But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. John 1:12.

If we could appreciate this great blessing, what an advantage it would be to us! We are given the privilege of being laborers together with God in the saving of our souls. Receiving and believing is our part of the contract. We are to receive Christ as our personal Savior, and are to continue to believe in Him. This means abiding in Christ, showing in Him, at all times and under all circumstances, a faith that is a representation of His character—a faith that works by love, and purifies the soul from all defilement….

We must each obtain an experience for ourselves. No one can depend for salvation on the experience or practice of any other individual. We must each become acquainted with Christ in order properly to represent Him to the world…. None of us need to excuse our hasty temper, our misshapen character, our selfishness, envy, jealousy, or any impurity of soul, body, or spirit. God has called us to glory and virtue. We are to obey the call….

How can we escape the power of one who was once an exalted angel in the heavenly courts? He was a being full of beauty and personal charm, blessed with a powerful intellect. Because of his exaltation he thought himself equal with God…. How can we discern his false theories and resist his temptations? Only through the individual experience gained by receiving a knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. Without divine aid we could not possibly escape the temptations and snares that Satan has prepared to deceive human minds….

We are to walk as He walked, following closely in His footsteps, manifesting His meekness and lowliness…. The service of Christ is pure and elevated. The path He traveled is not one of self-pleasing, self-gratification. He speaks to His children, saying, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” The price of heaven is submission to Christ. The way to heaven is obedience to the command, Deny thyself, take up thy cross, and follow Me. As Jesus journeyed, so we must journey. The path He followed, we must follow; for that path leads to the mansions He is preparing for us.—The Review and Herald, April 24, 1900.

From From the Heart

Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you. Acts 24:25.

No matter how sinful we have been, no matter what our position may be, if we will repent and believe, coming unto Christ, and trusting Him as our personal Savior, we may be saved to the uttermost. But how dangerous is the position of the one who knows truth but delays to practice it. How perilous it is for men and women to seek to amuse the mind, to gratify the taste and satisfy the reason, by neglecting what has been revealed as duty, and rambling off in search of something they do not know….

Jesus says, “Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.” … Practice every precept of truth presented to you. Live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, and you will then follow Jesus wherever He goeth…. The Lord does not refuse to give His Holy Spirit to them that ask Him. When conviction comes home to the conscience, why not listen, and heed the voice of the Spirit of God? By every hesitation and delay we place ourselves where it is more and more difficult for us to accept the light of heaven, and at last it seems impossible to be impressed by admonitions and warnings. The sinner says, more and more easily, “Go thy way for this time; when I have a more convenient season, I will call for thee.” …

The souls that at first delay and hesitate, resisting light and pressing against all knowledge, have excellent intentions of making a square turnabout when a convenient season shall come; but the wily foe that is upon their track makes his plans to bind them by the imperceptible threads of evil habits. Character is formed by habits, and one step in the downward road is a preparation for the second step, and the second for those that shall follow….

The children of God are to shine as lights in the midst of a perverse and crooked generation. But if right habits are not cultivated, they will give way to natural tendencies, and will become self-sufficient, self-indulgent, reckless, covetous, revengeful, independent, self-willed, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God….

The character of Daniel is an illustration of what a sinner may become through the grace of Christ. He was strong in intellectual and spiritual power…. The Holy Spirit is to be in us a divine indweller. Then let gratitude and love abound in your heart to God.—The Review and Herald, June 29, 1897.

From From the Heart

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:25.

The Holy Spirit is not only to sanctify but to convict. We cannot repent of our sins until we are convicted of our guilt. How necessary, then, it is that we should have the Holy Spirit with us as we labor to reach fallen souls. Our human abilities will be exercised in vain unless they are united with this heavenly agency….

In the work of saving sinners, we and angels are to work in harmony, teaching the truth of God to those who are unlearned therein, in order that they may be set free from the bonds of sin. Truth alone can make us free. The liberty that comes through a knowledge of truth is to be proclaimed to every creature. Our heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the angels of heaven are all interested in this grand and holy work. To us has been given the exalted privilege of revealing the divine character by unselfishly seeking to rescue sinners from the pit of ruin into which they have been plunged. Every human being who will submit to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit is to be used for the accomplishment of this divinely conceived purpose….

Our Savior is to be more distinctly recognized and acknowledged as the all-sufficiency of His church. He alone can perfect the faith of His people….

We need to leave more room for the working of the Holy Spirit in order that laborers may be bound together and may move forward in the strength of the united body of soldiers…. Entire consecration to the service of God will reveal the molding influence of the Holy Spirit at every step along the way….

God desires that His church shall lay hold by faith upon His promises, and ask for the power of the Holy Spirit to help them in every place….

Oh, that frail mankind would realize that it is the General of the armies of heaven that is leading and directing the movements of His allies on earth. Christ Himself is the renewing power, working in and through every soldier by the agency of the Holy Spirit. Every individual is to become an instrument in His hands to work for the salvation of souls. Not one who desires to labor for the Master is to be refused a place, if he is a true follower of Christ. Every one has an individual responsibility to bear in the cause of Christ. The efficiency of the Spirit of God will make effective the labors of all who are willing to submit to His guidance.—The Review and Herald, July 16, 1895.

From From the Heart

But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God. John 3:21.

In His sermon on the mount, Christ presented to the people the fact that personal piety was their strength. They were to surrender themselves to God, working with Him with unreserved cooperation. High pretensions, forms, and ceremonies, however imposing, do not make the heart good and the character pure. True love for God is an active principle, a purifying agency….

The Jewish nation had occupied the highest position; they had built walls great and high to enclose themselves from association with the heathen world; they had represented themselves as the special, loyal people who were favored of God. But Christ presented their religion as devoid of saving faith. It was a combination of dry, hard doctrines, intermingled with sacrifices and offerings. They were very particular to practice circumcision, but they did not teach the necessity of having a pure heart. They exalted the commandments of God in words, but refused to exalt them in practice, and their religion was only a stumbling block to others….

Although they had hitherto held undisputed authority in religious matters, they must now give place to the great Teacher, and to a religion which knew no bounds and made no distinction of caste or position in society, or of race among nations. But the truth taught by Christ was designed for the whole human family. The only true faith is that which works by love and purifies the soul. It is as leaven that transforms human character….

The gospel of Christ means practical godliness, a religion which lifts the receiver out of his natural depravity. The one who beholds the Lamb of God knows that He takes away the sins of the world. True religion would result in an entirely different development of life and character than that seen in the lives of the scribes and Pharisees….

God does not give light that it may be hidden selfishly, and not penetrate to those who sit in darkness. Human agents are God’s appointed channel to the world. Instead of being instructed to hide their light, the Savior says to His people, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”—The Review and Herald, April 30, 1895.

From From the Heart

“Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:7.

Satan constantly presents the sins and wrongs of those who claim to be the children of God, and he taunts the angels of God with their defects. What will bring the Lord’s people into a right position before Him? The Lord answers the question in Malachi, saying, “Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.” When we seek the Lord with full purpose of heart, He will be found of us.

Daniel purposed in his heart that he would be true to the God of heaven. He determined that he would not eat of the king’s meat, or drink of his wine; and his three companions determined that they would not dishonor God by bowing down before the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar set up in the plain of Dura. When we purpose to serve the Lord with a determination like that of these faithful servants of God, the Lord will take our part and enable us to lay hold of His strength….

Angels look with amazement upon the ingratitude of those for whom God has done so much in continually bestowing His favors and gifts. People forget the claims of God, and indulge in selfishness and worldliness….

God cannot bless us in lands and flocks when we do not use His blessings for His glory. He cannot trust His treasure to those who misapply it. In the simplest language the Lord has told His children what He requires of them. They are to pay tithes of all they possess, and to make offerings of that which He bestows upon them. His mercies and blessings have been abundant and systematic. He sends down His rain and sunshine, and causes vegetation to flourish. He gives the seasons; sowing and reaping-time come in their order; and the unfailing goodness of God calls for something better than the ingratitude and forgetfulness that many render to Him.

Shall we not return to God, and with grateful hearts present our tithes and offerings? The Lord has made duty so plain that if we neglect to fulfill His requirements we shall be without excuse. The Lord has left His goods in the hands of His servants to be handled with equity, that the gospel may be preached in all the world. The arrangement and provision for the spread of His truth in the world has not been left to chance.—Signs of the Times, January 13, 1890.

From From the Heart