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Testimonies for the Church Volume 3
for the ransom of man by His own life of suffering, self-denial, and
self-sacrifice, and by His humiliation and final death. He brought help
to man that he might, by following Christ’s example, overcome on his
own account, as Christ has overcome for him.
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy
Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your
own? for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your
body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” “Know ye not that ye are
the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any
man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple
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of God is holy, which temple ye are.” “Be ye not unequally yoked
together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that
believeth with an infidel? and what agreement hath the temple of God
with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I
will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they
shall be My people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be
ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will
receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons
and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”
How graciously and tenderly our heavenly Father deals with His
children! He preserves them from a thousand dangers to them unseen
and guards them from the subtle arts of Satan, lest they should be
destroyed. Because the protecting care of God through His angels is
not seen by our dull vision, we do not try to contemplate and appreciate
the ever-watchful interest that our kind and benevolent Creator has in
the work of His hands; and we are not grateful for the multitude of
mercies that He daily bestows upon us.
The young are ignorant of the many dangers to which they are
daily exposed. They can never fully know them all; but if they are
watchful and prayerful, God will keep their consciences sensitive and
their perceptions clear, that they may discern the workings of the
enemy and be fortified against his attacks. But many of the young
have so long followed their own inclinations that duty is a meaningless
word to them. They do not realize the high and holy duties which they
may have to do for the benefit of others and for the glory of God; and
they utterly neglect to perform them.