Communion With God

Chapter 16—The Secret of His Pavilion

BIBLE GEM

“For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock.”—Psalm 27:5 CWG 44.1

QUESTION

What preparation must I make in order to claim God's protection in the time of trouble? CWG 44.2

ANSWER

“Thus saith the Lord”: “When Satan presses his suggestions upon our minds, we may, if we cherish a ‘Thus saith the Lord,’ be drawn into the secret pavilion of the Most High.”—Testimonies For The Church 6:393 CWG 44.3

Knowledge of the truth a sure defense: “Those who are earnestly seeking a knowledge of the truth and are striving to purify their souls through obedience, thus doing what they can to prepare for the conflict, will find, in the God of truth, a sure defense. ‘Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee’ (Revelation 3:10), is the Saviour's promise. He would sooner send every angel out of heaven to protect His people than leave one soul that trusts in Him to be overcome by Satan.”—The Great Controversy, 560 CWG 44.4

The Scriptures a safeguard: “The people of God are directed to the Scriptures as their safeguard against the influence of false teachers and the delusive power of spirits of darkness. Satan employs every possible device to prevent men from obtaining a knowledge of the Bible; for its plain utterances reveal his deceptions.... The last great delusion is soon to open before us. ... So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested.... CWG 44.5

“None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict.”—The Great Controversy, 593, 594 CWG 45.1

Called to remembrance: “Jesus promised His disciples: ‘The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.’ But the teachings of Christ must previously have been stored in the mind in order for the Spirit of God to bring them to our remembrance in the time of peril.”—The Great Controversy, 600 CWG 45.2

Flashed into memory: “A daily, earnest striving to know God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, would bring power and efficiency to the soul. The knowledge obtained by diligent searching of the Scriptures would be flashed into the memory at the right time. But if any had neglected to acquaint themselves with the words of Christ... they could not expect that the Holy Spirit would bring His words to their remembrance. They were to serve God daily with undivided affection, and then trust Him.”—The Desire of Ages, 355 CWG 45.3

“It is written”: “God's tried and tested people ... are to take their stand on the living Word: ‘It is written.’ ”—Testimonies For The Church 9:16 CWG 45.4

SUMMARY AND PRAYER THOUGHT

While we are servants to sin and Satan, he loves our faithful service, and imperceptively, little by little, we are degraded to his filthy low standards. However, when we become genuine Christians and we resist sin by God's power, then Satan becomes our fiercest enemy and we will be relentlessly attacked, especially through our mind. He loves to torture us with our sins of the past. When we are tempted, we must remember that God has cast our sins as far as the east is from the west and he remembers them no more. They are buried in the sea of forgetfulness. When Satan comes like a flood and our mind is bombarded by memories of sin from the past, or temptations through our eyes or ears, then we must remember that we have been promised that we will not be tempted or tried or tested above that which we are able to bear, and with every temptation, there is a way to escape through prayer. God has promised that sin will have no dominion over us. He will hide us in His pavilion. Praise God! Our slavery to sin is over and the slave driver has no power over us. He cannot force us to sin. CWG 45.5