Blog Archives - WELCOME TO THE JOY OF TROY

September 15, 2018

9/15/2018

Jesus Revealed in Doctrine                        DON'T BE AFRAID

        Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Rev. 2:10.

    Momentous times are just upon us. People are going to face death over a day of worship. Sometimes we wonder how it could ever happen. Do you think you could face death rather than be disloyal to God? Do you have a faith that can withstand pain and hunger and persecution?

    Sometimes boys and girls, and even older folks as well, lie awake at night because they have heard too many gory details of what the time of trouble is going to be like. But don't forget Psalm 91. Don't forget that Hus and Jerome sang as they were martyred. Have you ever burned your finger on a hot stove? Did you sing? Not likely! Obviously martyrs were sustained by a power outside themselves in order to be able to do as they did. The courage of a martyr, however, is not supplied until it is needed. There's no point in trying to figure out whether you have enough courage right now to be martyred. You don't. It isn't sent until it is required.

    Those who have the seal of God, those who are loyal to Him and to His day of worship, will be unable to buy or sell. But God has promised that our bread and water will be sure. "I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread" (Ps. 37:25). Those who remain loyal to God will have a death decree hanging over their heads, but the words of Jesus come to each of His children, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life" (Rev. 2:10).

    On the other hand, those who receive the mark of the beast will receive the seven last plagues. And they will ultimately end up in the lake of fire, with no hope of a future resurrection.

    God is able to preserve those who are loyal to Him. Sometimes we have recited the promises of His Word as a routine. But it won't be a routine when you face the closing scenes of this earth's history. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence" (Ps. 91:1-3). Notice that it's talking about the plagues. "There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling" (verse 10). The promises are sure--you can't miss if you're on God's side.

September 14, 2018

9/14/2018

Jesus Revealed in doctrine                        THE 144,000

        And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. Rev. 15:2.

    There will be a group of people at the end if time who will have gotten the victory over self-worship. They will have gotten the victory over any idea that they can challenge their Creator or change His times and laws. They will have the victory over independence, pride, and selfishness. They will stand among the group on the sea of glass someday--the group of 144,000--and sing the song of Moses and the Lamb.

    Have you ever wondered who the 144,000 are? It's very clear who they are. I know who they are, and you do, too! The only trouble we have is trying to figure out who the rest of the people are. The problem in Revelation isn't who the 144,000 are, it's who is the great multitude that no man can number--that's the mystery.

    But it says about these people that they are not only blameless but faultless. It reminds us of Romans 8:29. Instead of the image of the beast, what do we see? "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." It is important to understand about the beast, and the mark of the beast. But it is far more important to be sure we know Jesus, and are allowing Him to change us to His image. I would like to have more concern and interest and preoccupation with being conformed to the image of His Son than with conformity to this power that thinks to exalt himself about the throne of God.

    The group that stands on the sea of glass and sings the song of Moses and the Lamb is made up of people who have the seal of God in their foreheads--God has written His name in their foreheads because they belong to Him. Their greatest ambition is to follow Him wherever He goes.

    We need to remember that no one will be following the Lamb everywhere He goes throughout eternity unless he begins following Him on this earth. Those who have now been following Jesus day by day will be sealed to Him, and will have the privilege of following Him forever.

September 13, 2018

9/13/2018

Jesus Revealed in Doctrine                        HOW GOD FEELS ABOUT THE SABBATH

        If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God. Rev. 14:9, 10.

    The seal of God in the people's foreheads at the very end has to do with the Sabbath, the day of worship in honor of the Creator. Therefore the mark of the beast must have something to do with a day of worship as well.

    The mark-of-the-beast issue is far deeper than simply a day to go to church. The common thread going through all the three angels' messages is a warning against self-worship. The thing that is so tragic about this beast power is that it is an organized group of self-worship, that even thinks it can change God's laws and His times. You cannot go through those scriptures without being startled at how deeply God feels about the issues. There are many people who know that the Sabbath is the day of worship taught by Scripture, but they have not realized how God feels about it. The reason God feels this way is because He gave it in the first place in honor of Creation.

    If I were the devil, and I saw a day given every week in honor of the Creator, the One who made all things, I would be so upset that I would have to do something about it. If there's anything greater than saying that God made a tree or a mountain or an ocean, it is that God made everything--"All that in them is." You can't get any bigger than that. So Satan had to do something about the day of worship in honor of that. God has sent us special information that this would happen, and when it would happen, and how God would feel about it, so that we would not be caught unawares. Jesus is revealed in this doctrine in His feelings about the day of worship, about His law, and about a group of people who go along with Satan's deceptions, and a group who stand loyal to Him to the very end. "I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and then that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name" (Rev. 15:2). Don't you want to be in that group that has gotten the victory over self-worship, over independence, over trying to be God?

September 12, 2018

9/12/2018

Jesus Revealed in Doctrine                        VICTORY OVER THE BEAST

        And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image. Rev. 15:2.

    There are eight distinguishing marks to identify the beast spoken of in Daniel 7 and Revelation 13. This beast gets his authority from pagan Rome. This beast blasphemes against God. It has political strength. It makes war on God's people, is a persecuting power. It rules for 1,260 years. It receives a deadly wound at the end of that time. It has a number that is applied to it, 666. And it has a mark that people can receive in either their foreheads or their right hands.

    God has something that you can receive in your forehead--called the seal of God. But the mark of the beast can be received in either the forehead of the hand. You are aware that the book of Revelation is full of symbols. Symbolically, then, when something is received in the forehead, what would it refer to? That someone will come along with a branding iron and press it into your forehead? No, the suggestion is that you will receive it in your mind. It will be received intelligently by your reason and judgment. If you have the name of God, the seal of God, in your forehead, it means that it has entered into your mind, your thinking, your decisions.

    What would the right hand signify? Work, action, activity. When you receive God's seal, it has to be in the forehead. But the mark of the beast can be either in the forehead or the hand. People are evidently going to accept the mark of the beast either in their thinking or simply through external pressure, outward compliance. God is interested only in intelligent worship. He looks on the inside--out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. The seat of worship to God is in the mind, not just actions.

    What does a seal consist of? A seal of any government has at least three things. The name of the ruler, his title, and the territory over which he rules. The seal of God is found in the Sabbath commandment. It is the Sabbath of the Lord. The Lord made heaven and earth--He is our Creator. There's His title. And how much did He create? His territory includes heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is. Because His is our Creator and Redeemer, He is the One we are to worship.

September 11, 2018

9/11/2018

Jesus Revealed in Doctrine                        THERE SHALL NO EVIL BEFALL THEE

        He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Ps. 91:1.

    If you were to take the books of Daniel and Revelation out of your Bible and paste them together you would have a history of the world from about 600 B.C. until the end of time. It would be a history of the world in advance--called prophecy. At the very beginning of this history are some exciting stories to keep the children's attention. For example, the three Hebrews in the furnace, Daniel in the lions' den, and the handwriting on the wall. In Daniel 2 is the table of contents of this history of the world. It tells of the great world empires clear through to the end of the world. Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, followed by ten kingdoms, followed by God's kingdom. Daniel and Revelation were designed for the time of the end.

    Much of the detail has to do with the last of the world empires and the coming of Jesus. God is interested in each one of us knowing clearly and in advance what the issues are, so that we can choose intelligently which of two groups we would like to become part of.

    Until shortly before the coming of Jesus, there will be three groups of people living upon the earth--the cold, the hot, and the lukewarm (Revelation 3). But when Jesus comes, there will be only two groups. There will be only hot and cold. The lukewarm will have disappeared There will be one group with the seal of God in their foreheads, and one group with the mark of the beast in their foreheads or hands. Two groups. Other Bible descriptions of these two groups are righteous and wicked, good and bad, wheat and tares, just and unjust, sheep and goats, and so on. But two clear groups.

    Do you have any idea which group you would like to be in? Do you realize the alternatives? Do you realize that if you are in one group you will not be able to buy or sell? Do you realize that you will have the death penalty over your head? That's what happens to God's group. But the other group will suffer the seven last plagues, and will gnaw their tongues for pain, and the sun will scorch them with heat. It looks at first glance as though you are in trouble no matter which you choose! But God's people have been promised that there shall no evil befall them. We can hide in Him, and find safety there.

September 10, 2018

9/10/2018

Jesus Revealed in Doctrine                        JESUS REVEALED BY THE MARK OF THE BEAST

        Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. Rev. 7:3.

    We were holding some public meetings in central California, and had engaged the Voice of Prophecy quartet to come and sing for us. They wanted to know what the topic of the sermon was, so they could choose some appropriate music, for the occasion. We told them it was the mark of the beast! Their faces went blank, and we suddenly realized that there are few songs on that subject. I suppose this indicates something. The only way you could come up with a song about the mark of the beast would be to stress the positive instead of the negative.

    In Revelation 14:1-6 you see a group of people who live at the very end of this earth's history, who are on God's side. They are extremely loyal. It says that they follow the Lamb withersoever He goeth, and that they are without fault before God's throne. This same group is also mentioned in Revelation 7:1-4. Notice in both passages that God's name is written in their foreheads.

    Revelation 13:1-9 describes a second group. They worship the beast, and wonder after him. In verse 16 of the same chapter it says that this second group receives a mark also, some in their right hand, and some in their foreheads. So the contrast is that at the end of time there are two groups: one with the seal of God in their foreheads, and one group with a mark from the beast in their foreheads or in their hand.

    It is possible for this subject to become complex, with all the history and prophecy and dates and texts. But there should be some way to make it simple enough for even the boys and girls to understand. When Jesus comes again you will either have the name of God in your forehead or the mark of the beast in your forehead or hand. There are only two choices, or two groups. The middle ground that so many occupy today will have disappeared. This tells us something about Jesus. It tells us that He wants us to make decisions. He gives time and is patient and works with us. But He does not want us to sit forever on the fence. The time is coming when each one will be forced to decide either for or against Him. And on our choice depends our eternal destiny.

September 9, 2018

9/9/2018

Jesus Revealed in Doctrine                        CHANGING THE SABBATH

        Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them. Eze. 20:12.

    "As the Jews departed from God, and failed to make the righteousness of Christ their own by faith, the Sabbath lost its significance to them."--The Desire of Ages, p. 283. Is it possible today that the significance of the Sabbath to you right now is meaningful for you in proportion to your experience of righteousness by faith? "In order to keep the Sabbath holy, men must themselves be holy. Through faith they must become partakers of the righteousness of Christ."--Ibid. The Sabbath was a token of separation from idolatry, which includes self-worship. Self-worship is the idea that we can save ourselves. When I pull away from idolatry, I am pulling away from the idea that I can save myself, and trusting only in the righteousness of Jesus. That's what the Sabbath represents.

    The Sabbath is a symbol of our connection with God. If you are having trouble with the Sabbath, and are questioning its importance, you have deeper trouble somewhere else. If you find that the Sabbath is a drag, and are tired of the routine, and waiting impatiently for the sun to set, your trouble is not with the Sabbath but is far deeper than that. Your problem has to do with your relationship with the Lord Himself. Sometimes we sit around judging some prelate over in Italy who had the audacity to change the Sabbath. But if you have pulled away from a deep dependence upon Jesus Christ as your personal friend and Saviour, and you don't know Him today, then you yourself have changed the Sabbath, too. Long before the Sabbath was changed by Constantine and the council, it had already been changed experientially in the hearts of the people. And when it is changed experientially in the hearts of the people, it is only a matter of time until it can be changed on the calendar as well. There is a close connection.

    If you have trouble today with the Sabbath being a formal routine, may I suggest that instead of leaving the church you change the Sabbath back into what God intended it in the first place. This is done by turning to Jesus Christ as your Creator, toward Jesus as your Redeemer, and toward Him as your Sanctifier, in a daily, close connection with Him

September 8, 2018

9/8/2018

Jesus Revealed in Doctrine                        THE BIRTHDAY OF THE WORLD

        And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. Gen. 2:3.

    It was God who set aside the seventh-day Sabbath in the beginning in honor of Creation. Evidently the Creator realized the importance of having His creatures remember His creatorship and His creation every week. The Sabbath is in honor of the birthday of the world. You can't change anybody's birthday. When someone comes along with a pseudo-Sabbath, or another day to take its place, they are obviously false, because no one can change anyone's birthday, not even Abraham Lincoln's or George Washington's! We can change the official memorial holidays, but have we changed their birthdates? Of course not. We can decide to have our holiday on a different day, that's all. And why do we do this? Because Washington and Lincoln obviously don't mean that much to us anymore. We are more concerned with having a day off than with honoring Washington and Lincoln. Isn't that true? Why, I can prove it to you. On the last celebration of Lincoln's or Washington's birthday, how many of you sat around reading about Lincoln or Washington and meditating on them?

    When you forget about the person whose birthday you are supposed to be celebrating, as time goes by you can find it easy to change it into simply a holiday. Don't miss this in relationship to the Sabbath. God Himself couldn't change the Sabbath, as long as it continues to be memorial of what it is, because to change the day that was set aside in honor of Creation would be impossible even for God Himself.

    But God is interested in sanctifying a people, not just a particular day (Heb. 13:12). People begin to experience sanctification the moment they are born again as new creatures in Christ. We can be thankful to the Creator for not only our first birth but the new birth as well. Thus the Sabbath becomes a reminder not only of the fact that God created us in the first place but of our redemption, through the blood of Jesus. The Sabbath has been given to us as a sign of our sanctification (Ex. 31:13; Eze. 20:12). We have been set apart for a holy purpose. The Sabbath is more than a matter of law. It is a matter of Christian life and experience.

September 7, 2018

9/7/2018

Jesus Revealed in Doctrine                        TRUTH OR TRADITION

        Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Mark 7:7.

    Jesus' custom was to keep the Sabbath (Luke 4:16). It had been His custom when He lived in Nazareth, working in the carpenter shop. It was a custom that He continued all through His life. He was the Creator, and yet we see Him resting on the Sabbath day as He Himself had commanded. Obviously, He was giving us an example that we can follow today.

    Jesus warned the people against their traditions. He had no time for anything based simply on tradition when it came in collision with His Father's commandments. It's interesting to make a list of the traditions that we have today. Some of us think that it is a sin to open our eyes during prayer! That's just a tradition. There's no basis in Scripture for that. Some people feel it's a sin to put anything on top of the Bible. That's a tradition. Some parents tell their children it's a sin to take part in the communion service before they have been baptized. Another tradition. Should we throw out all traditions? No, you don't throw them out arbitrarily. Some of the traditions may have good reasons for them. But whenever tradition comes in collision with the truth of God, then the tradition goes. Jesus spoke to this point, "Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandments of God, ye hold the tradition of men....Full well ye reject the commandments of God."

    Any kind of false Sabbath or false day of worship that the world has gotten into the habit of observing is strictly a tradition, because you don't find it in Scripture at all. If you want to keep the Sabbath of the Bible, you are going to keep the seventh day, according to Scripture.

    The most oft-given reason for keeping Sunday is that it is the day of Jesus' resurrection. It's a nice-sounding reason--but it has no Bible base. If you are going to follow the Bible teachings, you will keep the seventh day. For those who want to honor the resurrection, we have the service of baptism. That's the Scripture memorial for the resurrection. Jesus rested at the end of Creation, and rested again in the grave after He had finished His work on the earth. And today He invites us to rest in memorial of the works of creation and redemption He has accomplished for us.

September 6, 2018

9/6/2018

Jesus Revealed in Doctrine                        THE SEVENTH DAY

        Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. Deut. 5:12.

    Johnny left one Sunday morning on his way to Sunday school. He had two dimes in his hand; one for the Lord, and one for ice cream on his way home. As he was crossing the street, he slipped, and one of the dimes rolled down into the gutter. He was regretting that the Lord's dine had gone down the drain when a friend came by who wasn't going to Sunday school. It wasn't long before he agreed that his mother would never know, and they went fishing. But in spite of his efforts and proper timing, he got home a little late, and soon his mother had the whole story.

    As a punishment, his mother sent him to his room to read the fourth commandment fifty times. Johnny began to read. "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God." After the first few times he had it by memory. The words burned into his mind, and when he finished, he was sure he would never again go fishing on Sunday.

    Several weeks later, his teacher at school asked for someone to give the days of the week in order. Johnny volunteered. He stood up and recited, "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday." The teacher said, "That's fine, but you made one mistake. Sunday is the first day, and Saturday is the seventh. Try it one more time." Johnny hesitated a moment. "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday." Again the teacher asked that he begin with the first day, but he recited it the same as he had at first. The teacher told him sternly to stay after school. But Johnny said, "Teacher, if you had read the fourth commandment as many times as I have, you'd know Monday is the first day of the week, and Sunday is the seventh!" Obviously something was wrong. Someone had tried to change something.

    It was predicted that the time would come when people would try to change God's holy day. But Jesus had a high regard for the Sabbath. It is because of this that Satan has tried so hard to produce a counterfeit. Luke 4:16 says that to worship on the Sabbath day was Jesus' custom. If we follow His example and teachings, it will become our custom as well.