Wednesday, April 3rd, 2019 Testimony Meeting

1 Peter 5: 6-7

6​ Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
7​ Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

1 Samuel 25: 4- 6( ​to​ 3rd ,) , 9( ​to​ 2nd ,), 10 (​to ​1st ?), 11-13( ​to​ 1st .)(and) ( ​to​ ;), 14, 17-18( ​to ​1st ,), 19, 21, 23(​ to ​2nd ,), 24( ​to ​2nd ,), 25(​to :), 26, 32-33, 38-39 (​to 1 ​ st .)

4​ And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep.
5​ And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name:
6​ And thus shall ye say to him that liveth in prosperity, Peace be both to thee, and peace be to thine house,
9​ And when David’s young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David,
10 And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David?
11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?
12 So David’s young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings.
13 And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. and there went up after David about four hundred men;
14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them.
17 Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he is such a son of Belial, that a man cannot speak to him.
18 Then Abigail made haste,
19 And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal.
21 Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good.
23 And when Abigail saw David, she hasted,
24 And fell at his feet, and said,
25 Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal:
26 Now therefore, my lord, as the ​LORD​ liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the ​LORD​ hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.
32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the ​LORD​ God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me:
33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
38 And it came to pass about ten days after, that the ​LORD​ smote Nabal, that he died.
39 And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be the LORD​, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the ​LORD​ hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head.

Psalm 94: 16-19

16 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
17 Unless the ​LORD​ had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.
18 When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O ​LORD​, held me up.
19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.

22:11-23:11

“Work out your own salvation,” is the demand of Life and Love, for to this end God worketh with you.”Occupy till I come!” Wait for your reward, and “be not weary in well doing.” If your endeavors are beset by fearful odds, and you receive no present reward, go not back to error, nor become a sluggard in the race.When the smoke of battle clears away, you will discern the good you have done, and receive according to your deserving. Love is not hasty to deliver us from temptation, for Love means that we shall be tried and purified.

Final deliverance from error, whereby we rejoice in immortality, boundless freedom, and sinless sense, is not reached through paths of flowers nor by pinning one’s faith without works to another’s vicarious effort. Whosoever believeth that wrath is righteous or that divinity is appeased by human suffering, does not understand God.Justice requires reformation of the sinner. Mercy cancels the debt only when justice approves. Revenge is inadmissible. Wrath which is only appeased is not destroyed, but partially indulged. Wisdom and Love may require many sacrifices of self to save us from sin.

One sacrifice, however great, is insufficient to pay the debt of sin. The atonement requires constant self-immolation on the sinner’s part. That God’s wrath should be vented upon His beloved Son, is divinely unnatural. Such a theory is man-made. The atonement is a hard problem in theology, but its scientific explanation is, that suffering is an error of sinful sense which Truth destroys, and that eventually both sin and suffering will fall at the feet of everlasting Love.

36:19-37:4

A selfish and limited mind may be unjust, but the un-limited and divine Mind is the immortal law of justice as well as of mercy. It is quite as impossible for sinners to receive their full punishment this side of the grave as for this world to bestow on the righteous their full reward. It is useless to suppose that the wicked can gloat over their offences to the last moment and then be suddenly pardoned and pushed into heaven, or that the hand of Love is satisfied with giving us only toil, sacrifice, cross-bearing, multiplied trials, and mockery of our motives in return for our efforts at well doing.

Religious history repeats itself in the suffering of the just for the unjust. Can God therefore overlook the law of righteousness which destroys the belief called sin? Does not Science show that sin brings suffering as much today as yesterday? They who sin must suffer. “With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

235:27-236:29

Who that has tried to follow the divine precept, “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them,” has not suffered from the situation? —has not found that human passions in their reaction have misjudged motives? Throughout our experience since undertaking the labor of uplifting the race, we have been made the repository of little else than the troubles, indiscretions,and errors of others; until thought has shrunk from contact with family difficulties, and become weary with study to counsel wisely whenever giving advice on personal topics.To the child complaining of his parents we have said,”Love and honor thy parents, and yield obedience to them in all that is right; but you have the rights of conscience, as we all have, and must follow God in all your ways.

“When yielding to constant solicitations of husband or wife to give, to one or the other, advice concerning difficulties and the best way to overcome them, we have done this to the best of our ability, —and always with the purpose to restore harmony and prevent dishonor. In such cases we have said, “Take no counsel of a mortal, even though it be your best friend; but be guided by God alone;” meaning by this, Be not estranged from each other by anything that is said to you, but seek in divine Love the remedy for all human discord.Yet, notwithstanding one’s good intentions, in someway or at some step in one’s efforts to help another, as a general rule, one will be blamed for all that is not right: but this must not deter us from doing our duty, whatever else may appear, and at whatever cost.

237:19-23

This is a period of doubt, inquiry,speculation, selfishness; of divided interests, marvellous good, and mysterious evil. But sin can only work out its own destruction; and reform does and must push on the growth of mankind.