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Faith That Distinguishes, August 18
Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked,
between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
Malachi 3:18
.
An awakening power must be revealed in every believer. We must no longer
act like sinners, while as Christians we should be revealing a living, saving faith.
Living faith in Christ Jesus will produce fruit. There will be a holy, unwavering
devotion to the Lord. Laboring with an eye single to His glory, we shall be
sustained amidst the perils of the last days.
What has sustained Christians in every age, amidst reproaches, temptations,
and sufferings? A pure, trusting faith, constantly exercised to understand what
is truth which sanctifies the receiver, a committing of the keeping of the soul to
God, under any and every circumstance, as unto One whom they knew would not
betray their trust. Our Creator will keep that which is committed unto Him against
that day.
Christ, by His sacrifice to save sinners, evidenced His great love for the human
soul. He gave His life to secure our salvation. What an insult so many, deceived
by Satan’s temptations, offer to the Saviour by abusing their privileges, refusing
to acknowledge His loving interest in them. Yet He, their Creator and Redeemer,
bears long with them in their persistent disdain of His mercies. As this matter is
daily urged upon my mind, I am so astonished that I cannot hold my peace. I long
to reach sinners, and to cry out to them, “Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for
why will ye die?” (
Ezekiel 33:11
).
Christ with His own blood has bought the whole human family. We are His
purchased possession. He desires those who claim to believe in Him, to receive
His power, that in this wicked and perverse generation they may become sons of
God, and that they may reveal to a world entranced and corrupted by Satan, that
God is love and [that] there is a difference, plain and distinct, between him that
serveth God and him that serveth Him [not]. The Lord knoweth them that are His.
The line of demarcation between him that serveth God and him that serveth
Him not is becoming more and more distinct. This is as the Lord designs it should
be. An active, living faith distinguishes the people of God from the sinful, who by
their rejection of Christ bear continually to the world a plain testimony: “I will not
have this man Christ Jesus to rule over me. I will not eat and drink to the glory
of God, but will follow my inclination, eating and drinking as I please. I will not
wear the yoke of Christ; I will not learn His lessons of meekness and lowliness of
heart; I will have my own way, and live in this world a life of pleasure.”—
Letter
131, August 18, 1902
, to Emma White.
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