October 7Every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand — Matt. 7:26.
The hopes built upon the Lord's promises and unaccompanied by works are hopes built upon the sand. It is only a question of time until the great testing time shall come and such hopes will be shown to be worse than useless. They will be shown to have deceived their possessor, who thought himself safe in his assurances of a share in the Kingdom. On the contrary, those who build with obedience, their hearts as well as their tongues confessing and honoring the Lord, their deeds corroborating their faith, and their fruits bearing testimony of their vital relationship with the Lord—these shall pass through all the storms of life and shall never be moved, never be shaken, because they are on the foundation—Z '04, 36 (R 3317). Jesus' sayings and the teachings of the Bible are equivalent terms, because God gave the Scriptures through His Son, both during and since His pre-existence. To hear His sayings means to understand them. They effect responsiveness in the meek alone. Foolish indeed is he who, understanding them, does not submit to their influence. All his efforts to do wonderful things in the Lord's name will result in failure, so far as the development of a Christlike and thus a God-pleasing character is concerned. His faith structure, like a house built upon sand, will be swept away by the rain, winds, storms and floods of the great Time of Trouble that will come upon him as well as upon the world—P '26, 156. Parallel passages: Prov. 10:8; Matt. 5:6; 7:24, 25, 27; 13:7, 14, 15, 19-23; Ezek. 33:30-32; Rom. 2:13; 10:14-21; Jas. 1:19, 22-25; Luke 6:49; 11:28; 13:24-27. Hymns: 49, 22, 79, 296, 306, 311, 332. Poems of Dawn, 217: One Here, One There. Tower Reading: Z '14, 59 (R 5407). Questions: What kind of a hearer of the Word am I? How did I hear the Word this week? What were the causes, spirit and results? |
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ONE HERE, ONE THERE
OF all we meet in life's great stream,
There's but one here and there
Who treasure most the better things;
Each man to self most tightly clings,
For self he toils, for self he sings,
Except one here, one there.
The world would be a desolate place,
But for one here and there,
Whose heart with self hath not been filled,
Whose love for God hath not been killed,
Whose thankful praise hath not been stilled;
There's one such here and there.
And this hath been the Lord's wise will,
To find one here, one there,
Who counting earthly gain but dross,
Would daily take the Chrisitian's cross,
E'en at the risk of any loss:—
God finds one here and there.
'Tis not the numbers that He seeks,
But just one here, one there;
He seeks not souls, but jewels fair,
For those who will His suff'ring share,
And for His sake reproaches bear;
They're few; one here, one there!
But oh! The grandeur of the work
For this one here and there,
To join in lifting up our race,
To wipe away of sin each trace,
To make of earth a perfect place,
Put glory everywhere!
OF all we meet in life's great stream,
There's but one here and there
Who treasure most the better things;
Each man to self most tightly clings,
For self he toils, for self he sings,
Except one here, one there.
The world would be a desolate place,
But for one here and there,
Whose heart with self hath not been filled,
Whose love for God hath not been killed,
Whose thankful praise hath not been stilled;
There's one such here and there.
And this hath been the Lord's wise will,
To find one here, one there,
Who counting earthly gain but dross,
Would daily take the Chrisitian's cross,
E'en at the risk of any loss:—
God finds one here and there.
'Tis not the numbers that He seeks,
But just one here, one there;
He seeks not souls, but jewels fair,
For those who will His suff'ring share,
And for His sake reproaches bear;
They're few; one here, one there!
But oh! The grandeur of the work
For this one here and there,
To join in lifting up our race,
To wipe away of sin each trace,
To make of earth a perfect place,
Put glory everywhere!