Morning Talk at Ottawa, Kansas

May 14, 1889
 

Brethren and sisters, just as surely as we begin to look earnestly to Jesus, and uncover our souls to Him, we shall go down deep into the valley of humiliation; and just as surely as we go down, we shall rise up again. The more humbly we live before God, the nearer we will come to Him, and the more distinct will be our view of Jesus Christ and His matchless light.
 

2 Corinthians 3:18: "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory." Now you see how important it is that we are beholding this. The enemy has come in, and his dark shadow has been thrown athwart our pathway so that we dwell on the dark side and talk of gloom until our way seems almost hopeless, and we stumble along without courage, hope, or love. But we do not want this to be so. We want this shadow to be swept away, and it will be if we look beyond the darkened shadow to the brightness beyond in Christ Jesus.
 

"Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not" [2 Cor. 4:1]. It is the mercy of God that we are to enjoy every day and every hour. Talk of it: dwell upon it.
 

"But [we] have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty" [verse 2]. Here come in the works that go hand in hand with faith. We must not expect that the grace of Christ will work with us while we are practicing dishonesty.
 

"Not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God" [verse 2]. All that we do is to be in harmony and corresponding with the holiness and purity of the truth.
 

"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost" [verse 3]. If they quibble and stumble over points of truth that are presented, why, they would stumble over the plainest statements.
 

"In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake" [verses 4, 5]. Is there not a whole volume here on which we can study?
 

"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" [verse 6]. How are we to get it? We are to be God's witnesses and reflect the character of Christ in our character. There is no use for a man to be low and sensual, with his mind on sensual things, and yet think he can reveal the knowledge of God that is Jesus Christ. He must have the grace of God in his own heart and practice it in his life.
 

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us" [verse 7]. Have we received a bright thought? If so, we are not to think that it is because of any wonderful smartness or intelligence in ourselves. It is because God is the Author of it. If anyone tells you you have preached a good sermon, tell him the devil told you that before he did, and for him not to be an agent for the devil. There is pride in our hearts that must be emptied out, and then Jesus Christ will come in and take possession of our whole heart.
 

I love my Saviour this morning because He first loved me. If there is anything in my life, my words, my teachings, that is good, it is because Christ has put it there. It is not because of any goodness in me, and there is no glory to be directed to myself. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith; against these there is no law. We should experience this, and then we will not be under the bondage of the law of God by any means. You are free in Christ Jesus. We shall walk in liberty because our will is in harmony with the will of God and we love all His commandments.
 

"We have this treasure in earthen vessels," but we are hid in Christ, and Christ is in God; so, our lives are hid with Christ in God and we reveal Christ, and in doing so we reveal the Father. Let this be a season when if you have sins to confess, or if you have wronged your brethren and have not right feelings toward them, for Christ's sake get these things out of the way. We want to be getting ready for the future life. Our Lord is coming with power and great glory. We are not to be surfeited and drunken with the cares of this life, but we are to keep our minds uplifted; and if we do this we shall see of the salvation of the Lord, and our hearts will be all light in the Lord, and we shall talk of His love and tell of His power and reveal Him to all around us.
 

It is our privilege to go on from strength to strength and from glory to glory. Do not think that because we have a glimmer of the light of God, that we have it all. It will soon leak out of your hearts as water out of a leaky vessel if your eyes are not fixed on the mark of the high calling which is in Christ Jesus. Unless you work with earnestness, the devil will sow doubts in your mind.
 

When you start out, the enemy may put into your minds some cheap, common, sensual thought; but lift your souls to Jesus Christ and think of His purity, and they will not long remain. Talk of His glory, think of His life; and when affliction comes to you, let it prove you to be God's workmen, working out a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Then talk of His glory, and let your soul be full of the love of Jesus, and your hearts be uplifted to God every morning and noon and evening and if we fight the good fight of faith we shall come off victorious.--Ms. 3, 1889. (MR 900)