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The Compassionate Christian, May 14
The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
John 14:30
.
In all His habits of life, the Saviour gave an example of what God designs
His church on earth to be. Tell this to the people. Christ desires to present
His church before the Father without spot or blemish.
From His earliest years the Saviour’s life was one of poverty. His child-
hood days were spent in toil. Working at the carpenter’s bench, bearing the
burdens that came to Him as a member of the family, He often became weary.
He lived in a corrupt age. Yet He was uncorrupted by the evil that surrounded
Him, uninfluenced by the characters of those who were artificial and wicked.
In the open fields and amid the scenes of nature He found rest from toil and
food for spiritual life. Looking beneath the surface, He gathered knowledge
from the mysteries of nature that filled Him with peace and joy.
During the years of His public ministry, the Saviour was continually
watched by crafty and hypocritical men. Spies were continually upon His
track to catch something from His lips which they could use to create prejudice
against Him. Again and again they tried to make Him appear guilty of wrong.
There were occasions when they laid traps for Him by presenting to Him
questions, the answers to which they hoped to use to cause His condemnation
by the people. But at every attempt they were compelled to retire from
the field confounded; their actions were revealed in their true light by the
answers of Christ. The Saviour’s discourses presented a power of truth to
the multitudes who listened. Even the men who were sent to spy upon His
actions were forced to return with the report to those who sent them, “Never
man spake like this man” (
John 7:46
)....
Let your conversation be with grace, for Christ is listening to the words
you speak. Let compassion for one another be blended with all you say, then
you will reveal the character of Christ. The manners of Christ were gentle
and unassuming. As His followers we are to partake of His nature. We need
to be daily learners of the great Teacher, that the atmosphere surrounding the
soul may be filled with spiritual life.—
Letter 158, May 14, 1908
, to Edson
White.
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