Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Proverbs 30:5.

God gives to every man his work, and with the imparted commission He gives to His messengers a measure of power proportionate to their faith. He is constantly unfolding to the heart the riches of His grace. Light will shine forth in clear rays from those who receive light from the Word of God….

Those who support the truth, not only by argument, but in their lives, range themselves on the side of righteousness. By a converted life they give evidence that they bear a solemn message of warning, which is a savor of life unto life, or of death unto death. When men are really converted, controversy and debate will be ended. The plain, searching truth will be proclaimed by lips touched with a live coal from the altar of God….

The Old Testament is the ground where the seeds of practical godliness were first sown. This was repeated in Christ’s words to His disciples. We have yet to learn that the whole Jewish economy is a compacted prophecy of the gospel. It is the gospel in figures. From the pillar of cloud, Christ presented man’s duty to God and to his fellow men. His words to His appointed agencies, both in the Old Testament and in the New, point out plainly the Christian virtues. Through all His teaching He scattered the precious grains of truth. All will find these to be precious pearls, rich in value, if they will practice the principles laid down.

We have the truth. Shall we not practice it? Selfishness is the great evil that makes of none effect the preaching of the cross of Christ…. Make a practical application of the truth. Urge the truth home with sanctified assurance and directness, presenting the high standard God sets before His people. Truth must become truth to the receiver to all intents and purposes. It must be stamped upon the heart….

“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.” This is the service that God requires. Nothing short of this is pure and undefiled religion. The heart is the citadel of the being; and until that is wholly on the Lord’s side, the enemy will gain constant victories over us by his subtle temptations.

If the life is given into its control, the power of the truth is unlimited. The thoughts are brought into captivity to Christ. From the treasure of the heart are brought forth appropriate and fitting words. Especially will our words be guarded.—The Review and Herald, February 21, 1899.

From Reflecting Christ

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword. Hebrews 4:12.

The Word of God is to be our spiritual food. “I am that bread of life” (John 6:48), Christ said…. The world is perishing for want of pure, unadulterated truth. Christ is the truth. His words are truth, and they have a deeper significance than appears on the surface, and a value beyond their unpretending appearance. Minds that are quickened by the Holy Spirit will discern the value of these words. When our eyes are anointed with the holy eyesalve, we shall be able to detect the precious gems of truth, even though they may be buried beneath the surface.

Truth is delicate, refined, elevated. When it molds the character, the soul grows under its divine influence. Every day the truth is to be received into the heart. Thus we eat Christ’s words, which He declares are spirit and life. The acceptance of truth will make every receiver a child of God, an heir of heaven. Truth that is cherished in the heart is not a cold, dead letter, but a living power.

Truth is sacred, divine. It is stronger and more powerful than anything else in the formation of a character after the likeness of Christ. In it there is fullness of joy. When it is cherished in the heart, the love of Christ is preferred to the love of any human being. This is Christianity. This is the love of God in the soul. Thus pure, unadulterated truth occupies the citadel of the being. The words are fulfilled, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” There is a nobleness in the life of the one who lives and works under the vivifying influence of the truth….

Many are supposed to be converted who will not stand the stress of trial and temptation…. They have no depth of spiritual experience. They do not apply the truth to the heart and conscience…. There is a lack of pure-toned piety; and this lack makes them weaklings in the army of the Lord, when they might be giants if they were but willing to be truly converted….

We are living in perilous times. In the fear of God I tell you that the true exposition of the Scriptures is necessary for the correct moral development of our characters. When mind and heart are controlled by the Holy Spirit, when self is dead, the truth is capable of constant expansion and development. When the truth as it is in Jesus molds our characters, it will be seen to be truth indeed. As it is contemplated by the believer, it will grow brighter, shining with its original beauty. It will increase in value, quickening and vivifying the mind…. It will elevate our aspirations, enabling us to reach the perfect standard of holiness.—The Review and Herald, February 14, 1899.

From Reflecting Christ

That they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. Isaiah 61:3.

Christians must be like Christ. They should have the same spirit, exert the same influence, and have the same moral excellence that He possessed. The idolatrous and corrupt in heart must repent and turn to God. Those who are proud and self-righteous must abase self and become penitent and meek and lowly in heart. The worldly-minded must have the tendrils of the heart removed from the rubbish of the world, around which they are clinging, and entwined about God; they must become spiritually minded. The dishonest and untruthful must become just and true. The ambitious and covetous must be hid in Jesus and seek His glory, not their own. They must despise their own holiness and lay up their treasure above. The prayerless must feel the need of both secret and family prayer, and must make their supplications to God with great earnestness.

As the worshipers of the true and living God we should bear fruit corresponding to the light and privileges we enjoy. Many are worshiping idols instead of the Lord of heaven and earth. Anything that men love and trust in instead of loving the Lord and trusting wholly in Him becomes an idol and is thus registered in the books of heaven. Even blessings are often turned into a curse.

The sympathies of the human heart, strengthened by exercise, are sometimes perverted until they become a snare. If one is reproved, there are always some who will sympathize with him. They entirely overlook the harm that has been done to God’s cause by the wrong influence of one whose life and character do not in any way resemble those of the Pattern. God sends His servants with a message to the people professing to be followers of Christ; but some are children of God only in name, and they reject the warning.

God has in a wonderful manner endowed man with reasoning powers. He who fitted the tree to bear its burden of goodly fruit has made man capable of bearing the precious fruits of righteousness. He has planted man in His garden and tenderly cared for him, and He expected him to bear fruit. In the parable of the fig tree Christ says: “Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit.” …

How anxiously we watch a favorite tree or plant, expecting it to reward our care by producing buds, blossoms, and fruit; and how disappointed we are to find upon it nothing but leaves. With how much more anxiety and tender interest does the heavenly Father watch the spiritual growth of those whom He has made in His own image and for whom He condescended to give His Son that they may be elevated, ennobled, and glorified.—Testimonies for the Church 5:249-251.

From Reflecting Christ

Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. John 4:14.

What said Christ to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well? … “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13, 14).

The water to which Christ referred was the revelation of His grace in His Word. His spirit, His teaching, His love is as a satisfying fountain to every soul. Every other source to which men resort proves unsatisfying; but the Word of truth is as cool streams, represented as the waters of Lebanon, which are always satisfying. In Christ is fullness of joy forevermore. The pleasures and amusements of the world are never satisfying, or healing to the soul. But Jesus says, “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life.”

Christ’s gracious presence in His Word ever speaks to the soul, representing Him as the well of living water to refresh the thirsting. It is our privilege to have a living, abiding Saviour. He is the source of spiritual power in us, and His influence will flow forth in words and actions that will refresh all within the sphere of our influence, begetting in them desires and aspirations for strength and purity, for holiness and peace, for that joy which brings no sorrow with it. Such an experience will be the result of having Christ as an indwelling Saviour.

[Jesus] walked once a man on earth, His divinity clothed with humanity, a suffering, tempted man, beset with Satan’s devices…. Now He is at the right hand of God, He is in heaven as our advocate, making intercession for us. We must always take comfort and hope as we think of this. He is thinking of those who are subject to temptations in this world. He thinks of us individually, and knows our every necessity. When tempted, just say, He cares for me, He makes intercession for me, He loves me, He has died for me. I will give myself unreservedly to Him.

We grieve the heart of Christ when we go mourning over ourselves as though we were our own saviour. No; we must commit the keeping of our souls to God as unto a faithful Creator. He ever lives to make intercession for the tried, tempted ones. Open your heart to the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, and let not one breath of doubt, one word of unbelief, escape your lips, lest you sow the seeds of doubt. There are rich blessings for us; let us grasp them by faith. I entreat you to have courage in the Lord. Divine strength is ours, and let us talk courage and strength and faith.—The Signs of the Times, September 3, 1896.

From Reflecting Christ

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. John 17:3.

Wait not for some magical change to be wrought in you, without taking the requisite steps yourself. Life must be with you a humble working out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. Halt not, but escape for your life….

Christ requires that we shall press together, that we shall be one with Him as He is one with the Father. You must depend on God, be disciplined and trained for the higher life. Yes, depend on God; wait His pleasure; follow Him; rely in obedience on the strength of His Word.

To obey when it seems the hardest is true surrender to God. This will quicken your moral nature and subdue your pride. Learn to submit your will to God’s will, and you will be made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light.—Manuscript 12, 1888.

A general faith is not enough. We must put on the robe of Christ’s righteousness and wear it openly, bravely, decidedly, exhibiting Christ, and not expect too much of finite man, but keep looking unto Jesus, and become ravished with the perfections of His character. Then we shall individually make manifest the character of Jesus, and make it evident that we are invigorated by the truth; because it sanctifies the soul and brings into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.—Letter 14, 1891.

Every missionary will have hard battles to fight with self, and these combats will not become fewer. But if we are constantly growing in Christian experience, if we continue to look to Jesus in faith, strength will be given us for every emergency. All the powers and faculties of a regenerated nature must be brought into constant, daily exercise. Every day we shall have occasion to crucify self, to war against inclination and a perverse temperament that would draw the will in a wrong direction. The repose and triumph of victory are not yet ours, except as we by faith enter into the victory that Christ has gained for us.—Letter 4, 1892.

The promises of God accepted in genuine faith have a fragrant influence upon the life and the character, making the human agent to reflect the image of the Divine…. God works on His part …, imparting grace to the one who imparts in his life the graces given him in representing genuine sanctification to the world in his own character.—Manuscript 45, 1900.

From Reflecting Christ