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The Publishing Ministry
recognized as such in the great hereafter.—
Testimonies for the Church
6:305-307
.
Seeing the Results of a Lifework—Moses renounced a prospec-
tive kingdom, Paul the advantages of wealth and honor among his
people, for a life of burden bearing in God’s service. To many the
life of these men appears one of renunciation and sacrifice. Was it
really so? Moses counted the reproach of Christ greater riches than the
treasures in Egypt. He counted it so because it was so. Paul declared:
“What things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ.
Yea, verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss
of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ.”
Philippians 3:7, 8
, R.V., margin. He was satisfied with his choice.
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Moses was offered the palace of the Pharaohs and the monarch’s
throne; but the sinful pleasures that make men forget God were in
those lordly courts, and he chose instead the “durable riches and
righteousness.”
Proverbs 8:18
. Instead of linking himself with the
greatness of Egypt, he chose to bind up his life with God’s purpose.
Instead of giving laws to Egypt, he by divine direction enacted laws
for the world. He became God’s instrument in giving to men those
principles that are the safeguard alike of the home and of society, that
are the cornerstone of the prosperity of nations—principles recognized
today by the world’s greatest men as the foundation of all that is best
in human governments.
The greatness of Egypt is in the dust. Its power and civilization
have passed away. But the work of Moses can never perish. The great
principles of righteousness which he lived to establish are eternal....
Who can measure the results to the world of Paul’s lifework? Of
all those beneficent influences that alleviate suffering, that comfort
sorrow, that restrain evil, that uplift life from the selfish and the sensual,
and glorify it with the hope of immortality, how much is due to the
labors of Paul and his fellow workers, as with the gospel of the Son
of God they made their unnoticed journey from Asia to the shores of
Europe?
What is it worth to any life to have been God’s instrument in setting
in motion such influences of blessing? What will it be worth in eternity
to witness the results of such a lifework?—
Education, 68-70
.