Chap. 31---Storing the Mind with Truth

"That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no
more. Job 34:32.
Take your Bible and present yourself before your heavenly Father, saying,
“Enlighten me; teach me what is truth.” The Lord will regard your prayer, and the
Holy Spirit will impress the truth upon your soul. In searching the Scriptures for
yourself, you will become established in the faith. It is of the greatest importance
that you continually search the Scriptures, storing the mind with the Word of
God, for you may be separated from the companionship of Christians, and placed
where you will not have the privilege of meeting with the children of God. You
need the treasures of God’s Word hidden in your heart, that when opposition
comes upon you, you may bring everything to the Scriptures....
We are living in the last days, when error of a most deceptive character is
accepted and believed, while truth is discarded. Many are drifting into darkness
and infidelity, picking flaws with the Bible, bringing in superstitious inventions,
unscriptural theories, and speculations of vain philosophy; but it is the duty of
everyone to seek a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.
Truth is efficient only as it is carried out in practical life. If the Word of God
condemns some habit you have indulged, a feeling you have cherished, a spirit
you have manifested, turn not from the Word of God, but turn away from the evil
of your doings, and let Jesus cleanse and sanctify your heart. Confess your faults,
and forsake them.
Do not merely assent to the truth, and fail to be a doer of the words of Christ.
The truth must be applied to self; it must bring men and women who receive it
to the Rock, that they may fall upon the Rock and be broken. Then Jesus can
mold and fashion their characters after His own divine character. If we would
listen to His voice, we must let silence reign in the heart. The clamors of self, its
pretensions, its lusts, must be rebuked, and we must put on the robe of humility,
and take our place as humble learners in the school of Christ."

Chap. 22---Never Absent from the Mind of God

"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 1 Peter 5:7.
To enlarge our views of God’s goodness, Christ calls upon us to behold the
works of His hands. “Behold the fowls of the air,” He says, “they sow not, neither
do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are
ye not much better than they?” Matthew 6:26....
Though men and women have sinned grievously, they are not forsaken. The
hand that upholds the world, upholds and strengthens His weakest child. The
great Master Artist, whose skill is infinitely beyond the skill of any human being,
who gives to the lily of the field its delicate and beautiful tints, cares for the little
sparrow. Not one falls to the ground without His notice....
If the flower is given a beauty that outvies the glory of Solomon, what can be
the measurement of the estimate God places on His purchased heritage? Christ
points us to the care bestowed on the things that wither in a day, to show us
how much love God must have for the beings created in His own image.... He
opens before us the volume of providence, and bids us behold the names written
therein. In this volume every human being has a page, on which is written the
events of his life history. And from the mind of God these names are never absent
for a moment. Wonderful indeed is God’s love and care for the beings He has
created....
That He might save the souls of perishing human beings, He made a gift of
such magnitude that it can never be said that God could have made His gift, His
donation to the human family, greater. His gift defies computation. All this God
did that man might become impregnated with the divine love and benevolence.
Thus He would assure sinners that sins of the greatest magnitude can be forgiven
if the transgressor seeks for pardon, surrendering himself, body, soul, and spirit,
to be transformed by the grace of God and changed into His likeness.
In behalf of man God has poured out the whole treasury of heaven, and in
return He expects and claims our entire affections."

Chap. 11 Christ's Object Lessons COL. Things New and Old (excerpt)

"The word of God includes the Scriptures of the Old Testament as well as of the New. One is not
complete without the other. Christ declared that the truths of the Old Testament are as valuable as those
of the New. Christ was as much man's Redeemer in the beginning of the world as He is today. Before
He clothed His divinity with humanity and came to our world, the gospel message was given by Adam,
Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, and Noah. Abraham in Canaan and Lot in Sodom bore the message, and
from generation to generation faithful messengers proclaimed the Coming One. The rites of the Jewish
economy were instituted by Christ Himself. He was the foundation of their system of sacrificial offerings,
the great antitype of all their religious service. The blood shed as the sacrifices were offered pointed to
the sacrifice of the Lamb of God. All the typical offerings were fulfilled in Him.  {COL 126.2}
     Christ as manifested to the patriarchs, as symbolized in the sacrificial service, as portrayed in the law,
and as revealed by the prophets, is the riches of the Old Testament. Christ in His life, His death, and His
resurrection, Christ as He is manifested by the Holy Spirit, is the treasure of the New Testament. Our
Saviour, the outshining of the Father's glory, is both the Old and the New.
                                                                            127
 {COL 126.3}
     Of Christ's life and death and intercession, which prophets had foretold, the apostles were to go
forth as witnesses. Christ in His humiliation, in His purity and holiness, in His matchless love, was to be
their theme. And in order to preach the gospel in its fullness, they must present the Saviour not only as
revealed in His life and teachings, but as foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament and as
symbolized by the sacrificial service.  {COL 127.1}
     Christ in His teaching presented old truths of which He Himself was the originator, truths which He
had spoken through patriarchs and prophets; but He now shed upon them a new light. How different
appeared their meaning! A flood of light and spirituality was brought in by His explanation. And He
promised that the Holy Spirit should enlighten the disciples, that the word of God should be ever
unfolding to them. They would be able to present its truths in new beauty.  {COL 127.2}
     Ever since the first promise of redemption was spoken in Eden, the life, the character, and the
mediatorial work of Christ have been the study of human minds. Yet every mind through whom the Holy
Spirit has worked has presented these themes in a light that is fresh and new. The truths of redemption
are capable of constant development and expansion. Though old, they are ever new, constantly
revealing to the seeker for truth a greater glory and a mightier power.  {COL 127.3}
     In every age there is a new development of truth, a message of God to the people of that generation.
The old truths are all essential; new truth is not independent of the old, but an unfolding of it. It is only as
the old truths are understood that we can comprehend the new. When Christ desired to open to His
disciples the truth of His resurrection, He began "at Moses and all the prophets"
                                                                            128
and "expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself." Luke 24:27. But it is the
light which shines in the fresh unfolding of truth that glorifies the old. He who rejects or neglects the new
does not really possess the old. For him it loses its vital power and becomes but a lifeless form.  {COL
127.4}
     There are those who profess to believe and to teach the truths of the Old Testament, while they
reject the New. But in refusing to receive the teachings of Christ, they show that they do not believe that
which patriarchs and prophets have spoken. "Had ye believed Moses," Christ said, "ye would have
believed Me; for he wrote of Me." John 5:46. Hence there is no real power in their teaching of even the
Old Testament.  {COL 128.1}
     Many who claim to believe and to teach the gospel are in a similar error. They set aside the Old
Testament Scriptures, of which Christ declared, "They are they which testify of Me." John 5:39. In
rejecting the Old, they virtually reject the New; for both are parts of an inseparable whole. No man can
rightly present the law of God without the gospel, or the gospel without the law. The law is the gospel
embodied, and the gospel is the law unfolded. The law is the root, the gospel is the fragrant blossom
and fruit which it bears.  {COL 128.2}
     The Old Testament sheds light upon the New, and the New upon the Old. Each is a revelation of the
glory of God in Christ. Both present truths that will continually reveal new depths of meaning to the
earnest seeker."  {COL 128.3}

Christ's Object Lessons (1900) / Chap. 10 - The Net

     "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind;
which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast
the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked
from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of
teeth."  {COL 122.1}
     The casting of the net is the preaching of the gospel. This gathers both good and evil into the church.
When the mission of the gospel is completed, the judgment will accomplish the work of separation.
Christ saw how the existence of false brethren in the church would cause the way of truth to be evil
spoken of. The world would revile the gospel because of the inconsistent lives of false professors. Even
Christians would be caused to stumble as they saw that many who bore Christ's name were not
controlled by His Spirit. Because these sinners were in the church, men would be in danger of thinking
that God
                                                                            123
excused their sins. Therefore Christ lifts the veil from the future and bids all to behold that it is character,
not position, which decides man's destiny.  {COL 122.2}
     Both the parable of the tares and that of the net plainly teach that there is no time when all the
wicked will turn to God. The wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest. The good and the bad
fish are together drawn ashore for a final separation.  {COL 123.1}
     Again, these parables teach that there is to be no probation after the judgment. When the work of
the gospel is completed, there immediately follows the separation between the good and the evil, and
the destiny of each class is forever fixed.  {COL 123.2}
     God does not desire the destruction of any. "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the
death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil
ways; for why will ye die?" Eze. 33:11. Throughout the period of probationary time His Spirit is
entreating men to accept the gift of life. It is only those who reject His pleading that will be left to perish.
God has declared that sin must be destroyed as an evil ruinous to the universe. Those who cling to sin
will perish in its destruction."  {COL 123.3}

MINE TO CHOOSE

"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day
whom ye will serve; . . . but as for me and my house, we will serve the
Lord. Joshua 24:15.
In our world there are two classes. One is made up of those who
behold a crucified and risen Saviour. The other includes all who
have chosen to look away from the cross, and to follow the leadings
of satanic influences. The latter class are busily engaged in putting
stumbling blocks before God’s people, to cause them to fall, and
turn from the path of obedience into the broad way of disobedience
and death. . . .
Many choose unrighteousness because Satan presents it in such a
way that it seems attractive to those who are not on guard against his
wiles. And he works in a special manner through unsanctified men
and women who profess to be children of God. In some way or other
the enemy will seek to deceive all, even the very elect. Only as we
are partakers of the divine nature can we escape the corrupting influ-
ences that are brought to bear upon us by the enemy of our souls.
As Satan seeks to break down the barriers of the soul, by tempt-
ing us to indulge in sin, we must by living faith retain our connec-
tion with God, and have confidence in His strength to enable us to
overcome every besetment. We are to flee from evil, and seek righ-
teousness, meekness, and holiness. . . .
It is time for every one of us to decide whose side we are on.
The agencies of Satan will work with every mind that will allow it-
self to be worked by him. But there are also heavenly agencies wait-
ing to communicate the bright rays of the glory of God to all who
are willing to receive Him.14
It is ours to choose whether we will be numbered with the ser-
vants of Christ or the servants of Satan. Every day we show by our
conduct whose service we have chosen. . . .
Dear young reader, what choice have you made? What is the
record of your daily life?"

The One Vast Gift Of God Jan 7 Our Higher Calling

"Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. 2 Cor. 9:15.
Those who receive Christ by faith will be looked upon by
Heaven as precious pearls for which the merchantman has paid an
infinite price, and the human agents who find Christ will realize that
they have found a heavenly treasure. They will be anxious to sell all
that they have in order to buy the field which contains this treasure.
As they contemplate the love of God, as the plan of salvation opens
to their view, as the mystery of Christ’s condescension becomes
plainer to them, as they see the sacrifice that He made for them, they
count nothing too dear to give up for His sake. The more they dwell
upon the wonderful love of God, the vaster becomes its proportions,
and the brightness of the glory of God becomes too glorious for
mortal vision.
The Lord God of heaven collected all the riches of the universe,
and laid them down in order to purchase the pearl of lost human-
ity. The Father gave all His divine resources into the hands of Christ
in order that the richest blessings of heaven might be poured out
upon a fallen race. God could not express greater love than He has
expressed in giving the Son of His bosom to this world. This gift
was given to man to convince him that God had left nothing un-
done that He could do, that there is nothing held in reserve, but
that all heaven has been poured out in one vast gift. The present
and eternal happiness of man consists in receiving God’s love, and
in keeping God’s commandments.
Christ is our redeemer. He is the Word that became flesh and
dwelt among us. He is the fountain in which we may be washed and
cleansed from all impurity. He is the costly sacrifice that has been
given for the reconciliation of man. The universe of heaven, the
worlds unfallen, the fallen world, and the confederacy of evil can-
not say that God could do more for the salvation of man than He
has done. Never can His gift be surpassed, never can He display a
richer depth of love. Calvary represents His crowning work. . . . The
Lord would have His followers enraptured with God through the
knowledge of His paternal character."12
13