Chapter 53—Our Experience and Our Work

BIBLE GEM

“And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”—Luke 1:17CWG 123.1

QUESTION

How does the experience of Enoch and of John the Baptist relate to God's remnant people?CWG 123.2

ANSWER

Represents our experience: “The experience of Enoch and of John the Baptist represents what ours should be. Far more than we do, we need to study the lives of these men—he who was translated to heaven without seeing death, and he who, before Christ's first advent, was called to prepare the way of the Lord, to make His paths straight.”—Testimonies For The Church 8:329CWG 123.3

Preparation for service: “The life of John was not spent in idleness, in ascetic gloom, or in selfish isolation. From time to time he went forth to mingle with men; and he was ever an interested observer of what was passing in the world. From his quiet retreat he watched the unfolding of events.... The burden of his mission was upon him. In solitude, by meditation and prayer, he sought to gird up his soul for the lifework before him.”—Gospel Workers, 57CWG 123.4

“John the Baptist in his desert life was taught of God. He studied the revelations of God in nature. Under the guiding of the divine Spirit, he studied the scrolls of the prophets. By day and by night, Christ was his study, his meditation, until mind and heart and soul were filled with the glorious vision.”—Testimonies For The Church 8:331CWG 123.5

Results of spiritual vision: “He looked upon the King in His beauty, and self was lost sight of. He beheld the majesty of holiness and knew himself to be inefficient and unworthy. It was God's message that he was to declare. It was in God's power and His righteousness that he was to stand. He was ready to go forth as Heaven's messenger, unawed by the human, because he had looked upon the Divine. He could stand fearless in the presence of earthly monarchs because with trembling he had bowed before the King of kings. With no elaborate arguments or fine-spun theories did John declare his message.”—Testimonies For The Church 8:331, 332CWG 124.1

Vision produced humility: “Looking in faith to the Redeemer, John had risen to the height of self-abnegation. He sought not to attract men to himself, but to lift their thoughts higher and still higher, until they should rest upon the Lamb of God. He himself had been only a voice, a cry in the wilderness.”—Testimonies For The Church 8:333CWG 124.2

“The soul of the prophet, emptied of self, was filled with the light of the Divine.”—Testimonies For The Church 8:334CWG 124.3

Ours a similar message: “In this age, just prior to the second coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven, such a work as that of John is to be done.”—Testimonies For The Church 8:332CWG 124.4

“In order to give such a message as John gave, we must have a spiritual experience like his. The same work must be wrought in us. We must behold God, and in beholding Him lose sight of self.CWG 124.5

“John had by nature the faults and weaknesses common to humanity; but the touch of divine love had transformed him.”—Testimonies For The Church 8:333CWG 124.6

SUMMARY AND PRAYER THOUGHT

Repent and be converted and prepare for the coming of the Lord was the message of John the Baptist. When, like John, we will be prepared to even give our lives for preaching a fearless message to rebuke sin, then our heaven given Bible based sermons will be powerful and effective and thousands will be converted.CWG 124.7

God is challenging us to give His last warning message in the power of the Holy Spirit with compassion and love for this sin sick world.CWG 124.8

Are we going to be faithful to cry loud and clear declaring God's message? Only a Christlike, love-powered, totally surrendered servant, filled with compassion will be effective to prepare others for everlasting life and the second coming of the Lord.CWG 124.9

May God bless and lead us as we determine to labor faithfully for our soon coming King.CWG 124.10