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in Their Foreheads and Clothed with the Wedding Garment "Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." "The church is the bride, the Lamb's wife. . . . Every true believer is a part of the body of Christ." "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." Rev. "It is the righteousness of Christ, His own unblemished character, that through faith is imparted to all who receive Him as their personal Saviour." "The only hope of any man lies through Jesus Christ who brought the robe of His righteousness to put upon the sinner who would lay off his filthy garments. There are very many who cling to their filthy garments, which Christ stands ready to remove, choosing the spots and stains of sin rather than the pure robe of Christ's righteousness. The pure and holy garments are not prepared to be put on by any one after he has entered the gate of the city. All who enter will have on the robe of Christ's righteousness and the name of God will be seen in their foreheads. This name is the symbol which the apostle saw in vision, and signifies the yielding of the mind to intelligent and loyal obedience to all of God's commandments. There will be no covering up of sins and faults to hide the deformity of character; no robes will be half washed; but all will be pure and spotless." "God requires perfection of His children. His law is a transcript of His character, and it is the standard of all character. The life of Christ on earth was a perfect expression of God's law, and when those who claim to be children of God become Christlike in character, they will be obedient to God's commandments. Then the Lord can trust them to be of the number who shall compose the family of heaven. Clothed in the glorious apparel of Christ's righteousness, they have a place at the King's feast. They have a right to join the blood-washed throng." "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness." Some say that the fountain is just for the final generation, but that is a deception. The fountain was available as soon as sin entered. The blood of Jesus must cleanse all sinners who will be saved. "A remedy has been provided for the sinner. A fountain has been opened for uncleanness, . . . Jesus draws us to Himself through the agency of His divine Spirit; and through faith in His blood we are cleansed from sin; 'for the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.' 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.'" "Christ is able to save to the uttermost all who come to Him in faith. He will cleanse them from all defilement if they will let Him. But if they cling to their sins, they cannot possibly be saved; for Christ's righteousness covers no sin unrepented of." "The robe of your character must be washed till it is spotless, in the fountain opened for all uncleanness. Your moral worth will be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, and if you are found wanting, you will be at an eternal loss. . . . "If you have not laid aside your envy, your jealousies, your hatred one against another, you cannot enter into the kingdom of God. You would only carry the same disposition with you; but there will be nothing of this character in the world to come. Nothing will exist there but love and joy and harmony."
"Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out." "True repentance will lead a man to bear his guilt himself and ack-nowledge it without deception or hypocrisy." "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." "Those who have not humbled their souls before God in acknowledging their guilt, have not yet fulfilled the first condition of acceptance. If we have not experienced that repentance which is not to be repented of, and have not with true humiliation of soul and brokenness of spirit confessed our sins, abhorring our iniquity, we have never truly sought for forgiveness of sin; and if we have never sought, we have never found the peace of God. The only reason why we do not have remission of sins that are past is that we are not willing to humble our hearts and comply with the conditions of the word of truth." "I cannot make preparation for you. I cannot repent for you. This is a work between God and your soul. If you are defiled in heart, you must go to Him who can cleanse you from all unrighteousness. You must seek God. You must have the soul temple purified, if you would have the blessing of the Father rest upon you." "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." "Jesus invites us to accept His presence; we are to open the door of the heart, and let Him in. But He will not share a divided heart. If it be given to the service of mammon, if selfishness and pride fill its chambers, there will be no room for the heavenly Guest; He will not take up His abode with us until the soul-temple has been emptied and cleansed. Yet there is no need of making a failure in the Christian life. Jesus is waiting to do a great work for us, and all heaven is interested in our salvation." "I saw that many were fair in their profession, while within is corruption. Deceive not yourselves, . . . God looks at the heart." "The heart in its natural state is a habitation for unholy thoughts and sinful passions. When brought into subjection to Christ, it must be cleansed by the Holy Spirit from all defilement. This cannot be done without the consent of the individual." "If we ask Him, the Lord will give us the Holy Spirit to cleanse the habitation of the soul; for every room of the temple of God must be entered and purified." "Not one nook or corner of the soul is to be a hiding place for selfishness." "Humble yourselves before God, and make an earnest effort to empty the soul temple of all rubbish - all envyings, all jealousies, all suspicions, all faultfindings." "With fasting and earnest prayer, with deep heart-searching, stern self-examination, lay bare the soul." "Professors of religion are not willing to closely examine themselves to see whether they are in the faith; and it is a sad fact that many are leaning on a false hope." "The unsanctified heart is 'deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.' I was shown that many are flattering themselves that they are good Christians, who have not a ray of light from Jesus. They have not a living experience for themselves in the divine life." "One ray of the glory of God, one gleam of the purity of Christ, penetrating the soul, makes every spot of defilement painfully distinct, and lays bare the deformity and defects of the human character." "God's eye does not slumber. He knows every sin that is hidden from mortal eye. The guilty know just what sins to confess that their souls may be clean before God. Jesus is now giving them opportunity to confess, to repent in deep humility, and purify their lives by obeying and living out the truth. Now is the time for wrongs to be righted and sins to be confessed, or they will appear before the sinner in the day of God's wrath." "For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither anything hid, that shall not be known." "All your acts, however secret you may think they have been, are open to your heavenly Father. Nothing is hidden, nothing covered. All your acts and the motives which prompt them are open to His sight." "The law penetrates to the thoughts and intents of the heart. It searches out the dark passions indulged in secret, the jealousies, envyings, theft, murder, malignity, ambition, and evil that lurk hidden from the eyes of men. How often do men exalt those in whose hearts are dark things that for want of opportunity to display themselves are kept from sight. But God's law registers all hidden evil." "That which Satan plants in the heart - envy, jealousy, evil-surmising, evil speaking, impatience, prejudice, selfishness, covetousness, and vanity - must be uprooted. If these evil things are allowed to remain in the soul, they will bear fruit by which many shall be defiled." "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." "All would have sufficient light to see their sins and errors, if they desired to do so, and earnestly wished to put them away, and to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. . . . God is too pure to behold iniquity. A sin is just as grievous in His sight in one case as in another. No exception will be made by an impartial God." "When one is fully emptied of self, when every false god is cast out of the soul, the vacuum is filled by the inflowing of the Spirit of Christ. Such a one has the faith that purifies the soul from defilement. He is conformed to the Spirit, and he minds the things of the Spirit. He has no confidence in self. Christ is all and in all." "When the soul has been cleansed, it is the duty of the Christian to keep it undefiled. " OHC 161 "For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." "Every individual has a soul to save or to lose. Each has a case pending at the bar of God. Each must meet the great Judge face to face. How important, then, that every mind contemplate often the solemn scene when the judgment shall sit and the books shall be opened." "Secret sins will then be laid open to the view of all. Motives and intentions which have been hidden in the dark chambers of the heart will be revealed." "For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither anything hid, that shall not be known." "You may now close the book of your remembrance, in order to escape confessing your sins; but when the judgment shall sit, and the books shall be opened, you cannot close them. The recording angel has testified that which is true. All that you have tried to conceal and forget is registered, and will be read to you when it is too late for wrongs to be righted." "What we make of ourselves in probationary time, that we must remain to all eternity. Death brings dissolution to the body, but makes no change in the character." "When the voice of God awakes the dead, he will come from the grave with the same appetites and passions, the same likes and dislikes, that he cherished when living. God works no miracle to re-create a man who would not be re-created when he was granted every opportunity and provided with every facility." "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." "Without regeneration through faith in His blood, there is no remission of sins, no treasure for any perishing soul." "Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness." "Those who receive the Saviour become sons of God. They are His spiritual children, born again, renewed in righteousness and true holiness. Their minds are changed." "That which was objectionable in the character is purified from the soul by the love of Jesus. All selfishness is expelled, all envy, all evil-speaking, is rooted out, and a radical transformation is wrought in the heart." "The great burden of every soul should be, Is my heart renewed? Is my soul transformed? Are my sins pardoned through faith in Christ? Have I been born again?" "The new birth is a rare experience in this age of the world. This is the reason why there are so many perplexities in the churches. Many, so many, who assume the name of Christ are unsanctified and unholy. They have been baptized, but they are buried alive. Self did not die, and therefore they did not rise to newness of life in Christ." "May the Lord help us to die to self and be born again, that Christ may live in us, a living, active principle, a power that will keep us holy." "Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints; to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." "Christ became one flesh with us, in order that we might become one spirit with Him. It is by virtue of this union that we are to come forth from the grave, - not merely as a manifestation of the power of Christ, but because, through faith, His life has become ours. Those who see Christ in His true character, and receive Him into the heart, have everlasting life. It is through the Spirit that Christ dwells in us; and the Spirit of God, received into the heart by faith, is the beginning of life eternal." "If you are right with God today, you are ready if Christ should come today. What we need is Christ formed within, the hope of glory. "Are you individually daily preparing that you can unite with the family of heaven? Are you quarrelsome here? Are you finding fault with your house-hold here? If you are, you will find fault with them in heaven. Your character is being tested and proved in this life, whether you will make a peaceable subject of God's kingdom in heaven." "All must obtain a living experience for themselves; they must have Christ enshrined in the heart, His Spirit controlling the affections, or their profession of faith is of no value, and their condition will be even worse than if they had never heard the truth." "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who . . . became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." "Jesus became a man that He might mediate between man and God. . . . That He might restore to man the original mind which he lost in Eden. . . . Disobedience is not in accordance with the nature which God gave to man in Eden." "What a victory is gained when the carnal life ceases, and the spiritual life begins." "The carnal heart, that 'is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be,' is made spiritual, and exclaims with Christ, 'I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.' "There are many who say they believe in Christ; but do they? Have they the spiritual mind, the mind of Christ, that delights in the law of God?" "To be a Christian is not merely to take the name of Christ, but to have the mind of Christ, to submit to the will of God in all things." "Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins." "Through all ages and in every nation those that believe that Jesus can and will save them personally from sin, are the elect and chosen of God; they are His peculiar treasure. They obey His call, and come out of the world and separate themselves from every unclean thought and unholy practice. . . . "It is a sad fact that the great proportion of God's professed people have not had faith in Christ as their personal Saviour." "Jesus came not to save men in their sins, but from their sins. 'Sin is the transgression of the law,' and if we fail to obey the law, we do not accept our Saviour. The only hope we have of salvation is through Christ. If His Spirit abides in the heart, sin cannot dwell there." "And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no one deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." "Christ always separates the contrite soul from sin. He came to destroy the works of the devil, and He has made provision that the Holy Spirit shall be imparted to every repentant soul, to keep him from sinning. "The tempter's agency is not to be accounted an excuse for one wrong act. Satan is jubilant when he hears the professed followers of Christ making excuses for their deformity of character. It is these excuses that lead to sin. There is no excuse for sinning. A holy temper, a Christlike life, is accessible to every repenting, believing child of God." "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." "Abundant grace has been provided that the believing soul may be kept free from sin; for all heaven, with its limitless resources, has been placed at our command." "He who has not sufficient faith in Christ to believe that He can keep him from sinning, has not the faith that will give him an entrance into the kingdom of God."
"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." "Moral perfection is required of all. Never should we lower the standard of righteousness in order to accommodate inherited or cultivated tendencies to wrong-doing. We need to understand that imperfection of character is sin. All righteous attributes dwell in God as a perfect, harmonious whole, and every one who receives Christ as a personal Saviour is privileged to possess these attributes." "It is the spiritual and moral character that is of value in the sight of Heaven, and that will survive the grave, and be made glorious with immortality for the endless ages of eternity." "God designs that every one of us shall be perfect in Him, so that we may represent to the world the perfection of His character. He wants us to be free from sin, that we may not disappoint Heaven, that we may not grieve our divine Redeemer. He does not desire us to profess Christianity, and yet not avail ourselves of that grace which is able to make us perfect, that we may be found wanting in nothing." "Moral and spiritual perfection, through the grace and power of Christ, is promised to all. Jesus is the source of power, the fountain of life. . . . At every step we touch His living power." "Having therefore these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." "No one can be omnipotent, but all can cleanse themselves from filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. God requires every soul to be pure and holy. We have hereditary tendencies to wrong. This is a part of self that no one need carry about. It is a weakness of humanity to pet selfishness, because it is a natural trait of character. But unless all selfishness is put away, unless self is crucified, we can never be holy as God is holy." "God will accept nothing but purity and holiness; one spot, one wrinkle, one defect in the character, will forever debar them from heaven, with all its glories and treasures." "Even the thoughts must be brought into subjection to the will of God, and the feelings under the control of reason and religion. Our imagination was not given us to be allowed to run riot and have its own way, without any effort at restraint and discipline. If the thoughts are wrong, the feelings will be wrong; and the thoughts and feelings combined make up the moral character." "The Lord in His providence brings men where He can test their moral powers and reveal their motives of action, that they may improve what is right in themselves and put away that which is wrong. God would have His servants become acquainted with the moral machinery of their own hearts." "As a man 'thinketh in his heart, so is he. ' Many thoughts make up the unwritten history of a single day; and these thoughts have much to do with the formation of character." "But Christ has given us no assurance that to attain perfection of character is an easy matter. A noble, all-round character is not inherited. It does not come to us by accident. A noble character is earned by individual effort through the merits and grace of Christ. God gives the talents, the powers of the mind; we form the character." "The mental and moral powers which God has given us do not constitute character. They are talents which we are to improve, and which, if properly improved, will form a right character. . . . The mind is the garden; the character is the fruit. God has given us our faculties to cultivate and develop. Our own course determines our character. In training these powers so that they shall harmonize and form a valuable character, we have a work which no one but ourselves can do." "Mental ability and genius are not character, for these are often possessed by those who have the very opposite of a good character. Reputation is not character. True character is a quality of the soul, revealing itself in the conduct." "In the lives of those who are ransomed by the blood of Christ, self-sacrifice will constantly appear. Goodness and righteousness will be seen. The quiet, inward experience will make the life full of godliness, faith, meekness, patience. This is to be our daily experience. We are to form characters free from sin - characters made righteous in and by the grace of Christ." Every day as we let the love of God control our thoughts and feelings, our characters can be pure and holy, and then our acts will be right. "It is . . . by a repetition of acts that habits are established and character confirmed." "What does the Lord require of His blood-bought heritage? - The sanctification of the whole being, - purity like the purity of Christ, perfect conformity to the will of God." "He tells us to be perfect as He is, in the same manner. We are to be centers of light and blessing to our little circle, even as He is to the universe. We have nothing of ourselves, but the light of His love shines upon us, and we are to reflect its brightness. 'In His borrowed goodness good,' we may be perfect in our sphere, even as God is perfect in His." "Would Christ tantalize us by requiring of us an impossibility? Never, never! What an honor He confers upon us in urging us to be holy in our sphere, as the Father is holy in His sphere! He can enable us to do this, for He declares, 'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.' This unlimited power it is our privilege to claim." "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." "None but those who have been overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with the loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile in their mouths." "Many are deceiving themselves by thinking that the character will be transformed at the coming of Christ, but there will be no conversion of heart at His appearing. Our defects of character must here be repented of, and through the grace of Christ we must overcome them while probation shall last." "In order to accomplish this work, we must die daily to self. Said Paul: 'I die daily.'" "Some, indeed, are naturally more passionate than others; but this spirit can never harmonize with the Spirit of God. The natural man must die, and the new man, Christ Jesus, take possession of the soul, so that the follower of Jesus may say in verity and truth: 'I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.' "Self is difficult to conquer. Human depravity in every form is not easily brought into subjection to the Spirit of Christ. But all should be impressed with the fact that unless this victory is gained through Christ, there is no hope for them. The victory can be gained; for nothing is impossible with God. By His assisting grace, all evil temper, all human depravity, may be overcome." "His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue." "None of us need excuse our hasty temper, our misshapen characters, our selfishness, envy, jealousy, or any impurity of soul, body, or spirit. God has called us to glory and virtue. We are to obey the call." "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct." "Each soul inherits certain unChristlike traits of character. It is the grand and noble work of a lifetime to keep under control these tendencies to wrong. It is the little things that cross our path that are likely to cause us to lose our power of self-control." "Each day he must renew his consecration, each day do battle with evil. Old habits, hereditary tendencies to wrong, will strive for the mastery, but against these he is to be ever on guard, striving in Christ's strength for victory." "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." "In Christ, God has provided means for subduing every sinful trait, and resisting every temptation, however strong. . . . Look not to self, but to Christ." "Christ is our tower of strength, and Satan can have no power over the soul that walks with God in humility of mind. . . . Dangers beset every path, but the whole universe of heaven is standing on guard, that none may be tempted above that which he is able to bear. Some have strong traits of character, that will need to be constantly repressed. If kept under the control of the Spirit of God, these traits will be a blessing; but if not, they will prove a curse." "Are you overcoming? or are you being overcome by your own lusts and appetites and passions." "Many are sensible of their great deficiency, and they read, and pray, and resolve, and yet make no progress. They seem powerless to resist temptation. The reason is that they do not go deep enough. They do not seek for a thorough conversion of the soul, that the streams which issue from it may be pure, and the deportment may testify that Christ reigns within. "All defects of character originate in the heart. Pride, vanity, evil temper, and covetousness proceed from the carnal heart unrenewed by the grace of Christ. If the heart is refined, softened, and ennobled, the words and actions will testify to the fact. When the soul has been entirely surrendered to God, there will be a firm reliance upon His promises, and earnest prayer and determined effort to control the words and actions." "Conflict after conflict must be waged against hereditary tendencies. We shall have to criticize ourselves closely, and allow not one unfavorable trait to remain uncorrected. "Let no one say, I cannot remedy my defects of character. If you come to this decision, you will certainly fail of obtaining everlasting life. The impossibility lies in your own will. If you will not, then you can not overcome. The real difficulty arises from the corruption of an unsanctified heart, and an unwillingness to submit to the control of God." "All who finally have a seat with Christ upon His throne will be those who have overcome. All selfishness must be rooted from the heart. The apostle says, 'Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.' . . . "Who of us are copying the pattern? Through the grace of Christ are we mastering pride of heart? have we uprooted selfishness? have we opened wide the door of the heart and let in the precious love of Jesus? Or are we cherishing sins that will ruin us at last? We cannot meet Christ in peace with one sin unrepented of, unconfessed, and unforsaken. But John writes, 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' . . . "We shall either overcome our evil traits of character, and become like Christ, or we shall cherish our defects, and fail of the divine standard. . . . "Let us not be in the position of those for whom the Saviour died in vain. In Christ is sufficient grace to overcome all our evil traits of character, and strength is found alone in Him." "One defect, cultivated instead of being overcome, makes the man imperfect, and closes against him the gate of the Holy City. He who enters must have a character that is without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Naught that defileth can ever enter there. In all the redeemed host not one defect will be seen." How could God allow bitterness, resentment, hatred, envy, pride, deceit, selfishness, lust and revenge, or any other defect into heaven? "Men may now excuse their defects of character, but in that day they will offer no excuse. . . . "He gave all heaven, from which we may draw strength and efficiency; that we be not repulsed or overcome by our great adversary. But the love of God does not lead Him to excuse sin. He did not excuse it in Satan; He did not excuse it in Adam or in Cain; nor will He excuse it in any other of the children of men. He will not connive at our sins or overlook our defects of character. He expects us to overcome in His name." "The only hope for us if we would overcome is to unite our will to God's will and work in cooperation with Him, hour by hour and day by day. We cannot retain self and yet enter the kingdom of God. If we ever attain unto holiness, it will be through the renunciation of self and the reception of the mind of Christ." "The perfection of Christian character depends wholly upon the grace and strength found alone in God. Without the power of grace upon the heart, assisting our efforts and sanctifying our labors, we shall fail of saving our own souls and of saving the souls of others." "Are we Christians, - Christlike in spirit, in word, in disposition, or are we falling continually under the temptations of the enemy, with no power to escape from his snare?" "Let no one despair of gaining the victory. Victory is sure when self is surrendered to God." Any time you are tempted, submit your inner being to God and let His Holy Spirit control you. "Whatever may be man's besetting sin, whatever bitter and baleful passions struggle for the mastery, he may conquer, if he will watch and war against them in the name and strength of Israel's Helper." If you will always quickly submit yourselves to God when tempted, you will receive the strength needed. "As thy days, so shall thy strength be." "We are to live only one day at a time. We do not have to do the work of a lifetime in a few hours. We need not look into the future with anxiety; for God has made it possible for us to be overcomers every day." "Whatever may be the nature of your defects, the Spirit of the Lord will enable you to discern them, and grace will be given you whereby they may be overcome. Through the merits of the blood of Christ you may be a conqueror, yes more than a conqueror." "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." "The human family have all the help that Christ had in their conflicts with Satan. They need not be overcome. They may be more than conquerors through Him who has loved them and given His life for them. 'Ye are bought with a price.' And what a price! The Son of God in His humanity wrestled with the very same fierce, apparently overwhelming temptations that assail men - temptations to indulgence of appetite, to presumptuous venturing where God has not led them, and to the worship of the god of this world, to sacrifice an eternity of bliss for the fascinating pleasures of this life. Everyone will be tempted, but the Word declares that we shall not be tempted above our ability to bear. We may resist and defeat the wily foe." "Those who fail to realize their constant dependence upon God will be overcome by temptation. We may now suppose that our feet stand secure, and that we shall never be moved. We may say with confidence, I know in whom I have believed; nothing can shake my faith in God and in His word. But Satan is planning to take advantage of our hereditary and cultivated traits of character, and to blind our eyes to our own necessities and defects. Only through realizing our own weakness and looking steadfastly unto Jesus can we walk securely." "All the followers of Christ have to meet the same malignant foe that assailed their Master. With marvelous skill he adapts his temptations to their circumstances, their temperament, their mental and moral bias, their strong passions. . . . We must look to Christ; we must resist as He resisted; we must pray as He prayed; we must agonize as He agonized, if we would conquer as He conquered." "Bad habits, when opposed, will offer the most vigorous resistance; but if the warfare is kept up with energy and perseverance, they may be conquered." "To be saved, a man must gain the victory over himself, his temper, his inclinations. His will must be brought into conformity to the will of God. The glory of heaven is for those only who on this earth work out the righteousness of Christ. . . . Seek to understand your individual responsibility. Move steadily forward, and the Lord will make you more than conquerors." "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." "Many voices are advocating error; let your voice advocate truth. . . . Present the truth as it is in Jesus, making plain the requirements of the law and the gospel. Present Christ, the way, the truth, and the life, and tell of His power to save all who come to Him. The Captain of our salvation is inter-ceding for His people, not as a petitioner to move the Father to compassion, but as a conqueror, who claims the trophies of His victory. He is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God by Him. Make this fact very plain." "To Jesus in His agony on the cross there came one gleam of comfort. It was the prayer of the penitent thief. . . . This man was not a hardened criminal; . . . He had seen and heard Jesus, and had been convicted by His teaching, but he had been turned away from Him by the priests and rulers. Seeking to stifle conviction, he had plunged deeper and deeper into sin, until he was arrested, tried as a criminal, and condemned to die on the cross. In the judgment hall and on the way to Calvary he had been in company with Jesus. . . . He had marked His godlike bearing, and His pitying forgiveness of His tormentors. . . . The conviction comes back to him that this is the Christ. "The Holy Spirit illuminates his mind, and little by little the chain of evidence is joined together. In Jesus, bruised, mocked, and hanging upon the cross, he sees the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. Hope is mingled with anguish in his voice as the helpless, dying soul casts himself upon a dying Saviour. 'Lord, remember me,' he cries, 'when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.' "Quickly the answer came. Soft and melodious the tone, full of love, compassion, and power the words: Verily I say unto thee today, Thou shalt be with Me in paradise. . . . "As He spoke the words of promise, the dark cloud that seemed to enshroud the cross was pierced by a bright and living light. To the penitent thief came the perfect peace of acceptance with God. . . . His ear is not heavy that it cannot hear, neither His arm shortened that it cannot save. It is His royal right to save unto the uttermost all who come unto God by Him." "Christ is able to save to the uttermost all who come to Him in faith. He will cleanse them from all defilement if they will let Him. But if they cling to their sins, they cannot possibly be saved; for Christ's righteousness covers no sin unrepented of. God has declared that those who receive Christ as their Redeemer, accepting Him as the One who takes away all sin; will receive pardon for their transgressions. These are the terms of our election. Man's salvation depends upon his receiving Christ by faith. Those who will not receive Him lose eternal life because they refused to avail themselves of the only means provided by the Father and the Son for the salvation of a perishing world." "When the earthly warfare is accomplished, and the saints are all gathered home, our first theme will be the song of Moses, the servant of God. The second theme will be the song of the Lamb, the song of grace and redemption. This song will be louder, loftier, and in sublimer strains, echoing and re-echoing through the heavenly courts. Thus the song of God's providence is sung, connecting the varying dispensations; for all is now seen without a veil between the legal, the prophetical, and the gospel. The church history upon the earth and the church redeemed in heaven all center around the cross of Calvary. This is the theme, this is the song, - Christ all and in all, - in anthems of praise resounding through heaven from thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand and an innumerable company of the redeemed host. All unite in this song of Moses and the Lamb. It is a new song, for it was never before sung in heaven." |