Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come. Revelation 14:7.
In 1844 our great High Priest entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, to begin the work of the investigative judgment.
As the books of record are opened in the judgment, the lives of all who have believed on Jesus come in review before God. Beginning with those who first lived upon the earth, our Advocate presents the cases of each successive generation, and closes with the living. Every name is mentioned, every case closely investigated. Names are accepted, names rejected. When any have sins remaining upon the books of record, unrepented of and unforgiven, their names will be blotted out of the book of life. . . .
We are now living in the great day of atonement. In the typical service, while the high priest was making the atonement for Israel, all were required to afflict their souls by repentance of sin and humiliation before the Lord, lest they be cut off from among the people. In like manner, all who would have their names retained in the book of life, should now, in the few remaining days of their probation, afflict their souls before God by sorrow for sin and true repentance. There must be deep, faithful searching of heart. . . . There is earnest warfare before all who would subdue the evil tendencies that strive for the mastery. The work of preparation is an individual work. We are not saved in groups. The purity and devotion of one will not offset the want of these qualities in another. . . . Every one must be tested, and found without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
All who have truly repented of sin, and by faith claimed the blood of Christ as their atoning sacrifice, have had pardon entered against their names in the books of heaven; as they have become partakers of the righteousness of Christ, and their characters are found to be in harmony with the law of God, their sins will be blotted out, and they themselves will be accounted worthy of eternal life. The Lord declares, . . . “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” Isaiah 43:25.
Maranatha p. 93
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Prayer Requests
—–Please pray for the Mills family in the death of their grandma Millie. Rose
—–Please pray for me. I hurt my back yesterday picking up Peter. Rose
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Dear Friends,
Some years ago, we went up to Nebraska to see our kids. Ronnie Jay and Brian were singing in the chamber choir at one of the churches in Lincoln. After the songs, a visiting minister gave the sermon. As he was speaking, told a story of when his father was dying of cancer. His mother’s pastor came over to visit him and anoint him in the name of the Lord. The pastor told him, “Don’t worry. I have typed in a prayer for you and programmed my computer to say it three times a day. That did not impress either him or his parents, as you can imagine! Then, as we were driving home, Ron was reading aloud a book about prayer. It made us realize how little and how routinely we sometimes pray almost as unthinking as that minister.
What a privilege is prayer! We can come before the throne of the Great King of the Universe, Who upholds ” all things by the word of his power” yet is interested in us as if we were the only person in all the world. Heb 1:3 Think of it! From the moment we renew our commitment to God every morning by asking Him to dwell within our heart, till we fall asleep at night, we can walk in close communion with the Great Creator. Paul, speaking of this very close relationship, bids us, ” Pray without ceasing.” 1 Thes 5:17 Of course he realized that we cannot spend all of our time with our hands folded and our head bowed, no! He is speaking of that constant companionship that the One Who gave His life for us is yearning to have with us.
As we go about our daily duties, we can be in His presence. We have the privilege of telling Him all of our sorrows, all of our joys, asking Him for victory over sins yet unconquered, talking to Him regarding the happenings throughout our day, meditating upon His Word, listening to His voice. Our Great Redeemer says to us as He said to Joshua of old, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” Josh 1:8
It is only when we take our eyes off from Jesus, that we go astray. It is only when we forget to “practice the Presence” and become so busy that we forget Him, that we begin to wander from “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” John 14:6 It is when we begin to listen to the world’s beckoning voice that we get into trouble. We soon become fascinated with the fleeting pleasures the evil one has to offer, lose our balance, and fall from the Path. The apostle John advises, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” 1 John 2:15-17
Let us daily give our heart to Jesus, praying 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. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.” Ps 51:10-14 Let us look to Him in these perplexing times for protection from the evil that surrounds us and pray, “O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou [our] arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.” Isa 33:2 Let us diligently keep our weak and trembling hand in His mighty nail-scarred hand, walking with Him is sweet fellowship, telling Him all of our joys, all of our sorrows, all of our fears and trusting Him to lead us all the way to His Heavenly Kingdom is my prayer .
Rose