And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Revelation 13:17.
The time is coming when we cannot sell at any price. The decree will soon go forth prohibiting men to buy or sell of any man save him that hath the mark of the beast.
In the last great conflict of the controversy with Satan those who are loyal to God will see every earthly support cut off. Because they refuse to break His law in obedience to earthly powers, they will be forbidden to buy or sell.
Religious powers, allied to heaven by profession, and claiming to have the characteristics of a lamb, will show by their acts that they have the heart of a dragon and that they are instigated and controlled by Satan. The time is coming when God’s people will feel the hand of persecution because they keep holy the seventh day.
There is a time coming when commandment-keepers can neither buy nor sell. Make haste to dig out your buried talents. If God has intrusted you with money, show yourselves faithful to your trust; unwrap your napkin, and send your talents to the exchangers, that when Christ shall come, He may receive His own with interest. In the last extremity, before this work shall close, thousands will be cheerfully laid upon the altar. Men and women will feel it a blessed privilege to share in the work of preparing souls to stand in the great day of God, and they will give hundreds as readily as dollars are given now. If the love of Christ were burning in the hearts of His professed people, we would see the same spirit manifested today. Did they but realize how near is the end of all work for the salvation of souls, they would sacrifice their possessions as freely as did the members of the early church. They would work for the advancement of God’s cause as earnestly as worldly men labor to acquire riches. Tact and skill would be exercised, and earnest and unselfish labor put forth to acquire means, not to hoard, but to pour into the treasury of the Lord.
Maranatha p. 183
““““““““““““`
Prayer Requests
—–Please pray for the D and the W families who are having some emergencies. LS
——Please pray for my son and his family who are moving across country in all of this cold and snow. Vickie
——Please pray for our family as we have had a virus going though our house for well over a month. Rose
“““““““““““““
Dear Friends,
In 1977 and 78, I worked in the physical therapy department in an army hospital in Alabama. It was very easy and interesting work and I really enjoyed it. Mostly the soldiers would come in for treatment when they just wanted a day off, so they would complain of a stiff neck or a sore back. It was easy to tell that they were perfectly fine by the way they did the exercises after the ultrasound treatment. Captain Meyers, the head of the physical therapy department didn’t care whether the soldiers had a legitimate complaint or not, he treated them anyway. He was more interested in having a good time and made working there a lot of fun.
After I had worked there about a year, Captain Meyers was transferred to another base and Major Wheeler took his place. He was so different—tall, quiet, very stern, quite unapproachable, and all business. The fun stopped. The way he treated the soldiers bordered on the cruel. He had the opinion that anyone who came through that office were there because they just didn’t want to work that day, so he gave them painful examinations and harder exercises than they would have had if they had stayed on duty. He was even cruel to the little four-year-old boy with CP that came for exercises and gait training. Major Wheeler felt that the boy’s mother a poor widow woman, babied him too much, so he got one of the doctors to do the necessary paperwork to institutionalize the child with the stipulation that the mother could only occasionally visit him. The mother was heartbroken. I was incensed. From that moment my dislike of Major Wheeler bordered on hatred.
One day a young soldier walked into our department. He had some rather unusual complaints about pain and weakness. The major felt that he was slacker and treated him very harshly. The young man took it all in a gentle and smiling way. I felt sorry for him because I knew that even if he were exaggerating his condition, the major’s treatment was painful and way too harsh.
Several times a week the young man came back for more treatments thinking that this was what he needed to get better. Each time he told of more unusual and worsening symptoms. Finally, the young man was transferred to a different hospital by his doctor. A few weeks later, Major W. came into the department with a more solemn look on his face than usual. He asked me if I remembered that young man. I said that I did. He told me that he had been talking with the young man’s doctor and that the other hospital had tested him and they had found a tumor on that soldier’s upper spine. Major Wheeler was now very sorry that he had given him exercises and treatment the were contrary to what that young man needed, but it was too late.
How easy it is to misjudge another’s actions or motives and be so wrong about them. The prophet Samuel learned this lesson when looking at the sons of Jesse. As he saw the strong and handsome Eliab, Samuel was sure he was the one God had chosen to be king, but the young man was rejected. God explained, “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” 1 Sam 16:7 Jesus bids us, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” Matt 7:1-5
Again He says, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” John 7:24 How can we judge righteously? He gives the answer, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” Matt 7:20 We cannot judge another person’s motives, but we can know them by their fruits. Does the fruit of the Spirit—“love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance”—show forth in the life? Gal 5:22 Yet even then, we must be very careful. We must remember that “we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” Rom 14:10
The True Witness offers us the eyesalve of spiritual discernment. It is ours for the asking. Let us ask that we may receive. (Rev 3:18; John 15:7) Let us hide God’s word in our hearts that we may be able to have that discernment we must have in these last days that we will not be deceived. Let us pray for, rather than gossip about, those we feel have wrong actions motives is my prayer.
Rose
Forbidden to Buy or Sell