Promise of His Presence, February 10

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 2 Timothy 4:2.TDG 49.1

Whoever attempts the work of reform will have decided opposition to meet. This work requires self-renunciation....TDG 49.2

We must not ask whether we are appreciated or unappreciated. With this we have naught to do. Look at the way in which Christ worked. Whoever attempts any work of reform, whoever tries to lead the sinner to a life of self-denial and holiness will need every hour the assurance given by Christ after His resurrection, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20).TDG 49.3

Take the Word. Live the Word. Preach the Word, as you have done in the past. The Lord Jesus has given you the promise of His Presence. Take it; appreciate it. It is not for you or me to measure the appreciation shown for the self-denial and self-sacrifice made.TDG 49.4

The work of reform will call for all the faith and tears and prayers that human intelligence can bear. Our commission is, Lift the cross, and bear it after Jesus, striving ever for the same spirit that led Jesus to yearn for His anticipated baptism of suffering upon the cross.TDG 49.5

When in the garden of Gethsemane, the cup of suffering was placed in the Saviour's hand, the thought came to Him, Should He drink it or should He leave the world to perish in sin? His suffering was too great for human comprehension. As the agony of soul came upon Him, “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). The mysterious cup trembled in His hand. In this awful crisis, when everything was at stake, the mighty angel who stands in God's presence, came to the side of Christ, not to take the cup from His hand, but to strengthen Him to drink it, with the assurance of the Father's love.TDG 49.6

Christ drank of the cup, and this is the reason that sinners can come to God and find pardon and grace. But those who share in Christ's glory must share also in His suffering....TDG 49.7

Shall we take up the cross, and intelligently understand what it means to follow Christ, practicing self-denial at every step?—Letter 66, February 10, 1906, to Elder and Mrs. S. N. Haskell.TDG 49.8