Widespread Apprehension About the Future The present is a time of overwhelming interest to all living. Rulers and statesmen, men who occupy positions of trust and authority, thinking men and women of all classes, have their attention fixed upon the events taking place about us. They are watching the relations that exist among the nations. They observe the intensity that is taking possession of every earthly element and they recognize that something great and decisive is about to take place—that the world is on the verge of a stupendous crisis.—Prophets and Kings, 537 (c. 1914). – {LDE 11.1} The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude. The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones.—Testimonies for the Church 9:11 (1909). – {LDE 11.2} Troublous Times Soon to Come The time of trouble, which is to increase until the end, is very near at hand. We have no time to lose. The world is stirred with the spirit of war. The prophecies of the eleventh of Daniel have almost reached their final fulfillment.—The Review and Herald, November 24, 1904. – {LDE 12.1} The time of trouble—trouble such as was not since there was a nation [Daniel 12:1]—is right upon us, and we are like the sleeping virgins. We are to awake and ask the Lord Jesus to place underneath us His everlasting arms, and carry us through the time of trial before us.—Manuscript Releases 3:305 (1906). – {LDE 12.2} The world is becoming more and more lawless. Soon great trouble will arise among the nations—trouble that will not cease until Jesus comes.—The Review and Herald, February 11, 1904. – {LDE 12.3} {LDE} Last Day Events by Ellen G....
Loving Father, you are the King of kings and the Lord of rulers. You bless all the rulers and their people who honor you and serve you. Bless our nation, Father! Today, i am praying for my nation and for all who live in it. Give all the rulers and authorities your knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. Help them to fear you and honor you. Let them also render justice to our people. Let your righteousness fill our nation. Let all the forces of darkness, derision, destruction and demons be destroyed. Let there be peace and prosperity in our nation. Father, I also pray for the people of my nation. Bless the efforts of their hands. Let our nation overflow with milk and honey. Let our barns be full. Let our young people sing and dance in full contentment. Let your joy rule our hearts. Let your peace rule our nation. Let your justice fill our nation. Let your righteousness control our lives. Father! Shower your blessings on every one of us in this nation today and forever. Help us to live in freedom and peace and prosperity. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. From God’s...
“Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” Matthew 4:7. Lets all remember how adroitly and cunningly did Satan command Christ to cast Himself from the Temple, quoting scripture to show Him that it was the very thing for Him to do, for in this way He could give evidence to all the people that He was what He claimed to be. “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone” (verse 6). In quoting the scripture Satan left out a very important point, … “to keep thee in all thy ways” (Psalm 91:11). In consenting to do Satan’s bidding, Christ would be venturing into Satan’s ways, not in ways that God had devised for His Son. That was a dare, and Satan’s agents are full of presumptuous dares to get a chance to work his will with those who will accept his dare. But Christ would not accept the dare of Satan. Christ would not enter into controversy with the arch deceiver and tempter. He said, “It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” … Angels, as ministering spirits, are in the path where duty calls the heirs of salvation to travel, and God will protect them from all evil. But when Satan marked out a path of his own, … Christ had no right to walk in that way. He was to keep His feet in the path which the Lord had marked out. Thus Christ in His humanity gave an example of what man should do when tempted by Satan’s suggestions. We are … never to accept a dare to prove the truth to men who are inspired by Satan to make proposals that God has not originated; for in this way Satan would lead us to step out of the path of God’s providence and place ourselves in a position where we might be worsted by the enemy, and be overcome to our own hurt and to the injury of the cause of God. Our only safety every day and every hour is to be on watch. We cannot become indolent and careless. I tell you that God would have His people to be ever on guard. Ellen G. White from In Heavenly...
The Family Circle a School “In His wisdom the Lord has decreed that the family shall be the greatest of all educational agencies. It is in the home that the education of the child is to begin. Here is his first school. Here, with his parents as instructors, he is to learn the lessons that are to guide him throughout life—lessons of respect, obedience, reverence, self-control. The educational influences of the home are a decided power for good or for evil. They are in many respects silent and gradual, but if exerted on the right side, they become a far-reaching power for truth and righteousness. If the child is not instructed aright here, Satan will educate him through agencies of his choosing. How important, then, is the school in the home! [3] – {AH 182.2} Look upon the family circle as a training school, where you are preparing your children for the performance of their duties at home, in society, and in the church. {Adventist Home 182.3} Ellen G....
“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.” Proverbs 1:10. “We must not put ourselves on the enemy’s ground. We are only here as probationers. We must not act as though there were no tempting devil. There are temptations that come to us, and we cannot accept them and give them a place in the mind unless we peril our souls. We want to know that our feet are in safe paths. You who associate with the disobedient and worldly-minded, heed the injunction: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:17, 18). Is this not encouragement enough for us—to have living connection with the God of heaven? When you go where sin is, and place yourself on the enemy’s ground, you place yourself where the angels of God do not preserve you from evil influence. We are to know that Christ is constantly by our side. We are to put all our trust in Christ…. What dependence can you place in human nature that is not under the control of the influence of God? The world knows Him not today. The line of demarcation is plain and distinct between those who keep His commandments and those who do not. We cannot serve the world and please God…. Many seem to be sad because of their religion. We should not go about begging pardon of the world because we are Christians. I beg pardon of Jesus Christ only, because I am not complete in Him…. If we love Jesus we shall become heirs of God, and the Father will love us as He loves His Son Jesus Christ. We are members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King…. It was the highest exaltation of Christ to obey His Father and keep His law as the apple of His eye. Let it have this effect upon our characters…. Let us exalt Jesus. Let us give Him our hearts’ best service, and He will say, I will confess you before My Father, and before His angels. From In Heavenly Places ~ Ellen G....
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12. “We do not understand as we should the great conflict going on between invisible agencies, the controversy between loyal and disloyal angels. Over every man, good and evil angels strive. This is no make believe conflict. It is not mimic battles in which we are engaged. We have to meet most powerful adversaries, and it rests with us to determine which shall win. Could human beings know the number of the evil angels, could they know their devices and their activity, there would be far less pride and frivolity. Satan is the prince of demons. The evil angels over whom he rules do his bidding. Through them he multiplies his agencies…. He instigates all the evil that exists in our world. If Satan sees that he is in danger of losing one soul, he will exert himself to the utmost to keep that one. And when the individual is aroused to his danger, and, with distress and fervor, looks to Jesus for strength, Satan fears that he will lose a captive, and he calls a reinforcement of his angels to hedge in the poor soul, and form a wall of darkness around him, that heaven’s light May not reach him. But if the one in danger perseveres, and in his helplessness casts himself upon the merits of the blood of Christ, our Saviour listens to the earnest prayer of faith, and sends a reinforcement of those angels that excel in strength to deliver him. Satan cannot endure to have his powerful rival appealed to, for he fears and trembles before His strength and majesty. At the sound of fervent prayer, Satan’s whole host trembles…. And when angels, all-powerful, clothed with the armory of heaven, come to the help of the fainting, pursued soul, Satan and his host fall back…. The great Commander in heaven and earth has limited Satan’s power. Around every tempted soul there are angels of God, ready to lift up the standard of righteousness, if the tempted one will only show a spirit of resistance to evil. Each May be an overcomer. Christ has in our behalf withstood the fiercest temptations of the enemy.” Ellen G. White...
The “Why” of Temptation “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” [ 1 Corinthians 10:13.] What is temptation? It is the means by which those who claim to be the children of God are tested and tried. We read that God tempted Abraham, that He tempted the children of Israel. This means that He permitted circumstances to occur to test their faith and lead them to look to Him for help. God permits temptation to come to His people today that they may realize that He is their helper. If they draw nigh to Him when they are tempted, He strengthens them to meet the temptation…. Temptations will pour in upon us, for by them we are to be tried during our probation. This is the proving of God, the revelation of our own hearts. There is no sin in having temptation, but sin comes in when temptation is yielded to…. Abraham certified his obedience to God when, with Isaac by his side, he journeyed on his way in response to the command, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering …” (Genesis 22:2). Job was permitted to suffer; he was severely tempted; but he would not speak one word against God. During Christ’s life on earth the scribes and Pharisees, instigated by Satan, tempted Him in every possible way. But He never allowed these temptations to lead Him from the path of obedience… Christ’s example shows us that our only hope of victory is in continual resistance of Satan’s attacks. He who triumphed over the adversary of souls in the conflict with temptation understands Satan’s power over the race, and has conquered in our behalf. As an overcomer, He has given us the advantage of His victory, that in our efforts to resist the temptations of Satan we may unite our weakness to His strength, our worthlessness to His merits. And sustained by His enduring might, under strong temptation, we may resist in His all-powerful name and overcome as He overcame. From In Heavenly Places, by Ellen G. White. , Visit EGWwritings.org. for free access to books and writings by Ellen G....