From the Heart

Ordained to Bring Forth Fruit, May 28

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:5. FH 160.1

In the plan of restoring in men and women the divine image, it was provided that the Holy Spirit should move upon human minds and be as the presence of Christ, a molding agency upon human character. Those who receive the truth become also recipients of the grace of Christ and devote their sanctified human ability to the work in which Christ was engaged—men and women become laborers together with God. It is to make them agents for God that divine truth is brought home to their understanding.... FH 160.2

Through the mediumship of truth the character is transformed and fashioned after the divine similitude. Peter represents Christians as those who have purified their souls through obedience to the truth through the operation of the Holy Spirit.... FH 160.3

It is the Christian's business to shine. The professed followers of Christ are not fulfilling the requirements of the gospel unless they are ministering to others. They are never to forget that they are to let their light so shine before others that they, seeing their good works, may glorify their Father which is in heaven. Their speech is to be always with grace and in harmony with their profession of faith. Their work is to reveal Christ to the world. Jesus Christ and Him crucified is their inexhaustible theme, of which they are freely to speak, bringing out of the good treasure of their hearts the precious things of the gospel. The heart that is filled with the blessed hope, that is big with immortality and full of glory, cannot be dumb. Those who have a realization of the sacred presence of Christ cannot speak light and trifling words, for their words are to be sober, a savor of life unto life. We are not to be children tossed to and fro, but we are to be anchored in Jesus Christ and to have something of solid worth of which to speak.... Christians are to publish the good news of salvation, and they are never to weary of the recital of God's goodness.... FH 160.4

You are to speak to sinners, for you know not but God is moving upon their hearts. Never forget that great responsibility attaches to every word you utter in their presence. Ask yourself the question, How many have I spoken to with my heart filled with the love of Christ concerning the unspeakable gift of God's mercy and Christ's righteousness?—The Review and Herald, February 12, 1895. FH 160.5