Amen Brother Beacon! Jesus wants to take possession of our hearts. We must want Him to do so. Unless we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are none of His (Romans 8:9). If we will surrender the whole heart to Him, we can do all that He has asked of us. His character is imparted to us not at the end of life, but today if we will but open the heart to Him. How do we come to that point of full surrender? By His stripes we are healed.
They beheld the hands and feet marred by the cruel nails.
We did this to our Savior. Those nails were meant for you and me, but He gladly took them for Himself. It is this grace that causes us to willingly give Him all we have and all we are. He will take our wicked hearts and make them as white as snow. Then we shall have spiritual discernment that opens our minds to be able to know the truth from the lies so abundantly surrounding us.
The Holy Spirit is the breath of spiritual life in the soul. The impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ. It imbues the receiver with the attributes of Christ. Only those who are thus taught of God, those who possess the inward working of the Spirit, and in whose life the Christ-life is manifested, are to stand as representative men, to minister in behalf of the church.
What a difference this would make in our churches. How many were capable of standing in the pulpit when this was written? We find the answer in another inspired statement:
The minds of many are clouded with unbelief because those who unite with the church as the chosen of God do not reveal the virtues that are the fruits of the Spirit. Joining the church is not a sure evidence that a man has joined himself to Christ. The new birth is a rare experience in this age of the world. This is the reason why there are so many perplexities in the churches. Many, so many, who assume the name of Christ are unsanctified and unholy. They have been baptized, but they were buried alive. Self did not die, and therefore they did not rise to newness of life in Christ. 2MR 51.
When we understand God's love for us, then we will open the door of the heart and be able to help others.
There is a great work to be done in our world, and as we approach the close of earth’s history, it does not lessen in the least degree; but when the perfect love of God is in the heart, wonderful things will be done. ML 243.
Let us behold His great love that we then will surrender all and give Him what He requires which is perfect obedience to all that we understand.
What does God require? Perfection, nothing less than perfection. But if we would be perfect, we must put no confidence in self. Daily we must know and understand that self is not to be trusted. We need to grasp God’s promises with firm faith. We need to ask for the Holy Spirit with a full realization of our own helplessness. Then when the Holy Spirit works we shall not give self the glory. The Holy Spirit will graciously take the heart into His keeping, bringing to it all the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. We shall be kept by the power of God through faith. When we are daily under the control of God’s Spirit, we shall be commandment-keeping people. We may show to the world that obedience to God’s commands brings its own reward, even in this life, and in the future life eternal blessedness. 12MR 52.
I understand that for those who are posting I am preaching to the choir. Why? Because we are surrounded by a church that does not understand. Don't for one minute doubt your faith and what you see in His church. Revival and reformation is coming. Let it begin in our lives, in our home, and in our church.
And, there are others who are reading what we are sharing. They too are likewise gaining an understanding of the foundation of our faith. Israel was cut off because Satan had succeeded in perverting the gospel within their nation. So it is today. Unlike Israel, His remnant church will not be cut off. The difference is seen in Ezekiel chapter 36 and 37. God has the power to cleanse not only you and me, but His church. Not all will be cleansed, but He will have a church that keeps His commandments, all of them.
36:23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I [am] the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
36:24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
36:25 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.
And again so there is no misunderstanding God's will and the power of His Spirit. From the next chapter in Ezekiel:
37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which [was] full of bones,
37:2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, [there were] very many in the open valley; and, lo, [they were] very dry.
37:3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.
37:4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
37:5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
37:6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD.
37:7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
37:8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but [there was] no breath in them.
37:9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
37:10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
37:11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel:
These promises of revival and reformation of dead dry, dry bones and of a filthy church were not fulfilled for Israel of Old. They remain to be fulfilled for modern day Israel, His church. When things are dark and the church appears to have completely failed, hold on to these promises. They will not fail and are confirmed by the Spirit of Prophecy in our day. This is God's remnant church.
Again I say, The Lord hath not spoken by any messenger who calls the church that keeps the commandments of God, Babylon. True, there are tares with the wheat; but Christ said He would send His angels to first gather the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into the garner. I know that the Lord loves His church. It is not to be disorganized or broken up into independent atoms. There is not the least consistency in this; there is not the least evidence that such a thing will be. 2SM 69
The church remains in a Laodicean condition which is a lost condition, but with great hope given by Jesus that if we will repent He will come into our heart.
I was shown that the testimony to the Laodiceans applies to God’s people at the present time, and the reason it has not accomplished a greater work is because of the hardness of their hearts. But God has given the message time to do its work. The heart must be purified from sins which have so long shut out Jesus. This fearful message will do its work. When it was first presented, it led to close examination of heart. Sins were confessed, and the people of God were stirred everywhere. Nearly all believed that this message would end in the loud cry of the third angel. But as they failed to see the powerful work accomplished in a short time, many lost the effect of the message. I saw that this message would not accomplish its work in a few short months. It is designed to arouse the people of God, to discover to them their backslidings, and to lead to zealous repentance, that they may be favored with the presence of Jesus, and be fitted for the loud cry of the third angel. As this message affected the heart, it led to deep humility before God. Angels were sent in every direction to prepare unbelieving hearts for the truth. The cause of God began to rise, and His people were acquainted with their position. If the counsel of the True Witness had been fully heeded, God would have wrought for His people in greater power. Yet the efforts made since the message has been given, have been blessed of God, and many souls have been brought from error and darkness to rejoice in the truth.
God will prove His people. Jesus bears patiently with them, and does not spew them out of His mouth in a moment. Said the angel: “God is weighing His people.” If the message had been of as short duration as many of us supposed, there would have been no time for them to develop character. Many moved from feeling, not from principle and faith, and this solemn, fearful message stirred them. It wrought upon their feelings, and excited their fears, but did not accomplish the work which God designed that it should. God reads the heart. Lest His people should be deceived in regard to themselves, He gives them time for the excitement to wear off, and then proves them to see if they will obey the counsel of the True Witness.
God leads His people on, step by step. He brings them up to different points calculated to manifest what is in the heart. Some endure at one point, but fall off at the next. At every advanced point the heart is tested and tried a little closer. If the professed people of God find their hearts opposed to this straight work, it should convince them that they have a work to do to overcome, if they would not be spewed out of the mouth of the Lord. Said the angel: “God will bring His work closer and closer to test and prove every one of His people.” Some are willing to receive one point; but when God brings them to another testing point, they shrink from it and stand back, because they find that it strikes directly at some cherished idol. Here they have opportunity to see what is in their hearts that shuts out Jesus. They prize something higher than the truth, and their hearts are not prepared to receive Jesus. Individuals are tested and proved a length of time to see if they will sacrifice their idols and heed the counsel of the True Witness. If any will not be purified through obeying the truth, and overcome their selfishness, their pride, and evil passions, the angels of God have the charge: “They are joined to their idols, let them alone,” and they pass on to their work, leaving these with their sinful traits unsubdued, to the control of evil angels. 1T 186.
You will hear a perversion of this message to those who believe they are rich when in fact they are miserable, wretched, poor, blind, and naked. It is taught that we are saved in sin, that we have sins we do not know of after we are converted. It is true that we have no knowledge of some things and thus we are not expected to do them. But, God is looking upon the heart. The Holy Spirit will reveal to you if you are unwilling to give up idols. This message is not to converted Christians, but to those who have refused to allow Jesus access to the heart, who do not love Him with all of the heart, mind, soul, and strength. Thus, His testing will be closer and closer until that which is an idol is revealed.
This message will do it work of bringing revival and reformation to His church. It is a strong rebuke and also a message of hope that tells us just what we must in order to be delivered from this often fatal condition. It will cause a shaking in the church. It is the message of the True Witness to the seventh and last church found in the Book of Revelation:
3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
3:22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Just before the message to the Laodicean Church in vol 1 of the Testimonies is a chapter on The Shaking. From that chapter we read:
I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen, and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this will cause a shaking among God’s people.
The testimony of the True Witness has not been half heeded. The solemn testimony upon which the destiny of the church hangs has been lightly esteemed, if not entirely disregarded. This testimony must work deep repentance, and all that truly receive it will obey it and be purified. 1T 181.
Who will respond to the call of the True Witness? Who will go and exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth? Peace will be unto you.