Elijah and the Modern Church

The closing words of Malachi are a prophecy regarding the work that should be done preparatory to the first and the second advent of Christ.39The Southern Watchman, March 21, 1905.

Those who are to prepare the way for the second coming of Christ are represented by faithful Elijah, as John came in the spirit of Elijah to prepare the way for Christ’s first advent.40Testimonies for the Church 3:62.

Our message must be as direct as was that of John. He rebuked kings for their iniquity. Notwithstanding the peril his life was in, he never allowed truth to languish on his lips….

In this time of well-nigh universal apostasy, God calls upon His messengers to proclaim His law in the spirit and power of Elias. As John the Baptist, in preparing a people for Christ’s first advent, called their attention to the Ten Commandments, so we are to give, with no uncertain sound, the message: “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.” With the earnestness that characterized Elijah the prophet and John the Baptist, we are to strive to prepare the way for Christ’s second advent.41SDA Bible Commentary 4:1184.

The hour of God’s judgment has come, and upon the members of His church on earth rests the solemn responsibility of giving warning to those who are standing as it were on the very brink of eternal ruin.42Prophets and Kings, 716.

All can do something in the work. None will be pronounced guiltless before God unless they have worked earnestly and unselfishly for the salvation of souls.43Testimonies for the Church 5:395.

Your duty cannot be shifted upon another. No one but yourself can do your work. If you withhold your light, someone must be left in darkness through your neglect.44Testimonies for the Church 5:464.

The Lord has a place for everyone in His great plan.45Testimonies for the Church 9:37.
The Faith I Live By p. 290
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Prayer Request
—-My dear friend Fran is having surgery this morning for a golf ball sized mass in her brain. Please keep her in prayer. Rose
—-Ron shut his hand in the car door yesterday and we were unable to get it out for about ten or fifteen minutes. Finally a policeman was able to get the door open. Nothing is broken but it is swollen and painful. Please pray for him. Rose
—-Please pray for Ingrid. She is having problems with dizziness and the doctors cannot figure out why. She is going to be sent to a specialist to see if it is a neurological problem. Also our neighbor Kim is in need of prayer. She is very sick with MRSA. Ron
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Dear Friends,

Since I help out in the Primary Department on Sabbaths, I only read the mission stories written for children. Some of those stories have a good lesson but some are very hard to make interesting enough that the children will draw closer to Jesus. So yesterday, since I have a cold and feel kind of miserable, I decided to read through the youth and adult mission quarterly and glean some information that could help me in my weekly mission story.

One that I read was about a man named Jair, who had killed a man when he was twelve and had been told that he could never find forgiveness with God. He went to meetings that had come to his village and learned that God was willing to forgive him for all of the sins of his past. What a comfort that was to him.

Forgiveness. How much we all need to be cleansed from our filthiness. We may not have done something horrendous like Jair did, but really all sin is horrendous in God’s sight. Isaiah reminds us that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. (Isa 64:6) In God’s Holy Word we find a story which will give us encouragement to accept that cleansing.

When he was young, David was a man after God’s own heart, and the Lord raised him up to be king over Israel. Sadly, some years later, there was an event in his life that changed him forever. “And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him.” 2 Sam 11:2,3 We all know the sad story of the murder of Uriah. Even though David’s repentance was genuine, (Psalm 51) he was never as strong again. This sin, above all others, caused not only him, but his kingdom to become weak. It caused him to be silent when he should have stood strongly for the right. He lost the respect of his children and many of his subjects. As it was in David’s life, so it is in ours.

Thank God there is forgiveness! Thank God there is cleansing! Praise God there is deliverance from the sins that bind us! We may have to live with the consequence of our sin just as David did, but we can be forgiven. “For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” Ps 103:11-14 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1, 2

May we come to the Great Forgiver of Sin while there is still time to receive the cleansing that we so much need. May we “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Eph 6:10, 11 May we so live that we will have no regrets is my prayer.

Rose