As Many As I Love Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God. Isaiah 50:10 God, having, raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities. Acts 3:26 NKJV Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord Acts 3:19-20 NKJV Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, Says the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 4:6 NKJV For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: Because you are an exceedingly stubborn, wretched, blind, and self-sufficient generation; I will again do a marvel and a wonder among you that you may know that I am the Lord your God. 15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, So that I should heal them.' And Christ will give you light. I, the Lord, will test you and try you I shall refine you. Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching God. Why have we fasted, they say, and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice? In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your laborers. Indeed you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, to make your voice heard on high. Is it a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; be very desolate, says the Lord. For My people have committed two evils: 1) They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and 2)[They have] hewn themselves cisterns broken cisterns that can hold no water. 1 1 Same statement as You are not cold. Rev 3:15 1
Have you not brought this on yourself, in that you have forsaken the Lord your God when He led you in the way? Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken the Lord your God, and the fear of Me is not in you, Says the Lord God of hosts. For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds; and you said, I will not transgress, when on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down, playing the harlot 2. [Your idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.] Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality. How then have you turned before Me into the degenerate plant of an alien vine? For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before Me," says the Lord God. As the thief is ashamed when he is found out, so is the house of Israel ashamed; for they have turned their back to Me, and not their face. But in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise and save us. But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, If they can save you in the time of your trouble; for according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah. O generation, see the word of the Lord! Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of darkness? Why do My people say, We are lords; we will come no more to You? Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number. Jeremiah 2:12-13, 17, 19, 20-22, 26-28, 31-32, & Psalm 115:4 NKJV The Coming Messenger Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like launderers' soap 3. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold 4 and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness 5. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days of old, as in former years. And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers 6, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien because they do not fear Me, says the Lord of hosts. For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. Yet from the days of your fathers you have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you said, In what way shall we return?' Malachi 3:1-7 Receive and believe My purifying sanctifying words of truth, and act out the Gospel of Your Salvation. You shall be a generation of apostles, prophets, priests, and evangelists before Me, but you will not be indolent and comfortable seeing others suffer as you do now. I will make you to work and act in unison as a holy and consecrated people before Me. Therefore, let all your service be done as if you are doing it unto Me. Consecrate yourselves to Me for I am holy. Be zealous 7 and repent. 2 In our case, we have made idols of Gold, Silver, and Self-Sufficiency. Because you say, I am rich and have need of nothing. See also Psalm 115:4-8 3 See Mark 9 4 John 17:17-19 Sanctify them by truth, Thy word [Father] is truth And now I sanctify Myself, that they too [whom you have given Me] may be sanctified. 5 The ONLY offering or worship which is acceptable to the Lord is a broken spirit, which is a humble and contrite heart and mind. See Isaiah 57:15 & Psalm 51:14-17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart these, O God, You will not despise. NKJV 6 1 Samuel 15:22-23 7 Actively and unreservedly enthusiastic. Moving about, working, or doing something, and not resting or sleeping. Characterized by involvement, energy, or action. Showing passionate interest in something or eagerness about something 2
If you are not a holy people before Me, I can do nothing with you, for you would continue to profane My holy name. We are to consecrate ourselves to Him, in order that we may render Him acceptable service. Whatever may be our calling in life, we may do our duty with an eye single to the glory of God. We are called to do our daily tasks with exactness and fidelity, realizing that Jesus has His eyes upon us, and that we are doing our work for His sake. Whether pleasing or unpleasing, we are to do the duty that lies directly in our pathway. If the Lord would have us bear a message to Nineveh, it will not be as pleasing to Him to have us go to Joppa or to Capernaum. The Lord has reasons for sending us to the place in which our feet are directed. There may be souls pleading with God for light in the very place to which the Lord calls you, and God would have you make plain unto them the way of salvation. {ST, August 15, 1892 par. 1} Now, this is the way I have chosen for you, that you may be re-consecrated to Me as a holy people: Is this not the fast that I have chosen 8 : to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him, and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, Here I am. If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In. If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words, then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 58:6-14 NKJV Project Instruction: You are to lay a hold of resources money, people s time, overflow of goods and property; anything which can be consecrated to God in service and for service. You shall sell what can be sold, from the over-abundance which I have given to you, so that you will have resources to give to the poor. You shall establish a fund, and call it: The Widows and Orphans Fund. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Your treasure will do you absolutely no good if left to burn up, or if left for the adversary of life to plunder and use against you. As it is written: Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, But righteousness delivers from death. Proverbs 11:4 NKJV 4 For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, That will leave them neither root nor branch. Malachi 4:1 NKJV You will need the resources, which you will gather together in one common place, for I am pouring out on you a great blessing of those who are in great need, both physically and spiritually. However, DO NOT WAIT for the 8 This is the CONSECRATION that the Lord has chosen for us, not prayer meetings, revivals, and rallies. We must not forget to do these things; however, we must: 1 ST LISTEN TO THE LORD, AND DO HIS WILL MAKE KNOWN HIS HOLY NAME. 3
widows and orphans to come to you I will send an over abundance in due season. In order that you might prepare to meet the onslaught, first, go out into the highways and byways; seek the lost, the poor, the blind, the hungry, and them that thirst. You shall appoint over your offering, servants of meekness, lowliness, and generosity of spirit. They should be persons of wisdom and thrift; individuals which have hearts of service; persons who are generous, but do not act rashly. You are to follow the example which I have already given you in Acts 6:1-7. You shall work together with other churches which are pure in truth, and wise to keep My commandments those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus (Rev 14:12). You shall make known My holy name among the poor in spirit and those that hunger and thirst after righteousness. I have already shown you how to work for the care of others, but you must act on the knowledge that you have already been given. You are not to wait for someone else to give you instruction and thereby give way to an excuse for continued indolence; I will send My Holy Spirit to you, that you may have the eyes of your heart enlightened. And, I will teach you by My word and by My Spirit what you are to do; but you are to work together. You are to act in faith first, trusting in Me to open a door you cannot see. Simply look for those in need and be courageous to act. Trust in My strength; Ask, Seek, Cry out! Ask for wisdom, faith, and courage that you may do My will as I have done My Father s will, as I always do that which is pleasing to My Father. Ellen White writes: The value of a soul, who can estimate? Would you know its worth, go to Gethsemane, and there watch with Christ through those hours of anguish, when He sweat as it were great drops of blood. Look upon the Saviour uplifted on the cross. Hear that despairing cry, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Mark 15:34. Look upon the wounded head, the pierced side, the marred feet. Remember that Christ risked all. For our redemption, heaven itself was imperiled. At the foot of the cross, remembering that for one sinner Christ would have laid down His life, you may estimate the value of a soul. If you are in communion with Christ, you will place His estimate upon every human being. You will feel for others the same deep love that Christ has felt for you. Then you will be able to win, not drive, to attract, not repulse, those for whom He died. None would ever have been brought back to God if Christ had not made a personal effort for them; and it is by this personal work that we can rescue souls. When you see those who are going down to death, you will not rest in quiet indifference and ease. The greater their sin and the deeper their misery, the more earnest and tender will be your efforts for their recovery. You will discern the need of those who are suffering, who have been sinning against God, and who are oppressed with a burden of guilt. Your heart will go out in sympathy for them, and you will reach out to them a helping hand. In the arms of your faith and love you will bring them to Christ. You will watch over and encourage them, and your sympathy and confidence will make it hard for them to fall from their steadfastness. In this work all the angels of heaven are ready to co-operate. All the resources of heaven are at the command of those who are seeking to save the lost. Angels will help you to reach the most careless and the most hardened. And when one is brought back to God, all heaven is made glad; seraphs and cherubs touch their golden harps, and sing praises to God and the Lamb for their mercy and loving-kindness to the children of men. {Christ s Object Lessons, EG White, p.197} I am testifying to you beforehand that I am doing a work and a wonder among you. Imagine if the servants, when I turned water into wine in Cana 9, had known what I was about to do. Do you think that they would have brought more than six water pots? How many water pots would they have gathered? I tell you truly, they would have searched the whole city to find as many vessels as they could, that 9 John 2:1-12 Water turned into Wine. 4
they too could have enjoyed the blessing from My abundant grace--just as, did the widow 10 on whom I poured out a blessing of oil for her and her 2 sons. Consider what you might have done, had you had resources to help the people who were hit by hurricane s Katrina and Rita. Therefore, I make known to you beforehand, the marvelous working of My hand, that seeing you may believe, and believing, that you do as I have done for you. Freely you have received grace from above, freely give to a thirsting and starving world. Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. And Christ says, "As You [, Father,] have sent Me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world" (John 17:18)--to "fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ for His body's sake, which is the church." Colossians 1:24. Every soul whom Christ has rescued is called to work in His name for the saving of the lost. This work had been neglected in Israel. Is it not neglected today by those who profess to be Christ's followers? How many of the wandering ones have you, reader, sought for and brought back to the fold? When you turn from those who seem unpromising and unattractive, do you realize that you are neglecting the souls for whom Christ is seeking? At the very time when you turn from them, they may be in the greatest need of your compassion. In every assembly for worship, there are souls longing for rest and peace. They may appear to be living careless lives, but they are not insensible to the influence of the Holy Spirit. Many among them might be won for Christ. If the lost sheep is not brought back to the fold, it wanders until it perishes. And many souls go down to ruin for want of a hand stretched out to save. These erring ones may appear hard and reckless; but if they had received the same advantages that others have had, they might have revealed far more nobility of soul, and greater talent for usefulness. Angels pity these wandering ones. Angels weep, while human eyes are dry and hearts are closed to pity. O the lack of deep, soul-touching sympathy for the tempted and the erring! O for more of Christ's spirit, and for less, far less, of self! {Christ s Object Lessons, EG White, p.191-192} When we are called to work for those we love, however hard may be the work, however unpleasant, we can still do it with ease and grace. When the heart is full of love for Jesus and those for whom he died, all our service will become easy; for his sake the burden will be light. We are surrounded with responsibilities, and we feel that it is necessary to exert our influence wholly on the Lord's side. When we realize what is involved in our service to Christ, we are driven to the throne of grace to ask the Lord for the very things we need. He whose eyes are anointed with spiritual discernment feels that it means something to be a worker together with God. He will realize that it is perilous to trust in self; for self-confidence is vain. It is only when we accept solemn responsibility, relying upon God and distrusting self, that we can become efficient workers in his cause. To be clothed with humility does not mean that we are to be dwarfs in intellect, deficient in our aspirations, and cowardly in our lives, shunning all burdens for fear we shall not carry them successfully. In the strength of Christ we are to take up our responsibilities, bearing them for his sake, and ever going to him for rest. Jesus says: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." We are to come to the Lord with all our burdens, seeking wisdom from above to guide us at every step. We need not walk stumblingly, or in uncertainty. If we ask guidance of the Lord, the promise is, "You shall receive." The promise is yes and amen in Christ Jesus. "Seek 10 2 Kings 4:1-7 Elisha and the Widow s Oil 5
and you shall find." This is what we need to do every hour of our life; for if we seek the right way in sincerity, we shall find it. We must feel the need of help from the Lord, and seek for it in humble prayer. There is need of dependence upon God; for Christ has said, "Without me ye can do nothing." However active you may be, if Jesus is not in all you do, your work will savor of self; dishonor his holy name, work injury to others, and be accounted as worse than nothing. A service that springs from self cannot be sanctioned with the presence of Christ, and will bring no reward to the toiler, but give his name a place upon the losing side. It is vain to ask the Lord to assist you to do a work that will have an injurious influence upon others, and bring disgrace upon his cause. How many are seeking to gain heaven in their own way. They go to the Lord with hypocritical prayers, and do as did the Pharisee, present their merits before the God of heaven, and make themselves an offense before God. It is not to such knocking that the door will be opened. To the earnest, humble seeker, the promises of God are full of hope and assurance. The asking, the seeking, the knocking, are the things to which we are to give our first attention. The world, our temporal and personal affairs, are not to be placed first, and our spiritual interest to be considered second. The Lord says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Through the name of Jesus, the divine Advocate, you are to come as a repentant sinner to a merciful, forgiving Father, believing that He will do just as He has promised to. {Signs of the Times, EG White, August 15, 1892} One final warning: If you would seek a sign, My sign to you is this: Let My words speak for themselves. As I have told you: Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. John 14:11 NKJV Do NOT withhold from the Me the abundance of your overflow, for I have greatly blessed you to accomplish My holy purpose. Do NOT tempt Me to anger. Do NOT treat My words lightly or with indifference as you do now. For surely I will vomit you out if you continue to profane My holy name and show Me contempt as you do now. You will abide in Me if you keep My commandments. You are My friends if you do whatever I have commanded you to do. This is My commandment; that you love one another as I have loved you. It is written: What does the Lord your God require of you? but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good 11. Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it. Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer. for the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger, for you were [once] strangers [in sin], [and at enmity with Me.] Deuteronomy 10:12-15 & 16-19 NKJV Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. The salvation of the soul requires the blending of divine and human strength. God does not propose to do the work that man can do to meet the standard of righteousness. Man has a part to act. Humanity must unite and co-operate with divinity. Grace and sufficiency have been abundantly provided for every soul. But in order to receive this, man must unite with his divine Helper. Unless of his own accord man consents to renounce his sinful practices, Christ can not take away his sin. Man 11 See Psalm 19, Leviticus 19, Psalm 119 6
must heartily co-operate with God, willingly obeying His laws, showing that he appreciates the great gift of grace. Feeling his dependence upon God, having faith in Christ as his personal Saviour, expecting efficiency and success only as he keeps the Lord ever before him,--it is thus that man complies with the injunction, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." But human effort is not sufficient. It avails nothing without divine power. Of himself man has not strength to wrestle with the powers of darkness. Therefore Christ clothed His divinity with humanity, and came to this earth that He might co-operate with man. To those who will receive Him and trust in His power to save, He imparts the virtue of His righteousness. He gives them power to become the sons of God. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us full of grace and truth. And of His fullness have all we received, and grace for grace." The human agent must remember that he has in himself no merits to present to God. Christ is the fountain of life, the source of immortality. He is the Author and Finisher of our faith. The great, grand work of perfecting character cannot be accomplished without the help that He is always ready to supply. {Signs of the Times, EG White, September 25, 1901} For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. 16 For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would fail before Me, and the souls which I have made. 17 For the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry and struck him; I hid and was angry, and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart. 18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him; I will also lead him, and restore comforts to him and to his mourners. 19 I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near, says the Lord, and I will heal him. 20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 2 There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked. Isaiah 57:15-21 NKJV Those who minister to others will be ministered unto by the Chief Shepherd. They themselves will drink of the living water, and will be satisfied. They will not be longing for exciting amusements, or for some change in their lives. The great topic of interest will be, how to save the souls that are ready to perish. Social intercourse will be profitable. The love of the Redeemer will draw hearts together in unity. When we realize that we are workers together with God, His promises will not be spoken with indifference. They will burn in our hearts, and kindle upon our lips. To Moses, when called to minister to an ignorant, undisciplined, and rebellious people, God gave the promise, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest." And He said, "Certainly I will be with you." Exodus 33:14 & 3:12. This promise is to all who labor in Christ's stead for His afflicted and suffering ones. Love to man is the earthward manifestation of the love of God. It was to implant this love, to make us children of one family, that the King of glory became one with us. And when His parting words are fulfilled, Love one another, as I have loved you (John 15:12); when we love the world as He has loved it, then for us His mission is accomplished. We are fitted for heaven; for we have heaven in our hearts. {The Desire of Ages, EG White, p.640-641} As Many as I Love -- Widows and Orphans Fund & Re-consecration to God Monday, May 5, 2008 Written down by: Jason B. Castner but given by THE LORD. 7