Preparation for the Latter Rain
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12. “We shall be guided as with a light from heaven when we have a vital connection with God.” Signs of the Times, August 22, 1895. But, “it is an easy matter to idle away, talk and play away the Holy Spirit’s influence.” To “walk in the light is to keep moving onward in the direction of light.” 1888 Materials, 1211.
If we are walking in all the light available to us, if we are living according to the light God has given us, then we will receive the latter rain when it is poured out. “Those who follow in the light need have no anxiety lest that in the outpouring of the latter rain they will not be baptized with the Holy Spirit. If we would receive the light of the glorious angel that shall lighten the earth with his glory, let us see to it that our hearts are cleansed, emptied of self, and turned toward heaven, that they may be ready for the latter rain. Let us be obtaining a fitting up to join in the proclamation of the angel who shall lighten the earth with his glory [the loud cry]. Let us be colaborers with Christ. Now is the time for us to let self die, to crucify the flesh, with the affections and lusts, to deny the cravings of appetite and passion. The minds of many are channels for impure thoughts. They do not have a realizing sense of the offensive character of sin. I call upon you to clear the King’s highway.” Signs of the Times, August 1, 1892.
But with many Christians there is not the vital connection with God, there is not a clearing of the King’s highway. The result is that the life comes under a cloud and only when this cloud breaks and the person is again walking in the light can he be in a condition to receive the Holy Spirit. “I looked over the large congregation assembled in the tent, and thought, If all who have a knowledge of the truth were carrying its sanctifying influence into their home-life . . . But all here—ministers, parents, and children—needed a work done for them which they did not realize. There was a manifest lack of the Spirit of God. I hoped to see the clouds break; for I knew many would never see their true spiritual condition until they should begin to return unto the Lord with full purpose of heart, with repentance, and confession of sins. Some even of those who were preaching the word were as destitute of the Spirit of God as were the mountains of Gilboa of dew and rain.” Review and Herald, October 21, 1884.
Fellow-Christian, are you walking today in Sonlight or under a cloud that is bringing you into darkness? Are you searching your heart as with a lighted candle asking the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any sin in your life that needs to be repented of and confessed?
“I was shown that God’s people dwell too much under a cloud. It is not the will of God for His people to live in unbelief.” Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4, 148.
The reason that some are under a cloud is because of carelessness in Sabbath-keeping: “Although they may rest from physical toil upon the Sabbath, their tongues speak out what is in their minds; hence these words concerning cattle, crops, losses, and gains. All this is Sabbath breaking. . . . Ministers . . .should kindly and solemnly reprove those who engage in worldly conversation upon the Sabbath and at the same time claim to be Sabbathkeepers . . . the angels were turning from those who failed to appreciate the sacredness of God’s sanctified day, and were removing from them their light and their strength. I saw them overshadowed with a cloud, desponding, and frequently sad. They felt a lack of the Spirit of God.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 703–705.
Others are under a cloud because of lack of faith, habits of negative thinking, anxiety and depression. (See Messages to Young People, 363.) We must all come out from under these clouds if we are to be ready for the latter rain. “We cannot exert a correct influence when we are under a cloud of anxiety and depression. We must reach out the hand of faith, and grasp the hand of our Redeemer. We must not wait for the latter rain. It is coming upon all who will recognize and appropriate the dew and showers of grace that fall upon us. When we gather up the fragments of light, when we appreciate the sure mercies of God, who loves to have us trust Him, then every promise will be fulfilled.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 1, 177. [All emphasis supplied.]