Last month, if you recall, I played Ellen White’s favorite song for you, which is titled “Jesus, Lover of My Soul”, and I mentioned at that time that James White also had a favorite song, and I’ll play that for you in a couple minutes. Some time ago I read somewhere what James White’s favorite song was, but I can’t seem to find that reference anymore, so I can’t prove it to you, but I can tell you for sure that he wrote the words to this song in 1849, and so it must have been dear to his heart. It’s titled “What Heavenly Music”, and I have wondered if it had anything to do with Ellen’s description of the heavenly music she heard while in vision. No way of knowing at this point, but I intend to ask James White someday soon. Perhaps you’re familiar with this song, because it used to be in one of the old hymnals, but before I play it for you, let me give you a short update from the Philippines.

I just recently received an email from Robin and he’s ready to have another order of tracts printed up for distribution, which has reduced the funds we have on hand for the next literature project. A few months ago, I mentioned that we had enough money come in for the Philippines for a while, and that I would let you know when you could send offerings for literature once again, and so I’m letting you know that we need to start rebuilding our fund for the Philippines.

These are tracts Robin has put together himself in the Tagalog language dealing with “The plan of Salvation” and “The Eternal Law of God.” He gave me a brief description of each tract. Tract 1, “The Path to Salvation,” is much like the book Steps to Christ and discusses the love of God and the fact that all sinners are in need of repentance and confession of sin and faith in Jesus, that salvation is solely by God’s grace, and finally, the invitation to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour so they can have the privilege of calling themselves children of God. The theological term for this would be justification by faith, which we’re told is the third angel’s message in verity. So how important is that?

The second tract, “The Eternal Law of God” discusses the foundation of God’s law, it’s role in the plan of salvation and that love is the reason, or motivation for why we obey, and that God’s law is eternally binding, and that Jesus in His humanity obeyed it perfectly to give us an example to follow. And finally, the Ten Commandments are divided into two parts – love for God and love for our neighbors. And the theological term for that is sanctification by faith. The first is our title to heaven, and the second our fitness for heaven, and of course both are necessary in order to meet Jesus in peace when He comes. After Jesus declares us righteous when we accept Him as Lord and Saviour, He will then make us righteous as we cooperate with Him in obedience to His Commandments. And so, this is just what the general public needs to know.

Robin says, “these tracts were written in such a way that they can be easily understood by the majority of people who speak and understand Tagalog in a language and style of today using the Bible as the only reference.” He says, “I have also used pictures to make these tracts look more attractive to the general public. I have written other tracts on various topics as well and they are available for download online.”

Now, if you want to look at these tracts you can go to gospel-workersph.com and click on tracts. You won’t be able to read them unless you understand Tagalog, but you can see what a fine job Robin has done in putting them together.

And then he says, “thank you so much dear listeners, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, for making this project available. Eternity alone can tell how many people have come to know Christ and His truth through our united efforts. Please keep this in your prayers.”

Then he finishes off with words of inspiration from The Publishing Ministry, page 227, “Let all be fully prepared to disseminate the light by word and by pamphlet. There should be hundreds of little tracts scattered as the leaves of autumn….Light! Light! Let it shine forth everywhere. It is to be diffused in jots and tittles, here a little and there a little. It is to be diffused in contrast with error. There is a dense darkness upon human minds, and everything possible should be done to rend it away and let the true Light shine forth.”

So, please do keep Robin and his efforts in your prayers. I know he appreciates it very much and thank you also for your financial support to keep these little tracts going out. Let’s pray.

To begin with this morning, I’d like to read a very well-known couple paragraphs from The Great Controversy, page 605 where it says, “The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty, for it is the point of truth especially controverted. (Or held in dispute. And that’s true, isn’t it? I don’t know of any Christian church that has a problem with nine of the Commandments, but that fourth one is supposedly different somehow, but unfortunately in the end many will find out too late that it was just as important, if not more so, than the other nine. And why is that? It’s because the fourth Commandment is the only one of the ten that tells you who you’re worshipping. Think about it? You can outwardly keep nine and worship a doorknob, but number four makes it clear that the one we worship is the Creator of heaven and earth, and that is supremely important!) When the final test shall be brought to bear upon men (or when they understand the real facts of the matter. You know, we’re told in The Great Controversy, page 605 that the obligation of the fourth commandment is not to be urged upon the people blindly, but everyone is to have sufficient light to make his decision intelligently. God is fair) 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. (Are there people that are ignorantly violating the fourth Commandment today and serving God with a pure heart? Absolutely. But, when the final test is brought to bear upon men, then they will be held accountable. That’s why we have to tell them) While the observance of the false sabbath in compliance with the law of the state, contrary to the fourth commandment will be an avowal of allegiance to a power that is in opposition to God, the keeping of the true Sabbath, in obedience to God’s law, is an evidence of loyalty to the Creator. While one class, by accepting the sign of submission to earthly powers, receive the mark of the beast, the other choosing the token of allegiance to divine authority, receive the seal of God.

“Heretofore (or up to now) those who presented the truths of the third angel’s message have often been regarded as mere alarmists. Their predictions that religious intolerance would gain control in the United States, that church and state would unite to persecute those who keep the commandments of God, have been pronounced groundless and absurd. It has been confidently declared that this land could never become other than what it has been—the defender of religious freedom. (And that would be true if they followed the Constitution, but even now it’s being openly violated by those in power, and we’ve been warned ahead of time that this would happen, and now we see it) But as the question of enforcing Sunday observance is widely agitated, (that means we have a work to do) the event so long doubted and disbelieved is seen to be approaching, and the third message will produce an effect which it could not have had before.”

I submit to you this morning that we have good reason to believe that this “effect” is soon to take place. And what is it that will cause this effect? The agitating of the third angel’s message. When people’s consciences become troubled because of the Sabbath/Sunday controversy, it is then that the third angel’s message will fulfill its grand design in these last days and have an effect which it could not have had before, and we need to be involved in spreading that message above everything else.

Just a couple years ago it looked like perhaps that religious persecution over a day could be a long way off, but today with the things happening within the Divided States of America, it seems much more possible that it could happen, doesn’t it? and very soon! Which means that today, we have a much better opportunity to be agitators with greater effect than ever before, and we should take advantage of it while we can, because from this point on brothers and sisters, it’s going to become more and more difficult to do so.

The more I think about the big climate change push that’s going on today, or global warming, or whatever they’re calling it these days, and it doesn’t really matter if you believe it’s real or a hoax, it seems to me that this could be instrumental for the Sunday law to come about, and I’ll explain why in a few minutes. We can’t be absolutely certain that this will be the case, because looking at current events as the fulfillment of prophecy can lead us astray. This has happened in the past within the great Advent movement when dealing with Daniel 11 and other prophecies, which we’re not going to get into today, but there were two leading Adventist men back in the 1800s, who debated about who the king of the north was, and the one who was looking at current events as a fulfillment of prophecy turned out to be wrong as time went on.

So, we want to be very careful and not be too definite, because the so-called climate crisis may not have anything to do with it, or it may only be a part of the puzzle, but we want to at least look at it this morning as something for the papacy and apostate Protestantism to use to bring about the long-expected Sunday law.

And the other thing I believe will contribute to it is the gender identity crisis that we see taking place all around the world today; the immorality that may cause the far right to over correct the more liberal agenda, because it’s clear that this state of things was foretold long ago by someone who never made a mistake. In the gospel of Luke, Jesus said something very interesting regarding the state of things in this world just before He comes.

Notice what it says in Luke 17:26-30, “And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives (probably multiple times like they do today), they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.”

Now, here we’re given two examples, in connection with Christ’s coming, of what the world was like when God destroyed everyone who was not in the Ark of safety, and afterward when He destroyed the cities of the plain because of their sexual perversion. Jesus here is talking about much more than just catching people by surprise, but also has to do with the state of things just before Jesus comes.

Notice what it says in Genesis 6:5-8; these are some of the saddest words in the Bible. “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. (Now here’s the good part, which gives us hope) But Noah found (what?) grace in the eyes of the LORD.”

Here we see two groups, one large and one not so large. One whose imagination and thoughts of the heart were only evil continually, and those, through God’s grace and to the contrary, whose imagination and thoughts were only on righteous things continually? And in these last days there will only be two groups once again. As time goes on and decisions are made and characters formed, people will fall into one of these two groups to the point where they will be forever stuck, and this is rapidly taking place, and I want to be stuck on continual righteousness when that time comes, don’t you?

“Only evil continually”, that’s why we see the horrific crimes, and murders, and rapes, and mass shootings of grade school children, and the protests for abortion rights right up to the time of birth, and even after birth, which aren’t rights at all. It’s never been right to kill an innocent human being. And “evil continually” is also why we have a justice system that is so one sided today, and the list goes on and on.

Think of the condition of the world just before the flood, and of Sodom and Gomorrah with its sexual perversion. Is it really that much different today with people continually thinking evil thoughts and committing sexual sins? In fact, we have highly educated people in positions of leadership who either can’t or won’t define what a woman is. Isn’t that crazy? Friends, what things were like before the flood and what it was like in Sodom before it was destroyed are all signs that Jesus said would be prominent in the last days. They are a type of what it will be like just before Jesus comes, and we see it all around us today, especially in the larger cities, and that’s why we’ve been warned to flee these cities, especially if we have children, or taking care of grandchildren.

Well, what about climate change and how that may fit into the fulfillment of prophecy. Let me read you a statement from the European Sunday Alliance on the annual European Day for a Work-Free Sunday written just a few months ago on March 3, 2022. “The European Sunday Alliance calls on political leaders to put as a priority on the EU social policy agenda the establishment of a European weekly common day of rest. Work-life balance, as well as healthy, safe and well-adapted work environments, are at the heart of the European Pillar of Social Rights, which all EU institutions and Member States governments have (past tense) have committed to implement. A weekly day of rest is one of the major impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Here we see that the pandemic is being used to bring Sunday into prominence, which questions the origin and reason for Covid-19 in my mind? And I have to wonder why, during the height of the pandemic, why bars and casinos were allowed to stay open, when churches were closed down? If you haven’t noticed, there’s a war against Christianity today in this Nation that claims to have its roots in the Judeo-Christian belief system. There’s more tolerance for other belief systems, and even to Satanism, than to Christianity today) A weekly day of rest, one of the major impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the rise of telework and the fragmentation of working time, often detrimental to the work-life balance of workers. In order to prevent a work environment that compromises the health and wellbeing of workers, it is crucial (notice the wording. “Crucial” means it’s vital to achieve a determined outcome) it is crucial to ensure a right to disconnect during the week but also during the weekend, with a work free day. (Have you ever noticed that Sunday is thought of by most people as part of the week “end”? This is by design. Saturday and Sunday have been thought of in this way for a very long time, which of course makes Sunday the seventh-day in the minds of many people) A full day of rest per week is indispensable to recover and to ensure both a better wellbeing and a better productivity of workers. (Now who could be against that? But it’s all leading somewhere, isn’t it?) Humans are social beings, and for many of them their health requires more than individual time to spend alone. The challenges of the pandemic have highlighted the issue of loneliness in the EU. A common workfree day enables families to spend time together, children with parents and grandparents, who are the first ones to suffer from loneliness. A work free day makes it also possible to pursue volunteer work, civic engagement, joint social sports or faith-related activities (Notice how this also involves religion here) faith-related activities, and more generally, to strengthen the social cohesion of our communities. By tradition and custom (important words), most European countries establish the weekly day of rest on Sunday. The European Sunday Alliance thus calls on European political leaders to put as a priority (in other words, it should be put on the front burner of things to accomplish) as a priority the establishment of a European weekly common day of rest for workers, by tradition on Sunday, as enshrined in Art. 2 of the European Social Charter.” Interesting isn’t it? What church is it that puts tradition above the Bible? The Catholic church! And Jesus said, “In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men.”

Here is another article from “The Diocese of London” written this year, “There are a range of events each year around London about the environment and climate change, which church members can take part in. Climate Sunday has been organized by ‘Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.’ . . . Climate Sunday is a way to focus attention on the global emergency of climate change. The climax of the campaign was the national Climate Sunday event on Sunday 5 September 2021. Churches are still encouraged to hold their own Climate Sunday services, to share their commitments and pray for bold action and courageous leadership in the light of the UN’s COP26 Climate Conference, hosted in Glasgow in November 2021. The aim is ‘giving a voice to local churches’, who are encouraged to hold a local Climate Sunday any time from 2020 onwards. During their local Climate Sunday, every church is invited to do one or more of three things: #1, Hold a climate-focused service, to explore the theological and scientific basis of creation care and action on climate, to pray, and to commit to action. #2, Make a commitment as a local church community to taking long term action to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions. And #3, Join with other churches and wider society by adding its name to a common call for the UK government to take much bolder action on climate change in this country.”

I find it interesting that it’s the European countries who are foremost in promoting Sunday as a day of rest and a day to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Why do you suppose it’s the European countries that are in the front on these issues? Could it be that Catholicism is the main religion in these countries? But wait a minute, aren’t we told that America will be foremost in promoting Sunday sacredness? Well, not exactly, at least not at first, but there is an American first that’s coming up soon.

In The Great Controversy, page 588 it says, “Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former (the immortality of the soul) lays the foundation of spiritualism, the latter (Sunday sacredness) creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they (Protestants in America and not America itself, at least not yet) they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power (which they have already done); and under the influence of this threefold union (apostate Protestantism, spiritualism, and Romanism), this  country (now America comes into play through its laws) this  country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience.” And how is that done? By Congress enacting laws. Or lately by executive privilege by the President, which the Constitution really doesn’t give him the right to do.

Now here’s another quote that clarifies this a little more. Testimonies for the Church, volume 6, page 18, “As America, the land of religious liberty, shall unite with the papacy in forcing the conscience and compelling men to honor the false sabbath, the people of every country on the globe will be led to follow her example.” That is, in “forcing the conscience and compelling.” Again, this is done by enacting laws. Here we are told that as the United States unites with the papacy, which has been forcing the conscience and pushing Sunday sacredness for centuries, it will do the same, and as it does, the rest of the world will follow her example.

Do you remember when Al Gore was marketing his documentary titled, “An Inconvenient Truth”? It was played all over the place, even in the schools. While Mr. Gore was traveling around giving his presentations, what mode of transportation was he using? He was flying all around the world in his carbon polluting jet. I just heard the other day that the electric bill in one of his mansions in Nashville Tennessee consumes about $30,000 per year, and where do you suppose a large portion of that energy comes from? Coal and natural gas power plants, the very thing he says is causing the climate crisis. If Jesus were here, I think he’d call that hypocrisy!

Mr. Gore said the world would reach the point of no return in ten years if the global economy didn’t transition away from fossil fuels? That was in 2006. Likewise in 2009 he said that there was a 75% chance that by 2013, the North Pole would start becoming “ice-free” for a portion of the summer. Remember him talking about the poor polar bears? None of these predictions have come to pass, which makes him an environmental false prophet! Because of these types of false predictions, by him and many others, there are climate activists today going around in some of the major cities slashing tires to take gas guzzling cars off the road in an effort to save the planet. These are the kinds of things that happen when you have environmental fanatics in control of the country, and it’s only going to get worse.

On May 24, 2015, Pope Francis put out an Encyclical Letter dealing with the “Care of Our Common Home”, and in this letter the pope said, “humanity has a duty to future generations to overcome selfishness, indifference, and irresponsible habits, asking (the) faithful to respect creation and inaugurate a lifestyle and a society that is finally eco-sustainable.” According to a Vatican official, the plan is designed to be seven years long because of the biblical significance of the number seven. Year one is a planning year, followed by five years of environmental action. The final, seventh year “will be a ‘sabbatical’ year dedicated to ‘praise and thanking God.” And that was written about seven years ago.

The idea was to begin with Catholic churches and organizations and then bring in other churches and organizations, ultimately involving the whole world, and essential to the plan, of course, is a mandatory weekly day of rest. “The Pope’s encyclical calls for Sunday to be implemented as a weekly day of rest to save the environment.” That was written December 11, 2020.

Nearly all the information I’m sharing with you today is no more than a year or two old, and so it’s current. In the past, various pastors and evangelists have used comments from the various popes and cardinals as is found in places like The Great Controversy, most of which are well over a hundred years old, and people try to excuse these kinds of statements as views that the Catholic church no longer holds, but now we have current information that exposes this great apostasy for what it is, and the avenue through which it is likely to come.

Environmentalism, where the belief is that mankind is the culprit that’s destroying the earth, is the religion of the secular world, and the papacy is using this as it says in The Great Controversy, page 566, “to regain control of the world, to re-establish persecution, and to undo all that Protestantism has done.”

Why do you think gas and diesel prices are so high right now? It’s not because of the war in Ukraine as the current administration claims, but because they want people to drive less, use public transportation more and force people into electric cars in order to “save the environment.” But what are they really saving when they have to use fossil fueled power plants to energize the power stations where you can then charge your car? Something is wrong with this picture. And besides, President Biden would rather ask the Middle East countries to produce more oil when we can do it cleaner and more efficiently right here at home. Again, something is wrong with this picture. I really don’t think our political leaders realize it, because they have other motivations, but unbeknownst to them, this is all being used to accomplish the devil’s agenda by working through the three-fold union we just read about a moment ago.

Well so what Brother Jones So what if all this is all true. I can’t do anything about it, and how is this going to help me to be ready for Jesus to come, and I’m glad you asked, because now we can get down to the more important issue, like are we being as serious as we should be when it comes to the time we spend with God in study and prayer and in sharing with others what we got out of the first two? Are we living up to all the light that God has revealed to us? Are our characters being formed in righteousness, or will we end up in the larger class whose thoughts and intents of the heart are only evil continually? Am I having victory over sin, or is sin having victory over me?

You see dear friends, seeing the signs of the times being fulfilled all around us today is for the purpose of helping us redeem the time, for now, says the apostle Paul, it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed.

When I was going to grade school, sometimes I wouldn’t get out of bed the first time I was called, but when I heard my dad say, “Jack, it’s high time you’ve been getting out of that bed,” I knew that was the last call that would be made before there would be serious consequences, and that’s the situation we find ourselves in today. God is trying to wake us up so we can be ready to meet Him in peace when He comes. And don’t think I’m not also preaching to myself here. We all need to be wide awake and realize that time is short, very short!

You know, earlier we talked about the two different groups that will be alive just before Jesus comes. One group are like those who lived before the flood and like those who lived in Sodom, their thoughts and actions and intents of the heart being only evil continually. And then there’s the other group where just the opposite is taking place, only dwelling on righteous thoughts with pure hearts and holy actions continually.

“But Brother Jones, are you saying that this fallen flesh can really live without yielding to evil thoughts and evil intents of the heart?” And I say absolutely, because that’s the testimony of Scripture! Do you remember reading about Zacharias and Elisabeth, John the Baptist’s parents? They’re both mentioned in Luke 1:5, 6 and I think we ought to read it. “There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord (how?) blameless.” Friends, it can be done, and if we will live the way they did, we will be blameless also.

However, we need to get a few things straight in our minds. First of all, temptation is not sin, if it was then Jesus was guilty of sin, and we know that’s not true. And secondly, when an evil thought pops into our head we should not accept it as being in harmony with our own mind, because Satan is still able to inject evil thoughts into the minds of those who have surrendered all to Jesus, but if we reject them as the evil things they are, we are not guilty of sin and no one else is hurt by them. It’s when we entertain a wrong thought, or cherish a wrong thought, or when we are cultivating sin that the promises of God do not apply, and if that’s the case, we end up falling every time.

Yes, we can thank God for 1 John 1:9 that says, “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse”, but, that is option 2, not option one. God would that we have victory. Remember the story of king Saul when he was supposed to destroy all the animals when Samuel confronted him on his way back from conquering Amalek. Samuel said, “you were supposed to destroy everything, but what is the bleating of the sheep and lowing of the cattle I hear in my ears?” Then in 1 Samuel 15:22 Samuel said, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken (to the voice of the Lord) than the fat of rams.” In other words, to obey the first time is better than having to say you’re sorry afterward. This is the time when God rejected Saul from being king, because he had sinned away his day of grace, and this is exactly what will happen to everyone who doesn’t learn the sad lesson that one sin leads to another and another until they can no longer find forgiveness, and we don’t want that to happen to us.

Now let me share a few verses of Scripture and a few inspired statements from the Spirit of Prophecy so you will know that I’m not just making this up.

1 Corinthians 10:13, “There hath no temptation taken you (or seized you) but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer (or permit, or leave you alone to deal with it yourself) who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able (able to resist); but will with the temptation also (do what?) make a way to escape (He’ll give you an exit plan), that ye may be able to bear it (or endure it, or that you may be able to keep from yielding to it).” That’s God’s promise!

Now let me read you a couple statements that will affirm that. Our High Calling, page 323, “Our heavenly Father measures and weighs every trial before He permits it to come upon the believer. He considers the circumstances and the strength of the one who is to stand under the proving and test of God, and He never permits the temptations to be greater than the capacity of resistance.” Isn’t that wonderful? He’s not going to give us more than we can handle. It may not seem like it at the time, but we can rest in the fact that God’s promise is sure. And yes, that’s where faith comes in. That’s why it’s so important to spend time with God every day, because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17.

A moment ago, I said that we are not to accept evil thoughts as being in harmony with our own mind. Now let me read that statement from Our High Calling, page 85, “Do not for a moment acknowledge Satan’s temptations as being in harmony with your own mind. (What kind of mind would that be? It would be the mind of Christ as it says in 1 Corinthian 2:16. You see, as Christian we are given the mind of Christ when we accept Him as Lord and Saviour. And so, when an evil thought comes, we know it’s not coming from our own mind, and we are to) Turn from them as you would from the adversary himself.”

Testimonies for the Church, volume 5, page 177, “If we would not commit sin, (now listen) If we would not commit sin, we must shun its very beginnings. Every emotion and desire must be held in subjection to reason and conscience. Every unholy thought must be instantly repelled.” Don’t accept it, don’t entertain it, don’t dwell upon it even for an instant. Say, get thee behind me Satan, because that’s where it’s coming from.

Here’s one more from Acts of the Apostles, page 482, “Human effort of itself is not sufficient. (Have you discovered that?) Human effort of itself is not sufficient. Without the aid of divine power, it avails nothing. (Didn’t Jesus say, Without me you can do nothing?) God works and man works. (There’s cooperation going on here) Resistance of temptation must come from (guess who?) man, who must draw his power from God. (Which takes faith. Hebrews 11:6 says, “without faith it is impossible to please God, and if you don’t please God by obeying what you know, the power won’t come, simple as that) On the one side there is infinite wisdom, compassion, and power; on the other, weakness, sinfulness, absolute helplessness.” And so, we are never to get the idea that we are a match for Satan, if we do we’ll lose every single time.

James 4:7, 8, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.”

2 Peter 2:9, “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.”

Psalm 37:5, “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” Do you trust God? Can you trust Him to do for you what you can’t do yourself? The words trust, faith and believe are the same Greek word, so take your pick as to which makes more sense to you. Sometimes I think my faith isn’t very strong, but when I think of trust and believe, yes I do.

Acts of the Apostles, page 532, “In His humanity, perfected by a life of constant resistance of evil, (what kind of resistance? Constant!) In His humanity, perfected by a life of constant resistance of evil, the Saviour showed that through co-operation with Divinity, human beings may in this life attain to perfection of character. This is God’s assurance to us that we, too, may obtain complete victory.” Guess what, if we don’t “in this life attain to perfection of character,” it will never happen, because there will be no second chance, no second probation to get it done.

Perfection of character is the goal to be reached, and what’s going to happen when God has a people like that? Christ’s Object Lessons, page 69, “Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. (that’s why He hasn’t come back yet. People are waiting for Him to come back, but He is waiting for them to become like Him) When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own.” That’s what I want, don’t you? And 1 John 3:2 implies that very thing. Let’s read that and then well close. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, (when He comes back) we shall be (what?) like him; (Not become like Him, but we shall be like Him in character) for we shall see him as he is.” In all His glory, and we shall not be consumed.

Let’s pray about this as we think about the fact that Jesus is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in you and in me.

Sunday Is Coming