The
Deep Significance of the Lord’s Prayer
“Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 , R.V.
“The Saviour does not, however, restrict us to the use of these exact
words. As one with humanity, He presents His own ideal of prayer, words so simple
that they may be adopted by the little child, yet so comprehensive that their significance can never be fully grasped
by the greatest minds. We are taught to come to God with our tribute of thanksgiving,
to make known our wants, to confess our sins, and to claim His mercy in
accordance with His promise.” {MB 103.2}
“Jesus teaches that we can receive forgiveness from God only as we forgive others. It is the love of God that draws us unto Him, and that love
cannot touch our hearts without creating love for our brethren.” {MB 113.2}
“After
completing the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus added: “If ye forgive men their
trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not
men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” He who is unforgiving cuts off the very channel through which
alone he can receive mercy from God. We should not think that unless those who
have injured us confess the wrong we are justified in withholding from them our
forgiveness. It is their part, no doubt, to humble their hearts by
repentance and confession; but we are to have a spirit of compassion toward
those who have trespassed against us, whether or not they confess their faults.
However sorely they may have wounded us, we are not to cherish our grievances
and sympathize with ourselves over our injuries; but as we hope to be pardoned for our offenses against God we are to
pardon all who have done evil to us.” {MB 113.3}
Chapter
5—The Lord’s Prayer
“After this manner therefore pray ye.”—Matthew
6:9.
The Lord’s Prayer was twice given by our
Saviour, first to the multitude in the Sermon on the Mount, and again, some
months later, to the disciples alone. The disciples had been for a short time
absent from their Lord, when on their return they found Him absorbed in
communion with God. Seeming unconscious of their presence, He continued praying
aloud. The Saviour’s face was irradiated with a celestial brightness. He seemed
to be in the very presence of the Unseen, and there was a living power in His words
as of one who spoke with God. {MB 102.1}
The hearts of the listening disciples were
deeply moved. They had marked how often He spent long hours
in solitude in communion with His Father. His days were passed
in ministry to the crowds that pressed upon Him, and in unveiling the
treacherous sophistry of the rabbis, and this incessant labor often left Him so
utterly wearied that His mother and brothers, and even His disciples, had
feared that His life would be sacrificed. But as He returned
from the hours of prayer that closed the toilsome day, they marked the look of
peace upon His face, the sense of refreshment that seemed to pervade His
presence. It was from hours spent with God that He came forth, morning by
morning, to bring the light of heaven to men. The disciples had come to connect
His hours of prayer with the power of His words and works. Now, as they
listened to His supplication, their hearts were awed and humbled. As He ceased
praying, it was with a conviction of their own deep need that they exclaimed,
“Lord, teach us to pray.” Luke 11:1. {MB 102.2}
Jesus gives them no new form of prayer. That
which He has before taught them He repeats, as if He would say, You need to understand what I have already given.
It has a depth of meaning you have not yet fathomed.
{MB 103.1}
The Saviour does not, however, restrict us to
the use of these exact words. As one with humanity, He presents His own ideal
of prayer, words so simple that they may be adopted by the little child,
yet so comprehensive that their significance can never be fully grasped by the
greatest minds. We are taught to come to God with our
tribute of thanksgiving, to make known our wants, to confess our sins, and to
claim His mercy in accordance with His promise. {MB 103.2}
“When ye pray, say, Our Father.”—Luke 11:2.
Jesus teaches us to call His Father our
Father. He is not ashamed to call us brethren. Hebrews 2:11. So ready,
so eager, is the Saviour’s heart to welcome us as members of the family of God,
that in the very first words we are to use in approaching God He places the
assurance of our divine relationship, “Our Father.” {MB 103.3}
Here is the announcement of that wonderful
truth, so full of encouragement and comfort, that God
loves us as He loves His Son. This is what Jesus
said in His last prayer for His disciples, Thou “hast loved them, as Thou hast
loved Me.” John 17:23. {MB 104.1}
The world that Satan has claimed and has ruled
over with cruel tyranny, the Son of God has,
by one vast achievement, encircled in His love and connected again with the
throne of Jehovah. Cherubim and seraphim, and the unnumbered hosts of all the
unfallen worlds, sang anthems of praise to God and the Lamb when this triumph
was assured. They rejoiced that the way of salvation had been opened to the
fallen race and that the earth would be redeemed from the curse of sin.
How much more should those rejoice who are the objects of such amazing love! {MB 104.2}
How can we ever be in doubt and uncertainty,
and feel that we are orphans? It was in behalf of those who had transgressed
the law that Jesus took upon Him human nature; He became
like unto us, that we might have everlasting peace and assurance.
We have an Advocate in the heavens, and whoever accepts Him as a personal
Saviour is not left an orphan to bear the burden of his own sins. {MB 104.3}
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” “And if
children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if
so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.”
“It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when
He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him
as He is.” 1 John 3:2; Romans 8:17. {MB 104.4}
The very first step in approaching God is to know
and believe the love that He has to us (1 John 4:16); for it is through the
drawing of His love that we are led to come to Him.
{MB 104.5}
The perception of God’s love works the
renunciation of selfishness. In calling God our Father, we recognize all His
children as our brethren. We are all a part of the great web of humanity, all
members of one family. In our petitions we are to include our
neighbors as well as ourselves. No one prays aright who seeks a blessing for
himself alone. {MB 105.1}
The infinite God, said Jesus, makes it your
privilege to approach Him by the name of Father. Understand all that this
implies. No earthly parent ever pleaded so earnestly with an erring child as He who made you pleads with the
transgressor. No human, loving interest ever followed the impenitent with such
tender invitations. God dwells in every abode; He hears every word
that is spoken, listens to every prayer that is offered, tastes the sorrows and
disappointments of every soul, regards the treatment that is given to father,
mother, sister, friend, and neighbor. He cares for our necessities, and His
love and mercy and grace are continually flowing to satisfy our need. {MB
105.2}
But if you call God your Father you
acknowledge yourselves His children, to be guided by His wisdom and to be
obedient in all things, knowing that His love is changeless. You will accept
His plan for your life. As children of God, you will hold His honor, His
character, His family, His work, as the objects of your highest interest. It
will be your joy to recognize and honor your relation to your Father and to
every member of His family. You will rejoice to do any act, however
humble, that will tend to His glory or to the well-being of your kindred.
{MB 105.3}
“Which art in heaven.”
He to whom Christ bids us look as “our Father” “is in
the heavens: He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased.” In His care we may
safely rest, saying, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.”
Psalm 115:3; 56:3. {MB 106.1}
“Hallowed
be Thy name.”—Matthew 6:9.
To hallow the name of the Lord requires that
the words in which we speak of the Supreme Being be uttered with reverence.
“Holy and reverend is His name.” Psalm 111:9. We
are never in any manner to treat lightly the titles or appellations of the
Deity. In prayer we enter the audience chamber of the
Most High; and we should come before Him with holy awe. The angels veil their
faces in His presence. The cherubim and the bright and holy seraphim approach
His throne with solemn reverence. How much more should we, finite, sinful
beings, come in a reverent manner before the Lord, our Maker!
{MB 106.2}
But to hallow the name of the Lord means much
more than this. We may, like the Jews in Christ’s day, manifest the greatest
outward reverence for God, and yet profane His name continually. “The
name of the Lord” is “merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in
goodness and truth, ... forgiving iniquity and
transgression and sin.” Exodus 34:5-7. Of
the church of Christ it is written, “This is the name wherewith she shall be
called, The Lord our Righteousness.” Jeremiah 33:16.
This name is put upon every follower of Christ. It is the heritage of the child
of God. The family are called after the Father. The prophet Jeremiah, in the
time of Israel’s sore distress and tribulation, prayed, “We
are called by Thy name; leave us not.” Jeremiah 14:9.
{MB 106.3}
This name is hallowed by the angels of heaven,
by the inhabitants of unfallen worlds. When you pray, “Hallowed be Thy name,”
you ask that it may be hallowed in this world, hallowed in you. God
has acknowledged you before men and angels as His child; pray that you may do
no dishonor to the “worthy name by which ye are called.” James 2:7.
God sends you into the world as His representative. In every act
of life you are to make manifest the name of God. This petition calls upon you
to possess His character. You cannot hallow His name,
you cannot represent Him to the world, unless in life and character you
represent the very life and character of God. This you can do only through the
acceptance of the grace and righteousness of Christ.
{MB 107.1}
“Thy kingdom come.”—Matthew 6:10.
God is our Father, who loves and cares for us
as His children; He is also the great King of the universe. The interests of
His kingdom are our interests, and we are to work for its upbuilding. {MB 107.2}
The disciples of
Christ were looking for the immediate coming of the kingdom of His glory, but
in giving them this prayer Jesus taught that the kingdom was not then to be
established. They were to pray for its coming as an event yet future.
But this petition was also an assurance to them. While they were not to behold
the coming of the kingdom in their day, the fact that Jesus bade them pray for
it is evidence that in God’s own time it will surely come. {MB 107.3}
The kingdom of God’s grace is now being
established, as day by day hearts that have been full of sin and rebellion
yield to the sovereignty of His love. But the full
establishment of the kingdom of His glory will not take place until the second
coming of Christ to this world. “The kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of
the kingdom under the whole heaven,” is to be given to “the people of the
saints of the Most High.” Daniel 7:27. They shall inherit the kingdom prepared
for them “from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 25:34. And
Christ will take to Himself His great power and will reign. {MB 108.1}
The heavenly gates are again to be lifted up,
and with ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of holy
ones, our Saviour will come forth as King of kings and Lord of lords. Jehovah
Immanuel “shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one
Lord, and His name one.” “The tabernacle of God” shall be with men, “and He
will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be
with them, and be their God.” Zechariah 14:9; Revelation 21:3. {MB 108.2}
But before that coming, Jesus said, “This
gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the
world for a witness unto all nations.” Matthew 24:14. His
kingdom will not come until the good tidings of His grace have been carried to
all the earth. Hence,
as we give ourselves to God, and win other souls to Him, we hasten the coming
of His kingdom. Only those who devote themselves to His
service, saying, “Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 6:8), to open blind eyes, to turn
men “from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may
receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified”
(Acts 26:18)—they alone pray in sincerity, “Thy kingdom come.” {MB 108.3}
“Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”—Matthew
6:10.
The
will of God is expressed in the precepts of His holy law, and the principles of
this law are the principles of heaven. The angels of heaven attain unto no higher
knowledge than to know the will of God, and to do His will is the highest
service that can engage their powers. {MB 109.1}
But in heaven, service is not rendered in the
spirit of legality. When Satan rebelled against the law of
Jehovah, the thought that there was a law came to the angels almost as an
awakening to something unthought of. In their
ministry the angels are not as servants, but as sons. There is perfect unity
between them and their Creator. Obedience is to them no drudgery. Love for God
makes their service a joy. So in every soul wherein Christ, the hope of glory,
dwells, His words are re-echoed, “I delight to do Thy
will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart.”
Psalm 40:8. {MB 109.2}
The petition, “Thy will be done in earth, as
it is in heaven,” is a prayer that the reign of evil on this earth may be
ended, that sin may be forever destroyed, and the kingdom of righteousness be
established. Then in earth as in heaven will be fulfilled “all the good
pleasure of His goodness.” 2 Thessalonians 1:11. {MB 110.1}
“Give
us this day our daily bread.”—Matthew 6:11.
The first half of the prayer Jesus has taught
us is in regard to the name and kingdom and will of God—that His name may be
honored, His kingdom established, His will performed. When
you have thus made God’s service your first interest, you may ask with
confidence that your own needs may be supplied. If you have renounced self and
given yourself to Christ you are a member of the family of God, and everything
in the Father’s house is for you. All the treasures of
God are opened to you, both the world that now is and that which is to come. The ministry of angels, the gift of His
Spirit, the labors of His servants—all are for you.
The world, with everything in it, is yours so far as it can do you good. Even the enmity of the wicked will prove a
blessing by disciplining you for heaven. If “ye are Christ’s,” “all things are
yours.” 1 Corinthians 3:23, 21. {MB 110.2}
But you are as a child who is not yet placed
in control of his inheritance. God does not entrust to you your precious
possession, lest Satan by his wily arts should beguile you, as he did the first
pair in Eden. Christ holds it for you, safe beyond the spoiler’s reach. Like
the child, you shall receive day by day what is required for the day’s need.
Every day you are to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Be not dismayed if you have not sufficient
for tomorrow. You have the assurance of His promise, “So
shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.”
David says, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the
righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” Psalm 37:3, 25. That God who
sent the ravens to feed Elijah by the brook Cherith
will not pass by one of His faithful, self-sacrificing children.
Of him that walketh righteously it is written: “Bread shall be given
him; his waters shall be sure.” “They shall not be ashamed in the evil time:
and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.” “He that spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely
give us all things?” Isaiah 33:16; Psalm 37:19; Romans
8:32. He who lightened the cares and anxieties of His widowed
mother and helped her to provide for the household at Nazareth, sympathizes
with every mother in her struggle to provide her children food. He
who had compassion on the multitude because they “fainted, and were scattered
abroad” (Matthew 9:36), still has compassion on the suffering poor.
His hand is stretched out toward them in blessing; and in the very
prayer which He gave His disciples, He teaches us to remember the poor. {MB
110.3}
When we pray, “Give us this day our daily
bread,” we ask for others as well as ourselves. And we
acknowledge that what God gives us is not for ourselves alone. God gives to us
in trust, that we may feed the hungry. Of
His goodness He has prepared for the poor. Psalm 68:10. And
He says, “When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call
not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich
neighbors.... But when thou makest
a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the
blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou
shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14:12-14.
{MB 111.1}
“God is able to make all grace abound toward
you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every
good work.” “He which soweth sparingly shall reap
also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall
reap also bountifully.” 2 Corinthians 9:8, 6. {MB
112.1}
Note by Ron: Grace is the power of His Holy
Spirit for obedience and apostleship, Rom. 1:5.
5 “By whom we have received grace and
apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:” Rom.
1:5.
“They must have His grace, the Spirit of
Christ, to help their infirmities, or they cannot form a Christian character.
Jesus loves to have us come to Him, just as we are—sinful, helpless, dependent.” Faith and
Works, p. 38.
“There must be a power
working from within, a new life from above, before man can be changed
from sin to holiness. That power
is Christ. His grace [the Spirit of Christ] alone can quicken the lifeless
faculties of the soul, and attract it to God, to holiness.” (ST, May 28, 1902, par. 3). End note.
The prayer for daily bread includes not only
food to sustain the body, but that
spiritual bread which will nourish the soul unto life everlasting.
Jesus bids us, “Labor not for the meat which perisheth,
but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life.” John 6:27. He says, “I
am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man
eat of this bread, he shall live forever.” Verse 51 .
Our Saviour is the bread of life, and it is by beholding His love, by receiving
it into the soul, that we feed upon the bread which came down from heaven. {MB
112.2}
We receive Christ through His word, and the
Holy Spirit is given to open the word of God to our understanding, and bring
home its truths to our hearts. We are to pray day by
day that as we read His word, God will send His Spirit to reveal to us the
truth that will strengthen our souls for the day’s need.
{MB 112.3}
In teaching us to ask every day for what we
need—both temporal and spiritual blessings—God has a purpose to accomplish for
our good. He would have us realize our dependence upon His constant care,
for He is seeking to draw us into communion with Himself.
In this communion with Christ, through prayer and the study of the great and
precious truths of His word, we shall as hungry souls be fed; as those that
thirst, we shall be refreshed at the fountain of life. {MB 113.1}
“Forgive
us our sins; for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us.”—Luke 11:4.
Jesus
teaches that we can receive forgiveness from God only as we forgive others.
It is the love of God that draws us unto Him, and that love cannot touch our
hearts without creating love for our brethren.
{MB 113.2}
After completing the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus
added: “If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your
Father forgive your trespasses.” He who is unforgiving cuts off the very
channel through which alone he can receive mercy from God.
We should not think that unless those who have injured us
confess the wrong we are justified in withholding from them our forgiveness. It
is their part, no doubt, to humble their hearts by repentance and confession;
but we are to have a spirit of compassion toward those who have trespassed
against us, whether or not they confess their faults. However sorely they may
have wounded us, we are not to cherish our grievances and sympathize with
ourselves over our injuries; but as we hope to be pardoned for our offenses
against God we are to pardon all who have done evil to us.
{MB 113.3}
But forgiveness has a broader meaning than
many suppose. When God gives the promise that He “will
abundantly pardon,” He adds, as if the meaning of that promise exceeded all
that we could comprehend: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your
ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your
ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:7-9. God’s forgiveness is
not merely a judicial act by which He sets us free from condemnation. It is not only forgiveness for sin, but
reclaiming from sin. It is the outflow of
redeeming love that transforms the heart. David had the true
conception of forgiveness when he prayed, “Create in me a clean
heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10. And
again he says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far
hath He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12.
{MB 114.1}
Note
by Ron: If God so forgives and removes our transgressions from us, what right
do we have in harboring unforgiveness toward others?
End note.
God in Christ gave
Himself for our sins. He suffered the cruel death of the cross, bore for us the
burden of guilt, “the just for the unjust,” that He might reveal to us His love
and draw us to Himself. And He says, “Be ye kind one to
another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as
God also in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 , R.V.
Let Christ, the divine Life, dwell in you and through you reveal
the heaven-born love that will inspire hope in the hopeless and bring heaven’s
peace to the sin-stricken heart. As we come to God, this is the condition which
meets us at the threshold, that, receiving mercy from Him, we yield ourselves
to reveal His grace to others. {MB 114.2}
The one thing essential for us in order that
we may receive and impart the forgiving love of God is to know and believe the
love that He has to us. 1 John 4:16. Satan is working by every
deception he can command, in order that we may not discern that love. He
will lead us to think that our mistakes and transgressions have been so grievous that the Lord will not have respect unto our
prayers and will not bless and save us. In ourselves we can
see nothing but weakness, nothing to recommend us to God, and Satan tells us
that it is of no use; we cannot remedy our defects of character. When
we try to come to God, the enemy will whisper, It is
of no use for you to pray; did not you do that evil thing?
Have you not sinned against God and violated your own conscience? But
we may tell the enemy that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7.
When we feel that we
have sinned and cannot pray, it is then the time to
pray. Ashamed we may be and deeply humbled, but we must pray and
believe. “This is a
faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” 1 Timothy
1:15. Forgiveness, reconciliation with God, comes to us, not as a
reward for our works, it is not bestowed because of the merit of sinful men,
but it is a gift unto us, having in the spotless righteousness of Christ its
foundation for bestowal. {MB 115.1}
We should not try to lessen our guilt by
excusing sin. We must accept God’s estimate of sin, and that is heavy indeed.
Calvary alone can reveal the terrible enormity of sin. If we had to bear our
own guilt, it would crush us. But the sinless One has taken our place; though
undeserving, He has borne our iniquity. “If we confess our
sins,” God “is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. Glorious
truth!—just to His own law, and yet the Justifier of all that believe in Jesus.
“Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth
iniquity, and passeth by the
transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth
not His anger forever, because He delighteth in mercy.” Micah 7:18.
{MB 116.1}
“Bring
us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”—Matthew 6:13, R. V.
Temptation is enticement to sin, and this does
not proceed from God, but from Satan and from the evil of our own hearts. “God
cannot be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempteth
no man.” James 1:13 , R.V. {MB 116.2}
Satan seeks to bring us into temptation, that
the evil of our characters may be revealed before men and angels, that he may
claim us as his own. In the symbolic
prophecy of Zechariah, Satan is seen
standing at the right hand of the Angel of the Lord, accusing Joshua, the high
priest, who is clothed in filthy garments, and resisting the work that the
Angel desires to do for him. This represents the attitude of Satan toward every
soul whom Christ is seeking to draw unto Himself. The enemy leads us into sin, and then he accuses us before the
heavenly universe as unworthy of the love of God. But “the Lord said
unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the
Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of
the fire?” And unto Joshua He said, “Behold, I have caused
thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.”
Zechariah 3:1-4. {MB 116.3}
God in His great love
is seeking to develop in us the precious graces of His Spirit. He
permits us to encounter obstacles, persecution, and hardships, not as a curse,
but as the greatest blessing of our lives. Every temptation
resisted, every trial bravely borne, gives us a new experience and advances us
in the work of character building. The soul that through divine power resists
temptation reveals to the world and to the heavenly universe the efficiency of
the grace of Christ. {MB 117.1}
But while we are not to be dismayed by trial,
bitter though it be, we should pray that God will not
permit us to be brought where we shall be drawn away by the desires of our own evil
hearts. In offering the prayer that Christ has given, we surrender ourselves to
the guidance of God, asking Him to lead us in safe paths. We
cannot offer this prayer in sincerity, and yet decide to walk in any way of our
own choosing. We shall wait for His hand to lead us; we
shall listen to His voice, saying, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” Isaiah
30:21. {MB 117.2}
It is not safe for us to linger to contemplate
the advantages to be reaped through yielding to Satan’s suggestions. Sin means
dishonor and disaster to every soul that indulges in it; but it is blinding and
deceiving in its nature, and it will entice us with flattering presentations. If
we venture on Satan’s ground we have no assurance of protection from his power.
So far as in us lies, we should close every avenue by which the tempter may
find access to us. {MB 118.1}
The prayer, “Bring us not into temptation,” is
itself a promise. If we commit ourselves to God
we have the assurance, He “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. {MB
118.2}
The only safeguard against evil is the
indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness.
It is because selfishness exists in our hearts that temptation
has power over us. But when we behold the great love of God, selfishness
appears to us in its hideous and repulsive character, and we desire to have it
expelled from the soul As the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ, our hearts are
softened and subdued, the temptation loses its power, and the grace of Christ
transforms the character. {MB 118.3}
Christ will never abandon the soul for whom He
has died. The soul may leave Him and be overwhelmed with temptation, but Christ
can never turn from one for whom He has paid the ransom of His own life. Could
our spiritual vision be quickened, we should see souls bowed under oppression
and burdened with grief, pressed as a cart beneath sheaves and ready to die in
discouragement. We should see angels flying swiftly to aid these tempted ones,
who are standing as on the brink of a precipice. The angels from heaven force
back the hosts of evil that encompass these souls, and guide them to plant
their feet on the sure foundation. The battles waging between the two armies
are as real as those fought by the armies of this world, and on the issue of
the spiritual conflict eternal destinies depend. {MB 118.4}
To us, as to Peter, the word is spoken, “Satan
hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for
thee, that thy faith fail not.” Luke 22:31, 32. Thank God, we
are not left alone. He who “so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life” (John 3:16), will not desert us in the battle with the adversary of God
and man. “Behold,” He says, “I give unto you power to tread on serpents and
scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means
hurt you.” Luke 10:19. {MB 119.1}
Live in contact with the living Christ, and He will hold you firmly by a hand that will
never let go. Know and believe the love that God has to us, and you are secure;
that love is a fortress impregnable to all the delusions and assaults of Satan.
“The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth
into it, and is safe.” Proverbs 18:10. {MB 119.2}
“Thine
is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.”—Matthew 6:13.
The last like the first sentence of the Lord’s
Prayer, points to our Father as above all power and authority and every name
that is named. The Saviour beheld the years that stretched out before His
disciples, not, as they had dreamed, lying in the sunshine of worldly
prosperity and honor, but dark with the tempests of human hatred and satanic
wrath. Amid national strife and ruin, the steps of the disciples would be beset
with perils, and often their hearts would be oppressed by fear. They were to
see Jerusalem a desolation, the temple swept away, its
worship forever ended, and Israel scattered to all lands, like wrecks on a
desert shore. Jesus said, “Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.” “Nation
shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be
famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Matthew 24:6-8. Yet
Christ’s followers were not to fear that their hope was lost or that God had
forsaken the earth. The power and the glory belong unto Him whose great
purposes would still move on unthwarted toward their
consummation. In the prayer that breathes their daily wants, the disciples of Christ were directed to look above all the
power and dominion of evil, unto the Lord their God, whose kingdom ruleth over all and who is their Father and everlasting
Friend. {MB 120.1}
The ruin of Jerusalem was a symbol of the
final ruin that shall overwhelm the world. The
prophecies that received a partial fulfillment in the overthrow of Jerusalem
have a more direct application to the last days.
We are now standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. A crisis is
before us, such as the world has never witnessed. And sweetly to us, as to the
first disciples, comes the assurance that God’s kingdom ruleth
over all. The program of coming events is in the hands of our Maker. The
Majesty of heaven has the destiny of nations, as well as the concerns of His
church, in His own charge. The divine Instructor is saying to every agent in
the accomplishment of His plans, as He said to Cyrus, “I girded thee, though
thou hast not known Me.” Isaiah 45:5. {MB 120.2}
In the vision of the
prophet Ezekiel there was the appearance of a hand beneath the wings of the
cherubim. This is to teach His servants that it is divine power which
gives them success. Those whom God employs
as His messengers are not to feel that His work is dependent upon them. Finite
beings are not left to carry this burden of responsibility. He who slumbers
not, who is continually at work for the accomplishment of His designs, will
carry forward His own work. He will thwart the purposes of wicked men, and will
bring to confusion the counsels of those who plot mischief against His people.
He who is the King, the Lord of hosts, sitteth between the cherubim, and amid
the strife and tumult of nations He guards His children still. He who ruleth in the heavens is our Saviour. He measures every trial,
He watches the furnace fire that must test every soul.
When the strongholds
of kings shall be overthrown, when the arrows of wrath shall strike through the
hearts of His enemies, His people will be safe in His hands.
{MB 121.1}
“Thine,
O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and
the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine.... In Thine
hand is power and might; and in Thine hand it is to make great, and to give
strength unto all.” 1 Chronicles 29:11, 12. {MB 122.1}