The Love of Jesus
by Ellen White
We should ever bear in mind that we are all erring mortals, and that Christ exercises
much pity for our weakness, and loves us although we err. 1T 383
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God,
Thou wilt not despise."[3 PS. 51:17.] Man must be emptied of self before he can be,
in the fullest sense, a believer in Jesus. When self is renounced, then the Lord can make
man a new creature. New bottles can contain the new wine. The love of Christ will animate
the believer with new life. In him who looks unto the author and finisher of our faith,
the character of Christ will be manifest. DA 280
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness." The sense
of unworthiness will lead the heart to hunger and thirst for righteousness, and this
desire will not be disappointed. Those who make room in their hearts for Jesus will
realise His love. All who long to bear the likeness of the character of God shall be
satisfied. The Holy Spirit never leaves unassisted the soul who is looking unto Jesus. He
takes of the things of Christ and shows them unto him. If the eye is kept fixed on Christ,
the work of the Spirit ceases not until the soul is conformed to His image. The pure
element of love will expand the soul, giving it a capacity for higher attainments, for
increased knowledge of heavenly things, so that it will not rest short of the fullness.
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be
filled." DA 302
Christ loves the heavenly beings that surround His throne; but what shall account for
the great love wherewith He has loved us? We cannot understand it, but we can know it true
in our own experience. And if we do hold the relation of kinship to Him, with what
tenderness should we regard those who are brethren and sisters of our Lord. Should we not
be quick to recognise the claims of our divine relationship? Adopted into the family of
God, should we not honour our Father and our kindred? DA 327
Tenderly He bade the toiling people, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for
I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
In these words, Christ is speaking to every human being. Whether they know it or not,
all are weary and heavy laden. All are weighed down with burdens that only Christ can
remove. The heaviest burden that we bear is the burden of sin. If we were left to bear
this burden, it would crush us. But the Sinless One has taken our place. "The Lord
hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all."[1 ISA. 53:6.] He has borne the burden of
our guilt. He will take the load from our weary shoulders. He will give us rest. The
burden of care and sorrow also He will bear. He invites us to cast all our care upon Him;
for He carries us upon His heart. DA 328
Through all our trials we have a never-failing Helper. He does not leave us alone to
struggle with temptation, to battle with evil, and be finally crushed with burdens and
sorrow. Though now He is hidden from mortal sight, the ear of faith can hear His voice
saying, Fear not; I am with you. "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I
am alive forevermore." Rev.1:18. DA 483
The divine Teacher bears with the erring through all their perversity. His love does
not grow cold; His efforts to win them do not cease. With outstretched arms He waits to
welcome again and again the erring, the rebellious, and even the apostate. His heart is
touched with the helplessness of the little child subject to rough usage. The cry of human
suffering never reaches His ear in vain. Though all are precious in His sight, the rough,
sullen, stubborn dispositions draw most heavily upon His sympathy and love; for He traces
from cause to effect. The one who is most easily tempted, and is most inclined to err, is
the special object of His solicitude. ED 294
Language is altogether too feeble to attempt a description of heaven. As the scene
rises before me, I am lost in amazement. Carried away with the surpassing splendour and
excellent glory, I lay down the pen, and exclaim, "Oh, what love! what wondrous
love!" The most exalted language fails to describe the glory of heaven or the
matchless depths of a Saviour's love. EW 289
The love which Christ diffuses through the whole being is a vitalising power. Every
vital part--the brain, the heart, the nerves--it touches with healing. By it the highest
energies of the being are roused to activity. It frees the soul from the guilt and sorrow,
the anxiety and care, that crush the life forces. With it come serenity and composure. It
implants in the soul, joy that nothing earthly can destroy--joy in the Holy
Spirit--health-giving, life-giving joy. MH 115
As the end approaches, the testimonies of God's servants will become more decided and
more powerful, flashing the light of truth upon the systems of error and oppression that
have so long held the supremacy. The Lord has sent us messages for this time, that will
establish Christianity upon an eternal basis; and all who believe the present truth, must
stand, not in their own wisdom, but in God's wisdom, and raise up the foundations of many
generations; and they will be registered in the books of heaven as "repairers of the
breach," the "restorer of paths to dwell in." In face of the bitterest
opposition, we are to maintain the truth because it is truth. God is at work upon human
minds; it is not man alone that is working. The great illuminating power is from Christ;
the brightness of his example is to be kept before the people in every discourse. His love
is the glory of the rainbow encircling the throne on high. RH DEC.13,1892
As the bow in the cloud is formed by the union of the sunlight and the shower, so the
rainbow encircling the throne represents the combined power of mercy and justice. It is
not justice alone that is to be maintained; for this would eclipse the glory of the
rainbow of promise above the throne; men could see only the penalty of the law. Were there
no justice, no penalty, there would be no stability to the government of God. It is the
mingling of judgement and mercy that makes salvation complete. It is the blending of the
two that leads us, as we view the world's Redeemer, and the law of Jehovah, to exclaim,
"Thy gentleness hath made me great." We know that the gospel is a perfect and
complete system, revealing the immutability of the law of God. It inspires the heart with
hope, and with love to God. Mercy invites us to enter through the gates into the city of
God, and justice is satisfied to accord to every obedient soul full privileges as a member
of the royal family, a child of the heavenly King. If we were defective in character, we
could not pass the gates that mercy has opened to the obedient; for justice stands at the
entrance, and demands holiness in all who would see God. Were justice extinct, and were it
possible for divine mercy to open the gates to the whole race, irrespective of character,
there would be a worse condition of disaffection and rebellion in heaven than before Satan
was expelled. The peace, happiness, and harmony of heaven would be broken. The change from
earth to heaven will not change men's character; the happiness of the redeemed in heaven
results from the character formed in this life after the image of Christ. The saints in
heaven will first have been saints on earth. RH DEC.13,1892
If one who daily communes with God errs from the path, if he turns a moment from
looking steadfastly unto, Jesus, it is not because he sins wilfully; for when he sees his
mistake, he turns again, and fastens his eyes upon Jesus, and the fact that he has erred,
does not make him less dear to the heart of God. RH MAY 12, 1896
The suffering Son of God leaves his disciples, for the power of darkness rushes upon
him with an irresistible force which bows him to the earth. He prays as before, and pours
out the burden of his soul with stronger crying and tears. His soul was pressed with such
agony as no human being could endure and live. The sins of the world were upon him. He
felt that he was separated from his Father's love; for upon him rested the curse because
of sin. Christ knew that it would be difficult for man to feel the grievousness of sin,
and that close contact and familiarity with sin would so blunt his moral sensibility, that
sin would not appear so dangerous to him, and so exceedingly offensive in the sight of
God. He knew that but few would take pleasure in righteousness, and accept of that
salvation which, at infinite cost, he made it possible for them to obtain. While this load
of sin was upon Christ, unrealised, and unrepented of by man, doubts rent his soul in
regard to his oneness with his Father. ST AUG.14,1879
As a faithful physician, the world's Redeemer has his finger upon the pulse of the
soul. He marks every beat; he takes note of every throb. Not an emotion thrills it; not a
sorrow shades it; not a sin stains it; not a thought or purpose passes through it, with
which he is not acquainted. Man was purchased at an infinite cost, and is loved with a
devotion exceeding that which a father feels for his child. The prayer that comes from a
sincere heart will ever find a response in heaven. ST DEC.03,1896
[Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their
transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Isa. 58:1.] Hypocrisy is peculiarly
offensive to God. A large majority of the men and women who profess to know the truth
prefer smooth messages. They do not desire to have their sins and defects brought before
them. They want accommodating ministers, who will not arouse conviction by speaking the
truth. They choose men who will flatter them, and in their turn they flatter the minister
who has shown such a "good" spirit, while they revile the faithful servant of
God. . . . Many praise the minister who dwells on the grace and mercy and love of Jesus,
who is not particular to enforce duties and obligations, who does not warn of the danger
of hypocrisy, or present the terrors of God's wrath. TDG 055