May 28, 1902

“The Will of God Concerning You”

EGW

This is the will of God concerning you, even your sanctification.” Great possibilities, high and holy attainments, are within our reach. Sanctification means perfect love, perfect obedience, entire conformity to God's will. It means an unreserved surrender to Him. It means to be pure and unselfish, without spot or blemish.ST May 28, 1902, par. 1

From eternity God has chosen us to be His obedient children. He gave His Son to die for us, that we might be sanctified through His grace. Continual progress in knowledge and virtue is His purpose for us. His law is the echo of His own voice, giving to all the invitation, “Come up higher. Be holy, holier still.” Every day we may advance in perfection of Christian character. For this Christ clothed His divinity with humanity. For this He came to the earth, and lived a life of suffering and privation.ST May 28, 1902, par. 2

But let no one think that it is possible for human beings in their own power to reach the ideal that God presents before them. Our hearts are evil, and we can not change them. “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?—Not one.” “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Education, culture, the exercise of the will, human effort, all have their proper sphere; but here they are powerless. They may produce an outward correctness of behavior, but they can not change the heart; they can not purify the soul. There must be a power working from within, a new life from above, before man can be changed from sin to holiness. That power is Christ. His grace alone can quicken the lifeless faculties of the soul, and attract it to God, to holiness.ST May 28, 1902, par. 3

He Saves to the Uttermost

The one great lesson all must learn,—the poor sinner dead in trespasses and sins, and the professing Christian, who has known Christ, but has clung to his sins,—is that Christ will save to the uttermost all who come to Him. “Him that cometh to Me,” He says, “I will in no wise cast out.” The poor, the suffering, the sinful, may find in Christ all they need. As soon as they receive Jesus as their personal Saviour, the cries of distress and woe are changed to songs of praise and thanksgiving.ST May 28, 1902, par. 4

When the sinner feels his need of the Sun of Righteousness, when he comes to Jesus, saying, “Lord, I am sinful, unworthy, hopeless, and helpless; save me, or I perish,” he is accepted in the Beloved. He learns what it means to sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. God says, “Let there be light,” and there is light. The heart once darkened by sin is irradiated by the presence of Him who is the light of life.ST May 28, 1902, par. 5

God is ever seeking to bring human minds into association with the divine. He offers us the privilege of co-operation with Christ in revealing His grace to the world, that we may receive an increased knowledge of heavenly things. Looking unto Jesus, we obtain brighter and more distinct views of God, and beholding, we become changed. Goodness, love for our fellow-men, becomes our natural instinct. We develop a character that is the counterpart of the divine character. Growing into His likeness, we enlarge our capacity for knowing God. More and more we enter into fellowship with the heavenly world, and we have continually increasing power to receive the riches of the knowledge and wisdom of eternity. “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”ST May 28, 1902, par. 6

Mrs. E. G. White