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Testimonies for the Church Volume 9
Carry forward your work in humility. Never rise above the
simplicity of the gospel of Christ. Not in the art of display, but in
lifting up Christ, the sin-pardoning Redeemer, will you find success
in winning souls. As you work for God in humility and lowliness of
heart, He will manifest Himself to you.
By the use of charts, symbols, and representations of various
kinds the minister can make the truth stand out clearly and distinctly.
This is a help, and in harmony with the word of God; but when
the worker makes his labors so expensive that others are unable to
secure from the treasury sufficient means to support them in the
field, he is not working in harmony with God’s plan. The work in
the large cities is to be done after Christ’s order, not after the order
of a theatrical performance. It is not a theatrical performance that
glorifies God, but the presentation of the truth in the love of Christ.
Do not divest the truth of its dignity and impressiveness by
preliminaries that are more after the order of the world than after the
order of heaven. Let your hearers understand that you hold meetings,
not to charm their senses with music and other things, but to preach
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the truth in all its solemnity, that it may come to them as a warning,
arousing them from their deathlike sleep of self-indulgence. It is the
naked truth that like a sharp, two-edged sword cuts both ways. It is
this that will arouse those who are dead in trespasses and sins.
He who gave His life to save men and women from idolatry
and self-indulgence left an example to be followed by all who take
up the work of presenting the gospel to others. God’s servants in
this age have been given most solemn truths to proclaim, and their
actions and methods and plans must correspond to the importance of
their message. If you are presenting the word in Christ’s way, your
audience will be deeply impressed with the truths you teach. The
conviction will come to them that this is the word of the living God.
Formality In Worship
In their efforts to reach the people, the Lord’s messengers are not
to follow the ways of the world. In the meetings that are held, they
are not to depend on worldly singers and theatrical display to awaken
an interest. How can those who have no interest in the word of God,
who have never read His word with a sincere desire to understand