Daily Devotional

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God’s Kingdom In The Heart​

Behold, the kingdom of God is within you. Luke 17:21.​

The government under which Jesus lived was corrupt and oppressive; on every hand were
crying abuses—extortion, intolerance, and grinding cruelty. Yet the Saviour attempted no civil
reforms. He attacked no national abuses, nor condemned the national enemies. He did not
interfere with the authority or administration of those in power. He who was our example kept
aloof from earthly governments. Not because He was indifferent to the woes of men, but because
the remedy did not lie in merely human and external measures. To be efficient, the cure must
reach men individually, and must regenerate the heart.

Some of the Pharisees had come to Jesus demanding “when the kingdom of God should
come” (Luke 17:20). More than three years had passed since John the Baptist gave the message
that like a trumpet call had sounded through the land, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand”
(Matthew 3:2). And as yet these Pharisees saw no indication of the establishment of the
kingdom....

Jesus answered, “The kingdom of God cometh not with outward show [margin]: neither shall
they say, Lo here! or lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” The kingdom of
God begins at the heart. Look not here or there for manifestations of earthly power to mark its
coming.

The works of Christ not only declared Him to be the Messiah, but showed in what manner
His kingdom was to be established.... It comes through the gentleness of the inspiration of His
word, through the inward working of His Spirit, the fellowship of the soul with Him who is its
life. The greatest manifestation of its power is seen in human nature brought to the perfection of
the character of Christ....

When God gave His Son to our world, He endowed human beings with imperishable
riches—riches compared with which the treasured wealth of men since the world began is
nothingness. Christ came to the earth and stood before the children of men with the hoarded
love of eternity, and this is the treasure that, through our connection with Him, we are to receive,​

to reveal, and to impart.

 

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Like Yeast

The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three
measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. Matthew 13:33.

In the Saviour’s parable, leaven is used to represent the kingdom of heaven. It illustrates the
quickening, assimilating power of the grace of God....

The grace of God must be received by the sinner before he can be fitted for the kingdom of
glory. All the culture and education which the world can give will fail of making a degraded
child of sin a child of heaven. The renewing energy must come from God.... As the leaven, when
mingled with the meal, works from within outward, so it is by the renewing of the heart that the
grace of God works to transform the life....

The leaven hidden in the flour works invisibly to bring the whole mass under its leavening
process; so the leaven of truth works secretly, silently, steadily, to transform the soul. The natural
inclinations are softened and subdued. New thoughts, new feelings, new motives, are implanted.
A new standard of character is set up—the life of Christ. The mind is changed; the faculties are
roused to action in new lines.... The conscience is awakened....

The heart of him who receives the grace of God overflows with love for God and for those
for whom Christ died. Self is not struggling for recognition.... He is kind and thoughtful, humble
in his opinion of himself, yet full of hope, always trusting in the mercy and love of God....

The grace of Christ is to control the temper and the voice. Its working will be seen in
politeness and tender regard shown by brother for brother, in kind, encouraging words. An
angel presence is in the home. The life breathes a sweet perfume, which ascends to God as
holy incense. Love is manifested in kindness, gentleness, forbearance, and long-suffering. The
countenance is changed. Christ abiding in the heart shines out in the faces of those who love Him
and keep His commandments.... As these changes are effected, angels break forth in rapturous
song, and God and Christ rejoice over souls fashioned after the divine similitude.

 

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The Royal Robe

And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for
the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. Revelation 19:8.

The parable of the wedding garment [Matthew 22:1-14] opens before us a lesson of the
highest consequence.... By the wedding garment in the parable is represented the pure, spotless
character which Christ’s true followers will possess.... The fine linen, says the Scripture, “is the
righteousness of saints.” It is the righteousness of Christ, His own unblemished character, that
through faith is imparted to all who receive Him as their personal Saviour.

The white robe of innocence was worn by our first parents when they were placed by God in
holy Eden. They lived in perfect conformity to the will of God.... A beautiful soft light, the light
of God, enshrouded the holy pair.... But when sin entered, they severed their connection with
God, and the light that had encircled them departed. Naked and ashamed, they tried to supply
the place of the heavenly garments by sewing together fig leaves for a covering.

We cannot provide a robe of righteousness for ourselves, for the prophet says, “All our
righteousness are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). There is nothing in us from which we can clothe
the soul so that its nakedness shall not appear. We are to receive the robe of righteousness woven
in the loom of heaven, even the spotless robe of Christ’s righteousness.

God has made ample provision that we may stand perfect in His grace, wanting in nothing,
waiting for the appearing of our Lord. Are you ready? Have you the wedding garment on? That
garment will never cover deceit, impurity, corruption, or hypocrisy. The eye of God is upon you.
It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. We may conceal our sins from the eyes
of men, but we can hide nothing from our Maker.

Let the youth and the little children be taught to choose for themselves that royal robe woven
in heaven’s loom—the “fine linen, clean and white,” which all the holy ones of earth will wear.
This robe, Christ’s own spotless character, is freely offered to every human being. But all who
receive it will receive and wear it here.

 

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God With Us

They shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Matthew
1:23.

From the days of eternity the Lord Jesus Christ was one with the Father; He was “the image
of God,” the image of His greatness and majesty, “the outshining of his glory.” It was to manifest
this glory that He came to our world. To this sin-darkened earth He came to reveal the light of
God’s love—to be “God with us.”...

Our little world is the lesson book of the universe. God’s wonderful purpose of grace, the
mystery of redeeming love, is the theme into which “angels desire to look”, and it will be their
study throughout endless ages. Both the redeemed and the unfallen beings will find in the cross
of Christ their science and their song. It will be seen that the glory shining in the face of Jesus
is the glory of self-sacrificing love. In the light from Calvary it will be seen that the law of
self-renouncing love is the law of life for earth and heaven; that the love which “seeketh not her
own” has its source in the heart of God....

Jesus might have remained at the Father’s side. He might have retained the glory of heaven,
and the homage of the angels. But He chose to give back the scepter into the Father’s hands, and
to step down from the throne of the universe, that He might bring light to the benighted, and life
to the perishing....

This great purpose had been shadowed forth in types and symbols. The burning bush, in
which Christ appeared to Moses, revealed God.... The all-merciful God shrouded His glory in a
most humble type, that Moses could look upon it and live. So in the pillar of cloud by day and the
pillar of fire by night, God communicated with Israel, revealing to men His will, and imparting to
them His grace. God’s glory was subdued, and His majesty veiled, that the weak vision of finite
men might behold it. So Christ was to come in “the body of our humiliation” (Philippians 3:21,
R.V.), “in the likeness of men.”... His glory was veiled, His greatness and majesty were hidden,
that He might draw near to sorrowful, tempted men.

 

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Adopted Sons And Daughters

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace,
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Ephesians 1:5,6.

Before the foundations of the earth were laid the covenant was made that all who were
obedient, all who should through the abundant grace provided become holy in character and
without blame before God by appropriating that grace, should be children of God.

We owe everything to grace, free grace, sovereign grace. Grace in the covenant ordained our
adoption. Grace in the Saviour effected our redemption, our regeneration, and our adoption to
heirship with Christ.

As we fully believe that we are His by adoption, we may have a foretaste of heaven.... We
have a nearness to Him, and can hold sweet communion with Him. We obtain distinct views of
His tenderness and compassion, and our hearts are broken and melted with contemplation of the
love that is given to us. We feel indeed an abiding Christ in the soul. We abide in Him, and feel
at home with Jesus.... We have a realizing sense of the love of God, and we rest in His love. No
language can describe it, it is beyond knowledge. We are one with Christ, our life is hid with
Christ in God. We have the assurance that when He who is our life shall appear, then shall we
also appear with Him in glory. With strong confidence we can call God our Father.

All who have been born into the heavenly family are in a special sense the brethren of our
Lord. The love of Christ binds together the members of His family, and wherever that love is
manifest there the divine relationship is revealed....

Love to man is the earthward manifestation of the love of God. It was to implant this love,
to make us children of one family, that the King of glory became one with us. And when His
parting words are fulfilled, “Love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12); when we love
the world as He has loved it, then for us His mission is accomplished. We are fitted for heaven;
for we have heaven in our hearts.

 

[EastCoastRemnant]

Blessings Through Obedience

I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. Psalm 40:8.

What a God is our God! He rules over His kingdom with diligence and care, and He has
built a hedge—the Ten Commandments—about His subjects to preserve them from the results of
transgression. In requiring obedience to the laws of His kingdom, God gives His people health
and happiness, peace and joy. He teaches them that the perfection of character He requires
can be attained only by becoming familiar with His Word.

The true seeker, who is striving to be like Jesus in word, life, and character, will contemplate
his Redeemer and, by beholding, become changed into His image, because he longs and prays
for the same disposition and mind that was in Christ Jesus.... He longs after God. The history of
his Redeemer, the immeasurable sacrifice that He made, becomes full of meaning to him. Christ,
the Majesty of heaven, became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich; not rich
merely in endowments, but rich in attainments.

These are the riches that Christ earnestly longs that His followers shall possess. As the true
seeker after the truth reads the Word and opens his mind to receive the Word, he longs after truth
with his whole heart. The love, the pity, the tenderness, the courtesy, the Christian politeness,
which will be the elements in the heavenly mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for those
that love Him, take possession of his soul. His purpose is steadfast. He is determined to stand on
the side of righteousness. Truth has found its way into the heart, and is planted there by the Holy
Spirit, who is the truth. When truth takes hold of the heart, the man gives sure evidence of this
by becoming a steward of the grace of Christ.

Each steward has his own special work to do for the advancement of God’s kingdom.... The
talents of speech, memory, influence, property, are to accumulate for the glory of God and the
advancement of His kingdom. He will bless the right use of His gifts.

 

[EastCoastRemnant]

In The Most Holy Place

The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him. Habakkuk
2:20.

I saw a throne, and on it sat the Father and the Son. I gazed on Jesus’ countenance and
admired His lovely person. The Father’s person I could not behold, for a cloud of glorious light
covered Him. I asked Jesus if His Father had a form like Himself. He said He had, but I could
not behold it, for said He, “If you should once behold the glory of His person, you would cease
to exist.” ...

I saw the Father rise from the throne, and in a flaming chariot go into the holy of holies
within the veil, and sit down.... Then a cloudy chariot, with wheels like flaming fire, surrounded
by angels, came to where Jesus was. He stepped into the chariot and was borne to the holiest,
where the Father sat. There I beheld Jesus, a great High Priest, standing before the Father.

Two lovely cherubs, one on each side of the ark, stood with their wings outstretched above it,
and touching each other above the head of Jesus as He stood before the mercy seat. Their faces
were turned toward each other, and they looked downward to the ark, representing all the angelic
host looking with interest at the law of God. Between the cherubim was a golden censer, and as
the prayers of the saints, offered in faith, came up to Jesus, and He presented them to His Father,
a cloud of fragrance arose from the incense, looking like smoke of most beautiful colors. Above
the place where Jesus stood, before the ark, was exceedingly bright glory that I could not look
upon; it appeared like the throne of God.

Our crucified Lord is pleading for us in the presence of the Father at the throne of grace.
His atoning sacrifice we may plead for our pardon, our justification, and our sanctification.
The lamb slain is our only hope. Our faith looks up to Him, grasps Him as the One who can
save to the uttermost, and the fragrance of the all-sufficient offering is accepted of the Father....
Christ’s glory is concerned in our success. He has a common interest in all humanity. He is our
sympathizing Saviour.

 

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Source Of Compassion And Mercy​

Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.
Psalm 45:6.​

Though now He has ascended to the presence of God, and shares the throne of the universe,
Jesus has lost none of His compassionate nature. Today, the same tender, sympathizing heart is
open to all the woes of humanity. Today the hand that was pierced is reached forth to bless more
abundantly His people that are in the world....​

Through all our trials we have a never-failing Helper. He does not leave us alone to struggle
with temptation, to battle with evil, and be finally crushed with burdens and sorrow. Though now
He is hidden from mortal sight, the ear of faith can hear His voice saying, Fear not; I am with
you. "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore" (Revelation 1:18).​

Those who put away iniquity from their hearts and stretch out their hands in earnest
supplication unto God will have that help which God alone can give them. A ransom has been
paid for the souls of men, that they may have an opportunity to escape from the thralldom of
sin and obtain pardon, purity, and heaven.... Those who frequent the throne of grace, offering
up sincere, earnest petitions for divine wisdom and power, will not fail to become active, useful
servants of Christ. They may not possess great talents, but with humility of heart and firm reliance
upon Jesus they may do a good work in bringing souls to Christ....​

Thousands have a false conception of God and His attributes.... God is a God of truth. Justice
and mercy are the attributes of His throne. He is a God of love, of pity and tender compassion.
Thus He is represented in His Son, our Saviour. He is a God of patience and long-suffering. If
such is the being whom we adore and to whose character we are seeking to assimilate, we are
worshiping the true God.​

If we are following Christ, His merits, imputed to us, come up before the Father as sweet
odor. And the graces of our Saviour’s character, implanted in our hearts, will shed around us a
precious fragrance.​

 

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To Draw Us To God​

I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn
thee. Jeremiah 31:3.​

The Lord of life and glory clothed His divinity with humanity to demonstrate to man that God
through the gift of Christ would connect us with Him. Without a connection with God no one
can possibly be happy. Fallen man is to learn that our Heavenly Father cannot be satisfied until
His love embraces the repentant sinner, transformed through the merits of the spotless Lamb of
God.​

The work of all the heavenly intelligences is to this end. Under the command of their General
they are to work for the reclaiming of those who by transgression have separated themselves from
their Heavenly Father. A plan has been devised whereby the wondrous grace and love of Christ
shall stand revealed to the world. In the infinite price paid by the Son of God to ransom man, the
love of God is revealed. This glorious plan of redemption is ample in its provisions to save the
whole world. Sinful and fallen man may be made complete in Jesus through the forgiveness of
sin and the imputed righteousness of Christ.​

In all the gracious deeds that Jesus did, He sought to impress upon men the parental,
benevolent attributes of God.... Jesus would have us understand the love of the Father, and He
seeks to draw us to Him by presenting His parental grace. He would have the whole field of our
vision filled with the perfection of God’s character.... It was only by living among men that He
could reveal the mercy, compassion, and love of His heavenly Father; for it was only by actions
of benevolence that He could set forth the grace of God.​

Christ came to manifest the love of God to the world, to draw the hearts of all men to
Himself.... The first step toward salvation is to respond to the drawing of the love of Christ....
It is that men may understand the joy of forgiveness, the peace of God, that Christ draws
them through the manifestation of His love. If they respond to His drawing, yielding
their hearts to His grace, He will lead them on step by step, to a full knowledge of Himself, and this is life eternal.​

 

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I apologize for neglecting the daily devotionals... I'm going to post up 4 or 5 to try and catch myself back up. Please try and read each one and then to contemplate the message before reading the next.

Once again, for those that did not read it previuosly, these are from the EG White compilation, Our Father Cares

 

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Terms Of The Covenant​

If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar
treasure unto me above all people. Exodus 19:5.​

In the beginning, God gave His law to mankind as a means of attaining happiness and eternal
life.

The ten commandments, Thou shalt, and Thou shalt not, are ten promises, assured to us if we
render obedience to the law governing the universe. “If ye love me, keep my commandments”
(John 14:15). Here is the sum and substance of the law of God. The terms of salvation for every
son and daughter of Adam are here outlined....

That law of ten precepts of the greatest love that can be presented to man is the voice of
God from heaven speaking to the soul in promise, “This do, and you will not come under the
dominion and control of Satan.” There is not a negative in that law, although it may appear thus.
It is DO and Live.

The condition of eternal life is now just what it always has been—just what it was in Paradise
before the fall of our first parents—perfect obedience to the law of God, perfect righteousness. If
eternal life were granted on any condition short of this, then the happiness of the whole universe
would be imperiled. The way would be open for sin, with all its train of woe and misery, to be
immortalized.

Christ does not lessen the claims of the law. In unmistakable language He presents obedience
to it as the condition of eternal life—the same condition that was required of Adam before his
fall.... The requirement under the covenant of grace is just as broad as the requirement made in
Eden—harmony with God’s law, which is holy, just, and good.

The standard of character presented in the Old Testament is the same that is presented in
the New Testament. This standard is not one to which we cannot attain. In every command or
injunction that God gives there is a promise, the most positive, underlying the command. God
has made provision that we may become like unto Him, and He will accomplish this for all who​

do not interpose a perverse will and thus frustrate His grace.

 

[EastCoastRemnant]

Written On The Heart

After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in
their hearts.... I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Jeremiah
31:33, 34.

The same law that was engraved upon the tables of stone, is written by the Holy Spirit upon
the tables of the heart. Instead of going about to establish our own righteousness we accept the
righteousness of Christ. His blood atones for our sins. His obedience is accepted for us. Then
the heart renewed by the Holy Spirit will bring forth “the fruits of the Spirit.” Through the grace
of Christ we shall live in obedience to the law of God written upon our hearts. Having the Spirit
of Christ, we shall walk even as He walked.

There are two errors against which the children of God—particularly those who have just
come to trust in His grace—especially need to guard. The first ... is that of looking to their own
works, trusting to anything they can do, to bring themselves into harmony with God. He who is
trying to become holy by his own works in keeping the law, is attempting an impossibility....

The opposite and no less dangerous error is, that belief in Christ releases men from keeping
the law of God; that since by faith alone we become partakers of the grace of Christ, our works
have nothing to do with our redemption.... If the law is written in the heart, will it not shape
the life? ... 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....

Where there is not only a belief in God’sWord, but a submission of the will to Him; where the
heart is yielded to Him, the affections fixed upon Him, there is faith—faith that works by love,
and purifies the soul. Through this faith the heart is renewed in the image of God. And the heart
that in its unrenewed state is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, now delights
in its holy precepts, exclaiming with the psalmist, “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all
the day” (Psalm 119:97). And the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us, “who walk not after
the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1).

 

[EastCoastRemnant]

God’s Eternal Pledge

He hath remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand
generations. Psalm 105:8.

God stands back of every promise He has made. With your Bibles in your hands, say: “I have
done as Thou hast said. I present Thy promise, ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall
find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you’ (Matthew 7:7).” ...

The rainbow about the throne is an assurance that God is true; that in Him is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. We have sinned against Him and are undeserving of His favor; yet He
Himself has put into our lips that most wonderful of pleas: “Do not abhor us, for thy name’s sake,
do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us” (Jeremiah
14:21). He has pledged Himself to give heed to our cry when we come to Him confessing our
unworthiness and sin. The honor of His throne is staked for the fulfillment of His word to us.

To everyone who offers himself to the Lord for service, withholding nothing, is given power
for the attainment of measureless results. The Lord God is bound by an eternal pledge to supply
power and grace to everyone who is sanctified through obedience to the truth.

Nehemiah pressed into the presence of the King of kings and won to his side a power that
can turn hearts as rivers of waters are turned. [See Nehemiah 1 and 2.]

To pray as Nehemiah prayed in his hour of need is a resource at the command of the Christian
under circumstances when other forms of prayer may be impossible. Toilers in the busy walks of
life, crowded and almost overwhelmed with perplexity, can send up a petition to God for divine
guidance.... In times of sudden difficulty or peril the heart may send up its cry for help to One
who has pledged Himself to come to the aid of His faithful, believing ones whenever they call
upon Him. In every circumstance, under every condition, the soul weighed down with grief and
care, or fiercely assailed by temptation, may find assurance, support, and succor in the unfailing
love and power of a covenant-keeping God.

 

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Unutterable Loneliness​

I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me. Isaiah
63:3.​

Through childhood, youth, and manhood, Jesus walked alone. In His purity and His faithfulness,
He trod the winepress alone, and of the people there was none with Him. He carried the
awful weight of responsibility for the salvation of men. He knew that unless there was a
decided change in the principles and purposes of the human race, all would be lost.
This was the burden of His soul, and none could appreciate the weight that rested upon Him.​

Throughout His life His mother and His brothers did not comprehend His mission. Even His
disciples did not understand Him. He had dwelt in eternal light, as one with God, but His life on
earth must be spent in solitude. As one with us, He must bear the burden of our guilt and woe.
The Sinless One must feel the shame of sin. The peace lover must dwell with strife, the truth
must abide with falsehood, purity with vileness. Every sin, every discord, every defiling lust that
transgression had brought, was torture to His spirit.​

Alone He must tread the path; alone He must bear the burden. Upon Him who had laid off
His glory and accepted the weakness of humanity the redemption of the world must rest. He saw
and felt it all, but His purpose remained steadfast. Upon His arm depended the salvation of the
fallen race, and He reached out His hand to grasp the hand of Omnipotent love.​

The loneliness of Christ, separated from the heavenly courts, living the life of humanity, was
never understood or appreciated by the disciples as it should have been... When Jesus was no
longer with them, ... they began to see how they might have shown Him attentions that would
have brought gladness to His heart....​

The same want is evident in our world today. But few appreciate all that Christ is to them.
If they did, the great love of Mary [Matthew 26:6-13] would be expressed, the anointing would
be freely bestowed.... Nothing would be thought too costly to give for Christ, no self-denial or​

self-sacrifice too great to be endured for His sake.

 

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The Sins Of TheWorld

He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5.

Some have limited views of the atonement. They think that Christ suffered only a small
portion of the penalty of the law of God; they suppose that, while the wrath of God was felt by
His dear Son, He had, through all His painful sufferings, the evidence of His Father’s love and
acceptance; that the portals of the tomb before Him were illuminated with bright hope, and that
He had the abiding evidence of His future glory. Here is a great mistake. Christ’s keenest anguish
was a sense of His Father’s displeasure. His mental agony because of this was of such intensity
that man can have but faint conception of it.

With many the story of the condescension, humiliation, and sacrifice of our divine Lord
awakens no deeper interest ... than does the history of the death of the martyrs of Jesus. Many
have suffered death by slow tortures; others have suffered death by crucifixion. In what does the
death of God’s dear Son differ from these? ... If the sufferings of Christ consisted in physical
pain alone, then His death was no more painful than that of some of the martyrs. But bodily pain
was but a small part of the agony of God’s dear Son. The sins of the world were upon Him, also
the sense of His Father’s wrath as He suffered the penalty of the law transgressed. It was these
that crushed His divine soul.... The separation that sin makes between God and man was fully
realized and keenly felt by the innocent, suffering Man of Calvary. He was oppressed by the
powers of darkness. He had not one ray of light to brighten the future.... It was in this terrible
hour of darkness, the face of His Father hidden, legions of evil angels enshrouding Him, the sins
of the world upon Him, that the words were wrenched from His lips: “My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?” ...

In comparison with the enterprise of everlasting life, every other sinks into insignificance.

 

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So Costly—and Yet Free

By the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
Romans 5:18.

Money cannot buy it, intellect cannot grasp it, power cannot command it; but to all who will
accept it, God’s glorious grace is freely given. But men may feel their need, and, renouncing all
self-dependence, accept salvation as a gift. Those who enter heaven will not scale its walls by
their own righteousness, nor will its gates be opened to them for costly offerings of gold or silver,
but they will gain an entrance to the many mansions of the Father’s house through the merits of
the cross of Christ.

For sinful men, the highest consolation, the greatest cause of rejoicing, is that Heaven has
given Jesus to be the sinner’s Saviour.... He offered to go over the ground where Adam stumbled
and fell; to meet the tempter on the field of battle, and conquer him in man’s behalf. Behold
Him in the wilderness of temptation. Forty days and forty nights He fasted, enduring the fiercest
assaults of the powers of darkness. He trod the “winepress alone; and of the people there was
none with” Him (Isaiah 63:3). It was not for Himself, but that He might break the chain that held
the human race in slavery to Satan.

As Christ in His humanity sought strength from His Father, that He might be enabled to
endure trial and temptation, so are we to do. We are to follow the example of the sinless Son of
God. Daily we need help and grace and power from the Source of all power. We are to cast our
helpless souls upon the One who is ready to help us in every time of need. Too often we forget
the Lord. Self gives way to impulse, and we lose the victories that we should gain.

If we are overcome let us not delay to repent, and to accept the pardon that will place us on
vantage ground. If we repent and believe, the cleansing power from God will be ours. His saving
grace is freely offered. His pardon is given to all who will receive it.... Over every sinner that
repents the angels of God rejoice with songs of joy. Not one sinner need be lost. Full and free is
the gift of saving grace.

 

[EastCoastRemnant]

A Comforter Like Christ

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. John
16:7.

The Comforter that Christ promised to send after He ascended to heaven, is the Spirit in all
the fullness of the Godhead, making manifest the power of divine grace to all who receive and
believe in Christ as a personal Saviour.

With the consecrated worker for God, in whatever place he may be, the Holy Spirit abides.
The words spoken to the disciples are spoken also to us. The Comforter is ours as well as theirs.

There is no comforter like Christ, so tender and so true. He is touched with the feeling of our
infirmities. His Spirit speaks to the heart. Circumstances may separate us from our friends; the
broad, restless ocean may roll between us and them. Though their sincere friendship may still
exist, they may be unable to demonstrate it.... But no circumstances, no distance, can separate us
from the heavenly Comforter. Wherever we are, wherever we may go, He is always there, one
given in Christ’s place, to act in His stead. He is always at our right hand, to speak soothing,
gentle words; to support, sustain, uphold, and cheer. The influence of the Holy Spirit is the life
of Christ in the soul. This Spirit works in and through every one who receives Christ. Those who
know the indwelling of this Spirit reveal its fruit—love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith.

The Holy Spirit ever abides with him who is seeking for perfection of Christian character. The
Holy Spirit furnishes the pure motive, the living, active principle, that sustains striving, wrestling,
believing souls in every emergency and under every temptation. The Holy Spirit sustains the
believer amid the world’s hatred, amid the unfriendliness of relatives, amid disappointment, amid
the realization of imperfection, and amid the mistakes of life. Depending upon the matchless
purity and perfection of Christ, the victory is sure to him who looks unto the Author and Finisher
of our faith.... He has borne our sins, in order that through Him we might have moral excellence,
and attain unto the perfection of Christian character.

 

[mamoonkay]

I am conf....

 

[EastCoastRemnant]

Purifying, Vitalizing Power

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10.

The Lord purifies the heart very much as we air a room. We do not close the doors and
windows, and throw in some purifying substance; but we open the doors and throw wide
the windows, and let heaven’s purifying atmosphere flow in.... The windows of impulse, of
feeling must be opened up toward heaven, and the dust of selfishness and earthliness must be
expelled. The grace of God must sweep through the chambers of the mind, the imagination must
have heavenly themes for contemplation, and every element of the nature must be purified and
vitalized by the Spirit of God.

He who lives the principles of Bible religion, will not be found weak in moral power. Under
the ennobling influence of the Holy Spirit, the tastes and inclinations become pure and holy.
Nothing takes so strong a hold upon the affections, nothing reaches so fully down to the deepest
motives of action, nothing exerts so potent an influence upon the life, and gives so great firmness
and stability to the character, as the religion of Christ. It leads its possessor ever upward, inspiring
him with noble purposes, teaching him propriety of deportment, and imparting a becoming
dignity to every action.

The church is the object of God’s tenderest love and care. If the members will allow Him,
He will reveal His character through them. He says to them, “Ye are the light of the world”
(Matthew 5:14). Those who walk and talk with God practice the gentleness of Christ. In their
lives, forbearance, meekness, and self-restraint are united with holy earnestness and
diligence. As they advance heavenward, the sharp, rough edges of character are worn off,
and godliness is seen. The Holy Spirit, full of grace and power, works upon mind and heart.

The heart in which Jesus makes his abode will be quickened, purified, guided, and ruled
by the Holy Spirit, and the human agent will make strenuous efforts to bring his character into
harmony with God. He will avoid everything that is contrary to the revealed will and mind of
God.

 

[EastCoastRemnant]

The Latter Rain​

Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright
clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field. Zechariah 10:1.​

Under the figure of the early and the latter rain, that falls in Eastern lands at seedtime and
harvest, the Hebrew prophets foretold the bestowal of spiritual grace in extraordinary measure
upon God’s church. The outpouring of the Spirit in the days of the apostles was the beginning
of the early, or former rain, and glorious was the result.... But near the close of earth’s harvest,
a special bestowal of spiritual grace is promised to prepare the church for the coming of the Son
of man. This outpouring of the Spirit is likened to the falling of the latter rain; and it is for this
added power that Christians are to send their petitions to the Lord of the harvest "in the time of
the latter rain."

As Christ was glorified on the day of Pentecost so will He again be glorified in the closing
work of the gospel, when He shall prepare a people to stand the final test, in the closing conflict
of the great controversy.

Many ... will be seen hurrying hither and thither, constrained by the Spirit of God to bring the
light to others. The truth, the Word of God, is as a fire in their bones, filling them with a burning
desire to enlighten those who sit in darkness. Many, even among the uneducated, now proclaim
the words of the Lord. Children are impelled by the Spirit to go forth and declare the message
from heaven. The Spirit is poured out upon all who will yield to its promptings, and ... they will
declare the truth with the might of the Spirit’s power.

But unless the members of God’s church today have a living connection with the Source of
all spiritual growth, they will not be ready for the time of reaping. Unless they keep their lamps
trimmed and burning, they will fail of receiving added grace in times of special need.

Divine grace is needed at the beginning, divine grace at every step of advance, and divine
grace alone can complete the work. There is no place for us to rest in a careless attitude....By​

prayer and faith we are continually to seek more of the Spirit