Blog Archives - WELCOME TO THE JOY OF TROY

January 11, 2020

1/11/2020

UNEQUALLY YOKED

        Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? --2 Corinthians 6:14

    With such solemn truths as we are handling, with the signs fulfilling everywhere in our world to show that the end is near, the great crisis right upon us, the stupor, the lethargy, the pride and conformity to the world in dress and in spirit is most astonishing. Famines, pestilences, earthquakes, storms by land and sea, are putting out the lives of thousands, and this is only the beginning of that which is to come....

    Why do not those who claim to believe the truth show by their actions that they are sanctified through the truth, and not conformed to the world? Why do they not come out from the world and be separate? The time for us to represent the self-denial, the purity and holiness of our religion is today. The time will soon pass when we can individually daily deny self, and take up the cross and follow Jesus....

    I am bowed to the earth with a weight of sorrow I cannot express;...They have not the mark of God's people. They have not the meekness and lowliness of Christ, thus cannot shine as lights in the world. They conform to the world and their influence is the same character as that of the world. (Manuscript 10, June 10, 1892)

REFLECTION: But there is no union between the Prince of light and the prince of darkness and there can be no union between their followers. When Christians consented to unite with those who were but half converted from paganism, they entered upon a path which led further and further from the truth. (The Great Controversy, 45)

January 10, 2020

1/10/2020

LEARN OF ME

        Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.--Matthew 11:29

    There is a great work to be done in the earth before the eternal purpose of God is fully worked out....While the angels are holding the four winds, we are to make the most of time, using every capability and power in the service of God. We have no time to lose. Soon the way of souls will be hedged up by obstacles that we do not now think of....

    Let us all bear in mind that we are ever to be earnest students in the school of Christ. If we will keep in the position of humble learners, our light will shine forth brighter and brighter unto the perfect day; and when our earthly labors are ended, and Christ shall come for His faithful children, we shall then shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of our Father. But before that time shall come, everything that is imperfect in us will have been seen and put away. All envy and jealousy and evil surmising and every selfish plan will have been banished from the life. (Letter 416, December 30, 1907)

    The time is soon coming when God's people, because of persecution, will be scattered in many countries. Those who have received an all-round education will have the advantage wherever they are. (Manuscript 57, January 6, 1908)

REFLECTION: [Jesus] was never elated by applause, nor defected by censure or disappointment....But many who profess to be His followers have an anxious, troubled heart....They do not make a complete surrender to Him; for they shrink from the consequences that such a surrender may involve....

It is the love of self that brings unrest. When we are born from above, the same mind will be in us that was in Jesus, the mind that led Him to humble Himself that we might be saved. (The Desire of Ages, 330-331)

January 9, 2020

1/9/2020

LOOK TO GOD ALONE AS ERROR IS EXALTED

        Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.--Psalm 50:15

    When Christ came to our world, the experiment had been fully made, and it proved the boasted wisdom to men to be but foolishness. Finite wisdom was utterly unable to come to right conclusions in regard to God, and therefore man was wholly incompetent to judge in regard to His law. The Lord has allowed matters in our day to come to a crisis, in the exaltation of error above truth, that He, the God of Israel, might work mightily for the greater elevation of His truth in proportion as error is exalted.

    With His eye upon the church, the Lord has again allowed matters to come to a crisis, that in their extremity His people should ask for His help. Their prayers, their faith, together with their steadfast purpose to be true, have called for the interference of God, and then He has fulfilled His promise, "Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am" (Isaiah 58:9). His mighty arm has been stretched out for the deliverance of His people.

    God reserves His gracious interposition in their behalf till the time of their extremity; thus He makes their deliverance more marked, and their victories more glorious. When all human wisdom fails, the Lord's interference will be more clearly recognized, and He will receive the glory that is His due. Even the enemies of our faith, persecutors, will perceive that God is working for His people in turning their captivity. (Selected Messages, Book 2, 371-372)

REFLECTION: He invites us to present to Him our perplexities and necessities, and our need of divine help. He bids us be instant in prayer. As soon as difficulties arise, we are to offer to Him our sincere, earnest petitions. By our importunate prayers we give evidence of our strong confidence in God. The sense of our need leads us us to pray earnestly, and our heavenly Father is moved by our supplications. (Christ Object Lessons, 172)

January 8, 2020

1/8/2020

FASTEN YOUR EYES ON THE SAVIOR

        For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.--2 Peter 1:16

    There is to be no compromise with those who make void the law of God. It is not safe to rely upon them as counselors. Our testimony is not to be less decided now than formerly; our real position is not to be cloaked in order to please the world's great men. They may desire us to unite with them and accept their plans, and may make propositions in regard to our course of action which may give the enemy an advantage over us...

    While we should not seek for controversy, and should not needlessly offend, we must present the truth clearly and decidedly, and stand firm to what God has taught us in His Word. You are not to look to the world in order to learn what you shall write and publish or what you shall speak. Let all your words and works testify, "We have not followed cunningly devised fables" (2 Peter 1:16). "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place" (2 Peter 1:19). (Selected Messages, Book 2, 371)

REFLECTION: Those who are in connection with God are channels for the power of the Holy Spirit. If one who daily communes with God errs from the path, if he turns a moment from looking steadfastly unto Jesus, it is not because he sins willfully; for when he sees his mistake, he turns again, and fastens his eyes upon Jesus, and the fact that he has erred does not make him less dear to the heart of God. He knows that he has communion with the Saviour; and when reproved for his mistake in some matter of judgment, he does not walk away sullenly, and complain of God, but turns the mistake into a victory. He learns a lesson from the words of the Master, and takes heed that he be not again deceived.(The Review and Herald, May 12, 1896)

January 7, 2020

1/7/2020

A LITTLE LONGER AND LOVED ONES UNITED

        In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.--1 Corinthians 15:52

    Christ is coming with clouds and with great glory. He will come to honor those who have loved Him, and kept His commandments, and to take them to Himself. He has not forgotten them nor His promise. There will be a relinking of the family chain. When we look upon our dead, we may think of the morning when the trump of God shall sound, when "the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:52.

    A little longer, and we shall see the King in His beauty. A little longer, and He will wipe all tears from our eyes. A little longer, and He will present us "faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." Jude 1:24. Wherefore, when He gave the signs of His coming He said, "When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." (The Desire of Ages, 632)

    The tempest is coming and we must get ready for its fury by having repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord will arise to shake terribly the earth. We shall see troubles on all sides. Thousands of ships will be hurled into the depths of the sea. Navies will go down, and human lives will be sacrificed by millions. Fires will break out unexpectedly and no human effort will be able to quench them. The palaces of earth will be swept away in the fury of the flames. Disasters by rail will become more and more frequent. Confusion, collision, and death without a moment's warning will occur on the great lines of travel. The end is near, probation is closing. Oh, let us seek God while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near! (Messages to Young People, 89-90)

REFLECTION: Glorious is the triumph awaiting the faithful. The apostle [Paul], realizing the possibilities before the Corinthian believers, sought to set before them that which uplifts from the selfish and the sensual, and glorifies life with the hope of immortality. Earnestly he exhorted them to be true to their high calling in Christ. (The Acts of the Apostles, 321)

January 6, 2020

1/6/2020

HIS PECULIAR TREASURE

        Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.--Exodus 19:5

    I was shown that God's people, who are His peculiar treasure, cannot engage in this perplexing war, for it is opposed to every principle of their faith. In the army they cannot obey the truth and at the same time obey the requirements of their officers. There would be a continual violation of conscience. Worldly men are governed by worldly principles. They can appreciate no other. Worldly policy and public opinion comprise the principle of action that governs them and leads them to practice the form of rightdoing. But God's people cannot be governed by these motives.

    The words and commands of God, written in the soul, are spirit and life, and there is power in them to bring into subjection and enforce obedience. The ten precepts of Jehovah are the foundation of all righteous and good laws. Those who love God's commandments will conform to every good law of the land. But if the requirements of the rulers are such as conflict with the laws of God, the only question to be settled is: Shall we obey God, or man? (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, 361-362)

REFLECTION: God's favor toward Israel had always been conditioned on their obedience. At the foot of Sinai they had entered into covenant relationship with Him as His "peculiar treasure...above all people." Solemnly they had promised to follow in the path of obedience. "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do," they had said. Exodus 19:5, 8. (Prophets and Kings, 293)

January 5, 2020

1/5/2020

THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME

        Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.--James 4:14

    A man who sincerely fears God would rather toil day and night, suffer privation, and eat the bread of poverty than to indulge a passion for gain which would oppress the widow and the fatherless or turn the stranger from his right. The crimes that are committed through love of display and love of money constitute this world a den of thieves and robbers, and cause angels to weep. But Christians are professedly not dwellers upon the earth; they are in a strange country, stopping, as it were, only for a night. Our home is in the mansions which Jesus has gone to prepare for us. This life is but a vapor, which passes away. (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, 490)

    The world is a theater, the actors, its inhabitants, are preparing to act their part in the last great drama. With the great masses of mankind there is no unity, except as men confederate to accomplish their selfish purposes. God is looking on. His purposes in regard to His rebellious subjects will be fulfilled. The world has not been given into the hands of men, though God is permitting the elements of confusion and disorder to bear sway for a season.

    A power from beneath is working to bring about the last great scenes in the drama--Satan coming as Christ, and working with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are binding themselves together in secret societies. Those who are yielding to the passion for confederation are working out the plans of the enemy. The cause will be followed by the effect. (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, 27-28)

REFLECTION: For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. (Hebrews 13:14-15)

January 4, 2020

1/4/2020

MESSAGE IS CLEAR

        When they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, And they shall not escape.--1 Thessalonians 5:3

    Now, in unmistakable language, our Lord speaks of His second coming, and He gives warning of dangers to precede His advent to the world. "If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightening cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

    As one of the signs of Jerusalem's destruction, Christ had said, "Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." False prophets did rise, deceiving the people, and leading great numbers into the desert. Magicians and sorcerers, claiming miraculous power, drew the people after them into the mountain solitudes. But this prophecy was spoken also for the last days.

    This sign is given as a sign of the second advent. Even now false christs and false prophets are showing signs and wonders to seduce His disciples. Do we not hear the cry, "Behold, He is in the desert"? Have not thousands gone forth into the desert, hoping to find Christ? And from thousands of gatherings where men profess to hold communion with departed spirits is not the call now heard, "Behold, He is in the secret chambers"? This is the very claim that spiritism puts forth. But what says Christ? "Believe it not. For as the lightening cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." (The Desire of Ages, 631)

REFLECTION:  There are in the world today many who close their eyes to the evidences that Christ has given to warn of His coming. They seek to quiet all apprehension, while at the same time the signs of the end are rapidly fulfilling,...Paul teaches that it is sinful to be indifferent to the signs which are to precede the second coming of Christ. Those guilty of this neglect he calls children of the night and of darkness. (The Acts of the Apostles, 260)

January 3, 2020

1/3/2020

CHARACTER REPRODUCTION

        Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?--2 Peter 3:12

    How often have those in danger of being destroyed by terrible outbreakings of winds and waters been mercifully shielded from harm! Do we realize that we have been spared from destruction only because of the protecting care of unseen agencies? Although many ships have gone down and many men and women on board have perished, God has mercifully spared His people. But we should not be surprised if some of those who love and fear God were to be engulfed in the tempestuous waters of the ocean. They would sleep until the Life-giver comes to give them life. We are not to cast one word of reflection upon God or upon His manner of working.

    All these symbolical representations [the fiery serpents in the wilderness] serve a double purpose. From them God's people learn not only that the physical forces of the earth are under the control of the Creator, but also that under His control are the religious movements of the nations. Especially is this true with reference to the enforcements of Sunday observance. (Manuscript 153, November 5, 1902)

    In the annals of human history, the growth of nations, the rise and fall of empires, appear as if dependent on the will and prowess of man, the shaping of events seems, to a great degree, to be determined by his power, ambition, or caprice. But in the word of God the curtain is drawn aside, and we behold, above, behind, and through all the play and counterplay of human interest and power and passions, the agencies of the All-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will. (Prophets and Kings, 499-500)

REFLECTION:  Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own.

It is the privilege of every Christian not only to look for but to hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ....Were all who profess His name bearing fruit to His glory, how quickly the whole world would be sown with the seed of the gospel. Quickly the last great harvest would be ripened and Christ would come to gather the precious grain. (Christ's Object Lessons, 69)

January 2, 2020

1/2/2020

NO EXCUSES--BE READY

        Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.--Matthew 24:29

    The Saviour's prophecy concerning the visitation of judgments upon Jerusalem is to have another fulfillment, of which that terrible desolation was but a faint shadow. In the fate of the chosen city we may behold the doom of a world that has rejected God's mercy and trampled upon His law. Dark are the records of human misery that earth has witnessed during its long centuries of crime. The heart sickens, and the mind grows faint in contemplation. Terrible have been the results of rejecting the authority of Heaven...

    Then shall they that obey not the gospel be consumed with the spirit of His mouth and be destroyed with the brightness of His coming, 2 Thessalonians 2:8. Like Israel of old the wicked destroy themselves; they fall by their iniquity. By a life of sin, they have placed themselves so out of harmony with God, their natures have become so debased with evil, that the manifestations of His glory is to them a consuming fire.

    Let men beware lest they neglect the lesson conveyed to them in the words of Christ. As He warned His disciples of Jerusalem's destruction, giving them a sign of the approaching ruin, that they might make their escape; so He has warned the world of the day of final destruction and has given them tokens of its approach, that all who will may flee from the wrath to come. Jesus declares: "There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations." Luke 21:25; Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24-26; Revelation 6:12-17. Those who behold these harbingers of His coming are to "know that it is near, even at the doors." Matthew 24:33. "Watch ye therefore," are His words of admonition. Mark 13:35. They that heed the warning shall not be left in darkness, that that day should overtake them unawares. But to them that will not watch, "the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." 1 Thessalonians 5:2-5. (The Great Controversy, 36-37)

REFLECTION: The world is no more ready to credit the message for this time than were the Jews to receive the Saviour's warning concerning Jerusalem. Come when it may, the day of God will come unawares to the ungodly. When life is going on in its unvarying round; when men are absorbed in pleasure, in business, in traffic, in money-making; when religious leaders are magnifying the world's progress and enlightenment, and the people are lulled in a false security--then, as the midnight thief steals within the unguarded dwelling, so shall sudden destruction come upon the careless and ungodly, "and they shall not escape." [See 1 Thessalonians 5:3.] (The Great Controversy, 38)