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Hold High the Standard, August 31
Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people;
cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a
standard for the people.
Isaiah 62:10
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The Word of God not only sets forth the great principles of truth and
duty which should govern our lives, but it presents also, for our encourage-
ment, the history of many who have exemplified these principles....Except
the one perfect Pattern, there is not described in the Sacred Pages a single
character more worthy of emulation than that of the prophet Daniel. Ex-
posed in youth to all the allurements of a royal court, he became a man of
unbending integrity and fervent devotion to God. He was subjected to the
fierce temptations of Satan, yet his character was not vacillating, nor his
course changeable. He was firm where many would be yielding; he was
true where they would be false; he was strong where they would be weak.
Daniel was a lofty cedar of Lebanon.... Would that the faith, integrity, and
devotion of the prophet Daniel might live in the hearts of God’s people of
today. Never were these noble qualities more needed in the world than
now....
In the records of those who have done and suffered for the name of
Jesus, there is no name that shines with a brighter or purer luster than the
name of Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. The love of Jesus, glowing in his
heart, made him self-forgetful, self-denying. He had seen the risen Christ,
and the Saviour’s image was impressed upon his soul, and shone forth
in his life. With faith, courage, and fortitude, that would not be daunted
by danger or stayed by obstacles, he pressed his way from land to land to
spread the knowledge of the cross....
Are the professed followers of Christ thus exemplifying the principles
of their faith? Where are the deep, living, holy experiences which men of
God were wont to recount? Has the standard of Christianity been lowered?
... No; that standard remains just where God placed it. Holy men of ages
past were required to give up all for Christ, to cherish His spirit, and to
imitate His example. Nothing less than this will He accept now.... When
called to give up all for Christ, who will stand the test?
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