Piercing the darkness !

     “Satan is ever seeking to destroy; he is casting his hellish shadow between our souls and the Light of the Sun of righteousness. When you talk doubts, and distrust your Heavenly Father’s love, Satan comes in, and deepens the impression, and that which was only a shadow is made the blackness of despair. Your only hope is to cease talking darkness.

     In dwelling on the dark side, you cast away your confidence in God, and this is just what Satan wants you to do. He wants to sift you as wheat; but Jesus is making intercession for you. His love is broad and deep. Perhaps you will say, “How do you know He loves me?” I look where you may look, to the cross of Calvary. The blood shed upon the cross cleanseth from all sin. When tempted to go in the dark cave of doubt and despair, sing:–

“Arise, my soul, arise, Shake off thy guilt fears;
The bleeding Sacrifice In my behalf appears;
Before the throne my Surety stands; My name is written on his hands.”
– Charles Wes­ley, Hymns and Sac­red Po­ems, 1742.

Review & Herald, August 25, 1891 par 4 

     Listen as you read aloud these precious Words of your Sovereign King and Saviour !

     “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, Shine forth !   Before Ephriam and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Thy Strength, and come and save (deliver, set free, heal) us !

     Turn us again, O God . . . and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten (by that old serpent), when he looketh upon it, shall live ! . . . For as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man (Christ Jesus, Yehushua ha Moshiac) be lifted up. That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have Eternal Life . . . And I, if I be lifted up will draw all men unto Me ! . . . and cause Thy Face to shine; and we shall be saved !

     O LORD God (Yehuwah Elohim) of hosts, how long will Thou be angry against the prayer of Thy people? . . . Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause Thy Face to shine; and we shall be saved (delivered, set free, healed) !”     Psalm 80:1-7

     “Know ye not, that it is the goodness of God which leadeth thee to repentance ?”    Romans 2:4

     For “I have surely hear Ephraim bemoaning himself thus saying; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn Thou me, and I shall be turned; for Thou art the LORD my God !”   Jeremiah 31:18

     For “the LORD (Jehovah, Yehuwah) hathy appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin daughter of Israel . . . For the LORD hat redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he . .  !”
Jeremiah 31:3-4, 11

     “Thou, O LORD, remainest forever; Thy throne from generation to generation. Wherefore dost Thou forget us for ever, and forsake us for so long a time?   Turn Thou us unto Thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; Renew our days as of old !”   Lamentations 5:19-21

     “In this age of the world, when iniquity abounds, discouragement will come to every soul. Let us take all our perplexities to God in prayer. He is our Refuge in time of trouble. Do we desire to have our prayers answered? Then we must not be faint-hearted. We must not allow Satan to cast his hellish shadow between our souls and God. This he will strive every day to do. And many of the professed children of God wrap themselves about with this dark shadow. But this need not be.

     When Satan tempts us to doubt, faith must rise in unfaltering strength, refusing to yield to the darkness, saying, LORD, I cast my helpless soul on thee ! I must have Light. I must feel the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness shining into my soul. When we seek the LORD with full purpose of heart, our sincere prayers will cleave the darkness, and the Light of Christ’s glory will clothe the soul.  {RH, July 11, 1899 par. 9}

     “Satan is seeking to veil Jesus from our sight, to eclipse His Light (glory and character), for when we get even a glimpse of His glory we are attracted to Him. Sin hides from our view the matchless charms of Jesus; prejudice, selfishness, self-righteousness, and passion blind our eyes, so that we do not discern the Saviour.

     Oh, if we would by faith draw nigh to God, He would reveal to us His glory, which is His character, and the praise of God would flow forth from human hearts, and be sounded by human voices. Then we would forever cease to give glory to Satan by sinning against God and talking doubt and unbelief. We would no longer stumble along grumbling, and mourning, and covering the altar of God with our tears. If we would behold Jesus, believing His Words, we would reflect the image of Him Who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous Light, and what a wave of glory would flow back from earth to heaven! And in the last great day every man will be rewarded according as his work has been.” Special Testimonies, October 17, 1892 par. 6

“What is the glory of the LORD?   Moses prayed, “I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory.” And the LORD (Jehovah, Yehuwah) said, “I will make all My goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”

“And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed. The LORD, The LORD God (Yehuwah Elohim), merciful (full of mercy) and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and Truth (Verity), keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity* (perversity) and transgression* (rebellion, apostasy) and sin* (error, to slip and fall, and habitual sin), and that will by no means clear the guilty.” The glory of God is his character, and it is manifested to us in Christ.

     “For He hath made Him to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of GOD in Him !”
II Corinthians 5:21

     Therefore it is by beholding Christ, by contemplating His character, by learning His lessons, by obeying His Words . . . which are Spirit and they are Life ! . . . that we become changed into His likeness. As we are enlightened by His Spirit, we see no virtue or merit (worthiness) in ourselves. We realize there is naught in us but deformity.

     But the glory of the Redeemer, manifested in His atoning sacrifice, in His justifying righteousness, in His fullness of grace, whereby we not only obtain pardon but receive sanctification, fills the whole soul with love and adoration, and in contemplating the goodness, mercy, and love of God, we become transformed in character. Jesus said, “The glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one.” ref: Deuteronomy 6:4-5.

On him who receives Christ, the glory of the LORD has risen, the Sun of Righteousness has shined, and, rising from his low and worldly state, the believer reflects the Light of Christ’s glory (the very character of GOD). As he continually looks to Jesus and contemplates His beauty, he is more and more transformed into the child of Light.”
SSW, July 1, 1894 par. 5}

      “But if our Glad Tidings (gospel) be hid, it is hid to them that are yet lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the Light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, Who is the Image of GOD, should shine unto them !

. . . For GOD, Who commanded the Light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the Light (revealing) of the knowledge (knowing) of the glory of GOD in the Face of Jesus Christ !”   “For this is Life eternal, that they might know Thee, the Only True God, and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent !”
II Corinthians 4:3-6 & John 17:3

May the LORD bless you with His Spirit and His Light this week !
your brother and sister,
Eric and Sarah Wilson – Isaiah Ministries