EGW WritingsJohn 11

The Desire of Ages

Chapter 58—“Lazarus, Come Forth”

DA 524.1

Among the most steadfast of Christ’s disciples was Lazarus of Bethany. From their first meeting his faith in Christ had been strong; his love for Him was deep, and he was greatly beloved by the Saviour. It was for Lazarus that the greatest of Christ’s miracles was performed. The Saviour blessed all who sought His help; He loves all the human family, but to some He is bound by peculiarly tender associations. His heart was knit by a strong bond of affection to the family at Bethany, and for one of them His most wonderful work was wrought.

DA 524.2

At the home of Lazarus, Jesus had often found rest. The Saviour had no home of His own; He was dependent on the hospitality of His friends and disciples, and often, when weary, thirsting for human fellowship, He had been glad to escape to this peaceful household, away from the suspicion and jealousy of the angry Pharisees. Here He found a sincere welcome, and pure, holy friendship. Here He could speak with simplicity and perfect freedom, knowing that His words would be understood and treasured.

DA 524.3

Our Saviour appreciated a quiet home and interested listeners. He longed for human tenderness, courtesy, and affection. Those who received the heavenly instruction He was always ready to impart were greatly blessed. As the multitudes followed Christ through the open fields, He unfolded to them the beauties of the natural world. He sought to open the eyes of their understanding, that they might see how the hand of God upholds the world. In order to call out an appreciation of God’s goodness and benevolence, He called the attention of His hearers to the gently falling dew, to the soft showers of rain and the bright sunshine, given alike to good and evil. He desired men to realize more fully the regard that God bestows on the human instrumentalities He has created. But the multitudes were slow of hearing, and in the home at Bethany Christ found rest from the weary conflict of public life. Here He opened to an appreciative audience the volume of Providence. In these private interviews He unfolded to His hearers that which He did not attempt to tell to the mixed multitude. He needed not to speak to His friends in parables.

DA 525.1

As Christ gave His wonderful lessons, Mary sat at His feet, a reverent and devoted listener. On one occasion, Martha, perplexed with the care of preparing the meal, went to Christ, saying, “Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.” This was the time of Christ’s first visit to Bethany. The Saviour and His disciples had just made the toilsome journey on foot from Jericho. Martha was anxious to provide for their comfort, and in her anxiety she forgot the courtesy due to her Guest. Jesus answered her with mild and patient words, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Mary was storing her mind with the precious words falling from the Saviour’s lips, words that were more precious to her than earth’s most costly jewels.

DA 525.2

The “one thing” that Martha needed was a calm, devotional spirit, a deeper anxiety for knowledge concerning the future, immortal life, and the graces necessary for spiritual advancement. She needed less anxiety for the things which pass away, and more for those things which endure forever. Jesus would teach His children to seize every opportunity of gaining that knowledge which will make them wise unto salvation. The cause of Christ needs careful, energetic workers. There is a wide field for the Marthas, with their zeal in active religious work. But let them first sit with Mary at the feet of Jesus. Let diligence, promptness, and energy be sanctified by the grace of Christ; then the life will be an unconquerable power for good.

DA 525.3

Sorrow entered the peaceful home where Jesus had rested. Lazarus was stricken with sudden illness, and his sisters sent to the Saviour, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick.” They saw the violence of the disease that had seized their brother, but they knew that Christ had shown Himself able to heal all manner of diseases. They believed that He would sympathize with them in their distress; therefore they made no urgent demand for His immediate presence, but sent only the confiding message, “He whom Thou lovest is sick.” They thought that He would immediately respond to their message, and be with them as soon as He could reach Bethany.

DA 526.1

Anxiously they waited for a word from Jesus. As long as the spark of life was yet alive in their brother, they prayed and watched for Jesus to come. But the messenger returned without Him. Yet he brought the message, “This sickness is not unto death,” and they clung to the hope that Lazarus would live. Tenderly they tried to speak words of hope and encouragement to the almost unconscious sufferer. When Lazarus died, they were bitterly disappointed; but they felt the sustaining grace of Christ, and this kept them from reflecting any blame on the Saviour.

DA 526.2

When Christ heard the message, the disciples thought He received it coldly. He did not manifest the sorrow they expected Him to show. Looking up to them, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” For two days He remained in the place where He was. This delay was a mystery to the disciples. What a comfort His presence would be to the afflicted household! they thought. His strong affection for the family at Bethany was well known to the disciples, and they were surprised that He did not respond to the sad message, “He whom Thou lovest is sick.”

DA 526.3

During the two days Christ seemed to have dismissed the message from His mind; for He did not speak of Lazarus. The disciples thought of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus. They had wondered why Jesus, with the power to perform wonderful miracles, had permitted John to languish in prison, and to die a violent death. Possessing such power, why did not Christ save John’s life? This question had often been asked by the Pharisees, who presented it as an unanswerable argument against Christ’s claim to be the Son of God. The Saviour had warned His disciples of trials, losses, and persecution. Would He forsake them in trial? Some questioned if they had mistaken His mission. All were deeply troubled.

DA 526.4

After waiting for two days, Jesus said to the disciples, “Let us go into Judea again.” The disciples questioned why, if Jesus were going to Judea, He had waited two days. But anxiety for Christ and for themselves was now uppermost in their minds. They could see nothing but danger in the course He was about to pursue. “Master,” they said, “the Jews of late sought to stone Thee; and goest Thou thither again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day?” I am under the guidance of My Father; as long as I do His will, My life is safe. My twelve hours of day are not yet ended. I have entered upon the last remnant of My day; but while any of this remains, I am safe.

DA 527.1

“If any man walk in the day,” He continued, “he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.” He who does the will of God, who walks in the path that God has marked out, cannot stumble and fall. The light of God’s guiding Spirit gives him a clear perception of his duty, and leads him aright till the close of his work. “But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.” He who walks in a path of his own choosing, where God has not called him, will stumble. For him day is turned into night, and wherever he may be, he is not secure.

DA 527.2

“These things said He: and after that He saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep.” “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth.” How touching the words! how full of sympathy! In the thought of the peril their Master was about to incur by going to Jerusalem, the disciples had almost forgotten the bereaved family at Bethany. But not so Christ. The disciples felt rebuked. They had been disappointed because Christ did not respond more promptly to the message. They had been tempted to think that He had not the tender love for Lazarus and his sisters that they had thought He had, or He would have hastened back with the messenger. But the words, “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth,” awakened right feelings in their minds. They were convinced that Christ had not forgotten His suffering friends.

DA 527.3

“Then said His disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that He had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.” Christ represents death as a sleep to His believing children. Their life is hid with Christ in God, and until the last trump shall sound those who die will sleep in Him.

DA 527.4

“Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.” Thomas could see nothing but death in store for his Master if he went to Judea; but he girded up his spirit, and said to the other disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” He knew the hatred of the Jews toward Christ. It was their purpose to compass His death, but this purpose had not succeeded, because some of His allotted time still remained. During this time Jesus had the guardianship of heavenly angels; and even in the regions of Judea, where the rabbis were plotting how they might take Him and put Him to death, no harm could come to Him.

DA 528.1

The disciples marveled at Christ’s words when He said, “Lazarus is dead. And I am glad ... that I was not there.” Did the Saviour by His own choice avoid the home of His suffering friends? Apparently Mary and Martha and the dying Lazarus were left alone. But they were not alone. Christ beheld the whole scene, and after the death of Lazarus the bereaved sisters were upheld by His grace. Jesus witnessed the sorrow of their rent hearts, as their brother wrestled with his strong foe, death. He felt every pang of anguish, as He said to His disciples, “Lazarus is dead.” But Christ had not only the loved ones at Bethany to think of; He had the training of His disciples to consider. They were to be His representatives to the world, that the Father’s blessing might embrace all. For their sake He permitted Lazarus to die. Had He restored him from illness to health, the miracle that is the most positive evidence of His divine character, would not have been performed.

DA 528.2

Had Christ been in the sickroom, Lazarus would not have died; for Satan would have had no power over him. Death could not have aimed his dart at Lazarus in the presence of the Life-giver. Therefore Christ remained away. He suffered the enemy to exercise his power, that He might drive him back, a conquered foe. He permitted Lazarus to pass under the dominion of death; and the suffering sisters saw their brother laid in the grave. Christ knew that as they looked on the dead face of their brother their faith in their Redeemer would be severely tried. But He knew that because of the struggle through which they were now passing their faith would shine forth with far greater power. He suffered every pang of sorrow that they endured. He loved them no less because He tarried; but He knew that for them, for Lazarus, for Himself, and for His disciples, a victory was to be gained.

DA 528.3

“For your sakes,” “to the intent ye may believe.” To all who are reaching out to feel the guiding hand of God, the moment of greatest discouragement is the time when divine help is nearest. They will look back with thankfulness upon the darkest part of their way. “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly,” 2 Peter 2:9. From every temptation and every trial He will bring them forth with firmer faith and a richer experience.

DA 529.1

In delaying to come to Lazarus, Christ had a purpose of mercy toward those who had not received Him. He tarried, that by raising Lazarus from the dead He might give to His stubborn, unbelieving people another evidence that He was indeed “the resurrection, and the life.” He was loath to give up all hope of the people, the poor, wandering sheep of the house of Israel. His heart was breaking because of their impenitence. In His mercy He purposed to give them one more evidence that He was the Restorer, the One who alone could bring life and immortality to light. This was to be an evidence that the priests could not misinterpret. This was the reason of His delay in going to Bethany. This crowning miracle, the raising of Lazarus, was to set the seal of God on His work and on His claim to divinity.

DA 529.2

On His journey to Bethany, Jesus, according to His custom, ministered to the sick and the needy. Upon reaching the town He sent a messenger to the sisters with the tidings of His arrival. Christ did not at once enter the house, but remained in a quiet place by the wayside. The great outward display observed by the Jews at the death of friends or relatives was not in harmony with the spirit of Christ. He heard the sound of wailing from the hired mourners, and He did not wish to meet the sisters in the scene of confusion. Among the mourning friends were relatives of the family, some of whom held high positions of responsibility in Jerusalem. Among these were some of Christ’s bitterest enemies. Christ knew their purposes, and therefore He did not at once make Himself known.

DA 529.3

The message was given to Martha so quietly that others in the room did not hear. Absorbed in her grief, Mary did not hear the words. Rising at once, Martha went out to meet her Lord, but thinking that she had gone to the place where Lazarus was buried, Mary sat still in her sorrow, making no outcry.

DA 529.4

Martha hastened to meet Jesus, her heart agitated by conflicting emotions. In His expressive face she read the same tenderness and love that had always been there. Her confidence in Him was unbroken, but she thought of her dearly loved brother, whom Jesus also had loved. With grief surging in her heart because Christ had not come before, yet with hope that even now He would do something to comfort them, she said, “Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” Over and over again, amid the tumult made by the mourners, the sisters had repeated these words.

DA 529.5

With human and divine pity Jesus looked into her sorrowful, careworn face. Martha had no inclination to recount the past; all was expressed by the pathetic words, “Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” But looking into that face of love, she added, “I know, that even now, whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee.”

DA 530.1

Jesus encouraged her faith, saying, “Thy brother shall rise again.” His answer was not intended to inspire hope of an immediate change. He carried Martha’s thoughts beyond the present restoration of her brother, and fixed them upon the resurrection of the just. This He did that she might see in the resurrection of Lazarus a pledge of the resurrection of all the righteous dead, and an assurance that it would be accomplished by the Saviour’s power.

DA 530.2

Martha answered, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

DA 530.3

Still seeking to give a true direction to her faith, Jesus declared, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived. “He that hath the Son hath life.” 1 John 5:12. The divinity of Christ is the believer’s assurance of eternal life. “He that believeth in Me,” said Jesus, “though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?” Christ here looks forward to the time of His second coming. Then the righteous dead shall be raised incorruptible, and the living righteous shall be translated to heaven without seeing death. The miracle which Christ was about to perform, in raising Lazarus from the dead, would represent the resurrection of all the righteous dead. By His word and His works He declared Himself the Author of the resurrection. He who Himself was soon to die upon the cross stood with the keys of death, a conqueror of the grave, and asserted His right and power to give eternal life.

DA 530.4

To the Saviour’s words, “Believest thou?” Martha responded, “Yea, Lord: I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” She did not comprehend in all their significance the words spoken by Christ, but she confessed her faith in His divinity, and her confidence that He was able to perform whatever it pleased Him to do.

DA 530.5

“And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.” She delivered her message as quietly as possible; for the priests and rulers were prepared to arrest Jesus when opportunity offered. The cries of the mourners prevented her words from being heard.

DA 533.1

On hearing the message, Mary rose hastily, and with an eager look on her face left the room. Thinking that she had gone to the grave to weep, the mourners followed her. When she reached the place where Jesus was waiting, she knelt at His feet, and said with quivering lips, “Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” The cries of the mourners were painful to her; for she longed for a few quiet words alone with Jesus. But she knew of the envy and jealousy cherished in the hearts of some present against Christ, and she was restrained from fully expressing her grief.

DA 533.2

“When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled.” He read the hearts of all assembled. He saw that with many, what passed as a demonstration of grief was only pretense. He knew that some in the company, now manifesting hypocritical sorrow, would erelong be planning the death, not only of the mighty miracle worker, but of the one to be raised from the dead. Christ could have stripped from them their robe of pretended sorrow. But He restrained His righteous indignation. The words He could in all truth have spoken, He did not speak, because of the loved one kneeling at His feet in sorrow, who truly believed in Him.

DA 533.3

“Where have ye laid him?” He asked, “They said unto Him, Lord, come and see.” Together they proceeded to the grave. It was a mournful scene. Lazarus had been much beloved, and his sisters wept for him with breaking hearts, while those who had been his friends mingled their tears with those of the bereaved sisters. In view of this human distress, and of the fact that the afflicted friends could mourn over the dead while the Saviour of the world stood by,—“Jesus wept.” Though He was the Son of God, yet He had taken human nature upon Him, and He was moved by human sorrow. His tender, pitying heart is ever awakened to sympathy by suffering. He weeps with those that weep, and rejoices with those that rejoice.

DA 533.4

But it was not only because of His human sympathy with Mary and Martha that Jesus wept. In His tears there was a sorrow as high above human sorrow as the heavens are higher than the earth. Christ did not weep for Lazarus; for He was about to call him from the grave. He wept because many of those now mourning for Lazarus would soon plan the death of Him who was the resurrection and the life. But how unable were the unbelieving Jews rightly to interpret His tears! Some, who could see nothing more than the outward circumstances of the scene before Him as a cause for His grief, said softly, “Behold how He loved him!” Others, seeking to drop the seed of unbelief into the hearts of those present, said derisively, “Could not this Man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?” If it were in Christ’s power to save Lazarus, why then did He suffer him to die?

DA 534.1

With prophetic eye Christ saw the enmity of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He knew that they were premeditating His death. He knew that some of those now apparently so sympathetic would soon close against themselves the door of hope and the gates of the city of God. A scene was about to take place, in His humiliation and crucifixion, that would result in the destruction of Jerusalem, and at that time none would make lamentation for the dead. The retribution that was coming upon Jerusalem was plainly portrayed before Him. He saw Jerusalem compassed by the Roman legions. He knew that many now weeping for Lazarus would die in the siege of the city, and in their death there would be no hope.

DA 534.2

It was not only because of the scene before Him that Christ wept. The weight of the grief of ages was upon Him. He saw the terrible effects of the transgression of God’s law. He saw that in the history of the world, beginning with the death of Abel, the conflict between good and evil had been unceasing. Looking down the years to come, He saw the suffering and sorrow, tears and death, that were to be the lot of men. His heart was pierced with the pain of the human family of all ages and in all lands. The woes of the sinful race were heavy upon His soul, and the fountain of His tears was broken up as He longed to relieve all their distress.

DA 534.3

“Jesus therefore again groaning in Himself cometh to the grave.” Lazarus had been laid in a cave in a rock, and a massive stone had been placed before the entrance. “Take ye away the stone,” Christ said. Thinking that He only wished to look upon the dead, Martha objected, saying that the body had been buried four days, and corruption had already begun its work. This statement, made before the raising of Lazarus, left no room for Christ’s enemies to say that a deception had been practiced. In the past the Pharisees had circulated false statements regarding the most wonderful manifestations of the power of God. When Christ raised to life the daughter of Jairus, He had said, “The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.” Mark 5:39. As she had been sick only a short time, and was raised immediately after death, the Pharisees declared that the child had not been dead; that Christ Himself had said she was only asleep. They had tried to make it appear that Christ could not cure disease, that there was foul play about His miracles. But in this case, none could deny that Lazarus was dead.

DA 535.1

When the Lord is about to do a work, Satan moves upon someone to object. “Take ye away the stone,” Christ said. As far as possible, prepare the way for My work. But Martha’s positive and ambitious nature asserted itself. She was unwilling that the decomposing body should be brought to view. The human heart is slow to understand Christ’s words, and Martha’s faith had not grasped the true meaning of His promise.

DA 535.2

Christ reproved Martha, but His words were spoken with the utmost gentleness. “Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” Why should you doubt in regard to My power? Why reason in opposition to My requirements? You have My word. If you will believe, you shall see the glory of God. Natural impossibilities cannot prevent the work of the Omnipotent One. Skepticism and unbelief are not humility. Implicit belief in Christ’s word is true humility, true self-surrender.

DA 535.3

“Take ye away the stone.” Christ could have commanded the stone to remove, and it would have obeyed His voice. He could have bidden the angels who were close by His side to do this. At His bidding, invisible hands would have removed the stone. But it was to be taken away by human hands. Thus Christ would show that humanity is to co-operate with divinity. What human power can do divine power is not summoned to do. God does not dispense with man’s aid. He strengthens him, co-operating with him as he uses the powers and capabilities given him.

DA 535.4

The command is obeyed. The stone is rolled away. Everything is done openly and deliberately. All are given a chance to see that no deception is practiced. There lies the body of Lazarus in its rocky grave, cold and silent in death. The cries of the mourners are hushed. Surprised and expectant, the company stand around the sepulcher, waiting to see what is to follow.

DA 535.5

Calmly Christ stands before the tomb. A sacred solemnity rests upon all present. Christ steps closer to the sepulcher. Lifting His eyes to heaven, He says, “Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me.” Not long before this, Christ’s enemies had accused Him of blasphemy, and had taken up stones to cast at Him because He claimed to be the Son of God. They accused Him of performing miracles by the power of Satan. But here Christ claims God as His Father, and with perfect confidence declares that He is the Son of God.

DA 536.1

In all that He did, Christ was co-operating with His Father. Ever He had been careful to make it evident that He did not work independently; it was by faith and prayer that He wrought His miracles. Christ desired all to know His relationship with His Father. “Father,” He said, “I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. And I knew that Thou hearest Me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me.” Here the disciples and the people were to be given the most convincing evidence in regard to the relationship existing between Christ and God. They were to be shown that Christ’s claim was not a deception.

DA 536.2

“And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” His voice, clear and penetrating, pierces the ear of the dead. As He speaks, divinity flashes through humanity. In His face, which is lighted up by the glory of God, the people see the assurance of His power. Every eye is fastened on the entrance to the cave. Every ear is bent to catch the slightest sound. With intense and painful interest all wait for the test of Christ’s divinity, the evidence that is to substantiate His claim to be the Son of God, or to extinguish the hope forever.

DA 536.3

There is a stir in the silent tomb, and he who was dead stands at the door of the sepulcher. His movements are impeded by the graveclothes in which he was laid away, and Christ says to the astonished spectators, “Loose him, and let him go.” Again they are shown that the human worker is to co-operate with God. Humanity is to work for humanity. Lazarus is set free, and stands before the company, not as one emaciated from disease, and with feeble, tottering limbs, but as a man in the prime of life, and in the vigor of a noble manhood. His eyes beam with intelligence and with love for his Saviour. He casts himself in adoration at the feet of Jesus.

DA 536.4

The beholders are at first speechless with amazement. Then there follows an inexpressible scene of rejoicing and thanksgiving. The sisters receive their brother back to life as the gift of God, and with joyful tears they brokenly express their thanks to the Saviour. But while brother, sisters, and friends are rejoicing in this reunion, Jesus withdraws from the scene. When they look for the Life-giver, He is not to be found.

From Heaven With Love

Chapter 58—The Raising of Lazarus

HLv 350.1

Among the most steadfast of Christ’s disciples was Lazarus of Bethany, and he was greatly loved by the Saviour. For Lazarus the greatest of Christ’s miracles was performed. The Saviour loves all the human family, but to some He is bound by peculiarly tender associations.

HLv 350.2

At the home of Lazarus, Jesus often found rest. The Saviour had no home of His own. When weary, thirsting for human fellowship, He had been glad to escape to this peaceful household. Here He found a sincere welcome and pure, holy friendship.

HLv 350.3

As the multitudes followed Christ through the open fields, He unfolded to them the beauties of the natural world. But the multitudes were slow of hearing, and in the home at Bethany Christ found rest from the weary conflict of public life. Here He needed not to speak in parables.

HLv 350.4

As Christ gave His wonderful lessons, Mary sat at His feet, a reverent and devoted listener. On one occasion, Christ’s first visit to Bethany, Martha, preparing the meal, went to Him, saying, “Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.” Jesus answered her with mild and patient words, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Mary was storing her mind with words from the Saviour’s lips, words more precious to her than earth’s most costly jewels.

HLv 350.5

Martha needed less anxiety for the things which pass away, and more for those things which endure forever. The cause of Christ needs Marthas, with their zeal in active religious work; but let them first sit with Mary at the feet of Jesus. Let diligence and energy be sanctified by the grace of Christ.

HLv 351.1

Sorrow entered the peaceful home where Jesus had rested. Lazarus was stricken with sudden illness, and his sisters sent to the Saviour, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick.” They saw the violence of the disease that had seized their brother, but they knew that Christ had shown Himself able to heal all manner of diseases. They made no urgent demand for His immediate presence but thought He would be with them as soon as He could reach Bethany.

HLv 351.2

Anxiously they waited. As long as the spark of life was in their brother, they prayed and watched for Jesus to come. But the messenger returned without Him. Yet he brought the message, “This sickness is not unto death,” and they clung to the hope that Lazarus would live. When the sufferer died they were bitterly disappointed, but they felt the sustaining grace of Christ.

HLv 351.3

When Christ heard the message, He did not manifest the sorrow the disciples expected Him to show. He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” For two days Jesus remained in the place where He was. This delay was a mystery to the disciples, for His strong affection for the family at Bethany was well known.

HLv 351.4

During the two days, Christ seemed to have dismissed the message from His mind. The disciples thought of John the Baptist. With the power to perform miracles, why had Jesus permitted John to languish in prison and die a violent death? The Pharisees presented this question as an unanswerable argument against Christ’s claim to be the Son of God. The Saviour had warned His disciples of trials, losses, and persecution. Would He forsake them in trial? All were deeply troubled.

HLv 352.1

After waiting two days, Jesus said, “Let us go into Judea again.” The disciples questioned why, if Jesus were going to Judea, He had waited two days. But anxiety for Christ and for themselves was now uppermost in their minds. They could see nothing but danger in the course He was about to pursue. “Master,” they said, “the Jews of late sought to stone Thee; and goest Thou thither again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day?” I am under the guidance of My Father; as long as I do His will, My life is safe. I have entered upon the last remnant of My day; but while any of this remains, I am safe.

HLv 352.2

“If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.” The light of God’s guiding Spirit gives him a clear perception of his duty and leads him till the close of his work. “But if any man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.” He who walks in a path of his own choosing will stumble. Wherever he may be, he is not secure.

HLv 352.3

“These things said He; and after that He saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.” In the thought of the peril their Master was about to incur by going to Jerusalem, the disciples had almost forgotten the bereaved family at Bethany. But not so Christ. The disciples had been tempted to think Jesus had not the tender love for Lazarus and his sisters that they thought He had. But the words, “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth,” awakened right feelings in their minds. Christ had not forgotten His suffering friends.

HLv 352.4

“Then said His disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.” Christ represents death as a sleep to His believing children. Their life is hid with Christ in God, and until the last trump shall sound those who die will sleep in Him. See 1 Corinthians 15:51-54.

HLv 352.5

“Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.”

HLv 353.1

The disciples marveled at Christ’s words when He said, “Lazarus is dead. And I am glad ... that I was not there.” Did the Saviour by His own choice avoid the home of His suffering friends? But Christ beheld the whole scene, and the bereaved sisters were upheld by His grace. Jesus witnessed the sorrow of their rent hearts as their brother wrestled with death. But Christ had not only the loved ones at Bethany to think of; He had the training of His disciples to consider. They were to be His representatives to the world. For their sake He permitted Lazarus to die. Had He restored him from illness to health, the miracle that is the most positive evidence of His divine character would not have been performed.

HLv 353.2

Had Christ been in the sickroom, death could not have aimed his dart at Lazarus. Therefore Christ remained away. He permitted the suffering sisters to see their brother laid in the grave. He suffered every pang of sorrow that they endured. He loved them no less because He tarried, but He knew that for them, for Lazarus, for Himself, and for His disciples, a victory was to be gained.

HLv 353.3

To all who are reaching out to feel the guiding hand of God, the moment of greatest discouragement is the time when divine help is nearest. They will look back with thankfulness on the darkest part of their way. From every temptation and trial He will bring them forth with firmer faith and a richer experience.

HLv 353.4

Christ had tarried so that by raising Lazarus from the dead He might give to His stubborn, unbelieving people another evidence that He was indeed “the resurrection and the life.” He was loath to give up all hope of the people of Israel, and He purposed to give them one more evidence that He was the One who alone could bring life and immortality to light. This was the reason of His delay in going to Bethany.

HLv 354.1

On reaching Bethany Jesus sent a messenger to the sisters with the tidings of His arrival, but He remained in a quiet place by the wayside. The great outward display observed by the Jews at the death of friends or relatives was not in harmony with the spirit of Christ. He heard the sound of wailing from the hired mourners, and did not wish to meet the sisters in the scene of confusion. Among the mourning friends were some of Christ’s bitterest enemies. Christ knew their purposes, and therefore did not at once make His presence known.

HLv 354.2

The message was given to Martha so quietly that others, even Mary, did not hear. Martha went out to meet her Lord, but Mary sat still in her sorrow, making no outcry.

HLv 354.3

Martha’s heart was agitated by conflicting emotions. In Christ’s expressive face she read the same tenderness and love that had always been there, but she thought of her dearly loved brother. With grief surging in her heart because Christ had not come before, she said, “Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” Over and over again the sisters had repeated these words.

HLv 354.4

Martha had no inclination to recount the past, but looking into the face of love, she added, “I know, that even now, whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee.”

HLv 354.5

Jesus encouraged her, saying, “Thy brother shall rise again.” His answer fixed Martha’s thoughts on the resurrection of the just, that she might see in the resurrection of Lazarus a pledge of the resurrection of all the righteous dead.

HLv 354.6

Martha answered, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Seeking to give a true direction to her faith, Jesus declared, “I am the resurrection and the life.” In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived. “He that hath the Son hath life.” 1 John 5:12. Said Jesus, “He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?” Christ here looked forward to the time of His second coming. At the time of His second coming, the righteous dead shall be raised incorruptible, and the living righteous shall be translated to heaven without seeing death. The raising of Lazarus would represent the resurrection of all the righteous dead. By His word and His works Jesus asserted His right and power to give eternal life.

HLv 355.1

To the Saviour’s words, “Believest thou?” Martha responded, “Yea, Lord: I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” She confessed her faith in His divinity, and her confidence that He was able to perform whatever it pleased Him to do.

HLv 355.2

“When she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.” She delivered her message as quietly as possible; for the priests and rulers were prepared to arrest Jesus when opportunity offered. The cries of the mourners prevented her words from being heard.

HLv 355.3

On hearing the message, Mary rose hastily and left the room. Thinking that she had gone to the grave to weep, the mourners followed her. When she reached the place where Jesus was waiting, she said with quivering lips, “Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” The cries of the mourners were painful to her, for she longed for a few quiet words alone with Jesus.

HLv 355.4

“When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled.” He saw that with many, what passed as grief was only pretense. Some now manifesting hypocritical sorrow would plan the death, not only of the mighty miracle worker, but of the one to be raised from the dead. “Where have ye laid him?” He asked. “Lord, come and see.” Together they proceeded to the grave. Lazarus had been much loved, and his sisters wept with breaking hearts, while his friends mingled their tears with those of the bereaved sisters. In view of this human distress, and of the fact that the afflicted friends could mourn while the Saviour of the world stood by, “Jesus wept.” The Son of God had taken human nature upon Him, and was moved by human sorrow. His tender, pitying heart is ever awakened to sympathy by suffering.

HLv 356.1

But it was not only because of sympathy with Mary and Martha that Jesus wept. Christ wept because the weight of the grief of ages was upon Him. He saw the terrible effects of the transgression of God’s law. He saw that the conflict between good and evil had been unceasing. He saw the suffering and sorrow, tears, and death, that were to be the lot of the human family of all ages in all lands. Woes of the sinful race were heavy upon His soul, and the fountain of His tears was broken up as He longed to relieve all their distress.

HLv 356.2

Lazarus had been laid in a cave, and a massive stone had been placed before the entrance. “Take ye away the stone,” Christ said. Thinking He only wished to look upon the dead, Martha objected, saying that the body had been buried four days, and corruption had already begun its work. This statement, made before the raising of Lazarus, left no room for Christ’s enemies to say that a deception had been practiced. When Christ raised the daughter of Jairus, He had said, “The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.” Mark 5:39. As she had been raised immediately after her death, the Pharisees declared that the child had not been dead, that Christ Himself said she was only asleep. They had tried to make it appear that there was foul play about His miracles. But in this case, none could deny that Lazarus was dead.

HLv 356.3

When the Lord is about to do a work, Satan moves upon someone to object. Martha was unwilling that the decomposing body should be brought to view. Her faith had not grasped the true meaning of His promise. Christ reproved Martha with the utmost gentleness: “Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” You have My word. Natural impossibilities cannot prevent the work of the Omnipotent One. Unbelief is not humility. Implicit belief in Christ’s word is true humility, true self-surrender.

HLv 357.1

“Take ye away the stone.” Christ could have bidden the angels close by His side to remove the stone. But Christ would show that humanity is to cooperate with divinity. What human power can do divine power is not summoned to do.

HLv 357.2

The command was obeyed. The stone was rolled away. Everything was done openly and deliberately. All saw that no deception was practiced. There lay the body of Lazarus, cold and silent in death. Surprised and expectant, the company stood around the sepulcher, waiting to see what was to follow.

HLv 357.3

A sacred solemnity rested upon all present. Christ stepped closer to the sepulcher. Lifting His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me.” Christ’s enemies had accused Him of blasphemy because He claimed to be the Son of God. But here, with perfect confidence, Christ declared He was the Son of God.

HLv 357.4

Christ was careful to make it evident that He did not work independently of His Father; it was by faith and prayer that He wrought His miracles. Christ desired all to know His relationship with His Father. “Father,” He said, “I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. And I knew that Thou hearest Me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent Me.” Here the disciples and the people were to be shown that Christ’s claim was not a deception.

HLv 357.5

“And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” Divinity flashed through humanity. In His face, which was lighted up by the glory of God, the people saw the assurance of His power. Every eye was fastened on the cave, every ear bent to catch the slightest sound. With intense interest all waited for the evidence that was to substantiate Christ’s claim to be the Son of God, or to extinguish the hope forever.

HLv 358.1

There was a stir in the silent tomb; then he who was dead stood at the door of the sepulcher. His movements were impeded by the graveclothes, so Christ said to the astonished spectators, “Loose him, and let him go.” Again they were shown that humanity is to work for humanity. Lazarus was set free and stood before the company, not as one emaciated from disease but as a man in the prime of life. His eyes beamed with intelligence and love for His Saviour. In adoration he cast himself at the feet of Jesus.

HLv 358.2

The beholders were at first speechless with amazement; then there followed inexpressible rejoicing. The sisters received their brother back to life as the gift of God, and with joyful tears they brokenly expressed their thanks to the Saviour. But while all were rejoicing in this reunion, Jesus withdrew from the scene. When they looked for the Life-giver, He was not to be found.

Daughters of God

Mary and Martha

Jesus frequently stayed at the home of Mary and Martha, and their brother Lazarus. Martha was often cumbered with the cares of daily duties, while Mary sought first the words of Jesus.

DG 57.1

Jesus had often found the rest that His weary human nature required at the house of Lazarus, in Bethany. His first visit there was when He and His disciples were weary from a toilsome journey on foot from Jericho to Jerusalem. They tarried as guests at the quiet home of Lazarus, and were ministered unto by his sisters, Martha and Mary.

DG 57.2

Notwithstanding the fatigue of Jesus, He continued the instruction which He had been giving His disciples on the road, in reference to the qualifications necessary to fit men for the kingdom of heaven. The peace of Christ rested upon the home of the brother and sisters. Martha had been all anxiety to provide for the comfort of her guests, but Mary was charmed by the words of Jesus to His disciples, and, seeing a golden opportunity to become better acquainted with the doctrines of Christ, quietly entered the room where He was sitting, and, taking her place at the feet of Jesus, drank in eagerly every word that fell from His lips.—The Spirit of Prophecy 2:358 (1877).

DG 57.3

As Christ gave His wonderful lessons, Mary sat at His feet, a reverent and devoted listener. On one occasion, Martha, perplexed with the care of preparing the meal, went to Christ, saying, “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.” This was the time of Christ’s first visit to Bethany. The Saviour and His disciples had just made the toilsome journey on foot from Jericho. Martha was anxious to provide for their comfort, and in her anxiety she forgot the courtesy due to her Guest. Jesus answered her with mild and patient words, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Mary was storing her mind with the precious words falling from the Saviour’s lips, words that were more precious to her than earth’s most costly jewels.

DG 58.1

The “one thing” that Martha needed was a calm, devotional spirit, a deeper anxiety for knowledge concerning the future, immortal life, and the graces necessary for spiritual advancement. She needed less anxiety for the things which pass away, and more for those things which endure forever. Jesus would teach His children to seize every opportunity of gaining that knowledge which will make them wise unto salvation. The cause of Christ needs careful, energetic workers. There is a wide field for the Marthas, with their zeal in active religious work. But let them first sit with Mary at the feet of Jesus. Let diligence, promptness, and energy be sanctified by the grace of Christ; then the life will be an unconquerable power for good.—The Desire of Ages, 525 (1898).

DG 58.2

Like Mary, we need to sit at the feet of Jesus to learn of Him, having chosen that better part which will never be taken from us. Like Martha we need to be ever abounding in the work of the Lord. The higher Christian attainments can be reached only by being much on our knees in sincere prayer.... One fiber of the root of selfishness remaining in the soul will spring up when least expected, and thereby will many be defiled.—That I May Know Him, 351 (1894).

DG 58.3

In the inspired record we are told that “Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus,” yet after He received the message [that Lazarus was sick], “he abode two days still in the same place where he was.” Guided by divine wisdom, He did not go at once to His beloved friends. The message that came to Him did not meet with an immediate response. Mary and Martha did not say, “Lord, come at once and heal our brother.” They had confidence in Jesus, believing that He would do what was best for them. At length He said to His disciples, “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.”—Manuscript Releases 21:111 (1892).

DG 59.1

When He [Jesus] reached Bethany He heard from several persons that Lazarus was dead, and had been buried four days.... Martha hastened to meet Him; she told Him of her brother’s death, saying, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” In her disappointment and grief she had not lost confidence in Jesus, and added, “But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it unto thee.” Jesus encouraged her faith by declaring to her, “Thy brother shall rise again”....

DG 59.2

When Jesus asked Martha: “Believest thou?” she answered by a confession of her faith: “Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” Thus Martha declared her belief in the Messiahship of Jesus, and that He was able to perform any work which it pleased Him to do. Jesus bade Martha call her sister, and the friends that had come to comfort the afflicted women. When Mary came she fell at the feet of Jesus, also crying, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” At the sight of all this distress, Jesus “groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, and said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.” Together they all proceeded to the grave of Lazarus, which was a cave with a stone upon it.—The Spirit of Prophecy 2:362, 363 (1877).

DG 59.3

In all that He did, Christ was cooperating with His Father. Ever He had been careful to make it evident that He did not work independently; it was by faith and prayer that He wrought His miracles. Christ desired all to know His relationship with His Father. “Father,” He said, “I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.” Here the disciples and the people were to be given the most convincing evidence in regard to the relationship existing between Christ and God. They were to be shown that Christ’s claim was not a deception.

DG 59.4

“And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” His voice, clear and penetrating, pierces the ear of the dead. As He speaks, divinity flashes through humanity. In His face, which is lighted up by the glory of God, the people see the assurance of His power. Every eye is fastened on the entrance to the cave. Every ear is bent to catch the slightest sound. With intense and painful interest all wait for the test of Christ’s divinity, the evidence that is to substantiate His claim to be the Son of God, or to extinguish the hope forever.

DG 60.1

There is a stir in the silent tomb, and he who was dead stands at the door of the sepulcher. His movements are impeded by the graveclothes in which he was laid away, and Christ says to the astonished spectators, “Loose him, and let him go.” Again they are shown that the human worker is to cooperate with God. Humanity is to work for humanity. Lazarus is set free, and stands before the company, not as one emaciated from disease, and with feeble, tottering limbs, but as a man in the prime of life, and in the vigor of a noble manhood. His eyes beam with intelligence and with love for his Saviour. He casts himself in adoration at the feet of Jesus.—The Desire of Ages, 536 (1898).

DG 60.2

By the raising of Lazarus, many were led to believe in Jesus. It was God’s plan that Lazarus should die and be laid in the tomb before the Saviour should arrive. The raising of Lazarus was Christ’s crowning miracle, and because of it many glorified God.—Manuscript Releases 21:111 (1892).

*****

DG 60.3

Simon [Simon was the one who had led Mary into sin. He was her uncle. See Appendix A.] had been healed of the leprosy, and it was this that had drawn him to Jesus. He desired to show his gratitude, and at Christ’s last visit to Bethany he made a feast for the Saviour and His disciples.... At the table the Saviour sat with Simon ... on one side and Lazarus ... on the other. Martha served at the table, but Mary was earnestly listening to every word from the lips of Jesus. In His mercy, Jesus had pardoned her sins, He had called forth her beloved brother from the grave, and Mary’s heart was filled with gratitude. She had heard Jesus speak of His approaching death, and in her deep love and sorrow she had longed to show Him honor. At great personal sacrifice she had purchased an alabaster box of “ointment of spikenard, very costly,” with which to anoint His body. But now many were declaring that He was about to be crowned king. Her grief was turned to joy, and she was eager to be first in honoring her Lord. Breaking her box of ointment, she poured its contents upon the head and feet of Jesus; then, as she knelt weeping, moistening them with her tears, she wiped His feet with her long, flowing hair....

DG 61.1

Judas looked upon this act with great displeasure.... He asked, “Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?” ... The murmur passed round the table, “To what purpose is this waste”? ... Mary heard the words of criticism.... She was about to shrink away, when the voice of her Lord was heard, “Let her alone; why trouble ye her?” ... Lifting His voice above the murmur of criticism, He said, “She hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying.”—The Desire of Ages, 557-560 (1898).

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 40, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 40, 1897, par. 15

The four apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, all bear record that Jew and Gentile, rulers, kings, and governors, priests and people, all classes and tongues, were represented in rejecting and crucifying Christ, the Son of God, a man who was innocent, and against whom they could find no proof. The synagogue of Satan, the prince of darkness and his evil agents, united in a desperate companionship with disloyal, evil men. They resolved to put the whole power of their corrupt energies to work to put out of the world the light of truth.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Lt 129, 1898

13LtMs, Lt 129, 1898, par. 4

The wind became a howling gale, and continued over Sabbath. Sabbath the rain just poured down, as if the windows of heaven were opened. Nevertheless our meetings went on, and there was a good attendance from the camp. Men had to leave the meeting and attend to securing the tents in the tempest of wind and rain. Sabbath afternoon I spoke to a full tent, and the Lord gave me great freedom. Many were in tears. I spoke from John 11. All seemed to listen as if spellbound. I called them forward for prayers. Quite a number responded and then bore [their] testimony. Then the order of the meeting had to be changed because of the downpour of rain. All joined in singing hymns until the storm began to abate.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 15 (1900)

Lt 53, 1900

15LtMs, Lt 53, 1900, par. 4

In our Bible, we might ask, Why need Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the Gospels, why need the Acts of the Apostles, and the variety of writers in the Epistles, go over the same thing?

15LtMs, Lt 53, 1900, par. 6

We are not to feel that we must speak the very same things, giving the same representation in the same words, and yet there is to be unity in the diversity. All the different testimonies unite to form one whole, as the books of the Bible are brought together, and bound under one cover. But should Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John go off on some tangent, contradicting each other’s testimony, then there would be confusion. In the presentation of truth by different minds, there is to be unity in diversity.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Ms 91, 1903

18LtMs, Ms 91, 1903, par. 15

Why do we need a Matthew, a Mark, a Luke, a John, a Paul, and all these other writers who have borne their testimony in regard to the life of the Saviour during His earthly ministry? Why could not one of the disciples have written a complete record, and thus have given us a connected account of Christ’s life and work? The Gospels differ. One writer brings in points that another does not bring in. If these points are essential, why did not all these writers mention them? It is because the minds of men differ and do not comprehend all things in exactly the same way. Some Scripture truths appeal much more strongly to the minds of certain persons than to others; some points appear to be much more important to some than to others. The same principle applies to speakers. Some speakers dwell at considerable length on points that others would pass by quickly or not mention at all. Thus the whole truth is presented more clearly by several than by one. In the Gospels the records blend in one harmonious whole.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 7 (1891-1892)

Ms 31, 1892

7LtMs, Ms 31, 1892, par. 3

Of late I have been thinking much of Martha and Mary, and their experience at the time of the death and resurrection of Lazarus. When Lazarus became sick, they sent Jesus the word, “Lord, behold he whom thou lovest is sick.” [John 11:3.] There was no further word, no urgent message for Him to come. They fully expected that their beloved Friend would at once come and heal their brother. As soon as the messenger had gone, they saw a decided change for the worse in the sick man. His fever rapidly increased, and soon they realized that in the fight between life and death, death had triumphed. With hearts full of anguish, they saw their brother die.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 7 (1891-1892)

Ms 32, 1892

7LtMs, Ms 32, 1892, par. 10

In the inspired record we are told that “Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus,” yet after He received the message, “he abode two days still in the same place where he was.” [John 11:3, 6.] Guided by divine wisdom, He did not go at once to His beloved friends. The message that came to Him did not meet with an immediate response. Mary and Martha did not say, “Lord, come at once and heal our brother.” They had confidence in Jesus, believing that He would do what was best for them. At length He said to His disciples, “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.” [Verse 11.]

Sons and Daughters of God

Lazarus Raised to Testify to God’s Glory, March 26

SD 92.1

When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. John 11:4.

My Life Today

Jesus and His Friends at Bethany, July 23

ML 208.1

Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. John 11:5.

Our Father Cares

Jesus and His Friends at Bethany, February 16

OFC 58.1

Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. John 11:5.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 7 (1891-1892)

Ms 19, 1892

7LtMs, Ms 19, 1892, par. 20

In the inspired record we are told that “Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus,” yet after He received the message, “he abode two days still in the same place where he was.” [John 11:5, 6.] Guided by divine wisdom, he did not go at once to his beloved friends. The message that came to Him did not meet with an immediate response. Mary and Martha did not say, Lord, come at once and heal our brother. They had confidence in Jesus, believing that He would do what was best for them. At length He said to His disciples, “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.” [Verse 11.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 60, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 60, 1897, par. 16

The command is given, Work while the day lasts: the night cometh when no man can work. Jesus asks, “Are there not twelve hours in the day?” [John 11:9.] If these hours were employed as if men realized that they were accountable human beings, responsible before God, as serious, candid, heaven-bought subjects, keeping eternity in view, there is sufficient time, if properly employed, to secure for every soul an inheritance among the sanctified in the kingdom of God. There is time for them to be instrumental in the saving of many souls through precept and example, so that we shall bring sheaves to the Master, and lay our trophies at His feet. We have no time to waste, no time to devote to selfish pleasure loving, no time to give to the indulgence of sin. Time is golden. We have characters to form for the future, immortal life. “But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly; therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” Angels of God are watching the development of character; angels of God are weighing moral worth.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 15 (1900)

Lt 109, 1900

15LtMs, Lt 109, 1900, par. 12

And now I will send you some items that have been outlined before me, and which I was instructed to present decidedly to our people in Australia. My Guide said, You are not to repeat the same work in Australia that has been done in America. Now is your time to build. I will put into the hearts of the workers a spirit of self-sacrifice and willingness to do this work. Men with unselfish minds and motives will engage in this work. There is no time to lose. Workers are to be called who will take hold of the work and carry it forward without counting the minutes that make an hour or the hours that will close their day’s work. Saith the Lord, Time is Mine; the minutes, the hours, are My property, and those who engage in My service should put love and willingness into the work of building. With all their minds and hearts they are to work to the best of their ability, and God will work with them. Those who have the true spirit of self-sacrifice will not measure their time so very exactly; they will not feel that they are to work but eight hours in the day. Said Christ, “Are there not twelve hours in the day in which men ought to work?” [See John 11:9.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 15 (1900)

Ms 39, 1900

15LtMs, Ms 39, 1900, par. 14

Let those who are planning the work remember that it is a work which needs to be done as speedily as possible. Let consecrated, zealous efforts be made. Let there be as little outlay of means as possible in hiring labor. Let the workers show a spirit of self-sacrifice and an earnest desire to carry the work forward with expedition. It is the will of God that those who are connected with this work shall do their very best during the hours that they work. Let them not feel obliged to work only eight hours a day. The Lord Jesus says, “Are there not twelve hours in the day in which men ought to work? Work while the day lasts; for the night cometh in which no man can work.” [John 11:9; 9:4.]

Jesus, Name Above All Names

The Resurrection and the Life, February 14

JNN 53.1

Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”—John 11:21

Manuscript Releases, vol. 7 [Nos. 419-525]

MR No. 519—Christ the Manager of Our Institutions

7MR 411.2

Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Christ has consecrated the grave by passing through death. The Lord Jesus broke the fetters of the tomb, and proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” (John 11:25.) The grave is consecrated by his presence. Footsteps of Him that bore the cross are traceable in His life and testify of His character.—Letter 103, 1898, pp. 3, 4. (To Sister Peck, November 21, 1898.)

The Retirement Years

The Grave Consecrated By Christ

RY 155.3

Christ has consecrated the grave by passing through death. The Lord Jesus broke the fetters of the tomb, and proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection, and the life” (John 11:25). The grave is consecrated by His presence. Footsteps of Him that bore the cross are traceable in His life and testify of His character.—Letter 103, 1898.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Ms 68, 1903

18LtMs, Ms 68, 1903, par. 22

“As I have loved you.” Not until after their Master’s great humiliation and suffering in Gethsemane, in the presence of the High Priest, in Pilate’s judgment hall, and on Calvary’s cross did the disciples understand these words. Our Saviour was subjected to humiliation such as few are called upon to bear. The hopes of the disciples died with the death of their Lord. But after He came forth from Joseph’s new tomb and over the rent sepulcher proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life;” “behold, I live forevermore” [John 11:25; Revelation 1:18], His disciples understood more fully the meaning of the words: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.” [John 13:34, 35.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Ms 185, 1903

18LtMs, Ms 185, 1903, par. 7

He assumes no power. “All power is given Me.” [Verse 18.] He was legally entitled to this power, invested with it from the Father, the Fountain of all truth and power. Jehovah God inaugurated and enthroned Him as the One whom He proclaimed His Son at His baptism and when He broke the fetters of the tomb. Christ proclaimed over the rent sepulcher, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] He was God’s only begotten Son. He was acknowledged as One equal with the Father. He was the Redeemer of all mankind, of all the human family. Because He humbled Himself, therefore, when He could reach no lower depth in His humiliation, God exalted Him, giving Him power over all flesh that He might give eternal life to as many as would receive Him, even to them that believe on His name. “To them gave He power to become the sons of God.” [John 1:12.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Lt 144, 1903

18LtMs, Lt 144, 1903, par. 15

All who will may come under the covenant promise. Precious is the price paid for our redemption—the blood of the only begotten Son of God. Christ was tried by the sharp proving of affliction. His human nature was tried to the uttermost. He bore the death penalty of man’s transgression. He became the sinner’s substitute and surety. He is able to show the fruit of His sufferings and death in His resurrection from the dead. From the rent sepulcher of Joseph rings forth the proclamation, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Those who believe in Me, and do the works of righteousness that I do, are justified, sanctified, made white and tried. They have obtained godliness and eternal life.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Lt 195, 1903

18LtMs, Lt 195, 1903, par. 12

The angels of the Lord excel in strength. One angel appeared before the Roman guard appointed to watch Christ’s tomb and caused them to fear and quake and to become as powerless as dead men. Yet the whole scene was forever stamped on their minds. A mighty angel, with exceeding great glory, descended from the heavens to the earthly sepulcher and, laying hold on the sealed stone, removed it as he would a pebble. Then the mighty angel, with a voice that caused the earth to quake, was heard to say, “Jesus, Thou Son of God, Thy Father calls Thee.” Then He who had earned the power to conquer death and the grave came forth and proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Ms 174, 1903

18LtMs, Ms 174, 1903, par. 7

This whole chapter is a prayer to His Father for His disciples as He was about to leave them and go to His Father. This was the finishing of His ministry with them prior to His betrayal, His trial in the judgment hall, His crucifixion, His burial in Joseph’s tomb, His resurrection, and His proclaiming over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 19 (1904)

Ms 106, 1904

19LtMs, Ms 106, 1904, par. 15

When we submit to the solemn rite of baptism, we testify to angels and to men that we are purged from our old sins, and that henceforth, having died to the world, we will “seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” [Colossians 3:1.] Let us not forget our baptismal vow. In the presence of the three highest powers of heaven—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—we have pledged ourselves to do the will of Him who, over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, declared, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Christ forgives every penitent sinner, and as the forgiven one, at the time of baptism, rises from the watery grave, he is declared a new creature, whose life is hid with Christ in God. Let us ever remember that it is our high privilege to be purged from our old sins.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 19 (1904)

Ms 108, 1904

19LtMs, Ms 108, 1904, par. 26

It is at the time of baptism that we testify to angels and to men that we are purged from our old sins, and that henceforth, having died to the world, we will “seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” [Colossians 3:1.] Let us not forget our baptismal vow. In the presence of the three highest powers of heaven—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—we have pledged ourselves to do the will of Him who, at the rent sepulcher of Joseph, declared, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Christ forgives every penitent sinner; and as the forgiven one arises from the watery grave at the time of his baptism, he is declared a new creature, whose life is hid with Christ in God. Let us ever remember that it is our high privilege to be purged from our old sins.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 19 (1904)

Lt 53, 1904

19LtMs, Lt 53, 1904, par. 19

As a Christian submits to the solemn rite of baptism, the three highest powers in the universe—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—place their approval on his act, pledging themselves to exert their power in his behalf as he strives to honor God. He is buried in the likeness of Christ’s death, and is raised in the likeness of His resurrection. He went down into the grave, but He rose from the dead, proclaiming over the rent sepulcher, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 19 (1904)

Ms 167, 1904

19LtMs, Ms 167, 1904, par. 5

It was over the rent sepulcher of Joseph that Christ proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Every one who loses his life here will come up again, they shall see the King in His beauty, in His matchless charms, and the marks of the crucifixion are the bright beams that come from His hands when He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He has His human body and His divine body. He has the human and the divine natures blended.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 20 (1905)

Ms 134, 1905

20LtMs, Ms 134, 1905, par. 13

When Jesus was laid in the grave, Satan triumphed. But no power could keep the Saviour there. The Roman guards stationed round His tomb saw a mighty angel descend from heaven and roll away the stone from the door of the tomb as if it had been a pebble. They heard Him cry, Son of God, come forth; Thy Father calls Thee. They saw Jesus come forth from the grave and heard Him proclaiming over the rent sepulcher, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

Sermons and Talks, vol. 1

The Christian Life

1SAT 323.2

Christ is not dead. He has proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). Satan has thrown his dark shadow across our pathway, but let not our faith falter. Rather, let it cleave through the shadows to the place where Christ sits as our Intercessor. Satan is trying to hide the light of heaven from us, but he cannot do this if we will cling to the mighty One. Call upon the Lord, and He will answer, “Here am I.” Cooperate with God in striving against the enemy. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and be determined that you will be temperate in all things.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 20 (1905)

Ms 191, 1905

20LtMs, Ms 191, 1905, par. 17

I will read a verse or two in Matthew to let you see what He says. He told the disciples, after He had risen from the dead and proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] That means I live for you. It is life for every one of us that will believe in Jesus Christ as our risen Saviour, and we are to take hold of it. He told them that He would go into a mountain that was appointed them.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 20 (1905)

Ms 110, 1905

20LtMs, Ms 110, 1905, par. 15

Then Christ came forth from the grave and proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] To us this means that if we die in Christ Jesus, having lived in obedience to His commandments—a life reflecting honor to the Creator—He will be faithful in raising us to immortality at the last day, when He shall come to call His own unto Himself. We are to honor the Lord upon the earth with every capability of the brain. We cannot be content with a low standard. We are to live in such a way that we can carry the gospel to those who are in darkness. Of us Christ says; “Ye are the light of the world.” And He adds: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” [Matthew 5:14, 16.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 20 (1905)

Ms 192, 1905

20LtMs, Ms 192, 1905, par. 15

Now when they rise up out of the water, they represent Christ rising up out of the sepulcher to proclaim over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Thank God! Thank His holy name! We will praise Him that there is a resurrection, and as we are raised up out of the water, what do we profess? We are dead unto the world. “If ye then be risen with Christ ... hand of God.” [Colossians 3:1.] And you can bring light, and you can give Him power, and you can bring holiness and purity and love, if you will only do just as God tells you to do.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 20 (1905)

Ms 8, 1905

20LtMs, Ms 8, 1905, par. 3

We have not a dead Christ, lying in Joseph’s tomb. Over the rent sepulcher He has proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] He is a living Saviour, and He loves us with a love that is infinite.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 22 (1907)

Ms 95, 1907

22LtMs, Ms 95, 1907, par. 7

The enemies of Christ had supposed that the disciples would be intimidated by the events that had taken place and would give up their faith in the Messiah. They were astonished when they saw with what boldness these humble followers took up the work where Christ had laid it down. Multitudes from many parts of the world were gathered at Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion of Christ, and these had heard the false reports regarding the Messiah. Before these multitudes the disciples, with the power of the Holy Spirit resting upon them, bore witness to the truth of the words of Christ, “I AM the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] The gospel message heard by these representatives of other nations was carried by them to their homes; the scenes they had witnessed at the crucifixion of Christ and on the day of Pentecost were related; and the message of repentance and remission of sins preached in Christ’s name was carried to many places.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 22 (1907)

Lt 56, 1907

22LtMs, Lt 56, 1907, par. 6

The workers in our sanitariums should understand that each has an individual work. Each should realize his duty to keep his soul and body under discipline to the great Physician, who gave His life to rescue us from the control of a powerful foe. After He had burst the fetters of the tomb, He said to His disciples, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] And before He ascended to heaven He declared, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:18-20.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 23 (1908)

Ms 99a, 1908

23LtMs, Ms 99a, 1908, par. 11

The priests and rulers heard Christ’s words, and they did not then feel as they had when they declared, “Let Him come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him.” [Matthew 27:42.] What if Christ had come down from the cross! What if He had refused to drink the bitter cup that was given Him! They laid the body of the Saviour in Joseph’s sepulcher and set a watch that none should steal Him away. Christ rested on the Sabbath day in the tomb. But on the morning of the third day, the Roman watch beholds a light stream from heaven and the angel of God descend. The mighty angel came to the tomb where the Son of God lay, and rolling away the stone, bade the Son of God to come forth. The Roman guard see Jesus come forth to life, and hear Him proclaim over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 23 (1908)

Lt 232, 1908

23LtMs, Lt 232, 1908, par. 13

When Christ was placed in Joseph’s tomb, the Roman guard were stationed at the sepulcher to guard the body of Christ. Thus His enemies thought that they had made the body secure. They could not see that heavenly angels were also guarding the place and waiting for the moment when they should welcome to life again the Prince of life. “And behold there was a great earthquake.” [Matthew 28:2.] An angel came down to earth clothed with the panoply of heaven. The bright beams of God’s glory went before him, and before their brightness the Roman guard fell as dead men to the earth. The mighty angel rolled away the stone from the sepulcher and called forth the Son of God. Coming forth, the Saviour proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 24 (1909)

Ms 73, 1909

24LtMs, Ms 73, 1909, par. 24

He was laid in the tomb, and a great stone was rolled up before the door of the tomb. But when the day of His release came, a mighty angel from heaven came and rolled back the stone as it had been a pebble. And Jesus came forth, and proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] He revealed Himself to Mary and to His disciples, bringing rejoicing to their hearts.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 24 (1909)

Ms 139, 1909

24LtMs, Ms 139, 1909, par. 25

Christ said, I will drink it. And an angel came from glory to strengthen the Son of the infinite God to drink this cup of separation from His Father, to be crucified as a sinner. But the Lord God of Heaven protected and brought His Son through. The next we see is when they came to the sepulcher to anoint His body, and lo, there was no Jesus there. Christ had risen. The angels of God from heaven had come down and rolled back that stone from the sepulcher as a pebble. And the Son of God came forth and proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] That was the triumph song of victory that came. And now I am going to say, Seek the Lord, while He may be found.

24LtMs, Ms 139, 1909, par. 27

“I am the resurrection and the life,” said Christ. [Verse 25.] And you are to have life, and you are to praise God, and when the true fruit is borne by the vine, you will have the praise of God coming from your lips instead of complaining and finding fault and all this; you will feel that I am in connection with Jesus Christ. He is my Redeemer. I have faith in Him. I will walk, I will work as a true branch of the living vine. Now that is what we want to do, and more words, I do not think would be of use. But I want to tell you, You have a work to do individually. We are not half converted. If we were only half converted, there would be a different representation. But we want the whole conversation, a living unity with Christ, if you can ever unite with Him in the heavenly courts. And I beseech you, for Christ’s sake to come in unity with Him. Now we do not go without Him, because He will be right with us, and He will help us at every step.

The Paulson Collection of Ellen G. White Letters

L.B. 18, P. 426 C

PC 47.5

The Lord has not worked a physician in the way that He desires to work, because He says, Ye will not come to Me, that I may give your life. We look to every source to relieve except to the One who proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25) Christ came into our world to seek and to save that which was lost. His work as the one who heals all manner of diseases is unequalled. There are those whom the Lord uses as His co-laborers in the medical missionary work. These He is seeking to illuminate, that they may receive light and knowledge to communicate to others, and thus brighten the dark pathway of those who are oppressed by suffering and disease. If the sufferers would only come in faith to the divine Healer, they would see of the salvation of God.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 25 (1910 - 1915)

Ms 83, 1910

25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 33

I have much matter which I would like to bring before you. Let us trim our lamps and have them burning. Christ was not left in the grave. Angels from heaven were sent to roll back the stone from the sepulchre, Christ’s life came from heaven, and He walked forth from that sepulchre, proclaiming, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Thank God! We have a living Saviour. Do not act as though He were dead, because He has the same power, and we are having a living issue here in this world, and we want to be in a position where we can grasp infinity by a living faith.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 25 (1910 - 1915)

Ms 75, 1910

25LtMs, Ms 75, 1910, par. 20

What we need is to be in that position where we will recognize Jesus as our <Saviour and> Helper. He will select those to do His work who get into a position where they are willing to do anything that the Lord would have them do. I am so glad that the Saviour knows how to sympathize with poor <fallen> humanity. He has borne the heaviest humiliations that anyone that lives can bear. He has borne them in our behalf. They killed Him, and they laid Him in the tomb. But angels of God were sent, and they came down from heaven and rolled away the stone from the sepulcher. <The keepers of the sepulcher fell as dead men to the earth>, and as Christ came forth from the tomb, He proclaimed over the rent sepulcher, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 25 (1910 - 1915)

Ms 41, 1910

25LtMs, Ms 41, 1910, par. 5

Christ rose from the dead, proclaiming the wonderful truth, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] And even at this time He was careful to fold up the napkin that had been bound about His head and put it away. This was a little thing, but in this attention to detail, the Saviour sought to teach us a lesson.

25LtMs, Ms 41, 1910, par. 11

This is the preparation we must all have in order to be ready to meet our Lord when He appears with power and great glory. “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory.” [Colossians 3:4.] O what encouragement we find in the Word of God. “I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” [John 11:25.] God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. “He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” [1 John 5:11, 12.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 25 (1910 - 1915)

Ms 84, 1910

25LtMs, Ms 84, 1910, par. 52

And why was there not a similitude? Because they would go to patterning after that similitude. We do not need one-hundredth part of these pictures that we have been fashioning in our books as a great addition. We do not need to spend our money for many things for which we spend it in creating pictures. We are getting ready for a life that measures with the life of God. We are getting ready to see the King in His beauty. Christ came to our world to carry out the purposes of God. He ministered to the people until wicked men took Him and crucified Him. But He did not stay in the grave long, for a mighty angel came and rolled back the stone from the door of the sepulcher. And the men that were watching the grave became like dead men. The light came so strong that it took away their strength. Christ Jesus came forth from the grave, and He proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

25LtMs, Ms 84, 1910, par. 53

There was Christ, risen from the dead. He had suffered death. You can suffer no more. You cannot suffer any more than your Saviour suffered; but He proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [Verse 25.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 25 (1910 - 1915)

Ms 78, 1910

25LtMs, Ms 78, 1910, par. 30

Let every one of us, for Christ’s sake come into that position that we will understand the sacrifice that has been made for us. There He died on the cross. There was an awful earthquake at His death. Mighty angels came from heaven and rolled back the stone from the door of sepulchre, and Christ came forth. He was raised from the dead, and He proclaimed over the rent sepulchre of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Then He walked in the way, and He met two of His disciples and made Himself known to them before leaving them. Thank God, thank God, we have a risen Saviour!

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 25 (1910 - 1915)

Ms 90, 1910

25LtMs, Ms 90, 1910, par. 8

Christ obeyed the voice and proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” The whole earth was shaken as with an earthquake, and the Roman guards beheld and heard the words of Christ, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] And they fell as dead men to the earth. They could not for a moment resist the power by which He spoke.

Jesus, Name Above All Names

Author of the Resurrection, January 9

JNN 16.1

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”—John 11:25

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 3 (1876 - 1882)

Lt 38, 1877

3LtMs, Lt 38, 1877, par. 3

I feared Father would become confused with all their grave ceremonies and peculiar badges, long standards and hatchets, etc., but no, he seemed never more calm and collected in his life. He read a chapter from the Bible, “Wherefore comfort one another with this hope,” etc. [1 Thessalonians 4:18.] He made a speech of about twenty minutes. Every word could have been put in print just as he spoke them. His remarks were excellent. He addressed the mourners in a most tender, sympathizing manner, in an elevated strain, and yet came close to the hearts of the bereaved. There was not a dry eye I think in that assembly. The gray haired among the Odd Fellows wept freely. It was a perfect success, prayer and all, from first to last. We then entered the hack waiting and drove in company with Brother and Sister Chittendon to Lone Mountain Cemetery, to the Old Fellows’ ground, a beautiful spot. We all gathered about the grave while the chaplain read services and read a prayer. Every word was in keeping with our faith. They each threw a sprig of evergreen upon the coffin, and then Father repeated, “I am the resurrection and the life,” etc. [John 11:25.] He thanked the friends for their services to the dead in behalf of the bereaved, pronounced the benediction, and we again entered the hack. This was worth everything to Father as it gave him confidence that he was not wrecked in mental or physical ability.

Jesus, Name Above All Names

Source of All Vitality, April 10

JNN 110.5

Christ endured an agonizing death under the most humiliating circumstances that we might have life. He gave up His precious life that He might vanquish death. But He rose from the tomb, and the myriads of angels who came to behold Him take up the life He had laid down heard His words of triumphant joy as He stood above Joseph’s rent sepulcher proclaiming: “I am the resurrection, and the life” (John 11:25).

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 4 (1883 - 1886)

Ms 24, 1885

4LtMs, Ms 24, 1885, par. 16

“I am the resurrection and the life,” says Christ. [John 11:25.] “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” [John 14:6.] “And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in My name I will do it.” “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.” “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you.” [Verses 13-18.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 4 (1883 - 1886)

Ms 20, 1885

4LtMs, Ms 20, 1885, par. 17

Sister Martha Bourdeau, Jesus loves you. Why gather about your soul the clouds of darkness? Why walk in a fog of unbelief? Come into the clear light, where there is no darkness, no shadows. Come just as you are, helpless and hopeless. He says that He is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to those that ask Him than parents are to give good gifts to their children. [Luke 11:13.] When the promise is so ample, why do you stand in the shadow? Christ says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” John 11:25[; 14:6]. “Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye ask anything in My name, I will do it. If ye love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” John 14:13-18.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 7 (1891-1892)

Ms 25, 1891

7LtMs, Ms 25, 1891, par. 2

We must not talk and think and magnify the power of Satan, but talk of the confidence we have in Jesus Christ. Let the love, the inexpressible love, of Jesus so be presented in our own minds and cherished that we can communicate it to the other minds, and clear away all their distrust, and lay hold of the riches of the grace of Christ, and we “are complete in him.” [Colossians 2:10.] He has arisen, and over the rent sepulchre of Joseph He proclaims, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 8 (1893)

Lt 79, 1893

8LtMs, Lt 79, 1893, par. 23

We have thoroughly advertised. I am to speak Sunday afternoons in the rink building and Brother Starr holds his Bible studies in the evening. How we long for workers. If in this city one or two would locate, with their families, a work on the same plan as Brother Shireman did, lift the standard of truth in an inexpensive way, and working quietly in different lines, many, many souls would be saved. Here is a work to do, prejudice is tremendous. Canright’s books have been circulated freely, and this has barred the way; but I am on the ground now and the Lord will give me the message to bear to the people who are walking in darkness and have not the light. Truth will triumph; God lives and reigns. We have a living Saviour who in triumph proclaimed above the rent sepulchre of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 8 (1893)

Ms 81, 1893

8LtMs, Ms 81, 1893, par. 46

To the honor and glory of God, His beloved Son—the Surety, the Substitute—was delivered up and descended into the prisonhouse of the grave. The new tomb enclosed Him in its rocky chambers. If one single sin had tainted His character the stone would never have been rolled away from the door of His rocky chamber, and the world with its burden of guilt would have perished. But it was only for a little while the divine Vanquisher seemed the vanquished. The serpent had bruised the heel, but Christ could not be holden by death. The stone was rolled away. The Lord Jesus walked forth from His prison house a triumphant, majestic conqueror, and proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Let every believer now rejoice. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 8 (1893)

Lt 63, 1893

8LtMs, Lt 63, 1893, par. 58

Jesus said to His disciples, “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” [John 16:24.] Our Lord has risen: In triumphant voice He proclaimed about the rent sepulchre of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] He ascended on high and led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. He is now presenting His own blood before the mercy seat in behalf of His ransomed people. He ever liveth to make intercession for us. If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. The blood of Jesus is pleading with power and efficacy for those who are backslidden, for those who are rebellious, for those who sin against great light and love.

Manuscript Releases, vol. 10 [Nos. 771-850]

MR No. 846—If One Sin had Tainted Christ’s Character

10MR 385.1

To the honor and glory of God, His beloved Son—the Surety, the Substitute—was delivered up and descended into the prisonhouse of the grave. The new tomb enclosed Him in its rocky chambers. If one single sin had tainted His character the stone would never have been rolled away from the door of His rocky chamber, and the world with its burden of guilt would have perished. But it was only for a little while the divine Vanquisher seemed the vanquished. The serpent had bruised the heel, but Christ could not be holden by death. The stone was rolled away. The Lord Jesus walked forth from His prison house a triumphant, majestic conqueror, and proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).—Manuscript 81, 1893, 11. (Diary entry for Sunday, July 2, 1893, Wellington, New Zealand.)

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 8 (1893)

Lt 30, 1893

8LtMs, Lt 30, 1893, par. 15

We need to comprehend the lessons of Christ. Over the rent tomb of Joseph the Life-giver triumphantly proclaims, “I am the resurrection and the life.” “Because I live, ye shall live also.” [John 11:25; 14:19.] Let faith pierce through the hellish shadow of Satan, and center in Jesus, our High Priest, who hath entered for us within the veil. Whatever clouds overcast the sky, whatever storms surge around the soul, this anchor holds firm, and we may be sure of the victory. With the eye of faith you may see the land that is afar off. Many have longed to penetrate into the glories of the future world, and to have the secrets of eternal mysteries disclosed to them, but they knock in vain. That which is revealed, is for us and for our children.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 8 (1893)

Lt 93, 1893

8LtMs, Lt 93, 1893, par. 20

We need not be horrified at any crime of cruelty and monstrous wickedness that is perpetrated by a world who would not receive and confess Christ, but reject and crucify Him. We read in the secular papers the police reports, the grand juries’ decisions. History is being made in our cities and towns in regard to iniquity of every stripe and type. Should we be surprised, when the world would not receive Jesus but crucified Him, at the development of every stripe and type of iniquity? He was the Life and Light of the world, yet the world knew Him not. But we know Him; He is our precious Saviour. He is our risen Saviour. He proclaimed over the rent tomb of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] The world would not have Jesus. “But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” [John 1:12.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 8 (1893)

Lt 63a, 1893

8LtMs, Lt 63a, 1893, par. 56

Jesus said to His disciples, “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy might be full.” [John 16:24.] Our Jesus hath risen: In triumphant voice He proclaimed above the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” [John 11:25.] And what is Jesus now doing? He ascended on high and He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. He is presenting His own blood each moment before the mercy seat in behalf of His ransomed people. He ever liveth to make intercession for us. If any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. The blood of Jesus is pleading with power and efficacy for the backsliders, the rebellious, and the iniquities committed against so great light and love.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 9 (1894)

Ms 18, 1894

9LtMs, Ms 18, 1894, par. 25

We have no time to spend on the enemy’s side. We have no time to devote to the enemy’s service. We must be laborers together with God. Laborers, only think of it. Laborers together with Him who stands as our Intercessor. He is not in Joseph’s new tomb. He is risen, He is risen! We have a living, risen Saviour. He burst the fetters of the tomb after He had lain there three days, and in triumph He proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

9LtMs, Ms 18, 1894, par. 26

And He is coming. Are we getting ready for Him? Are we ready so that if we shall fall asleep, we can do so with hope in Jesus Christ? Are you laboring for the salvation of your brothers and sisters? The Lifegiver is soon to come. The Lifegiver is coming to break the fetters of the tomb. He is to bring forth the captives and proclaim, “I am the resurrection, and the Life.” [Verse 25.] There stands the risen host. The last thought was of death and its pangs. The last thoughts they had were of the grave and the tomb, but now they proclaim, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” [1 Corinthians 15:55.] The pangs of death was the last thing they felt. “O death, where is thy sting?” The last thing they acknowledged were the pangs of death. When they awake the pain is all gone. “O grave, where is thy victory?”

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 9 (1894)

Lt 54, 1894

9LtMs, Lt 54, 1894, par. 23

Christ was crucified for our sins, and was raised from the rent sepulchre for our justification, and He proclaims in triumph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Jesus lives as our intercessor to plead before the Father. He has carried the sins of the whole world and has not made one mortal man a sin-bearer for others. No man can bear the weight of his own sins. The crucified One bore them all, and every soul who believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 9 (1894)

Lt 44, 1894

9LtMs, Lt 44, 1894, par. 21

The means which might be expended thus I would prefer to treasure, that I may point souls to the Saviour risen from Joseph’s tomb, proclaiming, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] I can trace His footprints in the sure word of prophecy, and can obtain a better idea of His works and of His ways than I could by visiting Jerusalem, defiled with unholy feet and unholy deeds. I could not expend money to visit these places when the living interests of Christ’s kingdom are to be presented to the people. We are to teach the Word of God and to be doers of that Word, which is represented as building on the rock; the structure thus built will withstand the storm and the tempest, because it is founded on the eternal Rock.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 9 (1894)

Ms 17, 1894

9LtMs, Ms 17, 1894, par. 4

We want a right hold from above. We want our souls riveted on the eternal rock, Christ Jesus. Well, it is faith, faith that we must keep in exercise. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” [Hebrews 11:1.] We want that faith that can lay hold of the promise of God. Is there anything that will try to hinder us? Yes, it is Satan’s special work to cast his hellish shadow across our pathway and every soul must have their eyes fixed on the Author and Finisher of our faith. Look, look unto Jesus. That is where our help comes from. He is not in Joseph’s new tomb. He rose from the tomb in triumph, and over the rent sepulcher of Joseph He proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 9 (1894)

Ms 16, 1894

9LtMs, Ms 16, 1894, par. 38

Abraham saw Him and embraced the promise through Christ. Moses saw Him and endured the sight of Him who is invisible. Noah, the prophet of righteousness, was perfected in his day, and Enoch walked with God. They had advantages in their day, but in our day we have a crucified Saviour. Do you leave it there? No, we have a risen Saviour. He came up from the grave and over the rent sepulcher of Joseph He proclaimed, “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” [John 11:25.] Christ broke the fetters of the tomb and paved the way for everyone to do the same, and came up in the morn of the resurrection because Christ is their joy and hope.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 9 (1894)

Ms 43, 1894

9LtMs, Ms 43, 1894, par. 31

Jesus said He would give us the Comforter. [John 14:16.] What is the Comforter? It is the Holy Spirit of God. What is the Holy Spirit? It is the representative of Jesus Christ, it is our advocate that stands by our side and places our petitions before the Father all fragrant with His merits. There He accepts the petition of the humblest saint. He doesn’t ask you how much money you have, or how heavy you are loaded with property, but [He accepts] the very humblest saint that brings his petition to God, and [his] thank offering is made fragrant with the riches of His grace, and the Father accepts it as your offering, and the blessing comes to you, grace for grace. As you pour out your thank offering, God is glorified, and He gives you more. As you pour out thanksgiving He gives you more joy. We learn to praise God from whom all blessings flow. Shall we not begin right here to turn over the page and forget our murmurings and complainings and faultfinding, and educate the tongue to courteous words, and loving words, and sympathetic words, and tender kindness for one another of His children? Let us show Christ formed within, the hope of glory, by the fruit that we bear, and thus we can evidence to the world a living Saviour. He is not in Joseph’s new tomb. No, He is risen. He has risen a live, not a dead, Christ. We have a living Christ. He arose. He broke the fetters of the tomb. In triumph He rejoices over the rent sepulchre of Joseph. “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Glory to God! I praise Him, the resurrection and the life! You have got a living Saviour. Then hang your helpless souls on Jesus Christ. Abide in the vine, and bear fruit to His glory, and His joy shall be in you, and your joy shall be full. May the blessing of God rest upon these hearers. May the Holy Spirit of God impress the heart, and may the character reveal the loveliness of Jesus Christ, because you are His representatives, is my prayer.

Our High Calling

Three Mighty Helpers, May 31

OHC 157.4

When we submit to the solemn rite of baptism, we testify to angels and to men that we are purged from our old sins, and that henceforth, having died to the world, we will “seek those things which are above....” (Colossians 3:1). Let us not forget our baptismal vow. In the presence of the three highest powers of heaven—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—we have pledged ourselves to do the will of Him who ... declared, “I am the resurrection, and the life.: John 11:25. Christ forgives every penitent sinner, and as the forgiven one, at the time of baptism, rises from the watery grave, he is declared a new creature, whose life is hid with Christ in God. Let us ever remember that it is our high privilege to be purged from our old sins.65The Review and Herald, May 26, 1904.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 9 (1894)

Lt 65a, 1894

9LtMs, Lt 65a, 1894, par. 8

Christ claimed to be the only begotten of the Father, but men encased in unbelief, barricaded with prejudice, denied the holy and the just One. He was charged with blasphemy, and was condemned to a cruel death, but He burst the fetters of the tomb, and rose from the dead triumphant, and over the rent sepulchre of Joseph He declared, “I am the resurrection and the Life.” [John 11:25.] All power in heaven and in earth was vested in Him, and the righteous will also come forth from the tomb free in Jesus. They shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead. “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” [Matthew 13:43.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 10 (1895)

Ms 12, 1895

10LtMs, Ms 12, 1895, par. 17

We have better work to do. What shall we do? We should walk to the cross of Calvary, and not walk in the shadow of the cross, but we should walk in the light, in the glory that that cross testifies. It is in our behalf that our sins should be taken away, and in the place of our sins, that the righteousness of Christ should be imputed. Therefore, if we have trials, we have a source of rejoicing in it all, because Christ died and lives again, that we may have life in Him, and joy in Him. He is not a Saviour in Joseph’s new tomb. We need not go there to weep and to mourn. No, He is a risen Saviour; He is an exalted Saviour. He rent the tomb of Joseph, and He proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life” [John 11:25]; therefore there is not any excuse for a soul of us to continue in sin.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 10 (1895)

Ms 16, 1895

10LtMs, Ms 16, 1895, par. 8

When Christ was crucified and lay in Joseph’s new tomb the grave could not hold Him. He broke the fetters of the tomb and came forth from His prison house, and above the rent sepulcher He proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] That life is free for us to take. Who receives it? Those that continue to transgress? “Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” [Revelation 22:14.] God has given us this probation any time to see who will obey His commandments. Christ died to make a way for us to return to our loyalty. What the world may say of me or you amounts to but very little. God rejoices over every soul that is brought back to Him.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 10 (1895)

Ms 21, 1895

10LtMs, Ms 21, 1895, par. 13

Christ entered the tomb that man might pass through the tomb and rise with a resurrection-life. He burst the fetters of the tomb, and over the rent sepulcher of Joseph He proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] And when the last trump shall sound, the Lifegiver will open the prison houses and those who have fallen asleep in Christ will come forth to a glorious immortality.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 10 (1895)

Lt 24, 1895

10LtMs, Lt 24, 1895, par. 9

When Christ rose from the dead, He proclaimed in triumph, over Joseph’s sepulcher, rent by the power of God, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Jesus died to prove that he loves you, and he has risen again, and ascended on high. And now He stands before His Father as your Advocate. He pleads your case before the throne of God, and you may say, I have slept over my task, but I will trust in Jesus Christ for pardon. As a little child believes in and trusts in its loving parents, even so do I hope in thee, O my Saviour.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 10 (1895)

Ms 5, 1895

10LtMs, Ms 5, 1895, par. 7

When He broke the fetters of the tomb and came forth from the grave, He proclaimed His triumph above the rent-sepulchre of Joseph, exclaiming, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] This was a death knell resounding through the regions of Satan. The Prince of life passed from the tomb, leading forth a multitude of captives, triumphing over the powers of hell, and making manifest to the inhabitants of world’s unfallen that He had passed through the last act in the drama of suffering in the great controversy between Him and the satanic agencies. He brought life and immortality to light and made a bright clear pathway from earth to heaven, that those who receive Him should follow where He leads the way.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 11 (1896)

Lt 37, 1896

11LtMs, Lt 37, 1896, par. 12

The Lord Jesus is a risen Saviour. He is not lying in Joseph’s new tomb; He has risen, and has proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] We are to manifest to the world that we know we have a risen Lord, whose life is a quickening power in our lives. By appropriating Christ to ourselves we can say, “Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us.” [Romans 5:1-5.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 11 (1896)

Ms 52, 1896

11LtMs, Ms 52, 1896, par. 24

Jerusalem, the holy land. What made it holy? The Majesty of heaven clothed His divinity with humanity and dwelt upon our earth. He was despised and rejected of men; in Jerusalem He was crucified by wicked hands. I have not the slightest inclination to visit Jerusalem, to see where it is thought probable that Jesus trod, where He may have labored, and where He may have been crucified. The means which might be expended thus I would prefer to treasure, that I may point souls to the Saviour risen from Jacob’s tomb, and proclaiming, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 111, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 111, 1897, par. 72

The hour of Christ’s triumph has come. The Lord has broken His bonds in sunder. Christ came forth from the tomb proclaiming, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] The Saviour’s words to His disciples were fulfilled. “A little while and ye shall not see me, and again a little while and ye shall see me .... Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. ... Ye now therefore have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.” [John 16:16, 20, 22.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 115, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 115, 1897, par. 16

The angel approached the grave, and rolled away the stone as though it had been a pebble, and sat upon it. The light of heaven encircled the tomb, and the whole heaven was lighted by the glory of the angels. Then his voice was heard, “Thy Father calls thee; come forth.” And Jesus came forth from the grave with the step of a mighty Conqueror. There was a burst of triumph, for the heavenly family were waiting to receive Him, and the mighty angel, followed by the army of heaven, bowed in adoration before Him as He, the Monarch of heaven, proclaimed over the rent tomb of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

Prophets and Kings

Chapter 51—A Spiritual Revival

PK 626.2

Great light shone forth from patriarchs and prophets. Glorious things were spoken of Zion, the City of God. Thus the Lord designs that the light shall shine forth through His followers today. If the saints of the Old Testament bore so bright a testimony of loyalty, should not those upon whom is shining the accumulated light of centuries, bear a still more signal witness to the power of truth? The glory of the prophecies sheds their light upon our pathway. Type has met antitype in the death of God’s Son. Christ has risen from the dead, proclaiming over the rent sepulcher, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” John 11:25. He has sent His Spirit into the world to bring all things to our remembrance. By a miracle of power He has preserved His written word through the ages.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Lt 72a, 1897

12LtMs, Lt 72a, 1897, par. 2

It is our privilege to believe in the health-restoring power of God, the health-giving beams of the Sun of Righteousness. You may carry with you this endorsement of the power of God in your important work, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Christ wants you to grasp more of heaven’s abundant resources. “Be of good cheer,” He said; “thy faith hath made thee whole.” [Matthew 9:2, 22.] Why do we not have faith? Be assured that at this stage of the work, when souls are making decisions to become loyal and true to all the commandments of God, Satan’s agencies will appear with vitalizing power to work against God. But greater is he that is in you than the power that controls them.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 147, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 147, 1897, par. 23

These signs shall follow them that believe on Christ as a risen Saviour, who proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] But if the workers neglect to link themselves in divine connection with God, the electric current of reviving, life-giving spiritual energy cannot flow in full rich streams to the people. The church needs to be awakened. When Christ was on this earth, trying to reclaim souls, to restore the moral image of God in man by warnings, entreaties, appeals, by a perfect example of obedience to His Father’s will, He said that in some of the places He visited, He could not do many mighty works, because of their unbelief. This is the reason why we do not now see more of the deep moving of the Spirit of God upon human minds, more of His power manifested in healing the sick. Unbelief is the barrier between us and God.

12LtMs, Ms 147, 1897, par. 35

People are suffering for want of the knowledge of truth. They do not understand what they must do to be saved. Unless the gospel is preached clearly, simply, over and over again, line upon line, precept upon precept, Satan will cast his shadow between the sinner and God. God will be represented as a stern, unforgiving judge. Christ did not sermonize. He gave instruction as a divine Teacher. He taught in simplicity, and thus His ambassadors are to present the truth, making everything connected with the salvation of the soul plain and easy to be understood. The message must be given to the world that the way of repentance and faith is now made plain through Him who had power to lay down His life and to take it again. “He that believeth on me,” Christ declared, “though he were dead, yet shall he live.” [John 11:25.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 123, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 123, 1897, par. 6

Christ remained in the grave the allotted period of time, and then He took up His life again. In the hearing of the people He had said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again,” referring to His body. [John 2:19.] He came forth from the grave a conqueror, proclaiming over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 45, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 45, 1897, par. 7

Truth is truth, and will remain truth, and in the end will triumph gloriously. The lamp of life is trimmed by the hand that lit it. The Jewish leaders sought to drive the light from the earth, but it shone on, and irradiated the world. <Men in this age will repeat the history of the past and suppose they can quench the light of truth by their falsehoods, but the light shines more brightly with every attempt they may make.> Christ rose from the grave, and over the rent sepulcher of Joseph proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 94, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 94, 1897, par. 12

The heavenly visitant now before the tomb was the one that had proclaimed Christ’s birth on the plains of Bethlehem. The earth trembled at his approach, and as he rolled away the stone, heaven seemed to come down to earth. The soldiers saw him removing the stone as he would a pebble, and heard him call, Son of God, Thy Father saith, Come forth. They saw Jesus come forth from the grave as a mighty conqueror, and heard Him proclaim over the rent sepulcher, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] The angel guards bowed low in adoration before their Redeemer as He came forth in majesty and glory, and welcomed Him with songs of praise.

12LtMs, Ms 94, 1897, par. 32

Christ’s resurrection is placed in the very foreground of the foundation of the Christian church. This is a matter of the deepest importance. The future of the church militant depended on the fact that the same One that was crucified should come forth from the grave, proclaiming, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] The resurrection of Christ is to Christianity as the soul is to the body. It is the sum and substance of the truth of the inspired Word. Christ’s life is the verification of the written Word.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Ms 21, 1897

12LtMs, Ms 21, 1897, par. 27

The very same Jesus who has given us the Sabbath, and has directed us how to keep it, is the Alpha of Genesis, and carries us step by step through the ages, through His incarnation, through His offering of Himself as a living sacrifice for the redemption of a fallen world. He was tried but was not condemned: because there was nothing to condemn. After the trial Pilate said, “I find no fault in him.” [John 19:4, 6.] Yet He gave Himself up to be murdered because His own nation were jealous of Him, and hated Him. Christ died as a malefactor on the cross of Calvary. He was laid in the grave. The third day He rose from the dead, and proclaimed over the rent sepulchre of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] He ascended to His Father, and today He is our Advocate in the courts of heaven.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)

Lt 119, 1897

12LtMs, Lt 119, 1897, par. 4

The Lord has given Jesus to our world, to a life of suffering and a shameful death in order to save perishing souls. And having done this, He will not withhold any facilities, any gift of heaven, that will enable man to accomplish the glorious work of salvation. By thus dying for man, Christ has shown that His love for the human family is measureless. And in rising from the tomb and proclaiming over the rent sepulchre of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life,” He makes manifest His triumph over death. [John 11:25.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Lt 106, 1898

13LtMs, Lt 106, 1898, par. 16

Satan is the destroyer, the Lord is the Restorer. The Lord has not worked as a physician in the way that He desires to work, because, He says, Ye will not come unto Me, that I may give you life. [John 5:40.] We look to every source for relief from suffering and death but to the One who proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Christ came into our world to seek and to save that which was lost. His work as the One who heals all manner of diseases in unequaled. There are those whom the Lord uses as His co-laborers in the medical missionary work. These God is seeking to illuminate, that they may receive light and knowledge to communicate to others, and thus brighten the dark pathway of those who are oppressed by suffering and disease. If the sufferers would only come in faith to the divine Healer, they would see of the salvation of God.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Ms 198, 1898

13LtMs, Ms 198, 1898, par. 9

Acts 1:9. We have not a dead Saviour. He is not sleeping in the tomb, but is risen and He proclaimed above the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] As the Lord ascended in the clouds, He extended His hands and blessed His disciples, and said, “Lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:20.] While He was passing out of their sight they heard Him voice this precious promise.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Ms 147, 1898

13LtMs, Ms 147, 1898, par. 6

The revelation of life and the knowledge of immortality is not inherited. It is obtained only through Him who alone hath immortality. We must receive light and truth, that we may give to others. There is a life which measures with the life of God. This Christ proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph after His resurrection, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] This proclamation illumines with heaven-born splendors the track of our present travel as pilgrims and strangers. The bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness demonstrate the goodness and mercy and grace of God, and the true principles and purposes of the divine ministration.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Ms 87, 1898

13LtMs, Ms 87, 1898, par. 28

Man is dead, without God and without hope in the world. But over the rent sepulcher of Joseph Christ proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Not only will all who are in their graves hear His voice and come forth; He is today the restorer of those who are dead in trespasses and sins.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Ms 44, 1898

13LtMs, Ms 44, 1898, par. 4

When Christ came forth from the tomb, he proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Thus the Lord had appointed. In His wisdom He was fulfilling His plan of infinite magnitude, the unfolding and announcement of which commenced at the fall. In Eden, before the heavenly universe, before the unfallen worlds, and before satanic agencies, God declared that the pearl of great price was to be given as the ransom of a fallen world. The seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head, and it should bruise His heel.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Ms 82, 1898

13LtMs, Ms 82, 1898, par. 26

How broad, how full is this love. The new part of that commandment the disciples did not understand. They were to love one another as Christ had loved them. These were their credentials that Christ was formed within, the hope of glory. After the sufferings of Christ; after His crucifixion and resurrection and proclamation over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life” [John 11:25]; after His words to the five hundred who assembled to see Him in Galilee, and after His ascension to heaven, the disciples had some idea of what the love of God comprehended, and of the love they were to exercise one toward another. When the Holy Spirit rested on them on the Day of Pentecost, that love was revealed. John could say to his brother disciples:

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Lt 103, 1898

13LtMs, Lt 103, 1898, par. 10

Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Christ has consecrated the grave by passing through death. The Lord Jesus broke the fetters of the tomb, and proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] The grave is consecrated by His presence. Footsteps of Him that bore the cross are traceable in His life and testify to His character.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Lt 97, 1898

13LtMs, Lt 97, 1898, par. 12

Christ proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] He, the world’s Redeemer, has bruised the serpent’s head, depriving him of all power to ever make men feel his scorpion sting, for He has brought life and immortality to light. The gates of eternal life are thrown open to all who believe on Jesus Christ. All believers who pass through a natural death have, through eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God, eternal life in them, which is the life of Jesus Christ. In dying Jesus has made it impossible for those who believe on Him to die eternally.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Ms 114, 1898

13LtMs, Ms 114, 1898, par. 2

When Christ upon the cross cried out, “It is finished,” the veil before the Most Holy place was rent in twain. [John 19:30; Matthew 27:50, 51.] No more would sacrificial offerings be accepted, for type had met antitype in the death of Christ. Christ died, and rose again, proclaiming over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the Resurrection and the life. I live forever.” [John 11:25; Deuteronomy 32:40.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Ms 203, 1898

13LtMs, Ms 203, 1898, par. 8

But the resurrection of Christ was certain. On every hand the Sanhedrim was met by proofs. When Christ rose, proclaiming in triumph, “I am the resurrection and the life” [John 11:25], he brought from the dead as types and pledges of the general resurrection, saints that had been co-laborers with God. These bowed at the Saviour’s feet in adoration, and then went into the city, revealing themselves to many, and declaring that Christ had risen from the dead, and that they had risen with him. This testimony contradicted the lie that the Roman guards had been hired to report. Thus was immortalized the truth of the resurrection. The risen saints bore witness to the truth of the words, “Thy dead men shall live; together with my dead body shall they arise.” “Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out her dead.” [Isaiah 26:19.]

13LtMs, Ms 203, 1898, par. 11

The hour of Christ’s triumph had come. The Lord had broken his bonds in sunder. He came forth from the tomb, proclaiming, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] His words to his disciples were fulfilled, “A little while, and ye shall not see me; and again a little while, and ye shall see me. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. ... Ye now therefore have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.” [John 16:19, 20, 22.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Ms 131, 1899

14LtMs, Ms 131, 1899, par. 15

The disciples never realized Christ’s love for fallen man until they saw it expressed on the cross of Calvary, until He rose from the dead and proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Lessons have been given in regard to this love which are just as new to us, as far as practice is concerned, as they were to the disciples before the death and resurrection of our Lord. When these lessons are brought into the practical life, when God’s people love one another as He requires them to do, there will be an entire change in the experience of the churches.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Ms 176, 1899

14LtMs, Ms 176, 1899, par. 6

God’s Word is immutable. Jesus has proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Today He stands in the heavenly courts as our High Priest and Advocate. By faith we may grasp the promise that His mediation secures for us all things. When God gave Jesus to our world He gave all heaven. This gift has secured for us our adoption into God’s family. God’s promise is Yea and Amen in Christ Jesus. Never will He falsify. Never will He alter the thing that has gone out of His mouth.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Lt 32, 1899

14LtMs, Lt 32, 1899, par. 7

Great light shone forth from Daniel and his companions. Glorious things were spoken of Zion, the city of the Lord. Thus the Lord designs that spiritual light shall shine from His faithful watchmen in these last days. If the saints in the Old Testament bore such a decided testimony of loyalty, how should God’s people today, having the accumulated light of centuries, shine forth, when the prophecies of the Old Testament shed their veiled glory into the future. Type met antitype in the life and death of Jesus Christ. The veil was rent in twain when the long-predicted death of the Son of God took place. He arose from the dead and proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] He ascended to heaven, escorted by the angelic throng. He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Ms 159, 1899

14LtMs, Ms 159, 1899, par. 8

He who passed through death to destroy him who had the power of death, is the Source of all vitality, all life. There is balm in Gilead, there is a physician there. Christ endured a most agonizing death under the most humiliating circumstances, that we might have life. He gave up His precious life that He might vanquish death. But He rose from the tomb, and the myriads of angels who came to behold Him take up the life He had lain down heard His words with triumphant joy as He stood above the rent sepulcher of Joseph, proclaiming, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Ms 168, 1899

14LtMs, Ms 168, 1899, par. 6

Physicians should seek to direct the minds of their patients to Christ, the great Physician of soul and body. That which physicians can only attempt to do, Christ accomplishes. The human agent strives to prolong life. Christ is life itself. He who passed through death to destroy him that had the power of death is the source of all vitality. There is a balm in Gilead, and a physician there. Christ endured an agonizing death under the most humiliating circumstances that we might have life. He gave up His precious life that He might vanquish death. But He rose from the tomb, and the myriads of angels who came to behold Him take up the life He had laid down heard His words of triumphant joy as He stood above the rent sepulcher of Joseph proclaiming, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

Selected Messages Book 1

Chapter 45—The First Fruits

1SM 304.1

When Christ cried out while upon the cross, “It is finished” (John 19:30), there was a mighty earthquake, that rent open the graves of many who had been faithful and loyal, bearing their testimony against every evil work, and magnifying the Lord of hosts. As the Life-giver came forth from the sepulcher, proclaiming, “I am the resurrection, and the life” (John 11:25), He summoned these saints from the grave. When alive, they had borne their testimony unflinchingly for the truth; now, they were to be witnesses to Him who had raised them from the dead. These, said Christ, are no longer the captives of Satan. I have redeemed them; I have brought them from the grave as the first fruits of My power, to be with Me where I am, nevermore to see death or experience sorrow.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Ms 162, 1899

14LtMs, Ms 162, 1899, par. 19

We are God’s property, by creation and by redemption. Those who believe in Christ as a personal Saviour will take up the cross and follow Him. Christ’s whole life on earth was a doing of the law of God. In humanity, before the heavenly universe and the fallen world, He testified that those who will lay hold upon the strength of Him who is mighty, and then engage in conflict with the foe, will be victorious. Christ has conquered the enemy on every point. He is able to take away the sins of all who believe and repent. He can impute to them His own righteousness. Through the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, who proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life” [John 11:25], every man and woman may keep the law of God. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” [John 1:12, 13.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Ms 153, 1899

14LtMs, Ms 153, 1899, par. 42

Knowing all this, Christ bore the penalty of transgression. He was crucified and buried, but He broke the fetters of the tomb, and over the rent sepulcher of Joseph He proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] He was in possession of the great gift of eternal life, and He gave gifts unto me. He sent His message of mercy and pardon to all who would receive Him as the world’s Redeemer. “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” [John 1:12.] He had paid the price for every son and daughter of Adam, and He is abundantly able to save all who accept Him as the Sin-bearer.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 15 (1900)

Ms 78, 1900

15LtMs, Ms 78, 1900, par. 44

There is no excuse for the faith of our churches to be so faint and feeble. “Turn you to the Stronghold, ye prisoners of hope.” [Zechariah 9:12.] There is strength for us in Christ. Then let us worship God in the beauty of holiness. Let us enter His sanctuary with praise and thanksgiving. Christ speaks to us, saying, “I know thy works.” “I am he that liveth and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore.” [Revelation 3:15; 1:18.] Our Saviour is not lying in Joseph’s new tomb. He has proclaimed over the sepulcher, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Then do not take your sorrows and difficulties to man. Present yourself to Him whose you are by creation and by redemption. Ask, and ye shall receive.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 15 (1900)

Ms 90, 1900

15LtMs, Ms 90, 1900, par. 45

We see a great work to be done for the people all around Cooranbong. Oh, I do want so to present the truth that it shall convince souls. Every settlement and city must be warned. Christ crucified for our sins must be ever before us, [and] His resurrection, proclaiming over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] He is our living Intercessor. He is clothed with divinity. It is enough. The disciple is fitted for every work and every trial.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 15 (1900)

Lt 83, 1900

15LtMs, Lt 83, 1900, par. 6

The hope and strength and salvation of the church is in Jesus Christ, “The great shepherd of the sheep,” whom the Lord, according to His promise raised up to be the Saviour of the church. [Hebrews 13:20.] When Christ broke the fetters of the tomb, He made over the rent sepulcher of Joseph the victorious proclamation, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:18-20.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 15 (1900)

Lt 100, 1900

15LtMs, Lt 100, 1900, par. 9

By faith in Christ he can conform to the will of God, for Christ proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] He holds himself as a redeemed property. He is not to serve or to glorify himself. He is himself a part of the cross; for by that cross his life is hid with Christ in God. His whole being, body, soul, and spirit is Christ’s property. He is a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. His reason, his hearing, his sight, his intelligence, are gifts from God, to be held in precious trust for the Master.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 15 (1900)

Lt 131, 1900

15LtMs, Lt 131, 1900, par. 9

He declares, “As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. ... This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth in him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” [John 6:57, 40.] Christ became one with us in humanity in order that we might become one with Him in life everlasting. Thus our life is united with His life. He proclaimed over the rent sepulchre of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Lt 141, 1901

16LtMs, Lt 141, 1901, par. 4

There are some other things which I shall speak of in my coming letter. Light has been given me in reference to the Lord’s way of working, and the obstructions that would be brought up to oppose; but these things should not hinder Brother and Sister Haskell and Brother Brunson from moving forward, leaning on the arm of the One who has said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:20.] Lean heavily, but only on God. Pray in faith, and believe that ye receive the things ye ask for. We have a risen Saviour, not a dead Christ. He broke the fetters of the tomb and came forth from its dark borders, triumphantly proclaiming His victory over death and the grave, saying, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” [John 11:25.] He is our Saviour. He will save all who come to Him confessing their sins. He will say to them, “Thy sins be forgiven thee. Go in peace, and sin no more.”

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Ms 31, 1901

16LtMs, Ms 31, 1901, par. 16

Christ is not dead. He has proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Satan has thrown his dark shadow across our pathway, but let not our faith falter. Rather let it cleave through the shadow to the place where Christ sits as our Intercessor. Satan is trying to hide the light of heaven from us, but he cannot do this if we will cling to the mighty One. Call upon the Lord, and He will answer, “Here am I.” [Isaiah 58:9.] Co-operate with God in striving against the enemy. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and be determined that you will be temperate in all things. Remember that there is a world to save. We are to act our part, standing close by the side of Christ as His co-laborers. He is the head; we are His helping hand. He designs that we, by doing medical missionary work, shall undo the heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free. Let us not close our eyes to the misery around us or our ears to the cries of distress which are continually ascending. Christ is the greatest missionary the world has ever known. He came to uplift and cheer the sorrowing and distressed, and in this work we are to co-operate with Him.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Ms 148, 1901

16LtMs, Ms 148, 1901, par. 16

God lives, and I am so glad of it. Our Saviour is not in Joseph’s tomb. He has risen, and has proclaimed over the rent sepulcher, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Let us show by our actions that we are living by faith in Him. We can call upon Him for assistance. He is at our right hand to help us. Each one of you may know for yourself that you have a living Saviour, that He is your helper and your God. You need not stand where you say, “I do not know whether I am saved.” Do you believe in Christ as your personal Saviour? If you do, then rejoice. We do not rejoice half as much as we should. This entire congregation should be filled with rejoicing because of the way in which God has been revealing Himself in this meeting. God’s power has been seen, and His salvation is still to be revealed to His people. I see in Jesus a wonderful power and strength, and I want you to see this. Then your hearts will be as humble as the heart of a little child. Then you will not quarrel over who shall have the highest place or the highest wages. Your question will be, “How can I best serve my Lord?”

Selected Messages Book 2

The Glorious Resurrection Morning

2SM 271.3

Christ claimed to be the Only Begotten of the Father, but men encased in unbelief, barricaded with prejudice, denied the Holy and the Just One. He was charged with blasphemy, and was condemned to a cruel death, but He burst the fetters of the tomb, and rose from the dead triumphant, and over the rent sepulcher of Joseph He declared, “I am the resurrection, and the life” (John 11:25). All power in heaven and in earth was vested in Him, and the righteous will also come forth from the tomb free in Jesus. They shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead. “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43).

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Ms 43c, 1901

16LtMs, Ms 43c, 1901, par. 10

It cost His life. He was crucified for us, and yet here is the very instrumentality that God would have stand next to Heaven, that God would have stand where the light of His glory can shine upon them in unmistakable rays, and they know that the light of heaven is with them. It is no emotion, but it is a living faith that is founded on a living Word and a living God, and the Saviour, who proclaimed over the sepulchre of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] He wants you to eat His principles; to live His principles—but those that are there now never will appreciate it. They have had their test, they have had their trial, they have had their warnings, and now there must be a change. Give them an opportunity to go out and see what it means to wrestle in the grace of God as some of His workmen have. Let them see what it means to build up. Let them go into the waste places of earth; let them begin to see what it means to establish things out of nothing. When they do this they will understand that God hath His servants,—his church, established in the earth, composed of many members, but of one body; that in every part of the work one part must work as connected with another part, and that with another part, and with another part, and these are joined together by the golden links of Heaven, and there are to be no kings here in their midst at all.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Ms 27, 1901

16LtMs, Ms 27, 1901, par. 12

“Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me; because I live, ye shall live also.” [Verse 19.] Over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, Christ proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Because He lives, His children shall live. “At that day,” He says, “Ye shall know that I am in my Father, and he in me, and I in you.” [John 14:20.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Ms 110, 1901

16LtMs, Ms 110, 1901, par. 14

Over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, Christ proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Let us rejoice that we have a risen Saviour. Just before He ascended on high, leading captivity captive and giving gifts unto men, He said to His disciples, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:19, 20.] With outstretched hands He blessed them before He was taken up to join the glorious angels waiting to escort Him on His upward way.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Lt 19, 1901

16LtMs, Lt 19, 1901, par. 19

He alone who proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life” [John 11:25], who is able when the last trump shall sound to raise His saints from the grave and clothe them with immortality, giving them everlasting victory over death and the grave, is able now to keep the souls of all committed to His trust against that day and to deliver them in their perplexities. He has invited them to come to Him, and He has promised to help them, whatever their extremity, and to give them peace and rest as they wear His yoke and learn of Him lessons of meekness and lowliness. He leaves not His heritage to the judgment of any man.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Ms 43, 1901

16LtMs, Ms 43, 1901, par. 28

It is not emotion that we need, but a living faith in the living Word of a living Saviour, a Saviour who proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] He wants us to live His principles. But there are those in positions of responsibility who do not appreciate these principles. They have been tested and tried. A change must be made. Let them have an opportunity to get out into the field and see what it means to wrestle for the cause as some of God’s servants have wrestled. Let them see what it means to build up the work, what it means to establish something out of nothing. Then they will understand that it is God’s desire that His servants shall be linked together, that every part of His work shall be connected with every other part, all being joined together by the golden links of heaven.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Ms 16, 1901

16LtMs, Ms 16, 1901, par. 19

After Christ rose from the dead, He proclaimed over the sepulcher, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Christ, the risen Saviour, is our life. As Christ becomes the life of the soul, the change is felt, but language cannot describe it. All claims to knowledge, to influence, to power are worthless without the perfume of Christ’s character. Christ must be the very life of the soul, as the blood is the life of the body.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Ms 43a, 1901

16LtMs, Ms 43a, 1901, par. 24

Now here is the way the matter is represented; but when there is “I do not care,” and going right contrary to the light that God has given in His Word—I do not ask you to take my word; I do not ask you to do it; lay Sister White right to one side; you lay her right to one side. Do you not—never quote my words again as long as you live, until you can obey the Bible. When you take the Bible and make that, make that your food, your meat, and your drink, and make that the elements of your character—when you can do that, then you will know better how to receive some counsel from God. But here the Word, the precious Word, I exalt it before you today; and do not go and repeat any more what Sister White said—“Sister White said this,” and “Sister White said that,” and “Sister White said the other thing;” you say, “What saith the Lord God of Israel?” and then you [not] do just what the Lord God of Israel does and what He says. Christ says: “I do the works of my Father; the works that I see Him do I do.” [John 5:19.] Well now, the works and sentiments and the principles that you have seen, that God has manifested in dealing with one another, the purchase of the blood of Christ—why, only think of it. Here we are the purchase of the blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. You just think of it. We cost His life. He was crucified for us, and yet here are the very instrumentalities that God would have stand next to Heaven, that God would have stand where the light of His glory can shine upon them in unmistakable rays, and they know that the light of Heaven is with them. It is no emotion, it is a living faith that is founded on the living words of a living God, of a Saviour that proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life” [John 11:25]; and here He wants you to eat His principles, to live His principles; but those that are now there never will appreciate it. They have had their test; they have had their trial; they have had their warnings.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Lt 102, 1901

16LtMs, Lt 102, 1901, par. 17

We are not required to observe the ceremonies observed by Israel in regard to the sacrificial offerings, because type has met antitype in the great, grand offering of the Son of God who was sacrificed for us once for all. We look by faith to a Saviour who has been lifted upon the cross of Calvary, who in all His virtue and all His righteousness gave Himself for us. The Just died for the unjust. Through that death we have been given an eternal life-insurance policy. Christ came to this earth to suffer the death penalty in our behalf. He broke the fetters of the tomb and rose from the dead, proclaiming in the hearing of the heavenly universe, the fallen angels, and the human race, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” [John 11:25.] He has forever answered the question, “If a man die, shall he live again?” [Job 14:14.] He declares, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him,”—taking possession of the heart and mind,—“and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” [Revelation 3:19-21.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Ms 43b, 1901

16LtMs, Ms 43b, 1901, par. 25

We are to follow the principles God has laid down in dealing with one another; for we are the purchase of the blood of Christ. Think of it!—the purchase of the blood of Christ! We cost His life. He was crucified for us, and yet those whom He desires to see standing next to heaven, giving unmistakable evidence that they are receiving the light of His glory, are walking in darkness. It is not emotion that we need, but a living faith in the living word of a living Saviour, a Saviour who proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] He wants us to live His principles. But there are those in positions of responsibility who do not appreciate these principles. They have been tested and tried. A change must be made. Let them have an opportunity to go out into the field and see what it means to wrestle for the cause as some of God’s servants have wrestled. Let them see what it means to build up the work, what it means to establish something out of nothing. Then they will understand that it is God’s desire that His servants shall be linked together, that every part of His work shall be connected with every other part, all being joined together by the golden links of heaven.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Ms 43d, 1901

16LtMs, Ms 43d, 1901, par. 23

Well now, the works and sentiments and the principles that you have seen, that God has manifested in dealing with one another, the purchase of the blood of Christ—why, only think of it. Here we are, the purchase of the blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. You just think of it. We cost His life. He was crucified for us, and yet here are the very instrumentalities that God would have stand next to Heaven, that God would have stand where the light of His glory can shine upon them in unmistakable rays, and they know that the light of Heaven is with them. It is no emotion, it is a living faith that is founded on the living words of a living God, of a Saviour that proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, “I am the resurrection and the life” [John 11:25]; and here He wants you to eat His principles, to live His principles; but those that are now there never will appreciate it. They have had their test; they have had their trial; they have had their warnings.

The Faith I Live By

The Portion of the Wicked, June 20

FLB 177.5

Christ endured an agonizing death under the most humiliating circumstances that we might have life. He gave up His precious life that He might vanquish death. But He rose from the tomb, and the myriads of angels who came to behold Him take up the life He had laid down heard His words of triumphant joy as He stood above Joseph’s rent sepulcher proclaiming: “I am the resurrection, and the life.” John 11:25.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Ms 47, 1901

16LtMs, Ms 47, 1901, par. 12

God wants those who have accepted the truth and have identified themselves as His chosen people, elect and precious, to unite with Christ in His work of drawing men, women, and children to the cross of Calvary. The cross teaches the lesson of self-sacrifice. As by faith men behold the royal Sufferer, the conviction comes to them that the sure result of sin is death. Behold the Man who said, “I lay down my life for the sin of the world.” He rose from the dead, and over the rent sepulcher of Joseph proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life. I was dead, but behold, I am alive for evermore.” [John 11:25; Revelation 1:18.]

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Ms 92, 1901

16LtMs, Ms 92, 1901, par. 26

Christ said, “I am that bread of life. ... This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. ... Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” [John 6:48, 50, 54.] Their life is precious in God’s sight; for it is hid with Christ in God—with Him “who hath brought life and immortality to light.” [2 Timothy 1:10.] Over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, Christ proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] He broke the fetters of the tomb that every one of us might rise to newness of life. Die to the world, be buried with your Lord in baptism, and rise as a new creature in Christ Jesus. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. ... For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” [Colossians 3:1, 3.] The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the three holy dignitaries of heaven, have declared that they will strengthen men to overcome the powers of darkness. All the facilities of heaven are pledged to those who by their baptismal vows have entered into a covenant with God.

Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 17 (1902)

Lt 125, 1902

17LtMs, Lt 125, 1902, par. 12

By His death, Christ provided a way whereby man might be saved. He rose from the dead, and over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, proclaimed, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] And just before His ascension, He gave His disciples the commission: “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:19, 20.] “And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following.” [Mark 16:20.]