If we obey the Lord our God He will bless that which He gives us.

The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto. (Deuteronomy 28:8)

If we obey the Lord our God He will bless that which He gives us. Riches are no curse when blessed of the Lord. When men have more than they require for their immediate need and begin to lay up in storehouses, the dry rot of covetousness or the blight of hard-heartedness is apt to follow the accumulation; but with God's blessing it is not so. Prudence arranges the saving, liberality directs the spending, gratitude maintains consecration, and praise sweetens enjoyment. It is a great mercy to have God's blessing in one's iron safe and on one's banking account.

What a favor is made ours by the last clause! "The Lord shall bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand unto." We would not put our hand to anything upon which we dare not ask God's blessing, neither would we go about it without prayer and faith. But what a privilege to be able to look for the Lord's help in every enterprise! Some talk of a lucky man: the blessing of the Lord is better than luck. The patronage of the great is nothing to the favor of God. Self-reliance is all very well; but the Lord's blessing is infinitely more than all the fruit of talent, genius, or tact.

"Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord."-Zechariah 3:1

"Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord."-Zechariah 3:1

In Joshua the high priest we see a picture of each and every child of God, who has been made nigh by the blood of Christ, and has been taught to minister in holy things, and enter into that which is within the veil. Jesus has made us priests and kings unto God, and even here upon earth we exercise the priesthood of consecrated living and hallowed service. But this high priest is said to be "standing before the angel of the Lord," that is, standing to minister. This should be the perpetual position of every true believer. Every place is now God's temple, and His people can as truly serve Him in their daily employments as in His house. They are to be always "ministering," offering the spiritual sacrifice of prayer and praise, and presenting themselves a "living sacrifice." But notice where it is that Joshua stands to minister, it is before the angel of Jehovah. It is only through a mediator that we poor defiled ones can ever become priests unto God. 

I present what I have before! the messenger, the angel of the covenant, the Lord Jesus; and through Him my prayers find acceptance wrapped up in His prayers; my praises become sweet as they are bound up with bundles of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia from Christ's own garden. If I can bring Him nothing but my tears, He will put them with His own tears in His own bottle for He once wept; if I can bring Him nothing but my groans and sighs, He will accept these as an acceptable sacrifice, for He once was broken in heart, and sighed heavily in spirit. I myself, standing in Him, am accepted in the Beloved; and all my polluted works, though in themselves only objects of divine abhorrence, are so received, that God smelleth a sweet savour. He is content and I am blessed. See, then, the position of the Christian-"a priest-standing-before the angel of the Lord."

Dead, and having the name of being alive -- what a terrible condition!

We need to study the message given to the church at Sardis.  "I know thy
works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.  Be
watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die:
for I have not found thy works perfect before God.  Remember therefore
how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.  If
therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou
shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee."  Dead, and having the
name of being alive -- what a terrible condition!

        -- Special Testimonies Series A Number Twelve, page 6

What can I be afraid of with God on my side?

Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain; and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. (Zechariah 4:7)

At this hour a mountain of difficulty, distress, or necessity may be in our way, and natural reason sees no path over it, or through it, or round it. Let faith come in, and straightway the mountain disappears and becomes a plain. But faith must first hear the word of the Lord--"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." This grand truth is a prime necessity for meeting the insurmountable trials of life.

I see that I can do nothing and that all reliance on man is vanity. "Not by might." I see that no visible means can be relied on, but the force is in the invisible Spirit. God alone must work, and men and means must be nothing accounted of. If it be so that the Almighty God takes up the concerns of His people, then great mountains are nothing. He can remove worlds as boys toss balls about or drive them with their foot. This power He can lend to me. If the Lord bids me move an Alp I can do it through His name. It may be a great mountain, but even before my feebleness it shall become a plain; for the Lord hath said it. What can I be afraid of with God on my side?

for I will pardon them whom I reserve. (Jeremiah 50:20)

In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve. (Jeremiah 50:20)

A glorious word indeed! What a perfect pardon is here promised to the sinful nations of Israel and Judah! Sin is to be so removed that it shall not be found, so blotted out that there shall be none. Glory be unto the God of pardons!

Satan seeks out sins wherewith to accuse us, our enemies seek them that they may lay them to our charge, and our own conscience seeks them even with a morbid eagerness. But when the Lord applies the precious blood of Jesus, we fear no form of search, for "there shall be none"; "they shall not be found." The Lord hath caused the sins of His people to cease to be: He hath finished transgression and made an end of sin. The sacrifice of Jesus has cast our sins into the depths of the sea. This makes us dance for joy.

The reason for the obliteration of sin lies in the fact that Jehovah Himself pardons His chosen ones. His word of grace is not only royal but divine. He speaks absolution, and we are absolved. He applies the atonement, and from that hour His people are beyond all fear of condemnation. Blessed be the name of the sin-annihilating God!

I will judge between cattle and cattle. (Ezekiel 34:22)

I will judge between cattle and cattle. (Ezekiel 34:22)

Some are fat and flourishing, and therefore they are unkind to the feeble. This is a grievous sin and causes much sorrow. Those thrustings with side and with shoulder, those pushings of the diseased with the horn, are a sad means of offense in the assemblies of professing believers. The Lord takes note of these proud and unkind deeds, and He is greatly angered by them, for He loves the weak.

Is the reader one of the despised? Is he a mourner in Zion and a marked man because of his tender conscience? Do his brethren judge him harshly? Let him not resent their conduct; above all let him not push and thrust in return. Let him leave the matter in the Lord's hands. He is the Judge. Why should we wish to intrude upon His office? He will decide much more righteously than we can. His time for judgment is the best, and we need not be in a hurry to hasten it on. Let the hard-hearted oppressor tremble. Even though he may ride roughshod over others with impunity for the present, all his proud speeches are noted, and for every one of them account must be given before the bar of the great Judge.

Patience, my soul! Patience! The Lord knoweth thy grief. Thy Jesus hath pity upon thee!

I will judge between cattle and cattle. (Ezekiel 34:22)

I will judge between cattle and cattle. (Ezekiel 34:22)

Some are fat and flourishing, and therefore they are unkind to the feeble. This is a grievous sin and causes much sorrow. Those thrustings with side and with shoulder, those pushings of the diseased with the horn, are a sad means of offense in the assemblies of professing believers. The Lord takes note of these proud and unkind deeds, and He is greatly angered by them, for He loves the weak.

Is the reader one of the despised? Is he a mourner in Zion and a marked man because of his tender conscience? Do his brethren judge him harshly? Let him not resent their conduct; above all let him not push and thrust in return. Let him leave the matter in the Lord's hands. He is the Judge. Why should we wish to intrude upon His office? He will decide much more righteously than we can. His time for judgment is the best, and we need not be in a hurry to hasten it on. Let the hard-hearted oppressor tremble. Even though he may ride roughshod over others with impunity for the present, all his proud speeches are noted, and for every one of them account must be given before the bar of the great Judge.

Patience, my soul! Patience! The Lord knoweth thy grief. Thy Jesus hath pity upon thee!

I will judge between cattle and cattle. (Ezekiel 34:22)

I will judge between cattle and cattle. (Ezekiel 34:22)

Some are fat and flourishing, and therefore they are unkind to the feeble. This is a grievous sin and causes much sorrow. Those thrustings with side and with shoulder, those pushings of the diseased with the horn, are a sad means of offense in the assemblies of professing believers. The Lord takes note of these proud and unkind deeds, and He is greatly angered by them, for He loves the weak.

Is the reader one of the despised? Is he a mourner in Zion and a marked man because of his tender conscience? Do his brethren judge him harshly? Let him not resent their conduct; above all let him not push and thrust in return. Let him leave the matter in the Lord's hands. He is the Judge. Why should we wish to intrude upon His office? He will decide much more righteously than we can. His time for judgment is the best, and we need not be in a hurry to hasten it on. Let the hard-hearted oppressor tremble. Even though he may ride roughshod over others with impunity for the present, all his proud speeches are noted, and for every one of them account must be given before the bar of the great Judge.

Patience, my soul! Patience! The Lord knoweth thy grief. Thy Jesus hath pity upon thee!

"My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (Matt. 11:30)

Jesus said something He obviously wants us to believe, but of all the things He said, this seems the most difficult to believe: "My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (Matt. 11:30). Everyone who has been serious about following Jesus has discovered that "in the world ye shall have tribulation" (John 16:33). It's also painfully true that "the world hath hated them [those who believe in Jesus], because they are not of the world, even as I [Jesus] am not of the world" (17:14).

The problem is that there are "children of light" in the world, and there are "children of disobedience" or "children of wrath" who instinctively feel toward the "children of light" as the world felt toward Jesus. "If they have persecuted Me, they will persecute you," He says.

But you and I cannot be sure who is who! When Stephen was being stoned, he would naturally have thought that Saul of Tarsus (holding the coats of those throwing stones to kill him) was a "child of the devil" like the others (Acts 7:59-8:1). But Steven's Christlike spirit witnessed to Saul, and that man "consenting unto his death" became wonderfully converted to Christ. (Imagine how Stephen will feel in the first resurrection when he meets the apostle!)

So Jesus encourages us to cherish hope in our hearts toward those who "despitefully use you," and to pray for them (Matt. 5:44). Even our "tribulation" then becomes the joyful experience of soul-winning! As we endure our pain, we are buoyed up by the constant hope that "our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor. 4:17) just as Stephen's stoning-affliction has "worked" for him. We actually learn to know by experience what it means to identify with Jesus when He said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

"In Him" we too "overcome the world." Joy fills our hearts. The unthinkable becomes real, and wonder of wonders, we selfish, worldly people ourselves (that's what we all are by nature) discover that we can actually pray for those who harm us. Miracle!

And then we're on top forever after, for "we walk in the light, as He is in the light, [and] we have fellowship one with another" (1 John 1:7). We are never left alone.

To whom did Jesus preach His Sermon on the Mount--to His disciples or to the multitude?

To whom did Jesus preach His Sermon on the Mount--to His disciples or to the multitude?

Some say that God is NOT the Father of "all humanity" but only of those who are converted. All the rest are children of the devil. But Matthew 5:1 says that when Jesus saw "the multitudes, He went up into a mountain" and preached, about "your Father which is in heaven," and "after this manner pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven," etc. (chapters 6, 7).

The Muslim is told that he must make himself pure before he can come to Allah. But Jesus says, Come, and I will make you pure. He became one of us so that He might invite us to regard His Father as our Father. True, there are many who are unconverted; but why ...? Is it because they have finally, irrevocably, determinedly rejected Christ, or for many is it because they have never understood the gospel? Are they wolves, or could they be lost sheep who haven't been "found" yet?

We know that Jesus said, "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd" (John 10:16). In those words He describes the soul-winning work of that fourth angel who "comes down from heaven, having great power; and the earth [is] lightened with his glory" (Rev. 18:1-4). That "voice" will call to those "lost sheep," "Come out of [Babylon], My people, ... that ye receive not of her plagues."

A wise writer says that when Jesus was baptized and a voice was heard from heaven declaring, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," that Voice embraced humanity (Matt. 3:17, The Desire of Ages, p. 113). If you have felt like you are an orphan outside the "family," please accept the Good News: The Father has "adopted" you "in Christ" (Eph. 1:5, 6), and He invites you to pray, "Our Father ..." You are as precious as that discouraged five-times-loser at Jacob's well when Jesus told her, "True worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him" (John 4:23).

Yes, He is seeking YOU! Come.

He that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:14)

He that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:14)

It ought not to be difficult for us to humble ourselves, for what have we to be proud of? We ought to take the lowest place without being told to do so. If we are sensible and honest, we shall be little in our own eyes. Especially before the Lord in prayer we shall shrink to nothing. There we cannot speak of merit, for we have none; our one and only appeal must be to mercy: "God be merciful to me a sinner."

Here is a cheering word from the throne. We shall be exalted by the Lord if we humble ourselves. For us the way upward is downhill. When we are stripped of self we are clothed with humility, and this is the best of wear. The Lord will exalt us in peace and happiness of mind; He will exalt us into knowledge of His Word and fellowship with Himself; He will exalt us in the enjoyment of sure pardon and justification. The Lord puts His honors upon those who can wear them to the honor of the Giver. He gives usefulness, acceptance, and influence to those who will not be puffed up by them but will be abased by a sense of greater responsibility. Neither God nor man will care to lift up a man who lifts up himself; but both God and good men unite to honor modest worth.

O Lord, sink me in self that I may rise in Thee.

Jehovah is "the Keeper of Israel."

Jehovah is "the Keeper of Israel." No form of unconsciousness ever steals over Him, neither the deeper slumber nor the slighter sleep. He never fails to watch the house and the heart of His people. This is a sufficient reason for our resting in perfect peace. Alexander said that he slept because his friend Parmenio watched; much more may we sleep because our God is our guard.



"Behold" is here set up to call our attention to the cheering truth. Israel, when he had a stone for his pillow, fell asleep; but His God was awake and came in vision to His servant. When we lie defenseless, Jehovah Himself will cover our head.



The Lord keeps His people as a rich man keeps his treasure, as a captain keeps a city with a garrison, as a sentry keeps watch over his sovereign. None can harm those who are in such keeping. Let me put my soul into His dear hands. He never forgets us, never ceases actively to care for us, never finds Himself unable to preserve us.



O my Lord, keep me, lest I wander and fall and perish. Keep me, that I may keep Thy commandments. By Thine unslumbering care prevent my sleeping like the sluggard and perishing like those who sleep the sleep of death.

"Abide in me, and I in you."

"Abide in me, and I in you."  How are we to abide in Christ?  By a
daily, hourly faith.  We are not safe in any other position.  A man may
have his name on the church books, and make a high profession, but this
avails nothing unless he has a living connection with Christ, unless his
spirit, his words, his deportment, his business transactions with
believers and unbelievers, reveal the virtues that come from such a
union.  A man who is thus united with Christ has a living faith, which
takes hold upon divine power; and he is enabled to escape the corruption
that is in the world through lust.

        -- Paulson Collection, page 314

The Lord encourages each of us to pray to Him alone

The Lord encourages each of us to pray to Him alone; Jesus gave us permission to address His Father as "our Father which art in heaven." We are to pray in the name of His only begotten Son: "If ye shall ask any thing in My name, I will do it" (John 14:14). Big promise!

But sometimes it seems that He doesn't hear us or answer. We beg Him to tell us why. John may help us: "This is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us" (1 John 5:14). "His will" is love for our souls; it's possible we are asking for something that in the end would harm us, because we don't know better (or it might harm some one else, which we don't know). Then John explains further: "And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him" (vs. 15). The "if" is important. Some dear people spend a lifetime understanding. You can fast forward your understanding if you will choose to believe (a) that He loves you as an individual, (b) that He does hear you, and (c) that He will grant you whatever is best for you, to be realized when you need it.

But there is a secret to answered prayer we must not forget. "If TWO of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 18:19). Praying by yourself may not be good enough! You'd be surprised how rare it is to find two individuals (even in a church) who are totally in heart unity. Not that one must be a clone of the other, no; but the Holy Spirit just has trouble "convicting" two people alike; one seems always to be breaking away from heart unity in some way. If only "two" could fulfill that promise "in Christ," they could turn the world upside down--let alone their little church (or their little committee).

The prayer of Christ's heart still is for His disciples "that they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me" (John 17:21). With His church fragmented, it may seem that even Christ after 2000 years can't get His prayers answered when He prays by Himself! But don't give up your faith: Christ's prayer MUST be answered, or He must lose the great controversy with Satan! Pray with Him, on His side, that His people may be brought into that true, blessed one-ness "in Him."

Those who wait for the Bridegroom's coming are to say to the people, "Behold your God."

At this time a message from God is to be proclaimed, a message
illuminating in its influence and saving in its power.  His character is
to be made known.  Into the darkness of the world is to be shed the
light of His glory, the light of His goodness, mercy, and truth.

This is the work outlined by the prophet Isaiah in the words, "O
Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength;
lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your
God!  Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arm shall
rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him."
Isa. 40:9,10.

Those who wait for the Bridegroom's coming are to say to the people,
"Behold your God."  The last rays of merciful light, the last message of
mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of
love.  The children of God are to manifest His glory.  In their own life
and character they are to reveal what the grace of God has done for
them.

        -- Christ's Object Lessons, page 41

I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. (Psalm 118:17)

I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. (Psalm 118:17)

A fair assurance this! It was no doubt based upon a promise, inwardly whispered in the psalmist's heart, which he seized upon and enjoyed. Is my case like that of David? Am I depressed because the enemy affronts me? Are there multitudes against me and few on my side? Does unbelief bid me lie down and die in despair - a defeated, dishonored man? Do my enemies begin to dig my grave?

What then? Shall I yield to the whisper of fear, and give up the battle, and with it give up all hope? Far from it. There is life in me yet: "I shall not die." Vigor will return and remove my weakness: "I shall live." The Lord lives, and I shall live also. My mouth shall again be opened: "I shall declare the works of Jehovah." Yes, and I shall speak of the present trouble as another instance of the wonder-working faithfulness and love of the Lord my God. Those who would gladly measure me for my coffin had better wait a bit, for "the Lord hath chastened me sore, but he hath not given me over unto death." Glory be to His name forever! I am immortal till my work is done. Till the Lord wills it, no vault can close upon me