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Failure to Recognize God’s Messenger
295
in ordinary lines. Let us listen; let us bow before God and seek Him
with the whole heart.”
Let me tell you what I know of this heavenly Guest. The Holy
Spirit was brooding over the youth during the school hours; but
some hearts were so cold and dark that they had no desire for the
Spirit’s presence, and the light of God was withdrawn. The heavenly
Visitant would have opened the understanding, would have given
wisdom and knowledge in all lines of study that could be employed
to the glory of God. He came to convince of sin and to soften the
hearts hardened by long estrangement from God. He came to reveal
the great love wherewith God has loved these youth....
A principle of divine origin must pervade our conduct and bind
us to God. This will not be in any way a hindrance to the study
of true science. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”
(
Proverbs 9:10
); and the man who consents to be molded and fash-
ioned after the divine similitude is the noblest work of God. All who
[365]
live in communion with the Creator will have an understanding of
His design in their creation. They will have a sense of their own ac-
countability to God to employ their faculties to the very best purpose.
They will seek neither to glorify nor to depreciate themselves....
God’s Ideal for Man
The religion of Christ never degrades the receiver. It never makes
him coarse or rough, discourteous or self-important, passionate or
hardhearted. On the contrary, it refines the taste, sanctifies the
judgment, and purifies and ennobles the thoughts, bringing them
into captivity to Jesus Christ.
God’s ideal for His children is higher than the highest human
thought can reach. The living God has given in His holy law a
transcript of His character. The greatest Teacher the world has ever
known is Jesus Christ; and what is the standard He has given for all
who believe in Him? “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father
which is in heaven is perfect.”
Matthew 5:48
. As God is perfect
in His high sphere of action, so man may be perfect in his human
sphere.
The ideal of Christian character is Christlikeness. There is
opened before us a path of continual advancement. We have an