NOTES: |
Sabbath, February 16, 2008
1 |
1 Samuel
17:34-35, "And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep,
and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: And I went
out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he
arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him." |
2 |
Of all
creatures the sheep is one of the most timid and helpless, and in the East the
shepherd's care for his flock is untiring and incessant. Anciently as now there
was little security outside of the walled towns. Marauders from the roving
border tribes, or beasts of prey from their hiding places in the rocks, lay in
wait to plunder the flocks. The shepherd watched his charge, knowing that it
was at the peril of his own life. Jacob, who kept the flocks of Laban in the
pasture grounds of Haran, describing his own unwearied labor, said, "In
the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed
from mine eyes." Gen. 31:40. And it was while guarding his father's sheep
that the boy David, single-handed, encountered the lion and the bear, and
rescued from their teeth the stolen lamb.
{DA 478.4} As the shepherd leads his flock over the
rocky hills, through forest and wild ravines, to grassy nooks by the riverside;
as he watches them on the mountains through the lonely night, shielding from
robbers, caring tenderly for the sickly and feeble, his life comes to be one
with theirs. A strong and tender attachment unites him to the objects of his
care. However large the flock, the shepherd knows every sheep. Every one has
its name, and responds to the name at the shepherd's call. {DA 479.1} |
3 |
Genesis
39:21-23, "But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave
him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the
prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison;
and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison
looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him,
and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper." |
4 |
Joseph's
religion kept his temper sweet and his sympathy with humanity warm and strong,
notwithstanding all his trials. There are those who if they feel they are not
rightly used, become sour, ungenerous, crabbed and uncourteous in their words
and deportment. They sink down discouraged, hateful and hating others. But
Joseph was a Christian. No sooner does he enter upon prison life, than he
brings all the brightness of his Christian principles into active exercise; he
begins to make himself useful to others. He enters into the troubles of his
fellow prisoners. He is cheerful, for he is a Christian gentleman. God was
preparing him under this discipline for a situation of great responsibility,
honor, and usefulness, and he was willing to learn; he took kindly to the
lessons the Lord would teach him. He learned to bear the yoke in his youth. He
learned to govern by first learning obedience himself. . . . {SD 320.3} The part which Joseph acted in connection
with the scenes of the gloomy prison, was that which raised him finally to
prosperity and honor. God designed that he should obtain an experience by
temptations, adversity, and hardships, to prepare him to fill an exalted
position. Joseph carried his religion everywhere, and this was the secret of
his unwavering fidelity. {SD 320.4} |
5 |
Esther
7:10, "So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for
Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified." |
6 |
On the day
appointed for their destruction, "the Jews gathered themselves together in
their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on
such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of
them fell upon all people." Angels that excel in strength had been
commissioned by God to protect His people while they "stood for their
lives." Esther 9:2, 16. {PK 602.2} The trying
experiences that came to God's people in the days of Esther were not peculiar
to that age alone. The revelator, looking down the ages to the close of time,
has declared, "The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war
with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the
testimony of Jesus Christ." Revelation 12:17. Some who today are living on
the earth will see these words fulfilled. The same spirit that in ages past led
men to persecute the true church, will in the future lead to the pursuance of a
similar course toward those who maintain their loyalty to God. Even now
preparations are being made for this last great conflict. {PK 605.1} Satan will
arouse indignation against the minority who refuse to accept popular customs
and traditions. Men of position and reputation will join with the lawless and
the vile to take counsel against the people of God. Wealth, genius, education,
will combine to cover them with contempt. Persecuting rulers, ministers, and
church members will conspire against them. With voice and pen, by boasts,
threats, and ridicule, they will seek to overthrow their faith. By false
representations and angry appeals, men will stir up the passions of the people.
Not having a "Thus saith the Scriptures" to bring against the
advocates of the Bible Sabbath, they will resort to oppressive enactments to
supply the lack. To secure popularity and patronage, legislators will yield to
the demand for Sunday laws. But those who fear God, cannot accept an
institution that violates a precept of the Decalogue. On this battlefield will
be fought the last great conflict in the controversy between truth and error.
And we are not left in doubt as to the issue. Today, as in the days of Esther
and Mordecai, the Lord will vindicate His truth and His people. {PK 605.3} |
7 |
Matthew |
8 |
The instant that Peter withdrew his eyes from Christ, that instant he began to sink. When he realized his peril, and lifted his eyes and voice to Jesus, crying, Save, Lord, or I perish, the hand ever ready to save the perishing took hold of him, and he was saved. . . . {2SM 235.4} |
9 |
We dared
not look to appearances; for in so doing we should be like Peter, whom the Lord
bade come to Him on the water. He should have kept his eye lifted upward to
Jesus; but he looked down at the troubled waves, and his faith failed. We
calmly and firmly grasped the promises of God alone, irrespective of
appearances, and by faith claimed the blessing. .. {2T 273.2} |
10 |
Acts
12:6-11, "And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night
Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers
before the door kept the prison. And,
behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison:
and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly.
And his chains fell off from his hands.
And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And
so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow
me. And he went out, and followed him;
and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a
vision. When they were past the first
and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city;
which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on
through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him. And when Peter was come to himself, he said,
Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered
me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the
Jews." |
11 |
Only the
sense of God's presence can banish the fear that, for the timid child, would
make life a burden. Let him fix in his memory the promise, "The angel of
the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them."
Psalm 34:7. Let him read that wonderful story of Elisha in the mountain city,
and, between him and the hosts of armed foemen, a mighty encircling band of
heavenly angels. Let him read how to Peter, in prison and
condemned to death, God's angel appeared; how, past the armed guards, the
massive doors and great iron gateway with their bolts and bars, the angel led
God's servant forth in safety. Let him read of that scene on the sea, when the
tempest-tossed soldiers and seamen, worn with labor and watching and long
fasting, Paul the prisoner, on his way to trial and execution, spoke those
grand words of courage and hope: "Be of good cheer: for there shall be no
loss of any man's life among you. . . . For there stood by me this night the
angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must
be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with
thee." In the faith of this promise Paul assured his companions,
"There shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you." So it
came to pass. Because there was in that ship one man through whom God could
work, the whole shipload of heathen soldiers and sailors was preserved.
"They escaped all safe to land." Acts 27:22-24, 34, 44. {Ed 255.4} These things were not written merely that
we might read and wonder, but that the same faith which wrought in God's
servants of old might work in us. In no less marked a manner than He wrought
then will He work now wherever there are hearts of faith to be channels of His
power. {Ed 256.1} Let the self-distrustful, whose lack of
self-reliance leads them to shrink from care and responsibility, be taught
reliance upon God. Thus many a one who otherwise would be but a cipher in the
world, perhaps only a helpless burden, will be able to say with the apostle
Paul, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
Philippians 4:13. {Ed 256.2} |