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God Has His Chosen People, April 27
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a
peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath
called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.
1 Peter 2:9
.
God gives men the light, but many are filled with a self-sufficient, masterly
spirit; and they strive by carrying out their own ideas to reach a height where they
will be as God. They place their mind first, as if God must serve with them. Herein
lies the danger in this: Unless God shall in some way make these men understand
that He is God, and that they are to serve Him, human inventions will be brought
in that will lead away from Bible truth, notwithstanding all the cautions that have
been given.
The Lord Jesus will always have a chosen people to serve Him. When the
Jewish people rejected Christ, the Prince of life, He took from them the kingdom
of God and gave it unto the Gentiles. God will continue to work on this principle
with every branch of His work. When a church proves unfaithful to the word of
the Lord, whatever their position may be, however high and sacred their calling,
the Lord can no longer work with them. Others are then chosen to bear important
responsibilities. But, if these in turn do not purify their lives from every wrong
action, if they do not establish pure and holy principles in all their borders, then
the Lord will grievously afflict and humble them and, unless they repent, will
remove them from their place and make them a reproach....
God is not “worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing”
(
Acts 17:25
). No magnificence of outward display can please God, when the heart
is serving idols and the hands are polluted with iniquity. The Holy Spirit will
unite with those in the church who, with contrition of heart, will walk humbly
with God. To all who look to Him and walk in the footsteps of Christ, He gives
sanctification, comfort, and victory over the world. The people of God, His chosen
kingdom, are not as a stagnant pool. They are as a river, constantly flowing, and
as it advances becoming deeper and wider, until its life-giving waters are spread
over all the earth. Whenever the gospel of God is received, its grace heals the
maladies that sin has produced. The Sun of Righteousness arises with healing in
His beams. Light, strength, and refreshing come from the Lord, and the good fruit
borne bears witness to a work of righteousness.—
Manuscript 33, April 27, 1903
,
“God’s Purpose for His Church.”
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