Ever since I was 11 years old I have been in the service of this heavenly King. I can speak from experience. He has asked me to give Him nothing that was for my best interest to retain. Precious Jesus; precious Savior; I love Him; and I love His service....

There are only two roads; one leads to heaven, the other to death and hell. Every one has a work to do. Every one of us that has reasoning powers knows that there is a God.... We want an arm to lean upon in the hours of affliction that can sustain. We want such an arm to rely upon when the earth shall reel to and fro, and be removed as a cottage. We want to know then that God is our Father, that our life is hid with Christ in God. Every one of you needs this assurance. The students at our school need this assurance. Some will soon return to their homes. How many of them have come to this school without a hope in Christ? How many have given their hearts to Him since they have been attending our college? How many are still in a position of indecision, sometimes inclined to be wholly on the Lord's side, and then again draw back for the very reasons I have mentioned, the responsibilities and duties devolving upon the Christian? These seem so great that they hesitate and remain undecided....

How long is the extent of your life? Who of you have the assurance that you will live until the next term of school? How many of you have any surety of your life? But if you had a lifetime before you, if you knew that you should live your three-score years and ten, what is that little span of life? Is it too much for you to give to God?... Does He require you to give anything that is for your interest or happiness to retain? Oh, no....

How can any feel as though they were making a sacrifice, to be adopted into the family of the King of kings, the Lord who reigns in the heavens; know you not that it is the highest exaltation to become children of God, “sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty”?

Ever since I was 11 years old I have been in the service of this heavenly King. I can speak from experience. He has asked me to give Him nothing that was for my best interest to retain. Precious Jesus; precious Savior; I love Him; and I love His service.—Signs of the Times, January 31, 1878.

[This discourse was followed by a large number coming forward for prayers. The interest continued till the camp meeting, when more than 130 were baptized, many of whom were students at Battle Creek College.] FH 149


As with life, so it is with growth. It is God who brings the bud to bloom and the flower to fruit. It is by His power that the seed develops, “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” Mark 4:28. And the prophet Hosea says of Israel, that “he shall grow as the lily.” “They shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine.” Hosea 14:5, 7. And Jesus bids us “consider the lilies how they grow.” Luke 12:27. The plants and flowers grow not by their own care or anxiety or effort, but by receiving that which God has furnished to minister to their life. The child cannot, by any anxiety or power of its own, add to its stature. No more can you, by anxiety or effort of yourself, secure spiritual growth. The plant, the child, grows by receiving from its surroundings that which ministers to its life—air, sunshine, and food. What these gifts of nature are to animal and plant, such is Christ to those who trust in Him. He is their “everlasting light,” “a sun and shield.” Isaiah 60:19; Psalm 84:11. He shall be as “the dew unto Israel.” “He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass.” Hosea 14:5; Psalm 72:6. He is the living water, “the Bread of God ... which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.” John 6:33. SC 67



And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. 2 Corinthians 6:18 (King James Version)