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Testimonies for the Church Volume 4
state by the prophet Nathan made David acquainted with his own sins
and aided him to put them away. He accepted counsel meekly and
humiliated himself before God. “The law of the Lord,” he exclaims,
“is perfect, converting the soul.”
Repentant sinners have no cause to despair because they are re-
minded of their transgressions and warned of their danger. These very
efforts in their behalf show how much God loves them and desires
to save them. They have only to follow His counsel and do His will,
to inherit eternal life. God sets the sins of His erring people before
them, that they may behold them in all their enormity under the light
of divine truth. It is then their duty to renounce them forever.
God is as powerful to save from sin today as He was in the times
of the patriarchs, of David, and of the prophets and apostles. The
multitude of cases recorded in sacred history where God has delivered
His people from their own iniquities should make the Christian of
this time eager to receive divine instruction and zealous to perfect a
character that will bear the close inspection of the judgment.
Bible history stays the fainting heart with the hope of God’s mercy.
We need not despair when we see that others have struggled through
discouragements like our own, have fallen into temptations even as
we have done, and yet have recovered their ground and been blessed
of God. The words of inspiration comfort and cheer the erring soul.
Although the patriarchs and apostles were subject to human frailties,
yet through faith they obtained a good report, fought their battles in
the strength of the Lord, and conquered gloriously. Thus may we trust
in the virtue of the atoning sacrifice and be overcomers in the name of
Jesus. Humanity is humanity the world over from the time of Adam
down to the present generation, and the love of God through all ages
is without a parallel.
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