Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. Matthew 24:10.
As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel’s message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When Sabbathkeepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them.
The season of distress before God’s people will call for a faith that will not falter. His children must make it manifest that He is the only object of their worship, and that no consideration, not even that of life itself, can induce them to make the least concession to false worship.
At that time the gold will be separated from the dross…. Many a star that we have admired for its brilliance will then go out in darkness. Those who have assumed the ornaments of the sanctuary, but are not clothed with Christ’s righteousness, will then appear in the shame of their own nakedness.
Among earth’s inhabitants, scattered in every land, there are those who have not bowed the knee to Baal. Like the stars of heaven, which appear only at night, these faithful ones will shine forth when darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people…. In the hour of deepest apostasy, when Satan’s supreme effort is made to cause “all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond,” to receive, under penalty of death, the sign of allegiance to a false rest day, these faithful ones … will “shine as lights in the world.” … Philippians 2:15. The darker the night, the more brilliantly will they shine.
Maranatha p. 196
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Prayer Requests
—I am going in for kidney biopsy today, please pray for me, Evan
—update—Our dear friend Richard completed his earthly journey today. Although sad that he is no longer with us, we have faith and hope in the second coming and that when Richard opens his eyes once more he will do so to see Jesus. Please pray for his family and friends. W
—Please pray that D can find a good job that will supply his family’s needs. L
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Dear Friends,
When Ron got home from work some years ago, he was met with a surprise. As soon as he opened the front door, a starling swooped toward him and flew out of our house! As he looked around, he concluded that the bird had somehow gotten inside shortly after we left in the morning, for she had left her droppings everywhere. Perhaps she had been looking for a place to build a nest and had come in through exhaust vent over the stove. I had taken the screen off from that vent and was looking for a new one. I had not yet found a store that sold that particular size and had left it off never thinking about a bird getting inside.
What a mess! That startling had soiled everything and our house smelled like the bottom of a bird cage. Bedding, including the pillows, had to be washed before bedtime. The kitchen and everything in it had to be scrubbed. As I was washing stacks of dishes and silverware, I was inwardly scolding myself or Ron for having carelessly left the cupboard door and the silverware drawer open in our haste to get to work on time. We had overslept that morning, so it was a bigger scramble than usual. It only would have taken a second to shut them and it would have saved me tons of work. Sofa and chair and even the television had evidence of that pesky bird’s presence. Ron went out to the shed and got a piece of regular screening to temporarily cover that exhaust vent, so it would not happen again.
As I was cleaning, I began to think of how those bird droppings are like our influence. No matter where we go, we leave evidence for good or for ill. If we cling to sin, “we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Isa 64:6 Our influence will be as smelly and dirty as those bird droppings. All with whom we come in contact will become soiled.
Contrarily, if we shut the door to the enemy’s knocking, we will not become soiled or soil others. If we cling to Jesus, if we meditate upon His goodness, if we read His Holy Word, if we allow His love to flow out from us our influence can affect others for good. All we meet will be pointed to the One Who can cleanse from sin and change us into His image. “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Cor 3:18
Let us give diligence that we “may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” 2 Peter 3:14 Let us cling to our Loving Saviour so tightly, that all that we do and all that we say will influence others to choose “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” is my prayer John 14:6
Rose