The Bible Echo
May 4, 1896
The Preparation Needed
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” All have need to hunger and thirst for the bread and water of life. This is the time to humble the soul before God, and to seek Him earnestly. Many are longing for the realization of Christ as their personal Saviour. Christ is knocking, knocking at the door of their hearts. Will they let Him come in as an honoured guest, or will they, by dwelling upon commonplace matters, allow their God-given faculties to become dwarfed and narrowed? Will they allow themselves to become overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and the cares of this life? BEcho May 4, 1896, par. 1
There is a world lying in wickedness, in deception, and delusion, in the very shadow of death,—asleep, asleep. Who are feeling travail of soul to awaken them? What voice can reach them? My mind is carried to the future when the signal will be given, “Behold the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him.” But some will have delayed to obtain the oil for replenishing their lamps, and too late they will find that character, which is represented by the oil, is not transferable. That oil is the righteousness of Christ. It represents character, and character is not transferable. No man can secure it for another. Each must obtain for himself a character purified from every stain of sin. The Lord is coming in power and great glory. It will then be His work to make a complete separation between the righteous and the wicked. But the oil cannot then be transferred to the vessels of those who have it not. Then shall be fulfilled the words of Christ, “Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.” The righteous and the wicked are to be associated together in the work of life. But the Lord reads the character, He discerns who are obedient children, who respect and love His commandments. BEcho May 4, 1896, par. 2
“God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up.” This is the work that needs to be done. BEcho May 4, 1896, par. 3
Mrs. E. G. White