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The Graces of His Character, August 13
And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see
heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son
of man.
John 1:51
.
God has given us a perfect standard of character, which we are ever to keep
before us. Through the strength that Christ can impart, we may keep the law of God.
We should be obedient children, whatever difficulty we may have to encounter. We
must not expect to enter heaven without conflict and trial, but we have the assurance
that if we will not consult our own pleasure, but the will of God, we shall not be left
to fight the battle alone.
There is a great work to be done in the world, and every one of us should let his
light shine upon the pathway of others. We need to gather divine rays of light from
Christ. We need to search the Scriptures, and dig deep in the mines of truth; for the
precious jewels do not always lie on the surface; we should search for them as for
hidden treasure. There is a heaven of bliss to gain, for Christ has gone to prepare
mansions for us; and now is the time for us to seek a preparation for that which He
is preparing for us. In order to do this, we must bring Christ into our life daily; for
those who dwell in the abodes of bliss must have hearts free from all envy, jealousy,
hatred, malice, and selfishness. Jesus is waiting to do great things for us, to fill us
with all the fullness of God. We should believe in His promises, for He “keepeth
truth forever,” “and there is no unrighteousness in him” (
Psalm 146:6
;
92:15
) (
The
Signs of the Times, December 8, 1890
).
There is a connection between earth and heaven through Christ, the mystic
ladder that Jacob saw in his vision at Bethel. When we were separated from God,
Christ came to reconcile us to the Father. In pitying love He placed His human arm
about the fallen race, and with His divine arm He grasped the throne of the Infinite,
thus connecting finite man with the infinite God; through the plan of salvation we
are united with the agencies of heaven. Through the merits of a crucified and risen
Redeemer, we may look up and see the glory of God shining from heaven to earth.
We should be grateful to God for the plan of salvation. We have been blessed with
many blessings, and in return we should give to God our undivided hearts.
How sad it is that through our indifference to our eternal interests we are far
from Christ.... We do not see the glory of God shining upon every round of the
ladder; we do not climb up by Christ, making advancement in the divine life. If
we did this, we should reflect the image of Christ, have purity of character, and
become like lights in the world. We should constantly behold Him, until we should
be charmed with the graces of His character; then we would not fail to talk of Him
and His love. We should then be in possession of rich blessings which the world
cannot give or take away, and we should lose our relish for sin (
The Signs of the
Times, December 15, 1890
).
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