Follow the Lamb

whithersoever he goeth… Rev. 14:4

John the Baptist came preaching repentance for the “kingdom of heaven is at  hand”, preparing the way for the Messiah.  He preached that  Jesus was the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.   But notice the 3 steps the Jews took in rejecting Jesus:

(1) “John was sent in the spirit and power of Elijah to prepare the way of Jesus. Those who rejected the testimony of John were not benefited by the teachings of Jesus. (2) Their opposition to the message that foretold His coming placed them where they could not readily receive the strongest evidence that He was the Messiah. Satan led on those who rejected the message of John to go still farther, to reject and crucify Christ. (3) In doing this they placed themselves where they could not receive the blessing on the day of Pentecost, which would have taught them the way into the heavenly sanctuary. The rending of the veil of the temple showed that the Jewish sacrifices and ordinances would no longer be received. The great Sacrifice had been offered and had been accepted, and the Holy Spirit which descended on the day of Pentecost carried the minds of the disciples from the earthly sanctuary to the heavenly, where Jesus had entered by His own blood, to shed upon His disciples the benefits of His atonement. But the Jews were left in total darkness. They lost all the light which they might have had upon the plan of salvation, and still trusted in their useless sacrifices and offerings. The heavenly sanctuary had taken the place of the earthly, yet they had no knowledge of the change. Therefore they could not be benefited by the mediation of Christ in the holy place.  EW 259.1

The  services, sacrifices and rites performed in the sanctuary or temple  had continually pointed to the ultimate Sacrifice, and work of Christ as  High Priest to come.  John’s message was a wake up call to the reality that the services and symbols which for thousands of years had been pointing forward to the Messiah were now meeting  the Reality.  The very One the forms had been pointing forward to year after year had come!  John  was sent to alert the Jews to the fact that they needed to prepare for this change, that what they had been trusting in, their continual services in the temple, were coming to an end; because the Christ the Lamb of God was to be the sacrifice for the sins of the world.  Not only was he “The Sacrifice for sin”,  but was also to take up the position as High Priest after his resurrection, and to minister in the heavenly sanctuary, in all it’s realities until the close of time. He was to perform in heavenly reality those services which he had given the Hebrew people in a miniature form, pointing to his work, so many centuries before.

Could we possibly miss following the Lamb as they did? 

For the modern saga, watch  Worship at Satan's Throne:

Soul Surrender

Recenlty I have been listening to sermons on Christ Our Righteousness by  Pastor Bill Lehman, that can be heard here:  Sermons by Bill Lehman and others  Speaking of the necessity of surrendering the heart, he came to the text in Matthew 12:43, 44.  This parable I had previously understood to be refering to demon possession.  But now find it is speaking of conversion, where the house is empty, swept clean and garnished but where the presence of the heavely guests is  found lacking.  Notice these these statements from Desire of Ages:

 

"Then He added a warning to those who had been impressed by His words, who had heard Him gladly, but who had not surrendered themselves for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is not only by resistance but by neglect that the soul is destroyed. "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man," said Jesus, "he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there." 

 

"There were many in Christ's day, as there are today, over whom the control of Satan for the time seemed broken; through the grace of God they were set free from the evil spirits that had held dominion over the soul. They rejoiced in the love of God; but, like the stony-ground hearers of the parable, they did not abide in His love. They did not surrender themselves to God daily, that Christ might dwell in the heart; and when the evil spirit returned, with "seven other spirits more wicked than himself," they were wholly dominated by the power of evil.   

    " When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes possession of the new heart. A change is wrought which man can never accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural element into human nature. 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 in possession 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. If we do not co-operate with the heavenly agencies, Satan will take possession of the heart, and will make it his abiding place. The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness. Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin. We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may part company with Satan; but without a vital connection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome. Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the end.  

     "The last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so," said Jesus, "shall it be also unto this wicked generation." There are none so hardened as those who have slighted the invitation of mercy, and done despite to the Spirit of grace. The most common manifestation of the sin against the Holy Spirit is in persistently slighting Heaven's invitation to repent. Every step in the rejection of Christ is a step toward the rejection of salvation, and toward the sin against the Holy Spirit. " DA 324 

 

"Lord remind me daily of my moment by moment  need of surrender to you!"

 

Happy Sabbath