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Testimonies for the Church Volume 7
Our churches in the South are to have a spiritual resurrection. A
great and solemn work is before the members of every church. They
are to come close to Christ in self-denial and self-sacrifice, their one
aim being to give God’s message of mercy to their fellow men. Let
them labor guardedly and with humility, each having respect for the
work of the others. Some can labor in one way and some in another,
as the Lord may call and lead them. But let none mourn that they
cannot glorify God in the use of talents that He has not entrusted to
their keeping. God holds us responsible only for the work that He has
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placed in our hands. One thing all can do: They can avoid making the
work of others unnecessarily hard by criticizing their efforts, putting
stones in front of the car their brethren are trying to push uphill. If
any are unwilling to put their shoulder to the wheel, let them at least
refrain from hindering those who are working. God calls for laborers
who will refuse to discourage their fellow laborers.
As God’s people labor earnestly, humbly, self-sacrificingly, they
will gain the rich reward of which Job speaks: “When the ear heard
me, then it blessed me; ... the blessing of him that was ready to perish
came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.... I was
a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.”
Job 29:11-16
.
The blessing of good works will follow into the eternal world those
who deny self for the sake of their Saviour. When the redeemed stand
around the throne of God, those who have been saved from sin and
degradation will come to those who labored for them, with the words
of greeting: “I was without God and without hope in the world. I was
perishing in corruption and sin. I was starving for physical and for
spiritual food. You came to me in love and pity, and fed and clothed
me. You pointed me to the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of
the world.”
My brethren in the South, be strong, yea, be strong. The hand of
oppression and robbery shall not afflict you if you will exalt the holy
principles of God’s law. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the
Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard for you against him. You are
engaged in an important work, and you are to take heed, to watch and
pray, to make straight paths for your feet, lest the lame be turned out
of the way. Work with an eye single to the glory of God, with a sense
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