Vol. 2 Timely
Greetings No. 9
THE ONLY
PEACE OF MIND
Volume 2
Number 9
Copyright, 1948 Reprint
All rights reserved
V.T. HOUTEFF
BE A NEW THRESHING
INSTRUMENT
IN THE HAND OF GOD
Timely Greetings, Vol. 2,
No. 9 1
TEXT FOR PRAYER
"The Soil--By The
Wayside"
We shall read from Christ's Object Lessons,
beginning on page 43, the last paragraph:
"That with which the parable of the sower chiefly deals is the effect produced on the growth of
the seed by the soil into which it is cast.
By this parable Christ was virtually saying to His hearers, It is not safe for you to stand as critics of My work, or to
indulge disappointment because it does not meet your ideas. The question of greatest importance to you
is, How do you treat My message? Upon your reception or rejection of it your
eternal destiny depends...
"The seed sown by the wayside
represents the word of God as it falls upon the heart of an inattentive
hearer.... Absorbed in selfish aims and sinful indulgences, the soul is
'hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.'
The spiritual faculties are paralyzed.
Men hear the word, but understand it not. They do not discern that it applies to themselves. They do
not realize their need or their danger.
They do not perceive the love of Christ, and they pass by the message of
His grace as something that does not concern them."
We should pray that we not fall after the
manner of those who are always ready to find fault and to criticize, but that
we give undivided attention, laying aside all prejudice and preconceived ideas,
be they private or Denominational; that we open our hearts to truth, not
because it is popular, but because the Bible teaches it, realizing that
anything short of this is sure to lead us where it led the ancient Jews.
Timely Greetings, Vol. 2,
No. 9 2
BE A NEW
THRESHING INSTRUMENT
IN THE HAND
OF GOD
TEXT OF ADDRESS BY V.T. HOUTEFF,
MINISTER OF DAVIDIAN 7TH-DAY ADVENTISTS
SABBATH,
Our subject this afternoon is found in
Isaiah, chapters 40 and 41. We shall
begin with the first verse of the fortieth chapter:
Isa. 40:1, 2 -- "Comfort ye, comfort ye My
people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably
to
Inspiration, we see, is here urging someone to
comfort God's people. They are to be
told, not that their warfare will be accomplished, but that their warfare is
accomplished; that their iniquity is pardoned; that
This warfare, of course, could not have been
accomplished in Isaiah's time, nor in John the Baptist's time, -- no, not even
in the Middle Ages.
These comforting tidings can be said to the Church only after she has
been delivered from the yoke of the Gentiles, during which time the people have
paid double for their sins before and after the dispersion. This chapter, therefore, as a whole applies
to the time of the end, to our time.
Timely Greetings, Vol. 2,
No. 9 3
Isa. 40:3 -- "The voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert
a highway for our God."
This is the verse in which John the Baptist
found his text as the messenger to prepare the way for Christ's first
advent. But since we have already seen
that the chapter begins with a message for the people of God who live in the
time of the end, the time they have paid for all their sins, and since the time
of their redemption has at last arrived, obviously the chapter has a primary as
well as final application: It applies both to Christ's first and to His second
advent. The last of these is figurative
-- a voice crying in the wilderness, not in the vineyard, not in the
Isa. 40:4 -- "Every valley shall be exalted, and every
mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain."
The burden of the message to be proclaimed
is to prepare the people to meet the Lord: to level the high places, to raise
the low, to remove all the impediments, so that the highway of the Lord, the
way for His coming, be cleared. These terms, of course, figuratively say: The
exalted ones are to be humbled; the humbled ones and those who have been cast
out are to be exalted; wrongs are to be made right, for in God's domain
equality and justice must prevail.
"When the Spirit of God, with its
marvelous awakening power, touches the soul, it abases human pride. Worldly pleasure and position and power are
seen to be worthless. 'Imaginations,
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and every high thing that exalteth
itself against the knowledge of God,' are cast down; every thought is brought
into captivity 'to the obedience of Christ.'
Then humility and self-sacrificing love, so little valued among men, are
exalted as alone of worth. This is the
work of the gospel, of which John's message was a part." -- The Desire of
Ages, pg. 135.
Isa. 40:5 -- "And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken
it."
Here we are told that when this
"revival and reformation" takes place, the glory of the Lord shall be
revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
Let us therefore realize that if we do these things we all would be the
forerunners of these glorious promises, and the
servants of God for this time.
Isa. 40:6-8 -- "The voice said, Cry.
And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness
thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass withereth,
the flower fadeth: because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is
grass. The grass withereth,
the flower fadeth: but the Word of our God shall
stand for ever."
The message of the hour is to point out that
all men are mortal, no more enduring than the grass; that even their virtues
are no more lasting than the flowers of the field; but that the Word of God is
everlasting; that those who desire to obtain eternal life, to become as eternal
as the Word Itself, should not put confidence in any man, but in the Word of
God only: that they should inquire for themselves, "Is it Truth?"
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and not, "From whom does it come?"
Isa. 40:9 -- "O Zion, that bringest
good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain: O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength;
lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of
Those who shall finally stand on Mount Sion, and who are now preparing the way of the Lord by
bringing these good tidings, are all counselled to
get on a high mountain, as it were, and to lift up their voices together
without any fear whatever, to proclaim to the cities of Judah (to the churches
everywhere) to prepare the way of the Lord and to say, "Behold your
God."
Isa. 40:10 -- "Behold, the Lord God will come with strong
hand, and His arm shall rule for Him: behold, His reward is with Him, and His
work before Him."
The arm of the Lord that rules for Him must
be figurative of those through whom He works (Isa.
51:9), of those who are to stand with Him on
The messengers of the hour are to declare,
too, that the Lord's reward (life forevermore) is with Him, but that His work
is still before Him, yet to be finished.
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Isa. 40:11 -- "He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He
shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall
gently lead those that are with young."
This care over His people is to be felt when
His arm rules for Him. He shall then
take charge of His work, and of His people, as a shepherd takes charge of a
flock. He shall exercise personal care
over all, old and young alike.
Isa. 40:12 -- "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of
His hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the
earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a
balance?"
Since there is none other than God Himself
who can do all these things, and since He Himself is to take charge of His Own
flock, we know that His care over them will be matchless. And why should we not hasten that time?
Isa. 40:13, 14 -- "Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or
being His counsellor hath taught Him? With whom took He
counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of judgment, and
taught Him knowledge, and shewed to Him the way of
understanding?"
We know that the Spirit Who leads into all
Truth and all knowledge is not Himself led or taught by any man. Hence, why should we depend on any man that
is divested of Inspiration to pass judgment on inspired Truth? The Word points out that not men only but
even the nations are as nothing:
Isa. 40:15-17 -- "Behold, the nations are as a drop
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of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance:
behold, He taketh up the isles as a very little
thing. And
When we realize that the nations on earth in
comparison with God's power are as nothing, that neither the timber nor the
beasts of Lebanon are sufficient for even burnt offering, just that soon we
will see all men, including ourselves, as insignificant, and as worthless as
the dust. Then we shall see our
dependence upon Him as important and as complete as is the dependence of an
infant upon its parents.
Isa. 40:18 -- "To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare unto
Him?"
This
is now a question for each one to answer in his own
mind.
Isa. 40:19, 20 -- "The workman melteth
a graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over
with gold, and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that he hath no
oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image, that shall not be moved."
In these verses is shown how foolish men
are: They do not stop to consider that though a piece of wood may be good for
fuel, yet when man tries to make of it a likeness of God, it is but foolishness
and that to bow down to it, is degrading and blasphemous.
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Isa. 40:21-26 -- "Have ye not known? have ye not
heard? hath it
not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the
earth? It is He that sitteth
upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers;
that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: that bringeth the princes to nothing; He maketh
the judges of the earth as vanity. Yea,
they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall
not take root in the earth: and He shall also blow upon them, and they shall
wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. To whom then will ye liken Me,
or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high, and behold Who hath
created these things, that bringeth out their host by
number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness
of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth."
Since God is greater than human imagination
can fathom, why do men depend so little upon Him, -- and so much upon their own
words? True, we may not actually bow down
to an image, but we may do other things that are equally idolatrous. Indeed, if such were not the case these
exhortations would not have come to us through this timely-revealed prophecy.
Isa. 40:27-31 -- "Why sayest thou, O
Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the
Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard,
that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no
searching of His understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them
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that have no might He increaseth
strength. Even the youths shall faint
and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the
Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they
shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
Is it not surprising that the Church, having
come down through the ages this far, must now be taught the very first
fundamentals of her faith?
Isa. 41:1, 2 -- "Keep silence before Me, O islands; and let the
people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us
come near together to judgment; Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called
him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over
kings? He gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow."
To renew their strength is to put away sin,
and to come near to God, is to learn of Him.
Having done this they are then to invite others to come to
judgment. The nations will keep silence
until that time, and then will they say, "Come, and let us go up to the
mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach
us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of
Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." Micah 4:2.
Our work is therefore to prepare the way of
the Lord for the gathering of the people.
Isa. 41:3-5 -- "He pursued them, and passed safely; even by
the way that He had not gone with His
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feet. Who hath
wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last; I
am He. The isles saw it, and feared; the
ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came."
These verses plainly show that the
manifestation of God's power is to be felt everywhere.
Isa. 41:6 -- "They helped every one his neighbour;
and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage."
God's people are indeed to help their
neighbor. The foolish nevertheless shall
do foolishly, and shall continue in their idolatry.
Isa. 41:7-10 -- "So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and
he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the
anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering:
and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved. But thou,
God's promises to His servants are
sure. Let us take hold of them now. We shall never find an opportunity as good as
we have today. Tomorrow will be too
late; we had better respond while God is pleading.
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Isa. 41:11, 12 -- "Behold, all they that were incensed against
thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that
strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find
them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be
as nothing, and as a thing of nought."
Now is our opportunity to do all we can for
those who oppose us, for here we are plainly told that if they continue in
their hostility they shall perish.
Isa. 41:13 -- "For I the Lord thy
God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help
thee."
If we as a people are not
fearful, then why all these pleadings and encouragements? Why the urgings that we cast out our fears?
Isa. 41:14, 15 -- "Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of
To thresh the mountains (kingdoms) is to
take the wheat (saints) out of them. The
servants of God, therefore, are here promised a new instrument, different from
any ever used before; that is, the gathering of the saints in the harvest time
is to be accomplished in a way un-dreamed of, -- contrary to every human
planning. This instrument will have
teeth; it will suddenly separate the wheat from the straw and blow out the
chaff. Christ, "Whose fan is in His
hand,
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...will throughly
purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the
chaff with unquenchable fire." Matt. 3:12.
For this cause we are called, and for this great and grand work we are
to prepare the way.
Isa. 41:16, 17 -- "Thou shalt fan them,
and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and
thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. When the poor and
needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth
for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake
them."
Yes, the chaff shall be blown out and the
whirlwind shall carry it away to be burned with consuming fire. But God's people shall rejoice in the Lord,
and their poor will He comfort.
Isa. 41:18 -- "I will open rivers in high places, and
fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of
water, and the dry land springs of water."
The latter rain, we here see, is to be
plentiful. It will make rivers, springs,
and pools where not expected. All this
is a forecast of a great harvest, even from the desert places -- from the
heathen lands. "After this I
beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations,
and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before
the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their
hands." Rev. 7:9.
Isa. 41:19 -- "I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set
in the desert the fir tree,
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and the pine, and the box tree together."
God will beautify the lands of the Gentiles
with people having Christian characters and graces as beautiful as the myrtle,
the oil, the fir, the pine, and the box trees together. There is nothing in the world today to give
men hope and peace of mind but these promises of God.
Isa. 41:20-24 -- "That they may see, and know, and consider, and
understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One
of Israel hath created it. Produce your
cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong
reasons, saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and shew us what shall happen: let them shew
the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter
end of them; or declare us things for to come.
Shew the things that are to come hereafter,
that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do
evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together. Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth
you."
Here is a challenge to all our
adversaries. Let them tell you what
shall happen hereafter if they can, or let them tell the past if they will, God
challenges them. Thus they may now know
that they are as nothing, and those who choose to follow them, even they shall
be an abomination to Him.
Isa. 41:25 -- "I have raised up one
from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call
upon My name: and he shall come upon princes as upon morter,
and as the potter treadeth clay."
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This one that is in prophecy comes from
somewhere north of the Promised Land. He
calls on the Lord early -- as early as the rising of the sun. He also comes upon princes as upon mortar,
and as the potter that treads the clay.
"In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a
Kingdom...it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms." Dan.
2:44.
Isa. 41:26 -- "Who hath declared from the beginning, that we
may know? and
before time, that we may say, He is righteous?
yea, there is none that sheweth,
yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none
that heareth your words."
Is there anyone who ever declared these
things to the people? asks
the Lord. Then He answers His Own
question: "Yea, there is none that sheweth, yea,
there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that
heareth your words."
Isa. 41:27, 28 -- "The first shall say to
When God visits His people with these good
tidings, He finds no man among His servants to do this work, and no counsellor among them to give an answer to these
things! We nevertheless are to do all we
can to awaken them. We should exalt the
Word, comfort His people, and prepare the way so that He can make a new
threshing instrument of us.
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Ashamed Of Jesus!
Jesus, and shall it ever be,
A mortal man ashamed of Thee?
Ashamed of Thee, whom angels praise,
Whose glories shine through endless days?
Ashamed of Jesus! sooner far
Let evening blush to own a star;
He sheds the beams of light divine
O'er this benighted soul of mine.
Ashamed of Jesus! just as
soon
Let
'Twas
Bright Morning Star, bade
darkness flee.
Ashamed of Jesus! that dear
Friend
On whom my hopes of heaven depend!
No; when I blush, be this my shame
That I no more revere His name.
Ashamed of Jesus! yes, I may
When I've no guilt to wash away;
No tear to wipe, no good to crave,
No fears to quell, no soul to save.
Till then,--nor is my boasting vain,--
Till then I boast a Saviour
slain;
And O, may this my glory be,
That Christ is not ashamed of me!
--Joseph Grigg
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