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Selected Quotations - EGW ( 6,000 phrases )
Phrase - Heart ( separate page ) [ 42 ]
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The renewed heart |
Related phrase: unrenewed heart ( ) |
The spirit of Christ is a missionary spirit. The very first impulse of the renewed heart is to bring others also to the Saviour. Such was the spirit of the Vaudois Christians. They felt that God required more of them than merely to preserve the truth in its purity in their own churches; that a solemn responsibility rested upon them to let their light shine forth to those who were in darkness; by the mighty power of God's word they sought to break the bondage which Rome had imposed. The Vaudois ministers were trained as missionaries, everyone who expected to enter the ministry being required first to gain an experience as an evangelist. Each was to serve three years in some mission field before taking charge of a church at home. This service, requiring at the outset self-denial and sacrifice, was a fitting introduction to the pastor's life in those times that tried men's souls. The youth who received ordination to the sacred office saw before them, not the prospect of earthly wealth and glory, but a life of toil and danger, and possibly a martyr's fate. The missionaries went out two and two, as Jesus sent forth His disciples. With each young man was usually associated a man of age and experience, the youth being under the guidance of his companion, who was held responsible for his training, and whose instruction he was required to heed. These colaborers were not always together, but often met for prayer and counsel, thus strengthening each other in the faith. Great Controversy, page 70.2 |
Prayer is the most holy exercise of the soul. It should be sincere, humble, earnest_the desires of a renewed heart breathed in the presence of a holy God. When the suppliant feels that he is in the divine presence, self will be forgotten. He will have no desire to display human talent; he will not seek to please the ear of men, but to obtain the blessing which the soul craves. {5T 201.3} |
Many suppose that the missionary spirit, the qualification for missionary work, is a special gift or endowment bestowed upon the ministers and a few members of the church and that all others are to be mere spectators. Never was there a greater mistake. Every true Christian will possess a missionary spirit, for to be a Christian is to be Christlike. No man liveth to himself, and "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." Everyone who has tasted of the powers of the world to come, whether he be young or old, learned or unlearned, will be stirred with the spirit which actuated Christ. The very first impulse of the renewed heart is to bring others also to the Saviour. Those who do not possess this desire give evidence that they have lost their first love; they should closely examine their own hearts in the light of God's word, and earnestly seek a fresh baptism of the Spirit of Christ; they should pray for a deeper comprehension of that wondrous love which Jesus manifested for us in leaving the realms of glory and coming to a fallen world to save the perishing. {5T 385.4} {WM 55.4} {RH, July 10, 1883 par. 4} |
The spirit of Christ is a missionary spirit. The very first impulse of the renewed heart is to bring others also to the Saviour.--The Great Controversy, p. 70. {ChS 101.1} |
Every Christian will have a missionary spirit. To bear fruit is to work as Christ worked, to love souls as he has loved us. The very first impulse of the renewed heart is to bring others also to the Saviour: and just as soon as a person is converted to the truth, he feels an earnest desire that those in darkness should see the precious light shining from God's word. {HS 181.3} |
In every prayer, let the hand of living faith lay hold upon infinite help. Faith is the medium by which the renewed heart is drawn close to the great heart of love. Faith elevates the sinking soul. Faith lightens every burden and relieves every weariness, by the anticipation of the mansions Jesus has gone to prepare for them that love him. {GW92 467.3} {RH, July 22, 1884 par. 13} |
Genuine conversion is needed, not once in years, but daily. This conversion brings man into a new relation with God. Old things, his natural passions and hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong, pass away, and he is renewed and sanctified. But this work must be continual; for as long as Satan exists, he will make an effort to carry on his work. He who strives to serve God will encounter a strong undercurrent of wrong. His heart needs to be barricaded by constant watchfulness and prayer, or else the embankment will give way; and like a millstream, the undercurrent of wrong will sweep away the safeguard. No renewed heart can be kept in a condition of sweetness without the daily application of the salt of the Word. Divine grace must be received daily, or no man will stay converted. . . . {OHC 215.2} {RH, September 14, 1897 par. 9} |
Christ is to be all and in all to the believer. There must be none of self, and all of Christ, whose we are by creation and by redemption. The Holy Spirit takes the most attractive excellencies of the One who is altogether lovely, and presents them in such a way as to engage the attention and receive the best attention of the renewed heart. God designs that the Holy Spirit shall keep before the mind's eye scenes that will attract and absorb all there is of the newborn soul. We need not any external representations of the person of Christ. The imagination must take in the only begotten of the Father, "full of grace and truth," the One altogether lovely and the chiefest among ten thousand.-- MS 131, 1899. {PM 220.2} |
I tell you the truth; I lie not. You need a renewed heart. Pray that your eyes may be anointed with the heavenly eyesalve, that you may discern the true character of your religions faith and experience. Have you that faith which works by love and purifies the soul? Are you striving to reach the standard that God has set before you? If you choose, you can make the Word of God of no effect to many souls, leading them away from the safe path. But I want you to stand on vantage ground before God. I want you to sit at the wedding feast, clad in the wedding garment,-- the righteousness of Christ. {BCL 69.3} |
My answer was, "I have a message to this people in regard to the life they must live in this world to prepare them for future life which measures with the life of God. We have nought to do with the question whether this world is round or flat. [The important thing] is to serve God with full purpose of a renewed heart, sanctified and made holy by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ." {21MR 421.4} |
in the renewed heart |
In the renewed heart there will be a fixed principle to obey the will of God because there is a love for what is just, and good, and holy. The mind will be an open medium, continually receiving light, grace, and truth from above, and communicating these blessings to others. The life of the Christian is not barren; he has his fruit unto holiness, and the end is everlasting life. But many stand halting between two opinions, undecided whether to serve God or the world. They are unreconciled to the humble work of God, and their influence is exerted in a wrong direction. Of those who profess the truth, few have an experimental knowledge of its sanctifying influence upon the heart. Their obedience and devotion are not in accordance with their light and privileges. They do not realize the obligation resting upon them to walk as children of the light and not as children of darkness. To all such I would say, Turn from the opinions of men to the law and to the testimony. Shut out every worldly consideration. Make your decisions for eternity. Weigh evidence in this important time. { RH, May 26, 1885 par. 9 } |
Satan is continually seeking to overcome the people of God by breaking down the barriers which separate them from the world. Ancient Israel were enticed into sin when they ventured into forbidden association with the heathen. In a similar manner are modern Israel led astray. "The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." 2 Corinthians 4:4. All who are not decided followers of Christ are servants of Satan. In the unregenerate heart there is love of sin and a disposition to cherish and excuse it. In the renewed heart there is hatred of sin and determined resistance against it. When Christians choose the society of the ungodly and unbelieving, they expose themselves to temptation. Satan conceals himself from view and stealthily draws his deceptive covering over their eyes. They cannot see that such company is calculated to do them harm; and while all the time assimilating to the world in character, words, and actions, they are becoming more and more blinded. Great Controversy, page 508.2 Read entire chapter 30 |
In the renewed heart there will be a fixed principle to obey the will of God, because there is a love for what is just, and good, and holy. There will be no hesitating, conferring with the taste, or studying of convenience, or moving in a certain course because others do so. Everyone should live for himself. The minds of all who are renewed by grace will be an open medium, continually receiving light, grace, and truth from above, and transmitting the same to others. Their works are fruitful. Their fruit is unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. {2T 488.1} {PH011 83.1} {PH048 41.1} |
Sabbath, July 3, we met with the church in their hall in the new publishing house, a pleasant and commodious place of worship. I spoke to them from 2 Peter 3:11 : "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness." I urged upon them the importance, since they had received so great light, of having corresponding works. The genuine receiver of truth is a doer of the word, and not a hearer only. As the truth is brought into the life, the whole character is changed. "Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." The truly converted soul will become gentle and condescending. His character will be marked with simplicity. He will be spiritually-minded. Self-exaltation will cease. His affections have entered a new channel. He loves Jesus with the whole heart, and he loves his brethren as the purchase of the blood of Christ. Here is the fruit that will certainly appear in the renewed heart. {RH, October 19, 1886 par. 2} |
A genuine receiver of truth is a doer of the Word, and not a hearer only. As the truth is brought into the life, the whole character is changed. "Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." The character of the truly converted soul will be marked with simplicity. He will be spiritually minded. Self-exaltation will cease, for his affections have centered in a new channel. He now loves Jesus with his whole heart, and his brethren as the purchase of the blood of Christ. Here is fruit that will certainly appear in the renewed heart. {SW, September 22, 1908 par. 7} |
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