Shaping
Up in God's Workshop
Do
you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which
you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So
glorify God in your body. 1 Cor. 6:19, 20, R.S.V.
We are not our own. We have been purchased with a dear price, even the sufferings
and death of the Son of God. If we could understand this, and fully realize
it, we would feel a great responsibility resting upon us to keep ourselves
in the very best condition of health, that we might render to God perfect
service....
We believe
without a doubt that Christ is soon coming.... We have no doubt, neither have
we had a doubt for years, that the doctrines we hold today are present truth,
and that we are nearing the judgment. We are preparing to meet Him who, escorted
by a retinue of holy angels, is to appear in the clouds of heaven to give
the faithful and the just the finishing touch of immortality. When He comes
He is not to cleanse us of our sins, to remove from us the defects in our
characters, or to cure us of the infirmities of our tempers and dispositions.
If wrought for us at all, this work will all be accomplished before that time.
When the
Lord comes, those who are holy will be holy still. Those who have preserved
their bodies and spirits in holiness, in sanctification and honor, will then
receive the finishing touch of immortality. But those who are unjust, unsanctified,
and filthy will remain so forever. No work will then be done for them to remove
their defects and give them holy characters.... This is all to be done in
these hours of probation. It is now that this work is to be accomplished for
us....
We are
now in God's workshop. Many of us are rough stones from the quarry. But as
we lay hold upon the truth of God, its influence affects us. It elevates us
and removes from us every imperfection and sin, of whatever nature. Thus we
are prepared to see the King in His beauty and finally to unite with the pure
and heavenly angels in the kingdom of glory. It is here that this work is
to be accomplished for us, here that our bodies and spirits are to be fitted
for immortality.
From Maranatha - Page 81
