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Testimonies for the Church Volume 4
It should be the first work of all connected with this institution
to be right before God themselves, and then to stand in the strength
of Christ, unaffected by the wrong influences to which they will be
exposed. If they make the broad principles of the word of God the
foundation of the character, they may stand wherever the Lord in His
providence may call them, surrounded by any deleterious influence,
and yet not be swayed from the path of right.
Many fail where they should be successful, because they do not
realize how great is the influence of their words and actions. They are
affected by circumstances, and seem to think that their lives are their
own, and that they may pursue whatever course seems most agreeable
to themselves, irrespective of others. Such persons will be found
self-sufficient and unreliable. They do not prayerfully consider their
position and their responsibilities, and fail to realize that only by a
faithful discharge of the duties of the present life can they hope to win
the future, immortal life.
If these persons would make the word of God their study and their
guide, they would see that no man “liveth to himself.” They would
learn from the Inspired Record that God has placed a high value upon
the human family. The works of His creation upon each successive
day were called good; but man, formed in the image of his Creator,
was pronounced “very good.” No other creature that God has made
has called forth such exhibitions of His love. And when all was lost by
sin, God gave His dear Son to redeem the fallen race. It was His will
that they should not perish in their sins, but live to use their powers in
blessing the world and honoring their Creator. Professed Christians
who do not live to benefit others, follow their own perverse will rather
than the will of God, and they will be called to account by the Master
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for their abuse of the blessings which He has given them.
Jesus, heaven’s great Commander, left the royal courts to come to
a world seared and marred by the curse. He took upon Himself our
nature, that with His human arm He might encircle the race, while
with His divine arm He grasps Omnipotence, and thus links finite man
to the infinite God. Our Redeemer came to the world to show how
man should live in order to secure immortal life. Our heavenly Father
made an infinite sacrifice in giving His Son to die for fallen man. The
price paid for our redemption should give us exalted views of what we
may become through Christ.