The Glory of God

[Sean James]

The light of truth and love from God is essential to transform the life. When Christ is lifted up in life and character, then the way He lived will be wrought out in us, for He abides in us to produce the same fruits of the Spirit without one missing accompanied  glad obedience to the law of God!

The way to dispel darkness is to admit light. The best way to deal with error is to present truth. It is the revelation of God's love that makes manifest the deformity and sin of the heart centered in self.   

Selfishness is death, and Jesus came to die for us at Calvary to break the power of self so that as we surrender fully to Him, we can live to bless others by having Him abide in us!

[Sean James]

How does God establish His kingdom?

Not by the decisions of courts or councils or legislative assemblies, not by the patronage of worldly great men, is the kingdom of Christ established, but by the implanting of Christ's nature in humanity through the work of the Holy Spirit. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:12, 13. Here is the only power that can work the uplifting of mankind. And the human agency for the accomplishment of this work is the teaching and practicing of the word of God.   

When the whole heart is yielded to Christ in true confession, by virtue of His atoning blood, He gives each repentant sinner a new heart and a new mind filled with all of the fruits of the Spirit so not one is missing, making the child of God a partaker of the divine nature through receiving the promises of God! Then happy obedience to the Ten Commandments is the ready response of one who is truly a "new creature" (2 Corinthians 5:17). May this be your experience today and each moment of the day in constant union and communion with Christ!

[Sean James]

Let us be loving and lovable Christians!

Encourage the expression of love toward God and toward one another. The reason why there are so many hardhearted men and women in the world is that true affection has been regarded as weakness, and has been discouraged and repressed. The better nature of these persons was stifled in childhood; and unless the light of divine love shall melt away their cold selfishness, their happiness will be forever ruined. If we wish our children to possess the tender spirit of Jesus, and the sympathy that angels manifest for us, we must encourage the generous, loving impulses of childhood. 

When we invite Jesus into the heart to cleanse us from all our sins by His blood and believe that God loves us, the Holy Spirit comes into the heart to fill us with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, and not one of the fruits of the Spirit will be missing in our lives as long as Jesus has full possession of the heart and we walk in the light of the law of His love as He is in the light! May this be your experience continually!

[Sean James]

Self-surrender is the substance of the teachings of Christ.

[Sean James]

Turn to Jesus in every situation, and let Him turn it into something beautiful in His time.

To all who are reaching out to feel the guiding hand of God, the moment of greatest discouragement is the time when divine help is nearest.

As we yield the whole heart to Christ, He cleanses us from sin by His atoning blood and fills us with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing!

[Sean James]

History is repeating. As Christ's righteous character was an open rebuke in love to the religious people of His time, so when Christ's character is perfectly reproduced in His people, the world will not be able to endure the revelation and persecution connected with the final events of earth's history and the close of probation for the world will unfold. Jesus invites us to abide in Him and experience His character, so we can be living witnesses and help hasten His return. Only by a complete, continual surrender to Him of the entire heart will the blood of Jesus avail to cleanse us from sin, and He will fill us with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as we live by faith upon Him. This revelation of character is directly connected with the final gospel proclamation that must go to the whole world!

Jesus had now given three years of public labor to the world. His example of self-denial and disinterested benevolence was before them. His life of purity, of suffering and devotion, was known to all. Yet this short period of three years was as long as the world could endure the presence of its Redeemer. 

With the love of Christ constraining us, let us go forth to reveal to the world the loveliness of Jesus and trust in Him with our whole heart! We can be thankful that He has pioneered the way before us, and pressed down the cruel thorns we will face as we choose to be faithful to God in these trying times of the last days!

[Sean James]

Freedom is so amazing in Christ--the freedom to obey God in the unique way God made us to glorify Him as He renews our hearts and minds to reflect His loveliness of character!

In matters of conscience the soul must be left untrammeled. No one is to control another's mind, to judge for another, or to prescribe his duty. God gives to every soul freedom to think, and to follow his own convictions. "Every one of us shall give account of himself to God." No one has a right to merge his own individuality in that of another. In all matters where principle is involved, "let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind." Romans 14:12, 5. In Christ's kingdom there is no lordly oppression, no compulsion of manner. The angels of heaven do not come to the earth to rule, and to exact homage, but as messengers of mercy, to co-operate with men in uplifting humanity.   

We can be thankful that when Jesus has full possession of the heart, not only will all of the fruits of the Spirit be seen in our lives, but we will be led by the Holy Spirit to obey God's law of love with complete freedom of conscience! Surrender to Christ means a complete victory in being free to do the will of God!

[Sean James]

What is repentance, and from whom does it come? The Bible gives the answer: "Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins" (Acts 5:31). Repentance is the gift of God through Christ, and is the power of God to confess and forsake sin so that the life is transformed by beholding the loveliness of Jesus, leading to entire surrender of the whole heart so that all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in the life without one missing while the character is brought into harmony with all the light of truth known and understood! As Jesus said, "If ye love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15).

No repentance is genuine that does not work reformation. The righteousness of Christ is not a cloak to cover unconfessed and unforsaken sin; it is a principle of life that transforms the character and controls the conduct. Holiness is wholeness for God; it is the entire surrender of heart and life to the indwelling of the principles of heaven.

May we truly have heaven in the soul today by having Christ in our hearts as an abiding Friend! Jesus is all in all when we are in harmony with Him!

[Sean James]

Even when you do not feel like you are worth it, Jesus sees your true value, for He paid for your life with His very blood! Let us appreciate the loveliness of Jesus and let Him work in and through us so by the power of transforming grace we may have new hearts, new minds, and a full infilling of the Holy Spirit manifested in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (without one of the fruits of the Spirit missing!). Praise the Lord God can do this great miracle in us!

When to human eyes her case appeared hopeless, Christ saw in Mary capabilities for good. He saw the better traits of her character. The plan of redemption has invested humanity with great possibilities, and in Mary these possibilities were to be realized. Through His grace she became a partaker of the divine nature. The one who had fallen, and whose mind had been a habitation of demons, was brought very near to the Saviour in fellowship and ministry. It was Mary who sat at His feet and learned of Him. It was Mary who poured upon His head the precious anointing oil, and bathed His feet with her tears. Mary stood beside the cross, and followed Him to the sepulcher. Mary was first at the tomb after His resurrection. It was Mary who first proclaimed a risen Saviour.

Jesus is not only a risen Savior, He is also our High Priest in heaven, interceding for us and working out His plan to restore us fully to the moral image God intended for us to have in our creation. Then He is very soon to come as our King, taking the redeemed saints to heaven--both the resurrected and those who will be translated! As we learn of Him, we may experience rest of soul by having selfishness banished by His selfless love!

[Sean James]

Try to imagine what is was like when Jesus, on the first day of the week, made His triumphal procession into Jerusalem just before He would be crucified on the preparation day, just five days later. The "Hosannas" of some that day would in a few days later be turned to "Crucify Him," but He meekly followed the path the Father laid out for Him to fulfill the plan of salvation! May we praise the Lord and lay all our sins on Jesus, so He can work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure this day!

Never before had the world seen such a triumphal procession. It was not like that of the earth's famous conquerors. No train of mourning captives, as trophies of kingly valor, made a feature of that scene. But about the Saviour were the glorious trophies of His labors of love for sinful man. There were the captives whom He had rescued from Satan's power, praising God for their deliverance. The blind whom He had restored to sight were leading the way. The dumb whose tongues He had loosed shouted the loudest hosannas. The cripples whom He had healed bounded with joy, and were the most active in breaking the palm branches and waving them before the Saviour. Widows and orphans were exalting the name of Jesus for His works of mercy to them. The lepers whom He had cleansed spread their untainted garments in His path, and hailed Him as the King of glory. Those whom His voice had awakened from the sleep of death were in that throng. Lazarus, whose body had seen corruption in the grave, but who now rejoiced in the strength of glorious manhood, led the beast on which the Saviour rode. 

We are the reward of Jesus' infinite sacrifice! As we behold the loveliness of Jesus, love awakens in our hearts, and we are enabled to have Him produce in us by the divine nature all of the fruits of the Sprit without one missing! What a joy to worship the Lord in Spirit and in truth!

[Sean James]

Only by inviting Christ to abide in our hearts continually will we be enabled to live faithfully and victorious over the temptations from the world, the flesh and the devil. By beholding Jesus' loveliness which motivates us to yield to Him the whole heart, all of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives without one missing, and we can overcome sin in Christ because He is our victory! Then the precious experience of loving obedience will be manifest in harmony with all of the light God has graciously given us, because Jesus first loved us! Let us make the most of our probationary time before Jesus returns!

In every age there is given to men their day of light and privilege, a probationary time in which they may become reconciled to God. But there is a limit to this grace. Mercy may plead for years and be slighted and rejected; but there comes a time when mercy makes her last plea. The heart becomes so hardened that it ceases to respond to the Spirit of God. Then the sweet, winning voice entreats the sinner no longer, and reproofs and warnings cease.

While Jesus is still interceding for us in the heavenly sanctuary, there is time to repent! But soon the door of probation will close, for Jesus will cease His ministry in the sanctuary above and come in power and great glory to take those with Him who have yielded themselves to His transforming grace that has the power to turn sinners into saints! He calls us to become like Him in mind and character and has the power to do in and through us His holy will! Let us listen and let Him lead us moment-by-moment!   

[Sean James]

What is faith? It is surrender to all God says because we see His love and let Him have His way in us. Freedom from sin is possible only by constant union and communion with Christ, for the fruits of the Spirit without one missing can only be manifest in hearts and minds renewed by grace through faith! The conversion of a soul is a great miracle, and Christ has power to do this in each of our lives as we look away from self to Jesus!

To those who believe, Christ is the sure foundation. These are they who fall upon the Rock and are broken. Submission to Christ and faith in Him are here represented. To fall upon the Rock and be broken is to give up our self-righteousness and to go to Christ with the humility of a child, repenting of our transgressions, and believing in His forgiving love. And so also it is by faith and obedience that we build on Christ as our foundation.

True obedience comes from the heart because it is a matter of love. "If ye love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15). Only by love is love awakened, and to know God is to love Him. Thus, the time we spend in the "thoughtful hour" contemplating the life of Christ, especially the closing scenes, is truly needed for us to experience the remedy from a lukewarm and backslidden spiritual condition (see Revelation 3:14-22)! He gives us His faith working by love to purify the soul (gold tried in the fire), His righteousness (white raiment) and spiritual discernment to realize our continual need of Jesus by the Holy Spirit to do any good thing (eyesalve). As we are healed from our backsliding (Hosea 14:4), we will want to invite others to taste and see the goodness of the Lord!

[Sean James]

And since all the commandments are summed up in love to God and man, it follows that not one precept can be broken without violating this principle. Thus Christ taught His hearers that the law of God is not so many separate precepts, some of which are of great importance, while others are of small importance and may with impunity be ignored. Our Lord presents the first four and the last six commandments as a divine whole, and teaches that love to God will be shown by obedience to all His commandments.

Let us love God who first loved us and in sending Jesus came to save us from our sins!

[Sean James]

Jesus can give us pure motives by recreating our hearts! Then all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be seen in our lives as we gladly obey all His Ten Commandments! Let us surrender the whole heart to Jesus so this will be our experience!

It is the motive that gives character to our acts, stamping them with ignominy or with high moral worth. Not the great things which every eye sees and every tongue praises does God account most precious. The little duties cheerfully done, the little gifts which make no show, and which to human eyes may appear worthless, often stand highest in His sight. A heart of faith and love is dearer to God than the most costly gift. The poor widow gave her living to do the little that she did. She deprived herself of food in order to give those two mites to the cause she loved. And she did it in faith, believing that her heavenly Father would not overlook her great need. It was this unselfish spirit and childlike faith that won the Saviour's commendation. 

Praise the Lord for the opportunity to bless others when Jesus lives in us, the hope of glory!

[Sean James]

How does God break the power of Satan over the minds and affections of every being in the universe?

"Now is the judgment of this world," Christ continued; "now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto Me. This He said, signifying what death He should die." This is the crisis of the world. If I become the propitiation for the sins of men, the world will be lighted up. Satan's hold upon the souls of men will be broken. The defaced image of God will be restored in humanity, and a family of believing saints will finally inherit the heavenly home. This is the result of Christ's death. The Saviour is lost in contemplation of the scene of triumph called up before Him. He sees the cross, the cruel, ignominious cross, with all its attending horrors, blazing with glory.

Christ would die on Calvary's cross to break the power of Satan so all who would submit to reason and enlightened conscience could not only be free from Satan's power (sin), but enjoy the blessing of being in God's presence by faith even now, and enjoying His presence in-person once Jesus comes in power and great glory! Now God is preparing His people to stand through the time of trouble such as never was and to be victorious because they have come to have an abiding trust no matter how great a trial they may endure, considering that the all-important sacrifice of Christ has been made on Calvary! Realizing that all who truly repent have the privilege of becoming partakers of the divine nature, receiving all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing in the life, and becoming like Christ more and more, from character experience to character experience, "from glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18), God's faithful saints will remember that fellowship with Christ in His sufferings is the most weighty trust, and the highest honor. May we seek the will of God--nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else!