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No Taproot?, November 22
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your
labour is not in vain in the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:58
.
In order to be firmly anchored, there must be something firm to hold
us; and nothing will avail until Christ takes possession of the soul.... Many
who now appear strong, and talk in vindication of the truth, are not rooted
and grounded. They have no tap-root; and when the storms of opposition
and persecution come, they are like a tree uprooted by the blast.
We shall be attacked on every point; we shall be tried to the utmost.
We do not want to hold our faith simply because it was handed down to us
by our fathers, Such a faith will not stand the terrible test that is before us.
We want to know why we are Seventh-day Adventists—what real reason
we have for coming out from the world as a separate and distinct people....
When men are willing to become intelligent in regard to the cause of
God because they have invested faith and means in it, God will help them
to understand, and they will be steadfast in the faith; but when they have
merely a theory, a shallow faith they cannot explain, a sudden temptation
will cause them to drift away with the current bearing toward the world....
Our minds must be prepared to stand every test, and to resist every
temptation, whether from without or from within. We must know why
we believe as we do, why we are on the Lord’s side. The truth must
keep watch in our hearts, ready to sound an alarm, and summon us to
action against every foe. The powers of darkness will open their batteries
upon us; and all who are indifferent and careless, who have set their
affections on their earthly treasure, and who have not cared to understand
God’s dealings with His people, will be ready victims. No power but a
knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, will ever make us steadfast; but
with this, one may chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight.
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