But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.—Galatians 6:14

The consecrated messengers who in the early days of Christianity carried to a perishing world the glad tidings of salvation, allowed no thought of self-exaltation to mar their presentation of Christ and Him crucified. They coveted neither authority nor pre-eminence. Hiding self in the Saviour, they exalted the great plan of salvation, and the life of Christ, the Author and Finisher of this plan. Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever, was the burden of their teaching.

If those who today are teaching the word of God, would uplift the cross of Christ higher and still higher, their ministry would be far more successful. If sinners can be led to give one earnest look at the cross, if they can obtain a full view of the crucified Saviour, they will realize the depth of God’s compassion and the sinfulness of sin.

Christ’s death proves God’s great love for human beings. It is our pledge of salvation. To remove the cross from the Christian would be like blotting the sun from the sky. The cross brings us near to God, reconciling us to Him. With the relenting compassion of a father’s love, Jehovah looks upon the suffering that His Son endured in order to save the race from eternal death, and accepts us in the Beloved.

Without the cross, humanity could have no union with the Father. On it depends our every hope. From it shines the light of the Saviour’s love, and when at the foot of the cross the sinner looks up to the One who died to save him, he may rejoice with fullness of joy, for his sins are pardoned. Kneeling in faith at the cross, he has reached the highest place to which human beings can attain.

Through the cross we learn that the heavenly Father loves us with a love that is infinite. Can we wonder that Paul exclaimed, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”? (Galatians 6:14).—The Acts of the Apostles, 209, 210.

Further Reflection: If my every hope depends on what Jesus accomplished at the cross, how often should I thank God for the amazing sacrifice of His Beloved? How often do I kneel at the pinnacle of my existence—the foot of Jesus’ cross?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”—John 11:25

Jesus encouraged her faith, saying, “Thy brother shall rise again.” His answer was not intended to inspire hope of an immediate change. He carried Martha’s thoughts beyond the present restoration of her brother, and fixed them upon the resurrection of the just. This He did that she might see in the resurrection of Lazarus a pledge of the resurrection of all the righteous dead, and an assurance that it would be accomplished by the Saviour’s power.

Martha answered, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Still seeking to give a true direction to her faith, Jesus declared, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” In Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived. “He that hath the Son hath life” (1 John 5:12). The divinity of Christ is the believer’s assurance of eternal life. “He that believeth in Me,” said Jesus, “though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?” Christ here looks forward to the time of His Second Coming. Then the righteous dead shall be raised incorruptible, and the living righteous shall be translated to heaven without seeing death. The miracle which Christ was about to perform, in raising Lazarus from the dead, would represent the resurrection of all the righteous dead. By His word and His works He declared Himself the Author of the resurrection. He who Himself was soon to die upon the cross stood with the keys of death, a conqueror of the grave, and asserted His right and power to give eternal life.

To the Saviour’s words, “Believest thou?” Martha responded, “Yea, Lord: I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” She did not comprehend in all their significance the words spoken by Christ, but she confessed her faith in His divinity, and her confidence that He was able to perform whatever it pleased Him to do.—The Desire of Ages, 530.

Further Reflection: Martha’s heart was breaking when Jesus spoke words she had never heard before, let alone fully understood. How much of my belief in Jesus is dependent on that which I can understand? Does what I don’t know about Jesus affect what I do know about Him?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.—Ephesians 6:10

The Christian must be upright while dwelling with the corrupt and with traitors. With a heart true to God, and imbued with His Spirit, he will see much to grieve over while surrounded by commandment-breakers—those who are on the side of the great rebel, having thrown off their allegiance to the God of Heaven. The fact that iniquity abounds is a strong reason why he should be watchful, and diligent, and faithful in his Master’s service, that he may rightly represent the religion of Jesus Christ.

On all sides the Christian soldier will hear treasonable plottings and rebellious utterances from those who make void the law of God. This should increase his zeal to act as a faithful sentinel for God, and to use every effort to bring souls to enlist beneath the blood-stained banner of Prince Immanuel. The more dense the moral darkness, the more earnest should be the endeavor to walk with God, that light and power from Him may be reflected upon those in darkness. The love of genuine Christians will not grow cold because iniquity abounds. As society grows more and more corrupt, as in the days of Noah and of Lot, there will be yearning of soul over deceived, deluded, perishing sinners, who are preparing themselves for a fate similar to that of the transgressors who perished in the waters of the flood and in the fires of Sodom….

We have only a little while to urge the warfare; then Christ will come, and this scene of rebellion will close…. As never before, resistance must be made against sin—against the powers of darkness. The time demands energetic and determined activity on the part of those who believe present truth. They should teach the truth by both precept and example. If the time seems long to wait for our Deliverer to come, if, bowed by affliction and worn with toil, we feel impatient for our commission to close, and to receive an honorable release from the warfare, let us remember—and let the remembrance check every murmur—that God leaves us on earth to encounter storms and conflicts, to perfect Christian character, to become better acquainted with God our Father and Christ our elder Brother, and to do work for the Master in winning many souls to Christ.—The Review and Herald, October 25, 1881.

Further Reflection: Does the antagonism of those who hate Christianity increase my zeal to share the gospel, that even the scoffer might have an opportunity to be saved?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

“For in Him we live and move and have our being.”—Acts 17:28

In tilling the soil, in disciplining and subduing the land, lessons may constantly be learned. No one would think of settling upon a raw piece of land, expecting it at once to yield a harvest. Earnestness, diligence, and persevering labor are to be put forth in treating the soil preparatory to sowing the seed. So it is in the spiritual work in the human heart. Those who would be benefited by the tilling of the soil must go forth with the word of God in their hearts. They will then find the fallow ground of the heart broken by the softening, subduing influence of the Holy Spirit. Unless hard work is bestowed on the soil, it will not yield a harvest. So with the soil of the heart: the Spirit of God must work upon it to refine and discipline it before it can bring forth fruit to the glory of God.

The soil will not produce its riches when worked by impulse. It needs thoughtful, daily attention. It must be plowed often and deep, with a view to keeping out the weeds that take nourishment from the good seed planted. Thus those who plow and sow prepare for the harvest. None need stand in the field amid the sad wreck of their hopes.

The blessing of the Lord will rest upon those who thus work the land, learning spiritual lessons from nature. In cultivating the soil the worker knows little what treasures will open up before him. While he is not to despise the instruction he may gather from minds that have had an experience, and from the information that intelligent persons may impart, he should gather lessons for himself…. The cultivation of the soil will prove an education to the soul.

He who causes the seed to spring up, who tends it day and night, who gives it power to develop, is the Author of our being, the King of heaven, and He exercises still greater care and interest in behalf of His children. While the human sower is planting the seed to sustain our earthly life, the Divine Sower will plant in the soul the seed that will bring forth fruit unto life everlasting.—Christ’s Object Lessons, 88, 89.

Further Reflection: Is the soil of my heart ready for the seed that the Divine Sower wishes to plant in me today?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

“Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”—Matthew 6:29

Christ taught His disciples that the measure of divine attention bestowed on any of God’s work is proportionate to the rank which that object occupies in the scale of creation. The little brown sparrow, apparently the most inferior of birds, is watched over by Providence. Not one falls to the ground without the notice of our heavenly Father. The flowers of the field, the grass which clothes the earth with verdure—all share the notice and care of our heavenly Father.

“Behold the fowls of the air,” Christ said, “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” (Matthew 6:26-29). If the lilies of the field are objects upon which the great Master Artist has bestowed care, making them so beautiful that they out-rival the glory of Solomon, the greatest king that ever wielded a scepter; if the grass of the field is made into a beautiful carpet for the earth, can we form any idea of the regard which God bestows upon humanity, who was formed in His image?

God has given human beings intellect in order that they may comprehend greater things than these beautiful objects in nature. He carries the human agent into a higher department of truth, leading the mind higher and still higher, and opening to them the divine mind. And in the book of God’s providence, the volume of life, each one is given a page. That page contains every particular of his history. Even the hairs of his head are numbered. God’s children are never absent from His mind.

And though sin existed for ages, seeking to counteract the merciful tide of love flowing from God to the human race, yet the love and care that God bestows upon the beings He has created in His own image has not ceased to increase in richness and abundance…. He crowned His benevolence by the inestimable gift of Jesus.—Manuscript Releases 17:182, 183.

Further Reflection: If God cares so much for me, why do I allow the cares of the world to worry me?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names