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The Power of God’s Love, September 22
Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come
unto thee.
Job 22:21
.
Said Jesus: “The Father himself loveth you.” If our faith is fixed upon God,
through Christ, it will prove “as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and
which entereth into that within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered.”
It is true that disappointments will come; tribulation we must expect; but we are
to commit everything, great and small, to God. He does not become perplexed by
the multiplicity of our grievances nor overpowered by the weight of our burdens.
His watchcare extends to every household and enriches every individual; He is
concerned in all our business and our sorrows. He marks every tear; He is touched
with the feeling of our infirmities. All the afflictions and trials that befall us here are
permitted, to work out His purposes of love toward us, “that we might be partakers
of his holiness,” and thus become participants in that fullness of joy which is found
in His presence....
The Bible in strongest terms sets before us the importance of obtaining a knowl-
edge of God. Says Peter: “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the
knowledge of God
, and of Jesus our Lord.” “His divine power hath given unto us
all things
that pertain unto life and godliness,
through the knowledge of him
that
hath called us to glory and virtue.” And the Scripture bids us: “Acquaint now thyself
with him, and be at peace.”
God has commanded us, “Ye shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy”;
and an inspired apostle declares that without holiness “no man shall see the Lord.”
Holiness is agreement with God. By sin the image of God in man has been marred
and well-nigh obliterated; it is the work of the gospel to restore that which has been
lost; and we are to cooperate with the divine agency in this work. And how can we
come into harmony with God, how shall we receive His likeness, unless we obtain a
knowledge of Him? It is this knowledge that Christ came into the world to reveal
unto us.
The meager views which so many have had of the exalted character and office
of Christ have narrowed their religious experience and have greatly hindered their
progress in the divine life. Personal religion among us as a people is at a low ebb.
There is much form, much machinery, much tongue religion; but something deeper
and more solid must be brought into our religious experience.... What we need is
to know God and the power of His love, as revealed in Christ, by an experimental
knowledge. We must search the Scriptures diligently, prayerfully; our understanding
must be quickened by the Holy Spirit, and our hearts must be uplifted to God in
faith and hope and continual praise (
Testimonies for the Church 5:742-744
).
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