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Wait Quietly
words were never more appli-cable than now at the end of days! The time of the end is the worst, most dangerous waiting time! This is clearly presented in the loving advice of our Saviour in Matthew 26:41: "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into ten spirit in-deed is willing, but the flesh is weak". To get to know true Christian tranquility, as is required of all of us in Isaiah 30:15, we have to fi ght a double battle.
"For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quiet-ness and confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not"
It is a battle between the spirit and the spirit and the fl esh! The spirit and the fl esh must both be willing. With-out their cooperation, trae Christian quietness is not possible! A genuine Christian character cannot develop without the voluntary cooperation of those two in Christ! Men of God who
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were full of promise have stumbled at this concept, and could go no further. The most unruly element in man, con-tinually spoiling everything, is the flesh, always elevating self and never satisfied. It is really difficult for people to understand that they cherish a foe in their bosom that can never be destroyed by a battle from the outside. The word of God states concerning this: "But ye would not" That is a terrible fact! Most so-called Christians do not want to learn to wait quietly, no mat-ter how bad their situation may be. Sometimes the flesh refuses, and at other times it is the spirit. In this process, both are often engaged in an exhausting battle. Therefore, my dear fellow believers, let us be willing with all of our hearts, and the Lord will then give the victory. This is necessary even if His advice and command is that we retrace our steps and quietly wait for
our entrance into the eternal kingdom of God. By continually being alert and watching unto prayer, we will achieve this goal set before us by Heaven.
If you are quiet in the Lord, you do everything willingly.
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No two people on the face of the earth have exactly the same "internal experi-ence and feelings." And yet everybody
can open himself to Christ and fi nd peace of mind and a precious satisfaction in the heart. Hatred, envy, fighting, and war, and all evil, would then suddenly disappear from our earth. Yet the Bible is always right. "But man would not!" And because they do not want to, they cannot be helped. None of the children of God is spared the heavenly reproach; p "not to have willed," is not to achieve genuine inward peace. One would think that this "in¬ternal," total peace would be easy to obtain. In Christ, it is. But "without Me, ye can do u nothing." John 15:5. Yes, with¬out Him it is impossible!
Only as Jesus lives in the n heart is it possible to achieve the right relationship between the "spirit and flesh." Only Christ, who conquered the world and Satan, is able to stand as a Mediator between them and each day maintain the balance or "equilibrium" necessary to establish internal rest and quiet. If you are quiet in the Lord, you do everything willingly. Then the world can¬not harm you, for you carry it all in Christ. A heart that has become silent can bear the greatest pain. Filled with rest, fully and completely, it is illuminated with celestial splendor. When heaven is at last silent, the last Christian will have achieved! Then the Saviour will come to take him home where the angels of God abide. If you want to be drawn heaven-ward, y our heart must glow with love. Trust firmly in God. The heart of the Christian floats towards Heaven! Aban-don lust, hate, and jesting! Be faithful, endure, fi ght sin.
This is how to be a real child of God! Soon all fighting, caused by the human |
"I," will be over! Let us remain quiet in the Lord for the short time given us! He looks from heaven, observing our attitude, our way of thought, speech, and actions. Who is able to endure His pen-
etrating look? Are we prepared to meet Him face to face in silence? Or perhaps, like others who did not want to become
He asks us to set for ourselves the goal of entering into true quiet and rest with Christ
quiet, we will stand beside "the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, arid the mighty men, and every bondman, and
Only as Jesus lives in the heart is it possible to achieve the right relationship between the "spirit and fl esh." |
ever free man," who will hide "them-selves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;" And say to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb." Rev-elation6:15, 16.
After the great tempest that is even
now gathering rength throughout the
world, quiet will come to heaven itself
for a half hour. Revelation 8:1. Whoever
has riot learned to quietly wait and
has not found the trae Sabbath rest
b will perish in the world's unrest,
L which will be manifested in the mark
i of the beast. God's mercy desires to
' prevent our loss in that day. There-
fore, He asks us to set for ourselves
> the goal of entering into true quiet
c and rest with Christ, so that Heaven
L can pour upon us the last great bless-
r ing, the latter rain. To quietly hope,
i according to Isaiah 30:15, means to
I focus our waiting on the Lord. This
r is our strength. Not human strength,
I but the power God! This heavenly
[ strength and power will be fully
f revealed in the latter rain to cali all
\ scattered, earnest souls out from the
i churches and fellowships of turmoil
¡ into the church of God's peace. That
is the happy hour for which we are
] waiting. This will occur just before
the seven last plagues are poured out
and the prophesied silence in heav-
r en begins. Heaven will be closed
■ forever to all restless, disobedient
people.
May we all soon come to rest and
I quiet, no matter how unsettled our
T world may be. Whoever is waiting
f silently for the soon coming of the
* dear Saviour, whoever is trasting in
Him and letting himself be led by
his Lord has nothing to fear. If the
time of waiting seems long, we need to
remind ourselves that it is granted to us
in the precious love of Jesus Christ so |
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The Bible has changed the lives of millions of people who have read it; crimináis have become law-abiding citi-zens. Drunkards have given up their bad habits. Sinners have become saints. No other book has had so much infl uence
It speaks to the modern men and women the same way today as it did thousands of years ago. It still has the treasure hidden in it for the people who decide to dig into it. It presents the world situation today as if it was written especially for our generation. It offers solutions for our current perplexities.
Some years ago two young men visit-ed a small island of Mussau in the South Pacific. The inhabitants were notorious for their savagery and licentiousness. The two men offered to the people the message of the Bible and in 10 months the entire population had turned to God. Churches were built. Schools were estab-lished. Evil habits were discarded. Short-ly after a British government offi cial vis-ited this island and wrote in his report, "I cannot realize that such a change is possible!" It seemed to him that a miracle had happened. And in reality a miracle it was. The Bible is the word of God. It has a power in it to change people. |
By the word of God the world was cre-ated. God spoke and it was done. This creative power is in the Bible, and this is the reason for the miracles that have happened in the lives of its readers.
The bible as a mirror
How many times we look into a mirror to find out that we are presentable, clean and tidy. But often we forget to
look to God's mirror to see if our heart is clean.
"For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the div-ing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner |
of the thoughts
and intents of
t h e h e a r t . ” H e -
brews 4:12.
The Bible reveals to
us the condition of our in- inner
man, the soul. It separates
ner in us Good and Bad.
It is a discerner of thoughts
and intents of the heart. It is able
to judge and to discriminate.
The rich young man thought of
himself as a good religious person.
But when he met Jesus and listened
to the word of God, he went away
sorrowful and disappointed in him- himself.
Paul thought of himself also that he
was a good and faithful child of God,
and zealous for the cause. But when he
looked to the mirror of God, he recog- recognized
himself as the Chief of sinners.
The Disciples of Jesus thought of
themselves as good Christians. But when
Jesus started to wash their feet, they realized
their selfi shness and pride.
Who can stand before the mirror of
God, the Bible and be blameless and
perfect? How wrong can we be and yet
not realize it until we look into the mirror,
the Bible.
The bible as the water of life
Not only does the Bible act as a mirror to
reveal to us the spots and wrinkles in our
characters, but it also provides a remedy,
the Water of life to cleanse us from the
fi lthiness of mind and heart.
“That He might sanctify and cleanse it
with the washing of water by the word.”
Ephesians 5:26. |
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"And washed us from our sins in His ownblood." Revelation 1:5.
Without this remedy which is the Christ Righteousness message, the Bible would bring people to despair in a hope-less condition. It would be as a doctor who tells people their diseases but does not describe medicine.
The Bible is a book of medicine to the sin-sick soul. It is a water of life to cleanse the soul from sin.
The bible comforts us
The world is full of sorrow and trou-ble. Sin has caused misery and suffer-ing upon the people. This misery has caused people to lose the sanity of their minds, even to the point of committing suicide.
But the Bible changes our outlook and attitudes toward the trials and af-fl ictions that we go through. We see them as God's providence to change our char-acters. Even death to a Christian is only a sleep and not a permanent condition.
"Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thess. 4:18.
The Bible speaks to us about the Com-forter, The Holy Spirit. Even in a dying moment a true Christian has peace and comfort. Apostle Paul took pleasure in
persecutions, reproaches nal God, the Creator of the entire uni-and necessities. The joy in verse coming to the world to live as a the Lord does not depend man and to suffer and die as a criminal;
The Bible is the only book that shines light to our pathway. |
on outward conditions, but by His Spirit we are happy in any condition that may come upon us.
The bible as a light
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."Psalm 119:105.
The Bible is the only book that shines light to our pathway. Without it we are grop-ing in darkness, blinded by Satan to do sin. The history of the Bible shows us the be-ginning of our world. Proph-esy of the Bible tells us the end of the world and the
gospel of the Bible tells us the way of
salvation. It answers the question, "what
must I do to be saved?".
The law of the Bible tells us what we
must do to have eternal life. It tells us
If the Bible were studied as it should be, men would become strong in intellect
which is the true church of God among the many false churches. Truly the Bible is the light of the world, presenting Jesus as our only hope.
The bible a book of love is
Millions of books are written about love, but none of them com-f pare with the Bible in the great theme of love, Jesus suffering and giving His life on Cal-vary for the lost human-ity. The eter-
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before this scene all human greatness disappears. People who have read this love story of the Bible have sacrificed all for God, their time, possessions and even their lives.
"The heart of God yearns over His earthly children with a love stronger than death. In giving up His Son, He poured out to us all heaven in one gift." S.C. p. 21.
Love generates love. When we under-stand the infinite love of God towards us it will infl uence us to respond to His love by giving our hearts to Him as a love sacrifice and include ourselves in the divine love relation with God.
Reading the bible
In the pages of this holy book God speaks to us. He reveals His secrets to us which will change our lives to holiness. Read it every day. A sister in Venezuela told me that she had read the Bible 56 times
over and that she loved the reading of it each time more than before.
"If the Bible were studied as it should be, men would become strong in intel¬lect. The subjects treated upon in the Word of God, the dignified simplicity of its utterance, the noble themes which it presents to the mind, develop faculties in man which cannot otherwise be de-veloped. In the Bible a boundless fi eld is opened to the imagination. The student will come from a contemplation of its grand themes, from association with its lofty imagery, more pure and elevated in thought and feeling than if he had spent the time reading any work of mere hu-man origin." C.G. p. 507
Make the Bible your friend and let us all become diligent Bible students and see the miracles that will happen in our lives. AMEN
Timo Martin, Canada SW |
What is the reason
for all this suffering?
On account of all the bombardments that took place during the Second World War, thousands of people were left without a home. And as a result chil-dren wandered the streets in search of their parents.
Many never found them because they had either died, or else the cruelties of war had separated them. And what had formerly been their home, no longer ex-isted. Even today, there are thousands that are still searching for their roots...
Where are we coming from and where are we headed?
They have absolutely no idea who their parents are, or where they may find them. Just like these orphan chil-dren, many people desire to know where they are going. They are in search of the true origin and destiny of the human being. |
All of humanity finds itself disori-ented. Something has happened that has caused people to lose sense of their bearings. Instead of happi-ness, people expe-rience frustration; instead of having a sense of well be-ing they feel sick. Why is it that so many innocent be-ings suffer? Why do pain, sickness, and death exist? Did God create an evil world? What
is our true origin and destiny? Where are we coming from and where are we headed? These are questions that per-plex the majority! Yet only the giver of life can answer these questions.
The Origin of Man
The Lord is God and He existed before anything else. By Him were all things created; yet the question arises: What was He referring to when He said: "Let
us make..." in Genesis 1:26? This term clearly implies a plural pronoun, and it is here that we can fi nd the three persons of the deity.
The Heavenly Father: "One God and father of all, who is above all, and for all and in all." Eph. 4:6. |
The Son, Jesus Christ: and has spoken to us by the Son, whom He pronounced heir of all things, "who is above all, and for all and in all." Eph. 4:6. "But the com-forter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teachyou all things." John 14:26.
From the very fi rst verse in the Bible the three persons that make up the deity are mentioned. Different biblical verses mention the presence and participation of Christ in the creation of the world. Let us look at a couple of verses to see who is our Creator. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him: and without him was not anything made that was made...And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth." John 1:1-3, 14.
"Who is the image of the invisible God, the first born of the every crea-ture: For by him were all things cre¬ated, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principali-ties, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist...
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For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Colossians 1:15-17; 2:9.
"God who at sundry times and in div-ers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His son, whom
he hath appointed heir of all things, by
whom also he made the worlds; who be-ing the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and uphold-ing all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Maj-esty on high; ...But onto the Son he saith, thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of the kingdom( ) Thou hast loved righ¬teousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fel-lows. And Thou, Lord, in the beginning hath laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the works of thine hands."Heb. 1:1-3,8-10.
Man was created perfect, without the marks of sin that we see today, "Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." Ecc. 7:29.
God's original purpose for man when He created him was that he should live happily forever. Therefore, He placed him in the path of righteousness, free from sin, and without death lurking nearby.
He received four gifts from His hand: |
•Eternal life. Man was not condemned
to die.
•An upright character. There was no
stain of sin in him.
•A beautiful home. Pain and suffering
did not exist.
•Dominion over everything. Adam
was the crown of creation.
All nature was under man's control. The only requirement given to him was to recognize God as his Lord. So, for his own good, he had to learn to obey. Can there be happiness in a home or order in a nation if parents or rulers are not obeyed? The law of God was placed within the heart of man from the be¬ginning. It was the actual foundation of
God's government. "And the Lord God The law of God was placed within the heart of man from the beginning. It was the actual foundation of God's government.
commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Gen. 2:26-17.
Yet, man decided to obey another master, Satan the prince of darkness (Gen. 3:15). Now where did this being come from?
Did God create the devil?
the foot even unto the head, there is no soundness in it; but wounds and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither molli-fi ed without ointment." Isaiah 1:6.
The answer is no. He was a perfect angel until he rebelled against his Creator.
From birth we are born with a sinful nature. "Behold I was shapen in iniqui¬ty; and in sin did my mother conceive me."
"I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out, and fi nd pasture."
There is not one just, no not one.
"As it is written, there is none righ-teous, no, not one: There is none that un-derstandeth, there is none that seeketh |
after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprof-itable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Rom. 3:10-12,23.
The prophet Isaiah shows us an x-ray of ourselves by saying: "From the sole
the foot even unto the head, there is no soundness in it; but wounds and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither molli-fi ed without ointment." Isaiah 1:6.
We all deserve eternal death. "Because the wages of sin is death.." Rom. 6:23.
Perhaps now we will be able to under-stand why such suffering exists. God did
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