(Concluded.)
EGW
After all the experiences of Israel and the pledges of God to his people, we marvel at their hardness and their unbelief. But the expression of the feelings of one is contagious, and Satan stands by to inspire other hearts with the very same spirit. Their present inconvenience, their thoughts of what might be, the hopeless, discouraging picture of the desolate wilderness, they were inspired by Satan to charge upon Moses and Aaron. They accused their leaders of bringing them from the slavery of Egypt to kill them and their children with hunger. All their lives they had been accustomed to walk by sight. Here they had every evidence that they had an unseen Leader. He had just given them a statute, assuring them how much he would do for them if they would keep his commandments. “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” Please read this whole chapter. RH June 8, 1897, par. 1
“And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake today, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.” The Lord had graciously promised to relieve all their grievances. He desired to give them a religious training under the eye of God, “that I may prove them,” he said, “whether they will walk in my law, or no.” The first lesson taught them was that their constant dependence for daily nourishment was upon God, and that by him their wants would be abundantly supplied. RH June 8, 1897, par. 2
Speak not lightly of the restrictions placed upon Israel in Sinai regarding the cooking of manna. The Lord has placed barriers around his Sabbath, that it may not be regarded with the least carelessness or irreverence. When the Lord said, “Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath: bake that which ye will bake today, and seethe that ye will seethe,” he meant that Friday should be our preparation day, in which we are to do all our cooking. The Sabbath is not to be a day when titbits shall be prepared or cooked. If it is really essential to have beans on the Sabbath, let them be cooked on Friday, and kept warm in the oven. They need not be eaten cold unless preferred. But let no remarks be made as though it were a very light thing whether or not we regard the special requirements of God in regard to the Sabbath. It is not left for any man or woman to venture to disregard one requirement of God. RH June 8, 1897, par. 3
I see no question in this matter as to what we shall have on the Sabbath day. The food which we have provided on the preparation day can be placed on the table warm, especially in cold weather. In traveling, persons eat cold lunches for days together, and realize no inconvenience or harm. We want palatable, healthful food every day of the week; but upon the Sabbath, let your cook have her day of rest, in the place of cooking for a family. Let every provision be made on Friday. But do not let the Sabbath be regarded as a day in which to get something especially gratifying to eat. Educate your children and every member of the family to enjoy plain, simple food, and to be ready to receive the blessing which the Lord of the Sabbath is waiting to bestow upon all who are in an attitude to receive it. He has this for every one who shows his love for God in keeping holy the Sabbath day, God's great memorial of creation. Speak softly, walk softly. Let not a word of lightness or trifling come from your lips. This is God's day. He has blessed the seventh day, as his Sabbath, to be sacredly observed. RH June 8, 1897, par. 4
The Sabbath is not to be a gloomy day, a day of unrest and uneasiness. Parents may take their children outdoors, in the groves, in the flower garden, and teach them that the Lord has given them these beautiful things as an expression of his love. Christ has said: “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” RH June 8, 1897, par. 5
Let the mind be directed to the lessons of the book of nature, and to nature's God, who made the world in six days, and rested on the seventh; “wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Do not make light of the Sabbath requirements; and when it comes to eating on the Sabbath, those who would feed on Christ, who would have the rich blessing of God, will partake of a very simple diet on that day. RH June 8, 1897, par. 6
The thoughts are not to be educated to be full of what we shall eat, and what we shall drink, and wherewithal we shall be clothed. We need to prepare for the Sabbath. The clothing that we shall wear on that day is to be put in order. The boots should not be left unblacked or unpolished until the Sabbath. You dishonor God by doing this work on that day. How easy it is to allow reckless neglect of the preparation for the Sabbath! RH June 8, 1897, par. 7
Teach the children that God means just what he says. The very same Jesus who has given us the Sabbath, and has directed us how to keep it holy, is the Alpha of Genesis, and carries us step by step through the ages, through the incarnation, through his offering of himself as a living sacrifice for the redemption of a fallen world. He was tried, but was not condemned, because there was nothing to condemn. After the trial Pilate said, “I find no fault in him.” Yet he gave himself up to be murdered because his own nation was jealous of him, and hated him. Christ died as a malefactor on the cross of Calvary. He was laid in the grave. The third day he rose from the dead, and proclaimed, over the rent sepulcher of Joseph: “I am the resurrection, and the life.” He ascended to his Father, and today he is our advocate in the courts of heaven. RH June 8, 1897, par. 8
We trace Christ all through the Old Testament and the New. “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” RH June 8, 1897, par. 9
Here we have the Alpha of Genesis and the Omega of Revelation. The blessing is promised to all those who keep the commandments of God, and who co-operate with him in the proclamation of the third angel's message. “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.” That which Christ has spoken in the Old Testament is for all the world. What he has said in reference to his commandments is not yea and nay, but yea and amen. RH June 8, 1897, par. 10
In this perilous period, when we see universal contempt placed upon the law of God, when the world is choosing between the holy Sabbath of the fourth commandment and the spurious sabbath, shall we say one word that will detract from the words of the Lord of the Sabbath? The Lord God of heaven knew what a deadening influence the abounding iniquity would have upon the chosen believers, what a paralyzing power it would be against piety and true loyalty to God. In giving us the statement of the occurrences which would mark the approach of the second advent of our Lord and Saviour, Christ says, “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” We see this fulfilled to the letter. The experience of many is becoming dwarfed and sickly and wonderfully deformed. Everything that surrounds us creates an atmosphere that is saturated with unrighteousness. Even under the most faithful surroundings, it is difficult to hold fast the Christian profession of faith unto the end, to stand decidedly and earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. But it is most difficult to keep true and loyal to God's holy commandments, when there are few in number to help and encourage one another, and when many of these are sickly and ready to die because they do not honor God by keeping his commandments truly and loyally. RH June 8, 1897, par. 11
Much so-called Christianity passes for genuine, faithful soundness, but it is because those who profess it have no persecution to endure for the truth's sake. When the day comes when the law of God is made void, and the church is sifted by the fiery trials that are to try all that live upon the earth, a great proportion of those who are supposed to be genuine will give heed to seducing spirits, and will turn traitors and betray sacred trusts. They will prove our very worst persecutors. “Of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them;” and many will give heed to seducing spirits. RH June 8, 1897, par. 12
Those who have lived on the flesh and blood of the Son of God—his holy word—will be strengthened, rooted, and grounded in the faith. They will see increased evidence why they should prize and obey the word of God. With David, they will say, “They have made void thy law. Therefore love I thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.” While others count them dross, they will arise to defend the faith. All who study their convenience, their pleasure, their enjoyment, will not stand in their trial. “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.” Precious words! “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” RH June 8, 1897, par. 13
The fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah is to be read, studied, and practised. “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drouth, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” RH June 8, 1897, par. 14
Let no one yield to temptation and become less fervent in his attachment to God's law because of the contempt placed upon it; for that is the very thing that should make us pray with all our heart, and soul, and voice, “It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law.” Therefore, because of the universal contempt, I will not turn traitor when God will be most glorified and most honored by my loyalty. RH June 8, 1897, par. 15
What! shall Seventh day Adventists relax their devotedness when all their capabilities and powers should be placed on the Lord's side; when an unflinching testimony, noble and uplifting, should come from their lips? “Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.” When the law of God is most derided and brought into the most contempt, then it is time for every true follower of Christ, for those whose hearts have been given to God, and who are fixed to obey God, to stand unflinchingly for the faith once delivered to the saints. “Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.” It is time to fight when champions are most needed. RH June 8, 1897, par. 16
Those who make light of the third angel's message do so because they know little of Daniel or the Revelation. They have not read these prophecies with a determination to find out the meaning by prayer, by study, and by fasting. If they had had the experience of Daniel or of John, they would know that the third angel's message will go forth unto perfect victory. Those who proclaim that message because they see and believe it, will understand that very much is comprehended by it. The third angel is represented as flying through the heavens with a banner on which is inscribed, “The commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” All who will gather warmth from the coldness of others, courage from their defections, and loyalty from their treason, will triumph with the third angel's message. RH June 8, 1897, par. 17