Unfaithful Pastors
 
        Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.  Jeremiah 23:1
 
    "Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!...Behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings."  "Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock; for your days for slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished...and the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape" (Jeremiah 23:1, 2; 25:34, 35, margin).
 
    Ministers and people see that they have not sustained the right relation to God.  They see that they have rebelled against the Author of all just and righteous law.  The setting aside of the hatred, iniquity, until the earth become one vast field of strife, one sink of corruption.  This is the view that now appears to those who reject truth and chose to cherish error.  No language can express the longing which the disobedient and disloyal feel for that which they have lost forever--eternal life.  Men whom the world has worshiped for their talents and eloquence now see these things in their true light.  They realize what they have forfeited by transgression, and they fall at the feet of those whose fidelity they have despised and derided, and confess that God has loved them. (The Great Controversy, 655)
 
Reflection:  Now, in their despair, these teachers confess before the world their work of deception.  The multitudes are filled with fury.  "We are lost!" they cry, "and you are the cause of our ruin;" and they turn upon the false shepherds. (The Great Controversy, 655).  Paul was truly a man of God, but the Bereans were praised because they listened to him with reserve; then went to the scriptures and checked him out (Acts 17:11).  We should never blindly believe, even those that claim to be ministers of Christ.  Our only safety is in the Word of God.

Who Can Know It?
 
    The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?  Jeremiah 17:9
 
    The lips may express a poverty of soul that the heart does not acknowledge.  While speaking to God of poverty of spirit, the heart may be swelling with the conceit of its own superior humility and exalted righteousness.  In one way only can true knowledge of self be obtained.  We must behold Christ.  It is ignorance of Him that makes men so uplifted in their own righteousness.  When we contemplate His purity and excellence, we shall see our own weakness and poverty and defects as they really are.  We shall see ourselves lost and hopeless, clad in garments of self-righteousness, like every other sinner.  We shall see that if we are ever saved, it will not be through our own goodness, but through God's infinite grace.
 
    The prayer of the publican was heard because it showed dependence reaching forth to lay hold upon Omnipotence.  Self to the publican appeared nothing but shame.  Thus it must be seen by all who seek God.  By faith--faith that renounces all self-trust--the needy suppliant is to lay hold upon infinite power. (Christ's Object Lessons, 159)
 
Reflection:  The nearer we come to Jesus and the more clearly we discern the purity of His character, the more clearly we shall discern the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the less we shall feel like exalting ourselves.  At every advance step in Christian experience our repentance will deepen. (Christ's Object Lessons, 160)

 The Potter and the Clay
 
        But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.  Isaiah 64:8
 
    Trials and obstacles are the Lord's chosen methods of discipline and His appointed conditions of success.  He who reads the hearts of men knows their characters better than they themselves know them.  He sees that some have powers and susceptibilities which, rightly directed, might be used in the advancement of His work.  In His providence He brings these persons into different positions and varied circumstances that they may discover in their character the defects which have been concealed from their own knowledge.  He gives them opportunity to correct these defects and to fit themselves for His service.  Often He permits the fires of affliction to assail them that they may be purified.
 
    The fact that we are called upon to endure trial shows that the Lord Jesus sees in us something precious which He desires to develop.  If He saw in us nothing whereby He might glorify His name, He would not spend time in refining us.  He does not cast worthless stones into His furnace.  It is valuable ore that He refines.  The blacksmith puts the iron and steel into the fire that he may know what manner of metal they are.  The Lord allows His chosen ones to be placed in the furnace of affliction to prove what temper they are of and whether they can be fashioned for His work. (The Ministry of Healing, 471)
 
Reflection:  So the great Master Worker desires to mold and fashion us.  And as the clay is in the hands of the potter, so are we to be in His hands. (The Ministry of Healing, 471) 

Man of Sorrows
 
        He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Isaiah 53:3
 
    Let the repenting sinner fix his eyes upon "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29); and be beholding, he becomes changed.  His fear is turned to joy, his doubts to hope.  Gratitude springs up.  The stony heart is broken.  A tide of love sweeps into the soul.  Christ is in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.  When we see Jesus, a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief, working to save the lost, slighted, scorned, derided, driven from city to city till His mission was accomplished; when we behold Him in Gethsemane, sweating great drops of blood, and on the cross dying in agony,--when we see this, self will no longer to be recognized.  Looking unto Jesus, we shall be ashamed of our coldness, our lethargy, our self-seeking.  We shall be willing to be anything or nothing, so that we may do heart service for the Master.  We shall rejoice to bear the cross after Jesus, to endure trial, shame, or persecution for His dear sake." (The Desire of Ages, 439)
 
Reflection:  Sometimes the Christian life can be difficult; but so was the life of Christ.  To Christ, every painful drop of blood was worth it because of His love for us.  Christ promised that whatever we may have to lose, or leave for His sake, will be returned a hundredfold with eternal life added (Matthew 19:29).  I don't know about you, but to me that's a pretty good deal.

Wounded for our Transgressions
 
        But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.  Isaiah 53:5
 
    It was to redeem us that Jesus lived and suffered and died.  He became "a Man of Sorrows," that we might be made partakers of everlasting joy.  God permitted His beloved Son, full of grace and truth, to come from a world of indescribable glory, to a world marred and blighted with sin, darkened with the shadow of death and the curse.  He permitted Him to leave the bosom of His love, the adoration of the angels, to suffer shame, insult, humiliation, hatred, and death.  "The chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).  Behold Him in the wilderness, in Gethsemane, upon the cross!  The spotless Son of God took upon Himself the burden of sin.  He who had been one with God, felt in His soul the awful separation that sin makes between God and man.  This wrung from His lips the anguished cry, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46).  It was the burden of sin, the sense of its terrible enormity, of its separation of the soul from God--it was this that broke the heart of the Son of God. (Steps to Christ, 13)
 
Reflection:  Today would be a good day to reflect on the amazing sacrifice that God made on our behalf.  God loved us so much He sent His only Son to save a lost and dying world.  That includes you and me.  Accept that sacrifice today and form a relationship that will last throughout eternity.

 Repairers of the Breach
 
        And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.  Isaiah 58:12
 
    The prophet here describes a people who, in a time of general departure from truth and righteousness, are seeking to restore the principles that are the foundation of the kingdom of God.  They are repairers of a breach that has been made in God's law--the wall that He has placed around His chosen ones for their protection, and obedience to whose precepts of justice, truth, and purity is to be their perpetual safeguard.
 
    In words of unmistakable meaning the prophet points out the specific work of this remnant people who build the wall.  "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it" (Isaiah 58:13, 14). (Prophets and Kings, 678)
 
Reflection:  God's remnant people, standing before the world as reformers, are to show that the law of God is the foundation of all enduring reform and that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is to stand as a memorial of creation, a constant reminder of the power of God. (Prophet and Kings, 678)

Giving the Trumpet a Certain Sound
 
        Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.  Isaiah 58:1
 
    In view of this, what is the duty of the messenger of truth?  Shall he conclude that the truth ought not to be presented, since often its only effect is to arouse men to evade or resist its claims?  No; he has no more reason for withholding the testimony of God's word, because it excites opposition, than had earlier Reformers.  The confession of faith made by saints and martyrs was recorded for the benefit of succeeding generations.  Those living examples of holiness and steadfast integrity have come down to inspire courage in those who are now called to stand as witnesses for God.  They received grace and truth, not for themselves alone, but that, through them, the knowledge of God might enlighten the earth.  Has God given light to His servants in this generation?  Then they should let it shine forth to the world.
 
    Anciently the Lord declared to one who spoke in His name: "The house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto Me."  Nevertheless He said: "Thou shalt speak My words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear" (Ezekiel 3:7; 2:7).  To the servant of God at this time is the command addressed: "Lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins" (The Great Controversy, 459)
 
Reflection:  The great obstacle both to the acceptance and to the promulgation of truth is the fact that it involves inconvenience and reproach (The Great Controversy, 460).  David is a good example of this.  Nathan was sent to David to reprove him of his sin.  Because David accepted the reproach, he repented and was restored.  David could not be called a "man after God's own heart" while he had unconfessed sins in his heart.  We should pray that God will show us where we have made a wrong turn so that restoration can begin.

The Golden Image
 
        Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.  Daniel 3:1
 
    The words, "Thou are this head of gold," had made a deep impression upon the ruler's mind (Verse 38).  The wise men of his realm, taking advantage of this and of his return to idolatry, proposed that he make an image similar to the one seen in his dream, and set it up where all might behold the head of gold, which had been interpreted as representing his kingdom.
 
    Pleased with the flattering suggestion, he determined to carry it out, and to go even farther.  Instead of reproducing the image as he had seen it, he would excel the original.  His image should not deteriorate in value from the head to the feet, but should be entirely of gold--symbolic throughout of Babylon as an eternal, indestructible, all-powerful kingdom, which should break in pieces all other kingdoms and stand forever.
 
    The thought of establishing the empire and a dynasty that should endure forever, appealed very strongly to the mighty ruler before whose arms the nations of earth had been unable to stand.  With an enthusiasm born of boundless ambition and selfish pride, he entered into counsel with his wise men as to how to bring this about. (Prophets and Kings, 504)
 
Reflection:  How soon we forget the providences of God!  This makes us prone to fall back into self-centered living and self-exultation.

Giving the Trumpet a Certain Sound
 
        Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.  Isaiah 58:1
 
    In view of this, what is the duty of the messenger of truth?  Shall he conclude that the truth ought not to be presented, since often its only effect is to arouse men to evade or resist its claims?  No; he has no more reason for withholding the testimony of God's word, because it excites opposition, than had earlier Reformers.  The confession of faith made by saints and martyrs was recorded for the benefit of succeeding generations.  Those living examples of holiness and steadfast integrity have come down to inspire courage in those who are now called to stand as witnesses for God.  They received grace and truth, not for themselves alone, but that, through them, the knowledge of God might enlighten the earth.  Has God given light to His servants in this generation?  Then they should let it shine forth to the world.
 
    Anciently the Lord declared to one who spoke in His name: "The house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto Me."  Nevertheless He said: "Thou shalt speak My words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear" (Ezekiel 3:7; 2:7).  To the servant of God at this time is the command addressed: "Lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins" (The Great Controversy, 459)
 
Reflection:  The great obstacle both to the acceptance and to the promulgation of truth is the fact that it involves inconvenience and reproach (The Great Controversy, 460).  David is a good example of this.  Nathan was sent to David to reprove him of his sin.  Because David accepted the reproach, he repented and was restored.  David could not be called a "man after God's own heart" while he had unconfessed sins in his heart.  We should pray that God will show us where we have made a wrong turn so that restoration can begin.

Purpose of Trials
 
        Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.  Isaiah 48:10
 
    Many who sincerely consecrate their lives to God's service are surprised and disappointed to find themselves, as never before, confronted by obstacles and beset by trials and perplexities.  They pray for Christlikeness of character, for a fitness for the Lord's work, and they are placed in circumstances that seem to call forth all the evil of their nature.  Faults are revealed of which they did not even suspect the existence.  Like Israel of old they question, "If God is leading us, why do all these things come upon us?"
 
    It is because God is leading them that these things come upon them.  Trials and obstacles are the Lord's chosen methods of discipline and His appointed conditions of success.  He who reads the hearts of men knows their characters better than they themselves know them. He sees that some have powers and susceptibilities which, rightly directed, might be used in the advancement of His work.  In His providence He brings these persons into different positions and varied circumstances that they may discover in their character the defects which have been concealed from their own knowledge.  He gives them opportunity to correct these defects and to fit themselves for His service.  Often He permits the fires of affliction to assail them that they may be purified." (The Ministry of Healing, 470, 471)
 
Reflection:  "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy" (1 Peter 4:12, 13).  It's been said we shouldn't tell God about our great big problems; we should tell our problems to our great big God!  If we think about the heavenly prize, the difficulties seem smaller.