Blog Archives - WELCOME TO THE JOY OF TROY

March 21, 2019

3/21/2019

  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it (1 Cor. 10:13).

    We are not to walk unbidden into temptation, nor are we to give up to despondency when temptation comes upon us. We are to know that no temptation will be too much for us through the grace God gives us. There will be a way of escape prepared by God.

    Temptations are great teachers. "My temptations," said Martin Luther, "have been my masters in divinity." Some try to overcome temptation by fleeing from organized society, but they cannot get away from themselves. God promises help to win the internal battle against self.

    Sometimes the bravest thing to do with temptation is to flee from it. We think of the storekeeper who said to the boy who had been lingering too long near the display of fruit, "What are you doing--trying to steal one of those apples?" "No," said the boy, "trying not to." In such a case it is a good thing for the boy to remove the temptation by removing himself.

    Temptation as enticement to sin never comes from God. "God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man" (James 1:13, ARV). The only safeguard against temptation is the indwelling Christ in the heart, and He will never abandon the soul for whom He has died. "Live in contact with the living Christ, and He will hold you firmly by a hand that will never let go" (Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 119). And remember: "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe" (Prov. 18:10).

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" (Matt. 6:13).

March 20, 2019

3/20/2019

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Rom. 8:28).

    A skilled surgeon, about to perform a delicate operation on the ear, said reassuringly to the patient, "I may hurt you, but I will not injure you." How often God speaks to us in the same way! More abundant health and life, even eternal life, are His only purpose; but it is often hard for us to see it in the hour of trial, temptation, and suffering.

    "All things work together for good to them that love God," but all things are not necessarily for good in themselves. The good and the evil, and the good and evil together, work for good to them that love God and are in His providence. The good may be immediate or far off, but it is God's good in God's own time.

    We find this lesson in the old story about the gravel walk and the mignonette. "How fragrant you are this morning," said the gravel walk.

    "Yes," said the mignonette, "I have been trodden upon and bruised, and it has brought forth all my sweetness."

    "But," said the gravel walk, "I am trodden on every day, and I only grow harder."

    Two characteristics of believers are given here: one, their feelings toward God; the other, God's feelings toward them.

    To those who love God, all things work together for good. It must be so, for love works no evil (Rom. 13:10). And "to them who are the called according to his purpose," all things find some way, often unknown to us, of working together for our good. It must be so, for He of whom and through whom and to whom are all things (Rom. 11:36) would never suffer His eternal purpose to be thwarted by anything really adverse to us.

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "I will be glad and rejoice in thee" (Ps. 9:2).

March 19, 2019

3/20/2019

  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20).

    A man who had never been to sea before was crossing the Bay of Biscay and saw what he thought to be an approaching hurricane. Trembling with fear, he said to one of the experienced sailors, "Do you think we will be able to live through it?"   "Through what?" smiled the sailor. "Through the fast-approaching storm." The sailor smiled and said, "You need have no fear of that storm. It will never touch us. It has passed already."

    So it is with believers. Judgment for their sin is passed already. Christ has been tried, condemned, and executed on the cross in their stead. He died for our sins (1 Cor. 15:3). As the apostle Paul puts is: "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1). God's law "could not justify man, because in his sinful nature he could not keep the law" (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 373).

    "The law reveals to man his sins, but it provides no remedy. While it promises life to the obedient, it declares that death is the portion of the transgressor. The gospel of Christ alone can free him from the condemnation or the defilement of sin. He must exercise repentance toward God, whose law has ben transgressed; and faith in Christ, his atoning sacrifice" (The Great Controversy, pp. 467, 468).

    Our text emphasizes a negative promise--by the deeds of the law no flash shall be justified in God's sight. We need to remember this. It is not by our works that we are saved. It is only by the works of Christ that we are made just or righteous before God.

    Jesus died for us, and we have accepted His sacrifice. Therefore God looks upon Him and sees His righteousness in place of sin.

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness" (Ps. 4:1).

March 18, 2019

3/20/2019

Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand (Rev. 1:3).

    Where else do we find so direct a blessing pronounced upon the hearing, reading, and observance of any part of God's Word? Surely, with this blessing in connection with the prophecies of the book of Revelation, we ought to study them earnestly. Every passing year makes them more important. Every fulfillment in history makes more urgent the need of study, not only of this book, but of the entire volume of Sacred Scripture.

    Uriah Smith reminds us that "every fulfillment of prophecy brings its duties. There are things in the Revelation to be observed, or performed. Practical duties are to be fulfilled as the result of an understanding and accomplishment of the prophecy" (Daniel and the Revelation [1944], p. 341).

    An example of this is seen in Revelation 14:12: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." God, who sees the future, sees things that we do not see. He has revealed some things that He has commanded, whether or not we understand everything.

    Archibald Ruthledge tells the story of a turpentine worker whose faithful dog had died in a great forest fire because he would not desert his master's dinner pail, which he had been told to watch. With tears running down his face, the old man said, "I always had to be careful what I told that dog to do, 'cause I knew he'd do it." Are we always as faithful?

    Let's study the book of Revelation, not only with interest, but with obedience, "for the time is at hand."

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "Moreover by them [God's commandments] is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward" (Ps. 19:11)

March 17, 2019

3/20/2019

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father (John 14:12).

    It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that the disciples of Christ were to do, and are to do, greater works than Christ did. This is because He went unto the Father. What had that to do with it? Everything, because we read in John 16:7: "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you."

    It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that the mighty apostolic deeds were done. "But when the Comforter is come," Jesus said, "whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning" (John 15:26, 27). These words were gloriously fulfilled after the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The disciples were filled with power and went forth, testifying of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and bearing witness to their faith. They spoke in the power of the Spirit, so that thousands were converted in a day. Our Savior did not mean that the disciples would put forth greater effort than He had, nor that they would perform more miraculous deeds, but that their work would have greater magnitude.

    And so it was, and so it is today. The Savior's ministry was limited to a small country 150 miles long and 50 miles wide, yet thousands heard Him. But when the apostles went forth, millions heard, and hundreds of thousands accepted the gospel as the Holy Spirit bore witness to their hearts. It is our privilege to work for Christ in the same way today.

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places: the God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people" (Ps. 68:35).

March 16, 2019

3/20/2019

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth (Mark 9:23).

    A father was pleading with Jesus for the healing of his boy. He described his terrible affliction, then said, "If thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us" (Mark 9:22). Jesus said unto him, "If thou canst believe, all things are possible."

    Our unbelief is our greatest hindrance in spiritual life. In fact, there is no other real difficulty in our way. The Lord can do all things that need to be done for us, but He makes it a rule that "according to your faith be it unto you" (Matt. 9:29).

    August Hermann Francke, the seventeenth-century theologian, said, "A grain of living faith is worth more than a pound of historic knowledge; and a drop of love, than an ocean of science."

    I rather like the small boy's version of the hymn "Trust and Obey." He said that they sang "Trust and OK" at his Sabbath school. And everything must be OK when we really trust in God.

    Why can we not believe God and His promises? He is always true. He is faithful to His word. When we are in the right state of mind, it is as easy for us to believe in God as it is for a child to trust their father. It seems that we can believe in God as far as the past is concerned, and for the distant future; but it is our present trial that tests our faith. How foolish this is! Let is trust God here and now, and the future will take care of itself. When we reach the future, it will be the present, and Christ will be there.

                                "Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
                                        Just to take Him at His word;
                                Just to rest upon His promise,
                                        Just to know, "Thus saith the Lord."
                                                                        __Louisa M. R. Stead

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste thee to help me" (Ps. 22:19).

March 15, 2019

3/20/2019

And I say also unto thee, That thou are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18).

    A man once asked Charles H. Spurgeon if his church was a pure church, since he was looking for a pure church to join. The great preacher said that he was not sure about his church. He knew there were many good people in it and some truly Christian people, but he added that there might be a Judas in it, as there was in Christ's first church. There might be some deceivers and idolaters, those who walk unruly, as there were in the churches of Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Colosse, Phiippi, and Thessalonica, and all the others to which the New Testament Epistles were written. Spurgeon said he didn't think that his church, on the whole, was the one the man was looking for. In fact, he did not know that there had been a perfect church in all history. "But," he added, "if you should happen to find such a church, I beg of you not to join it, for you would spoil it."

    Christ's church may not be perfect, but it is still the object of His supreme regard (The Acts of the Apostles, p. 12). Wars, conquests, changing civilizations, have rolled over the world, but the church still stands. Why? Because its foundation is immovable. "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 3:11).

    Is the church important? If it were not, Christ never would have founded it. He promised that the gates of hell should never prevail against it. Remember, the Lord added to the church such as were being saved (Acts 2:47). "The New Testament knows nothing of unattached Christians," said Archibald M. Hunter.

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy" (Ps. 5:7).

March 14, 2019

3/14/2019

  Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matt. 6:20, 21).

    Security! What a magic word today! J.B. Priestly tells of a city clerk who seemed to be happy, but deep inside there was a haunting fear of losing his job. This fear was always in the circumference of his mind. The trouble was that he had nothing in his heart to beat back the fear. He lived in a world from which God had been banished, but not the devil. Without God, fear will dwell in the heart. It is impossible to build a fortress strong enough to keep out the enemy of fear. The secret of security is a heart fixed on God.

    Treasure here slips through our fingers. Thieves steal it; it is lost; it just disappears. The only treasure that is eternally safe is the treasure deposited in the bank of heaven. Our greatest treasures are not money, but hope, trust, faith, friendship, love. Even these treasures are evanescent and passing if kept in the treasury of earth. They must, by God's grace, be laid up in heaven.

    Our Savior told the rich young ruler to sell what he had and give to the poor, and he would have treasure in heaven. That is one way to transfer our treasure to a safe place. Some heap treasure together for the last days (James 5:2); others heap treasure together for eternity.

    In His story of the rich farmer, Jesus showed that the man was poor because he had laid up treasure for himself and was not rich toward God (Luke 12:21). Where our treasure is, there is our heart. That's the important fact, for out of the heart are the issues of life (Prov. 4:23). When all we have and are is surrendered to God, we have real security.

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "Thou hast proved mine heart" (Ps. 17:3).

March 13, 2019

3/13/2019

"And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt (Ex. 12:13).

    The sign of the blood on the door meant safety to those within the houses of Israel on the dark Passover night so long ago. The firstborn in the blood-marked houses were safe when the angel of death passed over.

    Traveling in an Eastern country just after terrible riots and massacres had taken place between representatives of opposing religious groups, in which Christians were not involved, I noticed crude red crosses scrawled on buildings and walls. The few Christians living there had placed this symbol of their faith upon their doors, and they were safe within.

    "When I see the blood, I will pass over you" were the words of God. The apostle says, "Christ our passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Cor. 5:7). And again, "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures" (1 Cor. 15:3). It has been said that there are 13 different theories of the atonement, but the truth in all of them is not enough to express fully the wonder and glory of our salvation through the precious blood of our Redeemer. We can never fully understand it, and it will be the subject of our study through the endless ages of eternity. We cannot see the blood in all its meaning, but what we do see is for our comfort. The Lord's sight of it secures our safety--"When I see the blood, I will pass over you."

    We are justified by the blood, and when God sees that we are under its protection He will, He must, pass over us, because "he...spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all" (Rom. 8:32). That is our surety.

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "I will rejoice in thy salvation" (Ps. 9:14).

March 12, 2019

3/12/2019

  It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrow: for so he giveth his beloved sleep (Ps. 127:2).

    Tension! That is another name for life today as lived by millions. Tension, tension! Worry, worry! First thing up in the morning, planning, conniving, seeking, desiring, sitting up late at night planning, conniving, seeking, desiring; but always unsatisfied. Books on how to relax, how to sleep, how to live with oneself, how to have mind peace, soul peace, are published by the dozen and have a wide circle of readers. But the tension grows and will continue to grow until people learn to trust in God.

    The consumption of sedatives increases as tension increases, but the greatest sedative of all is calm, simple faith in the goodness of God. That will do more than anything out of a bottle to bring about wholesome, healthful rest and relaxation at night.

    When Martin Luther's enemies were plotting to put him to death, he was seized by his friends, who hid him in Wartburg Castle, whose mighty stone walls were strong and impenetrable. There, safe from his physical enemies, Luther began struggling with himself. He learned that even strong castles cannot protect a person's soul. It is said that at one time he picked up an inkstand and threw it at a vision of the devil. Then he turned to God for help and found the strength needed--trust. He found relaxation in faith. He found calmness.

    And so may we all trust God and rest in Him, for "the Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge" (Ps. 46:7). He knows all about us. Therefore, let us go to bed at the proper hour, read a bit of His Word, put ourselves in His care, and go to sleep. We do not need to lie awake and worry, for He "giveth his beloved sleep."

MEDITATION PRAYER:  "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety" (Ps. 4:8).