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Testimonies for the Church Volume 6
he is dedicated to God, to Christ, and to the Holy Spirit. He is to make
all worldly considerations secondary to this new relation. Publicly he
has declared that he will no longer live in pride and self-indulgence. He
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is no longer to live a careless, indifferent life. He has made a covenant
with God. He has died to the world. He is to live to the Lord, to use
for Him all his entrusted capabilities, never losing the realization that
he bears God’s signature, that he is a subject of Christ’s kingdom, a
partaker of the divine nature. He is to surrender to God all that he is
and all that he has, employing all his gifts to His name’s glory.
The obligations in the spiritual agreement entered into at baptism
are mutual. As human beings act their part with wholehearted obe-
dience, they have a right to pray: “Let it be known, Lord, that Thou
art God in Israel.” The fact that you have been baptized in the name
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is an assurance that, if you
will claim Their help, these powers will help you in every emergency.
The Lord will hear and answer the prayers of His sincere followers
who wear Christ’s yoke and learn in His school His meekness and
lowliness.
“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on
things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life
is hid with Christ in God.”
Colossians 3:1-3
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“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels
of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering;
forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a
quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And
above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are
called in one body; and be ye thankful.... And whatsoever ye do in
word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to
God and the Father by Him.”
Verses 12-17
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