, so that these resources genuinely serve the interest of all. [2]
• Your pastoral visit will surely strengthen this determination, and our people are ready to welcome your message of peace, hope, comfort, support and brotherhood. I want to conclude my remarks by wishing you, on behalf of all our people, a pleasant pastoral stay in the Democratic Republic of Congo. [2]

President Tshisekedi is also seeking to strengthen his government’s partnership with Rome as well as with Seventh-day Adventists. These partnerships become problematic when Pope Francis is involved. Rome is determined that the state recognize her influence, voice, and policies. The Pope wants his viewpoint to be both embraced and promoted by the government. The Roman Catholic Church has never believed that the state is autonomous from religion; rather, it believes that the state was created to serve the church and enforce its beliefs.

We cannot participate in partnerships that will eventually lead to the implementation of the Mark of the Beast and the loss of religious freedom. To ensure the protection of religious liberty and the principles of church-state separation, the government must refrain from interfering in religious matters. For example, if this partnership results in the government legally endorsing Catholic doctrines such as Sunday rest, it will violate the rights of minority groups that do not share those same viewpoints.

Furthermore, we cannot form partnerships with anyone because we are already partners with God in delivering the Third Angel’s Message:

“The message of the third angel is a world-wide message. It is to go to foreign lands; it is to be preached in the home field. Into cities and towns and villages, into the highways and hedges, the light of truth is to be carried … If our people realized how soon the inhabitants of the world are to be arraigned before the judgment seat of God, to answer for the deeds done in the body, how earnestly they would work together with God to present the truth! How untiringly they would labour to advance God’s cause in the world, proclaiming in word and deed, ‘The end of all things is at hand!’ My brethren and sisters, arouse your sleeping energies to take hold of the work that is waiting to be done. Let your testimony bear with it the incense of correct representation. To many the truths of the third angel’s message have become a dry theory. The message comes, Wake up the watchmen” (Australian Union Conference Record, April 15, 1912).

The era of the silent church must end, because a silent people are not a true people. A silent pastor is not a true pastor. A silent watchman is not a true watchman. The horrible silence that exists in Adventism is not the result of ignorance. It is the result of willful disobedience and rebellion. The problem today is that our people are silent on purpose. No wonder they can run with Rome.

“The Lord gives a special truth for the people in an emergency. Who dare refuse to publish it? He commands his servants to present the last invitation of mercy to the world. They cannot remain silent, except at the peril of their souls.” (Great Controversy, 609).

“Jesus Himself never purchased peace by compromise. His heart overflowed with love for the whole human race, but He was never indulgent to their sins. He was too much their friend to remain silent while they were pursuing a course that would ruin their souls” (Desire of Ages, 356).

Sources

[1] http://adventmessenger.org/ted-wilson-just-called-the-president-of-the-republic-of-zambia-a-faithful-and-dedicated-seventh-day-adventist-the-same-president-who-wondered-after-the-beast-and-bowed-before-the-pope/

[2] https://www.vaticannews.va/en/africa/news/2023-01/drc-president-tshisekedi-s-welcome-to-pope-francis.html