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Testimonies for the Church Volume 8
The Cause of Dearth in the Church
He who is appointed to act a part in the work for this time should
feel the solemn responsibility resting upon him. We are working for
eternity. If we eat of the bread which came from heaven we shall
be Christlike in spirit and character. We are living in an age when
there is to be no spiritual idleness. Every soul is to be charged with
the heavenly current of life. The question is often asked: “What is
the cause of the dearth of spiritual power in the church?” The answer
comes: “The members allow their minds to be drawn away from the
word of God.” We are built up physically from that which we eat, and
in like manner the character of our spirituality is determined by the
food given to the mind. We are to give the mind and heart proper
nourishment by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of
God.
Christ declares: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth
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on Me hath everlasting life.... I am the living Bread which came down
from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and
the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life
of the world.... Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath
eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat
indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and
drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him. As the living Father
hath sent Me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth Me, even he
shall live by Me.”
John 6:47-57
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We must abide in Christ, and Christ must abide in us; “for we are
laborers together with God.” The work of the Christian is an individual
work. Let God’s workers cease to find fault, for this is sin. Let them
improve themselves as they think that their fellow workers should
improve. It is their privilege to live in Christ by eating the bread of life.
Those who do this will have a healthy, growing experience, and the
righteousness of God will go before them as they do the work specified
in the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah.
To Every Man His Work
Every branch of the work of God is to have recognition. “He gave
some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,