| Christian Life and Doctrine | December 1950 |
“Songs in the Night”
DECEMBER 1
My son, give Me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe My ways.—Proverbs 23:26
WHEN we give our hearts it includes all that we have and are in the highest and noblest and fullest sense. Whoever gives his heart to the Lord fully and unreservedly, gives his body, gives his worship and reverence and praise, and gives his earthly treasure, time, talents, influence, money—all—to be used in joyful service for the glory of the King. … To those who have already accepted the Lord’s favor, who have already presented their bodies living sacrifices, who have already given the Lord their hearts, we urge a remembrance of the fact that the sacrifice once put upon the altar must remain there, and that the longer it remains the more joyful should be the service, the more appreciated every opportunity for sacrifice, the more thankful should be the heart, and the more rich should be the experience in the peace of God which passeth all understanding, ruling in our hearts and preparing us more and more through the graces of the Spirit for the glorious things which God hath in reservation for them that so love him and so reverence his Son.—Z 1906-15 (Hymn 114)
DECEMBER 2
Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.—Ruth 1:16
LET us with increasing light and knowledge and privilege make still further progress in all the fruits of the spirit of love. It is unsafe to neglect to have the Lord for our God, and to neglect to make his people our people. Acceptance of the Lord means ultimately a change in all of life’s interests and affairs if we would abide in his love and favor. The sacrifice of earthly things may cost us tears and heartaches at first; but eventually we will be more than compensated—as was Ruth, only in higher, spiritual blessings.—Z 1902-355 (Hymn 12)
DECEMBER 3
It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.—I Samuel 3:18
WHOEVER is faithful in speaking the Word of God from the Bible will have less and less attention from the worldly-wise. An ever increasing number of people are thinking of the works of creation as having come about by processes of evolution. More and more they are thinking that the Bible is not the Word of God; but that the apostles were merely deluded men, deceived men; that Jesus himself did not know what he was doing. They think that he was a good man, that doubtless God himself was with him, because of the good that flowed from his teachings. And yet they think that they could give forth better wisdom—these great teachers who would like to make a new Bible after their own heart. In our own day, the worldly-wise are looking from the wrong standpoint. They will not recognize what is now taking place until the sunlight of truth begins to flood the world. Then, turning about, they will perceive the real Sun of Righteousness, and begin to grasp the whole situation. We are glad that they will turn about and take a view of matters from a different standpoint. But all who are God’s true children are ready to receive God’s message from whatever source it may come to them.—Z 1913-253 (Hymn 257)
DECEMBER 4
Happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.—Psalm 144:15
HAPPY are we if we realize the primary necessity for good desires and for the rejection of evil desires. Happy are we if, when the message of God’s grace came to us as an opportunity of return to his favor, we promptly embraced and received at his hands justification by faith, through the merit of the precious blood. Happy are we if being thus swept and garnished and delivered from the power of the Adversary, we promptly recognized our obligation to the Giver of all blessing and sought relationship with him. Happy are we if, learning of his willingness to accept the keys of our hearts, to accept our will, we should give it to him fully, completely, forever! Happy are we if we maintain this same attitude of heart purity and desire for the Lord’s will instead of our own, and if more and more we allow the Spirit of the Lord to fill every nook and corner of our hearts and drive out, not only sin, but every worldly ambition, that we may be fully and wholly possessed by the Spirit of our Lord, the Holy Spirit! Happy are we if we continue to manifest meekness, gentleness, patience, long-suffering, goodness, brotherly kindness, peace, love, so that anything which would mar this heavenly bliss or quench this holy flame or offend our Master or lose us his smile, would be considered as indescribable disaster! Happy are we if the joys of the Lord thus continue in our hearts and rule our lives and make us joyful in our pilgrimage toward the heavenly city and its glories! Happy are we as we find the Spirit of the Lord working out through our hands and feet and tongue and every power to glorify the name of our Redeemer and to bless his children and as many others as possible of the groaning creation!—Z 1908-364 (Hymn 205)
DECEMBER 5
Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house.—I Peter 2:5
THE record tells us that the stones and timbers of the temple were brought to the spot all prepared, shaped, and marked for their several positions, so that the actual construction was a quiet one. We read that the parts came together without the sound of a hammer. The antitype of this is that the chiseling and polishing and preparing of God’s saints in the present life and the marking of them for their several places, by which God sets the various members in the body as it hath pleased him, will leave the work of the first resurrection a very quiet one, so quiet that the world is not aware that it is now in progress. Thank God it is not yet finished, and there is yet hope and opportunity for some of the consecrated now living to “make our calling and election sure,” and by the final “change from glory to glory” to be placed in the great spiritual temple in the particular niche or position for which under divine providence we shall have been prepared. This resurrection “change” will make us all glorious and like unto our Lord and Redeemer, who is the express image of the Father’s person.—Z 1908-376 (Hymn 332)
DECEMBER 6
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.—Isaiah 54:17
LET us as members of the house of Sons, accepted in the Beloved, take from our Father’s Word in this text the strong consolation which he intends it should give us. Let our faith triumphantly sing, and our joy and rejoicing in the Lord know no bounds. According unto our faith it will be unto us. But while it will be on account of our faith that the Lord will approve of us, accept us, and bless us, he has, nevertheless, assured us in advance that where the tree of faith exists and grows, the character development, the fruitage of the faith will surely also abound, and that thus by our works (imperfect though they may be) we shall give evidence of the faith that is in us. Such a living faith may well cause rejoicing in the house of our pilgrimage, with this assurance that even the machinations of our enemies shall work out for us blessings, under our Heavenly Father’s supervising care, wisdom, love, and power.—Z 1902-232 (Hymn 149)
DECEMBER 7
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?—I John 4:20
IN OTHER words, the measure of the love which fills our hearts will find expression toward our fellow-creatures who have need of our sympathy and attention, and if we show ourselves deficient here it will imply a deficiency of our love for our Creator. If, on the contrary, we are merciful to others, generous, kind, taking pleasure in doing what we can for the relief of our fellow-creatures, especially to the household of faith, this will be an indication of the spirit which our Lord will appreciate and own if it be accompanied by a trust in the precious blood of Christ. Such merciful ones of the Lord’s followers shall obtain mercy at the Lord’s hands. He will deal gently with them, forgiving their blemishes and weaknesses in proportion as they have this spirit of generosity, forgiveness, toward those who trespass against them.—Z 1906-203 (Hymn 165)
DECEMBER 8
Brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.—Galatians 5:13-15
IN OUR text the apostle seems to imply that such a condition might arise even among the Lord’s people that some would not only be wounded to the extent of being “bitten” by the harshness and slander of others, but that the tendency to retaliate more or less in kind would arise, and that it would mean a general conflict unworthy of God’s children and more nearly resembling a fight among dogs. “Take heed that ye be not consumed one of another,” urges the apostle. What if in our appreciation of the liberty that is ours, and of which we know through the Gospel, we should reach the point where we would be so contentious for our liberties, great and small, that we would consume some brother for whom Christ died! What if in injuring another the spirit of strife should so react upon us as to poison our own spiritual lives and we also should be consumed—lost as respects the gracious things to which the Lord has invited us and for which we have been running in the race! Let the apostle’s words ring in our hearts, “Lest ye be consumed one of another.” With this thought before our minds let us more and more put on the armor of God to fight against our own fleshly weaknesses and to fight for our dear brethren, assisting them by example and by precept to war a good warfare also against the world, the flesh, and the Adversary.—Z 1906-104 (Hymn 198)
DECEMBER 9
But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.—James 1:22
TO BE honored with a knowledge of the divine will and plan is a great boon, a great blessing; but it brings a great responsibility: “To whom much is given, of him shall much be required.” We who have heard the voice of Him that speaketh from heaven, speaking peace through Jesus Christ; we who, on the strength of this message of forgiveness of sins, have been accepted in consecration as members of the body of Christ, we have greater responsibility than have others. To attain the glorious things, to which we have been invited we must now make use of the privilege and show our appreciation by obedience to the terms of the covenant—presenting our bodies as living sacrifices to the divine service in faithful obedience to righteousness, and in endeavoring to assist others in the same course.—Z 1906-98 (Hymn 65 A)
DECEMBER 10
God is, our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.—Psalm 46:1
FORTUNATELY for us, this refuge is specially intended for those who are “new creatures in Christ Jesus,” whose sinful course prior to coming to a knowledge of the Lord is accounted, not as intentional or willful, but as of ignorance. Our responsibilities for willful sin may, therefore, be said to begin with and keep pace with our knowledge of the divine law. Although acquitted as respects willful sin whose penalty would be the second death, it is necessary that we continue to “abide in him”—that we do not put off the robe of Christ’s righteousness. If we leave the city of refuge, if we abandon our trust in the precious blood which cleanseth us from all sin, we become liable again to the demands of justice and that without mercy. Divine justice is represented in the, avenger, as divine mercy is represented in the city of refuge, and he who would leave the city of refuge necessarily falls into the hands of justice; as again the apostle explains, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”—to depart from Christ, to abandon the mercy and forgiveness which the Father has extended toward us, as culprits, through the Beloved One. … The entire arrangement is of God—Justice is the avenger of sin, and Christ is the refuge and deliverance; therefore while acknowledging the Lord Jesus and appreciating very highly his work for us, the redemption accomplished through his sacrifice and all the blessings which come from the Father through him, and thus honoring the Son as we honor the Father also, it is nevertheless appropriate that we should remember that all these blessings are of the Father through the Son.—Z 1902-312 (Hymn 137)
DECEMBER 11
Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.—Luke 7:50
LET us bear in mind that it was not the woman’s work that saved her and brought her the Lord’s favor, nor the ointment, nor the tears, nor the kiss—it was the faith: “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Heb. 11:6) According to our faith it shall be unto us. But let us not forget either that faith must work; that if it does not work it is a sure sign that it is dead. So surely as we have the true faith in the Lord, so surely good and honest hearts will bring forth worship, praise, honor, to our Master and Redeemer. These conditions of our hearts will surely manifest themselves as did the woman’s, by tears, by services to the feet of the Master, by an anointing of the most precious perfume that we can bring.—Z 1906-123 (Hymn 174)
DECEMBER 12
He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.—Matthew 4:4
OH, HOW wonderful that the great Creator should condescend not only to redeem sinners, but to urge, to entice them to receive his bounties and blessings! From the time the consecration begins a measure of the Holy Spirit is granted, that the consecrated one may, by application—by hungering and thirsting for the words which proceed out of the mouth of God, and by feeding upon them—be enabled to “comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge.” Ah, yes! those who have heard and have fed upon “the words which proceed out of the mouth of God” thus far, find indeed a new life begun, a new vitality, a new energy—new hopes, new aims, new ambitions. “Old things are passed away,” everything is tinged with the glories of the heavenly things which “eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man to conceive”—the things which God hath in reservation for them that love him—an understanding and appreciation of which God, in some measure, gives to such by his Spirit, which “searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”—Z 1902-246 (Hymn 21)
DECEMBER 13
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.—I Corinthians 15:58
THE Lord is able to carry us through, and he will do it, if we do our part. But the terms on which the Lord has received us are that we purpose to abide faithful. Hence everything depends on our holding fast to this faith which we have professed, without wavering, without harboring any doubts and fears; and the basis of our faith in our ultimate triumph is the assurance that “he is faithful that promised.” We know that in the Bible there are “exceeding great and precious promises” for us. While the Lord tells us that there is nothing in ourselves that we can depend on, he assures us that his grace is sufficient, that his strength is made perfect in our weakness. We have only to lay hold upon it. If therefore we hold fast to our faith, we may obtain all that God has promised. He will be faithful; he will not disregard his promises; he will do all that he has said.—Z 1915-167 (Hymn 180)
DECEMBER 14
Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.—Psalm 141:3
OUR text presents an important thought. The Lord’s people find the tongue the most difficult member to bring into subjection. And if the prayer be sincere, from the heart, it will imply that the petitioner is doing all in his power in this direction himself while seeking the divine aid. And the divine aid comes in line with this lesson, and assures us that the lips are not at fault, that it is the heart that needs a completion of the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit, for “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” The lesson here is that whatever difficulty we have through our lips needs correction, at the heart. We need to get our hearts more in accord with the heart of the Almighty—more in tune with the gracious elements of the divine character, represented not only in justice toward others, but additionally in mercy, love, kindness, and benevolence towards all.—Z 1906-82 (Hymn Appendix K)
DECEMBER 15
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children.—Ephesians 5:1
OUR exhortation to all who have forsaken all to follow the Lord is that we do not look back, that we estimate that we have made the grandest bargain imaginable, that we are in the way for obtaining the grandest prize imaginable, together with association with our Lord in his wonderful work and with the divine approval. This seems to be the thought of the apostle when he urges us to lay aside every weight and entanglement that we may run with patience the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author of our faith, until he shall have become its Finisher. Let us as promptly as possible, at the beginning of our Christian experience, settle once for all the matter of surrendering our wills to be followers of the Lamb; let us once for all arrange as wisely as possible our temporary affairs and interests in accordance with the reasonable demands of others respecting the same, and let us then faithfully persevere to the end of the racecourse.—Z 1906-46 (Hymn Appendix G)
DECEMBER 16
The good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the Word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.—Luke 8:15
THE “good ground” class of this parable is ground where the soil is not only good, but cleared of all noxious weeds which would prevent the proper growth of the wheat seed. This condition represents entire consecration to God. Everything which would hinder has been cast out. The cares of this life are not permitted to enter this heart and choke the Word. Such a one has made a bona fide contract with the Lord and knows when he is keeping it; and he will keep it. He has the proper quality or depth of character and more or less of ability. And there is the special trait of thorough honesty, loyalty.—Z 1915-229 (Hymn 150)
DECEMBER 17
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?—Romans 8:24
WHAT shall we say of the salvation which is come to those who have truly accepted Christ as their Savior, and who are today rejoicing in him as such, and who by faith are seeing the salvation of God begun in their own hearts and yet to be fully accomplished under the whole heavens? This the apostle calls the salvation by hope. We are not saved actually; we are still surrounded by sin, pain, sighing, crying, and dying; the curse is not yet rolled away. All that the best of the Lord’s people have received is salvation by hope, by faith. Yet this anticipation of the future salvation, of the resurrection from the dead, of a participation in the glory, honor, and immortality of the divine nature promised to the faithful, is so strong, so clear, that those who possess it are enabled to rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, even in the midst of trials and difficulties and weaknesses and unfavorable conditions incident to the curse upon the race.—Z 1906-12 (Hymn 124)
DECEMBER 18
For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.—Psalm 91:11
OUR text has a good message for us all. Whatever may be the difficulties of the Lord’s children in the near future, there will be a special comfort in remembering that the Lord is able to make full provision for all his true hearted ones, and that he will do so. He will continue to use these agencies, and there will be the strengthening of his people to the end of the way. If there are any who will not be thus led, it must be because there is something wrong in themselves. We should each see to it that we are of the “thee” class. “No evil shall come nigh thee.” (Psalm 91:10) That will mean divine protection to the very end of our course.—Z 1915-377 (Hymn 328)
DECEMBER 19
Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.—Psalm 27:14
COURAGE, fortitude, persistency, in the service of the Lord are very necessary to the child of God. Such traits are needful even to the world. Whoever lacks these qualities of character is pretty sure to make poor success in life. Lack of courage, lack of hope, is one of the chief causes of failure in the world. Our text, however, calls attention, not to the world, but to those who belong to the Lord. The precious promises of God’s Word, which are only for his people, those who are wholly his, give these every reason for hope; they have full authority to be strong and of a good courage. The children of God will have trials and experiences similar to those of the world, besides experiences and trials peculiar to them as followers of Christ. These come not to us in a haphazard way, however, as to the world, but are under the direct supervision of the Lord.—Z 1915-190 (Hymn 313)
DECEMBER 20
Without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.—Hebrews 11:6
FAITH and obedience are like our two feet. We put one forward, and then the other, and then the first one forward; and so we develop in faith by continuing in the spirit of obedience, following on wherever the Lord points the way. “We walk by faith and not by sight.” But we have good, tangible evidences all along our heavenward journey. Outside of all other evidences, the true Christian has in his own personal experiences abundant proof of our Father’s love and care. The Master said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and not one of them shall fall upon the ground without your Father. … But ye are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29) As he progresses in the narrow way the child of God comes to learn the fullness of meaning in these words of our Lord.—Z 1915-199 (Hymn 174)
DECEMBER 21
Do all things without murmurings and disputings.—Philippians 2:14
IN FOLLOWING the Master in the narrow way, we are not to murmur as we go, finding fault with its difficulties and its narrowness; nor are we to dispute respecting it, nor to seek to have any other way than that which divine providence marks out before us. On the contrary, we are to realize and believe that the Lord knows exactly what experiences are necessary to our development in the school of Christ; that he is supervising our experiences for our highest good and his glory, that he is not forgetful of his promises to those who are his, but will, as he has promised, cause “all things [that come to us in the line of faithfulness] to work together for good” to us. And even our blunders or stumblings, if properly received, will be overruled for our blessing.—Z 1915-363 (Hymn 134)
DECEMBER 22
My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.—Hebrews 12:5,6
IN THE difficult course before us, and in view of all the dangers that beset us, the pitfalls laid for our feet, the weakness of our own unaided efforts, how blessed is the promise of our Father in heaven to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him; how precious the assurance that if we are filled with the Spirit we shall not fulfill the desires of the flesh, but shall be enabled to mortify the deeds of the body that we may live! How necessary it is to live very near to the Fountain of all grace, to pray without ceasing, and to watch with perseverance! If at times we know not whether to turn to the right or to the left, know not wherein to walk, let us lift our hearts to the Lord, and wait before him, remembering the divine assurance, “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Psalm 37:4,5; Proverbs 3:6) Thus his dear voice brings comfort, strength, rest, in the midst of all the cares and perplexities of the way. “As many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.”—Z 1915-357 (Hymn 208)
DECEMBER 23
Everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord.—Proverbs 16:5
THE pride mentioned in our text is not due to ignorance. It is too great an appreciation of self. All such pride, the Lord tells us, is an abomination in his sight. This is not merely that God does not like it, but that there must be a reason why he abhors it. No creature has any real cause for pride. As the apostle asks, “What have we that we have not received from the Lord?” We have absolutely nothing. If we had ten talents instead of one, our ability would be nothing to be proud of; we did not produce these talents. On the contrary, they were given to us. But to display the talents or to boast about them would show that we thought they were our own, and that we were proud because of our possession of them. No man has a right to be proud because of receiving something from another. To that extent he is a debtor, a recipient. In the case of humanity, we are all recipients of the Father’s favor. All of the blessings of life—both temporal and spiritual—are of divine provision for us. And if we have many of these blessings, there is still no occasion for pride. Pride implies self-sufficiency.—Z 1915-174 (Hymn 198)
DECEMBER 24
Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of Life.—Proverbs 4:23
WE SEE the wisdom of the scriptural exhortation that the heart needs constant attention, because there are such important, vital issues in respect to it. And we see the wisdom in warning of the danger of permitting the mind and the conscience to become defiled and impure. Some might say, “I will be very careful about every word I speak,” Very well so far. But to keep the tongue would not alone be sufficient to get eternal life; for the heart might be quite different from the tongue in some cases. One might be able to speak very smoothly, yet have a deceitful, impure heart. Again one might say, “I will watch my body, and not sin with it.” But that would not be enough. We must get down to the source. The Lord is looking at the desires, the intentions of the heart, in his people. This needs special watching, because the heart is the battleground, so great are the issues from it—life or death. If life, then we desire that we may have the highest place that God is willing to grant us. And it is ours by meeting the conditions.—Z 1915-247 (Hymn 145)
DECEMBER 25
For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.—Isaiah 9:6
THE birth of Jesus, to be rightly understood and esteemed, must be considered from the standpoint of a gift of love divine. Any other view of the matter is merely the casket without the jewel. The Scriptures give us the key to the thought: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) The world was under sentence of death; mankind had been dying for more than four thousand years. God had pitied humanity from the first. Yea, before sin entered, divine wisdom saw the end, and would not have created man, or would not have permitted the condition which led to sin and the sentence of death, had divine wisdom not foreseen and arranged in advance for human redemption. God had purposely arranged the matter so that it would require the death of a perfect man to redeem Adam and the race which lost life in and through him. God knew from the beginning that no such perfect man could be found, because all men were of adamic stock and had a share in adamic weakness, imperfection, and condemnation. From the beginning God in the divine plan contemplated that the Only Begotten of the Father, the Logos, the active agent of divinity in the work of creation, should be granted the great privilege of being man’s Redeemer, and thereby securing a great reward—“Glory, honor, and immortality,” the divine nature, through a resurrection from the dead. The primary step in man’s recovery necessarily was that the Logos should be made flesh and dwell among us and taste death, by the grace of God, for every man. (John 1:14; Hebrews 2:9) It is this first step that we celebrate at this season of the year—the birth of Jesus. He who was rich for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be reclaimed.—Z 1912-360 (Hymn 144)
DECEMBER 26
We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.—I John 5:18
THIS thought of setting a watch over ourselves, of keeping ourselves so that the wicked one cannot touch or injure us, suggests another thought: The Lord himself is the great center of righteousness, purity, truth. All who are on the side of righteousness, purity, truth, will shun sin, will have no fellowship with it; for even if we should not really enter into sin in act, if we have any sympathy with it, we would be to that extent out of harmony with the Lord. … In proportion as we live near to the Lord, we are under divine protection. In proportion as we waver in our loyalty, we come nearer to the Adversary. One might thus endanger himself without actually sinning. His heart might still be true to the Lord, yet he might be touched by sin by being involved with others in some way. Therefore the Word of God warns us to watch our actions, to watch our companionship, our conduct, to abide “in the secret place of the most High,” to “make straight paths for our feet,” lest that which is weak and lame be turned out of the way. Rather, let it be healed, by keeping very close to our God, as far away as possible from the point of danger.—Z 1915-237 (Hymn 145)
DECEMBER 27
Pray without ceasing.—I Thessalonians 5:17
WHEN we come to know that the Holy Spirit is the influence, the disposition of God, then we know what we are praying for. We want more and more of the Holy Spirit of God, that it may make us more gentle, more kind, more loving; we want more and more of the mind of Christ (mind and Spirit being used here interchangeably). We realize that we must strive to have this mind of Christ. If we day by day cultivate the spirit of the devil, we cannot expect ever to attain the mind of Christ. If we determinedly cultivate the Spirit, the mind of Christ, then the spirit of the Adversary can gain no entrance into our hearts; and we shall become more and more sound in mind. We come to know more and more the perfect will of God as we are filled with his Spirit. Thus we are being prepared for an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom.—Z 1915-185 (Hymn 104)
DECEMBER 28
The end of the commandment is charity [love] out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.—I Timothy 1:5
WE MAY never attain to the place, while we are in the flesh, where we shall say no word, do not act, to hurt a brother. We all have imperfections that we are striving against. But “the Lord looketh upon the heart,” and not at the imperfect execution. If he sees the earnest endeavor to do his will, he will cover the deficiencies and imperfections with the merit of our Savior. If we make a mistake, we are to be glad to rectify it and to make proper apologies and reparation—assuring the brother that we did not mean to hurt his feelings. Or, if under temptation we felt less concern than we should about wounding him, we should ask pardon, confessing our sorrow, and then confess our fault at the throne of grace, asking forgiveness in Jesus’ name. If, then, we hope to be of those who will be granted a place with Christ in his throne, let us see to it that by his grace we attain the end of the commandment, the end of the Law, as given to the new creation. Let it be “love out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and an undissembled faith”—a love which inspires to the willing, joyful sacrifice of every earthly hope and ambition, and which gladly lays down even life itself for the brethren, that we may be accounted worthy of the heavenly inheritance awaiting the “more than conquerors.”—Z 1915-264 (Hymn 165)
DECEMBER 29
It is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.—Romans 13:11
IT IS possible that some, even of the fully consecrated children of God, surrounded with the cares of this life, or weary of the struggle against sin and evil, or somewhat beguiled by the present things of time and sense, may have become more or less drowsy, and so stand in special need of the stirring exhortation which the apostle in this connection gives to the church—particularly appropriate today: “It is now high time to awake out of sleep”! It is time for earnest, searching self-examination, for a more diligent watching to see that we do not allow the things of this “present evil world” to absorb our thoughts and energies to the imperiling of our heavenly hopes, so soon to be realized if we remain wholly faithful to the end. It is highly important that we seek for a still closer walk with God, a more intimate fellowship with him, a more thorough self-abnegation, a more diligent cross-bearing, a more faithful conformity in every respect to the whole will of the Lord concerning us. And this will of the Lord, we know, is not unreasonable, and his grace sufficient is promised for every day, every hour, every moment!—Z 1915-283 (Hymn Appendix I)
DECEMBER 30
He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him.—Psalm 91:15
THE Lord is ever with his people; therefore they should not be discouraged. His children have the comfort and assistance of the letter of the truth and the spirit of the truth. But they have all these blessings only in proportion as they are willing to exercise faith; for the glories promised are not yet theirs in reality; these are theirs only by promise now, “I will deliver him and honor him.” The deliverance of the Lord’s saints, in the fullest sense of the word, will be by their participation in the first, chief resurrection. Our Lord Jesus was delivered from all his trials and afflictions when he was raised from the dead. The promise to the church also is that we shall be delivered when our resurrection “change” shall come to us. “Sown in weakness,” we shall be “raised in power”; sown an animal body, we shall be “raised a spiritual body.” This will be the full deliverance, and with it will come the promised honor and exaltation. There are deliverances, of course, for the children of God at the present time, according to our need. And the Lord gives us a certain kind of honor, but not usually the kind of honor that the world appreciates. This honor may come mixed with such tribulation as would make it not desirable in the world’s eye. But the honor that will come to the saints in the end will be such as all will know and will appreciate. All the members of Christ will share in the kingdom glories and honors with their Head. He and the members of his body glorified will reign in the Father’s kingdom, and will be associated together throughout all eternity in’ the great work of God.—Z 1915-258 (Hymn 149)
DECEMBER 31
When He giveth quietness, who then can make trouble?—Job 34:29
HOW precious are such assurances when the soul is painfully conscious of its infirmities, of its utter inability to fully measure up to the perfect law of righteousness! How blessed it is to know that when our hearts are loyal and true, our God does not mark against us the unavoidable blemishes of our earthen vessel! If we come daily to him for cleansing, through the merits of our Redeemer, our failures are not imputed to us, but freely forgiven and washed away. The perfect righteousness of our Savior is our glorious dress, arrayed in which we may come to God with humble boldness, courage—even into the presence of the great Jehovah, the King of kings and Lord of lords. If thus God ignores the infirmities of our flesh, and fully receives us and communes with us as his dear children, we should so regard one another, considering not and charging not against one another the infirmities of the flesh, which each humbly confesses, and which they, like us, are earnestly endeavoring to overcome by the grace of God, to the best of their ability. To each one of the Lord’s true children the words of the apostle apply: “If God be for us, who can be against us?”—Z 1915-345 (Hymn 201)