Members Of God’s Household
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone. Ephesians 2:19, 20.
The Lord Jesus is making experiments on human hearts through the exhibition of His mercy and abundant grace. He is effecting transformations so amazing that Satan ... stands viewing them as a fortress impregnable to his sophistries and delusions. They are to him an incomprehensible mystery. The angels of God ... look on with astonishment and joy, that fallen men, once children of wrath, are through the training of Christ developing characters after the divine similitude, to be sons and daughters of God, to act an important part in the occupations and pleasures of heaven.
The Lord has provided His church with capabilities and blessings, that they may present to the world an image of His own sufficiency, and that His church may be complete in Him, a continual representation of another, even the eternal world, of laws that are higher than earthly laws. His church is to be a temple built after the divine similitude....
To His church, Christ has given ample facilities, that He may receive a large revenue of glory from His redeemed, purchased possession. The church, being endowed with the righteousness of Christ, is His depository, in which the wealth of His mercy, His love, His grace, is to appear in full and final display. The declaration in His intercessory prayer, that the Father’s love is as great toward us as toward Himself, the only-begotten Son, and that we shall be with Him where He is, forever one with Christ and the Father, is a marvel to the heavenly host, and it is their great joy. The gift of His Holy Spirit, rich, full, and abundant, is to be to His church as an encompassing wall of fire, which the powers of hell shall not prevail against. In their untainted purity and spotless perfection, Christ looks upon His people as the reward of all His suffering, His humiliation, and His love, and the supplement of His glory—Christ, the great center from which radiates all glory.
EastCostRemnant
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Thanks for quoting this ECR. They are great quotes. They can also be found in Testimonies to Ministers, p.18. It has been one of my favorite reading for many years. The first paragraph goes well with the following statement:
"The
soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own
fortress, which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends that
no authority shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept by the heavenly agencies is
impregnable to the assaults of Satan. But unless we do yield ourselves to the control of Christ, we shall be dominated by the wicked one. We must inevitably be under the control of the one or the other of the two great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world. It is not necessary for us deliberately to choose the service of the kingdom of darkness in order to come under its dominion. We have only to neglect to ally ourselves with the kingdom of light." D.A.324.
"The
church is God's
fortress, His city of refuge, which He holds in a revolted world... From the beginning,
faithful souls have constituted the
church on earth." A.A.11.
How do we ally ourselves with the kingdom of light?
"You want to be like little children, hanging upon the
merits of the blood of a crucified and risen Saviour.
Then you will be
fortified. How? The angels of God will be around you as a wall of fire; the
righteousness of Christ, which you claim, goes before you, and the
glory of God is your rearward." E.G. White, Ms 9, 1891.
"The sinner must ever look toward Calvary, and with the
simple faith of a
little child he must
rest in the
merits of Christ,
accepting His
righteousness, and believing in His mercy." Evangelism,185.
These last two statements make it crystal clear as to what the sinner must do in order to be saved, that is, in order to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ which accomplishes everything.
The 1888 message was an invitation to receive the righteousness of Christ which accomplishes everything as it is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God. See T.M.92. The people were invited to daily apply to the merits of Christ in order to enter into God's rest for then they would be clothed with the righteousness of Christ which accomplishes everything. This was the refreshing, the message that God intended to come to the people as the latter rain for "The
merits of Christ blot out transgressions, and clothe us with the robe of
righteousness woven in the loom of Heaven." Evangelism, 186. In that robe of righteousness woven in the loom of Heaven, there is not one thread of human devising.
This faith, Mrs. White wrote, is living faith. "That living faith is essential for our salvation, that we should lay hold upon the
merits of the blood of the crucified and risen Saviour." F.W.64.
For the longest time of my life as an adventist, even as a theology student and pastor and Bible instructor, I can honestly say that I have never heard a clear sermon or lecture on the necessity of appropriating to ourselves the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour in order to bring His righteousness into the life which righteousness accomplishes everything because Christ's righteousness is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God. This is how we become a fortress, God's fortress which He holds in a revolted world, impregnable to the assaults of Satan!
In order words, even though this message is clearly presented in the inspired writings, I have never heard it from the pulpit and never read it from the Sabbath School quaterly. Yet it is there in Mrs. White's writings in clear, distinct lines, as shown in the following statement:
"Unless he makes it his lifebusiness to behold the uplifted Saviour and to
accept the
merits which it is his
privilege to
claim, the sinner can no more be saved than Peter could walk upon the water unless he kept his eyes fixed steadily upon Jesus." Testimonies to Ministers, 93.
Thus Mrs. White speaks of "The faith that lays right hold upon the
merits of the blood of a crucified and risen Saviour
to bring Christ's
righteousness into the lifle. Clothed with the righteousness of Christ and not your own righteousness, you will not depend upon what you can do or what you will do," for "Christ's righteousness accomplishes everything." Faith & Works, 65,66,27.
Wow! If you have ever wondered what the 1888 message was, in clear, distinct lines, you need not inquire any more, right?
Because, as we appropriate the merits of Christ to ourselves by claiming them on a daily basis, the following statement will become a reality in the lives of God's professed people:
"To His church, Christ has given ample facilities, that He may receive a large revenue of glory from His redeemed, purchased possession. The church, being endowed with the righteousness of Christ, is His depository, in which the wealth of His mercy, His love, His grace, is to appear in full and final display. The declaration in His intercessory prayer, that the Father’s love is as great toward us as toward Himself, the only-begotten Son, and that we shall be with Him where He is, forever one with Christ and the Father, is a marvel to the heavenly host, and it is their great joy. The gift of His Holy Spirit, rich, full, and abundant, is to be to His church as an encompassing wall of fire, which the powers of hell shall not prevail against. In their untainted purity and spotless perfection, Christ looks upon His people as the reward of all His suffering, His humiliation, and His love, and the supplement of His glory—Christ, the great center from which radiates all glory."
God bless,
rainbow
