“Let my teaching drop as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
As raindrops on the tender herb,
And as showers on the grass.”
      —Deuteronomy 32:2

To His children today the Lord declares, “Be strong … and work: for I am with you.” The Christian always has a strong helper in the Lord. The way of the Lord’s helping we may not know; but this we do know: He will never fail those who put their trust in Him. Could Christians realize how many times the Lord has ordered their way, that the purposes of the enemy concerning them might not be accomplished, they would not stumble along complainingly. Their faith would be stayed on God, and no trial would have power to move them. They would acknowledge Him as their wisdom and efficiency, and He would bring to pass that which He desires to work out through them.

The earnest pleadings and the encouragements given through Haggai were emphasized and added to by Zechariah, whom God raised up to stand by his side in urging Israel to carry out the command to arise and build. Zechariah’s first message was an assurance that God’s word never fails and a promise of blessing to those who would hearken to the sure word of prophecy.

With fields lying waste, with their scant store of provisions rapidly failing, and surrounded as they were by unfriendly peoples, the Israelites nevertheless moved forward by faith in response to the call of God’s messengers, and labored diligently to restore the ruined temple. It was a work requiring firm reliance upon God. As the people endeavored to do their part, and sought for a renewal of God’s grace in heart and life, message after message was given them through Haggai and Zechariah, with assurances that their faith would be richly rewarded and that the word of God concerning the future glory of the temple whose walls they were rearing would not fail. In this very building would appear, in the fullness of time, the Desire of all nations as the Teacher and Saviour of humanity.

Thus the builders were not left to struggle alone; “with them were the prophets of God helping them;” and the Lord of hosts Himself had declared, “Be strong … and work: for I am with you” (Ezra 5:2; Haggai 2:4).—Prophets and Kings, 576, 577.

Further Reflection: Do I still cherish directions from God that were given through prophets of old?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

Is Christ divided?—1 Corinthians 1:13

If thy brother trespass against thee, He says, rebuke him: and if he repent, forgive him. Do not hold him off as unworthy of your confidence. Consider thyself lest thou also be tempted. Bear in mind that none but Christ can read the heart. By Him actions are weighed.

The church should avoid that prejudice that rises like a flash when political subjects, which cross the opinions they have cherished, are introduced. National antipathies and sectarian feelings are not to be held by anyone. Those who stand under the banner of Christ are to stand under no other banner. They are to acknowledge the supreme authority of the King of kings and Lord of lords. They are not to appeal to Caesar or Pilate. In His own good time Christ will avenge His own elect which cry day and night unto Him. Christ has been the uniting stone, the chief corner stone in all ages.

The patriarchs, the Levitical priesthood, the Christian churches, all find their center in Christ. He is to be all and in all. “The grace of God, that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:11-14).

Paul asks, “Is Christ divided?” (1 Corinthians 1:13). Have we not one spiritual Head? When my heart is overwhelmed, then pray, “Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2). Precious is His all atoning sacrifice, His blood shed in our behalf. Precious is His all-atoning merits, precious His sanctifying righteousness. Precious is His infinite fullness and sufficiency. “Ye are complete in Him” (Colossians 2:10). “And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace” (John 1:16). All other foundation is shifting sand. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female. We are all one in Christ Jesus, and Christ is our Head.—Manuscript 89, 1898.

Further Reflection: What can I do today to help foster the Christian unity that Christ came to bring, in my home, church, and community?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

But we preach Christ crucified.—1 Corinthians 1:23

Jesus, whom Paul was about to present before the Greeks in Corinth as the Christ, was a Jew of lowly origin, reared in a town proverbial for its wickedness. He had been rejected by His own nation and at last crucified as a malefactor. The Greeks believed that there was need of elevating the human race, but they regarded the study of philosophy and science as the only means of attaining to true elevation and honor. Could Paul lead them to believe that faith in the power of this obscure Jew would uplift and ennoble every power of the being?

To the minds of multitudes living at the present time, the cross of Calvary is surrounded by sacred memories. Hallowed associations are connected with the scenes of the crucifixion. But in Paul’s day the cross was regarded with feelings of repulsion and horror. To uphold as the Saviour of humanity one who had met death on the cross, would naturally call forth ridicule and opposition.

Paul well knew how his message would be regarded by both the Jews and the Greeks of Corinth. “We preach Christ crucified,” he admitted, “unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23). Among his Jewish hearers there were many who would be angered by the message he was about to proclaim. In the estimation of the Greeks his words would be absurd folly. He would be looked upon as weak-minded for attempting to show how the cross could have any connection with the elevation of the race or the salvation of human beings.

But to Paul the cross was the one object of supreme interest. Ever since he had been arrested in his career of persecution against the followers of the crucified Nazarene he had never ceased to glory in the cross. At that time there had been given him a revelation of the infinite love of God, as revealed in the death of Christ; and a marvelous transformation had been wrought in his life, bringing all his plans and purposes into harmony with heaven. From that hour he had been a new man in Christ. He knew by personal experience that when a sinner once beholds the love of the Father, as seen in the sacrifice of His Son, and yields to the divine influence, a change of heart takes place, and henceforth Christ is all and in all.—The Acts of the Apostles, 244, 245.

Further Reflection: What new lesson has the cross taught me about the infinite love of God?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

“And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.”—Exodus 12:7

While the angel of death was passing through Egypt, each family of the Hebrews was to eat the lamb, that they were commanded to roast whole. This lamb was to be without disease or blemish of any kind. It was to be eaten with unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs. This was to keep in their minds the cruel bondage they had suffered in consequence of their sins in forgetting God, and breaking His commandments. Eating bitter herbs was to remind them that they would reap the fruit of their doings however unwelcome it might be to them. The eating of the bitter herbs was also for the purpose of raising an inquiry in the minds of their children as to the reason of their doing this, and then the parents should relate to them their sufferings in Egypt and the wonderful power of God in their deliverance on that memorable night when they were hurried out of Egypt, by the Egyptians themselves….

The striking of the door-post with the blood of the slain lamb was to represent the blood of Christ to which they were to look forward.

Fifteen hundred years after this night, Jesus, the antitype of the paschal lamb, died upon the cross for the sins of the world. The lamb without blemish represented the spotless Lamb of God, without the taint of sin. As the houses of Israel were to be sprinkled with blood in order for the avenging angel to pass over them, so it will be necessary for us to repent of our sins and avail ourselves of the virtue of the blood of Christ to guard us from the avenging angel of God in the day of slaughter. Through Christ alone is our pardon to be obtained. His blood will protect us from a sin-avenging God.

While the institution of the passover was pointing backward to the miraculous deliverance of the Hebrews, it likewise pointed forward, showing the death of the Son of God before it transpired. In the last passover our Lord observed with His disciples, He instituted the Lord’s supper in place of the passover, to be observed in memory of His death. No longer had they need of the passover, for He, the great antitypical Lamb, was ready to be sacrificed for the sins of the world. Type met antitype in the death of Christ.—The Youth’s Instructor, May 1873.

Further Reflection: How many times should I accept Christ’s atoning sacrifice for my sins?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

“Behold, a sower went out to sow.”—Matthew 13:3

In the East the state of affairs was so unsettled, and there was so great danger from violence that the people dwelt chiefly in walled towns, and the husbandmen went forth daily to their labor outside the walls. So Christ, the heavenly Sower, went forth to sow. He left His home of security and peace, left the glory that He had with the Father before the world was, left His position upon the throne of the universe. He went forth, a suffering, tempted man; went forth in solitude, to sow in tears, to water with His blood, the seed of life for a world lost.

His servants in like manner must go forth to sow. When called to become a sower of the seed of truth, Abraham was bidden, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee” (Genesis 12:1). “And he went out, not knowing whither he went” (Hebrews 11:8). So to the apostle Paul, praying in the temple at Jerusalem, came the message from God, “Depart; for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles” (Acts 22:21). So those who are called to unite with Christ must leave all, in order to follow Him. Old associations must be broken up, plans of life relinquished, earthly hopes surrendered. In toil and tears, in solitude, and through sacrifice, must the seed be sown.

“The sower soweth the word.” Christ came to sow the world with truth. Ever since the fall of humanity, Satan has been sowing the seeds of error. It was by a lie that he first gained control over men and women, and thus he still works to overthrow God’s kingdom in the earth and to bring people under his power. A sower from a higher world, Christ came to sow the seeds of truth. He who had stood in the councils of God, who had dwelt in the innermost sanctuary of the Eternal, could bring to humans the pure principles of truth. Ever since the fall of humanity, Christ had been the Revealer of truth to the world. By Him the incorruptible seed, “the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever,” is communicated to men and women (1 Peter 1:23). In that first promise spoken to our fallen race in Eden, Christ was sowing the gospel seed. But it is to His personal ministry among humanity and to the work which He thus established that the parable of the sower especially applies.—Christ’s Object Lessons, 36-38.

Further Reflection: What seed can I sow for the kingdom of God today?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names