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Testimonies for the Church Volume 6
He declares: “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words
of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for
the time is at hand.”
Revelation 1:9, 10, 1-3
. This is the education that
is to be patiently given. Let our lessons be appropriate for the day in
which we live, and let our religious instruction be given in accordance
with the messages God sends.
We shall have to stand before magistrates to answer for our alle-
giance to the law of God, to make known the reasons of our faith. And
the youth should understand these things. They should know the things
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that will come to pass before the closing up of the world’s history.
These things concern our eternal welfare, and teachers and students
should give more attention to them. By pen and voice, knowledge
should be imparted which will be meat in due season, not only to the
young, but to those of mature years also.
We are living in the closing scenes of these perilous times. The
Lord foresaw the unbelief that now prevails respecting His coming;
and again and again He has given warning in His word that this event
will be unexpected. The great day will come as a snare “on all them
that dwell on the face of the whole earth.”
Luke 21:35
. But there are
two classes. To one the apostle gives these encouraging words: “Ye,
brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a
thief.”
1 Thessalonians 5:4
. Some will be ready when the Bridegroom
comes, and will go in with Him to the marriage. How precious is
this thought to those who are waiting and watching for His appear-
ing! Christ “loved the church, and gave Himself for it; that He might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that
He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot,
or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without
blemish.”
Ephesians 5:25-27
. Those whom God loves enjoy this favor
because they are lovely in character.
The great, grand work of bringing out a people who will have
Christlike characters, and who will be able to stand in the day of the
Lord, is to be accomplished. As long as we sail with the current of
the world we need neither canvas nor oar. It is when we turn squarely
about to stem the current that our labors begin. Satan will bring in
every kind of theory to pervert the truth. The work will go hard, for
since the fall of Adam it has been the fashion of the world to sin. But
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Christ is on the field of action. The Holy Spirit is at work. Divine