What Fruit?

They that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same. Job 4:8.
As an educator no part of the Bible is of greater value than are its biographies.
These biographies differ from all others in that they are absolutely true to life. It
is impossible for any finite mind to interpret rightly, in all things, the workings
of another. None but He who reads the heart, who discerns the secret springs of
motive and action, can with absolute truth delineate character, or give a faithful
picture of a human life. In God’s word alone is found such delineation.
No truth does the Bible more clearly teach than that what we do is the result
of what we are. To a great degree the experiences of life are the fruition of our
own thoughts and deeds.
“The curse causeless shall not come” (Proverbs 26:2). “Say ye to the
righteous, that it shall be well with him.... Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill
with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him” (Isaiah 3:10, 11). “Hear,
O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts”
(Jeremiah 6:19). Terrible is this truth, and deeply should it be impressed. Every
deed reacts upon the doer. Never a human being but may recognize, in the evils
that curse his life, fruitage of his own sowing. Yet even thus we are not without
hope....
Jacob resorted to fraud, and he reaped the harvest in his brother’s hatred.
Through twenty years of exile he was himself wronged and defrauded.... But
God says: “... I have seen his ways, and will heal him....” (Isaiah 57:18). Jacob in
his distress was not overwhelmed. He had repented, he had endeavored to atone
for the wrong to his brother. And when threatened with death through the wrath
of Esau, he sought help from God.... “He wept, and made supplication” (Hosea
12:4). “And he blessed him there” (Genesis 32:29).... The power of evil in his
own nature was broken; his character was transformed....
God does not annul His laws. He does not work contrary to them. The work
of sin He does not undo. But He transforms. Through His grace the curse works
out blessing.

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).
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).
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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.
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).
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.
We are on the very verge of the time of trouble,
and perplexities that are scarcely dreamed of are before
us.—Testimonies for the Church 9:43 (1909).
We are standing on the threshold of the crisis of the
ages. In quick succession the judgments of God will follow
one another—fire, and flood, and earthquake, with war and
bloodshed.—Prophets and Kings, 278 (c. 1914).
There are stormy times before us, but let us not utter one word
of unbelief or discouragement.—Christian Service, 136 (1905).

There’s Hope

1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.1 Corinthians 10:11

The murmurings of ancient Israel and their rebellious discontent, as well as
the mighty miracles wrought in their favor and the punishment of their idolatry
and ingratitude, are recorded for our benefit. The example of ancient Israel is
given as a warning to the people of God, that they may avoid unbelief and escape
His wrath. If the iniquities of the Hebrews had been omitted from the Sacred
Record, and only their virtues recounted, their history would fail to teach us the
lesson that it does....
If God’s people would recognize His dealings with them and accept His
teachings, they would find a straight path for their feet and a light to guide
them through darkness and discouragement. David learned wisdom from God’s
dealings with him and bowed in humility beneath the chastisement of the Most
High. The faithful portrayal of his true state by the prophet Nathan made David
acquainted with his own sins and aided him to put them away. He accepted
counsel meekly and humiliated himself before God. “The law of the Lord,” he
exclaims, “is perfect, converting the soul.”
Repentant sinners have no cause to despair because they are reminded of their
transgressions and warned of their danger. These very efforts in their behalf show
how much God loves them and desires to save them. They have only to follow
His counsel and do His will, to inherit eternal life. God sets the sins of His erring
people before them, that they may behold them in all their enormity under the
light of divine truth. It is then their duty to renounce them forever.
God is as powerful to save from sin today as He was in the times of the
patriarchs, of David, and of the prophets and apostles. The multitude of cases
recorded in sacred history where God has delivered His people from their own
iniquities should make the Christian of this time eager to receive divine instruction
and zealous to perfect a character that will bear the close inspection of the
judgment.

God forwarned us about the last days events!

Before His crucifixion the Saviour explained to His disciples
that He was to be put to death and to rise again from the tomb, and
angels were present to impress His words on minds and hearts.
[See Mark 8:31, 32; 9:31; 10:32-34.] But the disciples were
looking for temporal deliverance from the Roman yoke, and they
could not tolerate the thought that He in whom all their hopes
centered should suffer an ignominious death. The words which
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they needed to remember were banished from their minds, and
when the time of trial came it found them unprepared. The death
of Jesus as fully destroyed their hopes as if He had not forewarned
them.
So in the prophecies the future is opened before us as plainly
as it was opened to the disciples by the words of Christ. The
events connected with the close of probation and the work of
preparation for the time of trouble, are clearly presented. But
multitudes have no more understanding of these important truths
than if they had never been revealed.—The Great Controversy,
594 (1911).

Publish Post

Why do we suffer?

Where do evil and suffering come from? Is God responsible? If not, why doesn’t He at least
stop it? Will it ever come to an end? What has God done to solve the problem, and what does
that say about His character?

The law of love being the foundation of the government of God, the happiness of all created
beings depended upon their perfect accord with its great principles of righteousness. God
desires from all His creatures the service of love—homage that springs from an intelligent
appreciation of His character. He takes no pleasure in a forced allegiance, and to all He grants
freedom of will, that they may render Him voluntary service.
But there was one that chose to pervert this freedom. Sin originated with him who, next
to Christ, had been most honored of God and who stood highest in power and glory among
the inhabitants of heaven. Before his fall, Lucifer was first of the covering cherubs, holy and
undefiled. “Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in
beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering....
Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy
mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast
perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” Ezekiel
28:12-15.