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The Purification of the Church, July 15
And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify
the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may
offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
Malachi 3:3
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The time is upon us when the miracle-working power of the archdeceiver
will be more decidedly revealed. And his deceptions will increase in their
delusive attraction, so that they will perplex, and if possible, deceive, the
very elect. The prince of darkness with his evil angels is working upon
the Christian world, inducing those who profess the name of Christ to
stand under the banner of darkness, to make war with those who keep the
commandments of God, and have the faith of Jesus.
An apostate church will unite with the powers of earth and hell to place
upon the forehead or in the hand, the mark of the beast, and prevail upon
the children of God to worship the beast and his image. They will seek to
compel them to renounce their allegiance to God’s law, and yield homage
to the papacy. Then will come the times which will try men’s souls; for the
confederacy of apostasy will demand that the loyal subjects of God shall
renounce the law of Jehovah, and repudiate the truth of His word. Then will
the gold be separated from the dross, and it will be made apparent who are
the godly, who are the loyal and true, and who are the disloyal, the dross
and the tinsel. What clouds of chaff will then be borne away by the fan of
God! Where now our eyes can discover only rich floors of wheat, will be
chaff blown away with the fan of God. Every one who is not centered in
Christ will fail to stand the test and ordeal of that day. While those who are
clothed with Christ’s righteousness will stand firm to truth and duty, those
who have trusted in their own righteousness will be ranged under the black
banner of the prince of darkness. Then it will be seen whether the choice is
for Christ or Belial.
Those who have been self-distrustful, who have been so circumstanced
that they have not dared to face stigma and reproach, will at last openly
declare themselves for Christ and His law; while many who have appeared to
be flourishing trees, but who have borne no fruit, will go with the multitude
to do evil, and will receive the mark of apostasy in the forehead or in the
hand.
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