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As God Pleases, November 10
Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and
knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that
we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our
witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall
ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
John 3:9-12
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At infinite cost provision has been made for men to reach perfection of
Christian character. Those who have been impressed by the Holy Scriptures
as the voice of God, and desire to follow its teachings, are to be daily learning,
daily receiving spiritual fervor and power, which have been provided for every
true believer in the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is a free, working, independent agency. The God of
heaven uses His Spirit as it pleases Him: and human minds, human judgment,
and human methods can no more set boundaries to its working, or prescribe
the channel through which it shall operate, than they can say to the wind, “I
bid you to blow in a certain direction, and to conduct yourself in such and
such a manner.” As the wind moves in its force, bending and breaking the
lofty trees in its path, so the Holy Spirit influences human hearts, and no finite
man can circumscribe its work....
Nicodemus was not willing to admit the truth, because he could not
understand all that was connected with the operation of the power of God;
and yet he accepted the facts of nature, although he could not explain or even
comprehend them. Like other men of all ages, he was looking to forms and
precise ceremonies as more essential to religion than the deep movings of the
Spirit of God....
The fountain of the heart must be purified before the streams can become
pure. There is no safety for one who has merely a legal religion, a form of
godliness. The Christian’s life is not a modification or improvement of the old
life, but a transformation of the nature. There is a death to sin and self, and a
new life altogether. This change can be brought about only by the effectual
working of the Holy Spirit.—
The Signs of the Times, March 8, 1910
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