Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. 1 Timothy 4:1.
After the passing of the time in 1844, we had fanaticism of every kind to meet. . . . The experience of the past will be repeated. In the future Satan’s superstitions will assume new forms. Errors will be presented in a pleasing and flattering manner. False theories, clothed with garments of light, will be presented to God’s people. Thus Satan will try to deceive, if possible, the very elect. Most seducing influences will be exerted; minds will be hypnotized.
Corruptions of every type, similar to those existing among the antediluvians, will be brought in to take minds captive. The exaltation of nature as God, the unrestrained license of the human will, the counsel of the ungodly–these Satan uses as his agencies to bring about certain ends. He will employ the power of mind over mind to carry out his designs. The most sorrowful thought of all is that under his deceptive influence men will have a form of godliness, without having a real connection with God. Like Adam and Eve, who ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, many are even now feeding upon the deceptive morsels of error.
Satanic agencies are clothing false theories in an attractive garb, even as Satan in the Garden of Eden concealed his identity from our first parents by speaking through the serpent. These agencies are instilling into human minds that which in reality is deadly error. The hypnotic influence of Satan will rest upon those who turn from the plain word of God to pleasing fables.
It is those who have had the most light that Satan most assiduously seeks to ensnare. He knows that if he can deceive them, they will, under his control, clothe sin with garments of righteousness, and lead many astray.
I say to all: Be on your guard; for as an angel of light Satan is walking in every assembly of Christian workers, and in every church, trying to win the members to his side. I am bidden to give to the people of God the warning: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked.” Galatians 6:7.
Maranatha p. 59
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Prayer Requests
——update— John passed away this morning. Please keep his family in your prayers. Pastor Tom
—-please put Melinda on your prayer chain, she is a very dear woman who I have known since she was 12,she is 48 now. She will be having neck surgery Thursday the 17th. it is complicated she has already been warned about the out come. then when she heals from this surgery she has to have a hysterectomy. her uterus has collapsed and the bladder is going next. she is a single mom who put all of her kids through church school. two are in college. thanks. Mary
—— Please pray for Mom. She had a bad headache and upset tummy, with fever. She is some better today but still needs prayer. Susan
—– Craig was taken to ER he gained a lot of fluid , . he doesn’t have his pace maker in because he still has MRSA and they don’t know if they will put one in. doesn’t sound good. Mary
—–Please pray for my grand-niece, Amanda, who is having medical procedures done at a university hospital today. Rose
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Dear Friends,
When Esther Marie was about 9, she and a friend were playing on some old railroad ties that were being used for decoration along her friend’s driveway. As Esther turned a cartwheel on that old wooden tie, a large piece of wood went deep into her foot.
I have always been able to get slivers and thorns out, so when I looked at this large piece of wood, I thought this would be no problem. After having started digging it out, however, I realized this sliver was different. It crumbled when I touched it. The wood was too rotten.
Finally, I had to take her to the doctor. Even he had a difficult time getting it out, but since he was able to deaden her foot so she could not feel the pain, he could free her of that offending piece of timber. But there was a price to pay. When the doctor deadened Esther’s foot, he hit a bone so hard that it bent the needle. For weeks, that foot was very painful. For years, that bone ached when the weather changed.
Just so, there are consequences from the sin we have allowed in our lives. We can ask for and receive forgiveness, but a scar remains. Like David, who was called “a man after God’s own heart” before he became king, a man whom God blessed abundantly during the early years of his reign; after his sins of adultery and murder, his life became filled with trouble and sorrow far exceeding anything he had experienced while running from Saul. 1 Sam 13:14; 2 Sam 11 and onward.
Just as I tried to remove that crumbling sliver from Esther’s foot, we can try as hard as we possibly can to rid ourselves of sin and its consequenses, but we are helpless to do so. “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, change outwardly; but we cannot change our hearts. “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. How much we need a Great Physician Who can truly rid us of those sins that so easily beset us. He says to us, “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 1:18 “As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” Eze 18:33 “And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.” Jer 33:8 “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Isa 45:22
Our response should be, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight….Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow….Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.” Ps 139:23, 24;51
Let us come to our Dear Saviour now, that we may receive the pardon and cleansing we need. Let us allow Him to remake our tangled and twisted lives that we have so ruined by our sins and change us into a loving, victorious Christian whose light shines brightly for His glory. Let us daily walk with Him on the path to Heaven, guarding well the avenues of the soul and praying always for His help and strength that the splinters on sin cannot penetrate our lives any more.
Rose