That I May Know Him

And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. Matthew 14:14. {TMK 47.1} Jesus, precious Saviour, never seemed to become weary of the importunities of the sin-sick souls and the sick with all kinds of diseases. "And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them" (Mark 6:34). This means a gr...

Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Luke 6:36. {TMK 46.1} Mercy is an attribute that the human agent may share with God, thus cooperating with Him. Mercy is kind, pitiful. Mercy and the love of God purify the soul and beautify the heart, cleansing the life from selfishness. . . . {TMK 46.2} God's love for the angelic host is as a part of Himself, direct and positive in its d...

But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. Psalm 86:15. {TMK 45.1} God has ordained according to the law of ministry that we should comfort one another in tenderness and love when great sorrows come upon us. No man liveth unto himself. No one dieth unto himself. Life and death both mean something to every human being. . . . God h...

For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9. {TMK 44.1} This world has been visited by the Majesty of heaven, the Son of God. . . . Christ came to this world as the expression of the very heart and mind and nature and character of God. . . . But He laid aside His royal robe...

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. Luke 4:18. {TMK 43.1} The sufferings of humanity ever touched the heart and called forth the sympathy and love of Christ. He exercised pity an...

Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right. Proverbs 20:11. {TMK 42.1} God wants the children and youth to join the Lord's army. . . . The children have as strong temptations to meet, on the right hand and on the left, as do the older soldiers. Satan and his legions will work every device to ensnare the young. It is the privilege of the children to enlis...

Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Psalm 34:11. {TMK 41.1} Every child and every youth should bear in mind, "I am of value in the sight of God; I am bought with a price, and I am the property of Jesus Christ. As a follower of Christ I am to practice His virtues, that I may represent my Saviour." {TMK 41.2} Pray much. While at your work let your heart be upli...

Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them. Matthew 19:13-15. {TMK 40.1} Children are the Lord's heritage. The soul of the little child that believes in Christ is as p...

And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: and both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. John 2:1, 2. {TMK 39.1} On the occasion of the marriage feast He {Christ} desired to express His sympathy with, and approval of, those at the wedding. Christ did not come to this world to forbid marriage or to break down or destroy the relatio...

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. John 1:18. {TMK 38.1} Christ came to the world to reveal the character of the Father and to redeem the fallen race. The world's Redeemer was equal with God. His authority was as the authority of God. He declared that He had no existence separate from the Father. The authority by whic...

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:8. {TMK 37.1} Christ came to this world for no other purpose than to manifest the glory of God, that man might be uplifted by its restoring power. All power and grace were given to Him. His heart was a wellspring of living water, a never-failing fountain, ever ready t...

But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. Philippians 2:7. {TMK 36.1} It is important that we each study to know the reason of the life of Christ in humanity, and what it means to us--why the Son of God left the courts of heaven--why He stepped down from His position as commander of the heavenly angels who came and went at His...

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Philippians 2:6. {TMK 35.1} Jesus Christ "counted it not a thing to be grasped to be equal with God." Because divinity alone could be efficacious in the restoration of man from the poisonous bruise of the serpent, God Himself, in His only begotten Son, assumed human nature, and in the weakness of human nature sustained the...

For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Hebrews 2:16. {TMK 34.1} We need not place the obedience of Christ by itself, as something for which He was particularly adapted, by His particular divine nature, for He stood before God as man's representative and was tempted as man's substitute and surety. If Christ had a special power which it is not the...

We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15. {TMK 33.1} Let us consider how much it cost our Saviour in the wilderness of temptation to carry on in our behalf the conflict with the wily, malignant foe. Satan knew that everything depended upon his success or failure in his attempt...

Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Matthew 4:1. {TMK 32.1} Why was it that at the beginning of His public ministry Christ was led into the wilderness to be tempted? . . . He went, not in His own behalf, but in our behalf; to overcome for us. . . . He was to be tried and tested as a representative of the race. He was to meet the foe in personal encou...

Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. Matthew 3:13. {TMK 31.1} Many had come to him [John] to receive the baptism of repentance, confessing their sins. . . . Christ came not confessing His own sins, but guilt was imputed to Him as the sinner's substitute. He came not to repent on His own account, but in behalf of the sinner. . . . Christ honored the ordinance o...

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. Luke 2:52. {TMK 30.1} Christ lived the life of a toiler from His earliest years. In His youth He worked with His Father at the carpenter's trade, and thus honored all labor. Though He was the King of glory, yet by His practice of following a humble employment He rebuked idleness in every member of the human family, and dign...

And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. Luke 2:43. {TMK 29.1} Not one act in the life of Christ was unimportant. Every event of His life was for the benefit of His followers in future time. This circumstance of the tarry of Christ in Jerusalem teaches an important lesson. . . . {TMK 29.2} Jesus w...

Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? Luke 2:49. {TMK 28.1} 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 as...

And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. Luke 2:40. {TMK 27.1} The example of Jesus is a light to the young as well as to those of mature years, for His was a representative childhood and youth. From His earliest years His example was perfect. In both His physical and His spiritual nature He followed the divine order of growth illustrat...

Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Luke 2:11, 12. {TMK 26.1} We cannot understand how Christ became a little, helpless babe. He could have come to earth in such beauty that He would have been unlike the sons of men. His face could have been bri...

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:14. {TMK 25.1} When we want a deep problem to study, let us fix our minds on the most marvelous thing that ever took place in earth or heaven-- the incarnation of the Son of God. {TMK 25.2} Christ alone was able to represent the Deity. . . . G...

And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:4. {TMK 24.1} Christ combines the two types. He is the rock, He is the living water. {TMK 24.2} The same beautiful and expressive figures are carried throughout the Bible. Centuries before the advent of Christ, Moses pointed to Him as the rock of Israel's...

Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. Exodus 17:6. {TMK 23.1} From the smitten rock in Horeb first flowed the living stream that refreshed Israel in the desert. During all their wanderings, wherever the need existed, they we...