Be of Good Cheer

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I feel very thankful that it is our privilege to believe in God, and to walk carefully in accordance with the instruction He has given us in His Word. If we do this, our hearts will respond to the impressions of the Spirit of God, and we shall follow on to know the Lord, whose going forth is prepared as the morning. And let us always remember that just as His going forth is prepared as the morning, so we are to expect the revelations of His grace as we advance.

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But if we keep silent, if we do not feel the importance of moving in harmony with His will, we shall not have His blessing attending us. We cannot afford, brethren and sisters, to be without His help and guidance. We need to be in a position where we can talk with God. We are to commune with Him. He who is our sanctification, our righteousness, has given us the privilege of being in a position where we may have a continually increasing faith. We must ever live by faith, and follow on to know the Lord.

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God’s promises to us are so rich, so full, that we need never hesitate or doubt; we need never waver or backslide. In view of the encouragements that are found all through the Word of God, we have no right to be gloomy or despondent. We may have weakness of body; but the compassionate Saviour says: «Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.»

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Will you believe these assurances? Will you say, «Yes, Lord, I take Thee at Thy word. I will begin where I am, to talk an increase of faith; I will take hold of the promises; they are for me»? O brethren and sisters, what we want is a living, striving, growing faith in the promises of God, which are indeed for you and for me.

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Words of Encouragement Many, many times I have been instructed by the Lord to speak words of courage to His people. We are to put our trust in God, and believe in Him, and act in accordance with His will. We must ever remain in a position where we can praise the Lord and magnify His name. Then we shall see light in His Word, and follow on to know Him, whose going forth is prepared as the morning. Read 1 Peter 1:1-5.

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These words are all-sufficient evidence that God desires us to receive great blessings. His promises are so clearly stated that there is no cause for uncertainty. He desires us to take Him at His word. At times we shall be in great perplexity, and not know just what to do. But at such times it is our privilege to take our Bibles, and read the messages He has given us; and then get down on our knees, and ask Him to help us. Over and over again He has given evidence that He is a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God. He fulfills His promises in far greater measure than we expect to receive help.

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Perplexities So long as Satan continues to live, we shall have perplexity; and if we choose to follow the counsel of the enemy, we shall have constant difficulty; but if we refuse to yield to satanic influences, choosing rather to lay hold on God and on the promises of His Word, we shall be able to help and strengthen and uphold one another. Thus we shall bring into the work with which we are connected a spirit of courage.

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Never are we to utter a word that would arouse doubt or fear, or that would cast a shadow over the minds of others. I am determined not to permit myself to speak discouraging words; and when I hear criticism and complaint, or an expression of doubt and fear, I know that he who thus speaks has his eyes turned away from the Saviour. I know every such person does not appreciate Him who at infinite sacrifice left the royal courts and came down into the world that was lost, and lived among the children of men in order that He might speak words of hope and good cheer to the discouraged and the desponding.

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Wherever we are, we are under obligation, as disciples of our Lord and Master, to anchor our faith in the promises of God. Individually we are to believe. We are not to cast about for a possible doubt, or imagine that sometime we may have to stand beneath the shadow of a cloud that seems to be gathering. We are chosen of God to be His children. We have been bought with an infinite price, and we have no occasion for placing the suggestions of the enemy before the assurances of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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The Lord desires us to act sensibly. We shall have trials; we need never expect anything else; for the time has not yet come when Satan is to be bound. Wherever we may be, we shall continue to have trials. But if we give up to the suggestions of the enemy, we lose the battle. Can we afford to yield to the arch-deceiver? Oh, no! We are to turn for help and deliverance to Him who «according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,» even the hope of an eternal inheritance reserved for those «who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.» . . .

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If unbelievers come in and talk their doubts and fears, remember that Satan is not dead. He has agencies through whom he works. But shall we become discouraged because of this? Oh, no! Christ, our Saviour, lives and reigns. Let us not look on the dark side. As soon as we yield to the temptation to do this, we shall have plenty of company. But there is nothing to be gained by looking on the dark side. What we want is courage in the Lord; and we want to follow on to know the Lord, that we may know that His going forth is prepared as the morning. This is not going back into darkness. You know how the morning is prepared. If you follow on to know the Lord every day, you will increase in brightness, in courage, in faith, and the Lord Jesus will be to you a present help in every time of need.— MS. 71, 1912 . —

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Present Duty We must seek to become a united people. Every phase of our work is to bear the signature of God. Those who have not placed themselves on the Lord’s side are becoming more bold and more defiant. He calls upon His people to take their stand firmly on the platform of eternal truth. To His true and loyal subjects He has given the words of eternal life. It is for them to obey His Word and do His work, in accordance with His instructions.

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God sends His Holy Spirit to kindle in the hearts of His followers a desire to open the Word to those who sit in darkness, that they may come to the light of the knowledge of God.

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We are to carry forward in our world gospel medical missionary work. This work means far more than many comprehend. The one great work of medical missionaries is to be to fulfill the commission to carry the gospel of salvation to all parts of the world.

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Medical missionary workers must be set apart by God Himself for His work. If they consecrate themselves to God, and are by Him sanctified, body, soul, and spirit; if they walk and work as men called to exalt Christ, they will be recognized as God’s appointed agencies. But they need to study carefully the life and character of their divine Example, that all their work may be done after the divine similitude. They need to be humble. Then the language of their hearts will be, «Who is sufficient for these things?» Their success depends upon co-operation with Christ.

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Who can say where Seventh-day Adventists might be standing today, had they fully carried out the instruction given in the sixth chapter of John, had they received the words which, Christ declares, are spirit and life to the receiver? I hope and pray that we may now seek to understand these words; for they mean much to every soul.

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Many do not earnestly seek to understand the lessons found in God’s Word. They lay aside the Bible, and allow their minds to become engrossed with the cheap reading found in books of fiction, newspapers, and magazines.

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«Search the Scriptures,» said Christ, «for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.» The Lord calls for workers whose motives are pure and sincere. He calls upon His people to arouse, and consecrate their capabilities to Him. He will lead all who are willing to be led by Him.

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Will not all now make a resolute determination to exclude from the life all unprofitable reading, and to feed upon the Word, which, if received, is eternal life? At this time there needs to be a close searching of the heart. To become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, is of far greater value than treasures of gold and silver and precious stones.— MS. 146, 1903 . —

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The Final Triumph of Truth Ages before His incarnation, Christ distinctly chose His position. He foresaw His life of humiliation, His rejection and crucifixion, His victory over satanic agencies, His victory over death and the grave. He saw the world flooded with light and life, and heard the song of triumph sung by the millions rescued from the hold of Satan.

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Christ is our Deliverer. He exclaims, «I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.» Thrice in rapid succession He exclaimed, «I will raise him up at the last day.»

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«Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all.» And Solomon, when in the capacity of a preacher tried to present the strongest motive to holy obedience—the motive that was above all estimate in view of the judgment to come—said, «Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.»

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God places every action in the scale. What a scene it will be! What impressions will be made regarding the holy character of God and the terrible enormity of sin, when the judgment, based on the law, is carried forward in the presence of all the worlds. Then before the mind of the unrepentant sinner there will be opened all the sins that he has committed, and he will see and understand the aggregate of sin and his own guilt.

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When the loyal overcomers are crowned, God would have present all who have transgressed His law and broken their covenant with Him. And not one of the righteous will be absent. They see, in the Judge, Christ Jesus, the one whom every sinner has crucified. The Son of man shall come in His glory, and before Him shall be gathered all nations. The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son.

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But the trumpet is waxing louder and louder, and the wicked dead come forth to confront Christ. When the multitude of the lost, those whom God has favored with great light, shall look upon the goodness, mercy, and love of Jesus, when those who might have been saved if they had accepted the light and the blessings of God’s Word, but who refused to obey His law, see the great sacrifice made in their behalf, they understand the unmeasured love of the Redeemer; they understand His incarnation, the sweatdrops of blood, the marks of the nails in His hands and feet, the pierced side; and they ask to be hidden from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. They see as in reality the condemnation of Christ, they hear the loud cry, «Release unto us Barabbas.» They hear the question, «What shall I do then with Jesus?» and the answer, «Crucify Him, crucify Him.»

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The reign of appearance and pretense is over. The voice of the righteous Judge speaks with awful emphasis, as He utters the sentence, «Depart from Me: I never knew you.»

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The division of the whole multitude will be made. «When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats; and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.» Those who have done good and those who have done evil will receive a reward according to their works. Then shall Jesus say to those on His right hand, «Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.» Thus He welcomes them, to live hereafter in eternal communion with Himself. Every voice in the mansions of heaven echoes the welcome, «Come, ye blessed of My Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.»— MS. 77, 1906 .