"In These Hours of Probation"

[Thompson, Darryl]

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Ellen G. White Estate, Devotional for December 17
Visit us at http://www.whiteestate.org
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"In These Hours of Probation"

I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I
succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day
of salvation. 2 Cor. 6:2.


We believe without a doubt that Christ is soon coming. This is not a
fable to us; it is a reality. 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. The Refiner does not then sit to pursue His refining process
and remove their sins and their corruption. This is all to be done in
these hours of probation. It is now that this work is to be accomplished
for us.

We embrace the truth of God with our different faculties, and as we come
under the influence of that truth, it will accomplish the work for us
which is necessary to give us a moral fitness for the kingdom of glory
and for the society of the heavenly angels. 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 Devotional: Our Father Cares, p. 330.