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Selected Messages Book 1
not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they
are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne,
and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not
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fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast
left thy first love” (
Revelation 2:2-4
).
A legal religion has been thought quite the correct religion for this
time. But it is a mistake. The rebuke of Christ to the Pharisees is
applicable to those who have lost from the heart their first love. A
cold, legal religion can never lead souls to Christ; for it is a loveless,
Christless religion. When fastings and prayers are practiced in a self-
justifying spirit, they are abominable to God. The solemn assembly for
worship, the round of religious ceremonies, the external humiliation,
the imposed sacrifice—all proclaim to the world the testimony that
the doer of these things considers himself righteous. These things
call attention to the observer of rigorous duties, saying, This man is
entitled to heaven. But it is all a deception. Works will not buy for us
an entrance into heaven. The one great Offering that has been made
is ample for all who will believe. The love of Christ will animate the
believer with new life. He who drinks from the water of the fountain
of life, will be filled with the new wine of the kingdom. Faith in Christ
will be the means whereby the right spirit and motive will actuate the
believer, and all goodness and heavenly-mindedness will proceed from
him who looks unto Jesus, the author and finisher of his faith. Look up
to God, look not to men. God is your heavenly Father who is willing
patiently to bear with your infirmities, and to forgive and heal them.
“This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (
John 17:3
). By beholding
Christ, you will become changed, until you will hate your former
pride, your former vanity and self-esteem, your self-righteousness and
unbelief. You will cast these sins aside as a worthless burden, and
walk humbly, meekly, trustfully, before God. You will practice love,
patience, gentleness, goodness, mercy, and every grace that dwells in
the child of God, and will at last find a place among the sanctified and
holy.
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