Joel 3:13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. 15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. 16 The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people".....
These verses of scripture teach us the solemn truth that near the close of this earth's history, everyone will have to make a decision in favor of, or against Christ, and the choices thus made will determine our eternal destiny. The decisions here referred to by the prophet, also include those of the professed people of God, who have had the light of truth shining on our pathway for many, many years. There are those who have, by the grace of God surrendered themselves to the inner working of The Holy Spirit, so that their knowledge and practice of the truth are in harmony, and because of this they are brought to spiritual maturity, where they can reflect the image of Christ in their daily lives.
But there are others who have been playing church for a number of years, and even though the truth is right at their fingertips, and they are fully aware of what The Lord requires, yet they do hold the principles and instructions given in the scriptures at a distance, making no practical application whatsoever, or only complying when doing so will not offend or cause them any loss. This latter group are content with a superficial knowledge of Christ, and usually pride themselves on an intellectual knowledge of the truth only. The bad news is that all such will undoubtedly be shaken out of the ranks of God's commandment -keeping people, if urgent repentance and confession of sins are not made pretty soon. Let's read:
Revelation 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
In the year 1844, the investigative judgment began, with the names of all those who died in Christ prior to this time, being called up for review in the heavenly courts, and as the many different names were called, some were accepted in The Beloved, and others were rejected, because their profession and their actions were out of sync. Since that time, the investigative judgment has moved to the cases of the living, meaning that all those who have accepted Christ as their Lord and savior, under the preaching of the three angel's messages, are now being called one by one in the heavenly courts, so that the history of their lives and choices can be reviewed before The Great God, who is to give to every man his due.
But there are many of us who have taken the gracious overtures of Christ for granted, and as such have embarked upon a wrong course of action, by which the laws and principles of God's kingdom are held loosely, or even subjectively, and because of this, there must be a shaking of the sieve, so that only the true and honest-hearted will remain. This shaking has already begun, and will soon culminate in a mass exodus from the remnant church of God, because of the vain attempt to straddle both sides of the spiritual fence, and so many are scheduled to leave our ranks, that the servant of The Lord says that the church may appear as if to fall, but it will not, because as company after company leaves the church, tribe after tribe of faithful Christians will come in droves, to replace those who had been trifling with God's grace. Let's read:
[Last Day Events pp. 183] Some had been shaken out and left by the way. The careless and indifferent, who did not join with those who prized victory and salvation enough to perseveringly plead and agonize for it, did not obtain it, and they were left behind in darkness, and their places were immediately filled by others taking hold of the truth and coming into the ranks.—Early Writings, 271 (1858).
The broken ranks will be filled up by those represented by Christ as coming in at the eleventh hour. There are many with whom the Spirit of God is striving. The time of God’s destructive judgments is the time of mercy for those who [now] have no opportunity to learn what is truth. Tenderly will the Lord look upon them. His heart of mercy is touched, His hand is still stretched out to save, while the door is closed to those who would not enter. Large numbers will be admitted who in these last days hear the truth for the first time.—Letter 103, 1903.
Standard after standard was left to trail in the dust as company after company from the Lord’s army joined the foe and tribe after tribe from the ranks of the enemy united with the commandment-keeping people of God.
The saddest day of our lives will occur if, after all these years of going to church, participating in socials and church activities, sitting in Sabbath school, serving on the board, distributing our food to the homeless, and being involved with a whole plethora of other church activities, that at the end of the day we are found wanting. It thus behooves us to take stock of ourselves, to see where we stand, and if our profession of Christianity is just a charade, or if we have been building upon the solid Rock, for why should we make all this worthless effort, if we do not intend to go all the way with Christ?
We therefore end with a passage of scripture which gives us hope, and it is the will of God that hope will translate into surrender, so that the good work He has begun in us will be completed in time for Christ's soon return. Let's read:
Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; 16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
May God add His blessing to the study and practice of His word. "Good night" and God bless!