Christ's Appointed means . . . appointed way ( 5 )
Quotations from the writings of Ellen G. White with the phrase . . .
| Many do not look upon preaching as Christ's appointed means of instructing His people and therefore always to be highly prized. They do not feel that the sermon is the word of the Lord to them and estimate it by the value of the truths spoken; but they judge it as they would the speech of a lawyer at the bar--by the argumentative skill displayed and the power and beauty of the language. The minister is not infallible, but God has honored him by making him His messenger. If you listen to him as though he were not commissioned from above you will not respect his words nor receive them as the message of God. Your souls will not feed upon the heavenly manna; doubts will arise concerning some things that are not pleasing to the natural heart, and you will sit in judgment upon the sermon as you would upon the remarks of a lecturer or a political speaker. As soon as the meeting closes you will be ready with some complaint or sarcastic remark, thus showing that the message, however true and needful, has not profited you. You esteem it not; you have learned the habit of criticizing and finding fault, and you pick and choose, and perhaps reject the very things that you most need. {5T 298.2} |
| |
| Many do not look upon preaching as Christ's appointed means of instructing his people, and therefore always to be highly prized. They do not feel that the sermon is the word of the Lord to them, and estimate it by the value of the truths spoken; but they judge it as they would the speech of a lawyer at the bar,--by the argumentative skill displayed, and the power and beauty of the language. The minister is not infallible, but God has honored him by making him his messenger. If his hearers listen to him as though he were not commissioned from above, they will not respect his words, nor receive them as the message of God. Their souls will not feed upon the heavenly manna; doubts will arise concerning some things that are not pleasing to the natural heart, and they will sit in judgment upon the sermon, as they would upon the remarks of a lecturer or a political speaker. As soon as the meeting closes, they will be ready with some complaint or sarcastic remark, thus showing that the message, however true and needful, has not profited them. They esteem it not; they have learned the habit of criticising and finding fault, and they pick and choose, and perhaps reject the very things that they most need. {RH, April 7, 1885 par. 2} |
| |
| We cannot even manufacture faith ourselves. "It is the gift of God: (Eph. 2:8). The whole of our salvation comes through the gift of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. How glad I am. It comes from such a source that we cannot doubt it. And He is "the author"--does it stop there? Does it stop there? "The author and finisher of our faith" (Heb. 12:2). Thank God. He attends us every step of the way through, if we are willing to be saved in Christ's appointed way, through obedience to His requirements. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8). "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12). What does this mean? Is it a contradiction? Let us see what the last of it says. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (verses 12, 13). Praise God. Now who will be discouraged? Who is going to faint? It is not committed to us, weak, feeble mortals to work out our own salvation in our own line. It is Christ that worketh in you. And this is the privilege of every son and daughter of Adam. But we are to work. We are not to be idle. We are put here in this world to work. We are not put here to fold our arms.-- Manuscript 18, March 4, 1894, "Laborers Together With God." {TDG 72.1} |
| |
| Christ did not himself pass around among the hungry multitude and place in their hands the portion to supply their necessities. When he would feed the five thousand by the Sea of Galilee, he broke the bread, blessed it, and gave it to his disciples. They placed it in the hands of the hungry ones. These men were ministering for Christ. The people took the provision from Christ's appointed agencies as if they were taking it from the hand of Christ. When they looked up with grateful response upon their lips, their expressions of gratitude were accepted by Christ as given to himself. The various instrumentalities are to be used by the Lord Jesus; ministers, evangelists, teachers, friends, companions--all are workers together with God. {SSW, June 1, 1895 par. 2} |
| |
| This ordinance is Christ's appointed preparation for the sacramental service. While pride, variance, and strife for supremacy are cherished, the heart cannot enter into fellowship with Christ. We are not prepared to receive the communion of His body and His blood. Therefore it was that Jesus appointed the memorial of His humiliation to be first observed. {DA 650.3} |
| |
Post your comment or suggest new phrases
There are no comments.