Bible Search

2:3

@@@^“‘And the lusts of other things.’ These are not necessarily things sinful in themselves, but something that is made first instead of the kingdom of God. Whatever attracts the mind from God, whatever draws the affections away from Christ, is an enemy to the soul.”

2:4

@@@^We should now pray for the realization that God is the One Who gives us the opportunity to obtain our needs, and that He blesses some with riches for no other purpose than for the rich to serve Him in the person of humanity. In this reading we are also commended to pray that we shun serving self, and learn to give God the credit for all our righteous acts, and to charge our sins against the Devil.

20:1

@@@^@0@9Verses 14-18 — “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful. And He saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”@7@^Again, the fact that the ten horns (kings) have one mind (unlike the toe-kings of Daniel 2:42, 43), but have no kingdom of their own, besides the fact that the woman rules the beast, and also the fact that the Communist leaders (crownless kings) of the nations and have one mind (work together for one common cause), — all these facts show that though Communism appears to be the next power to rule the world, this symbolical prophecy points out that the world will next be ruled by an international religious system, by Babylon the Great, a rival of the religion of Christ, and a counterfeit of the woman in Revelation chapter 12. The scarlet-colored beast, therefore, is the symbol of the world government into which the United Nations will finally evolve.

24:1

@@@^@0@9Verses 2-4 — “And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”@7@^A heavenly voice, the Spirit of Truth, is heard calling God’s people out of Babylon after the earth is lightened with the glory of the angel. For God’s people to come out so that they be not partakers of her sins and receive not of her plagues, they must necessarily be called into a place that is free from sin, and thus be saved from Babylon’s plagues. Consequently they go into a purified sinless church, and a land that is not in danger of the plagues.

2:3

@@@^Let us now pray for both the parents and the children, for the Church herself at her lowest ebb is encouraging worldliness by her unholy methods of raising money; God’s house is desecrated, and the cities are become like Sodom and Gomorrah. Let us pray that we as parents and guardians will keep close to the Master and seek Divine aid in bringing up the children in God’s own order, for their very salvation is at stake.

10:4

@@@^When will this be? — It will have to be just as soon as God can get a company of people to “see eye to eye” (Isa. 52:8) that their own so-called good deeds are but filthy rags, and thus be of one accord. The only such company in prophecy, you know, is the 144,000, the first fruits, the servants of God who stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb without guile in their mouths (Rev. 14:1, 4, 5). To achieve such a happy holy state the Church must experience a mighty revival and reformation, a shaking, a sifting, such as she has never yet experienced. Yes, if everyone were to cast away his private ideas and opinions, it would indeed bring the greatest revival and reformation since the day of Pentecost. This is what now must take place, and it will take place exactly as the following Scripture reveals: “He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.... And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others He said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.” Ezek. 9:1, 2, 4-6.

17:1

@@@^If this be not true of us, then it is certain that we shall never advance any further in the knowledge of God, Christ, or His Truth, — no, not any further than we were the day we were baptized. Those who do this become dwarfs instead of grown-up Christians, never reaching the fullness of the stature of Christ, for they are satisfied to be what they are; they feel in need of nothing more than what they got at baptism; they are as unmovable as were the priests, scribes, and Pharisees in Jesus’ day. God forbid that any of us should thus lose out.

18:1

@@@^@0@9Rev. 3:15-17 — “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”@7@^“What greater deception can come upon human minds than a confidence that they are right, when they are all wrong! The message of the True Witness finds the people of God in a sad deception, yet honest in that deception. They know not that their condition is deplorable in the sight of God. While those addressed are flattering themselves that they are in an exalted spiritual condition, the message of the True Witness breaks their security by the startling denunciation of their true condition of spiritual blindness, poverty, and wretchedness. The testimony, so cutting and severe, cannot be a mistake, for it is the True Witness who speaks, and his testimony must be correct.” — @9Testimonies@7, Vol. 3, pp. 252-253.

22:2

@@@^@0@9Micah 6:8 — “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”@7@^Once having caught the vision of the great need for revival and reformation, God’s people are willing to do almost anything, even to sacrificing their first-born.

23:4

@@@^@0@9Ezek. 34:21, 22, 31 — “Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; therefore will I save My flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle.... And ye My flock, the flock of My pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.”@7@^The diseased, the weak, are of course those who are less influential, and for one reason or another are unable to hold their own. These are pushed and horned out by the stronger, the unjust and unmerciful class, the class who control the work. This class is nevertheless eventually to be judged.

27:1

@@@^“In the time when his wrath shall go forth in judgments, these humble, devoted followers of Christ will be distinguished from the rest of the world by their soul-anguish, which is expressed in lamentation and weeping, reproofs and warnings. While others try to throw a cloak over the existing evil, and excuse the great wickedness everywhere prevalent, those who have a zeal for God’s honor and a love for souls, will not hold their peace to obtain favor of any. Their righteous souls are vexed day by day with the unholy works and conversation of the unrighteous. They are powerless to stop the rushing torrent of iniquity, and hence they are filled with grief and alarm. They mourn before God to see religion despised in the very homes of those who have had great light. They lament and afflict their souls because pride, avarice, selfishness, and deception of almost every kind are in the church.” — @9Testimonies@7, Vol. 5, pg. 210.

2:3

@@@^“And he brings forth fruit ‘with patience.’ None who receive God’s word are exempt from difficulty and trial; but when affliction comes, the true Christian does not become restless, distrustful, or despondent. Though we can not see the definite outcome of affairs, or discern the purpose of God’s providence, we are not to cast away our confidence. Remembering the tender mercies of the Lord, we should cast our care upon Him, and with patience wait for His salvation.

7:3

@@@^@0@9Verse 10 — “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.”@7@^The Christian’s life is, as it were, a building under construction. One messenger of God lays the foundation, another builds thereupon. Thus to no one messenger is given all the material with which to build.

9:1

@@@^@0@9Verses 19, 20 — “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”@7@^Since the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, we had better have nothing to do with it, and quit taking sides — one for Luther, another for Wesley, still another for Campbell, or White — but we had better stand with the Lord, and accept all the Truths from all His servants He chooses to send. Otherwise when we arrive at the door He will have to say to us, “Depart from Me, I never knew you.”

12:2

@@@^@0@9Isa. 2:22 — “Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?”@7@^In this verse of Scripture God recommends that we cease from man. And the reason given is that man’s breath is in his nostrils; because without breath he is but a lump of dirt, and therefore of no account. He is no God.

12:3

@@@^The plea would not have been made if the people were not putting their trust in man rather than in God for their salvation; that is, rather than doing what the noble Bereans did, studying to know whether “these things be so,” God’s people are giving heed to what others think or say. They are today doing what hundreds of thousands were doing in Jesus’ day: trusting in the opinions of their learned priests, scribes, and rabbis. The Jews’ giving heed to hearsay instead of engaging in personal investigation and experience of their own with the source of truth is, therefore, the very thing that crucified the Lord.

13:4

@@@^Satan, we are told, was not the only sinner in Heaven, for with him were cast out of Heaven a third of the angelic host (Rev. 12:4). These were cast out of Heaven because they gave heed to the words of Lucifer, to a man in Heaven, rather than giving heed to the word of God. This was the angels’ downfall. Lucifer himself fell when he aspired to be as God.

14:1

@@@^The fruit, of course, appealed to her, but she was tempted by the idea of having the opportunity to be exalted to the throne of God, to be exalted to the same position to which Lucifer himself aspired. Lucifer must have honestly believed that he would be as God if the angels in Heaven and the men on earth would but take orders from him.

18:3

@@@^No one, moreover, including ourselves, has ever accepted the writing of the prophets on the merits of their goodness, their education, or their personal religious experience. They wrote nothing concerning themselves, and nothing to bolster their office. All who have accepted them, have done so on the merits of their own writings. That is all. They never tried to win converts by what they themselves were or were not. Are they not to this day having success? And is it not the Truth of God that we must be after? The Jews asked for a sign, and the Greeks for wisdom, but God’s people of today are asking for both sign and wisdom, rather than for Truth.

2:2

@@@^“The work of the sower is a work of faith. The mystery of the germination and growth of the seed he can not understand. But he has confidence in the agencies by which God causes vegetation to flourish. In casting his seed into the ground, he is apparently throwing away the precious grain that might furnish bread for his family. But he is only giving up a present good for a larger return. He casts the seed away, expecting to gather it many-fold in an abundant harvest. So Christ’s servants are to labor, expecting a harvest from the seed they sow.... In our life-work we know not which shall prosper, this or that. This is not a question for us to settle. We are to do our work, and leave the results with God.”