Blog Archives - WELCOME TO THE JOY OF TROY

June 30, 2020

6/30/2020

CAIN AND ABEL--DIFFERENT CLASSES

        The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."--Genesis 4:6-7

    God set the seventh day apart as the day of His rest. But the man of sin has set up a false sabbath, which the kings and merchants of the earth have accepted and exalted above the Sabbath of the Bible. In doing this, they have chosen a religion like that of Cain, who slew his brother Abel.

    Cain and Abel both offered sacrifice to God. Abel's offering was accepted because he complied with God's requirements. Cain's was rejected because he followed his own inventions. Because of this he became so angry that he would not listen to Abel's entreaties or to God's warnings and reproofs, but slew his brother.

    By accepting a spurious rest day the churches have dishonored God. The people of the world accept the falsehood, and are angry because God's commandment-keeping people do not respect and reverence Sunday. The Lord sanctified and blessed the seventh day.

    God says, "Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works; in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her; for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord who judgeth her." [Revelation 18:5-8.] (Letter 98, July 10, 1900)

REFLECTION: Cain and Abel represent two classes that will exist in the world till the close of time. One class avail themselves of the appointed sacrifice for sin; the other venture to depend upon their own merits; theirs is a sacrifice without the virtue of divine mediation, and thus it is not able to bring man into favor with God. It is only through the merits of Jesus that our transgressions can be pardoned. (Patriarchs and Prophets, 72-73)

June 29, 2020

6/29/2020

SIX LITERAL DAYS

        God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.--Genesis 1:5

    What is sin? "The transgression of the law." [1 John 3:4.] God denounces Babylon, "because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." [Revelation 14:8.] This means that she has disregarded the only commandment which points out the true God, and has torn down the Sabbath, God's memorial of creation.

    God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh, sanctifying this day, and setting it apart from all others as holy to Himself, to be observed by His people throughout their generations.

    But the man of sin, exalting himself above God, sitting in the temple of God, and showing himself to be God, thought to change times and laws. This power, thinking to prove that it was not only equal to God, but above God, changed the rest day, placing the first day of the week where the seventh should be....

    God has a controversy with the churches of today. They are fulfilling the prophecy of John. "All nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." [Revelation 18:3.] They have divorced themselves from God by refusing to receive His sign. They have not the spirit of God's true commandment-keeping people. And the people of the world, in giving their sanction to a false Sabbath, and in trampling under their feet the Sabbath of the Lord, have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. (Letter 98, July 10, 2900)

REFLECTION: Millions of years, it is claimed, were required for the evolution of the earth from chaos; and in order to accommodate the Bible to this supposed revelation of science, the days of creation are assumed to have been vast, indefinite periods, covering thousands or even millions of years.

Such a conclusion is wholly uncalled for. The Bible record is in harmony with itself and with the teaching of nature. (Education, 128-129)

June 28, 2020

6/28/2020

REFUSE THE BEAST

        Here is the patience of the saints; here are they who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.--Revelation 14:12

    These messages must go to all the inhabitants of the world. The Lord is soon to come, and He calls upon all to whom He has entrusted His capital of means to invest it in His work as it demands help. His money is not to be shut up in banks and buildings and lands when there is such a great work to be accomplished. The Lord will not send His judgments for disobedience and transgression upon the world until He has sent His watchmen to give the message of warning....

    John beholds a people distinct and separate from the world, who refuse to worship the beast or his image, who bear God's sign, keeping holy His Sabbath--the seventh day, to be kept holy as a memorial of the living God, the Creator of heaven and earth. Of them the apostle writes, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." [Revelation 14:12.]

    "After these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." [Revelation 18:1-5.] (Letter 98, July 10, 1900)

REFLECTION: The prophet of Patmos beholds "them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God" and singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Revelation 15:2, 3. (The Great Controversy, 450)

June 27, 2020

6/27/2020

THREE ANGEL'S MESSAGES

        I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.--John 9:4

    There is a great work to be done. The last message of mercy is being given to the world. Everything in the political world is being stirred with agitation. There are wars and rumors of wars. The nations are angry, and the time of the dead has come that they should be judged.

    A most solemn and important work is to be done in our world by God's people. This work is represented by the third angel flying in the midst of heaven. The third angel's message is preceded by the messages of the first and second angels. The first angel's message proclaims the hour of God's judgment. The second declares the fall of Babylon.

    John writes, "I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come; and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

    "And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

    "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast, and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb." [Revelation 14:6-10.] (Letter 98, July 10, 1900)

REFLECTION: In Revelation 14...is a threefold message represented as proclaimed by heavenly beings and immediately followed by the coming of the Son of man to reap "the harvest of the earth." The first of these warnings announces the approaching judgment....

Faithful men, who were obedient to the promptings of God's Spirit and the teachings of His word, were to proclaim this warning to the world. (The Great Controversy, 311-312)

June 26, 2020

6/26/2020

I HONOR THEM WHO HONOR ME

        There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; these men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up.--Daniel 3:12

    This movement, demanding that all observe as sacred an idol sabbath, resembles the act of Nebuchadnezzar in making a golden image, and setting it up for all to worship....

    The Sunday idol is set up as was this image. Human laws demand that it be worshiped as sacred and holy, thus putting it where God's holy Sabbath should be. Men speak great swelling words, and exalt their power, placing themselves where God should be....As the advisers of Nebuchadnezzar hit upon the scheme of ensnaring the Hebrew captives, and causing them to bow to the idol by leading the king to proclaim that every knee should bow to the image, so men will strive today to turn God's people from their allegiance. But the men who sought to destroy Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were themselves destroyed....

    When the power invested in kings is allied to goodness, it is because the one in responsibility is under the divine dictation. When power is allied with wickedness, it is allied to satanic agencies, and it will work to destroy those who are the Lord's property. The Protestant world have set up an idol sabbath in the place where God's Sabbath should be, and they are treading in the footsteps of the Papacy....

    All false religions run counter to the commandments of God. Those who accept these religions have no inward purity and beauty. They depend on their position of authority to compel those who acknowledge God as their Creator and their Sovereign to bow to human enactments without a question. They depend upon outward display, upon outward beauty, trusting to its subtle influence upon the senses. (Letter 90, August 18, 1897)

REFLECTION: How did that heathen king [Nebuchadnezzar] know what the Son of God was like? The Hebrew captives filling positions of trust in Babylon had in the life and character represented before him the truth....Plainly and simply they had presented the principles of righteousness, thus teaching those around them of the God whom they worshiped. (Prophets and Kings, 509)

June 25, 2020

6/25/2020

WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?

        If you fear the Lord and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God. However, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers.--1 Samuel 12:14-15

    The sign or seal of God is the observance of the seventh day Sabbath, the Lord's memorial of His work of creation. "The Lord spake unto Moses saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." Here the Sabbath is clearly defined as a sign between God and His people.

    The mark of the beast is the opposite of this, the observance of the first day of the week. This mark distinguishes those who acknowledge the supremacy of the Papal authority, seen in the man of sin thinking to change times and laws, and those who acknowledge the authority of God.

    A refusal to obey the commandments of God, and a determination to cherish hatred against those who proclaim these commandments leads to the most determined war on the part of the dragon, whose whole energies are brought to bear against the commandment-keeping people of God. "He causeth all both small and great, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads." Not only are men not to work with their hands on Sunday, but with their minds they are to acknowledge Sunday as the Sabbath. "And that no man might but or sell, save he that had the mark of the number of his name." (Manuscript 1, January 11, 1897)

REFLECTION: On which side are we ranging ourselves? On the side of the dragon, who was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ?

June 24, 2020

6/24/2020

REMEMBER

        Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.--Exodus 20:8

    While we are to stand firm as a rock to principle, we should be courteous, and Christlike in our dealings with all men. We should tell people plainly that we cannot accept the papal sabbath, because it is a mark of special dishonor to God whom we love and worship. But while we sacredly observe the Sabbath of the Lord, it is not our work to compel others to observe it. God never forces the conscience, that is Satan's work. Since God is the author of the Sabbath, it must be presented to the minds of men in contrast to the false sabbath, that all may choose between them. (Manuscript 16, 1890)

    The Sabbath is God's memorial of His creative work, and it is a sign that is to be kept before the world. (Selected Messages, Book 2, 384)

    There is to be no compromise with those who are worshiping an idol sabbath. We are not to spend our time in controversy with those who know the truth, and upon whom the light of truth has been shining, when they turn away their ear from the truth to turn to fables. I was told that men will employ every policy to make less prominent the difference between the faith of Seventh-day Adventists and those who observe the first day of the week. In this controversy the whole world will be engaged, and the time is short. This is no time to haul down our colors. (Manuscript 15, March 27, 1896)

REFLECTION: "Remember" is placed at the very first of the fourth commandment. Parents, remember the Sabbath day yourselves to keep it holy. And if you do this, you are giving the proper instruction to your children. They will reverence God's holy day....

Christian education is needed in your homes. All through the week keep the Lord's holy Sabbath in view; for that day is to be devoted to the service of God. It is a day when the hands are to rest from worldly employment, when the soul's needs are to receive especial attention. (Manuscript 57, June 9, 1897)

June 23, 2020

6/23/2020

I AM NOT ASHAMED

        For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."--Roman 1:16-17

    The world and the churches are uniting in harmony in transgressing the law of God, in tearing away God's memorial, and in exalting a sabbath that bears the signature of the man of sin. But the Sabbath of the Lord thy God is to be a sign to show the difference between the obedient and [the] disobedient....

    The land that has been abundantly blessed of God is fast filling up the cup of its iniquity....In the days of Christ they made void the law of God, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, and this led them to reject the Son of God. When the people accept and exalt a spurious sabbath, and turn souls away from obedience and loyalty to God, they will reach the point that was reached by the people in the days of Christ....

    They are placing upon a false sabbath divine honors, and when this is fully done, persecution will break forth upon those who observe the Sabbath that God gave in Eden as a memorial of His creative power. Then the commandments of men will be clothed with sacred garments, and will be pronounced holy.

    Shall anyone then choose to hide his banner, to relax his devotion? Shall the people whom God has honored and blessed and prospered refuse to bear testimony in behalf of God's memorial at the very time when such a testimony should be borne? Shall not the commandments of God be more highly esteemed when men pour contempt upon the law of God? (Manuscript 15, April 27, 1896)

REFLECTION: Through all the ages the great truth of justification by faith has stood as a mighty beacon to guide repentant sinners into the way of life. It was this light that scattered the darkness which enveloped Luther's mind and revealed to him the power of the blood of Christ to cleanse from sin. The same light has guided thousands of sin-burdened souls to the true Source of pardon and peace. (The Acts of the Apostles, 373-374)

June 22, 2020

6/22/2020

WE ARE THE FINAL WARNING

        Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.--Ezekiel 20:12

    The moral sight of these men is diseased; they do not feel their need of the heavenly anointing that they may discern spiritual things....They will fall into deceptions and delusions that Satan has prepared as concealed nets to entangle the feet of those who think they can walk in their human wisdom without the special grace of Christ....

    In the last struggle of the great controversy, God has called us to aid in giving the final warning to the world. While the Christian world is honoring a false sabbath, we are to show them its true character; it must be made plain to them that they are honoring a man-made institution in place of that which God sanctified. Every rival to God must be made to appear as an idol. Solemn is our responsibility.

    The people of the world will try to induce us to soften our message, to suppress one of its more distinctive features. They say, "Why do you in your teaching make the seventh-day Sabbath so prominent? This seems to be always thrust before us; we should harmonize with you [if you] would [not] say so much on this point;...And there has been a disposition on the part of some of our workers to adopt this policy. (Manuscript 16, 1890)

REFLECTION: I am bidden to warn you that deceptive sentiments are entertained, a false modesty and caution, a disposition to withhold the profession of our faith....Shall we permit the world to shape the message that God has given us to bear to them?...

Shall we for the sake of policy, betray a sacred trust? (Manuscript 16, 1890)

June 21, 2020

6/21/2020

BE NOT DECEIVED

        Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.--2 Corinthians 2:14

    Formality, worldly wisdom, worldly caution, worldly policy, will appear to many to be the very power of God, but when accepted, it stands as an obstacle to prevent God's light in warnings, reproof and counsel from coming to the world.

    [Satan] is now working with all his insinuating, deceiving power to lead men away from the third angel's message, which is to be proclaimed with mighty power. If Satan sees that the Lord is blessing His people and preparing them to discern his delusions, he will work with his master power to bring in fanaticism on one hand and cold formalism on the other, that he may gather in a harvest of souls. Now is our time to watch unceasingly. Watch, bar the way to the least step of advance that Satan may make among us....

    I have been warning that henceforth we shall have a constant content. Science, so-called, and religion will be placed in opposition to each other, because finite men do not comprehend the power and greatness of God. These words of Holy Writ were presented to me: "Of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." [Acts 20:30.]

    This will surely be seen among the people of God, and there will be those who are unable to perceive the most wonderful and important truths for this time, truths which are essential for their own safety and salvation, while matters that are in comparison as the merest atoms, matters in which there is scarcely a grain of truth, are dwelt upon and are magnified by the power of Satan so that they appear of the utmost importance. (Manuscript 16, 1890)

REFLECTION: The more we study God's Word, the more we comprehend God's power and greatness. Moreover, the true servants of God were given more than a mere knowledge of his greatness. They were given spiritual discernment (1 Corinthians 2:14). We will need discernment in order to sift through the deceiving power of Satan. Let's pray that our eyes will be opened to see the difference between truth and error.