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Don’t Be a Pretender, April 27
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works
that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do;
because I go unto my Father.
John 14:12
.
Christians are to be indeed the representatives of Jesus Christ; they
are not to be pretenders. Shall the world form its conceptions of God
by the course of those who only take the name of Christ, and do not His
works? Shall they point to those who claim to be believers, but who are
not believers at heart, who betray sacred trusts, and work the works of
the enemy, and say, “O these are Christians, and they will cheat and lie,
and they cannot be trusted”? These are not the ones who truly represent
God. But God will not leave the world to be deceived. The Lord has a
peculiar people on the earth, and He is not ashamed to call them brethren;
for they do the works of Christ. They make it manifest that they love God,
because they keep His commandments. They bear the divine image. They
are a spectacle unto the world, to angels, and to men.
The reward, the glories of heaven, bestowed upon the overcomers,
will be proportionate to the degree in which they have represented the
character of Christ to the world. “He which soweth sparingly shall reap
also sparingly.”
2 Corinthians 9:6
. Thank God that it is our privilege to
sow on earth the seed that will be harvested in eternity. The crown of
life will be bright or dim, will glitter with many stars, or be lighted by
few gems, in accordance with our own course of action. Day by day
we may be laying up a good foundation against the time to come. By
self-denial, by the exercise of the missionary spirit, by crowding all the
good works possible into our life, by seeking so to represent Christ in
character that we shall win many souls to the truth, we shall have respect
unto the recompense of reward.
It rests with us to walk in the light, to make the most of every oppor-
tunity and privilege, to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and so we shall work the works of Christ, and insure for
ourselves treasure in the heavens.
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