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True Love Cannot Be Hidden, April 22
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Matthew 7:20
.
The law of God is the transcript of His character. Those who profess to keep
this law, but who fail to show that they love God with heart, mind, and strength,
who do not devote themselves unreservedly to His service, [and who] keep neither
the first four commandments, which enjoin supreme love for God, nor the last six,
which enjoin unselfish love for one another, are not obedient children. “By their
fruits ye shall know them.”
True love for God will always manifest itself. It cannot be hidden. Those who
keep God’s commandments in truth will reveal the same love that Christ revealed
for His Father and for His fellow men. He in whose heart Christ abides will reveal
Christ in the character, in his work in behalf of those of the household of faith,
and in behalf of those who need to be brought to a knowledge of the truth. He is
ever to show by good works the fruit of his faith, revealing Christ by loving words
and deeds of mercy....
The doing of the law of God is the fruit of His grace in the heart. Obeying
this law, we daily remember that God is the giver of all that we hold in trust. He
provides us with all we have. It is because of His mercy and love that we have
strength to labor. He opens ways by which we may gain earthly treasure, not that
self may be exalted, not that the treasure obtained may be hoarded up, but that
God’s name may be glorified, that the needy may be helped, that God’s treasury
may be provided with that which He claims in gifts and offerings, that the work
of raising the standard of truth in the regions beyond may not languish, but move
forward and upward.
Upon all who consecrate themselves to God as laborers together with Him is
laid the responsibility of guarding the interests of His cause and work. They are
to live the truth which they claim to believe. They are to keep Christ constantly
before them as their Pattern, and by their good works cause praise to flow forth
from hearts hungering and thirsting for the Bread of Life. Not only are they to
minister to the spiritual need of those they are seeking to win for Christ, [but]
they are to supply their temporal necessities. This work of mercy and love is ever
presenting itself, and by faithfully doing it, God’s servants are to show what the
truth has done for them. They are to be faithful stewards, not only of gospel truth,
but of all the blessings God has given them. Not only are they to speak words of
sympathy, [but] by their deeds they are to demonstrate the reality of their sympathy
and love.—
Manuscript 20, 1900
. Written April 22, 1894, untitled manuscript.
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