Garnered Thoughts

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[From unpublished manuscript by Mrs. E. G. White.] The Holy Spirit is called both the Comforter and the Spirit of truth, because there is comfort and hope in the truth. A falsehood cannot give peace; but through the truth we become partakers of the peace that passeth understanding. —

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The mind will reveal its own deficiencies. But if it is accustomed to dig for the truth as for hid treasures, it will soon become a treasure house of knowledge; and more than this, the very diligence of the laborer in searching the Scriptures will develop his mind proportionately in the understanding of the word. —

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All who labor in the cause of God in any capacity, should be whole-hearted in the work. There is a lesson for us in the experience of Gideon’s army. Those whose hearts were in the work were so earnest that they would not stop to kneel by the brook to drink, but dipped up the water in their hands as they hurried on to the battle, and these were the ones whom God used; while those who made deliberate preparations to drink, and took their time for it, were sent back to their homes. The Lord God of Israel is watching every worker to see whether he is in earnest, whether he carries upon his heart the burden of souls. God sees whether his servants touch these living interests with the ends of their fingers, or whether they grasp them with all their might. If all had the interest that Knox felt when he cried, «Give me Scotland or I die!»-a wrestling with God that will not be denied,-they would find that God would work with their efforts, and would give them souls for their hire. They would not be lifted up because of their success, nor would they for a moment fear that some one else would receive the credit due to them; but they would be so grateful to God for the souls saved that his praise would be in their hearts and on their lips day and night. It is such workers whom God will make mighty in his cause.

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We are altogether too faithless, and too narrow in our views. Gideon’s army prevailed, not because of their numbers, but because in living faith they followed the special direction of God. If we make narrow plans, we shall see very little accomplished. —

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Never think that even when you do your best you are of yourself capable of winning souls to Christ. You must cultivate the habit of discerning a power beyond that which you can see with human vision,-a power that is constantly at work upon the hearts and minds of men. When you approach the stranger, when you stand face to face with the impenitent, with the afflicted, the soul-needy, the Lord is by your side if you have indeed surrendered yourself to him. Through the living agent he makes the impression on the heart. Your words must not be a mere parrot-like speech, but the expression of a living, personal experience. If you cheer hearts with words of courage and hope, it is because the grace of Christ is to you a living reality. It is God’s likeness, not your own, that is to be impressed on the heart. But if you have not yourself been sanctified, refined, transformed, you cannot present the truths of God’s word with a freshness, a power, that awakens responsive feelings in those who hear the word of life.

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The advocates of truth must hide in Jesus. He is their greatness, their power and efficiency. They must represent Christ, love souls as he loved them, be obedient as he was, be courteous, full of sympathy. Let Christ appear, and self be hid in him. Now, as in the days of Christ, traditional prejudice, custom, and fashion have barricaded souls against the truth. He who presents the gospel to others must in his own character give evidence of its transforming power.

The Christian’s Duty is to Make Christ Known to the World

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«And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.» Looking upon the large cities, the villages, and towns that have not yet heard the proclamation of the third angel’s message, my heart is filled with sorrow. Are the thousands who have had the light of truth in America, willing to rest at ease, and take no burden for these vast, neglected fields, where dwell in darkness and error those for whom Christ died?

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Christ speaks of the gospel of our salvation as the water of life. He uses water, which is essential for our life, as an emblem by which to typify the truth. Should water be withheld from the world for even one day, what a state of wretchedness would result! Should it be withheld for a longer time, a cry of indescribable misery would wail forth from the suffering inhabitants of earth. But the salvation of Christ is the water of life, essential for the health and life of the soul; and how much more terrible is the result of withholding it from men than the consequence of depriving them of water for a season! Many are perishing for the water of life. The loss of natural life is lamentable, but how does the loss of natural life compare with the loss of the life that measures with the life of God? How terrible it is to contemplate eternal loss!

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«He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.» Then why is there so great indifference on the part of those who have a knowledge of Christ toward those who know him not? When souls for whom Christ died are in peril, why do those to whom he has committed the last warning message, sit at ease in Zion? Jesus says, » Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am the bread of life. . . . This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. . . . Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. . . . Many therefore of his disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.»

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Let those who profess to be followers of Christ, carefully consider the import of these words. The meaning is clear that we have no connection with Christ unless we eat his flesh and drink his blood; unless we feed upon his word, which is spirit and life. We are to be as closely related to him as is the branch to the vine; for it is the sap and nourishment of the parent stock that flows through the branch, and causes it to live, and bear the fruit of the vine. We are to live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God; in this way we are to become partakers of the divine nature. Those who are doers of the word of God will be one with Christ, and will walk with God as Enoch walked with him of old.

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Those who are one with Christ will love souls for whom he died. Jesus has identified his interest with that of suffering humanity, and he has made manifest at what value he estimates the soul, in that he left the honor and glory of heaven, and for our sake became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich. He clothed his divinity with humanity, and came to the sin-cursed world to endure insult, reproach, mockery, rejection, and crucifixion, in order to bring to lost humanity the gift of salvation. The rich, the poor, the high, the low, were all included in the ample provision made on Calvary; for he died that all who believe on him should not perish, but have everlasting life. In his last instruction to his disciples, he opened to his followers the part they should act in bringing to men the glad tidings of his infinite love. He said, «Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.» Then what are we, who have been most highly favored of heaven, doing to accomplish the work that has been given into our hands? What are we doing to bring to others the light, that they also may have life eternal? What are we doing to save our fellow-men?

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The Saviour declares, «He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.» Without Christ the soul is dead in trespasses and sins, and unless quickened by the grace of God, is lost, eternally lost. If we are abiding in Christ, we shall not be indifferent concerning the salvation of others, but shall have a deep and settled purpose to do all in our power to reveal the truth to those who know it not, whether they are afar off or near at hand.

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Christ says of his followers, «Ye are the light of the world.» God is light and life and love; and it is from him that the gospel of truth emanates. The principles of truth, the spirit of love, the words of life, must be appropriated by the followers of Christ, as the branch appropriates the sap and nourishment of the vine; for Christ has said, » As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.» By abiding in Christ, the soul will not only be enlightened, but cleansed and purified. He says again, «He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.» It is in this way that his followers are to be the «light of the world.» Those who abide in Christ will do the works of Christ; but if we have a knowledge of the principles of truth, and fail to carry them out, this knowledge will only serve to sink us deeper in perdition. We must seek prayerfully to know what is right, and knowing our duty, do it with all the heart for Christ’s sake. (To be concluded.)

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The manifest duty of those who believe in Christ is to make him known to the world; for » there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.» Freely Christ has given the invitation, » Whosoever will, let him come, and take of the water of life.» To young and old, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, bond and free, the gracious invitation is extended. And yet what are we doing to proclaim Christ to the world, to extend the message of the Master? What efforts are we making to second the efforts of Christ? What sacrifices are we making to enrich others with the imperishable treasure of truth? Millions are perishing for the water of life, and what account will those who sit at ease have to render because of their selfishness, their neglect of souls for whom Christ died? Many who profess the name of Christ, are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; they put forth no personal effort to save others, neither do they deny self that they may give of the means which God has entrusted to them, that they may be a blessing to their fellowmen, that those who are willing may go forth to advance the interests of Christ’s kingdom in the world.

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God has provided for the world a free gospel; and yet it is bound away from hungry souls for lack of means, and for want of earnest, self-sacrificing workers. The Rock of salvation has been smitten for you, that you may drink, that Christ may be in you a well of water springing up unto everlasting life. Then for Christ’s sake, drink; for your soul will be refreshed with the living stream, and you will long to see others quenching their souls’ thirst at the fountain of life. Your heart will be softened and subdued by the love of Christ, and your soul invigorated to go forth and work for others. You will awake to the peril and privilege of the time in which you live. To-day the people are breaking the law of God, and the warning cry is to be sounded. The warning message has come to you in order that you may repeat it to those who are in darkness and ignorance as to what is coming upon the world. The Lord has said,» If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.»

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With the knowledge of this warning, with the understanding that this curse is hanging over the souls of those who violate the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, how is it that we have not shown greater interest, earnestness, and zeal in giving to the world the warning of the third angel’s message? With such momentous events before us,-events which will decide the destiny of the world,-how is it that we have been so indifferent, so selfish, so engrossed in the things of this world? Have we entirely separated from Christ? Has the truth become too plain, too pointed, too close in its application to our souls? and like the disciples of old, have we turned from Christ, choosing rather the weak and beggarly elements of the world? How many spend money for the gratification of self, with no thought of the souls that are perishing without a knowledge of Jesus and the truth! How long shall this state of indifference continue? How long shall it be before those who profess to believe the present truth, will come into right relation with God? We must have living faith, which works by love, and purifies the soul How ready are many to indulge self, how reluctant to do anything for those who are perishing for the bread of life! Let no one claim to be a member of the royal family above, unless he can show that he has a holy pedigree,-that he is a partaker of the divine nature.

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The trouble with those who have a name to live and are dead, is that they are seeking to serve two masters. Let us hear what the Lord has to say on this matter: «No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.» O, let us heed the admonition of Christ! He says, «Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. . . . Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 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. Wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (for after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.»

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«Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also; for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.»

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Shall we not now have a selling time, in which we shall cut down our possessions, and devote our means to the cause of God? Shall we not make an investment in the missionary line, and lay up treasure in the bank of heaven? Shall we not make a free-will offering to the cause of God, and return a portion of the goods the Master has left in trust for his service? If we love God supremely, and our neighbors as ourselves, we shall give tangible proof of our faith, and souls will be saved in the kingdom of God as the result of unselfish effort. O that the Spirit of God might enlighten the hearts of his people, and open their eyes to discern the things that belong unto their peace! Look at the martyrs and holy men who have left us an example of godliness in the past. They valued the truth of God above every earthly consideration, above life itself. Their faith was vigorous, their principles unbending, their piety untarnished. Daily they were eating the flesh of the Son of God, and drinking his blood, and his life was in them. They read the word of God, meditated upon it, and carried out its instruction in their life; therefore they were practical Christians; and only those who go; and do likewise, will hear the words from the lips of the Master, «Well done, thou good and faithful servant.» If we would enter into the joy of our Lord, in the kingdom above, we must here partake of his self-denial and sacrifice, drawing nourishment from the word of God, whose sustenance is as enduring as eternity.