Chapter 296—From One Source Only
Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
John 1:17
.
Your strength and growth in grace come only from one source. If when
you are tempted and tried you stand bravely for the right, victory is yours.
You are one step nearer to perfection of Christian character. A holy light
from heaven fills the chambers of your soul, and you are surrounded by a
pure, fragrant atmosphere.
It is our privilege to stand with the light of heaven upon us. It was thus
that Enoch walked with God. It was no easier for Enoch to live a righteous
life than it is for us at the present time. The world in his time was no more
favorable to growth in grace and holiness than it is now.
It was by prayer and communion with God that Enoch was enabled to
escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. We are living in the
perils of the last days, and we must receive our strength from the same source.
We must walk with God. A separation from the world is required of us, for
we cannot remain free from its pollution unless we follow the example of
the faithful Enoch....
How many there are as weak as water who might have a never-failing
source of strength. Heaven is ready to impart to us, that we may be mighty
in God, and attain to the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus.
What increase of spiritual power have you gained during the last year? Who
among us have gained one precious attainment after another, until envy, pride,
malice, jealousy, and selfishness have been swept away, and only the graces
of the Spirit remain—meekness, forbearance, gentleness, charity? God will
help us if we take hold of the help He has provided.
No other creature that God has made is capable of such improvement,
such refinement, such nobility as man.... Man cannot conceive what he may
be and what he may become. Through the grace of Christ he is capable of
constant mental progress. Let the light of truth shine into his mind and the
love of God be shed abroad in his heart and he may, through the grace Christ
has died to impart to him, be a man of power—a child of earth but an heir of
immortality.
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