“It is the work of God in laying the glory of man in the dust, and doing for man that which it is not in his power to do for himself.
When men see their own nothingness, they are prepared to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ.
Those whom heaven recognizes as holy ones are the last to parade their own goodness.
The apostle Peter became a faithful minister of Christ, and he was greatly honored with divine light and power;
he had an active part in the upbuilding of Christ’s church; but Peter never forgot the fearful experience of his humiliation;
his sin was forgiven; yet well he knew that for the weakness of character which had caused his fall only the grace of Christ could avail.
He found in himself nothing in which to glory.
None of the apostles or prophets ever claimed to be without sin.
Men who have lived nearest to God, men who would sacrifice life itself rather than knowingly commit a wrong act, men whom God had honored with divine light and power, have confessed the sinfulness of their own nature. They have put no confidence in the flesh, have claimed no righteousness of their own, but have trusted wholly in the righteousness of Christ. So will it be with all who behold Christ.
The righteousness of Christ, as a pure white pearl, has no defect, no stain, no guilt.
This righteousness may be ours.
Salvation, with its blood-bought, inestimable treasures, is the pearl of great price.
The thought that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, not because of any merit on our part, but as a free gift from God, is a precious thought.
The enemy of God and man is not willing that this truth should be clearly presented; for he knows that if the people receive it fully, his power will be broken. {FLB 111.6}
“Take hold of the arm of God, and say, “I am nothing, and Thou art everything. Thou hast said, ‘Without me ye can do nothing.’ Now, Lord, I must have Thee abiding in me, that I may abide in Thee.” Then advance step by step, by living faith abiding in Jesus Christ. This is wearing His yoke, the yoke of obedience.” (MS 85, 1901). {5BC 1092.1}
“When we feel our utter nothingness, it is then that Christ sees it is time for Him to give us His Spirit. He will clothe us with His salvation when we give the whole credit and glory of the work to Him. The Lord help us, my dear brethren and sisters, to learn the precious lessons in the school of Christ. These lessons are meekness and lowliness of heart. Some never learn these lessons. They work and work in themselves, and they do not understand who is the Source of their strength and power.”—Manuscript 8, 1886. {CTr 126.5}
Those who, standing in the forefront of the conflict, are impelled by the Holy Spirit to do a special work, will frequently feel a reaction when the pressure is removed. Despondency may shake the most heroic faith, and weaken the most steadfast will. But God understands, and He still pities and loves. He reads the motives and the purposes of the heart. To wait patiently, to trust when everything looks dark, is the lesson that the leaders in God’s work need to learn. Heaven will not fail them in their day of adversity. Nothing is apparently more helpless, yet really more invincible, than the soul that feels its nothingness, and relies wholly on God.–Prophets and Kings, pp. 174, 175. {ChL 76.1}
“We have nothing, we are nothing, unless we receive virtue from Jesus Christ.” {SD 288.2}
“Growth in grace will not lead you to be proud, self-confident, and boastful, but will make you more conscious of your own nothingness, of your entire dependence upon the Lord.” {AG 296.5}
“In the work of creation, Christ was with God.
He was one with God, equal with him, the brightness of his glory, the express image of his person,
the representative of the Father. He alone, the Creator of man, could be his Saviour.
No angel of heaven could reveal the Father to the sinner, and win him back to allegiance to God.
But Christ could manifest the Father’s love; for God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.
Christ could be the “day’s man” between a holy God and lost humanity, one who could “lay his hand upon us both.”
None but Christ could redeem man from the curse of the law.
He proposed to take upon himself the guilt and shame of sin,–sin so offensive in the sight of God that it would necessitate separation from his Father.
Christ proposed to reach to the depths of man’s degradation and woe, and restore the repenting, believing soul to harmony with God.
Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, offered himself as a sacrifice and substitute for the fallen sons of Adam
though in this offering all heaven was involved in infinite sacrifice.
But the Father so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
that through his smitten heart a channel might be found for the out-flowing of infinite love for fallen man.
Man had become so degraded by sin, his nature so perverted by evil,
that it was impossible for him of himself to come into harmony with God, whose nature is purity and love.
But Christ redeemed him from the condemnation of the law, and imparted divine power,
and through man’s cooperation, the sinner could be restored to his lost estate.” {ST, February 13, 1893 par. 7}
“The grace of Christ alone could change the heart of stone to a heart of flesh, make it alive unto God,
and transform the character, so that a degraded child of sin might become a child of God and heir of heaven.
Man had no power to justify the soul, to sanctify the heart.
Moral disease could be healed only through the power of the great Physician.
The highest gift of heaven, even the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, was able to redeem the lost.” {ST, February 13, 1893 par. 8}
“The only hope for the fallen race was found in becoming reconciled to God.
Satan had so misrepresented God that man had no true conception of the divine character.
Christ came to the world, and in carrying out the plan of salvation, revealed the fact that “God is love.” {ST, February 13, 1893 par. 9}
None of the apostles or prophets ever claimed to be without sin.
Would the apostles or prophets who never claimed to be without sin say that they were not sinners when they were babies?
Praise God for His infinite sacrifice for sending down His only begotten Son to save lost humanity!