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Building Upon the Rock, April 30
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I
will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.
Matthew 7:24
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As you stand here today, and see the defects of your characters in the light
of God’s great moral standard, will you not say, “I will redeem the past; I will
go to work in the Lord’s vineyard”? By living faith will you not grasp the
promises of God, and appropriate Christ’s righteousness, and find the light of
heaven shining in your life? You are to bring Christ into your every thought
and action. A defective link in a chain makes it worthless, and a defect in
your character will unfit you to enter the kingdom of heaven. You must set
everything in order. But you cannot do this great work without divine aid.
Are you ready to accept the promises of God, and to make them your own by
living faith in his immutable word?
You should walk by faith, not by feeling. We do not want a sensational
religion; but we want a religion founded on intelligent faith. This faith plants
its feet on the eternal rock of God’s Word. Those who walk by faith are all the
time seeking for perfection of character by constant obedience to Christ. The
Captain of our salvation has given us His orders, and we are to yield implicit
obedience; but if we close the Book that reveals His will, and do not inquire,
or search, or seek to understand, how can we fulfill its obligation? We shall
be found wanting at last, if we pursue this course....
We are coming to a crisis, and I am in terror for our souls. Why is it that
we find men leaving the faith? Are we in a position where we shall know
what we believe, and shall not be shaken out? That souls leave the truth
should not discourage us in the least, but only make us seek more earnestly
for the blessing of God. It is not the education, or the talents, or the position
of men, that is to save them. We are to be kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation.
How do you stand before God today? The question is not How will you
stand in the day of trouble, or at some future time? but how is it with your
soul today? Will you go to work today? We want a personal, individual
experience today. Today, we want Christ abiding with us.—
The Review and
Herald, April 9, 1889
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