Bible Search

20:2

@@@^“...We have been inclined to think that where there are no faithful ministers, there can be no true Christians; but this is not the case. God has promised that where the shepherds are not true he will take charge of the flock himself. God has never made the flock wholly dependent upon human instrumentalities. But the days of purification of the church are hastening on apace. God will have a people pure and true. In the mighty sifting soon to take place, we shall be better able to measure the strength of Israel. The signs reveal that the time is near when the Lord will manifest that his fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor.” — “Testimonies,” Vol. 5, pg. 80.

5:1

@@@^@0@9Verse 5 — “And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob again to Him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength.”@7@^For their encouragement they are told that even though Israel be not gathered (he will, however, be gathered), yet they shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and the Lord God shall be their strength. Since they are now (not at another time but in the day this prophecy is fulfilled) called to bring Jacob to the Lord again, it shows that Jacob (the people of God in their Jacobite state) must have departed from the Lord. Now they must be brought back to Him by a mighty revival and reformation.

19:2

@@@^“You who are resting your hope on self, are building on the sand. But it is not yet too late to escape the impending ruin. Before the tempest breaks, flee to the sure foundation. ‘Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone of sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste.’ ‘Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else.’ ‘Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.’ ‘Ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.’”

29:3

@@@^Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, was a very great king. He ruled a great kingdom, and lived in a wonderful palace. But as soon as his human heart was taken away from him and the heart of a beast put in him, just that soon his own desires and ways left him and the desires and ways of a beast entered him. (See Daniel 4:16). So with God’s people: Just as soon as He puts His law in their inward parts, and writes it in their hearts, just that soon the carnal heart’s desire and enmity against God’s law will disappear. No longer will God’s people need to say, When we “want to do good, evil is present.” “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Rom. 7:24.

4:1

@@@^@0@9John 3:1-3 — “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto Him, Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”@7@^Both the rich young man and Nicodemus were rulers, and though Nicodemus might not have been as rich as was the young man, he nevertheless was not poor. But why was the one asked to distribute his riches to the poor, and the other told to be born again? Why should not both pay the same price for salvation? Here are the reasons:

5:4

@@@^@0@9Verses 4-8 — “Nicodemus saith unto Him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”@7@^Nicodemus’ acknowledgment that Jesus was the Son of God made his case exceedingly bad. Knowing who Jesus was, he should not have been ashamed to be seen in His company, nor should he have been afraid of His enemies. He should have considered it a privilege to associate with the Son of God, with a Heavenly Being. But inasmuch as Nicodemus was ashamed to be seen with Him, and was proud to be with Pharisees, he needed to bury the “old man,” and to arise in newness of life — needed to be born again.

14:3

@@@^I wonder if the world is not about the same today as it was in Christ’s day. The Jews were given a great opportunity to reveal God to humanity, but instead they concealed Him. Christians that are quarreling and bickering, bringing doctrines of man into the doctrines of God, are not revealing God to the heathen but are concealing Him, turning them against Him. Such are not making converts to Christ but are driving souls away from Him. We must pray that we do better; that we do not conceal Christ but reveal Him in all our works and through our lives.

17:2

@@@^@0@9Dan. 4:29, 30 — “At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?”@7@^What a statement to make after having heard God’s decree! The king had yet to learn that God rules the nations, sets up kings and deposes kings. Let us now hear God’s answer to the king’s folly:

21:1

@@@^@0@9Isa. 45:1 — “Thus saith the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two-leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut.”@7@^Cyrus, under whose command the Medo-Persian army marched into Babylon, had not yet been born when the prophet Isaiah wrote of him. But God remembered His promise and when Belshazzar felt perfectly secure on the night of revelry and fatal debauchery, God opened before Cyrus the two-leaved gates and made possible the capture of the kingdom. There the Medes and Persians met Daniel and his companions, who called Cyrus’ attention to the Scriptures which not only predicted his victory, but even foretold his name. Having seen and felt the power of God, Cyrus was moved to decree:

6:2

@@@^@0@9Eph. 4:11-14 — “And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”@7@^Inspiration makes it plain that God’s plan is that the Church should ever be growing both in knowledge and perfection till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.

16:5

@@@^“Here we see that the church — the Lord’s sanctuary — was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had given great light, and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people,” says the Spirit of God, “had betrayed their trust.” — “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. 5, pg. 211.

18:1

@@@^“...Thus peace and safety is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God’s people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs, that would not bark, are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children, all perish together.” — “Testimonies,” Vol. 5, pg. 211. Continuing further, the Spirit of God asks:

22:4

@@@^“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. The Spirit of God, which prompts to reproof, is trampled under foot, while the servants of Satan triumph....” — “Testimonies,” Vol. 5, pp. 210, 211.

3:2

@@@^@0@9Rev. 22:14, 15 — “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. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”@7@^Here we see that only those who do His commandments have the right to enter the City. When the work of salvation is finished and the people gathered home, they will be those who will still keep the commandments of God, even after sin is eradicated. Sin nevertheless cannot be eradicated while the law is transgressed, for the transgression of it is sin. (1 John 3:3, 4.) The Commandments of God, you see, are eternal, and only when Christians begin to live the life which the Word of God advocates, will they find themselves living above the law; then only will they be free from transgression.

8:3

@@@^But suppose that you should have to struggle to keep the commandments of God in the Kingdom of God throughout eternity, should have to struggle as you struggle now? Suppose the law of the flesh should stay with you forever? — What then? Would you then be as anxious as you are now for a place in the Kingdom? God tells us what to expect.

10:5

@@@^Were the same thing done to anyone of us, our desires would be the same as the king’s. In like manner, when the stony heart is taken away from us, and the heart of flesh with the law of God written on it put in us, we shall then find it altogether too inconvenient to sin, and most delightful to keep the commandments of God. And so you need not fear having to struggle to keep the law of God in the Kingdom, as you do here. You will then be perfectly contented to live a sinless life. In fact you will want to sin no more than you would now want to die.

12:1

@@@^@0@9Ezek. 36:24-28 — “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be My people, and I will be your God.”@7 The records from both prophets clearly point out the time in which this miracle will be performed on the hearts of all God’s people. Both prophets make it as clear as can be made, that this change of heart takes place in the Holy Land, Palestine, at the beginning of the kingdom which God promises to set up “in the days of these kings” (Dan. 2:44), not after their days. He moreover says that He will take us from among the heathen and gather us from all countries, and take us into our own land (Ezek. 36:24), the land in which our fathers dwelt (Ezek. 36:28). “Then,” at that time, says Inspiration, not before, will He sprinkle clean water upon us, cleanse us from all filthiness, and from all idols. Also, a new heart will He then put in us (Ezek. 36:26). He will give us His Spirit and cause us to comply with His statutes, and to keep His judgments (Ezek. 36:27). Read these scriptures for yourself and see if they say all I am trying to tell you they say.

16:3

@@@^Are not these tests strong enough to convince any of you that the secret things of God, such as the concealed prophecies, are not disclosed by finite men, — no, not by the Devil either, that when God wants a thing to be a secret, it remains concealed until He Himself reveals it? Then, when it is revealed all are to know that God Himself is at work. Are not therefore the wise men of the day making fools of themselves by airing their private interpretations of the unrevealed Scriptures?

20:1

@@@^@0@92 Chron. 36:14-17 — “Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which He had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by His messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because He had compassion on His people, and on His dwelling place: but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy. Therefore He brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: He gave them all into his hand.”@7@^The transgressors herein mentioned, you see, were not left to the slaughter simply because they were great sinners; God had compassion on them while sinning, and sent messengers to correct and to enlighten them. But after they rejected His messages, and slew His Spirit-filled messengers, they sinned against the Holy Ghost, then there was nothing more that He could do but to let their enemies destroy them.

5:1

@@@^Abraham took the hilly country after Lot chose the fertile valley adjacent to the markets of Sodom and Gomorrah. There Lot’s family left the school of God and entered the school of man. Abraham though and his household remained in the school of God, learning how to make the hills pay good dividends. Abraham became “very rich,” but Lot very poor. Abraham, you see, in the school of God became the world’s greatest business man in his day. He learned to make something out of nothing. Moreover, he was the world’s greatest general, for you recall that with but a few men he defeated five kings, took their spoils and restored the goods to the rightful owners. All this he did without the loss of a single soldier! Still further he reared the only son that ever willingly submitted to burn on a sacrificial altar for his father’s religion.