Adventistische Schriften über: "People who live in the here and now and want to enjoy their lives"

The provided quotes show that people who live in the here and now and want to enjoy their lives are often absorbed by worldly pleasures and sensual delights, such as business work, amusement, theater, ballrooms, and lavish food. They forget eternity and focus only on immediate needs and pleasures, which distances them from a higher purpose and preparation for God’s judgment. This attitude is described as lethargic and self-destructive, as they sacrifice only fleeting things.

People absorbed by worldly pleasures and forget eternity

»“We are to lay aside our narrow, selfish plans, remembering that we have a work of the greatest magnitude and highest importance to do. In this work we are to proclaim the first, second, and third angel’s messages, thus preparing for the coming of the other angel from heaven, who will illuminate the earth with his glory. The day of the Lord is approaching with stealthy step; but the so-called great and wise people do not know the signs of Christ’s coming or the end of the world. Sin is increasing, and the love of many is growing cold. Thousands, yes millions, are now making their decision for eternal life or eternal death. The man who is wholly absorbed in his office, the man who finds his pleasure at the gaming table, the man who loves to indulge his perverted appetite, the amusement lover, frequenting the theater and ballrooms, do not reckon with eternity. The whole burden of their lives is: What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear? They are not in the train that leads to heaven. They will be led by the great apostate and will be destroyed with him. Unless we understand the significance of the moments that quickly pass into eternity and prepare ourselves to stand in the great day of God, we shall be unfaithful stewards. The watchman must know the time of the night. Everything is now shrouded in a seriousness that all who believe the truth for this time should realize. They should act with reference to the day of God. The judgments of God will fall upon the world, and we must prepare for this great day.”«

1 - Ellen Gould White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6 (6T 406.7)

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Worldly pleasure as the first idol that holds the world captive

»“I coveted a poet’s fame, and over the ‘midnight oil’ I gave hours of labor, hoping to see my name among the great who shine as bright stars and suns in the heaven of the spirit. Life had no side that pleased my taste except such as were presented with honors, or that showed the laurel wreath upon the head, which men have given as the honors of their idolatry. Such were the charms that gained my soul and held it with strong control. These charms fade – earthly honors seem to me only like a feverish dream that will soon pass away. I no longer count the fame that will fade, the gold that has alloy, the firefly joy – I turn from the vanities of earth to seek with humble heart a better, more enduring portion. Fade, phantoms of earth, that dance before my sickened gaze! I seek a high inheritance in those realms of light. Blessed Jesus! Thou wilt be gracious to hear my humble prayer, wash my spots, and let me in. May Thy grace alone prepare my heart for the exalted dwelling, I cannot see Thy face too soon, be too soon with my God. Yes, even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly, deliver my waiting soul – and take me home. Brother Himes: – I send for your paper the following beautiful and appropriate extract from ‘Krummacher’s Elisha,’ pages 353, 354. When did an epoch ever deserve the name of idolatry more than the agitated period in which we live? There are, in particular, three idols that hold the world in its ever-widening magical circles. Worldly pleasure is the name of the first; clothed in the variegated, alluring garb of classical beauty, it exercises a magical influence over all classes and ages. Millions sacrifice to it their last serious thoughts, and even the desire for immortality. A sensual pleasure for the coming hour, a new one for the following, and so on, is all that their refined materialism craves and claims. The second is called Political Freedom. In regard to the world’s hopes in the present, it is the millennium. This idol swallows up thousands; every important leadership leads the masses ever further away from what is necessary with its deceptive glimmer, and presents the salvation of the world as consisting in institutions that history’s judgment has long deemed vain, and that they call a cistern that cannot hold water.”«

2 - Signs of the Times [J.V. Himes], The Advent Herald, and Signs of the Times Reporter [Himes], vol. 6 (HST September 21, 1842, page 6.10)

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People absorbed in the pleasures of the senses and forget the Eternal

»“The prophets to whom these great scenes were revealed longed to understand their meaning. They ‘asked and searched carefully: ... searched what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did indicate. ... It was revealed unto them, that not unto themselves, but unto us, did the things that are now reported unto you by them which have preached the gospel unto you, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.’ To those who are on the verge of fulfillment, what deep moment, what living interest, are these representations of the future – events for which, since our first parents took their steps from Eden, God’s children have waited, longed, and prayed! At this time, as before the first destruction of the world, are people, men and women, absorbed in the pleasures and pursuits of sense. They have lost sight of the invisible and eternal. They sacrifice imperishable riches for things that perish with the using. Their minds must be elevated, their prospects broadened. They must be awakened from the lethargy of worldly dreaming. From the rise and fall of nations, as clearly revealed in the Scriptures, they must learn how worthless mere external and worldly glory is. Babylon with all its power and splendor – power and splendor that appeared so stable and permanent to the people of those days – how completely has it vanished! As ‘the flower of the grass’ it has perished. So passes away everything that is not founded on God. Only that which is connected with His purpose and expresses His character can endure. His principles are the only solid things our world knows.”«

3 - Ellen Gould White, True Education (TEd 110.1)

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