Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. Malachi 3:18.
An awakening power must be revealed in every believer. We must no longer act like sinners, while as Christians we should be revealing a living, saving faith. Living faith in Christ Jesus will produce fruit. There will be a holy, unwavering devotion to the Lord. Laboring with an eye single to His glory, we shall be sustained amidst the perils of the last days.
What has sustained Christians in every age, amidst reproaches, temptations, and sufferings? A pure, trusting faith, constantly exercised to understand what is truth which sanctifies the receiver, a committing of the keeping of the soul to God, under any and every circumstance, as unto One whom they knew would not betray their trust. Our Creator will keep that which is committed unto Him against that day.
Christ, by His sacrifice to save sinners, evidenced His great love for the human soul. He gave His life to secure our salvation. What an insult so many, deceived by Satan’s temptations, offer to the Saviour by abusing their privileges, refusing to acknowledge His loving interest in them. Yet He, their Creator and Redeemer, bears long with them in their persistent disdain of His mercies. As this matter is daily urged upon my mind, I am so astonished that I cannot hold my peace. I long to reach sinners, and to cry out to them, “Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” (Ezekiel 33:11).
Christ with His own blood has bought the whole human family. We are His purchased possession. He desires those who claim to believe in Him, to receive His power, that in this wicked and perverse generation they may become sons of God, and that they may reveal to a world entranced and corrupted by Satan, that God is love and [that] there is a difference, plain and distinct, between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him [not]. The Lord knoweth them that are His.
The line of demarcation between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not is becoming more and more distinct. This is as the Lord designs it should be. An active, living faith distinguishes the people of God from the sinful, who by their rejection of Christ bear continually to the world a plain testimony: “I will not have this man Christ Jesus to rule over me. I will not eat and drink to the glory of God, but will follow my inclination, eating and drinking as I please. I will not wear the yoke of Christ; I will not learn His lessons of meekness and lowliness of heart; I will have my own way, and live in this world a life of pleasure.”—Letter 131, August 18, 1902, to Emma White.
Reference: E.G. White, "The Upward Look," p. 244.
