The Glory of God

[Sean James]

We can learn from the experience of the disciples the importance of being wide-awake and being prayerful, focused, and surrendered to Jesus. Had the disciples REALLY heeded the call of Jesus to "watch and pray" and had taken to heart that He WAS going to die for them, then rise from the dead, when the events that led up to that were actually transpiring, they could have faced it in faith, rather than from a perspective of doubt, discouragement, and unbelief. We have intense trials on the horizon before Jesus returns the second time, but if we will heed the call to watch and pray, take to heart Jesus' messages given us in Revelation 3:14-22, Revelation 14:6-12, and embrace, teach, and live out the health message inviting us to apply God's principles of nutrition, exercise, water, sunshine, temperance, air, rest, and trust in God's power, we will be much better prepared to face the trials that we will be allowed to experience as God refines our characters to be more like Him! His purpose in all of this is to save souls by empowering us to be His witnesses by the Holy Spirit! In surrendering fully our heart to Christ, we let Him fill us with all of the fruits of His character so not one is missing, giving us the strength and grace needed to obey God up to the light of His truth He has revealed to us!

It was in sleeping when Jesus bade him watch and pray that Peter had prepared the way for his great sin. All the disciples, by sleeping in that critical hour, sustained a great loss. Christ knew the fiery ordeal through which they were to pass. He knew how Satan would work to paralyze their senses that they might be unready for the trial. Therefore it was that He gave them warning. Had those hours in the garden been spent in watching and prayer, Peter would not have been left to depend upon his own feeble strength. He would not have denied his Lord. Had the disciples watched with Christ in His agony, they would have been prepared to behold His suffering upon the cross. They would have understood in some degree the nature of His overpowering anguish. They would have been able to recall His words that foretold His sufferings, His death, and His resurrection. Amid the gloom of the most trying hour, some rays of hope would have lighted up the darkness and sustained their faith.

God desires our faith to be sustained in the time of trouble such as never was (Daniel 12:1). But even today, His promise is that He will not let us be tempted beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13), for He can keep the soul that is surrendered to Him from sinning. Will we take the hand of Jesus, heed His loving messages, and let Him lead us safely to heaven? Though the path may be steep and rugged, His infinite love motivates us all along the way!

[Sean James]

Happy Sabbath! When we study inspiration, we see both promises and warnings, and when it comes to the case of Judas, his life is a strong warning not to yield to covetousness and refuse to believe the word of Christ just as He gave it. What a deception he fell for! Let us yield our WHOLE heart to Jesus so ALL of the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives without one missing as we abide in Christ and overcome sin as He empowers us in TRUE obedience to all His commandments because we love Him who first loved us!

Judas reasoned that if Jesus was to be crucified, the event must come to pass. His own act in betraying the Saviour would not change the result. If Jesus was not to die, it would only force Him to deliver Himself. At all events, Judas would gain something by his treachery. He counted that he had made a sharp bargain in betraying his Lord.

Judas did not, however, believe that Christ would permit Himself to be arrested. In betraying Him, it was his purpose to teach Him a lesson. He intended to play a part that would make the Saviour careful thenceforth to treat him with due respect. But Judas knew not that he was giving Christ up to death. How often, as the Saviour taught in parables, the scribes and Pharisees had been carried away with His striking illustrations! How often they had pronounced judgment against themselves! Often when the truth was brought home to their hearts, they had been filled with rage, and had taken up stones to cast at Him; but again and again He had made His escape. Since He had escaped so many snares, thought Judas, He certainly would not now allow Himself to be taken.

Judas decided to put the matter to the test. If Jesus really was the Messiah, the people, for whom He had done so much, would rally about Him, and would proclaim Him king. This would forever settle many minds that were now in uncertainty. Judas would have the credit of having placed the king on David's throne. And this act would secure to him the first position, next to Christ, in the new kingdom.

The sad ending of Judas shows us that when things did not go the way he had planned, he ended his own life. Oh, what a warning not to go in the deceptive path Satan will lead us on whenever we doubt our reason away the plain teachings God gives! In these last days, Satan will pull a massive deception over the world to get them to think they are following Christ while rejecting His law, as if there is a way to separate Christ from His character (His law). When those making movements to enforce Sunday as a day of worship and rest go down this path, they may think they are doing God service, but their neglect of the plain teachings of the word of God shows their error, for God, who gave the Sabbath from creation (Genesis 2:1-3) and calls all to remember it (Exodus 20:8-11) also makes it clear that He does not change (Malachi 3:6). The Three Angels' Messages of Revelation 14:6-12 are God's final love appeal to call all to worship Him as the Creator in harmony with the seventh-day Sabbath, in light of the judgment taking place in heaven, and in earnest warning not to receive the mark of the beast (enforced Sunday worship) which leads to eternal death to those who go along with this deception and refuse to yield obedience to Christ who so loves every soul that He died to offer them salvation. Let us abide in the unchanging love and word of God, enabling us to be ready to meet Jesus at His glorious appearing!!

[Sean James]

Have you ever looked out over a lake, perfectly calm, serene and peaceful? It is as if this is how Jesus' countenance reflected the inner peace of heaven He had with the Father as He went through His excruciating trial that would lead up to His crucifixion, bearing it all because He knew it would make salvation accessible to all of us! Oh, what wondrous love is this!!

Satan led the cruel mob in its abuse of the Saviour. It was his purpose to provoke Him to retaliation if possible, or to drive Him to perform a miracle to release Himself, and thus break up the plan of salvation. One stain upon His human life, one failure of His humanity to endure the terrible test, and the Lamb of God would have been an imperfect offering, and the redemption of man a failure. But He who by a command could bring the heavenly host to His aid—He who could have driven that mob in terror from His sight by the flashing forth of His divine majesty—submitted with perfect calmness to the coarsest insult and outrage.

When we are abiding in Christ in complete surrender, the serene peace of God seen in Christ along with all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be manifest in our lives. Christ's victory becomes ours by trusting Him and letting Him lead us moment-by-moment through every trial so His grace can reveal its power to make a sinner into a saint and keep such a one from sinning! True, affectionate obedience is the outflow of a heart united with His heart of unselfish love!

[Sean James]

Where do your thoughts turn in a trying situation? As we learn of the unselfish love and life of Jesus, we see that it is possible even amid the most trying experience to think of others and seek to bless them. Christ in dying on Calvary was still focused on saving the souls around Him, and when we surrender fully to Jesus, His Spirit and character will be manifest in and through us if we do not resist what He desires for us. All of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be seen in our lives and we will be praying for those around us to come to a saving knowledge of salvation that will help them understand how to surrender fully to Christ and walk in harmony with God's law of love. Oh, what a wonderful Savior we have in Jesus!!

With amazement the angels beheld the infinite love of Jesus, who, suffering the most intense agony of mind and body, thought only of others, and encouraged the penitent soul to believe. In His humiliation He as a prophet had addressed the daughters of Jerusalem; as priest and advocate He had pleaded with the Father to forgive His murderers; as a loving Saviour He had forgiven the sins of the penitent thief.

Christ is calling us into His experience, and as He prepares us for His soon return, what a joy it is to help point others to Christ and do all we can to reach them for His kingdom!

[Sean James]

True security--where do we find it? It is as we contemplate the sufferings of Christ and understand His great love for us, as we realize that Satan has been defeated and that God's eternal plan of having a free universe with free beings who love and know Him will not be thwarted, that we can experience true, eternal security in full surrender to God! In a true yielding of all we have and are to Christ, all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be seen in our lives as we are gladly empowered to obey God from the heart He makes new by His divine grace! This security reaches to all beings in the universe--including the holy angels!

Well, then, might the angels rejoice as they looked upon the Saviour's cross; for though they did not then understand all, they knew that the destruction of sin and Satan was forever made certain, that the redemption of man was assured, and that the universe was made eternally secure. Christ Himself fully comprehended the results of the sacrifice made upon Calvary. To all these He looked forward when upon the cross He cried out, “It is finished.”

Oh, praise God for the victory Jesus achieved for us! He suffered divine justice against sin and became sin for us, He died and remained in the tomb for the time allotted to fulfill the plan of salvation, and rose from the grave to ascend to heaven and be our high priest, now interceding for us to have victory over sin, blotting out our sins that we have confessed and forsaken, and He is about to return as our King to take us home to the heavenly mansions He has prepared! Praise God for the wonderful plan God has for each of us through Christ!

[Sean James]

We hear about Jesus dying on the cross. But what ACTUALLY caused His death?

But it was not the spear thrust, it was not the pain of the cross, that caused the death of Jesus. That cry, uttered “with a loud voice” (Matthew 27:50; Luke 23:46), at the moment of death, the stream of blood and water that flowed from His side, declared that He died of a broken heart. His heart was broken by mental anguish. He was slain by the sin of the world.

Since Jesus died on account of sin, that means that we killed Jesus. Our sin slew Him. He loves us so much that He would bear ALL the suffering that sin causes mentally, emotionally, physically, and relationally in terms of the experiential separation He felt from God, and He endured it to save us. He offered up His life as a willing sacrifice! Oh, what wondrous love! When we behold Jesus, yield the whole heart to Him, and allow Him to put into our hearts all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing, we can know that we are truly living by faith on the Son of God as He empowers us to live in affectionate obedience to all Ten Commandments!! What a miracle grace effects in the life of those truly converted and consecrated to His service who loved us and gave Himself for us!

[Sean James]

What a change!! Things turned around quickly for Satan!!

When Jesus was laid in the grave, Satan triumphed. He dared to hope that the Saviour would not take up His life again. He claimed the Lord's body, and set his guard about the tomb, seeking to hold Christ a prisoner. He was bitterly angry when his angels fled at the approach of the heavenly messenger. When he saw Christ come forth in triumph, he knew that his kingdom would have an end, and that he must finally die.

For Satan, his doom is sure. But for each of us, who have been deceived and bitten by Satan the serpent, for we have all sinned, we may have hope of eternal life in looking to Jesus, learning the plan of salvation, exercising faith in God's amazing grace, and surrendering fully to God in true repentance as we experience forgiveness of our past sins and are empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit to live in harmony with the resurrection power of Jesus in obedience to all of God's commandments! All of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be revealed in the life that has let Jesus deliver the soul from Satan's power by having Christ reign on the throne of the heart in continual union and communion with Him!

[Sean James]

Try to imagine the morning of the resurrection of Christ! After He ascended to the Father, He returned to the earth to encourage His disciples to help them REALLY believe that His love for them had not changed! God's love for you does not change when you pass through trials. Trust His character and walk with Him in love and faithfulness!

Christ's first work on earth after His resurrection was to convince His disciples of His undiminished love and tender regard for them. To give them proof that He was their living Saviour, that He had broken the fetters of the tomb, and could no longer be held by the enemy death; to reveal that He had the same heart of love as when He was with them as their beloved Teacher, He appeared to them again and again. He would draw the bonds of love still closer around them. Go tell My brethren, He said, that they meet Me in Galilee.

It is in truly understanding, believing, and embracing Jesus as a crucified and risen Savior that true victory comes to the soul to overcome sin, living in harmony with God's law of love with a new character renewed by a new heart in which all of the fruits of the Spirit will be manifest in the life without one missing! Live in the Savior's victory today by inviting Him to abide in your heart by faith, walking in constant prayer and praise to glorify Him! Even now Jesus lives to intercede for us in the heavenly sanctuary; He is soon to come as our King to take us to heaven, and we have SO MUCH to be thankful for both now and forever!!

[Sean James]

Happy Sabbath!! Jesus is coming soon!!

What is the purpose of prophecy in the Bible? The prophecies of Christ reveal His character, mission and purposes so we can have deep confidence in the One in whom our hope of eternal life is centered!

Reasoning from prophecy, Christ gave His disciples a correct idea of what He was to be in humanity. Their expectation of a Messiah who was to take His throne and kingly power in accordance with the desires of men had been misleading. It would interfere with a correct apprehension of His descent from the highest to the lowest position that could be occupied. Christ desired that the ideas of His disciples might be pure and true in every specification. They must understand as far as possible in regard to the cup of suffering that had been apportioned to Him. He showed them that the awful conflict which they could not yet comprehend was the fulfillment of the covenant made before the foundation of the world was laid. Christ must die, as every transgressor of the law must die if he continues in sin. All this was to be, but it was not to end in defeat, but in glorious, eternal victory. Jesus told them that every effort must be made to save the world from sin. His followers must live as He lived, and work as He worked, with intense, persevering effort.

The result of fully surrendering to Christ is that we become partakers of the divine nature, which allows the Holy Spirit abiding in the soul to produce in and through the life all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing! As the Holy Spirit leads in true obedience to all of God's commandments (see Exodus 20:1-17), we are liberated in Christ to obey God because we love Him who first loved us!

[Sean James]

Are you going to rely on what is natural to you, or will you surrender fully to Jesus and let Him work in you a thorough transformation of character? Peter's experience presents a powerful lesson of the importance of thorough conversion and an abiding union and communion with Jesus! Let us abide in Christ so He can produce in us all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as we obey His law of love from the heart He renews by His divine grace!

Peter was naturally forward and impulsive, and Satan had taken advantage of these characteristics to overthrow him. Just before the fall of Peter, Jesus had said to him, “Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” Luke 22:31, 32. That time had now come, and the transformation in Peter was evident. The close, testing questions of the Lord had not called out one forward, self-sufficient reply; and because of his humiliation and repentance, Peter was better prepared than ever before to act as shepherd to the flock.

When we learn our continual need of Jesus to do any good thing, God gives us increased power and grace to do His will in true ministry to others!

[Sean James]

"For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Galatians 3:27).

The Saviour’s commission to the disciples included all the believers. It includes all believers in Christ to the end of time. It is a fatal mistake to suppose that the work of saving souls depends alone on the ordained minister. All to whom the heavenly inspiration has come are put in trust with the gospel. All who receive the life of Christ are ordained to work for the salvation of their fellow men. For this work the church was established, and all who take upon themselves its sacred vows are thereby pledged to be co-workers with Christ.

If we are baptized, then we by taking those sacred vows are to go forth by the Holy Spirit to win souls!! All of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing come into the life that is truly converted, and Christ converts us so we can in turn reach others! Gladly we can be empowered to obey God from the new heart and live in obedience to all of God's commandments!!

Praise God!!

[Sean James]

We get to be part of one family, even though the rest of the family is in heaven and the vast realms of the universe. While we are here on earth, let us ever keep heaven in view by faith, for Jesus has victoriously ascended there as our High Priest and Representative before the Father! He has conquered Satan and is giving us the victory He won as we surrender all to Him and allow His grace and strength to be made perfect in our weakness! Such an abiding experience with Jesus will produce in our character all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as we have the privilege of rendering true obedience to all of God's Ten Commandments because He loved us and gave Himself for us! With God all things are possible!!

From that scene of heavenly joy, there comes back to us on earth the echo of Christ's own wonderful words, “I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and your God.” John 20:17. The family of heaven and the family of earth are one. For us our Lord ascended, and for us He lives. “Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25.

Soon Jesus will return in like manner as He ascended to heaven, and we will meet Him in the air with all the redeemed who have been resurrected and translated, having the eternal joy of being with our God forever along with all the eternal family!! Hallelujah!!

[Sean James]

What is the only way to be secure from apostasy? By looking unto Jesus, surrendering fully to Him, and letting all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing flow through our lives, Christ empowers us to obey His Ten Commandments—the constitution of the universe! That’s TRUE character security—but we need to realize our continual need of Jesus to do any good thing!

Through Christ’s redeeming work the government of God stands justified. The Omnipotent One is made known as the God of love. Satan’s charges are refuted, and his character unveiled. Rebellion can never again arise. Sin can never again enter the universe. Through eternal ages all are secure from apostasy. By love’s self-sacrifice, the inhabitants of earth and heaven are bound to their Creator in bonds of indissoluble union.

In such an experience of abiding in God’s love, we can be sure that once the horrible experiment of rebellion is over that was introduced by Lucifer, sin will not happen again, for love will eternally be the happy, free choice of all in the whole universe!

[Sean James]

Let us choose true obedience to Christ by surrendering fully to Him. All of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing will be manifest in the life of one who acknowledges Jesus as Lord and Savior, truly yields the whole heart to Him so He can cleanse and purify it, and allows God to lead. We can learn from the experience of Israel right on the verge of Christ's first advent that we need to choose to follow God's word by letting Him work in us His will. May the revival and reformation Christ brings in our lives not be followed by deeper apostasy, but by an ever-growing love for Him who loved us and gave Himself for us!

But the Israelites fixed their hopes upon worldly greatness. From the time of their entrance to the land of Canaan, they departed from the commandments of God, and followed the ways of the heathen. It was in vain that God sent them warning by His prophets. In vain they suffered the chastisement of heathen oppression. Every reformation was followed by deeper apostasy.

True greatness has to do with godliness of character, which only can be experienced when one trusts God fully to do what He has promised. By seeking first God's kingdom, we can value what He values, love what He loves, and heed the light He has shining upon our path from prophetic revelation so more souls can be saved in God's appointed way. "He that winneth souls is wise" (Proverbs 11:30).

[Sean James]

Happy Sabbath!!

It is getting ripe again! That's right--the world as we know it is getting very close to the second coming of Jesus, with many spiritual parallels to what took place in the world on the verge of the first coming of Jesus. We can learn from God's word the importance of watchfulness and prayer, understanding His present truth message for our time (Revelation 14:1-14, Revelation 3:14-22) and helping to prepare the world for Christ's return in glory so they will not be deceived by the counterfeits (see Matthew 24) or faint and fall into sin during the time of trouble that precedes His return (Daniel 12:1). Let us look unto Jesus and let Him finish the work that He has begun in our lives!

The fullness of the time had come. Humanity, becoming more degraded through ages of transgression, called for the coming of the Redeemer. Satan had been working to make the gulf deep and impassable between earth and heaven. By his falsehoods he had emboldened men in sin. It was his purpose to wear out the forbearance of God, and to extinguish His love for man, so that He would abandon the world to satanic jurisdiction.

God did not give up on the world as Jesus was about to come the first time, nor has He given up on the world on the verge of Christ's second coming. We need to look away from the distractions and temptations that Satan seeks to allure with, and yield the whole heart to Christ so He can live in and through us with a revelation of all of the fruits of the Spirit without one missing as the soul truly converted is empowered to live a life of continual obedience to all of God's commandments because of love (Exodus 20:1-17, John 14:15). Only by love is love awakened, and God is wooing us from the world that now is to prepare our hearts for the world to come!! Praise God!!!