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Testimonies for the Church Volume 6
feel such tender sympathy for others that we bestow our benefits and
privileges to relieve their necessities. Getting and holding all that we
can for ourselves tends to poverty of soul. But all the attributes of
Christ await the reception of those who will do the very work that God
has appointed them to do, working in Christ’s lines.
Our Redeemer sends His messengers to bear a testimony to His
people. He says: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man
hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will
sup with him, and he with Me.”
Revelation 3:20
. But many refuse to
receive Him. The Holy Spirit waits to soften and subdue hearts; but
they are not willing to open the door and let the Saviour in, for fear
that He will require something of them. And so Jesus of Nazareth
passes by. He longs to bestow on them the rich blessings of His grace,
but they refuse to accept them. What a terrible thing it is to exclude
Christ from His own temple! What a loss to the church!
* * * * *
Good works cost us a sacrifice, but it is in this very sacrifice that
they provide discipline. These obligations bring us into conflict with
natural feelings and propensities, and in fulfilling them we gain victory
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after victory over the objectionable traits of our characters. The warfare
goes on, and thus we grow in grace. Thus we reflect the likeness of
Christ and are prepared for a place among the blessed in the kingdom
of God.
* * * * *
Blessings, both temporal and spiritual, will accompany those who
impart to the needy that which they receive from the Master. Jesus
worked a miracle to feed the five thousand, a tired, hungry multitude.
He chose a pleasant place in which to accommodate the people and
commanded them to sit down. Then He took the five loaves and
the two small fishes. No doubt many remarks were made as to the
impossibility of satisfying five thousand hungry men, besides women
and children, from that scanty store. But Jesus gave thanks and placed
the food in the hands of the disciples to be distributed. They gave
to the multitude, the food increasing in their hands. And when the