Gods Sabbath

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E NTERING INTO G OD ’ S S ABBATH R EST

they had still not learned to trust in God alone as their Plan Maker and Problem Solver, instead of themselves. They had yet to realize that it was not their job to determine how Christ’s work should be conducted. How fortunate that not one thread of human devising was in troduced into Christ’s movements during those crucial days. He had ears for only His Father’s directives, which He followed with undeviating faithfulness. Everything necessary for the success ful advancement of God’s kingdom was thus achieved. The disciples were in a peculiar position. Although they had sacrificed all for their Master and openly identified with Him, they remained largely in sympathy with the Pharisees as far as their ideas of kingdom building were concerned. On one hand they could find no fellowship with the Jews, who would have nothing to do with them because of their relationship to Christ, but on the other hand they could not enter into close commun ion with the Saviour because they did not understand or trust God’s procedures. So all too often, instead of co-working in coor dination with Jesus, they were at cross-purposes with Him. Christ had wisely, lovingly, and diligently labored to re-edu cate their minds to understand the nature of His kingdom and trust His ways, but they had too much confidence in their own ideas and so failed to heed the lessons. Satan was ready to make the most of their lack of faith and ignorance, using the Pharisees and Sadducees to press upon the disciples the same doubts that were harassing John’s disciples. Why had Jesus not delivered John from prison if He were the mighty Saviour as they claimed? If they had understood the light He was bringing them, Christ’s disciples could have easily answered the charges laid against their Master by the Jews over John’s death. They need ed only to state that God’s kingdom is built on very different principles from those of the world—that God’s government is founded on principles of total selflessness, whereas worldly em pires are established through the enforcement of utter selfish ness. In God’s system, the King requires nothing of His people The Dilemma of the Disciples