The Justice Of God

Calling the Stubborn

`The more I called Israel, the further they went from Me.' (Hosea 11:2)

`When I fed them, they were satisfied, when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot Me.' (Hosea 13:6)

Sodom: `The profusion reigning everywhere gave birth to luxury and pride. Idleness and riches make the heart hard that has never been oppressed by want or burdened by sorrow.' (PP156)

The Vanity of Man

`God saw that the more He enriched and prospered sinful men, the more they would corrupt their ways before Him. The treasures that should have led them to glorify the bountiful giver had been worshipped, while God had been dishonoured and despised.' (PP108)

`How often we misinterpret God's blessings, and flatter ourselves that we are favored because of some goodness in us! God cannot do for us that which He longs to do. His gifts are used to increase our self-satisfaction, and to harden our hearts in unbelief and sin.' (DA106)

The Warning

`Listen! I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster I pronounced against them.' (Jeremiah 35:17)

`My people would not listen to Me; Israel would not submit to Me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.' (Psalm 81:11,12)

The Demand of Justice

`The transgression of God's law in a single instance, in the smallest particular, is sin. And the nonexecution of the penalty of that sin would be a crime in the divine administration. God is a judge, the avenger of justice, which is the habitation and foundation of His throne. He cannot dispense with His law. He cannot do away with its smallest item in order to meet and pardon sin. The rectitude and justice and moral excellence of the law must be maintained and vindicated before the heavenly universe and the worlds unfallen.' (7BC951)

`Who handed Jacob over to become loot, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the Lord, against whom we have sinned? For they would not follow His ways; they did not obey His law.' (Isa 42:24)

Blessed Consequences

`When your judgements come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.' (Isaiah 26:9)

`When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong' (Ecclesiastes 8:11).

`Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I obey your word.' (Psalm 119:67)

`Whenever God slew them, they would seek Him; they eagerly turned to Him again. They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.' (Psalm 78:34,35)

`It is through affliction and trial that divine agencies can carry on a work in our lives that will result in the love and peace and kindness of Christ.' (1SM224)

`I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces and go away; I will carry them off, with no-one to rescue them. Then I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek Me.' (Hosea 5:14,15)

`Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have made the land a desolate waste because of all the detestable things they have done.' (Ezekiel 33:29)

The Kind Voice of Suffering

`God speaks to His people in blessings bestowed, and when they are not appreciated, He speaks to them in blessings removed, that they may be led to see their sins, and return to Him with all their hearts.' (PP470).

`With a father's heart, God bore with His people. He pleaded with them by mercies given and mercies withdrawn.' (COL293)

`Some are exercised by the simple discipline the Lord gives them in gentleness and love. Others require the slow discipline of suffering.' (FW86)

Love That Punishes

`I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging; but I will not take My love from Him, nor will I ever betray My faithfulness. I will not violate my covenant or alter what My lips have uttered.' (Psalm 89:32-34)

`Does He who disciplines nations not punish?' (Psalm 94:10)

`The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished.' (Numbers 14:18)

`He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.' (Exodus 34:7)

`The Lord is an avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath.' (Nahum 1:2)

`The Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son.' (Hebrews 12:6)

`God is not weak in dealing with [us].' (2 Corinthians 13:3)

`We are not to ascribe to Jehovah a tenderness that will lead Him to pass over guilt and wink at iniquity.' (1SM311)

`When the time comes for me to punish, I will punish.' (Exodus 32:34)

Self-Inflicted Punishment

`We are not to regard God as waiting to punish the sinner for sin. The sinner brings punishment upon himself. His own actions start a train of circumstances that bring the sure result.' (1SM235)

`God destroys no man. Everyone who is destroyed will have destroyed himself.' (COL84)

Blessed Trials

`God in His great love is seeking to develop in us the precious graces of His Spirit. He permits us to encounter obstacles, persecution, and hardships, not as a curse, but as the greatest blessing of our lives. Every temptation resisted, every trial bravely borne, gives us a new experience, and advances us in the work of character building.' (TM117)

`No character can be complete without trial and suffering.' (Letter 51a, 1874)

`The perfect fruit of faith, meekness, and love often matures best amid storm clouds and darkness.' (COL61)

`When He permits trials and afflictions, it is "for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness." If received by faith, the trial that seems so bitter and hard to bear will prove a blessing. How many there are who would never have known Jesus had not sorrow led them to seek comfort from Him.' (WM20)

`No cross, no crown. How can one be strong in the Lord without trials? To have strength we must have exercise. To have strong faith, we must be placed in circumstances where our faith will be exercised. It is through much tribulation that we enter the kingdom of God.' (3T67)

`He suffers deep waters of affliction to go over our souls in order that we may know Him and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.' (COL175)

The Pain That Draws Us Closer

`Our trials are all necessary to bring us close to our heavenly Father, in obedience to His will, that we may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.' (3T541)

`The Lord permits trials of various kinds to call men and women to a higher order of living and to a more sanctified service. Without these trials there would be a continual falling away from the likeness of Christ, and men would become imbued with a spirit of scientific, fanciful, human philosophy, which would lead them to unite with Satan's followers. In the providence of God every good and great enterprise is subjected to trials, to test the purity and the strength of the principles of those who are standing in positions of responsibility and to mould and substantiate the individual human character after God's model. This is the highest order of education.' (MM168)

`The purification of the people of God cannot be accomplished without their suffering. God permits the fires of affliction to consume the dross, to separate the worthless from the valuable, that the pure metal may shine forth. He passes us from one fire to another, testing our true worth. If we cannot bear these trials, what will we do in the time of trouble? If prosperity or adversity discover falseness, pride, or selfishness in our hearts, what shall we do when God tries every man's work as by fire, and lays bare the secrets of all hearts?' (4T84-85)

`God has a song to teach us, and when we have learned it amid the shadows of affliction we can sing it ever afterward.' (MH472)

No Exceptions

`All our suffering and sorrows, all our temptations and trials, all our sadness and griefs, all our persecutions and privations; in short, all things work together for our good. All experiences and circumstances are God's workmen whereby good is brought to us.' (Ministry of Healing, p.489)

`Nothing can touch him [who abides in Christ] except by our Lord's permission, and "all things" that are permitted "work together for good to them that love God." ' (Romans 8:28) (MB71)

Small and Big Trials

`The Lord chooses His own agents, and each day under different circumstances He gives them a trial in His plan of operation. It is the issue of the daily test that determines their victory or defeat in life's great crisis.' (COL330; DA382)

`If they fail to endure the trial, He brings them again to the same point, and the second time the trial will come closer, and be more severe than the preceding. This is continued until they bear the test, or, if they are still rebellious, God withdraws His light from them and leaves them in darkness.' (PP437)

Rejoicing in Tribulation

`Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.' (James 1:2)

`But we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience experience; and experience hope.' (Romans 5:3,4)

`For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.' (2 Corinthians 4:16,17)

Promises in Trial

`The trial will not exceed the strength that shall be given us to bear it. (SC125)

`When real trouble comes, God will fit every meek and lowly one to bear it. When His providence permits it to come, He will provide help to endure it.' (2T641)

`There shall be a highway for the remnant of His people . . . as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.' (Isaiah 11:6)

The Danger

`There is no danger that the Lord will neglect the prayers of His people. The danger is that in temptation and trial they will become discouraged, and fail to persevere in prayer.' (COL175)

Attitude During Trial

`None who receive God's word are exempt from difficulty and trial; but when affliction comes, the true Christian does not become restless, distrustful, or despondent. Though we cannot see the definite outcome of affairs, or discern the purposes of God's providences, we are not to cast away our confidence. Remembering the tender mercies of the Lord, we shall cast our care upon Him, and with patience wait for His salvation.' (COL60,61)

`From the story of Daniel's deliverance, we may learn that in seasons of trial and gloom, God's children should be just what they were when their prospects were bright with hope and their surroundings all that they could desire.' (PK539)

`When the light of the world passes by, privileges appear in all hardships, order in confusion, the success and wisdom of God in that which has seemed a failure.' (CH27)

`Better far the cross and disappointed hopes, with eternal life at last, than to live with princes and forfeit heaven.' (CH226)

Lesson to Parents

`He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.' (Proverbs 13:24)

`Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.' (Proverbs 22:15)

`Punish him with the rod and save his soul from death.' (Proverbs 23:14)