Professing believers who reveal by their actions that they are still clinging to selfish practises, are working upon worldly principles. The principles of justice and integrity are not carried into the life-practise (Manuscript 95, 1902).
(4BC 1177.1)
MC
VC
23. Pebbles or Polished Gems—Christians are Christ′s jewels. They are to shine brightly for Him, shedding forth the light of His loveliness. Their luster depends on the polishing they receive. They may choose to be polished or to remain unpolished. But every one who is pronounced worthy of a place in the Lord′s temple must submit to the polishing process. Without the polishing that the Lord gives they can reflect no more light than a common pebble.
(4BC 1177.2)
MC
VC
Christ says to man, “You are mine. I have bought you. You are now only a rough stone, but if you will place yourself in my hands, I will polish you, and the luster with which you shall shine will bring honor to My name. No man shall pluck you out of My hand. I will make you My peculiar treasure. On My coronation day, you will be a jewel in My crown of rejoicing.”
(4BC 1177.3)
MC
VC
The divine Worker spends little time on worthless material. Only the precious jewels does He polish after the similitude of a palace, cutting away all the rough edges. This process is severe and trying; it hurts human pride. Christ cuts deep into the experience that man in his self-sufficiency has regarded as complete, and takes away self-uplifting from the character. He cuts away the surplus surface, and putting the stone to the polishing wheel, presses it close, that all roughness may be worn away. Then, “holding the jewel up to the light”, the Master sees in it a reflection of Himself, and He pronounces it worthy of a place in His casket.
(4BC 1177.4)
MC
VC
“In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, ... and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts.”Haggai 2:23. Blessed be the experience, however severe, that gives new value to the stone, and causes it to shine with living brightness (The Review and Herald, December 19, 1907).
(4BC 1177.5)
MC
VC
Life Hidden in Christ Preserved—God will not suffer one of His true-hearted workers to be left alone to struggle against great odds and be overcome. He preserves as a precious jewel every one whose life is hid with Christ in God. Of every such an one He says, “I ... will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee”(Haggai 2:23) (Manuscript 95, 1902).
(4BC 1177.6)
MC
VC
6-9. A Little-heeded Appeal—[Zechariah 2:6-9 quoted.] How sad it is to contemplate that this touching appeal met with so little response! Had this entreaty to flee from Babylon been heeded, how different might have been the condition of the Jews in the trying times of Mordecai and Esther!
(4BC 1177.7)
MC
VC
The Lord′s purposes for His people have ever been the same. He desires to bestow on the children of men the riches of an eternal inheritance. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. When those who choose to become obedient subjects of the Most High are finally saved in the kingdom of glory, God′s purpose for mankind will have been fulfilled (The Review and Herald, December 26, 1907).
(4BC 1177.8)
MC
VC
1. Same Work Today—Joshua is represented as pleading with the Angel. Are we engaged in the same work? Are our supplications ascending to God in living faith? Are we opening the door of the heart to Jesus, and closing every means of entrance to Satan? Are we daily obtaining clearer light, and greater strength, that we may stand in Christ′s righteousness? Are we emptying our hearts of all selfishness, and cleansing them, preparatory to receiving the latter rain from heaven?
(4BC 1177.9)
MC
VC