Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. Jeremiah 15:16.

In the night season I was before a company,^{*Ellen White is here describing a dream or night vision.} talking with them upon faith, and trying to make them understand that they were far behind in this respect…. They had a deficient experience in the knowledge of God and their Redeemer. I was trying to show them that they must be able intelligently to voice the words of John, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), that they must behold Him as their sin bearer.

Then the Word of God was opened before me in a most beautiful, striking light. Page after page was turned, and I read the gracious invitations and words of entreaty to seek God’s glory and God’s will, and all other things would be added. These invitations, promises, and assurances stood out as in golden letters. Why do you not grasp them? I said. Seek first to know God before any other thing. Search the Scriptures. Feed on the words of Christ, which are spirit and life, and your knowledge will enlarge and expand. Study your Bible. Study not the philosophy contained in many books, but study the philosophy of the Word of the living God. Other literature is of little consequence when compared with this. Do not crowd into your minds so many things that are cheap and unsatisfying. In the Word of God is spread before you the richest banquet. It is the Lord’s table, abundantly provided, whereof you may eat and be satisfied.

The promises of God stood out clear and distinct, as though placed in letters of gold. Why, oh, why are they not appreciated! Why is not the heart filled with thanksgiving and praise? Why are your tongues so silent? … The talent of speech is misappropriated. Let the talent of choice words be given to God in thanksgiving and rejoicing, and this will glorify His name. Surrender self entirely to God. “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts …; and be ye thankful” (Colossians 3:15).^{23Letter 47, 1898}

From That I May Know Him

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.

I appeal to the youth. Consider your ways….

No youth can withstand the temptations of Satan if the truth, with its purifying, uplifting power, is not abiding in the heart. Truth has a correcting influence upon the life. It is a divine sentinel, keeping watch in your souls and rousing to action against Satan’s assaults. Under the divine influence of truth the mind will be strengthened, the intellect invigorated, and there will be a growing up in the knowledge of the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. Do not tarnish the truth by indulging in habits and practices that are inconsistent with its holy character, but hold it as a treasure of highest value….

The Lord desires you to understand the position you occupy as sons and daughters of the Most High, children of the Heavenly King. He desires you to live in close connection with Him…. Determine that you will be on the Lord’s side. If you will stand under the blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel, faithfully doing His service, you need never yield to temptation, for One stands by your side who is able to keep you from falling. Every youth is granted a probation in which to form a character for the future, immortal life. Precious, golden moments these will be to you if you improve them according to the light God is permitting to shine upon you from His throne….

Will the youth turn their faces heavenward? Will they open the chambers of the mind to the Sun of Righteousness? Will they throw open the door of the heart and welcome Jesus in? What beauty of character shone forth in the daily life of Christ! He is to be our pattern. There is a great work to be done in fashioning the character after the divine similitude. The grace of Christ must mold the entire being, and its triumph will not be complete until the heavenly universe shall witness habitual tenderness of feeling, Christlike love, and holy deeds in the deportment of the children of God.^{22The Youth’s Instructor, August 3, 1899.}

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The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12.

The truths of the Bible, treasured in the heart and mind and obeyed in the life, convince and convert the soul, transform the character, and comfort and uplift the heart…. The Word makes the proud humble, the perverse meek and contrite, the disobedient obedient. The sinful habits natural to man are interwoven with the daily practice. But the Word cuts away the fleshly lusts. It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the mind. It divides the joints and marrow, cutting away the lusts of the flesh, making men willing to suffer for their Lord.^{19Manuscript 42, 1901.}

The service of Christ is a heavenly and holy and blessed thing. The Word is to be diligently searched, for the ministry of the Word discovers the imperfections in our characters and teaches us that the sanctification of the Spirit is a work of heavenly devising, presenting in Christ Jesus the true perfection that if maintained will become a perfect whole in behalf of every soul. We are educated in Bible lines to become complete in Christlikeness and to see His Father’s face in Him who gave His own life for the saving of the soul.^{20Letter 291, 1903.}

If you are an intelligent Christian you will maintain religious vitality and will not be deterred by difficulties…. You will work the works of God in gloom as well as in glory, in shade as well as in sunshine, in trial as well as in peace. The truth must be treasured up in your heart as well as incorporated in your being, so that no temptation and no argument can induce you to yield to Satan’s suggestions or devices. The truth is precious. It has wrought important changes upon the life and upon the character, exerting a masterly influence over words, deportment, thoughts, and experience. The soul who appreciates the truth lives under its influence and senses the tremendous realities of eternal things. He lives not to himself, but to Jesus Christ who died for him. To him, God lives and is very cognizant of all his words and actions.^{21Manuscript 70, 1894.}

From That I May Know Him

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, … and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-6.

If you come into close relationship to Jesus Christ you see wondrous things out of His law that are not now seen. The softening, subduing influence of the Spirit of God upon human hearts and minds will make the true children of God to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Christian culture will be carried on in every heart worked by the Holy Spirit. There will be a soft, subdued spirit in all those who are looking unto Jesus. The love of Jesus always leads to Christian courtesy, refinement of language, and purity of expression that testify the company we are with—that like Enoch we are walking with God. There is no storming, no harshness, but a sweet fragrance in speech and in spirit.

The Word is to be our study. Here is a mine of precious ore. Much of it has been glimpsed at, but there is the digging to be done to secure much more precious treasures. There have been many who have just rummaged over the surface in a most careless, slovenly manner, when others are searching more carefully and prayerfully and perseveringly, and hidden, inestimable treasures are found….

Let it be seen that your life is hid with Christ in God. Let there be no hasty speech, no cheap words, no slang phrases. Let it be demonstrated that you are conscious of a Companion whom you honor, and that you will not make Him ashamed of you. Only think, we are representatives of Jesus Christ! Then represent His character in words, in deportment…. The converting power of God is needed every day to sanctify and fit vessels for the Master’s use. O there are precious lessons in the Holy Book that we are yet to find and practice! Our conscience must recognize and revere a higher standard of Christianity…. You may be all light in the Lord. You may be increasing in efficiency, in purity, in the knowledge of God, if you keep meek and lowly of heart.^{18Letter 171, 1897.}

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For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89.

The Word of God covers a period of history reaching from the Creation to the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven. Yea, more, it carries the mind forward to the future life, and opens before it the glories of Paradise restored. Through all these centuries the truth of God has remained the same. That which was truth in the beginning is truth now. Although new and important truths appropriate for succeeding generations have been opened to the understanding, the present revealings do not contradict those of the past. Every new truth understood only makes more significant the old.^{14The Review and Herald, March 2, 1886.}

Commencing with the Fall, down through the patriarchal and Jewish ages even to the present time, there has been a gradual unfolding of the purposes of God in the plan of redemption. Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses understood the gospel through Christ; they looked for the salvation of the race through man’s substitute and surety. These holy men of old held communion with the Saviour who was to come to our world in human flesh, and some of them talked with Christ and heavenly angels face to face, as a man talks with his friend.^{15Signs of the Times, February 21, 1911 (The Signs of the Times, June 3, 1886).}

As time has rolled on from Creation and the cross of Calvary, as prophecy has been and is still fulfilling, light and knowledge have greatly increased…. In the life and death of Christ, a light flashes back upon the past, giving significance to the whole Jewish economy, and making of the old and the new dispensations a complete whole. Nothing that God has ordained in the plan of redemption can be dispensed with. It is the working out of the divine will in the salvation of man.^{16The Review and Herald, March 2, 1886.}

All the truths of revelation are of value to us, and in contemplating things of eternal interest, we shall gain true perceptions of the character of God…. The entire character will be elevated and transformed. The soul will be brought into harmony with Heaven.^{17Signs of the Times, February 21, 1911 (The Signs of the Times, June 3, 1886).}

From That I May Know Him