“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
(2SM 128.1)
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But if we are Christians, having the Spirit of Him who died to save men from their sins, we shall love the souls of our fellow men too well to countenance their sinful pleasures by our presence or our influence. We cannot sanction their course by associating with them, partaking in their feasts and their councils, where God does not preside. Such a course, so far from benefiting them, would only cause them to doubt the reality of our religion. We should be false lights, by our example leading souls to ruin.
(2SM 128.2)
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I lately read of a noble ship that was plowing its way across the sea, when at midnight, with a terrific crash, it struck upon a rock; the passengers were awakened only to see with horror their hopeless condition, and with the ship they sank to rise no more. The man at the helm had mistaken the beacon light, and hundreds of souls were at a moment’s warning launched into eternity. If we present a phase of character that misrepresents Christ, we present a false light, and souls will surely be misled by our example.
(2SM 128.3)
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And Christians who connect themselves with worldly associations are injuring themselves as well as misleading others. Those who fear God cannot choose the ungodly for companions, and be themselves unharmed. In these societies they are brought under the influence of worldly principles and customs, and through the power of association and habit the mind becomes more and more conformed to the worldling’s standard. Their love for God grows cold, and they have no desire for communion with Him. They become spiritually blind. They can see no particular difference between the transgressor of God’s law and those who fear God and keep His commandments. They call evil good, and good evil. The brightness of eternal realities fades away. The truth may be presented to them in ever so forcible a manner, but they do not hunger for the bread of life, or thirst for the waters of salvation. They are drinking at “broken cisterns that can hold no water.”Jeremiah 2:13. Oh, it is an easy thing, by association with the world, to catch their spirit, to be molded by their views of things, so that we do not discern the preciousness of Jesus and the truth. And just to the degree that the spirit of the world dwells in our heart, it will control our life.
(2SM 128.4)
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VC