February 1, 1905

Upward and Onward

EGW

We are Christ's witnesses, and we are not to allow worldly interests and plans so to absorb our time and attention that we pay no heed to the things that God has said must come first. There are higher interests at stake. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness: and all these things shall be added unto you.”BTS February 1, 1905, par. 1

Christ gave Himself willingly and cheerfully to the carrying out of the will of God. He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. In view of all that He has done, should we feel it a hardship to deny ourselves? Shall we draw back from being partakers of Christ's sufferings. His death ought to stir every fibre of our beings, making us willing to consecrate to His work all that we have and are. As we think of what He has done for us, our hearts should be filled with gratitude and love, and we should renounce all selfishness and sin. What duty could the heart refuse to perform, under the constraining influence of the love of God and Christ. “I am crucified with Christ,” the apostle Paul declared: “nevertheless I live: yet not I but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.”BTS February 1, 1905, par. 2

Let us relate ourselves to God in self-denying, self-sacrificing obedience. Faith in Christ always leads to willing, cheerful obedience. He died to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. There is to be perfect conformity in thought, word, and deed, to the will of God. Heaven is for those only who have purified their souls through obedience to the truth. It is a place where unsullied purity alone can dwell. “Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”BTS February 1, 1905, par. 3

In perfect obedience there is perfect happiness. “These things have I spoken unto you,” Christ said, “that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” May the Lord bless us, and strengthen our faith, and lead us onward to the heights to which we have not yet ascended. He gave Christ to die for us, that we might be purified from all iniquity. He has promised to pour out His Spirit upon us, that we may be sanctified through the truth. He has given us His word, that through obedience to its teachings, we may be made holy. It is our privilege, our duty, to grow in grace. This is the will of God, even your sanctification.BTS February 1, 1905, par. 4