Christ Triumphant - A Devotional by E.G. White
| God Faithfully Fulfills His Promises |
|
Today's Text:
Ye have seen all that the Lord your God hath done unto all these nations because of you; for the Lord your God is he that hath fought for you. Joshua 23:3
|
The Message:
The wars of conquest ended, Joshua had withdrawn to the peaceful retirement of his home at Timnath-serah.... The Lord had impressed His faithful servant to do as Moses had done before him-to recapitulate the history of the people, and call to mind the terms that the Lord had made with them when He gave them His vineyard. Several years had passed since the people had settled in their possessions, and already could be seen cropping out the same evils that had heretofore brought judgments upon Israel. As Joshua felt the infirmities of age stealing upon him, he was filled with anxiety for the future of his people. It was with more than a father's interest that he addressed them, as they gathered once more about him.... Although the Canaanites had been subdued, they still possessed a considerable portion of the land promised to Israel, and Joshua exhorted the people not to settle down at ease and forget the Lord's commands to utterly dispossess these idolatrous nations.... Joshua appealed to the people themselves as witnesses that, so far as they had complied with the conditions, God had faithfully fulfilled His promises to them.... Satan deceives many with the plausible theory that since God's love for His people is so great, He will excuse sin in them; that while the threatenings of God's Word are to serve a certain purpose in His moral government, they are never to be literally fulfilled. But in His dealings with His creatures, God has maintained the principles of righteousness by revealing sin in its true character-by demonstrating that its sure result is misery and death. The unconditional pardon of sin never has been and never will be. Such pardon would show the abandonment of the principles of righteousness that are the very foundation of the government of God.... God has faithfully pointed out the results of sin, and if these warnings are not true, how can we be sure that His promises will be fulfilled? That so-called benevolence, which would set aside justice, is not benevolence, but weakness.... After presenting the goodness of God toward Israel, Joshua called upon the people, in the name of Jehovah, to choose whom they would serve.... Joshua desired to lead them to serve God, not by compulsion, but willingly. Love to God is the very foundation of religion. To engage in His service merely from the hope of reward or the fear of punishment would avail nothing. Open apostasy would not be more offensive to God than hypocrisy and mere formal worship.-Manuscript 135, 1899 (The Youth's Instructor, June 13, 1901; The Youth's Instructor, June 20, 1901). |
|
Commentary:
My friend, it is time for us to make a stand for the Lord. Joshua had presented before the children of Israel "choose you this day whom ye will serve; ... as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15). Today the same call is to go to God's end-time people. The church no longer serves the God of the Bible, but a foreign god, a triune god that is in reality three gods, and as such is not the One true God of the Bible (John 17:3). They have accepted the god of the ecumenical movement spearheaded by the Roman Catholic church, and as such are numbered among the daughters of Babylon.
While this is not easy to accept, the evidence is clear. On the outside the church has the form of godliness, but inside it is full of unrighteousness. The condition of the church today is the same as it was at the time of Jesus, and His last message of warning to them is recorded in Matthew 23 saying "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." (Matthew 23:27, 28).
The trinity is not a doctrine of the Bible, but the church has adopted it as one of its fundamental principals, and as such they are teaching others to worship a false god in place of the One true God. Of this Jesus said "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." (Matthew 15:9). If we are to be counted on the side of Christ, we must be active in warning our fellow brethren of the deception that has been played upon them. The Faithful and True Witness, which is Jesus Christ the Righteous, bids us to warn them that their eyes may be opened.
To give this message to the church is not easy, but is necessary for the time is fast approaching when the final call to the whole world will be "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." (Revelation 18:4).
My friend, the condition of the church is in a terrible condition spoken of by Jesus as "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:" (Revelation 3:17), but there is still hope for He also says in verses 19 and 20 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Christ is on the outside of the church seeking to gain entrance. The only question that needs to be answered today is will you open the door of your heart to Him today?
God bless,
|
|
Video of the Week
|
Comments
Post a Comment