hrist says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”; and it is the privilege of every soul to make Christ his personal Saviour. You need not wait to grow good; you need not think that any effort of yours will make your prayers acceptable, and bring you salvation. Let each man and woman pray to God. . . . Let each one come to Christ in humility, speak to Him with your own lips. The request, “Will you pray for me?” has become simply a form of speech; you should pray to God for yourself, believing that He listens to every word you utter. . . .
The more you study the character of Christ, the more attractive will He appear to you. He will become as one near you, in close companionship with you; your affections will
go out after Him. If the mind is molded by the objects with which it has most to do, then to think of Jesus, to talk of Him, will enable you to become like Him in Spirit and character. You will reflect His image in that which is great and pure and spiritual. You will have the mind of Christ, and He will send you forth to the world as His spiritual representative. He will be your only glory. . . .
Wealth for the Taking
It is the privilege of every earnest seeker for truth and righteousness to rely upon the sure promises of God. The Lord Jesus makes manifest the fact that the treasures of divine grace are placed entirely at our disposal, in order that we may become channels of light. We cannot receive the riches of the grace of Christ without desiring to impart them to others. When we have the love of Christ in our hearts, we shall feel that it is our duty and privilege to communicate it. The sun shining in the heavens pours its bright beams into all the highways and byways of life. It has sufficient light for thousands of worlds like ours. And so it is with the Sun of Righteousness; His bright beams of healing and gladness are amply sufficient to save our little world, and are efficacious in establishing security in every world that has been created. Christ declares that our heavenly Father is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him, than earthly parents are to give good gifts to their children. . . . Why is it that those who claim to believe advanced truth live so far beneath their privileges? Why do they mingle self with all they do? If they will cast out self, Jesus will pour into the thirsty soul a constant supply from the river of life. . . . We must not be in a self-satisfied condition, or we shall be described as those who are poor, and wretched, and miserable, and blind, and naked.
The Need for Christ in the Life
Since the time of the Minneapolis meeting, I have seen the state of the Laodicean church as never before. I have heard the rebuke of God spoken to those who feel so well satisfied, who know not their spiritual destitution. Jesus speaks to these as He did to the woman of Samaria: “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.”. . .
Those who realize their need of repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, will have contrition of soul, will repent for their resistance of the Spirit of the Lord. They will confess their sin in refusing the light that Heaven has so graciously sent them, and they will forsake the sin that grieved and insulted the Spirit of the Lord. . . . They will make a personal appropriation of Christ’s abundant grace and righteousness, and He will become to them a present Saviour; for they will realize their need of Him. . . . They will drink of the water of life from the divine, inexhaustible fountain. In a new and blessed experience, they will cast themselves upon Christ, and become partakers of the divine nature. The human and the divine will cooperate every day, and the heart will well up in thanksgiving and praise to Christ. Heavenly inspiration will have a part in the Christian experience, and we shall grow to the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus.
To Be Like Him
It is growth in knowledge of the character of Christ that sanctifies the soul. To discern and appreciate the wonderful work of the atonement transforms him who contemplates the plan of salvation. By beholding Christ, he becomes changed into the same image, from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord. The beholding of Jesus becomes an ennobling, refining process to the actual Christian. . . . The perfection of Christ’s character is the Christian’s inspiration. When we see Him as He is, desire awakes to be like Him, and this elevates the whole man. . . .
I feel sad when I think how for long years there has been a gradual lowering of the standard. I have been shown that very few realize the constant presence of the divine Watcher who declares, “I know thy works.” . . . The power of Christ is to be the comfort, the hope, the crown of rejoicing, of every one that follows Jesus in his conflict, in his struggles in life. He who truly follows the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin
of the world, can shout as he advances, “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.”
Making Him Mine
What kind of faith is it that overcomes the world? It is that faith which makes Christ your own personal Saviour—that faith which, recognizing your helplessness, your utter inability to save yourself, takes hold of the Helper who is mighty to save, as your only hope. It is faith that will not be discouraged, that hears the voice of Christ saying, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world, and My divine strength is yours.” It is the faith that hears Him say, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”
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This article is excerpted from one that appeared in The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, now the Adventist Review (www.adventistreview.
org), August 26, 1890. Seventh-day Adventists believe that Ellen G. White exercised the biblical gift of prophecy during more than 70 years of public ministry.