Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant. 1 Corinthians 12:1.

Before He left His disciples, Christ breathed on them and said, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” Again He said, “Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you.” But not until after the Ascension was this gift received in its fullness. Not until through faith and prayer the disciples had surrendered themselves fully for His working was the outpouring of the Spirit bestowed….

“When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” … The gifts are already ours in Christ, but their actual possession depends upon our reception of the Spirit of God.

The talents that Christ entrusts to His church represent especially the gifts and blessings imparted by the Holy Spirit…. Not all the gifts are imparted to each believer, but to every servant of the Master some gift of the Spirit is promised, according to that one’s need for the Lord’s work.

In all the Lord’s arrangements, there is nothing more beautiful than His plan of giving to men and women a diversity of gifts…. Many have received but a limited religious and intellectual training, but God has a work for this class to do if they will labor in humility, trusting in Him….

Different gifts are imparted to different ones, that the workers may feel their need of one another. God bestows these gifts, and they are employed in His service, not to glorify the possessor, not to uplift human beings, but to uplift the world’s Redeemer….

It may seem to some that the contrast between their gifts and the gifts of a fellow laborer is too great to allow them to unite in harmonious effort; but when they remember that there are varied minds to be reached and that some will reject the truth as it is presented by one laborer, only to open their hearts to the same truth as presented in a different manner by another, they will hopefully endeavor to labor together in unity. Their talents, however diverse, may all be under the control of the same Spirit. In every word and act, kindness and love will be revealed; and as the workers fill their appointed places faithfully, the prayer of Christ for the unity of His followers will be answered, and the world will know that these are His disciples.—Signs of the Times, March 15, 1910.

From From the Heart

You are all sons of light and sons of the day. 1 Thessalonians 5:5.

“Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” … God has left nothing undone that could in any way work for the recovering of sinners from the toils of the enemy. He poured upon the disciples the Holy Spirit in order that they might be enabled to cooperate with divine agencies in reshaping and remodeling human character….

There is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repents than over the ninety and nine who suppose they need no repentance. When we hear of the success of the truth in any locality, let the whole church join in songs of rejoicing, let praises ascend to God. Let the name of the Lord be glorified by us….

Entire consecration to the service of God will reveal the molding influence of the Holy Spirit at every step along the way. When apparent impossibilities arise in your path, present the ever ready, complete efficiency of the Holy Spirit before your unbelieving heart, that it may shame away your overcautious spirit. When your faith is weak, your efforts feeble, talk of the great Comforter, the Strength of heaven. When you are inclined to doubt that God is working by His Holy Spirit through human agents, remember that God has used the church and is using it to the glory of His own name. If we will not obstruct the way, God will move upon the minds of many more to engage in active service for Him….

The end of all things is at hand. God is moving upon every mind that is open to receive the impressions of His Holy Spirit. He is sending out messengers, that they may give the warning in every locality. God is testing the devotion of His churches and their willingness to render obedience to the Spirit’s guidance. Knowledge is to be increased. The messengers of heaven are to be seen running to and fro, seeking in every possible way to warn the people of the coming judgments, and presenting the glad tidings of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. The standard of righteousness is to be exalted. The Spirit of God is moving upon sinful hearts, and those who respond to its influence will become lights in the world. Everywhere they are seen going forth to communicate to others the light they have received, as they did after the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. And as they let their light shine, they receive more and more of the Spirit’s power. The earth is lighted with the glory of God.—The Review and Herald, July 16, 1895.

From From the Heart

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10.

The Holy Spirit is a free, working, independent agency. The God of heaven uses His Spirit as it pleases Him; and human minds, human judgment, and human methods can no more set boundaries to its working … than they can say to the wind, “I bid you to blow in a certain direction and to conduct yourself in such and such a manner.” As the wind moves in its force, bending and breaking the lofty trees in its path, so the Holy Spirit influences human hearts, and no finite human can circumscribe its work….

The fountain of the heart must be purified before the streams can become pure. There is no safety for one who has merely a legal religion, a form of godliness. The Christian’s life is not a modification or improvement of the old life, but a transformation of the nature. There is a death to sin and self, and a new life altogether. This change can be brought about only by the effectual working of the Holy Spirit….

The Spirit of God is manifested in different ways upon different individuals. Some, under the movings of this Power, will tremble before the Word of God. Their convictions are so deep that a tumult of feeling seems to rage in their heart, and their whole being is prostrated under the convicting power of the truth….

Others are brought to Christ in a more gentle way. Men and women who have been dead in trespasses and sins become convicted and converted under the operations of the Spirit. The thoughtless and wayward become serious. The hardened repent of their sins, and the faithless believe. The gambler, the drunkard, the licentious, become steady, sober, and pure. The rebellious and obstinate become meek and Christlike….

The Holy Spirit moves upon the inner self until it becomes conscious of the divine power of God, and every spiritual faculty is quickened to decided action. A deep and thorough work is wrought in the soul, which the world cannot see….

Those who truly love God have the internal evidence that they are beloved of God. They have communion with Christ, and their hearts are warmed with fervent love toward Him. God claims them for Himself and will impart to them special favors, enabling them to be complete in Christ, more than conquerors through Him who has loved them.—Signs of the Times, March 8, 1910.

From From the Heart

The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. Isaiah 11:2.

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” … We cannot spiritually discern the character of God or accept of Jesus Christ by faith unless our life and character are marked by purity, by the casting down of imaginations and of every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and by bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ….

The Lord is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to them that earnestly desire it than are earthly parents to give good gifts to their children. Christ has promised the Holy Spirit to guide us unto all truth and righteousness and holiness. The Holy Spirit is not given by measure to those who earnestly seek for it, who by faith stand upon the promises of God. They plead the pledged word of God, saying, “Thou hast said it. I take thee at thy word.”

The Comforter is given that He may take of the things of Christ and show them unto us, that He may present in their rich assurance the words that fell from His lips and convey them with living power to the soul who is obedient, who is emptied of self. It is then that the soul receives the image and superscription of the divine. Then Jesus Christ is formed within, the hope of glory….

Food is the substance of which we partake, that our bodies may be strengthened and built up. In like manner we are to feed upon that which will build up our spiritual nature. Jesus said, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” Our bodies are composed of that upon which we feed; so our spiritual life will be composed of that upon which we feed. If we feed on Christ, by thinking of Him, by obeying His words, we are built up in Him and grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth unto the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus….

As God works in us to will, we are to cooperate with God, manifesting a determination like that of Daniel to do the will of God, working in harmony with the divine Agent. Then we shall have rest in God.—Signs of the Times, December 25, 1893.

From From the Heart

For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil. Ecclesiastes 12:14.

God reveals Christ to sinners, and they behold Him dying upon Calvary for the sin of His creatures. They then understand how they are condemned by the law of God, for the Spirit works upon their consciences, enforcing the claim of the broken law. They are then given the opportunity of defying the law, of rejecting the Savior, or of yielding to its claims and receiving Christ as their Redeemer. God will not compel the service of sinners, but He reveals to them their obligation, unfolds to them the requirements of His holy law, and sets before them the result of their choice—to obey and live, or to disobey and perish.

The command from heaven is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” When the force of this requirement is understood, the conscience is convicted, the sinner is condemned. The carnal mind, which is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, rises up in rebellion against the holy claims of the law. But as sinners behold Christ hanging upon the cross of Calvary, suffering for their transgression, deeper conviction takes hold upon them, and they see something of the offensive nature of sin.

Where there is a true conception of the spirituality and holiness of the divine law, sinners are under condemnation, and their sins stand arrayed before them in their true character. By the law is the knowledge of sin, and in its light they understand the evil of secret thoughts and deeds of darkness….

Character is tested and registered by Heaven more by the inward spirit, the hidden motives, than by that which appears to others. People may have a pleasing exterior and be outwardly excellent, while they are but whited sepulchers, full of corruption and uncleanness. Their works are registered as unsanctified, unholy. Their prayers and works, devoid of the righteousness of Christ, do not ascend before God as sweet fragrance, but they are abomination in the eyes of the Lord. To those who will open their eyes, the law presents a perfect likeness of the soul, a complete photograph of the inner being; and as this picture is unveiled before sinners, they are constrained to acknowledge that they are sold under sin, but that the law is holy, and just, and good.—Signs of the Times, November 3, 1890.

From From the Heart