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"Ye are Complete in
Him," Part 1
Abstract of a
sermon at Melbourne, Australia, December 19, 1891
by Mrs. E. G. White
[Colossians 2:1-9 read.] Now mark
the following words: "And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all
principality and power."
"Ye are complete in him." Is not this
a wonderful statement? Notwithstanding all our various temperaments, our
different defects and imperfections, notwithstanding the attacks of the enemy,
his grievous temptations and suggestions, we are said to be complete in Him who
is the head of all principality and power. Very much has been presented before
you in the words which I have read, but we shall be able to notice but few of
the points contained in this scripture, in the short address which I shall
give. But I desire that you should be able in some measure to comprehend the
possibilities to which we may attain in our Christian life. We are to walk even
as Christ walked, or the words of inspiration would not so present the course
of the follower of Christ: "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the
Lord, so walk ye in him."
In order to attain to this high
calling of God in Christ Jesus, you must begin the day with your Saviour. The
very first outbreathing of the soul in the morning should be for the presence
of Jesus. "Without me," He says, "ye can do nothing." It is Jesus that we need.
His light, His life, His Spirit must be ours continually. We need Him every
hour. And we should pray in the morning that, as the sun illuminates the
landscape and fills the world with light, so the Sun of Righteousness should
shine into the chambers of mind and heart, and make us all light in the Lord.
We cannot do without His presence one moment. The enemy knows when we decide to
do without our Lord, and he is there ready to fill our minds with his evil
suggestions, that we may fall from our steadfastness; but it is the desire of
the Lord that from moment to moment we should abide in Him, and thus be
complete in Him, accepted in the Beloved. God designs that every one of us
shall be perfect in Him, so that we may represent to the world the perfection
of His character. He wants us to be set free from sin, that we shall not
disappoint the heavenly intelligences, that we may not grieve our divine
Redeemer. He does not desire us to profess Christianity and yet not avail
ourselves of that grace which is able to make us perfect, that we may be found
wanting in nothing, but unblamable before Him in love and holiness.
"Well," I hear one say, "if that is
what I must be, I might as well give up, for I can never reach that standard."
But this is what you must be, or you will never enter heaven, and heaven is our
desire and aim. But we desire to enter heaven, for there there is no
disappointment, no sorrow, no sin, no one who shall say, "I am sick." There,
there is no burial train, no mourning, no death, no parting, no broken hearts;
and Jesus is there, peace is there. Oh, we must be with Him, for in His
presence is fullness of joy, at His right hand there are pleasures forevermore!
And it is here that we must behold Him, and become changed into His image. "We
all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed
into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."
Oh, it is important that we behold Him here by the eye of faith, that we may be
made like Him, but what will it be to behold Him as He is without one dimming
veil between?
And who is He?--He is the One who has
made an infinite sacrifice in our behalf, the One who has brought eternal
redemption to our view; and should we behold in Him all He is to us, how gladly
would we yield our hearts to Him, to love Him and obey Him! Can we not do it
now? Is there not need that we behold Him by faith, and become changed into His
image, when the world is covered with moral darkness like the pall of death,
that we may reflect light into the gloom, that as we flash the light of heaven
along the pathway of those who are in perplexity and error, they may see that
there is brightness and attractiveness in the Christian's hope? But all this
depends upon your reception of the Holy Spirit. It is your privilege to be
anointed from on high, or you cannot represent Jesus as He is, and the world
cannot take knowledge of you that you have been with Him, and have learned of
the Divine Teacher. You are to walk in Him, to love Him, because He first loved
you.
Jesus did not seek you and me because
we were His friends, for we were estranged from Him, and unreconciled to God.
It was while we were yet sinners that Christ died for us. But He has promised
to give us His Holy Spirit, that we may become assimilated to His nature,
changed into His image. Therefore we must put away everything like passion,
impatience, murmuring, and unrest, and find a place for Jesus in the heart. We
must have the buyers and the sellers cleared out of the soul temple, that Jesus
may take up His abode within us. He stands at the door of the heart as a
heavenly Merchantman; He knocks there, saying, Open unto Me, buy of Me the
heavenly wares, buy of Me the gold tried in the fire, which is faith and love,
the precious, beautiful attributes of our Redeemer, which will enable us to
melt our way into the hearts of those who do not know Him, those who are cold
and alienated from Him through unbelief and sin. He invites us to buy of Him
the white raiment, which is His glorious righteousness, and the eyesalve, that
we may discern spiritual things. Oh, shall we not open the heart's door to this
heavenly voice? He says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man
hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him,
and he with me."
But everyone who is Christ's, who has
tasted of the powers of the world to come, has crucified the flesh, with the
affections and lusts. As the physical nature is sustained by the food we eat,
so the spiritual nature must be sustained by the word and Spirit of God. God
desires us to have a healthful experience. We shall be feeble and dying
Christians if we have the experience described by the apostle as fashioned
after "the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." It is Christ abiding
in our hearts by faith that we must have, and then we shall manifest the fruits
of the Spirit, which the Word of God declares are "love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance."
But sometimes those who profess to be
followers of Christ will say, "You must not be surprised if I am rough, if I
speak bluntly, if I manifest temper, for it is my way." You ask us not to be
surprised. Is not heaven surprised at such manifestations, since the plan of
salvation has been devised, since an infinite sacrifice has been made on
Calvary's cross, that we might reflect the image of Jesus? Will your way enter
heaven? Suppose one comes up to the pearly gates and says, "I know that I have
been rude and unkind, and it is my disposition to lie and to steal, but I want
an entrance into the heavenly mansions." Will that way find an entrance into
the portals of the heavenly city?--No; it is those who keep Christ's way that
will enter there. He says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man
cometh unto the Father, but by me." If anyone thinks he can climb up some other
way, he will find that it will not lead him to the mansions of glory. We want
Christ's way, His life must be in us. Jesus has said, "Except ye eat the flesh
of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. . . . He that
eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." We
should study to understand the meaning of these words, for they are of vital
importance to us. Jesus has explained their significance. He says, "It is the
Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."
We should take time to study the
Bible, for we must know what saith the Scripture. The Bible is the garden of
God, and as we see the lovely flowers of promise, we should gather them to our
souls, for "exceeding great and precious promises" have been given unto us,
that by these we might become "partakers of the divine nature, having escaped
the corruption that is in the world through lust."
(Continued Next Month)
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|  God's
Word Our Assurance
Christ
Our Righteousness A Morning Talk
Through
Faith Alone Part 1
Through
Faith Alone Part 2
What
Was Secured by the Death of Christ
Seek
Those Things Which are Above Part 1
Seek
Those Things Which are Above Part 2
Christ,
Our Loving Comforter and Restorer
Work
to Show Christ to the World
"Let
Him Take Hold of My Strength"
Ellen
G. White's Last Recorded Letter
The
Joy of Giving
A
New Year's Day Letter
Christ
Our Hope
A
Letter of Comfort and Assurance
Prevailing
Prayer
A
Prayer of Consecration
Help
for the Tempted
God
Will Provide
Christ's
Righteousness Avails
Trusting
Christ
The
Fair Flowers of Promise
How
God’s Love is Manifested, Part 1
How
God’s Love is Manifested, Part 2
"Ye
are Complete in Him," Part 1
"Ye
are Complete in Him," Part 2
"Ye
are Complete in Him," Part 3
"I
Will Give You Rest"
Working
as Christ Worked
A
Life-Changing Experience
The
Character of God Revealed in Christ
What
God Desires Us to Be
God's
Plans the Best
A
Peculiar People
God
With Us
Ask
and it shall be given you, Part 1
Ask
and it shall be given you, Part 2
The
Meaning of God's Pardoning Love, Part 1
The
Meaning of God's Pardoning Love, Part 2
The
Foundation of Our Peace
One
Thing Impossible With God
Windows
Wide Open
The
Only Foundation
Christ
Spans the Gulf of Sin, Part 1
Christ
Spans the Gulf of Sin, Part 2
Homeward
Bound
A
New Year's Day Letter
Asking
to Give
The
Mighty and Inspiring Conflict
God's
Word a Treasure House
True
Success
Little
Things
You May Trust
Him
Hearts
Filled with Thankfullnes to God
Calamities
and God’s Love; Sin, Judgment, and the Shortness of Time
Lord
is Risen
The
Sabbath
Some Thoughts
for the New Year
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