What a work is before us. We need greater faith in Christ and the Father, for this we must certainly have, else we shall be counted with the unbelievers. We see great opportunities and a great amount of work to do. We want the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. We cannot afford to miss the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. The sanctification of the truth, confirming man’s steadfastness in the faith, will constitute men laborers together with God.
United with the Source of all power, persevering in duty, enlarging the apprehension of the love of God in Christ Jesus, they become one with Christ, until they are complete with Christ in God.
The glories that await the faithful overcomer are beyond any description. The Lord will greatly honor and exalt His faithful ones. They shall grow like the cedar, and their comprehension will be certainly increasing. And at every advanced stage of knowledge their anticipation will fall far beneath the reality. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Our work now is to prepare for those mansions that God is preparing for those who love Him and keep His commandments... The Lord Jesus will enlarge every mind and heart for the reception of the Holy Spirit...
Time is short. Let the little time you have be employed for your own present and eternal good by active Christian service, doing all the good possible. Redeem the time that has been lost; seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Then you will have something to impart in good works, in cheerful, consecrated influence...
What preparation have you made for the future, eternal world? ... You want something higher and better than you now have. You may exert a conscious and unconscious influence in right doing. God deserves something better from you as His subject than that which you have given Him. Carefully consider: Are you standing under the banner of Prince Emmanuel, or under the black banner of the prince of darkness? There is an obligation resting upon you to return the influence and money that is lent you of the Lord to advance His cause and glorify His name.
The Lord calls upon you, “My son, give me thine heart.”—Letter 71, May 17, 1900, to John Wessels.
Reference: E.G. White, "The Upward Look," p. 151
