Sabbath Afternoon, August 19
he apostle [Paul’s] desire for those to whom he addressed his letters of
counsel and admonition was that . . . for those who were followers of
Jesus in heathen communities not to walk “as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity
of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life
of God . . . because of the blindness of their heart,” but “circumspectly, not as
fools, but as wise, redeeming the time.” Ephesians 4:14, 13, 17, 18; 5:15, 16. He
encouraged the believers to look forward to the time when Christ, who “loved
the church, and gave Himself for it,” would “present it to Himself a glorious
church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing”—a church “holy and
without blemish.” Ephesians 5:25, 27.
These messages, written with a power not of man but of God, contain lessons
which should be studied by all and which may with profit be often repeated. In
them practical godliness is outlined, principles are laid down that should be
followed in every church, and the way that leads to life eternal is made plain.
—The Acts of the Apostles, p. 470.
Christ had foretold that deceivers would arise, through whose influence “iniquity”
should “abound,” and “the love of many” should “wax cold.” Matthew 24:12. He
had warned the disciples that the church would be in more danger from this evil
than from the persecution of her enemies. Again and again Paul warned the
T
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believers against these false teachers. This peril, above all others, they must
guard against; for by receiving false teachers, they would open the door to
errors by which the enemy would dim the spiritual perceptions and shake the
confidence of those newly come to the faith of the gospel. Christ was the
standard by which they were to test the doctrines presented. All that was not in
harmony with His teachings they were to reject. Christ crucified for sin, Christ
risen from the dead, Christ ascended on high—this was the science of salvation
that they were to learn and teach.
—The Acts of the Apostles, p. 473.
The apostle Paul describes the fruit which the Christian is to bear. He says that
it “is in all goodness and righteousness and truth” (Ephesians 5:9). And again,
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22, 23). These precious graces are
but the principles of God’s law carried out in the life. . . .
As we look into the divine mirror, the law of God, we see the exceeding
sinfulness of sin, and our own lost condition as transgressors. But by
repentance and faith we are justified before God, and through divine grace
enabled to render obedience to His commandments.
—The Sanctified Life, p. 80.
Sunday, August 20 “Instead Let There Be Thanksgiving”
In his letter to “the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse,”
written while he was a prisoner in Rome, Paul makes mention of his joy over
their steadfastness in the faith, tidings of which had been brought him by
Epaphras, who, the apostle wrote, “declared unto us your love in the Spirit. For
this cause,” he continued, “we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to
pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will
in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord
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unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the
knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power,
unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness.”
Thus Paul put into words his desire for the Colossian believers. How high the
ideal that these words hold before the follower of Christ! They show the
wonderful possibilities of the Christian life and make it plain that there is no limit
to the blessings that the children of God may receive. Constantly increasing in a
knowledge of God, they may go on from strength to strength, from height to
height in Christian experience, until by “His glorious power” they are made “meet
to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.”
—The Acts of the Apostles, p. 471.
“Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children.” Christians must be like
Christ. They should have the same spirit, exert the same influence, and have
the same moral excellence that He possessed. The idolatrous and corrupt in
heart must repent and turn to God. Those who are proud and self-righteous
must abase self and become penitent and meek and lowly in heart. The worldlyminded must have the tendrils of the heart removed from the rubbish of the
world, around which they are clinging, and entwined about God; they must
become spiritually minded. The dishonest and untruthful must become just and
true. The ambitious and covetous must be hid in Jesus and seek His glory, not
their own. They must despise their own holiness and lay up their treasure
above. The prayerless must feel the need of both secret and family prayer, and
must make their supplications to God with great earnestness.
As the worshipers of the true and living God we should bear fruit corresponding
to the light and privileges we enjoy. Many are worshiping idols instead of the
Lord of heaven and earth. Anything that men love and trust in instead of loving
the Lord and trusting wholly in Him becomes an idol and is thus registered in the
books of heaven.
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—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, pp. 249, 250.
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Monday, August 21 Walking as Children of Light
Surrounded by the practices and influences of heathenism, the . . . believers
were in danger of being drawn away from the simplicity of the gospel, and Paul,
in warning them against this, pointed them to Christ as the only safe guide. . . .
“And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. . . . As ye
have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him: rooted and
built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding
therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy
and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and
not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And
ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power.”
—The Acts of the Apostles, p. 473.
To walk in the light means to resolve, to exercise thought, to exert will-power, in
an earnest endeavor to represent Christ in sweetness of character. It means to
put away all gloom. You are not to rest satisfied simply in saying, “I am a child of
God.” Are you beholding Jesus, and, by beholding, becoming changed into His
likeness? To walk in the light means advancement and progress in spiritual
attainments. . . .
When the light of heaven shines upon the human agent, his countenance will
express the joy of the Lord within. It is the absence of Christ from the soul that
makes people sad and of a doubtful mind. It is the want of Christ that makes the
countenance sad, and the life is a pilgrimage of sighs. Rejoicing is the very
keynote of the Word of God for all who receive Him. Why? Because they have
the Light of life. Light brings gladness and joy, and that joy is expressed in the
life and the character.
—Sons and Daughters of God, p. 200.
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And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an
offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. Ephesians 5:2.
This is the oblation of a life-gift in our behalf, that we may be all that He desires
us to be—representatives of Him, expressing the fragrance of His character, His
own pure thoughts, His divine attributes as manifested in His sanctified human
life, in order that others may behold Him in His human form, and . . . be led to
desire to be like Christ.
—God’s Amazing Grace, p. 174.
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Tuesday, August 22 “Awake, O Sleeper!”
Many are deceived as to their true condition before God. They congratulate
themselves upon the wrong acts which they do not commit, and forget to
enumerate the good and noble deeds which God requires of them, but which
they have neglected to perform. It is not enough that they are trees in the
garden of God. They are to answer His expectation by bearing fruit. He holds
them accountable for their failure to accomplish all the good which they could
have done, through His grace strengthening them. In the books of heaven they
are registered as cumberers of the ground. Yet the case of even this class is not
utterly hopeless. With those who have slighted God’s mercy and abused His
grace, the heart of long-suffering love yet pleads. “Wherefore He saith, Awake
thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See
then that ye walk circumspectly, . . . redeeming the time, because the days are
evil.” Ephesians 5:14-16.
—The Great Controversy, p. 601.
Immorality of every kind and degree is striving for the mastery, working against
the manifestations of the power of the Holy Spirit. The commonest of
conversation, and low, perverted ideas are woven into the texture of character
and defile the soul.
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The low, common pleasure parties, gatherings for eating and drinking, singing
and playing on instruments of music, are inspired by a spirit that is from
beneath. They are an oblation unto Satan. . . . For in these gratifications the
mind becomes besotted, even as in liquor drinking. The door is opened to vulgar
associations. The thoughts, allowed to run in a low channel, soon pervert all the
powers of the being. . . . All these things are having their effect upon the
character.
—Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, p. 367.
When we are united to Christ, we have the mind of Christ. Purity and love shine
forth in the character, meekness and truth control the life. The very expression
of the countenance is changed. Christ abiding in the soul exerts a transforming
power, and the outward aspect bears witness to the peace and joy that reign
within. We drink in the love of Christ, as the branch draws nourishment from the
vine. If we are grafted in Christ, if fiber by fiber we have been united with the
Living Vine, we shall give evidence of the fact by bearing rich clusters of living
fruit. If we are connected with the Light, we shall be channels of light, and in our
words and works we shall reflect light to the world. Those who are truly
Christians are bound with the chain of love which links earth to heaven, which
binds finite man to the infinite God. The light that shines in the face of Jesus
Christ shines in the hearts of His followers, to the glory of God.
—Selected Messages, book 1, p. 337.
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Wednesday, August 23 Snapping Up the Bargains
Christ came to our world to engage in singlehanded combat with this enemy of
man, and thus to wrest the race from Satan’s grasp. In the accomplishment of
this object He withheld not His own life. And now, in the strength that Christ will
give, man must stand for himself, a faithful sentinel against the wily, plotting foe.
Says the great apostle, “Walk circumspectly”—guard every avenue of the soul,
look constantly to Jesus, the true and perfect Pattern, and seek to imitate His
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example, not in one or two points merely, but in all things. We shall then be
prepared for any and every emergency. He whose mind loves to dwell upon
God has a strong defense. He will be quick to perceive the dangers that
threaten his spiritual life, and a sense of danger will lead him to call upon God
for help and protection.
—That I May Know Him, p. 240.
If we mistake the wisdom of man for the wisdom of God we are led astray by the
foolishness of man’s wisdom. Here is the great danger of many. . . . They have
not an experience for themselves. They have not been in the habit of prayerfully
considering for themselves, with unprejudiced, unbiased judgment, questions
and subjects that are new and that are ever liable to arise. They wait to see
what others will think. If these dissent, that is all that is needed to convince them
that the subject under consideration is of no account whatever. . . . Unless these
become sensible of their wavering character and correct it, they will all fail of
everlasting life; they will be unable to cope with the perils of the last days. . . .
They are not wise in those things which relate to the kingdom of God. . . . A
noble self-reliance is needed in the Christian experience and warfare.
—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 2, p. 129.
Mere intellectual knowledge, aside from the great truths that center in Christ, is
as nothingness. “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom: . . . but let him that
glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord
which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth.”
Jeremiah 9:23, 24. . . .
Before men can be truly wise, they must realize their dependence upon God,
and be filled with His wisdom. God is the source of intellectual as well as
spiritual power. The greatest men who have reached what the world regards as
wonderful heights in science are not to be compared with the beloved John or
the apostle Paul. It is when intellectual and spiritual power are combined that the
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highest standard of manhood is attained. Those who do this, God will accept as
workers together with Him.
—Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, p. 66.
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Thursday, August 24 Spirit-Filled Worship
God is glorified by songs of praise from a pure heart filled with love and devotion
to Him. When consecrated believers assemble, their conversation will not be
upon the imperfections of others or savor of murmuring or complaint; charity, or
love, the bond of perfectness, will encircle them. Love to God and their fellow
men flows out naturally in words of affection, sympathy, and esteem for their
brethren. The peace of God rules in their hearts; their words are not vain, empty,
and frivolous, but to the comfort and edification of one another. . . . The gratitude
which they feel, and the peace of God ruling within, cause them to make melody
in their hearts unto the Lord and by words to make mention of the debt of love
and thankfulness due the dear Saviour, who so loved them as to die that they
might have life. No one who has an indwelling Saviour will dishonor Him before
others by producing strains from a musical instrument which call the mind from
God and heaven to light and trifling things.
—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 509.
The followers of Christ were instructed not to pray for the purpose of being
heard of men. . . . Christ [showed] that He did not regard with approval that kind
of piety so prevalent among the Pharisees. His teachings upon the mount show
that deeds of benevolence assume a noble form and acts of religious worship
shed a most precious fragrance when performed in an unpretending manner, in
penitence and humility. The pure motive sanctifies the act.
True sanctification is an entire conformity to the will of God. Rebellious thoughts
and feelings are overcome, and the voice of Jesus awakens a new life, which
pervades the entire being. Those who are truly sanctified will not set up their
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own opinion as a standard of right and wrong. They are not bigoted or selfrighteousness; but they are jealous of self, ever fearing lest, a promise being left
them, they should come short of complying with the conditions upon which the
promises are based.
—The Sanctified Life, pp. 8, 9.
We do not pray any too much, but we are too sparing of giving thanks. We are
the constant recipients of God’s mercies, and yet how little gratitude we express,
how little we praise Him for what He has done for us. . . .
The soul may ascend nearer heaven on the wings of praise. God is worshiped
with song and music in the courts above, and as we express our gratitude we
are approximating to the worship of the heavenly hosts. “Whoso offereth praise
glorifieth” God. Psalm 50:23. Let us with reverent joy come before our Creator,
with “thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.” Isaiah 51:3.
—Steps to Christ, pp. 102, 104.
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Friday, August 25 For Further Reading
Lift Him Up, “Steadfast unto the End,” p. 355;
This Day With God, “A Thankful Heart,” p. 45.
Steadfast Unto the End
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may
be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. 2 Peter 3:14. {LHU 355.1}
Looking down through the ages to the close of time, Peter was inspired to
outline conditions that would exist in the world just prior to the second coming of
Christ. “There shall come in the last days scoffers,” he wrote, “walking after their
own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers
fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
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But “when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh
upon them” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). Not all, however, would be ensnared by the
enemy’s devices. As the end of all things earthly should approach, there would
be faithful ones able to discern the signs of the times.... There would be a
remnant who would endure to the end. {LHU 355.2}
Peter kept alive in his heart the hope of Christ’s return, and he assured the
church of the certain fulfillment of the Saviour’s promise, “If I go and prepare a
place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself” (John 14:3). To
the tried and faithful ones the coming might seem long delayed, but the apostle
assured them: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men
count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great
noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up. {LHU 355.3}
“Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons
ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting
unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be
dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we,
according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness. {LHU 355.4}
“Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may
be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the
longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also
according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you.... Ye therefore,
beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led
away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in
grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:9-
18) (The Acts of the Apostles, 535-537). {LHU 355.5}
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A Thankful Heart
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20. {TDG 45.1}
It would please the Lord if you would make an effort to forget yourself. Begin to
thank the Lord for your home and your pleasant surroundings, and the many
temporal blessings He gives you. By returning thanks to the Lord for His
goodness, you can do something for the One who has done everything for you.
Contemplate the depths of the compassion that the Saviour felt for you. For you
He gave His life, suffering the cruel death of the cross. Can you not praise the
Lord for this? If you will hide your life in Christ, He will receive you. {TDG 45.2}
If you will show that you have a working faith, by trying every day to exercise
your will power, your faculties will gain strength. I know this by experience. I
remember in my own case how my faculties recovered their pliability as I tried to
exercise them. Will you try to move about, and be cheerful in spirit? Put your
trust in Jesus. Have faith in Him, and be pliant in His hands. You will receive
great blessing by making a change in your habits.... {TDG 45.3}
For eleven months after going to Australia, I suffered from inflammatory
rheumatism. I was unable to lift my feet from the floor without suffering great
pain.... {TDG 45.4}
During those eleven months of suffering ...I would not give up. My right arm,
from the elbow down, was whole, so that I could use the pen, and I wrote
twenty-five hundred pages of letter paper for publication. During this period, I
had the most terrible suffering of my life.... {TDG 45.5}
But to all this there is a cheerful side. My Saviour seemed to be close beside
me. I felt His sacred presence in my heart, and I was so thankful. These months
of suffering were the happiest months of my life, because of the companionship
of my Saviour.... His love filled my heart. All through my sickness, His love, His
tender compassion, was my comfort... {TDG 45.6}
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Look unto Jesus, your pitying, loving Saviour. If you cast your helpless soul on
Christ, He will bring joy and peace to your soul. He will be your crown of
rejoicing, your exceeding great reward.—Letter 34, February 6, 1907, to the wife
of a conference administrator in Australia. {TDG 45.7}
