Basic HTML Version
Cooperating With the Divine Power, June 6
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:
and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea,
and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Acts 1:8
.
God has determined to leave nothing undone to recover man from the toils
of the enemy.
After
Christ’s ascension, the Holy Spirit was given to man to
assist all who would cooperate with Him in the reshaping and remodeling of
the human character. The Holy Spirit’s part of the work has been defined by
our Saviour. He says, “He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness,
and of judgment” (
John 16:8
). The Holy Spirit is the convicter, and sanctifier
as well.
As none can repent of their sins until they are convicted, the necessity
of uniting the Spirit with us in our labor to reach the fallen is apparent. All
of our human abilities will be exercised in vain unless we are united to the
heavenly intelligences. It is through the lack of knowledge of the vitalizing
truth, and the corrupting influence of error, that men are fallen so low, sunk
in the depths of sinful degradation. Angels and men are to work in harmony
to teach the truth of God to those who are unlearned therein, that they may be
set free from the bonds of sin. It is the truth alone that makes men free. This
liberty, this freedom through the knowledge of the truth, is to be proclaimed
to every creature.
Jesus Christ, God Himself, and the angels of heaven are interested in
this grand and holy work. Man has been given the exalted privilege of
revealing the divine character by unselfishly engaging in the effort to rescue
man from the pit of ruin into which he has been plunged. Every human being
who will submit to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit is to be used for the
accomplishment of this divinely conceived purpose. Christ is the head of His
church, and it will glorify Him the more to have every portion of that church
engaged in the work for the salvation of souls.
But the human workers need to leave more room for the Holy Spirit
to work, that the laborers may be bound together, and move forward in
the strength of a united body of soldiers. Let all remember that we are “a
spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men” (
1 Corinthians 4:9
).—
(Australasian) Union Conference Record, April 1, 1898
.
[167]
171