In repenting of our sins, we need not go into a cell, as did Luther, and scourge ourselves as a punishment for our iniquity, thinking by so doing to gain the favor of God. The question is asked by the prophet, “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” The Scripture says, “A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” “But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and savest such as be of a contrite spirit.” “Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it; thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”ST August 8, 1892, par. 1

You are to die to self, to crucify the flesh, with the affections and lusts. You need not devise ways and methods of bringing about your own crucifixion; self-inflicted penances are of no avail, and will be found worthless when the test comes upon you. We are to surrender the heart to God, that he may renew and sanctify us, and fit us for his heavenly courts. We are not to wait for some special time, but today we are to give ourselves to him, refusing to be the servants of sin. Do you imagine that you can leave off sin by your own human power a little at a time? You cannot do this; Jesus was treated as a sinner when he assumed the likeness of sinful flesh, that the sinner might be treated as righteous. The Father loves us who believe in Christ as he loves his only-begotten Son. Thus by faith we can grasp the righteousness of Christ, and our Saviour saves us from all sin. The converted soul will hate the thing that Christ hates, and love the thing that Christ loves. Has he not by his death and suffering made provision for your cleansing from sin? You must take the blood of Jesus and apply it to your heart by faith; for that alone can make you whiter than snow. But you say, “The surrender of all my idols will break my heart.” This is what is needed. In giving up all for God, you fall upon the rock and are broken. Give up all for him without delay, for unless you are broken, you are worthless.ST August 8, 1892, par. 2

Why wait any longer? Why not take God at his word and say, “I give myself to thee; it is all that I can do.” If Satan comes to cast his shadow between you and God, accusing you of sin, tempting you to distrust God and to doubt his mercy, say, “I cannot allow my weakness to come between me and God; for he is my strength. My sins, which are many, are laid upon Jesus, my divine sacrifice.” Satan desires to keep you in the lowlands of sin, but will you not decide that you will go free? Will you not say:—ST August 8, 1892, par. 3

“Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling”?ST August 8, 1892, par. 4

Jesus wants all there is of you. He has paid an infinite price for your soul; all that you have and are belongs to him. May God help you to look and live. Christ is coming in a little while. He has been our brother in suffering, and what joy it brings to hope that we shall soon see him as he is! We shall suffer here but a few days longer, and then enter into an eternity of happiness; for there is rest in the kingdom of God. For those who fight the good fight of faith, there is reserved the glory of an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. Let the determination of every soul be, “I must run the race with patience; I must overcome.” If we do not overcome, we lose the crown; and if we lose the crown, we lose everything; there is eternal loss for us. But if we attain to the hope of our calling, we gain the crown, we gain all things; we become heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ.ST August 8, 1892, par. 5

What greater reward could we desire than that presented in the word of God? The invitation is extended to all, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” We are to live by the day for God, and not take upon us the burdens of tomorrow. We are to fight the good fight of faith today; and when tomorrow comes, strength for its duties will be given. The question today should be: “Am I the Lord's? Have I the witness of the Spirit today? Does my name come into the lips of the divine Intercessor today? Am I a coworker with heavenly intelligences today? Am I laboring together with God today? Am I a watchman upon the walls of Zion today, sounding a note of alarm to the people, saying, The morning cometh, and also the night?”ST August 8, 1892, par. 6

When the watchman sounds the alarm, do the people have no part in the work of warning the world? Do they hear the watchman's voice only to go on indifferently, and act as though they heard nothing? No; they are to catch the message of warning and hope, and sound it again, following the injunction of Scripture, “Let him that heareth say, Come.” The people are to be ready to hear the word, and then they are to call to others to catch the divine message from the throne of glory, and send it on to those who sit in darkness. If this were the attitude of the church, do you think that there would be division and discord, evil surmising, evil speaking, and criticising among the professed followers of Christ? May God help us that we may all become converted, and be alive to the importance of the times in which we live. The lower lights must be kept burning.ST August 8, 1892, par. 7

You say that you want heaven. How much do you want it? What is your faith worth? You will act out all the faith you have. What will be the verdict of the judgment if you go to your farm, to your family, to your earthly affairs, and care not for the message of heaven? There is a world to be warned, and while you sleep, Satan is sowing tares. All heaven is interested in the work that engages the attention of Christ and his angels in the heavenly court, and will you be indifferent who have been purchased at infinite cost? What we need is elevation of character, nobility of soul. Thank God it is not too late for wrongs to be righted. We may still find pardon; we may still find a hiding-place in the Rock of Ages, that has been cleft for us. We may still accept the light, and grow up into Christ, our living head. Jesus says to the trembling, repenting soul, “Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.” “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Will you let him reason with you? Will you commit to him the keeping of your soul as unto a faithful Creator? Come, then, and let us live in the light of his countenance, and pray, as did David: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.... Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free Spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.... O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.”ST August 8, 1892, par. 8

August 1, 1892

August 15, 1892