Faithful Under-Shepherd
343
The mind must not be left to dwell at random upon every subject
that the enemy of souls may suggest. The heart must be faithfully
sentineled, or evils without will awaken evils within, and the soul will
wander in darkness. “Gird up the loins of your mind,” Peter wrote,
“be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto
you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ... not fashioning yourselves
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according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as He which hath
called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because
it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
“Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: forasmuch as ye
know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and
gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb without
blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the
foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
who by Him do believe in God, that raised Him up from the dead, and
gave Him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.”
Had silver and gold been sufficient to purchase the salvation of
men, how easily might it have been accomplished by Him who says,
“The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine.”
Haggai 2:8
. But only by the
precious blood of the Son of God could the transgressor be redeemed.
The plan of salvation was laid in sacrifice. The apostle Paul wrote,
“Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich,
yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might
be rich.”
2 Corinthians 8:9
. Christ gave Himself for us that He might
redeem us from all iniquity. And as the crowning blessing of salvation,
“the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans
6:23
.
“Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through
the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren,“ Peter continued, “see
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that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.” The word of
God—the truth—is the channel through which the Lord manifests His
Spirit and power. Obedience to the word produces fruit of the required
quality—“unfeigned love of the brethren.” This love is heaven-born
and leads to high motives and unselfish actions.
When truth becomes an abiding principle in the life, the soul is
“born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word
of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” This new birth is the result