Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. Revelation 12:12.
As men depart further and further from God, Satan is permitted to have power over the children of disobedience. He hurls destruction among men. There is calamity by land and sea. Property and life are destroyed by fire and flood. Satan resolves to charge this upon those who refuse to bow to the idol which he has set up. His agents point to Seventh-day Adventists as the cause of the trouble. “These people stand out in defiance of law,” they say. “They desecrate Sunday. Were they compelled to obey the law for Sunday observance, there would be a cessation of these terrible judgments.”
Calamities will come–calamities most awful, most unexpected; and these destructions will follow one after another. If there will be a heeding of the warnings that God has given, and if churches will repent, returning to their allegiance, then other cities may be spared for a time. But if men who have been deceived continue in the same way in which they have been walking, disregarding the law of God and presenting falsehoods before the people, God allows them to suffer calamity, that their senses may be awakened.
The judgments will be according to the wickedness of the people and the light of truth that they have had. If they have had the truth, according to that light will be the punishment.
Satan puts his interpretation upon events, and they [leading men] think, as he would have them, that the calamities which fill the land are a result of Sunday-breaking. Thinking to appease the wrath of God, these influential men make laws enforcing Sunday observance. They think that by exalting this false rest-day higher, and still higher, compelling obedience to the Sunday law, the spurious sabbath, they are doing God service. Those who honor God by observing the true Sabbath are looked upon as disloyal to God, when it is really those who thus regard them who are themselves disloyal, because they are trampling under foot the Sabbath originated in Eden.
Maranatha p. 176
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Prayer Requests
—–Around 9 p.m., WWU President John McVay made an official statement with the news of Madison Baird’s passing:
“We are saddened to inform you that Walla Walla University lost a treasured member of our campus family this evening with the death of Madison Baird. At the time of her death, Maddy was surrounded by family and friends, who were singing together and sharing messages of hope from the hundreds who loved her. Maddy was a bright light on our campus and in our community, and our hearts are broken.
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Dear Friends,
One day some years ago, I decided to wear a pair of Esther Marie’s sandals that she no longer wanted and I had been wearing around the house. They were in such a convenient spot to slip into and since they were comfortable I decided to wear them to work.
As soon as I arrived at work, however, I became painfully aware of them. As soon as I stepped onto the tile floor, loud clickety-clacks resounded through the foyer. I sounded like a tap-dancer. Esther’s sandals are the type with only a wide strap across the top of the foot, but none in back to hold it firm. So there was not only the click, click, click of the heels, but also a slap, slap, slap as my heel and the shoe met with every step. Try as I might, I just could not walk quietly.
Although those sandals make my feet feel very comfortable, I was very uncomfortable in my mind. Throughout the day, everyone could hear me no matter where I went. I got a few comments about their being able to know where I was at all times. Many people turned and looked my direction. It seemed to me that they were suppressing their giggles at my discomfort. Going up and down the stairs to the office where I work, amplified the clickety-clack of those offending shoes. I felt so self conscious. I would rather not be noticed, and everyone was noticing me no matter what I did, no matter where I went.
Thus it is in life. How seldom we are aware of our “footsteps”; yet no matter where we go, our they “speak” to those around us. Jesus declares, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and pu! t it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matt 5:14-16 Those with whom we come in contact are waiting to see if our “walk” matches our profession as Christians. “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 2:6;1:6,7 Paul adds, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” Col 2:6,7
There is a danger that we will become like the Pharisees were when Jesus walked upon this earth. Jesus warns us, “do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.” Matt 23:3 Because their profession did not match their “walk” with Him, Jesus pronounced many woes upon them. “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear ! by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto ! you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” 13-28
May we continually walk in truth upon the path of life never turning to the left or to the right. May we do faithfully whatsoever it is our duty to do. (3 John 3-5 ) May we, though our walk, bring others to our Dear Saviour is my prayer.
Rose