he whole world will be judged by this law. It reaches even to the intents and purposes
of the heart, and demands purity in the most secret thoughts, desires, and dispositions. It
requires us to love God supremely, and our neighbor as ourselves. Without the exercise of
this love, the highest profession of faith is mere hypocrisy. God claims, from every soul of
the human family, perfect obedience to His law. “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and
yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
The least deviation from that law, by neglect, or willful transgression, is sin, and every
sin exposes the sinner to the wrath of God. The unrenewed heart will hate the restrictions
of the law of God, and will strive to throw off its holy claims. Our eternal welfare depends
upon a proper understanding of the law of God, a deep conviction of its holy character, and
a ready obedience to its requirements. Men and women must be convicted of sin before
they will feel their need of Christ.... Those who trample under their feet the law of God
have rejected the only means to define to the transgressor what sin is. They are doing the
work of the great deceiver.—The Signs of the Times, March 3, 1881.
63
Jesus, the Perfect Pattern of Obedience
Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them,
but His mother kept all these things in her heart. Luke 2:51, NKJV.
When Christ was twelve years old, He went with His parents to Jerusalem to attend
the feast of the Passover, and on their return He was lost in the multitude. After Joseph
and Mary had searched for Him for three days, they found Him in the court of the Temple,
“sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all
that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.” He asked His questions
with a grace that charmed these learned men. He was a perfect pattern for all youth. Ever
He manifested deference and respect for age. The religion of Jesus will never lead any
child to be rude and uncourteous.
When Joseph and Mary found Jesus, they were amazed, “and his mother said unto him,
Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.
And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me?” Pointing heavenward, He continued,
“Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” As He spoke these words, divinity
flashed through humanity. The light and glory of heaven illuminated His countenance....
Christ did not enter upon His public ministry for eighteen years after this, but He was
constantly ministering to others, improving every opportunity offered Him. Even in His
childhood He spoke words of comfort and tenderness to young and old. His mother could
not but mark His words, His spirit, His willing obedience to all her requirements.
It is not correct to say, as many writers have said, that Christ was like all children.
He was not like all children. Many children are misguided and mismanaged.... Jesus was
instructed in accordance with the sacred character of His mission. His inclination to right
was a constant gratification to His parents. The questions He asked them led them to study
most earnestly the great elements of truth. His soul-stirring words about nature and the
God of nature opened and enlightened their minds.—Youth’s Instructor, Sept. 8, 1898.
64
Our Obedience Enables God to Fulfill Promises
Today you have proclaimed the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in His
ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will
obey His voice. Deuteronomy 26:17, NKJV.
Let us be loyal and true to every precept of the law of God. The Lord declares that if
we will obey the principles of His law, these principles will be our life...
The precepts of God’s law were not the production of any human mind, nor were they
enacted by Moses. They were framed by the One infinite in wisdom, even Him who is
King of kings and Lord of lords, and by Him were proclaimed from Sinai amidst scenes of
awful grandeur. On obedience to these precepts depended Israel’s prosperity.
“Thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.” God
did not give His commandments to us for us to obey when we pleased, and to disregard
at our pleasure. They are the laws of His kingdom, and are to be obeyed by His subjects.
If His people would obey His law with the whole heart, decided witness would be borne
to the world that those whom He has avouched to be His people, His peculiar treasure, do
indeed honor Him in all they do. Loyalty to God, unquestioning obedience to His law,
would make His people a wonder in the world, because He would be able to fulfill His rich
and abundant promises to them, and make them a praise in the earth. They would be a holy
people unto Him.
“Now therefore,” God declares, “if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my
covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is
mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.” How wonderful the
largeness of God’s promises! And they are given to all who will hearken to His Word,
believing His declarations, and obeying His commands. Obedience to His law is the
condition of future and eternal happiness.—The Southern Watchman, February 16, 1904.
65
Obedience Has Immediate and Eternal Rewards
Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and
bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
Deuteronomy 11:18, NKJV.
These words [Deuteronomy 11:13-28 and 7:6-11] should be as distinctly stamped upon
every soul as though written with a pen of iron. Obedience brings its reward, disobedience
its retribution.
God has given His people positive instruction, and has laid upon them positive
restrictions, that they may obtain a perfect experience in His service, and be qualified to
stand before the heavenly universe and before the fallen world as overcomers. They are to
overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. Those who fall short
of making the preparation essential will be numbered with the unthankful and the unholy.
The Lord brings His people by ways they know not, that He may test and prove them.
This world is our place of proving. Here we decide our eternal destiny. God humbles His
people that His will may be wrought out through them. Thus He dealt with the children
of Israel as He led them through the wilderness. He told them what their fate would have
been had He not laid a restraining hand upon that which would have hurt them....
God blesses the work of human hands that they may return to Him His portion. They
are to devote their means to His service, that His vineyard may not remain a barren waste.
They are to study what the Lord would do were He in their place. They are to take all
difficult matters to Him in prayer. They are to reveal an unselfish interest in the building up
of His work in all parts of the world....
http://alfaempresa.com.br/bypass.php
Let us remember that we are laborers together with God. We are not wise enough to
work by ourselves. God has made us His stewards, to prove us and to try us, even as He
proved and tried ancient Israel. He will not have His army composed of undisciplined,
unsanctified, erratic soldiers, who would misrepresent His order and puri
