He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time. Daniel 7:25, R.V.
During the Christian dispensation, the great enemy of man’s happiness has made the Sabbath of the fourth commandment an object of special attack. Satan says, “I will work at cross purposes with God. I will empower my followers to set aside God’s memorial, the seventh-day Sabbath. Thus I will show the world that the day sanctified and blessed by God has been changed. That day shall not live in the minds of the people. I will obliterate the memory of it. I will place in its stead a day that does not bear the credentials of God, a day that cannot be a sign between God and His people. I will lead those who accept this day to place upon it the sanctity that God placed upon the seventh day.
“Through my vicegerent, I will exalt myself. The first day will be extolled, and the Protestant world will receive this spurious sabbath as genuine. Through the nonobservance of the Sabbath that God instituted, I will bring His law into contempt. The words, “A sign between me and you throughout your generations,’ I will make to serve on the side of my sabbath.
“Thus the world will become mine. I will be the ruler of the earth, the prince of the world. I will so control the minds under my power that God’s Sabbath shall be a special object of contempt. A sign? I will make the observance of the seventh day a sign of disloyalty to the authorities of earth. Human laws will be made so stringent that men and women will not dare to observe the seventh-day Sabbath. For fear of wanting food and clothing, they will join with the world in transgressing God’s law. The earth will be wholly under my dominion.”
The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty, for it is the point of truth especially controverted. When the final test shall be brought to bear upon men, then the line of distinction will be drawn between those who serve God and those who serve Him not.
Maranatha p. 162
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Prayer Requests
—–This is to request you to kindly uplift Julie in your prayers for healing. In Psalm 33:18-22 it says — But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you. Lalitha
—–Today at 1 PM, New York Time, Eddie will be doing his medical board test, he has prepared a lot. Please pray that God can help him remember the right information. It is an 8 hour test. Susan
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Dear Friends,
When we were first married, we had no washing machine, so I had to do the washing at the laundromat. Entering a new laundromat in the town where we had just moved, I noticed some very large machines in the middle of the room. The had a sign above them said, “Four load capacity.” “Aha! Just what I need!” I thought. I could put all of our clothes in that one machine and save about two dollars. It seemed like a great idea as money was scarce. Going over to that giant washing machine, I shoved everything inside.
Congratulating myself for finding a bargain and a time saver, I sat down and read while I was waiting. Finally, it was time to remove the clothes. To my horror I found that the white clothes had large splotches of pink all over them, including Ron’s white church shirt. Only then did I realize that red sweatshirts fade. Not knowing what to do, I put the clothes into the dryer and dried them. Of course that set the stain. To say that Ron was not happy was an understatement.
How often we are like those clothes—all stained with sin. Our sin-stains are “set” just as permanently as were those stains from the red sweatshirt. We cannot remove them. Isaiah tells us, “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 We are helpless to cleanse ourselves. As Jeremiah declares, “For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.” “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” Jer 2:22; 13:23
We may be able, through stern discipline, to have an outward correctness of behavior, but we cannot clean up the inside. We are as Jesus described the Pharasees. “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.” Mat 23:25-28
We fall upon our knees and cry out in our helplessness as did David, “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.” “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Ps 51:10-12, 7
Praise God that He does not leave us in that condition, all filthy and stained with sin! He calls, “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 “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” Eze 36:25-27 “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 remem! bereth that we are dust.” Ps 103:12-14
John assures us, “If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 “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 103:12-14
Let us come to Him for forgiveness, cleansing, and victory over sin. Let us daily walk with Him in sincerity and truth, placing our hand in His all-powerful hand, that He may lead us along the rugged path to His Heavenly kingdom is my prayer.
Rose
Satan’s Groundwork for the Final Conflict