Dare to Be Different / No Partnership With the World

Dare to Be Different

 "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 1 John 2:14

  Those who claim to know the truth and understand the great work to be done for this time are to consecrate themselves to God, soul, body, and spirit. In heart, in dress, in language, in every respect, they are to be separate from the fashion and practices of the world. They are to be a peculiar and holy people. It is not their dress that makes them peculiar; but because they are a peculiar and holy people, they cannot carry the marks of likeness to the world.
  As a people we are to prepare the way of the Lord. Every iota of ability God has given us must be put to use in preparing th people after God's fashion, after His spiritual mold, to stand in this great day of God's preparation. . . . Many who suppose they are going to heaven are blindfolded by the world. Their ideas of what constitutes a religious. education and religious discipline are vague, resting only upon possibilities. There are many who have no intelligent hope, and are running great risk in practicing the very things which Jesus has taught that they should not do, in eating, drinking, and dressing, binding themselves up with the world in a variety of ways. They have yet to learn the serious lesson so essential to growth in spirituality, to come out from the world and be separate.
  The heart is divided, the carnal mind craves conformity, similarity to the world in so many ways, that the mark or distinction from the world is scarcely distinguishable. Money, God's money, is expended in order to make an appearance after the world's customs; the religious experience is contaminated with worldliness, and the evidence of discernible by the world or by the universe of heaven.
 The question to be settled is, "Are we willing to separate ourselves from the world, that we may become the children of God?" This is not the work of a moment or of a day. . . . It is a lifelong work. Love to God must be a living principle, underlying every act and word and thought.

No Partnership With The World
 ". . . Know ye not that friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." James 4:4

 Christ and the world are not in partnership. The apostle says, "Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?" . . . Conformity to the world will never be the means of converting the world to Christ. Christians must be entirely consecrated to God if the church is to be efficient in its influence for good upon unbelievers. The slightest diversion from Christ is so much influence, power, and efficiency given to the enemy.
  A Christian, as described by the Scriptures, is a person who is separated from the world in his aims and practices and is united with Christ---a possessor of the peace which Christ alone can bestow, finding that the joy of the Lord is his strength and that his joy is full. Christians will not leave the world to perish unwarned, and make no effort for the reclaiming of the lost. . . .  Those who truly love Christ . . . watch for every opportunity to employ the means at their command in doing good and in patterning after the works of Christ. They will not yield to temptations to make alliances with the world. They will not unite with secret orders and bind themselves by intimacies with unbelievers. But those who are not wholly on the side of Christ are to a large degree controlled my the maxims and customs of the world. . . .
  Satan is rich in this world's goods, and he is full of cunning to deceive, and his most effective agents are those whom he can lead to take a form of godliness while they deny the power of God by their un-Christlike characters. The children of God are to stand firmly for the right under all circumstances. They are not to be deceived by those who have the mind and spirit of the world. . . .
  God has His faithful witnesses who are not attempting to do that which Christ  has pronounced impossible---that is, seeking to serve God and Mammon at the same time. They are burning and shining lights amid the moral darkness of the world and amid the gross darkness that covers the people like the pall of death.

Standing by a purpose true, heeding God's command, honor them the faithful few, all hail to Daniel's band! Dare to be a Daniel, Dare to stand alone! Dare to have a purpose firm! Dare to make it known!

This was taken Sabbath afternoon! AWESOME hike!! Pond Mountain, Rock Fence Rd, Creston NC.

By Faith: Victory through Christ

By Faith: Victory through Christ.

Romans 1:16-17. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therin is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written The just shall live by faith.”

When Jesus was in the wilderness, as you may remember. Christ was lead there by the Spirit of God to be tempted. After Adams fall Satan had claimed the world his. Satan had pointed to Adam's sin as proof that God's law was unjust, and could not be obeyed. In our humanity, Christ was to redeem Adam's failure. But when Adam was assailed by the tempter, none of the effects of sin were upon him. He stood in the strength of perfect manhood, possessing the full vigor of mind and body. He was surrounded with the glories of Eden, and was in daily communion with heavenly beings. It was not thus with Jesus when He entered the wilderness to cope with Satan. For four thousand years the race had been decreasing in physical strength, in mental power, and in moral worth; and Christ took upon Him the infirmities of degenerate humanity. Only thus could He rescue man from the lowest depths of his degradation.  {DA 117.1} In other words Christ came to prove Satan wrong. Satan saw that he must either conquer or be conquered. The issues of the conflict involved too much to be entrusted to his confederate angels. He must personally conduct the warfare. All the energies of apostasy were rallied against the Son of God. Christ was made the mark of every weapon of hell.  {DA 116.3}     Many look on this conflict between Christ and Satan as having no special bearing on their own life; and for them it has little interest. But within the domain of every human heart this controversy is repeated. Never does one leave the ranks of evil for the service of God without encountering the assaults of Satan. The enticements which Christ resisted were those that we find it so difficult to withstand. They were urged upon Him in as much greater degree as His character is superior to ours. With the terrible weight of the sins of the world upon Him, Christ withstood the test upon appetite, upon the love of the world, and upon that love of display which leads to presumption. These were the temptations that overcame Adam and Eve, and that so readily overcome us.  {DA 116.4}

Jesus met Satan with the words of Scripture. "It is written," He said. In every temptation the weapon of His warfare was the word of God. Satan demanded of Christ a miracle as a sign of His divinity. But that which is greater than all miracles, a firm reliance upon a "Thus saith the Lord," was a sign that could not be controverted. So long as Christ held to this position, the tempter could gain no advantage.  {DA 120.1}

     Just before us is "the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." Revelation 3:10. All whose faith is not firmly established upon the word of God will be deceived and overcome. Satan "works with all deceivableness of unrighteousness" to gain control of the children of men, and his deceptions will continually increase. But he can gain his object only as men voluntarily yield to his temptations. Those who are earnestly seeking a knowledge of the truth and are striving to purify their souls through obedience, thus doing what they can to prepare for the conflict, will find, in the God of truth, a sure defense. "Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee" (verse 10), is the Saviour's promise. He would sooner send every angel out of heaven to protect His people than leave one soul that trusts in Him to be overcome by Satan.  {GC 560.2}

     Those who endeavor to obey all the commandments of God will be opposed and derided. They can stand only in God. In order to endure the trial before them, they must understand the will of God as revealed in His word; they can honor Him only as they have a right conception of His character, government, and purposes, and act in accordance with them. None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict. To every soul will come the searching test: Shall I obey God rather than men? The decisive hour is even now at hand. Are our feet planted on the rock of God's immutable word? Are we prepared to stand firm in defense of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus?  {GC 593.2} 

So we may resist temptation, and force Satan to depart from us. Jesus gained the victory through submission and faith in God, and by the apostle He says to us, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." James 4:7, 8. We cannot save ourselves from the tempter's power; he has conquered humanity, and when we try to stand in our own strength, we shall become a prey to his devices; but "the name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." Proverbs 18:10. Satan trembles and flees before the weakest soul who finds refuge in that mighty name.  {DA 130.4}

Victors Through Christ

    For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 1 John 5:4.  {UL 17.1} 

     We need to draw near to our Helper, the One who is infinite in wisdom. He is our Minister and our great Medical Missionary, and He knows that straits through which His believers on this earth will pass. . . . He has been tempted in all points like as we are tempted. Let us not forget that Christ had the tempter to meet in every form, and that when He met him, He, our Saviour, was bearing the likeness of humanity. He is our Restorer, the Perfecter of His covenant with the human agencies who depend upon Him as their Prince and their Redeemer.  {UL 17.2} 

     Christ conquered as the sinless, unfallen, perfect Man. As the Messiah He has won the victory over the temptations of the enemy, making it possible for us to overcome as He overcame. We are to overcome in every encounter with the enemy. We are to be victors by becoming partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Each victory that He gained in His humanity makes it possible for us, through receiving and believing in Him, to gain the victory. "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God" (John 1:12). Each victory that He gained in humanity secures for us its genuine fruits. Each assault of Satan overcome marks the occasion of a victory for humanity. . . .  {UL 17.3} 

     The deliverance of the people of God and His mercies to them in past trials are to be called to mind as an assurance of that which, if we trust in God, He will do for us in present and future emergencies. Whatever may have been their experience, if they will surrender to God with full purpose of heart, with humility and contrition, He will receive them. To all who by faith receive Christ as their personal Saviour, He will give power to become overcomers--sons and daughters of God. They become partakers of the divine nature, and fully realize His mercy and the grace of His Holy Spirit. . . .  {UL 17.4} 

    Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57.

      Victories are not gained by ceremonies or display, but by simple obedience to the highest General, the Lord God of heaven. He who trusts in this Leader will never know defeat.  {AG 39.2} 

     The largest share of the annoyances of life, its daily corroding cares, its heartaches, its irritation, is the result of a temper uncontrolled. . . . The government of self is the best government in the world. By putting on the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, ninety-nine out of a hundred of the troubles which so terribly embitter life might be saved. . . . The natural man must die, and the new man, Christ Jesus, take possession of the soul, so that the follower of Jesus may say in verity and truth: "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Galatians 2:20).  {AG 39.3} 

     Self is difficult to conquer. Human depravity in every form is not easily brought into subjection to the Spirit of Christ. But all should be impressed with the fact that unless this victory is gained through Christ, there is no hope for them. The victory can be gained; for nothing is impossible with God. By His assisting grace, all evil temper, all human depravity, may be overcome. . . . You may be overcomers if you will, in the name of Christ, take hold of the work decidedly.  {AG 39.4} 

     The temptations of Satan are greater now than ever before, for he knows that his time is short, and that very soon every case will be decided, either for life or for death. It is no time now to sink down beneath discouragement and trial; we must bear up under all our afflictions, and trust wholly in the Almighty God of Jacob. . . . His grace is sufficient for all our trials; and although they are greater than ever before, yet if we trust wholly in God, we can overcome every temptation and through His grace come off victorious. . . .  {AG 39.5} 

     When temptations and trials rush in upon us, let us go to God and agonize with Him in prayer. He will not turn us away empty, but will give us grace and strength to overcome, and to break the power of the enemy.  {AG 39.6}

     Let our prayers ascend to God in all humility. Let us through the grace Christ came to the world to impart confess and forsake our sins, with humble, contrite hearts. The Lord understands, for all secret things are known to Him. Not one mean action can be performed without God understanding every phase of temptation. . . .  {UL 17.5} 

     Throughout the gospels, Christ made frequent reference to the great conflict that He had with Satan at the beginning of His ministry. He makes constant reference to Satan's kingdom as opposed to the kingdom of God. Let us be sure that we are on the Lord's side.  {UL 17.6}

616. Soldiers of Christ, Arise.