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"Christmas is coming," is the note that is sounded
throughout our world from east to west and from north to south. With youth,
those of mature age, and even the aged, it is a period of general rejoicing, of
great gladness. But what is Christmas, that it should demand so much attention?
This day has been made much of for centuries. It is accepted by the unbelieving
world, and by the Christian world generally, as the day on which Christ was
born. When the world at large celebrates the day, they show no honor to Christ.
They refuse to acknowledge Him as their Saviour, to honor Him by willing
obedience to His service. They show preference to the day, but none to the one
for whom the day is celebrated, Jesus Christ.
The twenty-fifth of December is supposed to be the day of
the birth of Jesus Christ, and its observance has become customary and popular.
but yet there is no certainty that we are keeping the veritable day of our
Saviour's birth. History gives us no certain assurance of this. The Bible does
not give us the precise time. Had the Lord deemed this knowledge essential to
our salvation, He would have spoken through His prophets and apostles that we
might know all about the matter. But the silence of the Scriptures upon this
point evidences to us that it is hidden from us for the wisest purposes.
In His wisdom the Lord concealed the place where He buried
Moses. God buried him, and God resurrected him and took him to heaven. This
secrecy was to prevent idolatry. He against whom they rebelled while he was in
active service, whom they provoked almost beyond human endurance, was almost
worshiped as God after his separation from them by death. For the very same
purpose He has concealed the precise day of Christ's birth; that the day should
not receive the honor that should be given to Christ as the Redeemer of the
world--one to be received, to be trusted, to be relied on as He who could save
to the uttermost all who come unto Him. The soul's adoration should be given to
Jesus as the Son of the infinite God.
There is no divine sanctity resting upon the twenty-fifth of
December; and it is not pleasing to God that anything that concerns the
salvation of men through the infinite sacrifice made for them, should be so
sadly perverted from its professed design. Christ should be the supreme object;
but as Christmas has been observed, the glory is turned from Him to mortal man,
whose sinful, defective character made it necessary for Him to come to our
world.
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Jesus, the Majesty of heaven, the royal King of heaven, laid
aside His royalty, left His throne of glory, His high command, and came into
our world to bring to fallen man, weakened in moral power, and corrupted by
sin, aid divine. He clothed His divinity with humanity, that He might reach to
the very depths of human woe and misery, to lift up fallen man. By taking upon
Himself man's nature, He raised humanity in the scale of moral value with God.
Those great themes are almost too high, too deep, too infinite, for the
comprehension of finite minds.
Parents should keep these things before their children and
instruct them, line upon line, precept upon precept, in their obligation to
God--not their obligation to each other, to honor and glorify one another by
gifts and offerings. But they should be taught that Jesus is the world's
Redeemer, the object of thought, of painstaking effort; that His work is the
grand theme which should engage their attention; that they should bring to Him
their gifts and offerings. Thus did the wise men and the shepherds.
As the twenty-fifth of December is observed to commemorate
the birth of Christ, as the children have been instructed by precept and
example that this was indeed a day of gladness and rejoicing, you will find it
a difficult matter to pass over this period without giving it some attention.
It can be made to serve a very good purpose.
The youth should be treated very carefully. They should not
be left on Christmas to find their own amusement in vanity and
pleasure-seeking, in amusements which will be detrimental to their
spirituality. Parents can control this matter by turning the minds and the
offerings of their children to God and His cause and the salvation of souls.
The desire for amusement, instead of being quenched and
arbitrarily ruled down, should be controlled and directed by painstaking effort
upon the part of the parents. Their desire to make gifts may be turned into
pure and holy channels, and made to result in good to our fellow men by
supplying the treasury in the great, grand work for which Christ came into our
world. Self-denial and self-sacrifice marked His course of action. Let it mark
ours who profess to love Jesus; because in Him is centered our hope of eternal
life.
Youth cannot be made as sedate and grave as old age, the
child as sober as the sire. While sinful amusements are condemned, as they
should be, let parents, teachers, and guardians of youth provide in their stead
innocent pleasures which shall not taint or corrupt the morals. Do not bind
down the young to rigid rules and restraints that will lead them to feel
themselves oppressed and to break over and rush into paths of folly and
destruction. With a firm, kindly, considerate hand hold the lines of
government, guiding and controlling their minds and purposes, yet so gently, so
wisely, so lovingly, that they still will know that you have their best good in
view.
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How many parents are lamenting the fact that they cannot
keep their children at home, that they have no love for home. At an early age
they have a desire for the company of strangers; and as soon as they are old
enough they break away from that which appears to them to be bondage and
unreasonable restraint, and will neither heed a mother's prayers nor a father's
counsels. Investigation would generally reveal that the sin lay at the door of
the parents. They have not made home what it ought to be--attractive, pleasant,
radiant with the sunshine of kind words, pleasant looks, and true love.
The secret of saving your children lies in making your home
lovely and attractive. Indulgence in parents will not bind the children to God
nor to home; but a firm, godly influence to properly train and educate the mind
would save many children from ruin.
On Christmas, so soon to come, let not the parents take the
position that an evergreen placed in the church for the amusement of the
Sabbath school scholars is a sin; for it may be made a great blessing. Keep
before their minds benevolent objects. In no case should mere amusement be the
object of these gatherings. While there may be some who will turn these
occasions into seasons of careless levity, and whose minds will not receive the
divine impress, to other minds and characters these seasons will be highly
beneficial. I am fully satisfied that innocent substitutes can be devised for
many gatherings that demoralize.
Christmas is coming. May you all have wisdom to make it a
precious season. Let the older church members unite, heart and soul, with their
children in their innocent amusement and recreation, in devising ways and means
to show true respect to Jesus by bringing to Him gifts and offerings. Let
everyone remember the claims of God. His cause cannot go forward without your
aid. Let the gifts you have usually bestowed upon one another be placed in the
Lord's treasury. . . . In every church let your smaller offerings be placed
upon your Christmas tree. Let the precious emblem "evergreen" suggest the holy
work of God and His beneficence to us; and the loving heart-work will be to
save other souls who are in darkness. Let your works be in accordance with your
faith. . . .
Every tree in Satan's garden hangs laden with the fruits of
vanity, pride, self-importance, evil desire, extravagance--all poisoned fruit,
but very gratifying to the carnal heart. Let the several churches present to
God Christmas trees in every church, and then let them hang thereon the fruits
of beneficence and gratitude--offerings coming from willing hearts and hands,
fruits that God will accept as an expression of our faith and our great love to
Him for the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. Let the evergreen be laden with
fruit, rich and pure and holy, acceptable to God. Shall we not have such a
Christmas as Heaven can approve?
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Thousands of dollars (in 1884) are needlessly spent every
year in gifts to each other. That is means lost to God, lost to His cause. It
pleases the vanity, encourages pride, creates all kinds of dissatisfaction,
murmuring, and complaints, because perhaps the gifts are not just what was
desired, not of the high value wanted or expected.
Christmas is not observed as its name implies it should be.
Man has forsaken God in almost everything, and has turned the attention to
self. He has left the pure springs of living waters which flow from the throne
of God, and hewn out to himself broken cisterns which can hold no water. God
gave man a probation that he might be fitted for heaven. He was to look upward
to God, who was to be the soul's adoration, but talent, skill, and inventive
powers are all exercised to make self the supreme object of attention. Man has
withdrawn his gaze from Deity, and fastened his eyes upon the finite, the
earthly, the corruptible.
Satan is in this work to put God out of the mind and
interpose the world and self that the eye shall not be single to the glory of
God. Satan captivates and ensnares the mind. His infernal wisdom is continually
exercised to mold and fashion the material with which he has to deal, to make
God the least and the last object of devotion.
The various amusements of society have been the ruin of
thousands who, but for these devices of Satan, might be servants of the living
God. There are wrecks of character seen everywhere who have been destroyed by
gilded, fashionable pleasure; and still the work is going forward. Thousands
more will go to ruin who will not open their eyes to see and sense the fact
that, although they are professed Christians, they are lovers of pleasure more
than lovers of God. . . .
Now, brethren, let us on Christmas make special efforts to
come before the Lord with gifts and grateful offerings for the gift of Jesus
Christ as a Redeemer to the world. Let nothing now be spent needlessly, but let
every penny that can be spared be put out to the exchangers. Satan has had his
way in managing these occasions to suit himself. Now let us turn the current
heavenward instead of earthward. Let us show by our offerings that we
appreciate the self-denial and sacrifice of Christ in our behalf. Let God be
brought to remembrance by every child and parent; and let the offerings, both
small and large, be brought to the storehouse of God.
You that have means, who have been in the habit of making
donations to your relatives and friends until you are at a loss to know what to
invent that will be new and interesting to them, seek to put your ingenuity to
the test, as well as your influence, to see how much means you may gather to
advance the work of the Lord. Let your skill and your capacities be employed to
make the coming Christmas one of intense interest, paying your addresses to the
God of heaven in willing, grateful offerings. Follow no longer the world's
customs. Make a break here, and see if this Christmas cannot show thousands of
dollars flowing into the treasury, that God's storehouse may not be empty.
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You may not be recompensed on earth, but you will be
rewarded in the future life, and that abundantly. let those who have so long
planned for self now begin to plan for the cause of God, and you will certainly
have increased wisdom. Let the conscience be enlightened, and the love of truth
and of Christ take the place of idolatrous thoughts and love of self.
Will you not arise, my Christian brethren and sisters, and
gird yourselves for duty in the fear of God, so arranging this matter that it
shall not be dry and uninteresting, but full of innocent enjoyment that shall
bear the signet of Heaven? I know the poorer class will respond to these
suggestions. The most wealthy should also show an interest and bestow their
gifts and offerings proportionate to the means with which God has entrusted
them. Let there be recorded in the heavenly books such a Christmas as has never
yet been seen, because of the donations which shall be given for the sustaining
of the work of God and the upbuilding of His kingdom.--Review and Herald, December 9, 1884. (Portion in The
Adventist Home , pp. 477-483).
The holiday season is fast approaching with its interchange
of gifts, and old and young are intently studying what they can bestow upon
their friends as a token of affectionate remembrance. It is pleasant to receive
a gift, however small, from those we love. It is an assurance that we are not
forgotten, and seems to bind us to them a little closer.
Brethren and sisters, while you are devising gifts for one
another, I would remind you of our heavenly Friend, lest you should be
unmindful of His claims. Will He not be pleased if we show that we have not
forgotten Him? Jesus, the Prince of Life, gave all to bring salvation within
our reach. . . . He suffered even unto death, that He might give us eternal
life.
It is through Christ that we receive every blessing. . . .
Shall not our heavenly Benefactor share in the tokens of our gratitude and
love? Come, brethren and sisters, come with your children, even the babes in
your arms, and bring your offerings to God according to your ability. Make
melody to Him in your hearts, and let His praise be upon your lips. Let us
rejoice that our Saviour liveth to make intercession for us in the presence of
Jehovah. As a people we have backslidden from God; let us return unto Him, and
He will return unto us, and will heal all our backslidings. Let us, upon the
coming Christmas and New Year's festivals, not only make an offering to God of
our means, but give ourselves unreservedly to Him, a living sacrifice. . . .
While urging upon all the duty of first bringing their
offerings to God, I would not wholly condemn the practice of making Christmas
and New Year's gifts to our friends. It is right to bestow upon one another
tokens of love and remembrance if we do not in this forget God, our best
friend. We should make our gifts such as will prove a real benefit to the
receiver. I would recommend such books as will be an aid in understanding the
Word of God, or that will increase our love for its precepts. Provide something
to be read during these long winter evenings. . . .
We need to think more of God and less of ourselves. If we
would but think of Him as often as we have evidence of His care for us, we
would keep Him ever in our thoughts, and would delight to talk of Him and
praise Him. We talk of temporal things because we have an interest in them.
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We talk of our friends because we love them; our joys and
our sorrows are bound up with them. Yet we have infinitely greater reason to
love God than to love our earthly friends; we receive more from Him than from
any other friend, and it should be the most natural thing in the world to make
God first in all our thoughts, to talk of His goodness and tell of His power,
and to respond to His love by our freewill gifts and offerings for His
cause.--Review and Herald , December 26,
1882.
Our children have been educated to expect gifts from parents
and friends upon Christmas. Christmas is celebrated to commemorate Christ's
birth. If we celebrate it only in seeking to give pleasure to our children and
one another, our offerings are diverted from the true object. We should bring
our thank offerings to the Lord, laying our gifts at the feet of Him who has
opened the treasures of heaven to us.
The enemy plans that human minds and hearts shall be
diverted from God and His cause, to praise and honor one another. God has been
left out of the question, and positively dishonored. Christmas has been made a
day of feasting, of gluttony, of selfish indulgence.
Now let every family consider this matter in all its
bearings. Let the parents place it in all its wonderful significance before
their children and friends, and say: "This year we will not expend money in
presents upon ourselves, but we will honor and glorify God. We will testify of
our gratitude to Him who gave His Son to die as our sacrifice, that we might
have the gift of eternal life." Let us show that we appreciate this gift, and
respond as far as it is in our power with thank offerings. Let us celebrate
Christmas by remembering God instead of remembering our friends and relatives
with gifts which they do not need.
Will not God acknowledge the offerings thus bestowed? Will
He not bless the little ones who bring some offering of their own to the
Master? Indeed He will! Is not this a most precious opportunity to educate your
children in the work of self-denial for Jesus' sake? Tell the children of the
great missionary field and talk to them of the love of Christ, of the great
sacrifice made because He loved us and wanted us to have a home with Him in His
kingdom. He came to our world to bless it with His divine presence, to bring
peace, and light and joy. But the world would not receive Him and put the
Prince of Life to death. His death was to bring the treasures of heaven within
the reach of all who should believe in Jesus.
Make this glorious theme plain to your children, and as
their young hearts expand with love to God let them present their little
offerings that they may act their part in sending the precious light of truth
to others. Thus the children may become little missionaries for the Master.
Their little offerings, coming into the treasury like many tiny rivulets, may
swell the stream to a river that shall refresh many souls who are thirsting for
the truth of God; and even these children may see some souls saved in the
kingdom of God as the result of their self-denial.--Review and Herald Extra, December 11, 1888.
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We are rapidly approaching the season of the holidays, and
many conscientious ones are now questioning what course they may pursue that
will be pleasing in the sight of God. By the world the holidays are spent in
frivolity and extravagance, gluttony and display. It is the prevailing custom
at this time to make and receive presents. And it is no small burden upon the
mind to know how to distribute these gifts among friends so that none will feel
slighted. It is a fact that much envy and jealousy are often created by this
custom of giving presents.
Thousands of dollars will be worse than thrown away upon the
coming Christmas and New Year's in needless indulgences. But it is our
privilege to depart from the customs and practices of this degenerate age, and
instead of expending means merely for the gratification of the appetite, or for
needless ornaments or articles of clothing, we may make the coming holidays an
occasion in which to honor and glorify God.
We advise all our brethren and sisters to make a decided
reform in regard to these festal days. Those who appreciate the gift of God's
dear Son to save them from ruin, now have a favorable opportunity to give
tangible proofs of their gratitude by rendering to God their thank offerings.
Let old and young lay aside their mites as sacred offerings to God. If we would
give to the cause of our Redeemer one-half as much as we have bestowed upon our
friends, we would do much good and receive a blessing for giving.
Let us seek to faithfully represent Christ on the coming
festal days by imitating His example as He went about doing good. It is
impossible to enjoy the approbation of God while living for self. As Christians
who profess a living faith in the near coming of the Son of man, keeping all of
God's commandments, let us make earnest efforts to draw near to God through
Jesus Christ and make a covenant with Him by sacrifice. In our principles of
action we must be elevated above the customs and fashions of the world. Christ
came to our world to elevate the minds of men to the divine level, and to bring
them into sympathy with the mind of God.
As every blessing we enjoy is brought to us through the
condescension, humiliation, and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we should render to
Him our best gifts above all not withholding ourselves. The infinite sacrifice
which Christ has made to free us from the guilt and woe of sin should work in
every heart a spirit of gratitude and self-denial which is not manifested by
the world. God's gift of Christ to man filled all heaven with amazement, and
inspired at His birth the angelic song "Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace, good will toward men."
Christmas day, precious reminder of the sacrifice made in
man's behalf, should not be devoted to gluttony and self-indulgence, thus
exalting the creature above the Creator. Let us who are partakers of this great
salvation show that we have some appreciation of the gift by rendering to God
our thank offerings. If we would indulge less in feasting and merriment upon
these occasions, and instead make them the means of benefiting humanity, we
should better meet the mind of God. It is a pleasure and gratification to
exchange gifts with our friends, but are there not nobler and more glorious
objects for which we may give our means, and thus do good by shedding light
upon the pathway of others?
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There are many who have not books and publications upon
present truth. Here is a large field where money can be safely invested. There
are large numbers of little ones who should be supplied with reading. The
Sunshine Series, Golden Grains Series, Poem,
Sabbath Readings,* etc., are all precious books, and may be introduced
safely into every family. The many trifles usually spent in candies and useless
toys may be treasured up with which to buy these volumes.
[*Note: Reference is made in this article to current
publications and building projects. As the principles set forth in this
connection are applicable today these specific references are left in the
article as it is duplicated.]
Children need proper reading, which will afford amusement
and recreation, and not demoralize the mind or weary the body. If they are
taught to love romance and newspaper tales, instructive books and papers will
become distasteful to them. Most children and young people will have reading
matter; and if it is not selected for them, they will select it for themselves.
They can find a ruinous quality of reading anywhere, and they soon learn to
love it. But if pure and good reading is furnished them, they will cultivate a
taste for that.
Especial efforts should be made to exclude from our homes
that class of literature which can have no beneficial influence upon our
children. Many times I have been pained to find upon the tables or in the
bookcases of Sabbathkeepers, papers and books full of romance, which their
children were eagerly perusing.
There are those who profess to be brethren who do not take
the Review, Signs, Instructor, or Good Health, but
take one or more secular papers. Their children are deeply interested in
reading the fictitious tales and love stories which are found in these papers,
and which their father can afford to pay for, although claiming that he cannot
afford to pay for our periodicals and publications on present truth. Thus
parents are educating the taste of their children to greedily devour the
sickly, sensational stores found in newspaper columns. All such reading is
poisonous; it leaves a stain upon the soul and encourages a love for cheap
reading which will debase the morals and ruin the mind.
Parents should guard their children and teach them to
cultivate a pure imagination and to shun, as they would a leper, the love-sick
pen pictures presented in newspapers. Let publications upon moral and religious
subjects be found on your tables and in your libraries, that your children may
cultivate a taste for elevated reading. Let those who wish to make valuable
presents to their children, grandchildren, nephews, and nieces, procure for
them the children's books mentioned above. For young people, the Life of
Joseph Bates is a treasure, also the three volumes of Spirit of
Prophecy. These volumes should be placed in every family in the land. God
is giving light from heaven, and not a family should be without it. Let the
presents you shall make be of that order which will shed beams of light upon
the pathway to heaven.
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Anciently the children of Israel were commanded to keep
three annual feasts each year: The Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles, and the
Feast of Weeks. The Lord gave directions that on these occasions their gifts
and offerings were to be consecrated to Him, and none should appear before Him
empty-handed. But in our day it has become fashionable to observe these festal
occasions in a manner that would divert the mind from God instead of bringing
glory to His name. Those whom God has blessed with prosperity should
acknowledge the Giver, and feel that where much is given, much will be
required.
Our holidays have been perverted from their intended use.
Gifts are lavished upon one another, and praise which should have been given to
God, to whom all these things belong, is bestowed upon poor mortals.
Our houses of worship in Oakland and Battle Creek are under
the pressure of debt. The Dime Tabernacle belongs to us all; we should all have
a special interest in it.
In order to accommodate the students at the College, the
patients at the sanitarium, the laborers at the Office, and the large number of
worshipers constantly coming in from abroad, the erection of this spacious
house of worship was a positive necessity. Great responsibilities rest upon
those at Battle Creek, and also upon those whose arms should be reached out to
sustain these interests at the great heart of the work. Not in all the world is
there a battle field for truth and reform like this. Great interests are
involved here. The Sabbath school and college are educating the young, and
determining the future destiny of souls. There is here a continual necessity of
devising ways and means for the advancement of truth and the conversion of
souls. Our people are not half awake to the demands of the times. The voice of
Providence is calling upon all who have the love of God in their hearts to
arouse to this great emergency. Never was there a time when so much was at
stake as today. Never was there a period in which greater energy and
self-sacrifice were demanded from God's commandment-keeping people.
We are now nearing the close of another year, and shall we
not make these festal days opportunities in which to bring to God our
offerings? I cannot say sacrifices, for we shall only be rendering to God that
which is His already, and which He has only entrusted to us till He shall call
for it. God would be well pleased if on Christmas each church would have a
Christmas tree on which shall be hung offerings, great and small, for these
houses of worship. Letters of inquiry have come to us asking, Shall we have a
Christmas tree? Will it not be like the world? We answer, You can make it like
the world if you have a disposition to do so, or you can make it as unlike the
world as possible. There is no particular sin in selecting a fragrant evergreen
and placing it in our churches; but the sin lies in the motive which prompts
the actions and the use which is made of the gifts placed upon the tree.
The tree may be as tall and its branches as wide as shall
best suit the occasion; but let its boughs be laden with the golden and silver
fruit of your beneficence, and present this to Him as your Christmas gift. Let
your donations be sanctified by prayer and let the fruit upon this consecrated
tree be applied towards removing the debts from our houses of worship at Battle
Creek, Michigan, and Oakland, California.
A word to the wise is sufficient.--Review and Herald, December 11, 1879.
Page 10
At the close of my long journey East, I reached my home in
time to spend New Year's eve in Healdsburg. The college hall had been fitted up
for a Sabbath school reunion. Cypress wreaths, autumn leaves, evergreens, and
flowers were tastefully arranged, and a large bell of evergreens hung from the
arched doorway at the entrance to the room. The tree was well loaded with
donations, which ere to be used for the benefit of the poor and to help
purchase a bell. Except in a few instances, the names of the donors were not
given, but appropriate Bible texts and mottos were read as the gifts were taken
down from the tree. On this occasion nothing was said or done that need burden
the conscience of anyone.
Some have said to me, "Sister White, what do you think of
this? Is it in accordance with our faith?" I answer them, "It is with my
faith." In Healdsburg, San Francisco, and Oakland, there are many things to
attract our children; large sums are expended every year on Christmas and New
Year's in purchasing gifts for friends. These gifts are not generally
satisfactory, for many receive presents that they do not need, when they would
be glad to have some other article; some receive the same article from several
different persons, and others receive nothing at all.
We have tried earnestly to make the holidays as interesting
as possible to the youth and children, while changing this order of things. Our
object has been to keep them away from scenes of amusement among unbelievers.
Instead of following a selfish custom and giving to those from whom presents
will be expected in return, let us make our offerings to the Lord. This plan
has proved successful in many of our churches, and it was a success on this
occasion, the donations amounting to $138. Thus the new year was opened with
offerings to the Giver of all our mercies and blessings.
I have thought that while we restrain our children from
worldly pleasures that have a tendency to corrupt and mislead, we ought to
provide them innocent recreation to lead them in pleasant paths where there is
no danger. No child of God need have a sad or mournful experience. Divine
commands, divine promises, show that this is so. Wisdom's ways "are ways of
pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." Worldly pleasures are infatuating;
and for their momentary enjoyment many sacrifice the friendship of Heaven, with
the peace, love, and joy that it affords. But these chosen objects of delight
soon become disgusting, unsatisfying.
We want to do all in our power to win souls by presenting
the attractions of the Christian life. Our God is a lover of the beautiful. He
might have clothed the earth with brown and gray, and the trees with vestments
of mourning instead of their foliage of living green; but He would have His
children happy. Every leaf, every opening bud and blooming flower is a token of
His tender love, and we should aim to represent to others this wonderful love
expressed in His created works.
Page 11
God would have every household and every church exert a
winning power to draw the children away from the seducing pleasures of the
world, and from association with those whose influence would have a corrupting
tendency. Study to win the youth to Jesus. Impress their minds with the mercy
and goodness of God in permitting them, sinful though they be, to enjoy the
advantages, the glory and honor, of being sons and daughters of the Most High.
What a stupendous thought, what unheard of condescension, what amazing love,
that finite men may be allied to the Omnipotent! "To them gave He power to
become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." "Beloved, now
are we the sons of God." Can any worldly honor equal this?
Let us represent the Christian life as it really is; let us
make the way cheerful, inviting, interesting. We can do this if we will. We may
fill our own minds with vivid pictures of spiritual and eternal things, and in
so doing help to make them a reality to other minds. Faith sees Jesus standing
as our Mediator at the right hand of God. Faith beholds the mansions He has
gone to prepare for those who love Him. Faith sees the robe and crown all
prepared for the overcomer. Faith hears the songs of the redeemed, and brings
eternal glories near. We must come close to Jesus in loving obedience if we
would see the King in His beauty.--Review and Herald,
January 29, 1884.
Ellen G. White Estate
September, 1962
Revised
December, 1989
Silver Spring, Maryland