Video Ministries

Personal Influence is a Power

You are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water streaming down from
Lebanon. S. of Sol. 4:15, NIV.

It is through personal contact and association that men are reached by the
saving power of the gospel. They are not saved as masses, but as
individuals. Personal influence is a power. It is to work with the influence
of Christ, to lift where Christ lifts, to impart correct principles, and to
stay the progress of the world's corruption. It is to diffuse that grace
which Christ alone can impart. It is to uplift, to sweeten the lives and
characters of others by the power of a pure example united with earnest
faith and love. . . .

Through sin, the whole human organism is deranged, the mind is perverted,
the imagination corrupted; the faculties of the soul are degraded. There is
an absence of pure religion, of heart holiness. The converting power of God
has not wrought in transforming the character. The soul is weak, and for
want of moral force to overcome, is polluted and debased.

To the heart that has become purified, all is changed. Transformation of
character is the testimony to the world of an indwelling Christ. The Spirit
of God produces a new life in the soul, bringing the thoughts and desires
into obedience to the will of Christ; and the inward man is renewed in the
image of God. Weak and erring men and women show to the world that the
redeeming power of grace can cause the faulty character to develop into
symmetry and abundant fruitfulness.

The heart that receives the Word of God is not as a pool that evaporates,
not like a broken cistern that loses its treasure. It is like the mountain
stream, fed by unfailing springs, whose cool, sparkling waters leap from
rock to rock, refreshing the weary, the thirsty, the heavy-laden. It is like
a river constantly flowing and, as it advances, becoming deeper and wider,
until its life-giving waters are spread over all the earth. . . .

So it is with the true child of God. The religion of Christ reveals itself
as a vitalizing, pervading principle, a living, working, spiritual energy.
When the heart is opened to the heavenly influence of truth and love, these
principles will flow forth again like streams in the desert, causing
fruitfulness to appear where now are barrenness and dearth.

As those who have been cleansed and sanctified through a knowledge of Bible
truth engage heartily in the work of soul saving, they will become indeed a
savor of life unto life. And as daily they drink of the inexhaustible
fountain of grace and knowledge, they will find that their own hearts are
filled to overflowing with the Spirit of their Master, and that through
their unselfish ministry many are benefited physically, mentally, and
spiritually. The weary are refreshed, the sick restored to health, and the
sin-burdened relieved (Prophets and Kings, pp. 232-234).

>From Lift Him Up - Page 286

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