| Christian Life and Doctrine | August 1949 |
“Songs in the Night”
AUGUST 1
Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.—Matthew 4:10
DURING the forty days in the wilderness our Lord had come to see that the dominion of earth could be attained only through great suffering. He was weak from his long fast, and all the details of prophecy were before his mind. He saw himself as a lamb dumb before his shearers; as the serpent lifted up in the wilderness. Satan’s suggestion was a temptation, but after consideration he saw that Satan was asking him to violate his covenant—to go contrary to God’s will. Immediately he answered, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Then the devil left the Lord, finding nothing to work upon—so loyal was Jesus to the Word of Jehovah. Afterwards the angels came and ministered unto him.—Z 1912-262 (Hymn 200)
AUGUST 2
His Word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.—Jeremiah 20:9
IF EVERYTHING else in life were taken from us, and we were without a penny in the world, we would still be rich toward God if we had the truth. And so we all are needy in respect to this intelligence, this knowledge. When we perceive this, how could we be indifferent to the telling forth of the praises of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light! So, then, God has so arranged this matter that all those who believe and become children of God may have a share with him in his great work. And since we know these things, they become a test of our loyalty and our love. And the Lord seeing or not seeing this character in us will determine whether or not we shall be associated in the honorable work on the other side of the veil.—Z 1913-315 (Hymn 275)
AUGUST 3
The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.—John 6:63
THE Master’s words were “words of life” in the sense that they conveyed the great message of the terms upon which we may have everlasting life and become his joint-heirs. Nowhere are the terms of discipleship more clearly laid down than in Jesus’ words, because the disciples could understand what would be the meaning of the figures of self-denial, cross-bearing, and walking in his steps, even if they could not understand the philosophy of justification, sanctification, election, and divine foreknowledge.—Z 1912-271 (Hymn 264)
AUGUST 4
Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive sue to glory.—Psalm 73:24
THE humble and believing children of God will realize that while they may not be able at all times to understand the Lord’s ways in all his dealings, they can know of his wisdom, love, and care, and they can therefore trust him where they cannot trace him. We should not expect to be able always to comprehend the divine wisdom, which is so much beyond our own; yet we can often see it afterward. Sometimes his discipline may be severe, and by no means easy to bear, yet “afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness.” After the bitter comes the sweet; so let us take the bitter patiently, and rejoice in hope of the sure fulfillment of all the exceeding great and precious promises to be realized in due time by those who patiently continue in well-doing—in submitting without reserve to the providence of God, to the guidance with his counsel.—Z 1893-233 (Hymn 242)
AUGUST 5
Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.—James 1:4
THIS grace of patience smoothes the way for every other Christian grace, because all must be acquired under the process of patient and continuous self-discipline. Not a step of progress can be gained without this grace of patience; and not one of the graces more beautifully adorns the Christian character, or wins the approval of the world’s conscience, or glorifies the God of all grace whose truth inspires it. It is enduring meekness, striving to stem the tide of human weakness, and endeavoring with painstaking care to attain to the divine likeness. It is slow to wrath and plenteous in mercy; it is quick to perceive the paths of righteousness, and prompt to walk in them; it is mindful of its own imperfections and sympathetic with the imperfections and shortcomings of others.—Z 1911-408 (Hymn 258)
AUGUST 6
This is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.—John 15:12
THE love of Christ was a sacrificial love. So those who are invited to become members of Christ’s body are to have this same love. It is not merely the love demanded by God’s perfect law, which is incumbent upon all his intelligent creatures on whatever plane; but it is more. It is a love which will gladly lay down the life purchased for them by the death of Jesus. This life is laid down as a sacrifice with their Lord and Head. We lay down our lives in service for the brethren, and this sacrifice is acceptable because the merit of Christ is imputed to us, making us reckonedly perfect before God. As the apostle says, “We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” The brethren could not demand this of us, nor we of them; but we should all do so gladly, as we have opportunity.—Z 1915-72 (Hymn 325)
AUGUST 7
Fear not: … I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.—Genesis 15:1
DO HOSTS of foes oppose themselves—place obstacles in your way, hinder your influence and seek to dishearten you by heaping upon you reproaches, and do circumstances seem to conspire against you to fill your heart with alarm and dread? Say to your soul, “Fear not,” “Hope thou in God,” and mark his loving providences as “through waves and clouds and storms he gently clears thy way”—until a blessed acquaintance with God through such experiences develops in the heart that perfect love that casteth out fear. Then shall you enter more and more fully into the blessed rest of faith, and like the eagle that soars above the storm cloud, live at such an altitude of Christian experience as to enable you to rejoice in the Lord always and in everything to give thanks.—Z 1895-288 (Hymn 149)
AUGUST 8
He laid His hands on every one of them, and healed them.—Luke 4:40
THE Lord’s followers, even the humblest of them, in proportion as they receive of his Spirit, may communicate it through his Word and bring to wounded and broken hearts peace and joy and blessing, regardless of physical conditions of discomfort, so that, as the apostle explains, they may rejoice even in tribulation, knowing what the tribulations are working out for them in the way of greater glory and blessing and association with the Lord in his kingdom. Would not he who has had the eyes of his understanding opened that he might see with clearness the lengths and breadths and heights and depths of the love of God esteem this blessing as of much greater value and importance than simply the restoring of natural sight? Who that has tasted that the Lord is gracious has not participated in a greater miracle than did those who tasted of the loaves and the fishes which our Lord so miraculously increased that they fed the five thousand? It is true indeed, then, that the Lord has made it possible for his humbler servants in the humbler walks of life and with few natural abilities, but possessing His Spirit and his Word, to do mighty works even today—“Mighty through God to pulling down of strongholds” of error and of sin.—Z 1904-28 (Hymn 36)
AUGUST 9
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.—II Corinthians 7:1
THE Lord requires a demonstration on our part of activity against the motions of sin in our flesh, in our minds, as an indication that the new creature is alive to the responsibilities of its conduct as a soldier of the cross, and additionally because he has decreed that none shall be of the little flock of joint-heirs with his Son who do not in these respects of loyalty to the Father and to righteousness and opposition to sin demonstrate their heart likeness to Jesus. Whoever refuses or neglects the development of such a character likeness or copy of Christ’s mind, disposition, is refusing or neglecting to make his calling and election sure to a place in the kingdom class. In view of this, how zealously we should strive to fulfill the urgent admonition of the apostle—to demonstrate and to increase to fervency our love for righteousness, for truth, for all the ways of the Lord, by opposition to sin, especially in our own bodies, cleansing ourselves of all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit (mind).—Z 1907—136 (Hymn 78)
AUGUST 10
Speaking the truth in love, … grow up into him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ.—Ephesians 4:15
WE ARE to exercise our function of ambassadorship—we are to show forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. And in telling the message of his grace we shall grow spiritually. “He that watereth shall himself be watered.” As we proclaim the truth from an honest, earnest, loving heart we shall become more and more filled with it ourselves. “There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty”—to leanness of soul. As we give out to others, our own store of blessings is increased. We are to develop day by day this quality of love. Why is this? Because it will make us like God, and that is the one thing to be desired—the one thing necessary.—Z 1915-202 (Hymn 165)
AUGUST 11
Be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee.—Isaiah 41:10
OUR attainment of the prize of our heavenly calling, based upon certain conditions which we are striving to meet, is not dependent upon our own perfection or anything that we could do. The basis of it is the knowledge of our own imperfection and our acceptance by the Father because of the merit of our great Advocate imputed to us. It was God who provided for the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; and it is God who has drawn us to himself and who gives us grace to follow in the footsteps of Jesus in the way of self-sacrifice. While with fear and trembling (with great carefulness) we work out our salvation, we realize the promised grace in every time of need; and we may be confident that our best efforts toward righteousness are acceptable to God only when presented through the merit of the righteousness of Christ, imputed to us by faith.—Z 1911-108 (Hymn 120)
AUGUST 12
Consider Him that endured such contradiction of shiners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint hi your minds.—Hebrews 12:3
IN PROPORTION as we are able to take our Lord’s viewpoint in our experiences in life, we may be calm. If the Father permits trying experiences for our testing, or for the testing or proving of others, in ways we may not understand, it is for us to rejoice to have his will done. … If we faithfully endure to the end the reward will be ours. If we prove our loyalty and keep our faith that God is supervising our affairs, and that no good things will be withheld from those who are walking uprightly, we shall same day hear his “Well done, good and faithful servant.”—Z 1911-121 (Hymn 152)
AUGUST 13
Great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.—Matthew 15:28
IT IS proper that we should draw analogies from our Lord’s conduct and that we should suppose that the illustrations of Scripture, showing the trials and tests of faith, should teach us something respecting the Lord’s plan of dealing with those who approach him in prayer. During this Gospel age the Lord is seeking for those who can and will exercise faith. Some undoubtedly are so constituted mentally that they cannot do this—not that God created us without the ability so to do in him, but that the fall has distorted the original creation so that many today are unable to exercise faith in a proper and full degree. It is not for us to denounce such, but rather to learn from God’s Word that he has a gracious plan, which is broad enough to include this class as well as all others in the mercy and forgiveness provided through the redemption at Calvary.—Z 1906-170 (Hymn 174)
AUGUST 14
Lord, teach us to pray.—Luke 11:1
WHO has not noticed that all the great Bible characters used of the Almighty were accustomed to go to him regularly in prayer and to seek for guidance from him in respect to every matter? Even the great Redeemer, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from shiners, needed to pray to the Father—needed his fellowship and communion—needed to be in touch with the Infinite One. Some may ask, Would the Almighty change his plans in answer to our petitions? Assuredly he would not. Indeed, on the contrary, we are cautioned in the Scriptures to ask only according to his will. We are warned that if we ask amiss our petitions will not be answered. Hence the necessity for studying in God’s Word and being enlightened thereby respecting the divine program that we may ask in harmony with every feature of it and receive strength and encouragement through the answer to our petitions.—Z 1911-411 (Hymn 239)
AUGUST 15
There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.—II Timothy 4:8
IT WAS the custom in olden times to have running races and to give a crown to the successful runner at the end of the course. As it was not sufficient to enter a race, or start to run, but it was required that the race be run faithfully and perseveringly to a conclusion, so with this race which we are running as followers of Jesus, it is essential not only that we shall make consecration to the Lord, but that we persevere to the end, and our reward will be the crown of life in the sense that we will get life on the highest plane, inherent life, immortality. It will be a crown of righteousness in the sense that only those who are approved of God as righteous will thus be rewarded and glorified; and our hope is, therefore, that we may be accepted in the Beloved; that the righteousness of the Lord may be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit; and that the reward which God has promised to those who love him and serve him will be granted to us.—Z 1903-189 (Hymn 291)
AUGUST 16
The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.—Romans 6:23
WHILE the Heavenly Father may not be pleased to grant us either for ourselves or for our children immunity from pain, suffering, and death, nevertheless he has made a still grander and more glorious provision for us through our Lord Jesus Christ—a provision for our eternal life. But this gift is reserved for those who either now or in the future shall cultivate and exemplify generosity, faith, love toward God and man. Blessed are we whose eyes and ears of understanding are now open to know the grace of God, to appreciate the same—we who are now in the school of Christ to develop the fruits and graces of his spirit, the likeness of our Lord. For such is the kingdom, the joint-heirship and blessings and privileges not only of eternal life, but of joint-heirship with Christ. As for the world in general, it will be required of them during the millennial age that they also shall develop the fruits and graces of the Lord’s Spirit if they would be accounted worthy of eternal life. Sonship implies likeness, and none are to have eternal life except those acceptable as sons.—Z 1904-285 (Hymn 235)
AUGUST 17
I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.—John 14:16
WHAT a satisfaction, what a comfort has come to the Lord’s people through their privilege of being used by him and adopted into his family by the begetting of the Holy Spirit, the adoption of the Holy Spirit, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, the holy influence, the blessing of the Father and of the Son, guiding our judgments, guiding our hearts, opening to us the Scriptures, causing our hearts to burn within us as we are brought to a still greater appreciation of the lengths and breadths and heights and depths of our Father’s glorious plan of salvation for ourselves and all the families of the earth! … Truly, as our Lord said, the Holy Spirit shows us things to come, and explains to us things that are past. How many of our blessings are along the line of appreciation of coming things—the millennial kingdom, the times of restitution, the uplifting and strengthening of all the families of the earth!—Z 1908-139 (Hymn 91)
AUGUST 18
A friend loveth at all tines, and a brother is born for adversity.—Proverbs 17:17
WELL has the wise man said that a friend loveth at all times. He who merely loves at a time when he thinks it will be to his own advantage to love knows not love. He who loves and is a brother in prosperity merely, and whose love and friendship wither under the heat of persecution and adversity, has never known love in its true sense, but merely a certain brand of selfishness—the love of the world. As God commended his love toward us and showed us that not through selfishness, but generosity, at a great cost to himself, he provided us release from our prison, and gave us privileges of sonship, so true love will be willing to sacrifice. Let us judge, then, of our love for others, for the Lord, for the brethren, for our families, for our neighbors, for our enemies even, by our willingness to sacrifice in their interest and for their highest welfare.—Z 1908-249 (Hymn 23)
AUGUST 19
The entrance of Thy words giveth light.—Psalm 119:130
SIN cannot endure the light of truth; and those who continue to live in sin when a sufficiency of light has been received to manifest its deformity must inevitably lose the light, because they are unworthy of it. Ignorance and superstition must vanish before this light. And what a blessed realization it is to be thus liberated! We who have received the truth have awakened from that horrible nightmare, and the bondage of Satan over us is broken. The light has scattered our darkness. … Dearly beloved, having received this wondrous favor from the Lord, shall we not continue in it, giving no heed to seducing doctrines, but bringing forth its blessed fruitage in our lives? And shall we not be faithful to it under all circumstances, defending it against every assault, and bearing its reproach? Let us prove our appreciation of the glorious light by our loyalty and faithfulness, working out our salvation with fear and trembling.—Z 1914-229 (Hymn 315)
AUGUST 20
If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.—Romans 8:10
FROM the divine standpoint the body is treated as dead, but the spirit, or mind, is treated as alive. It is the new creature which God recognizes, to which he purposes to give a new spirit body in due time—in the first resurrection. It is necessary that this thought be clearly fixed in our minds, in order that we may continually realize our peace toward God and his favor and sympathy toward us in Christ. If we lose sight of the fact that God regards us from the standpoint of the will, if we get to thinking of ourselves and God’s estimate of us as according to the flesh, we are sure to get proportionately into darkness and confusion and discouragement. But let us not forget, on the other hand, that the spirit, or will, is counted alive because of its righteousness, because it is in harmony with God. Let us, therefore, never be slack in respect to the will, or intention, governing the conduct of our lives, but remember that any laxity will mean the proportionate loss of spiritual life. To will right is always possible to us, and nothing less than an absolutely loyal will could be acceptable to God in Christ.—Z 1903-171 (Hymn 277)
AUGUST 21
A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.—Luke 12:15
UNDOUBTEDLY poverty is a greater aid to discipleship than wealth. The cost of discipleship is the surrender of every earthly ambition to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. The rich are disadvantaged because theirs would be the greater sacrifice; their wealth preserves them from many trials to which the poor are subjected. They have so many consolations and comforts now that the thought of sacrificing these to follow the Master appalls them and the kingdom glories seem to them less real and less attractive than to the disconsolate. The lesson for us is that if we would win the great prize and the kingdom we must not set our hearts upon earthly things, nor trust in uncertain riches. Contrariwise, we must realize that our all, much or little, is the Lord’s and that faithfulness in sacrificing what we have will decide whether or not we shall share his glory.—Z 1912-114 (Hymn 4)
AUGUST 22
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.—Matthew 13:43
WITH the completion of the elect class—chosen because they were found to be lovers of righteousness and haters of iniquity, and because they were willing to walk in the narrow way and to follow the Lamb through evil and through good report and to walk by faith and not by sight—shall ultimately come the blessing of the Lord in the first resurrection, and they shall be made partakers of glory, honor, and the divine nature. Then, the Scriptures assure us, they shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father—shine for the blessing of all the families of the earth, shine for the scattering of all the ignorance and superstition and clouds and darkness which now enslave the race, shine that all the blind eyes may be opened and all deaf ears unstopped, shine that the knowledge of the glory of God may fill the whole earth, shine out that the willing and obedient of the world may see the right way and be drawn by the light of grace and truth of God along the highway of holiness to the end thereof, life eternal, through the merit of him who loved the world and bought it with his own precious blood.—Z 1905-79 (Hymn 320)
AUGUST 23
Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.—Psalm 119:11
IT IS necessary that we do more than know about the Scriptures and have an appreciation of their teachings. We must get their truths into our hearts. There are certain points which underlie the divine law and all of its regulations bearing upon us, and these points cannot be comprehended at once. Day by day as we persevere in the study of the truth, as we meditate upon God’s Law by day and by night, we come to clearer views of these great principles of truth—justice, love, and wisdom—which underlie all of the divine government. In proportion as we attain this attitude of heart and mind we know the Lord not only in the sense of appreciating his glorious character, but in the sense that we are enabled to put those points into operation in our daily lives—in our deeds, our words, our thoughts. Whoever does not attain to this heart appreciation of the divine arrangements will be sure to sin against the Lord, to keep his covenant of consecration imperfectly, and those who so do will fail to gain the highest prize, if indeed they be accounted worthy of eternal life upon any plane of being.—Z 1909-171 (Hymn 49)
AUGUST 24
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spake the Word of God with boldness.—Acts 4:31
SO LONG as the apostles could reasonably, properly find hearers for their Master’s Word, they preached it. And so it must be with us. We must not be intimidated. While obedient to the powers that be respecting every earthly way, we, like the apostles, cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. To keep the message secret, to put our light under a bushel, would mean our own failure to progress, the dwarfing of our new nature, and ultimately disobedience to our Master; and obedience to earthly powers along this line would mean to us failure as respects a place with Jesus in his throne. It is overcomers whom the Lord is now seeking! There could be no overcomers if there were no trials and tests and character development. Let us, then, while obedient to every earthly law and regulation, feel perfectly free to do the Lord’s will in every matter, even the smallest, even to the extent of bringing upon ourselves the disapprobation of the world and the worldly, even though it bring us stripes, imprisonment. We have not the crown yet, but the cross, and whatever will help us to take it up and bear it faithfully will be a cause for thanksgiving.—Z 1909-25 (Hymn 261)
AUGUST 25
Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.—John 15:8
THE Lord announced himself as the true vine and his Father as the true Husbandman who planted the true vine, and his followers as the true branches of that vine. The expression “true vine” suggests a false vine, and this thought is accentuated and elaborated in our Lord’s last message to his people in the symbols of Revelation. There he speaks of the gathering of the fruitage of the “vine of the earth,” and the casting of the same into the winepress of the wrath of God at the end of this age. (Rev. 14:19) There was, therefore, a deeper meaning in our Lord’s words, “true vine,” than the apostles could have possibly gathered from them. We who are living at a time when both the true vine of the Father’s planting and the false vine of the earth, earthly, have developed, have opportunity for noticing also that the vine of the earth is a counterfeit of the heavenly vine. In proportion as we see this matter clearly it will assist us not only in the understanding of the Lord’s parable, but also in our application of it in our daily lives. We will be in less danger of misunderstanding, misconstruing and being deceived by the false vine, as by the false branches and the false principles represented in connection with its development, for it is not under the divine Husbandman’s care.—Z 1905-121 (Hymn 70)
AUGUST 26
Deliver us from the evil one.—Matthew 6:13, R.V.
THE trial of this day shall try the work of every man (in the church) of what sort it is. It will be so severe that if it were possible the very elect would be deceived; but this will not be possible, because the Lord will specially care for these. Nevertheless the Lord will be inquired of by his people in respect to these matters which he has already promised, and as they pray, “Deliver us from the evil one,” they surely will labor in the same direction. It is our expectation that very shortly now the forces of evil will gain much greater strength than at present, with all deceivableness of unrighteousness; and meantime the Lord is staying the adverse forces that his true people may put on the armor of God and be able to stand when the evil day shall come.—Z 1904-121 (Hymn 183)
AUGUST 27
Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.—Luke 18:1
PRAYER is a privilege. Jesus did not command his disciples to pray, nor did he even give them a form of prayer until they requested it. “Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire, uttered or unexpressed.” The Lord’s people must feel their need of divine grace and help in order to appreciate the privilege of approaching the throne of heavenly grace. The trials and difficulties, the sorrows and temptations of life frequently impel God’s children to prayer. It marks a better, a higher Christian development when they love to come to the throne of grace, not only in their sorrows, but also in their joys, to give thanks, to praise, to worship, to adore.—Z 1912-150 (Hymn 298)
AUGUST 28
Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.—I Peter 3:15
EVERY Christian should be “fully persuaded in his own mind”; that is, he should exercise his mind in the study of God’s revelation, so as to know just what he believes, and the scriptural reason for his belief. Thus the Apostle Paul responded and testified concerning “the kingdom of God, persuading men concerning Jesus, both out of the Law of Moses and out of the prophets,” assisting the willing ones to make up their minds, and to recognize in Jesus the crucified, the One typified in the sacrifices of the Law, and referred to by the prophets—the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world—putting away sin by the sacrifice of himself, being delivered for our offenses, but raised for our justification, in which risen and glorified condition he shall soon fulfill all the prophetic declarations of glory and blessing.—Z 1884-4 (Hymn 15)
AUGUST 29
If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed.—I Peter 4:16
THE apostle was not ashamed of his sufferings, because he realized that they were endured for Christ’s sake. Any man or woman would feel and should feel deeply pained at a public arrest and imprisonment as a felon, as a violator of the law. But when these things are experienced, and we can realize that they are coming to us because of our faithfulness to the Lord, in following in his footsteps, we may rejoice in ignominy, rejoice in things which otherwise would be shameful and detestable. If, therefore, in the Lord’s providence, arrest or imprisonment or scourging should come to any who read this article, and if they can directly or indirectly trace their tribulation to faithfulness to the Lord and his truth, let them not be ashamed; let them glorify God on this behalf, rejoicing that they are accounted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ, and remembering that even thus also it was with our Lord Jesus. He was placed under arrest; he was bound; he was scourged; he was publicly insulted; he was even crucified as a blasphemer against God.—Z 1903-140 (Hymn 13)
AUGUST 30
We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.—I John 3:14
EACH one who is united to Christ feels a special interest in, and sympathy for, each fellow member, so that, as the apostle says, if one member rejoice all are glad, and if one member be in trouble or affliction or sorrow all are sympathetically affected. This will be noticeable in proportion as the law of love develops and abounds in each member. The little love in the beginning of Christian character, will expand and deepen, filling all the avenues of the heart, and sanctifying them in a pure, unselfish, holy love.—Z 1903-124 (Hymn 267)
AUGUST 31
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.—Hebrews 10:35
THE very ones whom God will approve are those who walk by faith. The rewards are for those who hold the faith even unto death. We must beware of everything that tends to weaken or destroy our faith. The Lord deals graciously and generously with us. He will do for us whatever is right. Knowing this we can have confidence in God, even though the decision of divine justice should bar us out of divine favor. Those whose hearts are right are submissive to the divine will. The Lord wants us to have a faith that will continue in sorrow and in sunshine; that will trust where it cannot see, that will continue under all the leadings of divine providence.—Z 1912-279 (Hymn 266)