6. Temperance Precedes Patience—“And to temperance patience.”2 Peter 1:6. An intemperate man never can be a patient man. Temperance comes first, and then patience (Manuscript 49, 1894).
(7BC 944.1)
MC
VC
10 (John 1:12; 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20; 1 Peter 1:2, 18-20; see EGW comment on Romans 11:4-6; Ephesians 1:4, 5, 11; Hebrews 7:25). Election Price Paid for All—There could be no such thing as one not prepared for heaven entering heaven. There is no such thing as a human being sanctified and fitted for the heavenly kingdom not having an election to that kingdom. God elects those who have been working on the plan of addition. The explanation is given in the first chapter of Second Peter. For every human being, Christ has paid the election price. No one need be lost. All have been redeemed. To those who receive Christ as a personal Saviour will be given power to become the sons and daughters of God. An eternal life insurance policy has been provided for all.
(7BC 944.2)
MC
VC
Whom God elects, Christ redeems. The Saviour has paid the redemption price for every soul. We are not our own; for we are bought with a price. From the Redeemer, who from the foundation of the world has chosen us, we receive the insurance policy that entitles us to eternal life (Letter 53, 1904).
(7BC 944.3)
MC
VC
Election Within Our Reach—There is the election of God on the condition of practice, and there is no other election in the Bible. Election is within our reach. “If ye do these things, ye shall never fall”(2 Peter 1:10) (Manuscript 49, 1894).
(7BC 944.4)
MC
VC
10, 11 (see EGW comment on Revelation 11:1). The Best Life Insurance—[2 Peter 1:10, 11 quoted.] Here are your life-insurance papers. This is not an insurance policy the value of which some one else will receive after your death; it is a policy that assures you a life measuring with the life of God—even eternal life. O what an assurance! what a hope! Let us ever reveal to the world that we are seeking for a better country, even a heavenly. Heaven has been made for us, and we want a part in it. We cannot afford to allow anything to separate us from God and heaven. In this life we must be partakers of the divine nature. Brethren and sisters, you have only one life to live. O let it be a life of virtue, a life hid with Christ in God (The Review and Herald, May 26, 1904).
(7BC 944.5)
MC
VC
(See EGW comment on 1 John 3:1.) Benefits Secured by the Elect—It depends upon your course of action as to whether or not you will secure the benefits bestowed upon those who, as the elect of God, receive an eternal life-insurance policy (Manuscript 81, 1900).
(7BC 944.6)
MC
VC
21 (2 Timothy 3:16). Inspiration of the Bible Writers—God committed the preparation of His divinely inspired Word to finite man. This Word arranged into books, the Old and New Testaments, is the guidebook to the inhabitants of a fallen world; bequeathed to them, that by studying and obeying the directions, not one soul would lose its way to heaven.
(7BC 944.8)
MC
VC
Those who think to make the supposed difficulties of Scripture plain, in measuring by their finite rule that which is inspired and that which is not inspired, had better cover their faces, as Elijah when the still small voice spoke to him; for they are in the presence of God and holy angels, who for ages have communicated to men light and knowledge, telling them what to do, and what not to do, unfolding before them scenes of thrilling interest, waymark by waymark in symbols and signs and illustrations.
(7BC 944.9)
MC
VC
And He has not, while presenting the perils clustering about the last days, qualified any finite man to unravel hidden mysteries, or inspired one man or any class of men to pronounce judgment as to that which is inspired or is not. When men, in their finite judgment, find it necessary to go into an examination of Scriptures to define that which is inspired and that which is not, they have stepped before Jesus to show Him a better way than He has led us.
(7BC 944.10)
MC
VC
I take the Bible just as it is, as the Inspired Word. I believe its utterances in an entire Bible....
(7BC 944.11)
MC
VC