Holy Spirit
247
works in His people “to will and to do of His good pleasure.” But many
will not submit to this. They want to manage themselves. This is why
they do not receive the heavenly gift. Only to those who wait humbly
upon God, who watch for His guidance and grace, is the Spirit given.
The power of God awaits their demand and reception. This promised
blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train. It is
given according to the riches of the grace of Christ, and He is ready to
supply every soul according to the capacity to receive.—
The Desire of
Ages, 672
.
The great outpouring of the Spirit of God, which lightens the whole
earth with His glory, will not come until we have an enlightened people,
that know by experience what it means to be laborers together with
God. When we have entire, wholehearted consecration to the service
of Christ, God will recognize the fact by an outpouring of His Spirit
without measure; but this will not be while the largest portion of the
church are not laborers together with God.—
The Review and Herald,
July 21, 1896
.
Essential to Success
The presence of the Spirit with God’s workers, will give the procla-
mation of truth a power that not all the honor or glory of the world
could give.—
The Acts of the Apostles, 51
.
God does not ask us to do in our own strength the work before us.
He has provided divine assistance for all the emergencies to which our
human resources are unequal. He gives the Holy Spirit to help in every
strait, to strengthen our hope and assurance, to illuminate our minds
and purify our hearts.—
The Southern Watchman, August 1, 1905
.
[254]
After the descent of the Holy Spirit, the disciples were so filled
with love for Him [Christ] and for those for whom He died, that hearts
were melted by the words they spoke and the prayers they offered.
They spoke in the power of the Spirit; and under the influence of that
power, thousands were converted.—
The Acts of the Apostles, 22
.
There is no limit to the usefulness of the one who, putting self
aside, makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart,
and lives a life wholly consecrated to God.—
The Southern Watchman,
August 1, 1905
.