There is Danger in Refusing to Repent

Christ Triumphant - A Devotional by E.G. White

There is Danger in Refusing to Repent

Today's Text: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. Acts 5:39

The Message:      We can see what evidence was given the priests and rulers, and how firmly they resisted the Spirit of God. Those who claim superior wisdom and piety may make most terrible and (to themselves) fatal mistakes if they allow their minds to be molded by another power, and pursue a course in resistance to the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus, represented by the Holy Spirit, was in the presence of that assembly, but they did not discern Him. For a moment they had felt the conviction of the Spirit, that Jesus was the Son of God, but they stifled conscience, and became blinder and more hardened than before. Even after they had crucified the Savior, God in His mercy and sent them additional evidence in the works wrought through the apostles. He was giving them another call to repentance, even in the terrible charge brought against them by the apostles, that they had killed the Prince of life.      It was not alone the sin of putting to death the Son of God that cut them off from salvation, but their persistence in rejecting light and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The spirit that works in the children of disobedience worked in them, leading them to abuse the men through whom God was giving a testimony to them. The malignity of rebellion reappeared and was intensified in every successive act of resistance against God's servants and the message He had given them to declare.      Every act of resistance makes it harder to yield. Being the leaders of the people, the priests and rulers felt it incumbent on them to defend the course they had taken. They must prove that they had been in the right. Having committed themselves in opposition to Christ, every act of resistance became an additional incentive to persist in the same path. The events of their past career of opposition were as precious treasures to be jealously guarded. And the hatred and malignity that inspired those acts was concentrated against the apostles.      The Spirit of God revealed its presence unto those who, irrespective of the fear or favor of the public, declared the truth that had been committed to them. Under the demonstration of the Holy Spirit's power, the Jews saw their guilt in refusing the evidence that God had sent; but they would not yield their wicked resistance. Their obstinacy became more and more determined, and worked the ruin of their souls. It was not that they could not yield, but that they could and would not.-Letter 38, 1896.

Commentary: My friend, though the evidences wrought out by the works of the apostles showed that they were of God, the leaders of the Jews continued to resist the message that they were given.  Their past resistance led to further resistance until their hearts were so hardened that they would not under any circumstances acknowledge the truth.  They were convicted of the truth, but they would not accept it.  Sadly the record that we have in the past is playing out once again in the church today. The message that was delivered to the church in the time of the apostles was to reveal to them their true condition before God, that they may recognize their sin and give them an opportunity to repent.  Today that same message is going to the church today in the Laodicean message.  For the most part the church has not taken this message to heart, believing that it does not really apply to them.  But the time is soon to come when this message will be delivered to the church with the power of the Spirit of Christ. At the time of Pentecost a small group of people, who had laid aside their differences and become one in Christ, gathered together in the upper room were filled with the Spirit of Christ.  They went unto their fellow brethren in the church with a sharp message from the Lord.  That message was that they had killed the Son of God.  Many were pricked in the heart and under the conviction of the Holy Spirit repented of their sins and were converted.  The work in the time of Pentecost will be repeated in the same manner but with greater power in the time of the Latter Rain. When a small group of people, represented by the 144,000, become of one accord in Christ, they will be filled with the Spirit of Christ, and the Laodicean message will go to the remnant church.  Many will be cut to the heart and accept the message of rebuke and zealously repent, but the greater majority will harden their hearts and work zealously against it.  This is the work of the shaking that is to go to the church, that it may be purified and made white.  Only then when shaking of the latter rain power has accomplished its work in the church, will the true three angels message, which calls the world back to worshiping the One true God, go to the world with the power of the Spirit of Christ. The outpouring of the Spirit of God in the latter rain is about to begin.  Once God has a people sanctified by the truth of the One true God, His Spirit will be poured out upon them and the shaking of the church will be sent to do its work.  Those who persistently resist the message, will grieve away the Spirit of Christ, and their probation will close.  Though they will live on, their decision has been made and are left to the spirit of rebellion that has ruled their lives.  They will become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren, and under the direction of the spirit of antichrist, will deliver them up to death. My friend, the time of the shaking is just before us, now is the time to surrender your heart to the Lord and worship the One true God through His Son Jesus Christ. God bless,

Video of the Week "Receive Ye the Holy Ghost" w/Dr. Allen Davis Dr. Allen Davis presents a message based upon John 20:22.  The video was corrupted, but the message is clear.  My you be blessed by it.