Meeting of the Brethren
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that religion and duty are not dreary sentimentalisms, but earnest
action. It is not the great services and lofty aspirations which receive
the approval of God, but the love and consecration through which the
service is performed, be it great or little. Storms of opposition and
rebuffs are God’s providences to drive us under the shelter of his wing.
When the cloud envelops us, his voice is heard: “Peace I leave with
you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto
you.”
The act of Christ in breathing upon his disciples the Holy Ghost,
and in imparting his peace to them, was as a few drops before the
plentiful shower to be given on the day of Pentecost. Jesus impressed
this fact upon his disciples, that as they should proceed in the work
intrusted to them, they would the more fully comprehend the nature of
that work, and the manner in which the kingdom of Christ was to be
set up on earth. They were appointed to be witnesses for the Saviour;
they were to testify what they had seen and heard of his resurrection;
they were to repeat the gracious words which proceeded from his lips.
They were acquainted with his holy character; he was as an angel
standing in the sun, yet casting no shadow. It was the sacred work of
the apostles to present the spotless character of Christ to men, as the
standard for their lives. The disciples had been so intimately associated
with this Pattern of holiness that they were in some degree assimilated
to him in character, and were specially fitted to make known to the
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world his precepts and example.
The more that the minister of Christ associates with his Master,
through contemplation of his life and character, the more closely will
he resemble him, and the better qualified will he be to teach his truths.
Every feature in the life of the great Example should be studied with
care, and close converse should be held with him through the prayer of
living faith. Thus will the defective human character be transformed
into the image of his glorious character. Thus will the teacher of the
truth be prepared to lead souls to Christ.
Jesus, in giving the disciples their first commission, had said, “I
will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever
thou [referring to responsible men who should represent his church]
shalt bind upon earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatsoever thou
shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” In renewing the com-
mission of those to whom he had imparted the Holy Ghost, he said,