Daily Devotional

August 22, 2017

Repentant Souls Hate Sin and Love Righteousness

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:37, 38, NKJV.

How shall a person be just with God? How shall the sinner be made righteous? It is only through Christ that we can be brought into harmony with God, with holiness; but how are we to come to Christ? Many are asking the same question as did the multitude on the day of Pentecost, when, convicted of sin, they cried out, “What shall we do?” The first word of Peter’s answer was “Repent” (Acts 2:37, 38). At another time, shortly after, he said, “Repent …, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19).

Repentance includes sorrow for sin and a turning away from it. We shall not renounce sin unless we see its sinfulness; until we turn away from it in heart there will be no real change in the life.

There are many who fail to understand the true nature of repentance. Multitudes sorrow that they have sinned and even make an outward reformation because they fear that their wrongdoing will bring suffering upon themselves. But this is not repentance in the Bible sense. They lament the suffering rather than the sin. Such was the grief of Esau when he saw that the birthright was lost to him forever. Balaam, terrified by the angel standing in his pathway with drawn sword, acknowledged his guilt lest he should lose his life; but there was no genuine repentance for sin, no conversion of purpose, no abhorrence of evil.

Judas Iscariot, after betraying his Lord, exclaimed, “I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4). The confession was forced from his guilty soul by an awful sense of condemnation and a fearful looking for of judgment. The consequences that were to result to him filled him with terror, but there was no deep, heartbreaking grief in his soul that he had betrayed the spotless Son of God and denied the Holy One of Israel…. These all lamented the results of sin, but did not sorrow for the sin itself.

But when the heart yields to the influence of the Spirit of God, the conscience will be quickened, and the sinner will discern something of the depth and sacredness of God’s holy law, the foundation of His government in heaven and on earth…. [The sinner] sees the love of God, the beauty of holiness, the joy of purity; [and] longs to be cleansed and to be restored to communion with Heaven. – Steps to Christ, 23, 24.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 361.

Daily Devotional

August 21, 2017

Conversion Creates New Interests and New Loves

Put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts. Ephesians 4:22, NRSV.

God now calls upon you to repent, to be zealous in the work. Your eternal happiness will be determined by the course you now pursue. Can you reject the invitations of mercy now offered? Can you choose your own way? Will you cherish pride and vanity, and lose your soul at last? The Word of God plainly tells us that few will be saved, and that the greater number even of those who are called will prove themselves unworthy of everlasting life. They will have no part in heaven, but will have their portion with Satan, and experience the second death.

Men and women may escape this doom if they will. It is true that Satan is the great originator of sin; yet this does not excuse anyone for sinning; for he cannot force any to do evil. He tempts them to it, and makes sin look enticing and pleasant; but he has to leave it to their own wills whether they will do it or not. He does not force people to become intoxicated, neither does he force them to remain away from religious meetings; but he presents temptations in a manner to allure to evil, and human beings are free moral agents to accept or refuse.

Conversion is a work that most do not appreciate. It is not a small matter to transform an earthly, sin-loving mind and bring it to understand the unspeakable love of Christ, the charms of His grace, and the excellency of God, so that souls shall be imbued with divine love and captivated with the heavenly mysteries. When they understand these things, their former life appears disgusting and hateful. They hate sin, and, breaking their heart before God, they embrace Christ as the life and joy of the soul. They renounce their former pleasures. They have a new mind, new affections, new interest, new will; their sorrows, and desires, and love are all new. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, which have heretofore been preferred before Christ, are now turned from, and Christ is the charm of the life, the crown of rejoicing.

Heaven, which once possessed no charms, is now viewed in its riches and glory; and they contemplate it as their future home, where they shall see, love, and praise the One who hath redeemed them by His precious blood. – Testimonies for the Church 2:293, 294.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 360.

Daily Devotional

August 20, 2017

When Sinners Repent, Heaven Rejoices

As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. John 17:18, 19, NKJV.

In the parable of the lost sheep, Christ teaches that salvation does not come through our seeking after God but through God’s seeking after us. “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way” (Romans 3:11, 12). We do not repent in order that God may love us, but He reveals to us His love in order that we may repent….

The rabbis had a saying that there is rejoicing in heaven when one who has sinned against God is destroyed; but Jesus taught that to God the work of destruction is a strange work. That in which all heaven delights is the restoration of God’s own image in the souls whom He has made.

When some who have wandered far in sin seek to return to God, they will encounter criticism and distrust. There are those who will doubt whether their repentance is genuine, or will whisper, “They have no stability; I do not believe that they will hold out.”

These persons are doing not the work of God but the work of Satan, who is the accuser of the brethren. Through their criticisms the wicked one hopes to discourage those souls, and to drive them still farther from hope and from God. Let the repenting sinners contemplate the rejoicing in heaven over the return of the one that was lost. Let them rest in the love of God and in no case be disheartened by the scorn and suspicion of the Pharisees.

The rabbis understood Christ’s parable as applying to the publicans and sinners; but it has also a wider meaning. By the lost sheep Christ represents not only the individual sinner but the one world that has apostatized and has been ruined by sin. This world is but an atom in the vast dominions over which God presides, yet this little fallen world – the one lost sheep – is more precious in His sight than are the ninety and nine that went not astray from the fold.

Christ, the loved Commander in the heavenly courts, stooped from His high estate, laid aside the glory that He had with the Father, in order to save the one lost world. For this He left the sinless worlds on high, the ninety and nine that loved Him, and came to this earth, to be “wounded for our transgressions” and “bruised for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). God gave Himself in His Son that He might have the joy of receiving back the sheep that was lost….

Every soul whom Christ has rescued is called to work in His name for the saving of the lost. This work had been neglected in Israel. Is it not neglected today by those who profess to be Christ’s followers? – Christ’s Object Lessons, 189-191.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 359.

Daily Devotional

August 19, 2017

Jesus Lovingly Calls, but Many Wait Too Long to Respond

Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place – unless you repent. Revelation 2:4, 5, NKJV.

The Redeemer of the world declares that there are greater sins than that for which Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. Those who hear the gospel invitation calling sinners to repentance, and heed it not, are more guilty before God than were the dwellers in the vale of Siddim. And still greater sin is theirs who profess to know God and to keep His commandments, yet who deny Christ in their character and their daily life. In the light of the Savior’s warning, the fate of Sodom is a solemn admonition, not merely to those who are guilty of outbreaking sin, but to all who are trifling with Heaven-sent light and privileges….

The Savior watches for a response to His offers of love and forgiveness with a more tender compassion than that which moves the heart of an earthly parent to forgive a wayward, suffering son or daughter. He cries after the wanderer, “Return unto me, and I will return unto you” (Malachi 3:7). But if the erring one persistently refuses to heed the voice that calls him or her with pitying, tender love, he or she will at last be left in darkness.

The heart that has long slighted God’s mercy becomes hardened in sin and is no longer susceptible to the influence of the grace of God. Fearful will be the doom of that soul of whom the pleading Savior shall finally declare, he “is joined to idols: let him alone” (Hosea 4:17). It will be more tolerable in the day of judgment for the cities of the plain than for those who have known the love of Christ, and yet have turned away to choose the pleasures of a world of sin.

You who are slighting the offers of mercy, think of the long array of figures accumulating against you in the books of heaven; for there is a record kept of the impieties of nations, of families, of individuals. God may bear long while the account goes on, and calls to repentance and offers of pardon may be given; yet a time will come when the account will be full; when the soul’s decision has been made; when by a person’s own choice one’s destiny has been fixed. Then the signal will be given for judgment to be executed. – Patriarchs and Prophets, 165.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 358.

Daily Devotional

August 18, 2017

Repent Today, and Receive Christ’s Robe of Righteousness

So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Luke 11:9, 10, NRSV.

We are to surrender our hearts to God, that He may renew and sanctify us, and fit us for His heavenly courts. We are not to wait for some special time, but today we are to give ourselves to Him, refusing to be the servants of sin. Do you imagine you can leave off sin a little at a time? Oh, leave the accursed thing at once! Hate the thing that Christ hates, love the thing that Christ loves. Has He not by His death and suffering made provision for your cleansing from sin?

When we begin to realize that we are sinners, when we fall on the Rock and are broken, the everlasting arms are placed about us, and we are brought close to the heart of Jesus. Then we shall be charmed with His loveliness and disgusted with our own righteousness.

We need to come close to the foot of the cross. The more we humble ourselves there, the more exalted will God’s love appear. The grace and righteousness of Christ will not avail for those who feel whole, for those who think they are reasonably good, who are contented with their own condition. There is no room for Christ in the heart of those who do not realize their need of divine light and aid.

Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” There is fullness of grace in God, and we may have His Spirit and power in large measure. Do not feed on the husks of self-righteousness, but go to the Lord; He has the best robe to put upon you, and His arms are open to receive you….

You are proved of God through His Word. You are not to wait for wonderful emotions before you believe that God has heard you; feeling is not to be your criterion, for emotions are as changeable as the clouds. You must have something solid for the foundation of your faith. The Word of the Lord is a word of infinite power, upon which you may rely; and He has said, “Ask, and ye shall receive.” Look to Calvary. Has not Jesus said that He is your Advocate? Has He not said that if you ask anything in His name, you shall receive?

You are to come to God as a repenting sinner, through the name of Jesus, the divine Advocate; to a merciful, forgiving Father, believing that He will do just as He has promised. Let those who desire the blessing of God knock, and wait at the throne of mercy with firm assurance. – The Bible Echo, April 1, 1893.

From Devotional: To Be Like Jesus, p. 357.