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Testimonies for the Church Volume 3
not require laborers to keep their flagging faith alive; but these men
should be impressed with the necessity of laboring in the vineyard.
As long as churches rely upon laborers from abroad to strengthen and
encourage their faith, they will not become strong in themselves. They
should be instructed that their strength will increase in proportion to
their personal efforts. The more closely the New Testament plan is
followed in missionary labor, the more successful will be the efforts
put forth.
We should work as did our divine Teacher, sowing the seeds of
truth with care, anxiety, and self-denial. We must have the mind of
Christ if we would not become weary in well-doing. His was a life
of continual sacrifice for others’ good. We must follow His example.
We must sow the seed of truth and trust in God to quicken it to life.
The precious seed may lie dormant for some time, when the grace of
God may convict the heart and the seed sown be awakened to life and
spring up and bear fruit to the glory of God. Missionaries in this great
work are wanted to labor unselfishly, earnestly, and perseveringly as
co-workers with Christ and the heavenly angels in the salvation of
their fellow men.
Especially should our ministers beware of indolence and pride,
which are apt to grow out of a consciousness that we have the truth
and strong arguments which our opponents cannot meet; and while
the truths which we handle are mighty to the pulling down of the
strongholds of the powers of darkness, there is danger of neglecting
personal piety, purity of heart, and entire consecration to God. There
is danger of their feeling that they are rich and increased with goods,
while they lack the essential qualifications of Christians. They may
be wretched, poor, blind, miserable, and naked. They do not feel the
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necessity of living in obedience to Christ every day and every hour.
Spiritual pride eats out the vitals of religion. In order to preserve
humility, it would be well to remember how we appear in the sight of
a holy God, who reads every secret of the soul, and how we should
appear in the sight of our fellow men if they all knew us as well as God
knows us. For this reason, to humble us, we are directed to confess
our faults, and improve this opportunity to subdue our pride.
Ministers should not neglect physical exercise. They should seek
to make themselves useful and to be a help where they are dependent
upon the hospitalities of others. They should not allow others to wait