Winning Families
To Pray and Study With Families—While the minds of many
are stirred and convicted of the truth, the interest should be followed
up by wise, earnest, and persevering labor.... The call is for men who
will go forth imbued with the Spirit of Christ, and work for souls. The
minister should not confine his labors to the desk, nor should he settle
down in some pleasant home among the brethren. He must watch
for souls. He must visit the people at their homes, and by personal
efforts seek to impress the truth upon hearts and consciences. He must
pray with families and hold Bible readings with them. While with
tact and wisdom he urges home upon his fellow men their duty to
obey the Word of God, his daily intercourse with them should reveal
whatever in his character is good and pure, excellent and lovely, kind
and courteous.
In the messages of the first and second angels, the work was done
in this manner. Men and women were moved to search the Scriptures,
and they called the attention of others to the truths revealed. It was
personal labor for individuals and families that gave these messages
their wonderful success.—
The Review and Herald, January 27, 1885
.
Some Families Reached Only Within Homes—There are fami-
lies who will never be reached by the truth of God’s Word unless His
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servants enter their homes, and by earnest ministry, sanctified by the
indorsement of the Holy Spirit, break down the barriers. As the people
see that these workers are messengers of mercy, the ministers of grace,
they are ready to listen to the words spoken by them....
When such a worker offers prayer to God in the family where he
is visiting, the hearts of the members are touched as they would not
be by prayer offered in a public assembly. Angels of God enter the
family circle with him; and the minds of the hearers are prepared to
receive the Word of God: for if the messenger is humble and contrite,
if he has a living connection with God, the Holy Spirit takes the Word,
and shows it to those for whom he is laboring....
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