Steps to Born Again Ellen G White
Steps to Christ
by Ellen Thou. White
Chapter 8: Growing Upward Into Christ
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The change of centre by which nosotros go children of God is in the Bible spoken of equally birth. Once more, it is compared to the germination of the good seed sown by the husbandman. In like fashion those who are merely converted to Christ are, "every bit new-built-in babes," to "abound up" to the stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. 1 Peter 2:2; Ephesians iv:xv. Or like the good seed sown in the field, they are to grow up and bring forth fruit. Isaiah says that they shall "be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified." Isaiah 61:3. So from natural life, illustrations are drawn, to aid us better to empathise the mysterious truths of spiritual life.
Non all the wisdom and skill of homo tin produce life in the smallest object in nature. It is only through the life which God Himself has imparted, that either establish or animal can alive. So it is only through the life from God that spiritual life is begotten in the hearts of men. Unless a man is "born from above," he cannot become a partaker of the life which Christ came to give. John 3:3, margin.
Equally with life, and so information technology is with growth. Information technology is God who brings the bud to flower and the flower to fruit. It is by His power that the seed develops, "commencement the blade, then the ear, later on that the full corn in the ear." Mark 4:28. And the prophet Hosea says of Israel, that "he shall grow equally the lily." "They shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine." Hosea fourteen:5, 7. And Jesus bids the states "consider the lilies how [p. 68] they grow." Luke 12:27. The plants and flowers grow not by their ain care or anxiety or effort, but by receiving that which God has furnished to minister to their life. The kid cannot, by whatsoever anxiety or power of its own, add together to its stature. No more than tin yous, by anxiety or endeavor of yourself, secure spiritual growth. The plant, the kid, grows by receiving from its surroundings that which ministers to its life —air, sunshine, and food. What these gifts of nature are to fauna and plant, such is Christ to those who trust in Him. He is their "everlasting light," "a sun and shield." Isaiah 60:19; Psalm 84:xi. He shall be equally "the dew unto State of israel." "He shall come down similar rain upon the mown grass." Hosea 14:5; Psalm 72:6. He is the living water, "the Bread of God . . . which cometh downward from sky, and giveth life unto the globe." John 6:33.
In the matchless gift of His Son, God has encircled the whole world with an atmosphere of grace every bit real as the air which circulates around the globe. All who choose to breathe this life-giving atmosphere will alive and grow up to the stature of men and women in Christ Jesus.
As the bloom turns to the sunday, that the bright beams may aid in perfecting its beauty and symmetry, and so should we plow to the Sun of Righteousness, that heaven's light may smooth upon us, that our character may be developed into the likeness of Christ.
Jesus teaches the same affair when He says, "Abide in Me, and I in you lot. As the co-operative cannot carry fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. . . . Without Me ye [p. 69] tin do nothing." John 15:4, v. You lot are merely as dependent upon Christ, in club to live a holy life, as is the co-operative upon the parent stock for growth and fruitfulness. Apart from Him y'all accept no life. You accept no power to resist temptation or to grow in grace and holiness. Abiding in Him, you may flourish. Cartoon your life from Him, you volition not wither nor be fruitless. Y'all will be like a tree planted by the rivers of h2o.
Many have an thought that they must exercise some part of the piece of work alone. They have trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of sin, but now they seek by their own efforts to alive aright. But every such endeavour must neglect. Jesus says, "Without Me ye tin can do nothing." Our growth in grace, our joy, our usefulness,—all depend upon our union with Christ. It is past communion with Him, daily, hourly,—past abiding in Him, —that we are to grow in grace. He is not simply the Writer, simply the Finisher of our faith. It is Christ first and final and always. He is to be with us, non merely at the beginning and the end of our course, but at every step of the style. David says, "I have ready the Lord ever earlier me: because He is at my correct hand, I shall not be moved." Psalm 16:8.
Do you ask, "How am I to abide in Christ?" In the same fashion equally y'all received Him at commencement. "Equally ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, then walk ye in Him." "The just shall live by faith." Colossians ii:six; Hebrews 10:38. Yous gave yourself to God, to be His wholly, to serve and obey Him, and you lot took Christ as your Saviour. You could not yourself atone for your sins or change your heart; but having given [p. 70] yourself to God, y'all believe that He for Christ's sake did all this for y'all. By religion you lot became Christ'due south, and by religion you are to grow up in Him—by giving and taking. You lot are to give all,—your middle, your volition, your service,—give yourself to Him to obey all His requirements; and you lot must take all,—Christ, the fullness of all blessing, to abide in your heart, to exist your strength, your righteousness, your everlasting helper,—to give you power to obey.
Consecrate yourself to God in the morning; make this your very outset work. Permit your prayer be, "Accept me, O Lord, every bit wholly Thine. I lay all my plans at Thy feet. Apply me today in Thy service. Bide with me, and let all my piece of work be wrought in Thee." This is a daily matter. Each morning consecrate yourself to God for that day. Surrender all your plans to Him, to exist carried out or given upward as His providence shall bespeak. Thus day by day you may be giving your life into the easily of God, and thus your life volition be molded more and more after the life of Christ.
A life in Christ is a life of restfulness. At that place may be no ecstasy of feeling, but there should be an abiding, peaceful trust. Your hope is not in yourself; it is in Christ. Your weakness is united to His strength, your ignorance to His wisdom, your frailty to His indelible might. Then yous are not to await to yourself, not to let the mind dwell upon self, but expect to Christ. Let the mind dwell upon His love, upon the beauty, the perfection, of His grapheme. Christ in His self-denial, Christ in His humiliation, Christ in [p. 71] His purity and holiness, Christ in His matchless love —this is the subject for the soul's contemplation. It is by loving Him, copying Him, depending wholly upon Him, that y'all are to be transformed into His likeness.
Jesus says, "Abide in Me." These words convey the idea of rest, stability, confidence. Again He invites,"Come unto Me, . . . and I will give you remainder." Matthew 11:28. The words of the psalmist express the same thought: "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." And Isaiah gives the assurance, "In quietness and in conviction shall be your force." Psalm 37:seven; Isaiah 30:15. This rest is not establish in inactivity; for in the Saviour's invitation the hope of rest is united with the call to labor: "Take My yoke upon you lot: . . . and ye shall find rest." Matthew 11:29. The middle that rests almost fully upon Christ volition be well-nigh earnest and active in labor for Him.
When the mind dwells upon self, it is turned away from Christ, the source of strength and life. Hence information technology is Satan's abiding effort to proceed the attention diverted from the Saviour and thus preclude the union and communion of the soul with Christ. The pleasures of the world, life'south cares and perplexities and sorrows, the faults of others, or your own faults and imperfections—to whatever or all of these he will seek to divert the mind. Do not be misled by his devices. Many who are really conscientious, and who desire to live for God, he too often leads to dwell upon their own faults and weaknesses, and thus by separating them from Christ he hopes to [p. 72] proceeds the victory. We should not make self the center and indulge anxiety and fear every bit to whether nosotros shall exist saved. All this turns the soul abroad from the Source of our strength. Commit the keeping of your soul to God, and trust in Him. Talk and retrieve of Jesus. Let self be lost in Him. Put away all doubtfulness; dismiss your fears. Say with the apostle Paul, "I live; still non I, only Christ liveth in me: and the life which I at present live in the flesh I live by the religion of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." Galatians ii:20. Residual in God. He is able to go on that which you have committed to Him. If you will leave yourself in His hands, He will bring you off more than conqueror through Him that has loved you.
When Christ took human nature upon Him, He bound humanity to Himself by a tie of beloved that tin never be broken past any ability save the choice of homo himself. Satan will constantly present allurements to induce u.s. to break this necktie—to cull to separate ourselves from Christ. Here is where we demand to watch, to strive, to pray, that nothing may entice us to choose some other chief; for nosotros are e'er free to exercise this. But permit usa go along our eyes stock-still upon Christ, and He will preserve u.s.. Looking unto Jesus, nosotros are safe. Zero can pluck us out of His hand. In constantly beholding Him, we "are changed into the same image from celebrity to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." two Corinthians 3:eighteen.
It was thus that the early on disciples gained their likeness to the beloved Saviour. When those disciples heard the words of Jesus, they felt their need of Him. They sought, they institute, they followed Him. They [p. 73] were with Him in the house, at the tabular array, in the cupboard, in the field. They were with Him as pupils with a teacher, daily receiving from His lips lessons of holy truth. They looked to Him, equally servants to their main, to learn their duty. Those disciples were men "subject field to like passions as we are." James 5:17. They had the same battle with sin to fight. They needed the aforementioned grace, in order to live a holy life.
Even John, the beloved disciple, the ane who most fully reflected the likeness of the Saviour, did non naturally possess that loveliness of grapheme. He was non only cocky-assertive and ambitious for honor, just impetuous, and resentful under injuries. But as the grapheme of the Divine One was manifested to him, he saw his own deficiency and was humbled by the knowledge. The strength and patience, the power and tenderness, the majesty and meekness, that he beheld in the daily life of the Son of God, filled his soul with admiration and beloved. Day by day his heart was drawn out toward Christ, until he lost sight of self in honey for his Primary. His resentful, ambitious temper was yielded to the molding ability of Christ. The regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit renewed his heart. The power of the love of Christ wrought a transformation of grapheme. This is the sure result of union with Jesus. When Christ abides in the heart, the whole nature is transformed. Christ's Spirit, His love, softens the heart, subdues the soul, and raises the thoughts and desires toward God and heaven.
When Christ ascended to heaven, the sense of His presence was still with His followers. Information technology was a [p. 74] personal presence, full of love and light. Jesus, the Saviour, who had walked and talked and prayed with them, who had spoken promise and comfort to their hearts, had, while the bulletin of peace was still upon His lips, been taken upwardly from them into heaven, and the tones of His voice had come back to them, as the cloud of angels received Him—"Lo, I am with y'all alway, even unto the end of the earth." Matthew 28:20. He had ascended to heaven in the form of humanity. They knew that He was before the throne of God, their Friend and Saviour still; that His sympathies were unchanged; that He was all the same identified with suffering humanity. He was presenting before God the claim of His ain precious blood, showing His wounded easily and anxiety, in remembrance of the price He had paid for His redeemed. They knew that He had ascended to heaven to prepare places for them, and that He would come again and take them to Himself.
Equally they met together after the ascension they were eager to nowadays their requests to the Father in the name of Jesus. In solemn awe they bowed in prayer, repeating the balls, "Whatsoever ye shall inquire the Begetter in My name, He will give it yous. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My proper noun: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may exist full." John xvi:23, 24. They extended the mitt of faith higher and college with the mighty statement, "It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen once more, who is even at the correct paw of God, who as well maketh intercession for us." Romans 8:34. And Pentecost brought them the presence of the Comforter, of whom [p. 75] Christ had said, He "shall exist in you." And He had further said, "It is expedient for yous that I become away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you lot; only if I depart, I will send Him unto yous." John 14:17; sixteen:7. Henceforth through the Spirit, Christ was to bide continually in the hearts of His children. Their union with Him was closer than when He was personally with them. The low-cal, and love, and ability of the indwelling Christ shone out through them, so that men, beholding, "marveled; and they took noesis of them, that they had been with Jesus." Acts iv:13.
All that Christ was to the disciples, He desires to be to His children today; for in that final prayer, with the little ring of disciples gathered about Him, He said, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word." John 17:20.
Jesus prayed for us, and He asked that nosotros might exist one with Him, even every bit He is one with the Father. What a union is this! The Saviour has said of Himself, "The Son tin can practise nothing of Himself;" "the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works." John 5:19; fourteen:ten. Then if Christ is dwelling in our hearts, He volition work in us "both to volition and to exercise of His good pleasure." Philippians 2:thirteen. Nosotros shall piece of work as He worked; we shall manifest the aforementioned spirit. And thus, loving Him and abiding in Him, we shall "grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ." Ephesians 4:15.
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