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27:2

@@@^In conclusion, let us summarize the two main points which our study of the afternoon has definitely made clear to us: (1) That a work and movement similar to those of Zechariah’s day is successfully to bring revival and reformation among God’s people of today, that those who expect the promised blessings must whole-heartedly enter into it. (2) That without the living Spirit of Prophecy in our midst, there can be no success in any revival and reformation, and that the sooner we know it the quicker we shall achieve our goal.

2:2

@@@^M.B., p. 163 — “When we pray, ‘Give us this day our daily bread,’ we ask for others as well as ourselves. And we acknowledge that what God gives us is not for ourselves alone.... ‘He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully’.... In teaching us to ask every day for what we need, — both temporal and spiritual blessings, — God has a purpose to accomplish for our good.”

10:1

@@@^@0@9Hag. 1:12-14 — “Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the Lord. Then spake Haggai the Lord’s messenger in the Lord’s message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the Lord. And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God.”@7@^These verses tell us that just as soon as all the people gave heed to the messengers of God, just that soon the Spirit of the Lord stirred their energies, and then immediately all went to work. We, too, will have just such an experience if we now settle it in our minds that from this hour on we will pay strict attention to the message of God and serve the Lord our God with whole heart and soul. Let us not put off God’s blessings from us.

23:1

@@@^@0@9Zech. 8:13 — “And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.”@7@^Besides promising to save His people from the east and from the west, the Lord promises to save also the house of Judah and the house of Israel, both of the scattered ancient kingdoms. You are well acquainted with the fact that the ten-tribe kingdom constituted the house of Israel. And since these two kingdoms have never yet been united and brought back to Jerusalem, there is but one logical conclusion to be reached: The promises of this chapter are to be fulfilled in the time of the “gathering of the people” from the four corners of the earth. In view of this great and grand work the Lord expects our hands to be “strong.” Next we shall read—

10:4

@@@^The work that God has begun in the human heart by Divine light and knowledge, must continually go forward. “...Every individual must realize his own necessity. The heart must be emptied of every defilement, and cleansed for the indwelling of the Spirit. It was by the confession and forsaking of sin, by earnest prayer and consecration of themselves to God, that the early disciples prepared for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The same work, only in greater degree, must be done now. Then the human agent had only to ask for the blessing, and wait for the Lord to perfect the work concerning him. It is God who began the work, and He will finish His work, making man complete in Jesus Christ. But there must be no neglect of the grace represented by the former rain.

12:6

@@@^A new day is dawning on us, Brother, Sister. And now, rather than imagining that we are rich and increased with goods, in need of nothing, we see ourselves in need of everything. Shall we not accept these riches (Truth) that are tried in the fire, and these garments of righteousness by which to cover our nakedness? Shall we not anoint our eyes with this fresh golden oil of Truth that we may see and know the way, that we may reach “the door” on time? There is no reason for staying wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. The Lord is waiting at the door of our hearts. He is anxious to pour out a blessing, to fill the cup to overflowing. Let us not disappoint Him by forcing Him to pass us by. Let us now disarm and fearlessly prepare to sit in peace under our God-given “fig tree.”

2:2

@@@^M.B., p. 187 — “The Lord specifies no conditions except that you hunger for His mercy, desire His counsel, and long for His love. ‘Ask.’ The asking makes it manifest that you realize your necessity; and if you ask in faith, you will receive... When you ask for the blessings you need, that you may perfect a character after Christ’s likeness, the Lord assures you that you are asking according to a promise that will be verified. That you feel and know you are a sinner, is sufficient ground for asking for His mercy and compassion. The condition upon which you may come to God is not that you shall be holy, but that you desire Him to cleanse you from all sin, and purify you from all iniquity. The argument that we may plead now and ever is our great need, our utterly helpless state, that makes Him and His redeeming power a necessity.”

2:3

@@@^How reassuring to us sinful human beings ought this thrice-repeated promise be! The Lord lays down no complicated and hard-to meet conditions. He merely says, “Ask.” By asking for the blessings we need in order to perfect our characters in Christ, we manifest our desire for His counsel and His help, we thereby demonstrate that we actually realize our helplessness without Him. When we do this, then we need have no fear that the Lord will fail us. Indeed not, for He is the Person of His word.

16:2

@@@^“’Seek.’ Desire not merely His blessing, but Himself. ‘Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace.’ Seek, and you shall find. God is seeking you, and the very desire you feel to come to Him, is but the drawing of His Spirit. Yield to that drawing. Christ is pleading the cause of the tempted, the erring, and the faithless. He is seeking to lift them into companionship with Himself. ‘If thou seek Him, He will be found of thee.’

16:3

@@@^“’Knock.’ We come to God by special invitation, and He waits to welcome us to His audience-chamber. The first disciples who followed Jesus were not satisfied with a hurried conversation with Him by the way; they said, ‘Rabbi, where dwellest Thou?... They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day.’ So we may be admitted into closest intimacy and communion with God. ‘He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.’ Let those who desire the blessing of God, knock and wait at the door of mercy with firm assurance, saying, For Thou, O Lord, hast said, Every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

18:2

@@@^@0@9Verses 15-18 — “For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill. And therefore will the Lord wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for Him.”@7@^Because there was nothing that could have been done to save our ancestors from shame, the Lord let the nations beat His people and scatter them to the four winds. He nevertheless left a promise that He would wait until they as a people have gone through their period of prodigality, until they as individuals discover their mistakes and give the Lord opportunity to display His grace to them. Those who wait for Him are certainly to receive His blessings.

2:2

@@@^M.B., p. 190 — “Every promise in the Word of God furnishes us with subject-matter for prayer, presenting the pledged word of Jehovah as our assurance. Whatever spiritual blessing we need, it is our privilege to claim through Jesus. We may tell the Lord, with the simplicity of a child, exactly what we need. We may state to Him our temporal matters; asking Him for bread and raiment as well as for the bread of life and the robe of Christ’s righteousness. Your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things, and you are invited to ask Him concerning them. It is through the name of Jesus that every favor is received. God will honor that name, and will supply your necessities from the riches of His liberality.”

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.

24:1

@@@^On the other hand those who turned against the religion of the Bible, were left desolate — their blessings became a curse to them. The hated Jews, for whom there is no spot on earth, are the best example. Germany, who led out in the Reformation but who turned back from it, has reaped a sorrowful harvest, too.

24:4

@@@^The world was founded upon religion, and you can rest assured that when religion disappears from the earth, the world will disappear with it. Those who fall in love with the Truth will find that blessings will, reciprocally, fall in love with them. Let us read:

25:3

@@@^@0@9Deut. 30:15, 19 — “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil:... I call Heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.”@7@^Example No. 6: If we fail to profit by what God tells us we shall fail as badly as, if not worse, as any who have failed before us. I think some of you who have had personal contact with God, know these things through experiences of your own. Doubtless you have found that you cannot long prevent explosion while keeping fire and gunpowder in the same room; that you cannot serve the Devil and yet have peace and security. Let me illustrate this by an actual incident:

29:1

@@@^To summarize this study: We have learned that we have been put in this world for a purpose, that if we want salvation and blessings we must cooperate with God. This we can do by following the examples of God’s Truth-hungering people. To enable us to do this He has seen to it that both the glories and calamities of both classes have been noted in His Book.

26:2

@@@^Then, coming to Isaac’s twins, Esau and Jacob: Esau was the mighty man of the day, and the first-born in the home; his was the birthright to lead out in the service of God. But he, too, was more interested in hunting than in the work of the Spirit. So little value he placed on the Spirit’s work that he sold his birthright for a mess of pottage. In spite of this, he still expected the promised blessings from his father, but Providence intervened! When he discovered his loss, he, of course, as Cain of old, sought to kill his brother.

4:1

@@@^@0@9Verse 17 — “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven.”@7@^Peter received the blessing because he was the one to whom the Father had revealed His Son, because he had been impressed by the Spirit of the sacred Truth, and because he freely voiced the Truth. Having been endowed with this gift to his credit, Peter was told:

5:3

@@@^We must not therefore bluntly speak forth the all-important Truth of God. We must use good judgment and tact. We must sow the seed in well-prepared soil if we expect God’s blessing, if we expect His rain and sunshine to cause it to spring forth and bear fruit. If the seed is not sown deep enough, the plant will wither away with the rising of the sun; if we merely drop the seed on the top of the ground, the birds will pick it up.