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From Scarlet to White, October 14
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins
be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool.
Isaiah 1:18
.
When you remember that Christ has paid the price of His own blood
for your redemption and for the redemption of others, you will be moved
to catch the bright rays of His righteousness, that you may shed them upon
the pathway of those around you. You are not to look to the future, thinking
that at some distant day you are to be made holy; it is now that you are to be
sanctified through the truth. The prophet exhorts: “Seek ye the Lord while he
may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon” (
Isaiah 55:6, 7
). And Jesus said, “But ye shall receive power, after
that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me ...
unto the uttermost part of the earth” (
Acts 1:8
).
We are to receive the Holy Ghost. We have had an idea that this gift of
God was not for such as we are, that the gift of the Holy Spirit was too sacred,
too holy for us; but the Holy Spirit is the Comforter that Christ promised to
His disciples to bring all things to their remembrance, whatsoever He had
said unto them. Then let us cease to look to ourselves, but look to Him from
whom all virtue comes. No one can make himself better, but we are to come
to Jesus as we are, earnestly desiring to be cleansed from every spot and
stain of sin, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are not to doubt His
mercy, and say, “I do not know whether I shall be saved or not.” By living
faith we must lay hold of His promise, for He has said, “Though your sins be
as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool.”
We are to be witnesses for Christ, reflecting upon others the light which
the Lord permits to shine upon us. We are to be as faithful soldiers marching
under the bloodstained banner of Prince Emmanuel.—
The Signs of the Times,
April 4, 1892
.
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