WHICH SUNRISE HAVE YOU CHOSEN?

FAILURES OF PREVIOUS GENERATIONS

Gal 6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. 1Co 10:6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

THE WEAK-STRONG MAN

Samson
, shimsho n). his sun; his service; there the second time (like the sun). samsun ( Derived probably from , shemesh, sun with the diminutive ending -, -on, meaning little sun or sunny, or perhaps sun-man; , Sampso n; Latin and English, Samson: His home was near Bethshemesh, which means house of the sun.
The Israelites, who could not be overcome by the arms or by the enchantments of Midian, fell a prey to her harlots. Such is the power that woman, enlisted in the service of Satan, has exerted to entrap and destroy souls. "She hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her." Proverbs 7:26. It was thus that the children of Seth were seduced from their integrity, and the holy seed became corrupt. It was thus that Joseph was tempted. Thus Samson betrayed his strength, the defense of Israel, into the hands of the Philistines. Here David stumbled. And Solomon, the wisest of kings, who had thrice been called the beloved of his God, became a slave of passion, and sacrificed his integrity to the same bewitching power. {PP 457.2} And fathers as well as mothers are involved in this responsibility. Both parents transmit their own characteristics, mental and physical, their dispositions and appetites, to their children. As the result of parental intemperance children often lack physical strength and mental and moral power. Liquor drinkers and tobacco users may, and do, transmit their insatiable craving, their inflamed blood and irritable nerves, to their children. The licentious often bequeath their unholy desires, and even loathsome diseases, as a legacy to their offspring. And as the children have less power to resist temptation than had the parents, the tendency is for each generation to fall lower and lower. To a great degree parents are responsible not only for the violent passions and perverted appetites of their children but for the infirmities of the thousands born deaf, blind, diseased, or idiotic . {PP 561.2} The angel's prohibition included "every unclean thing." The distinction between articles of food as clean and unclean was not a merely ceremonial and arbitrary regulation, but was based upon sanitary principles. To the observance of this distinction may be traced, in a great degree, the marvelous vitality which for thousands of years has distinguished the Jewish people. The principles of temperance must be carried further than the mere use of spirituous liquors. The use of stimulating and indigestible food is often equally injurious to health, and in many cases sows the seeds of drunkenness. True temperance teaches us to dispense entirely with everything hurtful and to use judiciously that which is healthful. There are few who realize as they should how much their habits of diet have to do with their health, their character, their usefulness in this world, and their eternal destiny. The appetite should ever be in subjection to the moral and intellectual powers. The body should be servant to the mind, and not the mind to the body. {PP 562.1} The divine promise to Manoah was in due time fulfilled in the birth of a son, to whom the name of Samson
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was given. As the boy grew up it became evident that he possessed extraordinary physical strength. This was not, however, as Samson and his parents well knew, dependent upon his well-knit sinews, but upon his condition as a Nazarite, of which his unshorn hair was a symbol. Had Samson obeyed the divine commands as faithfully as his parents had done, his would have been a nobler and happier destiny. But association with idolaters corrupted him. The town of Zorah being near the country of the Philistines, Samson came to mingle with them on friendly terms. Thus in his youth intimacies sprang up, the influence of which darkened his whole life. 563 {PP
562.2}

But the Lord has in His word plainly instructed His people not to unite themselves with those who have not His love abiding in them. "What concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?" 2 Corinthians 6:15, 16. {PP 563.2}

Wasted Victories
Jdg 15:9 Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. Jdg 15:10 And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us? And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us. Jdg 15:11 Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? what is this that thou hast done unto us? And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them. Jdg 15:12 And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said unto them, Swear un to me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves. Jdg 15:13 And they spake unto him, saying, No; but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand: but surely we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock. Jdg 15:14 And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hand s. Jdg 15:15 And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. Jdg 15:16 And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men. Jdg 15:17 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi. Had the Israelites been ready to unite with Samson and follow up the victory, they might at this time have freed themselves from the power of their oppressors. But they had become dispirited and cowardly. They had neglected the work which God commanded them to perform, in dispossessing the heathen, and had united with them in their degrading practices, tolerating their cruelty, and, so long as it was not directed against themselves, even countenancing their injustice. When themselves brought under the power of the oppressor, they tamely submitted to the degradation which they might have escaped, had they only obeyed God. Even when the Lord raised up a deliverer for them, they would, not infrequently, desert him and unite with their enemies. {PP 564.2}

The Broken Nazerite Vows

Num 6:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD: Num 6:3 He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink, Num 6:5 All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head Num 6:6 All the days that he separateth himself unto the LORD he shall come at no dead body. But one wrong step prepares the 565 way for another. Samson had transgressed the command of God by taking a wife from the Philistines, and again he ventured among them--now his deadly enemies--in the indulgence of unlawful passion. Trusting to his great strength, which had inspired the Philistines with such terror, he went boldly to Gaza, to visit a harlot of that place. The inhabitants of the city learned of his presence, and they were eager for revenge. Their enemy was shut safely within the walls of the most strongly fortified of all their cities; they felt sure of their prey, and only waited till the morning to complete their triumph. At midnight Samson was aroused. The accusing voice of conscience filled him with remorse, as he remembered that he had broken his vow as a Nazarite. But notwithstanding his sin, God's mercy had not forsaken him. His prodigious strength again served to
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deliver him. Going to the city gate, he wrenched it from its place and carried it, with its posts a nd bars, to the top of a hill on the way to Hebron. {PP 564.3} But even this narrow escape did not stay his evil course. He did not again venture among the Philistines, but he continued to seek those sensuous pleasures that were luring him to ruin. "He loved a woman in the valley of Sorek," not far from his own birthplace. Her name was Delilah, "the consumer." The vale of Sorek was celebrated for its vineyards; these also had a temptation for the wavering Nazarite, who had already indulged in the use of wine, thus breaking another tie that bound him to purity and to God.

After His Capture

What a change to him who had been the judge and champion of Israel!--now weak, blind, imprisoned, degraded to the most menial service! Little by little he had vio lated the conditions of his sacred calling. God had borne long with him; but when he had so yielded himself to the power of sin as to betray his secret, the Lord departed from him. There was no virtue in his long hair merely, but it was a token of his loyalty to God; and when the symbol was sacrificed in the indulgence of passion, the blessings of which it was a token were also forfeited. {PP 566.2} In suffering and humiliation, a sport for the Philistines, Samson learned more of his own weakness than he had ever known before; and his afflictions led him to repentance. As his hair grew, his power gradually returned; but his enemies, regarding him as a fettered and helpless prisoner, felt no apprehensions. {PP 566.3}

PERFECTION r IS GODnS WILL FOR YOU

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil. Gen 6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. 2Ch 15:17 But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. 1Ch 29:9 Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy. Mat 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Mat 19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 2Co 13:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

Gods Promises
1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Jo 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Phi 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Ellen White on Perfection

Perfection of character is based upon that which Christ is to us. If we have constant dependence on the merits of our Saviour, and walk in His footsteps, we shall be like Him, pure and undefiled. {AG 230.3} Our Saviour does not require impossibilities of any soul. He expects nothing of His disciples that He is not willing to give them grace and strength to perform. He would not call upon them to be perfect if He had not at His command every perfection of grace to bestow on the ones upon whom He would confer so high and holy a privilege. . . . {AG 230.4} Our work is to strive to attain in our sphere of action the perfection that Christ in His life on the earth attained in every phase of character. He is our example. In all things we are to strive to honor God in character. . . . We are to be wholly dependent on the power that He has promised to give us. {AG 230.5}
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Jesus revealed no qualities, and exercised no powers, that men may not have through faith in Him. His perfect humanity is that which all His followers may possess, if they will be in subjection to God as He was. {AG 230.6} Our Saviour is a Saviour for the perfection of the whole man. He is not the God of part of the being only. The grace of Christ works to the disciplining of the whole human fabric. He made all. He has redeemed all. He has made the mind, the strength, the body as well as the soul, partaker of the divi ne nature, and all is His purchased possession. He must be served with the whole mind, heart, soul, and strength. Then the Lord will be glorified in His saints in even the common, temporal things with which they are connected. "Holiness unto the Lord" will be in the inscription placed upon them. {AG 230.7}

GUARD YOUR HEART

Pro 4:23 (ASV) Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life. (CEV) Carefully guard your thoughts because they are the source of true life. (DRB) With all watchfulness keep thy heart, because life issueth out from it. (ESV) Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. (GNB) Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts. (GW) Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it. (KJV) Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

The Heart
Seat of the affections; Personality; The seat of the affections and passions, as of love, joy, grief, enmity, courage, pleasure &c.; The seat of the understanding; as an understanding heart.; The seat of the will; hence, secret purposes, intentions or designs

Giving God Our Hearts

Pro 23:26 (ASV) My son, give me thy heart; And let thine eyes delight in my ways. (CEV) My son, pay close attention, and gladly follow my example. (DRB) My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways. (GNB) Pay close attention, son, and let my life be your example. (GW) My son, give me your heart. Let your eyes find happiness in my ways. (KJV) My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

The heart of the fathers & the children

Mal 4:5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: Mal 4:6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

IN THESE LAST DAYS

November 28, 1899 "Come Out From Among Them, and Be Ye Separate."
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father
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unto you, and ye s hall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." {RH, November 28, 1899 par. 1} Never was there a time when this warning was more appropriate than at the present time. Far too large a number of professed Christians are Christians only in name . They have no root in themselves. Their hearts are filled with pride, impurity, unholy ambition, self-importance, and love of supremacy. They may have an intelligent knowledge of the theory of the truth, and prove their doctrines to be sound and Scriptura l, but they hold the truth in unrighteousness. By their course of action they deny the Saviour. Their hearts are not sanctified through the truth. They are unholy in heart, and unchristlike in deportment. Unless the spirit and principles that characterized the life of Christ are planted in the heart, they can not control the life. The law of God must be written in the heart, the truth of God must illuminate the soul. Holiness, mercy, truth, love, must be brought into the life. Unless the soul-temple is cleansed from its defilement, unless there is purity of heart, unless earnest efforts are made to meet the standard of God's word, they will never be fitted to be the companions of the pure and holy; they will never wear the white linen which is the righteousn ess of the saints. {RH, November 28, 1899 par. 2} Men and women professing godliness should tremble at the thought of entering into a marriage covenant with those who do not respect and obey the commandments of God. It was this that opened the flood -gates of sin to the antediluvians. Such a connection with the world is a direct departure from God's express requirements, --"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." {ST, July 1, 1903 par. 9}

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