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Strong in His Strength, February 21
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it
in the lusts thereof.
Romans 6:12
.
Be constantly learning of Jesus, constantly increasing in faith and growing
in grace and the knowledge of the truth. We are doing a great work, and
the Lord is our Helper, the Lord is our Shield. He will not leave nor forsake
us. Angels of God are engaged in this work of proclaiming the message of
warning for the world. Of ourselves we can do nothing. We are as weak as
water without the Spirit of the Lord. Our strength is in hiding in Jesus. Let
Christ appear as the One altogether lovely, and the chief among ten thousand.
Again, I exhort you to take good care of the habitation which God has
given you. Let not sin reign in your mortal body, and do not waste the physical
powers God has given you, but cherish your strength, putting your whole trust
in a perfect Saviour. He wants you to be victorious and wear a jeweled crown
at last.
Heaven, sweet heaven, is the saint’s eternal home. We shall rest by and by.
Let us then so use our powers as not abusing them, that God may increase and
sanctify them and make them of the highest service. May the Lord come very
near you, ...and give you a strong influence to beat down error and superstition
and the works of Satan.
We may ask of God great things and He will give them us. We shall
be strong in His strength. You will receive opposition from the clergy as
you live up to, and present to others, the high standard of the religion of the
Bible; contempt and jeering, slander and falsehood will follow you. Your
motives, your words, your actions will be misunderstood and misrepresented
and condemned. But, if you pursue the work irrespective of the abuse given
you, if you do right, if you are kind and patient, humble in spirit, happy in
God, you will have influence. You will receive the sympathy of all those who
are honest and reasonable.
Hold forth the Word of life, the tempest of opposition will spend itself
by its own fury and will subside. The clamor will die away.... The harmony
of truth will be seen and will be felt and will be obeyed by the honest and
God-fearing.—
Letter 16, February 21, 1879
, to Elder J. G. Matteson, pioneer
minister in Denmark.
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