He Shall Direct Thy Path.

 The realization that ANYTHING that becomes a habit in our lives that must be satisfied is something that is taking the place of God in our heart, is an eye-opener to be sure. Maybe I have it all wrong, or maybe I'm late to the game so to speak, but the following excerpt below has opened my understanding a bit. 

By the Holy Spirit may I only see truth. 

What habits do we have that must be satisfied? I'm not talking only the things we might consider bad habits, but habits we aren't certain of as well. Can we have good habits that must be satisfied that take the place of God in our hearts? The word good overall means it's acceptable to God, right? Yet, good to one person might simply mean not bad. Yet some good can be bad in excess, right? People can work their jobs to excess in providing for their family and its needs. They might have provided the material things, but denied the emotional and spiritual necessities. We can say they have a great work ethic and are wonderful providers, but are they providing God to their family before all else, or inadvertently teaching that material things come before God? Satan has created very murky waters that we all live in and he wants to get us in any way he can. People may do all good things and live without God first in their lives. People may have exemplary lives, truly amazing lives of self-less serving of others, but without God first in their lives, they could be using their good works as their gods- and Satan is pleased. 

What habits in our lives must be satisfied, good and bad? Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, hourly- habits. Take a walk through your life and see if any habits stand out. Can brushing your teeth ever be a bad habit- if it takes the place of God in your life it most certainly can. God first.

Upon waking, God first, then brush your teeth. 

Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 

Pro 3:6  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 

In ALL our ways we must acknowledge GOD, God will direct our paths.

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February 26, 1901

“The Keeping of the Commandments. The First Commandment” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 78, 9, p. 136.

“I AM the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:2, 3. 

We have seen that, for any one to have this world, or anything that is of this world, is to have another god before the Lord. And this other god is “the god of this world,” the “spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,” which is Satan. 

But Christ came to “bring us to God.” And this is the whole work of the preaching of the gospel; for it is written: “Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” Acts 26:17, 18. 

Now “the world” is divided into three parts—“the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” And under one or all of these three heads is idolatry manifested. We shall study them one by one as they are written. 

First: “the lust of the flesh”—appetite, or intemperance. This is specifically defined as a god; for it is written: “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.” Philippians 3:18, 19. 

Temperance is self-control,—not merely the control of one particular part of the man, self-control in one particular thing,—it is the control of self, the very being, the whole man. But this can never be done by the man himself; for the man himself is already subject to the control of “the god of this world,” the evil one. This control was gained by the evil one, in the garden, and through appetite, this very “lust of the flesh.” Since man is thus the subject of “the god of this world,” a slave, “sold under sin,” it is impossible for him of himself to clear himself of that power to which he surrendered himself. 

But there is deliverance by the power of God, the true God, the living God, the rightful God of man. God can set free every man, from all the power of “the god of this world;” and it is only thus that any man can ever gain control of himself. It is only thus that any man can attain to true self-control, to true temperance. 

The heart of man is the place of the seat of God in things pertaining to the man; for “the kingdom of God is within you.” The kingdom of the heart and life of man belongs to God: it is alone His dominion. Through the deception of man this kingdom has been usurped by “the god of this world.” This was done at the choice of man. At the choice of man, God, the true God, will return to His kingdom, and will take His place upon His throne in that kingdom, and will there rule and reign in righteousness, “even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.” Romans 3:22. 

Therefore the whole question of having other gods, or the true God alone, turns simply upon the one question: Who has the heart? Therefore it is written: “Keep thy heart above all keeping; for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23, margin. 

Since, then, it is only by the power of God that any man can ever truly have control of himself, can be truly master of himself, it follows, inevitably, that the use of anything which has a tendency to take control of the man, to deprive the man of the control of himself; anything the use of which creates a habit which must be satisfied, and demands that it shall be served,—that is the having of another god. The man who has thus surrendered himself, and is thus controlled, is of those whom the scripture describes, “whose god is their belly.” 

This principle is expressed in the scripture: “All things are lawful unto me, ... but I will not be brought under the power of any.” 1 Corinthians 6:12. Anything, therefore, which has a tendency to bring man under its power is the indulgence of idolatry: it is to have another god before the Lord. 

Now not only the tendency, but the positive effect of all stimulants and narcotics, is to take control of the man who uses them. The only effect of any of these things is to create an appetite for itself,—an appetite that must be served at whatever cost,—and thus to rob the individual of all control of himself. Also it makes him not only a slave to that particular habit, but so weakens him that in other things he can not control himself. And “from tear to hasheesh we have, through hops, alcohol, tobacco, and opium, a sort of graduated scale of intoxicants, which stimulate in small doses, and narcotize in larger. The physiological action of all these agents gradually shades into each other; all producing, or being capable of producing, consecutive paralysis of the various parts of the nervous system”.—Encyclopedia Britannica, Art., “Drunkenness.” 

Thus the First Commandment is the basis of all true temperance; and the keeping of that commandment and the faith of Jesus, is the only way to true temperance. 

“I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” “Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” 

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” 

Love Not The World.

 1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 

1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 

Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

Jas 4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, 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.

Mat 16:26  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 

1Co 1:20  Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

1Co 3:19  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

Col 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Chris

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February 19, 1901

“The Keeping of the Commandments” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 78, 8, p. 120.

“I AM the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:2, 3. 

What is it to have other gods before the Lord? Since to truly have Him alone, is to love Him with all the heart, and all the soul, and all the mind, and all the strength, then, plainly enough, it follows that anything by which any part of the heart, any part of the soul, any part of the mind, or any portion of the strength, is turned from God, is devoted to anything other than to God, is, in itself, to have another god than the Lord. And all this is what is forbidden in the First Commandment: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” 

It is important, therefore, to notice the gods which the Lord points out as the principal ones that it is natural for men to have before the Lord. 

One of these, if not the chief one, is “the world.” For it is written: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15. And, “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 4:14. 

The reason of this is that “the world” itself has a god. And “the god of this world” is “the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,” and is, in fact, Satan himself. Friendship of the world, therefore, is of the spirit of the world; it is fellowship with the spirit of Satan. And this is why it “is enmity with God.” Note, the Word does not say that the friendship of the world is at enmity with God, but that it is itself “enmity with God.” And this is because it is of the very spirit of him who is the god of this world. 

This is made plain in another text: “The whole world lieth in the evil one.” 1 John 5:19, R.V. It is true, as our King James version renders it, that “the whole world lieth in wickedness,” lieth in evil; but this is so because the whole world lieth in the wicked one, in the evil one. And the thought expressed here in the word “lieth” is “to lie at ease continually.” 

Plainly, then, a person who has friendship, and is in fellowship, with that which lies at perfect ease, and is content continually so to lie, in the evil one, is of the same spirit; and that can be only the spirit of the evil one, and, therefore, is of itself “enmity with God.” And one thus so in friendship with the evil one, who is the fixed and continual enemy of God, makes himself thereby “the enemy of God.” 

This spirit of enmity is described in another place: “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Romans 8:7. It can not be subject to the law of God, because it is of the very mind and spirit of Satan, who is the decided enemy of God. 

But thanks be to God, there is deliverance from this enmity; there is deliverance from this present evil world. For Christ Jesus “is our peace, who hath made both [God and man] one [who had been separated by this enmity], and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in His flesh the enmity.... for to make in himself of twain [God and man] one new man, so making peace.” Ephesians 2:14, 15. 

Therefore, though that enmity can not be subject to the law of God, in Christ every soul can find it completely abolished. Though such a spirit is enmity with God, in Christ every soul can find that spirit completely driven out, and himself made one with God, having not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that he may know not the things of the world, but “the things that are freely given to us of God.” Therefore, for a man to love the world, or to have friendship for the world, is for him to have the world as his god. And that is, in reality, to have the god of this world as his god; it is to do service to the evil one as his god. 

And so, when the god of this world, the evil one, had shown to Christ “all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them,” and had offered them to Him, Christ could have them only on the condition that He would “fall down and worship” the evil one. And these are the only terms upon which anybody in the world can ever have the kingdoms of this world and the glory of them, or the things of this world and the glory of them. “For, all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” 

Christ’s answer to that whole thought, for himself and all who are His forever, is: “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” Matthew 4:10. 

And when Jesus had taken this stand against all the world, against all that is of the world, against all worldliness, and all the spirit that is of the world, and for God only, “then the devil leaveth Him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto Him.” Verse 11. And so shall it be forever with every one who, in the faith of Christ, takes his stand as did Christ. 

Thus utter separation from the world and from all that is of the world—nothing less than this—is the keeping of the First Commandment. “Ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.” “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” 

Deliverance from the world—this is the way to the keeping of the Commandments of God. And Christ “gave himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God.” 

Deliverance from sin is deliverance from the world. Deliverance from the world is deliverance from sin. This is the way to the keeping of the Commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. 

“I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” “Out of Egypt have I called my son.” And “behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” 

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” 

Who would have other gods?

No Other Gods Before God.

 February 12, 1901

“The Keeping of the Commandments” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 78, 7, p. 104.

“I AM the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” 

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:2, 3.

“Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” Matthew 4:10. 

“The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.” Mark 12:29, 30. 

When Moses, at the command of the Lord, said to Pharaoh: “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go,” Pharaoh, in rebellion, said: “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.” Exodus 5:1, 2. 

If, in reverence, Pharaoh had asked, in an honesty iniquity: “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?” his question would have been respected by the Lord. For when the Lord first appeared to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, and sent him into Egypt for the deliverance of the people, provision was made for the answer of just such a question. For Moses said to Him: “When I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is His name? what shall I say unto them?” Exodus 3:13. 

This supposed question, “What is His name?” is only, in different form, Pharaoh’s question,” Who is the Lord?” And, in expectation of the asking of that question, “God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM.” And “thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” Verse 14. 

It is true that Pharaoh did not know the Lord. But that, of itself, was not against him; for that is the condition of every man, at first. Pharaoh’s mistake was in exalting himself upon his ignorance, and supposing that he knew enough without God, and in refusing to receive the knowledge of Him. For, equally with any other man in the world, Pharaoh could have received the knowledge of God. For God had sent into Egypt, for all who were there, the revelation of himself: “I AM THAT I AM.” 

This expression, “I AM THAT I AM,” is the revelation of God. It reveals Him in His self-existence—“I AM;” and in His character—“I AM THAT I AM”—I AM THAT WHICH I AM—I AM WHAT I AM. “This is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.” Exodus 3:15. 

In believing in God it is not enough to believe in the self-existent One. He is more than that—He is more than existence: He is character. And in believing in Him it is not enough to believe that He is: we must believe WHAT He is. As it is written, “He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” 

His name embraces both these thoughts. And His name is not known unless these two thoughts—self-existence and character—are known. As to existence, His name is “I AM;” and as to character, “I am what I am.” 

What is He, then, in this which He is? What is His name as to character? This question is answered in full by the Lord himself. He has revealed not only that He is, but He has revealed what He is; and this in order that all men may know Him; may know His name in its fullness, and as it is in truth. For again in its fullness, and as it is in truth. For again He said to Moses: “I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee.... And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. Exodus 33:19; 34:5. 

And in proclaiming this His name, “the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.” Exodus 34:6, 7. 

This is what He is. When He said, “I AM THAT I AM.... This is my name forever,” this is what He said. And when He passed by before Moses and proclaimed this, His name, He only said in more words what He said at the first, “I AM THAT I AM.... This is my name forever.” 

The words, “The Lord, The Lord God,” express self-existence, as do the words “I AM.” All the rest of the words of that glorious name express His character, as do the words, “I AM THAT [THAT WHICH, or WHAT] I AM.” 

And what a Person is thus revealed! 

“Merciful,” full of mercy, which is the disposition to treat persons, even offenders, better than they deserve. The disposition is the very heart’s core of the person. And He is full of the disposition, it is His very nature, to treat all the people of this world, forever, better than they deserve. For this is His name; and His name is but expressive of His nature; for His character is but himself. Then it is himself to treat all people better than they deserve. And He takes pleasure in those who hope in this, His disposition to treat them better than they deserve. 

It is man’s natural disposition to treat offenders just as they deserve; to get back at them; to render evil for evil; to “teach them a lesson.” And this disposition is so natural to man, it is so entirely his own, that it is difficult for him to conceive that it is really God’s disposition to treat him better than he deserves. Men think that God wishes to treat them as they deserve. They think of Him as if He were waiting for an opportunity to treat them fully, and in vengeance, as they deserve. Thus they are afraid that He will; and so are afraid of Him. 

But such is not God; such is not the God revealed in the Bible. He is merciful—full of the disposition to treat offenders better than they deserve. It is His very nature to do so; and He never can do otherwise; for, in order to do otherwise, He would have to cease to be what He is, and would therefore have to cease to be God. 

But that is only one item of His glorious name. 

“Gracious;” extending favor to all people, everywhere, and forever. And this is what He is; and He can not be anything else; for He can not cease to be. He is “the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever.” 

“Long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.” And this long-suffering is especially that none shall perish; because He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Accordingly, “the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation, and since His long-suffering is salvation, His name, then, is Salvation. This is what He is, and He can not be anything else. 

“Keeping mercy for thousands.” And this is not simply thousands of thousands, but thousands of generations; for it is written: “Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations.” Deuteronomy 7:9. 

Forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” Note that it is not written, “I will forgive;” but, He is “forgiving.” It is not stated even in the form of a promise, as if it were, “I will forgive;” it is stated in the form of a present actuality: He is “forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” Note also that this is not merely what He is DOING, but it is what He IS, in His very nature and character. To be everlastingly forgiving is His very essence, and He can not be anything else; for He is God. 

“And before whom no man is clear of guilt.” Our common translation of this clause is very poor, in making the Lord say that He “will by no means clear the guilty,” when every thought of the Bible, from the fall of man to the end, is that He DOES clear the guilty; that He longs to save all; for all are guilty. For “what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.... But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:19, 21-23. 

The true sense is given in the German translation: “Before whom no man is guiltless.” And the Vulgate (Latin translation) expresses the thought that “no person is innocent by, or of, himself” before God. 

This is His name. And it is written, “My people shall know my name.” Isaiah 52:6. And this is known in Christ; for when He came into the world in man’s stead, He said, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren.” Only thus can the name of God be known. To know His name is to know Him. Therefore, only thus can He be known, as it is written: “Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.” Matthew 11:27. 

The knowledge of God is obtained only by revelation; and Jesus Christ is the only revelation of God. To know the name of God; to know God as thus revealed; to worship Him according to this revelation; to have Him, and Him alone, as God, loving Him with all the heart, and all the soul, and all the mind, and all the strength,—this, and this alone, is the true keeping of the First Commandment. 

But when He is thus known,—known as He is revealed,—whosoever thus knows Him never wishes any other god, and so, delightedly, keeps the First Commandment. 

And so, whereas without Christ the First Commandment speaks in the stern voice of reproof and condemnation, yet in Christ it is turned into the blessed and glorious promise fulfilled, “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;” “Out of Egypt have I called my son;” “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” 

Here Are They That Keep the Commandments of God.

 

(Excerpt)

This is the universal lesson: that no man can serve God, that no man can keep a single one of the Ten Commandments, except he is first delivered, by the power of God, from the darkness of Egypt, from the darkness of the shadow of death, from the realm and bondage of sin.                         

This is the lesson of the whole Bible. Look, for instance, at Ephesians 2:1-10: how men are dead in trespasses and sins, in the darkness of this world; walking according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the ruler of the darkness of this world (Ephesians 6:12), the spirit that works in the children of disobedience. But God, who is rich in mercy, has quickened us together with Christ, and has raised us up together with Him, to live and walk with Him. And this He did, not by our works, nor because of our works, but of His own mercy and grace: “for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Thus is the lesson taught, that no man can do good works except he is created unto it by the power of God. 

How strongly this lesson is emphasized in the book of Galatians, which is just now the subject of the Sabbath-school studies. What are generally regarded as the practical things of the Christian life are not mentioned until the end of the book—brotherly kindness; bearing one another’s burdens; communicating in all good things; the sowing and the reaping, whether to the flesh or to the Spirit; doing good to all men, especially to the household of faith. These things come only in the few verses of the very last chapter. After men have been delivered from this present evil world, into the glorious liberty of the children of God, and are standing fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free,—the liberty by love to serve one another,—filled with the Spirit, so that all the fruits of the Spirit are shining in the life, reflecting the sunshine of righteousness,—only THEN it is that the generally considered practical things of the Christian life are enjoined. 

Why is this? It is the same universal, divine lesson, that no man can do good works, no man can possibly do the “practical things of the Christian life,” who has not first the Christian life as a practical thing. And, therefore, it is made perfectly plain that deliverance from the darkness and bondage of sin; the finding of the sonship of God; the ability to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free; the receiving of the fullness of the Spirit of God in the life,—these things are the practical things of Christianity, equally with the others. Indeed, in a sense these are the more practical things; because so certainly must these precede the others that, without these, the other practical things of the Christian life can never be seen at all. 

Therefore when, from Mount Sinai, God would speak, with a voice that shook the earth, the practical things of the life of man, He spoke first of all this original practical thing of the life of man—deliverance from the realm and bondage of sin:— 

“I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Exodus 20:2. 

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” 

Yet this is not the preamble of only the first commandment, but of the whole law, as if it were as follows:—

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” 

“I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 

“I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. 

“I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

“Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 

“I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 

“Thou shalt not kill.” 

“I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 

“Thou shalt not commit adultery.” 

“I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 

“Thou shalt not steal.” 

“I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” 

“I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.” Exodus 20. 

And since, when He sent His only begotten Son to redeem us indeed, He renewed and emphasized this preliminary thought, in the words, “Out of Egypt have I called my Son,” it is as if this were the preamble and the whole law—is expressed in the great of the whole law of God. And all of it—the preamble and the whole law—is expressed in the great thought of the Third Angel’s Message: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” 

February 5, 1901

“The Keeping of the Commandments” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 78, 6, p. 88

Holy Sabbath.

 Exo 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy (hallow).

'Hebrew term for "hallow" means to separate a thing from common things, and devote it to God'

The Sabbath is a holy day. A holy day.

A day devoted to God.

God the Creator, the Redeemer. God who gives us breath. God who offers us unworthy creations, salvation from all that has corrupted us into the sinning creatures we are. Redemption is offered to all, without exception. Not all choose to be redeemed, Satan has used his great deception to bring them to that state, to that mindset.

May God open the spiritual eyes and the hearts of all to His truths. May the deceptive blinders be removed from their eyes so they may catch a glimpse of the pure love of our LORD. May they know that it isn't the present world we live in that is our home, but our treasures are in heaven and the new world to come with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Today, on this Sabbath day, this holy day, may God's presence be known by all as we recognize Him as our LORD- Creator of heaven and earth and all that is in them. Amen.

Out of Bondage.

 Egypt. When you think of the Bible and Egypt you almost automatically think of the Ten Commandments and Moses freeing the Hebrew slaves from Egypt by taking them through the Red Sea. Egypt, the place of the pyramids and sphinx, pharaohs and tombs.  Jesus came out of Egypt…

Mat 2:15  And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

Jesus went into Egypt as a baby for protection and stayed there until it was safe for Him to travel to Nazareth, taken there by His loving parents guided by God, led by the angels. 

God led the Hebrews into Egypt to protect and save them as well, when a famine overtook the land for seven years. Prior to the famine He'd set things up so that a Hebrew sold into slavery would become the second in command of all Egypt. Then those saved Hebrews over the years (400 years) went from being saved people into being slaves, captives of Egypt. God then saved those slaves from their subjugation by using a deliverer, Moses.  You know the very famous true story of Moses and the Ten Commandments. 

Jesus was a part of all these things, a very important part. 

1Co 10:2  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 

1Co 10:3  And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 

1Co 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 

1Co 10:5  But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 

1Co 10:6  Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lust

The Spiritual Rock- was Christ.

Way before Jesus, as God with God took on the flesh of the Son of God,  He was there with the children of Israel as they were being led out of Egypt. Then as a babe He physically came out of Egypt.  There is an importance here we don't consider… read on…  and may  God enlighten us!

*******

February 5, 1901

“The Keeping of the Commandments” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 78, 6, p. 88.

WHEN the Lord visited and redeemed His people, to take them into the land of promise, the land which He sware to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give to them: when He took them unto himself to serve Him only in the keeping of His holy law, He said, first of all: “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” etc. 

Israel missed God’s call; they believed Him not, and therefore could not enter into His rest. These fell in the wilderness. And the generation that went into the land of Canaan did not in that go into “the land” and the “rest” to which the Lord would have taken the people when they first left Egypt, had they only believed. They drifted further and further away from God until they actually rejected Him, that they might be like the nations. 

And they became like the nations. They failed exactly as had their fathers before them. For, in the days of David, the Lord said still: “To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness; when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.” Hebrews 3:7-11; 4:7, 8. 

But still they hardened their hearts, and went further away from the Lord, until they got into such darkness that it was the very darkness of “the shadow of death,” which is “darkness, as darkness itself, and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.” And there the people sat, when there shined unto them a “great light,” even the light of God, in which darkness itself is light. Isaiah 9:2; Job 10:21, 22; Matthew 4:16. 

Christ came. Again God visited to redeem His people, to make them not simply servants, but sons of God, that we “might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life.” And at that time again God said: “Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” 

Why was it necessary that the infant Jesus should be taken into Egypt at the time of the slaughter of the innocents by Herod? It was not alone to escape the decree of Herod, that Jesus was taken into Egypt; for that decree could have been easily escaped by a much shorter journey. This was done to teach all people forever the deep spiritual lesson of the true deliverance from Egypt. 

Jesus came into the world to take the place of man, to be our substitute and surety. Mankind is overwhelmed in the darkness and bondage of sin—Egyptian darkness, a darkness that may be felt. He was made to be sin; upon Him was laid the iniquity of us all; He was numbered with the transgressors; He was made in all things like those whose substitute He became. 

Therefore He was taken into Egypt, and was brought out again, “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my Son;” and that by this object lesson there might be emphasized anew, and forever, the great lesson taught from of old to all people, the great truth that men become the sons of God only by their being called out of Egypt. 

The Ten Commandments express the whole duty of man. All that ever a man can do, in deed, word or thought, in righteousness, is covered by the Ten Commandments. All man’s service to God is in the keeping of this His Law. And when it was written of Christ, and it was fulfilled in Christ, as the Example of all mankind, that “out of Egypt have I called my Son,” this was simply speaking anew to all mankind the words which, that great day, God spoke from heaven, as the preamble to the whole Ten Commandments and their keeping: “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” 

This is the universal lesson: that no man can serve God, that no man can keep a single one of the Ten Commandments, except he is first delivered, by the power of God, from the darkness of Egypt, from the darkness of the shadow of death, from the realm and bondage of sin.

To be continued…. By the grace and will of God! All through Jesus Christ our Lord, now and forever! Amen!

Made Sin

 He was made sin for us. You read that right. The sinless Son of God, was made sin for us. The sinless Son of God was made like us. Not my words…

2Co 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin…

Heb 2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same

Heb 2:17  Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren

MADE to be LIKE US.

If Jesus was made to be like us in ALL THINGS, then He was made EXACTLY as we are in our fallen state. HE was NOT given any special powers to defeat sin, powers we do not have access to. He wasn't made in a special flesh, a special spiritual leg up that we aren't given. We sit here and contemplate Jesus being able to remain sinless when we fail over and over again, even from a young age, and we convince ourselves that the only way Jesus could have not sinned was if He has something special, a special connection to the Father, a special ability to commune with Him that we are born without. But that CAN'T BE TRUE if He were made in all things like us. So how did He keep from sinning, where we fail? We can't fathom it try as we might. We insist on given Jesus super powers, of changing His flesh nature to something different than ours. Our flesh nature leads us into sin, Jesus' didn't so His had to be super flesh, protected flesh, changed flesh, special flesh something UNLIKE us in that one thing at least. But we are told IN ALL THINGS He was made like us! Come on! We need to reconcile this some how and it's NOT by giving Jesus something He didn't have! As soon as we give Jesus a supernatural flesh we strip the very humanity from Him that He took on in order to redeem us. Can so few comprehend that HE TRULY did take on our flesh and redeemed us in that flesh? THIS IS FAITH! This is believing in something when we truly cannot fathom it as being real. We NEED to have THIS FAITH, not make up something we can fathom as being realistic. If we do that we are against what Christ truly is, what He truly did! 

God help us to have the FAITH we need and not add super powers to our Savior so we can excuse our failure. 

All through our SAVIOR! 

(excerpt)

“The Faith of Jesus” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 78, 5, pp. 72, 73.

“LET this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery [“a thing to be seized upon and held fast”] to be equal with God; but emptied himself, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:5-7. ARSH January 29, 1901, page 72.1

“For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” Hebrews 2:10. ARSH January 29, 1901, page 72.2

“Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.” Verses 17, 18. ARSH January 29, 1901, page 72.3

Made “in all things” like unto us, He was in all points like as we are. So fully was this so that He could say, even as we must say the same truth, “I can of mine own self do nothing.” ARSH January 29, 1901, page 72.4

Of Him this was so entirely true that, in the weakness and infirmity of the flesh,—ours which He took,—He was as is the man who is without God and without Christ. For it is only without Him that men can do nothing. With Him, and through Him, it is written: “I can do all things.” But of those who are without Him, it is written: “Without me ye can do nothing.” ARSH January 29, 1901, page 72.5

Therefore, when He said, of himself, “I can of mine own self do nothing,” this makes it certain forever that in the flesh,—because of our infirmities which He took; because of our sinfulness, hereditary and actual, which were laid upon Him, and imparted to Him,—He was of himself in that flesh exactly as is the man who, in the infirmity of the flesh, is laden with sins, actual and hereditary, and who is without God. 

He came “to seek and to save that which was lost.” And in saving the lost, He came to the lost where they are. He put himself among the lost. “He was numbered with the transgressors.” He was “made to be sin.” And from the standpoint of the weakness and infirmity of the lost, He trusted in God, that He would deliver Him and save Him. Laden with the sins of the world, and tempted in all points like as we are, He hoped in God, and trusted in God to save Him from all those sins, and to keep Him from sinning. 

And this is the faith of Jesus: this is the point where the faith of Jesus reaches lost, sinful man, to help him. For thus it has been demonstrated, to the very fullness of perfection, that there is no man in the wide world for whom there is not hope in God: no one so lost that he can not be saved by trusting God. And this faith of Jesus, by which, in the place of the lost, He hoped in God, and trusted God for salvation from sin, and power to keep from sinning,—this victory of His it is that has brought to every man in the world divine faith, by which every man can hope in God, and trust God, and can find the power of God to deliver him from sin and to keep him from sinning. That faith which He exercised, and by which He obtained the victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil,—that faith is His free gift to every lost man in the world. And thus “this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 

This is the faith of Jesus that is given to men. This is the faith of Jesus that must be received by men, in order for them to be saved. This is the faith of Jesus which, now in this time of the Third Angel’s Message, must be received and kept by those who will be saved from the worship of the Beast and his Image, and enabled to keep the Commandments of God. This is the faith of Jesus referred to in the closing words of the Third Angel’s Message: “Here are they that keep the Commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”