Our Words and Acts Carry a Powerful Influence

Christ Triumphant - A Devotional by E.G. White

Our Words and Acts Carry a Powerful Influence

Today's Text: Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. Ezra 7:10

The Message:      Ezra was of the sons of Aaron, a priest whom God chose to be an instrument of good unto Israel, that He might put honor upon the priesthood, the glory of which had been greatly eclipsed during the captivity. Ezra was a man of great piety and holy zeal. He was also a man of learning and a ready scribe in the law of Moses. These qualifications made him an eminent man.      Ezra was impressed by the Spirit of God to search the historical and poetical books of the Bible, and by this means he became familiar with the sense and understanding of the law. During the captivity the knowledge of God's will had to some extent been lost. Ezra gathered all the copies of the law that he could find. He published copies of these among God's people and became a teacher of the law and the prophecies in the schools of the prophets. The pure Word, thus diligently taught by Ezra, gave knowledge that was invaluable at that time....      Some of the prophecies were about to be fulfilled; he would search diligently for the light that had been obscured. He sought this knowledge that he might educate the people how to bring into their practical life the principles of the Word of God....      That which Ezra knew he desired to teach others, and thus he became a mouthpiece for God, educating those about him in the holy principles that govern in heaven.... Teaching thus, he educated others in the knowledge of truth that would live through eternal ages....      As Ezra labored to communicate what he had learned, his capabilities for labor increased and developed. He became the Lord's witness to the world of what Bible truth is when revealed in the daily life of the receiver.      Ezra's example, in words and deeds, carried with it a weight of influence, for the Spirit of God was with him.... He diligently prepared his heart to do the work that he believed was appointed to him. He searched out the words that had been written concerning the duties of God's denominated people, and he found a solemn pledge that God's people had given that they would obey the words of God and the pledge of God's blessing to the obedient....      We each have an appointed work to do, and this can be accomplished only by consecrated effort. Shall we let the example of Ezra address itself to us individually, and teach us the use we should make of our knowledge of the Scriptures?-Letter 100, 1907.

Commentary: My friend, As in the time of Ezra, so is it today.  The people of God have lost the knowledge of who He is.  They have been led to worship a false god in the guise of the true, and before God can bring the truth to the world He must have a people that are prepared to give that message.  God is looking for people that will, like Ezra, consecrate themselves to Him and diligently search the Scriptures that they may know the truth. The church today is truly in the Laodecian condition.  They believe that they are rich and increased with the truth, but because they have accepted the Trinitarian view of God, their minds have become corrupted by its influence.  That is why they have a form of godliness but in fact they are "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." (Revelation 3:17). The Seventh-day Adventist church began as the church of Philadelphia which had no fault before the Lord, but now has become the Church of Laodicea who's spiritual condition is sickening to the Lord to the point where He wants to vomit them from His mouth.  Unless the people are zealous in their repentance, their names will be blotted from the record books of heaven. God is looking for people that will consecrate themselves to Him and give the straight testimony of the Faithful and True Witness to the SDA church that is truly in the Laodecian condition.  He is looking for us to use our words and actions to point out the churches fallen condition and to lead them back to worship the One true God of the Bible. My friend, the close of probation for the Seventh-day Adventist church will happen before the close of probation for the world; before the implementation of the Sunday laws.  The issue of who God is that is going through the church today will separate the wheat from the chaff, the true from the false.  Unless the people see that the trinity is the false god of Babylon and that the SDA church is truly in the Laodecian condition, they will not separate themselves from her subtle and corrupting influence. Will you be like Ezra in these last day and consecrate yourself to the One true God through His Son Jesus Christ, and give the straight message to the church today? God bless,

Video of the Week One God in Three Persons - Part 1 Dr. Allen Davis and Pastor Daniel Mesa giving a partial response--due to lack of time--to Dr. Norman Gulley's article, "One God in Three Persons" found online at the Adventist World website.