A Living Church

A living church will be a working church. Practical Christianity will develop earnest workers for the advancement of the cause of truth…. We long to see the true Christian character manifested in the church. We long to see its members free from a light, irreverent spirit; and we earnestly desire that they may realize their high calling in Christ Jesus. Some who profess Christ are exerting themselves to the utmost to so live and act that their religious faith may commend itself to people of moral worth, that they may be induced to accept the truth. But there are many who feel no responsibility even to keep their own souls in the love of God, and who, instead of blessing others by their influence, are a burden to those who would work and watch and pray….

Those who are seeking in humbleness of mind to exalt the truth of Christ by their exemplary course are represented in the Word of God as fine gold, while the class whose chief thought and study is to exhibit themselves are as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal….

We entreat those who have a connection with God to pray earnestly and in faith, and not to stop here, but to work as well as pray, for the purification of the church. The present time calls for men and women who have a moral fixedness of purpose, men and women who will not be molded or subdued by any unsanctified influences….

No man or woman can succeed in the service of God without putting the whole soul in the work and counting all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. Those who make any reserve, who refuse to give all that they have, cannot be disciples of Christ; much less can they be His colaborers. The consecration must be complete….

Jesus has gone to prepare mansions for those who are waiting and watching for His appearing. There they will meet the pure angels and the redeemed host and will join their songs of praise and triumph. There the Savior’s love surrounds His people, and the city of God is irradiated with the light of His countenance—a city whose walls, great and high, are garnished with all manner of precious stones, whose gates are pearls, and whose streets are pure gold, as it were transparent glass.—The Review and Herald, June 3, 1880.
From the Heart p.50
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for Shelly who is at the end of her days. Brenda
—-I had some imaging done on my cervical spine and during that they detected a nodule on the thyroid gland. Have to have a biopsy of the nodule and see another specialist for cervical spine. I sure would appreciate your prayers. William
—-Please pray for Joyce, Fran, Gean, Steve, and Aliona who need healing. Rose
—-Please continue praying for Rui and whatever the next step will be after removing the tumor from his spine. Jeri
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Dear Friends,

When we lived in Washington state, we lived in a trailer on about an acre of land. Behind us and to one side of us, were many more acres where the children could explore to their heart’s content. We didn’t have much of a lawn, as our water supply was not adequate for such. When Esther was about 9, a little girl moved into a trailer down the road. They had a nice lawn as they had a better well, and the two girls often played on the nice, green grass. One day, as they were playing at Ashley’s house, they decided to do some “gymnastic” tricks on some old railroad ties that were being used for decoration along the driveway. As Esther turned a cartwheel on one old, wooden tie, a large piece of wood went deep into her bare foot.

She hobbled home for me to remove the “intruder.” When I examined her foot and saw how large a piece of wood it was and how much of it was sticking out of her foot, I was sure that there would be no problem removing it. As the tweezers took hold of the protruding part, it crumbled. The wood was just too rotten to pull out. I tried digging it out, but that was too painful. Finally, I had to take her to the doctor. Even he had a difficult time getting it, but since he was able to deaden her foot so she could not feel the pain, he was eventually able to free her of that offending piece of timber.

That large, crumbling sliver is like the sin in our lives. We may try as hard as we can to rid ourselves of sin, but we are helpless to remove it. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” Jer 13:23 We can, through determination, appear to change outwardly; but our heart remains the same. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jer 17:9 As we hold on to those sins that at first seem so pleasing, they strengthen until our condition is as Isaiah describes, “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.” Isa 1:5,6

How much we need Someone Who can change our vile hearts and make us pure and clean within. Praise God! There is a Great Physician Who can truly rid us of those sins that so easily beset us. He is even now pleading, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isa 45:22;1:18 “Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” “And I will cleanse [you] from all [your] iniquity, whereby [you] have sinned against me; and I will pardon all [your] iniquities, whereby [you] have sinned, and whereby [you] have transgressed against me.” Eze 18:33; Jer 33:8

May we respond to His great love and allow Him to do His merciful work upon our heart, that we may be found of Him without spot or wrinkle or any such thing when He comes to receive His own is my prayer.

Rose