Blog Archives - WELCOME TO THE JOY OF TROY

November 10, 2020

11/10/2020

LISTEN FOR GOD'S MELODIOUS VOICE

        Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.--John 17:24

    With shouts of triumph, jeering, and imprecation, throngs of evil men are about to rush upon their prey, when, lo, a dense blackness, deeper than the darkness of the night, falls upon the earth. Then a rainbow, shining with the glory from the throne of God, spans the heavens and seems to encircle each praying company. The angry multitudes are suddenly arrested. Their mocking cries die away. The objects of their murderous rage are forgotten. With fearful foreboding they gaze upon the symbol of God's covenant and long to be shielded from its overpowering brightness.

    By the people of God a voice, clear and melodious, is heard, saying, "Look up," and lifting their eyes to the heavens, they behold the bow of promise. The black, angry clouds that covered the firmament are parted, and like Stephen they look up steadfastly into heaven and see the glory of God and the Son of man seated upon His throne.

    In His divine form they discern the marks of His humiliation; and from His lips they hear the request presented before His Father and the holy angels: "I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am." John 17:24. Again a voice, musical and triumphant, is heard, saying: "They come! they come! holy, harmless, and undefiled. They have kept the word of My patience; they shall walk among the angels;" and the pale, quivering lips of those who have held fast their faith utter a shout of victory. (The Great Controversy, 635-636)

REFLECTION: Jesus looked upon His redeemed saints; their countenances were radiant with glory; and as He fixed His loving eyes upon them, He said, with His rich, musical voice, "I behold the travail of My soul, and am satisfied. This rich glory is yours to enjoy eternally. (Early Writings, 288)

November 9, 2020

11/9/2020

WHEN THE THUNDER ROLLS

        On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.--Revelation 19:16

    The voice of God is heard from heaven, declaring the day and hour of Jesus' coming, and delivering the everlasting covenant to His people. Like peals of loudest thunder His words roll through the earth. The Israel of God stand listening, with their eyes fixed upward. Their countenances are lighted up with His glory, and shine as did the face of Moses when he came down from Sinai. The wicked cannot look upon them. And when the blessing is pronounced on those who have honored God by keeping His Sabbath holy, there is a mighty shout of victory.

    Soon there appears in the east a small black cloud, about the size of a man's hand. It is the cloud which surrounds the Saviour and which seems in the distance to be shrouded in darkness. The people of God know this to be the sign of the Son of man. In solemn silence they gaze upon it as it draws nearer the earth, becoming lighter and more glorious, until it is a great white cloud, its base a glory like consuming fire, and above it the rainbow of the covenant....

    No human pen can portray the scene; no mortal mind is adequate to conceive its splendor. "His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. And His brightness was as the light." Habakkuk 3:3, 4. As the living cloud comes still nearer, every eye beholds the Prince of life. No crown of thorns now mars that sacred head; but a diadem of glory rests on His holy brow. His countenance outshines the dazzling brightness of the noonday sun. "And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords." Revelation 19:16. (The Great Controversy, 640-641)

REFLECTION: When Christ shall come to the earth again,...every eye shall see Him, and they also that pierced Him. In the place of a crown of thorns, He will wear a crown of glory,--a crown within a crown. In place of that old purple kingly robe, He will be clothed in raiment of whitest white, "so as no fuller on earth can white them." Mark 9:3. And on His vesture and on His thigh a name will be written, "King of kings, and Lord of lords." Revelation 19:16. (The Desire of Ages, 739)

November 8, 2020

11/8/2020

PROMISED PROTECTION

        The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.--Psalm 34:7

    Christ will not come with a still, small voice when He comes to bring hope and peace and joy to those who have proved faithful. In the day of His coming, the last great trumpet is heard, and there is a terrible shaking of earth and heaven. The whole earth, from the loftiest mountains to the deepest mines, will hear. Everything will be penetrated by fire. The tainted atmosphere will be cleansed by fire. The fire having fulfilled its mission, the dead that have been laid away in the grave will come forth--some to the resurrection of life, to be caught up to meet their Lord in the air; and some to behold the coming of Him whom they have despised, and whom they now recognize as the judge of all the earth.

    All the righteous are untouched by the flames. They can walk through the fire,...So in the day of the coming of the Lord, smoke and flame will be powerless to harm the righteous. Those who are united with the Lord will escape unscathed. Earthquakes, hurricanes, flame, and flood cannot injure those who are prepared to meet their Saviour in peace. (Manuscript 159, September 4, 1903)

    When Christ comes to gather to Himself those who have been faithful, the last trump will sound, and the whole earth from the summits of the loftiest mountains to the lowest recesses of the deepest mines will hear. The righteous dead will hear the sound of the trump and will come forth from their graves to be clothed with immortality and to meet their Lord. And those who pierced the Saviour, those who scourged and crucified Him, will also be raised, to behold Him whom they mocked and despised, coming in the clouds of heaven, attended by the heavenly host, ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands. (Letter 257, July 27, 1904)

REFLECTION: In the time of trouble just before the coming of Christ, the righteous will be preserved through the ministration of heavenly angels; but there will be no security for the transgressor of God's law. Angels cannot then protect those who are disregarding one of the divine precepts. (Patriarchs and Prophets, 256)

November 7, 2020

11/7/2020

LOVE IS OBEDIENCE

        If you love Me, keep My commandments.--John 14:15

    The pillar of cloud that was dark with terror and avenging wrath to the Egyptians, was to the people of God a pillar of fire for brightness. So will it be to the Lord's people in these last days. The light and glory of God to His commandment-keeping people are darkness to the unbelieving. They see that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. The arm, long stretched, strong to save all who come unto Him, is strong to execute His judgment upon all who would not come unto Him that they might have life....The sure provision has been made to shelter every soul and shield those who have kept His commandments until the indignation be overpast. (Letter 137, April 6, 1896)

    The Son of man will come in the clouds of heaven in His own glory, and the glory of His Father, and of all the holy angels. There will be no lack of honor and glory. In that day the law of God is to be revealed in its majesty, and man who has broken that law, and stood in defiant rebellion against its holy precepts, will understand that that law which they have despised, discarded, and trampled under foot is God's standard of character. (Manuscript 39, March 11, 1898)

    When Christ comes, He takes those who have purified their souls by obeying the truth. Some will go into the grave who are now in active life, and some will be alive and be changed when Christ shall come. This mortal shall put on immortality, and these corruptible bodies, subject to disease, will be changed from mortal to immortal. We shall then be gifted with a higher nature. The bodies of all who purify their souls by obeying the truth shall be glorified. They will have fully received and believed in Jesus Christ. (Manuscript 36, March 24, 1906)

REFLECTION: Obedience--the service and allegiance of love--is the true sign of discipleship. Thus the Scripture says, "This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments."...Instead of releasing man from obedience, it is faith, and faith only, that makes us partakers of the grace of Christ, which enables us to render obedience. (Steps to Christ, 60-61)

November 6, 2020

11/6/2020

LAST CHANCE TO LISTEN!

        They refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear.--Zechariah 7:11

    The straight testimony must be borne whether men will hear or whether they will forbear. Those reproved who will not be warned, counseled, or reformed, but who justify their own course of action will be left to their own ways, to be filled with their own doings. Like the inhabitants of the old world, they will follow with persistent zeal the imagination of their own heart, and they will perish in their sins.

    When the earth is reeling to and fro like a drunkard, when the heavens are shaking, and the great day of the Lord has come, who shall be able to stand? One object they behold in trembling agony from which they will try in vain to escape. "Behold he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him." [Revelation 1:7.] The unsaved utter wild imprecations to dumb nature--their god: "Mountains and rocks, 'Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb." [Revelation 6:16.]

    Creation is loyal to her God, and deaf to the frenzied call. That unrequited love is now turned to wrath. Sinners who would not let Jesus take away their sins are rushing from place to place in search of a hiding place, crying, The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and our souls are not saved!

    Oh that they had seen the Rock of shelter and perfect safety--the Cleft of the Rock--whether they might flee until the indignation be overpast! "A man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest." [Isaiah 32:21.] That Lamb whose wrath will be so terrible to the scorners of His grace, will be grace and righteousness and love and blessing to all who have received Him. (Letter 137, April 6, 1896)

REFLECTION: The priests were greatly rejoiced. These leaders of Israel had been given the privilege of receiving Christ as their Saviour, without money and without price. But they refused the precious gift offered them in the most tender spirit of constraining love. They refused to accept that salvation which is of more value than gold, and bought their Lord for thirty pieces of silver. (The Desire of Ages, 564)

November 5, 2020

11/5/2020

TEN THOUSAND TIMES TEN THOUSAND

        He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.--Matthew 24:31

    In regard to the coming of the Son of Man. This will not take place until after the mighty earthquake shakes the earth. After the people have heard the voice of God they are in despair and trouble such as never was since there was a nation, and in this the people of God will suffer afflictions. The clouds of heaven will clash, and there will be darkness. Then that voice comes from heaven and the clouds begin to roll back like a scroll, and there is the bright, clear sign of the Son of Man. The children of God know what that cloud means.

    The sound of music is heard; and as it nears, the graves are opened and the dead are raised and there are thousands of thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand of angels that compose that glory and encircle the Son of Man. Those who have acted the most prominent part in the rejection and crucifixion of Christ come forth to see Him as He is, and those who have rejected Christ come up and see the saints glorified, and it is at that time that the saints are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and are caught up to meet their Lord in the air. The very ones who placed upon Him the purple robe, and put the crown of thorns upon His brow, and those who put the nails through His hands and feet, look upon Him and bewail. And this is the very sign of the coming of the Son of Man....

    There are many signs that will take place before the coming of the Son of Man, but when the white cloud is seen, this will be the sign of the coming of the Son of Man. There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars, and the nations in perplexity. These all testify that Christ is coming, and He is revealed in the clouds with power and great glory. (Manuscript 81, September 21, 1886)

REFLECTION: No human language can portray the scenes of the second coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven....Angels will accompany him. Ten thousand times ten thousand will escort him on his way. The sound of the trumpet will be heard, calling the sleeping dead from the grave. The voice of Christ will penetrate the tomb, and pierce the ears of the dead. (The Review and Herald, September 5, 1899)

November 4, 2020

11/4/2020

COME FORTH!

        Esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. Be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.--1 Thessalonians 5:13-14

    I look forward in imagination to the time when the trump of God shall sound and all that are in their graves shall hear His voice and come forth, those that have done good to the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil to the resurrection of damnation.

    Oh, what a scene will we then see--some coming forth to life eternal at the first resurrection. Upon them the second death shall have no power. And then at the end of a thousand years the wicked dead come forth. I cannot endure to think of this. I dwell with pleasure upon the resurrection of the just, who shall come forth from all parts of the earth, from rocky caverns, from dungeons, from caves of the earth, from the waters of the deep--not one is overlooked. Everyone shall hear His voice. They will come forth with triumph and victory. Then there is to be no more death, no more sin, no more sorrow. (Letter 113, July 11, 1886)

    In the midst of their unbelief and godless pleasure, the shout of the archangel and the trump of God are heard. The fatal deception is broken at last, and they find themselves weighed in the balance and found wanting....

    Just when the world has been rocked to sleep by the peace and safety cry of the professed watchman, just when the scoffer is uttering his bold challenge, Where is the promise of His coming; when everything in our world is busy activity immersed in selfish ambition for gain, Jesus comes as a thief in the night. Watch therefore for the solemn events predicted. (Manuscript 15b, July 1886)

REFLECTION: The Word of God clearly points out our duty. We are to cultivate kindness and forbearance and love. We are to represent Christ in character. Evil speaking, accusing, and faultfinding, misrepresenting our brethren because our own individual ideas are not considered as of the highest value,...If self is our center, self will be seen in all we do. If Christ is our center, we shall bear His likeness. (Manuscript 39, December 31, 1896)

November 3, 2020

11/3/2020

HEAVEN AT LAST

        They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.--Revelation 7:16-17

    There the crown of immortal glory is placed upon the head of the overcomer....

    It is the truth of God received in the heart and practiced in the life that makes men thus precious in the sight of God. As John sees this precious company refined and purified around the throne of God, the angel inquires, "What are these which are arrayed in white robes and whence came they?" And John answers, "Sir, thou knowest." And the angel answers, "These are they that came out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple, and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them." [Revelation 7:13-15.]

    Do not place your influence against God's commandments. That law is just as Jehovah wrote it in the temple of heaven. Man may trample upon its copy here below; but the original is kept in the ark of God in heaven; and on the cover of this ark, right above that law, is the mercy seat. Jesus stands right there before that ark to mediate for man. We want you to keep God's commandments and live. Seek for immortality, and the crown of life, and then you will have heaven at last. (Manuscript 6a, June 27, 1886)

REFLECTION: In all ages the Saviour's chosen have been educated and disciplined in the school of trial....For Jesus' sake they endured opposition, hatred, calumny. They followed Him through conflicts sore; they endured self-denial and experienced bitter disappointments. By their own painful experience they learned the evil of sin, its power, its guilt, its woe; and they look upon it with abhorrence....They love much because they have been forgiven much. Having been partakers of Christ's sufferings, they are fitted to be partakers with Him of His glory. (The Great Controversy, 649-650)

November 2, 2020

11/2/2020

HE WALKED WITH GOD

        Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.--Genesis 5:24

    Enoch walked with God three hundred years previous to his translation to heaven, and the state of the world was not then more favorable for the perfection of Christian character than it is today. And how did Enoch walk with God? He educated his mind and heart to ever feel that he was in the presence of God, and when in perplexity, his prayers would ascend to God to keep him. He refused to take any course that would offend His God. He kept the Lord continually before him....He had no thought or will of his own; it was all submerged in the will of his Father.

    Now Enoch was representative of those who will be upon the earth when Christ shall come, who will be translated to heaven without seeing death. But be sure that if your hearts are inclined not to do God's will, not to keep the way of the Lord, but to follow your own way, then you are not in harmony with the God of heaven....

    Many close their eyes lest they shall see the truth. They do not want to see the defects in their life and character, and they are disturbed if you mention anything about God's law. In this they show that they have a human standard of their own; that their will is not the will of God. We want that you should not be deceived by Satan, the first great adversary of God's law. We want to bear in mind that God's law is the only standard by which He will judge man....

    The nations that have kept the truth enter into the city of God, and a voice is heard clear and distinct, "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." [Revelation 22:41.] (Manuscript 6a, June 27, 1886)

REFLECTION: Enoch's walk with God was not in a trance or vision, but in all the duties of his daily life. He did not become a hermit, shutting himself entirely from the world; for he had a work to do for God in the world. In the family and in his intercourse with men, as a husband and father, a friend, a citizen, he was the steadfast, unwavering servant of the Lord. (Patriarchs and Prophets, 85)

November 1, 2020

11/1/2020

READER OF THOUGHTS

        O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thoughts afar off.--Psalm 139:1-2

    We see that the world at large have no thoughts of this great day, and many of them do not care to hear anything about it. But we must meet the record of our lives. We must remember that there is a witness to all our works. An eye like a flame of fire beholds us in all our actions of life. Our very thoughts and the intents and purposes of our hearts are laid bare to God's inspection. As the features are produced upon the polished plate of the artist, so are our characters upon the books of record in heaven.

    Every one will then discern the influence he had upon his fellow men by his own departure from God's righteousness, to turn them away from the ways of truth and right. Every one then will understand just what he did to dishonor the God of heaven by breaking His law.

    Every one who comes forth from the dead when Christ comes in the clouds of heaven, and those who are living, will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. The deeds and acts which we have thought to have been done in secret, where no eye could see, are made known. There was an eye that saw and registered the deeds done by man. (Manuscript 6a, June 27, 1886)

REFLECTION: "Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart"--the human heart, with its conflicting emotions of joy and sorrow; the wandering, wayward heart, which is the abode of so much impurity and deceit. 1 Samuel 16:7. He knows its motives, its very intents and purposes. Go to Him with your soul all stained as it is. Like the psalmist, throw its chambers open to the all-seeing eye, exclaiming, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23, 24. (Steps to Christ, 34-35)