Christ recognized no distinction of nationality or rank or creed. The scribes and Pharisees desired to make a local and a national benefit of all the gifts of heaven and to exclude the rest of God’s family in the world. But Christ came to break down every wall of partition. He came to show that His gift of mercy and love is as unconfined as the air, the light, or the showers of rain that refresh the earth.
(3TT 387.1)
The life of Christ established a religion in which there is no caste, a religion by which Jew and Gentile, free and bond, are linked in a common brotherhood, equal before God. No question of policy influenced His movements. He made no difference between neighbors and strangers, friends and enemies. That which appealed to His heart was a soul thirsting for the waters of life.
(3TT 387.2)
He passed no human being by as worthless, but sought to apply the healing remedy to every soul. In whatever company He found Himself, He presented a lesson appropriate to the time and the circumstances. Every neglect or insult shown by men to their fellow men only made Him more conscious of their need of His divine-human sympathy. He sought to inspire with hope the roughest and most unpromising, setting before them the assurance that they might become blameless and harmless, attaining such a character as would make them the children of God.
(3TT 387.3)
A Sure Foundation
“Wherefore the rather, brethren,” says the apostle Peter, “Give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance 1909, Testimonies for the Church 9:190-194 (The Publishing Work at College View). shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”2 Peter 1:10, 11.
(3TT 387.4)
A Practical Illustration
Years ago, when the company of believers in the soon coming of Christ was very small, the Sabbathkeepers at Topsham, Maine, met for worship in the large kitchen in the home of Brother Stockbridge Howland. One Sabbath morning Brother Howland was absent. We were surprised at this, because he was always so punctual. Soon he came in, his face aglow, shining with the glory of God. “Brethren,” he said, “I have found it. I have found that we can pursue a course of action regarding which the guarantee of God’s word is: ‘Ye shall never fall.’2 Peter 1:10. I am going to tell you about it.”
(3TT 388.1)
He then told us that he had noticed that one brother, a poor fisherman, had been feeling that he was not as highly respected as he ought to be, and that Brother Howland and others thought themselves above him. This was not true, but it seemed true to him; and for several weeks he had not attended the meetings. So Brother Howland went to his house, and knelt before him, saying: “My brother, forgive me. What is it that I have done?” The man took him by the arm and tried to raise him to his feet. “No,” said Brother Howland, “what have you against me?”“I have nothing against you.”“But you must have,” said Brother Howland, “because once we could speak to one another, but now you do not speak to me at all, and I want to know what is the matter.”
(3TT 388.2)
“Get up, Brother Howland,” he said. “No,” said Brother Howland, “I will not.”“Then I must get down,” he said, and he fell on his knees, and confessed how childish he had been and how many evil surmisings he had cherished. “And now,” he said, “I will put them all away.”
(3TT 388.3)
As Brother Howland told this story, his face shone with the glory of the Lord. Just as he had finished, the fisherman and his family came in, and we had an excellent meeting.
(3TT 388.4)
Suppose that some of us should follow the course pursued by Brother Howland. If when our brethren surmise evil, we would go to them saying, “Forgive me if I have done anything to harm you,” we might break the spell of Satan and set our brethren free from their temptations. Do not let anything interpose between you and your brethren. If there is anything that you can do by sacrifice to clear away the rubbish of suspicion, do it. God wants us to love one another as brethren. He wants us to be pitiful and courteous. He wants us to educate ourselves to believe that our brethren love us, and to believe that Christ loves us. Love begets love.
(3TT 389.1)
Cherish the Love of Christ
Do we expect to meet our brethren in heaven? If we can live with them here in peace and harmony we could live with them there. But how could we live with them in heaven if we cannot live with them here without continual contention and strife? Those who are following a course of action that separates them from their brethren and brings in discord and dissension, need a thorough conversion. Our hearts must be melted and subdued by the love of Christ. We must cherish the love that He showed in dying for us on the cross of Calvary. We need to draw closer and closer to the Saviour. We should be much in prayer, and we must learn to exercise faith. We must be more tenderhearted, more pitiful and courteous. We shall pass through this world but once. Shall we not strive to leave on those with whom we associate the impress of the character of Christ?
(3TT 389.2)
Our hard hearts need to be broken. We need to come together in perfect unity, and we need to realize that we are the purchase of the blood of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Let each one say: “He gave His life for me, and He wants me, as I go through this world, to reveal the love that He revealed in giving Himself for me.” Christ bore our sins in His own body on the cross, that God might be just and yet the justifier of those who believe in Him. There is life, eternal life, for all who will surrender to Christ.
(3TT 389.3)
I want to see the King in His beauty. I want to behold His matchless charms. I want you to behold Him, too. Christ will lead His redeemed ones beside the river of life and will explain to them all that perplexed them in this world. The mysteries of grace will unfold before them. Where their finite minds discerned only confusion and broken purposes, they will see the most perfect and beautiful harmony.
(3TT 390.1)
Let us serve God with all our capabilities, with all our intelligence. Our intelligence will increase as we make use of that which we have. Our religious experience will strengthen as we bring it into the daily life. Thus we shall climb round after round of the ladder reaching to heaven, until at last we step from off the topmost round into the kingdom of God. Let us be Christians in this world. Then we shall have eternal life in the kingdom of glory.
(3TT 390.2)
Unity existing among the followers of Christ is an evidence that the Father has sent His Son to save sinners. It is a witness to His power; for nothing short of the miraculous power of God can bring human beings with their different temperaments together in harmonious action, their one aim being to speak the truth in love.
(3TT 390.3)
God’s warnings and counsels are plain and decided. As we read the Scriptures and see the power for good that there is in unity and the power for evil that there is in disunion, how can we fail to receive the word of God into our hearts? Suspicion and distrust are as evil leaven. Unity bears witness to the power of the truth.
(3TT 390.4)