God’s call is not arbitrary but part of his grand plan of salvation and grounded
in his eternal wisdom. God elects and predestines his people “in love”
.
Deuteronomy 7:6-8
For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath
chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are
upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor
choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were
the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he
would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD
brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of
bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Those who have the privilege of being elected to receive God’s grace have
the responsibility of living according to God’s word. Redemption has a divine
purpose and intended result. God desires not only to forgive our sins but also
to conform us to the image of his beloved Son. When God chose his people,
they were not holy and blameless. They deserved his judgment and wrath.
Because of his great love and electing grace, he chose us, and through the
power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, is transforming the thoughts and actions
of his people. Ultimately, all of God’s purpose in election is done “to the praise
of his glorious grace”. Why God chose whom he chose is left to mystery.
Here the door of revelation is closed, and we are left only to worship him for
it. The basis of his choice was his own good pleasure. Election is according
to grace, and its reasons are found in God alone. It took twenty years for
Isaac and Rebekah to receive God’s answer to prayer. Look at the second
sons; Abel is chosen over Cain. Isaac is chosen over Ishmael. Jacob is
chosen over Esau. Joseph is chosen over his older brothers. Judah is
chosen over his older brothers. Ephraim is chosen over his older brother
Manasseh. David is chosen over his older brothers. Solomon is chosen over
Adonijah. God is setting up a picture about how he is going to accomplish
his purposes. The 2520 – the Israel of old and we the remnant of Revelation.
Psalms 22:30
A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
This is the seed that shall serve Him. These will keep up the solemn worship
of Him, profess and practice obedience to Him as Lord. God will have a
people in the world at the end of time, in order to that there shall be a
succession of true believers from generation to generation. And there is this
remnant, to whom shall pertain the service of God to whom God will give
grace to serve Him. Perhaps not the seed of the same persons, but each the
seed of Abraham as they be the seed of Christ. For grace does not run in a
blood for it is the seed, Christ, that preserves. We are acknowledged and
accounted for Him as this generation as He will be the same to us, His
children, that He was to those who went before us, our fathers, in His
kindness though we will not die with them, but shall be drawn out as heirs of
some better thing that will make all His perfect. We all shall be acknowledged
to be a seed. We will rise up in this day to keep the virtue of the generation
that is past, to do the work of our own generation to honor Christ as his pure
and entire deposit for the people who will be born again. These two things
we will declare; the everlasting righteousness which Jesus Christ has
brought in…his and not any of our own and that he is the foundation of our
very faith for the work of our redemption is the Lord’s doing and no
contrivance of ours. God does this in the wisdom and the mystery of His
purpose. God chooses by divine grace and not by who we are, what race we
are, what lineage we belong to, what wealth we have, what power we have
gained, or why any ability or merit we think we have achieved. Friends, we
rejoice in this! God was showing again and again through history that
belonging to God’s family and being children of promise would never be by
who you are, but by God who chooses by grace. Please notice that the
argument is not that God determines one person to be saved and determines
for another person to be condemned. This is not the issue being addressed
at all. Rather, the point is that God determined the means by which the
promises of God would come. If God says the promises will come through
Isaac, then so be it. If God says the promises will come through Jacob, then
so be it. If God says the promises come to those who come to Jesus by faith,
then so be it. This faith is that Word Jesus. For from the beginning of my days
I realize that my sadness is a reflection of something deeper…all my doings.
For holiness sake, what is this faith that God finds?
I have walked the path of some whose faith has fallen away. They are many.
It is as though a tree has fallen. May I not be counted in that number. Why
does it hurt so much to see someone renounce the truth. It creates a sense
of personal loss, but I grieve for more than broken fellowships. I grieve for
the loss of their relationship with Jesus. Oh, God cause me to not be of these.
Luke 1:1-8
And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to
pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not
God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she
came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for
a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor
regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by
her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust
judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night
unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them
speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on
the earth?
This truth is both sobering and encouraging. It is sobering because it strips
me of a naïve view of my walk with God and the work of the gospel. The time
to come is not all bright. Time reveals one’s faith, and it will ultimately be
proven when Jesus returns. It is heartbreaking to think that Jesus knows of
the countless people whose faith will wither. The realities of this world are
resultantly dispirited. He knew all this before he died on the cross. To have
the faith to know that God will bring justice to end all things that are not to
be…I will not be ashamed to wait on my God.
The world has known darkness before but not like that which is and is
coming. It is a new phenomenon. We are in the form of a juxtaposition of two
groups of people. There are selfless servants, who love Jesus, suffer for him,
and put other people above themselves. And there are those whose
teachings and lifestyles, if followed, could jeopardize the work God and leave
Jesus altogether for the love of the world. Our faith must be Jesus’ universal
authority as the determined and purposed reality that exists outside of our
human will. It is not us who make Jesus Lord. His power and authority are
established before any beginning as he subjects all things to himself and
revealed to the world by our exercised faith. We must reason prayerfully to
show the superiority of Christ, and disciple believers to live a narrative
centered on Jesus. Choose wisely whom to follow. Look for godly truth in
those who say the word of God. Listen to hear if what is said is true, no matter
what. So, walk in the light of the truth of God's Word not your feelings. Listen
to your thoughts and your emotions. They are intense and important. But ask
God to help you trust His Word above believing your emotions, and choose
to believe what the word says.
Titus 1:1-4
Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith
of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world
began; But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which
is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;
To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace,
from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Though we may be troubled by what some are doing, we are to have faith in
God to make a perfect judgment on these things. In Jesus, our faith powers
us, helps us to not judge others in areas that are not for us to judge and to
accept others even when they do things differently than we, for we are not
their judge…God is.
Our faith tells us that there is a “forever”. Present conflict is as vapor. We
have the volume of the book that enrolls us in the faith of Jesus. God knows
where faith is. He created it, gave it, and sustains it. He knows our faith looks
to Christ to see Him for everything. And because Christ looks to faith, he is
sure to find it out. Our experiences are swelling the waters of testimony to
the faithfulness of God. Every word is to confirm our confidence in the eternal
verities of our God and our Savior.
I speak not to us all, but I speak to those whom the Lord has specially
favored, to whom he has revealed his secrets, and made known his
covenant; for us to question his faithfulness is wickedness. What should His
elect believe? If it were possible for us to quit our faith, we would crucify our
Lord afresh. By faith, we know that our God knows us. We are resolved upon
this. Settled in our minds is our faith. Nothing is questionable about our God.
He is in contact with our soul knowing that our whole faith rests in Christ and
the merits of his cross. Our faith is not speculation, it is revelation. It is not a
probability; it is a certainty. Divine truth grounded by faith is what Jesus looks
for. Prayer is not an experiment with us. We find confidence in the efficacy of
prayer. It’s an expression of our faith giving us power with God. By way of
petition, we are to be confident of our expectations. God says to us
“concerning the work of my hands command ye me”.
Longsuffering will be with us a little while longer. Sin is not fiction.
And the peace we received through faith in Jesus is no dream. Holy calm
is due us in the time of trial. The more God reveals Himself in our reasoning in
truth, we receive utmost confirmation, that our faith will be such a rarity on the
earth that we become the visible church of God. You cannot believe in God too much. Believe without measure and without reserve. Hang your all upon the truth of God.
We are His prevailing Israel. Guard well our faith.
Note: There is this challenge for ministry; Darkness has been illuminated.
None today can be deprived of learning. Delights of tyrannizing human
beings was a plan of Satan. Provocation from the true people of God will be
met with the greatest of cruelty. Christ alone holds the title to every human
soul. We of truth must resolve to stand under the banner of rebellion against
all sin in this closing hour of mercy. God and His truth make all who are in
the Word free. We are the workmanship of God, a special work. There is
much to be thought of in this disagreeable troubling time. This thing is coming
again. PaM 93 and 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907.
Another subject that might be treated is the condition of the poor whites, and
another is the present condition of the blacks. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 5.
If the story of the poor whites could be told, and how they came to be what
they are, and the need of doing work amongst them was set forth in a simple
historical tale, it would have a tendency to interest the people of the North,
and they would heed your appeals more than if there were just your appeals
alone. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 14
E. G. White: Yes, there must be something to help the people to make the
application. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 15
P. T. Magan: And I have thought that the same things were true about the
blacks. You know, years ago you made the statement that the time would
come when there would be a terrible race war in the South. I do not know
whether you ever said it in so many words, but you intimated that slavery
would exist again. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 16.
E. G. White: Just as soon as people begin to make any kind of movement to
educate the blacks, there are some who are determined that it shall not be
done. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 17
E. G. White: There will be slavery just as verily as it has been, only upon a
basis that is more favorable and secure to the white people. 22LtMs, Ms 196,
1907, par. 19
P. T. Magan: More secure, because they do not have to feed the negroes
and care for them. Then if the negro has got outside that district, or if he is
loafing and not working, they can put him in the chain gang for a year. Now
they state in their plan that if anyone is caught, whose teachings excite theblacks to foolishness, that he can be taken and put in the chain gang.
Senator Tillman has printed that; he has printed it in the leading magazine in
the South, and he has spoken it in Chicago and also in Atlanta, Georgia.
There are many of the negroes today who are selling their property and
hiding their money in the earth for fear that their land and houses, if they
were known to own any, would be taken from them. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907,
par. 20
E. G. White: Then intelligent blacks may read from cause to effect. 22LtMs,
Ms 196, 1907, par. 21
P. T. Magan: There are some blessings coming with this present agitation.
Now there are a number of very good men in the South who see the trouble
coming, and who are trying to stop it. There is ex-governor _______ of
Alabama, a man who has been a friend to the Negro. He is advocating now,
(contrary to the southern customs), that the blacks shall be taught by white
people. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 24
E. G. White: That is the right way. It ought to have been done from the time
of their emancipation. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 25
P. T. Magan: And there is an ex-governor in Northern Georgia. He is known
as the preacher governor of Georgia. He is a very good man, and is stumping
the state at his own expense, preaching to both classes, to try to bring about
reconciliation and peace—the proper way of looking at things. So there are
openings that will help us at the same time that these other things are closing
down. There are some very good things mixed in with the terrible things that
we see coming. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 26
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