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Chapter 17
193
to the understanding and to the conscience. The word is a two-edged
sword, that cuts both ways. It does not tread as with soft, slippered
feet.
There are many cases where men who have defended Christianity
against skeptics have afterward lost their own souls in the mazes of
skepticism. They caught the malaria, and died spiritually. They had
strong arguments for the truth, and much outside evidence, but they
did not have an abiding faith in Christ. O, there are thousands upon
thousands of professed Christians who never study the Bible! Study
the sacred Word prayerfully, for your own soul’s benefit. When you
hear the word of the living preacher, if he has a living connection
with God, you will find that the Spirit and the word agree.
The Old and New Testaments are linked together by the golden
clasp of God. We need to become familiar with the Old Testament
Scriptures. The unchangeableness of God should be clearly seen; the
similarity of His dealings with His people of the past dispensation
and of the present, should be studied....
By the work of the Holy Spirit the truth is riveted in the mind
and printed in the heart of the diligent, God-fearing student. And
[1148]
not only is he blessed by this kind of labor; the souls to whom he
communicates truth, and for whom he must one day give an account,
are also greatly blessed. Those who make God their counselor
reap the most precious harvest as they gather the golden grains of
truth from His Word; for the heavenly Instructor is close by their
side. He who obtains his qualification for the ministry in this way
will be entitled to the blessing promised to him who turns many to
righteousness (
The Review and Herald, April 20, 1897
).
20, 21 (
Matthew 25:14, 15
;
Mark 13:34
). Unity in Diver-
sity
—[
John 17:20, 21
quoted.] What kind of unity is spoken of
in these words?—Unity in diversity. Our minds do not all run in
the same channel, and we have not all been given the same work.
God has given to every man his work according to his several abil-
ity. There are different kinds of work to be done, and workers of
varied capabilities are needed. If our hearts are humble, if we have
learned in the school of Christ to be meek and lowly, we may all
press together in the narrow path marked out for us (
Manuscript 52,
1904
).