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A Royal Name, October 4
If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify
God on this behalf.
1 Peter 4:16
.
God has instructed me to say to His people, ministers and lay members, “Take
your stand on higher ground. Move steadily onward and upward in the path that
Jesus trod. Do not trust in your own opinions. Sanctification through the truth
is your only safety.” The Lord God of Israel would have His people stand in His
strength, and in His might, receiving to impart. He will uphold and sustain those
who serve Him with mind and heart and strength.
We need to understand what it means to put on Christ, what it means to have an
experimental knowledge of the grace of Christ, and a continually increasing faith.
Speaking of the mystery “which from the beginning of the world hath been hid
in God,” Paul says, “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace
given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery ... : to the intent that
now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be made known
by the church the manifold wisdom of God.” Not only to those living in this world,
but to the principalities and powers in heavenly places is the church on this earth to
reveal the glory of God.
God chose from among the Gentiles a people for Himself, and gave to them
the name of Christian. This is a royal name, given to those who join themselves to
Christ.... Peter says: “If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but
let him glorify God on this behalf”....
O that God’s people would take Him at His word, and lay hold of the wonderful
treasure of knowledge opened to them! ...
We have before us the highest, holiest example. In thought, word, and deed
Jesus was sinless. Perfection marked all that He did. He points us to the path that
He trod, saying, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up
his cross, and follow me.”
We have a perfect rule—the Word of the living God. This Word He has given us
as our guide and counselor. The psalmist says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart,
that I might not sin against thee”....
Christians, those who are to represent God in the world, are not to seek for
doctrines that are new and strange. They are not to pry into the mysteries of the
future life. Their part is to make their life in this world such as God can approve
(
The Review and Herald, April 26, 1906
).
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