The Desire of Ages--65--The Temple Cleansed Again

[Richard Myers]

Amen my dear brothers!  In Christ we find love, joy, and peace!  What happened to the Jews that they would put their Messiah on the cross?

    Little did the priests and rulers realize the solemnity of the work which it was theirs to perform. At every Passover and Feast of Tabernacles, thousands of animals were slain, and their blood was caught by the priests and poured upon the altar. The Jews had become familiar with the offering of blood, and had almost lost sight of the fact that it was sin which made necessary all this shedding of the blood of beasts. They did not discern that it prefigured the blood of God's dear Son, which was to be shed for the life of the world, and that by the offering of sacrifices men were to be directed to a crucified Redeemer...... And what was it that destroyed the Jews? It was the rock which, had they built upon it, would have been their security. It was the goodness of God despised, the righteousness spurned, the mercy slighted. Men set themselves in opposition to God, and all that would have been their salvation was turned to their destruction. All that God ordained unto life they found to be unto death. In the Jews' crucifixion of Christ was involved the destruction of Jerusalem. The blood shed upon Calvary was the weight that sank them to ruin for this world and for the world to come. So it will be in the great final day, when judgment shall fall upon the rejecters of God's grace. Christ, their rock of offense, will then appear to them as an avenging mountain. The glory of His countenance, which to the righteous is life, will be to the wicked a consuming fire. Because of love rejected, grace despised, the sinner will be destroyed.

[Beacon]

"What was it that destroyed the Jews? It was the rock which, had they built upon it, would have been their security".

"It was the goodness of God despised, the righteousness spurned, the mercy slighted."

"Men set themselves in opposition to God, and all that would have been their salvation was turned to their destruction."

"All that God ordained unto life they found to be unto death. In the Jews' crucifixion of Christ was involved the destruction of Jerusalem. The blood shed upon Calvary was the weight that sank them to ruin for this world and for the world to come."

"So it will be in the great final day, when judgment shall fall upon the rejecters of God's grace. Christ, their rock of offense, will then appear to them as an avenging mountain. The glory of His countenance, which to the righteous is life, will be to the wicked a consuming fire."

"Because of love rejected, grace despised, the sinner will be destroyed."

The clock of Time is winding down for those who chose to not to respond to God Final Call of Mercy. What will "YOUR" response be??

=========================
1
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling—
  Calling for you and for me;
Patiently Jesus is waiting and watching—
  Watching for you and for me!
    Come home! come home!
  Ye who are weary, come home!
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
    Calling, O sinner, come home!
2
Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading—
  Pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not His mercies—
  Mercies for you and for me?
3
Time is now fleeting, the moments are passing—
  Passing from you and from me;
Shadows are gathering, death-beds are coming—
  Coming for you and for me!
4
Oh, for the wonderful love He has promised—
  Promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon—
  Pardon for you and for me!

 Lyrics:Will Lamartine Thompson (1847-1909)
Music:Will Lamartine Thompson (1847-1909)

[Pastor Sean Brizendine]

Amen, Brother Beacon!

When we come in complete surrender to Christ, He makes it possible for us to overcome sin, be born again by the Holy Spirit with an infilling of all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing, and empowers us to walk in true obedience to all of His commandments! Christ is the only sure foundation for character building for this life and the life to come!

"To those who believe, Christ is the sure foundation. These are they who fall upon the Rock and are broken. Submission to Christ and faith in Him are here represented. To fall upon the Rock and be broken is to give up our self-righteousness and to go to Christ with the humility of a child, repenting of our transgressions, and believing in His forgiving love. And so also it is by faith and obedience that we build on Christ as our foundation." {The Desire of Ages, page 599, paragraph 3}

Christ, the Rock, will never fail those who fully trust in Him and walk in harmony with His counsel!

[Dorine]

"By many illustrations and repeated warnings, Jesus showed what would be the result to the Jews of rejecting the Son of God. In these words He was addressing all in every age who refuse to receive Him as their Redeemer. Every warning is for them. The desecrated temple, the disobedient son, the false husbandmen, the contemptuous builders, have their counterpart in the experience of every sinner. Unless he repent, the doom which they foreshadowed will be his."

There is no sin so great that our Saviour can not forgive except the sin that has not been repented of. Every day we can rise to a fresh start knowing all has been repented of the night before. We are held secure through the night by heavenly watchers and in the morning we once again give ourselves to God and walk and talk with Him throughout the day. As trials and temptations come we are prepared because the Holy Spirit lives within and gives us the power to say NO to the tempter. This is the experience the Jewish nation could have had. Are we learning vital lessons from the experiences of those who refused to accept Jesus into their hearts and those who by faith and obedience walked with Him. "There is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey."

[Richard Myers]

Amen my brothers and sister! Over and over again we are taught the plan of salvation. Over over the Rock of our salvation is revealed to us.

     To those who believe, Christ is the sure foundation. These are they who fall upon the Rock and are broken. Submission to Christ and faith in Him are here represented. To fall upon the Rock and be broken is to give up our self-righteousness and to go to Christ with the humility of a child, repenting of our transgressions, and believing in His forgiving love. And so also it is by faith and obedience that we build on Christ as our foundation. 

As Pastor Sean has shared, our faith and obedience is placing us on a sure foundation.

[Philip T]

"To them which stumble at the word, being disobedient," Christ is a rock of offense. But "the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner." Like the rejected stone, Christ in His earthly mission had borne neglect and abuse. He was "despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: . . . He was despised, and we esteemed Him not." Isaiah 53:3. But the time was near when He would be glorified. By the resurrection from the dead He would be declared "the Son of God with power." Romans 1:4. At His second coming He would be revealed as Lord of heaven and earth. Those who were now about to crucify Him would recognize His greatness. Before the universe the rejected stone would become the head of the corner.


Jesus is the cornerstone, the only way to salvation is by faith through Jesus, if we are unwilling to surrender to Jesus now, we will be crushed by the stone at his 2nd coming, the choice is ours, we can surrender now, walk with Christ, allowing Him to perfect our character or rebel against Christ, walk with the world, and be crushed at His 2nd Advent, those are the only two paths we have.