Blog Archives - WELCOME TO THE JOY OF TROY

January 31, 2020

1/31/2020

DESTINY OF DEATH

        For the foolish person will speak foolishness, and his heart will work iniquity: to practice ungodliness, to utter error against the Lord, to keep the hungry unsatisfied, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.--Isiah 32:6

    Spiritualism is about the take the world captive. There are many who think that Spiritualism is upheld through trickery and imposture; but this is far from the truth. Superhuman power is working in a variety ways, and few have any idea as to what will be the manifestations of Spiritualism in the future. The foundation of the success of Spiritualism has been laid in the assertions that have been made from the pulpits of our land. The ministers have proclaimed, as Bible doctrines, falsehoods that have originated from the arch-deceiver.

    The doctrine of consciousness after death, of the spirits of the dead being in communion with the living, has no foundation in the Scriptures, and yet this theory is affirmed as truth. Through this false doctrine the way has been opened for the spirits of devils to deceive the people in representing themselves as the dead. Satanic agencies personate the dead, and thus bring souls into captivity. Satan has a religion, he has a synagogue and devout worshipers. To swell the ranks of his devotees he uses all manner of deception.

    The signs and wonders of Spiritualism will become more and more pronounced as the professed Christian world rejects the plainly revealed truth of the word of God, and refuses to be guided by a plain "Thus saith the Lord," accepting instead the doctrines and the commandments of men. Through rejecting light and truth many are deciding their destiny for eternal death; and as men reject truth, the Spirit of God will gradually withdraw itself from the earth, and the prince of this earth will have more and more control over his subjects. He will show great signs and wonders as credentials of his divine claims, and through Spiritualism will work against Christ and his agencies. (The Signs of the Times, May 28, 1894)

REFLECTION: The Lord is providing and testing His people. Angels of God are watching the development of character and weighing moral worth. Probation is almost ended, and you are unready. Oh, that the word of warning might burn into your souls! Get ready! Get ready! Work while the day lasts, for the night cometh when no man can work....A few, yes, only a few, of the vast number who people the earth will be saved unto life eternal, while the masses who have not perfected their souls in obeying the truth will be appointed to the second death. (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, 401-402)

January 30, 2020

1/30/2020

GOD'S FORBEARANCE WILL COME TO AN END

        The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.--Nahum 1:3

    God will arise in mighty power, and show, though slow to anger, He will not acquit the wicked. The wickedness of each generation is not forgotten. Each century of increased profligacy has treasured up wrath, and Christ said unto those who resisted all His mercy, all the blessings He presented to them, addressing the rejecters of His salvation, "Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers," for the blood of all the prophets which had been shed from the foundation of the world should be required of the nation He addressed. [Matthew 23:32, 35]. They had the beacon warning in the jealousies, in the hatred, in the despising of warnings and messages sent to them, and God's punishment came upon them for their cruelty, and notwithstanding all this, those who separated from God repeated the history of their fathers, and thus it is in our day....

    We have proof that God keeps a reckoning with nations, that there is a sum total of guilt that although it is beyond the power of human minds to define the amount God allows not to pass, but when the point of transgression is fully reached, when the law of God is made void, God takes account of the dishonor put upon His government, and He charges one generation with the crimes of the preceding generation, if they follow in the same evil course. Your light is constantly increasing.

    What can I say that will affect the soul? What can I say that will arouse our people to serious contemplation and true devotion" (Letter 60, July 20, 1893)

REFLECTION: The world has become bold in transgression of God's law. Because of His long forbearance, men have trampled upon his authority....But there is a line beyond which they cannot pass. The time is near when they will have reached the prescribed limit. Even now they have almost exceeded the bounds of the long-suffering of God, the limits of His grace, the limits of His mercy. (Christ's Object Lessons, 177-178)

January 29

1/29/2020

HAVE YOU PASSED THE LIMITS OF GOD'S FORBEARANCE?

        So the Lord could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your doings and because of the abominations which you committed. Therefore your land is a desolation, an astonishment, a curse, and without an inhabitant, as it is this day.--Jeremiah 44:22

    The world is asleep. The watchmen are asleep, crying peace and safety in the place of laboring with energy and searching the Scriptures diligently to know what all this wickedness means that is swelling to such fearful proportions. They say to the wicked who are trampling upon the law of God, It shall well with you. Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily the hearts of the sons of men are fully set in them to do evil. In place of being softened by the long-suffering of God, and His long patience, they are encouraged by His forbearance to further resistance, flattering themselves in their sinfulness and impenitence that He that has not awakened His wrath against them to curse their wicked inventions will spare a little longer, and they may be ambitious and persistently follow in their own way, with nothing to interpose or to molest them in their inventions, and at some future time they will repent....

    How can we make them consider that there are limits to the forbearance of God, and that it is possible for them to pass the limit of the forbearance of God, as did Judas and Saul? God allows nations a certain period of probation; but there is a point they can reach and can pass, and then iniquity accumulated will receive not mercy, not longer forbearance, but an outbreak of the indignation of God, and be visited with punishment unmixed with mercy. (Letter 60, July 20, 1893)

REFLECTION: Though the Lord in mercy withholds for a time the retribution of their sin, as in the days of Jeremiah, He will not always stay His hand, but will visit iniquity with righteous judgment. (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, 165)

January 28, 2020

1/28/2020

REJECT SATAN'S SOPHISTRY

        If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods"--which you have not known--'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.--Deuteronomy 13:1-3

    The professed Christian world is under Satan's sway. Christ calls the prince of this kingdom Satan, Beelzebub, a liar, a murderer from the beginning, the wicked and evil one who is constantly working with the unholy and disobedient to trample upon the laws of Jehovah....The rebellious chieftain signalized himself as having authority to establish laws entirely contrary to the laws of Jehovah, the living and only true God, the supreme Ruler in heaven and in earth.

    When this deceiving power is accepted in the place of light plainly given in God's Word, Satan stands as their ruler. The daring leader in rebellion is given by human agencies the pre-eminence above God, and the prince of darkness is acknowledged as their supreme authority. The number of his angels we cannot conjecture, but his field is the world, and he multiplies himself through his agencies over his whole field, the world, concurring in and actively instigating the clergy to be his efficient workers in making of none effect the law of God, of tearing down His memorial, the insignia of His honor and His supremacy. There is no lack of satanic agencies.

    Every soul who will now evade, through sophistry, the plain "Thus saith the Lord," and misinterpret and evade the plainest conclusions of the written inspired Word, will become instruments to tempt and coerce, and stirred with a satanic spirit purpose to afflict and oppress and compel the human agents to dishonor God's law and accept and advocate Satan's legislation and revere his enactments with a zeal proportionate to their blinding delusions. (Letter 60, July 20, 1893)

REFLECTION: Men cannot with impunity reject the warnings that God in mercy sends them. From those who persist in turning from these warnings, God withdraws His Spirit, leaving them to the deceptions that they love. (The Acts of the Apostles, 266)

January 27, 2020

1/27/2020

EXPERIENCE JOY THROUGH PERSECUTION

        For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.--Ephesians 6:12

    The inconsistencies, the unreasonable workings of the human agents stirred with a power from beneath, will create in those who reverence God a holy indignation to see the truth of God brought into contempt, and its advocates misrepresented and clothed in garments of darkness, false charges. Then is the very time the Holy Spirit is to take possession of the human mind and it be made to appear that Christ is formed within, the hope of glory.

    While the living human agents are being moved with a power from beneath and the satanic agencies seem to have full control (almost) of the world, acting a conspicuous part just before the second appearing of our Lord to take the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever and ever, the two classes which are formed to enact the solemnities of the last day will be distinguished as the commandment keeping people of God, and the commandment breakers who are inspired by the devil and his angels. The appearance is as if the infernal government had been transferred from hell to earth.

    The Lord Jesus will open the eyes of all who have been walking in the light that they shall not be deceived with the pretentious spirit of those who claim great sanctity and say, "Lord, Lord," while they stubbornly refuse to do the will of God. [Matthew 7:21, 22]. Christ repeated the princely titles of Satan as one perfectly familiar with his workings and usurped authority. Christ gave the warnings to be heeded and pointed to Satan's thrones, principalities and powers, and spiritual wickedness in high places. (Letter 60, July 20, 1893)

REFLECTION: As men seek to come into harmony with God, they will find that the offense of the cross has not ceased. Principalities and powers and wicked spirits in high places are arrayed against all who yield to the law of heaven. Therefore, so far from causing grief, persecution should bring joy to the disciples of Christ, for it is an evidence that they are following in the steps of their Master. (Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 30)

January 26, 2020

1/26/2020

BE FULLY FITTED FOR SERVICE AND BATTLE

        The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.--Romans 13:12

    These words inspired of God are appropriate for us....The inspired apostle continues, "Wherefore" in consideration of the warfare against, "not flesh and blood" but satanic agencies, disguised, "take unto you the whole armor of God." [Ephesians 6:12, 13.] Make your guide the Word. "Take" it.

    The whole armor which is furnished in the Scriptures is all prepared for you to take. "Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth." [Ephesians 6:13, 14.]

    Fiction, spurious interpretations of the Scriptures, dishes of fables, are everywhere presented for your acceptance. But great discernment is needed that the girdle should be the golden chain of truth, "and having on the breast-plate of righteousness," not your own but the righteousness of Christ. [Verse 14.] This is the fortress of the soul. We may with Christ's righteousness going before us withstand the moral darkness and penetrate the devices of the satanic agencies. "And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." [Verse 15.] (Letter 60, July 20, 1893)

REFLECTION: Let everyone who names the name of Christ read this scripture again and again, and then inquire, Am I clothed with the whole armor of God, that I may be a successful colaborer with Christ? The more we know of ourselves, the more we probe our motives and desires, the more heartfelt will be our consciousness of our utter inability to fight the battle of the Lord in our Own strength. (Reflection Christ, 352)

January 25, 2020

1/25/2020

KEEP LOOKING FORWARD TO THE LIGHT OF JESUS

        You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.--2 Timothy 2:1

    The power of Satan to seduce and deceive are so strong, and his delusions of every kind so multitudinous, that every watchman needs now to give the trumpet a certain sound. There must be, now, no deviating from the light that God gives at this present time. Light is constantly shining now upon many, and it is the very thing that they need for this time.

    Old truths are, if we cherish the light, presented in new aspects that have not been seen before, and as the providence of God is certainly at work to bring the crisis in the closing scenes of this earth's history, there will be a power, the office work of the Holy Spirit, stirring the hearts of the men in responsible positions to unflinchingly stand at their posts of duty as a unit.

    "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might." [Ephesians 6:10.] This has been always applicable to God's people in every age of the world, but how much more so to the remnant church who have to meet the constant and more powerful masterly workings of the power of darkness for this last time. The words of the apostle come sounding down the lines to this time. (Letter 60, July 20, 1893)

REFLECTION: What the church needs in these days of peril is an army of workers who, like Paul, have educated themselves for usefulness, who have a deep experience in the things of God, and who are filled with earnestness and zeal. Sanctified, self-sacrificing men are needed; men who will not shun trial and responsibility; men who are brave and true; men in whose hearts Christ is formed "the hope of glory," and who with lips touched with holy fire will "preach the word." For want of such workers the cause of God languishes. (The Acts of the Apostles, 507)

January 24, 2020

1/24/2020

ALL HEAVEN IS WATCHING

        See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!"--Matthew 23:38-39

    There is soon to open before us a period of overwhelming interest to all who are living. The controversies of the past are to be revived. New controversies will arise. The scenes to be enacted in our world are not even dreamed of. Satan is at work through human agencies.

    But God's servants are not to trust to themselves in this great emergency. The program of coming events is in the hands of the Lord. The world is not without a ruler; the Majesty of heaven has the destiny of the nations, as well as the concerns of His church, in His own hands....

    When the strongholds of kings shall be overthrown, when destruction shall come upon the wicked, His people have the assurance that they are safe in His hands. In patience they are to possess their souls.

    The important future is before us. To meet its trials and temptations and to perform its duties will require persevering faith. But we may triumph gloriously, for not one watching, praying, believing soul will be ensnared by the enemy. All heaven is interested in our welfare and awaits our demands upon it wisdom and strength. (Manuscript 100, 1893)

REFLECTION: We are living in the perils of the last days. All heaven is interested in the characters you are forming. Every provision has been made for you, that you should be a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Man is not left alone to conquer the powers of evil by his own feeble efforts. Help is at hand, and will be given every soul who desires it. (The Review and Herald, August 19, 1884)

January 23, 2020

1/23/2020

MORE THAN CONQUERORS

        I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.--Revelation 3:5

    Christ reveals to His people the fearful conflict that they must meet before His second coming. Before the scenes of their bitter struggle are opened to them, they are reminded that their brethren also have drunk of the cup and [have] been baptized with the baptism. He who sustained these early witnesses to the truth will not forsake His people in the final conflict....

    To John were opened the great events of the future that were to shake the thrones of kings and cause all earthly powers to tremble. He beheld the close of all earthly scenes, the ushering in of His reign, who is the King of kings, and whose kingdom shall endure forever. "Behold," he said, "he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him." [Revelation 1:7.]

    He saw Christ receiving the adoration of all the hosts of heaven and heard the promise that whatever tribulation might come upon God's people, if they would but patiently endure, they would be more than conquerors through Him that loved them. And Jesus said to the overcomer, "I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels." [Revelation 3:5.] (Manuscript 100, 1893)

REFLECTION: Many fix their eyes upon the terrible wickedness existing around them, the apostasy and weakness on every side, and they talk of these things until their hearts are filled with sadness and doubt. They keep uppermost before the mind the masterly working of the archdeceiver and dwell upon the discouraging features of their experience, while they seem to lose sight of the heavenly Father's power and His matchless love. All this is as Satan would have it.

    It is a mistake to think of the enemy of righteousness as clothed with so great power, when we dwell so little upon the love of God and His might. We must talk of the mightiness of Christ. We are utterly powerless to rescue ourselves from the grasp of Satan; but God has appointed a way of escape. The Son of the Highest has strength to fight the battle for us, and "through Him that loved us" we may come off "more than conquerors." (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, 740-741)

January 22, 2020

1/22/2020

LOOKED LIKE A LAMB--SPOKE AS A DRAGON

        Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.--Revelation 13:11

    John was now prepared to witness the thrilling scenes in the great conflict between those who keep the commandments of God and those who make void His law. He saw the wonderworking power arise that was to deceive all who should dwell upon the earth, who were not connected with God, "Saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live."...

    The prophet heard the solemn warning against the worship of this blasphemous power: "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same hall drink of the wine of the wrath of God....

    Of the loyal and true, who do not bow to the decrees of earthly rulers against the authority of the King of heaven, the Revelator says, "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."...

    These lessons are for our benefit. We need to stay our faith upon God; for there is just before us a time that will try men's souls. Christ upon the Mount of Olives rehearsed the fearful scenes that were to precede his second coming: "Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars....Nations shall rise against nations, and kingdoms against kingdoms; and there shall be famines and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." While these prophecies received a partial fulfillment at the destruction of Jerusalem, they have a more direct application in the last days. (The Home missionary, November 1, 1893)

REFLECTION: The prediction that it will speak "as a dragon" and exercise "all the power of the first beast" plainly foretells a development of the spirit of intolerance and persecution that was manifest by the nations represented by the dragon and the leopardlike beast. And the statement that the beast with two horns "causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast" indicates that the authority of this nations is to be exercised in enforcing some observance which shall be an act of homage to the papacy. (The Great Controversy, 442)