Sermon/Sabbath Sermon
Camp Ground, Ashfield, Australia
November 3, 1894
Portions of this manuscript are published in OHC 62; CG 565; 7BC 989, 944; 5MR 234-235; 10MR 308-309; CTr 206.
Second epistle of Peter, first chapter, and commencing at the first verse. “Simon Peter, a servant, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these”—bear in mind what the privilege is, exceeding great and precious promises—“that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 1
“And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things,” does not work on the plan of addition, “is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” [Verses 1-9.] 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 2
Now here is the life policy that God has given to us brought to view in the next verse. “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” [Verses 10, 11.] Here is our life assurance policy. Here we have the directions laid down how we shall secure the life that measures with the life of God. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 3
I am so thankful that we have these great and rich and abundant promises, but every one of these promises are upon conditions, upon the condition that we carry out just the direction that is given us; and if we neglect to follow the directions, we need not expect that God will let His rich mercies, His great grace, abundant grace, come to those that do not follow His directions. We are to be so particular to follow the directions of God, because it is the right road, it is the only way of our happiness, the only way of our peace, and we want the will and way of God, not our will nor our way. Many profess the religion of Jesus Christ, but they do not live it. What is their profession good for? They might just as well trace their name in the sand, and how long would it stand? 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 4
The religion of Jesus Christ makes us better men and better women. It takes right hold of our youth and transforms them in character. Christ came to our world to reshape the deformed character of man. It was a very crooked character. God wants us to be His sons and His daughters. He wants us during the hours of probation here to be fitting up with all these graces that He has presented, “according as His divine power hath given unto us all things.” [Verse 3.] Nothing is withheld that pertains unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue. Then the rich promise is that we shall be partakers of the divine nature. Why this means everything to us, to be a partaker of the divine nature. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 5
What victories should we gain in this lifetime if Christ had not overcome point after point for us in the wilderness of temptation? Here the enemy met Him with the three great leading temptations wherewith man is beset. One of the greatest temptations is on the point of appetite. Christ knew what it was to be hungry. The long fast of about six weeks left the Redeemer of the world in a state of feebleness, because humanity was upon Him; and while He was struggling against the enemy to resist him, he comes and says, “Here, just come. If thou be the Son of God, command that this stone be made bread.” [Matthew 4:3.] If, if! Why Christ had instituted and framed the plan Himself that, with humanity upon Him, He was to bear every temptation wherewith man is beset. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 6
He was not to work a miracle so as to avoid suffering Himself, but He was to stand the test upon every point of appetite that could be brought to the human family. And thus He said to Satan, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” [Verse 4.] If Adam had depended on the words of God in the place of the words of a stranger, he would not have transgressed the law of Jehovah. Temptation will come to every one of us as it came to Jesus Christ, and what is our hope? We may be pressed sore with temptations, but we may overcome, because Christ has brought moral power within the reach of man. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 7
Everything that pertains to godliness, everything that pertains to the salvation of the human soul is to be placed within the reach of every human being upon the face of the earth. There is no excuse for one of us why we should falter and fail in any respect in the work of overcoming, for Christ has said, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I overcame, and am set down with my father in his throne.” [Revelation 3:21.] Now He places Himself right upon the scale with humanity. Humanity is to overcome as He overcame. And here is the promise that humanity may become partakers of the divine nature, and that is what Christ came to our earth to do, to open a way that man shall be so united with God, that he shall be partaker of the nature of God, that he shall have the power and the strength which come from God in the work of overcoming. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 8
As soon as we are baptized, then we commence to work earnestly for God. We are not to consider that we are ready to graduate just as soon as we have received baptism, and fold our hands, and think the work is done. Christ received baptism from the hands of John, and He prayed, and His prayer entered into heaven, cleaving its way right through the hellish shadow of Satan, and it came right before the Father and that opened the way for the prayers of every one of us that are fallen. What did Christ’s prayer amount to? Why the heavens were opened before Him, and the glory of God in the form of a dove in burnished gold encircled the Son of God, while from the voice of the Father were heard the words of such importance to every one of us, so wonderfully important. This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 9
That says to every son and daughter of Adam that come to God to present their credentials, which is Jesus Christ, our Advocate, “You are accepted in the beloved, your faith shall be respected, your prayers shall enter in through the gates that are ajar, and your Advocate, that stands before the Father shall present your petition.” While He is pleading outside of us, the Holy Spirit is working and pleading within us, and the petition ascends to God with power. Had we not better pray more? Is it not of importance that we send up our petitions to God that Christ can mingle with these petitions the fragrant incense of His own righteousness which ascends to God in our behalf. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 10
Heaven is open before us, and you can have the strength that is given to every soul that shall ask of God for that strength. We are to lay hold upon the divine power. The work of Christ was to resist temptation on account of every son and daughter of Adam. Here everything was hinging. Would Christ overcome, or would He be overcome? Our salvation was hanging here, depending on Christ passing over the ground where Adam fell through disobedience, to redeem Adam’s disgraceful failure and fall by overcoming just as Adam might have overcome, and just as every son and daughter of Adam now may overcome. “Why, I am fallen,” you say, “I am fallen. Sometimes I pray, but the Lord does not seem to hear me.” How do you know He does not hear you? Are your words and your ideas about the matter stronger than the promise of the infinite God who never lied? 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 11
He says, “Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” [Matthew 7:7.] Now you can rely upon that promise, or you can be in such unbelief that if God should bless you ever so much, you would not recognize it as a blessing from God, for you do not expect it. Is it not best for us to take God at His word? His long human arm has encircled the race, while with His divine arm He grasps the throne of the infinite. Here is man, fallen, sinful. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 12
Jesus hates the sin, but He loves the man; He loves the human agent, and He has told us how much—Calvary, the Victim upon Calvary. He has shown us the depth of that love, and the promises of God, rich and full and broad as the world, high as heaven. Why, we are to come right to God with these promises. “You said it Lord; you told me if I asked, I should receive. I believe Thee, Lord, and take Thee at Thy word.” And now in little things you say, “I cannot carry my little things to God.” But who do you carry them to? What God have you made besides the Lord to open your heart difficulties and little trials [to]? They lead to very much larger ones. Then what are you to do? Take everything to God, the little and the large trials; let it open right before Him, tell Him just how you feel about these difficulties. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 13
If you have heart-burnings against any one for whom Christ has died, you must cut that away from your life. You must not have that. Cut it right away from you, and ask God that He will supply the grace that is so essential for every one of us to have in order to be victors. And the precious victory will come to us, rich and full and abundant, if we will only believe. Well, here the promise is that the grace is brought unto us through the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ. Well then, how shall you know God, except you have communion open between yourself and God? Satan, he is engaged himself, and the whole synagogue with him, all the evil angels, have engaged themselves, to cast a shadow, a hellish shadow, between every soul and God that not one ray of light shall come to that soul. They would not enter in, and they would prevent others from entering if it was within their power. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 14
Do not be in a hurry to think that God does not hear your prayers. You should take it that Satan is seeking to cloud your mind and heart with the same darkness that covers the earth, and the gross darkness which covers the people, which is trusting in everything and everybody but God. We cannot afford to leave the fountain of living waters; we cannot afford to leave the cool streams of Lebanon to drink of the turbid waters of the valley. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 15
We want every one of us to consider that Christ has died in order to link finite man with the infinite God and to connect this earth that was struck off from the continent of heaven, and become an island. He has engaged before God to give His life to win back the world and draw it back again into favor with God, to make it loyal to God, and to keep the commandments of God that Adam transgressed and that men are transgressing all over our world, that makes the world like a Sodom, that makes it as it was before the destruction of God came in the waters of the flood. We can’t afford to lose our souls by transgressing one of God’s laws, nor by showing disrespect to it; but we want the victory. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 16
Well now, here is set before us what we should do. We are placed on vantage ground with God. When Christ overcame in our behalf, He placed us where every living soul may overcome on His own account, in His own behalf, through being partakers of the divine nature. There is our only hope. When God gave us Christ, He gave us all heaven, everything He put into the hands of Christ at our disposal so that Satan could not accuse the angels of God. God could do no more than He has done. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 17
There is not a second probation for any one. Now is probationary time, before the angel shall fold her golden wings, the angel of mercy, and shall step down from the throne, and mercy, mercy, is gone forever. But now every one, He that hath the scarlet sin, He that hath the crimson sin, are not left out, for God says, “Though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow; though they be as crimson, I will make them like wool.” [Isaiah 1:18.] What precious promises are given to every one of us, if we will take hold of them. But we must lay hold of them, not by a casual faith, but lay hold of them as a personal blessing given to us, as a personal Saviour. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 18
We give ourselves to Him, surrender to Him, to have the mold and the fashion of our God upon us, that we may imitate His character. He does not want any there in heaven that do not represent His character. He wants us to represent His character here below; and the law of Jehovah is the transcript of His character. Just as soon would His throne be abolished, just as soon would His glory be abolished as His law, for that is His character; it reveals to man the only standard which is to measure character in the last day and every day that we live. Well then, let us see what characters we are forming. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 19
“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.” [2 Peter 1:2.] As you work on the plan of addition, as you are constantly adding, grace is given you for grace. As you gather one grace to overcome, why the way is prepared for additional grace, there is still additional. You are constantly to add, add. Not that you are to take one grace and leave all the rest, but in bringing one grace into your soul you are imparting that to another, and thus you take the graces of the Spirit of God, and you have them all, and you have them to trade upon. You impart it to another. You work in Christ’s lines, and therefore it is to gather all the knowledge of Jesus Christ and of the Father that you can possibly gather to you. It is not to sit down in your parlor, not to feel pleased, to just play on your instrument of music, or to have some very light employment. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 20
There is dead earnest work for every one of us. It is missionary work that we are to do, to educate our children by precept and example to do this very work from their childhood. Now to do that you must educate them, not as in the pulpits of the day. They tell us that God’s law is not binding. Tell us, (why, every one of them is to prevent the wickedness which is existing in this present age,) Is God going to take man with all his disobedience and transgression into heaven as [he is]? There would be tenfold worse rebellion than there was when Satan was there. We cannot afford to go on in this, so delusive as it is. We want eternal life, and we want it in Christ’s way. We want to keep the way of the Lord as Abram kept it, and taught his household and his children to keep the way of the Lord, to do judgment and justice, and then God can co-operate with man. You are partakers of the divine nature, and Christ puts His spirit upon every one that will earnestly co-operate with Him. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 21
Why, there is a world to save. Is God going to drop us down here, and leave us without a law, without a standard? Is God going to leave us here to meet with all the wickedness and subtlety of Satan, who fell from heaven because of transgression of the law, and not give us any help or any strength to resist the enemy? Never! Never! Oh, it makes my heart ache when I read the letters that come over the broad waters of the Pacific from poor souls, such pitiful appeals: “The Lord does not hear my prayer,” “I am afraid the Lord has forsaken me,” and all this. Well, there is an Advisor right by them, and they do not recognize Him. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 22
“I am at your right hand,” says Jesus Christ, “to help you.” [Isaiah 41:13.] He wants them to pour out the soul troubles to Him. You need not study to have eloquence in your prayers; you need not study to have it all framed in set words and have a long prayer. No. You can come with a broken heart and with a contrite spirit, and you can tell Jesus all about it. And then what does He say? “If ye being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” [Luke 11:13.] Is not that promise good for anything to you? God wants us to show that we trust Him. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 23
God wants us to show that we believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of all them that diligently seek Him. Now He says, “When you seek me with your whole heart, you shall find me.” [Jeremiah 29:13.] Cannot you believe it? Oh, if I did not believe it, I should not be in Australia today. No, I should not be here. I walked out on the promise of God, and He gave me strength to cross the broad waters in great feebleness, and there is no respecter of persons with God. How glad am I for that. The humble servant in the humble employment wherever they are, God sees them; they are the purchase of His blood; He has bought them with an infinite price, and it is His greatest delight to bring them so close to Him that they will recognize their leader, and that they will listen for His orders. The Captain of our salvation will make known unto us everything it is essential for us to know that concerns eternity, our salvation. The earthen vessel clings to infirmity, weakness, and looking at self. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 24
One place we were laboring in America, and there was every youth in our college [at] South Lancaster, Massachusetts, (in the effort that we made,) proud sons, proud daughters, converted as we were telling them the simple story of the cross, to come to Jesus just as they were. Such an experience! I missed the youth there one evening, and I inquired, Where are they? They have been here, but they are not here now. Soon a whole class of them came in and took their seats, and then they got up and began to bear their testimonies: I had done wrong to such a neighbor, I had done wrong to such a man, and I had done this sin, and that, and the other one; and one [and] another stood up on their feet and bore their confessions. They said, I wanted to come to this meeting knowing that I had taken up the last stumbling block to my feet and to the feet of others. What a testimony they bore! 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 25
The glory of God came into that meeting. It seemed at times at the commencement of the meeting that the glory of God was about to drop upon us, it did not come only to a few, but at this time, like a tidal wave, it swept through that congregation and what a time of rejoicing! There were no wild demonstrations, for the praise of God does not lead to that. We never hear of any such things as that in the life of Christ, as jumping up and down and around, and screaming and hollering. No; God’s work appeals to the senses and reason of men and women. There are no such outward demonstrations. But the Spirit of God has an influence upon the human heart that shows itself in the countenance, and the shining of the very face reveals Jesus within. Now, it was a miracle of God’s mercy that took every student in that school and transformed them in character, and sent them out as missionaries. Two of the teachers are now in Tahiti as missionaries that were in that meeting. The light of the glory of God was there. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 26
I am so thankful for Jesus. Oh, I feel so thankful wherever I am, on the water, on the land, that Jesus is my Saviour. There is no caste with God, whatever the color, whatever the nationality, however weak we may be, rich or poor, one God is our Father, and we can come to Him, and ask for the things that we need. Now, here is the word before us. “According as his divine power.” [2 Peter 1:3.] We have no strength, we have nothing of ourselves, we are utter weakness, we cannot make one step toward God unless His grace is working upon human hearts and drawing us. Just as soon as we make the first step toward His mercy and grace, He advances toward us, He advances with His pardon and grace. He taketh away the sins of the world, and imputeth to us His righteousness. Now we may think, “I did not feel just as I wanted to.” 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 27
In that very meeting there was one that thought that he had received the love of God as he never had received it before. The next morning he came to the meeting and he got up. I knew in a moment something was the matter. The light was not in his countenance. Said he, “Somehow I don’t feel as I did last night. Somehow I don’t feel a nearness to God. I lost the blessing.” “Where did you lose it, Brother Robinson? Where did you lose it?” “I can’t tell.” “You slept through the night, yes; and God guarded you all night. Then what is the matter this morning?” Well he did not know. “I will tell you. You have not educated yourself to believe in God whatever feelings you have.” Feeling is not your god, and it is no use for you to offer the sacrifice on the altar of feeling, for feeling and faith are just as distinct from each other as heaven and earth, as the east is from the west. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 28
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things unseen.” [Hebrews 11:1.] Now faith walks the narrow plank, and walks till it comes to the end, and then steps right off on to nothing as it were, and yet it is everything. It is a mighty upholder. You walk the plank of faith, and you cannot see another step to go. Then it is to plead with your whole heart. You need not consult how you feel. Feeling has nothing to do with it. Do I believe in God that He is my God, and that His promises will be verified to me? Then [I] go right about my work. I never look or examine whether I have feeling or have no feeling. I know what my duty is from the expressed will of God, and it is for me to do it, do it intelligently. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 29
I will tell you when I know that God helps me. It is when I feel utterly unable physically to speak to the people. I go out so weak at times that it seems to me that I could not utter a word, and as I stand before the people the blessing of God never fails me, the Lord uses the frail instrument to speak to the people. I take no credit myself; neither should any minister in the world take any glory or credit, for if he gives words to the people, it is because there is a power above him that gives him the message. And if you give a discourse as dry as the hills of Gilboa, you may feel, There, I did not trust the Lord; He would have been with me if I had trusted Him, and He will be with every one of us if we maintain our simplicity. But when we climb up above the simplicity of the work [we lose it], and many that have professed Christ have lost it when they wanted to gather an eloquence, and yet they see it doesn’t move the hearts of the people. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 30
What we want is to talk just as simply as Christ taught; just so plain that a little child could understand it, and ignorant people could understand all about it, and we know that the very noble, and many of the chief priests, and the rulers believed on Him. It was the very simplicity with which He presented the Word. It was with assurance, not in a hesitating way. It was in assurance and in power and in simplicity, that all could lay hold upon it. I love Jesus. I want to place myself in His school, and in His presence, listen to His words and then give them to the people. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 31
Dear friends, we have a living Saviour, and He has not left us in this world to fight the battles alone. No. But He has not flattered us. He did not tell us, If you will believe on Me, you shall have no trials, no difficulties. He says, “If they receive you, they will receive Me. If they hate Me, they will hate you.” [See Matthew 10:40; John 15:18.] And He tells us that there shall be those “that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.” [John 16:2.] That is a terrible deception that comes on human minds. But here He has shown you the plan of the battle; He tells you what you are to meet. “We struggle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [Ephesians 6:12.] This is what we have to meet. Then what does He say? “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” [Verse 11.] 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 32
You are to fight as in the presence of the universe of heaven. You are to fight the battles of the Lord. Then He tells you that more than human beings compose that army; He tells you that the angels that excel in strength are the warriors there; He tells you, as Captain of the Lord’s host, He is there. They are to do the warring. You are to stand in the army of God, and they will gain for you the victory; they will give power to everyone that is fighting the battles of the Lord to the very gate. The power of God shall be upon every soldier that is true and that will bear hardness as good soldiers. But we cannot meet the evil angels and overcome them. It is the divine power, it is partaking of the divine nature. “Ye are laborers together with God; ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] It is He that is building the character. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 33
It is the Spirit of God that has sent the mighty cleaver of truth to take you out of the world, out of the quarry of the world. Now you are to be squared and hewed and fitted for the heavenly building. Every one will find his place in the holy temple. Every one will emit light. You may be but a little stone, you will shine, you will emit light. Thus we will find a place in the workshop of God, to be hewed and squared and polished, and fitted for the holy temple of God. Well then, if we have such a work going on with us, can we mix and mingle with the world in its amusements, in its pleasures? Will we be found in the dance hall? Will we be found at the horse race? Will we [be] found taking part in the lotteries? Will we be found in the society where God is forgotten? 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 34
We want to cultivate every faculty and every power to know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. We want a personal knowledge of Him. We may think we understand something about the truth and the Bible, but the revelation of truth is much beyond anything that our finite vision can comprehend. Christ leads us. When we are caught up to meet Him, and enter through the pearly gates into the city of God, He leads us by the living waters, and all the time He is educating and talking with us about things that He would have opened to our understanding upon the earth if we could have borne it. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 35
But we do not walk fast enough. We take too many back steps. We do not advance heavenward; therefore the light that would have come in glorious rays, could not come to us because we were not prepared for it. We take a step back into the world, [to the] gratifications of earth, and then we take a step toward heaven; and then we take a step back, and then we take a step toward heaven. If you follow on to know the Lord, you shall know that His goings forth are prepared as the morning. You know the morning light first breaks upon us in a very dim light, and then it increases, and it increases in brightness until the king of the day marches in the heavens in all his glory, in all its beauty. “Ye shall know his goings forth are prepared as the morning.” [Hosea 6:3.] Now if [God’s] glory [were to] shine first upon us as He wants to let it [shine], we could not endure it. Daniel could not endure it. He prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered his prayer. The angel opened before him the great events of the future, the history which is of so much value to us. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 36
Satan means to take up the minds of every one of us that we shall not be acquainted with what is coming on the earth, that we shall not know that the day of God’s great preparation is upon us. Here Daniel prayed to God, and one of the heavenly angels was sent to him. As soon as he caught sight of the glory he fell helpless to the earth, and the angel touched him to give him strength. Well, there he was; he could just look again at the glory and there was no more strength in him. Again the angel touched him that he might hear the words, and yet he could not behold that glory that was presented to him until he came as a man. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 37
That is just why Christ came in humanity. We could not have borne Him if He had come in all His glory, to shine upon us. But here was Daniel, you know all about his history, that man that God calls beloved, and he could not endure the glory of the angel. Now if we will follow on, and if we will not backslide a step or two every now and then and have to gather up our forces and go on, (it is better to gather up your forces than to remain in a backslidden condition and keep on backsliding, but I wish that we did not lose so much time and so much strength) we [may] know more of God and more of heaven, and become better acquainted with the precious truth, and the richest blessings that God has for us if we will only comprehend them. He has prepared wonderful things for us. I want to present a few more words, and I will hold you no longer. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 38
And besides this you are to become a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped—how do you escape? Why, by taking right hold of divine power as Christ took hold of it. Overcome as He overcame. The only way for Him to overcome in the wilderness of temptation was to present the Bible. “It is written; it is written; it is written,” He said to the enemy, and the enemy could have no power over Him. We may present it to the devil when he comes to us and tells us his story. And as you are partakers of the divine nature, it works out everything, the corruption in your nature; and you will be changed into the likeness of Christ as you talk of Him, as you behold Him, and as you follow on to know the Lord. “And besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge.” [2 Peter 1:5.] 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 39
What is faith good for unless it works by love, and purifies the soul? “And to knowledge temperance.” You cannot go to the bar and spend God’s money tippling; you cannot spend it on tobacco. It is God’s money, it is to be put into His treasury instead of your mouth to take away the vitality of your system, and to cobweb your brain so you cannot discern spiritual and eternal things. He wants you to add temperance, that is another grace that you are to have. “And to temperance patience.” [Verse 6.] An intemperate man never can be a patient man. Temperance comes first, and then patience. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 40
“And to patience godliness.” [Verse 6.] Why, that is you are like the character of God; you are forming a character after God’s pattern. “And to godliness brotherly kindness.” We have little enough of it, very little of it. “And to brotherly kindness, charity”—love. [Verse 7.] Now we are to work right on these principles. God grant that those that are within the hearing of my voice today shall begin to climb the ladder. The base of it is resting upon the earth, and the topmost round reaches to the highest heaven, and God stands above it, and the glory of God in its brightest rays is shed upon every round of this mystic ladder. That ladder is Christ Jesus. That is the connecting link that has connected this earth that was divorced from heaven, which has bridged the gulf and connected earth with heaven again. And here we are to climb round after round of this mystic ladder, and the glory of God is shed upon that ladder. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 41
Here are the graces of the Spirit that come to every one that is clinging to Christ. Hold fast to Christ; never let go of Christ. Look upward constantly, look heavenward, and you will step off, “for so an entrance shall be administered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” [Verse 8.] Here is your life policy. Have you got it? Have every one of you taken the life policy? It is an abundant entrance into the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. If [you] practice these virtues, [you] shall never fall. Why that is an insurance; there is the election of God on the condition of practice, and there is no other election in the Bible. Election is within our reach. “If ye do these things ye shall never fall.” [Verse 10.] 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 42
I have just begun on that subject; it is a big subject and I must leave it. But I beseech of you to study to show yourselves approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. This does not merely apply to our ministers. It is every one of us that is to work for God. As you begin to work for some poor soul, you cannot do anything for him, but the angels of God are right by your side. They will put in your mind things you never thought of in regard to the work. They will bring your mind where you can grasp the most precious truths, and you are in a school gaining, diffusing, receiving, giving. Freely ye have received, and freely give. 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 43
God help us every one to elevate the standard in our homes, lest the standard of Satan shall be established there. You want a household for God, you want your family for God. You want to take them up to the gates of the city [and say], “Here am I, Lord, and the children that thou hast given me.” [See Isaiah 8:18.] They may be men and women that have grown to manhood and womanhood, but they are your children all the same, and your educating, and your training, and your patience, and your prayers, and your watchfulness over them have been blessed of God, till they stand as overcomers. Now [they] can say, “Here am I, Lord, and the children”—their own children by birth only? No, indeed; every one that has been brought to the knowledge of the truth by them, come as their children. “They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” [Daniel 12:3.] 9LtMs, Ms 49, 1894, par. 44