" Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain ; so the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain , to every one grass in the field.
Zech. 10:1.
Under the figure of the early and the latter rain , that falls in Eastern lands at seedtime and harvest, the Hebrew prophets foretold the bestowal of spiritual grace in extraordinary measure upon God's church.
"The outpouring of the Spirit in the days of the apostles was the beginning of the early, or former rain, and glorious was the result.... But near the close of earth's harvest, a special bestowal of spiritual grace is promised to prepare the church for the coming of the Son of man.
"This outpouring of the Spirit is likened to the falling of the latter rain ; and it is for this added power that Christians are to send their petitions to the Lord of the harvest "in the time of the latter rain ."
"As Christ was glorified on the day of Pentecost so will He again be glorified in the closing work of the gospel ..."
God's Amazing Grace, 220
I pray that we, each one, will be ready for, and fully active in that great final movement, empowered by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit.
Let us be watching and praying to that end.
May the dear Lord bless your day this and each day in these momentous final days of earth's history.
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A SACRED CHARGE
"Christ has given to the church a sacred charge.
Every member should be a channel through which God can communicate to the world the treasures of His grace, the unsearchable riches of Christ.
"There is nothing that the Saviour desires so much as agents who will represent to the world His Spirit and His character. There is nothing that the world needs so much as the manifestation through humanity of the Saviour's love.
All heaven is waiting for men and women through whom God can reveal the power of Christianity.
"The church is God's agency for the proclamation of truth, empowered by Him to do a special work; and if she is loyal to Him, obedient to all His commandments, there will dwell within her the excellency of divine grace.
If she will be true to her allegiance, if she will honour the Lord God of Israel, there is no power that can stand against her.
"Zeal for God and His cause moved the disciples to bear witness to the gospel with mighty power.
Should not a like zeal fire our hearts with a determination to tell the story of redeeming love, of Christ and Him crucified?
It is the privilege of every Christian, not only to look for, but to hasten the coming of the Saviour."
AA 600
Let us endeavour to hasten the return of Jesus today in our witness for Him.
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Words to Parents
Mrs. E. G. White
January 29, 1901
“Children are very susceptible. Undue severity hardens them, while a lack of discipline is like leaving a field untilled; it is speedily covered with thorns and thistles.
Blind affection is a snare. By it the young are led to look upon evil as a thing to be excused. Parents are in constant danger of indulging natural affection at the expense of obedience to God's law. Many parents to please their children, allow what God forbids.
In allowing children to do as they please, parents may think themselves affectionate, but they are practicing the veriest cruelty. Children are able to reason, and their souls are hurt by inconsiderate kindness, however proper this kindness may be in the eyes of the parents. As the children grow older, their insubordination grows. Their teachers may try to correct them, but too often the parents side with the children, and the evil continues to grow, clothed, if possible, with a still darker covering of deception than before. Other children are led astray by the wrong course of these children, and yet the parents can not see the wrong. The words of their children are listened to before the words of teachers, who mourn over the wrong. There is little hope of children in any age of the world, and especially in this age, whose fathers and mothers help them to testify to a lie.
In the history of Eli the danger signal for parents is lifted. Eli's sons did wickedly, but he restrained them not. His great desire was to avoid unpleasant feelings in the home. He remonstrated, but did not command. His blind affection for his sons led him to shrink from taking any decided action against their wicked course. He proved unworthy of the trust given him, and the Lord passed him by, and gave His message to the child Samuel.”
{RH, January 29, 1901}
Dear Parents, here is good and godly counsel. “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Prov. 22:6
Yes, it is not easy in these present evil days, but it is vitally important for the present and eternal welfare of the children. May the dear Lord bless your day.
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God Gives Wisdom to Accomplish The Work
“And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do [it]: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, [even] my God, [will be] with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.” ! Chron. 28:20
“[1 Chron. 28:20, 21 quoted.] David's solemn charge should be kept in mind by those who are in positions of trust today; for it is as verily binding upon these men as it was upon Solomon at the time it was given. In this our day of probation God's people are being tested and tried as surely as they were in the days of Solomon.
This whole chapter is of importance to all the people of God living in this age…...
“To all who are engaged in His service, the Lord gives wisdom. The tabernacle to be borne in the wilderness, and the temple at Jerusalem , were built in accordance with special directions from God. In the very beginning, He was particular as to the design and the accomplishment of His work. In this age of the world He has given His people much light and instruction in regard to how His work is to be carried forward,--on an elevated, refined, ennobling basis; and He is displeased with those who in their service do not carry out His design. He will separate such men from His cause, and prove others, who, if self-sufficient, will in turn be replaced by still other laborers.” (MS 81, 1900).
{3BC 1129}
Have a blessed day in the Lord’s service. There is joy in working for Him.
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He Came Forth From Death
“(He) came forth from the prison of death, and, over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, proclaimed himself "the resurrection and the life." Through him it was announced that every son and daughter of Adam might be emancipated from their bondage to Satan, to sin and transgression; for, as man's substitute and surety, Jesus had won the victory. The world and its inhabitants were his inheritance, purchased at infinite cost, and every soul who believed in his name, might be an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. When Christ rose from the dead, the victory was proclaimed in triumph by the loftiest order of heavenly intelligence, and joy, inexpressible joy, filled the courts of God.”
{ST, March 26, 1894 par. 10}
“We have a risen Saviour; he has ascended up on high, and ever liveth to make intercession for us. Through him those who believe in him shall be crowned with glory, honor, and immortality; for "the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord."”
{1Thess.4:16,17}
{ST, November 25, 1889 par. 9}
Let’s take comfort in these words, and seek to walk faithfully with Him today and always.
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THE POSSIBILITY OF OVERCOMING.
(Daniel T. Bourdeau; SDA Pioneer)
“Self-examination, if properly attended to, enables
us to see our characters in their true light, and
brings to our view defects in us that we had not
previously seen; and it is when we are impressed with
a sense of our leanness and the magnitude of our sins,
that the question naturally arises, Is it possible to
overcome and attain to holiness?
“God be praised that this question can be answered
in the affirmative; that such frail and imperfect
creatures as ourselves can overcome the corruptions
and imperfections of our fallen natures, and become
holy in this present state. Our reasons for believing
in the possibility of overcoming and attaining to
holiness are briefly as follows:
“God commands us to be holy. But God is too good,
wise, and just a being, to command us to do any thing
that we cannot by his grace perform. Therefore we can
by the grace of God become holy.
“Christ and Paul prayed for the sanctification of
the church and encouraged men to seek after holiness;
and so with other good persons spoken of in the
Scriptures. Now it would be inconsistent to believe
that Christ and Paul and other good persons whose
course was approved by God, should pray for that which
cannot be done, and teach accordingly. Therefore the
sanctification of men is possible.”
Words of the Pioneers, 0101-0102
Let’s thank God for this precious counsel from one
who was a contemporary of Sister Ellen White.
May the dear Lord bless your day as you seek to
serve Him, and by His grace to overcome.
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THE TIME OF TROUBLE
“When he leaves the sanctuary, darkness covers the inhabitants of the earth.
In that fearful time the righteous must live in the sight of a holy God without an intercessor. The restraint which has been upon the wicked is removed, and Satan has entire control of the finally impenitent. God's long-suffering has ended. The world has rejected his mercy, despised his love, and trampled upon his law. The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation; the Spirit of God, persistently resisted, has been at last withdrawn. Unsheltered by divine grace, they have no protection from the wicked one. Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble. As the angels of God cease to hold in check the fierce winds of human passion, all the elements of strife will be let loose. The whole world will be involved in ruin more terrible than that which came upon Jerusalem of old.” {GC88 614.1}
“In the midst of the time of trouble that is coming--a time of trouble such as has not been since there was a nation--God's chosen people will stand unmoved. Satan and his host cannot destroy them, for angels that excel in strength will protect them.”
9T 16, 17 (1909). {LDE 267.1}
So let’s always trust in the power and protection of the One who cares perfectly for His children, and will bring us through the coming days of trouble unscathed, as long as we remain faithful to Him.
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A GLIMPSE OF EDEN
“Adam and Eve came forth from the hand of their Creator in the perfection of every physical, mental, and spiritual endowment.God planted for them a garden, and surrounded them with everything lovely and attractive to the eye, and that which their physical necessities required…..
“The holy pair looked upon nature as a picture of unsurpassed loveliness. The brown earth was clothed with a carpet of living green, diversified with an endless variety of self-propagating, self-perpetuating flowers. Shrubs, flowers, and trailing vines, regaled the senses with their beauty and fragrance.
The many varieties of lofty trees were laden with fruit of every kind, and of delicious flavor, adapted to please the taste and meet the wants of the happy Adam and Eve. This Eden home God provided for our first parents, giving them unmistakable evidences of his great love and care for them…..
“The Lord placed man upon probation, that he might form a character of steadfast integrity for his own happiness and for the glory of his Creator…..
“The first great moral lesson given Adam was that of self-denial. The reins of self-government were placed in his hands. Judgment, reason, and conscience, were to bear sway…..
“Adam and Eve were permitted to partake of every tree in the garden save one. There was only a single prohibition. The forbidden tree was as attractive and lovely as any of the trees in the garden…..
“Eve had wandered near the forbidden tree, and her curiosity was aroused to know how death could be concealed in the fruit of this fair tree. She was surprised to hear her queries taken up and repeated by a strange voice. "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden."
Eve was not aware that she had revealed her thoughts by conversing to herself aloud; therefore, she was greatly astonished to hear her queries repeated by a serpent. She really thought the serpent had a knowledge of her thoughts, and that he must be very wise.
She answered him, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."”
{RH, February 24, 1874}
Let us not listen to the voice of the tempter as did Eve with all the dire results that ensued.
Let us earnestly prepare to be in the glorious Eden Restored.
This world is not our home, wer’e just a passing through!
And let us help everyone we can as we go!
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REASONS TO BELIEVE
“Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed [it] unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”
Romans 1:19-22
The Crowning Act of Creation
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him” Gen. 1:27.
“Here is clearly set forth the origin of the human race; and the divine record is so plainly stated that there is no occasion for erroneous conclusions…..
There is no ground for the supposition that man was evolved, by slow degrees of development, from the lower forms of animal or vegetable life. . . . He who set the starry worlds on high, and tinted with delicate skill the flowers of the field, who filled the earth and the heavens with the wonders of His power, when He came to crown His glorious work, to place one in the midst to stand as ruler of the fair earth, did not fail to create a being worthy of the hand that gave him life. The genealogy of our race, as given by inspiration, traces back its origin, not to a line of developing germs, mollusks, and quadrupeds, but to the great Creator. Though formed from the dust, Adam was "the son of God." {FLB 29}
CREATION FACTS
(Thoughts from an interview on 3ABN)
Pastor John Carter interviewed two scientists. One was an Astronomer and the other a Biochemist.
Here are some of the astounding, and outstanding facts that emerged from this interview!
Regarding the weight and balance of the universe:
(How heavy could the universe be? –infinitely beyond our powers of understanding!!)
The Astronomer told that according to their calculations, arrived at by much investigation into the facts already known and new facts emerging daily, that if the weight and balance of the universe differed (by greater or lesser) from what it actually is by, in simple terminology, the weight of one American Dime (the smallest coin), (or, we could say, the British penny), then no life could exist in the universe!!
The fine-tuning of the universe is that critical!!
Put in a mathematical way it would be like this:
If this variation was greater or lesser by a tenth of a quadrillionth of a quadrillionth of a quadrillionth of a quadrillionth of what it actually is then life in the universe could not exist.
{According to the Oxford Dictionary a quadrillion is as follows: The fifth power of one thousand or 1000^5 (that is, 1 followed by fifteen ciphers) in US standard measurement}
We may well ask, HOW COULD SUCH COME ABOUT BY RANDOM CHANCE?
The astronomer said that the scientific community fully accepts the above figures, and that they show an equation that is beyond any possible factor of mere chance! Yet they still prefer to believe “we just struck lucky!” They bring another factor into the argument, --the possibility of other universes than ours, and that ours could somehow exist because of these others. But they cannot possibly show that there are any such other universes! It is all just wild theory! They are just trying to believe in an impossibility! And why? The Bible says, “…..they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge.” Rom.1:28
Are we not much more reasonable in our acceptance by faith of the God who is the Creator of it all? Surely so!
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THE CLOSING SCENES OF EARTH'S HISTORY
(The Latter Rain)
(This is a portion of a closing events study that was given back in the 1950's by Elder W. Barr of California, USA. There are 12 studies in this series)
"In continuing our study of the latter rain we now take up the subject of the result of receiving or rejecting the Holy Spirit.
Elijah is a type of the last church on earth just before it shall be translated. In 1Kings 18 you have the experience of Elijah. After that wonderful day on Mount Carmel when the Spirit of God used him so mightily, and all Israel were convicted of their sin of worshipping Baal, and turned back to God. That night Queen Jezebel sent to him and said that if he didn't get out of the country within 24 hours she would make him like one of the prophets of Baal that he had slain.
So what happened? He fled into the wilderness. He was under a death-decree. He was in trouble!
Yes! Seventh-day Adventists are going to go through a time of trouble too! They also are going to go under a death-decree, and under similar conditions!
Elijah slew the worshippers of Baal, the Sun-god, and in our day you and I are going to be under a death-decree because we will not worship on the Sun-day instead of the Sabbath.
Elijah fled into the wilderness -just before his translation. We know, according to what God has revealed to us that we are going to go under a death-decree. We are going to go through a time of trouble such as never was.
Elijah wished he could die. I suppose, my friends, that when the Spirit of God is withdrawn from this world, -I know! I do not need to suppose! I know that there will be such anguish upon our hearts as we search thoroughly our life's experience for every sin, that we are going to go through such a heart experience as the prophet went through at that time, -then came translation!
Beloved! every honest individual will receive the Holy Spirit, the latter rain. We are going to speak the message, and the world is going to do whatsoever the Holy Spirit says to them through our message. Those who receive it will go through the 'Elijah experience', and those who reject it will be like the prophets of Baal with their hatred and animosity to place the people of God under a death-decree."
(I will leave it there for now but will send the full sermon upon request.)
The main points further in the study are as follows:
In 7T 140 we see regarding the work of the fourth angel who comes down with great power to lighten the earth with his glory, that that work will be accomplished in large degree by the truth-filled publications that have been distributed to the people.
Then in Early Writings, 271-2 our attention is brought to the company who have agonized with God for the victory and have obtained it, and they speak forth the truth with great power! This great power stirs up and enrages the wicked!
In GC 612 we find God's servants, with faces lighted up and shining with holy consecration hastening from place to place to proclaim the message with power. This will be by thousands of voices all over the earth. There will be miracles and signs and wonders that follow them. The sick will be healed and other miracles.
On page 33 of Early Writings we find that this great movement will be at the commencement of the early time of trouble. The Sabbath will be proclaimed more fully at that time we are told. She writes that this will enrage the churches and nominal Adventists too!!! See 5T 463 and 81, also GC 608 for more on this.
Further references are: GC 606-7 & 612; EW 277; Rev. 18:1,2; 5T 450-1; 2Thess.2: 9-12; 5T 464-5.
He ends the study with these words: "My Brethren, don't you want to be in that last movement? Then let us speedily prepare for it, for Jesus' sake, AMEN!
May the dear Lord bless and light up our day today with the presence of His Holy Spirit is my prayer!
Earnest Christian greetings from Bro. Roy.
MORE MESSAGES TO COME SOON.
