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As Lights in the World
It is God’s purpose to manifest through His people the principles
of His kingdom. That in life and character they may reveal these
principles, He desires to separate them from the customs, habits, and
practices of the world. He seeks to bring them nearer to Himself,
that He may make known to them His will. His purpose for His
people today is the same that He had for Israel when He brought
them forth from Egypt. By beholding the goodness, the mercy, the
justice, and the love of God revealed in His church, the world is to
have a representation of His character. And when the law of God
is thus exemplified in the life, even the world will recognize the
superiority of those who love and fear and serve God above every
other people in the world.
Seventh-day Adventists, above all people, should be patterns of
piety, holy in heart and in conversation. To them have been entrusted
the most solemn truths ever committed to mortals. Every endowment
of grace and power and efficiency has been liberally provided. They
look for the near return of Christ in the clouds of heaven. For them to
give to the world the impression that their faith is not a dominating
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power in their lives is greatly to dishonor God.
Because of the increasing power of Satan’s temptations, the times
in which we live are full of peril for the children of God, and we need
to learn constantly of the Great Teacher, that we may take every step
in surety and righteousness. Wonderful scenes are opening before
us; and at this time a living testimony is to be borne in the lives of
God’s professed people, so that the world may see that in this age,
when evil reigns on every side, there is yet a people who are laying
aside their will and are seeking to do God’s will—a people in whose
hearts and lives God’s law is written.
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