Many Hearers, Few Doers
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luke19v10 To: AdventistHotIssues@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, May 08, 2011 12:03 PM Subject: [AdventistHotIssues] The NM in a
familiar path traversed by the Jewish nation in Christ's time
The leaders of New Movement have placed themselves in a
position where God cannot manifest his power because of their unbelief and
abuse of precious privileges as did the leaders of the Jewish nation in
Christ's time and will continue because nothing will be allowed to stand in
it's way and the great apostasy will only wax stronger. Brian Jhn 6:53 Then Jesus
said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of
the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. "His teaching and example, his life and death, were
the heavenly food that was to give them spiritual life and
vigor... Jesus knew that many followed him who hoped to receive
temporal favors thereby. They looked for him to work some miracle that
would benefit them...He told them that there were some among them who
believed not. "And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can
come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father."He wished them
to understand that their hearts must be open to the Spirit of God before
they could be drawn to him by faith. They must be willing to have their
errors reproved, to eschew evil, and lead holy lives. ... they could not but admit that he had performed many miraculous
cures, and plentifully fed a vast multitude from five loaves and two
small fishes; but their dissatisfied hearts queried, if he could do
these wonders, why might he not give health, strength, and riches to all his
people, free them from their oppressors, and exalt them to power and honor?
Then they would believe on him and glorify his name. Thus they allowed
themselves to be bound by unbelief and discontent..... If, by becoming his
disciples, they must live righteous lives, deny self, and suffer humiliation,
they had no desire to rally under his banner. ...They wanted the meat which
perishes, and not that which endures unto everlasting life. Their ambition
was for earthly riches and glory, and they had no relish for the words of
Christ that taught personal purity, and a thorough reformation of
life....They were choosing darkness rather than light, because they were too
vain and self-righteous to receive a merited rebuke, and too worldly to
accept a life of humility in order to secure salvation. [4Red] "To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ is to
receive Him as a personal Saviour, believing that He forgives our sins and
that we are complete in Him. It is by beholding His love, by dwelling upon
it, by drinking it in, that we are to become partakers of His nature. What
food is to the body, Christ must be to the soul. Food cannot benefit us
unless we eat it, unless it becomes a part of our being. So Christ is of no
value to us if we do not know Him as a personal Saviour. A theoretical
knowledge will do us no good. We must feed upon Him, receive Him into the
heart, so that His life becomes our life. His love, His grace, must be
assimilated. It is not enough even that we believe on Christ for the forgiveness
of sin; we must by faith be constantly receiving spiritual strength and
nourishment from Him through His word. . . . The followers of Christ must be
partakers of His experience. ...It is by receiving the life for us poured out
on Calvary's cross that we can live the life of holiness. And this life we
receive by receiving His word, by doing those things which He has commanded.
Thus we become one with Him. "{ML 275.2] "There are many hearers, but few doers, of the words
of Christ. His words may be theoretically accepted, but if they are not
stamped upon the soul, and woven into the life, they will have no
sanctifying effect upon the character. It is one thing to accept the
truth, and another thing to practice it in the daily life. From those
who hear only, God's word calls forth no grateful response. The commandment,
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy strength," is acknowledged to be just, but its
claims are not recognized; its principles are not carried out. We are all sinful, and of ourselves are unable to do the
words of Christ. But God has made provision whereby the condemned sinner
may be freed from spot and stain. ...We must come to Christ for pardon.
He will take our guilt upon his own soul, and will justify us before
God. And not only will he free us from sin, but he will give us power to
render obedience to God's will. {ST,September 24, 1896} "Nothing can elevate man, nothing can make him pure
and keep him pure, but believing in and practising the truth. He must eat the
flesh, and drink the blood of the Son of God. This is the lesson all should
learn. They should see that to be sanctified means more than to have a
theoretical knowledge of the truth. They must have living faith. They must do more than denounce wrong in others; they must fight
it in themselves. They must be whole-souled Christians, possessing
the earnestness and living energy derived from Christ. . . . {Advocate,
May 1, 1899 par. 7} It is not enough for us to believe that Jesus is not an
impostor, and that the religion of the Bible is no cunningly devised
fable. We may believe that the name of Jesus is the only name under heaven
whereby man may be saved, and yet we may not through faith make him our
personal Saviour. It is not enough to believe the theory of the truth. It is
not enough to make a profession of faith in Christ and have our names
registered on the church-roll. "He that keepeth his commandments
dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by
the Spirit which he hath given us." "Hereby we do know that we know
him, if we keep his commandments. " This is the genuine evidence of
conversion. Whatever our profession, it amounts to nothing unless Christ is
revealed in works of righteousness. {RH, June 23, 1910 par. 2} True religion is not a mere theory; it affects the heart,
and is expressed in the life by good works. {ST, May 7, 1902 par.8 } |