September 17, 2020
FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:
BEAUTIFUL FEET SHOD WITH GOSPEL OF PEACE
“And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”
Eph. 6:15, KJV.
Paul wrote further: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring good tidings of things!” Rom. 10: 15, NKJV (See verses 14-16).
“We are living in the midst of an ‘epidemic of crime,’ at which thoughtful, God-fearing men everywhere stand aghast. Everyday brings its heart-sickening record of violence and lawlessness, of indifference to human suffering, of brutal, fiendish destruction of human life. Everyday testifies to the increase of insanity, murder, and suicide. Who can doubt that Satanic agencies are at work among men with increasing activity to distract and corrupt the mind, and defile and destroy the body?
“And while the world is filled with these evils, the GOSPEL is too often presented in so indifferent a manner [as in the ‘prosperity gospel’ and ‘all-will-be-eventually-saved gospel,’ etc.] as to make but little impression upon the CONSCIENCES or the LiVES of men.
“Everywhere there are hearts crying out for SOMETHING which they have not. They long for a POWER that will give them MASTERY OVER SIN, a power that will deliver them from the BONDAGE of evil, a power that will give LIFE and HEALTH and PEACE.
“The gospel is a message of peace, Christianity is a system which, received and obeyed, would spread peace, harmony, and happiness throughout the earth. The RELIGION OF CHRIST will unite in close [genuine, spiritual] brotherhood all who accept its teachings.
“The peace of Christ is borne of TRUTH. It is harmony with God. The world is at ENMITY with the law of God; sinners are at enmity with their Maker; and as a result, they are AT ENMITY WITH ONE ANOTHER.
“Men cannot manufacture peace. Human plans for the purification and uplifting of individuals or of society will FAIL of producing peace, because they DO NOT REACH THE HEART. The only power that can create or perpetuate true peace is the GRACE of Christ! When this is implanted in the heart, it will CAST OUT the evil passions that cause strife and dissension!” – E.G. White, God’s Amazing Grace, p. 32.
Is Christ’s grace implanted in our hearts? Or merely on our lips? The “fruits” do not lie. It will be manifested in either the “fruits of the Spirit” or the “works of the flesh.”
God bless all, NMF