upon a blind submission, an unreasoning control. It appeals to the intellectand the conscience. "Come now, and let us reason together" is the Creator'sinvitation to the beings He has made. Isaiah 1:18. God does not force thewill of His creatures. He cannot accept an homage that is not willingly and soul.” YSRP 52.intelligently given. A mere forced submission would prevent all realdevelopment of mind or character; it would make man a mere automaton.Such is not the purpose of the Creator. He desires that man, the crowningwork of His creative power, shall reach the highest possible development.He sets before us the height of blessing to which He desires to bring usthrough His grace. He invites us to give ourselves to Him, that He may workHis will in us. It remains for us to choose whether we will be set free <strong>from</strong>the bondage of sin, to share the glorious liberty of the sons of God.” SC 43-44“Many are inquiring,"How am I to make the surrender of myself to God?"You desire to give yourself to Him, but you are weak in moral power, inslavery to doubt, and controlled by the habits of your life of sin. Yourpromises and resolutions are like ropes of sand. You cannot control yourthoughts, your impulses, your affections. The knowledge of your brokenpromises and forfeited pledges weakens your confidence in your ownsincerity, and causes you to feel that God cannot accept you; but you neednot despair. What you need to understand is the true force of the will. Thisis the governing power in the nature of man, the power of decision, or ofchoice. Everything depends on the right action of the will. The power ofchoice God has given to men; it is theirs to exercise. You cannot changeyour heart, you cannot of yourself give to God its affections; but you canchoose to serve Him. You can give Him your will; He will then work in youto will and to do according to His good pleasure. Thus your whole nature willbe brought under the control of the Spirit of Christ; your affections will becentered upon Him, your thoughts will be in harmony with Him.Desires for goodness and holiness are right as far as they go; but if youstop here, they will avail nothing. Many will be lost while hoping and desiringto be Christians. They do not <strong>com</strong>e to the point of yielding the will to God.They do not now choose to be Christians.Through the right exercise of the will, an entire change may be made inyour life. By yielding up your will to Christ, you ally yourself with the powerthat is above all principalities and powers. You will have strength <strong>from</strong> aboveto hold you steadfast, and thus through constant surrender to God you willbe enabled to live the new life, even the life of faith.” SC 47-48.“Conversion is simple, very simple. Let us <strong>com</strong>mence right here to <strong>com</strong>einto the kingdom of heaven. How? As a little child. Just as simple as simplecan be. You may get all your mysteries of the new birth, and you cannotmake anybody understand it, or understand it yourself. But the best way foryou is to give your mind to Jesus Christ. And the mind is the will to put it on,and do just as Matthew did.” 1SAT 210.“As God works upon the heart by his Holy Spirit, man must co-operatewith him. The thoughts must be bound about, restricted, withdrawn <strong>from</strong>branching out and contemplating things that will only weaken and defile theLIKE UNTO LEAVEN“Many educated and influential men had <strong>com</strong>e to hear the Prophet ofGalilee. Some of these looked with curious interest upon the multitude thathad gathered about Christ as He taught by the sea. In this great throng allclasses of society were represented. There were the poor, the illiterate, theragged beggar, the robber with the seal of guilt upon his face, the maimed,the dissipated, the merchant and the man of leisure, high and low, rich andpoor, all crowding upon one another for a place to stand and hear the wordsof Christ. As these cultured men gazed upon the strange assembly, theyasked themselves, Is the kingdom of God <strong>com</strong>posed of such material asthis? Again the Saviour replied by a parable:"The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, andhid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened."Among the Jews leaven was sometimes used as an emblem of sin. Atthe time of the Passover the people were directed to remove all the leaven<strong>from</strong> their houses as they were to put away sin <strong>from</strong> their hearts. Christwarned His disciples, "Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which ishypocrisy." Luke 12:1. And the apostle Paul speaks of the "leaven of maliceand wickedness." I Cor. 5:8. But in the Saviour's parable, leaven is used torepresent the kingdom of heaven. It illustrates the quickening, assimilatingpower of the grace of God.None are so vile, none have fallen so low, as to be beyond the workingof this power. In all who will submit themselves to the Holy Spirit a newprinciple of life is to be implanted; the lost image of God is to be restored inhumanity.But man cannot transform himself by the exercise of his will. Hepossesses no power by which this change can be effected. Theleaven--something wholly <strong>from</strong> without--must be put into the meal before thedesired change can be wrought in it. So the grace of God must be receivedby the sinner before he can be fitted for the kingdom of glory. All the cultureand education which the world can give will fail of making a degraded childof sin a child of heaven. The renewing energy must <strong>com</strong>e <strong>from</strong> God. Thechange can be made only by the Holy Spirit. All who would be saved, highor low, rich or poor, must submit to the working of this power.As the leaven, when mingled with the meal, works <strong>from</strong> within outward,so it is by the renewing of the heart that the grace of God works to transformthe life. No mere external change is sufficient to bring us into harmony withGod. There are many who try to reform by correcting this or that bad habit,and they hope in this way to be<strong>com</strong>e Christians, but they are beginning in3 4