Christ speaks with divine authority to summon all who are able to hear to give submissive, reverent attention to His words. To have ears means to be able to understand and receive the truth when its light is presented. True hearing is not mere listening but welcoming the word in an honest heart, receiving it in faith, giving it earnest heed, and practicing it, for without faith even words given by the Holy Spirit do not profit. Those who so hear and do His words receive them as law and life and light and life and stand firm, and it is for each person's eternal interest to heed and obey, while those who hear and refuse to obey face ruin. The same call sends believers to present the word of God and the gospel of present truth clearly and powerfully to those who do not yet know it, to warn them to prepare for the great day of the Lord and to hold fast against deceptive satanic agencies and false teachings that would distort the sanctuary, the atonement, and Christ's ministry.
Authority of the Call
The call is a command carrying the authority of the Lord Jesus, at times spoken with the authority of true greatness. Though He stood in human form, He bore His commission from the Excellent Glory, and God summons the world to listen while Christ speaks. His words repeat what God has given, and He summons everyone able to hear to listen to them. The listening He requires is submissive attention, given with reverence.
Every word He utters is to be received as law and life, to be heeded and obeyed. To those who receive them, His words are light and life. It is in each person's eternal interest to pay attention and hear in this way.
Having ears means being able to understand the message. It means being able to receive it. Some people have such an ear, being receptive when the light of truth is presented to them.
True Hearing in Faith
To hear is not merely to listen but to welcome the word in an honest heart, to receive it in faith, to give it earnest heed, and to practice it. Even words given by the Holy Spirit do not profit the hearers without faith, and selfishness, pride, murmuring, and unbelief keep the word from bearing fruit. Christ's words reveal Him and God, and those who hear and do them stand firm, while those who hear and do not obey face ruin.
The call especially summons those who have lost their first love and lack the witness of the Spirit to return to wholehearted love for God and for neighbor, shown by keeping God's commandments. Receiving what God gives requires ears to hear and hearts to receive His needed lessons of deep importance, lessons never to be forgotten. God never has His people out of His mind, and to those who listen He sends messengers to warn them of their dangers and to call them to repentance and conversion, that they may have the favor of God and the ministration of heavenly angels.
Hearing the call means living out Christianity in earnest, practical service for God, especially in determined work to win souls. Profession without such service is false, and outward religious acts without the Holy Spirit's quickening influence are not enough. Those who have received evidence yet refuse to open their eyes and ears, and who persist in that refusal, bring darkness upon themselves and are left without further light.
Proclaiming Present Warning
The call is to present the word of God and the gospel of present truth clearly and powerfully to those who do not yet know it, so that those able to understand and receive may listen and hear. It is to be placed in their way and spoken with clearness and power, because among those who know little of present truth there are those with ears to hear who will hear when it is thus brought to them. Some who are ready will accept the gospel and carry it to their homes and beyond.
It therefore sends ministers and canvassers to different localities, to camp-meetings, to health resorts, and to any house offered for meetings. They are to watch for chances and be quick to seize opportunities to speak to outsiders, working with self crucified in meekness and lowliness. Here the call is to heed the present-truth warning to prepare for the great day of the Lord. It is also to heed Christ's message that salvation is for the whole world and that God gave His Son so that believers may have everlasting life.
It commands everyone able to hear to truly listen and obey by reading the Bible and heeding warning given from higher ground. The urgency is that the time is near when the deceptive powers of satanic agencies will be fully developed, with Christ on one side, given all power in heaven and earth, and Satan on the other side continually alluring and deceiving with strong spiritualistic sophistries to remove God from the place He should occupy in minds, so clear spiritual discernment is needed. Careful attention to Scripture and its warnings is required in a day when blindness has happened unto Israel, unto teachers and unto those taught. Although warnings in the Word are plain, fanciful suppositions, representations, and interpretations of truth have been stealing in step by step unperceived by those who through clear understanding of the Scriptures ought to see danger and sound warning.
The danger to be recognized is Satan's continual effort to bring fanciful suppositions about the sanctuary, degrading the wonderful representations of God and the ministry of Christ for salvation into what suits the carnal mind. Such teachings distort the sanctuary and Christ's ministry, remove its presiding power from believers' hearts, and replace it with fantastic theories invented to make void the truths of the atonement. They are meant to destroy confidence in doctrines held sacred since the third angel's message was first given, thus robbing faith in the very message that has made a separate people and given character and power to the work. Having ears to hear is shown by attentive, willing, interested reception that actively uses hearing to bring truth to others. As when one listens to preaching and writes out portions of the discourse so a mute preacher can preach with signs to mute friends, hearing is thereby used to bring truth to those who cannot hear and to honor God with personal ability and means.
Christ speaks with divine authority to summon all who are able to hear to give submissive, reverent attention to His words. To have ears means to be able to understand and receive the truth when its light is presented. True hearing is not mere listening but welcoming the word in an honest heart, receiving it in faith, giving it earnest heed, and practicing it, for without faith even words given by the Holy Spirit do not profit. Those who so hear and do His words receive them as law and life and light and life and stand firm, and it is for each person's eternal interest to heed and obey, while those who hear and refuse to obey face ruin. The same call sends believers to present the word of God and the gospel of present truth clearly and powerfully to those who do not yet know it, to warn them to prepare for the great day of the Lord and to hold fast against deceptive satanic agencies and false teachings that would distort the sanctuary, the atonement, and Christ's ministry.
Authority of the Call
The call is a command carrying the authority of the Lord Jesus, at times spoken with the authority of true greatness. Though He stood in human form, He bore His commission from the Excellent Glory, and God summons the world to listen while Christ speaks. His words repeat what God has given, and He summons everyone able to hear to listen to them. The listening He requires is submissive attention, given with reverence.
Every word He utters is to be received as law and life, to be heeded and obeyed. To those who receive them, His words are light and life. It is in each person's eternal interest to pay attention and hear in this way.
Having ears means being able to understand the message. It means being able to receive it. Some people have such an ear, being receptive when the light of truth is presented to them.
True Hearing in Faith
To hear is not merely to listen but to welcome the word in an honest heart, to receive it in faith, to give it earnest heed, and to practice it. Even words given by the Holy Spirit do not profit the hearers without faith, and selfishness, pride, murmuring, and unbelief keep the word from bearing fruit. Christ's words reveal Him and God, and those who hear and do them stand firm, while those who hear and do not obey face ruin.
The call especially summons those who have lost their first love and lack the witness of the Spirit to return to wholehearted love for God and for neighbor, shown by keeping God's commandments. Receiving what God gives requires ears to hear and hearts to receive His needed lessons of deep importance, lessons never to be forgotten. God never has His people out of His mind, and to those who listen He sends messengers to warn them of their dangers and to call them to repentance and conversion, that they may have the favor of God and the ministration of heavenly angels.
Hearing the call means living out Christianity in earnest, practical service for God, especially in determined work to win souls. Profession without such service is false, and outward religious acts without the Holy Spirit's quickening influence are not enough. Those who have received evidence yet refuse to open their eyes and ears, and who persist in that refusal, bring darkness upon themselves and are left without further light.
Proclaiming Present Warning
The call is to present the word of God and the gospel of present truth clearly and powerfully to those who do not yet know it, so that those able to understand and receive may listen and hear. It is to be placed in their way and spoken with clearness and power, because among those who know little of present truth there are those with ears to hear who will hear when it is thus brought to them. Some who are ready will accept the gospel and carry it to their homes and beyond.
It therefore sends ministers and canvassers to different localities, to camp-meetings, to health resorts, and to any house offered for meetings. They are to watch for chances and be quick to seize opportunities to speak to outsiders, working with self crucified in meekness and lowliness. Here the call is to heed the present-truth warning to prepare for the great day of the Lord. It is also to heed Christ's message that salvation is for the whole world and that God gave His Son so that believers may have everlasting life.
It commands everyone able to hear to truly listen and obey by reading the Bible and heeding warning given from higher ground. The urgency is that the time is near when the deceptive powers of satanic agencies will be fully developed, with Christ on one side, given all power in heaven and earth, and Satan on the other side continually alluring and deceiving with strong spiritualistic sophistries to remove God from the place He should occupy in minds, so clear spiritual discernment is needed. Careful attention to Scripture and its warnings is required in a day when blindness has happened unto Israel, unto teachers and unto those taught. Although warnings in the Word are plain, fanciful suppositions, representations, and interpretations of truth have been stealing in step by step unperceived by those who through clear understanding of the Scriptures ought to see danger and sound warning.
The danger to be recognized is Satan's continual effort to bring fanciful suppositions about the sanctuary, degrading the wonderful representations of God and the ministry of Christ for salvation into what suits the carnal mind. Such teachings distort the sanctuary and Christ's ministry, remove its presiding power from believers' hearts, and replace it with fantastic theories invented to make void the truths of the atonement. They are meant to destroy confidence in doctrines held sacred since the third angel's message was first given, thus robbing faith in the very message that has made a separate people and given character and power to the work. Having ears to hear is shown by attentive, willing, interested reception that actively uses hearing to bring truth to others. As when one listens to preaching and writes out portions of the discourse so a mute preacher can preach with signs to mute friends, hearing is thereby used to bring truth to those who cannot hear and to honor God with personal ability and means.