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3:4

@@@^The Apostle Paul reminds us that Abraham had two wives and two sons. We all know the story, that when God called Abraham to depart from his country and to go to an unknown land, God promised to give him a son. Something like twenty-five years passed by and still the arrival of a son was not in sight. Sarah was then about ninety years old (Gen. 17:17). During those years of Abraham’s and Sarah’s waiting for a son, Hagar became Abraham’s wife and through her Ishmael was born. Sarah, therefore, is the desolate woman (put aside), and Hagar is the one who has an husband. Accordingly Isaiah 54:1 is allegorically speaking of these two women and their children. As to what the allegory is about, the Apostle explains:—

7:2

@@@^“As the saints left the cities and villages, they were pursued by the wicked, who sought to slay them. But the swords that were raised to kill God’s people broke and fell as powerless as a straw. Angels of God shielded the saints. As they cried day and night for deliverance, their cry came up before the Lord.” — “Early Writings,” pp. 284, 285.

10:1

@@@^@0@9Verses 6, 7 — “For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.”@7 The statement, “for a small moment have I forsaken thee,” being set forth in contrast to the statement, “but with great mercies will I gather thee,” shows that God’s forsaking her is her dispersion among the Gentiles, and that her gathering is her returning to the homeland, her inhabiting the desolate cities.

12:2

@@@^@0@9Verses 13-17 — “And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by Me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord.”@7@^Evidently we are slow to be convinced that the Mighty God of Jacob is able to protect and to keep us from all evil else He would not be trying time and again to convince us of His ability by further explaining that as He has created the “smith” and the “waster” and has put them to work, just so He is able to make their instruments and efforts of none effect. God’s persuasion, you see, is such that a little child can understand.

14:3

@@@^“He who determines to enter the spiritual kingdom will find that all the powers and passions of an unregenerate nature, backed by the forces of the kingdom of darkness, are arrayed against him. Selfishness and pride will make a stand against anything that would show them to be sinful. We can not, of ourselves, conquer the evil desires and habits that strive for the mastery. We can not overcome the mighty foe who holds us in his thrall. God alone can give us the victory. He desires us to have the mastery over ourselves, our own will and ways. But He can not work in us without our consent and cooperation. The divine Spirit works through the faculties and powers given to man. Our energies are required to cooperate with God.”

14:4

@@@^The old nature, the nature that we are born with, cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. According to this reading our need is to pray for ability to surrender our hearts, our all to God. When we do this, we shall be quite different than what we are now — our old nature will vanish away.

16:1

@@@^Since her people have never to this day been all righteous, it is plain to see that the fulfillment of the prophecy is yet future. And in view of the fact that our message is announcing the imminent purification of the church, the time in which the angels are to sift out the hypocrites from among the faithful, the time in which the net is drawn to shore and the bad fish cast out, the cleansing of the sanctuary — the Judgment for the Living in “the house of God” (1 Pet. 4:17) is about to begin, Inspiration, therefore, in this chapter is addressing God’s church at this particular time. Since we now see that this chapter contains important timely Truth, we shall study it verse by verse.

20:2

@@@^@0@9Verse 11 — Therefore thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought.”@7@^Because of our response to God’s call and because of our rising to shine for Him, many people shall say: “...Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Isa. 2:3. For this very obvious reason the gates as it were, would have to stay open day and night in order to accommodate the traffic — the incoming saints, the wealth of the Gentiles, and their kings. Plainly, then, the great need is not the “Harvest Ingathering” campaign, not the multiple collections, not the book sale days — not any goal-raising campaigns — but to take this “golden oil” for our lamps and to “arise and shine” is what the church needs today.

21:4

@@@^@0@9Verse 18 — “Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.”@7@^Now when the world needs and longs for peace more than ever before, God, Who only is able to give it is loudly declaring that those who really want peace can have it if they but come to Him. This hope and faith in the promises of God is even now to be our only peace of mind if we really believe.

24:2

@@@^@0@9Isa. 61:1, 2 — “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn.”@7@^These are the two verses which Jesus read as He stood in the synagogue of the city of Nazareth, the place where He was brought up. He read these verses and then sat down without making any comments. As His listeners were still in a stupor as to why He had read and then had sat down without adding a word, Jesus arose again and said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”

24:3

@@@^The reason given for the Spirit’s power upon Him is that the Lord God had anointed Him to preach good tidings unto the meek, implying that if the Lord had not anointed Him to preach, the Spirit of the Lord would not have been on Him. Moreover, He was anointed to preach to the meek, to those who are not self-sufficient, not high-minded, but humble and teachable; the other class could not be taught. He was to comfort all that mourn, to bind the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives (not to free them immediately). “The acceptable year of the Lord” is, of course, the time in which the scripture is fulfilled, the time it is unsealed and proclaimed. Those who give no heed to it are to be swept away in the “day of vengeance.” These were the good tidings for which Jesus was anointed. Unbelief and indifference in revealed Truth is an insult to God and a sin against the Holy Ghost Who leads into all Truth.

29:1

@@@^@0@9Verse 10 — “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.”@7 This chapter of Isaiah the prophet is indeed to bring “revival and reformation” such as has never taken place since the beginning of sin. God forbid that any one of us should miss the experience and the blessings that come through this revival and reformation.

29:2

@@@^@0@9Verse 11 — “For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.”@7@^Through the seed of Truth in the heart this experience will come to God’s people as naturally as does the earth cause the seed sown in it to bud and bring forth fruit. This is indeed the “righteousness of Christ,” not the might of men.

30:1

@@@^“Ample provisions have been made for all who sincerely, earnestly, and thoughtfully set about the work of perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Strength, grace, and glory have been provided through Christ, to be brought by ministering angels to the heirs of salvation. None are so low, so corrupt and vile, that they cannot find in Jesus, who died for them, strength, purity, and righteousness, if they will put away their sins, cease their course of iniquity, and turn with full purpose of heart to the living God. He is waiting to strip them of their garments, stained and polluted by sin, and to put upon them the white, bright robes of righteousness; and he bids them live and not die. In him they may flourish. Their branches will not wither nor be fruitless. If they abide in him, they can draw sap and nourishment from him, be imbued with his Spirit, walk even as he walked, overcome as he overcame, and be exalted to his own right hand.” — “Testimonies,” Vol. 2, pg. 453.

2:3

@@@^We shall now kneel and pray for understanding that our hope of having a home in God’s Kingdom depends upon uniting our will with His will, and upon laboring in cooperation with Him; that holiness depends upon renouncing self and accepting Christ; that pride has no place in the Christian’s heart; that the transformation of the grace of God is obtained by our conforming to His Word.

5:2

@@@^We are now living in a confused world. Some are of Paul and some of Apollos, of Cephas, Peter, John, and James, some of God and some of Christ. Christians are thus bickering and quarreling among themselves, one speaking against the faith of another, and at the same time all are trying to convert to Christ the non-Christian world! What darkness! To the church, which God is now creating, He says:

8:1

@@@^We therefore cannot do otherwise but go through, for it is our God-given duty to prepare the way for the people. We must build a highway, a way for them to come over to the light of God and thus to His Kingdom. We must gather out every obstacle that stands in the way, and must lift up a standard for the people, a standard which they can see and follow as it leads ahead. What could the standard be? — The very standard which the people are to see and to follow is Jesus in His Truth.

8:3

@@@^The word “behold” suggests that we should now take notice and be able to see that our salvation cometh and that while His reward is with Him, His work is still before Him. What is His reward? — What else could it be but life forevermore? So it shall be that the first fruits, the 144,000, the servants of God who are soon to stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb shall be the first to be rewarded. As servants of God they shall carry on the work that is “before Him,” the work of gathering the second fruits. As set forth by Isaiah the prophet:

19:1

@@@^“The church has turned back from following Christ her Leader, and is steadily retreating toward Egypt. Yet few are alarmed or astonished at their want of spiritual power. Doubt and even disbelief of the testimonies of the Spirit of God, is leavening our churches everywhere. Satan would have it thus. Ministers who preach self instead of Christ would have it thus. The testimonies are unread and unappreciated. God has spoken to you. Light has been shining from his word and from the testimonies, and both have been slighted and disregarded. The result is apparent in the lack of purity and devotion and earnest faith among us.” — “Testimonies,” Vol. 5, pg. 217.

19:2

@@@^The people that are crying deliverance are those whom Abraham did not know, and whom Israel of today (the Denomination) does not acknowledge. That is, as pointed out at the beginning of our study, Abraham was ignorant of the Christians, and the people that cry out for deliverance at the fulfillment of this prophecy are not by antitypical Israel (the Denomination), acknowledged as such. Thus it is that though Abraham of old does not know us, and though the Denomination does not acknowledge us, yet we know that God has given us a message, and that a change has taken place in us: that we are no longer satisfied, lukewarm, and that we are no longer unconscious of our Laodicean wretchedness, misery, poverty, blindness, and nakedness. We know that this is the work of God in our hearts, that we are truly being “born again,” born through the Holy Spirit — that we are now better Seventh-day Adventists than we were before. We can, therefore, with confidence say: Doubtless Thou are our Father, our Redeemer, Thy name is everlasting, though we are constantly and sarcastically told by our brethren, “No, you are not Seventh-day Adventists.”