HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS MARKS HIS SUPERIORITY

"Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Heb. 1:9.

We are God's servants, and to each of us He has given talents, both natural and spiritual. As children of God, we should be constantly gaining in fitness for the heavenly mansions which Christ told His disciples He was going away to prepare for them. He who lays hold upon the righteiousness of Christ may become a perfect man in Christ Jesus. Working from a high standpoint, seeking to follow the example of Christ, we shall grow up into His likeness, possessing more and more refinement. -Testimonies to Ministers, p. 150.

The Christian in his business life is to represent to the world the manner in which our Lord would conduct business enterprises. In every transaction he is to make it manifest that God is his teacher. "Holiness unto the Lord", is to be written upon day books and ledgers, on deeds, receipts, and bills of exchange. Those who profess to be followers of Christ, and who deal in an unrighteous manner, are bearing false witness against the character of a holy, just, and merciful God. - The Desire of Ages, p. 556.

Only the covering which Christ Himself has provided, can make us meet to appear in God's presence. This covering, the robe of His own righteousness, Christ will put upon every repenting, believing soul. - Christ's Object Lessons, p. 311.

If we will but keep our eyes fixed on the Saviour, and trust in His power, we shall be filled with a sense of security; for the righteousness of Christ will become our righteousness. - Messages to Young People, p. 107.

IF WE CONFESS, HE IS FAITHFULL

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9.

The humble and broken heart, subdued by genuine repentance, will appreciate something of the love of God, and the cost of Calvary; and as a son confesses to a loving father, so will the truly penitent bring all his sins before God. - Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 641.

Every sin is an offense against God, and is to be confessed to Him through Christ. Every open sin should be as openly confessed. Wrong done to a fellow being should be made right with the one who has been offended. If any who are seeking health have been guilty of evil-speaking, if they have sowed discord in the home, and neighborhood, or the church, and have stirred up alienation and dissension, if by any wrong practise they have led others into sin, these things should be confessed before God and before those who have been offended. - Ministry of Healing, pp. 228, 229.

We are not to trust in our faith, but in the promises of God. When we repent of our past transgressions of His law, and resolve to render obedience in the future, we should believe that God for Christ's sake accepts us, and forgives our sins.

Darkness and discouragement will sometimes come upon the soul, and threaten to overwhelm us; but we should not cast away our confidence. We must keep the eye fixed on Jesus, feeling or no feeling. We should seek to faithfully perform every known duty, and then calmly rest in the promises of God. - Messages to Young People, p. 111.

ONLY GOD CAN FORGIVE

"To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenes, though we have rebelled against him." Dan. 9:9.

Do not look to men, nor hang your hopes upon them, feeling that they are infallible, but look to Jesus constantly. Say nothing that would cast a reproach upon our faith. Confess your secret sins alone before your God. Acknowledge your heart wanderings to Him who knows perfectly how to treat your case.

If you have wronged your neighbor, acknowledge to him your sin, and show fruit of the same by making restitution. Then claim the blessing. Come to God just as you are, and let him heal all your infirmities. Press your case to the throne of grace; let the work be thorough. Be sincere in dealing with God and your own soul. If you come to Him with a heart truly contrite, he will give you the victory. Then you may bear a sweet testimony of freedom, showing forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. He will not misapprehend or misjudge you. your fellowmen cannot absolve you from sin, or cleanse you from iniquity. Jesus is the only one who can give you peace. He loved you, and gave Himself for you. His great heart of love is "touched with the feeling of our infirmities."

What sins are too great for him to pardon? What soul too dark and sin-oppressed for Him to save? He is gracious, not looking for merit in us, but of His own boundless goodness healing our backsliding and loving us freely, while we are yet great sinners. He is "slow to anger and of great kindness." - Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 649.

Confess your sins to God, who only can forgive them, and your faults to one another. - Ibid., p. 639.

ALL SINS, SAVE ONE, SHALL BE FORGIVEN

"Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men...but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness." Mark 3:28, 29.

what constitutes the sin against the Holy Ghost? - It is willfully attributing to Satan the work of the Holy Spirit. For example, suppose that one is a witness of the special work of the Spirit of God. he has convincing evidence that the work is in harmony with Scriptures, and the Spirit witnesses with his spirit that it is of God. Afterward, however he falls under temptation; pride, self-sufficiency, or some other evil trait, controls him; and rejecting all the evidence of its divine character, he declares that that which he had before acknowledged to be the power of the Holy Spirit was the power of Satan. It is through the medium of His Spirit that God works upon the human heart; and when men willfully reject the Spirit, and declare it to be from Satan, they cut off the channel by which God can communicate with them. By denying the evidence which God has been pleased to give them, they shut the result they are left in darkness. - Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 634.

Whatever the sin, if the soul repents and believes, the guilt is washed away by the blood of Christ; but he who rejects the work of the Holy Spirit is placing himself where repentance and faith cannot come to him. It is by the Spirit that God works upon the heart; when men willfully reject the Spirit, and declare it to be from Satan, they cut off the channel by which God can communicate with them. When the Spirit is finally rejected, there is no more that god can do for the soul. - the Desire of Ages, p. 322. 

MY FOOLISHNESS IS KNOWN TO GO

"O God thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee." Ps. 69:5

We may flatter ourselves that we are free from many things of which others are guilty; but if we have some strong points of character, and but one weak point, there is yet a communion between sin and the soul. The heart is divided in its service, and says, "Some of self and some of Thee." The child of God must search out the sin which he has petted and indulged himself in, and permit God to cut it out of his heart. He must overcome that one sin; for it is not a trifling matter in the sight of God.

One says, "I am not the least jealous, but then I do get provoked and say mean things, although I am always sorry after giving way to temper." Another says, "I have this fault or that, but then I just despise such and such meanness as is manifested by a certain person of my acquaintance." The Lord has not given us a list of graded sins, so that we may reckon some as of little consequence, and say that they will do but little harm, while others are of greater magnitude and will do much harm.

A chain is no stronger than is its weakest link. We might pronounce such a chain good on the whole, but if one link is weak the chain cannot be depended on...That impatient word quivering on your lips must be left unspoken. That thought that your character is not rightly estimated must be put from you; for it weakens your influence, and works out the sure result, making you of light estimation in the minds of others. You should overcome the idea that you are a martyr, and lay claim to the promise of Christ, who says, "My grace is sufficient for thee." - Messages to Young People, pp. 91,92.

MY LIFE IS SPENT WITH GRIEF

"For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing; my strength faileth because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed." Ps. 31:10

Jesus knows the circumstances of every soul. The greater the sinner's guilt, the more he needs the Saviour. His heart of divine love and sympathy is drawn out most of all for the one who is the most hopelessly entangled in the snares of the enemy. With His own blood He has signed the emancipation papers of the race. - Ministry of Healing, pp. 89,90

When, after his sin in deceiving Esau, Jacob fled from his father's home, he was weighed down with a sense of guilt. Lonely and outcast as he was, separated from all that had made life dear, the one thought that above all others pressed upon his soul, was the fear that his sin had cut him off from God, that he was forsaken of Heaven. In sadness he lay down to rest on the bare earth, around him only the lonely hills, and above, the heavens bright with stars. As he slept, a strange light broke upon his vision; and lo, from the plain on which he lay, vast shadowy stairs seemed to lead upward to the very gates of heaven, and upon them angels of God were passing up and down; while from the glory above, the divine voice was heard in a message of comfort and hope. Thus was made known to Jacob that which met the need and longing of his soul, - a Saviour. With joy and gratitude he saw revealed a way by which he, a sinner, could be restored to communion with God. The mystic ladder of his dream represented Jesus, the only medium of communication between God and man....

O let us contemplate the amazing sacrifice that has been made for us! Let us try to appreciate the labor and energy that Heaven is expending to reclaim the lost, and bring them back to the Father's house. - Steps to Christ, pp. 22-24.

CAST THY BREAD UPON THE WATERS

"Cast thy bread upon the waters; for thou shalt find it after many days." Eccl. 11:1

No one can live the law of God without ministereing to otehrs. But there are many who do not live out Christ's merciful, unselfish life......They plan and study to please themselves. They act only in reference to self. Time is of value to them only as they can gather for themselves. In all the affairs of life this is their object. not for others but for themselves do they minister. God created them to live in a world where unselfish service must be performed. He designed them to help their fellow-men in every possible way. but self is so large that they cannot see anything else. They are not in touch with humanity. Those who thus live for self are like the fig-tree, which made every pretension, but was fruitless.....In the sentence pronounced on the fig-tree Christ demonstrates how fateful in His eyes is this vain pretense. He declares that the open sinner is less guilty than is he who professes to serve God, but who bears no fruit to His glory. - The Desire of Ages, p. 584.

"I am debtor," Paul declares, "both to the Greeks and to the barbarians; both to the wise and to the unwise." So all are we. By all that has blessed our life above others, we are placed under obligation to every human being whom we might benefit.

These truths are not for the closet more than for the counting-room. The goods that we handle are not our own, and never can this fact safely be lost sight of. We are but stewards, and on the discharge of our obligation to God and man depend both the welfare of our fellow-beings and our own destiny for this life and for the life to come. -Education, p. 139. 

WE ARE ASHAMED

"We lie down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us: for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God." Jer. 3:25.

Confession will not be acceptable to God without sincere repentance and reformation. There must be decided changes in the life; everything offensive to God must be put away. This will be the result of genuine sorrow for sin. The work that we have to do on our part is plainly set before us: "Wash you, make you clean."....

When sin has deadened the moral perceptions, the wrongdoer does not discern the defects of his character, nor realise the enormity of the evil he has committed; and unless he yields to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, he remains in partial blindness to his sin. His confessions are not sincere and in earnest. To every acknowledgement of his guilt he adds an apology in excuse of his course, declaring that if it had not been for certain circumstances, he would not have done this or that, for which he is reproved. - Steps to Christ, pp. 44, 45.

No man lives to himself. Shame, defeat, and death were brought upon Israel by one man's sin....Various sins that are cherished and practiced by professed Christians bring the frown of God upon the church. In the day when the Ledger of Heaven shall be opened, the Judge will not in words express to man his guilt, but will cast one penetrating, convicting glance, and every deed, every transaction of life, will be vividly impressed upon the memory of the wrongdoer. The person will not, as in Joshua's day, need to be hunted out from tribe to family, but his own lips will confess his shame, his selfishness, covetousness, dishonesty, dissembling, and fraud. - Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 493.

GOD DIRECTS OUR SERVICE

"And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted osul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day." Isa. 58:10.

As we see the necessities of the poor, the ignorant, the afflicted, how often our hearts sink. We question, "What avail our feeble strength and slender resources to supply this terrible necessity? Shall we not wait for some one of greater ability to direct the work, or for some organization to undertake it?" Christ says, "Give ye them to eat." use the means, the time, the ability, you have. Bring your barley loaves to Jesus.

Though your resources may not be sufficient to feed thousands, they may suffice to feed one. In the hand of christ they may feed many, Like the disciples, give what you have. Christ will multiply the gift. He will reward honest, simple reliance upon Him. That which seemed but a meager supply will prove to be a rich feast. - Ministry of Healing, pp. 49, 50.

Our hearts are to be so filled with the love of Christ that our words of thanksgiving shall warm other hearts. This is service that all can perform, and the Lord accepts it as offered to Himself. He makes it efficacious, imparting to the earnest work to be done. May He help them to remember that in the home, in the church, and in the world they are to work the works of Christ. They are not left to labor alone. The angels are their helpers. And Christ is their helper. Then let them labor faithfully and untiringly. In due season they will reap, if they faint not.

The Christian pilgrim does not yield to his desire to rest. He moves steadily forward, saying, "The night is far spent; the day is at hand." - Testimonies, vol. 8, p. 18.

MESSENGERS OF GOD

"As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world." John 17:18.

But when we give ourselves wholly to God, and in our work follow His directions, He makes Himself responsible for its accomplishment. he would not have us conjecture as to the success of our honest endeavors. Not once should we even think of failure. we are to co-operate with One who knows no failure.

We should not talk of our own weakness and inability. This is a manifest distrust of God, a denial of His Word. When we murmur because of our burdens, or refuse the responsibilities He calls upon us to bear, we are virtually saying that He is a hard master, that he requires what he has not given us power to do...God works by whom He will. He sometimes selects the humblest instrument to do the greatest work; for his power is revealed through the weakness of men. We have our standard, and by it we pronounce one thing great and another small; but God does not estimate according to our rule....It does not rest with us to pass judgment on our talents or to choose our work. We are to take up the burdens that god appoints, bearing them for His sake, and ever going to him for rest. Whatever our work, God is honored by whole-hearted, cheerful servie. He is pleased when we take up our duties with gratitude, rejoicing that we are accounted worthy to be co-laborers with Him. - Christ's Object Lessons, pp. 363, 364.

Christ accepts, oh, so gladly, every human agency that is surrendered to Him. He brings the human into union with the divine, that He may communicate to the world the mysteries of incarnate love. - Mount of Blessing, p. 71.