For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. Deuteronomy 7:6.

These words were spoken by Christ when enshrouded in the pillar of cloud and were given to Moses for the chosen people of God. The Lord has not left the world without witness. He has His loyal, chosen people. They do not make this world their home, but they are here to witness for God, and as long as probation lasts, a living witness will be borne by these faithful messengers….

By the mighty cleaver of truth, God has separated a people from the quarry of the world and brought them into His workshop. Here the Master Worker can successfully hew them with ax and chisel, and polish them for a place in His kingdom. No longer are they like the mass from which they were taken. They stand like noble pillars, to be used for God’s glory.

The future glory of the adopted sons and daughters of God is not now discerned. By the world God’s people are scorned and despised. But they have the sympathies of a better world than this, even a heavenly….

The Word of God, just as it reads, is the ground of our faith. That Word is the sure word of prophecy, and it demands implicit faith from all who claim to believe it. It is authoritative, containing in itself the proof of its divine origin….

What are we who claim to be one with Christ? “We are labourers together with God.” Between the true believer and the unbeliever there will ever be the same conflict that there was between Christ and those who rejected Him. Those who are partakers with Christ in His sufferings will also be partakers with Him in His glory. But those who evade the cross here deny Him who has bought them at an infinite price, and in the day of judgment they will be denied. Many, many, are misrepresenting and denying Christ by their low standard of Christianity. Those who truly believe in Christ will show their faith by a well-ordered life and godly conversation. By working in Christ’s lines, they will show that they have been adopted into the family of heaven. Of all such God says, “I will dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”—Signs of the Times, June 2, 1898.

From From the Heart

Watch therefore, and pray always. Luke 21:36.

In the solemn language of this scripture, a duty is pointed out which lies in the daily pathway of everyone, whether old or young. This is the duty of watchfulness, and upon our faithfulness here our destiny for time and for eternity depends.

We are living in an important time. When in 1844 the message was proclaimed, “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come,” that announcement stirred every soul to its very depths. A deep solemnity rested upon all who heard it. How earnest we were to show our faith by our works and to have our words and actions make a favorable impression on the world….

Today angels are watching the development of character, and soon our lives will have to pass in review before God. Soon we shall be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, and over against our names will be recorded the judgment rendered. And we shall receive the crowning gift of eternal life or be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. We may be unwilling to examine ourselves closely now to see what our spiritual condition is and whether our hearts are being suitably impressed by the testing message of truth; but that will not make any difference with the work of the judgment. Its decisions will be rendered just the same….

“Watch ye therefore, and pray always.” There is great need of watchfulness, not for our own sakes only, but also for the sake of our influence upon others. Our influence is far-reaching. We may think that it is confined to our own households; that only the members of our own families know what we are and what we are doing. In some cases this may seem to be true; but in some way the influence of the home life goes out beyond the home….

If we would share in the glorious reward promised to the overcomer, we must fight the good fight of faith. This is what the apostle Paul did, and he says, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.” Let us be of the number of those that are “rich in good works,” “laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”—Signs of the Times, January 7, 1886.

From From the Heart

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Revelation 21:4.

In the darkest days of her long conflict with evil, the church of the living God has been given revelations of the eternal purpose of Jehovah. His people have been permitted to look beyond the trials of the present to the triumphs of the future, when, the warfare having been accomplished, the redeemed will enter into possession of the Promised Land. These visions of future glory, scenes pictured by the hand of God, should be dear to His church today, when the controversy of the ages is rapidly closing and the promised blessings are soon to be realized in all their fullness….

Often the church militant is called upon to suffer trial and affliction, for not without severe conflict is the church to triumph. “The bread of adversity, and the water of affliction.” are the common lot of all; but none who put their trust in the One mighty to deliver will be utterly overwhelmed….

Clad in the armor of Christ’s righteousness, the church is to enter upon her final conflict. “Fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners,” she is to go forth into all the world, conquering and to conquer.

The darkest hour of the church’s struggle with the powers of evil is that which immediately precedes the day of her final deliverance. But none who trust in God need fear….

To us who are standing on the very verge of their fulfillment, of what deep moment, what living interest, are these delineations of the things to come—events for which, since our first parents turned their steps from Eden, God’s children have watched and waited, longed and prayed! …

The nations of the saved will know no other law than the law of heaven. All will be a happy, united family, clothed with the garments of praise and thanksgiving. Over the scene the morning stars will sing together and the sons of God will shout for joy, while God and Christ will unite in proclaiming, There shall be no more sin; neither shall there be any more death.—The Review and Herald, July 1, 1915.

From From the Heart

At that time Michael shall stand up, … and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. Daniel 12:1.

Troublous times are right upon us. The fulfilling of the signs of the times gives evidence that the day of the Lord is near at hand. The daily papers are full of indications of a terrible conflict in the future. Bold robberies are of frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts and murders are committed on every hand. Men possessed of demons are taking the lives of men and women and little children. All these things testify that the coming of Christ is near at hand.

The doctrine that men and women are released from obedience to God’s requirements has weakened the force of moral obligation and opened the floodgates of iniquity upon the world….

Courts of justice are corrupt. Rulers are actuated by a desire for gain and love of sensual pleasure. Intemperance has beclouded the faculties of many, so that Satan has almost complete control of them. Jurists are perverted, bribed, deluded. Drunkenness and revelry, passion, envy, dishonesty of every sort, are represented among those who administer the laws. “Justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.” People are rushing on in the mad race for gain and selfish indulgence as if there were no God, no heaven, and no hereafter….

The “time of trouble, such as never was,” is soon to open upon us, and we shall need an experience which many are too indolent to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality, but this is not true of the crisis before us. The most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the ordeal. In that trial all must stand for themselves before God….

Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could our Savior be brought to yield to the power of temptation. Satan finds in human hearts some point where he can gain a foothold; some sinful desire is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. But Christ declared of Himself, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.” Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain the victory. He had kept His Father’s commandments, and there was no sin in Him that Satan could use to his advantage. This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble.—The Review and Herald, March 14, 1912.

From From the Heart

Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Matthew 24:44.

To us has been given the message of Christ’s soon coming. At the ascension of our Lord, angels stood beside the disciples and with them watched the Savior as He passed into the heavens. Then they turned to the disciples with the words, “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” …

Only the covering which Christ Himself has provided can make us meet [fit] to appear in God’s presence. This covering, the robe of His own righteousness, Christ will put upon every repenting, believing soul….

This robe, woven in the loom of heaven, has in it not one thread of human devising. Christ in His humanity wrought out a perfect character, and this character He offers to impart to us. “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Everything that we of ourselves can do is defiled by sin….

By His perfect obedience, He has made it possible for every human being to obey God’s commandments. When we submit ourselves to Christ, the heart is united with His heart; the will is merged in His will; the mind becomes one with His mind; the thoughts are brought into captivity to Him; we live His life. This is what it means to be clothed with the garment of His righteousness. Then, as the Lord looks upon us, He sees, not the fig-leaf garment, not the nakedness and deformity of sin, but His own robe of righteousness, which is perfect obedience to the law of Jehovah….

There will be no second probation in which to prepare for eternity. It is in this life that we are to put on the robe of Christ’s righteousness. This is our only opportunity to form characters for the home which Christ has made ready for those who obey His commandments.

The days of our probation are fast closing. The end is near. Solemnly there come down to us through the centuries the warning words of our Lord from the Mount of Olives, “Take heed to yourselves, lest … that day come upon you unawares.” … “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”—Signs of the Times, November 22, 1905.

From From the Heart