“Jesus has not left you to be amazed at the trials and difficulties you meet. He has told you all about them, and He has told you also not to be cast down and oppressed when trials come. Look to Jesus, your Redeemer, and be cheerful and rejoice.”
Testimonies for the Church, volume 8, pg. 128
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try (test) you, as though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings.”
1 Peter 4:12-13 KJV
“He is able and willing to help you whenever you call upon Him.”
“If you try to carry your burdens alone, you will be crushed under them. You have heavy responsibilities. Jesus knows about them, and He will not leave you alone if you do not leave Him…. He bids you hope in His mercy, believing that He does not desire you to carry these weighty responsibilities in your own strength. Only believe, and you will see the salvation of God.”
Testimonies for the Church, volume 8, pg. 128
“Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day.”
Exodus 14:13 KJV
“Do you feel your insufficiency for the position of trust that you occupy? Thank God for this. The more you feel your weakness, the more you will be inclined to seek for a helper. “Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.” James 4:8 KJV
Testimonies for the Church, volume 8, pg. 128
Cast your burdens upon the Lord and He will sustain thee, He will never suffer the righteous to be moved. Christ says to you this day reader, “My presence shall go before thee and I shall give thee rest”, “as thy days, so shall thy strength be.”
“…know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
James 4:4 KJV
Says Christ: “Ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.” The true followers of Christ cannot enjoy the friendship of the world and at the same time have their life hid with Christ. The affections must be withdrawn from the treasures of earth and transferred to the heavenly treasure. How difficult was it for the young man who had great possessions to withdraw his affections from his worldly treasure, even with the promise of eternal life before him as his reward! Matthew 19:16-30 KJV
The Lord would have you closely search your own heart….and get the love of the world out of it. Die to self, and live unto God. Then will you be of that number who are the light of the world.
Testimonies for the Church, volume 2, page 290
Search me Oh God, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.
“As I hear of the terrible calamities that from week to week are taking place, I ask myself: What do these things mean? The most awful disasters are following one another in quick succession.How frequently we hear of earthquakes and tornadoes, of destruction by fire and flood, with great loss of life and property! Apparently these calamities are capricious outbreaks of seemingly disorganized, unregulated forces, but in them God’s purpose may be read. They are one of the means by which He seeks to arouse men and women to a sense of their danger.
The coming of Christ is nearer than when we first believed. The great controversy is nearing its end. The judgments of God are in the land. They speak in solemn warning, saying: “Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Matthew 24:44 KJV.
But there are many, many in our churches who know little of the real meaning of the truth for this time. I appeal to them not to disregard the fulfilling of the signs of the times, which says so plainly that the end is near. Oh, how many who have not sought their souls’ salvation will soon make the bitter lamentation: “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved”!
We are living in the closing scenes of this earth’s history. Prophecy is fast fulfilling. The hours of probation are fast passing. We have no time—not a moment—to lose. Let us not be found sleeping on guard. Let no one say in his heart or by his works: “My Lord delayeth His coming.” Let the message of Christ’s soon return sound forth in earnest words of warning. Let us persuade men and women everywhere to repent and flee from the wrath to come. Let us arouse them to immediate preparation, for we little know what is before us.
The Lord is soon to come, and we must be prepared to meet Him in peace.“
Testimonies for the Church, Volume 8, p.g. 252-253, 1904
“And it shall be said in that Day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is Jehovah; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”
Christ is the GREATEST Teacher that the world has ever known. And what is the standard that He holds before all who believe in Him? “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48.
As God is perfect in His sphere, so man may be perfect in his sphere.
The ideal of Christian character is Christlikeness. 1 John 2:6. There is opened before us a path of constant advancement. We have an object to gain, a standard to reach, that includes everything good and pure and noble and elevated. There should be continual STRIVING and constant progress onward and upward toward perfection of character.
Paul says: “I count not myself to have apprehended (arrived at the goal): but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13, 14.
Testimonies for the Church, Volume 8, p.g. 64
STRIVE to enter in at the strait (narrow) gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able….Enter ye in at the strait (narrow) gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
“As the days of Noah were, so shall also the Coming of the Son of Man be.”
Matthew 24:37 KJV
By studying the life of Noah, Genesis 6 & 7, much can be learned as we see the Day quickly approaching.
The story of Noah typifies those faithful believers who will be alive at the Second Coming of Jesus, when He comes in glory to save His saints and destroy the wicked. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; 2Thessalonians 1:6-10.
As Noah was a righteous and holy man, living in a perverse and wicked generation, who found grace in the eyes of the Lord, Genesis 6:8, so, God’s faithful, Bible believing Christians, living in this perverse and wicked world, must walk with God daily as did Noah. We must live in accordance to His statutes and Commands and be obedient to His Word, daily seeking to please Him, that we may also find grace in the sight of a Holy and Mighty God. We must be found spotless, without blemish and without any guile found in our mouths, by God’s grace.
When told that he was to build an ark, Noah wasted no time, he quickly got to work, building and preaching for 120 years that the coming destruction of the world was nigh upon the pre-flood race. He was focused in doing the work which God had prepared for him, he was obedient to God’s Word, “a preacher of righteousness” to a corrupt generation, 2 Peter 2:5KJV.
Likewise, as we see the Day of God quickly approaching, so must we also be preparing. We must be seeking God daily in prayer and supplications, getting our lives in order and conforming to the Word of God, for it is“a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path“, directing our steps in this dark world.. We must be obedient to God’s Word as Noah was and also proclaim the good news of Christ to the world, the everlasting Gospel. We must preach the imminent Second Coming of Jesus to the nations, that others may also have the opportunity to know the truth as it is in Jesus, for He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Like Noah we must be preparing our households and families, pointing them in the direction of the Ark of Christ.
At the time that the flood waters came, the masses were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, the world went on as usual, the inhabitants had no regard for spiritual things and for their soul’s salvation and they knew not the impending judgement that was to fall upon them. The wicked world of that time rejected the gospel as it was preached by Noah and it was to their own demise. Matthew 24:37-39 KJV.
So will it be at the Second Coming of Christ, as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days preceding Christ’s return.
God will have a faithful people upon this earth that will proclaim true Bible Christianity, not the Babylonian, false doctrines that are prevalent in the churches today, lulling the people asleep. These faithful Christians will preach Bible truth, Old and New Testament, they will preach the atonement of Jesus Christ as the only acceptable propitiation for our sins, and they will proclaim with a loud shout His imminent return and with it the destruction of this world along with its wicked inhabitants, who shall be destroyed by the sword of His mouth, with the brightness of His Coming, Revelation 19:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:8KJV.
“It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.”
Lamentations 3:22 KJV
In His mercy, the Father has provided for His people a true Ark in Jesus. May we heed the message of warning and get back to true Bible based Christianity and find ourselves in the Ark, before God closes the door.
Repent and turn from your sins for the Kingdom of God is at hand.
Whether one believes it or not, Christ is coming soon, turn from your wicked ways and live, lest you be destroyed as those living in the days of Noah were also destroyed because of the hardness of their hearts.
“Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”
“There is another and more important question that should engage the attention of the churches of today. The apostle Paul declares that “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12. Why is it, then, that persecution seems in a great degree to slumber?
The only reason is that the church has conformed to the world’s standard and therefore awakens no opposition. The religion which is current in our day is not of the pure and holy character that marked the Christian faith in the days of Christ and His apostles. It is only because of the spirit of compromise with sin, because the great truths of the word of God are so indifferently regarded, because there is so little vital godliness in the church, that Christianity is apparently so popular with the world. Let there be a revival of the faith and power of the early church, and the spirit of persecution will be revived, and the fires of persecution will be rekindled. “
“There have ever been two classes among those who profess to be followers of Christ. While one class study the Saviour’s life and earnestly seek to correct their defects and conform to the Pattern, the other class shun the plain, practical truths which expose their errors.”
The Great Controversy pg. 43
Says Jesus, “Let both [classes] grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”
The Gospel of Matthew 13:30 KJV
Are we wheat or are we tares? Only time will tell.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Numbers 21:8 KJV
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
John 3:14-15 KJV
In most cases of Scripture, the serpent is generally used to represent the devil, the great dragon called satan, Revelation 12:9, Genesis 3:1, however we see here that Jesus compares himself with the serpent. At first glance this may seem like blasphemy of the highest order and may even confuse many but lets take a closer look.
In speaking to Nicodemus in John 3:14-15, Christ was foretelling His death upon the cross and comparing it to the brazen serpent which Moses made in the wilderness. The idea of Christ being lifted up and crucified on the cross is seen here as a type of banner or standard or flag, that is lifted up. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, evenso must the Son of man be lifted up” Christ said.
After coming out of Egypt and brought into the wilderness, the children of Israel, quickly looked back to the pleasures of sinful Egypt, as did Lot’s wife to Sodom, and began to complain and murmur against God and against Moses. As a result, God allowed fiery, venomous serpents to come upon them and to bite them and those that were bitten quickly began to die of the poisonous venom. However, in realising their ungratefulness and their sin, they confessed their sin to God and cried out “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord” Numbers 21:7. Because of God’s mercy and long suffering nature, He heard their prayers and commanded Moses to build a serpent of brass and set it upon a pole, that whosoever should look upon it shall live.
Now it isn’t to say that in looking upon a pole with a snake upon it had the power to take away the effects of the poison, but it was in looking by FAITH, believing in God’s Word and His power to heal from the effects of the venom, that they would be saved.
Likewise, we all have been bitten by the old serpent called the devil and satan and have been infected by the venom of SIN. We all, as a result, have been condemned to death like the Israelites in the wilderness, for “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” says Paul, Romans 3:23. Again he says, “now all these things happened unto them [the Israelites] for ensamples (examples), and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come,” 1 Corinthians 10:11.
Therefore, God gave us His Son, Jesus Christ, as the only acceptable sacrifice for our sins, the only real antidote for the venom as it were. He came as the Son of Man, and suffered as we suffer, was afflicted with temptation as we are afflicted, “For in that He Himself, hath suffered being tempted, He is able to help those who are tempted”,Hebrews 2:18.
As the serpent is used to represent satan and his sinful nature, so did Christ become sin for us. He took our sins upon Him and went faithfully to the Cross, lifted up as the serpent in the wilderness was lifted up before the children of Israel. “For He [God] hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” 2 Corinthians 5:21.
The serpent which was lifted up on the pole, directly foreshadows Christ, the Sinless One, who bore our sins, and was lifted up upon the Cross of Calvary and says Christ “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, evenso must the Son of man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Christ was lifted up for you and for me. It is by His sacrifice upon the cross that our sins are forgiven and our slates made clean. We have all been bitten by the fiery serpent called the devil and have been infected with the deadly venom of sin. Therefore, lift up your heads and look to the Cross; look to Jesus as He has been crucified for your sins and for mine, believe in His power to cleanse you from all sin through His death, the death that we rightfully deserve, and the promise is, we shall not perish but have eternal life.
A guardian angel is appointed to every follower of Christ. These heavenly watchers shield the righteous from the power of the wicked one. This Satan himself recognized when he said: “Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not Thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side?” Job 1:9, 10. The agency by which God protects His people is presented in the words of the psalmist: “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.” Psalm 34:7. Said the Saviour, speaking of those that believe in Him: “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of My Father.” Matthew 18:10. The angels appointed to minister to the children of God have at all times access to His presence.
Thus God’s people, exposed to the deceptive power and unsleeping malice of the prince of darkness, and in conflict with all the forces of evil, are assured of the unceasing guardianship of heavenly angels. Nor is such assurance given without need. If God has granted to His children promise of grace and protection, it is because there are mighty agencies of evil to be met—agencies numerous, determined, and untiring, of whose malignity and power none can safely be ignorant or unheeding.
“Satan uses the listless, sleepy indolence of professed Christians to strengthen his forces and win souls to his side. Many, who think that though they are doing no actual work for Christ, they are yet on His side, are enabling the enemy to preoccupy ground and gain advantages. By their failure to be diligent workers for the Master, by leaving duties undone and words unspoken, they have allowed satan to gain control of souls who might have been won for Christ.
We can never be saved in indolence and inactivity. There is no such thing as a truly converted person living a helpless, useless life.
It is not possible for us to drift into Heaven.
No sluggard can enter there…those who refuse to co-operate with God on earth would not co-operate with Him in Heaven. It would not be safe to take them to Heaven.”
Christ’s Object Lessons pg.280
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Loud Cry Compendium 