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Keeping Total Dependency on God, June 24
And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of
speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I
determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and
him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in
much trembling.
1 Corinthians 2:1-3
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There will come times when the church will be stirred by divine power,
and earnest activity will be the result; for the life-giving power of the Holy
Spirit will inspire its members to go forth and bring souls to Christ. But when
this activity is manifested, the most earnest workers will be safe only as they
depend upon God through constant, earnest prayer. They will need to make
earnest supplication that through the grace of Christ they may be saved from
taking pride in their work, or of making a savior of their activity. They must
constantly look to Jesus, that they may realize that it is His power which does
the work, and thus be able to ascribe all the glory to God.
We shall be called upon to make most decided efforts to extend the work
of God, and prayer to our heavenly Father will be most essential. It will be
necessary to engage in prayer in the closet, in the family, and in the church.
Our households must be set in order, and earnest efforts must be made to
interest every member of the family in missionary enterprises. We must seek
to engage the sympathies of our children in earnest work for the unsaved, that
they may do their best at all times and in all places to represent Christ.
But let us not forget that as activity increases, and we become successful
in doing the work that must be accomplished, there is danger of our trusting
in human plans and methods. There will be a tendency to pray less, and
to have less faith. We shall be in danger of losing our sense of dependence
upon God, who alone can make our work succeed; but although this is the
tendency, let no one think that the human instrument is to do less. No, he
is not to do less, but to do more by accepting the heavenly gift, the Holy
Spirit. The world in its own wisdom knew not God, and every human power
is naturally, to a greater or less degree, opposed to God. We are to look to
Jesus, and cooperate with heavenly agencies, offering our petitions to the
Father in Jesus’ name.—
The Review and Herald, July 4, 1893
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