“There is nothing that Satan fears so much as that the people of God shall clear the way by removing every hindrance, so that the Lord can pour out His Spirit upon [us].”1

Church members have a general tendency to think of the Christian experience as simply, “sin and repent,” “sin and repent.” But God holds out promises to keep us from falling. (Jude 24, 25.) By exposing our mind and our heart to the beautiful, noble, and perfect character of Jesus, we allow that character to be reproduced in us. If we want the character of Christ to be reproduced in our life, our heart has to be exposed to Christ.

Since we are considered the “Elijah People,” we ought to stand with the prophet and hear once again God’s voice. “Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church.”2

We have a special message to bear. The Lord is to be our Light, and we are to reflect the light He gives us. We must be sanctified wholly. Every moment we must be on our guard lest we be overcome by our adversaries. All boasting is sinful. Let us put away all self-exaltation, and heed the invitation of Christ. He says, “Come unto Me; copy My character; take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” When we manifest Christlikeness by revealing His meekness, then we will demonstrate that we are born into the kingdom of Christ.

Satan is at work with vehement power to divert the mind of the multitudes, so that they shall not understand and obey the truth. He will entangle them with every snare that he can devise.

The church is not a place to pretend we are healthy. It is the place for spiritual healing. If “turning the other cheek” or “giving our shirt away” or “going the extra mile” is what it takes to witness to non-Christians, then do it. If “doormat for Christ” is going to be effectively testifying the presence of God in our lives, “Doormats - then, We Shall Be.” This is Reformation. This is what is meant by reflecting Christ and preaching Christ.

Reformation does not focus on merely changing symptoms. Rather, it genuinely affects both the external and the internal aspects of life. It begins internally with the renewing of mind. Circumstances cannot work reforms. The Scripture proposes a reformation in the heart. What Christ works within will be worked out under the direction of a converted intellect and is reflected in the life of the believers. The plan of beginning outside and trying to work inward has always failed and always will. The reformation will be inward as well as outward. The external aspects of reformation:

1. Habits of personal devotion.

2. Our interaction in the church.

3. The behavior in the home.

4. Healthful living.

5. Proper Sabbath observance.

6. Our relationship with our neighbors and fellow beings.

7. Visible reflection of Christian life.

“Confession will not be acceptable to God without sincere repentance and reformation. There must be decided changes in the life; everything offensive to God must be put away. This will be the result of genuine sorrow for sin.”3

“We have great victories to gain, and a heaven to lose if we do not gain them.”4