But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews? John 18:39.
The great controversy between the Prince of light and the prince of darkness has not abated one jot or tittle of its influence as time has gone on….
In our behalf Christ met the specious temptations of Satan and left to us an example as to how to overcome Satan in the conflict. He exhorts His followers, saying, “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Satan has made masterly efforts to perpetuate sin. He arrayed all his evil agencies to war against Jesus Christ in an active, desperate conflict, in order that he might bruise the heart of infinite Love. He seduced the people to bow to idols, and thus gained supremacy over earthly kingdoms. He considered that to be the god of this world was the next best thing to gaining possession of the throne of God in heaven. In a large measure he has been successful in his plans. When Jesus was on earth Satan led the people to reject the Son of God and to choose Barabbas, who in character represented Satan, the god of this world.
The Lord Jesus Christ came to dispute the usurpation of Satan in the kingdoms of the world. The conflict is not yet ended, and as we draw near the close of time, the battle waxes more intense. As the second appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ draws near, satanic agencies are moved from beneath. Not only will Satan appear as a human being, but he will personate Jesus Christ, and the world who has rejected the truth will receive him as the Lord of lords and the King of kings. He will exercise his power and work upon human imagination. He will corrupt both the minds and the bodies of people, and will work through the children of disobedience, fascinating and charming, as does a serpent. What a spectacle will the world be for heavenly intelligences! What a spectacle for God, the Creator of the world, to behold!
The form Satan assumed in Eden when leading our first parents to transgress was of a character to bewilder and confuse the mind. He will work in [just] as subtle a manner as we near the end of earth’s history. All his deceiving power will be brought to bear upon human subjects, to complete the work of deluding the human family. So deceptive will be his working that people will do as they did in the days of Christ, and when asked, “Whom shall I release unto you, Christ or Barabbas?” the almost universal cry will be “Barabbas, Barabbas!” And when the question is asked, “What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews?” the cry again will be “Crucify Him!”—Manuscript 39, 1894 (The Review and Herald, April 14, 1896).
Christ Triumphant p. 274
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for Kim and family. Her mother just died and now her son is accused of a crime we suspect he did not commit. Pray that the truth will come out and also that Kim and her family will find comfort in this trying time. Ron
—-Please pray for Richard who suffered many serious injuries when a car fell on him. Sandra
—-My friend can’t find his passport and he really needs it. Could you pray that it will turn up also pray that he will give his life to the Lord. Rosemary
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Dear Friends,
In the 1940’s, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, three boys were sitting on the porch with nothing to do. It was one of those lazy days of summer, when the temperature put a person in one of those “moods.” As they were sitting there bored and drowsy, Bob suggested that they shake off their feeling by doing something different.
Soon, the ten-year-old boy were walking along looking for something new and exciting to do. First one would suggest something and then the other, but they had done those things a hundred times before.
Before long, they found themselves by the gravel pit that was in their neighborhood. Now they had been warned many times to stay away from those mounds of gravel, but none of them wanted to be called a “sissy.” They climbed first one “hill” of gravel and then another. As they played and pushed and shoved each other, they felt like all the warnings their parents had given them were not needed. It seemed safe and was lots of fun.
Suddenly, the gravel shifted under their feet. Before they could escape, they were sucked down into and buried by the loose stones. Their cries for help as they were being covered were heard by one of the workmen who had not noticed the boys until then. Shouting at the other worker to get help, one worker ran over to where he had seen the boys disappear.
Frantically he started digging. He had to be careful not to become buried himself, but he could not think of that. He had to reach those boys before they smothered. As word got passed from one person to another, men closed their businesses and every available man rushed to the scene. (One of those men was my father who owned a gas station near there.) Soon many men arrived on the scene. But all those men digging their hardest could not save those boys. It was too late.
It is a sad story, but this story is repeated daily in the lives of many people we meet. They are not literally buried in a gravel pit, but they are being smothered by a life of sin. Some cry out for help. Some do not realize their danger and think theirs is a normal life. No matter what their feelings in the matter, they are all in the same condition with their feet anchored nowhere, sliding down to a Christless grave, being crushed by the weight of their sins.
Our Dear Saviour came to this world “to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10 He asks us to do as He has done. Just before His ascension forty days after His resurrection, Jesus gave His followers His final instructions. Those instructions are for us as well. “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8 He asks us to start witnessing to those closest to us before going to others far away.
We have the promise “that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins” if we will share the Gospel with those being smothered by a life of sin. James 5:19,20 Paul admonishes us, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Gal 6:1 We are to “save [them] with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.” Jude 23
May we ask our loving Saviour to open our eyes to notice the perishing ones around us, that we bring them to the foot of the Cross where they will find “grace to help in time of need.” Heb 4:16
Rose