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Testimonies for the Church Volume 6
God’s people are to be channels for the outworking of the highest
influence in the universe. In Zechariah’s vision the two olive trees
which stand before God are represented as emptying the golden oil
out of themselves through golden tubes into the bowl of the sanctuary.
From this the lamps of the sanctuary are fed, that they may give a
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continuous bright and shining light. So from the anointed ones that
stand in God’s presence the fullness of divine light and love and power
is imparted to His people, that they may impart to others light and joy
and refreshing. They are to become channels through which divine
instrumentalities communicate to the world the tide of God’s love.
The purpose which God seeks to accomplish through His people
today is the same that He desired to accomplish through Israel when
He brought them forth out of Egypt. By beholding the goodness, the
mercy, the justice, and the love of God revealed in the church, the
world is to have a representation of His character. And when the law
of God is thus exemplified in the life, even the world will recognize
the superiority of those who love and fear and serve God above every
other people on the earth. The Lord has His eye upon every one of His
people; He has His plans concerning each. It is His purpose that those
who practice His holy precepts shall be a distinguished people. To
the people of God today as well as to ancient Israel belong the words
written by Moses through the Spirit of Inspiration: “Thou art an holy
people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee
to be a special people unto Himself, above all people that are upon
the face of the earth.”
Deuteronomy 7:6
.“Behold, I have taught you
statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that
ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore
and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the
sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely
this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation
is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our
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God is in all things that we call upon Him for? And what nation is
there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this
law, which I set before you this day?”
Deuteronomy 4:5-8
.
Even these words fail of expressing the greatness and the glory
of God’s purpose to be accomplished through His people. Not to this
world only but to the universe are we to make manifest the principles
of His kingdom. The apostle Paul, writing by the Holy Spirit, says: