30
Christian Service
Among those to whom the Saviour had given the commission,
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,” were many from the humbler
walks of life,—men and women who had learned to love their Lord,
and who had determined to follow His example of unselfish service.
To these lowly ones, as well as to the disciples who had been with the
Saviour during His earthly ministry, had been given a precious trust.
They were to carry to the world the glad tidings of salvation through
Christ.—
The Acts of the Apostles, 105, 106
.
[26]
The Life That Wins
It is not only by preaching the truth, not only by distributing litera-
ture, that we are to witness for God. Let us remember that a Christlike
life is the most powerful argument that can be advanced in favor of
Christianity, and that a cheap Christian character works more harm
in the world than the character of a worldling.—
Testimonies for the
Church 9:21
.
Not all the books written can serve the purpose of a holy life. Men
will believe, not what the minister preaches, but what the church lives.
Too often the influence of the sermon preached from the pulpit is
counteracted by the sermon preached in the lives of those who claim
to be advocates of truth.—
Testimonies for the Church 9:21
.
The life of Christ was an ever-widening, shoreless influence, an
influence that bound Him to God and to the whole human family.
Through Christ, God has invested man with an influence that makes it
impossible for him to live to himself. Individually we are connected
with our fellow men, a part of God’s great whole, and we stand under
mutual obligations. No man can be independent of his fellow men;
for the well-being of each affects others. It is God’s purpose that each
shall feel himself necessary to others’ welfare, and seek to promote
their happiness.—
Christ’s Object Lessons, 339
.
The religion of the Bible is not to be confined between the covers
of a book, nor within the walls of a church. It is not to be brought out
occasionally for our own benefit, and then to be carefully laid aside
again. It is to sanctify the daily life, to manifest itself in every business
transaction and in all our social relations.—
The Desire of Ages, 306,
307
.