Conflict & Courage

That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world. Philippians 2:15.  {CC 59.1}        Abraham was honored by the surrounding nations as a mighty prince and a wise and able chief. He did not shut away his influence from his neighbors. His life and character, in their marked contrast with...

The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. Genesis 24:7.  {CC 58.1}        Isaac was highly honored by God in being made inheritor of the promises through which the...

Thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: but thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. Genesis 24:3, 4.  {CC 57.1}        Abraham's habitual faith in God and submission to His will were reflected in the character of Isaac; but the young man's affections were strong, and he was gentle and yielding in di...

By faith Abraham when he was tried, offered up Isaac; and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, . . . accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead. Hebrews 11:17-19.  {CC 56.1}        God had called Abraham to be the father of the faithful, and his life was to stand as an example of faith to succeeding generations. But his faith had not been perfec...

Now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. Hebrews 11:16.  {CC 55.1}        When Lot entered Sodom he fully intended to keep himself free from iniquity and to command his household after him. But he signally failed. . . .  {CC 55.2}        Many are still making a similar mistake. . . . Their chi...

Remember Lot's wife. Luke 17:32.  {CC 54.1}        One of the fugitives ventured to cast a look backward to the doomed city, and she became a monument of God's judgment. If Lot himself had manifested no hesitancy to obey the angels' warning, but had earnestly fled toward the mountains, without one word of pleading or remonstrance, his wife also would have made her escape. The influence of his exam...

And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly. 2 Peter 2:6.  {CC 53.1}        The flames that consumed the cities of the plain shed their warning light down even to our time. We are taught the fearful and solemn lesson that while God's mercy bears long with the transgressor, there is a lim...

And there came two angels to Sodom at even: and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; . . . and he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night. Genesis 19:1, 2.  {CC 52.1}        Lot, Abraham's nephew, though he had made his home in Sodom, was imbued with the patriarch's spirit of kindness and hospitality. Seeing...

And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? . . . That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: . . . Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? Genesis 18:23, 25.  {CC 51.1}        Abraham had honored God, and the Lord honored him, taking him into His counsels, and revealing to him His purposes. "Shall I hide f...

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Hebrews 13:2.  {CC 50.1}        God conferred great honor upon Abraham. Angels of heaven walked and talked with him as friend with friend. When judgments were about to be visited upon Sodom, the fact was not hidden from him, and he became an intercessor with God for sinners. His interview with the angels pr...

For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment. Genesis 18:19.  {CC 49.1}        In God's sight, a man is just what he is in his family. The life of Abraham, the friend of God, was signalized by a strict regard for the word of the Lord. He cultivated home religion. The fear of God pervaded his house...

Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Genesis 12:12, 13.  {CC 48.1}       The most fertile region in all Palestine was the Jordan valley. . . .  There were cities also, wealthy and beautiful, inviting to profitable traffic in their crowded marts. D...

Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou will take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. Genesis 13:8, 9.  {CC 47.1}        Abraham returned to Canaan "very rich in catt...

He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. Psalm 105:14, 15.  {CC 46.1}       It is by close, testing trials that God disciplines His servants. He sees that some have powers which may be used in the advancement of His work, and He puts these persons upon trial; in His providence He brings them into posit...

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:7.  {CC 45.1}        Abraham continued to journey southward, and again his faith was tested. The heavens withheld their rain, the brooks ceased to flow in the valleys, and the grass withered on...

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. Hebrews 11:8.  {CC 44.1}        Abraham had grown up in the midst of superstition and heathenism. Even his father's household, by whom the knowledge of God had been preserved, were yielding to the seductive influences surrounding them,...

So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Genesis 11:8.  {CC 43.1}        The dwellers on the plain of Shinar established their kingdom for self-exaltation, not for the glory of God. Had they succeeded, a mighty power would have borne sway, banishing righteousness and inaugurating a new religion. The world would have been dem...

Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." Genesis 11:4, R.S.V.  {CC 42.1}        For a time the descendants of Noah continued to dwell among the mountains where the ark had rested. As their numbers increased, apostasy soon led to division. Those...

And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Luke 17:26, 27.  {CC 41.1}        God did not condemn the antediluvians for eating and drinking; He had given them the fruits of the earth in great abu...

And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. Genesis 7:10.  {CC 40.1}        For seven days after Noah and his family entered the ark, there appeared no sign of the coming storm. During this period their faith was tested. It was a time of triumph to the world without. The apparent delay confirmed them in the belief that Noah's message was a delusion, and...

And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Genesis 7:1.  {CC 39.1}        Noah had faithfully followed the instructions which he had received from God. The ark was finished in every part as the Lord had directed, and was stored with food for man and beast. And now the servant of God made his last solemn appeal...

And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark. Genesis 6:13, 14.  {CC 38.1}        God gave Noah the exact dimensions of the ark and explicit directions in regard to its construction in every particular. Human wisdom could not have devised a structure of so great...

And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly. 2 Peter 2:5.  {CC 37.1}        God warned the inhabitants of the old world of what He purposed to do in cleansing the earth of its impurity. But they laughed to scorn what they regarded as a superstitious prediction.  {CC 37.2}        Many at first appea...

 In the days that were before the flood they were . . . marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark. Matthew 24:38.  {CC 36.1}        In Noah's day brute force was the prevailing influence in the world. By threatened punishment, men intimidated other men.  {CC 36.2}        Instead of doing justice to their neighbors, they carried out their own unlawful wishes. They...

In  the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking ...  and knew not until the flood came and took them all away. Matthew 24:38, 39. The  sin of the Noatic world was intemperance, and today the sin exhibited  by intemperance in eating and drinking is so marked that God will not  always tolerate it.... Man carries to excess that which is lawful, and  his whole being suffers the r...