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Testimonies for the Church Volume 5
Many are not sensible of their condition and their danger; and there
is much in the nature and manner of Christ’s work averse to every
worldly principle and opposed to the pride of the human heart. Jesus
requires us to trust ourselves wholly to His hands and confide in His
love and wisdom.
We may flatter ourselves, as did Nicodemus, that our moral char-
acter has been correct and we need not humble ourselves before God
like the common sinner. But we must be content to enter into life in
the very same way as the chief of sinners. We must renounce our own
righteousness and plead for the righteousness of Christ to be imputed
to us. We must depend wholly upon Christ for our strength. Self must
die. We must acknowledge that all we have is from the exceeding
riches of divine grace. Let this be the language of our hearts: “Not
unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy
mercy, and for Thy truth’s sake.”
Genuine faith is followed by love, and love by obedience. All
the powers and passions of the converted man are brought under the
control of Christ. His Spirit is a renewing power, transforming to
the divine image all who will receive it. It makes me sad to say that
this experience is understood by but few who profess the truth. Very
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many follow on in their own ways and indulge their sinful desires
and yet profess to be disciples of Christ. They have never submitted
their hearts to God. Like the foolish virgins they have neglected to
obtain the oil of grace in their vessels with their lamps. I tell you,
my brethren, that a large number who profess to believe and even
to teach the truth are under the bondage of sin. Base passions defile
the mind and corrupt the soul. Some who are in the vilest iniquity
have borrowed the livery of heaven, that they may serve Satan more
effectively.
“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.” He feels that he
is the purchase of the blood of Christ and bound by the most solemn
vows to glorify God in his body and in his spirit, which are God’s.
The love of sin and the love of self are subdued in him. He daily asks:
“What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?”
“Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” The true Christian will never
complain that the yoke of Christ is galling to the neck. He accounts the
service of Jesus as the truest freedom. The law of God is his delight.
Instead of seeking to bring down the divine commands, to accord with