The is the rest with which we may cause the weary to rest...

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and the refreshing..." Isaiah 28:12.

I wish to share a few statements from the Testimonies that I believe shed abundant light on the matter of salvation, as to the relation between faith, works, merits, and the reward for the works that the grace of God enables us to do.

On one occasion Mrs. White stated that "the matter of salvation was just as simple as ABC. But we do not understand it." Faith and Works,64.

In fact she stated, somewhere else, that "There is not one in one hundred who understands for himself the Bible truth on this subject that is so necessary to our present and eternal welfare." 1 S.M.360.

Please read the following very carefully and prayerfully.

May the Lord bless you as you read these statements for they contain the whole counsel of God in regard to those things that concern our peace and our present and eternal welfare.

The first statement is a direct ommentary upon Eph.2:10 which says, "We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works, works which God prepared beforehand and that we should walk in them."

"In His divine arrangement, through His unmerited favor, the Lord has ordained that good works shall be rewarded. We are accepted through Christ's merit alone; and the acts of mercy, the deeds of charity, which we perform, are the fruits of faith; and they become a blessing to us; for men are to be rewarded according to their works. It is the fragrance of the merit of Christ that makes our good works acceptable to God, and it is grace that enables us to do the works for which He rewards us. Our works in and of themselves have no merit. When we have done all that it is possible for us to do, we are to count ourselves as unprofitable servants. We deserve no thanks from God. We have only done what it was our duty to do, and our works could not have been performed in the strength of our own sinful natures." E..G. White, Review and Herald, Jan 29,1895.

I believe this statement we have just read is the third angel's message in clear, distinct lines, the message that God has commanded to be given to the world and which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice and attended with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in large measure. See Testimonies to Ministers, 92,93.

"If you would gather together everything that is good and holy and noble and lovely in man and then present the subject to the angels of God as acting a part in the salvation of the human soul or in merit, the proposition would be rejected as treason." Faith and Works, 24.

What a powerful statement which leads to this other statement:

"Shall selfishness come into your hearts? And will those who set not the pattern, Jesus, extol your merits? You have none except as they come through Jesus Christ." E.G.White, Review and Herald, June 15,1905.

We would do well to read these statements every day allowing the precious liight of truth to shine into the chambers of our minds so that when the seeds of truth are dropped into the soil of the heart they may take root there.

"John while in vision saw a company clothed in white robes... They were seen in the temple of God. This will be the result for all who will lay hold of the merits of Christ and wash their robes in His blood." E.G. White, Our Father Cares, 339.

"By faith take hold of the merits of Christ, and the soul-cleansing blood will be applied." Faith and Works, 96.

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"You cannot explain this faith that lays right hold upon the merits of the blood of a crucified and risen Saviour to bring Christ's righteousness into the life. Clothed with the righteousness of Christ and not your own righteousness, you will not depend upon what you can do or what you will do," for "Christ's righteousness accomplishes everything." E.G. White, Faith and Works,65,66,27.

In 1888, "The people were invited to receive the righteousness of Christ which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God." T.M.92.

This "righteousness" of Christ is "all the fullness of the Godhead" dwelling in the believer bodily as it did in Jesus of Nazareth. See Col.2:9,Eph.3:19.

As it is written:

"In Christ dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. This is why although He was tempted in all points like as we are, He stood before the world, from His first entrance into it, untainted by corruption, though surrounded by it. Are we not to become partakers of that fullness and is it not thus and thus only that we can overcome as He overcame?" "E.G. White, MS, 16, 1890; 1957 E.G. White Bible Commentary, Vol.7A,351.

This is the treasure that, through our connection with Christ, we are to receive, to reveal, and to impart.

"This is the REST with which you may cause the weary to rest and this is the REFRESHING, and yet they would not hear. Isaiah 28:12.