Miscellaneous Facts Ministry
What Miscellaneous Facts Do YOU Have?
Do All to the Glory of God
23 m“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. 24 nLet no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. 25 oEat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 26 For p“the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, qeat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. 28 But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience— 29 I do not mean ryour conscience, but his. For swhy should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that tfor which I give thanks?
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or uwhatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 vGive no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to wthe church of God, 33 just as xI try to please everyone in everything I do, ynot seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.
11 zBe imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
Chapter 1—Recreation As Lights in the World
It is God’s purpose to manifest through His people the principles of His kingdom. That in life and character they may reveal these principles, He desires to separate them from the customs, habits, and practises of the world. He seeks to bring them nearer to Himself that He may make known to them His will. His purpose for His people today is the same that He had for Israel when He brought them forth from Egypt. By beholding the goodness, the mercy, the justice, and the love of God revealed in His church, the world is to have a representation of His character. And when the law of God is thus exemplified in the life, even the world will recognize the superiority of those who love and fear and serve God above every other people in the world.
Seventh-day Adventists, above all people, should be patterns of piety, holy in heart and in conversation. To them have been entrusted the most solemn truths ever committed to mortals. Every endowment of grace and power and efficiency has been liberally provided. They look for the soon return of Christ in the clouds of heaven. For them to give to the world the impression that their faith is not a dominating power in their lives, is greatly to dishonor God.
Because of the increasing power of Satan’s temptations, the times in which we live are full of peril for the children of God, and we need to learn constantly of the great Teacher, that we may take every step in surety and righteousness. Wonderful scenes are opening before us, and at this time a living testimony is to be borne in the lives of God’s professed people, so that the world may see that in this age, when evil reigns on every side, there is yet a people who are laying aside their will and are seeking to do God’s will,—a people in whose hearts and lives God’s law is written.
Representatives of Christ
God expects those who bear the name of Christ to represent Him. Their thoughts are to be pure, their words noble and uplifting. The religion of Christ is to be interwoven with all that they do and say. They are to be a sanctified, purified, holy people, communicating light to all with whom they come in contact.
It is His purpose that by exemplifying the truth in their lives, they shall be a praise in the earth. The grace of Christ is sufficient to bring this about. But let God’s people remember that only as they believe and work out the principles of the gospel can they fulfil His purpose. Only as they yield their God-given capabilities to His service, will they enjoy the fulness and the power of the promise whereon the church has been called to stand.
Before Christ went to His final conflict with the powers of darkness, He lifted up His eyes to heaven, and prayed for His disciples. He said: “I pray not that Thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldst keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.”
The followers of Christ are to be separate from the world in principles and interests: but they are not to isolate themselves from the world. The Saviour mingled constantly with men, not to encourage them in anything that was not in accordance with God’s will, but to uplift and ennoble them. “I sanctify Myself,” He declared, “that they also might be sanctified.” So the Christian is to abide among men, that the savor of divine love may be as salt to preserve the world from corruption.