| Christian Life and Doctrine | January 1950 |
“Songs in the Night”
JANUARY 1
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.—John 15:13
WHATEVER we may do for any member of the body of Christ, for any consecrated believer, the Lord tells us he will esteem as though it were done unto him. Hence as it would be our duty and our privilege and our joy to lay down our lives in the service of the Lord, we must attain to such a love for the brethren, because they are his, that we will delight to lay down our lives for them as a means of demonstrating to the Lord our loyalty to him and his cause. This does not necessarily mean the laying down of physical strength and health and life in the physical services and ministries to the brethren, though these may be and are in many instances very profitable. It is not according to the flesh that the Lord’s followers are brethren, but according to the spirit, and hence the injunction to lay down our lives for the brethren would more particularly signify the laying down of our physical health or strength, knowledge, talents, and means in the service of the spiritual interests of the Lord’s people. As, for instance, in the preaching of the truth, if there be sacrifices or self-denials, loss of strength, etc., in connection with this service, it is the laying down of that much of one’s life for the brethren, for the fellow members of the body of Christ.—Z 1907-36 (Hymn 325)
JANUARY 2
Love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous.—I Peter 3:8
LOVE for the brethren is set forth in the Scriptures as one of the indisputable evidences of our having attained membership in the body of Christ. This love may be of varying degrees, but it must be ours in some degree if we are the Lord’s, for “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his.” (Rom. 8:9) But this flame of sacred love for the brethren kindled in our hearts is not sufficient; it must blaze, burn, and produce in us not merely a warmth of love, but a consuming love—love which will not only overlook various weaknesses and imperfections in the brotherhood and will carefully note every good quality, but love which is ready to lay down life on behalf of the brethren because they are of his consecrated ones, however much they may need to strive against sin and weaknesses.—Z 1907-34 (Hymn 218)
JANUARY 3
Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.—Psalm 97:11
WE BELIEVE that without a love for truth none will be favored with the light of present truth. More than this, we hold that if sincere love for truth—honesty of thought and deed—be yielded, sacrificed to pride, ambition, vainglory, or any other thing, the result will be the loss of present truth. Let us ever keep in memory our Lord’s message through the apostle, that now in the end of this age he will send strong delusion, that all may believe a lie who have pleasure in untruth—who received not the truth in the love of it. Let us guard our consciences, realizing that their perversion would surely work our injury, our alienation from the Lord, and our rejection from his service now and hereafter.—Z 1906-276 (Hymn 49)
JANUARY 4
Ye are witnesses of these things.—Luke 24:48
THE apostles as witnesses were not merely to tell about the Redeemer’s virgin birth, nor merely about his holy, devoted life, nor merely about his Calvary cross, nor merely of our Lord’s resurrection, nor merely of his ascension, but in addition to all these facts they were to tell that he was a properly qualified Redeemer, that he met all the conditions of the Law, and that now he ever liveth to succor those who come unto the Father through him. How faithfully the apostles performed their mission! How truly, as the Apostle Paul declared, they shunned not to declare the whole counsel! Worldly wisdom might intimate that to own a Master and Teacher who had been executed as a felon would be to their discredit, and thoroughly hinder them from progress in gathering followers to their Leader. But these faithful witnesses consulted not with flesh and blood as to what they should preach—they told the story simply in all of its details, not neglecting even those of Peter and Judas, and the disputing as to. which should be greatest, etc. The truth in the simplicity in which God intended it to be delivered has evidently come down to us in the Bible account.—Z 1906-396 (Hymn 23)
JANUARY 5
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.—II Cor. 11:3
IT IS well that the Lord’s people strive to live a rejoicing life, giving thanks always to the Father in all things, and rejoicing to be counted worthy to suffer shame, etc., for the cause of Christ. But as the apostle elsewhere declares, Let us rejoice with fear; let not our rejoicing be of that reckless, self-satisfying kind which might ensnare and entrap us; let our rejoicing be in him who loved us and who bought us and who is ever present with us, our best Friend and truest Guide. Let us rejoice, not in feelings of our own strength and courage and wisdom, but in the fact that we have a Savior and a great One, who is able to deliver to the utmost all that come unto the Father through him. Thus may the Lord be our strength, our confidence, our shield, our buckler.—Z 1906-346 (Hymn 93)
JANUARY 6
Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.—Matt. 26:36
ARE we not as the Lord’s people in this harvest time drawing close to the Gethsemane hour of the church? Are we not already in the hour of temptation to a considerable extent? Will not the last members of the body soon follow the Head unto complete sacrifice? How ready are we for the ordeal? Are we asleep, or are we heeding the words of the apostle, They that sleep in the night, but we who are of the day should be awake, sober, putting on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand in this evil day, in the time of trial already upon us, and in the still severer trials which no doubt will be ours in the near future? Are we prepared for the time when there will possibly be a general scattering, as these “all forsook him and fled”? How courageous we will be in our hour of trial will probably depend much upon our following the Master’s example and securing first of all that positive conviction that we have the divine approval. Let us not, then, avoid the Gethsemane moment if it come to us in the Lord’s providence, but let us also with strong cryings and tears look up to him who is able to save us out of death by the glorious first resurrection, and let us remember that we have an Advocate, we have a helper. The Lord is our angel who speaks to us the Father’s message, telling us that if we abide in his love all will be right in the end, and that he is able and willing to bring us off conquerors, yea, more than conquerors through his own merit.—Z 1906-348 (Hymn 120)
JANUARY 7
Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.—Revelation 2:10
OUR text is impressive. Our enlistment is not for a few days, but undertaken with a full understanding that in order to gain the great prize we must lay down our lives in the Lord’s service—faithfully, loyally. How many Christians have rightly understood what was signified by consecration of their heart to the Lord and by taking up their cross to be his followers through evil report or through good report? It is not too late yet to learn our lessons more thoroughly and to determine that by the grace of God we will be faithful unto death to him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.—Z 1916-60 (Hymn 146)
JANUARY 8
The very God of peace sanctify you wholly.—I Thess. 5:23
THERE is a certain difference between the words sanctification and consecration, though they are sometimes used almost interchangeably. The word consecrate has the thought of surrender. Consecration is a definite step, taken at a certain moment. It is the yielding up of the will and of all to God. Whoever has not thus definitely surrendered his will, himself, to the Lord, has never made a real consecration. We believe that there is no step more necessary to be seen clearly by God’s professed people than this one, and none more necessary to be made plain to others. The word sanctification not only has in it the thought of this definite and complete consecration at the beginning, but also takes in the entire process of transformation of character and preparation for the kingdom. It progresses throughout the Christian course until the character is fully developed and ripened, and it must then be maintained until the end of the way.—Z 1916-99 (Hymn 196)
JANUARY 9
Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you.—Lev. 20:7,8
THIS means, set yourselves apart to God, and he will set you apart. We have a part in this work, and God has a part. If we make a full consecration, God will consecrate us; he will accept us and set us apart for himself. He gives us the indication of this acceptance in the begetting of his Holy Spirit. Such soon begin to realize that they have a new mind, a new disposition, a new heart. It is of this class that the Apostle Paul speaks in the text, “This is the will of God” concerning you, “even your sanctification”—you who have consecrated yourselves to him and whom he has accepted and consecrated, has set apart for his service.—Z 1916-100 (Hymn 208)
JANUARY 10
The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the puffing down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.—II Cor. 10:4,5
BY WAY of pointing out what these strongholds are—that they are mental strongholds—the apostle says, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth.” Our imaginations may be of many kinds. We may be beset by false doctrines and superstitions that have come down to us from past ages. The Word of the Lord is the only thing that can effectually cast these down and make us see God’s real character, make us see his glorious promises to the church now and to the world in the future. The Word of the Lord is the only thing that will cast down imaginations—ignorance, superstition, pride, unholy ambitions, idle speculations, and every form of thought that would lead us astray and hinder the work of grace in our hearts and minds.—Z 1916-130 (Hymn 332)
JANUARY 11
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee.—Isaiah: 26:3
THIS thought is very precious to us as new creatures. “The peace of God which passeth all understanding” is to rule and keep our minds and hearts! … We have peace, no matter what the outward conditions may be. The trials and difficulties of life come to the Lord’s people commingled with joys—the rain and storm, then the sunshine. They enjoy all righteous pleasures that are in harmony with their consecration. They learn to cultivate patience in trial, knowing that patience works out experience, and experience works out more and more that hope which maketh not ashamed.—Z 1916-102 (Hymn 312A)
JANUARY 12
For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.—Heb. 3:14
WITH some of the Lord’s people there is a tendency to become discouraged, to think that they may have been unfaithful and thus to lose their peace of mind. … Let such remember that the fact that they have received this divine favor is an indication that their offering has had divine acceptance. Faith, or confidence, in God and in his great and precious promises is the very basis of all Christian endeavor. If a follower of the Lord has been thus discouraged or has felt that his expectations have not been realized, he should not be weary in well-doing. He should go to the Lord in prayer and renew his vow of consecration. He should rise from the ashes of discouragement and lift the cross with renewed zeal. He should endeavor to walk on a higher plane than ever. If he lose confidence, lose faith, he will easily be overcome by the Adversary.—Z 1912-279 (Hymn 20)
JANUARY 13
Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.—I Tim. 4:12
THOSE qualities of character here enumerated by the apostle should be shown forth, not merely by the elders and the teachers of the ecclesia, but by all who have made the same profession of being disciples of Christ. So far as our standing with God is concerned, we are all brethren one of another, and each of these brethren should seek to copy the Elder Brother, our Lord Jesus. Each one should seek to be a pattern to the whole flock of God.—Z 1916-61 (Hymn 257)
JANUARY 14
Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.—Psalm 107:13
AS THE effect of Israel’s tribulation was to turn their hearts toward the Lord and to lead them to cry out for his promised assistance, so all of our trying experiences with the world, the flesh, and the Adversary and the bondage of sin and death—all these appeal to the new creatures in Christ who have the Father’s promise. All this leads us more and more to look unto the Lord from whom cometh our help, and to wait for his Son from heaven, and to expect the deliverance of the groaning creation at his second advent. Is it not true, then, that present distresses and tribulations are all working out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, if we are rightly exercised thereby? And if as true Israelites we have confidence in the Abrahamic promise, we have it, as the Apostle describes, as an anchor to our souls both sure and steadfast, entering into that which is beyond the veil, whither our Forerunner is entered for us—and has made atonement for us—and from whence he provides us the blessed deliverance which we hope soon to experience in the resurrection change, when, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we shall be made like him, see him as he is, and share his glory.—Z 1907-126 (Hymn 56)
JANUARY 15
I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich.—Rev. 3:18
WHENEVER a new trial is presented to the Christian, if he will but call to mind this precept of the Lord, it will stimulate courage, nerve to patient endurance, and quicken to self-sacrifice. “Gold tried in the fire”! How can it be tried without the crucible and the flame? How otherwise can the dross be eliminated? There is no other way. Wherefore, “think it not strange”; let the fire burn; let the dross be consumed; and see to it, beloved, that in the heat of the flame you remove not the “living sacrifice” from the altar. Remember that the eye of the great Refiner is upon you; and as the refiner of gold watches the metal in the crucible to see his image reflected in it, so the Lord, the great Refiner, has his eye upon you. He is watching to see how the precious metal of your character reflects his image. Or, in plain language, in every trial he watches to see what influences control our actions, whether they be influences of present advantage or worldly policy, or personal friendship, or earthly loves—of husband or wife, or children, or houses, or lands, or whether they be honor among men, or love of ease, or love of peace at any cost; or whether, on the other hand, we are controlled by the naked principles of truth and righteousness; and whether we will defend these principles with zeal and energy at any cost of labor or suffering, or both, and so fight the good fight of faith to the bitter end—even unto death.—Z 1896-45 (Hymn 93)
JANUARY 16
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.—Isaiah 55:9
IT IS when we get the grand sweep of the divine plan that we can see God’s ultimate purpose of vanquishing sin and blessing all the families of the earth with the knowledge of his goodness and with a favorable opportunity for reformation—when we come to see that the election of the Jewish age and also of this Gospel age are but means to that grand end of blessing the world. Then we begin to discern how high are God’s ways above man’s ways and God’s plans above man’s schemes, and to discern the heights and depths and lengths and breadths of God’s love and provision for the blessing of the world. And proportionately as we look upon this glorious picture we are strengthened by his might in the inner man, and lifted out of our narrowness and selfishness, and more and more constituted images of God’s dear Son, and thus also images of the Heavenly Father. O, then, that we might each and all be of those who are known of the Lord as the “very elect”—of those whom he will use in the present time in connection with his present work of electing the little flock, and will be used by and by in his great work of blessing all the families of the earth. What trials and difficulties we might well endure with such a prospect!—Z 1907-91 (Hymn 58)
JANUARY 17
Ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.—Jude 3
SOMETIMES it might seem like contention for the faith once delivered to the saints for one person to argue with another on scriptural subjects, and yet his real motive in so doing might be pride. Pride is a part of selfishness; therefore in contending for his own ideas one might be cultivating pride. The contention which God would approve is that earnest desire to have whatever God’s Word teaches. We must not contend with the tongue improperly, nor speak slanderously. In all of our contentions we should manifest the fruits of the Holy Spirit—gentleness, brotherly kindness, love. Thus the proper contention would not partake of anger, hatred, malice, or strife.—Z 1912-213 (Hymn 329)
JANUARY 18
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.—Matt. 24:42
ALL of the wise virgin class should be in the attitude commanded in this parable. They should have a knowledge of the fact that the Bridegroom is coming; they should have lamps and a full supply of oil. Those living in this ready condition will be neither alarmed nor surprised at the message when they hear it as it is now going forth: “Behold, the Bridegroom is present.” We are living in the parousia (presence) of the Son of Man—the wise virgins are already falling into line in the procession and entering in to the marriage; the full number will soon be found and the door will be shut. All in this watching attitude of heart, with the full measure of the Spirit of the Lord in their hearts will be very quickly attracted by the first intimation that the Bridegroom is present. These, trimming their lamps, examining the Scriptures, will quickly discern the truthfulness of the announcement, and speedily prepare and take their places with the wise virgins. The announcement, the truth upon this subject, is indeed a testing, proving which of the professed virgins of the Lord have the oil in their vessels, the right spirit of humility, patience, love, devotion, interest in the things of the Bridegroom. Such and such only are desired by the Bridegroom or will be permitted to enter.—Z 1906-314 (Hymn 318)
JANUARY 19
They err in vision, they stumble in judgment.—Isa. 28:7
THE prophecy that great Babylon would make all nations drunken with her false teachings (Rev. 18:3) has been most literally fulfilled. The professed followers of the Lord of every nation and kindred seem to be under the delusions of these false doctrines; hence they err in vision, they cannot see the riches of divine grace: the nightmare of eternal torment at the hands of demons is vividly before their minds as the truth so that they really blaspheme the gracious Creator unintentionally, misrepresenting his glorious arrangements for the redemption and recovery of the children of men. Many of them so stumble in judgment that they preach as did Jonathan Edwards, that the eternal torment of the great majority of the race was foreknown and premeditated by the Almighty before Adam was created, and that such treatment of his creatures must be recognized as just—yea, more, as loving—so that the Lord’s true people, with all this in mind, should praise God the louder and should consider that his justice was thus made manifest. Alas! what erring in vision, what stumbling in judgment, what inculcation in the spirit of Antichrist and the “doctrines of devils.” (I Tim. 4:1)—Z 1907-89 (Hymn 18)
JANUARY 20
Being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.—Rom. 6:22
THESE are wonderful words of life, indeed! They inspire us with hope. If God will accept perfect heart intentions instead of the absolute perfection of the flesh, then, indeed, we have hope of attaining to the standard which he has marked for us—the standard of perfection. We can walk after, or according to the Spirit. So far as our mortal bodies are concerned we cannot walk up to the Spirit’s requirements, but our minds can walk according to the Spirit; our intentions can be perfect; and what our Heavenly Father seeks in us is perfection of intention and as perfect control of our flesh as possible.—Z 1911-341 (Hymn 267)
JANUARY 21
Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.—Isa. 52:11
THE purer the person, the more surely will he be the target. You notice that the speckled birds are more a mark for the huntsman than are the others. Thus all who are bearing the vessels of the Lord’s house are special targets for the fiery darts of the wicked one. So we must contend against the world, the flesh, and the Adversary. Those who are in the right condition of heart, the pure in heart, earnest as the Lord’s children, watch to keep their garments clean. Unless they watch, they will surely get their garments defiled. Satan is especially endeavoring to touch them; and we know that wherever he would touch there is defilement. Whoever the wicked one touches receives a measure of injury. And there is a measure of culpability in the individual before he is touched.—Z 1913-184 (Hymn 258)
JANUARY 22
If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.—Isa. 1:19
GOD has arranged for our learning certain lessons of self-control, bringing ourselves into full obedience to God in a voluntary way, with a view to our being his representatives by and by, and of then enforcing obedience to God’s requirements on the part of the world. It is a generally accepted principle that no one is qualified to rule others who has not himself learned obedience. At the cost of great suffering our Lord Jesus learned what obedience means. He promptly and fully submitted himself to God. This spirit of Christ is to be manifested and developed in us, that we shall thus be ready for the future work of The Christ, the work of the millennial age.—Z 1916-132 (Hymn 4)
JANUARY 23
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.—Romans 12:2
AH, THE change! The discouraged one says, Then I am not beyond hope; not so mean, not so degraded that Jesus would pass me by. The very suggestion inspires new hope. If followed, it leads on and on to the riches of God’s grace provided in Christ for the penitent, the willing, the obedient. By the time such a man receives the begetting of the Holy Spirit and is able to cry, “Abba, Father,” old things pass away and all things become new. However, his fleshly weaknesses and unworthiness may still continually cry, You are unworthy. However, still in humility, he may acknowledge this with groans and tears, he is not cast down! He has God’s assurance that he is a new creature in Christ, whose perfect spirit body awaits him in the first resurrection. He has the assurance that it is not the flesh that God expects to perfect, but the new creature, the heart, the will. He has the assurance that he is a son of God and a joint-heir with Christ in his great messianic kingdom, which soon is to bless the world. He has the assurance that all present trials of faith and patience and loyalty to God, to the truth and to the brethren are permitted to test his heart loyalty, without which he could not be a joint-heir in Messiah’s kingdom. These divine assurances make strong the weak and give courage not only in respect to the future life, but also in the affairs of the present. No wonder the Bible speaks of the followers of Christ as transformed and mind renewed!—Z 1912-319 (Hymn 65A)
JANUARY 24
The Lord shall judge his people.—Hebrews 10:30
IF THE Lord’s people get into trouble through not being sufficiently watchful, the Lord will give them some experiences which will be good for them, if rightly received. Let us remember the warning words of the Apostle Paul: “If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged of the Lord.” (I Cor. 11:31) This means that when we neglect to judge ourselves, he has to do it for us. Then we are being chastened with a view to our correction, that we might attain unto the heavenly reward and favor that is to be ours as new creatures in Christ, if we remain humble and faithful unto death. If we continue to be meek and filled with the spirit of humility, not craving present honors and exaltation, but willing in perfect patience to await the Lord’s own good time, our exaltation will come; and we shall share our Savior’s throne and his glory forever more.—Z 1916-133 (Hymn 67)
JANUARY 25
In Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.—Eph. 1:11
THE question naturally arises, Why should God test faith rather than works? The answer is that all kinds of works are dependent upon the ability of the worker, and that the whole race of Adam has become unable to do perfect works, on account of the fall of their first parents. None can be perfectly just, perfectly wise, perfectly loving; to be so in our present imperfect condition is impossible. Therefore, in his wisdom and love, God avoids making his test along those lines in which we are absolutely incompetent, and makes it along the line of faith—in his wisdom, his love, and his promises. To doubt any of these would be to weaken the basis of our hope. We realize that we are in a fallen condition, that we are dying like the remainder of the race. We have heard through the Word of God that he has provided a Savior, but we see that things continue much as they were, despite all that God and Christ have done. Our faith, however, assures us that God, who knew the end from the beginning, is working all things according to the counsel of his own will and that in due time he will establish righteousness in the earth.—Z 1912-321 (Hymn 197)
JANUARY 26
Walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love.—Eph. 4:1,2
WE SHOW our appreciation of God’s mercy toward us by schooling ourselves in his character and becoming more and more merciful and generous toward all the household of faith. And if merciful toward the brethren, naturally we would be generous also toward all men. In other words, as we remember and appreciate our own weaknesses and blemishes, it will make us sympathetic with the brethren and with all mankind. And mercy, generosity, sympathy, God delights in. Such as cultivate these graces of the Spirit will be pleasing in the Lord’s sight, and they will thereby be fitted and prepared to have a share with Jesus in his throne of glory; for that great messianic kingdom will be established for the very purpose of showing mercy unto thousands of mankind, who will return to divine favor and blessing, under clearer knowledge and with the assistance that will then be afforded.—Z 1912-359 (Hymn 63)
JANUARY 27
Take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day.—Eph. 6:13
NO MAN ever puts on armor unless he expects to fight. If he is a soldier of the cross, the “sword of the Spirit” is the great weapon with which he will prove his loyalty and strength. The brethren should build each other up in the most holy faith, fighting the good fight, and showing their loyalty to the Lord and to the truth. (Jude 20; I Tim. 6:12) Those who succumb to the influences of darkness show themselves unworthy of the new’ order of things, and they may not expect to be sharers with Christ in his kingdom, but to be among those rejected of the Lord as unworthy.—Z 1912-288 (Hymn 266)
JANUARY 28
God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God.—James 4:6,7
WHILE we longingly look forward to our glorious station of the future, when the glory of the Lord shall fill the Temple, when “we shall know as we are known,” let us not forget that unless we are submissive to the molding and fashioning influences of the school of Christ we shall be set aside. Our names will be blotted out of that special role and our crowns apportioned to others. It is in full view of the possibilities of so great a loss of so great a prize that the apostle wrote, “Let us fear lest a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of us should seem to come short.” The cultivation of pride along any line, the development of an unsanctified ambition, are amongst the greatest dangers to these living stones now in preparation. Such flaws developed would render us unfit for this special service. And if they should develop in us headiness or high-mindedness, they would probably also develop envy, malice, hatred, strife, evil speaking, evil surmising, all of which are contrary to the Spirit of Christ and would soon render such “none of his.”—Z 1908-378 (Hymn 198)
JANUARY 29
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.—Rom. 7:18
THIS discrepancy between the new will, the new mind, and the mind of the flesh and the flesh itself, both reckoned as dead but really quite alive, requiring continual vigilance to restrain them and keep them in line with the new creature’s intentions, means quite a fight, and success in this fight means a victory, and victory in this fight is what the Lord proposes to reward with the special honors and blessings proffered during this Gospel age. A part of this filthiness of the mind is selfishness, which frequently is so mean as to be ashamed of itself, to seek to hide itself under various pretexts of generosity, etc., and by outward ostentation, gifts, etc. Other features of the filthiness of the mind are jealousy, covetousness, ambition. These various forms of selfishness are all to be recognized, as the apostle declares, as of evil origin, works of the flesh and of the devil. Lasciviousness or sensuality is a further part of this filthiness—another form of selfishness or love of self-indulgence. With all of these conditions of the mind, the new creature should be in opposition to the extent of despising them, fighting against them, destroying them.—Z 1907-135 (Hymn 103)
JANUARY 30
And this commandment have we from Him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.—I John 4:21
AS PERFECT love casts out fear, so also it casts out false impressions of evil doing or intention toward us. The benevolent heart, full of love for others, will rather prefer to suppose that slights are unintentional oversights, or to put some other similar good construction upon the conduct of their friends, only yielding to an appreciation of persecution when its intention is unmistakable. Even then it should think generously of the persecutor, realize his share in the fall, and be disposed to pray for those who despitefully use them and persecute them. Blessed are such ones who thus hold to righteousness and the spirit of love toward their enemies and persecutors, and who may be sure, therefore, that they are being persecuted for the fidelity to truth and righteousness and not for personal idiosyncrasies and peculiarities. Blessed are they, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The Lord is looking for those who are so faithful to the principles of righteousness that they will exercise it toward their enemies even when being persecuted by them and on its account. If the kingdom of heaven is for such it is assuredly but a little flock. Let us strive the more diligently to be of that little flock—to make our calling and election sure.—Z 1906-75 (Hymn 23)
JANUARY 31
They that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it.—Mal. 3:16
HOW often would the sons of God be greatly blessed as they meet together to talk over the divine plan, the divine goodness, wisdom, love, justice, and to help one another, and to encourage one another with psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, and by refreshing one another’s minds with the exceeding great and precious promises which belong to them that reverence the Lord—how much would such be blessed, if they could always have in memory this statement, that the Lord is hearkening, is listening to our conversation when we speak together! He listens to see which, out of good hearts, speak forth those things which are loving, gentle, pure, good, true, as distinguished from those who are careless of the truth, and whose words are vain or frivolous, or worse than this, slanderous, enmitous, and selfish.—Z 1898-368 (Hymn Appendix K)