The Angel with a Strong Voice
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Chap. 295 - Planting Seeds of Truth In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. Ecclesiastes 11:6. {OHC 301.1} As professing children of God, we are under solemn obligation to seek and to save the lost.... God wants you to associate with believers and unbelievers, that you may help all to a fuller knowledge of the truth. Get acquainted with those whom you think you can help; then when you get into conversation with them do not talk of nothingness and folly, but tell of the precious things of God.... Angels of God will make impressions upon the mind, if in the spirit of Christ you will seek to reach and to help souls. {OHC 301.2} Wherever you are, let your light shine forth. Hand out papers and pamphlets to those with whom you associate, when you are riding on the cars, visiting, conversing with your neighbors; and improve every opportunity to speak a word in season.... {OHC 301.3} We should cultivate kindliness and courtesy in our association with those whom we meet. Let us ... strive always to present the truth in an easy way. This truth means life, eternal life to the receiver. Study therefore to pass easily and courteously from subjects of a temporal nature to the spiritual and eternal.... While walking by the way, or seated by the wayside, you may drop into some heart the seed of truth. {OHC 301.4} There is work to be done for our Master. There are souls who may by our influence be led to Christ. Who is ready to engage in this work with all the heart? ... "Thine is the seedtime; God alone Beholds the end of what is sown; Beyond our vision, weak and dim, The harvesttime is hid with Him; Yet unforgotten where it lies, The seed of generous sacrifice, Though seeming on the desert cast, Shall rise with bloom and fruit at last." {OHC 301.5} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 294 - Do I Rightly Represent my Lord? Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen. Isaiah 43:10. {OHC 300.1} If believers associate with unbelievers for the purpose of winning them to Christ, they will be witnesses for Christ, and having fulfilled their mission, will withdraw themselves in order to breathe in a pure and holy atmosphere. They will draw near to God, and send up earnest petitions to Christ in behalf of their friends and associates, knowing that He is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. {OHC 300.2} When in the society of unbelievers, ever remember that in character you are a representative of Jesus Christ, and let no light and trifling words, no cheap conversation, be upon your lips. Keep in mind the value of the soul, and remember that it is your privilege and your duty to be in every possible way a laborer together with God. You are not to lower yourself to the same level as that of unbelievers, and laugh, and make the same cheap speeches. In thus doing you ... make yourself one with the sinner. This manner of conduct will only make you a stumbling block in the way of sinners.... {OHC 300.3} When the Holy Spirit moves upon the heart, we should cooperate with its molding influence, and we shall have noble aspirations, a clear perception of truth, meekness, teachableness, and will perform our duty with humility. This is the way in which you will become better acquainted with God, and acquaintance with God is the privilege of the Christian. Then you can labor for those who are unconverted, and the society of unbelievers will do you no harm, because your life is hid with Christ in God, and you seek the companionship of those who are out of Christ for the purpose of winning them to His service. Your connection with God makes you strong spiritually, so that you can withstand any wrong influences which are exerted by them.... {OHC 300.4} Be sure to place yourself in the channel of light, and to be a practical follower of Him who went about "doing good." {OHC 300.5} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 291 - Let Your Light Shine Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16. {OHC 297.1} To every soul born into Christ's kingdom is given a solemn charge, Let your light so shine before men that they, by seeing your good works, shall glorify your Father which is in heaven. Pour forth upon your neighbors the rich rays of light received from the Sun of Righteousness; flash upon your friends in the world the bright gems of light and truth imparted to you abundantly from the throne of God. This is trading upon the talents entrusted. Go on from light to a greater light, catching more and more the bright beams from the Sun of Righteousness, and shine more and more unto the perfect day. {OHC 297.2} Jesus does not bid the Christian to strive to shine, but just to let his light shine in clear and distinct rays to the world. Do not blanket your light. Do not sinfully withhold your light. Do not let the mist and fog and malaria of the world put out your light. Do not hide it under a bed or under a bushel, but set it on a candlestick, that it may give light to all that are in the house.... God bids you shine, penetrating the moral darkness of the world. {OHC 297.3} Many do not know what is the matter with them. They want light and see no ray. They are calling for help and they hear no response. Shall doubt and unbelief be perpetuated because I do not gather the divine rays of light from Jesus Christ and let them shine forth to others? . . . {OHC 297.4} The deep struggles of my own soul against temptations, the earnest longings of my mind and heart to know God and Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour, and to have assurance, peace, and rest in their love, lead me to desire every day to be where the beams of the Sun of Righteousness can shine upon me. Without this experience, I shall indeed meet with great loss, and all with whom I associate will be affected by the loss of the light I ought to be receiving from the Source of all light and comfort, and to be flashing into their pathway. Shall I be indeed a light unto the world, or a shadow of darkness? {OHC 297.5} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 270 - Be Careful What You Read For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. Proverbs 2:6, 7. {OHC 276.1} Age after age the curiosity of men has led them to seek for the tree of knowledge; and often they think they are plucking fruit most essential, when, like Solomon in his research, they find it altogether vanity and nothingness in comparison with the science of true holiness. {OHC 276.2} Books from the pens of infidels should have no place in the libraries of those who would serve God. They will make better kindling material for your stove than food for the mind. Infidel books have been a cause of ruin to many souls. Men have studied these books of Satan's inspiration, and they have become confused in regard to what was truth. Satan stands at the side of him who opens an infidel book, and he will educate the mind that peruses such literature, and so bewitch the soul that it will be almost impossible to break the infatuation. Let no believer flatter himself that his mountain standeth sure, and that he will never be moved away from his position of faith. {OHC 276.3} We are surrounded by unbelief. The very atmosphere seems charged with it; and only by constant effort can we resist its power. Those who value their soul's salvation should shun infidel writings as they would shun the leprosy. {OHC 276.4} To the youth I would say, Be careful what you read. So long as the mind is directed into wrong channels by an improper course of reading, it is impossible for you to make the truth of God the constant subject of meditation. If there was ever a time when a knowledge of the Scriptures was more important than at any other, that time is the present. I appeal to old and young, Make the Bible your textbook. Here you will find the true standard of character. {OHC 276.5} Do not devote the precious talent of sight to reading that which ... will not benefit you.... The powers of mind and soul and body are to be sanctified to the Lord Jesus, who has bought you with His blood. {OHC 276.6} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 269 - Consecrated Eyes The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness. Proverbs 15:14. {OHC 275.1} Many do not earnestly seek to understand the lessons found in God's Word. They lay aside the Bible, and allow their minds to become engrossed with the cheap reading found in books of fiction, newspapers, and magazines. {OHC 275.2} The pernicious practice of story reading is one of the means employed by Satan to destroy souls. The mind that is occupied with exciting stories loses all relish for solid reading.... I am acquainted with many sad examples of the evil effects of this baneful practice.... The more they indulged the appetite for this kind of mental food, the greater was the demand. The imagination constantly craved its accustomed stimulus, as the inebriate longs for his wine or tobacco. Their mental and moral powers were weakened and perverted. They lost their interest in the Scriptures, and their relish for prayer; and they were as truly ruined, mentally and spiritually, as is the liquor drinker or the tobacco devotee. Novel readers are mental inebriates; and they need to sign a pledge of total abstinence as verily as does the victim of any other form of intemperance. {OHC 275.3} God has given to His people the choicest reading matter. Let the Word of God find a place in every room in the house. Keep the Bible, the bread of life, in plain sight. . . . Keep choice, elevating literature ever before the members of the family. {OHC 275.4} The reading of God's Word does not fascinate the imagination and inflame the passions, like the fictions of a storybook, but it softens and soothes the heart, and elevates and sanctifies the affections. {OHC 275.5} It is the privilege of the youth to say, "The Lord has given me my sight and hearing for His glory. I will close my ears to that which is foolish and cheap. I will read that Word that will fit me for a place in the home Christ is preparing for those who have sanctified their souls by obedience to the truth. My voice shall proclaim the glory of God; every power of my being shall be consecrated to God." {OHC 275.6} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. Titus 2:10. {OHC 274.1} Everyone who names the name of Christ is to adorn the doctrine of Christ our Saviour by a well-ordered life and a godly conversation, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit.... Possessing this, you will have favor both with God and with men. {OHC 274.2} Words spoken hastily wound and bruise souls, and the deepest wound is made upon the soul of the speaker. Christ's gift, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, is authoritatively declared by Him who can make no mistake to be of great price. We must each find out its worth for ourselves by seeking it from God. However men may estimate us, if we wear this ornament, we bear the sign of our discipleship with Christ. We are esteemed by the Most High; for the ornament we wear is in His sight of great price. This precious gem is to be sought for.... {OHC 274.3} To every soul things will come to provoke, to stir up anger, and if you are not under the full control of God, you will be provoked when these things come. But the meekness of Christ calms the ruffled spirit, controls the tongue, and brings the whole being into subjection to God. Thus we learn how to bear with the censure of others. We shall be misjudged, but the precious ornament of a meek and quiet spirit teaches us how to bear, how to have pity for those who utter hasty, unadvised words. Any unpleasant spirit displayed is sure to arouse the demon of passion in unguarded hearts. Unholy anger need not to be strengthened, but bridled. It is a spark which will set on fire untamed human nature. Avoid speaking words which will stir up strife. Rather suffer wrong than do wrong. God requires every one of His followers, as far as is possible, to live peaceably with all men.... {OHC 274.4} We must be Christlike. Let us strive to make our lives what Christ designs them to be, full of the fragrance of love to God and our fellow men, full of Christ's own divine Spirit, full of holy aspirations toward God, rich in the beauty of Christlikeness. {OHC 274.5} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 265 - A Distinction in Dress In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. 1 Timothy 2:9, 10. {OHC 271.1} The children of Israel . . . were commanded to have a simple ribbon of blue in the border of their garments, to distinguish them from the nations around them, and to signify that they were God's peculiar people. [See Numbers 15:39, 40.] The people of God are not now required to have a special mark placed upon their garments. But in the New Testament we are often referred to ancient Israel for examples. If God gave such definite directions to His ancient people in regard to their dress, will not the dress of His people in this age come under His notice? Should there not be in their dress a distinction from that of the world? Should not the people of God, who are His peculiar treasure, seek even in their dress to glorify God? And should they not be examples in point of dress, and by their simple style rebuke the pride, vanity, and extravagance of worldly, pleasure-loving professors? God requires this of His people. Pride is rebuked in His Word. {OHC 271.2} We must know more of Jesus and His love than of the fashions of the world. In the name of my Master, I call upon the youth to study the example of Christ. When you wish to make an article, you carefully study the pattern, that you may reproduce it as nearly as possible. Now set to work to copy the divine Exemplar.... You cannot be like Jesus, and cherish pride in your heart.... {OHC 271.3} Of how little value are gold or pearls or costly array, in comparison with the meekness and loveliness of Christ. Natural loveliness consists in symmetry, or the harmonious proportion of parts, each with the other; but spiritual loveliness consists in the harmony or likeness of our souls of Jesus. This will make its possessor more precious than fine gold, even the golden wedge of Ophir. The grace of Christ is indeed a priceless adornment. It elevates and ennobles its possessor, and reflects beams of glory upon others, attracting them also to the Source of light and blessing. {OHC 271.4} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 264 - A Sound Mind in a Sound Body But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. 1 Corinthians 9:27. {OHC 270.1} Whatever detracts from physical vigor weakens mental effort. Hence, every practice unfavorable to the health of the body should be resolutely shunned. . . . We cannot maintain consecration to God, and yet injure our health by the willful indulgence of a wrong habit. Self-denial is one of the conditions, not only of admission into the service of Christ but of continuance therein. . . . {OHC 270.2} Yet how many who call themselves Christians are unwilling to exercise self-denial, even for Christ's sake. How often the love for some pernicious indulgence is stronger than the desire for a sound mind in a sound body! Precious hours of probation are spent, God-given means squandered, to please the eye or to gratify the appetite.... {OHC 270.3} None need fail in this work of self-renunciation. God will give help to every earnest seeker.... If we sincerely seek His grace, our life will correspond with our profession of faith. . . . He knows whether our hearts are wholly devoted to His service, or given to the things of the world. We may profess what we will, but unless our life corresponds with our profession, our faith is dead. The rule given by the apostle Paul is the only safe rule for our guidance in all the affairs of life. "Whether ... ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31. In the selection of our food, we should not seek merely to please the taste, but should choose that which is most healthful. In dress, we should seek that which is simple, comfortable, convenient, and appropriate. {OHC 270.4} He who will observe simplicity in all his habits, restricting the appetite and controlling the passions, may preserve his mental powers strong, active, and vigorous, quick to perceive everything which demands thought or action, keen to discriminate between the holy and the unholy, and ready to engage in every enterprise for the glory of God and the benefit of humanity. {OHC 270.5} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 262 - A Perfected People Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31. {OHC 268.1} With an eye single to the glory of God, we should give careful, thoughtful attention to the matter of our eating and drinking. We need divine guidance, even in our commonest habits of everyday life, that there may be no little leaks which will consume means unnecessarily, simply for the gratification of perverted appetites. In the New Testament not one of God's requirements loses its binding force, or relaxes in the least its obligation to be fulfilled. . . . Instead of the requirements of God being relaxed in the New Testament, the lines are drawn closer, and duty is more distinctly defined. The apostle says, "Whatsoever ye do," even in the matter of eating and drinking, "do all to the glory of God." The question may be asked, "May I not do what I like with myself? Am I never to have my own way? Is not my body my own?" You may have your own way, but it will be at the loss of your soul, or you may have God's way and live to a purpose in this world, and in the world to come have life everlasting. {OHC 268.2} Those who have received instruction regarding the evils of the use of flesh foods, tea and coffee, and rich and unhealthful food preparations, and who are determined to make a covenant with God by sacrifice, will not continue to indulge their appetite for food that they know to be unhealthful. God demands that the appetites be cleansed, and that self-denial be practiced in regard to those things which are not good. This is a work that will have to be done before His people can stand before Him a perfected people. . . . Those who claim to believe in health reform, and yet work counter to its principles in the daily life practice, are hurting their own souls and are leaving wrong impressions upon the minds of believers and unbelievers. {OHC 268.3} Do not misuse or abuse any portion of your God-given powers, physical, mental, or moral. All your habits are to be brought under the control of a mind that is itself under the control of God. {OHC 268.4} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 261 - The Light of Health Reform Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 2. {OHC 267.1} The light God has given on health reform is for our salvation and the salvation of the world. Men and women should be informed in regard to the human habitation, fitted up by our Creator as His dwelling place, and over which He desires us to be faithful stewards. . . . Our bodies are wonderfully made, and the Lord requires us to keep them in order. All are under obligation to Him to keep the human structure in a healthful, wholesome condition, that every muscle, every organ, may be used in the service of God. . . . God, who formed the wonderful structure of the body, will take special care to keep it in order, if men cooperate, instead of working at cross-purposes, with Him. {OHC 267.2} These grand truths must be given to the world. We must reach the people where they are, and by example and precept lead them to see the beauties of the better way. The world is in sad need of instruction along these lines. The time has come when each soul must be staunch and true to every ray of light God has given, and begin in earnest to give this gospel of health to the people. We shall have strength and power to do this if we practice these truths in our own lives.... {OHC 267.3} Those who are enjoying the precious blessings which come to them through obeying this message of mercy will do all in their power that others may share the same blessings. But we may rest assured that Satan will do all in his power to prevent anything like a message of reform from being given to the world at this time. Shall God's people be found on the enemy's side, either by failing to heed it themselves, or by neglecting to give it to others? "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." Matthew 12:30. If we would be safe, we must not fail to know on whose side we stand. {OHC 267.4} God desires His light bearers ever to keep a high standard before them. By precept and example they must hold this perfect standard high above Satan's false standard. {OHC 267.5} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 260 - The Sure Penalty of Self-Indulgence If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 1 Corinthians 3:17. {OHC 266.1} Perfection of character cannot be attained when the laws of nature are disregarded; for this is transgression of the law of God. His law is written by His own finger upon every nerve, every muscle, every fiber of our being, upon every faculty which has been entrusted to man. These gifts are bestowed, not to be abused and corrupted, but to be used to His honor and glory in the uplifting of humanity.... {OHC 266.2} The relation that exists between mind and body is very intimate: when one is affected, the other is always more or less in sympathy. It is impossible for men, while under the power of sinful, health-destroying habits, to appreciate sacred truths. When the intellect is clouded, the moral powers are enfeebled, and sin does not look sinful. The most ennobling, grand, and glorious themes of God's Word seem but idle tales. Satan can then easily snatch away the good seed that has been sown in the heart; for the soul is in no condition to comprehend or understand its true value. It is thus that selfish, health-destroying indulgences are counteracting the influence of the message which is to prepare a people for the great day of God. {OHC 266.3} We are living in a most solemn, awful moment of this earth's history. Not a soul whose life is one of careless self-degradation, through transgression of physical laws, will stand in the great day of trial just before us. There is a terrible account to be rendered to God by those who have but little regard for the human body, and treat it ruthlessly. ... True religion and the laws of health go hand in hand. {OHC 266.4} The least departure from the strictest integrity under any circumstances because it is convenient, will harden the conscience and prepare the way for the violation of moral obligations in other ways. If we treat the health of the body, which is our highest earthly interest, without due consideration, we prepare the way for temptation and the violation of higher claims. {OHC 266.5} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 259 - The Sacred Temple of the Body What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. {OHC 265.1} That perfection of character which the Lord requires is the fitting up of the whole being as a temple for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. God will accept of nothing less than the service of the entire human organism. It is not enough to bring into action certain parts of the living machinery. All parts must work in perfect harmony, or the service will be deficient. It is thus that man is qualified to cooperate with God in representing Christ to the world. Thus God desires to prepare a people to stand before Him pure and holy, that He may introduce them into the society of heavenly angels. {OHC 265.2} We have been entrusted with the most solemn message ever given to our world, and the object to be kept plainly and distinctly before our minds is the glory of God. Let us take care that we do nothing which will weaken physical, mental, or spiritual healthfulness, for God will not accept a tainted, diseased, corrupted sacrifice. Care must be exercised in eating, in drinking, in dressing, and in working, lest we detract from our efficiency and fail of doing our most exalted work in the best manner, in order that the results of our labor may be as lasting as eternity. {OHC 265.3} It is our duty to train and discipline the body in order that we shall render to the Master the highest possible service. Inclination must not control us. We are not to pamper the appetite and indulge in the use of that which is not for our good, simply because it gratifies the palate; neither are we to seek to live by the starvation plan, with the idea that we shall become spiritually-minded, and that God shall be glorified. We must use the intelligence that God has given in order that we may be perfect in body, soul, and spirit, that we may have a symmetrical character, a well-balanced mind, and do perfect work for the Master. {OHC 265.4} The sacred temple of the body must be kept pure and uncontaminated, that God's Holy Spirit may dwell therein. {OHC 265.5} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 258 - Obedience an Element of Greatness Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Ephesians 6:1. {OHC 264.1} Jesus has given to childhood and youth a perfect example. Study the Pattern, Christ Jesus, and copy it if you would be like Him--pure, holy, sinless, and undefiled. Study the childhood of Christ. He was the Son of God, yet the Bible record tells us He returned from Jerusalem and was subject unto His parents.... {OHC 264.2} Jesus, the world's Redeemer, did as He was told even if the task was not agreeable to His feelings. Obedience is an element of true greatness. No one can be truly good and great who has not learned to obey with alacrity.... {OHC 264.3} When tempted to have your own way in regard to the wishes of your parents, say, "No; Jesus was subject to His parents." Ask help of Jesus, who knows the temptations of every child, of every youth, for He has been tempted and knows your every weakness and will help you to overcome it.... {OHC 264.4} Seek to be useful, to help your parents; to be care-taking and thoughtful. You can help them in a variety of ways. . . . Doing what you can do cheerfully, with quick step, your face bright with gladness because you can do something for your parents to lighten their load, will make you a blessing in the house.... {OHC 264.5} All these little duties faithfully done are entered upon the ledger of heaven. . . . God will make no mistakes; He will make an accurate entry of all your life duties done to His glory. So never frown but always carry a cheerful, happy face, a ready hand to help, an attentive ear to hear the requirements, and a heart to obey, a quick sympathy for those who need help.... {OHC 264.6} Remember your characters are not finished; you are building up day by day a character. Weave all the kindness, obedience, thoughtfulness, painstaking, and love into it you can. Make it after the divine model. Educate yourselves that you may possess the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price. You can make the world better by living in it if you only do the very best you can. {OHC 264.7} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 257 - Teach the Source of True Happiness Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6. {OHC 263.1} By their neglect to exercise proper restraint, many parents are creating great unhappiness for their children. The youth who are left to constantly seek for pleasure in amusement or selfish gratification are not happy, and never can be happy while following this course. Fathers and mothers, teach your children that the only way to be truly happy is to love and fear God; and enforce the lesson by your example. Let them see that the peace of Christ is ruling in your heart, and that His love pervades your life. {OHC 263.2} Will you consecrate your own hearts to God, that you may exert a sanctifying influence upon your children? Will you separate them from sin and sinners, and by living faith connect them with God? It should be the work of every parent to cultivate all that is good, and true, and noble in his children. It is his duty to correct their faults, to restrain their waywardness.... {OHC 263.3} Make the Word of God your guide in the education of your children, ever considering what will be for their future good.... The mother may bestow upon her daughters an education that will be invaluable, by training them to bear their share of the family burdens. The father may give his sons a capital of more worth than gold or lands, by teaching them to love useful employment, instead of seeking happiness in idle amusements or dissipation. Parents, now is the time to form in your children habits of industry, self-reliance, and self-control; to cultivate economy and business tact. Now is the time to teach them courtesy and benevolence toward their fellow men, and reverence and love for God.... Home should be the most sunny and attractive spot on earth; and it may be made such by pleasant words and kind acts, and, underlying all, a steadfast adherence to the right. . . . {OHC 263.4} Let us withhold nothing from Him who gave His precious life for us. Fathers and mothers, bring to Him your children, in the freshness and bloom of youth, and devote them to His service. {OHC 263.5} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 256 - The Home Training Ground Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight. Psalm 119:35. {OHC 262.1} Men have taught that God's law has been done away. Were this the case we would have no standard of character, and would have nothing to show us God's righteous claims. We should be adrift upon an ocean of uncertainty, and have no guide in dealing with the solemn responsibilities of the family relation. But it is in the family relation that we receive our training in dealing with our fellow men in general. If God had no law by which to govern human intelligences, nothing by which His character could be represented as a sample to which the human family could shape their characters, then what impression could possibly be made upon our children as to what constitutes rectitude of life and perfection of character? ... {OHC 262.2} The fifth commandment enjoins upon children obedience to their parents, and parents are to help their children to keep this commandment by acting their part in cooperating with God in requiring obedience through childhood and youth. Parents themselves must be under rule to God. They must reveal precious traits of character, presenting a pattern before their children, manifesting patience and forbearance mingled with firmness, and thus educate their children to obey their heavenly Father. . . . Satan delights to look upon disordered and ill-governed families, for his success depends largely upon the control he can have over the families of earth.... He is determined the standard of righteousness shall not be the rule for the formation of character. . . . {OHC 262.3} The Ten Commandments come forth from the God of heaven, whose heart is full of love, who is infinite in wisdom, who never makes a mistake. He is too wise to err, too good to harm any one who will obey His requirements. Blessing will follow those who obey and who administer the law of Jehovah.... The happiness and peace of parents and children in this life, and their best good, will be worked out by walking in the path of His precepts; for by so doing they are in harmony with the God of heaven. {OHC 262.4} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12. {OHC 261.1} The period of childhood and youth--how much is bound up in these years of probation! God desires that you shall improve this time, dear youth, by obtaining a fitness for the work. If you need an education, set yourselves to work with a determination to get one. Do not wait for an opening; make one for yourselves. Take hold in any small way that opens before you. Be thorough and faithful in whatever you take in hand, however small it may be. {OHC 261.2} Some of our youth are so vacillating that they accomplish nothing for themselves; their lifetime is often half spent before they decide what they shall do, and what they will be. They bury their talents beneath a mass of rubbish. To these I would say, Practice economy. Do not spend your means for the gratification of appetite or for pleasure seeking. Make your mark in the world. Have before you the object of becoming as useful and efficient as God calls you to be. As you improve the knowledge you gain, you will be able to gather increased knowledge. Application to your books and useful manual labor, combined with earnest Christian devotion and loyalty to God, will make you men and women in the highest sense. True devotion to God, combined with the study of the sciences, will give the youth an education that will make them gentle, humble lovers of God, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Such souls, fragrant with love for God and for their fellow men, God can use as vessels unto honor. {OHC 261.3} Jesus died, dear youth, not to save you in your sins, but from your sins. He wants you to follow the example which He has set before you--to deny self, take up your cross daily, and follow Him. He claims your service, your heart's best and holiest affections. If you will walk in obedience to His will, learning cheerfully and diligently the lessons of His providence, by and by He will say, "Child, come up higher to the heavenly mansions which I have prepared for you." {OHC 261.4} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. Titus 2:7, 8. {OHC 260.1} A healthy, growing Christian will not be a passive recipient among his fellows. He must give as well as receive. Our graces are increased by exercise. Christian society will furnish us with pure air to breathe, and in breathing it we must be active. The Christian work performed, the sympathies, encouragements, and instructions given by us to those who need them, the self-restraint, love, patience, and forbearance which are needed, exercised in Christian work, will create in ourselves faith, obedience, hope, and love to God. . . . It is essential for spiritual muscle and strength that the soul have exercise. Work must be done by putting forth spiritual activity in improving opportunities to do good. . . . The more faithful one is in the discharge of Christian duties, the more soundness will he develop. . . . {OHC 260.2} Weakness and vacillation will never secure respect to the Christian profession. It is impossible to reach men where they are and elevate them unless some confidence is inspired in them for your sincerity and piety. You can never reach them by stepping down from the platform of truth and reform, but by bringing others up to that platform God's Word has provided for you. If men opposed to our faith see that you who profess it are earnest, steadfast, and uncorrupted at all times and under all circumstances, and that you abide in Christ, the living Vine, and are unshaken followers of truth and reform, you will reflect the spirit and character of Christ. In your business, in the associations with believers and unbelievers, in the sanctuary, at home, in every place, you will show the influence of a Saviour's love, which will have a controlling influence upon believers. {OHC 260.3} Genius, talents, and money are not essential in order to exert this influence; but it is essential that you abide in Christ, and that He abide in you, for thus your fruit will be unto righteousness. {OHC 260.4} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 253 - A Friend to the Friendless Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel. Proverbs 27:9. {OHC 259.1} We should have the love of Christ in the heart to such a degree that our interest in others will be impartial and sincere. Our affections should take a wide range, and not center simply upon a few who flatter us by special confidences. The tendency of such friendships is to lead us to neglect those who are in greater need of love than those upon whom we bestow our attentions. {OHC 259.2} We should not narrow our circle of friends to a few favorites because they pet and flatter us by their professed affection. The partial attention so often bestowed and received, works not for the highest good of those who would serve God. One draws upon the other for strength, and the praise, flattery, and affection one receives of the other, supplies the place that should be supplied by the grace of God, and thus human friends take the affections from Christ. . . . Human confidants, human associates, absorb the love and trust that should be given to God alone. . . . {OHC 259.3} Instead of seeking to become a favorite yourself, or to flatter one who may be highly regarded, see if there is not a poor child who is not a favorite, to whom no special kindnesses are shown, and make this one the object of your unselfish attention. Those who are especially attractive will be at no loss for friends; while those who are less pleasing in appearance, who are timid and hard to become acquainted with, may have choice traits of character, and they are the purchase of the blood of Christ. {OHC 259.4} Feelings of unrest and homesickness or loneliness may be for your good. Your heavenly Father means to teach you to find in Him the friendship and love and consolation that will satisfy your most earnest hopes and desires. . . . Your only safety and happiness are in making Christ your constant counselor. You can be happy in Him if you had not another friend in the wide world. {OHC 259.5} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 252 - You Must Choose Your Company Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. 2 Corinthians 6:17. {OHC 258.1} The true Christian will not choose the company of the unconverted. If Christ is formed within, the hope of glory, we cannot enjoy the malarious spiritual atmosphere which surrounds the souls of the irreligious. . . . {OHC 258.2} Your acquaintances who are utterly averse to spiritual things are not refined, ennobled, and elevated by the practice of the truth. They are not under the leadership of Christ, but under the black banner of the prince of darkness. To associate with those who neither fear nor love God, unless you associate with them for the purpose of winning them to Jesus, will be a detriment to your spirituality. If you cannot lift them up, their influence will tell upon you in corrupting and tainting your faith. It is right for you to treat them kindly; but not well for you to love and choose their society, for if you choose the atmosphere that surrounds their souls, you will forfeit the companionship of Jesus. By every means in your power seek to repress sin; but never for one moment give sanction to sin either by your deeds, your words, your silence, or your presence. Every time sin is sanctioned by the professed follower of Christ, his sense of sin is weakened, and his judgment thus becomes perverted. . . . {OHC 258.3} The Lord Jesus cannot keep any soul who places himself upon the enemy's ground and surrounds himself with the society of those who prefer such conversation and conduct as is an offense to the God he reveres and loves. . . . {OHC 258.4} Cling close to those who will have an uplifting tendency, whose souls are surrounded with a pure and holy atmosphere. . . . God will be nearer to your heart, more in your thoughts, because you have separated from the world and from influences that would lead you away from the truth, and you will be less compassed with the snares of Satan. {OHC 258.5} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 251 - Guard Your Affections Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14. {OHC 257.1} I would warn you [COUNSEL TO A YOUNG WOMAN.] to be guarded as to where you bestow your affections. . . . Remember that your life belongs to Jesus, and that you are not to live for yourself alone. You are not to enter into the marriage relation with an unbeliever; for in so doing, you do exactly contrary to that which Jesus has commanded. Shun those who are irreverent. Shun one who is a lover of idleness; shun the one who is a scoffer of hallowed things. Avoid the society of one who uses profane language, or is addicted to the use of even one glass of liquor. Listen not to the proposals of a man who has no realization of his responsibility to God. {OHC 257.2} The pure truth, which sanctifies the soul, will give you courage to cut yourself loose from the most pleasing acquaintance whom you know does not love and fear God, and knows nothing of the principles of true righteousness. We may always bear with a friend's infirmities and with his ignorance, but never with his vices. Never marry an unbeliever. {OHC 257.3} I am only voicing to you the word of God, for He declares that such a union will result in drawing away your heart from loving and serving Him. . . . As a child of God, you are permitted to contract marriage only in the Lord. . . . Should you consent to unite your life with that of an unbeliever, you would be disregarding the Word of God and imperiling your soul. . . . {OHC 257.4} Your life is too precious a thing to be treated as of little worth. Calvary testifies to you the value of your soul. {OHC 257.5} Let every step toward a marriage alliance be characterized by modesty, simplicity, sincerity, and an earnest purpose to please and honor God. Marriage affects the afterlife both in this world and in the world to come. A sincere Christian will make no plans that God cannot approve. . . . Make Christ your counselor. Study His word with prayer. {OHC 257.6} Chap --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 250 - Be Selective! And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Ephesians 511. {OHC 256.1} The Christian should withdraw himself from the company of those who are as a snare to his soul. When you come in contact with those whom you cannot lift into a pure and holy atmosphere, because their moral tastes are wholly perverted, you must shun their society. Persons of this class have generally a strong will and positive temperament, and when wrought upon by the enemy of God, they become efficient agents in leading souls from the path of righteousness to paths that are false and dangerous. The moral atmosphere surrounding these souls is tainted with evil, and exerts only a defiling influence. {OHC 256.2} Your associates may not be expected to be free from imperfections or sin. But in choosing your friends, you should place your standard as high as possible. The tone of your morals is estimated by the associates you choose. You should avoid contracting an intimate friendship with those whose example you would not choose to imitate. . . . {OHC 256.3} Choose for your associates those who hold religion and its practical influences in high respect. Keep the future life constantly in view. Let not your associations put these thoughts out of your mind. Nothing will so effectually banish serious impressions as intercourse with the vain, careless, and irreligious. Whatever intellectual greatness such persons may attain, if they treat religion with levity or even with indifference, they should not be your chosen friends. The more engaging their manners in other respects, the more should you dread their influence as companions, because they would throw around you an irreligious, godless, irreverent influence and yet combine it with so many attractions that it is positively dangerous to morals. {OHC 256.4} Dare to be a Daniel. Dare to stand alone. . . . A cowardly and silent reserve before evil associates, while you listen to their devices, makes you one with them. . . . Have courage to do right. {OHC 256.5} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 249 - A Pure Moral Atmosphere That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. Proverbs 2:20. {OHC 255.1} In order to have a healthy body, the blood circulating through the veins must be pure; in order to be pure it must have pure air and pure food. The use of improper food and the inhalation of impure air cause disease, which appears in various forms. {OHC 255.2} The purity and soundness of our religious life is dependent not only on the truth we accept, but on the company we keep, and the moral atmosphere we breathe. Faith, elasticity and vigor, hopefulness, joyfulness, doubts and fears, slothfulness, stupidity, envy, jealousy, distrust, selfishness, waywardness, and backsliding, are the result of the associations we form, the company we keep, and the air we breathe. {OHC 255.3} The indulgence of wrong associations will have its baleful results. . . .The Bible may be read and prayer be offered, yet there will be no increase of spiritual health, no growth of soul, so long as the air which is breathed is bad. . . . The greatest care should be exercised by the believers to place themselves in close connection with God and with those who have been taught of God. It is painful to see those who have believed present truth walking into Satan's net. . . . {OHC 255.4} We raise our voice and cry to every believer in the present truth: If you would have spiritual health, look to your lungs. Look to your spiritual food. Cultivate a love for the society of those who are pure and good, if you would have Christ formed in you as the life of the soul. The health of the soul depends upon the breathing of a good moral atmosphere. {OHC 255.5} Christ, the Great Physician, has given a prescription for every believer. He must eat the food provided in the Word of God. And the faith that works by love to God and man is dependent not only upon the food we eat but upon the air we breathe. If we associate with those who are evil, we breathe an atmosphere tainted with the malaria of sin. Be sure, by association with the meek and lowly followers of Jesus, to breathe a pure, holy atmosphere. {OHC 255.6} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 248 - Fragrance in our Lifework And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Matthew 6:28, 29. {OHC 254.1} The great Master Artist calls our attention to the soulless flowers of the field, pointing out the beautiful tints and the wonderful variety of shades one flower may possess. Thus God has revealed His skill and care. Thus He would show the great love He has for every human being. {OHC 254.2} The Lord our Creator expends as much care, wisdom, and time upon the tiny flower as upon the great things He creates. In the tiniest flowers are seen a beauty and perfection that no human art can copy. The delicate tracery of the tinted rose, as well as the stars in the heavens, shows the penciling of the great Master Artist. {OHC 254.3} Choice flowers . . . reveal the advantages of culture. They teach us that it is our privilege to improve. God desires us to bring fragrance into our lifework. We are to be the plants of the Lord, serving Him in whatever way He wills. Let us do all in our power to beautify our characters. . . . Tender care must be given to the delicate plants. The useless offshoots must be taken away. The bruised parts must be carefully bound up. So those who are weak in the faith must have fostering care. We are to bind to our stronger purposes the weaklings in the Lord's garden, giving them support. {OHC 254.4} From the endless variety of plants and flowers, we may learn an important lesson. All blossoms are not the same in form or color. Some possess healing virtues. Some are always fragrant. There are professing Christians who think it their duty to make every other Christian like themselves. This is man's plan, not the plan of God. In the church of God there is room for characters as varied as are the flowers in a garden. In His spiritual garden there are many varieties of flowers. {OHC 254.5} The Lord cares for the flowers. He gives them beauty and fragrance. Will He not much more give us the fragrance of a cheerful disposition? {OHC 254.6} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 247 - God's Great Reservoirs Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Psalm 90:2. {OHC 253.1} Our heavenly Father has furnished us with tokens of His greatness and His majesty. Especially is this so in a wonderful degree in these mountainous regions. [WRITTEN IN EUROPE.] . . . The varied scenery in the towering mountains and rocky heights, the deep mountain gorges with their rapid, noisy streams of water coming from the mountains above,. . . the waters breaking as they strike the rocks, and scattering into spray like a veil, render this scenery altogether one of surpassing beauty and grandeur. . . . {OHC 253.2} The mountains contain treasures of blessings which the Creator bestows upon the inhabitants of the earth. It is the diversity in the surface of the earth, in mountains, plains, and valleys, which reveals the wisdom and the power of the great Master Worker. And those who would banish from our earth the rocks and mountains, the wild gorges and the noisy, rushing streams, and the precipices--their senses . . . are too limited to comprehend the majesty of God. . . . {OHC 253.3} God, the great Architect, has built these lofty mountains, and their influence upon climate is a blessing to our world. They draw from the clouds enriching moisture. Mountain chains are God's great reservoirs, to supply the ocean with its water. These are the sources of the springs, rills, and brooks, as well as the rivers. They receive, in the form of rain and snow, the vapors with which the atmosphere is charged, and communicate them to the parched plains below. {OHC 253.4} We should look upon the irregular mountains of the earth as God's fountains of blessings from which flow forth the waters to supply all the living creatures. Every time I look upon the mountains I feel gratitude to God. . . . {OHC 253.5} Everything about us teaches us from day to day lessons of our Father's love and of His power, and of His laws that govern nature and that lie at the foundation of all government in heaven and in earth. {OHC 253.6} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 246 - A School for Mind and Morals And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Revelation 15:3. {OHC 252.1} The great Architect has formed and fashioned the scenes of nature that they may have an important bearing upon man's intellectual and moral character. These are to be God's school to educate the mind and morals. Here the mind may have a vast field for study in the display of the majestic works of the Infinite One. The rocks are among the precious things of earth, containing treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In the rocks and mountains are registered the fact that God did destroy the wicked from off the earth by a flood. {OHC 252.2} Men thought themselves wiser than God, and altogether too wise to obey . . . the statutes and precepts of Jehovah. The rich things of earth which God had given them did not lead them to obedience, but away from obedience, because they misused their choice favors of heaven, and made the blessings given them of God objects to separate from God. And because they became satanic in their nature, rather than divine, the Lord sent the flood of waters upon the old world. {OHC 252.3} God is full of love and plenteous in mercy; but He will by no means acquit those who neglect the great salvation He has provided. The long-lived antediluvians were swept from the earth because they made void the divine law. God will not again bring from the heavens above and the earth beneath waters as His weapons to use in the destruction of the world; but when next His vengeance shall be poured out against those who despise His authority, they will be destroyed by fire concealed in the bowels of the earth, awakened into intense activity by fires from heaven above. Then from the purified earth shall arise a song of praise: "Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." Revelation 5:13. "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints." And every one who has made the heavenly treasure the first consideration, . . . will join in the glad triumphant strain. {OHC 252.4} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 245 - Nature Speaks of God I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Psalm 143:5, 6. {OHC 251.1} We have looked upon the lofty, terraced mountains in their majestic beauty, with their rocky battlements resembling grand old castles. These mountains speak to us of the desolating wrath of God in vindication of His broken law; for they were heaved up by the stormy convulsions of the flood. They are like mighty waves that at the voice of God stood still--stiffened billows, arrested in their proudest swell. These towering mountains belong to God; He presides over their rocky fastnesses. The wealth of their mines is His also, and so are the deep places of the earth. {OHC 251.2} If you would see the evidences that there is a God, look around you wherever your lot may be cast. He is speaking to your senses and impressing your soul through His created works. Let your heart receive these impressions, and nature will be to you an open book, and will teach you divine truth through familiar things. The lofty trees will not be regarded with indifference. Every opening flower, every leaf with its delicate veins, will testify of the infinite skill of the great Master Artist. The massive rocks and towering mountains that rise in the distance are not the result of chance. They speak in silent eloquence of One who sits upon the throne of the universe, high and lifted up. "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world." All His plans are perfect. What awe and reverence should His name inspire! . . . {OHC 251.3} God is Himself the Rock of Ages, a refuge for His people, a covert from the storm, a shadow from the burning heat. He has given us His promises, which are more firm and immovable than the rocky heights, the everlasting hills. The mountains shall depart, and the hills shall be removed; but His kindness shall not depart, nor His covenant of peace be removed from those who by faith make Him their trust. If we would look to God for help as steadfastly as these rocky, barren mountains point to the heavens above them, we should never be moved from our faith in Him and our allegiance to His holy law. {OHC 251.4} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 244 - Reminders of Our Heavenly Home Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. Nehemiah 9:6. {OHC 250.1} There is beauty in the valley's awful grandeur, in the solemn, massive, cleft rocks; there is majesty in the towering mountains that look as if they touched the heavens. There are the lofty trees with their delicately formed leaves; the spires of grass, the opening bud and blossoming flower, the forest trees, and every living thing. They all point the mind to the great and living God. Every faculty of our being testifies that there is a living God, and we may learn from the open book of nature the most precious lessons in regard to the Lord of heaven. {OHC 250.2} In this study the mind expands, is elevated and uplifted, and becomes hungry to know more of God and His majesty. We have awakened in our hearts feelings not only of reverence and awe but of love, of faith, of trust and entire dependence upon One who is the giver of all good. And as I look at His marvelous works and see the evidences of His power I instinctively inquire, "What is man that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" Psalm 8:4. {OHC 250.3} All the greatness and glory of these wonderful things in God's house can only be appreciated as they are, in the mind, associated with God and the future home of bliss He is preparing for those who love Him. . . .While we talk freely of other countries, why should we be reticent in regard to the heavenly country, and the house not built with hands, eternal in the heavens? This heavenly country is of more consequence to us than any other city or country on the globe, therefore we should think and talk of this better--even an heavenly--country. And why should we not converse more earnestly, and in a heavenly frame of mind, in regard to God's gifts in nature? He has made all these things, and designs that we shall see God in His created works. These things are to keep God in our remembrance and to lift our hearts from sensual things and bind them in bonds of love and gratitude to our Creator. {OHC 250.4} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 243 - Hold High the Standard Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. Isaiah 62:10. {OHC 249.1} The Word of God not only sets forth the great principles of truth and duty which should govern our lives, but it presents also, for our encouragement, the history of many who have exemplified these principles. . . .Except the one perfect Pattern, there is not described in the Sacred Pages a single character more worthy of emulation than that of the prophet Daniel. Exposed in youth to all the allurements of a royal court, he became a man of unbending integrity and fervent devotion to God. He was subjected to the fierce temptations of Satan, yet his character was not vacillating, nor his course changeable. He was firm where many would be yielding; he was true where they would be false; he was strong where they would be weak. Daniel was a lofty cedar of Lebanon. ... Would that the faith, integrity, and devotion of the prophet Daniel might live in the hearts of God's people of today. Never were these noble qualities more needed in the world than now.... {OHC 249.2} In the records of those who have done and suffered for the name of Jesus, there is no name that shines with a brighter or purer luster than the name of Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. The love of Jesus, glowing in his heart, made him self-forgetful, self-denying. He had seen the risen Christ, and the Saviour's image was impressed upon his soul, and shone forth in his life. With faith, courage, and fortitude, that would not be daunted by danger or stayed by obstacles, he pressed his way from land to land to spread the knowledge of the cross.... {OHC 249.3} Are the professed followers of Christ thus exemplifying the principles of their faith? Where are the deep, living, holy experiences which men of God were wont to recount? Has the standard of Christianity been lowered? ... No; that standard remains just where God placed it. Holy men of ages past were required to give up all for Christ, to cherish His spirit, and to imitate His example. Nothing less than this will He accept now.... When called to give up all for Christ, who will stand the test? {OHC 249.4} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
Chap. 242 - The Way to Look at Things Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Philippians 4:8. {OHC 248.1} As long as Satan has power to work upon human minds that are not barricaded with the Holy Spirit, there will be stern and earnest conflict between good and evil, and evil will be manifested, even among those who claim to be the children of God. . . . {OHC 248.2} There is no reason for us to fix our eyes upon error, to grieve and complain, and lose precious time and opportunities in lamenting the faults of others. . . .Would it not be more pleasing to God to take an impartial outlook, and see how many souls are serving God, and resisting temptation, and glorifying and honoring Him with their talents of means and intellect? Would it not be better to consider the wonderful, miracle-working power of God in the transformation of poor, degraded sinners, who have been full of moral pollution, who become so transformed that they are Christlike in character? . . . {OHC 248.3} Let us turn away our eyes from beholding the imperfections of those who are in the church, but who have not the likeness of Christ. We shall not be held responsible because those who make a high profession do not possess corresponding virtues. Let us thank God that it is our privilege to turn away our eyes from these defective Christians, and look upon those who are truly devoted, who are doers of the Word, and who in life and character bear the image of the Divine. And above all things, thank God that it is your privilege to look upon Christ, the perfect pattern. . . . {OHC 248.4} Everything that causes us to see the weakness of humanity is in the Lord's purpose to help us to look to Him, and in no case put trust in man, or make flesh our arm. . . .We become changed into the image of that upon which we dwell. Then how important to open our hearts to the things that are true and lovely and of good report! {OHC 248.5} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27. {OHC 247.1} I have a continual longing for Christ to be formed within, the hope of glory. I long to be beautified every day with the meekness and gentleness of Christ, growing in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ up to the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. I must as an individual, through the grace given me of Jesus Christ, keep my own soul in health by keeping it as a divine channel through which His grace, His love, His patience, His meekness, shall flow to the world. This is my duty and no less the duty of every church member who claims to be a son or a daughter of God. {OHC 247.2} The Lord Jesus has made His church the depositary of sacred truth. He has left with her the work of carrying out His purposes and His plans to save the souls for whom He has manifested such interest, such unmeasured love. Like the sun in relation to our world, He rises amid the moral darkness--the Sun of Righteousness. He said of Himself, "I am the light of the world." John 8:12. He said to his followers, "Ye are the light of the world." Matthew 5:14.... By reflecting the image of Jesus Christ, by the beauty and holiness of their characters, by their continual self-denial and their separation from all idols, large or small, they reveal that they have learned in the school of Christ. They are continually catching the spirit of love and forbearance, meekness, and gentleness, and they stand as representatives of Christ, a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.... {OHC 247.3} Walking and working in the world, but not of the world, they are answering in their characters the prayer of Christ: "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." John 17:15. They are to stand as the strong fortress of truth, their light shining far in the moral darkness of the world. The Lord has a message for the watchmen on the walls of Zion to bear. The trumpet is to give no uncertain sound. {OHC 247.4} --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tawasv/message
