[1SM 36.2] I am now instructed that I am not to be hindered in my work by those who engage in suppositions regarding its nature, whose minds are struggling with so many intricate problems connected with the supposed work of a prophet. My commission embraces the work of a prophet, but it does not end there. It embraces much more than the minds of those who have been sowing the seeds of unbelief can comprehend.--Letter 244, 1906. (Addressed to elders of Battle Creek church.) {1SM 36.2} [1SM 36.3] Receiving and Imparting the Light As inquiries are frequently made as to my state in vision, and after I come out, I would say that when the Lord sees fit to give a vision, I am taken into the presence of Jesus and angels, and am entirely lost to earthly things. I can see no farther than the angel directs me. My attention is often directed to scenes transpiring upon earth. {1SM 36.3} [1SM 36.4] At times I am carried far ahead into the future and shown what is to take place. Then again I am shown things as they have occurred in the past. After I come out of vision I do not at once remember all that I have seen, and the matter is not so clear before me until I write, then the scene rises before me as was presented in vision, and I can write with freedom. Sometimes the things which I have seen are hid from me after I come out of vision, and I cannot call them to mind until I am brought before a company where that vision applies, then the things which I have seen come to my mind with force. I am just as dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord in relating or writing a vision, as in having the vision. It is impossible for me to 37 call up things which have been shown me unless the Lord brings them before me at the time that He is pleased to have me relate or write them.--Spiritual Gifts (1860), vol. 2, pp. 292, 293. {1SM 36.4} [1SM 37.1] Although I am as dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord in writing my views as I am in receiving them, yet the words I employ in describing what I have seen are my own, unless they be those spoken to me by an angel, which I always enclose in marks of quotation.--The Review and Herald, Oct. 8, 1867. {1SM 37.1} [1SM 37.2] The question is asked, How does Sister White know in regard to the matters of which she speaks so decidedly, as if she had authority to say these things? I speak thus because they flash upon my mind when in perplexity like lightning out of a dark cloud in the fury of a storm. Some scenes presented before me years ago have not been retained in my memory, but when the instruction then given is needed, sometimes even when I am standing before the people, the remembrance comes sharp and clear, like a flash of lightning, bringing to mind distinctly that particular instruction. At such times I cannot refrain from saying the things that flash into my mind, not because I have had a new vision, but because that which was presented to me perhaps years in the past has been recalled to my mind forcibly.--The Writing and Sending Out of the Testimonies, p. 24. {1SM 37.2} [1SM 37.3] No Claim to Infallibility We have many lessons to learn, and many, many to unlearn. God and heaven alone are infallible. Those who think that they will never have to give up a cherished view, never have occasion to change an opinion, will be disappointed. As long as we hold to our own ideas and opinions with determined persistency, we cannot have the unity for which Christ prayed.--The Review and Herald, July 26, 1892. {1SM 37.3} [1SM 37.4] In regard to infallibility, I never claimed it; God alone is infallible. His word is true, and in Him is no variableness, or shadow of turning.--Letter 10, 1895. 38 {1SM 37.4} [1SM 38.1] The Sacred and the Common Sanitarium, California March 5, 1909 I am troubled in regard to Brother A, who for some years has been a worker in southern California. He has made some strange statements, and I am pained to see him denying the testimonies as a whole because of what seems to him an inconsistency--a statement made by me in regard to the number of rooms in the Paradise Valley Sanitarium. Brother A says that in a letter written to one of the brethren in southern California, the statement was made by me that the sanitarium contained forty rooms, when there were really only thirty-eight. This, Brother A gives to me as the reason why he has lost confidence in the testimonies. . . . {1SM 38.1} [1SM 38.2] The information given concerning the number of rooms in the Paradise Valley Sanitarium was given, not as a revelation from the Lord, but simply as a human opinion. There has never been revealed to me the exact number of rooms in any of our sanitariums; and the knowledge I have obtained of such things I have gained by inquiring of those who were supposed to know. In my words, when speaking upon these common subjects, there is nothing to lead minds to believe that I receive my knowledge in a vision from the Lord and am stating it as such. . . . {1SM 38.2} [1SM 38.3] When the Holy Spirit reveals anything regarding the institutions connected with the Lord's work, or concerning the work of God upon human hearts and minds, as He has revealed these things through me in the past, the message given is to be regarded as light given of God for those who need it. But for one to mix the sacred with the common is a great mistake. In a tendency to do this we may see the working of the enemy to destroy souls. {1SM 38.3} [1SM 38.4] To every soul whom God has created He has given capabilities to serve Him, but Satan seeks to make this work of service hard by his constant temptation to mislead souls. He works to dim the spiritual perceptions that men may not distinguish between that which is common and that 39 which is holy. I have been made to know this distinction through a life's service for my Lord and Master.... {1SM 38.4} [1SM 39.1] The message came to me, Dedicate yourself to the highest work ever committed to mortals. I will give you high aspirations and powers and a true sense of the work of Christ. You are not your own, for you are bought with a price, by the life and death of the Son of God. God calls for your child's heart and service under the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. {1SM 39.1} [1SM 39.2] I gave myself, my whole being, to God, to obey His call in everything, and since that time my life has been spent in giving the message, with my pen and in speaking before large congregations. It is not I who controls my words and actions at such times. {1SM 39.2} [1SM 39.3] But there are times when common things must be stated, common thoughts must occupy the mind, common letters must be written and information given that has passed from one to another of the workers. Such words, such information, are not given under the special inspiration of the Spirit of God. Questions are asked at times that are not upon religious subjects at all, and these questions must be answered. We converse about houses and lands, trades to be made, and locations for our institutions, their advantages and disadvantages. {1SM 39.3} [1SM 39.4] I receive letters asking for advice on many strange subjects, and I advise according to the light that has been given me. Men have again and again opposed the counsel that I have been instructed to give because they did not want to receive the light given, and such experiences have led me to seek the Lord most earnestly.--Manuscript 107, 1909. {1SM 39.4} [1SM 40.1] Chap. 3 - Attitudes Toward the Testimonies An Early Statement I saw the state of some who stood on present truth, but disregarded the visions--the way God had chosen to teach in some cases, those who erred from Bible truth. I saw that in striking against the visions they did not strike against the worm--the feeble instrument that God spake through--but against the Holy Ghost. I saw it was a small thing to speak against the instrument, but it was dangerous to slight the words of God. I saw if they were in error and God chose to show them their errors through visions, and they disregarded the teachings of God through visions, they would be left to take their own way, and run in the way of error, and think they were right, until they would find it out too late. Then in the time of trouble I heard them cry to God in agony, "Why didst Thou not show us our wrong, that we might have got right and been ready for this time?" Then an angel pointed to them and said, "My Father taught, but you would not be taught. He spoke through visions, but you disregarded His voice, and He gave you up to your own ways, to be filled with your own doings."--Broadside, To Those Who Are Receiving the Seal of the Living God, Jan. 31, 1849. 41 {1SM 40.1} [1SM 41.1] Safe Instruction for Closing Days A wealth of moral influence has been brought to us in the last half century. Through His Holy Spirit the voice of God has come to us continually in warning and instruction, to confirm the faith of the believers in the Spirit of prophecy. Repeatedly the word has come, Write the things that I have given you to confirm the faith of My people in the position they have taken. Time and trial have not made void the instruction given, but through years of suffering and self-sacrifice have established the truth of the testimony given. The instruction that was given in the early days of the message is to be held as safe instruction to follow in these its closing days. Those who are indifferent to this light and instruction must not expect to escape the snares which we have been plainly told will cause the rejecters of light to stumble, and fall, and be snared, and be taken. If we study carefully the second chapter of Hebrews, we shall learn how important it is that we hold steadfastly to every principle of truth that has been given.--The Review and Herald, July 18, 1907. {1SM 41.1} [1SM 41.2] Varying Attitudes Enumerated Soon every possible effort will be made to discount and pervert the truth of the testimonies of God's Spirit. We must have in readiness the clear, straight messages that since 1846 have been coming to God's people. {1SM 41.2} [1SM 41.3] There will be those once united with us in the faith who will search for new, strange doctrines, for something odd and sensational to present to the people. They will bring in all conceivable fallacies, and will present them as coming from Mrs. White, that they may beguile souls.... {1SM 41.3} [1SM 41.4] Those who have treated the light that the Lord has given as a common thing will not be benefited by the instruction presented. {1SM 41.4} [1SM 41.5] There are those who will misinterpret the messages that God has given, in accordance with their spiritual blindness. {1SM 41.5} [1SM 41.6] Some will yield their faith, and will deny the truth of the messages, pointing to them as falsehoods. 42 {1SM 41.6} [1SM 42.1] Some will hold them up to ridicule, working against the light that God has been giving for years, and some who are weak in the faith will thus be led astray. {1SM 42.1} [1SM 42.2] But others will be greatly helped by the messages. Though not personally addressed, they will be corrected, and will be led to shun the evils specified.... The Spirit of the Lord will be in the instruction, and doubts existing in many minds will be swept away. The testimonies themselves will be the key that will explain the messages given, as scripture is explained by scripture. Many will read with eagerness the messages reproving wrong, that they may learn what they may do to be saved. . . . Light will dawn upon the understanding, and the Spirit will make an impression on minds, as Bible truth is clearly and simply presented in the messages that since 1846 God has been sending His people. These messages are to find their place in hearts, and transformations will take place.-- Letter 73, 1903. {1SM 42.2} [1SM 42.3] Perils of Dissecting Inspired Messages Some sit in judgment on the Scriptures, declaring that this or that passage is not inspired, because it does not strike their minds favorably. They cannot harmonize it with their ideas of philosophy and science, "falsely so called" (1 Timothy 6:20). Others for different reasons question portions of the Word of God. Thus many walk blindly where the enemy prepares the way. Now, it is not the province of any man to pronounce sentence upon the Scriptures, to judge or condemn any portion of God's Word. When one presumes to do this, Satan will create an atmosphere for him to breathe which will dwarf spiritual growth. When a man feels so very wise that he dares to dissect God's Word, his wisdom is, with God, counted foolishness. When he knows more, he will feel that he has everything to learn. And his very first lesson is to become teachable. "Learn of me," says the Great Teacher; "for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matthew 11:29). {1SM 42.3} [1SM 42.4] You who have been educating yourselves and others 43 in a spirit of criticism and accusing, remember that you are imitating the example of Satan. When it suits your purpose, you treat the Testimonies as if you believed them, quoting from them to strengthen any statement you wish to have prevail. But how is it when light is given to correct your errors? Do you then accept the light? When the Testimonies speak contrary to your ideas, you treat them very lightly. {1SM 42.4} [1SM 43.1] It does not become anyone to drop a word of doubt here and there that shall work like poison in other minds, shaking their confidence in the messages which God has given, which have aided in laying the foundation of this work, and have attended it to the present day, in reproofs, warnings, corrections, and encouragements. To all who have stood in the way of the Testimonies, I would say, God has given a message to His people, and His voice will be heard, whether you hear or forbear. Your opposition has not injured me; but you must give an account to the God of heaven, who has sent these warnings and instructions to keep His people in the right way. You will have to answer to Him for your blindness, for being a stumbling block in the way of sinners. {1SM 43.1} [1SM 43.2] "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20). Even the work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart is to be tested by the Word of God. The Spirit which inspired the Scriptures, always leads to the Scriptures.--General Conference Daily Bulletin, April 13, 1891. {1SM 43.2} [1SM 43.3] Inspired Messages Wrongly Applied One man, B by name, came all the way from Michigan with a special message for Sister White. He said that Sister White had been appointed by God to occupy the position occupied by Moses, and that he, B, was to occupy the position of Joshua. Thus the work was to be carried forward. Sister White's work was to be united with his work, and we were to proclaim the truth with power. {1SM 43.3} [1SM 43.4] This man took the liberty, as many others have done, to mingle a great deal of Scripture with his message, 44 quoting passages which he applied to Seventh-day Adventists. During my connection with the work many such men have arisen. They have selected and arranged scriptures which they made applicable to the people of God. Mr. B read with a loud, strong voice the passages he had selected, declaring them to be applicable to us as a people. He said that I must see that he was right; for was it not the Bible he was reading. {1SM 43.4} [1SM 44.1] "Yes," I said, "you have selected and put these scriptures together, but like many who have arisen as you have, you are wresting the Scriptures, interpreting them to mean thus and so, when I know they do not apply as you have applied them. {1SM 44.1} [1SM 44.2] "You, or any other deluded person, could arrange and have arranged certain scriptures of great force, and applied them according to your own ideas. Any man could misinterpret and misapply God's Word, denouncing people and things, and then take the position that those who refused to receive his message had rejected the message of God, and decided their destiny for eternity.". . . {1SM 44.2} [1SM 44.3] From the various letters which have come to me, I see that when such men as B, claiming to be sent by God, go to those who are more or less isolated from our people, these souls are ready to grasp anything that purports to be of heavenly origin. Letters come to me entreating an answer; I know that many men take the testimonies the Lord has given, and apply them as they suppose they should be applied, picking out a sentence here and there, taking it from its proper connection, and applying it according to their idea. Thus poor souls become bewildered, when could they read in order all that has been given, they would see the true application, and would not become confused. Much that purports to be a message from Sister White, serves the purpose of misrepresenting Sister White, making her testify in favor of things that are not in accordance with her mind or judgment. This makes her work very trying. Reports fly from one to another regarding what Sister White has said. Each time the report is repeated, it grows larger. If Sister White has anything to 45 say, leave her to say it. No one is called upon to be a mouthpiece for Sister White. . . . Please let Sister White bear her own message. It will come with a better grace from her than from the one who reports her.--Manuscript 21, 1901. {1SM 44.3} [1SM 45.1] Doubting the Testimonies ［EXTRACT FROM A SERMON AT THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1883, APPEARING IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, THE CHURCH, NO. 6.］ When you find men questioning the testimonies, finding fault with them, and seeking to draw away the people from their influence, be assured that God is not at work through them. It is another spirit. Doubt and unbelief are cherished by those who do not walk circumspectly. They have a painful consciousness that their life will not abide the test of the Spirit of God, whether speaking through His Word or through the testimonies of His Spirit that would bring them to His Word. Instead of beginning with their own hearts, and coming into harmony with the pure principles of the gospel, they find fault, and condemn the very means that God has chosen to fit up a people to stand in the day of the Lord. {1SM 45.1} [1SM 45.2] Let some skeptical one come along, who is not willing to square his life by the Bible rule, who is seeking to gain the favor of all, and how soon the class that are not in harmony with the work of God are called out. Those who are converted, and grounded in the truth, will find nothing pleasing or profitable in the influence or teaching of such a one. But those who are defective in character, whose hands are not pure, whose hearts are not holy, whose habits of life are loose, who are unkind at home, or untrustworthy in deal--all these will be sure to enjoy the new sentiments presented. All may see, if they will, the true measure of the man, the nature of his teaching, from the character of his followers. {1SM 45.2} [1SM 45.3] Those who have most to say against the testimonies are generally those who have not read them, just as those who boast of their disbelief of the Bible are those who have 46 little knowledge of its teachings. They know that it condemns them, and their rejection of it gives them a feeling of security in their sinful course. {1SM 45.3} [1SM 46.1] Error's Bewitching Power There is in error and unbelief that which bewilders and bewitches the mind. To question and doubt and cherish unbelief in order to excuse ourselves in stepping aside from the straight path is a far easier matter than to purify the soul through a belief of the truth, and obedience thereto. But when better influences lead one to desire to return, he finds himself entangled in such a network of Satan, like a fly in a spider's web, that it seems a hopeless task to him, and he seldom recovers himself from the snare laid for him by the wily foe. {1SM 46.1} [1SM 46.2] When once men have admitted doubt and unbelief of the testimonies of the Spirit of God, they are strongly tempted to adhere to the opinions which they have avowed before others. Their theories and notions fix themselves like a gloomy cloud over the mind, shutting out every ray of evidence in favor of the truth. The doubts indulged through ignorance, pride, or love of sinful practices, rivet upon the soul fetters that are seldom broken. Christ, and He alone, can give the needed power to break them. {1SM 46.2} [1SM 46.3] The testimonies of the Spirit of God are given to direct men to His Word, which has been neglected. Now if their messages are not heeded, the Holy Spirit is shut away from the soul. What further means has God in reserve to reach the erring ones, and show them their true condition? {1SM 46.3} [1SM 46.4] The churches that have cherished influences which lessen faith in the testimonies, are weak and tottering. Some ministers are working to attract the people to themselves. When an effort is made to correct any wrong in these ministers, they stand back in independence and say, "My church accepts my labors." {1SM 46.4} [1SM 46.5] Jesus said, "Every one that doeth evil, hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." There are many today pursuing a similar course. 47 In the testimonies are specified the very sins of which they are guilty; hence they have no desire to read them. There are those who from their youth up have received warning and reproofs through the testimonies; but have they walked in the light and reformed?--Not at all. They still indulge the same sins; they have the same defects of character. These evils mar the work of God, and make their impress upon the churches. The work the Lord would do to set the churches in order is not done, because the individual members-and especially the leaders of the flock--would not be corrected. {1SM 46.5} [1SM 47.1] Many a man professes to accept the testimonies, while they have no influence upon his life or character. His faults become stronger by indulgence until, having been often reproved and not heeding the reproof, he loses the power of self-control, and becomes hardened in a course of wrongdoing. If he is overworked, if weakness comes upon him, he has not moral power to rise above the infirmities of character which he did not overcome; they become his strongest points, and he is overborne by them. Then bring him to the test and ask, "Did not God reprove this phase in your character by the testimonies years ago?" He will answer, "Yes, I received a written testimony saying that I was wrong in these things." "Why, then, did you not correct these wrong habits?" "I thought the reprover must have made a mistake; that which I could see, I accepted; that which I could not see, I said was the mind of the one who gave the message. I did not accept the reproof." {1SM 47.1} [1SM 47.2] In some cases the very faults of character which God would have His servants see and correct, but which they refuse to see, have cost these men their life. They might have lived to be channels of light. God wanted them to live, and sent them instruction in righteousness, that they might preserve their physical and mental powers to do acceptable service for Him; and had they received the counsel of God, and become altogether such as He would have them, they would have been able workmen for the advancement of the truth, men who would have stood high in the affections and confidence of our people. But they are sleeping 48 in the grave, because they did not see that God knew them better than they knew themselves. His thoughts were not their thoughts, nor His ways, their ways. These one-sided men have molded the work wherever they have labored. The churches under their management have been greatly weakened. {1SM 47.2} [1SM 48.1] God reproves men because He loves them. He wants them to be strong in His strength, to have well-balanced minds and symmetrical characters; then they will be examples to the flock of God, leading them by precept and example nearer to heaven. Then they will build up a holy temple for God.--Manuscript 1, 1883. {1SM 48.1} [1SM 48.2] Searching the Testimonies for an Excuse Some who are not willing to receive the light, but who prefer to walk in ways of their own choosing, will search the testimonies to find something in them to encourage the spirit of unbelief and disobedience. Thus a spirit of disunion will be brought in; for the spirit which leads them to criticize the testimonies will also lead them to watch their brethren to find in them something to condemn.--Manuscript 73, 1908. {1SM 48.2} [1SM 48.3] The Last Deception of Satan Satan is . . . constantly pressing in the spurious--to lead away from the truth. The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God. "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (Proverbs 29:18). Satan will work ingeniously, in different ways and through different agencies, to unsettle the confidence of God's remnant people in the true testimony.-- Letter 12, 1890. {1SM 48.3} [1SM 48.4] There will be a hatred kindled against the testimonies which is satanic. The workings of Satan will be to unsettle the faith of the churches in them, for this reason: Satan cannot have so clear a track to bring in his deceptions and bind up souls in his delusions if the warnings and reproofs and counsels of the Spirit of God are heeded.-- Letter 40, 1890. {1SM 48.4} [1SM 49.1] Chap. 4 - The Writing and Sending Out of the Testimonies to the Church ［THE MATERIAL COMPRISING THIS CHAPTER APPEARED IN A LEAFLET IN 1913.］ A Review of the Work Sanitarium, California July 8, 1906 Dear Brother: There are some who think they are able to measure the character and to estimate the importance of the work the Lord has given me to do. Their own mind and judgment is the standard by which they would weigh the testimonies. {1SM 49.1} [1SM 49.2] My Instructor said to me, Tell these men that God has not committed to them the work of measuring, classifying, and defining the character of the testimonies. Those who attempt this are sure to err in their conclusions. The Lord would have men adhere to their appointed work. If they will keep the way of the Lord, they will be able to discern clearly that the work which He has appointed me to do is not a work of human devising. {1SM 49.2} [1SM 49.3] Those who carefully read the testimonies as they have appeared from the early days, need not be perplexed as to 50 their origin. The many books, written by the help of the Spirit of God, bear a living witness to the character of the testimonies. {1SM 49.3} [1SM 50.1] In the early days of our experience in the message, the Spirit of God often came upon a few of us as we were assembled, and I was taken away in vision. The Lord gave such light and evidence, such comfort and hope and joy, that His praises were upon our lips. {1SM 50.1} [1SM 50.2] Assisted by Literary Helpers While my husband lived, he acted as a helper and counselor in the sending out of the messages that were given to me. We traveled extensively. Sometimes light would be given to me in the night season, sometimes in the daytime before large congregations. The instruction I received in vision was faithfully written out by me, as I had time and strength for the work. Afterward we examined the matter together, my husband correcting grammatical errors and eliminating needless repetition. Then it was carefully copied for the persons addressed, or for the printer. {1SM 50.2} [1SM 50.3] As the work grew, others assisted me in the preparation of matter for publication. After my husband's death, faithful helpers joined me, who labored untiringly in the work of copying the testimonies and preparing articles for publication. {1SM 50.3} [1SM 50.4] But the reports that are circulated, that any of my helpers are permitted to add matter or change the meaning of the messages I write out, are not true. {1SM 50.4} [1SM 50.5] While we were in Australia the Lord instructed me that W. C. White should be relieved from the many burdens his brethren would lay upon him, that he might be more free to assist me in the work the Lord has laid upon me. The promise had been given, "I will put My Spirit upon him, and give him wisdom." {1SM 50.5} [1SM 50.6] Since my return to America I have several times received instruction that the Lord has given me W. C. White to be my helper, and that in this work the Lord will give him of His Spirit. 51 {1SM 50.6} [1SM 51.1] Proper Time and Manner of Presentation It requires much wisdom and sound judgment, quickened by the Spirit of God, to know the proper time and manner to present the instruction that has been given. When the minds of persons reproved are under a strong deception, they naturally resist the testimony; and having taken an attitude of resistance, it is difficult for them afterward to acknowledge that they have been wrong. {1SM 51.1} [1SM 51.2] In the early days of this cause, if some of the leading brethren were present when messages from the Lord were given, we would consult with them as to the best manner of bringing the instruction before the people. Sometimes it was decided that certain portions would better not be read before a congregation. Sometimes those whose course was reproved would request that the matters pointing out their wrongs and dangers should be read before others, that they, too, might be benefited. {1SM 51.2} [1SM 51.3] Often after testimonies of reproof were read, hearty confessions were made. Then we would unite in a season of prayer, and the Lord would manifest His pardoning grace to those who had confessed their sins. The acceptance of the testimonies brought the rich blessing of God into our assemblies. {1SM 51.3} [1SM 51.4] Faithfully I endeavor to write out that which is given me from time to time by the divine Counselor. Some portions of that which I write are sent out immediately to meet the present necessities of the work. Other portions are held until the development of circumstances makes it evident to me that the time has come for their use. Sometimes in ministers and physicians bearing responsibilities there has developed a disposition to discard the testimonies, and I have been instructed not to place testimonies in their hands; for having yielded to the spirit that tempted and overcame Adam and Eve, they have opened mind and heart to the control of the enemy. Being on a false track, and laboring under deceptive imaginings, they will read into the testimonies things that are not there, but which are in agreement with the false statements 52 that they have listened to. By reading the testimonies in the light of their own kindling, they are deceived, and will deceive others. {1SM 51.4} [1SM 52.1] Sometimes, after very clear-cut, decided reproofs have been written out, they are held for a time until by personal correspondence I have endeavored to change the spirit of those to whom they are addressed. If these efforts are unsuccessful, the messages, with all their strength of rebuke or reproof, are sent to them, whether they will hear, or whether they will deny the truthfulness of the message. {1SM 52.1} [1SM 52.2] If those whose errors are pointed out make confession of their wrongdoing, the spell of the enemy may be broken. If they will repent and forsake their sins, God is faithful and just to forgive their sins, and to cleanse them from all unrighteousness. Christ, the sin-pardoning Redeemer, will remove the filthy garments from them, give them change of raiment, and set a fair miter upon their head. But so long as they refuse to turn from iniquity they cannot develop a character that will stand in the great day of judgment. {1SM 52.2} [1SM 52.3] Often concealed wrongs in the life of individuals are opened before me, and I am bidden to bear a message of reproof and warning. {1SM 52.3} [1SM 52.4] I have been told that many who give heed to the false science of the enemy would denounce my work as that of a false prophet, and would place upon the testimony such interpretations as tend to change the truth of God into a lie. Satan is on the alert; and some who in the past have been used by the Lord in doing His work, but who have permitted themselves to be deceived, will be stirred up to make an improper use of the messages given. Because they do not wish to listen to the words of reproof, because they will not hear counsel, and improve their course of action, and do their appointed work, they will misconstrue the messages to the church, and confuse many minds. {1SM 52.4} [1SM 52.5] Nevertheless, I am to bear the message that is given me to bear, so long as the Lord shall choose. He has not given me the work of settling all the misunderstandings that are cherished in hearts of unbelief. Just as long as a 53 door is open to receive the tempter's suggestions, difficulties will multiply. The hearts of those who will not come to the light are open to unbelief. If my time and strength are consumed upon such matters, this serves Satan's purposes. The Lord has said to me: "Bear the testimonies. Your work is not to settle difficulties; your work is to reprove, and to present the righteousness of Christ." {1SM 52.5} [1SM 53.1] An Incident At one time in the early days of the message, Father Butler and Elder Hart became confused in regard to the testimonies. In great distress they groaned and wept, but for some time they would not give the reasons for their perplexity. However, being pressed to give a reason for their faithless speech and manner, Elder Hart referred to a small pamphlet that had been published as the visions of Sister White, and said that to his certain knowledge, some visions were not included. Before a large audience, these brethren both talked strongly about their losing confidence in the work. {1SM 53.1} [1SM 53.2] My husband handed the little pamphlet to Elder Hart, and requested him to read what was printed on the title page. "A Sketch of the Christian Experience and Views of Mrs. E. G. White," he read. {1SM 53.2} [1SM 53.3] For a moment there was silence, and then my husband explained that we had been very short of means, and were able to print at first only a small pamphlet, and he promised the brethren that when sufficient means was raised, the visions should be published more fully in book form. {1SM 53.3} [1SM 53.4] Elder Butler was deeply moved, and after the explanation had been made, he said, "Let us bow before God." Prayers, weeping, and confessions followed, such as we have seldom heard. {1SM 53.4} [1SM 53.5] Father Butler said: "Brother White, forgive me; I was afraid you were concealing from us some of the light we ought to have. Forgive me, Sister White." Then the power of God came into the meeting in a wonderful manner.--The Writing and Sending Out of the Testimonies to the Church, pp. 3-9. 54 {1SM 53.5} [1SM 54.1] The Work and the Helpers Sanitarium, California October 23, 1907 Dear Brother ［F. M.］ Wilcox: I received and read your recent letter. Regarding the sister who thinks that she has been chosen to fill the position that Sister White has occupied, I have this to say: She may be honest, but she is certainly deceived. {1SM 54.1} [1SM 54.2] About a year after the death of my husband, I was very feeble, and it was feared that I might live but a short time. At the Healdsburg camp meeting, I was taken into the tent where there was a large gathering of our people. I asked to be raised up from the lounged on which I was lying, and assisted to the speaker's platform, that I might say a few words of farewell to the people. As I tried to speak, the power of God came upon me, and thrilled me through and through. Many in the congregation observed that I was weak, and that my face and hands seemed bloodless; but as I began speaking they saw the color coming into my lips and face, and knew that a miracle was being wrought in my behalf. I stood before the people healed, and spoke with freedom. {1SM 54.2} [1SM 54.3] After this experience, light was given me that the Lord had raised me up to bear testimony for Him in many countries, and that He would give me grace and strength for the work. It was also shown me that my son, W. C. White, should be my helper and counselor, and that the Lord would place on him the spirit of wisdom and of a sound mind. I was shown that the Lord would guide him, and that he would not be led away, because he would recognize the leadings and guidance of the Holy Spirit. {1SM 54.3} [1SM 54.4] The assurance was given me: "You are not alone in the work the Lord has chosen you to do. You will be taught of God how to bring the truth in its simplicity before the people. The God of truth will sustain you, and convincing proof will be given that He is leading you. God will give you of His Holy Spirit, and His grace and wisdom and keeping power will be with you. . . . 55 {1SM 54.4} [1SM 55.1] "The Lord will be your instructor. You will meet with deceptive influences; they will come in many forms, in pantheism and other forms of infidelity; but follow where I shall guide you, and you will be safe. I will put My Spirit upon your son, and will strengthen him to do his work. He has the grace of humility. The Lord has selected him to act an important part in His work. For this purpose was he born." {1SM 55.1} [1SM 55.2] This word was given me in 1882, and since that time I have been assured that the grace of wisdom was given to him. More recently, in a time of perplexity, the Lord said: "I have given you My servant, W. C. White, and I will give him judgment to be your helper. I will give him skill and understanding to manage wisely." {1SM 55.2} [1SM 55.3] The Lord has given me other faithful helpers in my work. Many of my discourses have been reported, and have been put before the people in printed form. Through nearly the whole of my long experience I have endeavored, day by day, to write out that which was revealed to me in visions of the night. Many messages of counsel and reproof and encouragement have been sent out to individuals, and much of the instruction that I have received for the church has been published in periodicals and books, and circulated in many lands.... {1SM 55.3} [1SM 55.4] The work is constantly moving forward. We are making earnest efforts to place my writings before the people. We hope that several new books will go to press shortly. If I am incapacitated for labor, my faithful workers are prepared to carry forward the work. {1SM 55.4} [1SM 55.5] My Writings Will Constantly Speak Abundant light has been given to our people in these last days. Whether or not my life is spared, my writings will constantly speak, and their work will go forward as long as time shall last. My writings are kept on file in the office, and even though I should not live, these words that have been given to me by the Lord will still have life and will speak to the people. But my strength is yet spared, and I hope to continue to do much useful work. I may live until 56 the coming of the Lord; but if I should not, I trust it may be said of me, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them" (Revelation 14:13).... {1SM 55.5} [1SM 56.1] I thank God for the assurance of His love, and that I have daily His leading and guidance. I am very busy with my writing. Early and late, I am writing out the matters that the Lord opens before me. The burden of my work is to prepare a people to stand in the day of the Lord. The promise of Christ is sure. The time is not long. We must work and watch and wait for the Lord Jesus. We are called upon to be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. All our hopes have their foundation in Christ. {1SM 56.1} [1SM 56.2] Are our people reviewing the past and the present and the future, as it is unfolding before the world? Are they heeding the messages of warning given them? Is it our greatest concern today that our lives shall be refined and purified, and that we shall reflect the similitude of the divine? This must be the experience of all who join that company who are washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. They must be arrayed in the righteousness of Christ. His name must be written in their foreheads. They must rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Christ has engraved the names of His people on the palms of His hands. He will never lose His interest in any dependent soul. {1SM 56.2} [1SM 56.3] Say to the church members that there is need of thorough consecration to God. Let all understand that they must make a covenant with God by sacrifice. We need the blessings of the gospel every day and every hour. Every proof of the Lord's power, His presence, and His love, is to be recognized with grateful thanks. Happiness is to be achieved by the right action of the soul toward God. I thank the Lord for this precious thought. Let Him be glorified by the sentiments expressed and by the actions performed. . . . Never have testimonies been more clearly brought before the people than those that have recently 57 been traced by my pen. God bids me urge upon the attention of our people the importance of their study. Let this work begin now. Then, whether I am permitted to labor or am laid away to rest until Jesus comes, these messages are immortalized. {1SM 56.3} [1SM 57.1] To my brethren I now say: Speak words that will draw souls to Christ. Bring forth fruit in good works. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life" (John 3:36). Every conceivable thing will be brought in to deceive, if possible, the very elect; but the Lord will certainly take care of His work.--The Writing and Sending Out of the Testimonies to the Church, pp. 10-16. {1SM 57.1} [1SM 57.2] The Use of the Testimonies Time and Place to be Considered Regarding the testimonies, nothing is ignored; nothing is cast aside; but time and place must be considered. Nothing must be done untimely. Some matters must be withheld because some persons would make an improper use of the light given. Every jot and tittle is essential and must appear at an opportune time. In the past, the testimonies were carefully prepared before they were sent out for publication. And all matter is still carefully studied after the first writing. {1SM 57.2} [1SM 57.3] Tell them to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God. Place His Word before them. There will be those who will misinterpret and misrepresent. Their eyes have been blinded, and they set forth the figures and interpretations that Satan has worked out for them, and an entirely wrong meaning will be placed upon the words that Sister White has spoken. Satan is just as verily claiming to be Christ's child as did Judas, who was on the accusing side. They have educated themselves in Satan's school of misstating. A description of them is given in the third chapter of Zechariah. Nothing in the world is so dear to God as His church. Satan has worked upon human minds, and will continue to betray sacred trust in a spurious way. 58 {1SM 57.3} [1SM 58.1] The Publishing of Compilations I can see plainly that should every one who thinks he is qualified to write books, follow his imagination and have his productions published, insisting that they be recommended by our publishing houses, there would be plenty of tares sown broadcast in our world. Many from among our own people are writing to me, asking with earnest determination the privilege of using my writings to give force to certain subjects which they wish to present to the people in such a way as to leave a deep impression upon them. {1SM 58.1} [1SM 58.2] It is true that there is a reason why some of these matters should be presented: but I would not venture to give my approval in using the testimonies in this way, or to sanction the placing of matter which is good in itself in the way which they propose. {1SM 58.2} [1SM 58.3] The persons who make these propositions, for aught I know, may be able to conduct the enterprise of which they write in a wise manner; but nevertheless I dare not give the least license for using my writings in the manner which they propose. In taking account of such an enterprise, there are many things that must come into consideration; for in using the testimonies to bolster up some subject which may impress the mind of the author, the extracts may give a different impression than that which they would were they read in their original connection.-- The Writing and Sending Out of the Testimonies to the Church, pp. 25, 26. {1SM 58.3} [1SM 59.1] Chap. 5 - An Explanation of Early Statements - An Answer to a Challenge ［SOON AFTER THE REPUBLICATION IN 1882 OF THE THREE EARLIEST E. G. WHITE BOOKS, A SKETCH OF THE CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE AND VIEWS OF ELLEN G. WHITE, A SUPPLEMENT TO EXPERIENCE AND VIEWS, AND SPIRITUAL GIFTS, VOL. 1, ALL THREE OF WHICH TODAY COMPRISE EARLY WRITINGS, CERTAIN QUESTIONS WERE RAISED CONCERNING THE COMPLETENESS OF SOME OF THE ARTICLES AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CERTAIN STATEMENTS APPEARING HERE OR IN STILL EARLIER PUBLISHED ARTICLES. MRS. WHITE ANSWERED THESE QUESTIONS IN 1883 IN THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT. REFERENCE IS MADE TO THE TEACHINGS ON THE "SHUT DOOR." FOR ANOTHER REFERENCE TO THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE "SHUT DOOR" SEE THE GREAT CONTROVERSY, PAGES 429-432.--COMPILERS.］ {1SM 59.1} [1SM 59.2] My attention has recently been called to a sixteen-page pamphlet published by C, of Marion, Iowa, entitled Comparison of the Early Writings of Mrs. White With Later Publications. The writer states that portions of my earlier visions, as first printed, have been suppressed in the work recently published under the title Early Writings of Mrs. E. G. White, and he conjectures as a reason for such suppression that these passages teach doctrines now repudiated by us as a people. {1SM 59.2} [1SM 59.3] He also charges us with willful deception in representing Early Writings as a complete republication of my earliest views, with only verbal changes from the original work. {1SM 59.3} [1SM 59.4] Before I notice separately the passages which are said 60 to have been omitted, it is proper that several facts be stated. When my earliest views were first published in pamphlet form, ［REFERENCE IS HERE MADE TO THE 24-PAGE PAMPHLET "A WORD TO THE LITTLE FLOCK," PUBLISHED BY JAMES WHITE IN 1847, CONTAINING THREE ELLEN G. WHITE COMMUNICATIONS. --COMPILERS.］ the edition was small, and was soon sold. This was in a few years followed by a larger book, The Christian Experience and Views of Mrs. E. G. White, printed in 1851, and containing much additional matter. {1SM 59.4} [1SM 60.1] In our frequent change of location in the earlier history of the publishing work, and then in almost incessant travel as I have labored from Maine to Texas, from Michigan to California--and I have crossed the plains no less than seventeen times--I lost all trace of the first published works. When it was decided to publish Early Writings at Oakland last fall, we were obliged to send to Michigan to borrow a copy of Experience and Views. And in doing this we supposed that we had obtained an exact copy of the earliest visions as first published. This we reprinted, as stated in the preface to Early Writings, with only verbal changes from the original work. {1SM 60.1} [1SM 60.2] And here I will pause to state that any of our people having in their possession a copy of any or all of my first views, as published prior to 1851, will do me a great favor if they will send them to me without delay. I promise to return the same as soon as a copy can be produced. {1SM 60.2} [1SM 60.3] So far from desiring to withhold anything that I have ever published, I would feel great satisfaction in giving to the public every line of my writings that has ever been printed. {1SM 60.3} [1SM 60.4] Testimonies Garbled by Eli Curtis There is another fact that should be stated here. I am not responsible for all that has been printed as coming from me. About the time that my earliest visions were first published, several articles did appear purporting to have been written by me, and to relate what the Lord had shown me, but sanctioning doctrines which I did not believe. These were published in a paper edited by a Mr. 61 Curtis. Of the name of the paper I am not certain. In the years of care and labor that have passed since then, some of these less important particulars have been forgotten, but the main points are still distinct in my mind. {1SM 60.4} [1SM 61.1] This man took articles that came from my pen, and wholly transformed and distorted them, picking out a sentence here and there, without giving the connection, and then, after inserting his own ideas, he attached my name to them as if they came direct from me. {1SM 61.1} [1SM 61.2] On seeing these articles, we wrote to him, expressing our surprise and disapprobation, and forbidding him thus to misconstrue my testimonies. He answered that he should publish what he pleased, that he knew the visions ought to say what he had published, and that if I had written them as the Lord gave them to me, they would have said these things. He asserted that if the visions have been given for the benefit of the church, he had a right to use them as he pleased. {1SM 61.2} [1SM 61.3] Some of these sheets may still be in existence, and may be brought forward as coming from me, but I am not responsible for them. The articles given in Early Writings did pass under my eye; and as the edition of Experience and Views published in 1851 was the earliest which we possessed, and as we had no knowledge of anything additional in papers or pamphlets of earlier date, I am not responsible for the omissions which are said to exist. {1SM 61.3} [1SM 61.4] The First Omission The first quotation mentioned by C is from a pamphlet of twenty-four pages published in 1847, entitled A Word to the Little Flock. Here are the lines omitted in Experience and Views: {1SM 61.4} [1SM 61.5] "It was just as impossible for them ［those that gave up their faith in the '44 movement］ to get on the path again and go to the city, as all the wicked world which God had rejected. They fell all the way along the path one after another." {1SM 61.5} [1SM 61.6] I will give the context, that the full force of the expressions may be clearly seen: 62 {1SM 61.6} [1SM 62.1] "While praying at the family altar, the Holy Ghost fell on me, and I seemed to be rising higher and higher, far above the dark world. I turned to look for the advent people in the world, but could not find them--when a voice said to me, 'Look again, and look a little higher.' At this I raised my eyes and saw a straight and narrow path, cast up high above the world. On this path the advent people were traveling to the city, which was at the farther end of the path. They had a bright light set up behind them at the first end of the path, which an angel told me was the midnight cry. This light shone all along the path, and gave light for their feet so they might not stumble. And if they kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, who was just before them, leading them to the city, they were safe. But soon some grew weary, and they said the city was a great way off, and they expected to have entered it before. Then Jesus would encourage them by raising His glorious right arm, and from His arm came a glorious light which waved over the advent band, and they shouted, Hallelujah! Others rashly denied the light behind them, and said that it was not God that had led them out so far. The light behind them went out, leaving their feet in perfect darkness, and they stumbled and got their eyes off the mark and lost sight of Jesus, and fell off the path down into the dark and wicked world below." {1SM 62.1} [1SM 62.2] Now follows the passage said to be in the original work, but not found in Experience and Views nor in Early Writings: {1SM 62.2} [1SM 62.3] "It was just as impossible for them ［those that gave up their faith in the '44 movement］ to get on the path again and go to the city, as all the wicked world which God had rejected. They fell all the way along the path one after another." {1SM 62.3} [1SM 62.4] The "Shut Door" Defined It is claimed that these expressions prove the shut-door doctrine, and that this is the reason of their omission in later editions. But in fact they teach only that which has been and is still held by us as a people, as I shall show. 63 {1SM 62.4} [1SM 63.1] For a time after the disappointment in 1844, I did hold, in common with the advent body, that the door of mercy was then forever closed to the world. This position was taken before my first vision was given me. It was the light given me of God that corrected our error, and enabled us to see the true position. {1SM 63.1} [1SM 63.2] I am still a believer in the shut-door theory, but not in the sense in which we at first employed the term or in which it is employed by my opponents. {1SM 63.2} [1SM 63.3] There was a shut door in Noah's day. There was at that time a withdrawal of the Spirit of God from the sinful race that perished in the waters of the Flood. God Himself gave the shut-door message to Noah: {1SM 63.3} [1SM 63.4] "My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years" (Genesis 6:3). {1SM 63.4} [1SM 63.5] There was a shut door in the days of Abraham. Mercy ceased to plead with the inhabitants of Sodom, and all but Lot, with his wife and two daughters, were consumed by the fire sent down from heaven. {1SM 63.5} [1SM 63.6] There was a shut door in Christ's day. The Son of God declared to the unbelieving Jews of that generation, "Your house is left unto you desolate" (Matthew 23:38). {1SM 63.6} [1SM 63.7] Looking down the stream of time to the last days, the same infinite power proclaimed through John: {1SM 63.7} [1SM 63.8] "These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth" (Revelation 3:7). {1SM 63.8} [1SM 63.9] I was shown in vision, and I still believe, that there was a shut door in 1844. All who saw the light of the first and second angels' messages and rejected that light, were left in darkness. And those who accepted it and received the Holy Spirit which attended the proclamation of the message from heaven, and who afterward renounced their faith and pronounced their experience a delusion, thereby rejected the Spirit of God, and it no longer pleaded with them. {1SM 63.9} [1SM 63.10] Those who did not see the light, had not the guilt of its rejection. It was only the class who had despised the light 64 from heaven that the Spirit of God could not reach. And this class included, as I have stated, both those who refused to accept the message when it was presented to them, and also those who, having received it, afterward renounced their faith. These might have a form of godliness, and profess to be followers of Christ; but having no living connection with God, they would be taken captive by the delusions of Satan. These two classes are brought to view in the vision--those who declared the light which they had followed a delusion, and the wicked of the world who, having rejected the light, had been rejected of God. No reference is made to those who had not seen the light, and therefore were not guilty of its rejection. {1SM 63.10} [1SM 64.1] In order to prove that I believed and taught the shut-door doctrine, Mr. C gives a quotation from the Review of June 11, 1861, signed by nine of our prominent members. The quotation reads as follows: {1SM 64.1} [1SM 64.2] "Our views of the work before us were then mostly vague and indefinite, some still retaining the idea adopted by the body of advent believers in 1844, with William Miller at their head, that our work for 'the world' was finished, and that the message was confined to those of the original advent faith. So firmly was this believed that one of our number was nearly refused the message, the individual presenting it having doubts of the possibility of his salvation because he was not in 'the '44 move.'" {1SM 64.2} [1SM 64.3] To this I need only to add, that in the same meeting in which it was urged that the message could not be given to this brother, a testimony was given me through vision to encourage him to hope in God and to give his heart fully to Jesus, which he did then and there. {1SM 64.3} [1SM 64.4] An Unreasonable Conjecture In another passage from the book A Word to the Little Flock, I speak of scenes upon the new earth, and state that I there saw holy men of old, "Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, Daniel and many like them." Because I speak of having seen these men, our opponents conjecture that I then believed in the immortality of the soul and that having 65 since changed my views upon this point, I found it necessary to suppress that passage. They are as near the truth here as in other conjectures. {1SM 64.4} [1SM 65.1] In the year 1844 I accepted the doctrine we now hold, concerning the nonimmortality of the soul, as may be seen by reference to Life Sketches, pages 170, 171 ［1880 edition. See also 1915 edition, page 49; Testimonies, volume 1, pages 39, 40］, and I have never, by voice or pen, advocated any other. Had we suppressed this passage on account of its teaching the immortality of the soul, we would have found it necessary to suppress other passages. {1SM 65.1} [1SM 65.2] In relating my first vision, page 13 of Early Writings ［1882 edition, present edition, page 17］, I speak of having seen brethren who had but a short time previous fallen asleep in Jesus, and on page 14 ［present edition, pages 18, 19］ I state that I was shown a great company who had suffered martyrdom for their faith. {1SM 65.2} [1SM 65.3] The immortality of the soul is no more taught in the "suppressed" passage than in the two last cited. {1SM 65.3} [1SM 65.4] The fact in the case is, that in these visions I was carried forward to the time when the resurrected saints shall be gathered into the kingdom of God. In the same manner the judgment, the second coming of Christ, the establishment of the saints upon the new earth have been presented before me. Does anyone suppose that these scenes have yet transpired? My adversaries show the spirit by which they are actuated in thus accusing me of deception on the strength of a mere "conjecture." {1SM 65.4} [1SM 65.5] A Misquotation In this quotation are also found the words, "I saw two long golden rods on which hung silver wires, and on the wires were glorious grapes." {1SM 65.5} [1SM 65.6] My opponents ridicule "that weak and childish expression of glorious grapes growing on silver wires, and these wires attached to golden rods." {1SM 65.6} [1SM 65.7] What motive impelled the writer of the above to misstate my words? I do not state that grapes were growing on silver wires. That which I beheld is described as it 66 appeared to me. It is not to be supposed that grapes were attached to silver wires or golden rods, but that such was the appearance presented. Similar expressions are daily employed by every person in ordinary conversation. When we speak of golden fruit, we are not understood as declaring that the fruit is composed of that precious metal, but simply that it has the appearance of gold. The same rule applied to my words removes all excuse for misapprehension. {1SM 65.7} [1SM 66.1] The Seal of God Another "suppression" reads as follows: "Well, bless the Lord, brethren and sisters, it is an extra meeting for those that have the seal of the living God." {1SM 66.1} [1SM 66.2] There is nothing in this that we do not still hold. Reference to our published works will show our belief that the living righteous will receive the seal of God prior to the close of probation; also that these will enjoy special honors in the kingdom of God. {1SM 66.2} [1SM 66.3] Renouncing the Sabbath The following passage is said to be omitted from the vision related on pages 25-28 ［pages 32-35, present edition］ of Early Writings: {1SM 66.3} [1SM 66.4] "And if one believed, and kept the Sabbath, and received the blessing attending it, and then gave it up, and broke the holy commandment, they would shut the gates of the Holy City against themselves, as sure as there was a God that rules in heaven above." {1SM 66.4} [1SM 66.5] Those who have clearly seen and fully accepted the truth upon the fourth commandment, and have received the blessing attending obedience, but have since renounced their faith, and dared to violate the law of God, will find, if they persist in this path of disobedience, the gates of the city of God closed against them. {1SM 66.5} [1SM 66.6] "Time Nearly Finished" A statement published in 1851 in Experience and Views, and found on page 49 ［page 58, present edition］ of Early Writings is quoted as proving my testimonies false: 67 "I saw that the time for Jesus to be in the most holy place was nearly finished, and that time can last but a very little longer." {1SM 66.6} [1SM 67.1] As the subject was presented before me, the period of Christ's ministration seemed almost accomplished. Am I accused of falsehood because time has continued longer than my testimony seemed to indicate? How is it with the testimonies of Christ and His disciples? Were they deceived? {1SM 67.1} [1SM 67.2] Paul writes to the Corinthians: {1SM 67.2} [1SM 67.3] "But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not" (1 Corinthians 7:29, 30). {1SM 67.3} [1SM 67.4] Again, in his epistle to the Romans, he says: {1SM 67.4} [1SM 67.5] "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light" (Romans 13:12). {1SM 67.5} [1SM 67.6] And from Patmos, Christ speaks to us by the beloved John: {1SM 67.6} [1SM 67.7] "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand" (Revelation 1:3). "The Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly; blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book" (Revelation 22:6, 7). {1SM 67.7} [1SM 67.8] The angels of God in their messages to men represent time as very short. Thus it has always been presented to me. It is true that time has continued longer than we expected in the early days of this message. Our Saviour did not appear as soon as we hoped. But has the word of the Lord failed? Never! It should be remembered that the promises and threatenings of God are alike conditional. {1SM 67.8} [1SM 67.9] God had committed to His people a work to be accomplished on earth. The third angel's message was to be given, the minds of believers were to be directed to the heavenly sanctuary, where Christ had entered to make atonement for His people. The Sabbath reform was to 68 be carried forward. The breach in the law of God must be made up. The message must be proclaimed with a loud voice, that all the inhabitants of earth might receive the warning. The people of God must purify their souls through obedience to the truth, and be prepared to stand without fault before Him at His coming. {1SM 67.9} [1SM 68.1] Had Adventists, after the great disappointment in 1844, held fast their faith, and followed on unitedly in the opening providence of God, receiving the message of the third angel and in the power of the Holy Spirit proclaiming it to the world, they would have seen the salvation of God, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts, the work would have been completed, and Christ would have come ere this to receive His people to their reward. {1SM 68.1} [1SM 68.2] But in the period of doubt and uncertainty that followed the disappointment, many of the advent believers yielded their faith. Dissensions and divisions came in. The majority opposed with voice and pen the few who, following in the providence of God, received the Sabbath reform and began to proclaim the third angel's message. Many who should have devoted their time and talents to the one purpose of sounding warning to the world, were absorbed in opposing the Sabbath truth, and in turn, the labor of its advocates was necessarily spent in answering these opponents and defending the truth. Thus the work was hindered, and the world was left in darkness. Had the whole Adventist body united upon the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, how widely different would have been our history! {1SM 68.2} [1SM 68.3] It was not the will of God that the coming of Christ should be thus delayed. God did not design that His people, Israel, should wander forty years in the wilderness. He promised to lead them directly to the land of Canaan, and establish them there a holy, healthy, happy people. But those to whom it was first preached, went not in "because of unbelief" (Hebrews 3:19). Their hearts were filled with murmuring, rebellion, and hatred, and He could not fulfill His covenant with them. 69 {1SM 68.3} [1SM 69.1] For forty years did unbelief, murmuring, and rebellion shut out ancient Israel from the land of Canaan. The same sins have delayed the entrance of modern Israel into the heavenly Canaan. In neither case were the promises of God at fault. It is the unbelief, the worldliness, unconsecration, and strife among the Lord's professed people that have kept us in this world of sin and sorrow so many years. {1SM 69.1} [1SM 69.2] There are two other passages said to be found in my first book, but not given in my later writings. Concerning these I shall only say, when I can obtain a book containing them, so that I can be assured of the correctness of the quotations and can see for myself their connection, I shall be prepared to speak understandingly in regard to them. {1SM 69.2} [1SM 69.3] Last-Day Scoffers From the beginning of my work, I have been pursued by hatred, reproach, and falsehood. Base imputations and slanderous reports have been greedily gathered up and widely circulated by the rebellious, the formalist, and the fanatic. There are ministers of the so-called orthodox churches traveling from place to place to war against Seventh-day Adventists, and they make Mrs. White their textbook. The scoffers of the last days are led on by these ministers professing to be God's watchmen. {1SM 69.3} [1SM 69.4] The unbelieving world, the ministers of the fallen churches, and the first-day Adventists are united in the work of assailing Mrs. White. This warfare has been kept up for nearly forty years, but I have not felt at liberty even to notice their vile speeches, reproaches, and insinuations. And I would not now depart from this custom, were it not that some honest souls may be misled by the enemies of the truth who are so exultantly declaring me a deceiver. In the hope of helping the minds of the honest, I make the statements that I do. {1SM 69.4} [1SM 69.5] I do not expect to reach those who, having seen the light of truth, refuse to heed it, those who have given themselves up to prejudice, and entrenched their souls in unbelief. {1SM 69.5} [1SM 69.6] Jesus, the Majesty of heaven, He who was equal with 70 God, was in the world thirty-three years, and yet there were but few who acknowledged His divine character. And can I, who am so weak, so unworthy, a frail creature of humanity, expect greater success than was enjoyed by the Saviour of the world? {1SM 69.6} [1SM 70.1] When I first gave myself to this work, to go when God should bid me, to speak the words which He should give me for the people, I knew that I should receive opposition, reproach, persecution. I have not been disappointed. Had I depended on human applause, I would long ago have become discouraged. But I looked to Jesus, and saw that He who was without a fault was assailed by slanderous tongues. Those who made high pretensions to godliness followed as spies upon the Saviour's course, and made every exertion in their power to hedge up His way. But although He was all-powerful, He did not visit His adversaries as their sins deserved. He might have launched forth against them the bolts of His vengeance, but He did not. He administered scathing rebukes for their hypocrisy and corruption, and when His message was rejected and His life threatened, He quietly passed to another place to speak the words of life. I have tried, in my weakness, to follow the example of my Saviour. {1SM 70.1} [1SM 70.2] Enmity Against Advocates of Truth How eagerly the Pharisees sought to prove Christ a deceiver! How they watched His every word, seeking to misrepresent and misinterpret all His sayings! Pride and prejudice and passion closed every avenue of the soul against the testimony of the Son of God. When He plainly rebuked their iniquity and declared that their works proved them to be the children of Satan, they angrily flung back the accusation, saying, "Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?" {1SM 70.2} [1SM 70.3] All the arguments urged against Christ were founded in falsehood. So was it in the case of Stephen, and of Paul. But the weakest and most unreliable statements made on the wrong side had an influence, because there were so many whose hearts were unsanctified, who desired those 71 statements to be true. Such are ever eager to fasten upon any supposed error or mistake in those who speak to them the unpalatable truth. {1SM 70.3} [1SM 71.1] It should not surprise us when evil conjectures are greedily seized upon as undoubted facts by those who have an appetite for falsehood. The opposers of Christ were again and again confounded and put to silence by the wisdom of His words; yet they still eagerly listened to every rumor, and found some pretext to ply Him again with opposing questions. They were determined not to abandon their purpose. They well knew that if Jesus should continue His work, many would believe on Him, and the scribes and Pharisees would lose their power with the people. Hence they were ready to stoop to any base or contemptible measure to accomplish their malicious intentions against Him. They hated the Herodians, yet they joined these inveterate enemies in order to invent some plan to rid the earth of Christ. {1SM 71.1} [1SM 71.2] Such was the spirit with which the Son of God was met by those whom He came to save. Can any who are seeking to obey God, and to bear to the world the message of His truth, expect a more favorable reception than was granted Christ? {1SM 71.2} [1SM 71.3] I have no ill will toward those who are seeking to make of none effect the message which God has given to reprove, warn, and encourage His people. But as the ambassador of Christ, I must stand in defense of the truth. Who are those that so zealously array themselves against me? Are they the pure and holy children of faith? Have they been born again? Are they partakers of the divine nature? Do they love Jesus, and manifest His spirit of meekness and humility? "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:20). Do they resemble the early disciples, or those cunning scribes and Pharisees who were constantly watching to entrap Christ in His words? Notice the sharp practice of those ancient opposers of the faith--how lawyers, priests, scribes, and rulers combined to find something against Him who was the light of the world. {1SM 71.3} [1SM 71.4] And why were they so intent upon condemning 72 Christ? They did not love His doctrines and precepts, and they were displeased as they saw the attention of the people turned to Him and away from their former leaders. {1SM 71.4} [1SM 72.1] Human nature is human nature still. Let not those who seek to hedge up my way and destroy the influence of my words, deceive themselves with the belief that they are doing God service. They are serving another master, and they will be rewarded according to their work. {1SM 72.1} [1SM 72.2] Rebellion will exist as long as Satan exists. Those who are actuated by his spirit will not discern the spirit of God or listen to its voice until the mandate shall go forth, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still" (Revelation 22:11). I expect to encounter the malice of those who despise the light which God has been pleased to give me. {1SM 72.2} [1SM 72.3] Sufficient Evidence for the Honest in Heart It is God's plan to give sufficient evidence of the divine character of His work to convince all who honestly desire to know the truth. But He never removes all opportunity for doubt. All who desire to question and cavil will find occasion. {1SM 72.3} [1SM 72.4] I pity those who have set their feet in the path of doubt and unbelief. I would gladly help them if I could, but the experience of the past gives me little hope that they will ever come to the light. No amount of evidence will convince men of the truth so long as they are unwilling to yield their pride, subdue their carnal nature, and become learners in the school of Christ. {1SM 72.4} [1SM 72.5] Self-will and pride of opinion lead many to reject the light from heaven They cling to pet ideas, fanciful interpretations of Scripture, and dangerous heresies; and if a testimony is borne to correct these errors, they will, like many in Christ's day, go away displeased. {1SM 72.5} [1SM 72.6] It matters not how blameless the character and life of those who speak to the people the words of God; this procures for them no credit. And why? Because they tell the 73 people the truth. This, brethren, is my offense. But if a false report is circulated, if by some inference or conjecture an imputation is cast upon the character of Christ's ambassador, with what absurd credulity is it received! How many are ready to magnify and spread the slander! Such are revealing their real character. "He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God" (John 8:47). {1SM 72.6} [1SM 73.1] Calumny and reproach will be the recompense of those who stand for the truth as it is in Jesus. "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12). Those who bear a plain testimony against sin will as surely be hated as was the Master who gave them this work to do in His name. Like Christ, they will be called the enemies of the church and of religion, and the more earnest and true their efforts to honor God, the more bitter will be the enmity of the ungodly and hypocritical. But we should not be discouraged when thus treated. {1SM 73.1} [1SM 73.2] I Shall Go Forward With My Work We may be called "weak and foolish," enthusiastic, even insane. It may be said of us as it was of Christ, "He hath a devil" (John 10:20). But the work which the Master has given us to do is our work still. We must direct minds to Jesus, not seeking praise or honor of men, but committing ourselves to Him who judgeth righteously. He knows how to help those who while following in His steps suffer in a limited degree the reproach He bore. He was tempted in all points like as we are, that He might know how to succor those who should be tempted. {1SM 73.2} [1SM 73.3] Whatever wrong construction may be placed upon my testimony by those who profess righteousness, yet know not God, I shall in humility go forward with my work. I will speak the words which God gives me to speak in encouragement, reproof, and warning. There remains but a little remnant of my life on earth. The work that my Father hath given me, I will, by His grace, perform with fidelity, knowing that all my deeds must pass the scrutiny of Jehovah.--Manuscript 4, 1883. 74 {1SM 73.3} [1SM 74.1] Ellen G. White Experience on Shut-Door Question Recounted ［SEE THE GREAT CONTROVERSY, PAGES 426-432, FOR A FULLER PRESENTATION OF THE "SHUT DOOR."］ Battle Creek, Michigan August 24, 1874 Dear Brother Loughborough: I hereby testify in the fear of God that the charges of Miles Grant, of Mrs. Burdick, and others published in the Crisis are not true. The statements in reference to my course in forty-four are false. {1SM 74.1} [1SM 74.2] With my brethren and sisters, after the time passed in forty-four I did believe no more sinners would be converted. But I never had a vision that no more sinners would be converted. And am clear and free to state no one has ever heard me say or has read from my pen statements which will justify them in the charges they have made against me upon this point. {1SM 74.2} [1SM 74.3] It was on my first journey east to relate my visions that the precious light in regard to the heavenly sanctuary was opened before me and I was shown the open and shut door. We believed that the Lord was soon to come in the clouds of heaven. I was shown that there was a great work to be done in the world for those who had not had the light and rejected it. Our brethren could not understand this with our faith in the immediate appearing of Christ. Some accused me of saying that my Lord delayeth His coming, especially the fanatical ones. I saw that in '44 God had opened a door and no man could shut it, and shut a door and no man could open it. Those who rejected the light which was brought to the world by the message of the second angel went into darkness, and how great was that darkness. {1SM 74.3} [1SM 74.4] I never have stated or written that the world was doomed or damned. I never have under any circumstances used this language to any one, however sinful. I have ever had messages of reproof for those who used these harsh expressions.--Letter 2, 1874. 75 {1SM 74.4} [1SM 75.1] Statement on the Day and Hour of Christ's Coming Dear Sister: You state that "some claim among other things that there is dishonesty in suppressing your former writings." Will those who say these things please give proof of their statements? I know that this has been often repeated but not proved. "Claiming that in your original testimonies, volume 1, which they have preserved, you distinctly declare that you were shown the day and hour of Christ's second coming. Their argument is that this statement of yours will not stand the Bible test; as Christ Himself declares that no man knoweth the day or the hour, no not even the angels of God."... {1SM 75.1} [1SM 75.2] In my first book you will find the only statement in regard to the day and hour of Christ's coming that I have made since the passing of the time in 1844. It is found in Early Writings, pages 11, 27, and 145, 146 ［pages 15, 34, and 285, present edition］. All refer to the announcement that will be made just before the second coming of Christ. {1SM 75.2} [1SM 75.3] By turning to page 145 ［page 285, present edition］ and reading from the commencement of the chapter you will see that the statements made refer to the deliverance of the saints from the time of trouble by the voice of God. Please obtain this book if you do not have it, and read the statements therein. They are just as printed from the first article published. "The sky opened and shut, and was in commotion." "The mountains shook like a reed in the wind, and cast out ragged rocks all around. The sea boiled like a pot, and cast out stones upon the ground. And as God spoke the day and hour of Jesus' coming, and delivered the everlasting covenant to His people, He spoke one sentence and then paused while the words were rolling through the earth." {1SM 75.3} [1SM 75.4] This is a portion of the paragraph. The statements in pages 11 and 27 ［pages 15 and 34, present edition］ refer to the same time. They contain all that I have ever been shown in regard to the definite time of the Lord's coming. 76 I have not the slightest knowledge as to the time spoken by the voice of God. I heard the hour proclaimed, but had no remembrance of that hour after I came out of vision. Scenes of such thrilling, solemn interest passed before me as no language is adequate to describe. It was all a living reality to me, for close upon this scene appeared the great white cloud, upon which was seated the Son of man.-- Letter 38, 1888. {1SM 75.4} [1SM 76.1] An Early View of Jets of Light In my very girlhood the Lord saw fit to open before me the glories of heaven. I was in vision taken to heaven, and the angel said to me, "Look!" I looked to the world as it was in dense darkness. The agony that came over me was indescribable as I saw this darkness. {1SM 76.1} [1SM 76.2] Again the word came, "Look ye." And again I looked intensely over the world, and I began to see jets of light like stars dotted all through this darkness; and then I saw another and another added light, and so all through this moral darkness the star-like lights were increasing. And the angel said, "These are they that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and are obeying the words of Christ. These are the light of the world; and if it were not for these lights, the judgments of God would immediately fall upon the transgressors of God's law." I saw then these little jets of light growing brighter, shining forth from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and lighting the whole world. {1SM 76.2} [1SM 76.3] Occasionally one of these lights would begin to grow dim, and others would go out, and every time this occurred there was sadness and weeping in heaven. And some of the lights would grow brighter and brighter, and their brightness was far-reaching, and many more lights were added to it. Then there was rejoicing in heaven. I saw that the rays of light came directly from Jesus, to form these precious jets of light in the world.--Gospel Workers, pp. 378-379 (1892 edition). 78 {1SM 76.3} [1SM 78.1] Chap. 6 - The Loving Watchcare of Jesus INTRODUCTION - SOME FIFTEEN YEARS AFTER MRS. WHITE'S DEATH THE FILES OF HER UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS--THEN AT THE ELMSHAVEN OFFICE IN CALIFORNIA--WERE REINDEXED, AND CERTAIN CHOICE MATERIALS DRAWN FROM HER LETTERS AND MANUSCRIPTS WERE AT THAT TIME PUBLISHED IN LEAFLET FORM. THESE COVERED VARIOUS TOPICS OF INTEREST ESPECIALLY TO SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST WORKERS, SUCH AS "CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE," "METHODS OF LABOR," "EDUCATION," "THE CHURCH," ET CETERA. THESE WERE FIRST PUBLISHED AS THE "ELMSHAVEN LEAFLETS," BUT WERE LATER ISSUED UNDER THE TITLE NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS. THE SERIES GREW TO A TOTAL OF FORTY-TWO SEPARATE ITEMS, TIED TOGETHER AS A UNIT. {1SM 78.1} [1SM 78.2] IN THE YEARS SUCCEEDING THE PUBLICATION OF NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, SUCH ELLEN G. WHITE WORKS AS MEDICAL MINISTRY, EVANGELISM, CHILD GUIDANCE, WELFARE MINISTRY, AND THE ADVENTIST HOME, DREW HEAVILY ON THE MANUSCRIPT SOURCES FROM WHICH THE LEAFLETS WERE ORIGINALLY SELECTED, AND PROVIDED MUCH OF THE MATERIAL, OR CLOSELY PARALLELING MATERIAL, IN PERMANENT BOOK FORM. THIS HAS GREATLY LESSENED THE MISSION OF AND THE DEMAND FOR THE NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS. {1SM 78.2} [1SM 78.3] CERTAIN OF THE LEAFLETS, HOWEVER, MISCELLANEOUS IN NATURE AND CHARACTER, RELATING TO CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE AND SOME OTHER IMPORTANT TOPICS, HAVE NOT BEEN PARALLELED OR DUPLICATED IN THE ELLEN G. WHITE BOOKS ISSUED SINCE HER DEATH. THESE ARE NOW FOUND, HERE AND THERE, IN SELECTED MESSAGES. THE LARGEST GROUPING OF SUCH NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS MATERIALS APPEARS IN THIS SECTION DEALING WITH CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE.--WHITE TRUSTEES. {1SM 78.3} [1SM 79.1] The Loving Watchcare of Jesus ［PORTION OF A LETTER WRITTEN FEBRUARY 18, 1904, PUBLISHED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, NO. 1.］ - As I write I have a deep sense of gratitude for the loving watchcare of our Saviour over us all. As I read the Word of God and kneel in prayer, I am so impressed with the goodness and mercy of God that I cannot offer my petition without weeping. My heart is subdued and broken as I think of my heavenly Father's goodness and love. I hunger and thirst for more and still more of Jesus in this life. Christ was crucified for me, and shall I complain if I am crucified with Christ? . . . {1SM 79.1} [1SM 79.2] We know not what is before us, and our only safety is in walking with Christ, our hand in His, our hearts filled with perfect trust. Has He not said, "Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me"? Let us keep close to the Saviour. Let us walk humbly with Him, filled with His meekness. Let self be hid with Him in God. . . . {1SM 79.2} [1SM 79.3] The Outward Adorning Those who cherish and flatter self, fostering pride and vanity, giving to dress and appearance the time and attention 80 that ought to be given to the Master's work, are incurring a fearful loss. Many who are clothed in beautiful outward garments know nothing of the inward adorning that is in the sight of God of great price. Their fine clothing covers a heart that is sinful and diseased, full of vanity and pride. They know not what it means to "seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God" (Colossians 3:1). {1SM 79.3} [1SM 80.1] I long to be filled day by day with the Spirit of Christ. The treasure of His grace is of more value to me than gold or silver or costly array. I never felt a more earnest longing for righteousness than at the present time. {1SM 80.1} [1SM 80.2] When my sisters catch a glimpse of what Christ has suffered in their behalf, that they might become children of God by adoption, they will no longer be satisfied with worldly pride and self-love. No longer will they worship self. God will be the object of their supreme regard. {1SM 80.2} [1SM 80.3] My heart aches as I am shown how many there are who make self their idol. Christ has paid the redemption price for them. To Him belongs the service of all their powers. But their hearts are filled with self-love, and the desire for self-adorning. They give no thought to the words, "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Mark 8:34). Self-gratification is hiding Christ from their view. They have no desire to walk before God in meekness and lowliness. They are not looking to Jesus. They are not praying that they may be changed into His likeness. Their cases are represented by the man who came to the king's banquet clothed in his common citizen dress. He had refused to make the preparation required by the king. The garment provided for him at great cost he disdained to wear. To the king's demand, "How camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?" (Matthew 22:12) he could answer nothing. He was speechless; for he was self-condemned. {1SM 80.3} [1SM 80.4] Many who profess to be Christians are such only in name. They are not converted. They keep self prominent. They do not sit at the feet of Jesus, as Mary did, to learn of Him. They are not ready for Christ's coming. 81 {1SM 80.4} [1SM 81.1] A Great Surprise In the night season I was in a company of people whose hearts were filled with vanity and conceit. Christ was hid from their eyes. Suddenly in loud, clear accents, the words were heard, "Jesus is coming to take to Himself those who on this earth have loved and served Him, to be with Him in His kingdom forever." Many of those in the company went forth in their costly apparel to meet Him. They kept looking at their dress. But when they saw His glory, and realized that their estimation of one another had been so largely measured by outward appearance, they knew that they were without the robe of Christ's righteousness, and that the blood of souls was on their garments. {1SM 81.1} [1SM 81.2] When Christ took His chosen ones, they were left; for they were not ready. In their lives self had been given the first place, and when the Saviour came, they were not prepared to meet Him. {1SM 81.2} [1SM 81.3] I awoke with the picture of their agonized countenances stamped on my mind. I cannot efface the impression. I wish I could describe the scene as it was presented to me. Oh, how sad was the disappointment of those who had not learned by experience the meaning of the words, "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). {1SM 81.3} [1SM 81.4] There are many professing Christians who know not Christ by an experimental knowledge. Oh, how my heart aches for these poor, deceived, unprepared souls! As I stand before congregations, and see the self-sufficient, self-righteous ones, and know that they are not preparing themselves to do acceptable work for Christ, and to meet Him in peace, I am so burdened that I cannot sleep. I ask myself, What can I say to these souls that will arouse them to a sense of their true condition? Self is the all-absorbing theme of their life. I long to reveal Christ so plainly that they will behold Him, and cease to center their attention on self. . . . {1SM 81.4} [1SM 81.5] Among those to whom bitter disappointment will come at the day of final reckoning will be some who have been 82 outwardly religious, and who apparently have lived Christian lives. But self is woven into all they do. They pride themselves on their morality, their influence, their ability to stand in a higher position than others, ［and］ their knowledge of the truth, for they think that these will win for them the commendation of Christ. "Lord," they plead, "we have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets" (Luke 13:26). "Have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?" (Matthew 7:22). {1SM 81.5} [1SM 82.1] But Christ says, "I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me." "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21). {1SM 82.1} [1SM 82.2] There is no discussion; the time for that is past. The irrevocable sentence has been pronounced. They are shut out from heaven by their own unfitness for its companionship. (Read Matthew 7:24-27.)--Letter 91, 1904. - {1SM 82.2} [1SM 82.3] Through the plan of redemption, God has provided means for subduing every sinful trait, and resisting every temptation, however strong.--The Review and Herald, Dec. 22, 1885. - {1SM 82.3} [1SM 82.4] If God's people had the love of Christ in the heart; if every church member were thoroughly imbued with the spirit of self-denial; if all manifested thorough earnestness, there would be no lack of funds for home and foreign missions; our resources would be multiplied; a thousand doors of usefulness would be opened, and we would be invited to enter. Had the purpose of God been carried out by His people in giving the message of mercy to the world, Christ would have come to the earth, and the saints would ere this have received their welcome into the city of God. --Union Conference Record (Australasian), Oct. 15, 1898. {1SM 82.4} [1SM 83.1] Chap. 7 - Christ Holds Control ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, NO. 2.］ - The Gergesenes desired Christ to depart. They of Capernaum received Him, and among them He wrought wonderful miracles. {1SM 83.1} [1SM 83.2] Christ has all power in heaven and in earth. He is the Great Physician, upon whom we are to call when suffering from physical or spiritual disease. Over the winds and the waves and over men possessed with demons, He showed that He possessed absolute control. To Him have been given the keys of death and of hell. Principalities and powers were made subject to Him, even while in His humiliation. . . . {1SM 83.2} [1SM 83.3] Why do we not exercise greater faith in the Divine Physician? As He worked for the man with the palsy, so He will work today for those who come to Him for healing. We have great need of more faith. I am alarmed as I see the lack of faith among our people. We need to come right into the presence of Christ, believing that He will heal our physical and spiritual infirmities. {1SM 83.3} [1SM 83.4] We are too faithless. Oh, how I wish that I could lead our people to have faith in God! They need not feel that in order to exercise faith they must be wrought up into a high 84 state of excitement. All they have to do is to believe God's Word, just as they believe one another's word. He hath said it, and He will perform His Word. Calmly rely on His promise, because He means all that He says. Say, He has spoken to me in His Word, and He will fulfill every promise that He has made. Do not become restless. Be trustful. God's Word is true. Act as if your heavenly Father could be trusted. . . . {1SM 83.4} [1SM 84.1] Men are appointed to proclaim the truth in new places. These men must have funds for their support. And they must have a fund to draw upon for the help of the poor and needy whom they meet in their work. The benevolence that they show toward the poor gives influence to their efforts to proclaim the truth. Their willingness to help those in need gains for them the gratitude of those they help, and the approval of Heaven. {1SM 84.1} [1SM 84.2] These faithful workers should have the sympathies of the church. The Lord will hear prayer in their behalf. And the church should not fail to show a practical interest in their work. {1SM 84.2} [1SM 84.3] No one lives to himself. In God's work each one is assigned a post of duty. The union of all strengthens the work of each. As the faith and love and unity of the church grow stronger their circle of influence enlarges, and ever they are to reach to the farthest limit of this influence, constantly extending the triumphs of the cross. {1SM 84.3} [1SM 84.4] Arise, Shine God calls upon us to burst the bands of our precise, indoor service. The message of the gospel is to be borne in the cities and outside of the cities. We are to call upon all to rally around the banner of the cross. When this work is done as it should be, when we labor with divine zeal to add converts to the truth, the world will see that a power attends the message of truth. The unity of the believers bears testimony to the power of the truth that can bring into perfect harmony men of different dispositions, making their interests one. {1SM 84.4} [1SM 84.5] The prayers and offerings of the believers are combined 85 with earnest, self-sacrificing efforts, and they are indeed a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. Men are converted anew. The hand that once grasped for recompense in higher wages has become the helping hand of God. The believers are united by one interest--the desire to make centers of truth where God shall be exalted. Christ joins them together in holy bonds of union and love, bonds which have irresistible power. {1SM 84.5} [1SM 85.1] It was for this unity that Jesus prayed just before His trial, standing but a step from the cross. "That they all may be one;" He said, "as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me" (John 17:21). {1SM 85.1} [1SM 85.2] God calls upon those who are half awake to arouse, and engage in earnest labor, praying to Him for strength for service. Workers are needed. It is not necessary to follow rules of exact precision. Receive the Holy Spirit, and your efforts will be successful. Christ's presence is that which gives power. Let all dissension and strife cease. Let love and unity prevail. Let all move under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If God's people will give themselves wholly to Him, He will restore to them the power they have lost by division. May God help us all to realize that disunion is weakness and that union is strength.--Letter 32, 1903. {1SM 85.2} [1SM 85.3] Talk Faith Whatever may arise, never be discouraged. The Lord loves us, and He will perform His word. Try to encourage in the patients a trust in God. Bid them be of good courage. Talk hope, even to the last. If they are to die, let them die praising the Lord. He ever lives; and though some of His faithful followers may fall in death, their works will follow them, and theirs will be a joyous awakening in the resurrection morning. {1SM 85.3} [1SM 85.4] Let us not be discouraged. Let us not talk doubt, but faith; for faith brings infinite power. If we lay hold upon this power, and do not trust in our own human strength, we shall see the salvation of God.--The Review and Herald, Dec. 30, 1909. {1SM 85.4} [1SM 86.1] Chap. 8 - Willing to Spend and Be Spent ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, NO. 3.］ - He who loves God supremely and his neighbor as himself will work with the constant realization that he is a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. Making God's will his will, he will reveal in his life the transforming power of the grace of Christ. In all the circumstances of life, he will take Christ's example as his guide. {1SM 86.1} [1SM 86.2] Every true, self-sacrificing worker for God is willing to spend and be spent for the sake of others. Christ says, "He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal" (John 12:25). By earnest, thoughtful efforts to help where help is needed, the true Christian shows his love for God and for his fellow beings. He may lose his life in service. But when Christ comes to gather His jewels to Himself, he will find it again. {1SM 86.2} [1SM 86.3] My brethren and sisters, do not spend a large amount of time and money on self, for the sake of appearance. Those who do this are obliged to leave undone many things that would have comforted others, sending a warm glow to their weary spirits. We all need to learn how to improve more faithfully the opportunities that so often come to us to bring light and hope into the lives of others. How can 87 we improve these opportunities if our thoughts are centered upon self? He who is self-centered loses countless opportunities for doing that which would have brought blessing to others and to himself. It is the duty of the servant of Christ, under every circumstance, to ask himself, "What can I do to help others?" Having done his best, he is to leave the consequences with God. {1SM 86.3} [1SM 87.1] I desire so to live that in the future life I can feel that during this life I did what I could. God has provided for every one pleasure that may be enjoyed by rich and poor alike--the pleasure found in cultivating pureness of thought and unselfishness of action, the pleasure that comes from speaking sympathizing words and doing kindly deeds. From those who perform such service the light of Christ shines to brighten lives darkened by many shadows. {1SM 87.1} [1SM 87.2] God is dishonored when we fail to speak the truth plainly to one another. But we are to speak the truth in love, bringing tenderness and sympathy into our voices. {1SM 87.2} [1SM 87.3] The perils of the last days are upon us. Those who live to please and gratify self are dishonoring the Lord. He cannot work through them, for they would misrepresent Him before those who are ignorant of the truth. Be very careful not to hinder, by an unwise expenditure of means, the work that the Lord would have done in proclaiming the warning message to a world lying in wickedness. Study economy, cutting down your personal expense to the lowest possible figure. On every hand the necessities of the cause of God are calling for help. God may see that you are fostering pride. He may see that it is necessary to remove from you blessings which, instead of improving, you have used for the gratification of selfish pride. . . . {1SM 87.3} [1SM 87.4] Help in Every Time of Need Those who are laboring in places where the work has not long been started, will often find themselves in great need of better facilities. Their work will seem to be hindered for lack of these facilities; but let them not worry. Let them take the whole matter to the Lord in prayer. When trying to build up the work in new territory, we 88 have often gone to the limit of our resources. At times it seemed as if we could not advance farther. But we kept our petitions ascending to the heavenly courts, all the time denying self; and God heard and answered our prayers, sending us means for the advancement of the work. {1SM 87.4} [1SM 88.1] Lay every care at the feet of the Redeemer. "Ask, and ye shall receive" (John 16:24). Work, and pray, and believe with the whole heart. Do not wait until the money is in your hands before doing anything. Walk out by faith. God has declared that the standard of truth is to be planted in many places. Learn to believe, as you pray to God for help. Practice self-denial; for Christ's whole life on this earth was one of self-denial. He came to show us what we must be and do in order to gain eternal life. {1SM 88.1} [1SM 88.2] Do your best, and then wait, patiently, hopefully, rejoicingly, because the promise of God cannot fail. Failure comes because many who could put their means into circulation for the advancement of God's work are lacking in faith. The longer they withhold their means, the less faith they will have. They are barrier builders, who fearfully retard the work of God. {1SM 88.2} [1SM 88.3] My dear fellow workers, be true, hopeful, heroic. Let every blow be made in faith. As you do your best, the Lord will reward your faithfulness. From the life-giving fountain draw physical, mental, and spiritual energy. Manliness, womanliness--sanctified, purified, refined, ennobled--we have the promise of receiving. We need that faith which will enable us to endure the seeing of Him who is invisible. As you fix your eyes upon Him, you will be filled with a deep love for the souls for whom He died, and will receive strength for renewed effort. {1SM 88.3} [1SM 88.4] Christ is our only hope. Come to God in the name of Him who gave His life for the world. Rely upon the efficacy of His sacrifice. Show that His love, His joy, is in your soul, and that because of this your joy is full. Cease to talk unbelief. In God is our strength. Pray much. Prayer is the life of soul. The prayer of faith is the weapon by which we may successfully resist every assault of the enemy.-- Manuscript 24, 1904. {1SM 88.4} [1SM 89.1] Chap. 9 - Examine Yourselves ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, NO. 12.］ - "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves" (2 Corinthians 13:5). Closely criticize the temper, the disposition, the thoughts, words, inclinations, purposes, and deeds. How can we ask intelligently for the things we need unless we prove by the Scriptures the condition of our spiritual health? {1SM 89.1} [1SM 89.2] Many in their religious life are making crooked paths for their feet. Their prayers are offered in a loose, haphazard manner. He who is placed in a position of responsibility should remember that of himself he is not able to do that which is required of him. Every day he should remember that he is a spectacle unto the world, to angels, and to men. {1SM 89.2} [1SM 89.3] No one is to wait to be borne to fields of labor and provided with costly facilities for doing good. He who serves must cheerfully take up his work, however humble it is, and wherever he may be placed. Christ, our example in all things, was poor, that through His poverty He might make many rich. {1SM 89.3} [1SM 89.4] He whose heart is filled with the grace of God and love for his perishing fellow men will find opportunity, 90 wherever he may be placed, to speak a word in season to those who are weary. Christians are to work for their Master in meekness and lowliness, holding fast to their integrity amid the noise and bustle of life. {1SM 89.4} [1SM 90.1] God calls upon men to serve Him in every transaction of life. Business is a snare when the law of God is not made the law of the daily life. He who has anything to do with the Master's work is to maintain unswerving integrity. In all business transactions, as verily as when on bended knees he seeks help from on high, God's will is to be his will. He is to keep the Lord ever before him, constantly studying the subjects about which the Holy Word speaks. Thus, though living amid that which would debase a man of lax principles, the man of piety and stern integrity preserves his Christianity. {1SM 90.1} [1SM 90.2] The world is no more favorable today for the development of Christian character than in Noah's day. Then wickedness was so widespread that God said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. . . . Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God" (Genesis 6:7-9). Yes, amid the corruption of that degenerate age, Noah was a pleasure to his Creator. {1SM 90.2} [1SM 90.3] We are living in the last days of this earth's history, in an age of sin and corruption, and like Noah we are to so live that we shall be a pleasure to God, showing forth the praises of Him "who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9). In the prayer which Christ offered to His Father just before His crucifixion, He said, "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil" (John 17:15). {1SM 90.3} [1SM 90.4] The Highest Service When men and women have formed characters which God can endorse, when their self-denial and self-sacrifice have been fully made, when they are ready for the final 91 test, ready to be introduced into God's family, what service will stand highest in the estimation of Him who gave Himself a willing offering to save a guilty race? What enterprise will be most dear to the heart of infinite love? What work will bring the greatest satisfaction and joy to the Father and the Son?--The salvation of perishing souls. Christ died to bring to men the saving power of the gospel. Those who cooperate with Him in carrying forward His great enterprise of mercy, laboring with all the strength God has given them to save those nigh and afar off, will share in the joy of the Redeemer when the redeemed host stand around the throne of God. {1SM 90.4} [1SM 91.1] God has entrusted means and capabilities to His servants for the doing of a work far higher than that which today He looks upon. {1SM 91.1} [1SM 91.2] "O," said the heavenly messenger, "the Lord's institutions are terribly behind the greatness of the truths which are being fulfilled at the present time. There is a fearful misconception of the claims of duty. The frosty atmosphere in which believers are content to live retards the self-sacrificing movements which should be made to warn the world and save souls. {1SM 91.2} [1SM 91.3] "The powers of darkness are working with an intensity of effort, and year by year thousands of people, from all kindreds, nations, and tongues, pass into eternity, unwarned and unready. Our faith must mean something more definite, more decided, more important. {1SM 91.3} [1SM 91.4] "Ask my institutions and churches, 'Do you believe the Word of God? What then are you doing in missionary lines? Are you working with self-denial and self-sacrifice? Do you believe that the Word of God means what it says? Your actions show that you do not. How will you meet at the bar of God the countless millions who, unwarned, are passing into eternity? {1SM 91.4} [1SM 91.5] "'Will there be a second probation? No, no. This fallacy might just as well be given up at once. The present probation is all that we shall have. Do you realize that the salvation of fallen human beings must be secured in this present life, or they will be forever lost?'" 92 {1SM 91.5} [1SM 92.1] Our Responsibilities The Laodicean message is applicable to the church at this time. Do you believe this message? Have you hearts that feel? Or are you constantly saying, We are rich and increased in goods, and have need of nothing? Is it in vain that the declaration of eternal truth has been given to this nation to be carried to all the nations of the world? God has chosen a people and made them the repositories of truth weighty with eternal results. To them has been given the light that must illuminate the world. Has God made a mistake? Are we indeed His chosen instrumentalities? Are we the men and women who are to bear to the world the messages of Revelation fourteen, to proclaim the message of salvation to those who are standing on the brink of ruin? Do we act as if we were? {1SM 92.1} [1SM 92.2] In a clear, determined voice the messenger said, "I ask you what you are doing? O that you could comprehend! O that you could understand the importance of the warning and what it means to you and to the world! If you did understand, if you were filled with the spirit of the One who gave His life for the life of the world, you would cooperate with Him, making earnest, self-sacrificing efforts to save sinners." {1SM 92.2} [1SM 92.3] "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:4). A great awakening must come to the church. If we only knew, if we only understood, how quickly the spirit of the message would go from church to church. How willingly would the possessions of believers be given to support the work of God. God calls upon us to pray and watch unto prayer. Cleanse your homes of the picture-idols ［SEE SELECTED MESSAGES, BOOK II, PAGES 317-320 FOR A FULLER DISCUSSION OF THE TAKING OF PICTURES.--COMPILERS.］ which have consumed the money that ought to have flowed into the Lord's treasury. The light must go forth as a lamp that burneth. Those who bear the message to the world should seek the Lord earnestly, that His Holy Spirit may be abundantly showered upon them. You have no time to lose. Pray 93 for the power of God, that you may work with success for those nigh and afar off. {1SM 92.3} [1SM 93.1] Warnings to Be Given We must have genuine faith. As yet we scarcely grasp the reality of the truth. We only half believe the Word of God. A man will act out all the faith he has. Notwithstanding that the signs of the times are fulfilling all over the world, faith in the Lord's coming has been growing feeble. Clear, distinct, certain, the warnings are to be given. At the peril of our souls we are to learn the prescribed conditions under which we are to work out our own salvation, remembering that it is God which worketh in us, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. {1SM 93.1} [1SM 93.2] It will not do for us to float along with the current, guided by tradition and presumptuous fallacies. We are called laborers together with God. Then let us arise and shine. There is no time to spend in controversy. Those who have a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus must now become one in heart and purpose. All differences must be swept away. The members of the church must work unitedly under the great Head of the church. {1SM 93.2} [1SM 93.3] Let those who have a knowledge of the truth arise and shine. "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet" (Isaiah 58:1). No longer mutilate the truth. Let the soul cry out for the living God. Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils. The Comforter will come to you, if you will open the door to Him. "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:14-16).--Manuscript 51, 1901. {1SM 93.3} [1SM 94.1] Chap. 10 - Good Angels More Powerful Than Evil Angels ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, NO. 15.］ - It is expressly stated that Satan works in the children of disobedience, not merely having access to their minds, but working through their influence, conscious and unconscious, to draw others into the same disobedience. If evil angels have such power over the children of men in their disobedience, how much greater power the good angels have over those who are striving to be obedient. When we put our trust in Jesus Christ, working obedience unto righteousness, angels of God work in our hearts unto righteousness.... {1SM 94.1} [1SM 94.2] Angels came and ministered to our Lord in the wilderness of temptation. Heavenly angels were with Him during all the period in which He was exposed to the assaults of satanic agencies. These assaults were more severe than man has ever passed through. Everything was at stake in behalf of the human family. In this conflict Christ did not frame His words even. He depended upon "It is written" (Matthew 4:4). In this conflict the humanity of Christ was taxed as none of us will ever know. The Prince of life and the prince of darkness met in terrible conflict, but Satan was unable to gain the least advantage in word or in action. 95 These were real temptations, no pretense. Christ "suffered being tempted" (Hebrews 2:18). Angels of heaven were on the scene on that occasion, and kept the standard uplifted, that Satan should not exceed his bounds and overpower the human nature of Christ. {1SM 94.2} [1SM 95.1] In the last temptation Satan presented to Christ the prospect of gaining the whole world with all its glory if He would only worship him who claimed to be sent of God. Christ must then issue His command. He must then exercise authority above all satanic agencies. Divinity flashed through humanity, and Satan was peremptorily repulsed. "Get thee hence, Satan," Christ said, "for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve" (Matthew 4:10). {1SM 95.1} [1SM 95.2] It was enough. Satan could go no further. Angels ministered to the Saviour. Angels brought Him food. The severity of this conflict no human mind can compass. The welfare of the whole human family and of Christ Himself was at stake. One admission from Christ, one word of concession, and the world would be claimed by Satan as his; and he, the prince of the power of darkness, would, he supposed, commence his rule. There appeared unto Christ an angel from heaven; for the conflict ended. Human power was ready to fail. But all heaven sang the song of eternal victory. {1SM 95.2} [1SM 95.3] The human family have all the help that Christ had in their conflicts with Satan. They need not be overcome. They may be more than conquerors through Him who has loved them and given His life for them. "Ye are bought with a price" (1 Corinthians 6:20). And what a price! The Son of God in His humanity wrestled with the very same fierce, apparently overwhelming temptations that assail men-- temptations to indulgence of appetite, to presumptuous venturing where God has not led them, and to the worship of the god of this world, to sacrifice an eternity of bliss for the fascinating pleasures of this life. Everyone will be tempted, but the Word declares that we shall not be tempted above our ability to bear. We may resist and defeat the wily foe. 96 {1SM 95.3} [1SM 96.1] A Heaven to Win Every soul has a heaven to win, and a hell to shun. And the angelic agencies are all ready to come to the help of the tried and tempted soul. He, the Son of the infinite God, endured the test and trial in our behalf. The cross of Calvary stands vividly before every soul. When the cases of all are judged, and they ［the lost］ are delivered to suffer for their contempt for God and their disregard of His honor in their disobedience, not one will have an excuse, not one will need to have perished. It was left to their own choice who should be their prince, Christ or Satan. All the help Christ received, every man may receive in the great trial. The cross stands as a pledge that not one need be lost, that abundant help is provided for every soul. We can conquer the satanic agencies, or we can join ourselves with the powers that seek to counterwork the work of God in our world.... {1SM 96.1} [1SM 96.2] We have an Advocate pleading in our behalf. The Holy Ghost is continually engaged in beholding our course of action. We need now keen perception, that by our own practical godliness the truth may be made to appear truth as it is in Jesus. The angelic agencies are messengers from heaven, actually ascending and descending, keeping earth in constant connection with the heaven above. These angel messengers are observing all our course of action. They are ready to help all in their weakness, guarding all from moral and physical danger according to the providence of God. And whenever souls yield to the softening, subduing influence of the Spirit of God under these angel ministrations, there is joy in heaven; the Lord Himself rejoices with singing. {1SM 96.2} [1SM 96.3] Men take altogether too much glory to themselves. It is the work of heavenly agencies cooperating with human agencies according to God's plan that brings the result in the conversion and sanctification of the human character. We cannot see and could not endure the glory of angelic ministrations if their glory was not veiled in condescension to the weakness of our human nature. The blaze of the 97 heavenly glory, as seen in the angels of light, would extinguish earthly mortals. Angels are working upon human minds just as these minds are given to their charge; they bring precious remembrances fresh before the mind as they did to the women about the sepulcher. {1SM 96.3} [1SM 97.1] A created instrumentality is used in heaven's organized plan for the renewing of our nature, working in the children of disobedience obedience unto God. The guardianship of the heavenly host is granted to all who will work in God's ways and follow His plans. We may in earnest, contrite prayer call the heavenly helpers to our side. Invisible armies of light and power will work with the humble, meek, and lowly one.--Letter 116, 1899. {1SM 97.1} [1SM 97.2] Angels Looking for Cooperation Satan uses human agents to bring the soul under the power of temptation, but the angels of God are searching for human agents through whom they may cooperate to save the tempted ones. Angels are looking for those who will work in Christ's lines, who will be moved by the realization that they belong to Christ. They are looking for those who will feel that those who fall under temptation, whether high or low, are the ones who need their special labors, and that Christ looks on those who are passed by, neglected, wounded, and bruised by the enemy, and ready to die, and is grieved at the hardness of men, who refuse to exercise the faith that works by love, which will purify the soul. {1SM 97.2} [1SM 97.3] Angels of God will work with, and through, and by those who will cooperate with the heavenly agencies for the saving of a soul from death, and the hiding of a multitude of sins, that will lead them to consider themselves, lest they also be tempted. {1SM 97.3} [1SM 97.4] It is the sick that need a physician, not those who are whole. When you expend labor on those who do not need it, and take no notice of the very ones whom your words and actions could bless, you are forming a character that is not after the likeness of Christ.--Letter 70, 1894. {1SM 97.4} [1SM 98.1] Chap. 11 - What Are We Worth? ［PORTION OF A SERMON DELIVERED IN THE ST. HELENA SANITARIUM CHAPEL, JANUARY 23, 1904, AND APPEARING IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, THE CHURCH, NO. 7.］ - The Lord desires every one of us to be decidedly in earnest. We cannot afford to make a mistake in spiritual matters. The life-and-death question with us is, "What shall I do that I may be saved, eternally saved?" "What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life--a life that measures with the life of God?" This is a question that it becomes every one of us to consider carefully.... {1SM 98.1} [1SM 98.2] While living in this world we are to be God's helping hand. Paul declared, "Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building" (1 Corinthians 3:9). We are to cooperate with God in every measure that He desires to carry out. Are we fulfilling the purpose of the eternal God? Are we daily seeking to have the mind of Christ and to do His will in word and work? {1SM 98.2} [1SM 98.3] What a condition the human family is in today! Have you ever seen before such a time of confusion--of violence, of murder, theft, and every other kind of crime? In this time, where are we individually standing? {1SM 98.3} [1SM 98.4] In the fifty-eighth of Isaiah we have read of those who 99 "fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness" and we have learned that God will not accept such a fast. "Ye shall not fast as ye do this day," He declares, "to make your voice to be heard on high" (Isaiah 58:4). {1SM 98.4} [1SM 99.1] "Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? {1SM 99.1} [1SM 99.2] "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens ［instead of binding them on］, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" (Isaiah 58:5-7). {1SM 99.2} [1SM 99.3] The Reward "Then ［after they do these works of mercy and necessity］ shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward" (Isaiah 58:8). {1SM 99.3} [1SM 99.4] We are to put into practice the precepts of the law, and thus have righteousness before us; the rearward will be God's glory. The light of the righteousness of Christ will be our front guard, and the glory of the Lord will be our rearward. Let us thank the Lord for this assurance. Let us constantly stand in a position where the Lord God of heaven can favor us. Let us consider that it is our high privilege to be in connection with God--to be His helping hand. {1SM 99.4} [1SM 99.5] In God's great plan for the redemption of a lost race, He has placed Himself under the necessity of using human agencies as His helping hand. He must have a helping hand, in order to reach humanity. He must have the cooperation of those who will be active, quick to see opportunities, quick to discern what must be done for their fellow men. 100 {1SM 99.5} [1SM 100.1] Christ gave His life for sinful men and women. He desired to rescue the race from a life of transgression to a life of obedience and righteousness; and to those who accept Him as their Redeemer He offers the richest reward that Heaven can bestow--even the inheritance of life eternal.... {1SM 100.1} [1SM 100.2] O that we might comprehend more fully the infinite price that has been paid for our redemption! Paul declares, "Ye are bought with a price" (1 Corinthians 6:20); and it is true; for the price paid is nothing less than the life of the only-begotten Son of God. Let us all consider this. We may refuse the invitations that Christ sends to us; we may neglect His offer of pardon and peace; but still it remains a fact that every one of us has been bought with a price, even with the precious blood of the Son of God. Therefore, "Consider him" (Hebrews 12:3). {1SM 100.2} [1SM 100.3] You have cost much. "Glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Corinthians 6:20). That which you may regard as your own is God's. Take care of His property. He has bought you with an infinite price. Your mind is His. What right has any person to abuse a body that belongs not to himself, but to the Lord Jesus Christ? What satisfaction can anyone take in gradually lessening the powers of body and mind by selfish indulgence of any form? {1SM 100.3} [1SM 100.4] God has given to every human being a brain. He desires that it shall be used to His glory. By it, man is enabled to cooperate with God in efforts to save perishing fellow mortals. We have none too much brain power or reasoning faculties. We are to educate and train every power of mind and body--the human mechanism that Christ has bought--in order that we may put it to the best possible use. We are to do all we can to strengthen these powers; for God is pleased to have us become more and still more efficient colaborers with Him. {1SM 100.4} [1SM 100.5] Of those who do their part faithfully, it is said, "We are labourers together with God" (1 Corinthians 3:9). Apart from divine aid, man can do very little; but the heavenly Father and His Son are ready to work through everyone who 101 consecrates himself wholly on the altar of service. Every soul before me may cooperate with God, and labor for Him acceptably. The Lord desires us all to come into line. To every man He has given an appointed work, according to their several ability.... {1SM 100.5} [1SM 101.1] Personal Experience At the age of seventeen, when all my friends thought I was an invalid for life on account of a severe accident I had sustained in my girlhood, a heavenly visitant came and spoke to me, saying, "I have a message for you to bear." "Why," I thought, "there certainly must be a great mistake somewhere." Again were spoken the words: "I have a message for you to bear. Write out for the people what I give you." Up to that time, my trembling hand had not been able to write a line. I replied, "I cannot do it; I cannot do it." "Write! write!" were the words spoken once again. I took the pen and paper, and I began to write; and how much I have written since, it is impossible to estimate. The strength, the power, was of God. {1SM 101.1} [1SM 101.2] Since that time, the books that I have written have been published in many, many languages, and have gone to all parts of the earth. Just a short time ago I received word that a copy of one of my books had been graciously received by the queen of Germany, and that she had written a kind letter expressing her appreciation of the volume. To the Lord be all the praise. {1SM 101.2} [1SM 101.3] Of ourselves we can do nothing good. But it is our privilege to place ourselves in right relation to God, and to determine that by His help we will do our part in this work, to make it better. In the lives of those who humbly yet unfalteringly carry out this resolution, will be revealed the glory of God. I know this by experience. I have had no power of my own. I have realized that I must hang my helpless soul on Jesus Christ; and as the result of doing this, of praying, and of believing, the salvation of God has gone before me, and the glory of the Lord has followed. {1SM 101.3} [1SM 101.4] I tell you that which I know, for your encouragement and comfort. Let us all place ourselves in right relation to 102 God. What satisfaction is to be found in keeping pace with the fashions of this world? You have a better work to do. Fashion character. Use every ability, every nerve, every muscle, every thought, every action, to the glory of God. Then you will see, as you have never seen before, the salvation of God going before you. {1SM 101.4} [1SM 102.1] Oh, I have nought to complain of. The Lord has never failed me. I laid my husband in the grave twenty-two years ago; and several years afterward, when the decision was made that more missionaries must go to Australia to unite with the few who had been sent, we went there ourselves to strengthen the hands of our brethren, and to establish the work on right lines in this new center. There we did much pioneer work. {1SM 102.1} [1SM 102.2] Helping Establish a School We saw the great need for a school in which promising young men and young women could be trained for the Master's service; and we went right into the woods in New South Wales, purchased fifteen hundred acres of land, and there established a training school away from the cities.... {1SM 102.2} [1SM 102.3] Three years ago we returned to America. Others were sent to Australia to take our places. The work has continued to grow; prosperity has attended every effort. I wish you could read the letters that come to us. Doubtless you have heard of the dreadful drought that has caused famine in so many places in Australia during the past two years. Hundreds of thousands of sheep and cattle and horses have perished. In all the colonies, and especially in Queensland, the suffering and the financial loss have been great. {1SM 102.3} [1SM 102.4] But the spot that was chosen for our training school, has had sufficient rainfall for good pasture land and bountiful crops; in fact, in legislative assemblies and in the newspapers of the great cities it has been specified as "the only green spot in all New South Wales." {1SM 102.4} [1SM 102.5] Is not this remarkable? Has not the Lord blessed? From one of the reports received, we learn that last year seven thousand pounds of honey of the best quality has been made on the school estate. Large quantities of 103 vegetables have been raised, and the sale of the surplus has been a source of considerable revenue to the school. All this is very encouraging to us; for we took the wild land, and helped to bring it to its present fruitful state. To the Lord we ascribe all the praise. {1SM 102.5} [1SM 103.1] In every land and in every community there are many opportunities for helpful service. Even in these valleys in which we are now living, there are families that need help along spiritual lines. Look these ones up. Use your talent, your ability, by helping them. First give yourself to the Master; then He will work with you. To every man He gives his work. {1SM 103.1} [1SM 103.2] Is Sister White Getting Rich? Sometimes it has been reported that I am trying to get rich. Some have written to us, inquiring, "Is not Mrs. White worth millions of dollars?" I am glad that I can say, "No." I do not own in this world any place that is free from debt. Why?--Because I see so much missionary work to be done. Under such circumstances, could I hoard money?--No, indeed. I receive royalties from the sale of my books; but nearly all is spent in missionary work. {1SM 103.2} [1SM 103.3] The head of one of our publishing houses in a distant foreign land, upon hearing from others recently that I was in need of means, sent me a bill of exchange for five hundred dollars; and in the letter accompanying the money, he said that in return for the thousands upon thousands of dollars royalty that I had turned over to their mission field for the translation and distribution of new books and for the support of new missionary enterprises, they regarded the enclosed five hundred dollars as a very small token of their appreciation. They sent this because of their desire to help me in my time of special need; but heretofore I have given, for the support of the Lord's cause in foreign lands, all the royalties that come from the sale of my foreign books in Europe; and I intend to return this five hundred dollars as soon as I can free myself from debt. {1SM 103.3} [1SM 103.4] For the glory of God, I will tell you that about four years ago He enabled me to finish writing a book on the 104 parables of Jesus, and then He put it into my heart to give this book for the advancement of our denominational educational work. {1SM 103.4} [1SM 104.1] At that time some of our larger training schools and colleges were heavily in debt; but through the efforts of our people to sell this book and to devote the entire proceeds to the liquidation of these debts, over two hundred thousand dollars has already been raised and applied on the debts; and the good work is still going on. The success of this plan has been a source of great satisfaction to me. I am now completing another book, to be used in a similar way for other enterprises. {1SM 104.1} [1SM 104.2] But the financial gain is not the most encouraging feature to me. I love to dwell on the thought that the circulation of these books is bringing many souls into the truth. This thought makes my heart glad indeed. I have no time to sit down and mourn. I go right on with my work, and constantly keep writing, writing, writing. Early in the morning, when the rest of you are asleep, I am generally up, writing. {1SM 104.2} [1SM 104.3] Even affliction has not caused me to cease writing. Not long after going to Australia, I was stricken with disease. Because of the dampness of the houses, I suffered an attack of inflammatory rheumatism, which prostrated me for eleven months. At times I was in intense agony. I could sleep in one position for only about two hours, then I had to be moved so that I could lie in another position. My rubber air mattress gave me very little relief, and I passed through periods of great suffering. {1SM 104.3} [1SM 104.4] But in spite of this I did not cease my work. My right arm, from the elbow to the finger tips, was free from pain; the rest of the arm, the whole of the left arm, and both shoulders, could not be moved voluntarily. A framework was devised, and by the aid of this, I could write. During these eleven months, I wrote twenty-five hundred pages of letter paper, to send across the broad waters of the Pacific for publication in America. {1SM 104.4} [1SM 104.5] I feel so thankful to the Lord that He never disappoints me; that He gives me strength and grace. As I stood by 105 the side of my dying husband, I placed my hand in his, and said, "Do you know me, husband?" He nodded. Said I: "All through the years I have allowed you to bear the business responsibilities, and to lead out in new enterprises. Now I promise you to be a pioneer myself." And I added, "If you realize what I say, grasp my hand a little more firmly." He did so; he could not speak. {1SM 104.5} [1SM 105.1] After my husband had been laid away in the grave, his friends thought of putting up a broken shaft as a monument. "Never!" said I, "never! He has done, singlehanded, the work of three men. Never shall a broken monument be placed over his grave!" ... {1SM 105.1} [1SM 105.2] God has helped me. Today I glorify His name in the presence of His people. I spent nearly ten years in Australia. A wonderful work has been done there; but more than twice as much could have been accomplished, if we had had the men and the means that we should have had. We thank God, nevertheless, for His sustaining presence, and for what we can now see in that field as the result of the efforts put forth.--Manuscript 8, 1904. {1SM 105.2} [1SM 105.3] Earnest, Untiring Activity Camp meetings should be held in our large cities. And if the speakers are careful in all they say, hearts will be reached as the truth is proclaimed in the power of the Spirit. The love of Christ received into the heart will banish the love of error. The love and benevolence manifested in the life of Christ is to be manifested in the lives of those who work for Him. The earnest, untiring activity that marked His life is to mark their lives. The character of the Christian is to be a reproduction of the character of Christ. {1SM 105.3} [1SM 105.4] Let us never forget that we are not our own, that we have been bought with a price. Our powers are to be regarded as sacred trusts, to be used to the glory of God and the good of our fellow men. We are a part of the cross of Christ. With earnest, unwearying fidelity we are to seek to save the lost.--Manuscript 6, 1902. {1SM 105.4} [1SM 106.1] Chap. 12 - Angels Are Amazed ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, METHODS, NO. 11.］ - Angels are amazed that men regard so lightly and indifferently the vital truths which mean so much to the sinner, and continue willing subjects under the captivity of Satan and sin, when so much has been endured in the divine person of the Son of God. O that we may cultivate habits of contemplation of the self-denial and self-sacrifice of the life of Christ, until we shall have a deep sense of the aggravating character of sin, and hate it as the vile thing it is. {1SM 106.1} [1SM 106.2] Let the mind awaken to gratitude that through Christ Jesus, the Father is faithful to fulfill the promise to forgive all sin. His mercy and His love are forever an assurance as we look upon Christ uplifted upon the cross of Calvary. Will we individually rise to the appreciation as far as we have capacity to comprehend the truth, that God Jehovah loves and forgives us if we believe in and love Jesus? {1SM 106.2} [1SM 106.3] O what a glorious truth! God is waiting to forgive all who come unto Him with repentance. Preach it. Lift up Jesus high that the people may behold Him. . . . {1SM 106.3} [1SM 106.4] The Jews saw in the sacrificial offerings the symbol of Christ whose blood was shed for the salvation of the 107 world. All these offerings were to typify Christ and to rivet the great truth in their hearts that the blood of Jesus Christ alone cleanseth from all sin, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. Some wonder why God desired so many sacrifices and appointed the offering of so many bleeding victims in the Jewish economy. {1SM 106.4} [1SM 107.1] Every dying victim was a type of Christ, which lesson was impressed on mind and heart in the most solemn, sacred ceremony, and explained definitely by the priests. Sacrifices were explicitly planned by God Himself to teach this great and momentous truth, that through the blood of Christ alone there is forgiveness of sins. {1SM 107.1} [1SM 107.2] This grand and saving truth is oft repeated in the hearing of believers and unbelievers, and yet it is with amazement that angels behold the indifference of men to whom these truths mean so much. How little is evidenced that the church feels the force of the wonderful plan of redemption. How few make this truth, that only through faith in the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ there is forgiveness of the sins that cling to human beings like the foul leprosy, a living reality. {1SM 107.2} [1SM 107.3] What depths of thought should this awaken in every mind! He needed no suffering to atone for Himself. His was a depth of suffering proportionate to the dignity of His person and His sinless, exalted character.--Letter 43, 1892. {1SM 107.3} [1SM 107.4] Spasmodic Repentance "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. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne" (Revelation 3:20, 21). {1SM 107.4} [1SM 107.5] Some may say, Why is this message sounded so constantly in our ears? It is because you do not thoroughly repent. You do not live in Christ and have Christ abiding in you. When one idol is expelled from the soul, Satan has another prepared to supply its place. Unless you make an 108 entire consecration to Christ and live in communion with Him, unless you make Him your Counselor, you will find that your heart, open to evil thoughts, is easily diverted from the service of God to the service of self. {1SM 107.5} [1SM 108.1] At times you may have a desire to repent. But unless you decidedly reform and put into practice the truths you have learned, unless you have an active, working faith, a faith that is constantly increasing in strength, your repentance is as the morning dew. It will give no permanent relief to the soul. A repentance caused by a spasmodic exercise of the feelings is a repentance that needs to be repented of; for it is delusive. A violent exercise of the feelings, which does not produce in you the peaceable fruits of righteousness, leaves you in a worse state than you were in before. {1SM 108.1} [1SM 108.2] Every day the tempter will be on your track with some delusive, plausible excuse for your self-serving, your self-pleasing, and you will fall back into your old practices, neglecting the work of serving God, by which you would gain hope and comfort and assurance. {1SM 108.2} [1SM 108.3] God calls for willing service--a service inspired by the love of Jesus in the heart. God is never satisfied with halfhearted, selfish service. He requires the whole heart, the undivided affections, and a complete faith and trust in His power to save from sin.... {1SM 108.3} [1SM 108.4] God will honor and uphold every truehearted, earnest soul who is seeking to walk before Him in the perfection of the grace of Christ. The Lord Jesus will never leave nor forsake one humble, trembling soul. Shall we believe that God will work in our hearts? that if we allow Him to do so, He will make us pure and holy, by His rich grace qualifying us to be laborers together with Him? Can we with keen, sanctified perception appreciate the strength of the promises of God, and appropriate them to our individual selves, not because we are worthy, but because Christ is worthy, not because we are righteous, but because by living faith we claim the righteousness of Christ in our behalf?--Manuscript 125, 1901. {1SM 108.4} [1SM 109.1] Chap. 13 - Importance of Receiving the Holy Spirit - During the night of the first Sabbath of the Newcastle meeting, I seemed to be in meeting, presenting the necessity and importance of our receiving the Spirit. This was the burden of my labor--the opening of our hearts to the Holy Spirit. On one occasion Christ told His disciples, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." Their limited comprehension put a restraint on Him. He could not open to them the truths He longed to unfold; for while their hearts were closed to them, His unfolding of these truths would be labor lost. They must receive the Spirit before they could fully understand Christ's lessons. "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost," Christ said, "whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." {1SM 109.1} [1SM 109.2] In my dream a sentinel stood at the door of an important building, and asked every one who came for entrance, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost?" A measuring-line was in his hand, and only very, very few were admitted into the building. "Your size as a human being is nothing," he said. "But if you have reached the full stature of a man in Christ Jesus, according to the knowledge you have had, you will receive an appointment to sit with Christ at the 110 marriage supper of the Lamb; and through the eternal ages, you will never cease to learn of the blessings granted in the banquet prepared for you. {1SM 109.2} [1SM 110.1] "You may be tall and well-proportioned in self, but you cannot enter here. None can enter who are grown-up children, carrying with them the disposition, the habits, and the characteristics which pertain to children. If you have nurtured suspicions, criticism, temper, self-dignity, you cannot be admitted; for you would spoil the feast. All who go in through this door have on the wedding garment, woven in the loom of heaven. Those who educate themselves to pick flaws in the characters of others, reveal a deformity that makes families unhappy, that turns souls from the truth to choose fables. Your leaven of distrust, your want of confidence, your power of accusing, closes against you the door of admittance. Within this door nothing can enter that could possibly mar the happiness of the dwellers by marring their perfect trust in one another. You cannot join the happy family in the heavenly courts; for I have wiped all tears from their eyes. You can never see the King in His beauty if you are not yourself a representative of His character. {1SM 110.1} [1SM 110.2] "When you give up your own will, your own wisdom, and learn of Christ, you will find admittance into the kingdom of God. He requires entire, unreserved surrender. Give up your life for Him to order, mold, and fashion. Take upon your neck His yoke. Submit to be led and taught by Him. Learn that unless you become as a little child, you can never enter the kingdom of heaven. {1SM 110.2} [1SM 110.3] "Abiding in Christ is choosing only the disposition of Christ, so that His interests are identified with yours. Abide in Him, to be and to do only what He wills. These are the conditions of discipleship, and unless they are complied with, you can never find rest. Rest is in Christ; it cannot be as something apart from Him. {1SM 110.3} [1SM 110.4] "The moment His yoke is adjusted to your neck, that moment it is found easy; then the heaviest spiritual labor can be performed, the heaviest burdens borne, because the Lord gives the strength and the power, and He gives 111 gladness in doing the work. Mark the points: 'Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart' (Matthew 11:29). Who is it that speaks thus?--The Majesty of heaven, the King of glory. He desires that your conception of spiritual things shall be purified from the dross of selfishness, the defilement of a crooked, coarse, unsympathetic nature. You must have an inward, higher experience. You must obtain a growth in grace by abiding in Christ. When you are converted, you will not be a hindrance, but will strengthen your brethren." {1SM 110.4} [1SM 111.1] As these words were spoken, I saw that some turned sadly away and mingled with the scoffers. Others, with tears, all broken in heart, made confession to those whom they had bruised and wounded. They did not think of maintaining their own dignity, but asked at every step, "What must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30). The answer was, "Repent, and be converted, that your sins may go beforehand to judgment, and be blotted out." Words were spoken which rebuked spiritual pride. This God will not tolerate. It is inconsistent with His Word and with our profession of faith. Seek the Lord, all ye who are ministers of His. Seek Him while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:7). {1SM 111.1} [1SM 111.2] As I presented these principles to the people in the Sabbath meeting, all seemed to feel that the Lord had spoken through the feeble instrument.--The Review and Herald, April 11, 1899. {1SM 111.2} [1SM 111.3] The time has come when we must expect the Lord to do great things for us. Our efforts must not flag or weaken. We are to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. Before the work is closed up and the sealing of God's people is finished, we shall receive the outpouring of the Spirit of God. Angels from heaven will be in our midst. The present is a fitting-up time for heaven when we must walk in full obedience to all the commands of God.--Letter 30, 1907. {1SM 111.3} [1SM 112.1] Chap. 14 - In Every Place ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, NO. 8.］ - Christ was the great Medical Missionary to our world. He calls for volunteers who will cooperate with Him in the great work of sowing the world with truth. God's workers are to plant the standards of truth in every place to which they can gain access. The world needs restoring. It is lying in wickedness and the greatest peril. God's work for those out of Christ should broaden and extend. God calls upon His people to labor diligently for Him, so that Christian efficiency shall become widespread. His kingdom is to be enlarged. Memorials for Him are to be raised in America and in foreign countries. {1SM 112.1} [1SM 112.2] The work of health reform connected with the present truth for this time, is a power for good. It is the right hand of the gospel, and often opens fields for the entrance of the gospel. But let it ever be remembered that the work must move solidly and in complete harmony with God's plan of organization. Churches are to be organized, and in no case are these churches to divorce themselves from the medical missionary work. Neither is the medical missionary work to be divorced from the gospel ministry. When 113 this is done, both are one-sided. Neither is a complete whole. {1SM 112.2} [1SM 113.1] The work for this time is to appeal to the Christian's mind as the most important work that can be done. It is the question of cultivating the Lord's vineyard. In this vineyard every man has a lot and a place, which the Lord has assigned him. And the success of each depends on his individual relationship to the one Divine Head. {1SM 113.1} [1SM 113.2] The grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ and His tender relationship to His church on earth are to be revealed by the growth of His work and the evangelization of people in many places. The heavenly principles of truth and righteousness are to be seen more and still more plainly in the lives of Christ's followers. More unselfishness and uncovetousness is to be seen in business transactions than has been seen in the churches since the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Not a vestige of the influence of selfish, worldly monopolies is to make the slightest impression on the people who are watching and working and praying for the second coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. {1SM 113.2} [1SM 113.3] As a people we are not ready for the Lord's appearing. If we would close the windows of the soul earthward and open them heavenward, every institution established would be a bright and shining light in the world. Each member of the church, if he lived the great, elevated, ennobling truths for this time, would be a bright, shining light. God's people cannot please Him unless they are surcharged with the Holy Spirit's efficiency. So pure and true is to be their relationship to one another that by their words, their affections, their attributes, they will show that they are one with Christ. They are to be as signs and wonders in our world, carrying forward intelligently every line of the work. And the different parts of the work are to be so harmoniously related to one another that all will move like well-regulated machinery. Then will the joy of Christ's salvation be understood. There will then be none of the representation now made by those who have been given 114 the light of truth to communicate, but who have not revealed the principles of truth in their association with one another, who have not done the Lord's work in a way that glorifies Him. . . . {1SM 113.3} [1SM 114.1] After Christ rose from the dead, He proclaimed over the sepulcher, "I am the resurrection and the life." Christ, the risen Saviour, is our life. As Christ becomes the life of the soul, the change is felt, but language cannot describe it. All claims to knowledge, to influence, to power, are worthless without the perfume of Christ's character. Christ must be the very life of the soul, as the blood is the life of the body. . . . {1SM 114.1} [1SM 114.2] Cleansed From All Selfishness Those who are connected with the service of God must be purified from every thread of selfishness. All is to be done in accordance with the injunction, "Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all" (Colossians 3:17) "to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31). God's laws of justice and equity must be strictly obeyed in the transactions between neighbor and neighbor, brother and brother. We are to seek for perfect order and perfect righteousness, after God's own similitude. On these grounds alone will our works bear the test of the judgment. . . . {1SM 114.2} [1SM 114.3] Christianity is the revealing of the tenderest affection for one another. The Christian life is made up of Christian duties and Christian privileges. Christ in His wisdom gave to His church in its infancy a system of sacrifices and offerings, of which He Himself was the foundation, and by which His death was prefigured. Every sacrifice pointed to Him as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, that all might understand that the wages of sin is death. In Him was no sin, yet He died for our sins. {1SM 114.3} [1SM 114.4] The symbolic system of ceremonies worked to one end --the vindication of the law of God, that all who believe in Christ might come "in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). In Christian work there is ample room for the activity 115 of all the gifts God has given. All are to be united in carrying out God's requirements, revealing at every advance step that faith which works by love and purifies the soul. {1SM 114.4} [1SM 115.1] Christ is to receive supreme love from the beings He has created. And He requires also that man shall cherish a sacred regard for his fellow beings. Every soul saved will be saved through love, which begins with God. True conversion is a change from selfishness to sanctified affection for God and for one another. Will Seventh-day Adventists now make a thorough reformation, that their sin-stained souls may be cleansed from the leprosy of selfishness? {1SM 115.1} [1SM 115.2] I must speak the truth to all. Those who have accepted the light from God's Word are never, never to leave an impression upon human minds that God will serve with their sins. His Word defines sin as the transgression of the law.--Manuscript 16, 1901. {1SM 115.2} [1SM 115.3] In Hard Places Often God's soldiers find themselves brought into hard and difficult places, they know not why. But are they to relax their hold because difficulties arise? Is their faith to diminish because they cannot see their way through the darkness? God forbid. They are to cherish an abiding sense of God's power to uphold them in their work. They cannot perish, neither can they lose their way if they will follow His guidance, and strive to uphold His law.--Undated manuscript 145. {1SM 115.3} [1SM 116.1] Chap. 15 - When the Church Awakes ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, NO. 16.］ - Prayer is needed in the home life, in the church life, in the missionary life. The efficiency of earnest prayer is but feebly understood. Were the church faithful in prayer, she would not be found remiss in so many things; for faithfulness in calling upon God will bring rich returns. {1SM 116.1} [1SM 116.2] When the church awakes to the sense of her holy calling, many more fervent and effective prayers will ascend to heaven for the Holy Spirit to point out the work and duty of God's people regarding the salvation of souls. We have a standing promise that God will draw near to every seeking soul. {1SM 116.2} [1SM 116.3] The church needs to be begotten again unto a lively hope "by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away" (1 Peter 1:3, 4). When the church awakes to a sense of what must be done in our world, the members will have travail of soul for those who know not God and who in their spiritual ignorance cannot understand the truth for this time. Self-denial, self-sacrifice, is to be woven into all our experience. We are to pray and watch unto prayer, that there may be no inconsistency in our 117 lives. We must not fail to show others that we understand that watching unto prayer means living our prayers before God, that He may answer them. {1SM 116.3} [1SM 117.1] The church will not retrograde while the members seek help from the throne of grace, that they may not fail to cooperate in the great work of saving the souls that are on the brink of ruin. The members of a church that is an active, working church, will have a realization that they are wearing Christ's yoke, and drawing with Him. {1SM 117.1} [1SM 117.2] The heavenly universe is waiting for consecrated channels, through which God can communicate with His people, and through them with the world. God will work through a consecrated, self-denying church, and He will reveal His Spirit in a visible and glorious manner, especially in this time, when Satan is working in a masterly manner to deceive the souls of both ministers and people. If God's ministers will cooperate with Him, He will be with them in a remarkable manner, even as He was with His disciples of old. {1SM 117.2} [1SM 117.3] Will not the church awake to her responsibility? God is waiting to impart the Spirit of the greatest missionary the world has ever known to those who will work with self-denying, self-sacrificing consecration. When God's people receive this Spirit, power will go forth from them. --Manuscript 59, 1898. {1SM 117.3} [1SM 117.4] The Passive Graces The Lord permits circumstances to come that call for the exercise of the passive graces, which increase in purity and efficiency as we endeavor to give back to the Lord His own in tithes and offerings. You know something of what it means to pass through trials. These have given you the opportunity of trusting in God, of seeking Him in earnest prayer, that you may believe in Him, and rely upon Him with simple faith. It is by suffering that our virtues are tested, and our faith tried. It is in the day of trouble that we feel the preciousness of Jesus. You will be given opportunity to say, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him" (Job 13:15). Oh, it is so precious to think that 118 opportunities are afforded us to confess our faith in the face of danger, and amid sorrow, sickness, pain, and death. . . . {1SM 117.4} [1SM 118.1] With us, everything depends on how we accept the Lord's terms. As is our spirit, so will be the moral result upon our future life and character. Each individual soul has victories to gain, but he must realize that he cannot have things just as he wants them. We are to observe carefully every lesson Christ has given throughout His life and teaching. He does not destroy; He improves whatever He touches.--Letter 135, 1897. {1SM 118.1} [1SM 118.2] Humility and Faith In the work for this time, it is not money or talent or learning or eloquence that are needed so much as faith graced with humility. No opposition can prevail against truth presented in faith and humility, by workers who willingly bear toil and sacrifice and reproach for the Master's sake. We must be co-workers with Christ if we would see our efforts crowned with success. We must weep as He wept for those who will not weep for themselves, and plead as He pleaded for those who will not plead for themselves. --Manuscript 24, 1903. {1SM 118.2} [1SM 118.3] A Quick Work When divine power is combined with human effort, the work will spread like fire in the stubble. God will employ agencies whose origin man will be unable to discern; angels will do a work which men might have had the blessing of accomplishing, had they not neglected to answer the claims of God.--The Review and Herald, Dec. 15, 1885. 120 {1SM 118.3} [1SM 120.1] Chap. 16 - Calls for a Revival INTRODUCTION - ONE OF THE MOST OUTSTANDING APPEALS MADE BY ELLEN G. WHITE FOR REVIVAL AND REFORMATION WAS PUBLISHED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD OF MARCH 22, 1887, UNDER THE TITLE "THE CHURCH'S NEED." THIS ARTICLE WAS DRAWN FROM HEAVILY IN THE COMPILATION OF MATERIALS PREPARED BY ELDER A. G. DANIELLS, FOR CHRIST OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. IN THE INITIAL PRINTINGS (1926 AND 1937) THE ARTICLE ALSO APPEARED IN ITS ENTIRETY IN THE APPENDIX. FOR MECHANICAL REASONS IN LATER PRINTINGS (1941 AND ONWARD), THE ARTICLE, SELECTIONS FROM WHICH HAD APPEARED IN THE TEXT OF THE BOOK ITSELF, WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE APPENDIX. THIS MUCH-SOUGHT-AFTER ARTICLE IN ITS ENTIRETY NOW OPENS THIS STIRRING SECTION. {1SM 120.1} [1SM 120.2] THE SPIRITUAL CONTEST IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING A REVIVAL, WHICH RAGES BETWEEN THE FORCES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND THE FORCES OF EVIL FOR THE SOULS OF THOSE WHO HAVE BEGUN A NEW EXPERIENCE, IS VIVIDLY PORTRAYED IN THIS SECTION. IN THE SETTING OF THE GREAT REVIVAL AT BATTLE CREEK COLLEGE AND THE EVENTS THAT FOLLOWED IN SUCCEEDING MONTHS, ELLEN WHITE DEALS WITH THIS VITAL QUESTION. THE ELEMENTS OF THIS STRUGGLE ARE THOSE THAT ARE PRESENT IN EVERY REVIVAL EFFORT OF THE CHURCH. {1SM 120.2} [1SM 120.3] THIS SECTION CLOSES WITH THE PRESENTATION OF EXPERIENCES IN AUDIENCE RESPONSE IN A NUMBER OF REVIVALS IN WHICH ELLEN WHITE HERSELF PARTICIPATED. THESE HELP TO SHOW HOW SHE CARRIED INTO HER WORK THE INSTRUCTION CONCERNING SOUL WINNING THAT DISTINGUISHED HER COUNSELS TO GOSPEL WORKERS. MANY OF THESE EXPERIENCES RECORDED BY MRS. WHITE MAINLY IN HER DAILY JOURNAL APPEAR IN TERSE, DIARY STYLE. THE WORD PICTURES SHE PAINTS OF MAKING APPEALS FOR PUBLIC RESPONSE BEGIN WITH THE EARLY YEARS IN BATTLE CREEK AND CARRY OVER INTO EUROPE AND AUSTRALIA, THEN BACK AGAIN TO THE UNITED STATES. THERE IS A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF REPETITION IN THE ACCOUNTS, BUT ENOUGH OF SINGULAR INTEREST IN EACH ITEM TO PROVE OF VALUE TO THE READER.--WHITE TRUSTEES {1SM 120.3} [1SM 121.1] The Church's Great Need ［ARTICLE APPEARING IN APPENDIX TO FIRST EDITION OF CHRIST OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS, BUT OMITTED FOR MECHANICAL REASONS FROM THE SECOND RESET EDITION.--COMPILERS.］ A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs. To seek this should be our first work. There must be earnest effort to obtain the blessing of the Lord, not because God is not willing to bestow His blessing upon us, but because we are unprepared to receive it. Our heavenly Father is more willing to give His Holy Spirit to them that ask Him, than are earthly parents to give good gifts to their children. But it is our work, by confession, humiliation, repentance, and earnest prayer, to fulfill the conditions upon which God has promised to grant us His blessing. A revival need be expected only in answer to prayer. While the people are so destitute of God's Holy spirit, they cannot appreciate the preaching of the Word; but when the Spirit's power touches their hearts, then the discourses given will not be without effect. Guided by the teachings of God's Word, with the manifestation of His Spirit, in the exercise of sound discretion, those who attend our meetings will gain a precious experience, and returning home, will be prepared to exert a healthful influence. 122 {1SM 121.1} [1SM 122.1] The old standard bearers knew what it was to wrestle with God in prayer, and to enjoy the outpouring of His Spirit. But these are passing off from the stage of action; and who are coming up to fill their places? How is it with the rising generation? Are they converted to God? Are we awake to the work that is going on in the heavenly sanctuary, or are we waiting for some compelling power to come upon the church before we shall arouse? Are we hoping to see the whole church revived? That time will never come. {1SM 122.1} [1SM 122.2] There are persons in the church who are not converted, and who will not unite in earnest, prevailing prayer. We must enter upon the work individually. We must pray more, and talk less. Iniquity abounds, and the people must be taught not to be satisfied with a form of godliness without the spirit and power. If we are intent upon searching our own hearts, putting away our sins, and correcting our evil tendencies, our souls will not be lifted up unto vanity; we shall be distrustful of ourselves, having an abiding sense that our sufficiency is of God. {1SM 122.2} [1SM 122.3] We have far more to fear from within than from without. The hindrances to strength and success are far greater from the church itself than from the world. Unbelievers have a right to expect that those who profess to be keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, will do more than any other class to promote and honor, by their consistent lives, by their godly example and their active influence, the cause which they represent. But how often have the professed advocates of the truth proved the greatest obstacle to its advancement! The unbelief indulged, the doubts expressed, the darkness cherished, encourage the presence of evil angels, and open the way for the accomplishment of Satan's devices. {1SM 122.3} [1SM 122.4] Opening the Door to the Adversary The adversary of souls is not permitted to read the thoughts of men; but he is a keen observer, and he marks the words; he takes account of actions, and skillfully adapts his temptations to meet the cases of those who place 123 themselves in his power. If we would labor to repress sinful thoughts and feelings, giving them no expression in words or actions, Satan would be defeated; for he could not prepare his specious temptations to meet the case. {1SM 122.4} [1SM 123.1] But how often do professed Christians, by their lack of self-control, open the door to the adversary of souls! Divisions, and even bitter dissensions which would disgrace any worldly community, are common in the churches, because there is so little effort to control wrong feelings, and to repress every word that Satan can take advantage of. As soon as an alienation of feeling arises, the matter is spread before Satan for his inspection, and the opportunity given for him to use his serpentlike wisdom and skill in dividing and destroying the church. There is great loss in every dissension. Personal friends of both parties take sides with their respective favorites, and thus the breach is widened. A house divided against itself cannot stand. Criminations and recriminations are engendered and multiplied. Satan and his angels are actively at work to secure a harvest from seed thus sown. {1SM 123.1} [1SM 123.2] Worldlings look on, and jeeringly exclaim, "Behold how these Christians hate one another! If this is religion, we do not want it." And they look upon themselves and their irreligious characters with great satisfaction. Thus they are confirmed in their impenitence, and Satan exults at his success. {1SM 123.2} [1SM 123.3] The great deceiver has prepared his wiles for every soul that is not braced for trial and guarded by constant prayer and living faith. As ministers, as Christians, we must work to take the stumbling blocks out of the way. We must remove every obstacle. Let us confess and forsake every sin, that the way of the Lord may be prepared, that He may come into our assemblies and impart His rich grace. The world, the flesh, and the devil must be overcome. {1SM 123.3} [1SM 123.4] We cannot prepare the way by gaining the friendship of the world, which is enmity with God; but by His help we can break its seductive influence upon ourselves and upon others. We cannot individually or as a body secure 124 ourselves from the constant temptations of a relentless and determined foe; but in the strength of Jesus we can resist them. {1SM 123.4} [1SM 124.1] From every member of the church a steady light may shine forth before the world, so that they shall not be led to inquire, What do these people more than others? There can be and must be a withdrawal from conformity to the world, a shunning of all appearance of evil, so that no occasion shall be given for gainsayers. We cannot escape reproach; it will come; but we should be very careful that we are not reproached for our own sins or follies, but for Christ's sake. {1SM 124.1} [1SM 124.2] There is nothing that Satan fears so much as that the people of God shall clear the way by removing every hindrance, so that the Lord can pour out His Spirit upon a languishing church and an impenitent congregation. If Satan had his way, there would never be another awakening, great or small, to the end of time. But we are not ignorant of his devices. It is possible to resist his power. When the way is prepared for the Spirit of God, the blessing will come. Satan can no more hinder a shower of blessing from descending upon God's people than he can close the windows of heaven that rain cannot come upon the earth. Wicked men and devils cannot hinder the work of God, or shut out His presence from the assemblies of His people, if they will, with subdued, contrite hearts, confess and put away their sins, and in faith claim His promises. Every temptation, every opposing influence, whether open or secret, may be successfully resisted, "not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zechariah 4:6). {1SM 124.2} [1SM 124.3] We Are in the Day of Atonement We are in the great day of atonement, when our sins are, by confession and repentance, to go beforehand to judgment. God does not now accept a tame, spiritless testimony from His ministers. Such a testimony would not be present truth. The message for this time must be meat in due season to feed the church of God. But Satan has been 125 seeking gradually to rob this message of its power, that the people may not be prepared to stand in the day of the Lord. {1SM 124.3} [1SM 125.1] In 1844 our great High Priest entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, to begin the work of the investigative judgment. The cases of the righteous dead have been passing in review before God. When that work shall be completed, judgment is to be pronounced upon the living. How precious, how important are these solemn moments! Each of us has a case pending in the court of heaven. We are individually to be judged according to the deeds done in the body. In the typical service, when the work of atonement was performed by the high priest in the most holy place of the earthly sanctuary, the people were required to afflict their souls before God, and confess their sins, that they might be atoned for and blotted out. Will any less be required of us in this antitypical day of atonement, when Christ in the sanctuary above is pleading in behalf of His people, and the final, irrevocable decision is to be pronounced upon every case? {1SM 125.1} [1SM 125.2] What is our condition in this fearful and solemn time? Alas, what pride is prevailing in the church, what hypocrisy, what deception, what love of dress, frivolity, and amusement, what desire for the supremacy! All these sins have clouded the mind, so that eternal things have not been discerned. Shall we not search the Scriptures, that we may know where we are in this world's history? Shall we not become intelligent in regard to the work that is being accomplished for us at this time, and the position that we as sinners should occupy while this work of atonement is going forward? If we have any regard for our souls' salvation, we must make a decided change. We must seek the Lord with true penitence; we must with deep contrition of soul confess our sins, that they may be blotted out. {1SM 125.2} [1SM 125.3] We must no longer remain upon the enchanted ground. We are fast approaching the close of our probation. Let every soul inquire, How do I stand before God? We know not how soon our names may be taken into the lips of Christ, and our cases be finally decided. What, oh, what 126 will these decisions be! Shall we be counted with the righteous, or shall we be numbered with the wicked? {1SM 125.3} [1SM 126.1] The Church to Arise and Repent Let the church arise, and repent of her backslidings before God. Let the watchmen awake, and give the trumpet a certain sound. It is a definite warning that we have to proclaim. God commands His servants, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins" (Isaiah 58:1). The attention of the people must be gained; unless this can be done, all effort is useless; though an angel from heaven should come down and speak to them, his words would do no more good than if he were speaking into the cold ear of death. {1SM 126.1} [1SM 126.2] The church must arouse to action. The Spirit of God can never come in until she prepares the way. There should be earnest searching of heart. There should be united, persevering prayer, and through faith a claiming of the promises of God. There should be, not a clothing of the body with sackcloth, as in ancient times, but a deep humiliation of soul. We have not the first reason for self-congratulation and self-exaltation. We should humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. He will appear to comfort and bless the true seekers. {1SM 126.2} [1SM 126.3] The work is before us; will we engage in it? We must work fast, we must go steadily forward. We must be preparing for the great day of the Lord. We have no time to lose, no time to be engaged in selfish purposes. The world is to be warned. What are we doing as individuals to bring the light before others? God has left to every man his work; every one has a part to act, and we cannot neglect this work except at the peril of our souls. {1SM 126.3} [1SM 126.4] O my brethren, will you grieve the Holy Spirit, and cause it to depart? Will you shut out the blessed Saviour, because you are unprepared for His presence? Will you leave souls to perish without the knowledge of the truth, because you love your ease too well to bear the burden that Jesus bore for you? Let us awake out of sleep. "Be 127 sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8).--The Review and Herald, March 22, 1887. {1SM 126.4} [1SM 127.1] Reformation Accompanies Revival In many hearts there seems to be scarcely a breath of spiritual life. This makes me very sad. I fear that aggressive warfare against the world, the flesh, and the devil has not been maintained. Shall we cheer on, by a half-dead Christianity, the selfish, covetous spirit of the world, sharing its ungodliness and smiling on its falsehood?--Nay! By the grace of God let us be steadfast to the principles of truth, holding firm to the end the beginning of our confidence. We are to be "not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord" (Romans 12:11). One is our Master, even Christ. To Him we are to look. From Him we are to receive our wisdom. By His grace we are to preserve our integrity, standing before God in meekness and contrition, and representing Him to the world. {1SM 127.1} [1SM 127.2] Sermons have been in great demand in our churches. The members have depended upon pulpit declamations instead of on the Holy Spirit. Uncalled for and unused, the spiritual gifts bestowed on them have dwindled into feebleness. If the ministers would go forth into new fields, the members would be obliged to bear responsibilities, and by use their capabilities would increase. {1SM 127.2} [1SM 127.3] God brings against ministers and people the heavy charge of spiritual feebleness, saying, "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see" (Revelation 3:15-18). 128 God calls for a spiritual revival and a spiritual reformation. Unless this takes place, those who are lukewarm will continue to grow more abhorrent to the Lord, until He will refuse to acknowledge them as His children. {1SM 127.3} [1SM 128.1] A revival and a reformation must take place, under the ministration of the Holy Spirit. Revival and reformation are two different things. Revival signifies a renewal of spiritual life, a quickening of the powers of mind and heart, a resurrection from spiritual death. Reformation signifies a reorganization, a change in ideas and theories, habits and practices. Reformation will not bring forth the good fruit of righteousness unless it is connected with the revival of the Spirit. Revival and reformation are to do their appointed work, and in doing this work they must blend.--The Review and Herald, Feb. 25, 1902. - {1SM 128.1} [1SM 128.2] Simple Agencies Will Be Used Representations have been made to me, showing that the Lord will carry out His plans through a variety of ways and instruments. It is not alone the most talented, not alone those who hold high positions of trust, or are the most highly educated from a worldly point of view, whom the Lord uses to do His grand and holy work of soulsaving. He will use simple means; He will use many who have had few advantages to help in carrying forward His work. He will, by the use of simple means, bring those who possess property and lands to a belief of the truth, and these will be influenced to become the Lord's helping hand in the advancement of His work.--Letter 62, 1909. {1SM 128.2} [1SM 129.1] Chap. 17 - Safeguarding the New Experience - The Contest Following the Revival ［IN 1893 THERE WAS A MARKED REVIVAL IN OUR INSTITUTIONS AT OUR BATTLE CREEK HEADQUARTERS, WITH LARGE EVIDENCE OF THE WORK OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD. MUCH OF THE BLESSING WAS LOST IN EVENTS WHICH FOLLOWED IN QUICK SUCCESSION. IN THIS EXPERIENCE AND THE COUNSEL GIVEN IN CONNECTION WITH IT MAY BE FOUND LESSONS WHICH ARE OF VALUE TODAY.--COMPILERS.］ {1SM 129.1} [1SM 129.2] After the outpouring of the Spirit of God in Battle Creek it was proved in the college that a time of great spiritual light is also a time of corresponding spiritual darkness. Satan and his legions of satanic agencies are on the ground, pressing their powers upon every soul to make of none effect the showers of grace that have come from heaven to revive and quicken the dormant energies into decided action to impart that which God has imparted. Had all the many souls, then enlightened, gone to work at once to impart to others that which God had given to them for that very purpose, more light would have been given, more power bestowed. God does not give light merely for one person but that he may diffuse light, and God be glorified. Its influence is felt. {1SM 129.2} [1SM 129.3] In every age seasons of spiritual revival and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit have been followed by spiritual 130 darkness and prevailing corruptions. Taking into account that which God has done in opportunities and privileges and blessings in Battle Creek, the church has not made honorable progress in doing her work, and God's blessing will not rest upon the church in advancing still more light until they use the light as God has directed in His Word. The light that would shine in clear and distinct rays will grow dim amid the moral darkness. The aggressive power of the truth of God is dependent upon the cooperation of the human agent with God in piety, in zeal, in unselfish efforts to get the light of truth before others.--Manuscript 45, 1893. {1SM 129.3} [1SM 130.1] Peril of Confusing the Spirit's Work with Fanaticism There have been things written to me in regard to the movings of the Spirit of God at the last conference ［1893］, and at the college, which clearly indicate that because these blessings were not lived up to, minds have been confused, and that which was light from heaven has been called excitement. I have been made sad to have this matter viewed in this light. We must be very careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in pronouncing the ministration of His Holy Spirit a species of fanaticism. How shall we understand the workings of the Spirit of God if it was not revealed in clear and unmistakable lines, not only in Battle Creek but in many places? {1SM 130.1} [1SM 130.2] I am not surprised that anyone should be confused at the after result. But in my experience of the past forty-nine years I have seen much of these things, and I have known that God has wrought in a marked manner; and let no one venture to say this is not the Spirit of God. It is just that which we are authorized to believe and pray for, for God is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him than parents are to give good gifts unto their children. But the Holy Spirit is not for the human agent to work; it is to work and use the human agent. That God did abundantly bless the students in the school and the church, I have not one doubt; but a period of great light and the outpouring 131 of the Spirit is quite generally followed by a time of great darkness. Why? Because the enemy works with all his deceiving energies to make of none effect the deep movings of the Spirit of God on the human subject. {1SM 130.2} [1SM 131.1] When the students at the school went into their match games and football playing, when they became absorbed in the amusement question, Satan saw it a good time to step in and make of none effect the Holy Spirit of God in molding and using the human subject. Had the teachers to a man done their duty, had they realized their accountability, had they stood in moral independence before God, had they used the ability which God had given them according to the sanctification of the spirit through the love of the truth, they would have had spiritual strength and divine enlightenment to press on and on and upward on the ladder of progress reaching heavenward. The fact is evident that they did not appreciate or walk in the light or follow the Light of the world. {1SM 131.1} [1SM 131.2] It is an easy matter to idle away, talk and play away, the Holy Spirit's influence. To walk in the light is to keep moving onward in the direction of light. If the one blessed becomes negligent and inattentive and does not watch unto prayer, if he does not lift the cross and bear the yoke of Christ, if his love of amusements and strivings for the mastery absorb his power or ability, then God is not made the first and best and last in everything, and Satan comes in to act his part in playing the game of life for his soul. He can play much more earnestly than they can play, and make deep-laid plots for the ruin of the soul. . . . {1SM 131.2} [1SM 131.3] The results after the working of the Spirit of God in Battle Creek are not because of fanaticism, but because those who were blessed did not show forth the praises of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light; and when the earth is lightened with the glory of God, some will not know what it is, and from whence it came, because they misapplied and misinterpreted the Spirit shed upon them. God is a jealous God of His own glory. He will not honor those who dishonor Him. Some persons living in the light ought to have instructed these 132 souls young in experience to walk in the light after they had received the light. I wish I had time to write more fully, but I fear I have not.--Letter 58, 1893. {1SM 131.3} [1SM 132.1] Easy Ways to Lose the Blessing Some things have been urged upon my mind with great force of late, and I feel constrained by the Spirit of God to write in reference to them. ［ADDRESSED TO THE PRESIDENT OF BATTLE CREEK COLLEGE.］ Has the Lord graciously opened to you the windows of heaven and poured you out a blessing? Oh! Then, that was the very time to educate the teachers and students how to retain the precious favor of God by working in accordance with increased light, and send its precious rays to others. Has Heaven's light been given? And for what purpose has it been given? That the light should shine forth in practical works of righteousness. When those so abundantly blessed shall be seen with deeper and more fervent piety, having a sense that they have been bought with the precious blood of the Lamb of God, and are clothed with the garments of His salvation, will they not represent Christ? {1SM 132.1} [1SM 132.2] Have not the playing of games, and rewards, and the using of the boxing glove been educating and training after Satan's direction to lead to the possession of his attributes? What if they could see Jesus, the Man of Calvary looking upon them in sorrow, as was represented to me. Things are certainly receiving a wrong mold, and are counteracting the work of the divine power which has been graciously bestowed. The work of every true Christian is to represent Christ, to reflect light, to elevate the standard of morals, and by words and influence consecrated to God, to compel the careless and reckless to think of God and eternity. The world would gladly drop eternity out of their reckoning, but they cannot succeed so long as there are those who represent Christ in their practical life. {1SM 132.2} [1SM 132.3] Every believer forms a link in the golden chain connecting the soul to Jesus Christ, and is the channel of communication of that light to those who are in darkness. Let 133 one lose his connection with Christ, and Satan seizes the opportunity to lead him to dishonor Christ by words, by spirit, by action, and thus Christ's character is misinterpreted. I ask you, my brother, if the religion of Jesus Christ is not by the excess of the amusements misunderstood. When the Lord gave to Battle Creek the riches of His grace, were there those in responsibility who could have directed these souls as to how to improve upon the endowment given, in doing good, useful work that would give a change from their studies, other than the excitement and emotions caused by their games? This kind of pastime is not improving mind or spirit or manners for the preparation for the scenes of trial that they must soon enter. The superficial piety that passes for religion will be consumed when tried in the furnace. {1SM 132.3} [1SM 133.1] The Lord would have the teachers consider the contagion of their own example. They need to pray much more and consider that the convictions which flow out from a well-ordered life and a godly conversation, from a living, decided Christianity, are the preparation of the garden of the heart for the seeds of truth to be planted for a fruitful harvest, and for the Sun of Righteousness when He comes with healing in His beams. Let your righteousness so shine before men, "that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). "Ye are," said Christ to His disciples, "the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men" (Matthew 5:13). The church illuminates the world, not by their profession of godliness, but by their manifestation of the transforming, sanctifying power of the truth on life and character. . . . {1SM 133.1} [1SM 133.2] The time is altogether too full of tokens of the coming conflict to be educating the youth in fun and games.--Letter 46, 1893. {1SM 133.2} [1SM 133.3] Danger of Light Becoming Darkness The Lord has condescended to give you an outpouring of His Holy Spirit. At the camp meetings, and in our 134 various institutions, a great blessing has been showered upon you. You have been visited by the heavenly messengers of light and truth and power, and it should not be thought a strange thing that God should thus bless you. How does Christ subdue His chosen people to Himself?--It is by the power of His Holy Spirit; for the Holy Spirit, through the Scriptures, speaks to the mind, and impresses truth upon the hearts of men. Before His crucifixion, Christ promised that the Comforter should be sent to His disciples. He said: "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. . . . When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you" (John 16:7, 8, 13-15). {1SM 133.3} [1SM 134.1] This promise of Christ has been made little enough of, and because of a dearth of the Spirit of God, the spirituality of the law and its eternal obligations have not been comprehended. Those who have professed to love Christ, have not comprehended the relation which exists between them and God, and it is still but dimly outlined to their understanding. They but vaguely comprehend the amazing grace of God in giving His only-begotten Son for the salvation of the world. They do not understand how far reaching are the claims of the holy law, how intimately the precepts of the law are to be brought into practical life. They do not realize what a great privilege and necessity are prayer, repentance, and the doing of the words of Christ. It is the office of the Holy Spirit to reveal to the mind the character of the consecration that God will accept. Through the agency of the Holy Spirit, the soul is enlightened, and the character is renewed, sanctified, and uplifted. {1SM 134.1} [1SM 134.2] Through the deep movings of the Spirit of God, I have had opened before me the character of the work of the visitation of the Spirit of God. I have had opened before me 135 the danger in which souls would be placed who had been thus visited; for afterward, they would have to meet fiercer assaults of the enemy, who would press upon them his temptations to make of none effect the workings of the Spirit of God, and cause that the momentous truths presented and witnessed by the Holy Spirit, should not purify and sanctify those who had received the light of heaven, and thus cause that Christ should not be glorified in them. {1SM 134.2} [1SM 135.1] The period of great spiritual light, if that light is not sacredly cherished and acted upon, will be turned into a time of corresponding spiritual darkness. The impression made by the Spirit of God, if men do not cherish the sacred impression, and occupy holy ground, will fade from the mind. Those who would advance in spiritual knowledge must stand by the very fount of God, and drink again and again from the wells of salvation so graciously opened unto them. They must never leave the source of refreshment; but with hearts swelling with gratitude and love at the display of the goodness and compassion of God, they must be continually partakers of the living water. {1SM 135.1} [1SM 135.2] Oh, how much this means to every soul--"I am the light of the world"; "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger ［for anything more satisfying］; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst" (John 8:12; 6:35). To come to this condition means that you have found the Source of light and love, and have learned when and how you may be replenished, and may make use of the promises of God by continually applying them to your souls. {1SM 135.2} [1SM 135.3] "But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not" (John 6:36). This has been literally fulfilled in the cases of many; for the Lord gave them a deeper insight into truth, into His character of mercy and compassion and love; and yet after being thus enlightened, they have turned from Him in unbelief. They saw the deep movings of the Spirit of God; but when the insidious temptations of Satan came in, as they always will come after a season of revival, they did not resist unto blood, striving against sin; and those who might have stood on vantage 136 ground, had they made a right use of the precious enlightenment that they had, were overcome by the enemy. They should have reflected the light that God gave to them upon the souls of others; they should have worked and acted in harmony with the sacred revealings of the Holy Spirit; and in not doing so, they suffered loss. {1SM 135.3} [1SM 136.1] Spiritual Victory Lost to the Passions for Games Among the students the spirit of fun and frolic was indulged. They became so interested in playing games that the Lord was crowded out of their minds; and Jesus stood among you in the playground, saying, O that thou hadst known, "even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!" (Luke 19:42). "Ye also have seen me, and believe not" (John 6:36). Yes; Christ revealed Himself to you, and deep impressions were made as the Holy Spirit moved upon your hearts; but you pursued a course by which you lost these sacred impressions, and failed to maintain the victory. "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). You began to come to Christ, but you did not abide in Christ. You forsook Him, and the realization you had had of the great favors and blessings He had given you, was lost from your heart. The question of amusement occupied so large a place in your minds, that after the solemn visitation of the Spirit of God, you entered into its discussion with such great zeal that all barriers were broken down; and through your passion for games, you neglected to heed the word of Christ: "Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation" (Mark 14:38). The place that should have been occupied by Jesus was usurped by your passion for games. You chose your amusements instead of the comfort of the Holy Spirit. You did not follow the example of Jesus, who said, "I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me" (John 6:38). {1SM 136.1} [1SM 136.2] The minds of many are so bewildered with their own human desires and inclinations, and they have been so in the habit of indulging them, that they cannot comprehend 137 the true sense of the Scriptures. Many suppose that in following Christ they will be obliged to be gloomy and disconsolate, because they are required to deny themselves the pleasures and follies that the world indulge in. The living Christian will be filled with cheerfulness and peace, because he lives as seeing Him who is invisible; and those who seek Christ in His true character have within them the elements of everlasting life, because they are partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruptions that are in the world through lust. Jesus said, "This is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:39, 40). {1SM 136.2} [1SM 137.1] The Child of God a Laborer With God All spiritual life is derived from Jesus Christ. "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God" (John 1:12). But what is the sure result of becoming a child of God? The result is that we become laborers together with God. There is a great work to be done for your own soul's salvation, and to qualify you to win others from unbelief to a life sustained by faith in Christ Jesus: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me ［with a casual faith?--No, with an abiding faith that works by love and purifies the soul］ hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. . . . I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. . . . Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. . . . It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they 138 were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father" (John 6:47, 48, 51, 53, 54, 63-65). {1SM 137.1} [1SM 138.1] When Jesus spoke these words, He spoke them with authority, assurance, and power. At times He manifested Himself in such a way that the deep movings of His Spirit were sensibly realized. But many who saw and heard and participated in the blessings of the hour, went their way, and soon forgot the light He had given them. {1SM 138.1} [1SM 138.2] The treasures of eternity have been committed to the keeping of Jesus Christ, to give to whomsoever He will; but how sad it is that so many quickly lose sight of the precious grace that is proffered unto them through faith in Him. He will impart the heavenly treasures to those who will believe in Him, look to Him, and abide in Him. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, and He knows no restraint nor control in bestowing the heavenly treasures upon whom He will. He does not exalt and honor the great ones of the world, who are flattered and applauded; but He calls upon His chosen, peculiar people who love and serve Him, to come unto Him and ask, and He will give them the bread of life, and endow them with the water of life, which shall be in them as a well of water springing up unto everlasting life. {1SM 138.2} [1SM 138.3] Jesus brought to our world the accumulated treasures of God, and all who believe upon Him are adopted as His heirs. He declares that great shall be the reward of them who suffer for His name's sake, It is written, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9).--The Review and Herald, Jan. 30, 1894. {1SM 138.3} [1SM 138.4] Was the Blessing Cherished? In order to increase our spiritual endowment, it is necessary to walk in the light. In view of the event of Christ's soon coming, we must be vigilantly working to prepare our own souls, to keep our own lamps trimmed and burning, 139 and to urge upon others the necessity of getting ready for the coming of the Bridegroom. Watching and working must go together; faith and works must be united, or our characters will not be symmetrical and well-balanced, perfect in Christ Jesus. {1SM 138.4} [1SM 139.1] Should we give our lives up to prayerful meditation, our lights would grow dim, for light is given to us that we may impart it to others, and the more we impart light, the brighter our own light will become. If there is any one thing in the world in which we may manifest enthusiasm, it may be manifested in seeking the salvation of the souls for whom Christ died. Work of this kind will not cause us to neglect personal piety. The exhortation is given for us to be "not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord" (Romans 12:11). {1SM 139.1} [1SM 139.2] To have an eye single to the glory of God means to have singleness of purpose, to show forth the work that has been wrought in your heart, that subdues your will to the will of God, and brings into captivity every thought to the glory of God. The world has been looking upon you to see what would be the afterinfluence of the work of revival that came to the college, the sanitarium, the office of publication, and to the members of the church in Battle Creek. What testimony have you borne in your daily life and character? {1SM 139.2} [1SM 139.3] God expected you all to do your best, not to please, amuse, and glorify yourselves, but to honor Him in all your ways, returning unto Him according to the light and privileges that He had given you through the endowment of His grace. He expected you to testify before heavenly intelligences, and to be living witnesses to the world, of the power of the grace of Christ. The Lord tested you, to see if you would treat His rich blessing as a cheap, light matter, or regard it as a rich treasure to be handled with reverent awe. If all had treated the gift of God in this manner--for the work was of God--then, according to the measure of each one's responsibility, the grace given would have been doubled, as were the talents of him who traded diligently with his lord's money. 140 {1SM 139.3} [1SM 140.1] A Blessing Turned Into a Curse God has been testing the fidelity of His people, proving them to see what use they would make of His intrusted precious blessing. This blessing came from our Intercessor and Advocate in the heavenly courts; but Satan was ready to enter any avenue that was open for him, in order that he might turn the light and blessing into darkness and cursing. {1SM 140.1} [1SM 140.2] How may the blessing be turned into a curse? By persuading the human agent not to cherish the light, or not to reveal to the world that it has been effective in transforming the character. Imbued with the Holy Spirit, the human agent consecrates himself to cooperate with divine agencies. He bears the yoke of Christ, lifts his burdens, and works in Christ's line to gain precious victories. He walks in the light as Christ is in the light. The scripture is fulfilled to him, "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" (2 Corinthians 3:18). {1SM 140.2} [1SM 140.3] Another year has now passed into eternity with its burden of record; and the light which shone from heaven upon you was to prepare you to arise and shine, to show forth the praises of God to the world as His commandment-keeping people. You were to be living witnesses; but if no special endeavor of a high and holy character bears testimony before the world, if no higher effort has been made than that which is seen in the popular churches of the day, then the name of God has not been honored, and His truth has not been magnified before the world, by presenting divine credentials in the people who have received great light. If they have had no greater appreciation of the manifest power of God than to eat and drink, and rise up to play, as did ancient Israel, then how can the Lord trust His people with rich and gracious manifestations? If they act directly contrary in almost every respect to the known will of God, and are found in carelessness, in levity, in selfishness, in ambition and pride, corrupting their way before the Lord, 141 how can He give them another outpouring of the Holy Spirit? {1SM 140.3} [1SM 141.1] God has the richest blessing for His people; but He cannot bestow it until they know how to treat the precious gift in showing forth the praises of Him who has called them out of darkness into His marvelous light. "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:1, 2). A portion of the joy which was set before Christ, was the joy of seeing His truth armed with the omnipotent power of the Holy Spirit, impressing His image upon the life and character of His followers. {1SM 141.1} [1SM 141.2] Divine intelligences cooperate with human agencies as they seek to magnify the law and make it honorable. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. It is in the converted soul that the world sees a living testimony. Then shall the Lord of heaven have room to work? Shall He find a place in the hearts of those who claim to believe the truth? Shall His pure, disinterested benevolence meet with a response from the human agent? Shall the world see a display of the glory of Christ in the characters of those who profess to be His disciples? Shall Christ be favored and glorified in seeing His own sympathy and love pouring forth in streams of goodness and truth from His human agents? In implanting His gospel in the heart, He is pouring out the resources of heaven for the blessing of the world. "We are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building" (1 Corinthians 3:9). {1SM 141.2} [1SM 141.3] What has the rich blessing of God done for those who were humble and contrite in heart to receive it? Has the blessing been cherished? Have the receivers been showing forth the praises of Him who has called them out of darkness into His marvelous light? There are some who are already questioning the work that was so good, and that 142 should have been most highly appreciated. They are looking upon it as a certain species of fanaticism. {1SM 141.3} [1SM 142.1] Be Exceedingly Careful It would be surprising if there were not some, who, not being well-balanced in mind, have spoken and acted indiscreetly; for whenever and wherever the Lord works in giving a genuine blessing, a counterfeit is also revealed, in order to make of none effect the true work of God. Therefore we need to be exceedingly careful, and walk humbly before God, that we may have spiritual eyesalve that we may distinguish the working of the Holy Spirit of God from the working of that spirit that would bring in wild license and fanaticism. "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:20). Those who are really beholding Christ will be changed into His image, even by the Spirit of the Lord, and will grow up to the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit of God will inspire men with love and purity; and refinement will be manifest in their characters. {1SM 142.1} [1SM 142.2] But because some have misappropriated the rich blessing of heaven, shall others deny that Jesus, the Saviour of the world, has passed through our churches, and that to bless? Let not doubt and unbelief question this; for in so doing, you are treading on dangerous ground. God has given the Holy Spirit to those who have opened the door of their hearts to receive the heavenly gift. But let them not yield to the temptation afterward to believe that they have been deceived. Let them not say, "Because I feel darkness, and am oppressed with doubt, and never saw Satan's power so manifest as now, therefore I was mistaken." I warn you to be careful. Sow not one expression of doubt. God has wrought for you, bringing sound doctrines of truth into actual contact with the heart. Blessing was given you, that it might produce fruit in sound practices and upright character. {1SM 142.2} [1SM 142.3] The Sin of Rejecting Evidence The sin for which Christ reproved Chorazin and Bethsaida was the sin of rejecting evidence that would have 143 convinced them of the truth, had they yielded to its power. The sin of the scribes and Pharisees was the sin of placing the heavenly work which had been wrought before them in the darkness of unbelief, so that the evidence which should have led them into a settled faith was questioned, and the sacred things which should have been cherished were regarded as of no value. I fear that the people have permitted the enemy to work along these very lines, so that the good which emanated from God, the rich blessing which He has given, have come to be regarded by some as fanaticism. {1SM 142.3} [1SM 143.1] If this attitude is preserved, then when the Lord shall again let His light shine upon the people, they will turn from the heavenly illumination, saying, "I felt the same in 1893, and some in whom I have had confidence, said that the work was fanaticism." Will not those who have received the rich grace of God, and who take the position that the working of the Holy Spirit was fanaticism, be ready to denounce the operations of the Spirit of God in the future, and the heart thus be proof against the solicitations of the still, small voice? The love of Jesus may be presented to those who thus barricade themselves against it, and exercise no constraining power upon them. The riches of the grace of heaven may be bestowed and yet rejected, instead of being cherished and gratefully recognized. With the heart men did believe unto righteousness, and for a time confession was made unto salvation; but, sad to relate, the receiver did not cooperate with heavenly intelligences, and cherish the light by working the works of righteousness.--The Review and Herald, Feb. 6, 1894. {1SM 143.1} [1SM 144.1] Chap. 18 - Special Appeals in Public Ministry - ［Ellen G. White, in her public ministry effectively employed the appeal which called for a response. Presented here are accounts of a number of instances which reveal her use of such methods under varying circumstances.--COMPILERS.］ {1SM 144.1} [1SM 144.2] At Battle Creek in Early Days Attended meeting at the church at Battle Creek. Spoke to the people about one hour with freedom, in regard to the fall of Adam bringing misery and death, Christ bringing life and immortality to light through His humiliation and death. Felt to urge upon the people the necessity of entire consecration to God--the sanctification of the entire being, soul, body, and spirit. Spoke upon the death of Moses and the view he had of the promised land of Canaan. There was a depth of feeling in the congregation. . . . In meeting that evening we called those forward who had a desire to be Christians. Thirteen came forward. All bore testimony for the Lord. It was a good work.--Diary, Jan. 12, 1868. {1SM 144.2} [1SM 144.3] Earnest Work at Tittabawassee, Michigan Meetings were held all through the day. My husband spoke in forenoon; Brother Andrews in the afternoon. I followed with remarks quite at length, entreating those who 145 had been interested through the meetings to commence from that day to serve God. We called forward those who wished to start in the service of the Lord. Quite a number came forward. I spoke several times, beseeching souls to break the bands of Satan and start then. One mother went to her son and wept and entreated him. He seemed hard, stubborn, and unyielding. I then arose and addressed Brother D, begged him to not stand in the way of his children. He started, then arose, spoke, said he would commence from that day. This was heard with glad hearts by all. Brother D is a precious man. {1SM 144.3} [1SM 145.1] Sister E's husband then arose, testified that he would be a Christian. He is an influential man--a lawyer. His daughter was upon the anxious seat. Brother D then added his entreaties to ours. Sister D's also to their children. We entreated and at last prevailed. All came forward. The fathers and all the sons and other fathers followed their example. It was a day of gladness. Sister E said it was the happiest day of her life.--Diary, Feb. 19, 1868. {1SM 145.1} [1SM 145.2] A Good Response in Battle Creek I spoke in the afternoon from 2 Peter. I had freedom in talking. After I had spoken one hour I invited those who wished to be Christians to come forward. Between thirty and forty came forward quietly without excitement and occupied the front seats. I spoke with them in regard to making an entire surrender to God. We had a praying season for those who came forward. We had a very precious season of prayer. Those who wished baptism were requested to signify it by rising. Quite a number arose.--Diary, June 9, 1873. {1SM 145.2} [1SM 145.3] After Some Hesitancy a Response I spoke in the afternoon ［at Stanley, Va.］ from John 17:3. The Lord gave me much of His Holy Spirit. The house was full. I called those forward who wished to seek the Lord more earnestly and for those who wished to give themselves to the Lord a whole sacrifice. For a time not one made a move, but after a while many came forward and 146 bore testimonies of confession. We had a precious season of prayer and all felt broken down, weeping and confessing their sins. O that each may understand!--Diary, Nov. 9, 1890. {1SM 145.3} [1SM 146.1] As She Begins Work in Switzerland Sabbath and Sunday were precious seasons. ［AT THE SWISS CONFERENCE HELD IN BASEL, SWITZERLAND, IN 1885.］ The Lord especially blessed (me) in speaking Sunday afternoon. At the close of the discourse an invitation was given for all who desired to be Christians, and all who felt that they had not a living connection with God, to come forward, that we might unite our prayers with theirs for the pardon of sin, and for grace to resist temptation. {1SM 146.1} [1SM 146.2] This was a new experience for many, but they did not hesitate. It seemed that the entire congregation were on their feet, and the best they could do was to be seated, and all seek the Lord together. Here was an entire congregation manifesting their determination to put away sin, and to engage most earnestly in the work of seeking God. After prayer, one hundred and fifteen testimonies were borne. Many of these showed a genuine experience in the things of God.--Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, p. 173. {1SM 146.2} [1SM 146.3] At Christiana ［Oslo］, Norway We spent two weeks in Christiana, and labored earnestly for the church. The Spirit of the Lord moved me to bear a very plain testimony. At our last meeting especially, I presented before them the necessity of a thorough change in the character if they would be children of God. . . . I urged upon them the necessity of deep repentance, confession, and forsaking of the sins which had shut away the sweet spirit of Christ from the church. We then called for those to come forward who would take a decided position on the Lord's side. Many responded. Some good confessions were made, and earnest testimonies were borne.--The Review and Herald, Oct. 19, 1886. 147 {1SM 146.3} [1SM 147.1] Determination Indicated by Standing A request was made ［at Basel, Switzerland］ for all who would from this time make most earnest efforts to reach a higher standard to arise. All arose. We hope this now will have the effect to win them to God and to heavenly reflections and make earnest efforts to be all that God has given them power to be--faithful and true devoted soldiers of the cross of Christ.--Diary, Nov. 22, 1885. {1SM 147.1} [1SM 147.2] Backsliders Reclaimed in Basel In the afternoon of the Sabbath we assembled again for social meeting. The blessing of the Lord rested upon me as I again addressed the people for a short time. Every seat was full and extra seats were brought in. All listened with deep interest. {1SM 147.2} [1SM 147.3] I invited those who desired the prayers of the servants of God to come forward. All who had been backslidden, all who wished to return to the Lord and seek Him diligently, could improve the opportunity. Several seats were quickly filled and the whole congregation was on the move. We told them the best they could do was to be seated right where they were and we would all seek the Lord together by confessing our sins, and the Lord had pledged His word, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). {1SM 147.3} [1SM 147.4] Many testimonies were borne in quick succession and with depth of feelings, showing that the hearts were touched by the Spirit of God. Our meetings continued from two o'clock P.M. to five, and then we were obliged to close, with several earnest prayers.--Diary, Feb. 20, 1887. {1SM 147.4} [1SM 147.5] An Outstanding Experience in Australia On Sabbath, May 25 ［1895］, we had a precious meeting in the hall where our people meet at North Fitzroy. For several days before the meeting, I knew that I was expected to speak in the church on Sabbath; but unfortunately I had a severe cold and was quite hoarse. I felt inclined to excuse 148 myself from this appointment; but as it was my only opportunity, I said, "I will place myself before the people, and I believe the Lord will answer my earnest prayers, and remove the hoarseness so that I can present my message to the people." I presented to my heavenly Father the promise, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. . . . If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:9-13). . . . {1SM 147.5} [1SM 148.1] The word of God is sure. I had asked, and I believed that I would be enabled to speak to the people. I selected a portion of Scripture; but when I rose to speak, it was taken from my mind, and I felt impressed to speak from the first chapter of second Peter. The Lord gave me special freedom in presenting the value of the grace of God. . . . I was enabled by the aid of the Holy Spirit to speak with clearness and power. {1SM 148.1} [1SM 148.2] At the close of my discourse, I felt impressed by the Spirit of God to extend an invitation for all those to come forward who desired to give themselves fully to the Lord. Those who felt the need of the prayers of the servants of God were invited to make it manifest. About thirty came forward. Among those were the wives of the Brethren F, who for the first time made manifest their desire to come near to God. My heart was filled with unspeakable gratitude because of the movement made by these two women. {1SM 148.2} [1SM 148.3] I could then see why I was so earnestly moved to make this invitation. At first I had hesitated, wondering if it were best to do so when my son and I were the only ones whom I could see who would give us any help on that occasion. But as though someone had spoken to me, the thought passed through my mind, "Cannot you trust in the Lord?" I said, "I will, Lord." Although my son was much surprised that I should make such a call on this occasion, he was equal to the emergency. I never heard him speak with greater power or deeper feeling than at this time. He called 149 upon Brethren Faulkhead and Salisbury to come forward, and we knelt in prayer. My son took the lead, and the Lord surely indited his petition; for he seemed to pray as though in the presence of God. Brethren Faulkhead and Salisbury also presented fervent petitions, and then the Lord gave me a voice to pray. I remembered the Sisters F, who, for the first time, were taking a public stand for the truth. The Holy Spirit was in the meeting, and many were stirred by its deep movings. {1SM 148.3} [1SM 149.1] At the close of the meeting many pressed their way to the platform, and taking me by the hand, requested me with tears in their eyes to pray for them. I answered heartily, "I will." The Sisters F were introduced to me, and I found that their hearts were very tender. . . . The mother of one of the sisters who has now taken her position on the truth, has been a most bitter opposer, and has threatened that if her daughter did become a Sabbathkeeper, she would not allow her to enter her home; for the mother would look upon her as a disgrace to the family. Mrs. F had often made the statement that she would never join the Seventh-day Adventists. She had been brought up in the Presbyterian Church, and had been educated to think that it was very improper for women to speak in meeting, and that for a woman to preach was altogether beyond the bounds of propriety. She enjoyed hearing Elders Daniells and Corliss, and thought them very clever speakers, but she would not listen to a woman's preaching. Her husband had prayed that God would so arrange matters that she might be converted under the ministry of Sister White. When I made the appeal, and urged those to come forward who felt their need of drawing nearer to God, to the surprise of all, these sisters came forward. The sister who had lost her little one, said that she was determined that she would not move forward, but the Spirit of the Lord so forcibly impressed her mind that she dared not refuse. . . . I feel so grateful to my heavenly Father for His lovingkindness in bringing these two precious souls to unite with their husbands in obeying the truth.--The Review and Herald, July 30, 1895. 150 {1SM 149.1} [1SM 150.1] Non-Adventist Visitors Respond at Ashfield Church I invited all who wanted to give themselves to God in a sacred covenant, and to serve Him with their whole hearts, to rise to their feet. The house was full, and nearly all rose. Quite a number not of our faith were present, and some of these arose. I presented them to the Lord in earnest prayer, and we know that we had the manifestation of the Spirit of God. We felt that a victory had indeed been gained.--Manuscript 30a, 1896. {1SM 150.1} [1SM 150.2] The Special Call at the Battle Creek College I have now spoken to the helpers, nursing class, and physicians five times during the Week of Prayer, and I am sure my talks are appreciated. I have spoken in the college twice. Last Thursday Professor Prescott wished me to come over there. I went and prayed and spoke to the large chapel filled with students. I had much freedom in speaking and in presenting before them the goodness and mercy of God and the great condescension and sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the heavenly reward purchased for us, the last final victory, and what a privilege it is to be Christians. {1SM 150.2} [1SM 150.3] Professor Prescott arose and attempted to speak, but his heart was full and he did not utter a word for five minutes, but stood weeping before the people. Then he said a few words, "I am glad that I am a Christian." He talked for about five minutes, then he gave liberty for all to speak. Many testimonies were borne, but it seemed to me that there must be a company reached that we had not yet succeeded in reaching. We called all to come forward who felt that they were unready for Christ's coming and had not an evidence of their acceptance with God. I thought the whole house was in motion. We then gave opportunity for all to express their feelings, but we had after a little another season of prayer and the blessing of the Lord seemed to reach hearts. {1SM 150.3} [1SM 150.4] Then we separated into divisions and continued the work for two hours longer, and the Lord's Spirit came into the meeting in a remarkable manner. Several of those who 151 had known nothing of a religious faith, unbelievers from the world, have obtained a genuine experience in the religious life. And the work is going deeper and deeper. The Lord is at work and will work, as fast as we prepare the way for Him that He can safely reveal His power in our behalf. --Letter 75, 1888. {1SM 150.4} [1SM 151.1] Called Forward in San Francisco Friday, December 21 ［1900］, I went to San Francisco, where I was to spend the Week of Prayer. Sabbath afternoon I spoke to the church there, although I was so weak that I had to cling to the pulpit with both hands to steady myself. I asked the Lord to give me strength to speak to the people. He heard my prayer, and strengthened me. I had great freedom in speaking from Revelation 2:1-5. {1SM 151.1} [1SM 151.2] The deep moving of the Spirit of God came upon me, and the people were strongly impressed with the message borne. After I had finished speaking, all who desired to give themselves to the Lord were invited to come forward. A large number responded, and prayer was offered for them. Several who came forward are persons who have recently heard the Advent message, and are in the valley of decision. May the Lord strengthen the good impression made upon them, and may they give themselves wholly to Him. Oh, how I long to see souls converted, and hear them sing a new song, even praise to our God! {1SM 151.2} [1SM 151.3] Sunday afternoon I spoke to a large audience, many of whom are not of our faith. My strength was renewed, and I was able, without clinging to the desk, to stand before the people. The Lord's blessing rested upon us, and increased strength came to me as I spoke. As on Sabbath, those seeking spiritual help were invited to come forward, and we were glad to see the ready response. The Lord came very near as we sought Him in prayer.--The Review and Herald, Feb. 19, 1901. {1SM 151.3} [1SM 151.4] A Similar Work in Every Church Sabbath, November 10, I visited San Francisco, and spoke to a church full of people who had ears to hear and 152 hearts to understand. . . . After I had finished speaking, Elder Corliss invited all who wished to give themselves to Jesus to come forward. There was a quick and happy response, and I was told that nearly two hundred persons came forward. Men and women, youth and children, pressed into the front seats. The Lord would be pleased to have a work similar to this done in every church. {1SM 151.4} [1SM 152.1] Many could not come forward, because the house was so crowded, yet the animated countenances and tearful eyes testified to the determination, "I will be on the Lord's side. From this time I will seek earnestly to reach a higher standard."--The Review and Herald, Feb. 12, 1901. {1SM 152.1} [1SM 152.2] Response at General Conference of 1909 My brethren and sisters, seek the Lord while He may be found. There is a time coming when those who have wasted their time and opportunities will wish they had sought Him. . . . He wants you to keep in the line of reason, and in the line of labor. He wants you to go forth to our churches to labor earnestly for Him. He wants you to institute meetings for those outside of the churches, that they may learn the truths of this last message of warning. There are places where you will be gladly received, where souls will thank you for coming to their help. May the Lord help you to take hold of this work as you have never yet taken hold of it. Will you do this? Will you here rise to your feet and testify that you will make God your trust and your helper? ［Congregation rises.］ {1SM 152.2} [1SM 152.3] ［Praying］ I thank thee, Lord God of Israel. Accept this pledge of this Thy people. Put Thy Spirit upon them. Let Thy glory be seen in them. As they shall speak the word of truth, let us see the salvation of God. Amen.--General Conference Bulletin, May 18, 1909. 154 {1SM 152.3} [1SM 154.1] Chap. 19 - What to Preach and Not to Preach ［NO COMPLETE LISTING OF TOPICS IS HERE ATTEMPTED. FOR OTHER SUGGESTIONS SEE EVANGELISM, PP. 184-199, 217-278.--COMPILERS.］ INTRODUCTION - AS IN THE YEAR 1933 THE GENERAL CONFERENCE LEADERSHIP MADE PLANS FOR STRONG EVANGELISTIC EMPHASIS AND EFFORT THROUGHOUT NORTH AMERICA, IT WAS REALIZED THAT IF LARGE OBJECTIVES WERE TO BE ACCOMPLISHED, THE MINISTERS WHO STOOD BEFORE THE PEOPLE MUST TURN FROM SUBJECTS OF MINOR IMPORTANCE TO THE PRESENTATION OF THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE IN ITS BROAD AND GRIPPING PHASES. AT THE REQUEST OF THE GENERAL CONFERENCE A SIXTEEN-PAGE PAMPHLET ENTITLED "PREACH THE WORD," CONTAINING ELLEN G. WHITE COUNSELS, WAS PUBLISHED. GREAT GOOD WAS ACCOMPLISHED BY THE MANY THOUSANDS OF COPIES DISTRIBUTED, CHARGING THE MINISTRY ANEW WITH THE SOLEMN RESPONSIBILITY OF PROCLAIMING THE LAST JUDGMENT-HOUR MESSAGE TO THE WORLD. THOSE PORTIONS NOT IN OTHER E. G. WHITE BOOKS ARE INCLUDED IN PERMANENT FORM HERE. THE STATEMENTS PRINTED DO NOT CONSTITUTE AN EXHAUSTIVE COMPILATION OF WHAT ELLEN WHITE HAS WRITTEN ON THIS SUBJECT. ADDITIONAL COUNSEL MAY BE FOUND IN THE BOOKS EVANGELISM, GOSPEL WORKERS, TESTIMONIES TO MINISTERS, AND CHRISTIAN SERVICE. {1SM 154.1} [1SM 154.2] FOLLOWING THE PAMPHLET ITEMS ARE A FEW RELATED CHAPTERS. "THE PERIL OF EXTREME VIEWS" IS A COMMUNICATION ADDRESSED TO ONE OF OUR MINISTERS, CONTAINING INSTRUCTION OF GREAT SERVICE, WHICH UNTIL NOW HAS BEEN AVAILABLE ONLY IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS. THE CHAPTER ON "TIME SETTING" IS PERTINENT. THE SECTION CLOSES WITH COUNSELS DRAWN FROM SPECIAL TESTIMONIES, SERIES B, NO. 2, WRITTEN DURING THE CRISIS OF 1903 AND 1904 WHEN CERTAIN PANTHEISTIC VIEWS WERE BEING PRESSED UPON THE DENOMINATION AS NEW LIGHT WHICH, IT WAS ASSERTED, WOULD PROVE A GREAT BLESSING TO THE CHURCH. THE CHIEF BLESSING THAT RESULTED FROM THIS CRISIS WAS IN THE LESSONS IN TRUTH SO EARNESTLY COMMUNICATED BY THE LORD'S MESSENGER TO THE STRUGGLING CHURCH, FOUND MAINLY IN TESTIMONIES, VOLUME 8, AND THE MINISTRY OF HEALING.-- WHITE TRUSTEES. {1SM 154.2} [1SM 155.1] - Let Christ Appear The object of all ministry is to keep self out of sight, and to let Christ appear. The exaltation of Christ is the great truth that all who labor in word and doctrine are to reveal.--Manuscript 109, 1897. {1SM 155.1} [1SM 155.2] Laborers in the cause of truth should present the righteousness of Christ, not as new light, but as precious light that has for a time been lost sight of by the people. We are to accept of Christ as our personal Saviour, and He imputes unto us the righteousness of God in Christ. Let us repeat and make prominent the truth that John has portrayed, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10). {1SM 155.2} [1SM 155.3] In the love of God has been opened the most marvelous vein of precious truth, and the treasures of the grace of Christ are laid open before the church and the world. . . . What love is this, what marvelous, unfathomable love that would lead Christ to die for us while we were yet sinners. 156 What a loss it is to the soul who understands the strong claims of the law, and who yet fails to understand the grace of Christ which doth much more abound. {1SM 155.3} [1SM 156.1] It is true that the law of God reveals the love of God when it is preached as the truth in Jesus, for the gift of Christ to this guilty world must be largely dwelt upon in every discourse. It is no wonder that hearts have not been melted by the truth, when it has been presented in a cold and lifeless manner. No wonder faith has staggered at the promises of God, when ministers and workers have failed to present Jesus in His relation to the law of God. How often should they have assured the people that "he that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32). {1SM 156.1} [1SM 156.2] Satan is determined that men shall not see the love of God which led Him to give His only-begotten Son to save a lost race; for it is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance. O how shall we succeed in setting forth before the world the deep, precious love of God? In no other way we can compass it except by exclaiming, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (1 John 3:1). Let us say to sinners, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). By presenting Jesus as the representative of the Father, we shall be able to dispel the shadow that Satan has cast upon our pathway, in order that we shall not see the mercy and inexpressible love of God as manifested in Jesus Christ. Look at the cross of Calvary. It is a standing pledge of the boundless love, the measureless mercy of the heavenly Father.--Manuscript 154, 1897. {1SM 156.2} [1SM 156.3] The Holy Spirit Christ, the Great Teacher, had an infinite variety of subjects from which to choose, but the one upon which He dwelt most largely was the endowment of the Holy Spirit. What great things He predicted for the church because of this endowment. Yet what subject is less dwelt upon 157 now? What promise is less fulfilled? An occasional discourse is given upon the Holy Spirit, and then the subject is left for after consideration.--Manuscript 20, 1891. {1SM 156.3} [1SM 157.1] Teach Steps in Conversion Ministers need to have a more clear, simple manner in presenting the truth as it is in Jesus. Their own minds need to comprehend the great plan of salvation more fully. Then they can carry the minds of the hearers away from earthly things to the spiritual and eternal. There are many who want to know what they must do to be saved. They want a plain and clear explanation of the steps requisite in conversion, and there should not a sermon be given unless a portion of that discourse is to especially make plain the way that sinners may come to Christ and be saved. They should point them to Christ, as did John, and with touching simplicity, their hearts aglow with the love of Christ, say, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." Strong and earnest appeals should be made to the sinner to repent and be converted. {1SM 157.1} [1SM 157.2] Those who neglect this part of the work need to be converted themselves before venturing to give a discourse. Those whose hearts are filled with the love of Jesus, with the precious truths of His Word, will be able to draw from the treasure house of God things new and old. They will not find time to relate anecdotes; they will not strain to become orators, soaring so high that they cannot carry the people with them; but in simple language, with touching earnestness, they will present the truth as it is in Jesus.-- The Review and Herald, Feb. 22, 1887. {1SM 157.2} [1SM 157.3] Revival of Old Advent Truths There is a work of sacred importance for ministers and people to do. They are to study the history of the cause and people of God. They are not to forget the past dealing of God with His people. They are to revive and recount the truths that have come to seem of little value to those who do not know by personal experience of the power and 158 brightness that accompanied them when they were first seen and understood. In all their original freshness and power these truths are to be given to the world.--Manuscript 22, 1890. {1SM 157.3} [1SM 158.1] The Ministration of Angels Over every man good and evil angels strive. It is the man himself who determines which shall win. I call upon the ministers of Christ to press home upon the understanding of all who come within the reach of their voice, the truth of the ministration of angels. Do not indulge in fanciful speculations. The written Word is our only safety. We must pray as did Daniel, that we may be guarded by heavenly intelligences.--Letter 201, 1899. {1SM 158.1} [1SM 158.2] Argumentative Sermons The many argumentative sermons preached, seldom soften and subdue the soul. . . . It should be the burden of every messenger to set forth the fullness of Christ. When the free gift of Christ's righteousness is not presented, the discourses are dry and spiritless; the sheep and lambs are not fed. Said Paul, "My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1 Corinthians 2:4). There is marrow and fatness in the gospel. Jesus is the living center of everything. Put Christ into every sermon. Let the preciousness, mercy, and glory of Jesus Christ be dwelt upon; for Christ formed within is the hope of glory.--Letter 15, 1892. {1SM 158.2} [1SM 158.3] Present Truth in Meekness Be careful messengers. Do not be anxious to hear and accept new theories, for often they are such as should never be presented before any congregation. Speak no boastful, self-exalting words. Let the Word of God come forth from lips that are sanctified by the truth. Every minister is to preach the truth as it is in Jesus. He should be assured of that which he affirms, and should handle the Word of God under the direction of the Holy Spirit of God. Walk 159 and work carefully before God, my brethren, that no soul may be led into deception by your example. It had been better for you never to have been born than that you should lead one soul astray. {1SM 158.3} [1SM 159.1] Those who profess to be servants of God need to make diligent work for the obtaining of that life where sin and sickness and sorrow cannot enter. They are to be instant in season and out of season. {1SM 159.1} [1SM 159.2] God is calling for reformers who will speak strong, uplifting words from our pulpits. It is when men speak their own words in their own strength, instead of preaching the Word of God in the power of the Spirit, that they are hurt and offended when their words are not received with enthusiasm. It is then that they are tempted to speak words that will arouse a spirit of bitterness and opposition in their hearers. My brethren, be advised. Such words are not to come from the lips of Christ's ambassadors. Sanctified lips will speak words that reform, but do not exasperate. The truth is to be presented in the meekness and love of Christ. --Letter 348, 1907. {1SM 159.2} [1SM 159.3] A Device of the Enemy We are to pray for divine enlightenment, but at the same time we should be careful how we receive everything termed new light. We must beware lest, under cover of searching for new truth, Satan shall divert our minds from Christ and the special truths for this time. I have been shown that it is the device of the enemy to lead minds to dwell upon some obscure or unimportant point, something that is not fully revealed or is not essential to our salvation. This is made the absorbing theme, the "present truth," when all their investigations and suppositions only serve to make matters more obscure than before, and to confuse the minds of some who ought to be seeking for oneness through sanctification of the truth.--Letter 7, 1891. {1SM 159.3} [1SM 159.4] Human Suppositions and Conjectures Let no one present beautiful, scientific sophistries to lull the people of God to sleep. Clothe not the solemn, 160 sacred truth for this time in any fantastic dress of man's wisdom. Let those who have been doing this stop and cry unto God to save their souls from deceiving fables. {1SM 159.4} [1SM 160.1] It is the living energy of the Holy Spirit that will move hearts, not pleasing, deceptive theories. Fanciful representations are not the bread of life; they cannot save the soul from sin. {1SM 160.1} [1SM 160.2] Christ was sent from heaven to redeem humanity. He taught the doctrines that God gave Him to teach. The truths that He proclaimed, as found in the Old Testament and the New, we today are to proclaim as the word of the living God. {1SM 160.2} [1SM 160.3] Let those who want the bread of life go to the Scriptures, not to the teaching of finite, erring man. Give the people the bread of life that Christ came from heaven to bring to us. Do not mix with your teaching human suppositions and conjectures. Would that all knew how much they need to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God--to make His words a part of their very lives.-- Manuscript 44, 1904. {1SM 160.3} [1SM 160.4] Our Faith Founded on Truth I long daily to be able to do double duty. I have been pleading with the Lord for strength and wisdom to reproduce the writings of the witnesses who were confirmed in the faith and in the early history of the message. After the passing of the time in 1844 they received the light and walked in the light, and when the men claiming to have new light would come in with their wonderful messages regarding various points of Scripture, we had, through the moving of the Holy Spirit, testimonies right to the point, which cut off the influence of such messages as Elder G has been devoting his time to presenting. ［REFERENCE IS HERE MADE TO TEACHINGS ON THE SANCTUARY QUESTION--AT VARIANCE WITH THOSE HELD BY SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS THROUGH THE YEARS--WHICH DENIED THE FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY IN 1844 AND REPUDIATED THE MINISTRY OF CHRIST IN THE INVESTIGATIVE JUDGMENT.--COMPILERS.］ This poor man has been working decidedly against the truth that the Holy Spirit has confirmed. 161 {1SM 160.4} [1SM 161.1] When the power of God testifies as to what is truth, that truth is to stand forever as the truth. No after suppositions contrary to the light God has given are to be entertained. Men will arise with interpretations of Scripture which are to them truth, but which are not truth. The truth for this time God has given us as a foundation for our faith. He Himself has taught us what is truth. One will arise, and still another, with new light, which contradicts the light that God has given under the demonstration of His Holy Spirit. A few are still alive who passed through the experience gained in the establishment of this truth. God has graciously spared their lives to repeat, and repeat till the close of their lives, the experience through which they passed even as did John the apostle till the very close of his life. And the standard bearers who have fallen in death are to speak through the reprinting of their writings. I am instructed that thus their voices are to be heard. They are to bear their testimony as to what constitutes the truth for this time. {1SM 161.1} [1SM 161.2] We are not to receive the words of those who come with a message that contradicts the special points of our faith. They gather together a mass of Scripture, and pile it as proof around their asserted theories. This has been done over and over again during the past fifty years. And while the Scriptures are God's word, and are to be respected, the application of them, if such application moves one pillar from the foundation that God has sustained these fifty years, is a great mistake. He who makes such an application knows not the wonderful demonstration of the Holy Spirit that gave power and force to the past messages that have come to the people of God. {1SM 161.2} [1SM 161.3] Elder G's proofs are not reliable. If received, they would destroy the faith of God's people in the truth that has made us what we are. {1SM 161.3} [1SM 161.4] We must be decided on this subject; for the points that he is trying to prove by Scripture, are not sound. They do not prove that the past experience of God's people was a fallacy. We had the truth; we were directed by the angels of God. It was under the guidance of the Holy Spirit that 162 the presentation of the sanctuary question was given. It is eloquence for every one to keep silent in regard to the features of our faith in which they acted no part. God never contradicts Himself. Scripture proofs are misapplied if forced to testify to that which is not true. Another and still another will arise and bring in supposedly great light, and make their assertions. But we stand by the old landmarks. ［1 John 1:1-10 quoted.］ {1SM 161.4} [1SM 162.1] I am instructed to say that these words we may use as appropriate for this time, for the time has come when sin must be called by its right name. We are hindered in our work by men who are not converted, who seek their own glory. They wish to be thought originators of new theories, which they present claiming that they are truth. But if these theories are received, they will lead to a denial of the truth that for the past fifty years God has been giving to His people, substantiating it by the demonstration of the Holy Spirit.--Letter 329, 1905. {1SM 162.1} [1SM 162.2] The Truths That Have Been Revealed "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." Learn to take the truths that have been revealed, and to handle them in such a way that they will be food for the flock of God. {1SM 162.2} [1SM 162.3] We shall meet those who allow their minds to wander into idle speculations about things of which nothing is said in the Word of God. God has spoken in the plainest language upon every subject that affects the salvation of the soul. But He desires us to avoid all day dreaming, and He says, Go work today in my vineyard. The night cometh wherein no man can work. Cease all idle curiosity; watch, and work, and pray. Study the truths that have been revealed. Christ desires to break up all vacant reveries, and He points us to the fields ripe for the harvest. Unless we work earnestly, eternity will overwhelm us with its burden of responsibility.... {1SM 162.3} [1SM 162.4] In the days of the apostles the most foolish heresies were presented as truth. History has been and will be 163 repeated. There will always be those who, though apparently conscientious, will grasp at the shadow, preferring it to the substance. They take error in the place of truth, because error is clothed with a new garment, which they think covers something wonderful. But let the covering be removed, and nothingness appears.--The Review and Herald, Feb. 5, 1901. {1SM 162.4} [1SM 163.1] Questions of Eternal Import Dwell upon the lessons that Christ dwelt upon. Present them to the people as He presented them. Dwell upon questions that concern our eternal welfare. Anything that the enemy can devise to divert the mind from God's Word, anything new and strange that he can originate to create a diversity of sentiment, he will introduce as something wonderfully important. But those things that we cannot clearly comprehend are not a tenth as important to us as are the truths of God's Word that we can clearly comprehend and bring into our daily life. We are to teach the people the lessons that Christ brought into His teachings from the Old Testament Scriptures. The language of divine truth is exceedingly plain.--Letter 16, 1903. {1SM 163.1} [1SM 163.2] Points Unnecessary for Faith There are many questions treated upon that are not necessary for the perfection of the faith. We have no time for their study. Many things are above finite comprehension. Truths are to be received not within the reach of our reason, and not for us to explain. Revelation presents them to us to be implicitly received as the words of an infinite God. While every ingenious inquirer is to search out the truth as it is in Jesus, there are things not yet simplified, statements that human minds cannot grasp and reason out, without being liable to make human calculation and explanations, which will not prove a savor of life unto life. {1SM 163.2} [1SM 163.3] But every truth which is essential for us to bring into our practical life, which concerns the salvation of the soul, is made very clear and positive.--Letter 8, 1895. {1SM 163.3} [1SM 164.1] Chap. 20 - Our Attitude Toward Doctrinal Controversy - "The Daily" of Daniel Eight I have words to speak to my brethren east and west, north and south. I request that my writings shall not be used as the leading argument to settle questions over which there is now so much controversy. I entreat of Elders H, I, J, and others of our leading brethren, that they make no reference to my writings to sustain their views of "the daily." {1SM 164.1} [1SM 164.2] It has been presented to me that this is not a subject of vital importance. I am instructed that our brethren are making a mistake in magnifying the importance of the difference in the views that are held. I cannot consent that any of my writings shall be taken as settling this matter. The true meaning of "the daily" is not to be made a test question. {1SM 164.2} [1SM 164.3] I now ask that my ministering brethren shall not make use of my writings in their arguments regarding this question ［"the daily"］; for I have had no instruction on the point under discussion, and I see no need for the controversy. Regarding this matter under present conditions, silence is eloquence. {1SM 164.3} [1SM 164.4] The enemy of our work is pleased when a subject of minor importance can be used to divert the minds of our 165 brethren from the great questions that should be the burden of our message. As this is not a test question, I entreat of my brethren that they shall not allow the enemy to triumph by having it treated as such. {1SM 164.4} [1SM 165.1] The True Testing Questions The work that the Lord has given us at this time is to present to the people the true light in regard to the testing questions of obedience and salvation--the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. {1SM 165.1} [1SM 165.2] In some of our important books that have been in print for years, and which have brought many to a knowledge of the truth, there may be found matters of minor importance that call for careful study and correction. Let such matters be considered by those regularly appointed to have the oversight of our publications. Let not these brethren, nor our canvassers, nor our ministers magnify these matters in such a way as to lessen the influence of these good soul-saving books. Should we take up the work of discrediting our literature, we would place weapons in the hands of those who have departed from the faith and confuse the minds of those who have newly embraced the message. The less that is done unnecessarily to change our publications, the better it will be. {1SM 165.2} [1SM 165.3] In the night seasons I seem to be repeating to my brethren in responsible positions, words from the First Epistle of John. ［Chapter 1 is quoted.］ {1SM 165.3} [1SM 165.4] A Daily Conversion Our brethren should understand that self needs to be humbled and brought under the control of the Holy Spirit. The Lord calls upon those of us who have had great light to be converted daily. This is the message I have to bear to our editors and to the presidents of all our conferences. We must walk in the light while we have the light, lest darkness come upon us. {1SM 165.4} [1SM 165.5] All who are led by the Holy Spirit of God will have a message for this last time. With mind and heart they will be carrying a burden for souls, and they will bear the heavenly 166 message of Christ to those with whom they associate. Those who in speech act as the Gentiles act, cannot be introduced into the heavenly courts. My brethren, receive the light, redeeming the time because the days are evil. {1SM 165.5} [1SM 166.1] Satan is busily working with all who will give him encouragement. Those who have the light, but refuse to walk in it, will become confused, until darkness pervades their souls, and shapes their whole course of action. But the spirit of wisdom and goodness of God as revealed in His Word, will become brighter and brighter as they follow on in the path of true obedience. All the righteous demands of God will be met through sanctification of the Holy Spirit.... {1SM 166.1} [1SM 166.2] There are great privileges and blessings for all who will humble themselves and fully consecrate their hearts to God. Great light will be given to them. When men are willing to be transformed, then they will be exercised unto godliness. {1SM 166.2} [1SM 166.3] "And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace" (John 1:16). "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). Says the Saviour: "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:18-20). {1SM 166.3} [1SM 166.4] Shall this wealth of grace and power for service continue among us to be unappreciated and turned from without relish or appetite? The instruction I am bidden to give to our people now is the same as I gave while in Washington. The Lord calls for individual effort. One cannot do the work of another. Great light has been shining, but it has not been fully comprehended and received. {1SM 166.4} [1SM 166.5] If our brethren will now consecrate themselves unreservedly to God, He will accept them. He will give them a transformation of mind, that they may be savors of life unto life. Wake up, brethren and sisters, that you may attain to your high calling through Christ Jesus our Lord.--Manuscript 11, 1910. 167 {1SM 166.5} [1SM 167.1] Not a Test Question To My Brethren in the Ministry: Dear Fellow Workers-- I have words to speak to . . . all who have been active in urging their views in regard to the meaning of "the daily" of Daniel 8. This is not to be made a test question, and the agitation that has resulted from its being treated as such has been very unfortunate. Confusion has resulted, and the minds of some of our brethren have been diverted from the thoughtful consideration that should have been given to the work that the Lord has directed should be done at this time in our cities. This has been pleasing to the great enemy of our work. {1SM 167.1} [1SM 167.2] The light given me is that nothing should be done to increase the agitation upon this question. Let it not be brought into our discourses, and dwelt upon as a matter of great importance. We have a great work before us, and we have not an hour to lose from the essential work to be done. Let us confine our public efforts to the presentation of the important lines of truth on which we are united, and on which we have clear light. {1SM 167.2} [1SM 167.3] I would bring to your attention the last prayer of Christ, as recorded in John 17. There are many subjects upon which we can speak--sacred, testing truths, beautiful in their simplicity. On these you may dwell with intense earnestness. But let not "the daily," or any other subject that will arouse controversy among brethren, be brought in at this time; for this will delay and hinder the work that the Lord would have the minds of our brethren centered upon just now. Let us not agitate questions that will reveal a marked difference of opinion, but rather let us bring from the Word the sacred truths regarding the binding claims of the law of God. {1SM 167.3} [1SM 167.4] Our ministers should seek to make the most favorable presentation of truth. So far as possible, let all speak the same things. Let the discourses be simple, and treating upon vital subjects that can be easily understood. When all our ministers see the necessity of humbling themselves, 168 then the Lord can work with them. We need now to be reconverted, that angels of God may cooperate with us, making a sacred impression upon the minds of those for whom we labor. {1SM 167.4} [1SM 168.1] Draw in Even Cords We must blend together in the bonds of Christlike unity; then our labors will not be in vain. Draw in even cords, and let no contentions be brought in. Reveal the unifying power of truth, and this will make a powerful impression on human minds. In unity there is strength. {1SM 168.1} [1SM 168.2] This is not a time to make prominent unimportant points of difference. If some who have not had a strong living connection with the Master reveal to the world their weakness of Christian experience, the enemies of the truth, who are watching us closely, will make the most of it, and our work will be hindered. Let all cultivate meekness, and learn lessons from Him who is meek and lowly in heart. {1SM 168.2} [1SM 168.3] The subject of "the daily" should not call forth such movements as have been made. As a result of the way this subject has been handled by men on both sides of the question, controversy has arisen and confusion has resulted. . . . While the present condition of difference of opinion regarding this subject exists let it not be made prominent. Let all contention cease. At such a time silence is eloquence. {1SM 168.3} [1SM 168.4] The duty of God's servants at this time is to preach the Word in the cities. Christ came from the heavenly courts to this earth in order to save souls and we, as almoners of His grace, need to impart to the inhabitants of the great cities a knowledge of His saving truth.--Letter 62, 1910. {1SM 168.4} [1SM 169.1] Chap. 21 - Fanciful or Speculative Teachings - No Compromise I must bear a decided message to our brethren. Let there be no compromise with evil. Meet boldly the dangerous influences that arise. Do not fear for the results of resisting the powers of the enemy. {1SM 169.1} [1SM 169.2] In these days many deceptions are being taught as truth. Some of our brethren have taught views which we cannot endorse. Fanciful ideas, strained and peculiar interpretations of the Scripture are coming in. Some of these teachings may seem to be but jots and tittles now, but they will grow and become snares to the inexperienced. {1SM 169.2} [1SM 169.3] We have a decided work to do. Let not the enemy cause us to swerve from the proclamation of the definite truth for this time, and turn our attention to fanciful ideas. {1SM 169.3} [1SM 169.4] Unless we are individually wide awake to discern the workings of the Holy Spirit, we shall certainly stumble and fall into Satan's pitfalls of unbelief. I call upon our brethren to watch as faithful shepherds and guardians over the inexperienced, who are exposed to the wiles of seductive influences. Keep a continual lookout for rocks and quicksands that threaten to destroy faith in the messages that God has given for us at this time. Watch for souls as they that must give account. . . . 170 {1SM 169.4} [1SM 170.1] We need to search the Scriptures daily, that we may know the way of the Lord, and that we be not deceived by religious fallacies. The world is full of false theories and seductive spiritualistic ideas, which tend to destroy clear spiritual perception, and to lead away from truth and holiness. Especially at this time do we need to heed the warning, "Let no man deceive you with vain words" (Ephesians 5:6). {1SM 170.1} [1SM 170.2] We must be careful lest we misinterpret the Scriptures. The plain teachings of the Word of God are not to be so spiritualized that the reality is lost sight of. Do not overstrain the meaning of sentences in the Bible in an effort to bring forth something odd in order to please the fancy. Take the Scriptures as they read. Avoid idle speculation concerning what will be in the kingdom of heaven.-- Manuscript 30, 1904. {1SM 170.2} [1SM 170.3] A Life and Death Question Letters have come to me, asking in regard to the teaching of some who say that nothing that has life should be killed, not even insects, however annoying or distressing they may be. Is it possible that anyone claims that God has given him this message to give to the people? The Lord has never given any human being such a message. God has told no one that it is a sin to kill the insects which destroy our peace and rest. In all His teaching, Christ gave no message of this character, and His disciples are to teach only what He commanded them. {1SM 170.3} [1SM 170.4] There are those who are always seeking to engage in controversy. This is the sum of their religion. They are filled with a desire to produce something new and strange. They dwell upon matters of the smallest consequence, exercising upon these their sharp, controversial talents. {1SM 170.4} [1SM 170.5] Idle tales are brought in as important truths, and by some they are actually set up as tests. Thus controversy is created, and minds are diverted from present truth. Satan knows that if he can get men and women absorbed in trifling details, greater questions will be left unheeded. He will furnish plenty of material for the attention of those who are willing to think upon trifling, unimportant 171 subjects. The minds of the Pharisees were absorbed with questions of no moment. They passed by the precious truths of God's Word to discuss the traditionary lore handed down from generation to generation, which in no way concerned their salvation. And so today, while precious moments are passing into eternity, the great questions of salvation are overlooked for some idle tale. {1SM 170.5} [1SM 171.1] I would say to my brethren and sisters, Keep close to the instruction found in the Word of God. Dwell upon the rich truths of the Scriptures. Thus only can you become one in Christ. You have no time to engage in controversy regarding the killing of insects. Jesus has not placed this burden upon you. "What is the chaff to the wheat?" (Jeremiah 23:28). These side issues which arise are as hay, wood, and stubble compared with the truth for these last days. Those who leave the great truths of God's Word to speak of such matters are not preaching the gospel. They are dealing with the idle sophistry which the enemy brings forward to divert minds from the truths that concern their eternal welfare. They have no word from Christ to vindicate their suppositions. {1SM 171.1} [1SM 171.2] Do not spend your time in the discussion of such matters. If you have any question as to what you should teach, any question as to the subjects upon which you should dwell, go right to the discourses of the Great Teacher, and follow His instructions. . . . {1SM 171.2} [1SM 171.3] Do not allow anything to draw your attention from the question, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 10:25). This is a life and death question, which we must each settle for eternity. Let the mind be weighted with the importance of the solemn truth which we possess. Those who allow the mind to wander in search of cheap, unimportant theories need to be converted. . . . {1SM 171.3} [1SM 171.4] Erroneous theories, with no authority from the Word of God, will come in on the right hand and the left, and to weaklings these theories will appear as truth which makes wise. But they are as nothingness. And yet many church members have become so well satisfied with cheap food that they have dyspeptic religion. Why will men and 172 women belittle their experience by gathering up idle tales and presenting them as matters worthy of attention? The people of God have no time to dwell on the indefinite, frivolous questions which have no bearing on God's requirements. {1SM 171.4} [1SM 172.1] God desires men and women to think soberly and candidly. They are to ascend to a higher and still higher grade, commanding a wider and still wider horizon. Looking unto Jesus, they are to be changed into His image. They are to spend their time in searching for the deep, everlasting truths of heaven. Then there will be nothing frivolous in their religious experience. As they study the grand truths of God's Word, they endure the seeing of Him who is invisible. They see that the most uplifting, ennobling truths are those most closely connected with the Source of all truth. And as they learn of Him, their motives and sympathies become firm and unchanging; for the impressions made by the All-wise are substantial and enduring. The living water, which Christ gives, is not like a surface spring, which babbles for a short time, and then dries up. The living water springs up unto everlasting life. {1SM 172.1} [1SM 172.2] Let us follow the revealed will of God. Then we shall know that the light we receive comes from the divine Source of all true light. Those who cooperate with Christ are on safe ground. God richly blesses them as they consecrate their energies to the work of rescuing the world from corruption. Christ is our example. By beholding Him we are to be changed into His image, from glory to glory, from character to character. This is our work. God help us rightly to represent the Saviour to the world.--The Review and Herald, Aug. 13, 1901. {1SM 172.2} [1SM 172.3] Conjectures Regarding the Future Life There are men today who express their belief that there will be marriages and births in the new earth; but those who believe the Scriptures cannot accept such doctrines. The doctrine that children will be born in the new earth is not a part of the "sure word of prophecy" (2 Peter 1:19). The words of Christ are too plain to be misunderstood. 173 They should forever settle the question of marriages and births in the new earth. Neither those who shall be raised from the dead, nor those who shall be translated without seeing death, will marry or be given in marriage. They will be as the angels of God, members of the royal family. {1SM 172.3} [1SM 173.1] I would say to those who hold views contrary to this plain declaration of Christ, Upon such matters silence is eloquence. It is presumption to indulge in suppositions and theories regarding matters that God has not made known to us in His Word. We need not enter into speculation regarding our future state. {1SM 173.1} [1SM 173.2] To my ministering brethren I would say, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season" (2 Timothy 4:2). Do not bring to the foundation wood, and hay, and stubble --your own surmisings and speculations, which can benefit no one. {1SM 173.2} [1SM 173.3] Christ withheld no truths essential to our salvation. Those things that are revealed are for us and our children, but we are not to allow our imagination to frame doctrines concerning things not revealed. {1SM 173.3} [1SM 173.4] The Lord has made every provision for our happiness in the future life, but He has made no revelations regarding these plans, and we are not to speculate concerning them. Neither are we to measure the conditions of the future life by the conditions of this life. {1SM 173.4} [1SM 173.5] Matters of vital importance have been plainly revealed in the Word of God. These subjects are worthy of our deepest thought. But we are not to search into matters on which God has been silent. Some have put forth the speculation that the redeemed will not have gray hair. Other foolish suppositions have been put forward, as though these were matters of importance. May God help His people to think rationally. When questions arise upon which we are uncertain, we should ask, "What saith the Scripture?" {1SM 173.5} [1SM 173.6] Let those who wish for something new seek for that newness of life resulting from the new birth. Let them purify their souls by obeying the truth, and act in harmony with the instruction Christ gave to the lawyer who asked what he must do in order to inherit eternal life. 174 {1SM 173.6} [1SM 174.1] "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. . . . This do, and thou shalt live" (Luke 10:27, 28). All who will conform their lives to the plain requirements of God's Word will inherit eternal life.--Manuscript 28, 1904. {1SM 174.1} [1SM 174.2] Subjects Difficult to Understand In this work there is danger of bringing before the people theories which, while they may be all truth, will create controversy, and will not lead men to the great supper prepared for them. We want the love of God formed within to subdue and soften our human nature and to bring us into conformity to His holy character. Then we shall spread before the people the unsearchable riches of Christ in all their abundance. The invitation is given by Christ Himself, and it is the work of all His followers to call attention to the board of provisions that has been made accessible to all. Then let not subjects difficult to be understood come first. Christ is calling men to the banquet, and let all who will, come.--Letter 89, 1898. {1SM 174.2} [1SM 174.3] The One Hundred and Forty-four Thousand Christ says that there will be those in the church who will present fables and suppositions, when God has given grand, elevating, ennobling truths which should ever be kept in the treasure house of the mind. When men pick up this theory and that theory, when they are curious to know something it is not necessary for them to know, God is not leading them. It is not His plan that His people shall present something which they have to suppose, which is not taught in the Word. It is not His will that they shall get into controversy over questions which will not help them spiritually, such as, Who is to compose the hundred and forty-four thousand? This those who are the elect of God will in a short time know without question. {1SM 174.3} [1SM 174.4] My brethren and sisters, appreciate and study the truths God has given for you and your children. Spend not 175 your time in seeking to know that which will be no spiritual help. "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" (Luke 10:25). This is the all-important question, and it has been clearly answered. "What is written in the law? how readest thou?"--Manuscript 26, 1901. {1SM 174.4} [1SM 175.1] Christ Calls for Unity Our church members see that there are differences of opinion among the leading men, and they themselves enter into controversy regarding the subjects under dispute. Christ calls for unity. But He does not call for us to unify on wrong practices. The God of heaven draws a sharp contrast between pure, elevating, ennobling truth and false, misleading doctrines. He calls sin and impenitence by the right name. He does not gloss over wrongdoing with a coat of untempered mortar. I urge our brethren to unify upon a true, scriptural basis.--Manuscript 10, 1905. - {1SM 175.1} [1SM 175.2] No Strife for Supremacy When the laborers have an abiding Christ in their own souls, when all selfishness is dead, when there is no rivalry, no strife for the supremacy, when oneness exists, when they sanctify themselves, so that love for one another is seen and felt, then the showers of the grace of the Holy Spirit will just as surely come upon them as that God's promise will never fail in one jot or tittle. But when the work of others is discounted, that the workers may show their own superiority, they prove that their own work does not bear the signature it should. God cannot bless them.--Manuscript 24, 1896. {1SM 175.2} [1SM 176.1] Chap. 22 - The Peril of Extreme Views ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, METHODS, NO. 4.］ - St. Helena, California May 19, 1890 Dear Brother K: I expected ere this to see you and talk with you, or write to you; but I have not been able to do either, neither am I now able; but I feel a deep interest in you and am desirous that you shall not be separated from the work. I have not strength to do justice in conversation with you; your mind is so quick and your tongue so fluent, that I fear I should become very much wearied, and that which I might say would not remain distinct in your mind. {1SM 176.1} [1SM 176.2] I see your danger; you can readily put your thoughts into words. You put things in a strong light; and your language is not guarded. Your views on some points are so expressed that you make your brethren afraid of you. This need not be. You should not try to get as far from your brethren as you can, making it appear that you do not see alike. {1SM 176.2} [1SM 176.3] I have been shown that your influence for good is greatly lessened because you feel it your duty to express 177 your ideas on certain points which you do not fully comprehend yourself, and which, with all your efforts, you cannot make others comprehend. I have been shown that it was not necessary for you to feel that you must dwell upon these points. Some of your ideas are correct, others incorrect and erroneous. {1SM 176.3} [1SM 177.1] If you would dwell on such subjects as Christ's willingness to forgive sins, to receive the sinner, to save that which is lost, subjects that inspire hope and courage, you would be a blessing. But while you strive to be original and take such extreme views, and use such strong language in presenting them, there is danger of doing much harm. Some may grasp your thought and seem to be benefited, but when tempted and overcome, they lose courage to fight the good fight of faith. {1SM 177.1} [1SM 177.2] If you will dwell less on these ideas, which seem to you so important, and will restrain your extravagant expressions, you yourself will have more faith. I saw that your mind was at times unbalanced from trying very hard to study into and explain the mystery of godliness, which is just as great a mystery after your study and explanations as it was before. {1SM 177.2} [1SM 177.3] Differing Experiences in Conversion Lead the people to look to Jesus as their only hope and helper; leave the Lord room to work upon the mind, to speak to the soul, and to impress the understanding. It is not essential for you to know and tell others all the whys and wherefores as to what constitutes the new heart, or as to the position they can and must reach so as never to sin. You have no such work to do. {1SM 177.3} [1SM 177.4] All are not constituted alike. Conversions are not all alike. Jesus impresses the heart, and the sinner is born again to new life. Often souls have been drawn to Christ when there was no violent conviction, no soul rending, no remorseful terrors. They looked upon an uplifted Saviour, they lived. They saw the soul's need, they saw the Saviour's sufficiency, and His claims, they heard His voice saying, "Follow Me," and they rose up and followed Him. This 178 conversion was genuine, and the religious life was just as decided as was that of others who suffered all the agony of a violent process. {1SM 177.4} [1SM 178.1] Our ministers must cease to dwell upon their peculiar ideas with the feeling, "You must see this point as I do, or you cannot be saved." Away with this egotism. The great work to be done in every case is to win souls to Christ. Men must see Jesus on the cross, they must look and live. It is not your ideas they must feed upon, but it is the flesh and blood of the Son of God. He says, "My flesh is meat indeed" (John 6:55). "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63). {1SM 178.1} [1SM 178.2] Leave Christ Room to Work The soul that accepts Jesus places himself under the care of the Great Physician, and let men be careful how they come between the patient and the Physician who discerns all the needs of the soul. Christ, the physician of the soul, understands its defects and its maladies, and knows how to heal with the purchase of His own blood. What the soul lacks, He can best supply. But men are so officious, they want to do so much, that they overdo the matter, leaving Christ no room to work. {1SM 178.2} [1SM 178.3] Whatever molding and fashioning needs to be wrought in the soul, Christ can best do. The conviction may not be deep, but if the sinner comes to Christ, viewing Him upon the cross, the just dying for the unjust, the sight will break every barrier down. Christ has undertaken the work of saving all who trust in Him for salvation. He sees the wrongs that need to be righted, the evils that need to be repressed. He came to seek and save that which was lost. "Him that cometh to me," He says, "I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). {1SM 178.3} [1SM 178.4] Through the goodness and mercy of Christ the sinner is to be restored to the divine favor. God in Christ is daily beseeching men to be reconciled to God. With outstretched arms He is ready to receive and welcome not only the sinner but the prodigal. His dying love, manifested on Calvary, is the sinner's assurance of acceptance, peace, and 179 love. Teach these things in the simplest form, that the sin-darkened soul may see the light shining from the cross of Calvary. {1SM 178.4} [1SM 179.1] Satan is working in many ways, that the very men who ought to preach the message may be occupied with fine-drawn theories which he will cause to appear of such magnitude and importance as to fill the whole mind; and while they think they are making wonderful strides in experience, they are idolizing a few ideas, and their influence is injured, and tells but little on the Lord's side. {1SM 179.1} [1SM 179.2] Let every minister make earnest efforts to ascertain what is the mind of Christ. Unless your mind becomes better balanced in regard to some things, your course will separate you from the work, and you will not know at what you stumble. You will advance ideas which you might better never have originated. {1SM 179.2} [1SM 179.3] There are those who pick out from the Word of God, and also from the Testimonies, detached paragraphs or sentences that may be interpreted to suit their ideas, and they dwell upon these, and build themselves up in their own positions, when God is not leading them. Here is your danger. {1SM 179.3} [1SM 179.4] You will take passages in the Testimonies that speak of the close of probation, of the shaking among God's people, and you will talk of a coming out from this people of a purer, holier people that will arise. Now all this pleases the enemy. We should not needlessly take a course that will make differences or create dissension. We should not give the impression that if our particular ideas are not followed, it is because the ministers are lacking in comprehension and in faith, and are walking in darkness. {1SM 179.4} [1SM 179.5] Your mind has been on an unnatural strain for a long time. You have much truth, precious truth, but mingled with suppositions. Your extreme ideas and strong language often destroy the effect of your best efforts. Should many accept the views you advance, and talk and act upon them, we would see one of the greatest fanatical excitements that has ever been witnessed among Seventh-day Adventists. This is what Satan wants. 180 {1SM 179.5} [1SM 180.1] Leave Mysteries Alone Now there are in the lessons of Christ, subjects in abundance that you can speak upon. And mysteries which neither you nor your hearers can understand or explain might better be left alone. Give the Lord Jesus Christ room Himself to teach; let Him by the influence of His Spirit open to the understanding the wonderful plan of salvation. {1SM 180.1} [1SM 180.2] There is a time of trouble coming to the people of God, but we are not to keep that constantly before the people, and rein them up to have a time of trouble beforehand. There is to be a shaking among God's people, but this is not the present truth to carry to the churches.... {1SM 180.2} [1SM 180.3] The ministers should not feel that they have some wonderful advanced ideas, and unless all receive these, they will be shaken out and a people will arise to go forward and upward to the victory. Some of those who are resisting the very principles of the message God has sent for this time, present just such cases as yourself. They point to your extreme views and teachings as an excuse for their neglect of receiving the Lord's messages. {1SM 180.3} [1SM 180.4] Satan's object is accomplished just as surely when men run ahead of Christ and do the work He has never entrusted to their hand, as when they remain in the Laodicean state, lukewarm, feeling rich and increased with goods, and in need of nothing. The two classes are equally stumbling blocks. {1SM 180.4} [1SM 180.5] Some zealous ones who are aiming and straining every energy for originality have made a grave mistake in trying to get something startling, wonderful, entrancing before the people, something that they think others do not comprehend; but they do not themselves know what they are talking about. They speculate upon God's Word, advancing ideas that are not a whit of help to themselves or to the churches. For the time being they may excite the imagination, but there is a reaction, and these very ideas become a hindrance. Faith is confounded with fancy, and their views may bias the mind in a wrong direction. 181 {1SM 180.5} [1SM 181.1] Let the plain, simple statements of the Word of God be food for the mind; this speculating upon ideas that are not clearly presented there is dangerous business. {1SM 181.1} [1SM 181.2] You are naturally combative. You do not care much whether you harmonize with your brethren or not. You would like to enter into controversy, would like to fight for your particular ideas; but you should lay this aside, for this is not developing the Christian graces. Work with all your power to answer the prayer of Christ, that His disciples may be one, as He is one with the Father. {1SM 181.2} [1SM 181.3] Not a soul of us is safe unless we learn of Jesus daily, His meekness, His lowliness of heart. When you go to any place to labor, do not be dictatorial, do not be severe, do not be antagonistic. Preach the love of Christ, and this will melt and subdue hearts. Seek to be of one mind and of one judgment, coming close in harmony with your brethren, and to speak the same things. {1SM 181.3} [1SM 181.4] Talk Not of Divisions This talking about divisions because all do not have the same ideas as present themselves to your mind, is not the work of God, but of the enemy. Talk the simple truths wherein you can agree. Talk of unity; do not become narrow and conceited; let your mind broaden. {1SM 181.4} [1SM 181.5] Christ does not weigh character in scales of human judgment. He says, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me" (John 12:32). Every soul who responds to this drawing will turn from iniquity. Christ is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto Him. He who comes to Jesus is setting his feet upon a ladder that reaches from earth to heaven. Teach it by pen, by voice, that God is above the ladder; the bright rays of His glory are shining upon every round of the ladder. He is looking graciously upon all who are climbing painfully upward, that He may send them help, divine help, when the hand seems to be relaxing and the foot trembling. Yes, tell it, tell it in words that will melt the heart, that not one who shall perseveringly climb the ladder will fail of an entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour 182 Jesus Christ; those who believe in Christ shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of His hand. {1SM 181.5} [1SM 182.1] Tell the people in clear, hopeful language how they may escape the heritage of shame which is our deserved portion. But for Christ's sake do not present before them ideas that will discourage them, that will make the way to heaven seem very difficult. Keep all these overstrained ideas to yourself. {1SM 182.1} [1SM 182.2] While we must often impress the mind with the fact that the Christian life is a life of warfare, that we must watch and pray and toil, that there is peril to the soul in relaxing the spiritual vigilance for one moment, the completeness of the salvation proffered us from Jesus who loves us and gave Himself that we should not perish but have everlasting life, is to be the theme. {1SM 182.2} [1SM 182.3] Day by day we may walk with God, day by day following on to know the Lord, entering into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, laying hold on the hope set before us. If we reach heaven it must be by binding the soul to the Mediator, becoming partakers of the divine nature. Leaning on Christ, your life being hid with Christ in God and led by His Spirit, you have the genuine faith. {1SM 182.3} [1SM 182.4] Believing fully in the efficacy of His atoning sacrifice, we shall be laborers together with God. Trusting in His merits, we are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Always keeping hold of Christ, we are coming nearer and nearer to God. Jesus desires us to keep this always prominent. Do not arouse your combative spirit; the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits. . . . {1SM 182.4} [1SM 182.5] Harmonize With Your Brethren Do not think that you must make prominent every idea your imagination receives. Jesus said to His disciples, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now" (John 16:12). How much more should we, who are constantly liable to err, beware of urging 183 upon others that which they are not prepared to receive. Constantly looking unto Jesus, restrain your strong, extravagant expressions. But while you should be cautious as to your words and ideas, it is not necessary that your labors should entirely cease. Seek to be in harmony with your brethren, and there will be plenty for you to do in the vineyard of the Lord. But exalt Christ, not your ideas and views. Put on the armor, and keep step with God's workers, shoulder to shoulder; press the battle against the enemy. Hide in Jesus. Dwell on the simple lessons of Christ, feed the flock of God, and you will become settled, strengthened, established; you will work to build up others in the most holy faith. {1SM 182.5} [1SM 183.1] If you differ with your brethren as to your understanding of the grace of Christ and the operations of His Spirit, you should not make these differences prominent. You view the matter from one point; another, just as devoted to God, views the same question from another point, and speaks of the things that make the deepest impression on his mind; another viewing it from a still different point, presents another phase; and how foolish it is to get into contention over these things, when there is really nothing to contend about. Let God work on the mind and impress the heart. {1SM 183.1} [1SM 183.2] The Lord is constantly at work to open the understanding, to quicken the perceptions, that man may have a right sense of sin and of the far-reaching claims of God's law. The unconverted man thinks of God as unloving, as severe, and even revengeful; His presence is thought to be a constant restraint, His character an expression of "Thou shalt not." His service is regarded as full of gloom and hard requirements. But when Jesus is seen upon the cross, as the gift of God because He loved man, the eyes are opened to see things in a new light. God as revealed in Christ is not a severe judge, an avenging tyrant, but a merciful and loving Father. {1SM 183.2} [1SM 183.3] As we see Jesus dying upon the cross to save lost man, the heart echoes the words of John, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should 184 be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not" (1 John 3:1). There is nothing that more decidedly distinguishes the Christian from the worldly man than the estimate he has of God. {1SM 183.3} [1SM 184.1] Some workers in the cause of God have been too ready to hurl denunciations against the sinner; the grace and love of the Father in giving His Son to die for the sinful race have been put in the background. The teacher needs the grace of Christ upon his own soul, in order to make known to the sinner what God really is--a Father waiting with yearning love to receive the returning prodigal, not hurling at him accusations in wrath, but preparing a festival of joy to welcome his return (Zephaniah 3:14-17). {1SM 184.1} [1SM 184.2] O that we might all learn the way of the Lord in winning souls to Christ! We should learn and teach the precious lessons in the light that shineth from the sacrifice upon the cross of Calvary. There is but one way that leads from ruin, and continuously ascends, faith all the time reaching beyond the darkness into the light, until it rests upon the throne of God. All who have learned this lesson have accepted the light which has come to their understanding. To them this upward way is not a dark, uncertain passage; it is not the way of finite minds, not a path cut out by human device, a path in which toll is exacted from every traveler. {1SM 184.2} [1SM 184.3] You cannot gain an entrance by penance nor by any works that you can do. No, God Himself has the honor of providing a way, and it is so complete, so perfect, that man cannot, by any works he may do, add to its perfection. It is broad enough to receive the greatest sinner if he repents, and it is so narrow, so holy, lifted up so high, that sin cannot be admitted there. {1SM 184.3} [1SM 184.4] When God is seen as He is, the blessed truth shines with a new and clearer light. That which kept the mind in perplexity is cleared away by the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. And yet there are many things we shall not comprehend; but we have the blessed assurance that what we know not now, we shall know hereafter.-- Letter 15a, 1890. {1SM 184.4} [1SM 185.1] Chap. 23 - Beware of Any Time Setting - "It is not for you to Know the Times or the Seasons" ［SERMON AT LANSING, MICHIGAN, SEPT. 5, 1891.］ "He shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: and, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power" (Acts 1:3-7). {1SM 185.1} [1SM 185.2] The disciples were anxious to know the exact time for the revelation of the kingdom of God; but Jesus tells them that they may not know the times and the seasons; for the Father has not revealed them. To understand when the kingdom of God should be restored, was not the thing of 186 most importance for them to know. They were to be found following the Master, praying, waiting, watching, and working. They were to be representatives to the world of the character of Christ. That which was essential for a successful Christian experience in the days of the disciples, is essential in our day. "And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." And after the Holy Ghost was come upon them, what were they to do? "And ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:7, 8). {1SM 185.2} [1SM 186.1] Improve Present Opportunities This is the work in which we also are to be engaged. Instead of living in expectation of some special season of excitement, we are wisely to improve present opportunities, doing that which must be done in order that souls may be saved. Instead of exhausting the powers of our mind in speculations in regard to the times and seasons which the Lord has placed in His own power, and withheld from men, we are to yield ourselves to the control of the Holy Spirit, to do present duties, to give the bread of life, unadulterated with human opinions, to souls who are perishing for the truth. {1SM 186.1} [1SM 186.2] Satan is ever ready to fill the mind with theories and calculations that will divert men from the present truth, and disqualify them for the giving of the third angel's message to the world. It has ever been thus; for our Saviour often had to speak reprovingly to those who indulged in speculations and were ever inquiring into those things which the Lord had not revealed. Jesus had come to earth to impart important truth to men, and He wished to impress their minds with the necessity of receiving and obeying His precepts and instructions, of doing their present duty, and His communications were of an order that imparted knowledge for their immediate and daily use. {1SM 186.2} [1SM 186.3] Jesus said: "This is life eternal, that they might know 187 thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). All that was done and said had this one object in view--to rivet truth in their minds that they might attain unto everlasting life. Jesus did not come to astonish men with some great announcement of some special time when some great event would occur, but He came to instruct and save the lost. He did not come to arouse and gratify curiosity; for He knew that this would but increase the appetite for the curious and the marvelous. It was His aim to impart knowledge whereby men might increase in spiritual strength, and advance in the way of obedience and true holiness. He gave only such instruction as could be appropriated to the needs of their daily life, only such truth as could be given to others for the same appropriation. {1SM 186.3} [1SM 187.1] He did not make new revelations to men, but opened to their understanding truths that had long been obscured or misplaced through the false teaching of the priests and teachers. Jesus replaced the gems of divine truth in their proper setting, in the order in which they had been given to patriarchs and prophets. And after giving them this precious instruction, He promised to give them the Holy Spirit whereby all things that He had said unto them should be brought to their remembrance. {1SM 187.1} [1SM 187.2] We are in continual danger of getting above the simplicity of the gospel. There is an intense desire on the part of many to startle the world with something original, that shall lift the people into a state of spiritual ecstasy, and change the present order of experience. There is certainly great need of a change in the present order of experience; for the sacredness of present truth is not realized as it should be, but the change we need is a change of heart, and can only be obtained by seeking God individually for His blessing, by pleading with Him for His power, by fervently praying that His grace may come upon us, and that our characters may be transformed. This is the change we need today, and for the attainment of this experience we should exercise persevering energy and manifest heartfelt earnestness. We should ask with true sincerity, 188 "What shall I do to be saved?" We should know just what steps we are taking heavenward. {1SM 187.2} [1SM 188.1] Warned in Regard to Time Setting Christ gave to His disciples truths whose breadth and depth and value they little appreciated, or even comprehended, and the same condition exists among the people of God today. We too have failed to take in the greatness, to perceive the beauty of the truth which God has entrusted to us today. Should we advance in spiritual knowledge, we would see the truth developing and expanding in lines of which we have little dreamed, but it will never develop in any line that will lead us to imagine that we may know the times and the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power. Again and again have I been warned in regard to time setting. There will never again be a message for the people of God that will be based on time. We are not to know the definite time either for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit or for the coming of Christ. {1SM 188.1} [1SM 188.2] I was searching through my writings, before coming to this meeting, to see what I should take with me to Australia, and I found an envelope on which was written, "Testimony given in regard to time setting, June 21, 1851. Preserve carefully." I opened it, and this is what I found. It reads: {1SM 188.2} [1SM 188.3] "A copy of a vision the Lord gave Sister White, June 21, 1851, at Camden, N.Y. The Lord showed me that the message must go, and that it must not be hung on time; for time will never be a test again. I saw that some were getting a false excitement, arising from preaching time, that the third angel's message can stand on its own foundation, and that it needs not time to strengthen it, and that it will go with mighty power, and do its work, and will be cut short in righteousness. {1SM 188.3} [1SM 188.4] "I saw some were making everything bend to this next fall; that is, making their calculations, and disposing of their property in reference to that time. I saw that this was wrong for this reason: instead of going to God daily, and earnestly desiring to know their present duty, they 189 looked ahead, and made their calculations as though they knew that the work would end this fall, without inquiring their duty of God daily.--E. G. White. {1SM 188.4} [1SM 189.1] "Copied at Milton, June 29, 1851, A. A. G." {1SM 189.1} [1SM 189.2] This was the document I came upon last Monday in searching over my writings, and here is another which was written in regard to a man who was setting time in 1884, and sending broadcast his arguments to prove his theories. The report of what he was doing was brought to me at the Jackson ［Michigan］ camp meeting, and I told the people they need not take heed to this man's theory; for the event he predicted would not take place. The times and the seasons God has put in His own power. And why has not God given us this knowledge?--Because we would not make a right use of it if He did. A condition of things would result from this knowledge among our people that would greatly retard the work of God in preparing a people to stand in the great day that is to come. We are not to live upon time excitement. We are not to be engrossed with speculations in regard to the times and the seasons which God has not revealed. Jesus has told His disciples to "watch," but not for a definite time. His followers are to be in the position of those who are listening for the orders of their Captain; they are to watch, wait, pray, and work, as they approach the time for the coming of the Lord; but no one will be able to predict just when that time will come; for "of that day and hour knoweth no man." You will not be able to say that He will come in one, two, or five years, neither are you to put off His coming by stating that it may not be for ten or twenty years. {1SM 189.2} [1SM 189.3] To Have Lamps Trimmed and Burning It is the duty of the people of God to have their lamps trimmed and burning, to be as men that wait for the Bridegroom, when He shall return from the wedding. You have not a moment to lose in neglect of the great salvation that has been provided for you. The time of the probation of souls is coming to an end. From day to day the destiny 190 of men is being sealed, and even from this congregation we know not how soon many shall close their eyes in death and be habited for the tomb. We should now consider that our life is swiftly passing away, that we are not safe one moment unless our life is hid with Christ in God. Our duty is not to be looking forward to some special time for some special work to be done for us, but to go forward in our work of warning the world; for we are to be witnesses of Christ to the uttermost parts of the world. {1SM 189.3} [1SM 190.1] All around us are the young, the impenitent, the unconverted, and what are we doing for them? Parents, in the ardor of your first love, are you seeking for the conversion of your children, or are you engrossed with the things of this life to such an extent that you are not making earnest efforts to be laborers together with God? Do you have an appreciation of the work and mission of the Holy Spirit? Do you realize that the Holy Spirit is the agency whereby we are to reach the souls of those around us? When this meeting shall close, will you go from here and forget the earnest appeals that have been made to you? Will the messages of warning be left unheeded, and the truth you have heard leak out of your heart as water leaks out of a broken vessel? {1SM 190.1} [1SM 190.2] The apostle says, "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?" (Hebrews 2:1-4). {1SM 190.2} [1SM 190.3] The third angel's message is swelling into a loud cry, and you must not feel at liberty to neglect the present duty, and still entertain the idea that at some future time you will be the recipients of great blessing, when without any effort on your part a wonderful revival will take 191 place. Today you are to give yourselves to God, that He may make of you vessels unto honor, and meet for His service. Today you are to give yourself to God, that you may be emptied of self, emptied of envy, jealousy, evil surmising, strife, everything that shall be dishonoring to God. Today you are to have your vessel purified that it may be ready for the heavenly dew, ready for the showers of the latter rain; for the latter rain will come, and the blessing of God will fill every soul that is purified from every defilement. It is our work today to yield our souls to Christ, that we may be fitted for the time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord--fitted for the baptism of the Holy Spirit.--The Review and Herald, March 22, 1892. {1SM 190.3} [1SM 191.1] The Time Not Revealed God has not revealed to us the time when this message will close, or when probation will have an end. Those things that are revealed we shall accept for ourselves and for our children; but let us not seek to know that which has been kept secret in the councils of the Almighty. It is our duty to watch and work and wait, to labor every moment for the souls of men that are ready to perish. We are to keep walking continually in the footsteps of Jesus, working in His lines, dispensing His gifts as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Satan will be ready to give to anyone who is not learning every day of Jesus, a special message of his own creating, in order to make of no effect the wonderful truth for this time. {1SM 191.1} [1SM 191.2] Letters have come to me asking me if I have any special light as to the time when probation will close; and I answer that I have only this message to bear, that it is now time to work while the day lasts, for the night cometh in which no man can work. Now, just now, it is time for us to be watching, working, and waiting. The Word of the Lord reveals the fact that the end of all things is at hand, and its testimony is most decided that it is necessary for every soul to have the truth planted in the heart so that it will control the life and sanctify the character. 192 The Spirit of the Lord is working to take the truth of the inspired Word and stamp it upon the soul so that professed followers of Christ will have a holy, sacred joy that they will be able to impart to others. The opportune time for us to work is now, just now, while the day lasts. But there is no command for anyone to search the Scripture in order to ascertain, if possible, when probation will close. God has no such message for any mortal lips. He would have no mortal tongue declare that which He has hidden in His secret councils.--The Review and Herald, Oct. 9, 1894. {1SM 191.2} [1SM 192.1] Watch and Pray I have no specific time of which to speak when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will take place--when the mighty angel will come down from heaven, and unite with the third angel in closing up the work for this world; my message is that our only safety is in being ready for the heavenly refreshing, having our lamps trimmed and burning. Christ has told us to watch; "for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh." "Watch and pray" is the charge that is given us by our Redeemer. Day by day we are to seek the enlightenment of the Spirit of God, that it may do its office work upon the soul and character. O, how much time has been wasted through giving attention to trifling things. Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.--The Review and Herald, March 29, 1892. {1SM 192.1} [1SM 193.1] Chap. 24 - The Alpha and the Omega - ［DURING THE SUMMER OF 1904, AT A CRITICAL POINT IN THE CRISIS OVER THE PROMULGATION BY DR. J. H. KELLOGG OF PANTHEISTIC THEORIES, AND AT A TIME WHEN HE WAS ADVOCATING UNSOUND POLICIES RELATING TO THE MANAGEMENT OF OUR MEDICAL WORK, ELLEN G. WHITE SOUNDED A NUMBER OF WARNINGS, WHICH WERE ASSEMBLED AND "PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR" IN A SIXTY-PAGE PAMPHLET, SPECIAL TESTIMONIES, SERIES B, NO. 2, ENTITLED "TESTIMONIES FOR THE CHURCH CONTAINING LETTERS TO PHYSICIANS AND MINISTERS GIVING MESSAGES OF WARNING AND WORDS OF COUNSEL AND ADMONITION REGARDING OUR PRESENT SITUATION." IN TWO OF THESE COMMUNICATIONS SHE REFERS TO "THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA." FOLLOWING ARE THE TWO STATEMENTS IN THEIR ENTIRETY AS TAKEN FROM THE PAMPHLET. FURTHER COUNSELS MAKING REFERENCE TO PANTHEISM MAY BE FOUND IN TESTIMONIES, VOLUME 8, PAGES 255-318 AND THE MINISTRY OF HEALING, PAGES 427-438. FOR THE BACKGROUND OF THE EXPERIENCE WITH PANTHEISM, SEE A. G. DANIELLS' THE ABIDING GIFT OF PROPHECY, PAGES 330-342, AND L. H. CHRISTIAN'S THE FRUITAGE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS, PAGES 277-296.--COMPILERS.］ {1SM 193.1} [1SM 193.2] Teach the Word Washington, D.C. July 24, 1904 To Our Leading Physicians: Dear Fellow Workers: I am awakened at eleven o'clock. The representations passing before me are so vivid that I cannot sleep. The word of the Lord has come to me that there is a decided work to be done in warning our medical 194 missionaries against the dangers and perils that surround them. {1SM 193.2} [1SM 194.1] The Lord calls upon those connected with our sanitariums to reach a higher standard. No lie is of the truth. If we follow cunningly devised fables, we unite with the enemy's forces against God and Christ. God calls upon those who have been wearing a yoke of human manufacture to break this yoke, and no longer be the bond servants of men. {1SM 194.1} [1SM 194.2] The battle is on. Satan and his angels are working with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. They are untiring in their efforts to draw souls away from the truth, away from righteousness, to spread ruin throughout the universe. They work with marvelous industry to furnish a multitude of deceptions to take souls captive. Their efforts are unceasing. The enemy is ever seeking to lead souls into infidelity and skepticism. He would do away with God, and with Christ, who was made flesh and dwelt among us to teach us that in obedience to God's will we may be victorious over sin. {1SM 194.2} [1SM 194.3] Assailed by Every Form of Evil Every form of evil is waiting for an opportunity to assail us. Flattery, bribes, inducements, promises of wonderful exaltation, will be most assiduously employed. {1SM 194.3} [1SM 194.4] What are God's servants doing to raise the barrier of a "Thus saith the Lord" against this evil? The enemy's agents are working unceasingly to prevail against the truth. Where are the faithful guardians of the Lord's flocks? Where are His watchmen? Are they standing on the high tower, giving the danger signal, or are they allowing the peril to pass unheeded? Where are the medical missionaries? Are they co-workers with Christ, wearing His yoke, or are they wearing a yoke of human manufacture? {1SM 194.4} [1SM 194.5] Satan and his angels are making every effort to obtain control of minds, that men may be swayed by falsehood and pleasing fables. Are our physicians lifting the danger signal? Are the men who have been placed in prominent positions in our sanitariums lifting the danger signal? Or are 195 many of the watchmen asleep, while mischievous tongues and acute minds, sharpened by long practice in evading the truth, are continually at work to bring in confusion, and to carry out plans instigated by the enemy? {1SM 194.5} [1SM 195.1] Please read Paul's exhortation to the Colossians. He speaks of his earnest desire that the hearts of the believers might be "knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:2, 3). "And this I say," he declares, "lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. . . . As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:4-9). {1SM 195.1} [1SM 195.2] Will the men in our institutions keep silent, allowing insidious fallacies to be promulgated to the ruin of souls? The sentiments of the enemy are being scattered everywhere. Seeds of discord, of unbelief, of infidelity, are being sown broadcast. Shall our medical missionaries raise no barrier against this evil? Is it not time that we asked ourselves, Shall we allow the adversary to lead us to give up the work of proclaiming the truth? Shall we allow him to keep us from being channels through which the blessings of the gospel, as a current of life, shall flow to the world? Let every man now arouse, and work as he has opportunity. Let him speak words in season and out of season, and look to Christ for encouragement and strength in welldoing. {1SM 195.2} [1SM 195.3] Dangers Continually Increasing The dangers coming upon us are continually increasing. It is high time that we put on the whole armor of God, and work earnestly to keep Satan from gaining any 196 further advantage. Angels of God, that excel in strength, are waiting for us to call them to our aid, that our faith may not be eclipsed by the fierceness of the conflict. Renewed energy is now needed. Vigilant action is called for. Indifference and sloth will result in the loss of personal religion and of heaven. {1SM 195.3} [1SM 196.1] At this time the Laodicean message is to be given, to arouse a slumbering church. Let the thought of the shortness of time stimulate you to earnest, untiring effort. Remember that Satan has come down with great power, to work with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish. {1SM 196.1} [1SM 196.2] For years our physicians have been trained to think that they must not give expression to sentiments that differ from those of their chief. ［REFERENCE IS HERE MADE TO DR. J. H. KELLOGG, FOR MANY YEARS THE MEDICAL SUPERINTENDENT OF THE BATTLE CREEK SANITARIUM.--COMPILERS.］ O that they had broken the yoke! O that they had called sin by its right name! Then they would not be regarded in the heavenly courts as men who, though bearing weighty responsibilities, have failed of speaking the truth in reproof of that which has been in disobedience to God's Word. {1SM 196.2} [1SM 196.3] Physicians, have you been doing the Master's business in listening to fanciful and spiritualistic interpretations of the Scriptures, interpretations which undermine the foundations of our faith, and holding your peace? God says, "Neither will I be with you any more, unless you awake, and vindicate your Redeemer." {1SM 196.3} [1SM 196.4] Sophistries That Undermine the Pillars My message to you is: No longer consent to listen without protest to the perversion of truth. Unmask the pretentious sophistries which, if received, will lead ministers and physicians and medical missionary workers to ignore the truth. Every one is now to stand on his guard. God calls upon men and women to take their stand under the blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel. I have been instructed to warn our people; for many are in danger 197 of receiving theories and sophistries that undermine the foundation pillars of the faith. {1SM 196.4} [1SM 197.1] Sometimes our physicians talk for hours, when they are weary and perplexed, and in no fit condition to talk. Medical missionaries should refuse to hold long night sessions of conversation. These night talks have been times when Satan with his seductive influence has stolen away from one and then another the faith once delivered to the saints. Brilliant, sparkling ideas often flash from a mind that is influenced by the great deceiver. Those who listen and acquiesce will become charmed, as Eve was charmed by the serpent's words. They cannot listen to charming philosophical speculations, and at the same time keep the word of the living God clearly in mind. {1SM 197.1} [1SM 197.2] Our physicians have lost a great deal out of their lives because they have seen wrong transactions and heard wrong words spoken, and seen wrong principles followed, and have not spoken in reproof, for fear that they would be repulsed. {1SM 197.2} [1SM 197.3] I call upon those who have been connected with these binding influences to break the yoke to which they have long submitted, and stand as free men in Christ. Nothing but a determined effort will break the spell that is upon them. {1SM 197.3} [1SM 197.4] The Alpha Now Seen Be not deceived; many will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. We have now before us the alpha of this danger. The omega will be of a most startling nature. {1SM 197.4} [1SM 197.5] We need to study the words that Christ uttered in the prayer that He offered just before His trial and crucifixion. "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the 198 earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word" (John 17:1-6). {1SM 197.5} [1SM 198.1] Christians to Manifest Godliness The righteousness of God is absolute. This righteousness characterizes all His works, all His laws. As God is, so must His people be. The life of Christ is to be revealed in the lives of His followers. In all His public and private acts, in every word and deed, practical godliness was seen, and this godliness is to be seen in the lives of His disciples. {1SM 198.1} [1SM 198.2] Those who heed the light given them will bring the virtues of the character of Christ into the daily life. Christ did no sin, because there was no sin in Him. God has shown me that the lives of believers are to reveal practical righteousness. {1SM 198.2} [1SM 198.3] Has not God spoken in His Word concerning the solemn events which must shortly take place? As you read these things, do you believe what He says? Or have you, through listening to specious philosophy, given up your faith in God? Can any power avert the punishment that must come upon you unless you humble your hearts before God and confess your sins? How is it, my brethren in the medical missionary work? Does not the living God speak to you from His Word concerning the events that are taking place in fulfillment of that Word? Soon the last great reckoning with man will take place. Have your lives been such that you can then be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, and not be found wanting? Or has your faith been molded and restricted until it has become unbelief? Has your obedience to men become rebellion against God? "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves" (2 Corinthians 13:5).--Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, pp. 12-17. 199 {1SM 198.3} [1SM 199.1] Beware Washington, D.C. August 7, 1904 My Dear Brother: I am given a message to bear to you and the rest of our physicians who are connected with the Medical Missionary Association. Separate from the influence exerted by the book Living Temple; ［A 568-PAGE BOOK ISSUED IN 1903 BY DR. J. H. KELLOGG IN WHICH PANTHEISTIC PHILOSOPHIES WERE PROMULGATED.--COMPILERS.］ for it contains specious sentiments. There are in it sentiments that are entirely true, but these are mingled with error. Scriptures are taken out of their connection, and are used to uphold erroneous theories. {1SM 199.1} [1SM 199.2] The thought of the errors contained in this book has given me great distress, and the experience that I have passed through in connection with the matter has nearly cost me my life. {1SM 199.2} [1SM 199.3] It will be said that Living Temple has been revised. But the Lord has shown me that the writer has not changed, and that there can be no unity between him and the ministers of the gospel while he continues to cherish his present sentiments. I am bidden to lift my voice in warning to our people, saying, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked" (Galatians 6:7). {1SM 199.3} [1SM 199.4] You have had access to Testimonies for the Church, volumes 7 and 8. In these Testimonies the danger signal is raised. But the light so clear and plain to minds that have not been influenced by deceptive theories, has not been discerned by some. While the misleading theories of this book are entertained by our physicians, there cannot be union between them and the ministers who are bearing the gospel message. There should be no union until there is a change. {1SM 199.4} [1SM 199.5] When medical missionaries make their practice and example harmonize with the name they bear, when they feel their need of uniting firmly with the ministers of the gospel, then there can be harmonious action. But we must 200 firmly refuse to be drawn away from the platform of eternal truth, which since 1844 has stood the test. {1SM 199.5} [1SM 200.1] Alpha Presented in "Living Temple" I am instructed to speak plainly. "Meet it," is the word spoken to me. "Meet it firmly, and without delay." But it is not to be met by our taking our working forces from the field to investigate doctrines and points of difference. We have no such investigation to make. In the book Living Temple there is presented the alpha of deadly heresies. The omega will follow, and will be received by those who are not willing to heed the warning God has given. {1SM 200.1} [1SM 200.2] Our physicians, upon whom important responsibilities rest, should have clear spiritual discernment. They are to stand constantly on guard. Dangers that we do not now discern will soon break upon us, and I greatly desire that they shall not be deceived. I have an intense longing to see them standing free in the Lord. I pray that they may have courage to stand firm for the truth as it is in Jesus, holding fast the beginning of their confidence unto the end.--Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 2, pp. 49, 50. {1SM 200.2} [1SM 201.1] Chap. 25 - The Foundation of Our Faith ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN SPECIAL TESTIMONIES, SERIES B, NO. 2, PAGES 51-59, PUBLISHED IN 1904.］ - The Lord will put new, vital force into His work as human agencies obey the command to go forth and proclaim the truth. He who declared that His truth would shine forever will proclaim this truth through faithful messengers, who will give the trumpet a certain sound. The truth will be criticized, scorned, and derided; but the closer it is examined and tested, the brighter it will shine. {1SM 201.1} [1SM 201.2] As a people, we are to stand firm on the platform of eternal truth that has withstood test and trial. We are to hold to the sure pillars of our faith. The principles of truth that God has revealed to us are our only true foundation. They have made us what we are. The lapse of time has not lessened their value. It is the constant effort of the enemy to remove these truths from their setting, and to put in their place spurious theories. He will bring in everything that he possibly can to carry out his deceptive designs. But the Lord will raise up men of keen perception, who will give these truths their proper place in the plan of God. {1SM 201.2} [1SM 201.3] I have been instructed by the heavenly messenger that some of the reasoning in the book Living Temple is 202 unsound, and that this reasoning would lead astray the minds of those who are not thoroughly established on the foundation principles of present truth. It introduces that which is nought but speculation in regard to the personality of God and where His presence is. No one on this earth has a right to speculate on this question. The more fanciful theories are discussed, the less men will know of God and of the truth that sanctifies the soul. {1SM 201.3} [1SM 202.1] One and another come to me, asking me to explain the positions taken in Living Temple. I reply, "They are unexplainable." The sentiments expressed do not give a true knowledge of God. All through the book are passages of Scripture. These scriptures are brought in in such a way that error is made to appear as truth. Erroneous theories are presented in so pleasing a way that unless care is taken, many will be misled. {1SM 202.1} [1SM 202.2] We need not the mysticism that is in this book. Those who entertain these sophistries will soon find themselves in a position where the enemy can talk with them, and lead them away from God. It is represented to me that the writer of this book is on a false track. He has lost sight of the distinguishing truths for this time. He knows not whither his steps are tending. The track of truth lies close beside the track of error, and both tracks may seem to be one to minds which are not worked by the Holy Spirit, and which, therefore, are not quick to discern the difference between truth and error. {1SM 202.2} [1SM 202.3] A View of Approaching Danger About the time that Living Temple was published, there passed before me in the night season, representations indicating that some danger was approaching, and that I must prepare for it by writing out the things God had revealed to me regarding the foundation principles of our faith. A copy of Living Temple was sent me, but it remained in my library, unread. From the light given me by the Lord, I knew that some of the sentiments advocated in the book did not bear the endorsement of God, and that they were a snare that the enemy had prepared for the last 203 days. I thought that this would surely be discerned, and that it would not be necessary for me to say anything about it. {1SM 202.3} [1SM 203.1] In the controversy that arose among our brethren regarding the teachings of this book, those in favor of giving it a wide circulation declared: "It contains the very sentiments that Sister White has been teaching." This assertion struck right to my heart. I felt heartbroken; for I knew that this representation of the matter was not true. {1SM 203.1} [1SM 203.2] Finally my son said to me, "Mother, you ought to read at least some parts of the book, that you may see whether they are in harmony with the light that God has given you." He sat down beside me, and together we read the preface, and most of the first chapter, and also paragraphs in other chapters. As we read, I recognized the very sentiments against which I had been bidden to speak in warning during the early days of my public labors. When I first left the State of Maine, it was to go through Vermont and Massachusetts, to bear a testimony against these sentiments. Living Temple contains the alpha of these theories. I knew that the omega would follow in a little while; and I trembled for our people. I knew that I must warn our brethren and sisters not to enter into controversy over the presence and personality of God. The statements made in Living Temple in regard to this point are incorrect. The scripture used to substantiate the doctrine there set forth, is scripture misapplied. {1SM 203.2} [1SM 203.3] I am compelled to speak in denial of the claim that the teachings of Living Temple can be sustained by statements from my writings. There may be in this book expressions and sentiments that are in harmony with my writings. And there may be in my writings many statements which, taken from their connection, and interpreted according to the mind of the writer of Living Temple, would seem to be in harmony with the teachings of this book. This may give apparent support to the assertion that the sentiments in Living Temple are in harmony with my writings. But God forbid that this sentiment should prevail. {1SM 203.3} [1SM 203.4] Few can discern the result of entertaining the sophistries 204 advocated by some at this time. But the Lord has lifted the curtain, and has shown me the result that would follow. The spiritualistic theories regarding the personality of God, followed to their logical conclusion, sweep away the whole Christian economy. They estimate as nothing the light that Christ came from heaven to give John to give to His people. They teach that the scenes just before us are not of sufficient importance to be given special attention. They make of no effect the truth of heavenly origin, and rob the people of God of their past experience, giving them instead a false science. {1SM 203.4} [1SM 204.1] In a vision of the night I was shown distinctly that these sentiments have been looked upon by some as the grand truths that are to be brought in and made prominent at the present time. I was shown a platform, braced by solid timbers--the truths of the Word of God. Someone high in responsibility in the medical work was directing this man and that man to loosen the timbers supporting this platform. Then I heard a voice saying, "Where are the watchmen that ought to be standing on the walls of Zion? Are they asleep? This foundation was built by the Master Worker, and will stand storm and tempest. Will they permit this man to present doctrines that deny the past experience of the people of God? The time has come to take decided action." {1SM 204.1} [1SM 204.2] The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church, would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. The founders of this system would go into the cities, and do a 205 wonderful work. The Sabbath of course, would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement. The leaders would teach that virtue is better than vice, but God being removed, they would place their dependence on human power, which, without God, is worthless. Their foundation would be built on the sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away the structure. {1SM 204.2} [1SM 205.1] Who has authority to begin such a movement? We have our Bibles. We have our experience, attested to by the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit. We have a truth that admits of no compromise. Shall we not repudiate everything that is not in harmony with this truth? {1SM 205.1} [1SM 205.2] I hesitated and delayed about the sending out of that which the Spirit of the Lord impelled me to write. I did not want to be compelled to present the misleading influence of these sophistries. But in the providence of God, the errors that have been coming in must be met. {1SM 205.2} [1SM 205.3] An Iceberg! "Meet It" Shortly before I sent out the testimonies regarding the efforts of the enemy to undermine the foundation of our faith through the dissemination of seductive theories, I had read an incident about a ship in a fog meeting an iceberg. For several nights I slept but little. I seemed to be bowed down as a cart beneath sheaves. One night a scene was clearly presented before me. A vessel was upon the waters, in a heavy fog. Suddenly the lookout cried, "Iceberg just ahead!" There, towering high above the ship, was a gigantic iceberg. An authoritative voice cried out, "Meet it!" There was not a moment's hesitation. It was a time for instant action. The engineer put on full steam, and the man at the wheel steered the ship straight into the iceberg. With a crash she struck the ice. There was a fearful shock, and the iceberg broke into many pieces, falling with a noise like thunder to the deck. The passengers were violently shaken by the force of the collisions, but no lives were lost. The vessel was injured, but not beyond repair. She rebounded from the contact, trembling from 206 stem to stern, like a living creature. Then she moved forward on her way. {1SM 205.3} [1SM 206.1] Well I knew the meaning of this representation. I had my orders. I had heard the words, like a voice from our Captain, "Meet it!" I knew what my duty was, and that there was not a moment to lose. The time for decided action had come. I must without delay obey the command, "Meet it!". {1SM 206.1} [1SM 206.2] That night I was up at one o'clock, writing as fast as my hand could pass over the paper. For the next few days I worked early and late, preparing for our people the instruction given me regarding the errors that were coming in among us. {1SM 206.2} [1SM 206.3] I have been hoping that there would be a thorough reformation, and that the principles for which we fought in the early days, and which were brought out in the power of the Holy Spirit, would be maintained. {1SM 206.3} [1SM 206.4] The Firm Foundation of Our Faith Many of our people do not realize how firmly the foundation of our faith has been laid. My husband, Elder Joseph Bates, Father Pierce, ［OLDER BRETHREN AMONG THE PIONEERS ARE HERE THUS REMINISCENTLY REFERRED TO. "FATHER PIERCE" WAS STEPHEN PIERCE, WHO SERVED IN MINISTERIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE WORK IN THE EARLY DAYS. "FATHER ANDREWS" WAS EDWARD ANDREWS, THE FATHER OF J. N. ANDREWS.--COMPILERS.］ Elder ［Hiram］ Edson, and others who were keen, noble, and true, were among those who, after the passing of the time in 1844, searched for the truth as for hidden treasure. I met with them, and we studied and prayed earnestly. Often we remained together until late at night, and sometimes through the entire night, praying for light and studying the Word. Again and again these brethren came together to study the Bible, in order that they might know its meaning, and be prepared to teach it with power. When they came to the point in their study where they said, "We can do nothing more," the Spirit of the Lord would come upon me, I would be taken off in vision, and a clear explanation of the passages 207 we had been studying would be given me, with instruction as to how we were to labor and teach effectively. Thus light was given that helped us to understand the scriptures in regard to Christ, His mission, and His priesthood. A line of truth extending from that time to the time when we shall enter the city of God, was made plain to me, and I gave to others the instruction that the Lord had given me. {1SM 206.4} [1SM 207.1] During this whole time I could not understand the reasoning of the brethren. My mind was locked, as it were, and I could not comprehend the meaning of the scriptures we were studying. This was one of the greatest sorrows of my life. I was in this condition of mind until all the principal points of our faith were made clear to our minds, in harmony with the Word of God. The brethren knew that when not in vision, I could not understand these matters, and they accepted as light direct from heaven the revelations given. {1SM 207.1} [1SM 207.2] For two or three years my mind continued to be locked to an understanding of the Scriptures. In the course of our labors, my husband and I visited Father Andrews, ［SEE NOTE ON PAGE 206.］ who was suffering intensely with inflammatory rheumatism. We prayed for him. I laid my hands on his head, and said, "Father Andrews, the Lord Jesus maketh thee whole." He was healed instantly. He got up, and walked about the room, praising God, and saying, "I never saw it on this wise before. Angels of God are in this room." The glory of the Lord was revealed. Light seemed to shine all through the house, and an angel's hand was laid upon my head. From that time to this I have been able to understand the Word of God. {1SM 207.2} [1SM 207.3] What influence is it would lead men at this stage of our history to work in an underhand, powerful way to tear down the foundation of our faith--the foundation that was laid at the beginning of our work by prayerful study of the Word and by revelation? Upon this foundation we have been building for the past fifty years. Do you wonder that when I see the beginning of a work that 208 would remove some of the pillars of our faith, I have something to say? I must obey the command, "Meet it!" . . . {1SM 207.3} [1SM 208.1] I must bear the messages of warning that God gives me to bear, and then leave with the Lord the results. I must now present the matter in all its bearings; for the people of God must not be despoiled. {1SM 208.1} [1SM 208.2] We are God's commandment-keeping people. For the past fifty years every phase of heresy has been brought to bear upon us, to becloud our minds regarding the teaching of the Word--especially concerning the ministration of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, and the message of Heaven for these last days, as given by the angels of the fourteenth chapter of Revelation. Messages of every order and kind have been urged upon Seventh-day Adventists, to take the place of the truth which, point by point, has been sought out by prayerful study, and testified to by the miracle-working power of the Lord. But the waymarks which have made us what we are, are to be preserved, and they will be preserved, as God has signified through His Word and the testimony of His Spirit. He calls upon us to hold firmly, with the grip of faith, to the fundamental principles that are based upon unquestionable authority. 210 {1SM 208.2} [1SM 210.1] Chap. 26 - The Perfect Law INTRODUCTION - OVER A PERIOD OF MORE THAN SIXTY YEARS ABOUT 2,000 E.G. WHITE ARTICLES WERE PUBLISHED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD. ANOTHER 2,000 ARTICLES WERE FURNISHED TO THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. HUNDREDS OF MESSAGES FROM HER PEN APPEARED IN THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR, OUR HEALTH JOURNALS, THE UNION CONFERENCE PAPERS, ET CETERA. {1SM 210.1} [1SM 210.2] THESE ARTICLES COVERED A WIDE VARIETY OF SUBJECTS, INCLUDING PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION, WARNINGS AND COUNSEL FOR THE CHURCH, ACCOUNTS OF TRAVELS AND LABORS, INSTRUCTION IN SOUL-WINNING WORK, AND PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANT, DOCTRINAL PRESENTATIONS. THE FREEDOM OF SPACE OFFERED BY PERIODICAL FORM OF PRESENTATION MADE POSSIBLE VARIED AND DETAILED TREATMENT OF MANY IMPORTANT DOCTRINAL TOPICS. THE SAME SUBJECTS WERE DEALT WITH AGAIN AND AGAIN, EACH TIME WITH AN EMPHASIS ON VARYING POINTS OF INTEREST. IN HARMONY WITH HER INSTRUCTION, THESE MANY ARTICLES HAVE BEEN DRAWN UPON IN THE WORK OF COMPILING CERTAIN ELLEN G. WHITE BOOKS THAT HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED SINCE HER DEATH. {1SM 210.2} [1SM 210.3] WHILE THERE IS NOT A GENERAL CALL FOR THE REPUBLICATION OF ALL OF THE ARTICLES IN THEIR ENTIRELY, THERE IS A DESIRE TO HAVE A CHOICE GROUP OF ARTICLES DEVOTED LARGELY TO DOCTRINAL SUBJECTS REPRINTED IN THEIR COMPLETENESS OF COVERAGE. MANY OF THESE ARE OUTSTANDING IN THEIR PRESENTATION OF THE CENTRAL TRUTHS OF THE ADVENT MESSAGE. THESE PRICELESS MESSAGES ARE HERE PRESENTED FOR THE MOST PART IN THEIR ENTIRETY, GIVING THE READER THE BENEFIT OF EACH STATEMENT IN ITS FULL SETTING. THERE ARE A FEW EXCEPTIONS WHERE THERE WERE LARGE SEGMENTS OF AN ARTICLE THAT WERE NOT CLOSELY RELATED TO THE DOCTRINAL PRESENTATION, AND IN THESE CASES DELETIONS HAVE BEEN MADE AND INDICATED IN THE USUAL WAY. THE CAREFUL STUDENT OF THE WORD OF GOD WILL REJOICE TO SEE THESE CHOICE DOCTRINAL STATEMENTS--ALL OF WHICH CENTER IN CHRIST OUR LORD--APPEAR IN THIS PERMANENT FORM.--WHITE TRUSTEES. {1SM 210.3} [1SM 211.1] ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, APRIL 5, 1898.］ The law of God, as presented in the Scriptures, is broad in its requirements. Every principle is holy, just, and good. The law lays men under obligation to God; it reaches to the thoughts and feelings; and it will produce conviction of sin in every one who is sensible of having transgressed its requirements. If the law extended to the outward conduct only, men would not be guilty in their wrong thoughts, desires, and designs. But the law requires that the soul itself be pure and the mind holy, that the thoughts and feelings may be in accordance with the standard of love and righteousness. {1SM 211.1} [1SM 211.2] In His teachings, Christ showed how far-reaching are the principles of the law spoken from Sinai. He made a living application of that law whose principles remain forever the great standard of righteousness--the standard by which all shall be judged in that great day when the judgment shall sit, and the books shall be opened. He came to fulfill all righteousness, and, as the head of humanity, to show man that he can do the same work, meeting every specification of the requirements of God. Through the measure of His grace furnished to the human agent, not 212 one need miss heaven. Perfection of character is attainable by every one who strives for it. This is made the very foundation of the new covenant of the gospel. The law of Jehovah is the tree; the gospel is the fragrant blossoms and fruit which it bears. {1SM 211.2} [1SM 212.1] When the Spirit of God reveals to man the full meaning of the law, a change takes place in his heart. The faithful portrayal of his true state by the prophet Nathan made David acquainted with his own sins, and aided him in putting them away. He accepted the counsel meekly, and humbled himself before God. "The law of the Lord," he said, "is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer" (Psalm 19:7-14). {1SM 212.1} [1SM 212.2] Paul's Estimate of the Law Paul's testimony of the law is: "What shall we say then? Is the law sin ［the sin is in the man, not in the law］? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained 213 to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me" (Romans 7:7-11). {1SM 212.2} [1SM 213.1] Sin did not kill the law, but it did kill the carnal mind in Paul. "Now we are delivered from the law," he declares, "that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter" (Romans 7:6). "Was that then which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful" (Romans 7:13). "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" (Romans 7:12). Paul calls the attention of his hearers to the broken law, and shows them wherein they are guilty. He instructs them as a schoolmaster instructs his scholars, and shows them the way back to their loyalty to God. {1SM 213.1} [1SM 213.2] There is no safety nor repose nor justification in transgression of the law. Man cannot hope to stand innocent before God, and at peace with Him through the merits of Christ, while he continues in sin. He must cease to transgress, and become loyal and true. As the sinner looks into the great moral looking glass, he sees his defects of character. He sees himself just as he is, spotted, defiled, and condemned. But he knows that the law cannot in any way remove the guilt or pardon the transgressor. He must go farther than this. The law is but the schoolmaster to bring him to Christ. He must look to his sin-bearing Saviour. And as Christ is revealed to him upon the cross of Calvary, dying beneath the weight of the sins of the whole world, the Holy Spirit shows him the attitude of God to all who repent of their transgressions. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). {1SM 213.2} [1SM 213.3] We need, individually, to take heed as we have never done before to a "Thus saith the Lord." There are men who are disloyal to God, who profane His holy Sabbath, who cavil over the plainest statements of the Word, who wrest 214 the Scriptures from their true meaning, and who at the same time make desperate efforts to harmonize their disobedience with the Scriptures. But the Word condemns such practices, as it condemned the scribes and Pharisees in Christ's day. We need to know what is truth. Shall we do as did the Pharisees? Shall we turn from the greatest Teacher the world has ever known to the traditions and maxims and sayings of men? {1SM 213.3} [1SM 214.1] Results of Transgressing the Law There are many beliefs that the mind has no right to entertain. Adam believed the lie of Satan, the wily insinuations against the character of God. "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:16, 17). When Satan tempted Eve, he said, "Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:1-5). {1SM 214.1} [1SM 214.2] The knowledge which God did not want our first parents to have was a knowledge of guilt. And when they accepted the assertions of Satan, which were false, disobedience and transgression were introduced into our world. This disobedience to God's express command, this belief of Satan's lie, opened the floodgates of woe upon the world. Satan has continued the work begun in the Garden of Eden. He has worked vigilantly, that man might accept his assertions as proof against God. He has worked against Christ in His efforts to restore the image of God in man, and imprint in his soul the similitude of God. {1SM 214.2} [1SM 214.3] The belief of a falsehood did not make Paul a kind, 215 tender, compassionate man. He was a religious zealot, exceedingly mad against the truth concerning Jesus. He went through the country, haling men and women, and committing them to prison. Speaking of this, he says: "I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women" (Acts 22:3, 4). {1SM 214.3} [1SM 215.1] The human family are in trouble because of their transgression of the Father's law. But God does not leave the sinner until He shows the remedy for sin. The only-begotten Son of God has died that we might live. The Lord has accepted this sacrifice in our behalf, as our substitute and surety, on the condition that we receive Christ and believe on Him. The sinner must come in faith to Christ, take hold of His merits, lay his sins upon the Sin Bearer, and receive His pardon. It was for this cause that Christ came into the world. Thus the righteousness of Christ is imputed to the repenting, believing sinner. He becomes a member of the royal family, a child of the heavenly King, an heir of God, and joint heir with Christ. {1SM 215.1} [1SM 216.1] Chap. 27 - The Character of the Law of God ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, APRIL 15, 1886.］ David says: "The law of the Lord is perfect" (Psalm 19:7). "Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever" (Psalm 119:152). And Paul testifies: "The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" (Romans 7:12). {1SM 216.1} [1SM 216.2] As the Supreme Ruler of the universe, God has ordained laws for the government not only of all living beings, but of all the operations of nature. Everything, whether great or small, animate or inanimate, is under fixed laws which cannot be disregarded. There are no exceptions to this rule; for nothing that the divine hand has made has been forgotten by the divine mind. But while everything in nature is governed by natural law, man alone, as an intelligent being, capable of understanding its requirements, is amenable to moral law. To man alone, the crowning work of His creation, God has given a conscience to realize the sacred claims of the divine law, and a heart capable of loving it as holy, just, and good; and of man prompt and perfect obedience is required. Yet God does not compel him to obey; he is left a free moral agent. {1SM 216.2} [1SM 216.3] The subject of man's personal responsibility is understood 217 by but few; and yet it is a matter of the greatest importance. We may each obey and live, or we may transgress God's law, defy His authority, and receive the punishment that is meet. Then to every soul the question comes home with force, Shall I obey the voice from heaven, the ten words spoken from Sinai, or shall I go with the multitude who trample on that fiery law? To those who love God it will be the highest delight to keep His commandments, and to do those things that are pleasing in His sight. But the natural heart hates the law of God, and wars against its holy claims. Men shut their souls from the divine light, refusing to walk in it as it shines upon them. They sacrifice purity of heart, the favor of God, and their hope of heaven, for selfish gratification or worldly gain. {1SM 216.3} [1SM 217.1] Says the psalmist, "The law of the Lord is perfect" (Psalm 19:7). How wonderful in its simplicity, its comprehensiveness and perfection, is the law of Jehovah! It is so brief that we can easily commit every precept to memory, and yet so far-reaching as to express the whole will of God, and to take cognizance, not only of the outward actions, but of the thoughts and intents, the desires and emotions, of the heart. Human laws cannot do this. They can deal with the outward actions only. A man may be a transgressor, and yet conceal his misdeeds from human eyes; he may be a criminal--a thief, a murderer, or an adulterer--but so long as he is not discovered, the law cannot condemn him as guilty. The law of God takes note of the jealousy, envy, hatred, malignity, revenge, lust, and ambition that surge through the soul, but have not found expression in outward action, because the opportunity, not the will, has been wanting. And these sinful emotions will be brought into the account in the day when "God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:14). {1SM 217.1} [1SM 217.2] God's Law Is Simple The law of God is simple, and easily understood. There are men who proudly boast that they believe only what they can understand, forgetting that there are 218 mysteries in human life and in the manifestation of God's power in the works of nature--mysteries which the deepest philosophy, the most extensive research, is powerless to explain. But there is no mystery in the law of God. All can comprehend the great truths which it embodies. The feeblest intellect can grasp these rules; the most ignorant can regulate the life, and form the character after the divine standard. If the children of men would, to the best of their ability, obey this law, they would gain strength of mind and power of discernment to comprehend still more of God's purposes and plans. And this advancement would be continued, not only during the present life, but during eternal ages; for however far we may advance in the knowledge of God's wisdom and power, there is always an infinity beyond. {1SM 217.2} [1SM 218.1] The divine law requires us to love God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves. Without the exercise of this love, the highest profession of faith is mere hypocrisy. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments," says Christ, "hang all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40). {1SM 218.1} [1SM 218.2] The law demands perfect obedience. "Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all" (James 2:10). Not one of those ten precepts can be broken without disloyalty to the God of heaven. The least deviation from its requirements, by neglect or willful transgression, is sin, and every sin exposes the sinner to the wrath of God. Obedience was the only condition upon which ancient Israel was to receive the fulfillment of the promises which made them the highly favored people of God; and obedience to that law will bring as great blessings to individuals and nations now as it would have brought to the Hebrews. {1SM 218.2} [1SM 218.3] Obedience to the law is essential, not only to our salvation, but to our own happiness and the happiness of all with whom we are connected. "Great peace have they 219 which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them" (Psalm 119:165), says the Inspired Word. Yet finite man will present to the people this holy, just, and good law, this law of liberty, which the Creator Himself has adapted to the wants of man, as a yoke of bondage, a yoke which no man can bear. But it is the sinner who regards the law as a grievous yoke; it is the transgressor that can see no beauty in its precepts. For the carnal mind "is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Romans 8:7). {1SM 218.3} [1SM 219.1] "By the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20); for "sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4). It is through the law that men are convicted of sin; and they must feel themselves sinners, exposed to the wrath of God, before they will realize their need of a Saviour. Satan is continually at work to lessen man's estimate of the grievous character of sin. And those who trample the law of God under their feet are doing the work of the great deceiver; for they are rejecting the only rule by which they can define sin, and bring it home to the conscience of the transgressor. {1SM 219.1} [1SM 219.2] The Law of God reaches to those secret purposes, which, though they may be sinful, are often passed over lightly, but which are in reality the basis and the test of character. It is the mirror into which the sinner is to look if he would have a correct knowledge of his moral character. And when he sees himself condemned by that great standard of righteousness, his next move must be to repent of his sins, and seek forgiveness through Christ. Failing to do this, many try to break the mirror which reveals their defects, to make void the law which points out the blemishes in their life and character. {1SM 219.2} [1SM 219.3] We are living in an age of great wickedness. Multitudes are enslaved by sinful customs and evil habits, and the fetters that bind them are difficult to break. Iniquity, like a flood, is deluging the earth. Crimes almost too fearful to be mentioned, are of daily occurrence. And yet men professing to be watchmen on the walls of Zion will teach that the law was designed for the Jews only, and passed away with the glorious privileges that ushered in 220 the gospel age. Is there not a relation between the prevailing lawlessness and crime, and the fact that ministers and people hold and teach that the law is no longer of binding force? {1SM 219.3} [1SM 220.1] The condemning power of the law of God extends, not only to the things we do, but to the things we do not do. We are not to justify ourselves in omitting to do the things that God requires. We must not only cease to do evil, but we must learn to do well. God has given us powers to be exercised in good works; and if these powers are not put to use, we shall certainly be set down as wicked and slothful servants. We may not have committed grievous sins; such offenses may not stand registered against us in the book of God; but the fact that our deeds are not recorded as pure, good, elevated, and noble, showing that we have not improved our entrusted talents, places us under condemnation. {1SM 220.1} [1SM 220.2] The law of God existed before man was created. It was adapted to the condition of holy beings; even angels were governed by it. After the Fall, the principles of righteousness were unchanged. Nothing was taken from the law; not one of its holy precepts could be improved. And as it has existed from the beginning, so will it continue to exist throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. "Concerning thy testimonies," says the psalmist, "I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever" (Psalm 119:152). {1SM 220.2} [1SM 220.3] By this law, which governs angels, which demands purity in the most secret thoughts, desires, and dispositions, and which shall "stand fast for ever" (Psalm 111:8), all the world is to be judged in the rapidly approaching day of God. Transgressors may flatter themselves that the Most High does not know, that the Almighty does not consider; He will not always bear with them. Soon they will receive the reward of their doings, the death that is the wages of sin; while the righteous nation, that have kept the law, will be ushered through the pearly gates of the celestial city, and will be crowned with immortal life and joy in the presence of God and the Lamb. {1SM 220.3} [1SM 221.1] Chap. 28 - Satan's Enmity Toward the Law ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, JAN. 28, 1909.］ I awoke from my sleep last night with a great burden upon my mind. I was delivering a message to our brethren and sisters, and it was a message of warning and instruction concerning the work of some who are advocating erroneous theories as to the reception of the Holy Spirit, and its operation through human agencies. {1SM 221.1} [1SM 221.2] I was instructed that fanaticism similar to that which we were called to meet after the passing of the time in 1844 would come in among us again in the closing days of the message, and that we must meet this evil just as decidedly now as we met it in our early experiences. {1SM 221.2} [1SM 221.3] We are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Prophecies are fulfilling. Strange and eventful history is being recorded in the books of heaven--events which it was declared should shortly precede the great day of God. Everything in the world is in an unsettled state. The nations are angry, and great preparations for war are being made. Nation is plotting against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. The great day of God is hasting greatly. But although the nations are mustering their forces for war and bloodshed, the command to the angels is still 222 in force, that they hold the four winds until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads. {1SM 221.3} [1SM 222.1] The world is now realizing the sure results of transgression of the law of God. His work of creation completed, the Lord rested on the seventh day, and sanctified the day of His rest, setting it apart as the day which man should devote to His worship. But today the world at large is utterly disregarding the law of Jehovah. Another day has been instituted in the place of God's day of rest. The human agent has set his way and his will against the positive teachings of the Word, and the world is plunged in rebellion and sin. {1SM 222.1} [1SM 222.2] This work of opposition to the law of God had its beginning in the courts of heaven, with Lucifer, the covering cherub. Satan determined to be first in the councils of heaven, and equal with God. He began his work of rebellion with the angels under his command, seeking to diffuse among them the spirit of discontent. And he worked in so deceptive a way that many of the angels were won to his allegiance before his purposes were fully known. Even the loyal angels could not fully discern his character, nor see to what his work was leading. When Satan had succeeded in winning many angels to his side, he took his cause to God, representing that it was the desire of the angels that he occupy the position that Christ held. {1SM 222.2} [1SM 222.3] The evil continued to work until the spirit of disaffection ripened into active revolt. Then there was war in heaven, and Satan, with all who sympathized with him, was cast out. Satan had warred for the mastery in heaven, and had lost the battle. God could no longer trust him with honor and supremacy, and these, with the part he had taken in the government of heaven, were taken from him. {1SM 222.3} [1SM 222.4] Since that time Satan and his army of confederates have been the avowed enemies of God in our world, continually warring against the cause of truth and righteousness. Satan has continued to present to men, as he presented to the angels, his false representations of Christ and of God, and he has won the world to his side. Even the professedly Christian churches have taken sides with the first great apostate. 223 {1SM 222.4} [1SM 223.1] Satan represents himself as the prince of the kingdom of this world, and it was in this character that he approached Christ in the last of his three great temptations in the wilderness. "If thou wilt fall down and worship me," he said to the Saviour, "all these"--pointing to the kingdoms of the world which Satan had caused to pass before Jesus-- "will I give thee." {1SM 223.1} [1SM 223.2] Christ in the courts of heaven had known that the time would come when the power of Satan must be met and conquered if the human race was ever to be saved from his dominion. And when that time came, the Son of God laid off His kingly crown and royal robe, and clothing His divinity with humanity, came to the earth to meet the prince of evil, and to conquer him. In order to become the advocate of man before the Father, the Saviour would live His life on earth as every human being must, accepting its adversities and sorrows and temptations. As the Babe of Bethlehem, He would become one with the race, and by a spotless life from the manger to the cross He would show that man, by a life of repentance and faith in Him, might be restored to the favor of God. He would bring to man redeeming grace, forgiveness of sins. If men would return to their loyalty, and no longer transgress, they would receive pardon. {1SM 223.2} [1SM 223.3] Christ in the weakness of humanity was to meet the temptations of one possessing the powers of the higher nature that God had bestowed on the angelic family. But Christ's humanity was united with divinity, and in this strength He would bear all the temptations that Satan could bring against Him, and yet keep His soul untainted by sin. And this power to overcome He would give to every son and daughter of Adam who would accept by faith the righteous attributes of His character. {1SM 223.3} [1SM 223.4] God loved the world so dearly that He gave His only-begotten Son that whosoever would accept Him might have power to live His righteous life. Christ proved that it is possible for man to lay hold by faith on the power of God. He showed that the sinner, by repentance and the exercise of faith in the righteousness of Christ, can be reconciled to 224 God, and become a partaker of the divine nature, overcoming the corruption that is in the world through lust. {1SM 223.4} [1SM 224.1] Today Satan presents the same temptations that he presented to Christ, offering us the kingdoms of the world in return for our allegiance. But upon him who looks to Jesus as the author and finisher of his faith, Satan's temptations have no power. He cannot cause to sin the one who will accept by faith the virtues of Him who was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. {1SM 224.1} [1SM 224.2] "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." He who repents of his sin and accepts the gift of the life of the Son of God, cannot be overcome. Laying hold by faith of the divine nature, he becomes a child of God. He prays, he believes. When tempted and tried, he claims the power that Christ died to give, and overcomes through His grace. This every sinner needs to understand. He must repent of his sin, he must believe in the power of Christ, and accept that power to save and to keep him from sin. How thankful ought we to be for the gift of Christ's example! {1SM 224.2} [1SM 224.3] Seek Not to Evade the Cross Profound theories and speculations of human creation may abound, but he who would come off conqueror in the end, must be humble enough to depend upon divine power. When we thus grasp the power of Infinity, and come to Christ, saying, "In my hand no price I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling," then divine agencies can cooperate with us to sanctify and purify the life. {1SM 224.3} [1SM 224.4] Let no one seek to evade the cross. It is through the cross that we are enabled to overcome. It is through affliction and trial that divine agencies can carry on a work in our lives that will result in the love and peace and kindness of Christ. {1SM 224.4} [1SM 224.5] A great work is to be accomplished daily in the human heart by the study of the Word. We need to learn the simplicity of true faith. This will bring its returns. Let us seek for decided advancement in spiritual understanding. Let us 225 make the precious Word the man of our counsel. We need to walk carefully every moment, keeping close to the side of Christ. The spirit and grace of Christ are needed in the life, and the faith that works by love and purifies the soul. {1SM 224.5} [1SM 225.1] We need to understand clearly the divine requirements that God makes of His people. The law, which is the transcript of His character, no one need fail to understand. The words written by the finger of God on tables of stone so perfectly reveal His will concerning His people that none need make any mistake. The laws of His kingdom were definitely made known, to be afterward revealed to the people of all nations and tongues as the principles of His government. We would do well to study those laws recorded in Exodus 20 and in the thirty-first chapter, verses 12-18. {1SM 225.1} [1SM 225.2] When the judgment shall sit, and the books shall be opened, and every man shall be judged according to the things written in the books, then the tables of stone, hidden by God until that day, will be presented before the world as the standard of righteousness. Then men and women will see that the prerequisite of their salvation is obedience to the perfect law of God. None will find excuse for sin. By the righteous principles of that law, men will receive their sentence of life or of death. {1SM 225.2} [1SM 226.1] Chap. 29 - Christ Our Only Hope ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, AUG. 2, 1905.］ Before the foundations of the world were laid, Christ, the Only Begotten of God, pledged Himself to become the Redeemer of the human race, should Adam sin. Adam fell, and He who was partaker of the Father's glory before the world was, laid aside His royal robe and kingly crown, and stepped down from His high authority to become a Babe in Bethlehem, that by passing over the ground where Adam stumbled and fell, He might redeem fallen human beings. He subjected Himself to all the temptations that the enemy brings against men and women; and all the assaults of Satan could not make Him swerve from His loyalty to the Father. By living a sinless life He testified that every son and daughter of Adam can resist the temptations of the one who first brought sin into the world. {1SM 226.1} [1SM 226.2] Christ brought men and women power to overcome. He came to this world in human form, to live a man amongst men. He assumed the liabilities of human nature, to be proved and tried. In His humanity He was a partaker of the divine nature. In His incarnation He gained in a new sense the title of the Son of God. Said the angel to Mary, "The power of the Highest shall overshadow 227 thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). While the Son of a human being, He became the Son of God in a new sense. Thus He stood in our world--the Son of God, yet allied by birth to the human race. {1SM 226.2} [1SM 227.1] Christ came in human form to show the inhabitants of the unfallen worlds and of the fallen world that ample provision has been made to enable human beings to live in loyalty to their Creator. He endured the temptations that Satan was permitted to bring against Him, and resisted all his assaults. He was sorely afflicted, and hard beset, but God did not leave Him without recognition. When He was baptized of John in Jordan, as He came up out of the water, the Spirit of God, like a dove of burnished gold, descended upon Him, and a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). It was directly after this announcement that Christ was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Mark says: "Immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness. And he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan; and was with the wild beasts" (Mark 1:12, 13). "And in those days he did eat nothing" (Luke 4:2). {1SM 227.1} [1SM 227.2] Meeting Temptation When Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted, He was led by the Spirit of God. He did not invite temptation. He went to the wilderness to be alone, to contemplate His mission and work. By fasting and prayer He was to brace Himself for the bloodstained path He was to travel. How should He begin His work of freeing the captives held in torment by the destroyer? During His long fast, the whole plan of His work as man's deliverer was laid out before Him. {1SM 227.2} [1SM 227.3] When Jesus entered the wilderness He was shut in by the Father's glory. Absorbed in communion with God, He was lifted above human weakness. But the glory departed, and He was left to battle with temptation. It was pressing upon Him every moment. His human nature shrank from the conflict that awaited Him. For forty days He fasted 228 and prayed. Weak and emaciated from hunger, worn and haggard with mental agony, "his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men" (Isaiah 52:14). Now was Satan's opportunity. Now he supposed that he could overcome Christ. {1SM 227.3} [1SM 228.1] There came to the Saviour, as if in answer to His prayers, one in the guise of an angel of light, and this was the message that he bore: "If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread" (Matthew 4:3). {1SM 228.1} [1SM 228.2] Jesus met Satan with the words, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). In every temptation the weapon of His warfare was the Word of God. Satan demanded of Christ a miracle as a sign of His divinity. But that which is greater than all miracles, a firm reliance upon a "Thus saith the Lord" was a sign that could not be controverted. So long as Christ held to this position, the tempter could gain no advantage. {1SM 228.2} [1SM 228.3] A familiarity with the Word of God is our only hope. Those who diligently search the Scriptures will not accept Satan's delusions as the truth of God. No one need be overcome by the speculations presented by the enemy of God and of Christ. We are not to speculate regarding points upon which the Word of God is silent. All that is necessary for our salvation is given in the Word of God. Day by day we are to make the Bible the man of our counsel. {1SM 228.3} [1SM 228.4] From all eternity Christ was united with the Father, and when He took upon Himself human nature, He was still one with God. He is the link that unites God with humanity. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same" (Hebrews 2:14). Only through Him can we become children of God. To all who believe on Him, He gives power to become the sons of God. Thus the heart becomes the temple of the living God. It is because Christ took human nature that men and women become partakers of the divine nature. He brings life and immortality to light through the gospel. {1SM 228.4} [1SM 229.1] Chap. 30 - The Law and the Gospel ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, MARCH 14, 1878.］ When the Jews rejected Christ they rejected the foundation of their faith. And, on the other hand, the Christian world of today who claim faith in Christ, but reject the law of God are making a mistake similar to that of the deceived Jews. Those who profess to cling to Christ, centering their hopes on Him, while they pour contempt upon the moral law, and the prophecies, are in no safer position than were the unbelieving Jews. They cannot understandingly call sinners to repentance, for they are unable to properly explain what they are to repent of. The sinner, upon being exhorted to forsake his sins, has a right to ask, What is sin? Those who respect the law of God can answer, Sin is the transgression of the law. In confirmation of this the apostle Paul says, I had not known sin but by the law. {1SM 229.1} [1SM 229.2] Those only who acknowledge the binding claim of the moral law can explain the nature of the atonement. Christ came to mediate between God and man, to make man one with God by bringing him into allegiance to His law. There was no power in the law to pardon its transgressor. Jesus alone could pay the sinner's debt. But the 230 fact that Jesus has paid the indebtedness of the repentant sinner does not give him license to continue in transgression of the law of God; but he must henceforth live in obedience to that law. {1SM 229.2} [1SM 230.1] The law of God existed before the creation of man or else Adam could not have sinned. After the transgression of Adam the principles of the law were not changed, but were definitely arranged and expressed to meet man in his fallen condition. Christ, in counsel with His Father, instituted the system of sacrificial offerings; that death, instead of being immediately visited upon the transgressor, should be transferred to a victim which should prefigure the great and perfect offering of the Son of God. {1SM 230.1} [1SM 230.2] The sins of the people were transferred in figure to the officiating priest, who was a mediator for the people. The priest could not himself become an offering for sin, and make an atonement with his life, for he was also a sinner. Therefore, instead of suffering death himself, he killed a lamb without blemish; the penalty of sin was transferred to the innocent beast, which thus became his immediate substitute, and typified the perfect offering of Jesus Christ. Through the blood of this victim, man looked forward by faith to the blood of Christ which would atone for the sins of the world. {1SM 230.2} [1SM 230.3] Purpose of the Ceremonial Law If Adam had not transgressed the law of God, the ceremonial law would never have been instituted. The gospel of good news was first given to Adam in the declaration made to him that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head; and it was handed down through successive generations to Noah, Abraham, and Moses. The knowledge of God's law, and the plan of salvation were imparted to Adam and Eve by Christ Himself. They carefully treasured the important lesson, and transmitted it by word of mouth, to their children, and children's children. Thus the knowledge of God's law was preserved. {1SM 230.3} [1SM 230.4] Men lived nearly a thousand years in those days, and angels visited them with instruction directly from Christ. 231 The worship of God through sacrificial offerings was established, and those who feared God acknowledged their sins before Him, and looked forward with gratitude and holy trust to the coming of the Day Star, which should guide the fallen sons of Adam to heaven, through repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Thus the gospel was preached in every sacrifice; and the works of the believers continually revealed their faith in a coming Saviour. Jesus said to the Jews: "For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" (John 5:46, 47). {1SM 230.4} [1SM 231.1] It was impossible, however, for Adam, by his example and precepts, to stay the tide of woe which his transgression had brought upon men. Unbelief crept into the hearts of men. The children of Adam present the earliest example of the two different courses pursued by men with regard to the claims of God. Abel saw Christ figured in the sacrificial offerings. Cain was an unbeliever in regard to the necessity of sacrifices; he refused to discern that Christ was typified by the slain lamb; the blood of beasts appeared to him without virtue. The gospel was preached to Cain as well as to his brother; but it was to him a savor of death unto death, because he would not recognize, in the blood of the sacrificial lamb, Jesus Christ the only provision made for man's salvation. {1SM 231.1} [1SM 231.2] Our Saviour, in His life and death, fulfilled all the prophecies pointing to Himself, and was the substance of all the types and shadows signified. He kept the moral law, and exalted it by answering its claims as man's representative. Those of Israel who turned to the Lord, and accepted Christ as the reality shadowed forth by the typical sacrifices, discerned the end of that which was to be abolished. The obscurity covering the Jewish system as a veil, was to them as the veil which covered the glory upon the face of Moses. The glory upon the face of Moses was the reflection of that light which Christ came into the world to bring for the benefit of man. {1SM 231.2} [1SM 231.3] While Moses was shut in the mount with God, the plan 232 of salvation, dating from the fall of Adam, was revealed to him in a most forcible manner. He then knew that the very angel who was conducting the travels of the children of Israel was to be revealed in the flesh. God's dear Son, who was one with the Father, was to make all men one with God who would believe on, and trust in Him. Moses saw the true significance of the sacrificial offerings. Christ taught the gospel plan to Moses, and the glory of the gospel, through Christ, illuminated the countenance of Moses so that the people could not look upon it. {1SM 231.3} [1SM 232.1] Moses himself was unconscious of the beaming glory reflected upon his face, and knew not why the children of Israel fled from him when he approached them. He called them to him, but they dared not look upon that glorified face. When Moses learned that the people could not look upon his face, because of its glory, he covered it with a veil. {1SM 232.1} [1SM 232.2] The glory upon the face of Moses was exceedingly painful to the children of Israel because of their transgression of God's holy law. This is an illustration of the feelings of those who violate the law of God. They desire to remove from its penetrating light which is a terror to the transgressor, while it seems holy, just, and good to the loyal. Those only who have a just regard for the law of God can rightly estimate the atonement of Christ which was made necessary by the violation of the Father's law. {1SM 232.2} [1SM 232.3] Those who cherish the view that there was no Saviour in the old dispensation, have as dark a veil over their understanding as did the Jews who rejected Christ. The Jews acknowledged their faith in a Messiah to come in the offering of sacrifices which typified Christ. Yet when Jesus appeared, fulfilling all the prophecies regarding the promised Messiah, and doing works that marked Him as the divine Son of God, they rejected Him, and refused to accept the plainest evidence of His true character. The Christian church, on the other hand, who profess the utmost faith in Christ, in despising the Jewish system virtually deny Christ, who was the originator of the entire Jewish economy. {1SM 232.3} [1SM 233.1] Chap. 31 - The Law in Galatians I am asked concerning the law in Galatians. What law is the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ? I answer: Both the ceremonial and the moral code of ten commandments. {1SM 233.1} [1SM 233.2] Christ was the foundation of the whole Jewish economy. The death of Abel was in consequence of Cain's refusing to accept God's plan in the school of obedience to be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ typified by the sacrificial offerings pointing to Christ. Cain refused the shedding of blood which symbolized the blood of Christ to be shed for the world. This whole ceremony was prepared by God, and Christ became the foundation of the whole system. This is the beginning of its work as the schoolmaster to bring sinful human agents to a consideration of Christ the Foundation of the whole Jewish economy. {1SM 233.2} [1SM 233.3] All who did service in connection with the sanctuary were being educated constantly in regard to the intervention of Christ in behalf of the human race. This service was designed to create in every heart a love for the law of God, which is the law of His kingdom. The sacrificial offering was to be an object lesson of the love of God revealed in Christ--in the suffering, dying victim, who took upon Himself the sin of which man was guilty, the innocent being made sin for us. 234 {1SM 233.3} [1SM 234.1] In the contemplation of this great theme of salvation we see Christ's work. Not only the promised gift of the Spirit, but also the nature and character of this sacrifice and intervention are subjects which should create in our hearts elevated, sacred, high ideas of the law of God, which holds its claims upon every human agency. The violation of that law in the small act of eating of the forbidden fruit, brought upon man and upon the earth the consequence of disobedience to the holy law of God. The nature of the intervention should ever make man afraid to do the smallest action in disobedience to God's requirement. {1SM 234.1} [1SM 234.2] There should be a clear understanding of that which constitutes sin, and we should avoid the least approach to step over the boundaries from obedience to disobedience. {1SM 234.2} [1SM 234.3] God would have every member of His creation understand the great work of the infinite Son of God in giving His life for the salvation of the world. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not" (1 John 3:1). {1SM 234.3} [1SM 234.4] When he sees in Christ the embodiment of infinite and disinterested love and benevolence, there is awakened in the heart of the sinner a thankful disposition to follow where Christ is drawing.--Manuscript 87, 1900. {1SM 234.4} [1SM 234.5] Especially the Moral Law "The law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 3:24). In this scripture, the Holy Spirit through the apostle is speaking especially of the moral law. The law reveals sin to us, and causes us to feel our need of Christ and to flee unto Him for pardon and peace by exercising repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. {1SM 234.5} [1SM 234.6] An unwillingness to yield up preconceived opinions, and to accept this truth, lay at the foundation of a large share of the opposition manifested at Minneapolis against the Lord's message through Brethren ［E.J.］ Waggoner and ［A.T.］ Jones. By exciting that opposition Satan succeeded 235 in shutting away from our people, in a great measure, the special power of the Holy Spirit that God longed to impart to them. The enemy prevented them from obtaining that efficiency which might have been theirs in carrying the truth to the world, as the apostles proclaimed it after the day of Pentecost. The light that is to lighten the whole earth with its glory was resisted, and by the action of our own brethren has been in a great degree kept away from the world. * * * * * {1SM 234.6} [1SM 235.1] The law of ten commandments is not to be looked upon as much from the prohibitory side, as from the mercy side. Its prohibitions are the sure guarantee of happiness in obedience. As received in Christ, it works in us the purity of character that will bring joy to us through eternal ages. To the obedient it is a wall of protection. We behold in it the goodness of God, who by revealing to men the immutable principles of righteousness, seeks to shield them from the evils that result from transgression. {1SM 235.1} [1SM 235.2] We are not to regard God as waiting to punish the sinner for his sin. The sinner brings the punishment upon himself. His own actions start a train of circumstances that bring the sure result. Every act of transgression reacts upon the sinner, works in him a change of character, and makes it more easy for him to transgress again. By choosing to sin, men separate themselves from God, cut themselves off from the channel of blessing, and the sure result is ruin and death. {1SM 235.2} [1SM 235.3] The law is an expression of God's idea. When we receive it in Christ, it becomes our idea. It lifts us above the power of natural desires and tendencies, above temptations that lead to sin. "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them" (Psalm 119:165)-- cause them to stumble. {1SM 235.3} [1SM 235.4] There is no peace in unrighteousness; the wicked are at war with God. But he who receives the righteousness of the law in Christ is in harmony with heaven. "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other" (Psalm 85:10).--Letter 96, 1896. {1SM 235.4} [1SM 236.1] Chap. 32 - The Righteousness of Christ in the Law ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, APRIL 22, 1902.］ The greatest difficulty Paul had to meet arose from the influence of Judaizing teachers. These made him much trouble by causing dissension in the church at Corinth. They were continually presenting the virtues of the ceremonies of the law, exalting these ceremonies above the gospel of Christ, and condemning Paul because he did not urge them upon the new converts. {1SM 236.1} [1SM 236.2] Paul met them on their own ground. "If the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious," he said, "so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: how shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory" (2 Corinthians 3:7-9). {1SM 236.2} [1SM 236.3] The law of God, spoken in awful grandeur from Sinai, is the utterance of condemnation to the sinner. It is the province of the law to condemn, but there is in it no power 237 to pardon or to redeem. It is ordained to life; those who walk in harmony with its precepts will receive the reward of obedience. But it brings bondage and death to those who remain under its condemnation. {1SM 236.3} [1SM 237.1] So sacred and so glorious is the law, that when Moses returned from the holy mount, where he had been with God, receiving from His hand the tables of stone, his face reflected a glory upon which the people could not look without pain, and Moses was obliged to cover his face with a veil. {1SM 237.1} [1SM 237.2] The glory that shone on the face of Moses was a reflection of the righteousness of Christ in the law. The law itself would have no glory, only that in it Christ is embodied. It has no power to save. It is lusterless only as in it Christ is represented as full of righteousness and truth. {1SM 237.2} [1SM 237.3] The types and shadows of the sacrificial service, with the prophecies, gave the Israelites a veiled, indistinct view of the mercy and grace to be brought to the world by the revelation of Christ. To Moses was unfolded the significance of the types and shadows pointing to Christ. He saw to the end of that which was to be done away when, at the death of Christ, type met antitype. He saw that only through Christ can man keep the moral law. By transgression of this law man brought sin into the world, and with sin came death. Christ became the propitiation for man's sin. He proffered His perfection of character in the place of man's sinfulness. He took upon Himself the curse of disobedience. The sacrifices and offerings pointed forward to the sacrifice He was to make. The slain lamb typified the Lamb that was to take away the sin of the world. {1SM 237.3} [1SM 237.4] It was seeing the object of that which was to be done away, seeing Christ as revealed in the law, that illumined the face of Moses. The ministration of the law, written and engraved in stone, was a ministration of death. Without Christ, the transgressor was left under its curse, with no hope of pardon. The ministration had of itself no glory, but the promised Saviour, revealed in the types and shadows of the ceremonial law, made the moral law glorious. {1SM 237.4} [1SM 237.5] Paul desires his brethren to see that the great glory of a 238 sin-pardoning Saviour gave significance to the entire Jewish economy. He desired them to see also that when Christ came to the world, and died as man's sacrifice, type met antitype. {1SM 237.5} [1SM 238.1] After Christ died on the cross as a sin offering, the ceremonial law could have no force. Yet it was connected with the moral law, and was glorious. The whole bore the stamp of divinity, and expressed the holiness, justice, and righteousness of God. And if the ministration of the dispensation to be done away was glorious, how much more must the reality be glorious, when Christ was revealed, giving His life-giving, sanctifying Spirit to all who believe? {1SM 238.1} [1SM 238.2] The proclamation of the law of ten commandments was a wonderful exhibition of the glory and majesty of God. How did this manifestation of power affect the people?-- They were afraid. As they saw "the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking," they "removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die" (Exodus 20:18, 19). They desired Moses to be their mediator. They did not understand that Christ was their appointed mediator, and that, deprived of His mediation, they would certainly have been consumed. {1SM 238.2} [1SM 238.3] "Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not. And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was" (Exodus 20:20, 21). {1SM 238.3} [1SM 238.4] The pardon of sin, justification by faith in Jesus Christ, access to God only through a mediator because of their lost condition, their guilt and sin--of these truths the people had little conception. In a great measure they had lost a knowledge of God and of the only way to approach Him. They had lost nearly all sense of what constitutes sin and of what constitutes righteousness. The pardon of sin through Christ, the promised Messiah, whom their offerings typified, was but dimly understood. {1SM 238.4} [1SM 238.5] Paul declared, "Seeing then that we have such hope, we 239 use great plainness of speech: and not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: but their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away" (2 Corinthians 3:12-16). {1SM 238.5} [1SM 239.1] The Jews refused to accept Christ as the Messiah, and they cannot see that their ceremonies are meaningless, that the sacrifices and offerings have lost their significance. The veil drawn by themselves in stubborn unbelief is still before their minds. It would be removed if they would accept Christ, the righteousness of the law. {1SM 239.1} [1SM 239.2] Many in the Christian world also have a veil before their eyes and heart. They do not see to the end of that which was done away. They do not see that it was only the ceremonial law which was abrogated at the death of Christ. They claim that the moral law was nailed to the cross. Heavy is the veil that darkens their understanding. The hearts of many are at war with God. They are not subject to His law. Only as they shall come into harmony with the rule of His government, can Christ be of any avail to them. They may talk of Christ as their Saviour; but He will finally say to them, I know you not. You have not exercised genuine repentance toward God for the transgression of His holy law, and you cannot have genuine faith in Me, for it was My mission to exalt God's law. {1SM 239.2} [1SM 239.3] A Transcript of Christ's Character Paul did not represent either the moral or the ceremonial law as ministers in our day venture to do. Some cherish such antipathy to the law of God that they will go out of the way to denounce and stigmatize it. Thus they despise and pour contempt on the majesty and glory of God. {1SM 239.3} [1SM 239.4] The moral law was never a type or a shadow. It existed before man's creation, and will endure as long as 240 God's throne remains. God could not change nor alter one precept of His law in order to save man; for the law is the foundation of His government. It is unchangeable, unalterable, infinite, and eternal. In order for man to be saved, and for the honor of the law to be maintained, it was necessary for the Son of God to offer Himself as a sacrifice for sin. He who knew no sin became sin for us. He died for us on Calvary. His death shows the wonderful love of God for man, and the immutability of His law. {1SM 239.4} [1SM 240.1] In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ declared, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (Matthew 5:17, 18). {1SM 240.1} [1SM 240.2] Christ bore the curse of the law, suffering its penalty, carrying to completion the plan whereby man was to be placed where he could keep God's law, and be accepted through the merits of the Redeemer; and by His sacrifice glory was shed upon the law. Then the glory of that which is not to be done away--God's law of ten commandments, His standard of righteousness--was plainly seen by all who saw to the end of that which was done away. {1SM 240.2} [1SM 240.3] "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" (2 Corinthians 3:18). Christ is the sinner's advocate. Those who accept His gospel behold Him with open face. They see the relation of His mission to the law, and they acknowledge God's wisdom and glory as revealed by the Saviour. The glory of Christ is revealed in the law, which is a transcript of His character, and His transforming efficacy is felt upon the soul until men become changed to His likeness. They are made partakers of the divine nature, and grow more and more like their Saviour, advancing step by step in conformity to the will of God, till they reach perfection. {1SM 240.3} [1SM 240.4] The law and the gospel are in perfect harmony. Each upholds the other. In all its majesty the law confronts the conscience, causing the sinner to feel his need of Christ 241 as the propitiation for sin. The gospel recognizes the power and immutability of the law. "I had not known sin, but by the law," Paul declares (Romans 7:7). The sense of sin, urged home by the law, drives the sinner to the Saviour. In his need man may present the mighty arguments furnished by the cross of Calvary. He may claim the righteousness of Christ; for it is imparted to every repentant sinner. God declares, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). {1SM 240.4} [1SM 242.1] Chap. 33 - "Search the Scriptures" ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR, OCT. 13, 1898.］ It is of the highest importance that every human being endowed with reasoning powers should understand his relation to God. In our schools the work of redemption is not carefully studied. Many of the students have no real conception of what the plan of salvation means. God's word is pledged in our behalf. He who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities invites us: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30). {1SM 242.1} [1SM 242.2] Students, you are safe only as, in perfect submission and obedience, you connect yourselves with Christ. The yoke is easy, for Christ carries the weight. As you lift the burden of the cross, it will become light; and that cross is to you a pledge of eternal life. It is the privilege of each to follow gladly after Christ, exclaiming at every step, "Thy gentleness hath made me great" (2 Samuel 22:36). But if we would travel heavenward, we must take the Word of 243 God as our lesson book. In the words of Inspiration we must read our lessons day by day. {1SM 242.2} [1SM 243.1] The apostle Paul says: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man ［as the representative of the human race］, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow" (Philippians 2:5-10). {1SM 243.1} [1SM 243.2] The humiliation of the man Christ Jesus is incomprehensible to the human mind; but His divinity and His existence before the world was formed can never be doubted by those who believe the Word of God. The apostle Paul speaks of our Mediator, the only-begotten Son of God, who in a state of glory was in the form of God, the Commander of all the heavenly hosts, and who, when He clothed His divinity with humanity, took upon Him the form of a servant. Isaiah declares: "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever" (Isaiah 9:6, 7). {1SM 243.2} [1SM 243.3] In consenting to become man, Christ manifested a humility that is the marvel of the heavenly intelligences. The act of consenting to be a man would be no humiliation were it not for the fact of Christ's exalted pre-existence. We must open our understanding to realize that Christ laid aside His royal robe, His kingly crown, His high command, and clothed His divinity with humanity, that He might meet man where he was, and bring to the human family moral power to become the sons and daughters 244 of God. To redeem man, Christ became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. {1SM 243.3} [1SM 244.1] The humanity of the Son of God is everything to us. It is the golden chain that binds our souls to Christ, and through Christ to God. This is to be our study. Christ was a real man; He gave proof of His humility in becoming a man. Yet He was God in the flesh. When we approach this subject, we would do well to heed the words spoken by Christ to Moses at the burning bush, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground" (Exodus 3:5). We should come to this study with the humility of a learner, with a contrite heart. And the study of the incarnation of Christ is a fruitful field, which will repay the searcher who digs deep for hidden truth. {1SM 244.1} [1SM 244.2] The Scriptures Our Guide The Bible is our guide in the safe paths that lead to eternal life. God has inspired men to write that which will present the truth to us, which will attract, and which, if practiced, will enable the receiver to obtain moral power to rank among the most highly educated minds. The minds of all who make the Word of God their study will enlarge. Far more than any other study, this is of a nature to increase the powers of comprehension, and endow every faculty with new vigor. It brings the mind in contact with broad, ennobling principles of truth. It brings us into close connection with all heaven, imparting wisdom, and knowledge, and understanding. {1SM 244.2} [1SM 244.3] In dealing with commonplace productions, and feeding on the writings of uninspired men, the mind becomes dwarfed and cheapened. It is not brought into contact with deep, broad principles of eternal truth. The understanding unconsciously adapts itself to the comprehension of the things with which it is familiar; and in the consideration of these things the understanding is weakened, its powers contracted. {1SM 244.3} [1SM 244.4] God designs that the Scriptures, the source of science that is above all human theory, shall be searched. He 245 desires that man shall dig deep in the mines of truth, that he may gain the valuable treasure they contain. But too often human theories and wisdom are put in the place of the science of the Bible. Men engage in the work of remodeling God's purposes; they try to distinguish between the books of the Bible. Through their inventions they make the Scriptures testify to a lie. {1SM 244.4} [1SM 245.1] Just What Man Needs God has not made the reception of the gospel to depend upon human reasoning. The gospel is adapted for spiritual food, to satisfy man's spiritual appetite. In every case it is just what man needs. Those who have felt it necessary to have the students in our schools study many authors are themselves the most ignorant on the great themes of the Bible. The teachers themselves need to take up the Book of all books, and learn from the Scriptures that the gospel has power to prove its own divinity to the humble, contrite mind. {1SM 245.1} [1SM 245.2] The gospel is the power of God and the wisdom of God. The character of Christ on earth revealed divinity, and the gospel which He has given is to be the study of His human heritage in all their educational departments, until teachers, children, and youth shall discern in the only true and living God the object of their faith and love and adoration. The Word is to be respected and obeyed. That Book which contains the record of Christ's life, His work, His doctrines, His sufferings, and final triumphs, is to be the source of our strength. We are granted the privileges of school life in this world that we may obtain a fitness for the higher life--the highest grade in the highest school, where, under God, our studies will continue through the ceaseless ages of eternity. {1SM 245.2} [1SM 246.1] Chap. 34 - The Word Made Flesh ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, APRIL 5, 1906.］ "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:1-5, 14). {1SM 246.1} [1SM 246.2] This chapter delineates the character and importance of the work of Christ. As one who understands his subject, John ascribes all power to Christ, and speaks of His greatness and majesty. He flashes forth divine rays of precious truth, as light from the sun. He presents Christ as the only Mediator between God and humanity. {1SM 246.2} [1SM 246.3] The doctrine of the incarnation of Christ in human flesh is a mystery, "even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations" (Colossians 1:26). It is the great and profound mystery of godliness. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). Christ took upon 247 Himself human nature, a nature inferior to His heavenly nature. Nothing so shows the wonderful condescension of God as this. He "so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son" (John 3:16). John presents this wonderful subject with such simplicity that all may grasp the ideas set forth, and be enlightened. {1SM 246.3} [1SM 247.1] Christ did not make believe take human nature; He did verily take it. He did in reality possess human nature. "As the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same" (Hebrews 2:14). He was the son of Mary; He was of the seed of David according to human descent. He is declared to be a man, even the Man Christ Jesus. "This man," writes Paul, "was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house" (Hebrews 3:3). {1SM 247.1} [1SM 247.2] Christ's Pre-existence But while God's Word speaks of the humanity of Christ when upon this earth, it also speaks decidedly regarding His pre-existence. The Word existed as a divine being, even as the eternal Son of God, in union and oneness with His Father. From everlasting He was the Mediator of the covenant, the one in whom all nations of the earth, both Jews and Gentiles, if they accepted Him, were to be blessed. "The Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). Before men or angels were created, the Word was with God, and was God. {1SM 247.2} [1SM 247.3] The world was made by Him, "and without him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:3). If Christ made all things, He existed before all things. The words spoken in regard to this are so decisive that no one need be left in doubt. Christ was God essentially, and in the highest sense. He was with God from all eternity, God over all, blessed forevermore. {1SM 247.3} [1SM 247.4] The Lord Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, existed from eternity, a distinct person, yet one with the Father. He was the surpassing glory of heaven. He was the commander of the heavenly intelligences, and the adoring 248 homage of the angels was received by Him as His right. This was no robbery of God. "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way," He declares, "before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth" (Proverbs 8:22-27). {1SM 247.4} [1SM 248.1] There are light and glory in the truth that Christ was one with the Father before the foundation of the world was laid. This is the light shining in a dark place, making it resplendent with divine, original glory. This truth, infinitely mysterious in itself, explains other mysterious and otherwise unexplainable truths, while it is enshrined in light, unapproachable and incomprehensible. {1SM 248.1} [1SM 248.2] "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God" (Psalm 90:2). "The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up" (Matthew 4:16). Here the pre-existence of Christ and the purpose of His manifestation to our world are presented as living beams of light from the eternal throne. "Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek. But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5:1, 2). {1SM 248.2} [1SM 248.3] "We preach Christ crucified," declared Paul, "unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:23, 24). 249 {1SM 248.3} [1SM 249.1] A Mystery That God should thus be manifest in the flesh is indeed a mystery; and without the help of the Holy Spirit we cannot hope to comprehend this subject. The most humbling lesson that man has to learn is the nothingness of human wisdom, and the folly of trying, by his own unaided efforts, to find out God. He may exert his intellectual powers to the utmost, he may have what the world calls a superior education, yet he may still be ignorant in God's eyes. The ancient philosophers boasted of their wisdom; but how did it weigh in the scale with God? Solomon had great learning; but his wisdom was foolishness; for he did not know how to stand in moral independence, free from sin, in the strength of a character molded after the divine similitude. Solomon has told us the result of his research, his painstaking efforts, his persevering inquiry. He pronounces his wisdom altogether vanity. {1SM 249.1} [1SM 249.2] By wisdom the world knew not God. Their estimation of the divine character, their imperfect knowledge of His attributes, did not enlarge and expand their mental conception. Their minds were not ennobled in conformity to the divine will, but they plunged into the grossest idolatry. "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things" (Romans 1:22, 23). This is the worth of all requirements and knowledge apart from Christ. {1SM 249.2} [1SM 249.3] "I am the way, the truth, and the life," Christ declares: "no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). Christ is invested with power to give life to all creatures. "As the living Father hath sent me," He says, "and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me." "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:57, 63). Christ is not here referring to His doctrine, but to His person, the divinity of His character. "Verily, verily, I say 250 unto you," He says again, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man" (John 5:25-27). {1SM 249.3} [1SM 250.1] The Significance of Christ's Birth God and Christ knew from the beginning, of the apostasy of Satan and of the fall of Adam through the deceptive power of the apostate. The plan of salvation was designed to redeem the fallen race, to give them another trial. Christ was appointed to the office of Mediator from the creation of God, set up from everlasting to be our substitute and surety. Before the world was made, it was arranged that the divinity of Christ should be enshrouded in humanity. "A body," said Christ, "hast thou prepared me" (Hebrews 10:5). But He did not come in human form until the fullness of time had expired. Then He came to our world, a babe in Bethlehem. {1SM 250.1} [1SM 250.2] No one born into the world, not even the most gifted of God's children, has ever been accorded such demonstration of joy as greeted the Babe born in Bethlehem. Angels of God sang His praises over the hills and plains of Bethlehem. "Glory to God in the highest," they sang, "and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14). O that today the human family could recognize this song! The declaration then made, the note then struck, the tune then started, will swell and extend to the end of time, and resound to the ends of the earth. It is glory to God, it is peace on earth, good will to men. When the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings, the song then started in the hills of Bethlehem will be reechoed by the voice of a great multitude, as the voice of many waters, saying, "Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth" (Revelation 19:6). {1SM 250.2} [1SM 250.3] By His obedience to all the commandments of God, Christ wrought out a redemption for men. This was not done by going out of Himself to another, but by taking 251 humanity into Himself. Thus Christ gave to humanity an existence out of Himself. To bring humanity into Christ, to bring the fallen race into oneness with divinity, is the work of redemption. Christ took human nature that men might be one with Him as He is one with the Father, that God may love man as He loves His only-begotten Son, that men may be partakers of the divine nature, and be complete in Him. {1SM 250.3} [1SM 251.1] The Holy Spirit, which proceeds from the only-begotten Son of God, binds the human agent, body, soul, and spirit, to the perfect, divine-human nature of Christ. This union is represented by the union of the vine and the branches. Finite man is united to the manhood of Christ. Through faith human nature is assimilated with Christ's nature. We are made one with God in Christ. {1SM 251.1} [1SM 252.1] Chap. 35 - "Tempted in All Points Like as We Are" ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, JUNE 9, 1898.］ After the fall of man, Satan declared that human beings were proved to be incapable of keeping the law of God, and he sought to carry the universe with him in this belief. Satan's words appeared to be true, and Christ came to unmask the deceiver. The Majesty of heaven undertook the cause of man, and with the same facilities that man may obtain, withstood the temptations of Satan as man must withstand them. This was the only way in which fallen man could become a partaker of the divine nature. In taking human nature, Christ was fitted to understand man's trials and sorrows and all the temptations wherewith he is beset. Angels who were unacquainted with sin could not sympathize with man in his peculiar trials. Christ condescended to take man's nature, and was tempted in all points like as we, that He might know how to succor all who should be tempted. {1SM 252.1} [1SM 252.2] In assuming humanity Christ took the part of every human being. He was the Head of humanity. A Being divine and human, with His long human arm He could encircle humanity, while with His divine arm He could lay hold of the throne of the Infinite. 253 {1SM 252.2} [1SM 253.1] What a sight was this for Heaven to look upon! Christ, who knew not the least taint of sin or defilement, took our nature in its deteriorated condition. This was humiliation greater than finite man can comprehend. God was manifest in the flesh. He humbled Himself. What a subject for thought, for deep, earnest contemplation! So infinitely great that He was the Majesty of heaven, and yet He stooped so low, without losing one atom of His dignity and glory! He stooped to poverty and to the deepest abasement among men. For our sake He became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich. "The foxes have holes," He said, "and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head" (Matthew 8:20). {1SM 253.1} [1SM 253.2] Christ submitted to insult and mockery, contempt and ridicule. He heard His message, which was fraught with love and goodness and mercy, misstated and misapplied. He heard Himself called the prince of demons, because He testified to His divine Sonship. His birth was supernatural, but by His own nation, those who had blinded their eyes to spiritual things, it was regarded as a blot and a stain. There was not a drop of our bitter woe which He did not taste, not a part of our curse which He did not endure, that He might bring many sons and daughters to God. {1SM 253.2} [1SM 253.3] The fact that Jesus was on this earth as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, that in order to save fallen man from eternal ruin, He left His heavenly home, should lay in the dust all our pride, put to shame all our vanity, and reveal to us the sin of self-sufficiency. Behold Him making the wants, the trials, the griefs and sufferings of sinful men His own. Can we not take home the lesson that God endured these sufferings and bruises of soul in consequence of sin? {1SM 253.3} [1SM 253.4] Christ came to the earth, taking humanity and standing as man's representative, to show in the controversy with Satan that man, as God created him, connected with the Father and the Son, could obey every divine requirement. Speaking through His servant He declares, "His commandments are not grievous" (1 John 5:3). It was sin 254 that separated man from his God, and it is sin that maintains this separation. {1SM 253.4} [1SM 254.1] The Prophecy in Eden The enmity referred to in the prophecy in Eden was not to be confined merely to Satan and the Prince of life. It was to be universal. Satan and his angels were to feel the enmity of all mankind. "I will put enmity," said God, "between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15). {1SM 254.1} [1SM 254.2] The enmity put between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman was supernatural. With Christ the enmity was in one sense natural; in another sense it was supernatural, as humanity and divinity were combined. And never was the enmity developed to such a marked degree as when Christ became an inhabitant of this earth. Never before had there been a being upon the earth who hated sin with so perfect a hatred as did Christ. He had seen its deceiving, infatuating power upon the holy angels, and all His powers were enlisted against it. {1SM 254.2} [1SM 254.3] The purity and holiness of Christ, the spotless righteousness of Him who did no sin, was a perpetual reproach upon all sin in a world of sensuality and sin. In His life the light of truth was flashed amid the moral darkness with which Satan had enshrouded the world. Christ exposed Satan's falsehoods and deceiving character, and in many hearts destroyed his corrupting influence. It was this that stirred Satan with such intense hatred. With his hosts of fallen beings he determined to urge the warfare most vigorously; for there stood in the world One who was a perfect representative of the Father, One whose character and practices refuted Satan's misrepresentation of God. Satan had charged upon God the attribute he himself possessed. Now in Christ he saw God revealed in His true character--a compassionate, merciful Father, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to Him in repentance, and have eternal life. {1SM 254.3} [1SM 254.4] Intense worldliness has been one of Satan's most 255 successful temptations. He designs to keep the hearts and minds of men so engrossed with worldly attractions that there will be no room for heavenly things. He controls their minds in their love of the world. Earthly things eclipse the heavenly, and put the Lord out of their sight and understanding. False theories and false gods are cherished in the place of the true. Men are charmed with the glitter and tinsel of the world. They are so attached to the things of the earth that many will commit any sin in order to gain some worldly advantage. {1SM 254.4} [1SM 255.1] It was on this point that Satan thought to overthrow Christ. He thought that in His humanity He could be easily overcome. "The devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me" (Matthew 4:8, 9). But Christ was unmoved. He felt the strength of this temptation; but He met it in our behalf, and conquered. And He used only the weapons justifiable for human beings to use--the word of Him who is mighty in counsel--"It is written" (Matthew 4:4, 10). {1SM 255.1} [1SM 255.2] With what intense interest was this controversy watched by the heavenly angels and the unfallen worlds, as the honor of the law was being vindicated. Not merely for this world, but for the universe of heaven, was the controversy to be forever settled. The confederacy of darkness was also watching for the semblance of a chance to triumph over the divine and human Substitute of the human race, that the apostate might shout, "Victory," and the world and its inhabitants forever become his kingdom. {1SM 255.2} [1SM 255.3] But Satan reached only the heel; he could not touch the head. At the death of Christ, Satan saw that he was defeated. He saw that his true character was clearly revealed before all heaven, and that the heavenly beings and the worlds that God had created would be wholly on the side of God. He saw that his prospects of future influence with them would be entirely cut off. Christ's humanity would demonstrate for eternal ages the question which settled the controversy. 256 {1SM 255.3} [1SM 256.1] Sinlessness of Christ's Human Nature In taking upon Himself man's nature in its fallen condition, Christ did not in the least participate in its sin. He was subject to the infirmities and weaknesses by which man is encompassed, "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses" (Matthew 8:17). He was touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and was in all points tempted like as we are. And yet He knew no sin. He was the Lamb "without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:19). Could Satan in the least particular have tempted Christ to sin, he would have bruised the Saviour's head. As it was, he could only touch His heel. Had the head of Christ been touched, the hope of the human race would have perished. Divine wrath would have come upon Christ as it came upon Adam. Christ and the church would have been without hope. {1SM 256.1} [1SM 256.2] We should have no misgivings in regard to the perfect sinlessness of the human nature of Christ. Our faith must be an intelligent faith, looking unto Jesus in perfect confidence, in full and entire faith in the atoning Sacrifice. This is essential that the soul may not be enshrouded in darkness. This holy Substitute is able to save to the uttermost; for He presented to the wondering universe perfect and complete humility in His human character, and perfect obedience to all the requirements of God. Divine power is placed upon man, that he may become a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. This is why repenting, believing man can be made the righteousness of God in Christ. {1SM 256.2} [1SM 257.1] Chap. 36 - No Caste in Christ ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, DEC. 22, 1891.］ The highest angel in heaven had not the power to pay the ransom for one lost soul. Cherubim and seraphim have only the glory with which they are endowed by the Creator as His creatures, and the reconciliation of man to God could be accomplished only through a mediator who was equal with God, possessed of attributes that would dignify, and declare him worthy to treat with the infinite God in man's behalf, and also represent God to a fallen world. Man's substitute and surety must have man's nature, a connection with the human family whom he was to represent, and, as God's ambassador, he must partake of the divine nature, have a connection with the Infinite, in order to manifest God to the world, and be a mediator between God and man. {1SM 257.1} [1SM 257.2] These qualifications were found alone in Christ. Clothing His divinity with humanity, He came to earth to be called the Son of man and the Son of God. He was the surety for man, the ambassador for God--the surety for man to satisfy by His righteousness in man's behalf the demands of the law, and the representative of God to make manifest His character to a fallen race. 258 {1SM 257.2} [1SM 258.1] The world's Redeemer possessed the power to draw men to Himself, to quiet their fears, to dispel their gloom, to inspire them with hope and courage, to enable them to believe in the willingness of God to receive them through the merits of the divine Substitute. As subjects of the love of God we ever should be grateful that we have a mediator, an advocate, an intercessor in the heavenly courts, who pleads in our behalf before the Father. {1SM 258.1} [1SM 258.2] We have everything we could ask to inspire us with faith and trust in God. In earthly courts, when a king would make his greatest pledge to assure men of his truth, he gives his child as a hostage, to be redeemed on the fulfillment of his promise; and behold what a pledge of the Father's faithfulness; for when He would assure men of the immutability of His council, He gave His only-begotten Son to come to earth, to take the nature of man, not only for the brief years of life, but to retain his nature in the heavenly courts, an everlasting pledge of the faithfulness of God. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and love of God! "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (1 John 3:1). {1SM 258.2} [1SM 258.3] Through faith in Christ we become members of the royal family, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. In Christ we are one. As we come in sight of Calvary, and view the royal Sufferer who in man's nature bore the curse of the law in his behalf, all national distinctions, all sectarian differences are obliterated; all honor of rank, all pride of caste is lost. {1SM 258.3} [1SM 258.4] The light shining from the throne of God upon the cross of Calvary forever puts an end to man-made separations between class and race. Men of every class become members of one family, children of the heavenly King, not through earthly power, but through the love of God who gave Jesus to a life of poverty, affliction, and humiliation, to a death of shame and agony, that He might bring many sons and daughters unto glory. {1SM 258.4} [1SM 258.5] It is not the position, not the finite wisdom, not the qualifications, not the endowments of any person that makes 259 him rank high in the esteem of God. The intellect, the reason, the talents of men, are the gifts of God to be employed to His glory, for the upbuilding of His eternal kingdom. It is the spiritual and moral character that is of value in the sight of Heaven, and that will survive the grave and be made glorious with immortality for the endless ages of eternity. Worldly royalty so highly honored by men will never come forth from the sepulcher into which it enters. Riches, honor, the wisdom of men that have served the purposes of the enemy, can bring to their possessors no inheritance, no honor, no position of trust in the world which is to come. Only those who have appreciated the grace of Christ, which has made them heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus, will rise from the grave bearing the image of their Redeemer. {1SM 258.5} [1SM 259.1] All who are found worthy to be counted as the members of the family of God in heaven, will recognize one another as sons and daughters of God. They will realize that they all receive their strength and pardon from the same source, even from Jesus Christ who was crucified for their sins. They know that they are to wash their robes of character in His blood, to find acceptance with the Father in His name, if they would be in the bright assembly of the saints, clothed in the white robes of righteousness. {1SM 259.1} [1SM 259.2] One in Christ Then as the children of God are one in Christ, how does Jesus look upon caste, upon society distinctions, upon the division of man from his fellow man, because of color, race, position, wealth, birth, or attainments? The secret of unity is found in the equality of believers in Christ. The reason for all division, discord, and difference is found in separation from Christ. Christ is the center to which all should be attracted; for the nearer we approach the center, the closer we shall come together in feeling, in sympathy, in love, growing into the character and image of Jesus. With God there is no respect of persons. {1SM 259.2} [1SM 259.3] Jesus knew the worthlessness of earthly pomp, and He gave no attention to its display. In His dignity of soul, 260 His elevation of character, His nobility of principle, He was far above the vain fashions of the world. Although the prophet describes Him as "despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3), He might have been esteemed as the highest among the noble of the earth. The best circles of human society would have courted Him, had He condescended to accept their favor, but He desired not the applause of men, but moved independent of all human influence. Wealth, position, worldly rank in all its varieties and distinctions of human greatness, were all but so many degrees of littleness to Him who had left the honor and glory of heaven, and who possessed no earthly splendor, indulged in no luxury, and displayed no adornment but humility. {1SM 259.3} [1SM 260.1] The lowly, those bound with poverty, pressed with care, burdened with toil, could find no reason in His life and example which would lead them to think that Jesus was not acquainted with their trials, knew not the pressure of their circumstances, and could not sympathize with them in their want and sorrow. The lowliness of His humble, daily life was in harmony with His lowly birth and circumstances. The Son of the infinite God, the Lord of life and glory, descended in humiliation to the life of the lowliest, that no one might feel himself excluded from His presence. He made Himself accessible to all. He did not select a favored few with whom to associate and ignore all others. It grieves the Spirit of God when conservatism shuts man away from his fellow man, especially when it is found among those who profess to be His children. {1SM 260.1} [1SM 260.2] Christ came to give to the world an example of what perfect humanity might be when united with divinity. He presented to the world a new phase of greatness in His exhibition of mercy, compassion, and love. He gave to men a new interpretation of God. As head of humanity, He taught men lessons in the science of divine government, whereby He revealed the righteousness of the reconciliation of mercy and justice. The reconciliation of mercy and justice did not involve any compromise with sin, or ignore any claim of justice; but by giving to each divine attribute 261 its ordained place, mercy could be exercised in the punishment of sinful, impenitent man without destroying its clemency or forfeiting its compassionate character, and justice could be exercised in forgiving the repenting transgressor without violating its integrity. {1SM 260.2} [1SM 261.1] Christ Our High Priest All this could be, because Christ laid hold of the nature of man, and partook of the divine attributes, and planted His cross between humanity and divinity, bridging the gulf that separated the sinner from God. {1SM 261.1} [1SM 261.2] "For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted" (Hebrews 2:16-18). {1SM 261.2} [1SM 261.3] "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). {1SM 261.3} [1SM 261.4] "For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins. And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which 262 he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him" (Hebrews 5:1-9). {1SM 261.4} [1SM 262.1] Jesus came to bring moral power to combine with human effort, and in no case are His followers to allow themselves to lose sight of Christ, who is their example in all things. He said, "For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth" (John 17:19). Jesus presents the truth before His children that they may look upon it, and by beholding it, may become changed, being transformed by His grace from transgression to obedience, from impurity to purity, from sin to heart-holiness and righteousness of life. - {1SM 262.1} [1SM 262.2] A Special Class in Heaven Some among the redeemed will have laid hold of Christ in the last hours of life, and in heaven instruction will be given to those who, when they died, did not understand perfectly the plan of salvation. Christ will lead the redeemed ones beside the river of life, and will open to them that which while on this earth they could not understand.-- Undated manuscript 150. {1SM 262.2} [1SM 263.1] Chap. 37 - "Even So Send I You" ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, JUNE 25, 1895.］ "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you" (John 20:21). We are to bear as definite a testimony to the truth as it is in Jesus, as did Christ and His apostles. Trusting in the efficiency of the Holy Spirit, we are to testify of the mercy, goodness, and love of a crucified and risen Saviour, and thus be agents through whom the darkness will be dispelled from many minds, and cause thanksgiving and praise to ascend from many hearts to God. There is a great work to be done by every son and daughter of God. Jesus says, "If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever" (John 14:15, 16). In His prayer for His disciples, He says that He not only prayed for those in His immediate presence, but "for them also which shall believe on me through their word" (John 17:20). Again He said, "Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I" (John 14:28). Thus we see that Christ has prayed for His people, and made them abundant promises to ensure 264 success to them as His colaborers. He said, "Greater works than these ［those He did］ shall he do; because I go unto my Father" (John 14:12). {1SM 263.1} [1SM 264.1] O what great privileges belong to those who are believers and doers of the words of Christ! It is a knowledge of Christ as the sin bearer, as the propitiation for our iniquities, that enables us to live a life of holiness. This knowledge is the safeguard for the happiness of the human family. Satan knows that without this knowledge we should be thrown into confusion and divested of our strength. Our faith in God would be gone, and we should be left a prey to every artifice of the enemy. He has laid subtle plans by which to destroy man. It is his purpose to cast his hellish shadow, like the pall of death, between God and man, in order that he may hide Jesus from our view, so that he may cause us to forget the ministry of love and mercy, cut us off from further knowledge of God's great love and power to usward, and intercept every ray of light from heaven. {1SM 264.1} [1SM 264.2] Christ alone was able to represent the Deity. He who had been in the presence of the Father from the beginning, He who was the express image of the invisible God, was alone sufficient to accomplish this work. No verbal description could reveal God to the world. Through a life of purity, a life of perfect trust and submission to the will of God, a life of humiliation such as even the highest seraph in heaven would have shrunk from, God Himself must be revealed to humanity. In order to do this, our Saviour clothed His divinity with humanity. He employed the human faculties, for only by adopting these could He be comprehended by humanity. Only humanity could reach humanity. He lived out the character of God through the human body which God had prepared for Him. He blessed the world by living out in human flesh the life of God, thus showing that He had the power to unite humanity to divinity. {1SM 264.2} [1SM 264.3] Our Mission for Christ Christ said: "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he 265 to whomsoever the Son will reveal him" (Matthew 11:27). O how dimly the exalted work of the Son of God is comprehended! He held the salvation of the world in His hands. The commission given to the apostles is also given to His followers in this age. "Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47). Our Saviour has "all power...in heaven and in earth" (Matthew 28:18), and this power is promised unto us. "Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). {1SM 264.3} [1SM 265.1] Even though a church may be composed of poor and uneducated and unknown persons, yet if they are believing, praying members, their influence will be felt for time and for eternity. If they go forth in simple faith, relying upon the promises of the Word of God, they may accomplish great good. If they let their light shine, Christ is glorified in them, and the interests of His kingdom are advanced. If they have a sense of their individual accountability to God, they will seek for opportunities to work, and will shine as lights in the world. They will be examples of sincerity and of zealous fervor in working out God's plan for the salvation of souls. The poor, the unlearned, if they choose, may become students in the school of Christ, and He will teach them true wisdom. The life of meek, childlike trust, of true piety, true religion, will be effective in its influence upon others. Persons who are highly educated are likely to depend more upon their book knowledge than upon God. Often they do not seek a knowledge of God's ways by wrestling earnestly with Him in secret prayer, laying hold upon the promises of God by faith. Those who have received the heavenly unction will go forth with a Christlike spirit, seeking an opportunity to engage others in conversation, and to reveal to them the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ whom He has sent, whom to know is life eternal. They will become living epistles, revealing the Light of the world to mankind. 266 {1SM 265.1} [1SM 266.1] Christ has given "to every man his work" (Mark 13:34). He expects every man to do his work with fidelity. High and low, rich and poor, all have a work to do for the Master. Every one is called to action. But if you do not obey the voice of the Lord, if you do not do His appointed work in firm reliance upon Christ as your sufficiency, if you do not follow His example, "unfaithful, slothful servant" will be registered against your name. Unless the light which has been given you is communicated to others, unless you let your light shine, it will go out in darkness, and your soul will be left in awful peril. God speaks to every one who knows the truth, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). Communicate the knowledge of the truth to others. This is God's plan to enlighten the world. If you do not stand in your allotted place, if you do not let your light shine, you will become enshrouded in darkness. God calls upon all the sons and daughters of the heavenly family to be fully equipped, so that at any period they can step into the ranks ready for action. The heart made tender and sympathetic by the love of Jesus will find the precious pearls designed for the casket of the Lord Jesus. {1SM 266.1} [1SM 267.1] Chap. 38 - The Temptation of Christ ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, JULY 28, 1874.］ Christ was not in as favorable a position in the desolate wilderness to endure the temptations of Satan as was Adam when he was tempted in Eden. The Son of God humbled Himself and took man's nature after the race had wandered four thousand years from Eden, and from their original state of purity and uprightness. Sin had been making its terrible marks upon the race for ages; and physical, mental, and moral degeneracy prevailed throughout the human family. {1SM 267.1} [1SM 267.2] When Adam was assailed by the tempter in Eden he was without the taint of sin. He stood in the strength of his perfection before God. All the organs and faculties of his being were equally developed, and harmoniously balanced. {1SM 267.2} [1SM 267.3] Christ, in the wilderness of temptation, stood in Adam's place to bear the test he failed to endure. Here Christ overcame in the sinner's behalf, four thousand years after Adam turned his back upon the light of his home. Separated from the presence of God, the human family had been departing, every successive generation, farther from the original purity, wisdom, and knowledge which Adam possessed in Eden. Christ bore the sins and infirmities of 268 the race as they existed when He came to the earth to help man. In behalf of the race, with the weaknesses of fallen man upon Him, He was to stand the temptations of Satan upon all points wherewith man would be assailed. {1SM 267.3} [1SM 268.1] Adam was surrounded with everything his heart could wish. Every want was supplied. There was no sin, and no signs of decay in glorious Eden. Angels of God conversed freely and lovingly with the holy pair. The happy songsters caroled forth their free, joyous songs of praise to their Creator. The peaceful beasts in happy innocence played about Adam and Eve, obedient to their word. Adam was in the perfection of manhood, the noblest of the Creator's work. He was in the image of God, but a little lower than the angels. {1SM 268.1} [1SM 268.2] Christ as the Second Adam In what contrast is the second Adam as He entered the gloomy wilderness to cope with Satan singlehanded! Since the Fall the race had been decreasing in size and physical strength, and sinking lower in the scale of moral worth, up to the period of Christ's advent to the earth. And in order to elevate fallen man, Christ must reach him where he was. He took human nature, and bore the infirmities and degeneracy of the race. He, who knew no sin, became sin for us. He humiliated Himself to the lowest depths of human woe, that He might be qualified to reach man, and bring him up from the degradation in which sin had plunged him. {1SM 268.2} [1SM 268.3] "For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings" (Hebrews 2:10). ［Hebrews 5:9; 2:17, 18 quoted.］ {1SM 268.3} [1SM 268.4] "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). {1SM 268.4} [1SM 268.5] Satan had been at war with the government of God, since he first rebelled. His success in tempting Adam and Eve in Eden, and introducing sin into the world, had emboldened this arch foe, and he had proudly boasted to the heavenly angels that when Christ should appear, taking 269 man's nature, He would be weaker than himself, and he would overcome Him by his power. He exulted that Adam and Eve in Eden could not resist his insinuations when he appealed to their appetite. The inhabitants of the old world he overcame in the same manner, through the indulgence of lustful appetite and corrupt passions. Through the gratification of appetite he had overthrown the Israelites. He boasted that the Son of God Himself who was with Moses and Joshua was not able to resist his power, and lead the favored people of His choice to Canaan; for nearly all who left Egypt died in the wilderness. Also the meek man, Moses, he had tempted to take to himself glory which God claimed. David and Solomon, who had been especially favored of God, he had induced, through the indulgence of appetite and passion, to incur God's displeasure. And he boasted that he could yet succeed in thwarting the purpose of God in the salvation of man through Jesus Christ. {1SM 268.5} [1SM 269.1] In the wilderness of temptation Christ was without food forty days. Moses had, on especial occasions, been thus long without food. But he felt not the pangs of hunger. He was not tempted and harassed by a vile and powerful foe, as was the Son of God. He was elevated above the human. He was especially sustained by the glory of God which enshrouded him. {1SM 269.1} [1SM 269.2] Terrible Effects of Sin Upon Man Satan had succeeded so well in deceiving the angels of God, and in the fall of noble Adam, that he thought that in Christ's humiliation he should be successful in overcoming Him. He looked with pleased exultation upon the result of his temptations and the increase of sin in the continued transgression of God's law for more than four thousand years. He had worked the ruin of our first parents, and brought sin and death into the world, and had led to ruin multitudes of all ages, countries, and classes. He had, by his power, controlled cities and nations until their sin provoked the wrath of God to destroy them by fire, water, earthquakes, sword, famine, and pestilence. By his subtlety and untiring efforts he had controlled the appetite and 270 excited and strengthened the passions to so fearful a degree, that he had defaced, and almost obliterated the image of God in man. His physical and moral dignity were in so great a degree destroyed, that he bore but a faint resemblance in character, and noble perfection of form, to dignified Adam in Eden. {1SM 269.2} [1SM 270.1] At the first advent of Christ, Satan had brought man down from his original, exalted purity, and had dimmed the fine gold with sin. He had transformed the man, created to be a sovereign in Eden, to a slave in the earth, groaning under the curse of sin. The halo of glory, which God had given holy Adam, covering him as a garment, departed from him after his transgression. The light of God's glory could not cover disobedience and sin. In the place of health and plenitude of blessings, poverty, sickness, and suffering of every type were to be the portion of the children of Adam. {1SM 270.1} [1SM 270.2] Satan had, through his seductive power, led men through vain philosophy to question and finally to disbelieve in divine revelation and the existence of God. He could look abroad upon a world of moral wretchedness, and a race exposed to the wrath of a sin-avenging God, with fiendish triumph that he had been so successful in darkening the pathway of so many, and had led them to transgress the law of God. He clothed sin with pleasing attractions to secure the ruin of many. {1SM 270.2} [1SM 270.3] But his most successful scheme in deceiving man has been to conceal his real purposes, and his true character, by representing himself as man's friend and a benefactor of the race. He flatters men with the pleasing fable that there is no rebellious foe, no deadly enemy that they need to guard against, and that the existence of a personal devil is all a fiction. While he thus hides his existence, he is gathering thousands under his control. He is deceiving them, as he tried to deceive Christ, that he is an angel from Heaven doing a good work for humanity. And the masses are so blinded by sin that they cannot discern the devices of Satan, and they honor him as they would a heavenly angel, while he is working their eternal ruin. {1SM 270.3} [1SM 271.1] Chap. 39 - First Temptation of Christ ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD. AUG. 4 AND 18, 1874.］ Christ has entered the world as Satan's destroyer, and the Redeemer of the captives bound by his power. He would leave an example in His own victorious life for man to follow and overcome the temptations of Satan. As soon as Christ entered the wilderness of temptation, His visage changed. The glory and splendor reflected from the throne of God which illuminated His countenance when the heavens opened before Him, and the Father's voice acknowledged Him as His Son in whom He was well pleased, was now gone. The weight of the sins of the world was pressing His soul, and His countenance expressed unutterable sorrow, a depth of anguish that fallen man had never realized. He felt the overwhelming tide of woe that deluged the world. He realized the strength of indulged appetite and of unholy passion that controlled the world, which had brought upon man inexpressible suffering. The indulgence of appetite had been increasing, and strengthening with every successive generation since Adam's transgression, until the race was so feeble in moral power that they could not overcome in their own strength. Christ, in behalf of the 272 race, was to overcome appetite by standing the most powerful test upon this point. He was to tread the path of temptation alone, and there must be none to help Him, none to comfort or uphold Him. He was to wrestle with the powers of darkness. {1SM 271.1} [1SM 272.1] As man could not, in his human strength, resist the power of Satan's temptations, Jesus volunteered to undertake the work, and bear the burden for man, and overcome the power of appetite in his behalf. He must show in man's behalf, self-denial and perseverance, and firmness of principle that is paramount to the gnawing pangs of hunger. He must show a power of control over appetite stronger than hunger and even death. {1SM 272.1} [1SM 272.2] Significance of the Test When Christ bore the test of temptation upon the point of appetite, He did not stand in beautiful Eden, as did Adam, with the light and love of God seen in everything His eye rested upon. But He was in a barren, desolate wilderness, surrounded with wild beasts. Everything around Him was repulsive, and ［that］ from which human nature would be inclined to shrink. With these surroundings He fasted forty days and forty nights, "and in those days he did eat nothing" (Luke 4:2). He was emaciated through long fasting, and felt the keenest sense of hunger. His visage was indeed marred more than the sons of men. {1SM 272.2} [1SM 272.3] Christ thus entered upon His life of conflict to overcome the mighty foe, in bearing the very test Adam failed to endure, that, through successful conflict, He might break the power of Satan, and redeem the race from the disgrace of the Fall. {1SM 272.3} [1SM 272.4] All was lost when Adam yielded to the power of appetite. The Redeemer, in whom was united both the human and the divine, stood in Adam's place, and endured a terrible fast of nearly six weeks. The length of this fast is the strongest evidence of the extent of the sinfulness and power of debased appetite upon the human family. {1SM 272.4} [1SM 272.5] The humanity of Christ reached to the very depths of human wretchedness, and identified itself with the 273 weaknesses and necessities of fallen man, while His divine nature grasped the Eternal. His work in bearing the guilt of man's transgression was not to give him license to continue to violate the law of God, which made man a debtor to the law, which debt Christ was Himself paying by His own suffering. The trials and sufferings of Christ were to impress man with a sense of his great sin in breaking the law of God, and to bring him to repentance and obedience to that law, and through obedience to acceptance with God. His righteousness He would impute to man, and thus raise him in moral value with God, so that his efforts to keep the divine law would be acceptable. Christ's work was to reconcile man to God through His human nature, and God to man through His divine nature. {1SM 272.5} [1SM 273.1] As soon as the long fast of Christ commenced in the wilderness, Satan was at hand with his temptations. He came to Christ, enshrouded in light, claiming to be one of the angels from the throne of God, sent upon an errand of mercy to sympathize with Him, and to relieve Him of His suffering condition. He tried to make Christ believe that God did not require Him to pass through self-denial and the sufferings He anticipated; that he had been sent from heaven to bear to Him the message that God only designed to prove His willingness to endure. {1SM 273.1} [1SM 273.2] Satan told Christ that He was only to set His feet in the bloodstained path, but not to travel it. Like Abraham He was tested to show His perfect obedience. He also stated that he was the angel that stayed the hand of Abraham as the knife was raised to slay Isaac, and he had now come to save His life; that it was not necessary for Him to endure the painful hunger and death from starvation; he would help Him bear a part of the work in the plan of salvation. {1SM 273.2} [1SM 273.3] The Son of God turned from all these artful temptations, and was steadfast in His purpose to carry out in every particular, in the spirit and in the very letter, the plan which had been devised for the redemption of the fallen race. But Satan had manifold temptations prepared to ensnare Christ, and obtain advantage of Him. If he failed in one temptation, he would try another. He thought he 274 would succeed, because Christ had humbled Himself as a man. He flattered himself that his assumed character, as one of the heavenly angels, could not be discerned. He feigned to doubt the divinity of Christ, because of His emaciated appearance and unpleasant surroundings. {1SM 273.3} [1SM 274.1] Christ knew that in taking the nature of man He would not be in appearance equal to the angels of heaven. Satan urged that if He was indeed the Son of God He should give him evidence of His exalted character. He approached Christ with temptations upon appetite. He had overcome Adam upon this point and he had controlled his descendants, and through indulgence of appetite led them to provoke God by iniquity, until their crimes were so great that the Lord destroyed them from off the earth by the waters of the Flood. {1SM 274.1} [1SM 274.2] Under Satan's direct temptations the children of Israel suffered appetite to control reason, and they were, through indulgence, led to commit grievous sins which awakened the wrath of God against them, and they fell in the wilderness. He thought that he should be successful in overcoming Christ with the same temptation. He told Christ that one of the exalted angels had been exiled to the world, and that His appearance indicated that, instead of His being the King of heaven, He was the angel fallen, and this explained His emaciated and distressed appearance. {1SM 274.2} [1SM 274.3] Christ Did No Miracle for Himself He then called the attention of Christ to his own attractive appearance, clothed with light and strong in power. He claimed to be a messenger direct from the throne of Heaven, and asserted that he had a right to demand of Christ evidences of His being the Son of God. Satan would fain disbelieve, if he could, the words that came from heaven to the Son of God at His baptism. He determined to overcome Christ, and, if possible, make his own kingdom and life secure. His first temptation to Christ was upon appetite. He had, upon this point, almost entire control of the world, and his temptations were adapted to the circumstances and surroundings of Christ, 275 which made his temptations upon appetite almost overpowering. {1SM 274.3} [1SM 275.1] Christ could have worked a miracle on His own account; but this would not have been in accordance with the plan of salvation. The many miracles in the life of Christ show His power to work miracles for the benefit of suffering humanity. By a miracle of mercy He fed five thousand at once with five loaves and two small fishes. Therefore He had power to work a miracle, and satisfy His own hunger. Satan flattered himself that he could lead Christ to doubt the words spoken from heaven at His baptism. And if he could tempt Him to question His sonship, and doubt the truth of the word spoken by His Father, he would gain a great victory. {1SM 275.1} [1SM 275.2] He found Christ in the desolate wilderness without companions, without food, and in actual suffering. His surroundings were most melancholy and repulsive. Satan suggested to Christ that God would not leave His Son in this condition of want and real suffering. He hoped to shake the confidence of Christ in His Father, who had permitted Him to be brought into this condition of extreme suffering in the desert, where the feet of man had never trod. Satan hoped to insinuate doubts as to His Father's love that would find a lodgment in the mind of Christ, and that under the force of despondency and extreme hunger He would exert His miraculous power in His own behalf, and take Himself out of the hand of His heavenly Father. This was indeed a temptation to Christ. But He cherished it not for a moment. He did not for a single moment doubt His heavenly Father's love, although He seemed to be bowed down with inexpressible anguish. Satan's temptations, though skillfully devised, did not move the integrity of God's dear Son. His abiding confidence in His Father could not be shaken. {1SM 275.2} [1SM 275.3] Christ Did Not Parley With Temptation Jesus did not condescend to explain to His enemy how He was the Son of God, and in what manner, as such, He was to act. In an insulting, taunting manner Satan 276 referred to the present weakness and the unfavorable appearance of Christ in contrast with his own strength and glory. He taunted Christ that He was a poor representative of the angels, much more of their exalted Commander, the acknowledged King in the royal courts. His present appearance indicated that He was forsaken of God and man. He said if Christ was indeed the Son of God, the monarch of heaven, He had power equal with God, and He could give him evidence by working a miracle and changing the stone just at His feet into bread, and relieve His hunger. Satan promised that, if Christ would do this, he would at once yield his claims of superiority, and that the contest between himself and Christ should there be forever ended. {1SM 275.3} [1SM 276.1] Christ did not appear to notice the reviling taunts of Satan. He was not provoked to give him proofs of His power. He meekly bore his insults without retaliation. The words spoken from heaven at His baptism were very precious, evidencing to Him that His Father approved the steps He was taking in the plan of salvation as man's substitute and surety. The opening heavens, and descent of the heavenly dove, were assurances that His Father would unite His power in heaven with that of His Son upon the earth, to rescue man from the control of Satan, and that God accepted the effort of Christ to link earth to heaven, and finite man to the infinite. {1SM 276.1} [1SM 276.2] These tokens, received from His Father, were inexpressibly precious to the Son of God through all His severe sufferings and terrible conflict with the rebel chief. And while enduring the test of God in the wilderness, and through His entire ministry, He had nothing to do in convincing Satan of His own power, and of His being the Saviour of the world. Satan had sufficient evidence of His exalted station. His unwillingness to ascribe to Jesus the honor due to Him, and manifest submission as a subordinate, ripened into rebellion against God, and shut him out of heaven. {1SM 276.2} [1SM 276.3] It was not any part of the mission of Christ to exercise His divine power for His own benefit, to relieve Himself 277 from suffering. This He had volunteered to take upon Himself. He had condescended to take man's nature, and He was to suffer the inconveniences, and ills, and afflictions of the human family. He was not to perform miracles on His own account. He came to save others. The object of His mission was to bring blessings, and hope, and life, to the afflicted and oppressed. He was to bear the burdens and griefs of suffering humanity. {1SM 276.3} [1SM 277.1] Although Christ was suffering the keenest pangs of hunger, He withstood the temptations. He repulsed Satan with scripture, the same He had given Moses in the wilderness to repeat to rebellious Israel when their diet was restricted, and they were clamoring for flesh meats, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). In this declaration, and also by His example, Christ would show man that hunger for temporal food was not the greatest calamity that could befall him. Satan flattered our first parents that eating of the fruit of the tree of life ［THE TREE HERE REFERRED TO IS OBVIOUSLY THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE AND NOT THE TREE OF LIFE. THE PHRASE "OF LIFE" IS PATENTLY A PRINTER'S ERROR. IT IS NOT FOUND IN THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF THIS ARTICLE, IN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES FOR JULY 9, 1874, NOR IN THE REPRINT IN PAMPHLET FORM, TITLED "REDEMPTION OR THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST," PAGE 42.--COMPILERS.］ of which God had forbidden them would bring to them great good, and would ensure them against death, the very opposite of the truth which God had declared to them. "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:17). If Adam had been obedient, he would never have known want, sorrow, or death. {1SM 277.1} [1SM 277.2] If the people who lived before the Flood had been obedient to the word of God, they would have been preserved, and would not have perished by the waters of the Flood. If the Israelites had been obedient to the words of God, He would have bestowed upon them special blessings. But they fell in consequence of the indulgence of appetite and passion. They would not be obedient to the words of God. Indulgence of perverted appetite led them 278 into numerous and grievous sins. If they had made the requirements of God their first consideration, and their physical wants secondary, in submission to God's choice of proper food for them, not one of them would have fallen in the wilderness. They would have been established in the goodly land of Canaan a holy, healthy people, with not a feeble one in all their tribes. {1SM 277.2} [1SM 278.1] The Saviour of the world became sin for the race. In becoming man's substitute, Christ did not manifest His power as the Son of God. He ranked Himself among the sons of men. He was to bear the trial of temptation as a man, in man's behalf, under the most trying circumstances, and leave an example of faith and perfect trust in His heavenly Father. Christ knew that His Father would supply Him food when it would gratify Him to do so. He would not in this severe ordeal, when hunger pressed Him beyond measure, prematurely diminish one particle of the trial allotted to Him be exercising His divine power. {1SM 278.1} [1SM 278.2] Fallen man, when brought into straightened places, could not have the power to work miracles on his own behalf, to save himself from pain or anguish, or to give himself victory over his enemies. It was the purpose of God to test and prove the race, and give them an opportunity to develop character by bringing them frequently into trying positions to test their faith and confidence in His love and power. The life of Christ was a perfect pattern. He was ever, by His example and precept, teaching man that God was his dependence, and that in God should be his faith and firm trust. {1SM 278.2} [1SM 278.3] Christ knew that Satan was a liar from the beginning, and it required strong self-control to listen to the propositions of this insulting deceiver, and not instantly rebuke his bold assumptions. Satan expected to provoke the Son of God to engage in controversy with him; and he hoped that thus, in His extreme weakness and agony of spirit, he could obtain advantage over Him. He designed to pervert the words of Christ and claim advantage, and call to his aid his fallen angels to use their utmost power to prevail against and overcome Him. 279 {1SM 278.3} [1SM 279.1] The Saviour of the world had no controversy with Satan, who was expelled from heaven because he was no longer worthy of a place there. He who could influence the angels of God against their Supreme Ruler, and against His Son, their loved commander, and enlist their sympathy for himself, was capable of any deception. Four thousand years he had been warring against the government of God, and had lost none of his skill or power to tempt and deceive. {1SM 279.1} [1SM 279.2] Victory Through Christ Because man fallen could not overcome Satan with his human strength, Christ came from the royal courts of heaven to help him with His human and divine strength combined. Christ knew that Adam in Eden, with his superior advantages, might have withstood the temptations of Satan, and conquered him. He also knew that it was not possible for man, out of Eden, separated from the light and love of God since the Fall, to resist the temptations of Satan in his own strength. In order to bring hope to man, and save him from complete ruin, He humbled Himself to take man's nature, that, with His divine power combined with the human, He might reach man where he is. He obtains for the fallen sons and daughters of Adam that strength which it is impossible for them to gain for themselves, that in His name they may overcome the temptations of Satan. {1SM 279.2} [1SM 279.3] The exalted Son of God in assuming humanity draws Himself nearer to man by standing as the sinner's substitute. He identifies Himself with the sufferings and afflictions of men. He was tempted in all points as man is tempted, that He might know how to succor those who should be tempted. Christ overcame on the sinner's behalf. {1SM 279.3} [1SM 279.4] Jacob, in the night vision, saw earth connected with heaven by a ladder reaching to the throne of God. He saw the angels of God, clothed with garments of heavenly brightness, passing down from heaven and up to heaven upon this shining ladder. The bottom of this ladder rested 280 upon the earth, while the top of it reached to the highest heavens, and rested upon the throne of Jehovah. The brightness from the throne of God beamed down upon this ladder, and reflected a light of inexpressible glory upon the earth. {1SM 279.4} [1SM 280.1] This ladder represented Christ, who had opened the communication between earth and heaven. In Christ's humiliation He descended to the very depth of human woe in sympathy and pity for fallen man, which was represented to Jacob by one end of the ladder resting upon the earth, while the top of the ladder, reaching unto heaven, represents the divine power of Christ, who grasps the Infinite, and thus links earth to heaven and finite man to the infinite God. Through Christ the communication is opened between God and man. Angels may pass from heaven to earth with messages of love to fallen man, and to minister unto those who shall be heirs of salvation. It is through Christ alone that the heavenly messengers minister to men. {1SM 280.1} [1SM 280.2] Adam and Eve in Eden were placed under most favorable circumstances. It was their privilege to hold communion with God and angels. They were without the condemnation of sin. The light of God and angels was with them, and around about them. The Author of their existence was their teacher. But they fell beneath the power and temptations of the artful foe. Four thousand years had Satan been at work against the government of God, and he had obtained strength and experience from determined practice. Fallen men had not the advantages of Adam in Eden. They had been separating from God for four thousand years. The wisdom to understand, and power to resist, the temptations of Satan had become less and less, until Satan seemed to reign triumphant in the earth. Appetite and passion, the love of the world and presumptuous sins, were the great branches of evil out of which every species of crime, violence, and corruption grew. {1SM 280.2} [1SM 281.1] Chap. 40 - Second Temptation of Christ ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, AUG. 18 AND SEPT. 1, 1874.］ Satan was defeated in his object to overcome Christ upon the point of appetite; and here in the wilderness Christ achieved a victory in behalf of the race upon the point of appetite, making it possible for man in all future time in His name to overcome the strength of appetite on his own behalf. Satan was not willing to cease his efforts until he had tried every means to obtain victory over the world's Redeemer. He knew that with himself all was at stake, whether he or Christ should be victor in the contest. And, in order to awe Christ with his superior strength, he carried Him to Jerusalem and set Him on a pinnacle of the Temple, and continued to beset Him with temptations. {1SM 281.1} [1SM 281.2] He again demanded of Christ, if He was indeed the Son of God, to give him evidence by casting Himself from the dizzy height upon which he had placed Him. He urged Christ to show His confidence in the preserving care of His Father by casting Himself down from the Temple. In Satan's first temptation upon the point of appetite, he had tried to insinuate doubts in regard to God's love and care for Christ as His Son, by presenting His 282 surroundings and His hunger as evidence that He was not in favor with God, He was unsuccessful in this. He next tried to take advantage of the faith and perfect trust Christ had shown in His heavenly Father to urge Him to presumption. "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone" (Matthew 4:6). Jesus promptly answered, "It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God" (Matthew 4:7). {1SM 281.2} [1SM 282.1] The Sin of Presumption The sin of presumption lies close beside the virtue of perfect faith and confidence in God. Satan flattered himself that he could take advantage of the humanity of Christ to urge Him over the line of trust to presumption. Upon this point many souls are wrecked. Satan tried to deceive Christ through flattery. He admitted that Christ was right in the wilderness in His faith and confidence that God was His Father, under the most trying circumstances. He then urged Christ to give him one more proof of His entire dependence upon God, one more evidence of His faith that He was the Son of God, by casting Himself from the Temple. He told Christ that if He was indeed the Son of God He had nothing to fear; for angels were at hand to uphold Him. Satan gave evidence that he understood the Scriptures by the use he made of them. {1SM 282.1} [1SM 282.2] The Redeemer of the world wavered not from His integrity and showed that He had perfect faith in His Father's promised care. He would not put the faithfulness and love of His Father to a needless trial, although He was in the hands of the enemy, and placed in a position of extreme difficulty and peril. He would not, at Satan's suggestion, tempt God by presumptuously experimenting on His providence. Satan had brought in scripture which seemed appropriate for the occasion, hoping to accomplish his designs by making the application to our Saviour at this special time. {1SM 282.2} [1SM 282.3] Christ knew that God could indeed bear Him up if 283 He had required Him to throw Himself from the Temple. But to do this unbidden, and to experiment upon His Father's protecting care and love, because dared by Satan to do so, would not show His strength of faith. Satan was well aware that if Christ could be prevailed upon, unbidden by His Father, to fling Himself from the Temple to prove His claim to His heavenly Father's protecting care, He would in the very act show the weakness of His human nature. {1SM 282.3} [1SM 283.1] Christ came off victor in the second temptation. He manifested perfect confidence and trust in His Father during His severe conflict with the powerful foe. Our Redeemer, in the victory here gained, has left man a perfect pattern, showing him that his only safety is in firm trust and unwavering confidence in God in all trials and perils. He refused to presume upon the mercy of His Father by placing Himself in peril that would make it necessary for His heavenly Father to display His power to save Him from danger. This would be forcing providence on His own account; and He would not then leave for His people a perfect example of faith and firm trust in God. {1SM 283.1} [1SM 283.2] Satan's object in tempting Christ was to lead Him to daring presumption, and to show human weakness that would not make Him a perfect pattern for His people. Satan thought that should Christ fail to bear the test of his temptations, there could be no redemption for the race, and his power over them would be complete. {1SM 283.2} [1SM 283.3] Christ Our Hope and Example The humiliation and agonizing sufferings of Christ in the wilderness of temptation were for the race. In Adam all was lost through transgression. Through Christ was man's only hope of restoration to the favor of God. Man had separated himself at such a distance from God by transgression of His law, that he could not humiliate himself before God proportionate to his grievous sin. The Son of God could fully understand the aggravating sins of the transgressor, and in His sinless character He alone could make an acceptable atonement for man in suffering 284 the agonizing sense of His Father's displeasure. The sorrow and anguish of the Son of God for the sins of the world were proportionate to His divine excellence and purity, as well as to the magnitude of the offense. {1SM 283.3} [1SM 284.1] Christ was our example in all things. As we see His humiliation in the long trial and fast in the wilderness to overcome the temptations of appetite in our behalf, we are to take this lesson home to ourselves when we are tempted. If the power of appetite is so strong upon the human family, and its indulgence so fearful that the Son of God subjected Himself to such a test, how important that we feel the necessity of having appetite under the control of reason. Our Saviour fasted nearly six weeks, that He might gain for man the victory upon the point of appetite. How can professed Christians with an enlightened conscience, and Christ before them as their pattern, yield to the indulgence of those appetites which have an enervating influence upon the mind and heart? It is a painful fact that habits of self-gratification at the expense of health, and the weakening of moral power, are holding in the bonds of slavery at the present time a large share of the Christian world. {1SM 284.1} [1SM 284.2] Many who profess godliness do not inquire into the reason of Christ's long period of fasting and suffering in the wilderness. His anguish was not so much from enduring the pangs of hunger as from His sense of the fearful result of the indulgence of appetite and passion upon the race. He knew that appetite would be man's idol, and would lead him to forget God, and would stand directly in the way of his salvation. {1SM 284.2} [1SM 285.1] Chap. 41 - Third Temptation of Christ ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, SEPT. 1, 1874.］ Our Saviour showed perfect confidence in His heavenly Father, that He would not suffer Him to be tempted above what He should give Him strength to endure, and would bring Him off conqueror if He patiently bore the test to which He was subjected. Christ had not, of His own will, placed Himself in danger. God had suffered Satan, for the time being, to have this power over His Son. Jesus knew that if He preserved His integrity in this extremely trying position, an angel of God would be sent to relieve Him if there was no other way. He had taken humanity, and was the representative of the race. {1SM 285.1} [1SM 285.2] Satan saw that he prevailed nothing with Christ in his second great temptation. "And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine" (Luke 4:5-7). {1SM 285.2} [1SM 285.3] In the first two great temptations Satan had not revealed his true purposes or his character. He claimed to be 286 an exalted messenger from the courts of heaven, but he now throws off his disguise. In a panoramic view he presented before Christ all the kingdoms of the world in the most attractive light, while he claimed to be the prince of the world. {1SM 285.3} [1SM 286.1] The Most Alluring Temptation This last temptation was the most alluring of the three. Satan knew that Christ's life must be one of sorrow, hardship, and conflict. And he thought he could take advantage of this fact to bribe Christ to yield His integrity. Satan brought all his strength to bear upon this last temptation, for this last effort was to decide his destiny as to who should be victor. He claimed the world as his dominion, and he was the prince of the power of the air. He bore Jesus to the top of an exceeding high mountain, and then in a panoramic view presented before Him all the kingdoms of the world that had been so long under his dominion, and offered them to Him in one great gift. He told Christ He could come into possession of the kingdoms of the world without suffering or peril on His part. Satan promises to yield his scepter and dominion, and Christ shall be rightful ruler for one favor from Him. All he requires in return for making over to Him the kingdoms of the world that day presented before Him, is, that Christ shall do him homage as to a superior. {1SM 286.1} [1SM 286.2] The eye of Jesus for a moment rested upon the glory presented before Him; but He turned away and refused to look upon the entrancing spectacle. He would not endanger His steadfast integrity by dallying with the tempter. When Satan solicited homage, Christ's divine indignation was aroused, and He could no longer tolerate the blasphemous assumption of Satan, or even permit him to remain in His presence. Here Christ exercised His divine authority, and commanded Satan to desist. "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve" (Matthew 4:10). Satan, in his pride and arrogance, had declared himself to be the rightful and permanent ruler of the world, 287 the possessor of all its riches and glory, claiming homage of all who lived in it, as though he had created the world and all things that were therein. Said he to Christ: "All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it" (Luke 4:6). He endeavored to make a special contract with Christ, to make over to Him at once the whole of his claim, if He would worship him. {1SM 286.2} [1SM 287.1] This insult to the Creator moved the indignation of the Son of God to rebuke and dismiss him. Satan had flattered himself in his first temptation that he had so well concealed his true character and purposes that Christ did not recognize him as the fallen rebel chief whom He had conquered and expelled from heaven. The words of dismissal from Christ, "Get thee hence, Satan," evidenced that he was known from the first, and that all his deceptive arts had been unsuccessful upon the Son of God. Satan knew that if Jesus should die to redeem man, his power must end after a season, and he would be destroyed. Therefore, it was his studied plan to prevent, if possible, the completion of the great work which had been commenced by the Son of God. If the plan of man's redemption should fail, he would retain the kingdom which he then claimed. And if he should succeed, he flattered himself that he would reign in opposition to the God of heaven. {1SM 287.1} [1SM 287.2] When Jesus left heaven, and there left His power and glory, Satan exulted. He thought that the Son of God was placed in his power. The temptation took so easily with the holy pair in Eden, that he hoped he could with his satanic cunning and power overthrow even the Son of God, and thereby save his life and kingdom. If he could tempt Jesus to depart from the will of His Father, as he had done in his temptation with Adam and Eve, then his object would be gained. {1SM 287.2} [1SM 287.3] The time was to come when Jesus should redeem the possession of Satan by giving His own life, and, after a season, all in heaven and earth should submit to Him. Jesus was steadfast. He chose His life of suffering, His 288 ignominious death, and, in the way appointed by His Father, to become a lawful ruler of the kingdoms of the earth, and have them given into His hands as an everlasting possession. Satan also will be given into His hands to be destroyed by death, nevermore to annoy Jesus, or the saints in glory. {1SM 287.3} [1SM 288.1] Temptation Decidedly Resisted Jesus said to this wily foe, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve" (Matthew 4:10). Satan had asked Christ to give him evidence that He was the Son of God, and he had in this instance the proof he had asked. At the divine command of Christ he was compelled to obey. He was repulsed and silenced. He had no power to enable him to withstand the peremptory dismissal. He was compelled without another word to instantly desist and to leave the world's Redeemer. {1SM 288.1} [1SM 288.2] The hateful presence of Satan was withdrawn. The contest was ended. With immense suffering Christ's victory in the wilderness was as complete as was the failure of Adam. And for a season He stood freed from the presence of His powerful adversary, and from his legions of angels. {1SM 288.2} [1SM 288.3] After Satan had ended his temptations he departed from Jesus for a little season. The foe was conquered, but the conflict had been long and exceedingly trying. And after it was ended Christ was exhausted and fainting. He fell upon the ground as though dying. Heavenly angels who had bowed before Him in the royal courts, and who had been with intense, yet painful, interest watching their loved Commander, and with amazement had witnessed the terrible contest He had endured with Satan, now came and ministered unto Him. They prepared Him food and strengthened Him, for He lay as one dead. Angels were filled with amazement and awe, as they knew the world's Redeemer was passing through inexpressible suffering to achieve the redemption of man. He who was equal with God in the royal courts, was before them emaciated from nearly six weeks of fasting. Solitary and 289 alone He had been pursued by the rebel chief, who had been expelled from heaven. He had endured a more close and severe test than would ever be brought to bear upon man. The warfare with the power of darkness had been long and intensely trying to Christ's human nature in His weak and suffering condition. The angels brought messages of love and comfort from the Father to His Son, and also the assurance that all heaven triumphed in the full and entire victory He had gained in behalf of man. {1SM 288.3} [1SM 289.1] The cost of the redemption of the race can never be fully realized until the redeemed shall stand with the Redeemer, by the throne of God. And as they have capacity to appreciate the value of immortal life, and the eternal reward, they will swell the song of victory and immortal triumph, "Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing" (Revelation 5:12). "And every creature," says John, "which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever" (Revelation 5:13). {1SM 289.1} [1SM 289.2] Although Satan had failed in his strongest efforts, and most powerful temptations, yet he had not given up all hope that he might, at some future time, be more successful in his efforts. He looked forward to the period of Christ's ministry, when he should have opportunities to try his power and artifices against Him. Satan laid his plans to blind the understanding of the Jews, God's chosen people, that they would not discern in Christ the world's Redeemer. He thought he could fill their hearts with envy, jealousy, and hatred against the Son of God, so that they would not receive Him, but make His life upon earth as bitter as possible. {1SM 289.2} [1SM 290.1] Chap. 42 - The Revelation of God ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, NOV. 8, 1898.］ "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). {1SM 290.1} [1SM 290.2] Before the Fall, not a cloud rested upon the minds of our first parents to obscure their clear perception of the character of God. They were perfectly conformed to the will of God. For a covering, a beautiful light, the light of God, surrounded them. The Lord visited the holy pair, and instructed them through the works of His hands. Nature was their lesson book. In the Garden of Eden the existence of God was demonstrated in the objects of nature that surrounded them. Every tree of the garden spoke to them. The invisible things of God were clearly seen, being understood by the things which were made, even His eternal power and Godhead. {1SM 290.2} [1SM 290.3] But while it is true that God could thus be discerned in nature, this does not favor the assertion that after the Fall a perfect knowledge of God was revealed in the natural world to Adam and his posterity. Nature could convey her lessons to man in his innocence; but transgression brought 291 a blight upon nature, and intervened between nature and nature's God. Had Adam and Eve never disobeyed their Creator, had they remained in the path of perfect rectitude, they could have known and understood God. But when they listened to the voice of the tempter, and sinned against God, the light of the garments of heavenly innocence departed from them; and in parting with the garments of innocence, they drew about them the dark robes of ignorance of God. The clear and perfect light that had hitherto surrounded them had lightened everything they approached; but deprived of that heavenly light, the posterity of Adam could no longer trace the character of God in His created works. {1SM 290.3} [1SM 291.1] The things of nature upon which we look today give us but a faint conception of Eden's beauty and glory; yet the natural world, with unmistakable voice, proclaims the glory of God. In the things of nature, marred as they are by the blight of sin, much that is beautiful remains. One omnipotent in power, great in goodness, in mercy, and love, has created the earth, and even in its blighted state it inculcates truths in regard to the skillful Master Artist. In this book of nature opened to us--in the beautiful, scented flowers, with their varied and delicate coloring-- God gives to us an unmistakable expression of His love. After the transgression of Adam, God might have destroyed every opening bud and blooming flower, or He might have taken away their fragrance, so grateful to the senses. In the earth, seared and marred by the curse, in the briers, the thistles, the thorns, the tares, we may read the law of condemnation; but in the delicate color and perfume of the flowers, we may learn that God still loves us, that His mercy is not wholly withdrawn from the earth. {1SM 291.1} [1SM 291.2] Nature is filled with spiritual lessons for mankind. The flowers die only to spring forth into new life; and in this we are taught the lesson of the resurrection. All who love God will bloom again in the Eden above. But nature cannot teach the lesson of the great and marvelous love of God. Therefore, after the Fall, nature was not the only teacher of man. In order that the world might not remain 292 in darkness, in eternal spiritual night, the God of nature met us in Jesus Christ. The Son of God came to the world as the revelation of the Father. He was that "true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (John 1:9). We are to behold "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). {1SM 291.2} [1SM 292.1] In the person of His only-begotten Son, the God of heaven has condescended to stoop to our human nature. To the question of Thomas, Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake" (John 14:6-11). {1SM 292.1} [1SM 292.2] The most difficult and humiliating lesson that man has to learn is his own inefficiency in depending upon human wisdom, and the sure failure of his own efforts to read nature correctly. Sin has obscured his vision, and of himself he cannot interpret nature without placing it above God. He cannot discern in it God, or Jesus Christ, whom He has sent. He is in the same position as were the Athenians, who erected their altars for the worship of nature. Standing in the midst of Mars' Hill, Paul presented before the people of Athens the majesty of the living God in contrast with their idolatrous worship. {1SM 292.2} [1SM 292.3] "Ye men of Athens," he said, "I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, to the unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made 293 the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our beings; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device" (Acts 17:22-29). {1SM 292.3} [1SM 293.1] Nature Is Not God Those who have a true knowledge of God will not become so infatuated with the laws of matter or the operations of nature as to overlook, or refuse to acknowledge, the continual working of God in nature. Nature is not God, nor was it ever God. The voice of nature testifies of God, but nature is not God. As His created work, it simply bears a testimony to God's power. Deity is the author of nature. The natural world has, in itself, no power but that which God supplies. There is a personal God, the Father; there is a personal Christ, the Son. And "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:1-3). {1SM 293.1} [1SM 293.2] The psalmist says: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice 294 is not heard" (Psalm 19:1-3). Some may suppose that these grand things in the natural world are God. They are not God. All these wonders in the heavens are only doing the work appointed them. They are the Lord's agencies. God is the superintendent, as well as the Creator, of all things. The Divine Being is engaged in upholding the things that He has created. The same hand that holds the mountains and balances them in position, guides the worlds in their mysterious march around the sun. {1SM 293.2} [1SM 294.1] There is scarcely an operation of nature to which we may not find reference in the Word of God. The Word declares that "he maketh his sun to rise," and the rain to descend (Matthew 5:45). He "maketh grass to grow upon the mountains." "He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels. . . . He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow" (Psalm 147:8, 16-18). "He maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries" (Psalm 135:7). {1SM 294.1} [1SM 294.2] These words of Holy Writ say nothing of the independent laws of nature. God furnishes the matter and the properties with which to carry out His plans. He employs His agencies that vegetation may flourish. He sends the dew and the rain and the sunshine, that verdure may spring forth, and spread its carpet over the earth; that the shrubs and fruit trees may bud and blossom and bring forth. It is not to be supposed that a law is set in motion for the seed to work itself, that the leaf appears because it must do so of itself. God has laws that He has instituted, but they are only the servants through which He effects results. It is through the immediate agency of God that every tiny seed breaks through the earth, and springs into life. Every leaf grows, every flower blooms, by the power of God. {1SM 294.2} [1SM 294.3] The physical organism of man is under the supervision of God; but it is not like a clock, which is set in operation, and must go of itself. The heart beats, pulse succeeds pulse, breath succeeds breath, but the entire being is under the supervision of God. "Ye are God's husbandry, ye 295 are God's building (1 Corinthians 3:9). In God we live and move and have our being. Each heartbeat, each breath, is the inspiration of Him who breathed into the nostrils of Adam the breath of life--the inspiration of the ever-present God, the great I AM. {1SM 294.3} [1SM 295.1] The ancient philosophers prided themselves on their superior knowledge. Let us read the inspired apostle's understanding of the matter. "Professing themselves to be wise," he says, "they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. . . . Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator" (Romans 1:22-25). In its human wisdom the world cannot know God. Its wise men gather an imperfect knowledge of God from His created works, and then in their foolishness they exalt nature and the laws of nature above nature's God. Those who have not a knowledge of God through an acceptance of the revelation He has made of Himself in Christ, will obtain only an imperfect knowledge of Him in nature; and this knowledge, so far from giving elevated conceptions of God, and bringing the whole being into conformity to His will, will make men idolaters. Professing themselves to be wise, they will become fools. {1SM 295.1} [1SM 295.2] Those who think they can obtain a knowledge of God aside from His Representative, whom the Word declares is "the express image of his person" (Hebrews 1:3), will need to become fools in their own estimation before they can be wise. It is impossible to gain a perfect knowledge of God from nature alone; for nature itself is imperfect. In its imperfection it cannot represent God, it cannot reveal the character of God in its moral perfection. But Christ came as a personal Saviour to the world. He represented a personal God. As a personal Saviour, He ascended on high; and He will come again as He ascended to heaven--a personal Saviour. He is the express image of the Father's person. "In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9). {1SM 295.2} [1SM 296.1] Chap. 43 - Christ the Life-giver ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, APRIL 8, 1897.］ "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not" (John 1:1-5). The world did not see divinity in the humble Man of Nazareth. The only-begotten Son of the infinite God was in the world, and men knew Him not in His true character. {1SM 296.1} [1SM 296.2] "In him was life; and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). It is not physical life that is here specified, but immortality, the life which is exclusively the property of God. The Word, who was with God, and who was God, had this life. Physical life is something which each individual receives. It is not eternal or immortal; for God, the Life-giver, takes it again. Man has no control over his life. But the life of Christ was unborrowed. No one can take this life from Him. "I lay it down of myself" (John 10:18), He said. In Him was life, original, unborrowed, underived. This life is not inherent in man. He can possess 297 it only through Christ. He cannot earn it; it is given him as a free gift if he will believe in Christ as His personal Saviour. "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). This is the open fountain of life for the world. {1SM 296.2} [1SM 297.1] Giving his charge to Timothy, Paul says, "But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, the Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting" (1 Timothy 6:11-16). {1SM 297.1} [1SM 297.2] Writing again, Paul says: "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever" (1 Timothy 1:15-17). {1SM 297.2} [1SM 297.3] Immortality Brought by Christ Christ "brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Timothy 1:10). No man can have an independent spiritual life apart from Him. The sinner is not immortal; for God has said, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4). This means all that it expresses. It reaches farther than the death which is common to all; it 298 means the second death. Men start back at this, saying, Would you make man no more than a beast? This is thought to be degrading. But what is it that elevates man in the sight of God? Is it his accumulation of money?-- No; for God declares, The gold and the silver are mine. If man abuses his entrusted treasures, God can scatter faster than man can gather. Man may have brilliant intellect; he may be rich in the possession of natural endowments. But these are all given him by God, his Maker. God can remove the gift of reason, and in a moment man will become as Nebuchadnezzar, degraded to the level of the beasts of the field. This God does because man acts as though his wisdom and power had been gotten independently of Him. {1SM 297.3} [1SM 298.1] Man is only mortal, and while he feels himself too wise to accept Jesus, he will remain only mortal. Men have done wonderful things in the intellectual world, but who gave them power to do this?--The Lord God of hosts. If in their fancied efficiency men triumph because of their own power, and glorify themselves, following the example of the antediluvian world, they will perish. The imagination of that long-lived race was only evil, and that continually. They were wise to do evil, and the earth was corrupted under the inhabitants thereof. Had they connected themselves with the One who is infinite in wisdom, they could have done marvelous things with their God-given ability and talents. But, turning from God, they chose to follow Satan's lead, as many today are doing; and the Lord swept them from the earth, with all their boasted knowledge. {1SM 298.1} [1SM 298.2] Humanity may be exalted by the world for what it has done. But man can lower himself very fast in God's sight by misapplying and misappropriating his entrusted talents, which, if rightly used, would elevate him. While the Lord is long-suffering and not willing that any shall perish, He will by no means clear the guilty. Let all take heed to the words of the Lord. "Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to 299 make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people? Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed" (1 Samuel 2:29-30). {1SM 298.2} [1SM 299.1] God honors those who obey Him. "The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness," said David; "according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me" (Psalm 18:20-22). {1SM 299.1} [1SM 299.2] How to Obtain Everlasting Life Only the believer in Christ can receive life everlasting. Only by continually feeding on Christ's flesh and blood can we have the assurance that we are partakers of the divine nature. No one should be indifferent on this subject, saying, If we are honest, it is no matter what we believe. You cannot with safety surrender any seed of vital truth in order to please yourself or anybody else. Do not seek to avoid the cross. If we receive no light from the Sun of Righteousness, we have no connection with the Source of all light; and if this life and light do not abide in us, we can never be saved. {1SM 299.2} [1SM 299.3] God has made every provision that His purpose in the creation of man shall not be frustrated by Satan. After Adam and Eve brought death into the world by their disobedience, a costly sacrifice was provided for the human race. A higher value than that they originally possessed was placed upon them. By giving Christ, His only-begotten Son, as a ransom for the world, God gave all heaven. {1SM 299.3} [1SM 299.4] The acceptance of Christ gives value to the human being. His sacrifice carries life and light to all who take Christ as their personal Saviour. The love of God through Jesus Christ is shed abroad in the heart of every member of His body, carrying with it the vitality of the law of God 300 the Father. Thus God may dwell with man, and man may dwell with God. Paul declared, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). {1SM 299.4} [1SM 300.1] If through faith man becomes one with Christ, he can win life everlasting. God loves those who are redeemed through Christ, even as He loves His Son. What a thought! Can God love the sinner as He loves His own Son?--Yes; Christ has said it, and He means just what He says. He will honor all our drafts if we will grasp His promise by living faith, and put our trust in Him. Look to Him, and live. All who obey God are embraced in the prayer which Christ offered to His Father, "I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:26). Wonderful truth, too difficult for humanity to comprehend! {1SM 300.1} [1SM 300.2] Christ declares: "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst" (John 6:35). "And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:40). "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life" (John 6:47). "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever" (John 6:53-58). "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63). {1SM 300.2} [1SM 301.1] Chap. 44 - The Risen Saviour ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR, AUG. 4, 1898.］ "I am the resurrection, and the life" (John 11:25). He who had said, "I lay down my life, that I might take it again" (John 10:17), came forth from the grave to life that was in Himself. Humanity died; divinity did not die. In His divinity, Christ possessed the power to break the bonds of death. He declares that He has life in Himself to quicken whom He will. {1SM 301.1} [1SM 301.2] All created beings live by the will and power of God. They are recipients of the life of the Son of God. However able and talented, however large their capacities, they are replenished with life from the Source of all life. He is the spring, the fountain, of life. Only He who alone hath immortality, dwelling in light and life, should say, "I have power to lay it ［my life］ down, and I have power to take it again" (John 10:18). {1SM 301.2} [1SM 301.3] The words of Christ, "I am the resurrection, and the life" (John 11:25), were distinctly heard by the Roman guard. The whole army of Satan heard them. And we understand them when we hear. Christ had come to give His life a ransom for many. As the Good Shepherd, He had laid down His life for the sheep. It was the righteousness 302 of God to maintain His law by inflicting the penalty. This was the only way in which the law could be maintained, and pronounced holy, and just, and good. It was the only way by which sin could be made to appear exceeding sinful, and the honor and majesty of divine authority be maintained. {1SM 301.3} [1SM 302.1] The law of God's government was to be magnified by the death of God's only-begotten Son. Christ bore the guilt of the sins of the world. Our sufficiency is found only in the incarnation and death of the Son of God. He could suffer, because sustained by divinity. He could endure, because He was without one taint of disloyalty or sin. Christ triumphed in man's behalf in thus bearing the justice of punishment. He secured eternal life to men, while He exalted the law, and made it honorable. {1SM 302.1} [1SM 302.2] Christ was invested with the right to give immortality. The life which He had laid down in humanity, He again took up and gave to humanity. "I am come," He says, "that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:54). "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:14). {1SM 302.2} [1SM 302.3] All who are one with Christ through faith in Him gain an experience which is life unto eternal life. "As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me" (John 6:57). He "dwelleth in me, and I in him" (John 6:56). "I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:54). "Because I live, ye shall live also" (John 14:19). {1SM 302.3} [1SM 302.4] Christ became one with humanity, that humanity might become one in spirit and life with Him. By virtue of this union in obedience to the Word of God, His life becomes their life. He says to the penitent, "I am the resurrection, and the life" (John 11:25). Death is looked upon by Christ as sleep--silence, darkness, sleep. He speaks of it as if it were of little moment. "Whosoever liveth and 303 believeth in me," He says, "shall never die" (John 11:26). "If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death" (John 8:52). "He shall never see death" (John 8:51). And to the believing one, death is but a small matter. With him to die is but to sleep. "Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him" (1 Thessalonians 4:14). {1SM 302.4} [1SM 303.1] While the women were making known their message as witnesses of the risen Saviour, and while Jesus was preparing to reveal Himself to a large number of His followers, another scene was taking place. The Roman guard had been enabled to view the mighty angel who sang the song of triumph at the birth of Christ, and hear the angels who now sang the song of redeeming love. At the wonderful scene which they were permitted to behold, they had fainted and become as dead men. When the heavenly train was hidden from their sight, they arose to their feet, and made their way to the gate of the garden as quickly as their tottering limbs would carry them. Staggering like blind or drunken men, their faces pale as the dead, they told those they met of the wonderful scenes they had witnessed. Messengers preceded them quickly to the chief priests and rulers, declaring, as best they could, the remarkable incidents that had taken place. {1SM 303.1} [1SM 303.2] The guards were making their way first to Pilate, but the priests and rulers sent word for them to be brought into their presence. These hardened soldiers presented a strange appearance, as they bore testimony to the resurrection of Christ and also of the multitude whom He brought forth with Him. They told the chief priests what they had seen at the sepulcher. They had not time to think or speak anything but the truth. But the rulers were displeased with the report. They knew the great publicity had been given to the trial of Christ, by holding it at the time of the Passover. They knew that the wonderful events which had taken place--the supernatural darkness, the mighty earthquake --could not be without effect, and they at once planned how they might deceive the people. The soldiers were bribed to report a falsehood. {1SM 303.2} [1SM 304.1] Chap. 45 - The First Fruits ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR, AUG. 11, 1898, UNDER THE TITLE "THE RISEN SAVIOUR--PART 2."］ When Christ cried out while upon the cross, "It is finished" (John 19:30), there was a mighty earthquake, that rent open the graves of many who had been faithful and loyal, bearing their testimony against every evil work, and magnifying the Lord of hosts. As the Life-giver came forth from the sepulcher, proclaiming, "I am the resurrection, and the life" (John 11:25), He summoned these saints from the grave. When alive, they had borne their testimony unflinchingly for the truth; now, they were to be witnesses to Him who had raised them from the dead. These, said Christ, are no longer the captives of Satan. I have redeemed them; I have brought them from the grave as the first fruits of My power, to be with Me where I am, nevermore to see death or experience sorrow. {1SM 304.1} [1SM 304.2] During His ministry, Jesus raised the dead to life. He raised the son of the widow of Nain, the daughter of Jairus, and Lazarus; but these were not clothed with immortality. After they were raised, they continued to be subject to death. But those who came forth from the grave at Christ's resurrection were raised to everlasting 305 life. They were the multitude of captives that ascended with Him as trophies of His victory over death and the grave. {1SM 304.2} [1SM 305.1] After His resurrection, Christ did not show Himself to any save His followers; but testimony in regard to His resurrection was not wanting. Those who were raised with Christ "appeared unto many" (Matthew 27:53), declaring, Christ has risen from the dead, and we are risen with Him. They bore testimony in the city to the fulfillment of the scripture, "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead" (Isaiah 26:19). These saints contradicted the lie which the Roman guard had been hired to circulate--that the disciples had come by night and stolen Him away. This testimony could not be silenced. {1SM 305.1} [1SM 305.2] Christ was the first fruits of them that slept. It was to the glory of God that the Prince of life should be the first fruits, the antitype of the wave sheaf. "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Romans 8:29). This very scene, the resurrection of Christ from the dead, had been celebrated in type by the Jews. When the first heads of grain ripened in the field, they were carefully gathered; and when the people went up to Jerusalem, these were presented to the Lord as a thank offering. The people waved the ripened sheaf before God, acknowledging Him as the Lord of the harvest. After this ceremony the sickle could be put to the wheat, and the harvest gathered. {1SM 305.2} [1SM 305.3] So those who had been raised were to be presented to the universe as a pledge of the resurrection of all who believe in Christ as their personal Saviour. The same power that raised Christ from the dead will raise His church, and glorify it with Christ, as His bride, above all principalities, above all powers, above every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in the heavenly courts, the world above. The victory of the sleeping saints will be glorious on the morning of the resurrection. Satan's 306 triumph will end, while Christ will triumph in glory and honor. The Life-giver will crown with immortality all who come forth from the grave. {1SM 305.3} [1SM 306.1] The Ascension of Christ The work of the Saviour on earth was finished. The time had come for Him to return to His heavenly home. "And he led them ［the disciples］ out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven" (Luke 24:50, 51). {1SM 306.1} [1SM 306.2] As Christ ascends while in the act of blessing His disciples, an army of angels encircle Him as a cloud. Christ takes with Him the multitude of captives. He will Himself bring to the Father the first fruits of them that slept, as an evidence that He is conqueror of death and the grave. At the portals of the city of God, an innumerable company of angels await His coming. As they approach, the escorting angels address the company at the gate in triumphant tones:-- "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; And the King of glory shall come in." "Who is this King of glory?" the waiting angels inquire. "The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; Even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; And the King of glory shall come in." {1SM 306.2} [1SM 306.3] Again the waiting angels ask, "Who is this King of glory?" and the escorting angels reply, in melodious strains, "The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory" (Psalm 24:7-10). Then the portals of the city of God are opened wide, and the angelic throng sweep through. {1SM 306.3} [1SM 306.4] There is the throne, and around it the rainbow of promise. There are seraphim and cherubim. The angels circle round Him, but Christ waves them back. He enters 307 into the presence of His Father. He points to His triumph in this antitype of Himself--the wave sheaf--those raised with Him, the representatives of the captive dead who shall come forth from their graves when the trump shall sound. He approaches the Father, and if there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents, if the Father rejoices over one with singing, let the imagination take in this scene. Christ says: Father, it is finished. I have done Thy will, O My God. I have completed the work of redemption. If Thy justice is satisfied, "I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am" (John 17:24). And the voice of God is heard; justice is satisfied; Satan is vanquished. "Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other" (Psalm 85:10). The arms of the Father encircle the Son, and His voice is heard, saying, "Let all the angels of God worship him" (Hebrews 1:6). {1SM 306.4} [1SM 308.1] Chap. 46 - A Divine Sin Bearer ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, SEPT. 30, 1903.］ Through disobedience Adam fell. The law of God had been broken. The divine government had been dishonored, and justice demanded that the penalty of transgression be paid. {1SM 308.1} [1SM 308.2] To save the race from eternal death, the Son of God volunteered to bear the punishment of disobedience. Only by the humiliation of the Prince of heaven could the dishonor be removed, justice be satisfied, and man be restored to that which he had forfeited by disobedience. There was no other way. For an angel to come to this earth, to pass over the ground where Adam stumbled and fell, would not have sufficed. This could not have removed one stain of sin, or brought to man one hour of probation. {1SM 308.2} [1SM 308.3] Christ, equal with God, the brightness of the Father's "glory, and the express image of his person" (Hebrews 1:3), clothed His divinity with humanity, and came to this earth to suffer and die for sinners. The only-begotten Son of God humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. By bearing in His body the curse of sin, He placed happiness and immortality within the reach of all. 309 {1SM 308.3} [1SM 309.1] One honored of all heaven came to this world to stand in human nature at the head of humanity, testifying to the fallen angels and to the inhabitants of the unfallen worlds that through the divine help which has been provided, every one may walk in the path of obedience to God's commands. The Son of God died for those who had no claim on His love. For us He suffered all that Satan could bring against Him. {1SM 309.1} [1SM 309.2] Wonderful--almost too wonderful for man to comprehend-- is the Saviour's sacrifice in our behalf, shadowed forth in all the sacrifices of the past, in all the services of the typical sanctuary. And this sacrifice was called for. When we realize that His suffering was necessary in order to secure our eternal well-being, our hearts are touched and melted. He pledged Himself to accomplish our full salvation in a way satisfactory to the demands of God's justice, and consistent with the exalted holiness of His law. {1SM 309.2} [1SM 309.3] No one less holy than the Only Begotten of the Father, could have offered a sacrifice that would be efficacious to cleanse all--even the most sinful and degraded--who accept the Saviour as their atonement and become obedient to Heaven's law. Nothing less could have reinstated man in God's favor. {1SM 309.3} [1SM 309.4] What right had Christ to take the captives out of the enemy's hands?--The right of having made a sacrifice that satisfies the principles of justice by which the kingdom of heaven is governed. He came to this earth as the Redeemer of the lost race, to conquer the wily foe, and, by His steadfast allegiance to right, to save all who accept Him as their Saviour. On the cross of Calvary He paid the redemption price of the race. And thus He gained the right to take the captives from the grasp of the great deceiver, who, by a lie, framed against the government of God, caused the fall of man, and thus forfeited all claim to be called a loyal subject of God's glorious everlasting kingdom. {1SM 309.4} [1SM 309.5] Our ransom has been paid by our Saviour. No one need be enslaved by Satan. Christ stands before us as our all-powerful helper. "In all things it behoved him to be 310 made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted" (Hebrews 2:17, 18). {1SM 309.5} [1SM 310.1] "He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. . . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, . . . full of grace and truth. . . . And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace" (John 1:11-16). {1SM 310.1} [1SM 310.2] Those who are adopted into the family of God are transformed by His Spirit. Self-indulgence and supreme love for self are changed for self-denial and supreme love for God. No man inherits holiness as a birthright, nor can he, by any methods that he can devise, become loyal to God. "Without me," Christ says, "ye can do nothing" (John 15:5). Human righteousness is as "filthy rags." But with God all things are possible. In the strength of the Redeemer, weak, erring man can become more than conqueror over the evil that besets him. {1SM 310.2} [1SM 311.1] Chap. 47 - The Truth as It Is in Jesus ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, JUNE 17, 1890.］ In giving His only-begotten Son to die for sinners, God has manifested to fallen man love that is without a parallel. We have full faith in the scripture that says, "God is love" (1 John 4:8); and yet many have shamefully perverted this word, and have fallen into dangerous error because of a false interpretation of its meaning. God's holy law is the only standard by which we can estimate divine affection. If we do not accept the law of God as our standard, we set up a standard of our own. God has given us precious promises of His love, but we are not to ascribe to Jehovah a tenderness that will lead Him to pass over guilt and wink at iniquity. {1SM 311.1} [1SM 311.2] The Creator loves His creatures, but he who loves sin more than righteousness, error more than truth, perpetuates the transgression that brought woe into our world, and cannot be regarded with favor by the God of truth. The way of truth and righteousness involves a cross. Many misinterpret the requirements of God, and make them mean anything that will not disturb their consciences or inconvenience them in their business relations; but truth is the only sanctifying medium. 312 {1SM 311.2} [1SM 312.1] The love of God as manifested in Jesus, will lead us to the true conception of the character of God. As we behold Christ, pierced for our sins, we shall see that we cannot break the law of God and remain in His favor; we shall feel that as sinners we must lay hold of the merits of Christ and cease to sin. Then we are drawing nigh to God. As soon as we have a correct view of the love of God, we shall have no disposition to abuse it. {1SM 312.1} [1SM 312.2] The cross of Christ testifies to the immutability of the law of God--testifies that God so loved us that He gave His Son to die for our sins; but Christ came not to destroy but to fulfill the law. Not one jot or tittle of God's moral standard could be changed to meet man in his fallen condition. Jesus died that He might ascribe unto the repenting sinner His own righteousness, and make it possible for man to keep the law. {1SM 312.2} [1SM 312.3] The love of God is infinite, and yet the sinner could not be forgiven save through the plan of redemption that involved the shame, reproach, ignominy, and death of the Son of God. This fact should banish from reasoning minds the idea advanced by many who claim sanctification, that His death put an end to obedience to the law of God. We are to learn daily of the great plan of redemption, in the school of Christ. When we cease to learn, we cease to be pupils in Christ's school. But if we are scholars under the divine Master, our understanding will be opened, and we shall learn wondrous things out of God's law. {1SM 312.3} [1SM 312.4] Let us walk carefully before the Lord; let us think how often we have broken our vows and marred our best resolutions, how often in the face of great light we have turned from God and sought our idols. It is highly proper for us to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. {1SM 312.4} [1SM 312.5] Mature In Christian Experience It is natural for us to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think; but although it is painful for us to know ourselves as we really are, yet we should pray that God will reveal us to ourselves, even as He sees us. But we should not cease to pray when we have simply asked for a 313 revelation of ourselves; we should pray that Jesus may be revealed to us as a sin-pardoning Saviour. When we see Jesus as He is, earnest desires should awaken in our hearts to be rid of self, that we may be filled with all the fullness of Christ. When this is our experience, we shall do good to one another, and use all the means within our reach to attain unto godliness. We must cleanse our souls from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and perfect holiness in the fear of God. {1SM 312.5} [1SM 313.1] The love of a holy God is an amazing principle, which can stir the universe in our behalf during the hours of our probation and trial. But after the season of our probation, if we are found transgressors of God's law, the God of love will be found a minister of vengeance. God makes no compromise with sin. The disobedient will be punished. The wrath of God fell upon His beloved Son as Christ hung upon the cross of Calvary in the transgressor's place. The love of God now reaches out to embrace the lowest, vilest sinner that will come to Christ with contrition. It reaches out to transform the sinner into an obedient, faithful child of God; but not a soul can be saved if he continues in sin. {1SM 313.1} [1SM 313.2] Sin is the transgression of the law, and the arm that is now mighty to save will be strong to punish when the transgressor passes the bounds that limit divine forbearance. He who refuses to seek for life, who will not search the Scriptures to see what is truth, lest he should be condemned in his practices, will be left to blindness of mind and to the deceptions of Satan. To the same degree that the penitent and obedient are shielded by God's love, the impenitent and disobedient will be left to the result of their own ignorance and hardness of heart, because they receive not the love of the truth that they may be saved. {1SM 313.2} [1SM 313.3] There are many who profess Christ, but who never become mature Christians. They admit that man is fallen, that his faculties are weakened, that he is unfitted for moral achievement, but they say that Christ has borne all the burden, all the suffering, all the self-denial, and they are willing to let Him bear it. They say that there is nothing for 314 them to do but to believe; but Christ said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). Jesus kept the commandments of God. The Pharisees declared that He broke the fourth commandment because He made a man every whit whole on the Sabbath day; but Jesus turned to the accusing Pharisees, and asked, "Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus" (Luke 6:9-11). {1SM 313.3} [1SM 314.1] This miracle, instead of convincing the Pharisees that Jesus was the Son of God, filled them with rage, because many who witnessed the miracle glorified God. Jesus declared that His work of mercy was lawful on the Sabbath day. The Pharisees declared that it was not lawful. Which shall we believe? Christ said, "I have kept may Father's commandments, and abide in his love" (John 15:10). Then it is certainly safe for us to follow the way of Christ, and keep the commandments. God has given us faculties which should be constantly exercised in cooperating with Jesus, in working out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. {1SM 314.1} [1SM 314.2] Advancement Not to Cease We are never to rest in a satisfied condition, and cease to make advancement, saying, "I am saved." When this idea is entertained, the motives for watchfulness, for prayers, for earnest endeavor to press onward to higher attainments, cease to exist. No sanctified tongue will be found uttering these words till Christ shall come, and we enter in through the gates into the city of God. Then, with the utmost propriety, we may give glory to God and to the Lamb for eternal deliverance. As long as man is full of weakness--for of himself he cannot save his soul--he should never dare to say, "I am saved." 315 {1SM 314.2} [1SM 315.1] It is not he that putteth on the armor that can boast of the victory; for he has the battle to fight and victory to win. It is he that endureth unto the end that shall be saved. The Lord says, "If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him" (Hebrews 10:38). If we do not go forward from victory to victory, the soul will draw back to perdition. We should raise no human standard whereby to measure character. We have seen enough of what men call perfection here below. God's holy law is the only thing by which we can determine whether we are keeping His way or not. If we are disobedient, our characters are out of harmony with God's moral rule of government, and it is stating a falsehood to say, "I am saved." No one is saved who is a transgressor of the law of God, which is the foundation of His government in heaven and in earth. {1SM 315.1} [1SM 315.2] Those who ignorantly join the ranks of the enemy, and echo the words of their religious teachers, in the desk, that the law of God is no longer binding upon the human family, will have light to discover their errors, if they will accept the evidence of God's Word. Jesus was the angel enshrouded in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, and He gave special direction that the Hebrews should teach the law of God, given when the foundation of the earth was laid, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. {1SM 315.2} [1SM 315.3] The same law was proclaimed in grandeur by His own voice from Sinai. He said: "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes" (Deuteronomy 6:6-8). How impatient the transgressors of God's law become when the law is mentioned; they are irritated to have it spoken of. {1SM 315.3} [1SM 315.4] The Word of God is made of none effect by falsehoods and traditions. Satan has presented his version of God's law to the world, and it has been accepted before a plain "Thus 316 saith the Lord." The controversy begun in heaven over the law of God, has been kept up upon the earth ever since Satan's expulsion from heaven. {1SM 315.4} [1SM 316.1] We must ever be learning our great need, in order to appreciate our Saviour, and to make Him known to others. We can learn the depths of our transgression only by the length of the chain let down to draw us up. We should put our mental powers to the task to understand the fearful ruin to which sin has brought us, and we should seek to understand the divine plan by which we may be restored to the favor of God. That God's dear Son should have to come to our world to fight our battles for us that we might have strength to conquer in His name, should ever humble our proud hearts. It we look to the cross of Calvary, every boast will die upon our lips, and we shall cry, "Unclean, unworthy of so great suffering, of so rich a price paid for my redemption." {1SM 316.1} [1SM 316.2] Ignorance and self-sufficiency go hand in hand. The law of God has been given for the regulation of our conduct, and it is far reaching in its principles. There is no sin, no work of unrighteousness, that escapes the condemnation of the law. The great statute book is truth, and truth only; for it delineates with unerring accuracy the history of Satan's deception, and the ruin of his followers. Satan claimed to be able to present laws which were better than God's statutes and judgments, and he was expelled from heaven. He has made a similar attempt upon earth. Ever since his fall he has put forth efforts to deceive the world, to lead men to ruin, that he might be revenged upon God because he was overcome and thrust down from heaven. His efforts to put himself and his devices where God should be, are most persevering and persistent. He has taken the world captive in his snare, and many even of the people of God are ignorant of his devices, and they give him all the opportunity he asks to work the ruin of souls. They do not manifest a burning zeal to lift up Jesus, and proclaim to the perishing multitudes, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). {1SM 316.2} [1SM 316.3] Those who are unacquainted with the laws of God's 317 government as expounded upon the mount, are unacquainted with the truth as it is in Jesus. Christ revealed the far-reaching principles of the law; He expounded every precept, and exhibited every demand in His example. He that knows the truth as it is in the law, knows the truth as it is in Jesus; and if through faith in Christ he renders obedience to the commandments of God, his life is hid with Christ in God. {1SM 316.3} [1SM 317.1] The knowledge of the claims of the law would crush out the last ray of hope from the soul if there were no Saviour provided for man; but the truth as it is in Jesus, is a savor of life unto life. God's dear Son died that He might impute unto man His own righteousness, and not that he might be at liberty to break God's holy law, as Satan tries to make men believe. Through faith in Christ, man may be in possession of moral power to resist evil. {1SM 317.1} [1SM 317.2] Sanctification the Work of a Lifetime The work of sanctification is the work of a lifetime; it must go on continually; but this work cannot go on in the heart while the light on any part of the truth is rejected or neglected. The sanctified soul will not be content to remain in ignorance, but will desire to walk in the light and to seek for greater light. As a miner digs for gold and silver, so the follower of Christ will seek for truth as for hidden treasures, and will press from light to a greater light, ever increasing in knowledge. He will continually grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. Self must be overcome. Every defect of character must be discerned in God's great mirror. We may discover whether or not we are condemned by God's standard of character. {1SM 317.2} [1SM 317.3] If you are condemned, there is but one course for you to pursue: you must repent toward God because of the transgression of His law, and have faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ as the one who only can cleanse from sin. If we would obtain heaven, we must be obedient to God's holy requirements. Those who strive lawfully will not strive in vain. Only believe the truth as it is in Jesus, and you will be strengthened for the battle with the powers of 318 darkness. The wrestlers of old strove to obtain a perishable crown, and should we not strive to win the crown that fadeth not away? {1SM 317.3} [1SM 318.1] Every art and device of Satan will be used to accomplish our ruin. If you sit down with the ease-loving ones, with the words on your lips, "I am saved," and disregard the commandments of God, you will be eternally lost. There is truth in Jesus that is terrible to the ease-loving, do-nothing ones. There is truth in Jesus that is full of soothing joy to the obedient. It is the joy of the Holy Ghost. Be persuaded, then, to open the mind and heart, that you may see every ray of light shining from the throne of God. {1SM 318.1} [1SM 318.2] This is no time to be indifferent and careless and pleasure loving. Christ is coming with power and great glory. Are you ready? Are you putting away your sins? Are you becoming sanctified through the truth in answer to the prayer of Christ? He prayed concerning His disciples, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" (John 17:17). {1SM 318.2} [1SM 318.3] Parents should bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, educating them to love to do the will of God. It is impossible for us to overestimate the advantages of youthful piety. The impressions received in youth are to many as enduring as eternity. It is in youth that the statutes and commandments of God are most easily inscribed on the tablets of the soul. The instruction of children has been greatly neglected; the righteousness of Christ has not been presented to them as it should have been. {1SM 318.3} [1SM 318.4] The time of probation is given us that we may perfect a character fit for eternity. How solemn is the thought, parents, that your children are in your hands to educate and train that they may develop characters which God will approve, or characters which Satan and his angels can play upon as they choose! Jesus spoke from the pillar of cloud and of fire, and bade His people instruct their children diligently concerning the commandments of God. Who are obeying this instruction? Who are seeking to make their 319 children such as God will approve? Who keep the thought in mind that all the talents and gifts of their children belong to God, and should be wholly consecrated to His service? {1SM 318.4} [1SM 319.1] Hannah dedicated Samuel to the Lord, and God revealed Himself to Him in his childhood and youth. We must labor far more for our children and for the youth; for God will accept them to do great things in His name in teaching the truth to those in foreign lands, to those who are in the darkness of error and superstition. If you indulge your children, gratifying their selfish wishes; if you encourage in them the love of dress, and develop vanity and pride, you will do a work that will disappoint Jesus, who has paid an infinite price for their redemption. He desires that the children shall serve Him with undivided affection. {1SM 319.1} [1SM 319.2] Parents, there is a great work for you to do for Jesus, who has done everything for you. Take Him as your guide and helper. God has not withheld from you the very best gift He had to give--His only-begotten Son. Children and youth should not be hindered in coming to Jesus. Satan seeks to bind the children to himself as with bands of steel, and you can attain success in bringing them to Jesus only through determined personal effort. Children and youth should receive more earnest labor, for they are the hope of the church. Joseph, Daniel and his fellows, Samuel, David, John, and Timothy are shining examples that testify to the fact that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10). {1SM 319.2} [1SM 319.3] We must make more earnest, decided efforts, if we would have the Lord Jesus abide with us as a counselor and helper. The light that shines from the Son of God on Calvary can lead every wanderer home. There is power in Him to purify the heart and transform the character. Let every true Christian work for the children and youth, presenting before them the matchless loveliness of Jesus. Then the attractions and the illusions of the world will be eclipsed, and they will see no advantage to be gained in the path of disobedience. {1SM 319.3} [1SM 320.1] Chap. 48 - The Divine Standard ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, DEC. 5, 1892.］ The commandments of God are comprehensive and far reaching; in a few words they unfold the whole duty of man. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. . . . Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Mark 12:30, 31). In these words the length and breadth, the depth and height, of the law of God is comprehended; for Paul declares, "Love is the fulfilling of the law" (Romans 13:10). The only definition we find in the Bible for sin is that "sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4). The Word of God declares, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). "There is none that doeth good, no, not one" (Romans 3:12). Many are deceived concerning the condition of their hearts. They do not realize that the natural heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. They wrap themselves about with their own righteousness, and are satisfied in reaching their own human standard of character; but how fatally they fail when they do not reach the divine standard, and of themselves they cannot meet the requirements of God. 321 {1SM 320.1} [1SM 321.1] We may measure ourselves by ourselves, we may compare ourselves among ourselves, we may say we do as well as this one or that one, but the question to which the judgment will call for an answer is, Do we meet the claims of high heaven? Do we reach the divine standard? Are our hearts in harmony with the God of heaven? {1SM 321.1} [1SM 321.2] The human family have all transgressed the law of God, and as transgressors of the law, man is hopelessly ruined; for he is the enemy of God, without strength to do any good thing. "The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Romans 8:7). Looking into the moral mirror--God's holy law--man sees himself a sinner, and is convicted of his state of evil, his hopeless doom under the just penalty of the law. But he has not been left in a state of hopeless distress in which sin has plunged him; for it was to save the transgressor from ruin that He who was equal with God offered up His life on Calvary. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). {1SM 321.2} [1SM 321.3] Our Atoning Sacrifice Jesus was the majesty of heaven, the beloved commander of the angels, who delighted to do His pleasure. He was one with God, "in the bosom of the Father" (John 1:18), yet He thought it not a thing to be desired to be equal with God while man was lost in sin and misery. He stepped down from His throne, He left His crown and royal scepter, and clothed His divinity with humanity. He humbled Himself even to the death of the cross, that man might be exalted to a seat with Him upon His throne. In Him we have a complete offering, an infinite sacrifice, a mighty Saviour, who is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. In love He comes to reveal the Father, to reconcile man to God, to make him a new creature renewed after the image of Him who created him. {1SM 321.3} [1SM 321.4] Jesus is our atoning sacrifice. We can make no atonement for ourselves; but by faith we can accept the atonement 322 that has been made. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). "Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:18, 19). It was through infinite sacrifice and inexpressible suffering that our Redeemer placed redemption within our reach. He was in this world unhonored and unknown, that, through His wonderful condescension and humiliation, He might exalt man to receive eternal honors and immortal joys in the heavenly courts. During His thirty years of life on earth His heart was wrung with inconceivable anguish. The path from the manger to Calvary was shadowed by grief and sorrow. He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, enduring such heartache as no human language can portray. He could have said in truth, "Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow" (Lamentations 1:12). Hating sin with a perfect hatred, He yet gathered to His soul the sins of the whole world. Guiltless, He bore the punishment of the guilty. Innocent, yet offering Himself as a substitute for the transgressor. The guilt of every sin pressed its weight upon the divine soul of the world's Redeemer. The evil thoughts, the evil words, the evil deeds of every son and daughter of Adam, called for retribution upon Himself; for He had become man's substitute. Though the guilt of sin was not His, His spirit was torn and bruised by the transgressions of men, and He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. {1SM 321.4} [1SM 322.1] Voluntarily our divine Substitute bared His soul to the sword of justice, that we might not perish but have everlasting life. Said Christ, "I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again" (John 10:17, 18). No man of earth or angel of heaven could have paid the penalty for sin. Jesus was the only one who could save rebellious man. In Him divinity and humanity were combined, and this was what gave efficiency to the offering on Calvary's cross. At the 323 cross mercy and truth met together, righteousness and peace kissed each other. {1SM 322.1} [1SM 323.1] As the sinner looks upon the Saviour dying on Calvary, and realizes that the sufferer is divine, he asks why this great sacrifice was made, and the cross points to the holy law of God which has been transgressed. The death of Christ is an unanswerable argument as to the immutability and righteousness of the law. In prophesying of Christ, Isaiah says, "He will magnify the law, and make it honourable" (Isaiah 42:21). The law has no power to pardon the evildoer. Its office is to point out his defects, that he may realize his need of One who is mighty to save, his need of One who will become his substitute, his surety, his righteousness. Jesus meets the need of the sinner; for He has taken upon Him the sins of the transgressor. "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). The Lord could have cut off the sinner, and utterly destroyed him; but the costlier plan was chosen. In His great love He provides hope for the hopeless, giving His only-begotten Son to bear the sins of the world. And since He has poured out all heaven in that one rich gift, He will withhold from man no needed aid that he may take the cup of salvation, and become an heir of God, joint heir with Christ. {1SM 323.1} [1SM 323.2] A Revelation of God's Love Christ came to manifest the love of God to the world, to draw the hearts of all men to Himself. He said, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me" (John 12:32). The first step toward salvation is to respond to the drawing of the love of Christ. God sends message after message to men, entreating them to repentance, that He may forgive, and write pardon against their names. Shall there be no repentance? Shall His appeals be unheeded? Shall His overtures of mercy be ignored, and His love utterly rejected? Oh, then man will cut himself off from the medium through which he may 324 gain life eternal; for God only pardons the penitent! By the manifestation of His love, by the entreating of His Spirit, He woos men to repentance; for repentance is the gift of God, and whom He pardons He first makes penitent. The sweetest joy comes to man through his sincere repentance toward God for the transgression of His law, and through faith in Christ as the sinner's Redeemer and Advocate. It is that men may understand the joy of forgiveness, the peace of God, that Christ draws them through the manifestation of His love. If they respond to His drawing, yielding their hearts to His grace, He will lead them on step by step, to a full knowledge of Himself, and this is life eternal. {1SM 323.2} [1SM 324.1] Christ came to reveal to the sinner the justice and love of God, that He might give repentance to Israel and remission of sins. When the sinner beholds Jesus lifted up upon the cross, suffering the guilt of the transgressor, bearing the penalty of sin; when he beholds God's abhorrence of evil in the fearful manifestation of the death of the cross, and His love for fallen man, he is led to repentance toward God because of his transgression of the law which is holy, and just, and good. He exercises faith in Christ, because the divine Saviour has become his substitute, his surety, and advocate, the one in whom his very life is centered. To the repenting sinner God can show His mercy and truth, and bestow upon him His forgiveness and love. {1SM 324.1} [1SM 324.2] But Satan will not permit a soul to escape from the captivity of sin if by any means he can prevent it. Though all heaven has been poured out in one rich gift--for when God gave His Son, He gave the choicest gift of heaven, and the treasures of heaven are at our command--yet to the repenting soul the enemy will seek to represent God as stern and inexorable, unwilling to pardon the transgressor. At different times letters have come to me from persons who were in despair over their sins. One and another have written: "I fear I am past all help. Is there any hope for me?" To these poor souls the message has been given: "Hope in God. The Father has bread enough and to 325 spare. Arise, and go to your Father. He will meet you a great way off. He will give you His love and compassion." {1SM 324.2} [1SM 325.1] When the enemy comes in like a flood, and seeks to overwhelm you with the thought of your sin, tell him: "I know I am a sinner. If I were not, I could not go to the Saviour; for He says, 'I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance' (Mark 2:17). And because I am a sinner I am entitled to come to Christ. I am sinful and polluted, but He suffered humiliation and death, and exhausted the curse that belongs to me. I come. I believe. I claim His sure promise, "Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life' (John 3:16)." {1SM 325.1} [1SM 325.2] Will such a plea made in contrition of soul be turned away?--No, never. By the suffering and death of Christ is proven His boundless love to man. He is willing and able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. {1SM 325.2} [1SM 325.3] Then as a little child, come to God, presenting yourself as suppliant at His feet; for we need not ascend into the heavens to bring Jesus down; nor into the earth to bring Him up; for He is ever near us. 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" (Revelation 3:20). How willing is Christ to take possession of the soul temple if we will let Him! He is represented as waiting and knocking at the door of the heart. Then why does He not enter? It is because the love of sin has closed the door of the heart. As soon as we consent to give sin up, to acknowledge our guilt, the barrier is removed between the soul and the Saviour. {1SM 325.3} [1SM 326.1] Chap. 49 - Surrender and Confession ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, DEC. 12, 1892.］ But in repenting of sin we need not go into a cell, as did Luther, imposing penances upon ourselves to expiate our iniquity, thinking by so doing to gain the favor of God. The question is asked: "Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" (Micah 6:7, 8). The psalmist says, "A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (Psalm 51:17). John writes, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins" (1 John 1:9). The only reason that we have not remission of sin is that we have not acknowledged to Him whom we have wounded by our transgressions, whom we have pierced by our sins, that we are at fault, and in need of mercy. The confession that is the outpouring of the inmost soul will find its way to the heart of infinite pity; for the Lord is nigh unto him that is of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. {1SM 326.1} [1SM 326.2] How mistaken are those who imagine that confession of sin will detract from their dignity, and lessen their 327 influence among their fellow men. Clinging to this erroneous idea, though seeing their faults, many fail to confess them, but rather pass by the wrongs they have done others, so embittering their own lives, and shadowing the lives of others. It will not hurt your dignity to confess your sins. Away with this false dignity. Fall on the Rock and be broken, and Christ will give you the true and heavenly dignity. Let not pride, self-esteem, or self-righteousness keep anyone from confessing his sin, that he may claim the promise. "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy" (Proverbs 28:13). Keep nothing back from God, and neglect not the confession of your faults to your brethren. "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed" (James 5:16). Many a sin is left unconfessed to confront the sinner in the day of final account; better far to confront your sins now, to confess them and put them away, while the atoning Sacrifice pleads in your behalf. Do not fail to learn the will of God on this subject. The health of your soul and the salvation of others depends upon the course you pursue in this matter. "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him: for he careth for you" (1 Peter 5:6, 7). The humble and broken heart can appreciate something of the love of God and the cross of Calvary. Ample will be the blessing experienced by him who meets the condition by which he may become a partaker of the favor of God. {1SM 326.2} [1SM 327.1] Call for Surrender We are to surrender our hearts to God, that He may renew and sanctify us, and fit us for His heavenly court. We are not to wait for some special time, but today we are to give ourselves to Him, refusing to be the servants of sin. Do you imagine you can leave off sin a little at a time? Oh, leave the accursed thing at once! Hate the things that Christ hates, love the things that Christ loves. Has He not by His death and suffering made provision for your cleansing from sin? When we begin to realize that we are 328 sinners, and fall on the Rock to be broken, the everlasting arms are placed about us, and we are brought close to the heart of Jesus. Then we shall be charmed with His loveliness, and disgusted with our own righteousness. We need to come close to the foot of the cross. The more we humble ourselves there, the more exalted will God's love appear. The grace and righteousness of Christ will not avail for him who feels whole, for him who thinks he is reasonably good, who is contented with his own condition. There is no room for Christ in the heart of him who does not realize his need of divine light and aid. {1SM 327.1} [1SM 328.1] Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). There is fullness of grace in God, and we may have His spirit and power in large measure. Do not feed on the husks of self-righteousness, but go to the Lord. He has the best robe to put upon you, and His arms are open to receive. Christ will say, "Take away the filthy garments from him, and clothe him with a change of raiment." {1SM 328.1} [1SM 328.2] Come as a Repentant Sinner But shall we wait till we feel that we are cleansed?-- No; Christ has promised that "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). You are proved of God through the Word of God. You are not to wait for wonderful emotions before you believe that God has heard you, feeling is not to be your criterion, for emotions are as changeable as the clouds. You must have something solid for the foundation of your faith. The word of the Lord is a word of infinite power, upon which you may rely, and He has said, "Ask, and ye shall receive." Look to Calvary. Has not Jesus said that He is your advocate? Has He not said that if you ask anything in His name you shall receive? You are not to depend on your own goodness or good works. You are to come depending upon the Sun of Righteousness, believing that Christ has taken away your sins and imputed to you His righteousness. {1SM 328.2} [1SM 328.3] You are to come to God as a repenting sinner, through 329 the name of Jesus, the divine Advocate, to a merciful, forgiving Father, believing that He will do just as He has promised. Let those who desire the blessing of God knock, and wait at the throne of mercy, with firm assurance, saying, "For thou, O Lord, hast said, 'For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.'" The Lord longs to have those who seek after God believe in Him who is able to do all things. {1SM 328.3} [1SM 329.1] The Lord has sought to show us how ready is God to hear and answer our request by the use of a most familiar and commonplace occurrence. He said: "What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7:9-11). Christ made an appeal to us concerning the willingness of God to help, arguing from the natural love of the parent to his offspring. What father could turn from his son who asks bread? Should anyone dishonor God by imagining that He will not respond to the call of His children? Would we think a parent capable of trifling with his child, and tantalizing him by raising his expectation only to disappoint him? Will a father promise to give good and nourishing food to his child and then give him a stone? If ye then, being human and evil, give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him? The Lord assures those that ask Him that He will give them the Holy Spirit. {1SM 329.1} [1SM 329.2] With the confession of the repenting, believing sinner, Christ mingles His own righteousness, that the prayer of fallen man may go up as fragrant incense before the Father, and the grace of God be imparted to the believing soul. Jesus says to the trembling, repenting soul: "Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me" (Isaiah 27:5). "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be 330 red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18). Will you let Him reason with you? Will you commit to Him the keeping of your soul as unto a faithful Creator? Come then, and let us live in the light of His countenance, and pray, as did David, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:7). By faith apply the blood of Christ to your heart, for that alone can make you whiter than snow. But you say, "This surrender of all my idols will break my heart." This giving up of all for God is represented by your falling upon the Rock and being broken. Then give up all for Him; for unless you are broken, you are worthless. {1SM 329.2} [1SM 330.1] When you turn away from the broken cisterns that can hold no water, and in the name of Jesus your Advocate come directly to God, asking for the things you need, the righteousness of Christ will be revealed as your righteousness, the virtue of Christ as your virtue. You will then understand that justification will come alone through faith in Christ; for in Jesus is revealed the perfection of the character of God; in His life is manifested the outworking of the principles of holiness. Through the atoning blood of Christ the sinner is set free from bondage and condemnation; through the perfection of the sinless Substitute and Surety, he may run in the race of humble obedience to all God's commandments. Without Christ he is under the condemnation of the law, always a sinner, but through faith in Christ he is made just before God. {1SM 330.1} [1SM 331.1] Chap. 50 - Come and Seek and Find ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, DEC. 19, 1892.］ It is impossible for man to save himself. He may deceive himself in regard to this matter, but he cannot save himself. Christ's righteousness alone can avail for his salvation, and this is the gift of God. This is the wedding garment in which you may appear as a welcome guest at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Let faith take hold of Christ without delay, and you will be a new creature in Jesus, a light to the world. {1SM 331.1} [1SM 331.2] Christ is called "the Lord our righteousness," and through faith each one should say, "The Lord my righteousness." When faith lays hold upon this gift of God, the praise of God will be upon our lips, and we shall be able to say to others, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). We shall then be able to tell the lost concerning the plan of salvation, that while the world was lying under the curse of sin, the Lord presented terms of mercy to the fallen and hopeless sinner, and revealed the value and meaning of His grace. Grace is unmerited favor. The angels, who know nothing of sin, do not understand what it is to have grace exercised toward them; but our sinfulness 332 calls for the exercise of grace from a merciful God. It was grace that sent our Saviour to seek us as wanderers and bring us back to the fold. {1SM 331.2} [1SM 332.1] Have you a sense of want in your soul? Do you hunger and thirst after righteousness? Then this is an evidence that Christ has wrought upon your heart, and created this sense of need, in order that He may be sought after to do those things for you through the endowment of His Holy Spirit which it is impossible for you to do for yourself. The Lord specifies no conditions except that you hunger for His mercy, desiring His counsel, and long for His love. "Ask!" The asking makes it manifest that you realize your necessity, and if you ask in faith, you will receive. The Lord has pledged His word, and it cannot fail. That you feel and know that you are a sinner is sufficient argument in asking for His mercy and compassion. The condition upon which you may come to God is not that you shall be holy, but that you shall ask God to cleanse you from all sin and purify you from all iniquity. Then why wait longer? Why not take God at His word, and say: "Here, Lord, I give myself to Thee, 'Tis all that I can do"? {1SM 332.1} [1SM 332.2] If Satan comes to cast his shadow between you and God, accusing you of sin, tempting you to distrust God and doubt His mercy, say: I cannot allow my weakness to come between me and God; for He is my strength. My sins, which are many, are laid upon Jesus, my divine Substitute and Sacrifice. "Nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling." {1SM 332.2} [1SM 332.3] No man can look within himself and find anything in his character that will recommend him to God, or make his acceptance sure. It is only through Jesus, whom the Father gave for the life of the world, that the sinner may find access to God. Jesus alone is our Redeemer, our Advocate and Mediator; in Him is our only hope for 333 pardon, peace, and righteousness. It is by virtue of the blood of Christ that the sin-stricken soul can be restored to soundness. Christ is the fragrance, the holy incense which makes your petition acceptable to the Father. Then can you not say: "Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come." {1SM 332.3} [1SM 333.1] Coming to Christ does not require severe mental effort and agony; it is simply accepting the terms of salvation that God has made plain in His Word. The blessing is free to all. The invitation is, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness" (Isaiah 55:1, 2). {1SM 333.1} [1SM 333.2] Righteousness Found in Christ Then come, and seek, and find. The reservoir of power is open, is full and free. Come with humble hearts, not thinking that you must do some good work to merit the favor of God, or that you must make yourself better before you can come to Christ. You are powerless to do good, and cannot better your condition. Apart from Christ we have no merit, no righteousness. Our sinfulness, our weakness, our human imperfection make it impossible that we should appear before God unless we are clothed in Christ's spotless righteousness. We are to be found in Him not having our own righteousness, but the righteousness which is in Christ. Then in the name that is above every name, the only name given among men whereby men can be saved, claim the promise of God, saying, "Lord, forgive my sin; I put my hands into Thy hand for help, and I must have it, or perish. I now 334 believe." The Saviour says to the repenting sinner, "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6), "and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). "I am thy salvation" (Psalm 35:3). {1SM 333.2} [1SM 334.1] When you respond to the drawing of Christ, and join yourself to Him, you manifest saving faith. To talk of religious things in a casual way, to pray for spiritual blessings without real soul hunger and living faith, avails little. The wondering crowd that pressed close about Jesus realized no accession of vital power from the contact. But when the poor, suffering woman, who for twelve years had been an invalid, in her great need put forth her hand and touched the hem of His garment, she felt the healing virtue. Hers was the touch of faith, and Christ recognized that touch. He knew that virtue had gone out from Him, and turning about in the throng, He asked, "Who touched me?" (Luke 8:45). Surprised at such a question, the disciples answered, "Master, the multitude throng thee, . . . and sayest thou, Who touched me? And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace" (Luke 8:45-48). The faith which avails to bring us in vital contact with Christ expresses on our part supreme preference, perfect reliance, entire consecration. This faith works by love and purifies the soul. It works in the life of the follower of Christ true obedience to God's commandments; for love to God and love to man will be the result of vital connection with Christ. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Romans 8:9). {1SM 334.1} [1SM 334.2] Jesus says, "I am the vine, ye are the branches" (John 15:5). Can we conceive of a more intimate relation than this implies? The fibers of the branch are identical with those of the vine. The communication of life, strength, 335 and nourishment from the trunk to the branches is unobstructed and constant. The root sends its nourishment through the branches. Such is the believer's relation to Christ, if he abides in Christ and draws his nourishment from Him. But this spiritual relation between Christ and the soul can be established only through the exercise of personal faith. "Without faith it is impossible to please him" (Hebrews 11:6); for it is faith that connects us with the power of heaven, and brings us strength for coping with the powers of darkness. "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4). Faith familiarizes the soul with the existence and presence of God, and, living with an eye single to the glory of God, more and more we discern the beauty of His character, the excellence of His grace. Our souls become strong in spiritual power; for we are breathing the atmosphere of heaven, and realizing that God is at our right hand, that we shall not be moved. We are rising above the world, beholding Him who is the chief among ten thousand, the one altogether lovely, and by beholding we are to become changed into His image. {1SM 334.2} [1SM 336.1] Chap. 51 - United With the Living Vine ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, DEC. 26, 1892.］ "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Nothing but divine power can regenerate the human heart and imbue souls with the love of Christ, which will ever manifest itself with love for those for whom He died. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. When a man is converted to God, a new moral taste is supplied, a new motive power is given, and he loves the things that God loves; for his life is bound up by the golden chain of the immutable promises to the life of Jesus. Love, joy, peace, and inexpressible gratitude will pervade the soul, and the language of him who is blessed will be, "Thy gentleness hath made me great" (Psalm 18:35). {1SM 336.1} [1SM 336.2] But those who are waiting to behold a magical change in their characters without determined effort on their part to overcome sin, will be disappointed. We have no reason to fear while looking to Jesus, no reason to doubt but that He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto Him; but we may constantly fear lest our old 337 nature will again obtain the supremacy, that the enemy shall devise some snare whereby we shall again become his captives. We are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. With our limited powers we are to be as holy in our sphere as God is holy in His sphere. To the extent of our ability, we are to make manifest the truth and love and excellence of the divine character. As wax takes the impression of the seal, so the soul is to take the impression of the Spirit of God and retain the image of Christ. {1SM 336.2} [1SM 337.1] We are to grow daily in spiritual loveliness. We shall fail often in our efforts to copy the divine pattern. We shall often have to bow down to weep at the feet of Jesus, because of our shortcomings and mistakes; but we are not to be discouraged; we are to pray more fervently, believe more fully, and try again with more steadfastness to grow into the likeness of our Lord. As we distrust our own power, we shall trust the power of our Redeemer, and render praise to God, who is the health of our countenance, and our God. {1SM 337.1} [1SM 337.2] Wherever there is union with Christ there is love. Whatever other fruits we may bear, if love be missing, they profit nothing. Love to God and our neighbor is the very essence of our religion. No one can love Christ and not love His children. When we are united to Christ, we have the mind of Christ. Purity and love shine forth in the character, meekness and truth control the life. The very expression of the countenance is changed. Christ abiding in the soul exerts a transforming power, and the outward aspect bears witness to the peace and joy that reign within. We drink in the love of Christ, as the branch draws nourishment from the vine. If we are grafted in Christ, if fiber by fiber we have been united with the Living Vine, we shall give evidence of the fact by bearing rich clusters of living fruit. If we are connected with the Light, we shall be channels of light, and in our words and works we shall reflect light to the world. Those who are truly Christians are bound with the chain 338 of love which links earth to heaven, which binds finite man to the infinite God. The light that shines in the face of Jesus Christ shines in the hearts of His followers, to the glory of God. {1SM 337.2} [1SM 338.1] By beholding we are to become changed; and as we meditate upon the perfections of the divine Model, we shall desire to become wholly transformed, and renewed in the image of His purity. It is by faith in the Son of God that transformation takes place in the character, and the child of wrath becomes the child of God. He passes from death unto life; he becomes spiritual and discerns spiritual things. The wisdom of God enlightens his mind, and he beholds wondrous things out of His law. As a man is converted by the truth, the work of transformation of character goes on. He has an increased measure of understanding. In becoming a man of obedience to God, he has the mind of Christ, and the will of God becomes his will. {1SM 338.1} [1SM 338.2] He who places himself unreservedly under the guidance of the Spirit of God, will find that his mind expands and develops. He obtains an education in the service of God which is not one-sided and deficient, developing a one-sided character, but one which results in symmetry and completeness. Weaknesses that have been manifested in a vacillating will and powerless character, are overcome, for continual devotion and piety bring the man in such close relation to Christ that he has the mind of Christ. He is one with Christ, having soundness and strength of principle. His perception is clear, and he manifests that wisdom which comes from God. Says James, "Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom" (James 3:13). "The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace" (James 3:17, 18). This will be the wisdom manifested by him who takes the cup of salvation and calls upon the name of the Lord. This salvation, which offers pardon to 339 the transgressor, presents to him the righteousness that will bear the scrutiny of the Omniscient One, gives victory over the powerful enemy of God and man, provides eternal life and joy for its receiver, and may well be a theme of rejoicing to the humble, who hear thereof and are glad. {1SM 338.2} [1SM 339.1] The Parable of the Lost Sheep The beautiful parable that Christ gave of the one lost sheep, of the shepherd that left the ninety and nine to go in search of that which was lost, illustrates the work of Christ, the sinner's condition, and the rejoicing of the universe over the salvation of the soul. The shepherd did not look carelessly over the sheep, and say, "I have ninety and nine, and it will cost me too much trouble to go in search of the straying one; let him come back, and I will open the door of the sheepfold that he may come in; but I cannot go after him." No; no sooner does the sheep go astray than the countenance of the shepherd is filled with grief and anxiety. He counts and recounts the flock, and when he is certain that one sheep is lost, he slumbers not. He leaves the ninety and nine within the fold, and, however dark and tempestuous the night, however perilous and unpleasant the way, however long and tedious the service, he does not weary, he does not falter, until the lost is found. And when it is found, he lays the weary, exhausted sheep on his shoulder, and, with cheerful gratitude that his search has not been in vain, he bears back the wanderer to the fold. His gratitude finds expression in the melodious songs of rejoicing, and he calls upon his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, "Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost" (Luke 15:6). So when a wanderer is found by the Great Shepherd of the sheep, heavenly angels respond to the Shepherd's note of joy. When the lost is found, heaven and earth unite in thanksgiving and rejoicing. "Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance" (Luke 15:7). {1SM 339.1} [1SM 340.1] Chap. 52 - Christ Our High Priest ［MANUSCRIPT 50, 1900.］ Justice demands that sin be not merely pardoned, but the death penalty must be executed. God, in the gift of His only-begotten Son, met both these requirements. By dying in man's stead, Christ exhausted the penalty and provided a pardon. {1SM 340.1} [1SM 340.2] Man through sin has been severed from the life of God. His soul is palsied through the machinations of Satan, the author of sin. Of himself he is incapable of sensing sin, incapable of appreciating and appropriating the divine nature. Were it brought within his reach there is nothing in it that his natural heart would desire it. The bewitching power of Satan is upon him. All the ingenious subterfuges the devil can suggest are presented to his mind to prevent every good impulse. Every faculty and power given him of God has been used as a weapon against the divine Benefactor. So, although He loves him, God cannot safely impart to him the gifts and blessings He desires to bestow. {1SM 340.2} [1SM 340.3] But God will not be defeated by Satan. He sent His Son into the world, that through His taking the human form and nature, humanity and divinity combined in Him would elevate man in the scale of moral value with God. 341 {1SM 340.3} [1SM 341.1] There is no other way for man's salvation. "Without me," says Christ, "ye can do nothing" (John 15:5). Through Christ, and Christ alone, the springs of life can vitalize man's nature, transform his tastes, and set his affections flowing toward heaven. Through the union of the divine with the human nature Christ could enlighten the understanding and infuse His life-giving properties through the soul dead in trespasses and sins. {1SM 341.1} [1SM 341.2] When the mind is drawn to the cross of Calvary, Christ by imperfect sight is discerned on the shameful cross. Why did He die? In consequence of sin. What is sin? The transgression of the law. Then the eyes are open to see the character of sin. The law is broken but cannot pardon the transgressor. It is our schoolmaster, condemning to punishment. Where is the remedy? The law drives us to Christ, who was hanged upon the cross that He might be able to impart His righteousness to fallen, sinful man and thus present men to His Father in His righteous character. {1SM 341.2} [1SM 341.3] Christ on the cross not only draws men to repentance toward God for the transgression of His law--for whom God pardons He first makes penitent--but Christ has satisfied Justice; He has proffered Himself as an atonement. His gushing blood, His broken body, satisfy the claims of the broken law, and thus He bridges the gulf which sin has made. He suffered in the flesh, that with His bruised and broken body He might cover the defenseless sinner. The victory gained at His death on Calvary broke forever the accusing power of Satan over the universe and silenced his charges that self-denial was impossible with God and therefore not essential in the human family. {1SM 341.3} [1SM 341.4] Satan's position in heaven had been next to the Son of God. He was first among the angels. His power had been debasing, but God could not reveal it in its true light and carry all heaven in harmony with Him in removing him with his evil influences. His power was increasing, but the evil was yet unrecognized. It was a deadly power to the universe, but for the security of the worlds and the government of heaven, it was necessary that it should develop and be revealed in its true light. 342 {1SM 341.4} [1SM 342.1] Self-denial With God In carrying out his enmity to Christ until He hung upon the cross of Calvary, with wounded, bruised body and broken heart, Satan completely uprooted himself from the affections of the universe. It was then seen that God had in His Son denied Himself, giving Himself for the sins of the world, because He loved mankind. The Creator was revealed in the Son of the infinite God. Here the question, "Can there be self-denial with God?" was forever answered. Christ was God, and condescending to be made flesh, He assumed humanity and became obedient unto death, that He might undergo infinite sacrifice. {1SM 342.1} [1SM 342.2] Whatever sacrifice a human being could undergo Christ endured, notwithstanding Satan put forth every effort to seduce Him with temptations; but the greater the temptation, the more perfect was the sacrifice. All that was possible for man to endure in the conflict with Satan, Christ endured in His human and divine nature combined. Obedient, sinless to the last, He died for man, his substitute and surety, enduring all that men ever endure from the deceiving tempter, that man may overcome by being a partaker of the divine nature. {1SM 342.2} [1SM 342.3] Pure truth was found to be a match for falsehood, honesty and integrity for subtlety and intrigue, in everyone who is, like Christ, willing to sacrifice all, even life itself, for the truth's sake. To resist Satan's desires is no easy task. It demands a firm hold of the divine nature from beginning to end, or it cannot be done. Christ, in the victories achieved in His death on Calvary's cross, plainly lays open the way for man, and thus makes it possible for him to keep the law of God through the Way, the Truth, and the Life. There is no other way. {1SM 342.3} [1SM 342.4] The righteousness of Christ is presented as a free gift to the sinner if he will accept it. He has nothing of his own but what is tainted and corrupted, polluted with sin, utterly repulsive to a pure and holy God. Only through the righteous character of Jesus Christ can man come nigh to God. 343 {1SM 342.4} [1SM 343.1] Christ as high priest within the veil so immortalized Calvary that though He liveth unto God, He dies continually to sin, and thus if any man sin, he has an advocate with the Father. {1SM 343.1} [1SM 343.2] He arose from the tomb enshrouded with a cloud of angels in wondrous power and glory--the Deity and humanity combined. He took in His grasp the world over which Satan claimed to preside as his lawful territory, and by His wonderful work in giving His life, He restored the whole race of men to favor with God. . . . {1SM 343.2} [1SM 343.3] Let no one take the limited, narrow position that any of the works of man can help in the least possible way to liquidate the debt of his transgression. This is a fatal deception. If you would understand it, you must cease haggling over your pet ideas, and with humble hearts survey the atonement. This matter is so dimly comprehended that thousands upon thousands claiming to be sons of God are children of the wicked one, because they will depend on their own works. God always demanded good works, the law demands it, but because man placed himself in sin where his good works were valueless, Jesus' righteousness alone can avail. Christ is able to save to the uttermost because He ever liveth to make intercession for us. All that man can possibly do toward his own salvation is to accept the invitation, "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Revelation 22:17). No sin can be committed by man for which satisfaction has not been met on Calvary. Thus the cross, in earnest appeals, continually proffers to the sinner a thorough expiation. {1SM 343.3} [1SM 343.4] Repentance and Pardon As you near the cross of Calvary there is seen love that is without a parallel. As you by faith grasp the meaning of the sacrifice, you see yourself a sinner, condemned by a broken law. This is repentance. As you come with humble heart, you find pardon, for Christ Jesus is represented as continually standing at the altar, momentarily offering up the sacrifice for the sins of the world. He is a minister of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. 344 The typical shadows of the Jewish tabernacle no longer possess any virtue. A daily and yearly typical atonement is no longer to be made, but the atoning sacrifice through a mediator is essential because of the constant commission of sin. Jesus is officiating in the presence of God, offering up His shed blood, as it had been a lamb slain. Jesus presents the oblation offered for every offense and every shortcoming of the sinner. {1SM 343.4} [1SM 344.1] Christ, our Mediator, and the Holy Spirit are constantly interceding in man's behalf, but the Spirit pleads not for us as does Christ, who presents His blood, shed from the foundation of the world; the Spirit works upon our hearts, drawing out prayers and penitence, praise and thanksgiving. The gratitude which flows from our lips is the result of the Spirit's striking the cords of the soul in holy memories, awakening the music of the heart. {1SM 344.1} [1SM 344.2] The religious services, the prayers, the praise, the penitent confession of sin ascend from true believers as incense to the heavenly sanctuary, but passing through the corrupt channels of humanity, they are so defiled that unless purified by blood, they can never be of value with God. They ascend not in spotless purity, and unless the Intercessor, who is at God's right hand, presents and purifies all by His righteousness, it is not acceptable to God. All incense from earthly tabernacles must be moist with the cleansing drops of the blood of Christ. He holds before the Father the censer of His own merits, in which there is no taint of earthly corruption. He gathers into this censer the prayers, the praise, and the confessions of His people, and with these He puts His own spotless righteousness. Then, perfumed with the merits of Christ's propitiation, the incense comes up before God wholly and entirely acceptable. Then gracious answers are returned. {1SM 344.2} [1SM 344.3] Oh, that all may see that everything in obedience, in penitence, in praise and thanksgiving, must be placed upon the glowing fire of the righteousness of Christ. The fragrance of this righteousness ascends like a cloud around the mercy seat. {1SM 344.3} [1SM 345.1] Chap. 53 - Transformation Through Faith and Obedience ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, JUNE 5, 1893.］ The teaching of Christ in the gospel is in perfect harmony with the teaching of Christ through the prophets in the Old Testament. The prophets spoke through the messengers of Christ in the Old Testament as much as the apostles voiced His messages in the New Testament, and there is no contradiction between their teachings. But Satan has ever worked and is still working with all deceivableness of unrighteousness to make the Word of God of none effect. He seeks to make mysterious that which is simple and plain. He has had long experience in this work. He knows the character of God, and through his subtlety he has captivated the world. It was through making the word of God of none effect that sin was brought into the world. Adam believed the falsehood of Satan, and through his misrepresentation of the character of God, Adam's life was changed and marred. He disobeyed the commandment of God, and did the very thing the Lord told him not to do. Through disobedience Adam fell; but had he endured the test, and been loyal to God, the floodgates 346 of woe would not have been opened upon our world. {1SM 345.1} [1SM 346.1] Through belief in Satan's misrepresentation of God, man's character and destiny were changed, but if men will believe in the Word of God, they will be transformed in mind and character, and fitted for eternal life. To believe that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16), will change the heart, and reproduce in man the image of God. {1SM 346.1} [1SM 346.2] As many are today, so (before his conversion) Paul was very confident in an hereditary piety; but his confidence was founded on falsehood. It was faith out of Christ, for he trusted in forms and ceremonies. His zeal for the law was disconnected from Christ and was valueless. His boast was that he was blameless in his performance of the deeds of the law; but the Christ who made the law of any value he refused. He was confident that he was right. He says: "I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them" (Acts 26:9, 10). For a time Paul did a very cruel work, thinking that he was doing God service; for he says, "I did it ignorantly in unbelief" (1 Timothy 1:13). But his sincerity did not justify his work, or make error truth. {1SM 346.2} [1SM 346.3] Faith is the medium through which truth or error finds a lodging place in the mind. It is by the same act of mind that truth or error is received, but it makes a decided difference whether we believe the Word of God or the sayings of men. When Christ revealed Himself to Paul, and he was convinced that he was persecuting Jesus in the person of His saints, he accepted the truth as it is in Jesus. A transforming power was manifested on mind and character, and he became a new man in Christ Jesus. He received the truth so fully that neither earth nor hell could shake his faith. 347 {1SM 346.3} [1SM 347.1] There are many who cry, "Believe, only believe." Ask them what you are to believe. Are you to believe the lies forged by Satan against God's holy, just, and good law? God does not use His great and precious grace to make of none effect His law, but to establish His law. What is the decision of Paul? He says: "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law. . . . For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and ［the commandment then ended?--No.］ I ［Paul］ died. . . . Wherefore the law is ［standing directly in the way of my having liberty and peace?--No.］ holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" (Romans 7:7-12). {1SM 347.1} [1SM 347.2] The Law Cannot Pardon Paul learned that there was no power in the law to pardon the transgressor of law. "By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified" (Romans 3:20). "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Romans 8:3, 4). {1SM 347.2} [1SM 347.3] The Lord saw our fallen condition; He saw our need of grace, and because He loved our souls, He has given us grace and peace. Grace means favor to one who is undeserving, to one who is lost. The fact that we are sinners, instead of shutting us away from the mercy and love of God, makes the exercise of His love to us a positive necessity in order that we may be saved. Christ says, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain" (John 15:16). {1SM 347.3} [1SM 347.4] When Adam fell, provision was made for his restoration. In due time Jesus, the Prince of life, came to our world to enter into controversy with the powers of darkness. In this world Satan had an opportunity to exhibit the result of the working out of his principles of freedom from all law, and Christ, by His unswerving obedience to His 348 Father's commandments, made manifest the result of practicing the principles of righteousness. In accordance with his principles of evil, Satan harassed the Son of God with fierce temptations, and finally brought Him to the judgment hall, that He might be condemned to death without cause. The confederacy of evil moved upon the hearts of men to work out the principles of evil. Christ and Barabbas were presented before the multitude. Barabbas was a notable robber and murderer; Christ was the Son of God. Pilate looked upon the two, and thought there would be no hesitation in the choice of Jesus. The marks of nobility, intelligence, and purity were plainly revealed in His countenance, in marked contrast to the coarse features of Barabbas. He asked, "Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? (Matthew 27:21). And the hoarse cry of the infuriated mob was heard, calling, "Barabbas." "Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified" (Matthew 27:22, 23). {1SM 347.4} [1SM 348.1] Satan Defeated by Christ's Death In this choice the principles of Satan were made manifest; and the hosts of heaven, and all the worlds that God had created, judged that Satan was an accuser of the brethren, a liar, and a murderer. In heaven and among the unfallen worlds the question of Satan's deceiving power, of his malignant principles, was settled, and the perfect purity and holiness of Christ, who was bearing the test and trial in behalf of fallen man, was forever proved. Through the development of Satan's character and principles, he was forever uprooted from the affection of the unfallen worlds, and the controversy concerning his claims and the claims of Christ was forever settled in heaven. The righteousness manifested in the character of Christ was forever to be the anchor, the saving hope, of the world. Every soul who chooses Christ can say with faith, "The Lord my righteousness." 349 {1SM 348.1} [1SM 349.1] Christ was "despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:3-5). {1SM 349.1} [1SM 349.2] The grace of Christ and the law of God are inseparable. In Jesus mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other. In His life and character He not only reveals the character of God, but the possibility of man. He was the representative of God and the exemplar of humanity. He presented to the world what humanity might become when united by faith with divinity. The only-begotten Son of God took upon Him the nature of man, and established His cross between earth and heaven. Through the cross, man was drawn to God, and God to man. Justice moved from its high and awful position, and the heavenly hosts, the armies of holiness, drew near to the cross, bowing with reverence; for at the cross justice was satisfied. Through the cross the sinner was drawn from the stronghold of sin, from the confederacy of evil, and at every approach to the cross his heart relents and in penitence he cries, "It was my sins that crucified the Son of God." At the cross he leaves his sins, and through the grace of Christ his character is transformed. The Redeemer raises the sinner from the dust, and places him under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. As the sinner looks upon the Redeemer, he finds hope, assurance, and joy. Faith takes hold of Christ in love. Faith works by love, and purifies the soul. {1SM 349.2} [1SM 350.1] Chap. 54 - The Subject Presented in1883 ［MORNING TALK TO THE MINISTERS ASSEMBLED AT THE GENERAL CONFERENCE, BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN, NOVEMBER, 1883. PUBLISHED IN GOSPEL WORKERS (1892 ED.), PP. 411-415, UNDER THE TITLE "CHRIST OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."］ "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). {1SM 350.1} [1SM 350.2] God requires that we confess our sins, and humble our hearts before Him; but at the same time we should have confidence in Him as a tender Father, who will not forsake those who put their trust in Him. Many of us walk by sight, and not by faith. We believe the things that are seen, but do not appreciate the precious promises given us in God's Word; and yet we cannot dishonor God more decidedly than by showing that we distrust what He says, and question whether the Lord is in earnest with us or is deceiving us. {1SM 350.2} [1SM 350.3] God does not give us up because of our sins. We may make mistakes, and grieve His Spirit; but when we repent, and come to Him with contrite hearts, He will not turn us away. There are hindrances to be removed. Wrong feelings have been cherished, and there have been pride, self-sufficiency, impatience, and murmurings. All these separate us from God. Sins must be confessed; there must be a deeper 351 work of grace in the heart. Those who feel weak and discouraged may become strong men of God, and do noble work for the Master. But they must work from a high standpoint; they must be influenced by no selfish motives. {1SM 350.3} [1SM 351.1] Merits of Christ Our Only Hope We must learn in the school of Christ. Nothing but His righteousness can entitle us to one of the blessings of the covenant of grace. We have long desired and tried to obtain these blessings, but have not received them because we have cherished the idea that we could do something to make ourselves worthy of them. We have not looked away from ourselves, believing that Jesus is a living Saviour. We must not think that our own grace and merits will save us; the grace of Christ is our only hope of salvation. Through His prophet the Lord promises, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:7). We must believe the naked promise, and not accept feeling for faith. When we trust God fully, when we rely upon the merits of Jesus as a sin-pardoning Saviour, we shall receive all the help that we can desire. {1SM 351.1} [1SM 351.2] We look to self, as though we had power to save ourselves; but Jesus died for us because we are helpless to do this. In Him is our hope, our justification, our righteousness. We should not despond, and fear that we have no Saviour, or that He has no thoughts of mercy toward us. At this very time He is carrying on His work in our behalf, inviting us to come to Him in our helplessness and be saved. We dishonor Him by our unbelief. It is astonishing how we treat our very best Friend, how little confidence we repose in Him who is able to save to the uttermost, and who has given us every evidence of His great love. {1SM 351.2} [1SM 351.3] My brethren, are you expecting that your merit will recommend you to the favor of God, thinking that you must be free from sin before you trust His power to save? If this is the struggle going on in your mind, I fear you will gain no strength, and will finally become discouraged. 352 {1SM 351.3} [1SM 352.1] Look and Live In the wilderness, when the Lord permitted poisonous serpents to sting the rebellious Israelites, Moses was directed to lift up a brazen serpent and bid all the wounded look to it and live. But many saw no help in this Heaven-appointed remedy. The dead and dying were all around them, and they knew that without divine help their fate was certain; but they would lament their wounds, their pains, their sure death, until their strength was gone, and their eyes were glazed, when they might have had instant healing. {1SM 352.1} [1SM 352.2] "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness," even so was "the Son of man ... lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:14, 15). If you are conscious of your sins, do not devote all your powers to mourning over them, but look and live. Jesus is our only Saviour; and although millions who need to be healed will reject His offered mercy, not one who trusts in His merits will be left to perish. While we realize our helpless condition without Christ, we must not be discouraged; we must rely upon a crucified and risen Saviour. Poor, sin-sick, discouraged soul, look and live. Jesus has pledged His word; He will save all who come unto Him. {1SM 352.2} [1SM 352.3] Come to Jesus, and receive rest and peace. You may have the blessing even now. Satan suggests that you are helpless, and cannot bless yourself. It is true; you are helpless. But lift up Jesus before him: "I have a risen Saviour. In Him I trust, and He will never suffer me to be confounded. In His name I triumph. He is my righteousness, and my crown of rejoicing." Let no one here feel that his case is hopeless; for it is not. You may see that you are sinful and undone; but it is just on this account that you need a Saviour. If you have sins to confess, lose no time. These moments are golden. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled; 353 for Jesus has promised it. Precious Saviour! His arms are open to receive us, and His great heart of love is waiting to bless us. {1SM 352.3} [1SM 353.1] Some seem to feel that they must be on probation and must prove to the Lord that they are reformed, before they can claim His blessing. But these dear souls may claim the blessing even now. They must have His grace, the Spirit of Christ, to help their infirmities, or they cannot form a Christian character. Jesus loves to have us come to Him, just as we are--sinful, helpless, dependent. {1SM 353.1} [1SM 353.2] Repentance a Gift of God Repentance, as well as forgiveness, is the gift of God through Christ. It is through the influence of the Holy Spirit that we are convicted of sin, and feel our need of pardon. None but the contrite are forgiven; but it is the grace of God that makes the heart penitent. He is acquainted with all our weaknesses and infirmities, and He will help us. {1SM 353.2} [1SM 353.3] Some who come to God by repentance and confession, and even believe that their sins are forgiven, still fail of claiming, as they should, the promises of God. They do not see that Jesus is an ever-present Saviour; and they are not ready to commit the keeping of their souls to Him, relying upon Him to perfect the work of grace begun in their hearts. While they think they are committing themselves to God, there is a great deal of self-dependence. There are conscientious souls that trust partly to God, and partly to themselves. They do not look to God, to be kept by His power, but depend upon watchfulness against temptation, and the performance of certain duties for acceptance with Him. There are no victories in this kind of faith. Such persons toil to no purpose; their souls are in continual bondage, and they find no rest until their burdens are laid at the feet of Jesus. {1SM 353.3} [1SM 353.4] There is need of constant watchfulness, and of earnest, loving devotion; but these will come naturally when the soul is kept by the power of God through faith. We can do nothing, absolutely nothing, to commend ourselves to 354 divine favor. We must not trust at all to ourselves nor to our good works; but when as erring, sinful beings we come to Christ, we may find rest in His love. God will accept every one that comes to Him trusting wholly in the merits of a crucified Saviour. Love springs up in the heart. There may be no ecstasy of feeling, but there is an abiding, peaceful trust. Every burden is light; for the yoke which Christ imposes is easy. Duty becomes a delight, and sacrifice a pleasure. The path that before seemed shrouded in darkness becomes bright with beams from the Sun of Righteousness. This is walking in the light as Christ is in the light. {1SM 353.4} [1SM 355.1] Chap. 55 - Presented as Old Truth in New Framework ［REPORT OF CAMP MEETING AT OTTAWA, KANSAS, PRINTED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, JULY 23, 1889.］ At the Kansas meeting my prayer to God was, that the power of the enemy might be broken, and that the people who had been in darkness might open their hearts and minds to the message that God should send them, that they might see the truth, new to many minds, as old truth in new framework. The understanding of the people of God has been blinded, for Satan has misrepresented the character of God. Our good and gracious Lord has been presented before the people clothed in the attributes of Satan, and men and women who have been seeking for truth, have so long regarded God in a false light that it is difficult to dispel the cloud that obscures His glory from their view. Many have been living in an atmosphere of doubt, and it seems almost impossible for them to lay hold on the hope set before them in the gospel of Christ. . . . {1SM 355.1} [1SM 355.2] On Sabbath, truths were presented that were new to the majority of the congregation. Things new and old were 356 brought forth from the treasure house of God's Word. Truths were revealed which the people were scarcely able to comprehend and appropriate. Light flashed from the oracles of God in relation to the law and the gospel, in relation to the fact that Christ is our righteousness, which seemed to souls who were hungry for truth, as light too precious to be received. {1SM 355.2} [1SM 356.1] But the labors of the Sabbath were not in vain. On Sunday morning there was decided evidence that the Spirit of God was working great changes in the moral and spiritual condition of those assembled. There was a surrendering of the mind and heart to God, and precious testimonies were borne by those who had long been in darkness. One brother spoke of the struggle that he had experienced before he could receive the good news that Christ is our righteousness. The conflict was severe, but the Lord was at work with him, and his mind was changed, and his strength renewed. The Lord presented the truth before him in clear lines, revealing the fact that Christ alone is the source of all hope and salvation. "In him was life; and the life was the light of men." "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth" (John 1:4, 14). {1SM 356.1} [1SM 356.2] One of our young ministering brethren said that he had enjoyed more of the blessing and love of God during that meeting than in all his life before. Another stated that the trials, perplexities, and conflicts which he had endured in his mind had been of such a character that he had been tempted to give up everything. He had felt that there was no hope for him, unless he could obtain more of the grace of Christ; but through the influence of the meetings he had experienced a change of heart, and had a better knowledge of salvation through faith in Christ. He saw that it was his privilege to be justified by faith; he had peace with God, and with tears confessed what relief and blessing had come to his soul. At every social meeting many testimonies were borne as to the peace, comfort, and joy the people had found in receiving light. 357 {1SM 356.2} [1SM 357.1] We thank the Lord with all the heart that we have precious light to present before the people, and we rejoice that we have a message for this time which is present truth. The tidings that Christ is our righteousness has brought relief to many, many souls, and God says to His people, "Go forward." The message to the Laodicean church is applicable to our condition. How plainly is pictured the position of those who think they have all the truth, who take pride in their knowledge of the Word of God, while its sanctifying power has not been felt in their lives. The fervor of the love of God is wanting in their hearts, but it is this very fervor of love that makes God's people the light of the world. {1SM 357.1} [1SM 357.2] The Laodicean Message The True Witness says of a cold, lifeless, Christless church, "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth" (Revelation 3:15, 16). Mark the following words: "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked" (Revelation 3:17). Here is represented a people who pride themselves in their possession of spiritual knowledge and advantages. But they have not responded to the unmerited blessings that God has bestowed upon them. They have been full of rebellion, ingratitude, and forgetfulness of God; and still He has dealt with them as a loving, forgiving father deals with an ungrateful, wayward son. They have resisted His grace, abused His privileges, slighted His opportunities, and have been satisfied to sink down in contentment, in lamentable ingratitude, hollow formalism, and hypocritical insincerity. With Pharisaic pride they have vaunted themselves till it has been said of them, "Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing." {1SM 357.2} [1SM 357.3] Has not the Lord Jesus sent message after message of 358 rebuke, of warning, of entreaty to these self-satisfied ones? Have not His counsels been despised and rejected? Have not His delegated messengers been treated with scorn, and their words been received as idle tales? Christ sees that which man does not see. He sees the sins which, if not repented of, will exhaust the patience of a long-suffering God. Christ cannot take up the names of those who are satisfied in their own self-sufficiency. He cannot importune in behalf of a people who feel no need of His help, who claim to know and possess everything. {1SM 357.3} [1SM 358.1] The great Redeemer represents Himself as a heavenly merchantman, laden with riches, calling from house to house, presenting His priceless goods, and saying, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 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" (Revelation 3:18-20). {1SM 358.1} [1SM 358.2] Let us consider our condition before God; let us heed the counsel of the True Witness. Let none of us be filled with prejudice, as were the Jews, that light may not come into our hearts. Let it not be necessary for Christ to say of us as He did of them, "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life" (John 5:40). {1SM 358.2} [1SM 358.3] In every meeting since the General Conference, souls have eagerly accepted the precious message of the righteousness of Christ. We thank God that there are souls who realize that they are in need of something which they do not possess--gold of faith and love, white raiment of Christ's righteousness, eyesalve of spiritual discernment. If you possess these precious gifts, the temple of the human soul will not be like a desecrated shrine. Brethren and sisters, I call upon you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, to work where God works. Now is the day of gracious opportunity and privilege. {1SM 358.3} [1SM 359.1] Chap. 56 - A Truth Bearing the Divine Credentials ［ITEMS DRAWN FROM REPORTS ON THE RECEPTION OF THE MESSAGE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH AS IT WAS PRESENTED FOLLOWING THE GENERAL CONFERENCE HELD AT MINNEAPOLIS IN 1888. A Message From God ［DRAWN FROM REPORT OF THE CAMP MEETING AT ROME, NEW YORK.］ The present message--justification by faith--is a message from God; it bears the divine credentials, for its fruit is unto holiness. Some who greatly need the precious truth that was presented before them, we fear did not receive its benefit. They did not open the door of their hearts to welcome Jesus as a heavenly guest, and they have suffered great loss. There is indeed a narrow way in which we must walk; the cross is presented at every step. We must learn to live by faith; then the darkest hours will be brightened by the blessed beams of the Sun of Righteousness. {1SM 359.1} [1SM 359.2] We are not safe if we neglect to search the Scriptures daily for light and knowledge. Earthly blessings cannot be obtained without toil, and can we expect that spiritual 360 and heavenly blessings will come without earnest effort on our part? The mines of truth are to be worked. Says the psalmist, "The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple" (Psalm 119:130). The Word of God must not be kept apart from our life. It must be entertained in the mind, welcomed in the heart, and be cherished, loved, and obeyed. We need also much more knowledge; we need to be enlightened in regard to the plan of salvation. 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. When light begins to shine forth to make clear the plan of redemption to the people, the enemy works with all diligence that the light may be shut away from the hearts of men. If we come to the Word of God with a teachable, humble spirit, the rubbish of error will be swept away, and gems of truth, long hidden from our eyes, will be discovered. {1SM 359.2} [1SM 360.1] There is great need that Christ should be preached as the only hope and salvation. When the doctrine of justification by faith was presented at the Rome meeting, it came to many as water comes to the thirsty traveler. The thought that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, not because of any merit on our part, but as a free gift from God, seemed a precious thought.--The Review and Herald, Sept. 3, 1889. {1SM 360.1} [1SM 360.2] No Relish for Sin When we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ, we shall have no relish for sin; for Christ will be working with us. We may make mistakes, but we will hate the sin that caused the sufferings of the Son of God.--The Review and Herald, March 18, 1890. {1SM 360.2} [1SM 360.3] Extreme Teaching There are grand truths, long hidden under the rubbish of error, that are to be revealed to the people. The doctrine of justification by faith has been lost sight of by many who have professed to believe the third angel's message. The 361 Holiness people have gone to great extremes on this point. With great zeal they have taught, "Only believe in Christ, and be saved; but away with the law of God." This is not the teaching of the Word of God. There is no foundation for such a faith. This is not the precious gem of truth that God has given to His people for this time. This doctrine misleads honest souls. The light from the Word of God reveals the fact that the law must be proclaimed. Christ must be lifted up, because He is a Saviour who forgiveth transgression, iniquity, and sin, but will by no means clear the guilty and unrepentant soul.--The Review and Herald, Aug. 13, 1889. {1SM 360.3} [1SM 361.1] The Message Bears Fruit ［ELLEN G. WHITE REPORT OF THE FRUITAGE OF THE MESSAGE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH OBSERVED AT THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1889 IN BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN, OCTOBER 18 TO NOVEMBER 5. REFERENCE TO THE SPIRIT MANIFEST AT MINNEAPOLIS IS TO THE SITUATION WHICH GREW OUT OF AN APPROACH TO BIBLE STUDY, AT THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1888, HELD IN MINNEAPOLIS, IN AN ARGUMENTATIVE AND DEBATING SPIRIT ACCOMPANIED ON THE PART OF SOME WITH CRITICISM AND RIDICULE.--COMPILERS.］ We are having most excellent meetings. The spirit that was in the meeting at Minneapolis is not here. All moves off in harmony. There is a large attendance of delegates. Our five o'clock morning meeting is well attended, and the meetings good. All the testimonies to which I have listened have been of an elevating character. They say that the past year has been the best of their life; the light shining forth from the Word of God has been clear and distinct--justification by faith, Christ our righteousness. The experiences have been very interesting. {1SM 361.1} [1SM 361.2] I have attended all but two morning meetings. At eight o'clock Brother Jones speaks upon the subject of justification by faith, and great interest is manifested. There is a growth in faith and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. There are quite a number who have not had an opportunity to hear upon this subject before, but they are taking it in, and are being fed with large morsels from the Lord's table. The universal testimony from those 362 who have spoken has been that this message of light and truth which has come to our people is just the truth for this time, and wherever they go among the churches, light, and relief, and the blessing of God is sure to come in. {1SM 361.2} [1SM 362.1] We have a feast of fat things, and when we see souls grasping the light we are rejoiced, looking unto Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith. Christ is the great pattern; His character must be our character. All excellence is in Him. Turning from man and every other model, with open face we behold Jesus in all His glory. And their minds are filled with the grand and overpowering ideas of His excellency; every other object sinks into insignificance, and every part of moral discipline is lost which does not promote their likeness to His image. I see heights and depths that we may reach, accepting every ray of light and going forward to a greater light. The end is near, and God forbid that we shall be asleep at this time. {1SM 362.1} [1SM 362.2] I am so thankful to see with our ministering brethren a disposition to search the Scriptures for themselves. There has been a very great lack of deep searching of the Scriptures, storing the mind with the gems of truth. How much we all lose because we do not put to the tax our minds to search with much prayer for divine enlightenment to understand His Holy Word. {1SM 362.2} [1SM 362.3] I believe there will be a decided advance among our people, a more earnest endeavor to keep pace with the third angel's message.--Manuscript 10, 1889. {1SM 362.3} [1SM 362.4] The Beginning of the Loud Cry Let every one who claims to believe that the Lord is soon coming, search the Scriptures as never before; for Satan is determined to try every device possible to keep souls in darkness, and blind the mind to the perils of the times in which we are living. Let every believer take up his Bible with earnest prayer, that he may be enlightened by the Holy Spirit as to what is truth, that he may know more of God and of Jesus Christ whom He has sent. Search for the truth as for hidden treasures, and disappoint the enemy. 363 The time of test is just upon us, for the loud cry of the third angel has already begun in the revelation of the righteousness of Christ, the sin-pardoning Redeemer. This is the beginning of the light of the angel whose glory shall fill the whole earth. For it is the work of every one to whom the message of warning has come, to lift up Jesus, to present Him to the world as revealed in types, as shadowed in symbols, as manifested in the revelations of the prophets, as unveiled in the lessons given to His disciples and in the wonderful miracles wrought for the sons of men. Search the Scriptures; for they are they that testify of Him. {1SM 362.4} [1SM 363.1] If you would stand through the time of trouble, you must know Christ, and appropriate the gift of His righteousness, which He imputes to the repentant sinner.--The Review and Herald, Nov. 22, 1892. {1SM 363.1} [1SM 363.2] Appropriating the Righteousness of Christ Through Christ, restoration as well as reconciliation is provided for man. The gulf that was made by sin has been spanned by the cross of Calvary. A full, complete ransom has been paid by Jesus, by virtue of which the sinner is pardoned, and the justice of the law is maintained. All who believe that Christ is the atoning sacrifice may come and receive pardon for their sins; for through the merit of Christ, communication has been opened between God and man. God can accept me as His child, and I can claim Him and rejoice in Him as my loving Father. We must center our hopes of heaven upon Christ alone, because He is our substitute and surety. {1SM 363.2} [1SM 363.3] We have transgressed the law of God, and by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified. The best efforts that man in his own strength can make, are valueless to meet the holy and just law that he has transgressed; but through faith in Christ he may claim the righteousness of the Son of God as all-sufficient. Christ satisfied the demands of the law in His human nature. He bore the curse of the law for the sinner, made an atonement for him, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Genuine faith appropriates the righteousness of Christ, and 364 the sinner is made an overcomer with Christ; for he is made a partaker of the divine nature, and thus divinity and humanity are combined. {1SM 363.3} [1SM 364.1] He who is trying to reach heaven by his own works in keeping the law, is attempting an impossibility. Man cannot be saved without obedience, but his works should not be of himself; Christ should work in him to will and to do of His good pleasure. If a man could save himself by his own works, he might have something in himself in which to rejoice. The effort that man makes in his own strength to obtain salvation, is represented by the offering of Cain. All that man can do without Christ is polluted with selfishness and sin; but that which is wrought through faith is acceptable to God. When we seek to gain heaven through the merits of Christ, the soul makes progress. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, we may go on from strength to strength, from victory to victory; for through Christ the grace of God has worked out our complete salvation. {1SM 364.1} [1SM 364.2] Without faith it is impossible to please God. Living faith enables its possessor to lay hold on the merits of Christ, enables him to derive great comfort and satisfaction from the plan of salvation.--The Review and Herald, July 1, 1890. {1SM 364.2} [1SM 365.1] Chap. 57 - Christ the Way of Life ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, NOV. 4, 1890.］ "Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:14, 15). {1SM 365.1} [1SM 365.2] Repentance is associated with faith, and is urged in the gospel as essential to salvation. Paul preached repentance. He said, "I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:20, 21). There is no salvation without repentance. No impenitent sinner can believe with his heart unto righteousness. Repentance is described by Paul as a godly sorrow for sin, that "worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of" (2 Corinthians 7:10). This repentance has in it nothing of the nature of merit, but it prepares the heart for the acceptance of Christ as the only Saviour, the only hope of the lost sinner. {1SM 365.2} [1SM 365.3] As the sinner looks to the law, his guilt is made plain to him, and pressed home to his conscience, and he is condemned. His only comfort and hope is found in looking to 366 the cross of Calvary. As he ventures upon the promises, taking God at His word, relief and peace come to his soul. He cries, "Lord, Thou hast promised to save all who come unto Thee in the name of Thy Son. I am a lost, helpless, hopeless soul. Lord, save, or I perish." His faith lays hold on Christ, and he is justified before God. {1SM 365.3} [1SM 366.1] But while God can be just, and yet justify the sinner through the merits of Christ, no man can cover his soul with the garments of Christ's righteousness while practicing known sins, or neglecting known duties. God requires the entire surrender of the heart, before justification can take place; and in order for man to retain justification, there must be continual obedience, through active, living faith that works by love and purifies the soul. {1SM 366.1} [1SM 366.2] James writes of Abraham and says, "Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only" (James 2:21-24). In order for man to be justified by faith, faith must reach a point where it will control the affections and impulses of the heart; and it is by obedience that faith itself is made perfect. {1SM 366.2} [1SM 366.3] Faith the Condition of Promise Without the grace of Christ, the sinner is in a hopeless condition; nothing can be done for him; but through divine grace, supernatural power is imparted to the man, and works in mind and heart and character. It is through the impartation of the grace of Christ that sin is discerned in its hateful nature, and finally driven from the soul temple. It is through grace that we are brought into fellowship with Christ, to be associated with Him in the work of salvation. Faith is the condition upon which God has seen fit to promise pardon to sinners; not that there is any virtue in faith whereby salvation is merited, but because faith can lay hold 367 of the merits of Christ, the remedy provided for sin. Faith can present Christ's perfect obedience instead of the sinner's transgression and defection. When the sinner believes that Christ is his personal Saviour, then, according to His unfailing promises, God pardons his sin, and justifies him freely. The repentant soul realizes that his justification comes because Christ, as his substitute and surety, has died for him, is his atonement and righteousness. {1SM 366.3} [1SM 367.1] "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Romans 4:3-5). Righteousness is obedience to the law. The law demands righteousness, and this the sinner owes to the law; but he is incapable of rendering it. The only way in which he can attain to righteousness is through faith. By faith he can bring to God the merits of Christ, and the Lord places the obedience of His Son to the sinner's account. Christ's righteousness is accepted in place of man's failure, and God receives, pardons, justifies, the repentant, believing soul, treats him as though he were righteous, and loves him as He loves His Son. This is how faith is accounted righteousness; and the pardoned soul goes on from grace to grace, from light to a greater light. He can say with rejoicing, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:5-7). {1SM 367.1} [1SM 367.2] Again: it is written, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12, 13). Jesus declared, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3: 368 5). It is not a low standard that is placed before us; for we are to become the children of God. We are to be saved as individuals; and in the day of test and trial we shall be able to discern between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not. We are saved as individual believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. {1SM 367.2} [1SM 368.1] Many are losing the right way, in consequence of thinking that they must climb to heaven, that they must do something to merit the favor of God. They seek to make themselves better by their own unaided efforts. This they can never accomplish. Christ has made the way by dying our sacrifice, by living our example, by becoming our great high priest. He declares, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). If by an effort of our own we could advance one step toward the ladder, the words of Christ would not be true. But when we accept Christ, good works will appear as fruitful evidence that we are in the way of life, that Christ is our way, and that we are treading the true path that leads to heaven. {1SM 368.1} [1SM 368.2] He Becomes Our Righteousness Christ looks at the spirit, and when He sees us carrying our burden with faith, His perfect holiness atones for our shortcomings. When we do our best, He becomes our righteousness. It takes every ray of light that God sends to us to make us the light of the world.--Letter 22, 1889. ［ORIGINALLY LISTED AS LETTER 33, THIS REFERENCE HAS BEEN RECLASSIFIED AS LETTER 22, 1889.］ {1SM 368.2} [1SM 369.1] Chap. 58 - "Thou Hast Left Thy First Love" ［PORTION OF A SERMON AT OTSEGO, MICHIGAN, OCT. 10, 1890, PRINTED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, FEB. 3, 1891.］ I spoke to the people of Otsego from the fourth and fifth verses of the second chapter of Revelation: "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent"(Revelation 2:4, 5). The people to whom these words are addressed have many excellent qualities, which are recognized by the True Witness; "Nevertheless," He says, "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love." Here is a want that will have to be supplied. All the other graces fail to make up the deficiency. The church is counseled to "remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. . . . He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the 370 tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God" (Revelation 2:4-7). {1SM 369.1} [1SM 370.1] In these words are warnings, reproofs, threatenings, promises, from the True Witness, He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand. "The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches" (Revelation 1:20). {1SM 370.1} [1SM 370.2] When this church is weighed in the balance of the sanctuary, it is found wanting, having left its first love. The True Witness declares, "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted" (Revelation 2:2, 3). Notwithstanding all this, the church is found wanting. What is the fatal deficiency?--"Thou hast left thy first love." Is not this our case? Our doctrines may be correct; we may hate false doctrine, and may not receive those who are not true to principle; we may labor with untiring energy; but even this is not sufficient. What is our motive? Why are we called upon to repent?--"Thou hast left thy first love." {1SM 370.2} [1SM 370.3] Let each member of the church study this important warning and reproof. Let each one see if in contending for the truth, if in debating on the theory, he has not lost the tender love of Christ. Has not Christ been left out of the sermons, and out of the heart? Is there not danger that many are going forward with a profession of the truth, doing missionary work, while the love of Christ has not been woven into the labor? This solemn warning from the True Witness means much; it demands that you shall remember from whence you are fallen, and repent, and do the first works; "or else," says the True Witness, "I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent" (Revelation 2:5). O that the church might realize its need of its first ardor of love! When this is wanting, all other excellences are insufficient. The call to repentance is one that cannot be disregarded without peril. A belief in the theory of the truth is not enough. To present 371 this theory to unbelievers does not constitute you a witness for Christ. The light that gladdened your heart when you first understood the message for this time, is an essential element in your experience and labors, and this has been lost out of your heart and life. Christ beholds your lack of zeal, and declares that you have fallen, and are in a perilous position. {1SM 370.3} [1SM 371.1] Present Love and Law Together In presenting the binding claims of the law, many have failed to portray the infinite love of Christ. Those who have so great truths, so weighty reforms to present to the people, have not had a realization of the value of the atoning Sacrifice as an expression of God's great love to man. Love for Jesus, and Jesus' love for sinners, have been dropped out of the religious experience of those who have been commissioned to preach the gospel, and self has been exalted instead of the Redeemer of mankind. The law is to be presented to its transgressors, not as something apart from God, but rather as an exponent of His mind and character. As the sunlight cannot be separated from the sun, so God's law cannot be rightly presented to man apart from the divine Author. The messenger should be able to say, "In the law is God's will; come, see for yourselves that the law is what Paul declared it to be--'holy, and just, and good.' "It reproves sin, it condemns the sinner, but it shows him his need of Christ, with whom is plenteous mercy and goodness and truth. Though the law cannot remit the penalty for sin, but charges the sinner with all his debt, Christ has promised abundant pardon to all who repent, and believe in His mercy. The love of God is extended in abundance to the repenting, believing soul. The brand of sin upon the soul can be effaced only through the blood of the atoning Sacrifice. No less an offering was required than the sacrifice of Him who was equal with the Father. The work of Christ--His life, humiliation, death, and intercession for lost man--magnifies the law, and makes it honorable. {1SM 371.1} [1SM 371.2] Many sermons preached upon the claims of the law have been without Christ, and this lack has made the truth 372 inefficient in converting souls. Without the grace of Christ it is impossible to take one step in obedience to the law of God. Then how necessary that the sinner hear of the love and power of his Redeemer and Friend! While the ambassador for Christ should plainly declare the claims of the law, he should make it understood that none can be justified without the atoning sacrifice of Christ. Without Christ there can be only condemnation and a fearful looking for a fiery indignation, and final separation from the presence of God. But he whose eyes have been opened to see the love of Christ, will behold the character of God as full of love and compassion. God will not appear as a tyrannical, relentless being, but as a father longing to embrace his repenting son. The sinner will cry with the psalmist, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him" (Psalm 103:13). All despair is swept from the soul when Christ is seen in His true character. - {1SM 371.2} [1SM 372.1] The Third Angel's Message in Verity Some of our brethren have expressed fears that we shall dwell too much upon the subject of justification by faith, but I hope and pray that none will be needlessly alarmed; for there is no danger in presenting this doctrine as it is set forth in the Scriptures. If there had not been a remissness in the past to properly instruct the people of God, there would not now be a necessity of calling a special attention to it.... The exceeding great and precious promises given us in the Holy Scriptures have been lost sight of to a great extent, just as the enemy of all righteousness designed that they should be. He has cast his own dark shadow between us and our God, that we may not see the true character of God. The Lord has proclaimed Himself to be "merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth." {1SM 372.1} [1SM 372.2] Several have written to me, inquiring if the message of justification by faith is the third angel's message, and I have answered, "It is the third angel's message, in verity."-- The Review and Herald, April 1, 1890. {1SM 372.2} [1SM 373.1] Chap. 59 - Perfect Obedience Through Christ ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, NOV. 1, 1892.］ "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. . . . For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:24-26). It is essential to have faith in Jesus, and to believe you are saved through Him; but there is danger in taking the position that many do take in saying, "I am saved." Many have said: "You must do good works, and you will live"; but apart from Christ no one can do good works. Many at the present day say, "Believe, only believe, and live." Faith and works go together, believing and doing are blended. The Lord requires no less of the soul now, than He required of Adam in Paradise before he fell-- perfect obedience, unblemished righteousness. The requirement of God under the covenant of grace is just as broad as the requirement He made in Paradise--harmony with His law, which is holy, and just, and good. The gospel does not weaken the claims of the law; it exalts the law and makes it honorable. Under the New Testament, no less is required than was required under the Old 374 Testament. Let no one take up with the delusion so pleasant to the natural heart, that God will accept of sincerity, no matter what may be the faith, no matter how imperfect may be the life. God requires of His child perfect obedience. {1SM 373.1} [1SM 374.1] In order to meet the requirements of the law, our faith must grasp the righteousness of Christ, accepting it as our righteousness. Through union with Christ, through acceptance of His righteousness by faith, we may be qualified to work the works of God, to be colaborers with Christ. If you are willing to drift along with the current of evil, and do not cooperate with the heavenly agencies in restraining transgression in your family, and in the church, in order that everlasting righteousness may be brought in, you do not have faith. Faith works by love and purifies the soul. Through faith the Holy Spirit works in the heart to create holiness therein; but this cannot be done unless the human agent will work with Christ. We can be fitted for heaven only through the work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart; for we must have Christ's righteousness as our credentials if we would find access to the Father. In order that we may have the righteousness of Christ, we need daily to be transformed by the influence of the Spirit, to be a partaker of the divine nature. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to elevate the taste, to sanctify the heart, to ennoble the whole man. {1SM 374.1} [1SM 374.2] Look to Jesus Let the soul look to Jesus. "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). No one will be forced to look to Christ; but the voice of invitation is sounding in yearning entreaty, "Look and live." In looking to Christ, we shall see that His love is without a parallel, that He has taken the place of the guilty sinner, and has imputed unto him His spotless righteousness. When the sinner sees his Saviour dying upon the cross under the curse of sin in his stead, beholding His pardoning love, love awakes in his heart. The sinner loves Christ, because Christ has first loved him, and 375 love is the fulfilling of the law. The repenting soul realizes that God "is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The Spirit of God works in the believer's soul, enabling him to advance from one line of obedience to another, reaching on from strength to greater strength, from grace to grace in Jesus Christ. {1SM 374.2} [1SM 375.1] God justly condemns all who do not make Christ their personal Saviour; but He pardons every soul who comes to Him in faith, and enables him to work the works of God, and through faith to be one with Christ. Jesus says of these, "I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one ［this unity brings perfection of character］; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me" (John 17:23). The Lord has made every provision whereby man may have full and free salvation, and be complete in Him. God designs that His children shall have the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, that all may have the light of truth. God has provided salvation for the world at infinite cost, even through the gift of His only-begotten Son. The apostle asks, "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32). Then if we are not saved, the fault will not be on the part of God, but on our part, that we have failed to cooperate with the divine agencies. Our will has not coincided with God's will. {1SM 375.1} [1SM 375.2] The Redeemer of the world clothed His divinity with humanity, that He might reach humanity; for it took the divine and the human to bring into the world the salvation that was needed by fallen man. Divinity needed humanity that humanity might afford a channel of communication between God and man. Man needs a power out of and above himself to restore him to the likeness of God; but because he needs divine aid, it does not make human activity unessential. Faith on the part of man is required; for faith works by love and purifies the soul. Faith lays hold upon the virtue of Christ. The Lord does 376 not design that human power should be paralyzed; but by cooperating with God, the power of man may be efficient for good. God does not design that our will should be destroyed; for it is through this very attribute that we are to accomplish the work He would have us to do both at home and abroad. He has given to every man his work; and every true worker sheds forth light to the world, because he is united with God and Christ and heavenly angels in the grand work of saving the lost. From divine association he becomes more and more intelligent in working the works of God. In working out what divine grace works in, the believer becomes spiritually great. He who works according to his entrusted ability will become a wise builder for the Master; for he is under the apprenticeship to Christ, learning to work the works of God. He will not shun burdens of responsibility, for he will realize that each one must lift in the cause of God to the extent of his ability, and he places himself under the pressure of the work; but Jesus does not leave His willing and obedient servant to be crushed. It is not the man who carries heavy responsibilities in the cause of God who needs your pity, for he is faithful and true in cooperation with God; and through union of divine and human effort, the work is made complete. It is he who shuns responsibilities, who has no realization of the privilege to which he is called, who is an object of pity. {1SM 375.2} [1SM 377.1] Chap. 60 - Relation of Faith and Works ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, THE CHURCH, NO. 5.］ Napier, New Zealand April 9, 1893 Brother A. T. Jones: I was attending a meeting, and a large congregation were present. In my dream you were presenting the subject of faith and the imputed righteousness of Christ by faith. You repeated several times that works amounted to nothing, that there were no conditions. The matter was presented in that light that I knew minds would be confused, and would not receive the correct impression in reference to faith and works, and I decided to write to you. You state this matter too strongly. There are conditions to our receiving justification and sanctification, and the righteousness of Christ. I know your meaning, but you leave a wrong impression upon many minds. While good works will not save even one soul, yet it is impossible for even one soul to be saved without good works. God saves us under a law, that we must ask if we would receive, seek if we would find, and knock if we would have the door opened unto us. 378 {1SM 377.1} [1SM 378.1] Christ offers Himself as willing to save unto the uttermost all who come unto Him. He invites all to come to Him. "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). You look in reality upon these subjects as I do, yet you make these subjects, through your expressions, confusing to minds. And after you have expressed your mind radically in regard to works, when questions are asked you upon this very subject, it is not lying out in so very clear lines, in your own mind, and you cannot define the correct principles to other minds, and you are yourself unable to make your statements harmonize with your own principles and faith. {1SM 378.1} [1SM 378.2] The young man came to Jesus with the question, "Good Master, what shall I do, that I may inherit eternal life?" (Mark 10:17). And Christ saith unto him, "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." He saith unto Him, "Which?" Jesus quoted several, and the young man said unto Him, "All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?" Jesus said unto him, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." Here are conditions, and the Bible is full of conditions. "But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions" (Matthew 19:17, 20, 21, 22). {1SM 378.2} [1SM 378.3] Points to Guard Then when you say there are no conditions, and some expressions are made quite broad, you burden the minds, and some cannot see consistency in your expressions. They cannot see how they can harmonize these expressions with the plain statements of the Word of God. Please guard these points. These strong assertions in regard to works never make our position any stronger. The expressions weaken our position, for there are many who will consider you an extremist, and will lose the rich lessons you have for them upon the very subjects they need to know. . . . My brother, it is hard for the mind to comprehend 379 this point, and do not confuse any mind with ideas that will not harmonize with the Word. Please to consider that under the teaching of Christ many of the disciples were lamentably ignorant; but when the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised came upon them and made the vacillating Peter the champion of faith, what a transformation in his character! But do not lay one pebble, for a soul that is weak in the faith to stumble over, in overwrought presentations or expressions. Be ever consistent, calm, deep, and solid. Do not go to any extreme in anything, but keep your feet on solid rock. O precious, precious Saviour. "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him" (John 14:21). {1SM 378.3} [1SM 379.1] This is the true test--the doing of the words of Christ. And it is the evidence of the human agent's love to Jesus, and he that doeth His will giveth to the world the practical evidence of the fruit he manifests in obedience, in purity, and in holiness of character. . . . {1SM 379.1} [1SM 379.2] O my brother, walk carefully with God. But remember that there are some whose eyes are intently fixed upon you, expecting that you will overreach the mark, and stumble, and fall. But if you keep in humility close to Jesus, all is well. . . . {1SM 379.2} [1SM 379.3] There is no place in the school of Christ where we graduate. We are to work on the plan of addition, and the Lord will work on the plan of multiplication. It is through constant diligence that we will, through the grace of Christ, live on the plan of addition, making our calling and election sure. . . . "For if ye do these things ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:10, 11).--Letter 44, 1893. {1SM 379.3} [1SM 379.4] No Compromise With Sin Let my brethren be very careful how they present the subject of faith and works before the people, lest minds 380 become confused. The people need to be urged to diligence in good works. They should be shown how to be successful, how to be purified, and their offerings may be fragrant before God. It is by virtue of the blood of Christ. Messages of a decided character must be borne to the people. Men must go forth reproving, rebuking every manner of evil. {1SM 379.4} [1SM 380.1] If there is given to the angel of any church a commission like unto that given to the angel of the church of Ephesus, let the message be heard through human agents rebuking carelessness, backsliding, and sin, that the people may be brought to repentance and confession of sin. Never seek to cover sin; for in the message of rebuke, Christ is to be proclaimed as the first and the last, He who is all in all to the soul. {1SM 380.1} [1SM 380.2] His power awaits the demand of those who would overcome. The reprover is to animate his hearers so that they shall strive for the mastery. He is to encourage them to struggle for deliverance from every sinful practice, to be free from every corrupt habit, even if his denial of self is like taking the right eye, or separating the right arm from the body. No concession or compromise is to be made to evil habits or sinful practices.--Manuscript 26a, 1892. {1SM 380.2} [1SM 380.3] Cooperation With God Man is to cooperate with God, employing every power according to his God-given ability. He is not to be ignorant as to what are right practices in eating and drinking, and in all the habits of life. The Lord designs that His human agents shall act as rational, accountable beings in every respect. . . . {1SM 380.3} [1SM 380.4] We cannot afford to neglect one ray of light God has given. To be sluggish in our practice of those things which require diligence is to commit sin. The human agent is to cooperate with God, and keep under those passions which should be in subjection. To do this he must be unwearied in his prayers to God, ever obtaining grace to control his spirit, temper, and actions. Through the imparted grace of 381 Christ, he may be enabled to overcome. To be an overcomer means more than many suppose it means. {1SM 380.4} [1SM 381.1] The Spirit of God will answer the cry of every penitent heart; for repentance is the gift of God, and an evidence that Christ is drawing the soul to Himself. We can no more repent of sin without Christ, than we can be pardoned without Christ, and yet it is a humiliation to man with his human passion and pride to go to Jesus straightway, believing and trusting Him for everything which he needs. . . . {1SM 381.1} [1SM 381.2] Let no man present the idea that man has little or nothing to do in the great work of overcoming; for God does nothing for man without his cooperation. Neither say that after you have done all you can on your part, Jesus will help you. Christ has said, "Without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5). From first to last man is to be a laborer together with God. Unless the Holy Spirit works upon the human heart, at every step we shall stumble and fall. Man's efforts alone are nothing but worthlessness; but cooperation with Christ means a victory. Of ourselves we have no power to repent of sin. Unless we accept divine aid we cannot take the first step toward the Saviour. He says, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end" (Revelation 21:6) in the salvation of every soul. {1SM 381.2} [1SM 381.3] But though Christ is everything, we are to inspire every man to unwearied diligence. We are to strive, wrestle, agonize, watch, pray, lest we shall be overcome by the wily foe. For the power and grace with which we can do this comes from God, and all the while we are to trust in Him, who is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him. Never leave the impression on the mind that there is little or nothing to do on the part of man; but rather teach man to cooperate with God, that he may be successful in overcoming. {1SM 381.3} [1SM 381.4] Let no one say that your works have nothing to do with your rank and position before God. In the judgment the sentence pronounced is according to what has been done or to what has been left undone (Matthew 25:34-40). {1SM 381.4} [1SM 381.5] Effort and labor are required on the part of the receiver 382 of God's grace; for it is the fruit that makes manifest what is the character of the tree. Although the good works of man are of no more value without faith in Jesus than was the offering of Cain, yet covered with the merit of Christ, they testify ［to］ the worthiness of the doer to inherit eternal life. That which is considered morality in the world does not reach the divine standard and has no more merit before Heaven than had the offering of Cain.--Manuscript 26a, 1892. {1SM 381.5} [1SM 382.1] While Submitting to the Holy Spirit Everyone who has a realizing sense of what it means to be a Christian, will purify himself from everything that weakens and defiles. All the habits of his life will be brought into harmony with the requirements of the Word of truth, and he will not only believe, but will work out his own salvation with fear and trembling, while submitting to the molding of the Holy Spirit.--The Review and Herald, March 6, 1888. {1SM 382.1} [1SM 382.2] Jesus Accepts Our Intentions When it is in the heart to obey God, when efforts are put forth to this end, Jesus accepts this disposition and effort as man's best service, and He makes up for the deficiency with His own divine merit. But He will not accept those who claim to have faith in Him, and yet are disloyal to His Father's commandment. We hear a great deal about faith, but we need to hear a great deal more about works. Many are deceiving their own souls by living an easygoing, accommodating, crossless religion. But Jesus says, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."--The Signs of the Times, June 16, 1890. {1SM 382.2} [1SM 383.1] Chap. 61 - Christ the Center of the Message ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, MARCH 20, 1894.］ The third angel's message calls for the presentation of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and this truth must be brought before the world; but the great center of attraction, Jesus Christ, must not be left out of the third angel's message. By many who have been engaged in the work for this time, Christ has been made secondary, and theories and arguments have had first place. The glory of God that was revealed to Moses in regard to the divine character has not been made prominent. The Lord said to Moses, "I will make all my goodness pass before thee" (Exodus 33:19). "And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty" (Exodus 34:6, 7). {1SM 383.1} [1SM 383.2] A veil has seemed to be before the eyes of many who have labored in the cause, so that when they presented the law, they have not had views of Jesus, and have not 384 proclaimed the fact that, where sin abounded, grace doth much more abound. It is at the cross of Calvary that mercy and truth meet together, where righteousness and peace kiss each other. The sinner must ever look toward Calvary; and with the simple faith of a little child, he must rest in the merits of Christ, accepting His righteousness and believing in His mercy. Laborers in the cause of truth should present the righteousness of Christ, not as new light but as precious light that has for a time been lost sight of by the people. We are to accept Christ as our personal Saviour, and He imputes unto us the righteousness of God in Christ. Let us repeat and make prominent the truth that John has portrayed: "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10). {1SM 383.2} [1SM 384.1] In the love of God has been opened the most marvelous vein of precious truth, and the treasures of the grace of Christ are laid open before the church and the world. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son..." (John 3:16). What love is this--what marvelous, unfathomable love--that would lead Christ to die for us while we were yet sinners! What a loss it is to the soul who understands the strong claims of the law, and who yet fails to understand the grace of Christ which doth much more abound! It is true that the law of God reveals the love of God when it is preached as the truth in Jesus; for the gift of Christ to this guilty world must be largely dwelt upon in every discourse. It is no wonder that hearts have not been melted by the truth, when it has been presented in a cold and lifeless manner. No wonder faith has staggered at the promises of God, when ministers and workers have failed to present Jesus in His relation to the law of God. How often should they have assured the people that "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32). {1SM 384.1} [1SM 384.2] Satan is determined that men shall not see the love of God, which led Him to give His only-begotten Son to save the lost race; for it is the goodness of God that leads men 385 to repentance. Oh, how shall we succeed in setting forth before the world the deep, precious love of God? In no other way can we compass it than by exclaiming, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (1 John 3:1)! Let us say to sinners, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29)! By presenting Jesus as the representative of the Father, we shall be able to dispel the shadow that Satan has cast upon our pathway, in order that we shall not see the mercy and love of God's inexpressible love as manifested in Jesus Christ. {1SM 384.2} [1SM 385.1] Look at the Cross Look at the cross of Calvary. It is a standing pledge of the boundless love, the measureless mercy, of the heavenly Father. O that all might repent and do their first works. When the churches do this, they will love God supremely and their neighbors as themselves. Ephraim will not envy Judah, and Judah will not vex Ephraim. Divisions will then be healed, the harsh sounds of strife will no more be heard in the borders of Israel. Through the grace freely given them of God, all will seek to answer the prayer of Christ, that His disciples should be one, even as He and the Father are one. Peace, love, mercy, and benevolence will be the abiding principles of the soul. The love of Christ will be the theme of every tongue, and it will no more be said by the True Witness, "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love" (Revelation 2:4). The people of God will be abiding in Christ, the love of Jesus will be revealed, and one Spirit will animate all hearts, regenerating and renewing all in the image of Christ, fashioning all hearts alike. As living branches of the True Vine, all will be united to Christ, the living head. Christ will abide in every heart, guiding, comforting, sanctifying, and presenting to the world the unity of the followers of Jesus, thus bearing testimony that the heavenly credentials are supplied to the remnant church. In the oneness of Christ's church it will be proved that God sent His only-begotten Son into the world. 386 {1SM 385.1} [1SM 386.1] When God's people are one in the unity of the Spirit, all of Phariseeism, all of self-righteousness, which was the sin of the Jewish nation, will be expelled from all hearts. The mold of Christ will be upon each individual member of His body, and His people will be new bottles into which He can pour His new wine, and the new wine will not break the bottles. God will make known the mystery which hath been hidden for ages. He will make known what are the "riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27) ［verses 28, 29 also quoted］. {1SM 386.1} [1SM 386.2] Jesus came to impart to the human soul the Holy Spirit, by which the love of God is shed abroad in the heart; but it is impossible to endow men with the Holy Spirit, who are set in their ideas, whose doctrines are all stereotyped and unchangeable, who are walking after the traditions and commandments of men, as were the Jews in the time of Christ. They were very punctilious in the observances of the church, very rigorous in following their forms, but they were destitute of vitality and religious devotion. They were represented by Christ as like the dry skins which were then used as bottles. The gospel of Christ could not be placed in their hearts; for there was no room to contain it. They could not be the new bottles into which He could pour His new wine. Christ was obliged to seek elsewhere than among the scribes and the Pharisees for bottles for His doctrine of truth and life. He must find men who were willing to have regeneration of heart. He came to give to men new hearts. He said, "A new heart also will I give you." But the self-righteous of that day and of this day feel no need of having a new heart. Jesus passed by the scribes and the Pharisees, for they felt no need of a Saviour. They were wedded to forms and ceremonies. These services had been instituted by Christ; they had been full of vitality and spiritual beauty; but the Jews had lost the spiritual life from their ceremonies, and clung to the dead forms after spiritual life was extinct among them. When they departed from the requirements and commandments of God, they sought to supply the 387 place of that which they had lost, by multiplying their own requirements, and making more rigorous demands than had God; and the more rigid they grew, the less of the love and Spirit of God they manifested. Christ said to the people: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi." "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone" (Matthew 23:2-7, 23). {1SM 386.2} [1SM 387.1] The remnant church is called to go through an experience similar to that of the Jews; and the True Witness, who walks up and down in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, has a solemn message to bear to His people. He says, "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent" (Revelation 2:4, 5). The love of God has been waning in the church, and as a result, the love of self has sprung up into new activity. With the loss of love for God there has come the loss of love for the brethren. The church may meet all the description that is given of the Ephesian church, and yet fail in vital godliness. Of them Jesus said, "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's 388 sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love" (Revelation 2:2-4). {1SM 387.1} [1SM 388.1] A legal religion has been thought quite the correct religion for this time. But it is a mistake. The rebuke of Christ to the Pharisees is applicable to those who have lost from the heart their first love. A cold, legal religion can never lead souls to Christ; for it is a loveless, Christless religion. When fastings and prayers are practiced in a self-justifying spirit, they are abominable to God. The solemn assembly for worship, the round of religious ceremonies, the external humiliation, the imposed sacrifice-- all proclaim to the world the testimony that the doer of these things considers himself righteous. These things call attention to the observer of rigorous duties, saying, This man is entitled to heaven. But it is all a deception. Works will not buy for us an entrance into heaven. The one great Offering that has been made is ample for all who will believe. The love of Christ will animate the believer with new life. He who drinks from the water of the fountain of life, will be filled with the new wine of the kingdom. Faith in Christ will be the means whereby the right spirit and motive will actuate the believer, and all goodness and heavenly-mindedness will proceed from him who looks unto Jesus, the author and finisher of his faith. Look up to God, look not to men. God is your heavenly Father who is willing patiently to bear with your infirmities, and to forgive and heal them. "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). By beholding Christ, you will become changed, until you will hate your former pride, your former vanity and self-esteem, your self-righteousness and unbelief. You will cast these sins aside as a worthless burden, and walk humbly, meekly, trustfully, before God. You will practice love, patience, gentleness, goodness, mercy, and every grace that dwells in the child of God, and will at last find a place among the sanctified and holy. {1SM 388.1} [1SM 389.1] Chap. 62 - Justified by Faith ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE BIBLE STUDENTS' LIBRARY SERIES, APRIL, 1893.］ When God pardons the sinner, remits the punishment he deserves, and treats him as though he had not sinned, He receives him into divine favor, and justifies him through the merits of Christ's righteousness. The sinner can be justified only through faith in the atonement made through God's dear Son, who became a sacrifice for the sins of the guilty world. No one can be justified by any works of his own. He can be delivered from the guilt of sin, from the condemnation of the law, from the penalty of transgression, only by virtue of the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ. Faith is the only condition upon which justification can be obtained, and faith includes not only belief but trust. {1SM 389.1} [1SM 389.2] Many have a nominal faith in Christ, but they know nothing of that vital dependence upon Him which appropriates the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour. Of this nominal faith James says: "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? (James 2:19, 20). Many concede that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world, but at the same 390 time they hold themselves away from Him, and fail to repent of their sins, fail to accept of Jesus as their personal Saviour. Their faith is simply the assent of the mind and judgment to the truth; but the truth is not brought into the heart, that it might sanctify the soul and transform the character. "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified" (Romans 8:29, 30). Calling and justification are not one and the same thing. Calling is the drawing of the sinner to Christ, and it is a work wrought by the Holy Spirit upon the heart, convicting of sin, and inviting to repentance. {1SM 389.2} [1SM 390.1] Many are confused as to what constitutes the first steps in the work of salvation. Repentance is thought to be a work the sinner must do for himself in order that he may come to Christ. They think that the sinner must procure for himself a fitness in order to obtain the blessing of God's grace. But while it is true that repentance must precede forgiveness, for it is only the broken and contrite heart that is acceptable to God, yet the sinner cannot bring himself to repentance, or prepare himself to come to Christ. Except the sinner repent, he cannot be forgiven; but the question to be decided is as to whether repentance is the work of the sinner or the gift of Christ. Must the sinner wait until he is filled with remorse for his sin before he can come to Christ? The very first step to Christ is taken through the drawing of the Spirit of God; as man responds to this drawing, he advances toward Christ in order that he may repent. {1SM 390.1} [1SM 390.2] The sinner is represented as a lost sheep, and a lost sheep never returns to the fold unless he is sought after and brought back to the fold by the shepherd. No man of himself can repent, and make himself worthy of the blessing of justification. The Lord Jesus is constantly seeking to impress the sinner's mind and attract him to behold Himself, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. 391 We cannot take a step toward spiritual life save as Jesus draws and strengthens the soul, and leads us to experience that repentance which needeth not to be repented of. {1SM 390.2} [1SM 391.1] When before the high priests and Sadducees, Peter clearly presented the fact that repentance is the gift of God. Speaking of Christ, he said, "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins" (Acts 5:31). Repentance is no less the gift of God than are pardon and justification, and it cannot be experienced except as it is given to the soul by Christ. If we are drawn to Christ, it is through His power and virtue. The grace of contrition comes through Him, and from Him comes justification. {1SM 391.1} [1SM 391.2] The Meaning of Faith Paul writes: "But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10:6-10). {1SM 391.2} [1SM 391.3] The faith that is unto salvation is not a casual faith, it is not the mere consent of the intellect, it is belief rooted in the heart, that embraces Christ as a personal Saviour, assured that He can save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. To believe that He will save others, but will not save you is not genuine faith; but when the soul lays hold upon Christ as the only hope of salvation, then genuine faith is manifested. This faith leads its possessor to place all the affections of the soul upon Christ; his understanding is under the control of the Holy Spirit, and his character is molded after the divine likeness. His faith is not a dead faith, but a faith that works by love, and 392 leads him to behold the beauty of Christ, and to become assimilated to the divine character. ［Deuteronomy 30:11-14 quoted.］ "And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live" (Deuteronomy 30:6). {1SM 391.3} [1SM 392.1] It is God that circumcises the heart. The whole work is the Lord's from the beginning to the end. The perishing sinner may say: "I am a lost sinner; but Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost. He says, 'I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance' (Mark 2:17). I am a sinner, and He died upon Calvary's cross to save me. I need not remain a moment longer unsaved. He died and rose again for my justification, and He will save me now. I accept the forgiveness He has promised." {1SM 392.1} [1SM 392.2] Imputed Righteousness Christ is a risen Saviour; for, though He was dead, He has risen again, and ever liveth to make intercession for us. We are to believe with the heart unto righteousness, and with the mouth make confession unto salvation. Those who are justified by faith will make confession of Christ. "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). The great work that is wrought for the sinner who is spotted and stained by evil is the work of justification. By Him who speaketh truth he is declared righteous. The Lord imputes unto the believer the righteousness of Christ and pronounces him righteous before the universe. He transfers his sins to Jesus, the sinner's representative, substitute, and surety. Upon Christ He lays the iniquity of every soul that believeth. "He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). {1SM 392.2} [1SM 392.3] Christ made satisfaction for the guilt of the whole world, and all who will come to God in faith, will receive the righteousness of Christ, "who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to 393 sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed" (1 Peter 2:24). Our sin has been expiated, put away, cast into the depths of the sea. Through repentance and faith we are rid of sin, and look unto the Lord our righteousness. Jesus suffered, the just for the unjust. {1SM 392.3} [1SM 393.1] Although as sinners we are under the condemnation of the law, yet Christ by His obedience rendered to the law, claims for the repentant soul the merit of His own righteousness. In order to obtain the righteousness of Christ, it is necessary for the sinner to know what that repentance is which works a radical change of mind and spirit and action. The work of transformation must begin in the heart, and manifest its power through every faculty of the being; but man is not capable of originating such a repentance as this, and can experience it alone through Christ, who ascended up on high, led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. {1SM 393.1} [1SM 393.2] Who is desirous of becoming truly repentant? What must he do?--He must come to Jesus, just as he is, without delay. He must believe that the word of Christ is true, and, believing the promise, ask, that he may receive. When sincere desire prompts men to pray, they will not pray in vain. The Lord will fulfill His word, and will give the Holy Spirit to lead to repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. He will pray and watch, and put away his sins, making manifest his sincerity by the vigor of his endeavor to obey the commandments of God. With prayer he will mingle faith, and not only believe in but obey the precepts of the law. He will announce himself as on Christ's side of the question. He will renounce all habits and associations that tend to draw the heart from God. {1SM 393.2} [1SM 393.3] He who would become a child of God must receive the truth that repentance and forgiveness are to be obtained through nothing less than the atonement of Christ. Assured of this the sinner must put forth an effort in harmony with the work done for him, and with unwearied entreaty he must supplicate the throne of grace, that the renovating power of God may come into his soul. Christ 394 pardons none but the penitent, but whom He pardons He first makes penitent. The provision made is complete, and the eternal righteousness of Christ is placed to the account of every believing soul. The costly, spotless robe, woven in the loom of heaven, has been provided for the repenting, believing sinner, and he may say: "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10). {1SM 393.3} [1SM 394.1] Abundant grace has been provided that the believing soul may be kept free from sin; for all heaven, with its limitless resources, has been placed at our command. We are to draw from the well of salvation. Christ is the end of law for righteousness to everyone who believeth. In ourselves we are sinners; but in Christ we are righteous. Having made us righteous through the imputed righteousness of Christ, God pronounces us just, and treats us as just. He looks upon us as His dear children. Christ works against the power of sin, and where sin abounded, grace much more abounds. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:1, 2). {1SM 394.1} [1SM 394.2] "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Romans 3:24-26). "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Ephesians 2:8). ［John 1:14-16 quoted.］ {1SM 394.2} [1SM 394.3] The Promise of the Spirit The Lord would have His people sound in the faith-- not ignorant of the great salvation so abundantly provided for them. They are not to look forward, thinking 395 that at some future time a great work is to be done for them; for the work is now complete. The believer is not called upon to make his peace with God; he never has nor ever can do this. He is to accept Christ as his peace, for with Christ is God and peace. Christ made an end of sin, bearing its heavy curse in His own body on the tree, and He hath taken away the curse from all those who believe in Him as a personal Saviour. He makes an end of the controlling power of sin in the heart, and the life and character of the believer testify to the genuine character of the grace of Christ. To those that ask Him, Jesus imparts the Holy Spirit; for it is necessary that every believer should be delivered from pollution, as well as from the curse and condemnation of the law. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, the sanctification of the truth, the believer becomes fitted for the courts of heaven; for Christ works within us, and His righteousness is upon us. Without this no soul will be entitled to heaven. We would not enjoy heaven unless qualified for its holy atmosphere by the influence of the Spirit and the righteousness of Christ. {1SM 394.3} [1SM 395.1] In order to be candidates for heaven we must meet the requirement of the law: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself" (Luke 10:27). We can do this only as we grasp by faith the righteousness of Christ. By beholding Jesus we receive a living, expanding principle in the heart, and the Holy Spirit carries on the work, and the believer advances from grace to grace, from strength to strength, from character to character. He conforms to the image of Christ, until in spiritual growth he attains unto the measure of the full stature in Christ Jesus. Thus Christ makes an end of the curse of sin, and sets the believing soul free from its action and effect. {1SM 395.1} [1SM 395.2] Christ alone is able to do this, for "in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being 396 tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted" (Hebrews 2:17, 18). Reconciliation means that every barrier between the soul and God is removed, and that the sinner realizes what the pardoning love of God means. By reason of the sacrifice made by Christ for fallen men, God can justly pardon the transgressor who accepts the merits of Christ. Christ was the channel through which the mercy, love, and righteousness might flow from the heart of God to the heart of the sinner. "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). {1SM 395.2} [1SM 396.1] In the prophecy of Daniel it was recorded of Christ that He shall "make reconciliation for iniquity, and . . . bring in everlasting righteousness" (Daniel 9:24). Every soul may say: "By His perfect obedience He has satisfied the claims of the law, and my only hope is found in looking to Him as my substitute and surety, who obeyed the law perfectly for me. By faith in His merits I am free from the condemnation of the law. He clothes me with His righteousness, which answers all the demands of the law. I am complete in Him who brings in everlasting righteousness. He presents me to God in the spotless garment of which no thread was woven by any human agent. All is of Christ, and all the glory, honor, and majesty are to be given to the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world." {1SM 396.1} [1SM 396.2] Many think that they must wait for a special impulse in order that they may come to Christ; but it is necessary only to come in sincerity of purpose, deciding to accept the offers of mercy and grace that have been extended to us. We are to say: "Christ died to save me. The Lord's desire is that I should be saved, and I will come to Jesus just as I am without delay. I will venture upon the promise. As Christ draws me, I will respond." The apostle says, "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness" (Romans 10:10). No one can believe with the heart unto righteousness, and obtain justification by faith, while continuing the practice of those things which the Word of God forbids, or while neglecting any known duty. 397 {1SM 396.2} [1SM 397.1] Good Works the Fruit of Faith Genuine faith will be manifested in good works; for good works are the fruits of faith. As God works in the heart, and man surrenders his will to God, and cooperates with God, he works out in the life what God works in by the Holy Spirit, and there is harmony between the purpose of the heart and the practice of the life. Every sin must be renounced as the hateful thing that crucified the Lord of life and glory, and the believer must have a progressive experience by continually doing the works of Christ. It is by continual surrender of the will, by continual obedience, that the blessing of justification is retained. {1SM 397.1} [1SM 397.2] Those who are justified by faith must have a heart to keep the way of the Lord. It is an evidence that a man is not justified by faith when his works do not correspond to his profession. James says, "Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was his faith made perfect?" (James 2:22). {1SM 397.2} [1SM 397.3] The faith that does not produce good works does not justify the soul. "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only" (James 2:24). "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness" (Romans 4:3). {1SM 397.3} [1SM 397.4] Imputation of the righteousness of Christ comes through justifying faith, and is the justification for which Paul so earnestly contends. He says: "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. . . . Do we then make 398 void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law" (Romans 3:20-31). {1SM 397.4} [1SM 398.1] Grace is unmerited favor, and the believer is justified without any merit of his own, without any claim to offer to God. He is justified through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, who stands in the courts of heaven as the sinner's substitute and surety. But while he is justified because of the merit of Christ, he is not free to work unrighteousness. Faith works by love and purifies the soul. Faith buds and blossoms and bears a harvest of precious fruit. Where faith is, good works appear. The sick are visited, the poor are cared for, the fatherless and the widows are not neglected, the naked are clothed, the destitute are fed. Christ went about doing good, and when men are united with Him, they love the children of God, and meekness and truth guide their footsteps. The expression of the countenance reveals their experience, and men take knowledge of them that they have been with Jesus and learned of Him. Christ and the believer become one, and His beauty of character is revealed in those who are vitally connected with the Source of power and love. Christ is the great depositary of justifying righteousness and sanctifying grace. {1SM 398.1} [1SM 398.2] All may come to Him, and receive of His fullness. He says, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). Then why not cast aside all unbelief and heed the words of Jesus? You want rest; you long for peace. Then say from the heart, "Lord Jesus, I come, because Thou hast given me this invitation." Believe in Him with steadfast faith, and He will save you. Have you been looking unto Jesus, who is the author and finisher of your faith? Have you been beholding Him who is full of truth and grace? Have you accepted the peace which Christ alone can give? If you have not, then yield to Him, and through His grace seek for a character that will be noble and elevated. Seek for a constant, resolute, cheerful spirit. Feed on Christ, who is the bread of life, and you will manifest His loveliness of character and spirit. {1SM 398.2} [1SM 399.1] Chap. 63 - The Pearl of Great Price ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, AUG. 8, 1899.］ "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The righteousness of Christ, as a pure white pearl, has no defect, no stain, no guilt. This righteousness may be ours. Salvation, with its blood-bought, inestimable treasures, is the pearl of great price. It may be searched for and found. But all who really find it will sell all they have to buy it. They give evidence that they are one with Christ, as He is one with the Father. In the parable the merchantman is represented as selling all that he had to gain possession of one pearl of great price. This is a beautiful representation of those who appreciate the truth so highly that they give up all they have to come into possession of it. They lay hold by faith of the salvation provided for them at the sacrifice of the only-begotten Son of God. {1SM 399.1} [1SM 399.2] There are some who are seeking, always seeking, for the goodly pearl. But they do not make an entire surrender of their wrong habits. They do not die to self that Christ may live in them. Therefore they do not find the precious 400 pearl. They have not overcome unholy ambition and their love for worldly attractions. They do not lift the cross, and follow Christ in the path of self-denial and self-sacrifice. They never know what it is to have peace and harmony in the soul; for without entire surrender there is no rest, no joy. Almost Christians, yet not fully Christians, they seem near the kingdom of heaven, but they do not enter therein. Almost but not wholly saved means to be not almost but wholly lost. {1SM 399.2} [1SM 400.1] A daily consecration to God brings peace and rest. The merchant sold all that he had to possess the pearl. When those who are seeking for salvation refuse to fail or be discouraged, they will find peace and rest in the Lord. Christ will clothe them with His righteousness. He will provide them with a clean heart and a renewed mind. These blessings cost the life of the Son of God, and are freely offered to those for whom the sacrifice was made. But how do many treat the proffered gift?--They turn away, choosing rather the pleasures of this life. Christ says of them, "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life" (John 5:40). {1SM 400.1} [1SM 400.2] Sinners are under a fearful deception. They despise and reject the Saviour. They do not realize the value of the pearl offered to them, and cast it away, rendering to their Redeemer only insult and mockery. Many a woman decks herself with rings and bracelets, thinking to gain admiration, but she refuses to accept the pearl of great price, which would secure for her sanctification, honor, and eternal riches. What an infatuation is upon the minds of many! They are more charmed with earthly baubles, which glitter and shine, than with the crown of immortal life, God's reward for loyalty. "Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number" (Jeremiah 2:32). {1SM 400.2} [1SM 401.1] Chap. 64 - "The Darkness Comprehended It Not" ［THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, JUNE 3, 1890.］ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (John 1:1-9). {1SM 401.1} [1SM 401.2] The question has been asked me, "Do you think that the Lord has any more light for us as a people?" I answer that He has light that is new to us, and yet it is precious old light that is to shine forth from the Word of truth. We have only the glimmerings of the rays of the light that is yet to come to us. We are not making the most of the light which the Lord has already given us, and thus we 402 fail to receive the increased light; we do not walk in light already shed upon us. {1SM 401.2} [1SM 402.1] We call ourselves commandment-keeping people, but we do not comprehend the exceeding breadth of the far-reaching principles of the law of God; we do not understand its sacred character. Many who claim to be teachers of the truth, have no real conception of what they are doing in teaching the law of God, because they do not have a living knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. {1SM 402.1} [1SM 402.2] As we read of Luther, Knox, and other noted Reformers, we admire the strength, fortitude, and courage possessed by these faithful servants of God, and we would catch the spirit that animated them. We desire to know from what source they were out of weakness made strong. Although these great men were used as instruments for God, they were not faultless. They were erring men, and made great mistakes. We should seek to imitate their virtues, but we should not make them our criterion. These men possessed rare talents to carry forward the work of the Reformation. They were moved upon by a power above themselves; but it was not the men, the instruments that God used, that should be exalted and honored, but the Lord Jesus who let His light and power come upon them. Let those who love truth and righteousness, who gather up the hereditary trusts given to these standard-bearers, praise God, the Source of all light. {1SM 402.2} [1SM 402.3] If it should be announced that angel messengers were to open before men the treasures of the knowledge which relate to heavenly things, what a stir would it create in the Christian world! The atmosphere of heaven would be about the messengers, and how eagerly would many listen to the words that should fall from their lips! Men would write books calling attention to the angels' words, but a greater Being than angels has been in our world; the Lord Himself has come to reflect upon men the light of heaven. He has announced Himself as one with the Father, full of grace and truth, God manifest in the flesh. {1SM 402.3} [1SM 402.4] The Lord Jesus, who is the image of the invisible God, gave His own life to save perishing man, and, oh, 403 what light, what power, He brings with Him! In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, bodily. What a mystery of mysteries! It is difficult for the reason to grasp the majesty of Christ, the mystery of redemption. The shameful cross has been upraised, the nails have been driven through His hands and feet, the cruel spear has pierced to His heart, and the redemption price has been paid for the human race. The spotless Lamb of God bore our sins in His own body upon the tree; He carried our sorrows. {1SM 402.4} [1SM 403.1] An Inexhaustible Theme Redemption is an inexhaustible theme, worthy of our closest contemplation. It passes the comprehension of the deepest thought, the stretch of the most vivid imagination. Who by searching can find out God? The treasures of wisdom and knowledge are opened to all men, and were thousands of the most gifted men to devote their whole time to setting forth Jesus always before us, studying how they might portray His matchless charms, they would never exhaust the subject. {1SM 403.1} [1SM 403.2] Although great and talented authors have made known wonderful truths, and have presented increased light to the people, still in our day we shall find new ideas, and ample fields in which to work, for the theme of salvation is inexhaustible. The work has gone forward from century to century, setting forth the life and character of Christ, and the love of God as manifested in the atoning sacrifice. The theme of redemption will employ the minds of the redeemed through all eternity. There will be new and rich developments made manifest in the plan of salvation throughout eternal ages. {1SM 403.2} [1SM 403.3] Were Jesus with us today, He would say to us as He did to His disciples, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now" (John 16:12). Jesus longed to open before the minds of His disciples deep and living truths, but their earthliness, their clouded, deficient comprehension made it impossible. They could not be benefited with great, glorious, solemn truths. The want of 404 spiritual growth closes the door to the rich rays of light that shine from Christ. We shall never reach a period when there is no increased light for us. The sayings of Christ were always far-reaching in their import. Those who heard His teachings with their preconceived opinions, could not take in the meaning attached to His utterances. Jesus was the source, the originator of truth. {1SM 403.3} [1SM 404.1] The great themes of the Old Testament were misapprehended and misinterpreted, and Christ's work was to expound the truth which had not been understood by those to whom they had been given. The prophets had made the statements, but the spiritual import of what they had written, was undiscovered by them. They did not see the meaning of the truth. Jesus reproved His disciples for their slowness of comprehension. Many of His precious lessons were lost to them, because they did not understand the spiritual grandeur of His words. But He promised that the Comforter should come, that the Spirit of truth should recall these lost utterances to their minds. He gave them to understand that He had left with them precious jewels of truth whose value they did not know. {1SM 404.1} [1SM 404.2] Precious Gems in Mines of Truth After the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ, His disciples listened with wonder and amazement to His lessons of truth; for they seemed as new ideas to them; but He told them, "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you.... Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures" (Luke 24:44, 45). The truth is constantly unfolding and presenting new features to different minds. All who dig in the mines of truth, will constantly discover rich and precious gems. We are anxious that all who claim to believe the truth now open before us, and especially those who take the responsibility of teaching the truth to others, should have a clearer conception themselves of the all-important significance of the themes of the Bible. {1SM 404.2} [1SM 404.3] Those who stand in vindication of the law of God, are in a position where they need much of the Spirit of God. If 405 ministers are wanting in meekness, if they are easily irritated when opposed, it is evident that they need divine enlightenment. Men must manifest the grace of Christ as they labor for souls. The truth as it is in Jesus will have altogether a different influence upon the minds of unbelievers, from that which it has had when presented as a theory or as a controversial subject. {1SM 404.3} [1SM 405.1] If we do our very best to present the truth in its stirring character, crossing the opinions and ideas of others, it will be misinterpreted, misapplied, and misstated, to those who are entertaining error, in order to make it appear in an objectionable light. There are few to whom you bring the truth, who have not been drinking of the wine of Babylon. It is hard for them to comprehend the truth, therefore the necessity of teaching it as it is in Jesus. {1SM 405.1} [1SM 405.2] Those who claim to be lovers of truth can afford to be meek and lowly of heart, as was the Great Teacher. Those who have been diligently working in the mines of God's Word, and have discovered the precious ore in the rich veins of truth, in the divine mysteries that have been hidden for ages, will exalt the Lord Jesus, the Source of all truth, by revealing in their characters the sanctifying power of what they believe. Jesus and His grace must be enshrined in the inner sanctuary of the soul. Then He will be revealed in words, in prayer, in exhortation, in the presentation of sacred truth, for this is the great secret of spiritual success. {1SM 405.2} [1SM 405.3] When self is woven into our labors, then the truth we bear to others does not sanctify, refine, and ennoble our own hearts; it will not testify that we are fit vessels for the Master's use. It is only through fervent prayer that we may hold sweet fellowship with Jesus, and through this blessed communion the words and the spirit are made fragrant with the spirit of Christ. There is not a heart that will not bear watching. Jesus, the precious Saviour, enjoined watchfulness. The oversight of self must not be relaxed for a moment. The heart must be kept with diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Watch and discipline the thoughts, that you may not sin with your lips. {1SM 405.3} [1SM 406.1] Chap. 65 - How to Meet a Controverted Point of Doctrine ［MORNING TALK AT BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN, JAN. 29, 1890, WHICH WAS PRINTED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD OF FEB. 18, 1890.］ We want to understand the time in which we live. We do not half understand it. We do not half take it in. My heart trembles in me when I think of what a foe we have to meet, and how poorly we are prepared to meet him. The trials of the children of Israel, and their attitude just before the first coming of Christ, have been presented before me again and again to illustrate the position of the people of God in their experience before the second coming of Christ--how the enemy sought every occasion to take control of the minds of the Jews, and today he is seeking to blind the minds of God's servants, that they may not be able to discern the precious truth. {1SM 406.1} [1SM 406.2] When Christ came to our world, Satan was on the ground, and disputed every inch of advance in His path from the manger to Calvary. Satan had accused God of requiring self-denial of the angels, when He knew nothing of what it meant Himself, and when He would not Himself make any self-sacrifice for others. This was the 407 accusation that Satan made against God in heaven; and after the evil one was expelled from heaven, he continually charged the Lord with exacting service which He would not render Himself. Christ came to the world to meet these false accusations, and to reveal the Father. We cannot conceive of the humiliation He endured in taking our nature upon Himself. Not that in itself it was a disgrace to belong to the human race, but He was the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, and He humbled Himself to become a babe and suffer the wants and woes of mortals. He humbled Himself not to the highest position, to be a man of riches and power, but though He was rich, yet for our sake He became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich. He took step after step in humiliation. He was driven from city to city; for men would not receive the Light of the world. They were perfectly satisfied with their position. {1SM 406.2} [1SM 407.1] Christ had given precious gems of truth, but men had bound them up in the rubbish of superstition and error. He had imparted to them the words of life, but they did not live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. He saw that the world could not find the word of God, for it was hidden by the traditions of men. He came to place before the world the relative importance of heaven and earth, and put truth in its own place. Jesus alone could reveal the truth which it was necessary men should know in order that they might obtain salvation. He only could place it in the framework of truth, and it was His work to free it from error and to set it before men in its heavenly light. {1SM 407.1} [1SM 407.2] Satan was roused to oppose Him, for had he not put forth every effort since the Fall to make light appear darkness, and darkness light? As Christ sought to place truth before the people in its proper relation to their salvation, Satan worked through the Jewish leaders, and inspired them with enmity against the Redeemer of the world. They determined to do all in their power to prevent Him from making an impression upon the people. {1SM 407.2} [1SM 407.3] O how Christ longed, how His heart burned, to open to the priests the greater treasures of the truth! But their minds had been cast in such a mold that it was next to an 408 impossibility to reveal to them the truths relating to His kingdom. The Scriptures had not been read aright. The Jews had been looking for the advent of the Messiah, but they had thought He must come in all the glory that will attend His second appearing. Because He did not come with all the majesty of a king, they utterly refused Him. But it was not simply because He did not come in splendor that they refused Him. It was because He was the embodiment of purity, and they were impure. He walked the earth a man of spotless integrity. Such a character in the midst of degradation and evil, was out of harmony with their desires, and He was abused and despised. His spotless life flashed light upon the hearts of men, and discovered iniquity to them in its odious character. {1SM 407.3} [1SM 408.1] The Son of God was assaulted at every step by the powers of darkness. After His baptism He was driven of the Spirit into the wilderness, and suffered temptation for forty days. Letters have been coming in to me, affirming that Christ could not have had the same nature as man, for if He had, He would have fallen under similar temptations. If He did not have man's nature, He could not be our example. If He was not a partaker of our nature, He could not have been tempted as man has been. If it were not possible for Him to yield to temptation, He could not be our helper. It was a solemn reality that Christ came to fight the battles as man, in man's behalf. His temptation and victory tell us that humanity must copy the Pattern; man must become a partaker of the divine nature. {1SM 408.1} [1SM 408.2] Divinity and Humanity United in Christ In Christ, divinity and humanity were combined. Divinity was not degraded to humanity; divinity held its place, but humanity by being united to divinity withstood the fiercest test of temptation in the wilderness. The prince of this world came to Christ after His long fast, when He was an hungered, and suggested to Him to command the stones to become bread. But the plan of God, devised for the salvation of man, provided that Christ should know hunger, and poverty, and every phase of man's 409 experience. He withstood the temptation, through the power that man may command. He laid hold on the throne of God, and there is not a man or woman who may not have access to the same help through faith in God. Man may become a partaker of the divine nature; not a soul lives who may not summon the aid of Heaven in temptation and trial. Christ came to reveal the source of His power, that man might never rely on his unaided human capabilities. {1SM 408.2} [1SM 409.1] Those who would overcome must put to the tax every power of their being. They must agonize on their knees before God for divine power. Christ came to be our example, and to make known to us that we may be partakers of the divine nature. How?--By having escaped the corruptions that are in the world through lust. Satan did not gain the victory over Christ. He did not put his foot upon the soul of the Redeemer. He did not touch the head though he bruised the heel. Christ, by His own example, made it evident that man may stand in integrity. Men may have a power to resist evil--a power that neither earth, nor death, nor hell can master; a power that will place them where they may overcome as Christ overcame. Divinity and humanity may be combined in them. {1SM 409.1} [1SM 409.2] It was the work of Christ to present the truth in the framework of the gospel, and to reveal the precepts and principles that He had given to fallen man. Every idea He presented was His own. He needed not to borrow thoughts from any, for He was the originator of all truth. He could present the ideas of prophets and philosophers, and preserve His originality; for all wisdom was His; He was the source, the fountain, of all truth. He was in advance of all, and by His teaching He became the spiritual leader for all ages. {1SM 409.2} [1SM 409.3] It was Christ that spoke through Melchizedek, the priest of the most high God. Melchizedek was not Christ, but he was the voice of God in the world, the representative of the Father. And all through the generations of the past, Christ has spoken; Christ has led His people, and has been the light of the world. When God chose Abraham as 410 a representative of His truth, He took him out of his country, and away from his kindred, and set him apart. He desired to mold him after His own model. He desired to teach him according to His own plan. The mold of the world's teachers was not to be upon him. He was to be taught how to command his children and his household after him, to keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment. This is the work that God would have us do. He would have us understand how to govern our families, how to control our children, how to command our households to keep the way of the Lord. {1SM 409.3} [1SM 410.1] John Called to a Special Work John was called to do a special work; he was to prepare the way of the Lord, to make straight His paths. The Lord did not send him to the school of the prophets and rabbis. He took him away from the assemblies of men to the desert, that he might learn of nature and nature's God. God did not desire him to have the mold of the priests and rulers. He was called to do a special work. The Lord gave him his message. Did he go to the priests and rulers and ask if he might proclaim this message?--No, God put him away from them that he might not be influenced by their spirit and teaching. He was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it" (Isaiah 40:3-5). This is the very message that must be given to our people; we are near the end of time, and the message is, Clear the King's highway; gather out the stones; raise up a standard for the people. The people must be awakened. It is no time now to cry peace and safety. We are exhorted to "cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins" (Isaiah 5:1). {1SM 410.1} [1SM 410.2] The light of the glory of God shone upon our 411 Representative, and this fact says to us that the glory of God may shine upon us. With His human arm, Jesus encircled the race, and with His divine arm He grasped the throne of the Infinite, connecting man with God, and earth with heaven. {1SM 410.2} [1SM 411.1] The light of the glory of God must fall upon us. We need the holy unction from on high. However intelligent, however learned a man may be, he is not qualified to teach unless he has a firm hold on the God of Israel. He who is connected with Heaven will do the works of Christ. By faith in God he will have power to move upon humanity. He will seek for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. If divine power does not combine with human effort, I would not give a straw for all that the greatest man could do. The Holy Spirit is wanting in our work. Nothing frightens me more than to see the spirit of variance manifested by our brethren. We are on dangerous ground when we cannot meet together like Christians, and courteously examine controverted points. I feel like fleeing from the place lest I receive the mold of those who cannot candidly investigate the doctrines of the Bible. {1SM 411.1} [1SM 411.2] Those who cannot impartially examine the evidences of a position that differs from theirs, are not fit to teach in any department of God's cause. What we need is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Without this, we are no more fitted to go forth to the world than were the disciples after the crucifixion of their Lord. Jesus knew their destitution, and told them to tarry in Jerusalem until they should be endowed with power from on high. Every teacher must be a learner, that his eyes may be anointed to see the evidences of the advancing truth of God. The beams of the Sun of Righteousness must shine into his own heart if he would impart light to others. {1SM 411.2} [1SM 411.3] No one is able to explain the Scriptures without the aid of the Holy Spirit. But when you take up the Word of God with a humble, teachable heart, the angels of God will be by your side to impress you with evidences of the truth. When the Spirit of God rests upon you, there will be no feeling of envy or jealousy in examining another's 412 position; there will be no spirit of accusation and criticism, such as Satan inspired in the hearts of the Jewish leaders against Christ. As Christ said to Nicodemus, so I say to you, "Ye must be born again." "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:7, 3). You must have the divine mold before you can discern the sacred claims of the truth. Unless the teacher is a learner in the school of Christ, he is not fitted to teach others. {1SM 411.3} [1SM 412.1] The Special Work of Ellen G. White We should come into a position where every difference will be melted away. If I think I have light, I shall do my duty in presenting it. Suppose I consulted others concerning the message the Lord would have me give to the people, the door might be closed so that the light might not reach the ones to whom God had sent it. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, "the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out" (Luke 19:37-40). {1SM 412.1} [1SM 412.2] The Jews tried to stop the proclamation of the message that had been predicted in the Word of God; but prophecy must be fulfilled. The Lord says, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (Malachi 4:5). Somebody is to come in the spirit and power of Elijah, and when he appears, men may say, "You are too earnest, you do not interpret the Scriptures in the proper way. Let me tell you how to teach your message." {1SM 412.2} [1SM 412.3] There are many who cannot distinguish between the work of God and that of man. I shall tell the truth as God gives it to me, and I say now, If you continue to find fault, to have a spirit of variance, you will never know the truth, Jesus said to His disciples, "I have yet many things to say 413 unto you, but ye cannot bear them now" (John 16:12). They were not in a condition to appreciate sacred and eternal things; but Jesus promised to send the Comforter, who would teach them all things, and bring all things to their remembrance, whatsoever He had said unto them. Brethren, we must not put our dependence in man. "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?" (Isaiah 2:22). You must hang your helpless souls upon Jesus. It does not become us to drink from the fountain of the valley, when there is a fountain in the mountain. Let us leave the lower streams; let us come to the higher springs. If there is a point of truth that you do not understand, upon which you do not agree, investigate, compare scripture with scripture, sink the shaft of truth down deep into the mine of God's Word. You must lay yourselves and your opinions on the altar of God, put away your preconceived ideas, and let the Spirit of Heaven guide you into all truth. {1SM 412.3} [1SM 413.1] My brother said at one time that he would not hear anything concerning the doctrine we hold, for fear he should be convinced. He would not come to the meetings, or listen to the discourses; but he afterward declared that he saw he was as guilty as if he had heard them. God had given him an opportunity to know the truth, and He would hold him responsible for this opportunity. There are many among us who are prejudiced against the doctrines that are now being discussed. They will not come to hear, they will not calmly investigate, but they put forth their objections in the dark. They are perfectly satisfied with their position. "Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent" (Revelation 3:17-19). {1SM 413.1} [1SM 413.2] This scripture applies to those who live under the 414 sound of the message, but who will not come to hear it. How do you know but that the Lord is giving fresh evidences of His truth, placing it in a new setting, that the way of the Lord may be prepared? What plans have you been laying that new light may be infused through the ranks of God's people? What evidence have you that God has not sent light to His children? All self-sufficiency, egotism, and pride of opinion must be put away. We must come to the feet of Jesus, and learn of Him who is meek and lowly of heart. Jesus did not teach His disciples as the rabbis taught theirs. Many of the Jews came and listened as Christ revealed the mysteries of salvation, but they came not to learn; they came to criticize, to catch Him in some inconsistency, that they might have something with which to prejudice the people. They were content with their knowledge, but the children of God must know the voice of the True Shepherd. Is not this a time when it would be highly proper to fast and pray before God? We are in danger of variance, in danger of taking sides on a controverted point; and should we not seek God in earnestness, with humiliation of soul, that we may know what is truth? {1SM 413.2} [1SM 414.1] Go Under the Fig Tree Nathanael heard John as he pointed to the Saviour and said, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29)! Nathanael looked at Jesus, but he was disappointed in the appearance of the world's Redeemer. Could He who bore the marks of toil and poverty be the Messiah? Jesus was a worker; He had toiled with humble workingmen, and Nathanael went away. But he did not form his opinion decidedly as to what the character of Jesus was. He knelt down under a fig tree, inquiring of God if indeed this man was the Messiah. While he was there, Philip came and said, "We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." But the word "Nazareth" again aroused his unbelief, and he said, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" He was full of prejudice, but Philip did not seek to combat his prejudice; he 415 simply said, "Come and see." When Nathanael came into the presence of Jesus, Jesus said, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" Nathanael was amazed. He said, "Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee" (John 1:45, 46, 47, 48). {1SM 414.1} [1SM 415.1] Would it not be well for us to go under the fig tree to plead with God as to what is truth? Would not the eye of God be upon us as it was upon Nathanael? Nathanael believed on the Lord, and exclaimed, "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man" (John 1:49-51). {1SM 415.1} [1SM 415.2] This is what we shall see if we are connected with God. God wants us to depend upon Him, and not upon man. He desires us to have a new heart; He would give us revealings of light from the throne of God. We should wrestle with every difficulty, but when some controverted point is presented, are you to go to man to find out his opinion, and then shape your conclusions from his?--No, go to God. Tell Him what you want; take your Bible and search as for hidden treasures. {1SM 415.2} [1SM 415.3] We Do Not Go Deep Enough We do not go deep enough in our search for truth. Every soul who believes present truth will be brought where he will be required to give a reason of the hope that is in him. The people of God will be called upon to stand before kings, princes, rulers, and great men of the earth, and they must know that they do know what is truth. They must be converted men and women. God can teach you more in one moment by His Holy Spirit than you could learn from the great men of the earth. The universe is looking upon the controversy that is going on upon the earth. At an infinite cost, God has provided for every man an opportunity to 416 know that which will make him wise unto salvation. How eagerly do angels look to see who will avail himself of this opportunity! {1SM 415.3} [1SM 416.1] When a message is presented to God's people, they should not rise up in opposition to it; they should go to the Bible, comparing it with the law and the testimony, and if it does not bear this test, it is not true. God wants our minds to expand. He desires to put His grace upon us. We may have a feast of good things every day; for God can open the whole treasure of heaven to us. We are to be one with Christ as He is one with the Father, and the Father will love us as He loves His Son. We may have the same help that Christ had, we may have strength for every emergency; for God will be our front guard and our rearward. He will shut us in on every side, and when we are brought before rulers, before the authorities of the earth, we need not meditate beforehand of what we shall say. God will teach us in the day of our need. Now may God help us to come to the feet of Jesus and learn of Him, before we seek to become teachers of others. - {1SM 416.1} [1SM 416.2] The Bible Our Creed When God's Word is studied, comprehended, and obeyed, a bright light will be reflected to the world; new truths, received and acted upon, will bind us in strong bonds to Jesus. The Bible, and the Bible alone, is to be our creed, the sole bond of union; all who bow to this Holy Word will be in harmony. Our own views and ideas must not control our efforts. Man is fallible, but God's Word is infallible. Instead of wrangling with one another, let men exalt the Lord. Let us meet all opposition as did our Master, saying, "It is written." Let us lift up the banner on which is inscribed, The Bible our rule of faith and discipline.-- The Review and Herald, Dec. 15, 1885. {1SM 416.2} [2SM 0.1] 2SM - Selected Messages Book 2 (1958) Table of Contents Section I--Fanaticism and Deceptive Teachings 1. Warnings Against Sensational Teachings and Emotional Religion . 13 2. Early Fanaticism to Be Repeated ............................... 25 3. The "Holy Flesh" Doctrine ..................................... 31 4. Warnings Against Deceptive Claims of the Spirit's Guidance .... 40 5. Miracles Not a Test of God's Favor ............................ 48 6. Our Safety Against Delusions .................................. 56 Section II--Erroneous and Subversive Movements 7. The Divine Credentials ........................................ 63 8. Meeting the Claims of False Prophets .......................... 72 9. Earmarks of Erroneous Teaching ................................ 80 10. The Visions of Anna Phillips .................................. 85 6 11. To Be on Guard ................................................ 96 12. The Three Angels and the Other Angel ......................... 101 Section III--Unwise Affiliations 13. Should Christians Be Members of Secret Societies? ............ 121 14. Avoiding Labor Conflicts ..................................... 141 Section IV--Counsels for Workers 15. Admonition Will Be Heard ..................................... 147 16. Christ's Lifework and Ours ................................... 154 17. Unity and Devotion ........................................... 158 18. An Appeal to D. M. Canright .................................. 162 Section V--The Remuneration of Our Workers 19. An Object Lesson ............................................. 173 20. General Principles Governing Worker Remuneration ............. 179 21. The Workers in Our Institutions .............................. 190 22. Financial Assistance in Worker Qualification ................. 208 23. Counsel to One Who for Financial Reasons Was Planning to Leave the Work of God ............................ 210 Section VI--Comfort and Encouragement 24. Words to Those in Advanced Years ............................. 221 25. Fortitude in Affliction ...................................... 233 7 26. Assurance to Those Facing Death .............................. 246 27. The Bereaved ................................................. 257 Section VII--The Use of Medicinal Agencies 28. Statements on the Use of Drugs ............................... 279 29. The Use of Remedies .......................................... 286 30. Ellen G. White's Use of Remedial Agencies .................... 292 31. Personal Experiences ......................................... 304 Section VIII--General Counsels 32. Proper Attitude in Prayer .................................... 311 33. "No Other Gods Before Me" .................................... 317 34. Useful Occupation Better Than Games .......................... 321 35. Guidance by Chance Methods ................................... 325 36. Providing for the Day of Need ................................ 329 37. The Aged Who Have No Homes ................................... 331 38. On the Military Question ..................................... 332 39. Counsel on Voting ............................................ 336 40. Hops, Tobacco, and Swine ..................................... 338 41. Counsels on Certain Marriage Situations ...................... 339 42. Counsel Regarding Intermarriage .............................. 343 43. Miraculous Healing ........................................... 345 8 44. The Perils of Hypnosis ....................................... 349 45. A Call to Country Living ..................................... 354 46. Guided by God's Providences .................................. 360 Section IX--As We Near the End 47. Preparing for the Final Crisis ............................... 367 48. A Work of Purification Needed ................................ 376 49. A Distinctive Name and People ................................ 384 50. The Pillars of Our Faith ..................................... 387 51. Loyal or Disloyal ............................................ 392 52. The Church Triumphant ........................................ 396 53. Last Messages to the General Conference ...................... 398 Appendix 1--Disease and Its Causes Chapter 1 ........................................................ 411 Chapter 2 ........................................................ 420 Chapter 3 ........................................................ 441 Chapter 4 ........................................................ 455 Chapter 5 ........................................................ 465 Chapter 6 ........................................................ 473 Appendix 2--Important Factors in Choosing A Life Companion ....................................... 481 Appendix 3--The Brotherhood of Mankind ............................. 485 {2SM 0.1} [2SM 0.2] A WORD TO THE READER TOGETHER WITH THE OTHER VOLUMES OF SELECTED MESSAGES, THIS BOOK PRESERVES IN PERMANENT FORM CHOICE COUNSELS THAT HAVE APPEARED IN ARTICLES, MIMEOGRAPHED DOCUMENTS, PAMPHLETS, AND ELLEN G. WHITE'S LETTERS AND MANUSCRIPTS. A STATEMENT ABOUT THE COMPILATION AND PURPOSE OF SELECTED MESSAGES IS GIVEN IN "A WORD TO THE READER" IN BOOK 1, HENCE IS NOT REPEATED HERE. THE COUNSELS CONTAINED IN THIS VOLUME PROVIDE WARNINGS AGAINST FANATICAL AND DECEPTIVE TEACHINGS, GIVE PRINCIPLES FOR DETECTING FALSE PROPHETS AND MISLEADING MOVEMENTS, AND DEAL WITH SUCH PRACTICAL ISSUES AS AVOIDING LABOR CONFLICTS AND PROVIDING FAIR PAY FOR CHURCH WORKERS. THEY OFFER GUIDANCE FOR THE AGING, COURAGE FOR THE SUFFERING, ASSURANCE FOR THE DYING, AND COMFORT FOR THE BEREAVED. ALSO INCLUDED ARE COUNSELS ABOUT MIRACULOUS HEALING, PROPER ATTITUDES IN PRAYER, VOTING, SAVING MONEY FOR FUTURE NEEDS, SERVING IN THE MILITARY, AND MANY OTHER PRACTICAL TOPICS. COUNSELS RELATED TO HEALTH FORM A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THIS VOLUME. SECTION VII DEALS WITH THE USE OF MEDICATIONS AND MEDICAL PROCEDURES, AND APPENDIX 1 CONTAINS MRS. WHITE'S SIX ARTICLES ON "DISEASE AND ITS CAUSES" FROM HER 1865 PUBLICATION OF HEALTH, OR HOW TO LIVE. THESE ARTICLES PRESENT SOME OF HER EARLIEST HEALTH COUNSEL. EACH SECTION OF THIS BOOK IS PRECEDED BY AN INTRODUCTION. PREPARED BY THE WHITE ESTATE TRUSTEES, THESE INTRODUCTIONS PROVIDE BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT FOR THE MATERIAL THAT FOLLOWS. IN PROVIDING THIS HISTORICAL INFORMATION, THEY ALSO GIVE THE READER A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW TO APPLY THE COUNSELS IN THE SECTION. PARTICULARLY NOTEWORTHY ARE THE INTRODUCTIONS TO SECTION VII AND APPENDIX 1. APPENDIX ITEMS 2 AND 3 HAVE SPECIAL VALUE AT THIS TIME AS THE ADVENT MESSAGE CIRCLES THE GLOBE AND REACHES ALL CULTURES: "IMPORTANT FACTORS IN CHOOSING A LIFE COMPANION" AND "THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND." THE PRESENT VOLUME CLOSES WITH THE SECTION ENTITLED "AS WE NEAR THE END." INCLUDED ARE A NUMBER OF SPECIFIC MESSAGES THAT INSTILL CONFIDENCE IN THE TRIUMPH OF THE CHURCH. AMONG THEM ARE TWO MESSAGES MRS. WHITE ADDRESSED TO THE GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION IN 1913, THE LAST SESSION BEFORE HER DEATH IN 1915. BECAUSE OF HER ADVANCED AGE, SHE WAS UNABLE TO ATTEND THE SESSION, BUT HER WORDS WERE READ TO THE DELEGATES. THESE COMMUNICATIONS EXPRESS CONFIDENCE IN HER FELLOW WORKERS AND IN THE TRIUMPH OF THE CAUSE TO WHICH SHE DEVOTED HER LIFE. THAT THIS VOLUME OF SELECTED MESSAGES MAY CHEER AND GUIDE THE ADVENT FAMILY ON THEIR JOURNEY TO THE CITY OF GOD IS THE SINCERE WISH OF THE PUBLISHERS AND THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE ELLEN G. WHITE ESTATE {2SM 0.2} [2SM 13.1] Chap. 1 - Warnings Against Sensational Teachings and Emotional Religion INTRODUCTION THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH IS BROUGHT TO VIEW IN PROPHECY IN THE SETTING OF CONFLICT, FOR SATAN, THE DRAGON, WAGES RELENTLESS WAR AGAINST THOSE WHO "KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, AND HAVE THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS." THE GREAT ADVERSARY KNOWS THAT IF HE IS SUCCESSFUL IN MISLEADING AND CONFUSING SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS, HE FRUSTRATES THE PURPOSES OF GOD. HIS ATTACKS ARE USUALLY OF AN INSIDIOUS CHARACTER, AND OFTEN OF A NATURE TENDING TO LEAD SINCERE MEN AND WOMEN TO SUCH EXTREMES THAT THEY WILL BELIEVE A LIE. WHILE REMARKABLY FREE FROM FANATICISM AND EXTREMES, THE ADVENT MOVEMENT SINCE ITS EARLY DAYS HAS FACED THE THREAT OF FANATICISM. ONE OF MRS. WHITE'S FIRST TASKS WAS TO GO INTO THE FIELD TO MEET FANATICISM WITH THE WORD OF GOD. DOWN THROUGH THE SEVENTY YEARS OF HER MINISTRY SHE WAS CALLED UPON AGAIN AND AGAIN TO MEET FANATICAL OR DECEPTIVE TEACHINGS IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER. THE MANY WARNINGS THAT FANATICISM IS TO BE REPEATED, SERVE TO ALERT THE CHURCH TO ITS DANGERS; AND THE COUNSELS THE MESSENGER OF THE LORD HAS GIVEN CONCERNING VARIOUS TYPES OF FANATICAL OUTBREAK AND EMOTIONAL RELIGION ARE OF GREAT SERVICE NOW IN SAFEGUARDING THE FLOCK. THE INSTRUCTION INCLUDED IN THIS SECTION, SUPPLEMENTING LIKE WARNINGS APPEARING IN EARLIER E. G. WHITE BOOKS, FOR THE MOST PART WERE DRAWN TOGETHER IN 1933 IN A COMPILATION TO MEET A CRITICAL SITUATION THAT DEVELOPED IN ONE LOCAL CONFERENCE. AVAILABLE IN MIMEOGRAPHED FORM, THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN MUCH APPRECIATED AND HAS SERVED THE CHURCH WELL. THE TRUSTEES OF THE ELLEN G. WHITE PUBLICATIONS WELCOME THIS OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT THESE IMPORTANT COUNSELS IN PERMANENT FORM. THE SECTION CLOSES WITH VARIOUS STATEMENTS DEALING WITH THE MANIFESTATION OF SPURIOUS MIRACLE-WORKING POWER AND THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF MIRACLES TO THE PRESENTATION OF TESTING TRUTHS. THESE COUNSELS ARE OF PARTICULAR VALUE NOW, AND WILL BE MORE ESSENTIAL AS WE NEAR THE EARTH'S CLOSING DAYS, WHEN SATAN, THROUGH ONE SCHEME AND DEVICE AFTER ANOTHER, WILL ATTEMPT TO DECEIVE THE VERY ELECT.--WHITE TRUSTEES. The Danger of Speculative Ideas There is a time of trouble coming to the people of God, but we are not to keep that constantly before the people, and rein them up to have a time of trouble beforehand. There is to be a shaking among God's people; but this is not the present truth to carry to the churches. It will be the result of refusing the truth presented. {2SM 13.1} [2SM 13.2] The ministers should not feel that they have some wonderful advanced ideas, and unless all receive these, they will be shaken out, and a people will arise to go forward and upward to the victory. Satan's object is accomplished just as surely when men run ahead of Christ and do the work He has never entrusted to their hands, as when they remain in the Laodicean state, lukewarm, feeling rich and increased with goods, and in need of nothing. The two classes are equally stumbling blocks. {2SM 13.2} [2SM 13.3] Some zealous ones who are aiming and straining every energy for originality have made a grave mistake in trying to get something startling, wonderful, entrancing, before the people, something that they think others do not comprehend; but often they do not themselves know what they are talking about. They speculate upon God's Word, advancing ideas that are not a whit of help to themselves or 14 to the churches. For the time being, they may excite the imagination; but there is a reaction, and these very ideas become a hindrance. Faith is confounded with fancy, and their views may bias the mind in the wrong direction. Let the plain, simple statements of the Word of God be food for the mind; this speculating upon ideas that are not clearly presented there, is dangerous business.--Undated manuscript 111. {2SM 13.3} [2SM 14.1] The danger that threatens our churches is that new and strange things will be brought in, things that confuse the minds of the people, and give them no strength, at the very time when they most need strength in spiritual things. Clear discernment is needed that things new and strange shall not be laid alongside of truth as a part of the burden of the message to be given at this time. The very messages we have been giving to the world are to be made prominent. --An Appeal for Canvassers, pp. 1, 2. {2SM 14.1} [2SM 14.2] The Charm of New Theories Every phase of fanaticism and erroneous theories, claiming to be the truth, will be brought in among the remnant people of God. These will fill minds with erroneous sentiments which have no part in the truth for this time. Any man who supposes that in the strength of his own devised resolutions, in his intellectual might united with science or supposed knowledge, he can start a work which will conquer the world, will find himself lying among the ruins of his own speculations, and will plainly understand why he is there. . . . {2SM 14.2} [2SM 14.3] From the light given me of the Lord, men will arise speaking perverse things. Yea, already they have been working and speaking things which God has never revealed, bringing sacred truth upon a level with common things. Issues have been and will continue to be made of men's conceited fallacies, not of truth. The devisings of men's minds will invent tests that are no tests at all, that when the true test shall be made prominent, it shall be considered on a par with the man-made tests that have 15 been of no value. We may expect that everything will be brought in and mingled with sound doctrine, but by clear, spiritual discernment, by the heavenly anointing, we must distinguish the sacred from the common which is being brought in to confuse faith and sound judgment, and demerit the great, grand, testing truth for this time. . . . {2SM 14.3} [2SM 15.1] Never, never was there a time when the truth suffered more from being misrepresented, belittled, demerited through the perverse disputings of men than in these last days. Men have brought themselves in with their heterogeneous mass of heresies which they represent as oracles for the people. The people are charmed with some strange new thing, and are not wise in experience to discern the character of ideas that men may frame up as something. But to call it something of great consequence and tie it to the oracles of God, does not make it truth. Oh, how this rebukes the low standard of piety in the churches. {2SM 15.1} [2SM 15.2] Men who want to present something original will conjure up things new and strange, and without consideration will step forward on these unstable theories, that have been woven together as a precious theory, and present it as a life and death question.--Letter 136a, 1898. {2SM 15.2} [2SM 15.3] The Need for Clear Discernment As we near the time when principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places will be brought into warfare against the truth, when the deceiving power of Satan will be so great that if it were possible he will deceive the very elect, we must have our discernment sharpened by divine enlightenment, that we may know the spirit that is of God, that we may not be ignorant of Satan's devices. Human effort must combine with divine power, that we may be able to accomplish the closing work for this time. {2SM 15.3} [2SM 15.4] Christ uses the wind as a symbol of the Spirit of God. As the wind bloweth whither it listeth, and we cannot tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth, so it is with the Spirit of God. We do not know through whom it will be manifested. 16 {2SM 15.4} [2SM 16.1] But I speak not my own words when I say that God's Spirit will pass by those who have had their day of test and opportunity, but who have not distinguished the voice of God or appreciated the movings of His Spirit. Then thousands in the eleventh hour will see and acknowledge the truth. {2SM 16.1} [2SM 16.2] "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed" (Amos 9:13). {2SM 16.2} [2SM 16.3] These conversions to truth will be made with a rapidity that will surprise the church, and God's name alone will be glorified.--Letter 43, 1890. {2SM 16.3} [2SM 16.4] Fanaticism to Appear in Our Midst Fanaticism will appear in the very midst of us. Deceptions will come, and of such a character that if it were possible they would mislead the very elect. If marked inconsistencies and untruthful utterances were apparent in these manifestations, the words from the lips of the Great Teacher would not be needed. It is because of the many and varied dangers that would arise, that this warning is given. {2SM 16.4} [2SM 16.5] The reason why I hang out the danger signal is that through the enlightenment of the Spirit of God I can see that which my brethren do not discern. It may not be a positive necessity for me to point out all these peculiar phases of deception that they will need to guard against. It is enough for me to tell you, Be on your guard; and as faithful sentinels keep the flock of God from accepting indiscriminately all that professes to be communicated to them from the Lord. If we work to create an excitement of feeling, we shall have all we want, and more than we can possibly know how to manage. Calmly and clearly "Preach the word." We must not regard it as our work to create an excitement. {2SM 16.5} [2SM 16.6] The Holy Spirit of God alone can create a healthy enthusiasm. Let God work, and let the human agent walk softly before Him, watching, waiting, praying, looking unto 17 Jesus every moment, led and controlled by the precious Spirit, which is light and life.--Letter 68, 1894. {2SM 16.6} [2SM 17.1] The end is near. The children of light are to work with earnest, persevering zeal to lead others to prepare for the great event before us, that they may be able to resist the enemy because they have allowed the Holy Spirit to work upon their hearts. New and strange things will continually arise to lead God's people into false excitement, religious revivals, and curious developments. Let them keep advancing, with their eyes fixed alone upon the Light and Life of the world. Know that everything that is called light and truth in the Word of God is light and truth, an emanation from divine wisdom, not an imitation of Satan's subtle arts. The light of God's wisdom will be to every true, steadfast, contrite soul as a lamp to his feet.--Letter 45, 1899. {2SM 17.1} [2SM 17.2] Feeling Not to Master Judgment With much that is truth there is mingled error that is accepted in its extreme meaning, and acted upon by persons of excitable temperament. Thus fanaticism will take the place of well-regulated, well-disciplined, heaven-ordained efforts to carry forward the work to its completion. . . . {2SM 17.2} [2SM 17.3] There is danger, not only that unbalanced minds will be led into fanaticism, but that designing persons will take advantage of this excitement to further their own selfish purposes. . . . {2SM 17.3} [2SM 17.4] I have a warning to give to our brethren, that they shall follow their Leader and not run ahead of Christ. Let there be no haphazard work in these times. Beware of making strong expressions which will lead unbalanced minds to think that they have wonderful light from God. The one who bears a message to the people from God must exercise perfect control. He should ever bear in mind that the path of presumption lies close beside the path of faith. . . . {2SM 17.4} [2SM 17.5] Once let impulse and emotion get the mastery over calm judgment, and there may be altogether too much speed, even in traveling a right road. He who travels too fast will find it perilous in more ways than one. It may not 18 be long before he will branch off from the right road into a wrong path. {2SM 17.5} [2SM 18.1] Not once should feeling be allowed to get the mastery over judgment. There is danger of excess in that which is lawful, and that which is not lawful will surely lead into false paths. If there is not careful, earnest, sensible work, solid as a rock in the advancement of every idea and principle, and in every representation given, souls will be ruined.--Letter 6a, 1894. ［FOR FULLER CONTEXT SEE PAGES 90-92.］ {2SM 18.1} [2SM 18.2] Obedience Versus Emotion or Rapture There is danger of those in our ranks making a mistake in regard to receiving the Holy Ghost. Many suppose an emotion or a rapture of feeling to be an evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit. There is danger that right sentiments will not be understood, and that Christ's words, "Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:20), will lose their significance. There is danger that original devisings and superstitious imaginings will take the place of the Scriptures. Tell our people: "Be not anxious to bring in something not revealed in the Word. Keep close to Christ." . . . {2SM 18.2} [2SM 18.3] Let us remember that the Word Christ has commanded us to preach to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples is confirmed by the Holy Spirit. This is God's plan of work. Christ is the mighty power which confirms the Word, bringing men and women, through conversion to the truth, to an understanding faith, making them willing to do whatsoever He has commanded them. The human agent, the seen instrument, is to preach the Word, and the Lord Jesus, the unseen, agency, by His Holy Spirit is to make the Word efficacious and powerful.--Letter 105, 1900. {2SM 18.3} [2SM 18.4] A Call for Old-fashioned Sermons A new order of things has come into the ministry. There is a desire to pattern after other churches, and simplicity and humility are almost unknown. The young ministers 19 seek to be original, and to introduce new ideas and new plans for labor. Some open revival meetings, and by this means call large numbers into the church. But when the excitement is over, where are the converted ones? Repentance and confession of sin are not seen. The sinner is entreated to believe in Christ and accept Him, without regard to his past life of sin and rebellion. The heart is not broken. There is no contrition of soul. The supposed converted ones have not fallen upon the Rock, Christ Jesus. {2SM 18.4} [2SM 19.1] The Old and New Testament Scriptures show us the only way in which this work should be done. Repent, repent, repent was the message rung out by John the Baptist in the wilderness. Christ's message to the people was "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:5). And the apostles were commanded to preach everywhere that men should repent. {2SM 19.1} [2SM 19.2] The Lord desires His servants today to preach the old gospel doctrine, sorrow for sin, repentance, and confession. We want old-fashioned sermons, old-fashioned customs, old-fashioned fathers and mothers in Israel. The sinner must be labored for, perseveringly, earnestly, wisely, until he shall see that he is a transgressor of God's law, and shall exercise repentance toward God, and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ--Undated manuscript 111. {2SM 19.2} [2SM 19.3] Cold Formalism or Fanaticism Formality, worldly wisdom, worldly caution, worldly policy, will appear to many to be the very power of God, but when accepted, it stands as an obstacle to prevent God's light in warnings, reproof, and counsel from coming to the world. {2SM 19.3} [2SM 19.4] He ［Satan］ is working with all his insinuating, deceiving power, to lead men away from the third angel's message, which is to be proclaimed with mighty power. If Satan sees that the Lord is blessing His people and preparing them to discern his delusions, he will work with his master power to bring in fanaticism on the one hand and cold formalism on the other, that he may gather in a harvest of souls. Now is our time to watch unceasingly. Watch, bar 20 the way to the least step of advance that Satan may make among you. {2SM 19.4} [2SM 20.1] There are dangers to be guarded against on the right hand and on the left. There will be inexperienced ones, newly come to the faith, who need to be strengthened, and to have a correct example before them. Some will not make a right use of the doctrine of justification by faith. They will present it in a one-sided manner. {2SM 20.1} [2SM 20.2] Others will seize the ideas that have not been correctly presented, and will go clear over the mark, ignoring works altogether. {2SM 20.2} [2SM 20.3] Now genuine faith always works by love. When you look to Calvary it is not to quiet your soul in the nonperformance of duty, not to compose yourself to sleep, but to create faith in Jesus, faith that will work, purifying the soul from the slime of selfishness. When we lay hold of Christ by faith, our work has just begun. Every man has corrupt and sinful habits that must be overcome by vigorous warfare. Every soul is required to fight the fight of faith. If one is a follower of Christ, he cannot be sharp in deal, he cannot be hardhearted, devoid of sympathy. He cannot be coarse in his speech. He cannot be full of pomposity and self-esteem. He cannot be overbearing, nor can he use harsh words, and censure and condemn. {2SM 20.3} [2SM 20.4] The labor of love springs from the work of faith. Bible religion means constant work. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. We are to be zealous of good works, be careful to maintain good works. And the true Witness says: "I know thy works" (Revelation 2:2). {2SM 20.4} [2SM 20.5] While it is true that our busy activities will not in themselves ensure salvation, it is also true that faith which unites us to Christ will stir the soul to activity. {2SM 20.5} [2SM 20.6] Those who have no time to give attention to their own souls, to examine themselves daily whether they be in the love of God, and place themselves in the channel of light, 21 will have time to give to the suggestions of Satan and the working out of his plans. {2SM 20.6} [2SM 21.1] Satan will insinuate himself by little wedges, which widen as they make a place for themselves. The specious devices of Satan will be brought into the special work of God at this time.--Manuscript 16, 1890. {2SM 21.1} [2SM 21.2] False Ideas of God's Blessing Many are questioning and troubled. This is because they have not faith in God. With some, religious exercises mean little more than a good time. When their feelings are aroused, they think they are greatly blessed. Some do not think they are blessed unless they are stirred and excited. The intoxication of excitement is the object they are seeking; and if they do not obtain this, they suppose they are all wrong, or that someone else is all wrong. {2SM 21.2} [2SM 21.3] People should not be educated to think that religion of an emotional order, bordering on fanaticism, is the only pure religion. Under the influence of such religion the minister is expected to use all his nervous energy in preaching the gospel. He must pour forth with abundance the strong current of the water of life. He must bring stimulating draughts that will be acceptable to human appetite. There are those who, unless their decaying emotions are stimulated, think they can be careless and inattentive.-- Letter 89, 1902. {2SM 21.3} [2SM 21.4] All is Quiet, Calm, Unpretending The enemy is preparing to deceive the whole world by his miracle-working power. He will assume to personate the angels of light, to personate Jesus Christ. Every one who teaches the truth for this time is to preach the Word. Those who cling to the Word will not throw open the doors for Satan by making unguarded statements in reference to prophesying or to dreams and visions. To a greater or less degree false manifestations have been coming in, here and there, since 1844, after the time when we looked for the second coming of Christ. . . . We shall have them more and 22 more, and like faithful sentinels we must be on guard. Letters are coming to me from many persons concerning visions which they have had and feel it their duty to relate. May the Lord help His servants to be cautious. {2SM 21.4} [2SM 22.1] When the Lord has a genuine channel of light, there are always plenty of counterfeits. Satan will surely enter any door thrown open for him. He will give messages of truth mingling with the truth ideas of his own, prepared to mislead souls, to draw the mind to human beings and their sayings, and prevent it from holding firmly to a "Thus saith the Lord." In God's dealings with His people, all is quiet; with those who trust in Him, all is calm and unpretending. There will be simple, true, earnest believers in the Bible, and there will be doers of the Word as well as hearers. There will be sound, earnest, sensible waiting upon God.--Letter 102, 1894. {2SM 22.1} [2SM 22.2] The Example of Christ Let not anyone be afraid of going to extremes while he is a close student of the Word, humbling the soul at every step. Christ must dwell in him by faith. He, their Exemplar, was self-possessed. He walked in humility. He had true dignity. He had patience. If we individually possess these traits of character, who accept justification by faith, there will be no extremists. . . . {2SM 22.2} [2SM 22.3] The example of Christ is before us, ever to keep the law and the gospel closely connected. They cannot be separated. Let calmness and self-possession be cultivated and perseveringly maintained, for this was the character of Christ. We hear the vehement expressions of false religionists who make bold pretensions, who talk loud and long, saying, "I am holy, I am sinless," when they have not the least foundation for their faith. We hear no noisy protestations of faith, nor do we see tremendous bodily contortions and exercises in the Author of all truth. {2SM 22.3} [2SM 22.4] Remember in Him dwelt all the fullness of the God-head bodily. If Christ is abiding in our hearts by faith, we shall, by beholding the manner of His life, seek to be like Jesus, pure, peaceable, and undefiled. We shall reveal Christ 23 in our character. We will not only receive and absorb light but will also diffuse it. We will have more clear and distinct views of what Jesus is to us. The symmetry, loveliness, and benevolence that were in the life of Jesus Christ will be shining forth in our lives.--Manuscript 24, 1890. {2SM 22.4} [2SM 23.1] A Desire to Change the Present Order Instead of living in expectation of some special season of excitement, we are wisely to improve present opportunity, doing that which must be done in order that souls may be saved. Instead of exhausting the powers of our mind in speculations in regard to the times and seasons which the Lord has placed in His own power, and withheld from men, we are to yield ourselves to the control of the Holy Spirit, to do present duties, to give the bread of life, unadulterated with human opinions, to souls who are perishing for the truth. . . . {2SM 23.1} [2SM 23.2] We are in continual danger of getting above the simplicity of the gospel. There is an intense desire on the part of many to startle the world with something original, that shall lift the people into a state of spiritual ecstasy, and change the present order of experience. There is certainly great need of a change in the present order of experience; for the sacredness of present truth is not realized as it should be, but the change we need is a change of heart, and can only be obtained by seeking God individually for His blessing, by pleading with Him for His power, by fervently praying that His grace may come upon us, and that our characters may be transformed. This is the change we need today, and for the attainment of this experience we should exercise persevering energy and manifest heartfelt earnestness. --The Review and Herald, March 22, 1892. {2SM 23.2} [2SM 23.3] No Oddities or Eccentricities Let there be no oddities or eccentricities of movement on the part of those who speak the Word of truth, for such things will weaken the impression that should be made by the Word. We must be guarded, for Satan is determined, if possible, to intermingle with religious services his evil 24 influence. Let there be no theatrical display, for this will not help to strengthen belief in the Word of God. Rather, it will divert attention to the human instrument.--Letter 352, 1908. {2SM 23.3} [2SM 24.1] God's Word to Be Uncontaminated by Fallacies Amid the confusing cries, "Lo, here is Christ! Lo, there is Christ!" will be borne a special testimony, a special message of truth appropriate for this time, which message is to be received, believed, and acted upon. It is the truth, not fanciful ideas, that is efficacious. The eternal truth of the Word will stand forth free from all seductive errors and spiritualistic interpretations, free from all fancifully drawn, alluring pictures. Falsehoods will be urged upon the attention of God's people, but the truth is to stand clothed in its beautiful, pure garments. The Word, precious in its holy, uplifting influence, is not to be degraded to a level with common, ordinary matters. It is always to remain uncontaminated by the fallacies by which Satan seeks to deceive, if possible, the very elect.--The Review and Herald, Oct. 13, 1904. {2SM 24.1} [2SM 24.2] Let God's people act so that the world will see that Seventh-day Adventists are an intelligent, thinking people, whose faith is based on a surer foundation than the bedlam of confusion. The people are hungry for the bread of life. Do not offer them a stone.--Manuscript 101, 1901. {2SM 24.2} [2SM 25.1] Chap. 2 - Early Fanaticism to be Repeated - Removing the Landmarks Our people need to understand the reasons of our faith and our past experiences. How sad it is that so many of them apparently place unlimited confidence in men who present theories tending to uproot our past experiences and to remove the old landmarks! Those who can so easily be led by a false spirit show that they have been following the wrong captain for some time--so long that they do not discern that they are departing from the faith, or that they are not building upon the true foundation. We need to urge all to put on their spiritual eyeglasses, to have their eyes anointed that they may see clearly and discern the true pillars of the faith. Then they will know that "the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his" (2 Timothy 2:19). We need to revive the old evidences of the faith once delivered to the saints. {2SM 25.1} [2SM 25.2] Every conceivable fanciful and deceptive doctrine will be presented by men who think that they have the truth. Some are now teaching that children will be born in the new earth. Is this present truth? Who has inspired these men to present such a theory? Did the Lord give anyone such views?--No; those things which are revealed are for us and our children, but upon subjects not revealed, and having nought to do with our salvation, silence is 26 eloquence. These strange ideas should not even be mentioned, much less taught as essential truths. {2SM 25.2} [2SM 26.1] We have reached a time when things are to be called by their right name. As we did in the earlier days, we must arise, and, under the Spirit of God, rebuke the work of deception. Some of the sentiments now expressed are the alpha of some of the most fanatical ideas that could be presented. Teachings similar to those we had to meet soon after 1844 are being taught by some who occupy important positions in the work of God. {2SM 26.1} [2SM 26.2] In New Hampshire, in Vermont, and in other places we had to resist the stealthy, deceptive work of fanaticism. Presumptuous sins were committed, and unholy lusts were freely indulged by some, under the cloak of sanctification. The doctrine of spiritual free-love was advocated. We saw the fulfillment of the scripture "that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils" (1 Timothy 4:1).--The Southern Watchman, April 5, 1904. {2SM 26.2} [2SM 26.3] Bodily Demonstrations Not Demanded True religion does not demand great bodily demonstrations. . . . These are no evidence of the presence of the Spirit of God. In 1843 and 1844 we were called to meet just such fanaticism. Men would say, I have the Holy Spirit of God, and they would come into the meeting and roll just like a hoop; and because some would not receive this as evidence of the working of the Spirit of God, they were looked upon as wicked people. The Lord sent me into the midst of this fanaticism. . . . Some would come to me and ask, Why do you not join with them? I said, I have another Leader than this, One who is meek and lowly in heart, One who made no such demonstrations as you are making here, nor such boasts. These demonstrations are not of Christ but of the devil.--Manuscript 97, 1909. {2SM 26.3} [2SM 26.4] A Claim to Be Sealed and Holy In 1850 my husband and myself visited Vermont, Canada, New Hampshire, and Maine. The meetings were 27 held in private houses. It was then next to impossible to obtain access to unbelievers. The disappointment in 1844 had confused the minds of many, and they would not listen to any explanation of the matter. They were impatient and unbelieving, and many seemed rebellious, coming out in a most decided manner against their past Advent experience. Others dared not go to this length, and deny the way the Lord had led them. These were glad to hear arguments from the Word of God which would harmonize our position with prophetic history. As they listened to an explanation of the disappointment which had been so bitter to them, they saw that God indeed led them, and they rejoiced in the truth. This awakened the most bitter opposition on the part of those who denied our past experience. {2SM 26.4} [2SM 27.1] But we had a still worse element to meet in a class who claimed that they were sanctified, that they could not sin, that they were sealed and holy, and that all their impressions and notions were the mind of God. Conscientious souls were deceived by the pretended piety of these fanatics. Satan had worked artfully to have these deluded ones accept the Sabbath, as through their influence, while professing to believe one part of the truth, he could crowd upon the people a great many errors. He could also use them to good advantage to disgust unbelievers, who pointed to these inconsistent, unreasonable ones as representatives of Seventh-day Adventists. This class urged upon the people human tests and manufactured crosses, which Christ had not given them to bear. {2SM 27.1} [2SM 27.2] They claimed to heal the sick and to work miracles. They had a satanic, bewitching power; yet they were over-bearing, dictatorial, and cruelly oppressive. The Lord used us as instruments to rebuke these fanatics, and to open the eyes of His faithful people to the true character of their work. Peace and joy came into the hearts of those who broke away from this deception of Satan, and they glorified God as they saw His unerring wisdom in setting before them the light of truth and its precious fruits in contrast with satanic heresies and delusions. The truth shone in 28 contrast with these deceptions like clear gold amid the rubbish of earth.--The Review and Herald, Nov. 20, 1883. {2SM 27.2} [2SM 28.1] Marring the Sacredness of the Work I am charged to keep ever before our people--ministers of the gospel, and all who claim to be giving the light of truth to the world--the danger of marring the sacredness of God's work by allowing the mind to consent to a cheap interpretation of the way that God desires His work to be done. I have had special instruction given me regarding bringing human plans and devisings into the work of making known to the world the truth for this time. {2SM 28.1} [2SM 28.2] Again and again in past years I have been bidden to speak in protest against the fanciful and forbidden schemes that have been presented by one and another. My message has ever been, Preach the Word in simplicity and all humility; present clear, unadulterated truth to the people. Open no door to fanatical movements, for the influence of these is to bring confusion of mind and discouragement and lack of faith to God's people. . . . {2SM 28.2} [2SM 28.3] Whenever I have been called to meet fanaticism in its varied forms, I have received clear, positive, and definite instruction to lift my voice against its influence. With some the evil has revealed itself in the form of man-made tests for ascertaining a knowledge of the will of God; and I was shown that this was a delusion which became an infatuation, and that it is contrary to the will of the Lord. If we follow such methods, we shall be found aiding the enemy's plans. In times past certain among the believers had great faith in the setting of signs by which to decide their duty. Some had such confidence in these signs that men went so far as to exchange wives, thus bringing adultery into the church. {2SM 28.3} [2SM 28.4] I have been shown that deceptions like those we were called to meet in the early experiences of the message would be repeated, and that we shall have to meet them again in the closing days of the work. At this time we are required to bring all our powers under the control of God, exercising our faculties in accordance with the light He has 29 given. Read the fourth and fifth chapters of Matthew. Study Matthew 4:8-10; also chapter 5:13. Meditate upon the sacred work that was carried forward by Christ. It is thus that the principles of the Word of God are to be brought into our labors.--Letter 36, 1911. {2SM 28.4} [2SM 29.1] Maintaining Propriety In Deportment After the passing of the time in 1844, fanaticism came into the ranks of Adventists. God gave messages of warning to stay the incoming evil. There was too great familiarity between some men and women. I presented to them the holy standard of truth that we should reach, and the purity of deportment that we should maintain, in order to meet the approval of God and be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Most solemn denunciations from God were given to men and women whose thoughts were running in an impure channel, while they claimed to be especially favored of God; but the message God gave was despised and rejected. . . . {2SM 29.1} [2SM 29.2] We are not out of danger even now. Every soul who engages to give to the world the message of warning will be sorely tempted to pursue such a course in life as will deny his faith. {2SM 29.2} [2SM 29.3] We must as workers be united in frowning down and condemning anything that bears the least approach to evil, in our associations with one another. Our faith is holy; our work is to vindicate the honor of God's law, and is not of a character to bring anyone down to a low level in thought or in deportment. There are many who claim to believe and teach the truth who have error and fanciful ideas of their own mingled with the truth. But there is an exalted platform for us to stand upon. We must believe and teach the truth as it is in Jesus. Holiness of heart will never lead to impure actions. When one who claims to be teaching the truth is inclined to be much in the company of young or even married women, when he familiarly lays his hand upon their person, or is often found conversing with them in a familiar manner, be afraid of him; the pure principles of truth are not inwrought in his soul. Such are not workers 30 with Jesus; they are not in Christ, and Christ is not abiding in them. They need a thorough conversion before God can accept their labors. {2SM 29.3} [2SM 30.1] The truth of heavenly origin never degrades the receiver, never leads him to the least approach to undue familiarity; on the contrary, it sanctifies the believer, refines his taste, elevates and ennobles him, and brings him into a close connection with Jesus. It leads him to regard the apostle Paul's injunction to abstain from even the appearance of evil, lest his good should be evil spoken of.-- The Review and Herald, Nov. 10, 1885. {2SM 30.1} [2SM 30.2] ［FOR FURTHER REFERENCES TO EARLY FANATICISM SEE LIFE SKETCHES, 85-94; TESTIMONIES FOR THE CHURCH, VOLUME 1, PAGES 71-73; VOLUME 8, PAGES 291, 292; GOSPEL WORKERS, PAGES 316, 317.］ {2SM 30.2} [2SM 31.1] Chap. 3 - The "Holy Flesh" Doctrine - ［A FANATICAL TEACHING TERMED "THE DOCTRINE OF HOLY FLESH" WAS STARTED IN 1900 IN INDIANA, LEADING THE CONFERENCE PRESIDENT AND VARIOUS WORKERS INTO SERIOUS ERROR. THIS THEORY ALLEGED THAT THOSE WHO FOLLOW THE SAVIOUR MUST HAVE THEIR FALLEN NATURES PERFECTED BY PASSING THROUGH A "GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE" EXPERIENCE, THUS ACQUIRING A STATE OF PHYSICAL SINLESSNESS AS AN ESSENTIAL PREPARATION FOR TRANSLATION. EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS REPORT THAT IN THEIR SERVICES THE FANATICS WORKED UP A HIGH PITCH OF EXCITEMENT BY USE OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS SUCH AS ORGANS, FLUTES, FIDDLES, TAMBOURINES, HORNS, AND EVEN A BIG BASS DRUM. THEY SOUGHT A PHYSICAL DEMONSTRATION AND SHOUTED AND PRAYED AND SANG UNTIL SOMEONE IN THE CONGREGATION WOULD FALL, PROSTRATE AND UNCONSCIOUS, FROM HIS SEAT. ONE OR TWO MEN, WALKING UP AND DOWN THE AISLE FOR THE PURPOSE, WOULD DRAG THE FALLEN PERSON UP ON THE ROSTRUM. THEN ABOUT A DOZEN INDIVIDUALS WOULD GATHER AROUND THE PROSTRATE BODY, SOME SINGING, SOME SHOUTING, AND SOME PRAYING, ALL AT THE SAME TIME. WHEN THE SUBJECT REVIVED, HE WAS COUNTED AMONG THOSE WHO HAD PASSED THROUGH THE GETHSEMANE EXPERIENCE, HAD OBTAINED HOLY FLESH, AND HAD TRANSLATION FAITH. THEREAFTER, IT WAS ASSERTED, HE COULD NOT SIN AND WOULD NEVER DIE. ELDERS S. N. HASKELL AND A. J. BREED, TWO OF OUR LEADING DENOMINATIONAL MINISTERS, WERE SENT TO THE CAMP MEETING HELD AT MUNCIE, INDIANA, FROM SEPTEMBER 13 TO 23, 1900, TO MEET THIS FANATICISM. THESE DEVELOPMENTS WERE REVEALED TO MRS. WHITE WHILE SHE WAS IN AUSTRALIA IN JANUARY, 1900, AND SHE BORE TESTIMONY OF WARNING AND REPROOF AGAINST IT, AS SEEN IN THE TWO FOLLOWING MESSAGES.--COMPILERS.］ {2SM 31.1} [2SM 31.2] A Repetition of Early Fanaticism ［A STATEMENT READ BY MRS. E. G. WHITE BEFORE THE MINISTERS AT THE GENERAL CONFERENCE, APRIL 17, 1901.］ {2SM 31.2} [2SM 31.3] Instruction has been given me in regard to the late experience of brethren in Indiana and the teaching they have 32 given to the churches. Through this experience and teaching the enemy has been working to lead souls astray. {2SM 31.3} [2SM 32.1] The teaching given in regard to what is termed "holy flesh" is an error. All may now obtain holy hearts, but it is not correct to claim in this life to have holy flesh. The apostle Paul declares, "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing" (Romans 7:18). To those who have tried so hard to obtain by faith so-called holy flesh, I would say, You cannot obtain it. Not a soul of you has holy flesh now. No human being on the earth has holy flesh. It is an impossibility. {2SM 32.1} [2SM 32.2] If those who speak so freely of perfection in the flesh, could see things in the true light, they would recoil with horror from their presumptuous ideas. In showing the fallacy of their assumptions in regard to holy flesh, the Lord is seeking to prevent men and women from putting on His words a construction which leads to pollution of body, soul, and spirit. Let this phase of doctrine be carried a little further, and it will lead to the claim that its advocates cannot sin; that since they have holy flesh, their actions are all holy. What a door of temptation would thus be opened! {2SM 32.2} [2SM 32.3] The Scriptures teach us to seek for the sanctification to God of body, soul, and spirit. In this work we are to be laborers together with God. Much may be done to restore the moral image of God in man, to improve the physical, mental, and moral capabilities. Great changes can be made in the physical system by obeying the laws of God and bringing into the body nothing that defiles. And while we cannot claim perfection of the flesh, we may have Christian perfection of the soul. Through the sacrifice made in our behalf, sins may be perfectly forgiven. Our dependence is not in what man can do; it is in what God can do for man through Christ. When we surrender ourselves wholly to God, and fully believe, the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin. The conscience can be freed from condemnation. Through faith in His blood, all may be made perfect in Christ Jesus. Thank God that we are not dealing with impossibilities. We may claim sanctification. We may enjoy the favor of God. We are not to be anxious about what 33 Christ and God think of us, but about what God thinks of Christ, our Substitute. Ye are accepted in the Beloved. The Lord shows, to the repenting, believing one, that Christ accepts the surrender of the soul, to be molded and fashioned after His own likeness. {2SM 32.3} [2SM 33.1] In His life on earth, Christ could have made disclosures which would have eclipsed and assigned to oblivion all human discoveries. He could have opened door after door to mysterious things, and many revelations of eternal realities would have been the sure result. He could have uttered words which would have been as a key to unlock mysteries that would have captivated the minds of generations to the close of time. But Christ does not open the numerous doors at which human curiosity has been striving to obtain entrance. He does not spread for men a feast that would prove deleterious to their highest interests. He came to plant for men, not the tree of knowledge, but the tree of life. . . . {2SM 33.1} [2SM 33.2] I have been instructed to say to those in Indiana who are advocating strange doctrines, You are giving a wrong mold to the precious and important work of God. Keep within the bounds of the Bible. Take Christ's lessons, and repeat them over and over again. Remember that "the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace" (James 3:17, 18). {2SM 33.2} [2SM 33.3] When human beings receive holy flesh, they will not remain on the earth, but will be taken to heaven. While sin is forgiven in this life, its results are not now wholly removed. It is at His coming that Christ is to "change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body" (Philippians 3:21). . . . {2SM 33.3} [2SM 33.4] Again and again in the progress of our work, fanatical movements have arisen, and when the matter was presented before me, I have had to bear a message similar to the message I am bearing to my brethren from Indiana. I have been instructed by the Lord that this movement in Indiana is of the same character as have been the movements in 34 years past. In your religious meetings there have been exercises similar to those I have witnessed in connection with those movements in the past. {2SM 33.4} [2SM 34.1] In the period of disappointment after the passing of the time in 1844, fanaticism in various forms arose. Some held that the resurrection of the righteous dead had already taken place. I was sent to bear a message to those believing this, as I am now bearing a message to you. They declared that they were perfected, that body, soul, and spirit were holy. They made demonstrations similar to those you have made, and confused their own minds and the minds of others by their wonderful suppositions. Yet these persons were our beloved brethren, and we were longing to help them. I went into their meetings. There was much excitement, with noise and confusion. One could not tell what was piped or what was harped. Some appeared to be in vision, and fell to the floor. Others were jumping, dancing, and shouting. They declared that as their flesh was purified, they were ready for translation. This they repeated again and again. I bore my testimony in the name of the Lord, placing His rebuke upon these manifestations. {2SM 34.1} [2SM 34.2] Some who had engaged in these movements were brought to their right mind, and saw their delusion. Some had been excellent, honest people, but they thought that sanctified flesh could not sin, and thus they had been taken in Satan's trap. They had carried their strong ideas so far that they became a reproach to the precious cause of God. These sorely repented, and some were afterward among our most reliable men and women. But there were others who ever after walked in sadness. We could not at any time make them feel that they were worthy to work for the Master, whose precious cause they had so greatly dishonored. {2SM 34.2} [2SM 34.3] As the result of fanatical movements such as I have described, persons in no way responsible for them have in some cases lost their reason. They could not harmonize the scenes of excitement and tumult with their own past precious experience; they were pressed beyond measure to receive the message of error; it was represented to them that 35 unless they did this they would be lost; and as the result their mind was unbalanced, and some became insane. These things bring a reproach upon the cause of truth, and hinder the proclamation of the last message of mercy to the world. {2SM 34.3} [2SM 35.1] Shouting No Evidence of Sanctification The manner in which the meetings in Indiana have been carried on, with noise and confusion, does not commend them to thoughtful, intelligent minds. There is nothing in these demonstrations which will convince the world that we have the truth. Mere noise and shouting are no evidence of sanctification, or of the descent of the Holy Spirit. Your wild demonstrations create only disgust in the minds of unbelievers. The fewer of such demonstrations there are, the better it will be for the actors and for the people in general. {2SM 35.1} [2SM 35.2] Fanaticism, once started and left unchecked, is as hard to quench as a fire which has obtained hold of a building. Those who have entered into and sustained this fanaticism, might far better be engaged in secular labor; for by their inconsistent course of action they are dishonoring the Lord and imperiling His people. Many such movements will arise at this time, when the Lord's work should stand elevated, pure, unadulterated with superstition and fables. We need to be on our guard, to maintain a close connection with Christ, that we be not deceived by Satan's devices. {2SM 35.2} [2SM 35.3] The Lord desires to have in His service order and discipline, not excitement and confusion. We are not now able to describe with accuracy the scenes to be enacted in our world in the future; but this we do know, that this is a time when we must watch unto prayer; for the great day of the Lord is at hand. Satan is rallying his forces. We need to be thoughtful and still, and to contemplate the truths of revelation. Excitement is not favorable to growth in grace, to true purity and sanctification of the spirit. {2SM 35.3} [2SM 35.4] God wants us to deal with sacred truth. This alone will convince the gainsayer. Calm, sensible labor must be put forth, to convince souls of their condition, to show them 36 the character building which must be carried on if a beautiful structure is raised for the Lord. Minds that are awakened must be patiently instructed if they rightly understand and duly appreciate the truths of the Word. {2SM 35.4} [2SM 36.1] God calls upon His people to walk with sobriety and holy consistency. They should be very careful not to misrepresent and dishonor the holy doctrines of truth by strange performances, by confusion and tumult. By this, unbelievers are led to think that Seventh-day Adventists are a set of fanatics. Thus prejudice is created that prevents souls from receiving the message for this time. When believers speak the truth as it is in Jesus, they reveal a holy, sensible calm, not a storm of confusion.--General Conference Bulletin, April 23, 1901. {2SM 36.1} [2SM 36.2] Worship With a Bedlam of Noise It is impossible to estimate too largely the work that the Lord will accomplish through His proposed vessels in carrying out His mind and purpose. The things you have described as taking place in Indiana, the Lord has shown me would take place just before the close of probation. Every uncouth thing will be demonstrated. There will be shouting, with drums, music, and dancing. The senses of rational beings will become so confused that they cannot be trusted to make right decisions. And this is called the moving of the Holy Spirit. {2SM 36.2} [2SM 36.3] The Holy Spirit never reveals itself in such methods, in such a bedlam of noise. This is an invention of Satan to cover up his ingenious methods for making of none effect the pure, sincere, elevating, ennobling, sanctifying truth for this time. Better never have the worship of God blended with music than to use musical instruments to do the work which last January was represented to me would be brought into our camp meetings. The truth for this time needs nothing of this kind in its work of converting souls. A bedlam of noise shocks the senses and perverts that which if conducted aright might be a blessing. The powers of satanic agencies blend with the din and noise, to have a carnival, and this is termed the Holy Spirit's working. 37 {2SM 36.3} [2SM 37.1] When the camp meeting is ended, the good which ought to have been done and which might have been done by the presentation of sacred truth is not accomplished. Those participating in the supposed revival receive impressions which lead them adrift. They cannot tell what they formerly knew regarding Bible principles. {2SM 37.1} [2SM 37.2] No encouragement should be given to this kind of worship. The same kind of influence came in after the passing of the time in 1844. The same kind of representations were made. Men became excited, and were worked by a power thought to be the power of God.... {2SM 37.2} [2SM 37.3] History of the Past to Be Repeated I will not go into all the painful history; it is too much. But last January the Lord showed me that erroneous theories and methods would be brought into our camp meetings, and that the history of the past would be repeated. I felt greatly distressed. I was instructed to say that at these demonstrations demons in the form of men are present, working with all the ingenuity that Satan can employ to make the truth disgusting to sensible people; that the enemy was trying to arrange matters so that the camp meetings, which have been the means of bringing the truth of the third angel's message before multitudes, should lose their force and influence. {2SM 37.3} [2SM 37.4] The third angel's message is to be given in straight lines. It is to be kept free from every thread of the cheap, miserable inventions of men's theories, prepared by the father of lies, and disguised as was the brilliant serpent used by Satan as a medium of deceiving our first parents. Thus Satan tries to put his stamp upon the work God would have stand forth in purity. {2SM 37.4} [2SM 37.5] The Holy Spirit has nothing to do with such a confusion of noise and multitude of sounds as passed before me last January. Satan works amid the din and confusion of such music, which, properly conducted, would be a praise and glory to God. He makes its effect like the poison sting of the serpent. 38 {2SM 37.5} [2SM 38.1] Those things which have been in the past will be in the future. Satan will make music a snare by the way in which it is conducted. God calls upon His people, who have the light before them in the Word and in the Testimonies, to read and consider, and to take heed. Clear and definite instruction has been given in order that all may understand. But the itching desire to originate something new results in strange doctrines, and largely destroys the influence of those who would be a power for good if they held firm the beginning of their confidence in the truth the Lord had given them. {2SM 38.1} [2SM 38.2] "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip ［margin: "run out as leaking vessels"］. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him?" (Hebrews 2:1-3). "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end" (Hebrews 3:12-14). {2SM 38.2} [2SM 38.3] Brother and Sister Haskell, we must put on every piece of the armor, and having done all, stand firm. We are set as a defense for the gospel, and we must compose a part of the Lord's grand army for aggressive warfare. By the Lord's faithful ambassadors the truth must be presented in clear-cut lines. Much of that which today is called testing truth is twaddle which leads to a resistance of the Holy Spirit.... {2SM 38.3} [2SM 38.4] Defective Presentation Regarding the Holy Spirit Much is being said regarding the impartation of the Holy Spirit, and by some this is being so interpreted that it is an injury to the churches. Eternal life is the receiving 39 of the living elements in the Scriptures and doing the will of God. This is eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God. To those who do this, life and immortality are brought to light through the gospel, for God's Word is verity and truth, spirit and life. It is the privilege of all who believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour to feed on the Word of God. The Holy Spirit's influence renders that Word, the Bible, an immortal truth, which to the prayerful searcher gives spiritual sinew and muscle. {2SM 38.4} [2SM 39.1] "Search the scriptures," Christ declared, "for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me" (John 5:39). Those who dig beneath the surface discover the hidden gems of truth. The Holy Spirit is present with the earnest searcher. Its illumination shines upon the Word, stamping the truth upon the mind with a new, fresh importance. The searcher is filled with a sense of peace and joy never before felt. The preciousness of truth is realized as never before. A new, heavenly light shines upon the Word, illuminating it as though every letter were tinged with gold. God Himself has spoken to the mind and heart, making the Word spirit and life. {2SM 39.1} [2SM 39.2] Every true searcher of the Word lifts his heart to God, imploring the aid of the Spirit. And he soon discovers that which carried him above all the fictitious statements of the would-be teacher, whose weak, tottering theories are not sustained by the Word of the living God. These theories were invented by men who had not learned the first great lesson, that God's Spirit and life are in His Word. If they had received in the heart the eternal element contained in the Word of God, they would see how tame and expressionless are all efforts to get something new to create a sensation. They need to learn the very first principles of the Word of God; they would then have the word of life for the people, who will soon distinguish the chaff from the wheat, for Jesus left His promise with His disciples.--Letter 132, 1900. {2SM 39.2} [2SM 40.2] Chap. 4 - Warnings Against Deceptive Claims of the Spirit's Guidance - ［ON NOVEMBER 12, 1908, THERE CAME TO ST. HELENA, CALIFORNIA, A ZEALOUS MAN, WITH HIS WIFE. THEY SOUGHT AN INTERVIEW WITH MRS. WHITE, AND RELATED TO HER REMARKABLE EXPERIENCES DATING BACK FOR ABOUT THREE YEARS. THESE EXPERIENCES BEGAN TO COME TO THEM AFTER SEVERAL DAYS OF FASTING AND PRAYING FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT UNTIL, AS THEY SAID, "GREAT DROPS OF SWEAT STOOD ON OUR BROW." THEY BELIEVED THAT THEY HAD RECEIVED THE HOLY SPIRIT AS DID THE EARLY APOSTLES. THEY CLAIMED TO HAVE SPOKEN IN TONGUES, AND TO HAVE LABORED ZEALOUSLY FOR OTHERS THAT THEY MIGHT ENTER INTO A SIMILAR EXPERIENCE. {2SM 40.1］ THEY HAD BEEN ARRESTED IN THE EAST ON A CHARGE OF EXERCISING MESMERIC INFLUENCE ON A CHILD. AFTER HEARING THE CASE THE ATTORNEY AND THE MAYOR HAD SAID THAT IF THEY WERE NOT ON THE BORDER OF INSANITY, THEY WERE PERILOUSLY CLOSE TO IT. THEY CLAIMED THAT WHILE IN THE JAIL THEY WERE TOLD "THROUGH THE SPIRIT" TO ACT AS THOUGH THEY WERE INSANE, WITH THE RESULT THAT GOD "PUT THE FEAR ON THESE MEN, SO THEY WERE FEARFUL TO COME INSIDE" THE CELL. {2SM 40.2} [2SM 40.3] THEY BELIEVED THAT THE CHILD WHOM THEY WERE CHARGED WITH MESMERIZING WAS GIFTED WITH THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY, AND DIRECTED THEM WHERE TO GO. THEY CLAIMED THAT THROUGH PRAYER THEY HAD HEALED THE SICK, CAST OUT DEVILS, AND HAD DONE MANY OTHER WONDERFUL WORKS. OF THIS WIFE, THE HUSBAND SAID, "THE SPIRIT OPERATES THROUGH HER, AND WE BELIEVE THAT THIS IS THE GIFT OF PROPHECY THAT IS TO BE POURED OUT ON ALL FLESH." {2SM 40.3} [2SM 40.4] THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS WERE MADE BY MRS. WHITE IN REFERENCE TO THIS AND SIMILAR MOVEMENTS.--COMPILERS. 41 {2SM 40.4} [2SM 41.1] God's Work Characterized by Calmness and Dignity Two weeks ago today, while I was writing, my son W. C. White came into my room and stated that there were two persons below who wished to speak with me. I went downstairs into our sitting room and there met a man and his wife who claim to follow the Word of God and to believe the Testimonies. They have had an unusual experience during the past two or three years. They seemed to be honesthearted people. {2SM 41.1} [2SM 41.2] I listened while they related some of their experiences, and then I told them something of the work we had to do in meeting and opposing fanaticism soon after the passing of the time when we expected to see our Lord. During those trying days some of our most precious believers were led into fanaticism. I said further that before the end we would see strange manifestations by those who professed to be led by the Holy Spirit. There are those who will treat as something of great importance these peculiar manifestations, which are not of God, but which are calculated to divert the minds of many away from the teachings of the Word. {2SM 41.2} [2SM 41.3] In this stage of our history we must be very careful to guard against everything that savors of fanaticism and disorder. We must guard against all peculiar exercises that would be likely to stir up the minds of unbelievers, and lead them to think that as a people we are led by impulse, and delight in noise and confusion accompanied by eccentricities of action. In the last days the enemy of present truth will bring in manifestations that are not in harmony with the workings of the Spirit, but are calculated to lead astray those who stand ready to take up with something new and strange. {2SM 41.3} [2SM 41.4] I told this brother and his wife that the experience through which I passed in my youth, shortly after the passing of the time in 1844, had led me to be very, very cautious about accepting anything similar to that which we then met and rebuked in the name of the Lord. 42 {2SM 41.4} [2SM 42.1] No greater harm could be done to the work of God at this time than for us to allow a spirit of fanaticism to come into our churches, accompanied by strange workings which are incorrectly supposed to be operations of the Spirit of God. {2SM 42.1} [2SM 42.2] As this brother and his wife outlined their experiences, which they claim have come to them as the result of receiving the Holy Ghost with apostolic power, it seemed to be a facsimile of that which we were called to meet and correct in our early experience. {2SM 42.2} [2SM 42.3] Toward the close of our interview Brother L proposed that we unite in prayer, with the thought that possibly while in prayer his wife would be exercised as they had described to me, and that then I might be able to discern whether this was of the Lord or not. To this I could not consent, because I have been instructed that when one offers to exhibit these peculiar manifestations, this is a decided evidence that it is not the work of God. {2SM 42.3} [2SM 42.4] We must not permit these experiences to lead us to feel discouraged. Such experiences will come to us from time to time. Let us give no place to strange exercisings, which really take the mind away from the deep movings of the Holy Spirit. God's work is ever characterized by calmness and dignity. We cannot afford to sanction anything that would bring in confusion and weaken our zeal in regard to the great work that God has given us to do in the world to prepare for the second coming of Christ. --Letter 338, 1908. {2SM 42.4} [2SM 42.5] Statements by Mrs. White in the Interview I am telling you these experiences, in order that you may know what we have passed through. . . . Some ［fanatics after 1844］ would dance up and down, singing, "Glory, glory, glory, glory, glory, glory." Sometimes I would sit still until they got through, and then I would rise and say, "This is not the way the Lord works. He does not make impressions in this way. We must direct the minds of the people to the Word as the foundation of our faith." {2SM 42.5} [2SM 42.6] I was but a mere child at that time, and yet I had to 43 bear my testimony repeatedly against these strange workings. And ever since that time I have sought to be very, very careful lest something of this sort should come in again among our people. Any manifestation of fanaticism takes the mind away from the evidence of truth--the Word itself. {2SM 42.6} [2SM 43.1] You might take a consistent course, but those who would be influenced by you might take a very inconsistent course, and, as a result, we should very soon have our hands full of something that would make it almost impossible to give unbelievers the right impression of our message and work. We must go to the people with the solid Word of God; and when they receive that Word, the Holy Spirit may come, but it always comes, as I have stated before, in a way that commends itself to the judgment of the people. In our speaking, our singing, and in all our spiritual exercises, we are to reveal that calmness and dignity and godly fear that actuates every true child of God. {2SM 43.1} [2SM 43.2] There is constant danger of allowing something to come into our midst that we may regard as the workings of the Holy Spirit, but that in reality is the fruit of a spirit of fanaticism. So long as we allow the enemy of truth to lead us into a wrong way, we cannot hope to reach the honest in heart with the third angel's message. We are to be sanctified through obedience to the truth. I am afraid of anything that would have a tendency to turn the mind away from the solid evidences of the truth as revealed in God's Word. I am afraid of it; I am afraid of it. We must bring our minds within the bounds of reason, lest the enemy so come in as to set everything in a disorderly way. There are persons of an excitable temperament who are easily led into fanaticism; and should we allow anything to come into our churches that would lead such persons into error, we would soon see these errors carried to extreme lengths, and then because of the course of these disorderly elements, a stigma would rest upon the whole body of Seventh-day Adventists. 44 {2SM 43.2} [2SM 44.1] Fanaticism to be Seen Again I have been studying how to get some of these early experiences into print again, so that more of our people may be informed, for I have long known that fanaticism will be manifest again, in different ways. We are to strengthen our position by dwelling on the Word, and by avoiding all oddities and strange exercisings that some would be very quick to catch up and practice. If we were to allow confusion to come into our ranks, we could not bind off our work as we should. . . . {2SM 44.1} [2SM 44.2] During the years of Christ's ministry on earth godly women assisted in the work that the Saviour and His disciples were carrying forward. If those who were opposing this work could have found anything out of the regular order in the conduct of these women, it would have closed the work at once. But while women were laboring with Christ and the apostles, the entire work was conducted on so high a plane as to be above the shadow of a suspicion. No occasion for any accusation could be found. The minds of all were directed to the Scriptures, rather than individuals. The truth was proclaimed intelligently, and so plainly that all could understand. {2SM 44.2} [2SM 44.3] How afraid I am to have anything of a fanatical nature brought in among our people. There are many, many who must be sanctified, but they are to be sanctified through obedience to the message of truth.... {2SM 44.3} [2SM 44.4] We cannot allow excitable elements among us to display themselves in a way that would destroy our influence with those whom we wish to reach with the truth. It took us years to outlive the unfavorable impression that unbelievers gained of Adventists through their knowledge of the strange and wicked workings of fanatical elements among us during the early years of our existence as a separate people.--Manuscript 115, 1908. {2SM 44.4} [2SM 44.5] Counsel to the Brother and His Wife Dear Brother and Sister L: Recently, in visions of the night, there were opened before me some matters that I must communicate to you. 45 I have been shown that you are making some sad mistakes. In your study of the Scriptures and of the Testimonies you have come to wrong conclusions. The Lord's work would be greatly misunderstood if you should continue to labor as you have begun. You place a false interpretation upon the word of God and upon the printed Testimonies; and then you seek to carry on a strange work in accordance with your conception of their meaning. You have even supposed that power is given you to cast out devils. Through your influence over the human mind men and women are led to believe that they are possessed of devils, and that the Lord has appointed you as His agents for casting out these evil spirits. {2SM 44.5} [2SM 45.1] Your wife, in speech, in song, and in strange exhibitions that are not in accordance with the genuine work of the Holy Spirit, is helping to bring in a phase of fanaticism that would do great injury to the cause of God, if allowed any place in our churches. {2SM 45.1} [2SM 45.2] My brother and sister, I have a message for you: you are starting on a false supposition. There is much of self woven into your exhibitions. Satan will come in with bewitching power through these exhibitions. It is high time that you call a halt. If God had given you a special message for His people, you would walk and work in all humility--not as if you were on the stage of a theater, but in the meekness of a follower of the lowly Jesus of Nazareth. You would carry an influence altogether different from that which you have been carrying. . . . {2SM 45.2} [2SM 45.3] The sincere desire to do others good will lead the Christian worker to put away all thought of bringing into the message of present truth any strange teachings leading men and women into fanaticism. At this period of the world's history we must exercise the greatest of care in this respect. {2SM 45.3} [2SM 45.4] Some of the phases of experience through which you are passing endanger not only your own souls but the souls of many others, because you appeal to the precious words of Christ as recorded in the Scriptures, and to the Testimonies, to vouch for the genuineness of your 46 message. In supposing that the precious Word, which is verity and truth, and the Testimonies that the Lord has given for His people, are your authority, you are deceived. You are moved by wrong impulses, and are bracing up yourselves with declarations that mislead. You attempt to make the truth of God sustain false sentiments and incorrect actions that are inconsistent and fanatical. This makes tenfold, yes, twentyfold harder the work of the church in acquainting the people with the truths of the third angel's message.--Letter 358a, 1908. {2SM 45.4} [2SM 46.1] A Message to the Churches in California To Our Brethren in California: Last night instruction was given me for our people. I seemed to be in a meeting where representations were being made of the strange work of Brother L and wife. I was instructed that it was a work similar to that which was carried on in _____, in the State of Maine, and in various other places after the passing of the time in 1844. I was bidden to speak decidedly against this fanatical work. {2SM 46.1} [2SM 46.2] I was shown that it was not the Spirit of the Lord that was inspiring Brother and Sister L, but the same spirit of fanaticism that is ever seeking entrance into the remnant church. Their application of Scripture of their peculiar exercises is Scripture misapplied. The work of declaring persons possessed of the devil, and then praying with them and pretending to cast out the evil spirits, is fanaticism which will bring into disrepute any church which sanctions such work. {2SM 46.2} [2SM 46.3] I was shown that we must give no encouragement to these demonstrations, but must guard the people with a decided testimony against that which would bring a stain upon the name of Seventh-day Adventists, and destroy the confidence of the people in the message of truth which they must bear to the world. The Lord has done a great work for His people in placing them on vantage ground. It is the duty of the church to cherish its influence. Precious are the words, "Search the scriptures; for in them 47 ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me" (John 5:39). The words of inspiration carefully studied and prayerfully obeyed, will thoroughly furnish unto all good works. {2SM 46.3} [2SM 47.1] As a denomination we need to look more continually to God for guidance. We are living in an evil age. The perils of the last days are upon us. Because iniquity abounds, Satan presumes to bring in all kinds of delusive theories upon those who have tried to walk humbly with God, and who are distrustful of self. Shall self-confident, fanatical men come to these humble souls assuring them that they are possessed of evil spirits, and after praying with them, affirm that the devil is cast out? Such are not the manifestations of the Spirit of God, but of another spirit. {2SM 47.1} [2SM 47.2] I call upon every church to beware of being led to think evil of those who, because distrustful of self, fear that they have not the Holy Spirit. There are those who have followed their own ways instead of the ways of God. They have not acknowledged the light that God has graciously given; and because of this they have lost the power to distinguish between darkness and light. There are many who have heard much in regard to the path they ought to follow, but who ignore the requirements God makes of them. Their light does not shine in works that reveal the principles of truth and holiness. It is this class who in time of test will accept falsehood and erroneous theories for the truth of God. {2SM 47.2} [2SM 47.3] Great light has been given to the people of God. Let our people awake, and go forward to perfection. You will be exposed to the fallacies of satanic agencies. Fearful waves of fanaticism will come. But God will deliver the people who will earnestly seek the Lord, and consecrate themselves to His service.--Pacific Union Recorder, Dec. 31, 1908. {2SM 47.3} [2SM 48.1] Chap. 5 - Miracles not a Test of God's Favor - Seek not for Miraculous Manifestations Let none cherish the idea that special providences or miraculous manifestations are to be the proof of the genuineness of their work or of the ideas they advocate. If we keep these things before the people, they will produce an evil effect, an unhealthful emotion. The genuine working of the Holy Spirit on human hearts is promised, to give efficiency through the Word. Christ has declared the Word to be spirit and life. "The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14, A.R.V.). {2SM 48.1} [2SM 48.2] Satan will work in a most subtle manner to introduce human inventions clothed with angel garments. But the light from the Word is shining amid the moral darkness; and the Bible will never be superseded by miraculous manifestations. The truth must be studied, it must be searched for as hidden treasure. Wonderful illuminations will not be given aside from the Word, or to take the place of it. Cling to the Word, receive the ingrafted Word, which will make men wise unto salvation. This is the meaning of the words of Christ in regard to eating His flesh and drinking His blood. And He says, "This is life 49 eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3). {2SM 48.2} [2SM 49.1] We shall encounter false claims; false prophets will arise; there will be false dreams and false visions; but preach the Word, be not drawn away from the voice of God in His Word. Let nothing divert the mind. The wonderful, the marvelous, will be represented and presented. Through satanic delusions, wonderful miracles, the claims of human agents will be urged. Beware of all this. {2SM 49.1} [2SM 49.2] Christ has given warning, so that none need accept falsehood for truth. The only channel through which the Spirit operates is that of the truth. . . . Our faith and hope are founded, not in feeling, but in God.--Letter 12, 1894. {2SM 49.2} [2SM 49.3] When the Miracle Worker Disregards God's Law We must not trust the claims of men. They may, as Christ represents, profess to work miracles in healing the sick. Is this marvelous, when just behind them stands the great deceiver, the miracle worker who will yet bring down fire from heaven in the sight of men? {2SM 49.3} [2SM 49.4] Nor can we trust impressions. The voice or spirit that says to a man, You are under no obligation to obey the law of God; you are holy and sinless, while he is trampling on the divine law, is not the voice of Jesus; for He declares: "I have kept my Father's commandments" (John 15:10). And John testifies: "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:4). {2SM 49.4} [2SM 49.5] Then how can these manifestations of great power, and these wonderful impressions, be accounted for, except on the ground that they are given through the influence of that miracle-working spirit that has gone forth to deceive the whole world, and infatuate them with strong delusion that they shall believe a lie? He is pleased when men and women claim to possess great spiritual power, and yet disregard the law of God, because through their disobedience they mislead others, and he can use them as effective agents in his work.--The Signs of the Times, July 21, 1887. 50 {2SM 49.5} [2SM 50.1] None Need be Deceived Every one of us will be sorely tempted; our faith will be tried to the uttermost. We must have a living connection with God; we must be partakers of the divine nature; then we shall not be deceived by the devices of the enemy, and shall escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. {2SM 50.1} [2SM 50.2] We need to be anchored in Christ, rooted and grounded in the faith. Satan works through agents. He selects those who have not been drinking of the living waters, whose souls are athirst for something new and strange, and who are ever ready to drink at any fountain that may present itself. Voices will be heard, saying, "Lo, here is Christ," or "Lo, there"; but we must believe them not. We have unmistakable evidence of the voice of the True Shepherd, and He is calling upon us to follow Him. He says, "I have kept my Father's commandments." He leads His sheep in the path of humble obedience to the law of God, but He never encourages them in the transgression of that law. {2SM 50.2} [2SM 50.3] "The voice of a stranger" is the voice of one who neither respects nor obeys God's holy, just, and good law. Many make great pretensions to holiness, and boast of the wonders they perform in healing the sick, when they do not regard this great standard of righteousness. But through whose power are these cures wrought? Are the eyes of either party opened to their transgressions of the law? and do they take their stand as humble, obedient children, ready to obey all of God's requirements? John testifies of the professed children of God: "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:4). {2SM 50.3} [2SM 50.4] None need be deceived. The law of God is as sacred as His throne, and by it every man who cometh into the world is to be judged. There is no other standard by which to test character. "If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Now, shall the case be decided according to the Word of God, or shall man's pretensions be credited? Christ says, "By their fruits ye shall know them." If those through whom 51 cures are performed, are disposed, on account of these manifestations, to excuse their neglect of the law of God, and continue in disobedience, though they have power to any and every extent, it does not follow that they have the great power of God. On the contrary, it is the miracle-working power of the great deceiver. He is a transgressor of the moral law, and employs every device that he can master to blind men to its true character. We are warned that in the last days he will work with signs and lying wonders. And he will continue these wonders until the close of probation, that he may point to them as evidence that he is an angel of light and not of darkness. {2SM 50.4} [2SM 51.1] Brethren, we must beware of the pretended holiness that permits transgression of the law of God. Those cannot be sanctified who trample that law under their feet, and judge themselves by a standard of their own devising. --The Review and Herald, Nov. 17, 1885. {2SM 51.1} [2SM 51.2] Will Sweep in the Whole World We are coming right upon the time when Satan is to work with all manner of bewitching influences, and those who are charmed with them now, or give them the least countenance now, will be all ready to be swept right in to act a part with the devil then. Evil angels are working all the time upon the hearts of men. Satan is working with everyone who is not under the control of the Spirit of God. It is the lying wonders of the devil that will take the world captive, and he will cause fire to come down from heaven in the sight of men. He is to work miracles; and this wonderful, miracle-working power is to sweep in the whole world. It is now just beginning. {2SM 51.2} [2SM 51.3] I want to tell you another thing. The vials of God's wrath and the sprinkling of them are already coming. What is the matter that we do not discern it? It is because the light of truth does not affect the heart. The Spirit of God is being withdrawn from the world. {2SM 51.3} [2SM 51.4] You hear of calamities by land and by sea, and they are constantly increasing. What is the matter? The Spirit of God is taken away from those who have the lives of 52 men in their hands, and Satan is coming in to control them, because they give themselves to his control. Those who profess to be the children of God do not place themselves under the guardianship of the heavenly angels, and as Satan is a destroyer, he works through those men and they make mistakes; and they will get drunk, and because of intemperance, many times bring these terrible calamities upon us. {2SM 51.4} [2SM 52.1] And see the storms and tempests. Satan is working in the atmosphere; he is poisoning the atmosphere, and here we are dependent upon God for our lives--our present and eternal life. And being in the position that we are, we need to be wide awake, wholly devoted, wholly converted, wholly consecrated to God. But we seem to sit as though we were paralyzed. God of heaven, wake us up!-- Manuscript 1, 1890. {2SM 52.1} [2SM 52.2] Miracles not a Test Those who engage in the work of God's cause today will meet just such trials as Paul endured in his work. By the same boastful and deceptive work Satan will seek to draw converts from the faith. Theories will be brought in that it will not be wise for us to handle. Satan is a cunning worker, and he will bring in subtle fallacies to darken and confuse the mind and root out the doctrines of salvation. Those who do not accept the Word of God just as it reads, will be snared in his trap. {2SM 52.2} [2SM 52.3] Today we need to speak the truth with holy boldness. The testimony borne to the early church by the Lord's messenger, His people are to hear in this time: "Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8). {2SM 52.3} [2SM 52.4] The man who makes the working of miracles the test of his faith will find that Satan can, through a species of deceptions, perform wonders that will appear to be genuine miracles. It was this he hoped to make a test question with the Israelites at the time of their deliverance from Egypt.--Manuscript 43, 1907. 53 {2SM 52.4} [2SM 53.1] Wonderful Miracles Will Deceive Let not the days pass by and precious opportunities be lost of seeking the Lord with all the heart and mind and soul. If we accept not the truth in the love of it, we may be among the number who will see the miracles wrought by Satan in these last days, and believe them. Many strange things will appear as wonderful miracles, which should be regarded as deceptions manufactured by the father of lies. --Letter 136, 1906. {2SM 53.1} [2SM 53.2] How Satan and His Agents Work I am instructed to say that in the future great watchfulness will be needed. There is to be among God's people no spiritual stupidity. Evil spirits are actively engaged in seeking to control the minds of human beings. Men are binding up in bundles, ready to be consumed by the fires of the last days. Those who discard Christ and His righteousness will accept the sophistry that is flooding the world. Christians are to be sober and vigilant, steadfastly resisting their adversary the devil, who is going about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Men under the influence of evil spirits will work miracles. They will make people sick by casting their spell upon them, and will then remove the spell, leading others to say that those who were sick have been miraculously healed. This Satan has done again and again.--Letter 259, 1903. {2SM 53.2} [2SM 53.3] We need not be deceived. Wonderful scenes, with which Satan will be closely connected, will soon take place. God's Word declares that Satan will work miracles. He will make people sick, and then will suddenly remove from them his satanic power. They will then be regarded as healed. These works of apparent healing will bring Seventh-day Adventists to the test. Many who have had great light will fail to walk in the light, because they have not become one with Christ.--Letter 57, 1904. {2SM 53.3} [2SM 53.4] Ellen G. White Worked No Miracles Some declare their unbelief in the work that the Lord has given me to do because, as they say, "Mrs. E. G. White 54 works no miracles." But those who look for miracles as a sign of divine guidance are in grave danger of deception. It is stated in the Word that the enemy will work through his agents who have departed from the faith, and they will seemingly work miracles, even to the bringing down of fire out of heaven in the sight of men. By means of "lying wonders" Satan would deceive, if possible, the very elect. {2SM 53.4} [2SM 54.1] Multitudes have heard me speak, and have read my writings, but no one has ever heard me claim to work miracles. I have at times been called upon to pray for the sick, and the word of the Lord has been verified. ［James 5:14, 15 quoted.］ Christ is the great miracle worker. To Him be all the glory.--Letter 410, 1907. {2SM 54.1} [2SM 54.2] Why Miracles are Less Important Today The way in which Christ worked was to preach the Word, and to relieve suffering by miraculous works of healing. But I am instructed that we cannot now work in this way, for Satan will exercise his power by working miracles. God's servants today could not work by means of miracles, because spurious works of healing, claiming to be divine, will be wrought. {2SM 54.2} [2SM 54.3] For this reason the Lord has marked out a way in which His people are to carry forward a work of physical healing, combined with the teaching of the Word. Sanitariums are to be established, and with these institutions are to be connected workers who will carry forward genuine medical missionary work. Thus a guarding influence is thrown around those who come to the sanitariums for treatment. {2SM 54.3} [2SM 54.4] This is the provision the Lord has made whereby gospel medical missionary work is to be done for many souls.--Letter 53, 1904. {2SM 54.4} [2SM 54.5] Miracles in the Closing Conflict It is impossible to give any idea of the experience of the people of God who will be alive on the earth when past woes and celestial glory will be blended. They will walk in the light proceeding from the throne of God. By 55 the means of the angels there will be constant communication between heaven and earth. And Satan, surrounded by evil angels, and claiming to be God, will work miracles of all kinds to deceive, if possible, the very elect. God's people will not find their safety in working miracles, for Satan would counterfeit any miracle that might be worked. God's tried and tested people will find their power in the sign spoken of in Exodus 31:12-18. They are to take their stand on the living Word--"It is written." This is the only foundation upon which they can stand securely. Those who have broken their covenant with God will in that day be without hope and without God in the world. {2SM 54.5} [2SM 55.1] The worshipers of God will be especially distinguished by their regard for the fourth commandment--since this is the sign of His creative power and the witness to His claim upon man's reverence and homage. The wicked will be distinguished by their efforts to tear down the Creator's memorial, to exalt the institution of Rome. In the issue of the contest all Christendom will be divided into two great classes--those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark. Although church and state will unite their power to compel "all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond" (Revelation 13:16), to receive the mark of the beast, yet the people of God will not receive it. The prophet of Patmos beholds "them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God" (Revelation 15:2) and singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. {2SM 55.1} [2SM 55.2] Fearful tests and trials await the people of God. The spirit of war is stirring the nations from one end of the earth to the other. But in the midst of the time of trouble that is coming--a time of trouble such as has not been since there was a nation--God's chosen people will stand unmoved. Satan and his angels cannot destroy them, for angels that excel in strength will protect them.--Letter 119, 1904. {2SM 55.2} [2SM 56.1] Chap. 6 - Our Safety Against Delusions - Sincerity Alone Will Not Save Faith in a lie will not have a sanctifying influence upon the life or character. No error is truth, or can be made truth by repetition, or by faith in it. Sincerity will never save a soul from the consequences of believing an error. Without sincerity there is no true religion, but sincerity in a false religion will never save a man. I may be perfectly sincere in following a wrong road, but that will not make it the right road, or bring me to the place I wished to reach. The Lord does not want us to have a blind credulity, and call that the faith that sanctifies. The truth is the principle that sanctifies, and therefore it becomes us to know what is truth. We must compare spiritual things with spiritual. We must prove all things, but hold fast only that which is good, that which bears the divine credentials, which lays before us the true motives and principles which should prompt us to action.--Letter 12, 1890. {2SM 56.1} [2SM 56.2] An Outward Transformation of Character As long as individuals are content with a theory of truth, and are yet lacking in the daily operation of the Spirit of God upon the heart, which is manifested in outward transformation of character, they are cutting themselves 57 off from the qualification that would fit them for greater efficiency in the Master's work. Those who are devoid of the Holy Spirit cannot be faithful watchmen upon the walls of Zion; for they are blind to the work that ought to be done, and do not give the trumpet a certain sound. {2SM 56.2} [2SM 57.1] The baptism of the Holy Ghost as on the day of Pentecost will lead to a revival of true religion and to the performance of many wonderful works. Heavenly intelligences will come among us, and men will speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Spirit of God. But should the Lord work upon men as He did on and after the day of Pentecost, many who now claim to believe the truth would know so very little of the operation of the Holy Spirit that they would cry, "Beware of fanaticism." They would say of those who were filled with the Spirit, "These men are full of new wine." {2SM 57.1} [2SM 57.2] The time is not far off now when men will want a much closer relation to Christ, a much closer union with His Holy Spirit, than ever they have had, or will have, unless they give up their will and their way, and submit to God's will and God's way. The great sin of those who profess to be Christians is that they do not open the heart to receive the Holy Spirit. When souls long after Christ, and seek to become one with Him, then those who are content with the form of godliness, exclaim "Be careful, do not go to extremes." When the angels of heaven come among us, and work through human agents, there will be solid, substantial conversions, after the order of the conversions after the day of Pentecost. {2SM 57.2} [2SM 57.3] Now brethren, be careful and do not go into or try to create human excitement. But while we should be careful not to go into human excitement, we should not be among those who will raise inquiries and cherish doubts in reference to the work of the Spirit of God; for there will be those who will question and criticize when the Spirit of God takes possession of men and women, because their own hearts are not moved, but are cold and unimpressible. --Letter 27, 1894. 58 {2SM 57.3} [2SM 58.1] Need for Understanding the Doctrine Rebellion and apostasy are in the very air we breathe. We shall be affected by it unless we by faith hang our helpless souls upon Christ. If men are so easily misled, how will they stand when Satan shall personate Christ, and work miracles? Who will be unmoved by his misrepresentations, professing to be Christ when it is only Satan assuming the person of Christ, and apparently working the works of Christ? What will hold God's people from giving their allegiance to false christs? "Go ye not ... after them" (Luke 21:8). {2SM 58.1} [2SM 58.2] The doctrines must be plainly understood. The men accepted to teach the truth must be anchored; then their vessel will hold against storm and tempest, because the anchor holds them firmly. The deceptions will increase.-- Letter 1, 1897. {2SM 58.2} [2SM 58.3] Satan is now more earnestly engaged in playing the game of life for souls than at any previous time; and unless we are constantly on our guard, he will establish in our hearts, pride, love of self, love of the world, and many other evil traits. He will also use every possible device to unsettle our faith in God and in the truths of His Word. If we have not a deep experience in the things of God, if we have not a thorough knowledge of His Word, we shall be beguiled to our ruin by the errors and sophistries of the enemy. False doctrines will sap the foundations of many, because they have not learned to discern truth from error. Our only safeguard against the wiles of Satan is to study the Scriptures diligently, to have an intelligent understanding of the reasons of our faith, and faithfully to perform every known duty. The indulgence of one known sin will cause weakness and darkness, and subject us to fierce temptation.--The Review and Herald, Nov. 19, 1908. {2SM 58.3} [2SM 58.4] Look Constantly to Jesus Under the showers of the latter rain the inventions of man, the human machinery, will at times be swept away, the boundary of man's authority will be as broken reeds, 59 and the Holy Spirit will speak through the living, human agent, with convincing power. No one then will watch to see if the sentences are well rounded off, if the grammar is faultless. The living water will flow in God's own channels. {2SM 58.4} [2SM 59.1] But let us be careful now not to exalt men, their sayings, and doings; and let not anyone consider it a grand point to have a startling experience to relate; for here is a fruitful field where credence will be given to unworthy persons. Young men and women will be lifted up, and will regard themselves as wonderfully favored, called to do some great thing. There will be conversions many, after a peculiar order, but they will not bear the divine signature. Immorality will come in, and extravagance, and many will make shipwreck of faith. {2SM 59.1} [2SM 59.2] Our only safety is in keeping fast hold of Jesus. Never are we to lose sight of Him. He says, "Without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5). We must cultivate an abiding sense of our own inefficiency and helplessness and rely wholly on Jesus. This should keep us individually calm and steadfast in words and deportment. Excitement in the speaker is not power but weakness. Earnestness and energy are essential in presenting Bible truth, the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation.... {2SM 59.2} [2SM 59.3] There are quicksands upon which many are in danger of being swamped. It is always safe to seek for the earnest of the Spirit of God, if we do not mingle with it a force and presumption that is not heaven born. There is need of caution in all our utterances lest some poor souls of ardent temperament shall work themselves up into a zeal not according to knowledge. They will act as though it was their prerogative to use the Holy Spirit instead of letting the Holy Spirit use them, and mold and fashion them after the pattern of the divine. There is danger of running ahead of Christ. We should honor the Holy Spirit by following where it shall lead. "Lean not unto thine own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5). This is one danger of those who teach the truth to others. To follow where 60 Christ leads is a safe path for our feet. His work will stand. Whatsoever God saith is truth. {2SM 59.3} [2SM 60.1] But ministers who bear the last message of mercy to fallen men must utter no random works; they must not open doors whereby Satan shall find access to human minds. It is not our work to experiment, to study out something new and startling that will create excitement. Satan is watching his chance to take advantage of anything of this order that he may bring in his deceiving elements. The Holy Spirit's moving upon the human agents will keep the mind well balanced. There will not be a wrought-up excitement, to be followed by reaction. {2SM 60.1} [2SM 60.2] Satan will make use of every extravagant expression to the injury, not only of the speaker, but of those who shall catch the same spirit and infuse others to their harm. Calmness and solemnity should be cultivated; the solemn truths we dwell upon will lead us to manifest deep earnestness. How can we do otherwise when weighted with the most sacred message to bear to perishing souls-- weighted by the sense of the nearness of our Saviour's coming. {2SM 60.2} [2SM 60.3] If we are constantly looking unto Jesus and receiving His Spirit, we shall have clear eyesight. Then we shall discern the perils on every side, and shall guard every word we utter, lest Satan find opportunity to weave in his deceptions. We do not want to have the minds of the people wrought up into an excitement. We should not encourage an expectation to see strange and wonderful things. But teach them to follow Jesus step by step. Preach Jesus Christ, in whom our hope of eternal life is centered.--Letter 102, 1894. 62 {2SM 60.3} [2SM 62.1] Chap. 7 - The Divine Credentials INTRODUCTION - THROUGH THE YEARS SEVERAL ERRONEOUS OR SUBVERSIVE MOVEMENTS, BASED ON MISINTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE OR SUPPOSED DIVINE ILLUMINATION, HAVE ARISEN AMONG SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS. THESE WERE FIRMLY AND SQUARELY DEALT WITH BY THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY COUNSELS GIVEN TO MEET THESE SITUATIONS AS THEY AROSE. SOME OF THESE COUNSELS ARE INCLUDED IN THIS SECTION. {2SM 62.1} [2SM 62.2] USUALLY CLOSELY LINKED WITH THE SUPPOSED NEW LIGHT WAS A MESSAGE OF CONDEMNATION OF THE CHURCH AND ITS LEADERS, AND OFTEN THERE WAS SOME PHASE OF TIME SETTING. ONE SUCH MOVEMENT, KNOWN AS THE LOUD CRY OF THE THIRD ANGEL, LED BY A MR. STANTON, WAS MET THROUGH A SERIES OF ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN 1893 IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD UNDER THE TITLE OF "THE REMNANT CHURCH NOT BABYLON" (NOW FOUND IN TESTIMONIES TO MINISTERS, PAGES 32-62, AND ALSO IN THE REMNANT CHURCH, PAGES 23-53). THE MATERIALS DRAWN TOGETHER IN THIS SECTION MAKE FURTHER REFERENCE TO THIS MOVEMENT AND DEAL IN CONSIDERABLE DETAIL WITH SEVERAL LIKE MOVEMENTS. {2SM 62.2} [2SM 62.3] TWO PROMINENT CASES INVOLVING CLAIMS TO THE PROPHETIC GIFT ARE ALSO PRESENTED HERE IN THE FORM OF COUNSEL GIVEN BY MRS. WHITE TO THOSE DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY CONCERNED. SHE WAS IN AN EXTREMELY DELICATE POSITION IN DEALING WITH SITUATIONS OF THIS CHARACTER, BUT IN FULFILLING HER OFFICE AS GOD'S MESSENGER, SHE WAS GIVEN INSTRUCTION THAT PROTECTED THE CHURCH FROM THESE PRETENDERS TO THE PROPHETIC OFFICE. SHE EMPHASIZED THE POINT THAT THE GENUINE MANIFESTATION OF THE PROPHETIC GIFT WOULD BEAR ITS OWN CREDENTIALS, ACCOMPANIED BY AMPLE CLEAR, CONVINCING EVIDENCE. {2SM 62.3} [2SM 62.4] AS LONG AS THERE IS AN ADVERSARY TO TRUTH, SUBVERSIVE AND ERRONEOUS MOVEMENTS WILL ARISE AND MUST BE MET. THE ELLEN G. WHITE DEPICTION OF SEVERAL OF THESE MOVEMENTS WITH THEIR CHARACTERISTIC TEACHINGS, AND THE COUNSEL GIVEN IN ANALYZING THE WORK AND TEACHINGS, OFFER MUCH THAT MAY PROVE OF GREAT SERVICE IN EASILY AND CLEARLY IDENTIFYING AND MEETING AGAIN SUCH SITUATIONS WHEN THEY APPEAR.--WHITE TRUSTEES. {2SM 62.4} [2SM 63.1] Dear Brother M: ［LETTER TO ONE WHO HAD COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH HAD FALLEN INTO THE LOW SPIRITUAL STATE DESCRIBED AS BABYLON.--COMPILERS.］ Your letter addressed to me was received at the beginning of the Sabbath.... I should advise you to attend the school, and not to leave this country until you become thoroughly settled in your mind as to what is truth. I sincerely hope that you will attend this term of school and learn all you can in regard to this message of truth that is to go to the world. {2SM 63.1} [2SM 63.2] The Lord has not given you a message to call the Seventh-day Adventists Babylon, and to call the people of God to come out of her. All the reasons you may present cannot have weight with me on this subject, because the Lord has given me decided light that is opposed to such a message. {2SM 63.2} [2SM 63.3] I do not doubt your sincerity or honesty. I have written long letters at different times to those who were accusing the church of Seventh-day Adventists of being Babylon, that they were not handling the truth. You think individuals have prejudiced my mind. If I am in this state, I am not fitted to be entrusted with the work of God. But this 64 matter has been brought before my mind in other cases where individuals have claimed to have messages for the Seventh-day Adventist Church, of a similar character, and the word has been given me, "Believe them not." "I have not sent them, and yet they ran." {2SM 63.3} [2SM 64.1] A Few Cases Recalled Elder K, ［SEE P. 96, ALSO SELECTED MESSAGES, BK. I, PP. 176-184.］ a dying man, had his room filled with interested people, while he was at the hospital at Battle Creek. Many were deceived. The man seemed to be inspired. But the light that was given me was, "This work is not of God. Believe not the message." {2SM 64.1} [2SM 64.2] A few years since, a man named N, of Red Bluff, California, came to me to deliver his message. He said it was the loud cry of the third angel which was to lighten the earth with his glory. He thought God had passed all the leading workers and given him the message. I attempted to show him that he was mistaken. He said Seventh-day Adventists were Babylon, and when we told him our reasons and set the matter before him, that he was in error, he had great power come upon him, and he certainly gave a loud cry.... We had much trouble with him; his mind became unbalanced, and he had to be placed in the insane asylum. {2SM 64.2} [2SM 64.3] One, Garmire, ［SEE CH. 9.］ advocated and published a message in regard to the loud cry of the third angel; he accused the church in a similar manner to what you are now doing. He said the leaders in the church would all fall through self-exaltation, and another class of humble men would come to the front, who would do wonderful things. This man had daughters who claimed to have visions. {2SM 64.3} [2SM 64.4] This delusion was opened to me. This is an intelligent man, of an acceptable address, and self-denying and full of zeal and earnestness, and carrying an appearance of consecration and devotion. But the word of God came from God to me, "Believe them not, I have not sent them!" 65 {2SM 64.4} [2SM 65.1] He claimed to believe the testimonies. He claimed them to be true, and used them in the same manner you have used them to give force and appearance of truth to his claims. I told them this message was not of God; but it was deceiving the unwary. He would not be convinced. I told them the visions of his daughter ［Anna］ were spurious, yet these visions, he claimed, were like the visions of Sister White, testifying to the same things. This daughter was deceiving the family and several others who believed these false messages. I was shown that the young girl was not virtuous; but was corrupt.... {2SM 65.1} [2SM 65.2] If ever a man that I looked upon was inspired, this man certainly was; but I told him plainly his inspiration was of Satan, not of God. His message bore not the divine credentials. {2SM 65.2} [2SM 65.3] In order for him to give this message broadcast to the world, he made an honest, conscientious young man believe it to be his duty to steal the Review and Herald list. This is a State-prison crime, and the young man ran away from Battle Creek. He did not dare return to Battle Creek for some time. The time was set ［by this fanatical teacher］ for probation to close, and as every prediction failed, the young man saw he had been deceived, and he confessed his sin and is now an honorable member of the Battle Creek church. {2SM 65.3} [2SM 65.4] Only two years since another man, by the name of O, from Connecticut, came out with a message which he called new light in regard to the message of the third angel. This intelligent family have, through this delusion, separated from the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Because I had borne a decided testimony against this new light, so-called, in _____, Connecticut, where he lived, he opposed me and my work and testimonies. {2SM 65.4} [2SM 65.5] The father of the O children attended the Conference and Ministers' Bible Institute held in Battle Creek; but he held himself aloof and did not harmonize with the spirit of the meeting. He left for his home, and began to leaven the little church in _____. If I had not labored in that place they might have broken up the whole church with 66 their repudiating the truth and position of Seventh-day Adventists, and Mrs. White in particular. {2SM 65.5} [2SM 66.1] At this same time, one, Mrs. P, came from Washington, D.C., claiming to be wholly sanctified and to have the power of healing. This spirit led many to become bewildered. The same accusing spirit was with them--that is, that the church was all wrong and God was calling out a people who would work miracles. A large class of our people in Battle Creek were being severed. I was moved upon by the Spirit of God, in the night season, to write to our people in Battle Creek. {2SM 66.1} [2SM 66.2] The Message to the Laodiceans God is leading out a people. He has a chosen people, a church on the earth, whom He has made the depositaries of His law. He has committed to them sacred trust and eternal truth to be given to the world. He would reprove and correct them. The message to the Laodiceans is applicable to Seventh-day Adventists who have had great light and have not walked in the light. It is those who have made great profession, but have not kept in step with their Leader, that will be spewed out of His mouth unless they repent. The message to pronounce the Seventh-Day Adventist Church Babylon, and call the people of God out of her, does not come from any heavenly messenger, or any human agent inspired by the Spirit of God. {2SM 66.2} [2SM 66.3] The True Witness says, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 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. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne" (Revelation 3:18-21). 67 {2SM 66.3} [2SM 67.1] "I Rebuke and Chasten" Jesus is coming in to give the individual members of the church the richest blessings, if they will open the door to Him. He does not once call them Babylon, nor ask them to come out. But He says, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten" (with messages of reproof and warning) (Revelation 3:19). These reproofs I am not ignorant of. I have given warnings because the Spirit of the Lord has constrained me to do so, and have uttered reproofs because the Lord has given me words of reproof. I have not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God, which has been given me for the church. {2SM 67.1} [2SM 67.2] I will say in the fear and love of God, I know the Lord has thoughts of love and mercy to restore and heal them of all their backslidings. He has a work for His church to do. They are not to be pronounced Babylon, but to be as the salt of the earth, the light of the world. They are to be the living messengers to proclaim a living message in these last days. {2SM 67.2} [2SM 67.3] Babylon of Revelation 18 "And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double. How much 68 she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her" (Revelation 18:1-8). {2SM 67.3} [2SM 68.1] The whole chapter shows that Babylon that has fallen is the churches who will not receive the messages of warning the Lord has given in the first, second, and third angels' messages. They refused the truth and accepted a lie. They refused the messages of truth. See 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12. The message in the eighteenth chapter of Revelation is plain and clearly defined. "For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies" (verse 3). Anyone who reads this chapter need not be deceived. {2SM 68.1} [2SM 68.2] How Satan would exult to have a message go broadcast that the only people whom God has made the repositories of His law are the ones to whom this message applies. The wine of Babylon is the exalting of the false and spurious sabbath above the Sabbath which the Lord Jehovah hath blessed and sanctified for the use of man, also ［it is］ the immortality of the soul. These kindred heresies, and the rejection of the truth, convert the church into Babylon. Kings, merchants, rulers, and religious teachers are all in corrupt harmony. {2SM 68.2} [2SM 68.3] The Church Not to Be Broken Up Again I say, The Lord hath not spoken by any messenger who calls the church that keeps the commandments of God, Babylon. True, there are tares with the wheat; but Christ said He would send His angels to first gather the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into the garner. I know that the Lord loves His church. It is not to be disorganized or broken up into independent atoms. There is not the least consistency 69 in this; there is not the least evidence that such a thing will be. Those who shall heed this false message and try to leaven others will be deceived and prepared to receive advanced delusions, and they will come to nought. {2SM 68.3} [2SM 69.1] There is in some of the members of the church, pride, self-sufficiency, stubborn unbelief, and a refusing to yield their ideas, although evidence may be piled upon evidence which makes the message to the Laodicean church applicable. But that will not blot out the church that it will not exist. Let both tares and wheat grow together until the harvest. Then it is the angels that do the work of separation. {2SM 69.1} [2SM 69.2] I warn the Seventh-day Adventist Church to be careful how you receive every new notion and those who claim to have great light. The character of their work seems to be to accuse and to tear down. {2SM 69.2} [2SM 69.3] My brother, I would say to you, Be careful. Go not one step farther in the path you have entered upon. Walk in the light "while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you" (John 12:35). {2SM 69.3} [2SM 69.4] You complain of being treated coldly in Battle Creek. Did you go with a humble spirit to those who are spiritual and say, "Will you examine the Scriptures with me? Shall we pray over this matter? I have not the light, I want it; for error will never sanctify the soul." Can you be surprised that they would not give you all that confidence you might think they should, after the experience they have passed through? Should not the words of Christ have any weight? "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" (Matthew 7:15). "Lo here and lo there is Christ" will be multiplied. Let the believers heed the voice of the angel who has said to the church, "Press together." In unity is your strength. Love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous. God hath a church, and Christ hath declared, "The gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). The messengers the Lord sends bear the divine credentials. I have tender feelings toward you, but come to the light, I beseech of you.--Letter 16, 1893. 70 {2SM 69.4} [2SM 70.1] The Fruitage of an Underhanded Work It is essential that all shall know what atmosphere surrounds their own souls, whether they are in copartnership with the enemy of righteousness, and unconsciously doing his work, or whether they are linked up with Christ, doing His work, and seeking to establish souls more firmly in the truth. {2SM 70.1} [2SM 70.2] Satan would be pleased to have anyone and everyone become his allies to weaken the confidence of brother in brother, and to sow discord among those who profess to believe the truth. Satan can accomplish his purposes most successfully through professed friends of Christ who are not walking and working in Christ's lines. Those who in mind and heart are turning away from the Lord's special work for this time, those who do not cooperate with Him in establishing souls in the faith by leading them to heed His words of warning, are doing the work of the enemy of Christ. {2SM 70.2} [2SM 70.3] It is a most serious matter to go from house to house, and under pretense of doing missionary work, cast in the seed of mistrust and suspicion. Each one speedily germinates, and there is created a distrust of God's servants, who have His message to bear to the people. When God speaks through His servants, the seed ［of mistrust and suspicion］ sown has developed into a root of bitterness. The word falls upon hearts that will not hear, on hearts that will not respond. No earthly or heavenly power can find access to the soul. {2SM 70.3} [2SM 70.4] Who is accountable for these souls? Who shall eradicate that poisonous root of bitterness that has prevented them from receiving the word of the Lord? A good sister or a brother planted the evil seed, but how can that one restore the soul thus imperiled? The tongue that should have been used to the glory of God in speaking words of hope and faith and confidence in God's workmen has turned away a soul from Jesus Christ. Those who themselves despised the words of Christ, and refused to hear His voice and to be converted, have leavened other 71 minds with the leaven of evil surmisings and evilspeaking. {2SM 70.4} [2SM 71.1] This is the day of the Lord's preparation. We have no time now to talk unbelief and to gossip, no time now to do the devil's work. Let everyone beware of unsettling the faith of others by sowing seeds of envy, jealousy, disunion; for God hears the words, and judges, not by assertions, which are yea and nay, but by the fruit one's course of action produces. "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:20). The seed sown will determine the character of the harvest."--Manuscript 32a, 1896. {2SM 71.1} [2SM 71.2] Convincing Evidence Accompanies the Message Inspired by God When the Lord gives a man a message, He gives with it something whereby His people may know that the message is from Him. God does not ask his people to believe everyone who comes to them with a message. {2SM 71.2} [2SM 71.3] The Lord sends warnings to His people, not to destroy them, but to correct their errors.... {2SM 71.3} [2SM 71.4] We are living in perilous times. From the light I have, I know that Satan is trying to bring in that which will make people think they have a wonderful work to do. But when God gives a man a message, that man, by his meekness and lowliness, will give evidence that God is working through him. God lives and reigns, and He desires us to walk before Him in humility. He does not wish this man N to force himself before a congregation.... {2SM 71.4} [2SM 71.5] We are not going to be interrupted in meeting after meeting by those who claim they have a message to deliver. He who presses himself forward into a place where he is not wanted is not doing the work of God. We are to work like soldiers in an army. We are not to step out of the ranks, and begin to work on our own account.--Manuscript 30, 1901. {2SM 71.5} [2SM 72.1] Chap. 8 - Meeting the Claims of False Prophets - What We May Expect I have been shown many who will claim to be especially taught of God, and will attempt to lead others, and from mistaken ideas of duty they will undertake a work that God has never laid upon them. Confusion will be the result. Let everyone seek God most earnestly for himself that he may individually understand His will.--Letter 54, 1893. {2SM 72.1} [2SM 72.2] There will be those who will claim to have visions. When God gives you clear evidence that the vision is from Him, you may accept it, but do not accept it on any other evidence; for people are going to be led more and more astray in foreign countries and in America.--The Review and Herald, May 25, 1905. {2SM 72.2} [2SM 72.3] The Visions of a Misled Child ［IN COMMUNICATIONS ABOUT, OR TO, THE MR. GARMIRE REFERRED TO IN CHAPTER 7, IS COUNSEL AND INFORMATION WHICH MAY SERVE IN DEALING WITH THOSE WHO CLAIM TO HAVE SPECIAL LIGHT.--COMPILERS.］ I am compelled to state that I have not had the least faith in Mr. ［J. M.］ Garmire or his work. The pamphlet that was issued last fall at the time of our Jackson camp meeting had not the least sanction of our people. They were sent broadcast by stealing the Review and Herald list. 73 {2SM 72.3} [2SM 73.1] The daughter of Mr. Garmire claims, or he claims for her, to have visions; but they bear not the stamp of God. They are of the same character as many such things we have met in our experience--a delusion of Satan. {2SM 73.1} [2SM 73.2] I plainly stated at the Jackson camp meeting to these fanatical parties that they were doing the work of the adversary of souls; they were in darkness. They claimed to have great light that probation would close in October, 1884. {2SM 73.2} [2SM 73.3] I there stated in public that the Lord had been pleased to show me that there would be no definite time in the message given of God since 1844; and that I knew that this message, which four or five were engaged in advocating with great zeal, was heresy. The visions of this poor child were not of God. This light came not from heaven. Time was short; but the end was not yet. A great work was to be accomplished to prepare a people to be sealed with the seal of the living God.--An Exposure of Fanaticism and Wickedness (Pamphlet), pp. 9, 10 (1885). {2SM 73.3} [2SM 73.4] A Message to J. M. Garmire Satan has arranged things so that you should be ensnared. Fanaticism, deception, and strong delusion hold you captive. You have talked your ideas in your family, misinterpreting scripture, wresting the Word of God from its true interpretation, and have thus led them to believe that the views held and advocated by our people are not correct. Your interpretations of scripture are not in harmony with the positions taken by Seventh-day Adventists.... {2SM 73.4} [2SM 73.5] The mold you have given to your children's minds savors of the errors that have corrupted your own mind. You have educated them to see spots and stains in others, and to criticize them. By your words and example in thus talking against your brethren and picking up their faults, you have set in motion a train of circumstances that, through your own power combined with satanic agencies, has resulted in the visions of your daughter. All this fault-finding, this accusing of your brethren, is satanic.... 74 {2SM 73.5} [2SM 74.1] The Divine Credentials Your expressing so much faith in the testimonies, and making them so prominent, is no help to me or my work, because you place the false visions of your daughter on the same level with those the Lord gives to me, and thus lower the sacredness and exalted character of the work God has given me to do. {2SM 74.1} [2SM 74.2] The Lord has plainly shown me that what you regard as communications from God to you and others through your child Anna, are not from Him. They do not bear the divine credentials. It is another spirit that controls the child. It is the enemy that works in her. Such manifestations will be more and more common in these last days. They do not lead to unity, into all truth, but away from the truth. {2SM 74.2} [2SM 74.3] One decided evidence we have that these exercises are not of God, is that they concur with your views, which we know to be erroneous. Things she says she sees in vision are not sustained by the Word of God, but are contrary to it. Satan is constantly at work to imbue her with his own spirit, that through her, under a cloak of righteousness, he may bring in commonness, heresies, and defilement. As you regard her utterances as from God, your faith in the true testimonies is valueless; and thus Satan hopes to disconnect you, and all who have any confidence in your ideas, from the agencies that God has ordained, that you may be left to believe a lie. The Scriptures speak of those who are deceived and are being deceived. This is your case. You deceive your daughter; she deceives you--the blind leading the blind. The enemy seeks to accomplish his purposes by various means, as shall best meet the circumstances and situation of those whom he sees he can allure by temptation. {2SM 74.3} [2SM 74.4] I tell you plainly, the messages of your daughter Anna are not from God. This the Lord has shown me, and He will not lie. She may say many good things, may speak much that is truth, but so does the enemy of souls. The counterfeit 75 will in many respects resemble the true. It is the fruit borne that testifies of the character.... {2SM 74.4} [2SM 75.1] History Repeated In the work in which my husband and I were called by the providence of God to act a part, even from its very beginning in 1843 and 1844, we have had the Lord to devise and plan for us, and He has worked out His plans through His living agents. False paths have been so often pointed out to us, and the true and safe paths so clearly defined in all the enterprises connected with the work given us to do, that I can say of a truth I am not ignorant of Satan's devices, nor of the ways and works of God. We have had to tax every power of mind, relying upon wisdom from God to guide us in our investigations, as we have had to review the different theories brought to our attention, weighing their merits and defects in the light shining from the Word of God and the things God has revealed to me through His Word and the testimonies, in order that we might not be deceived nor deceive others. We surrendered our will and way to God, and most earnestly supplicated His aid; and we never sought in vain. Many years of painful experience in connection with the work of God have made me acquainted with all kinds of false movements. Many times I have been sent to different places with the message, "I have a work for you to do in that place; I will be with you." When the occasion came, the Lord gave me a message for those who were having false dreams and visions, and in the strength of Christ I bore my testimony at the Lord's bidding. The most terrible denunciations were hurled against me, which they said were from the Lord, because I was opposing His work. They said that terrible calamities would come upon me, just as your Anna has prophesied; but I passed along perfectly conscious of the guardianship of heavenly angels. {2SM 75.1} [2SM 75.2] During the past forty-five years, I have had to meet persons claiming to have from God messages of reproof to others. This phase of religious fanaticism has sprung up again and again since 1844. Satan has worked in many 76 ways to establish error. Some things spoken in these visions came to pass; but many things--in regard to the time of Christ's coming, the end of probation, and the events to take place--proved utterly false, as your prophesyings and Anna's have done. Yet they would try to excuse the blunders by twisting the statements about, and giving them another meaning, and go on in the same way, deceiving and being deceived. {2SM 75.2} [2SM 76.1] When I was first wrought upon by the Spirit of the Lord, I was shown that I would be brought in contact with those who claimed to see visions, but that the Lord would not permit me to be deceived. My work was to unveil this falsehood, and to rebuke it in the name of the Lord. As the end drew near, I was to see more of these manifestations. {2SM 76.1} [2SM 76.2] "I Have Not Sent Them" Letters have come to me from different ones, relating visions that they said God had given them; but the Lord Jesus tells me, "Believe them not; I have not sent them." Some write to me, saying that God has revealed to them that Sister White is in error, that she is influenced by the leaders to believe some things that are not true, and to reject some things that are true. But the word comes again, "Heed them not; I have not spoken by them, nor given them any word or message. They have spun lying words, from the suggestions of Satan." {2SM 76.2} [2SM 76.3] Some have come to me claiming to be Christ, and have apparently worked miracles. They have said that the Lord led me in many things, but the Sabbath was not a test question; that the law of God was not binding upon men; all we had to do was to accept Christ, and they themselves were Christ. I have had experience with all these pretentious claims, and I have no faith in them. "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20). {2SM 76.3} [2SM 76.4] In one place, four in one family professed to have communications from the Lord, reproving wrong, and they 77 predicted things that actually did take place. This inspired confidence in them. But the things that did not take place were kept in the dark, or were treated as something mysterious, which would be understood later. Whence did these receive their inspiration?--From satanic agencies, which are many. The Lord laid it upon me to meet these things, and bear a decided testimony against them.... {2SM 76.4} [2SM 77.1] I have seen several fall in vision; but when I rebuked the spirit which controlled them, they immediately came out of vision, and were in great distress of mind. {2SM 77.1} [2SM 77.2] Cheap, Common, Earthly Matters Such experiences as these came to be very common. Several in one family were under this species of deception. . . . Messages would be given for different members of the church, telling some poor trembling soul, "You are proud"; another, "You are unbelieving; you will be lost." The Lord gave me light in this instance to speak words of comfort and encouragement. I bore my testimony to those deceived ones, whether they would hear, or reject it. Their visions were Satan's work. The things revealed were often common, earthly matters, such as, who should get breakfast the next morning, who should prepare the dinner, who should wash the dishes. Mingled with these frivolous things were sacred truths, which they had found in the Bible and testimonies. Satan's hand was in all this, to disgust people, and cause them to spurn everything in the nature of visions. Thus the false and the true would be rejected together. And even those who were engaged in the deception, when they should become weary of it, would be inclined to doubt all visions. {2SM 77.2} [2SM 77.3] After a very solemn meeting with these deceived ones, confessions were made that they threw themselves into attitudes resembling Sister White, as nearly as they could. It was all a farce, a deception. Yet many things they told came to pass as they predicted. {2SM 77.3} [2SM 77.4] I was asked how this could be if the visions were all false. I told them that it was Satan's purpose to mingle truth with error, that through these deceptive exercises he 78 might make of none effect the genuine work of God. From that time all their many visions ceased. What has become of those who had the visions, and those who encouraged them? Several now living are skeptics, have no belief in the gifts of the church, no faith in the truth, no religion at all. Such, I have been shown, is the sure result of spurious visions. {2SM 77.4} [2SM 78.1] The manifestations of your daughter are a similar deception. And your encouraging these things in her will prove her ruin, and the ruin of others, unless something breaks the deception. You called these false visions and meaningless dreams the wonderful light of God, but it is like the chaff to the wheat. This is a serious matter. It will have a decided influence upon your family. While you regard your daughter's words as spoken under the influence of the Spirit of God, it will be the same to you as though they were true. You are under strong delusion of Satan. You will claim to credit them, and thus your confidence in the veritable, genuine messages from God will be uprooted. And so will it be with all who believe as you do. This is why Satan is so constantly pressing in the spurious-- to lead away from the truth. {2SM 78.1} [2SM 78.2] The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God. "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (Proverbs 29:18). Satan will work ingeniously, in different ways and through different agencies, to unsettle the confidence of God's remnant people in the true testimony. He will bring in spurious visions to mislead, and will mingle the false with the true, and so disgust people that they will regard everything that bears the name of visions as a species of fanaticism; but honest souls, by contrasting false and true, will be enabled to distinguish between them.... {2SM 78.2} [2SM 78.3] Take Heed How Ye Hear Oh, how deceptive is the human heart! How easy it is to harmonize with that which is evil! There is nothing more detrimental to the soul's interest, its purity, its true and holy conceptions of God, and of sacred and eternal things, 79 than constantly giving heed to and exalting that which is not from God. It poisons the heart, and degrades the understanding. Pure truth can be traced to its divine Source, by its elevating, refining, sanctifying influence upon the character of the receiver. The Author of all truth prayed to His Father, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me" (John 17:20, 21). Things will be constantly arising to cause disunion, to draw away from the truth. This questioning, criticizing, denouncing, passing judgment on others, is not an evidence of the grace of Christ in the heart. It does not produce unity. Such work has been carried on in the past by persons claiming to have wonderful light, when they were deep in sin. Heresy, dishonesty, and falsehood were all blended in them. {2SM 78.3} [2SM 79.1] The present is a time of great peril to the people of God. God is leading out a people, not an individual here and there. He has a church on the earth, that abide in the truth; and when we see, not only men, but young girls, crying out against the church, we are afraid of them. We know God has not sent them, yet they ran, and all who do not accept their erratic ideas are denounced as warring against the Spirit of the Lord. All such things are in Satan's line, but the work of God will go forward while there are now and ever will be those who work directly against the prayer of Christ. The work will advance, leaving them with their satanic inventions far behind. . . . {2SM 79.1} [2SM 79.2] "Take heed, therefore, how ye hear" (Luke 8:18), is an admonition of Christ. We are to hear for the sake of learning the truth, that we may walk in it. And again: "Take heed what ye hear" (Mark 4:24). Examine closely, "prove all things" (1 Thessalonians 5:21), "believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). This is the counsel of God; shall we heed it?-- Letter 12, 1890. {2SM 79.2} [2SM 80.1] Chap. 9 - Earmarks of Erroneous Teaching - Further Communications to Mr. Garmire Since visiting your house Sabbath afternoon, August 23, some things have rested on my mind to say to you. I have no hesitancy in saying that Anna's visions are not of God. The dreams that the members of your family have had are a deception of Satan. . . . {2SM 80.1} [2SM 80.2] Satan saw that he could work upon your fruitful imagination, and lead you, with others, into his net. Did God give you that time message? No; for no such message comes from the true Source of light. . . . Time has proved you to be a false prophet, and Anna's visions false exercises. God never works in this way. {2SM 80.2} [2SM 80.3] Satan has other and stronger delusions prepared for you. You will claim, if you have not already done so, that you have a work to do in connection with Anna's visions, corresponding to that of the mighty angel that came down from heaven, whose glory lightened the earth. Satan sees that your mind is all ready to be impressed with his suggestions, and he will use you to your own ruin, unless in the name of the Lord you break the shackles that bind you. . . . {2SM 80.3} [2SM 80.4] Several times, during our conversation, in which you became very much in earnest, you repeated the sentence, 81 "O consistency, thou art a jewel!" I repeat the same with decided force to you. You say that Anna's visions place the forming of the image of the beast after probation closes. This is not so. You claim to believe the testimonies; let them set you right on this point. The Lord has shown me clearly that the image of the beast will be formed before probation closes; for it is to be the great test for the people of God, by which their eternal destiny will be decided. {2SM 80.4} [2SM 81.1] Your position is such a jumble of inconsistencies that but few will be deceived. . . . {2SM 81.1} [2SM 81.2] You have taken the history of the disobedient prophet, as given in the Old Testament, and applied it to Sister White. You say she is perfectly honest, but the deceived prophet. For this reason the testimonies of the Spirit of God can have no effect on you. Has the Lord opened to you or your daughter, your wife or your children, the disobedience of Sister White? If she has walked contrary to God, will you show in what? My duty is to make plain statements of my position; for you misinterpret my testimony, wrench it from its true meaning, and ring in my name whenever you think it will enforce whatever you have to say. But when the testimonies do not harmonize with your theories, I am excused, because I am the false prophet! There are many ways of evading the truth. {2SM 81.2} [2SM 81.3] You seem to have special bitterness against Elder ［Uriah］ Smith, and some others of our brethren, and you have talked out these feelings in your family, thus leavening them. The Lord has seen fit to counsel Elder Smith, to give him words of reproof because he had erred; but is this an evidence that God has forsaken him?--No. "As many as I love I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent" (Revelation 3:19). The Lord reproves wrongs in His people, but is this an evidence that He has rejected them?--No. There are errors in the church, and the Lord points them out by His own ordained agencies, not always through the testimonies. Now shall we seize these reproofs and make capital of them, and say that God is not imparting to them His light and love?--No. The very work that 82 God is trying to do for them shows that He loves them, and wants to draw them away from paths of danger. {2SM 81.3} [2SM 82.1] God has spoken in reference to yourself. That which you term light from heaven, He has pronounced darkness, and the visions born of this error, He calls a delusion. Will you believe this testimony? Will you heed what the Lord has spoken through Sister White, or will you cast the word of the Lord behind you? Will you quote this testimony as readily, and make capital of it, as you have of testimonies of reproof given your brethren who have erred in some things? "O consistency, thou art a jewel!"--Letter 11, 1890. {2SM 82.1} [2SM 82.2] A Wrong and Right Use of Inspired Counsel ［ADDRESSED TO MR. GARMIRE.--COMPILERS.］ My brother, you have been deceived yourself, and have deceived others. You have not searched the Scriptures in the right way. You must search them to learn the mind of God, not to prove your theory. You read the Word of God in the light of your own views. You build up a false structure, and then barricade it with texts which you claim prove it to be true; but you pass over those passages which prove it to be untrue. You say, "The Bible is my foundation of faith." But is it? I answer, The Bible does not sustain your position. Again you say, "Show me by the Bible that I am wrong, and I will give up my views." But how can you be convinced by the Bible as long as you wrest and misapply its utterances? By so doing you cut off the only source by which God might reach and convict you. {2SM 82.2} [2SM 82.3] The only true way to search the Scriptures is to lay down every prejudice, every preconceived opinion, at the very door of investigation, and then enter into the work with an eye single to the glory of God, with an understanding open to conviction, and a heart softened to believe what the Lord says to you. {2SM 82.3} [2SM 82.4] The opinions of men in regard to the interpretation of Scripture are many and varied; but the Scriptures are not changed to suit men's ideas. The blessed Book is yea and amen; it remains firm, eternal. The commentaries of men 83 do not all agree, but the great and blessed facts remain the same. God's Word is immutable; "it is written." {2SM 82.4} [2SM 83.1] You have also taken from their connection portions of the testimonies which the Lord has given for the benefit of His people, and have misapplied them to the support of your erroneous theories--borrowing or stealing the light of Heaven to teach that which the testimonies have no harmony with, and have ever condemned. Thus you place both scripture and testimony in the framework of error. All who are in error do as you have done. . . . You do not have real faith in the testimonies. If you did, you would have received those which pointed out your delusion. You have been drinking at polluted streams. . . . {2SM 83.1} [2SM 83.2] You have been prepared to accept Satan's suggestions to give to the world something new and strange and startling, something in opposition to the positions that have been so long held as truth by our people. Your daughter's false productions have exalted you to do a great work. You have been flattered and have made yourself an agent of the enemy in bringing about results which it is impossible for you to estimate. You have published heresies and theories which could only excite animosity. The result is lamentable to your family and to all who are in sympathy with the false theories you have advanced. Brother Garmire, there is a work for you to do for yourself which no one can do for you, which is to humble your heart before God, confess your sins, and be converted. {2SM 83.2} [2SM 83.3] Criticism and its Fruitage The Lord has a people, and He is leading them. Though there certainly are things existing in the church which are not right, Jesus has not placed you at the helm, to guide the church. Unless you change your attitude, you cannot be saved. "Repent, and do the first works" (Revelation 2:5), is the only condition upon which God can restore you to favor. Those whom the Lord pardons, He first makes penitent. The genuine work of the Spirit of God in the heart is necessary in your case, if you are ever recovered from the snare of the enemy. I have but little hope in 84 your case, for your principles are tainted. You are a man of deceptive character; yet you claim great things for yourself. {2SM 83.3} [2SM 84.1] Satan has succeeded in making you think that you are selected by God to act a special part as a representative man in connection with the third angel's message, as it goes forth with power. But you are not right with God, and God cannot administer to error. You make the most of the errors you see in the responsible men of the church, and make capital of the reproofs given them, because these men do not harmonize with you, or regard as correct the religious experience which you hold as superior to the light God has let shine upon the church. Who placed you on the judgment seat, to condemn others?--Not God, but yourself. . . . {2SM 84.1} [2SM 84.2] The words you have spoken in condemnation of your brethren, have not been few. It seems to be your meat and drink to condemn. Your spiritual experience is composed of that which you give it to feed upon. You also love to present your false ideas before your family, and before anyone who will hear you. Can you be surprised, then, that the unholy leaven has worked? You may call this blasphemy, if you will, but it is what the Lord has shown me. Anna's visions come in to confirm you in your wrong views. You are deceiving and being deceived. Satan has so arranged matters that you have barricaded your soul with falsehood.--Letter 12, 1890. {2SM 84.2} [2SM 84.3] There Will Always be False and Fanatical Movements There will always be false and fanatical movements made by persons in the church who claim to be led of God --those who will run before they are sent, and will give day and date for the occurrence of unfulfilled prophecy. The enemy is pleased to have them do this, for their successive failures and leading into false lines cause confusion and unbelief.--Letter 28, 1897. {2SM 84.3} [2SM 85.1] Chap. 10 - The Visions of Anna Phillips ［IN 1893 ANNA PHILLIPS, A YOUNG WOMAN RESIDING IN BATTLE CREEK, WAS LED TO BELIEVE THAT HER IMPRESSIONS AND DREAMS WERE THE INTIMATIONS OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD. SHE WAS ENCOURAGED IN HER WORK WHEN HER SO-CALLED TESTIMONIES, PLACED IN THE HANDS OF A LEADING WORKER, WERE READ BY HIM BEFORE THE BATTLE CREEK CHURCH AS DIVINELY INSPIRED COMMUNICATIONS. THE NEXT MORNING THIS WORKER RECEIVED THE COMMUNICATION HERE PRESENTED. ON HEARING THIS READ, ANNA PHILLIPS DISCERNED AND ACKNOWLEDGED THE DELUSION, REPUDIATED HER PAST WORK, AND BECAME A TRUSTED, FRUITFUL BIBLE INSTRUCTOR IN THE WORK OF THE CHURCH.--COMPILERS.］ - Does Not Bear Signature of Heaven I know that we are living near the close of this earth's history; startling events are preparing for development. I am fully in harmony with you in your work when you present the Bible, and the Bible alone, as the foundation of our faith. Satan is an artful foe, and he will work where he is by many least expected. I have a message for you. Did you suppose that God had commissioned you to take the burden of presenting the visions of Anna Phillips, reading them in public, and uniting them with the testimonies the Lord has been pleased to give me? No, the Lord has not laid upon you this burden. He has not given you this work to do. . . . Do not belittle the work by mingling with it productions that you have no positive evidence are from the Lord of life and glory. . . . 86 {2SM 85.1} [2SM 86.1] My dear brother, I wish to present before you some things concerning the dangers that threaten the work at the present time. The work of Anna Phillips does not bear the signature of Heaven. I know what I am talking about. In our first experience in the infancy of this cause we had to meet similar manifestations. Many such revelations were given, and we had a most disagreeable work in meeting this element and giving it no place. Some things stated in these revelations were fulfilled, and this led some to accept them as genuine. . . . {2SM 86.1} [2SM 86.2] God has not called Anna Phillips to follow on after the testimonies He has given to His people, and repeat their purport. But such her work is and has been. Persons did exactly the same thing in the first experience in this cause. We had every phase of these false revelations to meet. {2SM 86.2} [2SM 86.3] How is it, my brother, that you have taken up these communications, and presented them before the people, weaving them in with the testimonies God has given Sister White? Where is your evidence that these are of God? You cannot be too careful how you hear, how you receive, how you believe. You cannot be too careful how you talk of the gift of prophesying, and state that I have said this and that in reference to this matter. Such statements, I well know, encourage men and women and children to imagine that they have special light in revelations from God, when they have not received such light. This, I have been shown, would be one of Satan's masterpieces of deception. You are giving to the work a mold which it will take precious time and wearing soul labor to correct, to save the cause of God from another spasm of fanaticism. . . . {2SM 86.3} [2SM 86.4] Much Good and Just a Little Seed of Error Do you not think I know something about these matters? All along our pathway to the heavenly Canaan we see many souls that have made shipwreck of faith, and in their false movements have led others astray through the supposition that they were led of God in special revelations. I have had to write many, many pages to correct these errors. I have been burdened and oppressed night 87 after night, unable to sleep because of the agony of my soul for God's heritage, His people, who are in danger of being misled. Many things in these visions and dreams seem to be all straight, a repetition of that which has been in the field for many years; but soon they introduce a jot here, a tittle of error there, just a little seed which takes root and flourishes, and many are defiled therewith. {2SM 86.4} [2SM 87.1] Oh, I wish that we had far greater wisdom in all things than we now have! One thing every worker in the vineyard of the Lord must learn, that is, to practice the prayer of Christ, to move as one in Christ Jesus. Jesus prayed that His disciples might be one, as He is one with the Father. The enemy is at work, to divide, to scatter. Now as never before he will make determined efforts to scatter our forces. Above every other period it is unsafe now for us to move out in lines of our own. The truth for this time is broad in its outlines, far reaching, embracing many doctrines; but these doctrines are not detached items, which mean little; they are united by golden threads, forming a complete whole, with Christ as the living center. The truths we present from the Bible are as firm and immovable as the throne of God. {2SM 87.1} [2SM 87.2] My brother, why should Elder R and yourself pursue the course you have taken in regard to Anna Phillips without a greater certainty that the Lord has chosen her as His mouthpiece to the people, His channel through which to communicate light? If you accept everything of this order that shall come up purporting to be a revelation from God, if you continue to encourage these supposed prophets as you have done, giving the influence of your testimony to sustain their work, you will not be a safe keeper of the Lord's heritage. The warnings Christ has given mean something to us. See Matthew 24:21-23. {2SM 87.2} [2SM 87.3] Satan will work with all deceivableness of unrighteousness to personate Jesus Christ; if it were possible, he would deceive the very elect. Now if the counterfeit bears so close a resemblance to the genuine, is it not essential to be on your guard, that no man deceive you? Christ enforces His warnings, saying, "Behold, I have told you 88 before" (Matthew 24:25). Brethren, preach the Word, call not the people to rest their faith upon uncertain things or to place confidence in the human agent. I have the word from the Lord. I was shown Elder R before a number of persons reading from the professed revelations of Anna Phillips. A noble, dignified Person was present, and with a grieved expression upon His countenance He removed the written document, placed in Brother R's hand the Bible, and said, "Take the Word of God as your textbook, 'All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works'" (2 Timothy 3:16, 17). {2SM 87.3} [2SM 88.1] Those who search the Scriptures will find explicit instruction as to what God requires of them on points of practical religious life. You are making a mistake in calling the attention of the flock of God from the Word, the unerring word of prophecy. Take heed what you hear, and be cautious what you receive. There is need of caution lest the minds of the little flock shall be found accrediting that which is not the genuine work of the Holy Spirit. There is very great danger here. Satan is ever seeking to introduce spurious material into the work, in order that he may mar the testimony, and bring discredit upon the truth. He would mingle with it an element that would be a stumbling block in the pathway of God's people. {2SM 88.1} [2SM 88.2] The commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus is the message we have to bear to the world. The Word of God is not one-sided, it is truth to be practiced. It is light extending on every side like the rays of the sun. It is light to lighten every man who will read and understand and practice its teachings. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him" (James 1:5).--Letter 103, 1894. {2SM 88.2} [2SM 88.3] "Believe Them Not" I have a message to you from the Lord. Brother R is not engaged in the work which the Lord would have him 89 do. God has given to every man his work, and Brother R is stepping out of the lines to which the Lord has appointed him. He cannot see the outcome of this work which he has taken up. Anna Phillips is being injured, she is led on, encouraged in a work which will not bear the test of God. {2SM 88.3} [2SM 89.1] Anna Garmire was thus injured. Her father and mother made her believe that her childish dreams were revelations from God. Her father talked to the child as one chosen of God; all her fancies and dreams were written down as Anna's visions. She had figures and symbols presented to her, and had reproofs for her mother and for her father. After a scathing reproof, there followed the most flattering representations of the wonderful things the Lord would do for them. These things I was pointed to as spurious, a deception. They descended to the most minute and trifling matters, commingled common, cheap things with important subjects. The imagination was largely developed, there was a mingling of the sacred and the common. The truth of God was belittled, and yet some received these pretended revelations, and carried out their teaching. A little party was formed who were apparently inspired by them, and the visions were declared to be more spiritual than the visions of Sister White.... {2SM 89.1} [2SM 89.2] The Mingling of the Sublime and the Ridiculous I have received from God the warning which I now send to you. Anna Phillips should not have been given the encouragement she has had; it has been a great injury to her--fastened her in a deception. I am sorry that any of our brethren and sisters are ready to take up with these supposed revelations, and imagine they see in them the divine credentials. These things are not of the right character to accomplish the work essential for this time. Childish figures and illustrations are employed in describing sacred, heavenly things, and there is a mingling of the sublime and the ridiculous. While the work has an appearance of great sanctity, it is calculated to ensnare and mislead souls.... 90 {2SM 89.2} [2SM 90.1] Various things will appear claiming to be revelations from God, but which flow from the imagination of a conceited and deceived mind. We had to meet these things in our early experience. There were youth and children as well as those of mature age who claimed to be led and taught of God, having a special message to declare. They were springing up on every side, having the truth on some points, and error upon other points. For years the message from God came to me, "Believe them not, for they lead into false paths. God hath not sent them." --Letter 4, 1893. {2SM 90.1} [2SM 90.2] Test All So-Called Visions As the report has been quite widely circulated that Sister White has endorsed what has been written and circulated as revelations from God to Miss Anna Phillips, I feel that it is my duty to speak. I have not endorsed these productions. Warnings have been given to me in reference to them, that they will most certainly mislead. Woven in them will be statements that will lead to extremes, and to wrong actions on the part of those who accept them. It would be well for our brethren and sisters to move more cautiously, in accordance with the light given them. They should test these so-called visions before accepting them, and presenting them in connection with the light God has given me. I see that our people are in danger of making grave blunders and premature movements. God says of these prophets that are springing up, "I have not sent them, and yet they ran. Believe them not." {2SM 90.2} [2SM 90.3] But that which grieves me is that some of our brethren have associated the exercise of Anna Phillips with the testimonies of Sister White, and have presented the two to the people as one and the same thing. Many have accepted the whole as proceeding from me. And when the result of such productions shall be seen in their true character, when falsehoods are presented as truths from God, and individuals act upon these things, believing them to be a message from the Lord, movements will be 91 made that bear not the divine credentials, doubt will be cast upon the true work of the Spirit of prophecy. And the testimonies that God sends to the people will bear the stigma of these false utterances. These revelations are largely a repetition of that which has been before the people in publication for years; and yet mingled with this are some things that will lead astray.... {2SM 90.3} [2SM 91.1] I have a warning to give to our brethren, that they shall follow their Leader and not run ahead of Christ. Let there be no haphazard work in these times. Beware of making strong expressions which will lead unbalanced minds to think that they have wonderful light from God. The one who bears a message to the people from God must exercise perfect control. He should ever bear in mind that the path of presumption lies close beside the path of faith. In no case should he make use of extravagant expressions, for a certain class are sure to be affected, and influences are set in motion that can no more be controlled than can an impetuous horse. Once let impulse and emotion get the mastery over calm judgment, and there may be altogether too much speed, even in traveling a right road. He who travels too fast, will find it perilous in more ways than one. It may not be long before he will branch off from the right road into a wrong path. {2SM 91.1} [2SM 91.2] Not once should feeling be allowed to get the mastery over judgment. There is danger of excess in that which is lawful, and that which is not lawful will surely lead into false paths. If there is not careful, earnest, sensible work, solid as a rock, in the advancement of every idea and principle, and in every representation given, souls will be ruined.... The greatest care should be exercised concerning those who claim to receive revelations from God. There needs to be much close watching and much praying. Those who are acting a part in the great work for these last days need to counsel together in regard to every new thing that shall be introduced, for no one man's mind is to be left to judge of, or to place before the public, important matters which have a relation to the cause of God.--Letter 6a, 1894. 92 {2SM 91.2} [2SM 92.1] Without Sufficient Evidence I want to say just as little as possible in regard to Anna Phillips. The less this matter is talked over and agitated, the better. There is a "dead fly in the ointment." Before this reaches you, you will have received a letter giving a more complete statement in regard to what we may expect in the case. I am more sorry than I can express to you that the matter has been handled unwisely. We shall have scores of just such developments, and if our leading brethren shall catch up things of this character and endorse them as they have done in this case, we shall have one of the most sweeping tidal waves of fanaticism that has been seen in our experience. There will be the wildest performances. Satan has already begun his work. To give ready credence to these things, and make loose, unguarded statements endorsing them without sufficient evidence of their genuine character, is one of Satan's devices. The Lord Jesus has certainly given cautions sufficient in regard to this matter, so that none need be deceived. {2SM 92.1} [2SM 92.2] In such cases as these, it is essential that we let our moderation be seen. The Lord is at hand. We cannot afford to work in such a way as those have done who have given the productions of Anna Phillips to our churches without clear and certain evidence that God is speaking to His people through her. For our ministers to rush a thing before the people as bearing the divine credentials, unless they know for a surety that it is of God, will do a work that God has told them not to do. Many things intended to deceive will come, bearing some of the marks of truth. Just as soon as these shall be set forth as the great power of God, Satan is all ready to weave in that which he has prepared to lead souls from the truth for this time.... {2SM 92.2} [2SM 92.3] Error Bears Inscription of Truth Every conceivable message is coming to counterfeit the work of God, and always bearing the inscription of truth upon its banner.... 93 {2SM 92.3} [2SM 93.1] It is no light matter to substitute for God's revealed will, opinions and assertions, dreams, symbols, and figures from human, finite beings. Our actions, words, spirit, and influence are watched and criticized. Those whom God has chosen to be His ministers are to settle solidly into His Word, and let the Word of God be their authority.... {2SM 93.1} [2SM 93.2] At this time above all others, hasty judgment, opinions formed carelessly, without sufficient evidence, may lead to most disastrous results. When we trace from cause to effect, we shall find that harm has thus been done which in some cases can never be remedied. Oh, what wisdom and fine spiritual perceptions are needed in giving food to the flock of God, that it be pure provender, thoroughly winnowed. The natural, hereditary traits of the character need a firm curb, else earnest zeal, good purposes, will run into evil, and the excess of feeling will produce such impressions upon human hearts that they will be carried away by impulse and will allow impressions to become their guide. {2SM 93.2} [2SM 93.3] A curb must be kept upon the spiritual impulse, that no injudicious words shall be spoken, no overwrought ideas expressed, that shall cause impulsive persons to lose their bearings. There are some whose feelings are quickly stirred by strong assertions, and their imagination magnifies the statement to large dimensions; it all appears real to them, and they become fanatical. The spiritual experience is fevered, diseased. When persons yield their will in perfect submission to the will of God, and the spirit is humble and teachable, the Lord will correct them by His Holy Spirit, and lead them into safe paths.--Letter 66, 1894. {2SM 93.3} [2SM 93.4] "Nothing Objectionable" an Unsound Basis for Acceptance You may be perplexed to know just what is the best course to pursue in reference to the writings of Anna Phillips. I would suggest that nothing should be done rashly. I feel very tenderly toward this sister. I would not say or do anything to harm her. And as the writings have been so 94 eagerly grasped and scattered broadcast with so little test and proving, let there be no abrupt moves to call them in and destroy them as if they were poison. Where they have already been sent out with the sanction of our responsible men, let them remain. To make abrupt moves now would do harm. {2SM 93.4} [2SM 94.1] The great wonder to me is that our brethren should accept these writings because they could see nothing objectionable in them. Why did they not consider what there is in them that is of a character to be endorsed and sent forth with the power of influence which gives them their force? {2SM 94.1} [2SM 94.2] There are many things I shall not say now, which it will be necessary to say hereafter. While I would do nothing to hurt this sister, I would not dare to keep silent.... I am placed in a peculiar position, and this matter should never have been so treated as to make it necessary for me to speak on such a subject. It hurts my heart to do it, and were it not that I see the future dangers, I would not utter one word in regard to the matter, but would let it develop, and leave my brethren and sisters to pursue their own course in regard to these manifestations, which are not at all peculiar.... I fail to see in the writings of Sister Phillips anything of a character that should create such movements as have been made. And if things of this nature are to be so eagerly grasped, you will have plenty of them, varied in some respects, yet such as you could treat with as much confidence. I am so sorry, so sorry. {2SM 94.2} [2SM 94.3] You seem to think I should be able to point out just where the particularly objectionable sentiments lie. There is nothing so very apparent in that which has been written; you have been able to discover nothing objectionable; but this is no reason for using these writings as you have done. Your course in this matter is decidedly objectionable. Is it necessary that you should discern at once something that would produce harm to the people of God, to make you cautious? If nothing of this kind appears, is this a sufficient reason for you to set your endorsement to these writings? ... {2SM 94.3} [2SM 94.4] Do not spread abroad writings of this character without 95 more consideration and deep insight as to the after consequences of your course of action. . . . {2SM 94.4} [2SM 95.1] Fanaticism will appear in the very midst of us. Deceptions will come, and of such a character that if it were possible they would mislead the very elect. If marked inconsistencies and untruthful utterances were apparent in these manifestations, the words from the lips of the Great Teacher would not be needed. It is because of the many and varied dangers that would arise, that this warning is given. The reason why I hang out the danger signal is that through the enlightenment of the Spirit of God I can see that which my brethren do not discern. It may not be a positive necessity for me to point out all these peculiar phases of deception that they will need to guard against. It is enough for me to tell you, Be on your guard; and as faithful sentinels keep the flock of God from accepting indiscriminately all that professes to be communicated to them from the Lord. {2SM 95.1} [2SM 95.2] If we work to create an excitement of feeling, we shall have all we want, and more than we can possibly know how to manage. Calmly and clearly "preach the word" (2 Timothy 4:2). We must not regard it as our work to create an excitement. The Holy Spirit of God alone can create a healthy enthusiasm. Let God work, and let the human agent walk softly before Him, watching, waiting, praying, looking unto Jesus every moment, led and controlled by the precious Spirit which is light and life. {2SM 95.2} [2SM 95.3] The people want a sign, as in the days of Christ. Then the Lord told them that no sign should be given them. The sign that should be manifest now and always is the working of the Holy Spirit upon the mind of the teacher, to make the Word as impressive as possible. The Word of God is not a dead, dry theory, but spirit and life. Satan would like nothing better than to call minds away from the Word, to look for and expect something outside of the Word to make them feel. They should not have their attention called to dreams and visions. If they would have eternal life, they must eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God.--Letter 68, 1894. {2SM 95.3} [2SM 96.1] Chap. 11 - To Be on Guard - In God's Work All Is Quiet, Calm The enemy is preparing to deceive the whole world by his miracle-working power. He will assume to personate the angels of light, to personate Jesus Christ. Everyone who teaches the truth for this time is to preach the Word. Those who cling to the Word will not throw open the doors for Satan by making unguarded statements in reference to prophesying or to dreams and visions. To a greater or less degree, false manifestations have been coming in, here and there, since 1844, after the time when we looked for the second coming of Christ. We have had them in the Garmire case, in the statements of K, and in the Stanton movement. ［SEE TESTIMONIES TO MINISTERS, PP. 32 TO 62.］ We shall have them more and more, and like faithful sentinels we must be on guard. Letters are coming to me from many persons concerning visions which they have had and feel it their duty to relate. May the Lord help His servants to be cautious. {2SM 96.1} [2SM 96.2] When the Lord has a genuine channel of light, there are always plenty of counterfeits. Satan will surely enter any door thrown open for him. He will give messages of truth, mingling with the truth ideas of his own, prepared to mislead souls, to draw the mind to human beings and 97 their sayings, and prevent it from holding firmly to a "Thus saith the Lord." In God's dealings with His people, all is quiet; with those who trust in Him, all is calm and unpretending. There will be simple, true, earnest believers in the Bible, and there will be doers of the Word as well as hearers. There will be sound, earnest, sensible waiting upon God. The believer will hang his helpless soul on Jesus Christ. Christ will be exalted. Working and praying, watching and waiting, is our position.--Letter 102, 1894. {2SM 96.2} [2SM 97.1] A Message to One Claiming to have Visions ［WRITTEN FROM WASHINGTON, D.C., MAY 24, 1905.］ A question has been brought to me concerning the attitude that we should take toward the work of a sister in Germany, who claims to have visions. {2SM 97.1} [2SM 97.2] The word given me by the Lord during the past night is that God does not direct His people to look to this sister for counsel. If we should encourage this sister in the work she thinks she is called to do and in the messages she bears, much confusion would be caused. The Lord has not given her the work of saying what this one shall do, and what that one shall do. He says to His people, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30). "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord" (James 1:5-7). {2SM 97.2} [2SM 97.3] Teach the people to seek God individually for guidance, to study the Scriptures, and to counsel together, humbly, prayerfully, and with living faith. But do not encourage this sister to think that the Lord has given her messages for the people. The light given me regarding this 98 case is that should this sister be encouraged to think that she has been given messages for others, the result would be disastrous, and the sister would be in danger of losing her own soul. {2SM 97.3} [2SM 98.1] My message to the sister is, Walk humbly with God, and look to Him for yourself. God has not given you the work of pointing out the duty of others; but you can be a helper if you are a sincere Christian, seeking to encourage others, and not claiming supernatural revelations.--Manuscript 64, 1905. {2SM 98.1} [2SM 98.2] Tested by "The Law and the Testimony" In these days of delusion, every one who is established in the truth will have to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. Every variety of error will be brought out in the mysterious working of Satan, which would, if it were possible, deceive the very elect, and turn them from the truth. There will be human wisdom to meet--the wisdom of learned men, who, as were the Pharisees, are teachers of the law of God, but do not obey the law themselves. There will be human ignorance and folly to meet in disconnected theories arrayed in new and fantastic dress-- theories that it will be all the more difficult to meet because there is no reason in them. {2SM 98.2} [2SM 98.3] There will be false dreams and false visions, which have some truth, but lead away from the original faith. The Lord has given men a rule by which to detect them: "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20). If they belittle the law of God, if they pay no heed to His will as revealed in the testimonies of His Spirit, they are deceivers. They are controlled by impulse and impressions, which they believe to be from the Holy Spirit, and consider more reliable than the Inspired Word. They claim that every thought and feeling is an impression of the Spirit; and when they are reasoned with out of the Scriptures, they declare that they have something more reliable. But while they think that they are led by the Spirit of God, 99 they are in reality following an imagination wrought upon by Satan.--Bible Echo, September, 1886. {2SM 98.3} [2SM 99.1] Tested "By their Fruits" In these days of peril we are not to accept everything that men bring to us as truth. As professed teachers from God come to us declaring that they have a message from God, it is proper to inquire carefully, How do we know that this is truth? Jesus has told us that "false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many" (Matthew 24:11). But we need not be deceived; for the Word of God gives us a test whereby we may know what is truth. The prophet says, "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20). {2SM 99.1} [2SM 99.2] From this statement it is evident that it becomes us to be diligent Bible students, that we may know what is according to the law and the testimony. We are safe in no other course of action. Jesus says, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire" (Matthew 7:15-19).--The Review and Herald, Feb. 23, 1892. {2SM 99.2} [2SM 99.3] Voluntary Exhibition Evidence of Spurious Work As this brother and his wife outlined their experiences, which they claim have come to them as the result of receiving the Holy Ghost with apostolic power, it seemed to be a facsimile of that which we were called to meet and correct in our early experience. {2SM 99.3} [2SM 99.4] Toward the close of our interview, Brother L proposed that we unite in prayer, with the thought that possibly while in prayer his wife would be exercised as they had 100 described to me, and that then I might be able to discern whether this was of the Lord or not. To this I could not consent, because I have been instructed that when one offers to exhibit these peculiar manifestations, this is a decided evidence that it is not the work of God.--Letter 338, 1908. {2SM 99.4} [2SM 100.1] Bible Not Superseded by Miracles Let none cherish the idea that special providences or miraculous manifestations are to be the proof of the genuineness of their work or of the ideas they advocate. If we keep these things before the people, they will produce an evil effect, an unhealthful emotion. The genuine working of the Holy Spirit on human hearts is promised, to give efficiency through the Word. Christ has declared the Word to be spirit and life. "The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14, A.R.V.). {2SM 100.1} [2SM 100.2] Satan will work in a most subtle manner to introduce human inventions clothed with angel garments. But the light from the Word is shining amid the moral darkness; and the Bible will never be superseded by miraculous manifestations. The truth must be studied, it must be searched for as hidden treasure. Wonderful illuminations will not be given aside from the Word, or to take the place of it. Cling to the Word, receive the ingrafted Word, which will make men wise unto salvation. ［SEE FULLER CONTEXT ON PAGES 48, 49.］ {2SM 100.2} [2SM 101.1] Chap. 12 - The Three Angels and the Other Angel - ［OFTEN IN CONNECTION WITH ERRONEOUS TEACHINGS AND FALSE MOVEMENTS, THE ONE LEADING OUT IDENTIFIES HIS MESSAGE AND WORK WITH THAT OF THE OTHER ANGEL OF REVELATION 18:1. SOME ERRONEOUS TEACHINGS THROUGH THE YEARS HAVE INVOLVED AS WELL THE MESSAGES OF THE THREE ANGELS OF REVELATION 14. SUCH WAS THE CASE IN A SITUATION MET IN 1896 BY MRS. WHITE IN THE COMMUNICATIONS WHICH FOLLOW. THE REVIEW OF THE THREE ANGELS' MESSAGES IN THEIR BROAD WORK, WHILE LENGTHY, WILL BE TREASURED FOR ITS CONFIRMING STATEMENTS.--COMPILERS.］ {2SM 101.1} [2SM 101.2] A Mixture of Truth and Error I have not been able to sleep since half past one o'clock. I was bearing to Brother T a message which the Lord had given me for him. The peculiar views he holds are a mixture of truth and error. If he had passed through the experiences of God's people as He has led them for the past forty years, he would be better prepared to make the correct application of Scripture. The great waymarks of truth, showing us our bearings in prophetic history, are to be carefully guarded, lest they be torn down, and replaced with theories that would bring confusion rather than genuine light. I have been cited to the very erroneous theories that have been presented over and over again. Those who advocated these theories presented Scripture quotations, but they misapplied and misinterpreted them. The theories supposed to be correct were incorrect, and 102 yet many thought them the very theories to be brought before the people. The prophecies of Daniel and John are to be diligently studied. {2SM 101.2} [2SM 102.1] There are those now living who, in studying the prophecies of Daniel and John, received great light from God as they passed over the ground where special prophecies were in process of fulfillment in their order. They bore the message of time to the people. The truth shone out clearly as the sun at noonday. Historical events, showing the direct fulfillment of prophecy, were set before the people, and the prophecy was seen to be a figurative delineation of events leading down to the close of this earth's history. The scenes connected with the working of the man of sin are the last features plainly revealed in this earth's history. The people now have a special message to give to the world, the third angel's message. Those who, in their experience, have passed over the ground, and acted a part in the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels' messages, are not so liable to be led into false paths as are those who have not had an experimental knowledge of the people of God. . . . {2SM 102.1} [2SM 102.2] There have been one and another who in studying their Bibles thought they discovered great light, and new theories, but these have not been correct. The Scripture is all true, but by misapplying the Scripture men arrive at wrong conclusions. We are engaged in a mighty conflict, and it will become more close and determined, as we near the final struggle. We have a sleepless adversary, and he is constantly at work upon human minds that have not had a personal experience in the teachings of the people of God for the past fifty years. Some will take the truth applicable to their time, and place it in the future. Events in the train of prophecy that had their fulfillment away in the past are made future, and thus by these theories the faith of some is undermined. {2SM 102.2} [2SM 102.3] From the light that the Lord has been pleased to give me, you are in danger of doing the same work, presenting before others truths which have had their place and done their specific work for the time, in the history of the faith 103 of the people of God. You recognize these facts in Bible history as true, but apply them to the future. They have their force still in their proper place, in the chain of events that have made us as a people what we are today, and as such, they are to be presented to those who are in the darkness of error. The true workers of Jesus Christ are to cooperate with their brethren who have had an experience in the work from the very rise of the third angel's message. These followed on step by step, receiving light and truth as they advanced, bearing one test after another, lifting the cross that lay directly in their pathway, and pressing on to know the Lord, whose goings forth are prepared as the morning. You and other of our brethren must accept the truth as God has given it to His students of prophecy, as they have been led by genuine, living experience, advancing point by point, tested, proved, and tried, until the truth is to them a reality. From their voices and pens the truth in bright, warm rays has gone to all parts of the world, and that which was to them testing truth, as brought by the Lord's delegated messengers, is testing truth to all to whom this message is proclaimed. {2SM 102.3} [2SM 103.1] The burden of the warning now to come to the people of God, nigh and afar off, is the third angel's message. And those who are seeking to understand this message will not be led by the Lord to make an application of the Word that will undermine the foundation and remove the pillars of the faith that has made Seventh-day Adventists what they are today. The truths that have been unfolding in their order, as we have advanced along the line of prophecy revealed in the Word of God, are truth, sacred, eternal truth today. Those who passed over the ground step by step in the past history of our experience, seeing the chain of truth in the prophecies, were prepared to accept and obey every ray of light. They were praying, fasting, searching, digging for the truth as for hidden treasures, and the Holy Spirit, we know, was teaching and guiding us. Many theories were advanced, bearing a semblance of truth, but so mingled with misinterpreted and misapplied scriptures, that they led to dangerous 104 errors. Very well do we know how every point of truth was established, and the seal set upon it by the Holy Spirit of God. And all the time voices were heard, "Here is the truth," "I have the truth; follow me." But the warnings came, "Go not ye after them. I have not sent them, but they ran." (See Jeremiah 23:21.) {2SM 103.1} [2SM 104.1] The leadings of the Lord were marked, and most wonderful were His revelations of what is truth. Point after point was established by the Lord God of heaven. That which was truth then, is truth today. But the voices do not cease to be heard--"This is truth. I have new light." But these new lights in prophetic lines are manifest in misapplying the Word and setting the people of God adrift without an anchor to hold them. If the student of the Word would take the truths which God has revealed in the leadings of His people, and appropriate these truths, digest them, and bring them into their practical life, they would then be living channels of light. But those who have set themselves to study out new theories, have a mixture of truth and error combined, and after trying to make these things prominent, have demonstrated that they have not kindled their taper from the divine altar, and it has gone out in darkness.--Manuscript 31, 1896. {2SM 104.1} [2SM 104.2] The Three Angels' Messages in their Larger Setting The proclamation of the first, second, and third angels' messages has been located by the Word of Inspiration. Not a peg or pin is to be removed. No human authority has any more right to change the location of these messages than to substitute the New Testament for the Old. The Old Testament is the gospel in figures and symbols. The New Testament is the substance. One is as essential as the other. The Old Testament presents lessons from the lips of Christ, and these lessons have not lost their force in any particular. {2SM 104.2} [2SM 104.3] The first and second messages were given in 1843 and 1844, and we are now under the proclamation of the 105 third; but all three of the messages are still to be proclaimed. It is just as essential now as ever before that they shall be repeated to those who are seeking for the truth. By pen and voice we are to sound the proclamation, showing their order, and the application of the prophecies that bring us to the third angel's message. There cannot be a third without the first and second. These messages we are to give to the world in publications, in discourses, showing in the line of prophetic history the things that have been and the things that will be. {2SM 104.3} [2SM 105.1] The book that was sealed was not the book of Revelation, but that portion of the prophecy of Daniel which related to the last days. The Scripture says, "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased" (Daniel 12:4). When the book was opened, the proclamation was made, "Time shall be no longer." (See Revelation 10:6.) The book of Daniel is now unsealed, and the revelation made by Christ to John is to come to all the inhabitants of the earth. By the increase of knowledge a people is to be prepared to stand in the latter days. {2SM 105.1} [2SM 105.2] The Sabbath the Great Issue "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters" (Revelation 14:6, 7). {2SM 105.2} [2SM 105.3] This message, if heeded, will call the attention of every nation and kindred and tongue and people to a close examination of the Word, and to the true light in regard to the power that has changed the seventh-day Sabbath to a spurious sabbath. The only true God has been forsaken, His law has been discarded, His sacred Sabbath institution has been trampled in the dust by the man of sin. The fourth commandment, so plain and explicit, has been 106 ignored. The Sabbath memorial, declaring who the living God is, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, has been torn down, and a spurious sabbath has been given to the world in its place. Thus a breach has been made in the law of God. A false sabbath could not be a true standard. {2SM 105.3} [2SM 106.1] In the first angel's message men are called upon to worship God, our Creator, who made the world and all things that are therein. They have paid homage to an institution of the Papacy, making of no effect the law of Jehovah, but there is to be an increase of knowledge on this subject. {2SM 106.1} [2SM 106.2] The message proclaimed by the angel flying in the midst of heaven is the everlasting gospel, the same gospel that was declared in Eden when God said to the serpent, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15). Here was the first promise of a Saviour who would stand on the field of battle to contest the power of Satan and prevail against him. Christ came to our world to represent the character of God as it is represented in His holy law; for His law is a transcript of His character. Christ was both the law and the gospel. The angel that proclaims the everlasting gospel proclaims the law of God; for the gospel of salvation brings men to obedience of the law, whereby their characters are formed after the divine similitude. {2SM 106.2} [2SM 106.3] In the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah, the work of those who worship God, the Maker of the heavens and the earth, is specified: "They that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations" (Isaiah 58:12). God's memorial, His seventh-day Sabbath, will be uplifted. "Thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath ［no longer trample it under your feet］, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him,... I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for 107 the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it" (Isaiah 58:12-14). {2SM 106.3} [2SM 107.1] The history of the church and the world, the loyal and the disloyal, is here plainly revealed. The loyal under the proclamation of the third angel's message have turned their feet into the way of God's commandments, to respect, to honor, and glorify Him who created the heavens and the earth. The opposing forces have dishonored God by making a breach in His law, and when light from His Word has called attention to His holy commandments, revealing the breach made in the law by the papal authority, then, to get rid of conviction, men have tried to destroy the whole law. But could they destroy it? No; for all who will search the Scriptures for themselves will see that the law of God stands immutable, eternal, and His memorial, the Sabbath, will endure through eternal ages, pointing to the only true God in distinction from all false gods. {2SM 107.1} [2SM 107.2] Satan has been persevering and untiring in his efforts to prosecute the work he began in heaven, to change the law of God. He has succeeded in making the world believe the theory he presented in heaven before his fall, that the law of God was faulty, and needed revising. A large part of the professed Christian church, by their attitude, if not by their words, show that they have accepted the same error. But if in one jot or tittle the law of God has been changed, Satan has gained on earth that which he could not gain in heaven. He has prepared his delusive snare, hoping to take captive the church and the world. But not all will be taken in the snare. A line of distinction is being drawn between the children of obedience and the children of disobedience, the loyal and true and the disloyal and untrue. Two great parties are developed, the worshipers of the beast and his image, and the worshipers of the true and living God. {2SM 107.2} [2SM 107.3] The Angel of Revelation Ten The message of Revelation 14, proclaiming that the hour of God's judgment is come, is given in the time of the end; and the angel of Revelation 10 is represented as 108 having one foot on the sea and one foot on the land, showing that the message will be carried to distant lands, the ocean will be crossed, and the islands of the sea will hear the proclamation of the last message of warning to our world. {2SM 107.3} [2SM 108.1] "And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer" (Revelation 10:5, 6). This message announces the end of the prophetic periods. The disappointment of those who expected to see our Lord in 1844 was indeed bitter to those who had so ardently looked for His appearing. It was in the Lord's order that this disappointment should come, and that hearts should be revealed. {2SM 108.1} [2SM 108.2] Not one cloud has fallen upon the church that God has not prepared for; not one opposing force has risen to counterwork the work of God but He has foreseen. All has taken place as He has predicted through His prophets. He has not left His church in darkness, forsaken, but has traced in prophetic declarations what would occur, and through His providence, acting in its appointed place in the world's history, He has brought about that which His Holy Spirit inspired the prophets to foretell. All His purposes will be fulfilled and established. His law is linked with His throne, and satanic agencies combined with human agencies cannot destroy it. Truth is inspired and guarded by God; it will live, and will succeed, although it may appear at times to be overshadowed. The gospel of Christ is the law exemplified in character. The deceptions practiced against it, every device for vindicating falsehood, every error forged by satanic agencies, will eventually be eternally broken, and the triumph of truth will be like the appearing of the sun at noonday. The Sun of Righteousness shall shine forth with healing in His wings, and the whole earth shall be filled with His glory. 109 {2SM 108.2} [2SM 109.1] The Certainty of Prophecy All that God has in prophetic history specified to be fulfilled in the past has been, and all that is yet to come in its order will be. Daniel, God's prophet, stands in his place. John stands in his place. In the Revelation the Lion of the tribe of Judah has opened to the students of prophecy the book of Daniel, and thus is Daniel standing in his place. He bears his testimony, that which the Lord revealed to him in vision of the great and solemn events which we must know as we stand on the very threshold of their fulfillment. {2SM 109.1} [2SM 109.2] In history and prophecy the Word of God portrays the long continued conflict between truth and error. That conflict is yet in progress. Those things which have been, will be repeated. Old controversies will be revived, and new theories will be continually arising. But God's people, who in their belief and fulfillment of prophecy have acted a part in the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels' messages, know where they stand. They have an experience that is more precious than fine gold. They are to stand firm as a rock, holding the beginning of their confidence steadfast unto the end. {2SM 109.2} [2SM 109.3] A transforming power attended the proclamation of the first and second angels' messages, as it attends the message of the third angel. Lasting convictions were made upon human minds. The power of the Holy Spirit was manifested. There was diligent study of the Scriptures, point by point. Almost entire nights were devoted to earnest searching of the Word. We searched for the truth as for hidden treasures. The Lord revealed Himself to us. Light was shed on the prophecies, and we knew that we received divine instruction. . . . {2SM 109.3} [2SM 109.4] After the great disappointment there were few who set themselves to seek the Word with all their heart. But some souls would not settle down in discouragement and deny that the Lord had led them. To these the truth was opened point by point, and entwined with their most hallowed recollections and sympathies. The searchers after 110 truth felt that the identification of Christ with their nature and interest was complete. Truth was made to shine forth, beautiful in its simplicity, dignified with a power and invested with an assurance unknown before the disappointment. We could then proclaim the message in unity. {2SM 109.4} [2SM 110.1] But among those who had not held fast their faith and experience, there was great confusion. Every conceivable opinion was presented as the message of truth; but the Lord's voice was, "Believe them not; for I have not sent them." {2SM 110.1} [2SM 110.2] We walked carefully with God. The message was to be given to the world, and we knew that this present light was the special gift of God. The impartation of this gift was the prerogative of God. His disappointed ones, who were still seeking after truth, were led step by step to communicate to the world that which had been communicated to them. The prophetic declarations were to be repeated, and the truth essential for salvation was to be made known. The work moved hard at first. Often the hearers rejected the message as unintelligible, and the conflict began in decided earnest, especially upon the Sabbath question. But the Lord manifested His presence. At times the veil which concealed His glory from our eyes was drawn aside. We beheld Him in the high and holy place. {2SM 110.2} [2SM 110.3] The Lord will not lead minds now to set aside the truth that the Holy Spirit has moved upon His servants in the past to proclaim. {2SM 110.3} [2SM 110.4] Many will honestly search the Word for Light as those in the past have searched it; and they see light in the Word. But they did not pass over the ground in their experience, when these messages of warning were first proclaimed. Not having had this experience, some do not appreciate the value of the truths that have been to us as waymarks, and that have made us as a peculiar people what we are. They do not make a right application of the Scriptures, and thus they frame theories that are not correct. It is true that they quote an abundance of Scripture, and teach much that is true; but truth is so mixed with error as to lead to wrong conclusions. Yet because 111 they can weave Scripture into their theories, they think that they have a straight chain of truth. Many who did not have an experience in the rise of the messages, accept these erroneous theories, and are led into false paths, backward instead of forward. This is the enemy's design. {2SM 110.4} [2SM 111.1] The Threat of Misapplied Scripture Satan is working that the history of the Jewish nation may be repeated in the experience of those who claim to believe present truth. The Jews had the Old Testament Scriptures, and supposed themselves conversant with them. But they made a woeful mistake. The prophecies that refer to the glorious second appearing of Christ in the clouds of heaven they regarded as referring to His first coming. Because He did not come according to their expectations, they turned away from Him. Satan knew just how to take these men in his net, and deceive and destroy them. . . . {2SM 111.1} [2SM 111.2] The very same Satan is at work to undermine the faith of the people of God at this time. There are persons ready to catch up every new idea. The prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation are misinterpreted. These persons do not consider that the truth has been set forth at the appointed time by the very men whom God was leading to do this special work. These men followed on step by step in the very fulfillment of prophecy, and those who have not had a personal experience in this work, are to take the Word of God and believe on "their word" who have been led by the Lord in the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels' messages. These messages, received and acted upon, are doing their work to prepare a people to stand in the great day of God. If we search the Scriptures to confirm the truth God has given His servants for the world, we shall be found proclaiming the first, second, and third angels' messages. {2SM 111.2} [2SM 111.3] It is true that there are prophecies yet to be fulfilled. But very erroneous work has been done again and again, and will continue to be done by those who seek to find new light in the prophecies, and who begin by turning away 112 from the light that God has already given. The messages of Revelation 14 are those by which the world is to be tested; they are the everlasting gospel, and are to be sounded everywhere. But the Lord does not lay upon those who have not had an experience in His work the burden of making a new exposition of those prophecies which He has, by His Holy Spirit, moved upon His chosen servants to explain. {2SM 111.3} [2SM 112.1] According to the light God has given me, this is the work which you, Brother F, have been attempting to do. Your views have found favor with some; but it is because these persons have not discernment to see the true bearing of the arguments you present. They have had but a limited experience in the work of God for this time, and they do not see where your views would lead them, and you do not see yourself where they would lead. They are ready to assent to your statements; they see nothing in them but that which is correct. But they are misled because you have woven together much Scripture in constructing your theory. Your arguments appear conclusive to them. {2SM 112.1} [2SM 112.2] Not so, however, with those who have an experimental knowledge of the truth that applies in the last period of this earth's history. While they see that you hold some precious truth, they see also that you have misapplied Scripture, placing it in a framework of error where it does not belong, and making it give force to that which is not present truth. Because some accept that which you have written, do not become elated. It is most trying to your brethren who have confidence in you as a Christian and who love you as such, to state to you that the network of argument, which you have thought of so great consequence, is not the theory of truth that God has given His people to proclaim for this time. {2SM 112.2} [2SM 112.3] The light God has given me is that the Scriptures you have woven together you yourself do not fully understand. If you did, you would discern that your theories tear up the very foundation of our faith. {2SM 112.3} [2SM 112.4] My brother, I have had many testimonies to correct those who have started out in the same way you are now 113 traveling. These persons seemed sure that they were led by God, and they have come with their different theories to ministers who were preaching the truth. I said to these ministers, "The Lord is not in this; be not deceived, neither take the responsibility of deceiving others." At camp meetings I have had to speak plainly in regard to those who were thus leading away from right paths. With pen and voice I have borne the message, "Go not ye after them." {2SM 112.4} [2SM 113.1] Dealing With a Dying Man The hardest task I ever had to do in this line was in dealing with one who, I knew, wanted to follow the Lord. For some time he had thought he was obtaining new light. He was very ill, and must soon die. And oh, how my heart hoped he would not make it necessary for me to tell him just what he was doing. Those to whom he presented his views listened to him eagerly, and some thought him inspired. He had a chart made, and reasoned from the Scriptures to show that the Lord would come at a certain date, in 1894, I think. To many his reasoning seemed to be without a flaw. They told of his powerful exhortations in his sickroom. Most wonderful views passed before him. But what was the source of his inspiration? It was the morphine given him to relieve his pain. {2SM 113.1} [2SM 113.2] At our camp meeting at Lansing, Michigan, just before I came to Australia, I had to speak plainly in regard to this new light. I told the people that the words they had heard were not the truth of inspiration. The wonderful light, which presented such a show of truth, was the result of a misapplication of Scripture. The Lord's work would not close up in 1894. The word of the Lord to me was, "This is not truth, but will lead into strange paths, and some will become confused over this representation, and will give up the faith." . . . {2SM 113.2} [2SM 113.3] No True Message Fixes Time No one has a true message fixing the time when Christ is to come or not to come. Be assured that God gives no one authority to say that Christ delays His coming five years, ten 114 years, or twenty years. "Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 24:44). This is our message, the very message that the three angels flying in the midst of heaven are proclaiming. The work to be done now is that of sounding this last message of mercy to a fallen world. A new life is coming from heaven and taking possession of all God's people. But divisions will come in the church. Two parties will be developed. The wheat and tares grow up together for the harvest. {2SM 113.3} [2SM 114.1] The work will grow deeper and become more earnest to the very close of time. And all who are laborers together with God will contend most earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. They will not be turned from the present message, which is already lightening the earth with its glory. Nothing is worth contending for but the glory of God. The only rock that will stand is the Rock of Ages. The truth as it is in Jesus is the refuge in these days of error. . . . {2SM 114.1} [2SM 114.2] Messages Given for our Day Prophecy has been fulfilling, line upon line. The more firmly we stand under the banner of the third angel's message, the more clearly shall we understand the prophecy of Daniel; for the Revelation is the supplement of Daniel. The more fully we accept the light presented by the Holy Spirit through the consecrated servants of God, the deeper and surer, even as the eternal throne, will appear the truths of ancient prophecy; we shall be assured that men of God spake as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost. Men must themselves be under the influence of the Holy Spirit in order to understand the Spirit's utterances through the prophets. These messages were given, not for those that uttered the prophecies, but for us who are living amid the scenes of their fulfillment. {2SM 114.2} [2SM 114.3] I would not feel that I could present these things, if the Lord had not given me this work to do. There are others besides yourself, and more than one or two, who like you think they have new light, and are all ready to present it to 115 the people. But it would be pleasing to God for them to accept the light already given and walk in it, and base their faith upon the Scriptures, which sustain the positions held by the people of God for many years. The everlasting gospel is to be proclaimed by human agents. We are to sound the messages of the angels which are represented as flying in the midst of heaven, with the last warning to a fallen world. If we are not called upon to prophesy, we are called to believe the prophecies, and to cooperate with God in giving light to other minds. This we are trying to do. {2SM 114.3} [2SM 115.1] You can help us, my brother, in many ways. But I am commissioned of the Lord to say to you that you are not to be self-centered. Take heed how you hear, how you understand, and how you appropriate the Word of God. The Lord will bless you in drawing in even lines with your brethren. Those whom He has sent forth to proclaim the third angel's message have been working in unison with the heavenly intelligences. The Lord does not lay upon you a burden to proclaim a message that will bring discord into the ranks of believers. I repeat, He is not leading anyone by His Holy Spirit to frame a theory that will unsettle faith in the solemn messages He has given His people to bear to our world. {2SM 115.1} [2SM 115.2] I advise you not to regard your writings as precious truth. It would not be advisable for you to immortalize by putting in print that which has cost you so much anxiety. It is not the Lord's will that this matter should be brought before His people, for it will work to hinder the very message of truth they are to believe and practice in these last days of peril. . . . {2SM 115.2} [2SM 115.3] Theories will be continually agitated to divert the mind, to unsettle the faith. Those who have had the actual experience in the unfolding of the prophecies, have been made what they are today, Seventh-day Adventists, by these prophecies. They are to stand with their loins girt about with truth, and with the whole armor on. Those who have not had this experience are privileged to hold the message of truth with the same confidence. The light that God has been pleased to give His people will not weaken their 116 confidence in the path in which He has led them in the past, but will strengthen them to hold fast the faith. We must hold the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end. {2SM 115.3} [2SM 116.1] "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14:12). Here we stand, under the third angel's message. "And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities" (Revelation 18:1-5). {2SM 116.1} [2SM 116.2] The Message of the Other Angel Thus the substance of the second angel's message is again given to the world by that other angel who lightens the earth with his glory. These messages all blend in one, to come before the people in the closing days of this earth's history. All the world will be tested, and all that have been in the darkness of error in regard to the Sabbath of the fourth commandment will understand the last message of mercy that is to be given to men. {2SM 116.2} [2SM 116.3] Our work is to proclaim the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. "Prepare to meet thy God" (Amos 4:12), is the warning to be given to the world. It is a warning to us individually. We are called upon to lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us. There is a work for you, my brother, to do, to yoke up with Christ. Make sure that your building is on the rock. Do not risk eternity on a probability. You may 117 not live to participate in the perilous scenes on which we are now entering. The life of no one of us is assured for any given time. Should you not watch every moment? Should you not closely examine your own self, and inquire, What will eternity be to me? {2SM 116.3} [2SM 117.1] The great burden of every soul should be, Is my heart renewed? Is my soul transformed? Are my sins pardoned through faith in Christ? Have I been born again? Am I complying with the invitation, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28)? . . . Do you count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus? And do you feel it your duty to believe every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God?--Manuscript 32, 1896. {2SM 117.1} [2SM 117.2] Two Temple Cleansings--Two Calls Out of Babylon While you hold the banner of truth firmly, proclaiming the law of God, let every soul remember that the faith of Jesus is connected with the commandments of God. The third angel is represented as flying through the midst of heaven, crying with a loud voice, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14:12). The first, second, and third angels' messages are all linked together. The evidences of the abiding, ever-living truth of these grand messages, that mean so much to us, that have awakened such intense opposition from the religious world, cannot be extinguished. Satan is constantly seeking to cast his hellish shadow about these messages, so that the remnant people of God shall not clearly discern their import, their time, and place; but they live, and are to exert their power upon our religious experience while time shall last. {2SM 117.2} [2SM 117.3] The influence of these messages has been deepening and widening, setting in motion the springs of action in thousands of hearts, bringing into existence institutions of learning, publishing houses, and health institutions; all these are the instrumentalities of God to cooperate in the grand work represented by the first, second, and third 118 angels flying in the midst of heaven to warn the inhabitants of the world that Christ is coming again with power and great glory. {2SM 117.3} [2SM 118.1] The prophet says, "I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils" (Revelation 18:1, 2). This is the same message that was given by the second angel. Babylon is fallen, "because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication" (Revelation 14:8). What is that wine?--Her false doctrines. She has given to the world a false sabbath instead of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and has repeated the falsehood that Satan first told Eve in Eden--the natural immortality of the soul. Many kindred errors she has spread far and wide, "teaching for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matthew 15:9). {2SM 118.1} [2SM 118.2] When Jesus began His public ministry, He cleansed the Temple from its sacrilegious profanation. Among the last acts of His ministry was the second cleansing of the Temple. So in the last work for the warning of the world, two distinct calls are made to the churches. The second angel's message is, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication" (Revelation 14:8). And in the loud cry of the third angel's message a voice is heard from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities" (Revelation 18:4, 5).--The Review and Herald, Dec. 6, 1892. 120 {2SM 118.2} [2SM 120.1] Chap. 13 - Should Christians Be Members of Secret Societies? INTRODUCTION - EARLY IN HER SOJOURN IN AUSTRALIA (1891-1900) ELLEN WHITE WAS CALLED UPON TO GIVE COUNSEL TO A PROMINENT WORKER IN OUR PUBLISHING HOUSE WHO HAD BECOME DEEPLY INVOLVED IN THE ACTIVITIES OF THE MASONIC LODGE. THE COUNSEL SHE PRESENTED TO THIS BROTHER LED HIM TO SEVER HIS CONNECTIONS WITH THE LODGE IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT HE HAD ATTAINED THE HIGHEST DEGREE OF HONOR IN THE ORGANIZATION. {2SM 120.1} [2SM 120.2] WITHOUT CONDEMNING, MRS. WHITE POINTED OUT THAT THE CHRISTIAN CANNOT SERVE TWO MASTERS, OR RENDER ALLEGIANCE TO TWO AUTHORITIES. OUR BROTHER, WHO HAD BECOME SO INVOLVED IN LODGE ACTIVITIES THAT HIS WORK FOR THE CHURCH HAD BEEN SADLY NEGLECTED, RECOGNIZED THE SIMPLE TRUTH IN THE ELLEN G. WHITE COUNSELS, AND HIS CONFIDENCE IN THE MESSAGE WAS CONFIRMED AS MRS. WHITE--UNBEKNOWN TO HERSELF--GAVE THE SECRET SIGN USED ONLY BY MEMBERS OF THE LODGE. HE PROMPTLY SURRENDERED HIS MEMBERSHIP IN THE LODGE, ALTHOUGH HE HAD STOUTLY AFFIRMED ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS THAT NOTHING WOULD SHAKE HIS CONFIDENCE IN THE FRATERNAL ORGANIZATION OR LEAD HIM TO BREAK WITH IT. LOOKING BACK TO THIS EXPERIENCE IN LATER YEARS, HE TESTIFIED THAT THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY MESSAGE COMPLETELY CHANGED HIS LIFE. {2SM 120.2} [2SM 120.3] AT THIS TIME AND IN THIS CONNECTION, MRS. WHITE WROTE QUITE FULLY CONCERNING THE RELATIONSHIP OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS TO SUCH ORGANIZATIONS. THIS WAS PUBLISHED UNDER THE TITLE "SHOULD CHRISTIANS BE MEMBERS OF SECRET SOCIETIES?" IN PAMPHLET FORM, IT HAD WIDE CIRCULATION IN AUSTRALIA AND IN THE UNITED STATES, BUT IT HAS LONG BEEN OUT OF PRINT. THIS PAMPHLET IS REPRINTED HERE IN ITS ENTIRETY. {2SM 120.3} [2SM 120.4] THE SECOND CHAPTER IS COMPOSED OF COUNSELS FROM THE PEN OF MRS. WHITE RELATING TO THE ATTITUDE THAT SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS SHOULD TAKE TOWARD LABOR ORGANIZATIONS. THIS MATERIAL WAS PUBLISHED IN 1946 AS SECTION II IN THE PAMPHLET COUNTRY LIVING. IT APPEARS HERE IN THIS PERMANENT FORM FOR CONTINUED AND PRAYERFUL STUDY.--WHITE TRUSTEES. {2SM 120.4} [2SM 121.1] ［REPRINTED FROM A PAMPHLET BY THIS TITLE PUBLISHED IN 1893.］ - "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (2 Corinthians 6:14-18). {2SM 121.1} [2SM 121.2] The Lord's injunction, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers" (2 Corinthians 6:14), refers not only to the marriage of Christians with the ungodly, but to all alliances in which the parties are brought into intimate association, and in which there is need of harmony in spirit and action. The Lord gave special direction to Israel to keep themselves distinct from idolaters. They were not 122 to intermarry with the heathen nor form any confederacy with them: "Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: but ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: for thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God" (Exodus 34:12-14). {2SM 121.2} [2SM 122.1] "For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: but because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers. . . . Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations" (Deuteronomy 7:6-9). {2SM 122.1} [2SM 122.2] Again the Lord declares through the prophet Isaiah: {2SM 122.2} [2SM 122.3] "Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; ... Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread" (Isaiah 8:9-13). {2SM 122.3} [2SM 122.4] There are those who question whether it is right for Christians to belong to the Free Masons and other secret societies. Let all such consider the scriptures just quoted. If we are Christians at all, we must be Christians everywhere, and must consider and heed the counsel given to make us Christians according to the standard of God's Word. 123 {2SM 122.4} [2SM 123.1] Cooperation With Divine Agencies The people of God on earth are the human agents that are to cooperate with divine agencies for the salvation of men. To the souls that have joined themselves to Him, Christ says, "You are one with Me, 'labourers together with God'" (1 Corinthians 3:9). God is the great and unperceived actor; man is the humble and seen agent, and it is only in cooperation with the heavenly agencies that he can do anything good. It is only as the mind is enlightened by the Holy Spirit that men discern the divine agency. And hence Satan is constantly seeking to divert minds from the divine to the human, that man may not cooperate with Heaven. He directs the attention to human inventions, leading men to trust in man, to make flesh their arm, so that their faith does not take hold upon God. {2SM 123.1} [2SM 123.2] "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:22, 23). {2SM 123.2} [2SM 123.3] And when our light becomes darkness, how shall we be a light to the world? {2SM 123.3} [2SM 123.4] The work of our personal salvation also depends upon our cooperation with the divine agencies. God has imparted to us moral powers and religious susceptibilities. He has given His Son as a propitiation for our sins, that we might be reconciled to God. Jesus lived a life of self-denial and sacrifice, that we might follow His example. He has given the Holy Spirit to be in Christ's stead in every place where help is needed. He employs the heavenly intelligences to bring divine power to combine with our human efforts. But we must accept the gift of God, we must repent, and believe in Christ. We must watch, we must pray, we must obey the requirements of God. We must practice self-denial and self-sacrifice for Christ's sake. We must grow up into Christ by constant connection with Him. Whatever turns the mind away from God to trust in man, or conform to a human standard, will 124 prevent us from cooperating with God in the work of our own salvation. This is why the Lord forbade His people to form any alliance with the heathen, "lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee" (Exodus 34:12). He said, "They will turn away thy son from following me" (Deuteronomy 7:4). And the same principle applies to the association of Christians with the ungodly. {2SM 123.4} [2SM 124.1] In Covenant Relation When we accepted Christ as our Redeemer, we accepted the condition of becoming laborers together with God. We made a covenant with Him to be wholly for the Lord; as faithful stewards of the grace of Christ, to labor for the upbuilding of His kingdom in the world. Every follower of Christ stands pledged to dedicate all his powers of mind and soul and body to Him who has paid the ransom money for our souls. We engaged to be soldiers, to enter into active service, to endure trials, shame, reproach, to fight the fight of faith, following the Captain of our salvation. {2SM 124.1} [2SM 124.2] In your connection with worldly societies are you keeping your covenant with God? Do these associations tend to direct your own mind or that of others to God, or are they diverting the interest and attention from Him? Do they strengthen your connection with the divine agencies, or turn your mind to the human in place of the divine? {2SM 124.2} [2SM 124.3] Are you serving, honoring, and magnifying God, or are you dishonoring Him and sinning against Him? Are you gathering with Christ or scattering abroad? All the thought and plan and earnest interest devoted to these organizations has been purchased by the precious blood of Christ; but are you doing service for Him when uniting yourselves with atheists and infidels, men who profane the name of God, tipplers, drunkards, tobacco devotees? {2SM 124.3} [2SM 124.4] While there may be in these societies much that appears to be good, there is, mingled with this, very much that makes the good of no effect, and renders these associations detrimental to the interests of the soul. We have 125 another life than that which is sustained by temporal food. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have no life in you" (John 6:53). Jesus said, "Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life" (John 6:54). Our bodies are built up from what we eat and drink. And as in the natural, so in the spiritual economy; it is that which our minds dwell upon which sustains the spiritual nature. Our Saviour said, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life" (John 6:63). Spiritual life must be sustained by communion with Christ through His Word. The mind must dwell upon it, the heart must be filled with it. The Word of God laid up in the heart and sacredly cherished and obeyed, through the power of the grace of Christ can make man right, and keep him right; but every human influence, every earthly invention, is powerless to give strength and wisdom to man. It cannot restrain passion, or correct deformity of character. Unless the truth of God controls the heart, the conscience will be warped. But in these worldly societies the mind is turned away from the Word of God. Men are not led to make it the study and the guide of life. {2SM 124.4} [2SM 125.1] Is God Honored? I ask you who take pleasure in these associations, who love the gathering for indulgence in wit and merriment and feasting, Do you take Jesus with you? Are you seeking to save the souls of your companions? Is that the object of your association with them? Do they see and feel that there is in you a living embodiment of the Spirit of Christ? Is it manifest that you are a witness for Christ, that you belong to a peculiar people, zealous of good works? Is it manifest that your life is governed by the divine precepts, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" (Matthew 22:37), and, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour 126 as thyself" (Matthew 19:19)? To speak to the hearts and consciences of those that are ready to perish, is beyond the power of one who does not himself surrender all for Christ. But where do your fluency and warmth of speech show that your interest is centered? {2SM 125.1} [2SM 126.1] In these societies what are the favorite subjects of conversation? What are the themes that excite interest and give pleasure? Are they not the gratification of the senses --eating and drinking and pleasure seeking? The presence of Christ is unknown in these gatherings. No reference is made to Him. His companionship is not desired. Where and when is God honored by such associations? Wherein is the soul in the least benefited? If you do not influence your companions for good, are they not influencing you for evil? Will it do to lay aside the lamp of life, God's Word, and mingle freely with this class of associates, and come to their level? Do you think you can find something to satisfy the hunger of the soul apart from truth and the favor of God? Shall those who profess to believe the truth for this time be at home in such scenes, when God is not in all their thoughts? {2SM 126.1} [2SM 126.2] In the same room where these societies have had their gatherings, the congregations have met to worship God. Can you during the sacred hour of divine service forget the scenes of merriment and feasting, and indulgence in the wine cup? All this God writes in His book as intemperance. How does it blend with eternal realities? Do you forget that at all these pleasure gatherings there is a Witness present, as at the feast of Belshazzar? Could the curtain that separates us from the invisible world be rolled back, you would behold the Saviour grieved to see men absorbed in the pleasures of the table, in hilarity and witticism, that put Christ, the center of the world's hope, out of their thoughts. {2SM 126.2} [2SM 126.3] Those who cannot discern between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not, may be charmed with these societies that have no connection with God, but no earnest Christian can prosper in such an atmosphere. The vital air of heaven is not there. His soul is barren, and he 127 feels as destitute of the refreshing of the Holy Spirit as were the hills of Gilboa of dew and rain. {2SM 126.3} [2SM 127.1] At times the follower of Christ may by circumstances be compelled to witness scenes of unholy pleasure, but it is with a sorrowful heart. The language is not the language of Canaan, and the child of God will never choose such associations. When he is necessarily brought into society that he does not choose, let him lean upon God, and the Lord will preserve him. But he is not to sacrifice his principles in any case, whatever the temptation. {2SM 127.1} [2SM 127.2] Not of Christ Christ will never lead His followers to take upon themselves vows that will unite them with men who have no connection with God, who are not under the controlling influence of His Holy Spirit. The only correct standard of character is the holy law of God, and it is impossible for those who make that law the rule of life to unite in confidence and cordial brotherhood with those who turn the truth of God into a lie, and regard the authority of God as a thing of nought. {2SM 127.2} [2SM 127.3] Between the worldly man and the one who is faithfully serving God, there is a great gulf fixed. Upon the most momentous subjects--God and truth and eternity-- their thoughts and sympathies and feelings are not in harmony. One class is ripening as wheat for the garner of God, the other as tares for the fires of destruction. How can there be unity of purpose or action between them? {2SM 127.3} [2SM 127.4] "Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (James 4:4). {2SM 127.4} [2SM 127.5] "No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24). {2SM 127.5} [2SM 127.6] But we are to beware of indulging a spirit of bigotry and intolerance. We are not to stand aside from others in a spirit that seems to say, "Come not near me; I am holier than thou." Do not shut yourselves away from your fellow 128 men, but seek to impart to them the precious truth that has blessed your own heart. Let it be manifest that yours is the religion of love. {2SM 127.6} [2SM 128.1] "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). {2SM 128.1} [2SM 128.2] But if we are Christians, having the Spirit of Him who died to save men from their sins, we shall love the souls of our fellow men too well to countenance their sinful pleasures by our presence or our influence. We cannot sanction their course by associating with them, partaking in their feasts and their councils, where God does not preside. Such a course, so far from benefiting them, would only cause them to doubt the reality of our religion. We should be false lights, by our example leading souls to ruin. {2SM 128.2} [2SM 128.3] I lately read of a noble ship that was plowing its way across the sea, when at midnight, with a terrific crash, it struck upon a rock; the passengers were awakened only to see with horror their hopeless condition, and with the ship they sank to rise no more. The man at the helm had mistaken the beacon light, and hundreds of souls were at a moment's warning launched into eternity. If we present a phase of character that misrepresents Christ, we present a false light, and souls will surely be misled by our example. {2SM 128.3} [2SM 128.4] Danger of Spiritual Declension And Christians who connect themselves with worldly associations are injuring themselves as well as misleading others. Those who fear God cannot choose the ungodly for companions, and be themselves unharmed. In these societies they are brought under the influence of worldly principles and customs, and through the power of association and habit the mind becomes more and more conformed to the worldling's standard. Their love for God grows cold, and they have no desire for communion with Him. They become spiritually blind. They can see no particular difference between the transgressor of God's 129 law and those who fear God and keep His commandments. They call evil good, and good evil. The brightness of eternal realities fades away. The truth may be presented to them in ever so forcible a manner, but they do not hunger for the bread of life, or thirst for the waters of salvation. They are drinking at broken cisterns that can hold no water. Oh, it is an easy thing, by association with the world, to catch their spirit, to be molded by their views of things, so that we do not discern the preciousness of Jesus and the truth. And just to the degree that the spirit of the world dwells in our heart, it will control our life. {2SM 128.4} [2SM 129.1] When men are not under the control of the Word and the Spirit of God, they are captives of Satan, and we know not to what lengths he may lead them in sin. The patriarch Jacob beheld those who take pleasure in wickedness. He saw what would be the result of association with them, and in the Spirit he exclaimed, "O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united" (Genesis 49:6). He lifts up the danger signal, to warn every soul against such associations. The apostle Paul echoes the warning: "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness" (Ephesians 5:11). "Be not deceived: Evil company doth corrupt good manners" (1 Corinthians 15:33, R.V.). {2SM 129.1} [2SM 129.2] The soul is deceived when it trusts to worldly policy and human inventions instead of trusting in the Lord God of Israel. Can man find a better guide than the Lord Jesus? a better counselor in doubt and trial? a better defense in danger? To set aside the wisdom of God for human wisdom is a soul-destroying delusion. {2SM 129.2} [2SM 129.3] If you would see what man will do when he rejects the influence of the grace of God, look to that scene in the judgment hall, when the infuriated mob, headed by Jewish priests and elders, clamored for the life of the Son of God. See the divine Sufferer standing by the side of Barabbas, and Pilate asking which he should release unto them. The hoarse cry, swelled by hundreds of passionate, Satan- inspired voices, is, "Away with this man, and release unto 130 us Barabbas" (Luke 23:18)! And when Pilate asked what was to be done with Jesus they cried, "Crucify him, crucify him" (Luke 23:21)! {2SM 129.3} [2SM 130.1] Human nature then is human nature now. When the divine Remedy that would have saved and exalted human nature is despised, the same spirit still lives in the hearts of men, and we cannot trust to their guidance and maintain our loyalty to Christ. {2SM 130.1} [2SM 130.2] God Looks Beneath the Surface These societies, that are not controlled by the love and fear of God, will not be found true and upright toward man. Many of their transactions are contrary to justice and equity. He who is of too pure eyes to behold evil will not, cannot, be a party to many things that take place in these associations. Your own conscience will bear witness to the truth of what I say. The talent and skill and inventive power with which God has endowed men are, in these associations, too often perverted to instruments of cruelty, of iniquity, of selfishness in practicing fraud upon their fellow men. {2SM 130.2} [2SM 130.3] Of course all this is denied by the members of these bodies. But God looks beneath the pleasant, attractive appearance, to the secret, underlying motives and the real working of the association. While some of them claim to make the Word of God in a certain sense the basis of their organization, they depart far from the principles of righteousness. The vows imposed by some of these orders require the taking of human life when the secrets of the order are divulged. Members are also pledged, under certain circumstances, to clear the guilty from deserved punishment. Toward those who work against the order, they are required to pursue a course that is not at all in harmony with the law of God. {2SM 130.3} [2SM 130.4] We cannot swerve from the truth, we cannot depart from right principles, without forsaking Him who is our strength, our righteousness, and our sanctification. We should be firmly rooted in the conviction that whatever in any sense turns us aside from truth and justice in our 131 association and partnership with men, cannot benefit us, and greatly dishonors God. Every species of deceit or conniving at sin is abhorrent to Him. {2SM 130.4} [2SM 131.1] Fraud runs all through these secret associations, and none can be bound up with them and be free men before God and heaven. The moral nature is dragged down to that which God pronounces unjust, which is contrary to His will and His commandments. One who professes to love God, may in these associations be placed in positions which are called honorable, but in the eyes of God he is tarnishing his honor as a Christian, and separating farther and farther from the principles of righteousness and true holiness. He is perverting his powers, that have been purchased by the blood of Jesus. He is selling his soul for nought. {2SM 131.1} [2SM 131.2] In the revelation of His righteous judgments, God will break up all these associations; and when the judgment shall sit and the books be opened, there will be revealed the un-Christlikeness of the whole confederacy. Those who choose to unite with these secret societies are paying homage to idols as senseless and as powerless to bless and save the soul as are the gods of the Hindus. {2SM 131.2} [2SM 131.3] These societies offer some advantages which from a human point of view appear like great blessings, but not so when judged by the Lord's measurement. Behind their apparent advantages are concealed satanic agencies. The larger the income drawn into the treasury, the more and deeper is the evil. The ungodly gain which has enriched these societies will, when traced out in all its bearings, be seen to be a curse. The words which Eliphaz spoke to Job are true in respect to these associations: "I saw him 'taking root,' but I 'cursed his habitation'" (Job 5:3). They are Satan's traps, his net to entangle souls. {2SM 131.3} [2SM 131.4] A Question of Loyalty to God Very many things are sanctioned and upheld by the world when they are an offense to the Holy One of Israel. It was seemingly a small thing for Eve to depart from God's specified restrictions and do the thing He told her 132 not to do, and for Adam to follow her example; but that very thing was planned by the archdeceiver to destroy the souls of men by leading them to follow their own imaginations rather than the revealed will of God. So in these associations principles are held that bring men under the deceptive power of Satan, leading away from safe paths into rebellion against God and disregard of His holy standard of righteousness. "Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation" (Mark 14:38), is the oft-repeated injunction of our Saviour. Watch, watch with diligence and care, lest Satan succeed in ensnaring the souls of those for whom Christ has paid the ransom money of His own blood. {2SM 131.4} [2SM 132.1] God calls upon you who would be His children to act as under the divine eye, to adopt the holy standard of righteousness. His justice and His truth are the principles that should be established in every soul. He who preserves his integrity toward God, will be upright toward man. No man who truly loves God, will, for the sake of a bribe of gold and silver, of honor, or any other earthly advantage, expose his soul to temptation. "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:36, 37). {2SM 132.1} [2SM 132.2] Christians must sever every tie that binds them to these secret orders that are not under the control of God. They cannot be loyal to these organizations and loyal to God. Either the connection with these bodies must be severed or you will assimilate more closely to them, and as the result will come to unite more fully with them, and will sever the ties that bind you to those who love and fear God. The Christian will abandon those things which are a hindrance to his spirituality, be the sacrifice ever so great. Better lose money, possessions, and life itself, than to imperil the vital interests of the soul. {2SM 132.2} [2SM 132.3] Stewards of God You who have connected yourselves with these secret societies are trusting in a staff that will be broken in 133 pieces; you do not trust in the Lord God of Israel, diligently searching to know His will and to follow in His way. When you invest money in these organizations, you do so in the hope of making provision for the future. You have given them time and thought and labor and money, while the cause of Christ has been neglected. Every dollar paid into these organizations is as truly turned away from the cause of God as if sunk in the ocean. But was not this capital entrusted to you of God to use in His service, for the salvation of your fellow men? By investing it where it cannot honor God or benefit men, you are repeating the sin of the slothful servant who hid his Lord's talent in the earth. {2SM 132.3} [2SM 133.1] The Lord had entrusted to the unfaithful servant not a large capital, but only one talent. That one talent the man did not invest for the interest of God; he hid it in the earth, complaining that the Lord was a hard Master, reaping where He had not sown, and gathering where He had not strown. The selfishness he manifested, and the complaints he made, as though God would require of him that which He had no right to claim, showed that he did not know God, or Jesus Christ, whom He had sent. Everything he possessed was the Lord's own property, and was entrusted to him to use for God. When he says, "I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth" (Matthew 25:25), he acknowledged that the talent was from God. {2SM 133.1} [2SM 133.2] And what saith the Lord?--"Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed" (Matthew 25:26). Here He repeats the servant's words, not acknowledging their truth, but showing what, even according to his own account, the servant ought to have done. The Lord virtually says: "You made no effort to trade upon My entrusted capital, and to gain an increase to promote My glory in the earth. "Thou oughtest . . . to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall 134 have abundance: but from him that hath not ［traded on his Lord's goods］ shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness" (Matthew 25:27-30). To every soul to whom the light of truth has come is this lesson given. {2SM 133.2} [2SM 134.1] We should never forget that God has placed us on trial in this world, to determine our fitness for the future life. None can enter heaven whose characters are defiled by the foul blot of selfishness. Therefore God tests us here by committing to us temporal possessions, that our use of these may show whether we can be entrusted with eternal riches. It is only as the self-sacrificing life of Christ is reflected in our life that we can be in harmony with heaven, and be fitted to enter there. {2SM 134.1} [2SM 134.2] Where Are We Placing Our Treasures? But the great study and ambition of the world is to obtain material, temporal advantages, to the neglect of spiritual good. Thus it is with some members of the church. When at last they shall be called to render their account to God, they will not only be ashamed but astonished that they did not discern the true riches, and have not laid up treasure in the heavens. They have bestowed their gifts and offerings upon the enemies of truth, expecting a time to come in this life when they would receive the returns for what they have invested. They could entrust their means to secret societies, but when the cause of God is in need of the means He has committed to His human agents, they feel no interest, they do not consider the gift that the Lord has made to them. They are blinded by the god of this world. {2SM 134.2} [2SM 134.3] They say: "I have nothing to give to this enterprise; for I shall receive no returns. In paying to the lodge, I am providing for the future, and, besides this, I must bear my share of expense for the entertainments that gratify my taste. I cannot give up these enjoyments. Why does the church look to me to help meet these constantly recurring demands? 'Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where 135 thou hast not strawed: and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth' ［Matthew 25:24, 25］, expecting that some time I would be benefited by it." {2SM 134.3} [2SM 135.1] The Saviour bids us: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:19-21). {2SM 135.1} [2SM 135.2] Many are laying up their treasure in these secret societies, and can we not see that their heart is there? However powerful may be the evidences of truth, little by little it loses its brightness, loses its force, heaven fades from the mind, the eternal weight of glory, the gift of God for a life of obedience, appears a matter unworthy of notice in comparison with the supposed benefits to be realized in laying up earthly treasure. Souls are starving for the bread and water of life; but what is that to him whose heart is set on this world? Many a man is saying by his actions, if not in words, "I cannot let go my interest in these earthly treasures, to secure that which is eternal. The life to come is too remote for me to count upon. I choose the earthly goods, and I will run the risk of the future. God is good and merciful." Slothful servant! your portion is just as surely appointed with hypocrites and unbelievers as you continue to pursue this course. The fascination of the club room, the suppers, and the world-loving associates, has led, as did Belshazzar's feast, to forgetfulness of God and dishonoring of His name. {2SM 135.2} [2SM 135.3] Will You Cooperate With God? There is a blindness upon human minds that is willful. Jesus said, "This people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them" (Matthew 13:15). The work of God for the salvation 136 of men is the one work of supreme importance to be carried forward in our world; but many do not see this, because their interest is more with the ranks of the enemy than with the loyal soldiers of Christ. They do not see the necessity of the cooperation of the human with the divine agency. The Lord has bidden us: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12, 13). This is the plan which God has revealed to us to guide us in all the plans and purposes of life. But while men pray, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10), many reject the very means by which God would establish His kingdom. {2SM 135.3} [2SM 136.1] When they are willing to count all things but loss that they may win Christ, their eyes will be opened to see things as they really are. Then they will turn away from the earthly attractions to the heavenly. Then they will see the true nature of the worldly, selfish enjoyments that they now value so highly, and these things that they now hold so dear will be given up. {2SM 136.1} [2SM 136.2] All heaven is looking upon you who claim to believe the most sacred truth ever committed to mortals. Angels are waiting with longing desire to cooperate with you in working for the salvation of souls. Will you refuse this heavenly alliance in order to maintain your connection with society where God is not honored, where His commandments are trampled upon? How would the truth ever have been brought to you if others had felt so little interest in its advancement as some of you manifest? The cause of God demands our help, that it may be established upon a proper basis, and that the truth may be carried forward into new fields, to those who are ready to perish. Can you who claim to be sons of God refuse to aid in this work? Will you, in order to receive an earthly return, withhold your means from the treasury of God, and let His work be shamefully neglected? It is grievous to consider what might have been accomplished in the saving of souls if the heart and service of all who profess to 137 believe the truth had been undividedly given to God. Work has been negligently done. If self had been hid in Christ, sinners might, through wise, ingenious methods, have been won to the truth, and today be in cooperation with God. {2SM 136.2} [2SM 137.1] Now, before the time comes when you must render up your account to God, I urge you to give heed to His word, "Lay up for yourselves" a "treasure in the heavens" (Matthew 6:20; Luke 12:33), not in secret societies. Consider that there is only one Proprietor of the universe, and that every man, with his time, his intellect, his resources, belongs to the One who has paid the ransom for the soul. God has a righteous claim to constant service and supreme affection. God's will, not your pleasure, is to be your criterion. And though you should accumulate a fortune less rapidly, you are laying up treasure in heaven. Who of the church is resolved to maintain his spirituality? Who will develop an experience that reveals Christian fervor, persevering energy? Who, like Jesus, will not fail nor be discouraged, not in grasping means for the service of self, but in laboring together with God? {2SM 137.1} [2SM 137.2] All who are striving for the crown of everlasting life will be tempted as was their Master before them. He was proffered the kingdoms of the world if He would pay homage to Satan. Had Christ yielded to this temptation, the world would have passed forever under the sway of the wicked one. But, thank God, His divinity shone through humanity. He did that which every human being may do in the name and strength of Jesus. He said, "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve" (Matthew 4:10). If this is the way you meet temptation, Satan will leave you, as he left Christ, and angels will minister unto you, as they ministered unto Him. {2SM 137.2} [2SM 137.3] To those who have thought and talked of the great advantages to be gained by worldly association, the Lord declares, through the prophet Malachi: {2SM 137.3} [2SM 137.4] "Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what 138 profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered" (Malachi 3:13-15). {2SM 137.4} [2SM 138.1] These are the thoughts of many, if the words are not spoken. {2SM 138.1} [2SM 138.2] "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch" (Malachi 3:16 to 4:1). {2SM 138.2} [2SM 138.3] Here are the people that in the world are judged to be greatly favored; but there comes a time when the children of God are distinguished as those who are honored of God because they have honored Him. {2SM 138.3} [2SM 138.4] "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (1 John 3:1-3). {2SM 138.4} [2SM 138.5] The Better Way While temporal honor and riches and power are the great objects of ambition with the men of this world, the Lord points out something more worthy of our highest aspirations: 139 {2SM 138.5} [2SM 139.1] "Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised" (Jeremiah 9:23-25). {2SM 139.1} [2SM 139.2] "Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light" (1 Peter 2:6-9). {2SM 139.2} [2SM 139.3] "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Peter 1:13-19).--Pamphlet published in 1893, Should Christians Be Members of Secret Societies? 140 {2SM 139.3} [2SM 140.1] Cannot Receive the Seal of God Those who stand under the bloodstained banner of Prince Immanuel cannot be united with the Free Masons or with any secret organization. The seal of the living God will not be placed upon anyone who maintains such a connection after the light of truth has shone upon his pathway. Christ is not divided, and Christians cannot serve God and mammon. The Lord says, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, . . . and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (2 Corinthians 6:17, 18).--Letter 21, 1893. {2SM 140.1} [2SM 141.1] Chap. 14 - Avoiding Labor Conflicts ［APPEARING IN PAMPHLET, COUNTRY LIVING, pp. 7, 9, 10-12.］ - The time is fast coming when the controlling power of the labor unions will be very oppressive. Again and again the Lord has instructed that our people are to take their families away from the cities, into the country, where they can raise their own provisions; for in the future the problem of buying and selling will be a very serious one. We should now begin to heed the instruction given us over and over again: Get out of the cities into rural districts, where the houses are not crowded closely together, and where you will be free from the interference of enemies.--Letter 5, 1904. {2SM 141.1} [2SM 141.2] Avoid Party Strifes Men have confederated to oppose the Lord of hosts. These confederacies will continue until Christ shall leave His place of intercession before the mercy seat, and shall put on the garments of vengeance. Satanic agencies are in every city, busily organizing into parties those opposed to the law of God. Professed saints and avowed unbelievers take their stand with these parties. This is no time for the people of God to be weaklings. We cannot afford to be off 142 our guard for a moment.--Testimonies, vol. 8, p. 42 (1904). {2SM 141.2} [2SM 142.1] The trades unions will be one of the agencies that will bring upon this earth a time of trouble such as has not been since the world began.--Letter 200, 1903. {2SM 142.1} [2SM 142.2] Conflicts Between Trade Confederacies and Labor Unions The work of the people of God is to prepare for the events of the future, which will soon come upon them with blinding force. In the world gigantic monopolies will be formed. Men will bind themselves together in unions that will wrap them in the folds of the enemy. A few men will combine to grasp all the means to be obtained in certain lines of business. Trades unions will be formed, and those who refuse to join these unions will be marked men.--Letter 26, 1903. {2SM 142.2} [2SM 142.3] Preparing for the Issue The trades unions and confederacies of the world are a snare. Keep out of them, and away from them, brethren. Have nothing to do with them. Because of these unions and confederacies, it will soon be very difficult for our institutions to carry on their work in the cities. My warning is: Keep out of the cities. Build no sanitariums in the cities. Educate our people to get out of the cities into the country, where they can obtain a small piece of land, and make a home for themselves and their children.... {2SM 142.3} [2SM 142.4] Our restaurants must be in the cities; for otherwise the workers in these restaurants could not reach the people and teach them the principles of right living. And for the present we shall have to occupy meetinghouses in the cities. But erelong there will be such strife and confusion in the cities, that those who wish to leave them will not be able. We must be preparing for these issues. This is the light that is given me.--General Conference Bulletin, April 6, 1903. 143 {2SM 142.4} [2SM 143.1] To Preserve Our Individuality For years I have been given special light that we are not to center our work in the cities. The turmoil and confusion that fill these cities, the conditions brought about by the labor unions and the strikes, would prove a great hindrance to our work. Men are seeking to bring those engaged in the different trades under bondage to certain unions. This is not God's planning, but the planning of a power that we should in no wise acknowledge. God's Word is fulfilling; the wicked are binding themselves up in bundles ready to be burned. {2SM 143.1} [2SM 143.2] We are now to use all our entrusted capabilities in giving the last warning message to the world. In this work we are to preserve our individuality. We are not to unite with secret societies or with trades unions. We are to stand free in God, looking constantly to Christ for instruction. All our movements are to be made with a realization of the importance of the work to be accomplished for God.--Testimonies, vol. 7, p. 84 (1902). {2SM 143.2} [2SM 143.3] In Disregard of the Decalogue These unions are one of the signs of the last days. Men are binding up in bundles ready to be burned. They may be church members, but while they belong to these unions, they cannot possibly keep the commandments of God; for to belong to these unions means to disregard the entire Decalogue. {2SM 143.3} [2SM 143.4] "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself" (Luke 10:27). These words sum up the whole duty of man. They mean the consecration of the whole being, body, soul, and spirit, to God's service. How can men obey these words, and at the same time pledge themselves to support that which deprives their neighbors of freedom of action? And how can men obey these words, and form combinations that rob the poorer classes of the advantages which justly belong to them, preventing them from buying or selling, except under certain conditions?--Letter 26, 1903. 144 {2SM 143.4} [2SM 144.1] Unions that are Formed or shall be Formed Those who claim to be the children of God are in no case to bind up with the labor unions that are formed or that shall be formed. This the Lord forbids. Cannot those who study the prophecies see and understand what is before us?--Letter 201, 1902. 146 {2SM 144.1} [2SM 146.1] Chap. 15 - Admonition Will Be Heard INTRODUCTION - A NUMBER OF HELPFUL MESSAGES THAT APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS WERE ADDRESSED MORE SPECIFICALLY TO SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST WORKERS. SUCH OF THESE COUNSELS AS HAVE NOT BEEN INCLUDED OR PARALLELED IN OTHER ELLEN G. WHITE BOOKS OF RECENT ISSUANCE, NOW APPEAR IN THIS VOLUME. THE READER WILL NOTE THAT THESE MESSAGES TOUCH ON MANY SUBJECTS OF SPECIAL INTEREST TO THE MINISTRY, AND TO ALL WHO HAVE CONSECRATED THEIR TALENTS TO THE SERVICE OF GOD. {2SM 146.1} [2SM 146.2] THE CLOSING CHAPTER OF THIS SECTION IS ADDRESSED TO D. M. CANRIGHT, A SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST MINISTER WHO WAS TRUSTED AND LOVED BY BOTH LEADERS AND LAITY, BUT WHO ALLOWED IN HIS HEART A LITTLE SEED OF DISTRUST AND BITTERNESS THAT GREW UNTIL HE FINALLY SEVERED HIS CONNECTION WITH THE CHURCH. BEFORE DOING SO, D. M. CANRIGHT LEFT THE MINISTRY AND RETURNED TO IT AT LEAST THREE TIMES. MRS. WHITE TRIED AGAIN AND AGAIN TO STEADY MR. CANRIGHT. ONE SUCH APPEAL IS PRESENTED HERE. REFERENCES TO SEVERAL OTHER COMMUNICATIONS WILL BE FOUND IN CONNECTION WITH THIS CHAPTER. {2SM 146.2} [2SM 146.3] IN 1887 MR. CANRIGHT SEVERED HIS CONNECTION WITH THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH FOREVER. HE SPENT HIS REMAINING YEARS IN WRITING AND SPEAKING AGAINST THE CHURCH AND MRS. WHITE. THE EARNEST APPEAL THAT IS MADE TO HIM AT THE CLOSE OF THIS SECTION MIGHT WELL CALL FOR SELF-EXAMINATION BY EACH READER.--WHITE TRUSTEES. {2SM 146.3} [2SM 147.1] ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, METHODS, NO. 1.］ - We are living in the last days of this earth's history, and we may be surprised at nothing in the line of apostasies and denials of the truth. Unbelief has now come to be a fine art which men work at to the destruction of their souls. There is constant danger of there being shams in pulpit preachers, whose lives contradict the words they speak; but the voice of warning and of admonition will be heard as long as time shall last; and those who are guilty of transactions that should never be entered into, when reproved or counseled through the Lord's appointed agencies, will resist the message and refuse to be corrected. They will go on as did Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar, until the Lord takes away their reason, and their hearts become unimpressible. The Lord's word will come to them; but if they choose not to hear it, the Lord will make them responsible for their own ruin. {2SM 147.1} [2SM 147.2] In John the Baptist the Lord raised up for Himself a messenger to prepare the way of the Lord. He was to bear to the world an unflinching testimony in reproving and denouncing sin. Luke, in announcing his mission and work, says, "And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of 148 Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:17). {2SM 147.2} [2SM 148.1] Many of the Pharisees and Sadducees came to the baptism of John, and addressing these, he said, "O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire" (Matthew 3:7-12). {2SM 148.1} [2SM 148.2] The voice of John was lifted up like a trumpet. His commission was, "Shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins" (Isaiah 58:1). He had obtained no human scholarship. God and nature had been his teachers. But one was needed to prepare the way before Christ who was bold enough to make his voice heard like the prophets of old, summoning the degenerate nation to repentance. {2SM 148.2} [2SM 148.3] Heard by All Classes And all went forth into the wilderness to hear him. Unlearned fishermen and peasants came from the surrounding countries and from regions nigh and afar off. The Roman soldiers from the barracks of Herod came to hear. Chieftains came with their swords girded by their sides, to put down anything that savored of riot or rebellion. The avaricious tax gatherers came from the regions round about; and from the Sanhedrim came forth the phylacteried priests. All listened as if spellbound; and all came away, even the Pharisee, the Sadducee, and the cold, unimpressionable 149 scoffer of the age, with the sneer gone, and cut to the heart with a sense of their sin. There were no long arguments, no finely cut theories, elaborately delivered in their "firstly," "secondly," and "thirdly." But pure native eloquence was revealed in the short sentences, every word carrying with it the certainty and truth of the weighty warnings given. {2SM 148.3} [2SM 149.1] The warning message of John was in the same lines as the warning to Nineveh, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown" (Jonah 3:4). Nineveh repented, and called upon God, and God accepted their acknowledgment of Him. Forty years of probation was granted them in which to reveal the genuineness of their repentance and to turn from sin. But Nineveh turned again to the worship of images; her iniquity became deeper and more desperate than before, because the light had come and had not been heeded. {2SM 149.1} [2SM 149.2] John called every class to repentance. To the Pharisees and Sadducees he said, Flee from the wrath to come. Your claims to Abraham as your father are not of the least value to you. They will not impart to you pure principles and holiness of character. Ceremonial sacrifices possess no value unless you discern their object, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. You turn from God's requirements and follow your own perverted ideas; and you lose those characteristics which constitute you children of Abraham. {2SM 149.2} [2SM 149.3] And pointing to the rocks in wild confusion around through which the stream was winding its course, he said, "God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham" (Matthew 3:9). {2SM 149.3} [2SM 149.4] John the Baptist met sin with open rebuke in men of humble occupation and in men of high degree. He declared the truth to kings and nobles, whether they would hear or reject it. He spoke personally and pointedly. He reproved the Pharisees of the Sanhedrim because their religion consisted in forms and not in righteousness of pure, willing obedience. . . . He spoke to Herod in regard to his marriage with Herodias, saying, It is not lawful for thee to have her. 150 He spoke to him of a future retribution, when God would judge every man according to his works. . . . {2SM 149.4} [2SM 150.1] "Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do?" (Luke 3:12). Did he say, Leave your toll and custom houses? No, he said to them, "Exact no more than that which is appointed you" (Luke 3:13). If they were taxgatherers still, they could hold just weights and balances of truth in their hands. They could reform in those things that savored of dishonesty and oppression. {2SM 150.1} [2SM 150.2] "And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages" (Luke 3:14). . . . {2SM 150.2} [2SM 150.3] The Sword of Truth at Work Christ also spoke pointedly to every class of men. He reproved those who dominated over their fellow men, those whose passions and prejudices caused many to err and compelled many to blaspheme God. The sword of truth was blunted by apologies and suppositions; but Christ called things by their right names. The ax was laid to the root of the tree. He showed that all the religious forms of worship could not save the Jewish nation, because they did not behold and receive by faith the Lamb of God as their Saviour. {2SM 150.3} [2SM 150.4] Just such a work and message as that of John will be carried on in these last days. The Lord has been giving messages to His people, through the instruments He has chosen, and He would have all take heed to the admonitions and warnings He sends. {2SM 150.4} [2SM 150.5] The message preceding the public ministry of the Son of God was, Repent, publicans; repent, Pharisees and Sadducees, "for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2). Our message is not to be one of "peace and safety" (1 Thessalonians 5:3). As a people who believe in Christ's soon appearing, we have a work to do, a message to bear--"Prepare to meet thy God" (Amos 4:12). We are to lift up the standard, and bear the third angel's message--the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 151 {2SM 150.5} [2SM 151.1] The Message for Today The message we bear must be as direct as was the message of John. He rebuked kings for their iniquity. He rebuked the adultery of Herod. Notwithstanding his life was in peril, the truth did not languish upon his lips. And our work in this age must be as faithfully done. The inhabitants of the world at this time are represented by the dwellers upon the earth at the time of the Flood. The wickedness of the inhabitants of the old world is plainly stated: "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5). God became weary of these people whose only thoughts were of pleasure and indulgence. They sought not the counsel of the God who had created them, nor cared to do His will. The rebuke of God was upon them because they followed the imagination of their own hearts continually; and there was violence in the land. "And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." "And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth" (Genesis 6:6, 12, 13). . . . {2SM 151.1} [2SM 151.2] There are special duties to be done, special reproofs to be given in this period of the earth's history. The Lord will not leave His church without reproofs and warnings. Sins have become fashionable; but they are none the less aggravating in the sight of God. They are glossed over, palliated, and excused; the right hand of fellowship is given to the very men who are bringing in false theories and false sentiments, confusing the minds of the people of God, deadening their sensibilities as to what constitutes right principles. Conscience has thus become insensible to the counsels and the reproofs which have been given. The light given, calling to repentance, has been extinguished in the clouds of unbelief and opposition brought in by human plans and human inventions. 152 {2SM 151.2} [2SM 152.1] It is living earnestness that God requires. Ministers may have little learning from books; but if they do the best they can with their talents, if they work as they have opportunity, if they clothe their utterances in the plainest and most simple language, if they are humble men who walk in carefulness and humility, seeking for heavenly wisdom, working for God from the heart, and actuated by one predominating motive--love for Christ and the souls for whom He has died--they will be listened to by men of even superior ability and talents. There will be a charm in the simplicity of the truths they present. Christ is the greatest teacher that the world has ever known. {2SM 152.1} [2SM 152.2] John had not learned in the schools of the rabbis. Yet kings and nobles, Pharisees and Sadducees, Roman soldiers and officers, trained in all court etiquette, wily, calculating taxgatherers, and world-renowned men, listened to his words. They had confidence in his plain statements, and were convicted of sin. They asked of him, "What shall we do?" (Luke 3:14). . . . {2SM 152.2} [2SM 152.3] Earnestness Is Necessary In this age, just prior to the second coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven, the Lord calls for men who will be earnest and prepare a people to stand in the great day of the Lord. The men who have spent long terms in the study of books are not revealing in their lives that earnest ministry which is essential for this last time. They do not bear a simple, straightforward testimony. Among ministers and students there is need of the infusion of the Spirit of God. The prayerful, earnest appeals that come from the heart of a whole-souled messenger will create convictions. It will not need the learned men to do this; for they depend more on their learning from books than upon their knowledge of God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. All who know the only true and living God will know Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, and will preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. . . . {2SM 152.3} [2SM 152.4] Does anyone suppose that the messages of warning will not come to those whom God reproves? The ones reproved 153 may rise up in indignation and seek to bring the law to bear upon God's messenger, but in doing this, they are not bringing the law upon the messenger, but upon Christ, who gave the reproof and the warning. When men endanger the work and cause of God by their own wrong course of action, shall they hear no voice of reproof? If the wrongdoer only were concerned, and the work reached no farther than him, he alone should have the words of warning; but when his course of action is doing positive harm to the cause of truth, and souls are imperiled, God requires that the warning be as broad as the injury done. The testimonies will not be hindered. The words of rebuke and warning, the plain "Thus saith the Lord," will come from God's appointed agencies; for the words do not originate with the human instrument; they are from God, who appointed them their work. If a suit is instituted in earthly tribunals, and God suffers it to come to trial, it is that His own name may be glorified. But a woe will be upon the man who gives himself to do this work. God reads the motives, whatever they may be. I pray that the Lord will teach our brethren to be straightforward, and make no compromise in the matter. The cause of God has been bruised and wounded by any such men connecting with it, and the sooner they are separated from it, the better. . . . {2SM 152.4} [2SM 153.1] God calls for men of decided fidelity. He has no use in an emergency for two-sided men. He wants men who will lay their hand upon a wrong work and say, "This is not according to the will of God."--Letter 19 1/2, 1897. {2SM 153.1} [2SM 154.1] Chap. 16 - Christ's Lifework and Ours ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, METHODS, NO. 6.］ - We read of One who walked this earth in meekness and lowliness, who went about "doing good" (Acts 10:38), who spent His life in loving service, comforting the sorrowing, ministering to the needy, lifting up the bowed down. He had no home in this world, only as the kindness of His friends provided it for Him as a wayfarer. Yet it was heaven to be in His presence. Day by day He met trials and temptations, yet He did not fail or become discouraged. He was surrounded by transgression, yet He kept His Father's commandments. He was always patient and cheerful, and the afflicted hailed Him as a messenger of life and peace and health. He saw the needs of men and women, and to all He gives the invitation, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30). {2SM 154.1} [2SM 154.2] What an example Christ has left us in His lifework! Who of His children are living as He did, for the glory of God? He is the light of the world, and he who works 155 successfully for the Master must kindle his taper from His divine life. {2SM 154.2} [2SM 155.1] To His disciples Christ said, "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, . . . it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men" (Matthew 5:13). How careful then we should be to follow the example of Christ in our lifework. Unless we do this, we are worthless to the world--salt which has lost its savor. . . . {2SM 155.1} [2SM 155.2] God uses a diversity of talents in His cause. He carries on His work for the church by a variety of instruments. No man who desires to make of himself the only teacher in the church is working for God. No one who says, "I want my influence only to tell in the church over which I preside," is letting his light shine for God. Those who are uncourteous to their fellow workers must reckon with God. By their influence they keep out of the church the light which God desires His people to have. They manifest a spirit which God does not endorse. {2SM 155.2} [2SM 155.3] Christ the Pattern Christ was sent to the world to look after His Father's interests. He is our pattern in all things. The variety of His teaching is a lesson we need to study. {2SM 155.3} [2SM 155.4] All workers are not alike in their understanding and experience or in their administration of the Word. Some are constantly partaking of Christ's flesh and blood. They eat the leaves of the tree of life. They are constant learners in the school of Christ. They make daily progress in goodness, and gain an experience which fits them to labor for the Master. Their influence is a savor of life unto life. So spiritual minded are they that they readily discern spiritual things. The Bible is their study. Magazines, newspapers, and books which treat of nothing heavenly or divine have no attraction for them. But the Word of God grows constantly more precious to them. God draws near and speaks to them in language which cannot be misunderstood. {2SM 155.4} [2SM 155.5] There are others who have not learned how to fix 156 their minds so intently upon the Scriptures that they draw from them each day a fresh supply of grace. {2SM 155.5} [2SM 156.1] Some men have a special message from heaven. They are to be sent forth to waken the people, not to hover over the churches to their own detriment and the hindrance of the work of God. It does a church no good to have two or three ministers waiting upon it. Were these ministers to go forth to labor for those in darkness, their work would show some results. Let the experienced men take the young men who are preparing for the ministry and go forth into new territory to proclaim the message of warning. {2SM 156.1} [2SM 156.2] Those who believe the truth will be greatly blessed as they impart the blessings God has given them, letting their light shine forth in good works. As they let their light shine by personal piety, by revealing sound principles in all business transactions, they will magnify the principles of God's law. God calls upon His workers to annex new territory for Him. With intense earnestness we are to work for those who are without hope and without God in the world. There are rich fields of toil waiting for the faithful worker. {2SM 156.2} [2SM 156.3] The laborers in God's cause should bow before Him in humble, earnest prayer, and then go forth, Bible in hand, to arouse the benumbed senses of those represented in the Word as dead in trespasses and sins. Those who do this work will be greatly blessed. Those who know the truth are to strengthen one another, saying to the ministers, "Go forth into the harvest field in the name of the Lord, and our prayers shall go with you as sharp sickles." Thus our churches should bear decided witness for God, and they should also bring Him their gifts and offerings, that those who go forth into the field may have wherewith to labor for souls. {2SM 156.3} [2SM 156.4] Who is working faithfully for the Master in this age of the world, when the corruption of the earth is even as the corruption of Sodom and Gomorrah? Who is helping those around him to win eternal life? Are we cleansed and sanctified, fit to be used by the Lord as vessels unto 157 honor? Will every church member now remember that deformity is not from God? The Divine Being is to be worshiped in the beauty of holiness; for He is excellent in majesty and power. . . . {2SM 156.4} [2SM 157.1] God desires His people to show by their lives the advantage of Christianity over worldliness. We are to live so that God can use us in His work of converting men and women and leading them to wash their garments of character and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. We are His workmanship, "created in Christ Jesus unto good works" (Ephesians 2:10). Through us God desires to reveal His manifold wisdom. Therefore He bids us let our light shine forth in good works.--Manuscript 73a, 1900. - {2SM 157.1} [2SM 157.2] The Shadows of Satan ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, THE CHURCH, NO. 3.］ Bear in mind that the time will never come when the shadow of Satan will not be cast athwart our pathway to obstruct our faith and eclipse the light coming from the Sun of Righteousness. Our faith must not stagger, but cleave through that shadow. We have an experience that is not to be buried in the darkness of doubt. Our faith is not in feeling, but in truth. None of us need flatter ourselves that while the world is progressing in wickedness we shall have no difficulties. {2SM 157.2} [2SM 157.3] It is these very difficulties that bring us to the audience chamber of the Most High, to seek counsel of the One who is infinite in wisdom. He loves to have us seek Him; He loves to have us trust Him and believe His Word. If we had no perplexities, no trials, we would become self-sufficient and lifted up in ourselves. The true saints will be purified, and made white, and tried.--Letter 58, 1909. {2SM 157.3} [2SM 158.1] Chap. 17 - Unity and Devotion ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, NO. 7.］ - The Lord has appointed His work to go forward in missionary lines in such a way as to extend the knowledge of the truth for these last days. A deception has certainly been on those who ought to have been wide awake to see the great, grand work to be done by the people who bear God's sign as represented in Exodus 31:12-18. {2SM 158.1} [2SM 158.2] The Lord desires faithful stewards to measure the fields to be worked, and then use wisely His means in advancing the work in these fields. God has a people, and a ministry, who are to cooperate with Him. . . . {2SM 158.2} [2SM 158.3] The Lord will work for His people if they will submit to be worked by the Holy Spirit, not thinking that they must work the Spirit. "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?" (Deuteronomy 10:12, 13). . . . {2SM 158.3} [2SM 158.4] God's ministers have a most solemn, sacred work to do in our world. The end is near. The message of truth must 159 go. As faithful shepherds of the flock, God's servants are to bear a clear, sharp testimony. There is to be no perverting of the truth. Divine grace never leads away from mercy and the love of God. It is the power of Satan that does this. When Christ preached, His message was like a sharp, two-edged sword, piercing the consciences of men and revealing their inmost thoughts. The work that Christ did His faithful messengers will have to do. In simplicity, purity, and the strictest integrity they are to preach the Word. Those who labor in word or doctrine are to be faithful to their charge. They are to watch for souls as they that must give an account. Never are they to clothe a "Thus saith the Lord" with enticing words of man's wisdom. Thus they destroy its living energy, making it weak and powerless, so that it fails to convict of sin. Every word spoken by the direction of the Holy Spirit will be full of the deepest solicitude for the salvation of souls. {2SM 158.4} [2SM 159.1] The minister's acceptance with God depends not on outward show, but on his faithful discharge of duty. Christ's road to exaltation lay through the deepest humiliation. Those who are partakers with Christ in His sufferings, who follow cheerfully in His footsteps, will be partakers with Him in His glory. {2SM 159.1} [2SM 159.2] It has been the continual endeavor of the enemy to introduce into the church persons who assent to much that is truth, but who are not converted. Professed Christians who are false to their trust are channels through whom Satan works. He can use unconverted church members to advance his own ideas and retard the work of God. Their influence is always on the side of wrong. They place criticism and doubt as stumbling blocks in the way of reform. They introduce unbelief because they have closed their eyes to the righteousness of Christ and have not the glory of the Lord as their rearward. {2SM 159.2} [2SM 159.3] Unity is the strength of the church. Satan knows this, and he employs his whole force to bring in dissension. He desires to see a lack of harmony among the members of the church of God. Greater attention should be given to 160 the subject of unity. What is the recipe for the cure of the leprosy of strife and dissension? Obedience to the commandments of God. {2SM 159.3} [2SM 160.1] God has been teaching me that we are not to dwell upon the differences which weaken the church. He prescribes a remedy for strife. By keeping His Sabbath holy we are to show that we are His people. His Word declares the Sabbath to be a sign by which to distinguish the commandment-keeping people. Thus God's people are to preserve among them a knowledge of Him as their Creator. Those who keep the law of God will be one with Him in the great controversy commenced in heaven between Satan and God. Disloyalty to God means contention and strife against the principles of God's law. {2SM 160.1} [2SM 160.2] Everything connected with the cause of God is sacred, and is to be thus regarded by His people. The counsels that have any reference to the cause of God are sacred. Christ gave His life to bring a sinful world to repentance. Those who are imbued with the spirit that dwelt in Christ will work as God's husbandmen in caring for His vineyard. They will not merely work in spots which they may choose. They are to be wise managers and faithful workers, making it their highest aim to fulfill the commission which Christ has given. Just before His ascension the Saviour told His disciples that beginning at Jerusalem they must go to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples; and He added, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20).--Manuscript 14, 1901. {2SM 160.2} [2SM 160.3] The Ministry of Trials ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, NO. 7.］ In Christian experience, the Lord permits trials of various kinds to call men and women to a higher order of living and to a more sanctified service. Without these trials there would be a continual falling away from the likeness of Christ, and men would become imbued with a spirit of scientific, fanciful, human philosophy, which would lead them to unite with Satan's followers. 161 {2SM 160.3} [2SM 161.1] In the providence of God, every good and great enterprise is subjected to trials, to test the purity and the strength of the principles of those who are standing in positions of responsibility, and to mold and substantiate the individual human character after God's model. This is the highest order of education. {2SM 161.1} [2SM 161.2] Perfection of character is attained through exercise of the faculties of the mind, in times of supreme test, by obedience to every requirement of God's law. Men in positions of trust are to be instrumentalities in the hands of God for promoting His glory, and in performing their duties with the utmost faithfulness they may attain perfection of character. {2SM 161.2} [2SM 161.3] In the lives of those who are true to right principles, there will be a continual growth in knowledge. They will have the privilege of being acknowledged as colaborers with the great Master Worker in behalf of the human family, and will act a glorious part in carrying out the purposes of God. Thus, by precept and example, as laborers together with God, they will glorify their Creator.-- Undated manuscript 150. {2SM 161.3} [2SM 162.1] Chap. 18 - An Appeal to D. M. Canright ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, THE CHURCH, NO. 8.］ - Battle Creek Oct. 15,1880 Elder D M. Canright ［OTHER COMMUNICATIONS TO D. M. CANRIGHT MAY BE FOUND IN THE FOLLOWING: TESTIMONIES, VOL. 3, PP. 304-329, AUGUST 12, 1873, TO A YOUNG MINISTER AND HIS WIFE; VOL. 5, PP. 516-520, ABOUT 1886, SUITABLE READING FOR CHILDREN; VOL. 5, PP. 571-573, 1887, AN IMPRESSIVE DREAM; VOL. 5, PP. 621-628, APRIL 20, 1887, A LETTER.］ Dear Brother: I was made sad to hear of your decision, but I have had reason to expect it. It is a time when God is testing and proving His people. Everything that can be shaken will be shaken. Only those will stand whose souls are riveted to the eternal Rock. Those who lean to their own understanding, those who are not constantly abiding in Christ, will be subject to just such changes as this. If your faith has been grounded in man, we may then expect just such results. {2SM 162.1} [2SM 162.2] But if you have decided to cut all connection with us as a people, I have one request to make, for your own sake as well as for Christ's sake: keep away from our people, do not visit them and talk your doubts and darkness among them. Satan is full of exultant joy that you have stepped 163 from beneath the banner of Jesus Christ, and stand under his banner. He sees in you one he can make a valuable agent to build up his kingdom. You are taking the very course I expected you would take if you yielded to temptation. {2SM 162.2} [2SM 163.1] You have ever had a desire for power, for popularity, and this is one of the reasons for your present position. But I beg of you to keep your doubts, your questionings, your skepticism to yourself. The people have given you credit for more strength of purpose and stability of character than you possessed. They thought you were a strong man; and when you breathe out your dark thoughts and feelings, Satan stands ready to make these thoughts and feelings so intensely powerful in their deceptive character, that many souls will be deceived and lost through the influence of one soul who chose darkness rather than light, and presumptuously placed himself on Satan's side, in the ranks of the enemy. {2SM 163.1} [2SM 163.2] You have wanted to be too much, and make a show and noise in the world, and as the result your sun will surely set in obscurity. Every day you are meeting with an eternal loss. The schoolboy who plays truant thinks he is cheating his parent and his teacher; but who is meeting with the greatest loss? Is it not himself? Is he not cheating and deceiving himself, robbing himself of the knowledge he might have? God would have us become efficient in copying the example of Christ in good works; but you are playing truant, you are nursing a feeling which will sting and poison your soul to its own ruin, playing truant upon important eternal things, robbing your soul of the richness, the knowledge of the fullness of Christ. Your ambition has soared so high, it will accept of nothing short of elevation of self. You do not know yourself. What you have always needed was a humble, contrite heart. {2SM 163.2} [2SM 163.3] Christ the Pattern Man What a life was that of Christ? He was just as certainly fulfilling His mission as the pattern man when toiling as a carpenter, and hiding the great secret of His divine mission 164 from the world, as when He trod the foaming white-capped billows on the Sea of Galilee, or when raising the dead to life, or when dying ［as］ man's sacrifice upon the cross, that He might lift up the whole race to a new and perfect life. Jesus dwelt long at Nazareth, unhonored and unknown, that the lesson in His example might teach men and women how closely they may walk with God in even the common course of daily life. How humiliating, how rude and homely, was this condescension of the Majesty of heaven, that He might be made one of us. He drew the sympathy of all hearts by showing Himself capable of sympathizing with all. The men of Nazareth in their questioning doubts asked, "Is not this the carpenter" (Mark 6:3), the son of Joseph and Mary? {2SM 163.3} [2SM 164.1] Heaven and earth are no wider apart today than when common men of common occupation met angels at noonday, or when on Bethlehem's plains shepherds heard the songs of the heavenly host as they watched their flocks by night. It is not the seeking to climb to eminence that will make you great in God's sight, but it is the humble life of goodness, of fidelity, that will make you the object of the heavenly angels' special guardianship. The Pattern Man, who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, took upon Himself our nature, and lived nearly thirty years in an obscure Galilean town, hidden away among the hills. All the angel host was at His command, yet He did not claim to be anything great or exalted. He did not attach "Professor" to His name to please Himself. He was a carpenter, working for wages, a servant to those for whom He labored, showing that heaven may be very near us in the common walks of life, and that angels from the heavenly courts will take charge of the steps of those who come and go at God's command. {2SM 164.1} [2SM 164.2] Oh, that the spirit of Christ might rest upon His professed followers! We must all be willing to work and toil, for this is the lesson Christ has given us in His life. If you had lived for God in common things, doing your work purely and faithfully when there was no one to say it was well done, you would not be in your present position. Your 165 life you could make faithful by good words wisely spoken, by kind deeds thoughtfully done, by the daily manifestation of meekness, purity, and love. In view of all the light you have had, I fear you have made your final move. You have given Satan every advantage. {2SM 164.2} [2SM 165.1] Hasty Decisions Decisions may be made in a moment that fix one's condition forever. Satan has come to you as he came to Christ, with the presentation of worldly honor and glory, if you will only acknowledge his supremacy. This you are now doing. But before you take one more step, I beseech you to reflect. {2SM 165.1} [2SM 165.2] What record are angels making in regard to you? How will you meet that record? What excuse will you render to God for the abrupt apostasy? There has ever been with you a desire to do a large work. Had you been content to do your small work with thoroughness and fidelity, this would meet the approval of the Master. But remember, it would take the work of a lifetime to recover what a moment of yielding to temptation and thoughtlessness throws away. {2SM 165.2} [2SM 165.3] We are traveling, strangers and pilgrims, traveling to a better country; but it would be better for you and me to be beasts of burden to plow the field rather than to be in heaven without a heart to sympathize with its inhabitants. By a momentary act of will you may place yourself in the power of Satan, but it will require more than a momentary act of will to break his fetters and reach for a higher, holier life. The purpose may be formed, the work begun, but its accomplishment will require toil, time, and perseverance, patience and sacrifice. The man who deliberately wanders from God in the full blaze of light will find, when he wishes to set his face to return, that briers and thorns have grown up in his path, and he must not be surprised or discouraged if he is compelled to travel long with torn and bleeding feet. The most fearful and most to be dreaded evidence of man's fall from a better state is the fact that it costs so much to get back. The way of return can be gained only by hard fighting, inch by inch, every hour. 166 {2SM 165.3} [2SM 166.1] Heaven's path is too narrow for rank and riches to ride in state, too narrow for the play of ambition, too steep and rugged for carriages of ease to climb. Toil, patience, self- sacrifice, reproach, poverty, hard work, enduring the contradiction of sinners against Himself, was the portion of Christ, and it must be the portion of man if he ever enters the Paradise of God. {2SM 166.1} [2SM 166.2] If your present faith is yielded so easily, it is because you never sent down the taproot in clinging faith. It has cost you too little. If it does not sustain you in trial and comfort you in affliction, it is because your faith has not been made strong by effort and pure by sacrifice. Those who are willing to suffer for Christ will experience more joy in suffering than in the fact that Christ has suffered for them, thus showing that He loved them. Those who win heaven will put forth their noblest efforts, and will labor with all long-suffering, that they may reap the fruit of toil. {2SM 166.2} [2SM 166.3] There is a hand that will open wide the gates of Paradise to those that have stood the test of temptation and kept a good conscience by giving up the world, its honors, its applause, for the love of Christ, thus confessing Him before men, and waiting with all patience for Him to confess them before His Father and holy angels. {2SM 166.3} [2SM 166.4] The Influence of Doubt I do not ask an explanation of your course. Brother ［C. W.］ Stone wished to read your letter to me. I refused to hear it. The breath of doubt, of complaint and unbelief, is contagious; if I make my mind a channel for the filthy stream, the turbid, defiling water proceeding from Satan's fountain, some suggestion may linger in my mind, polluting it. If his suggestions have had such power on you as to lead you to sell your birthright for a mess of pottage--the friendship of the Lord's enemies--I want not hear anything of your doubts, and I hope you will be guarded, lest you contaminate other minds; for the very atmosphere surrounding a man who dares to make the statements you have made is as a poisonous miasma. {2SM 166.4} [2SM 166.5] I beg of you to go entirely away from those who believe 167 the truth; for if you have chosen the world and the friends of the world, go with those of your own choice. Do not poison the minds of others and make yourself Satan's special agent to work the ruin of souls. If you have not fully taken your stand, make haste to resist the devil before it shall be forever too late. Do not take another step into darkness, but take your position as a man of God. {2SM 166.5} [2SM 167.1] If you would secure the grand aim and purpose of life without mistake in your choice or fear of failure, you must make God first and last and best in every plan and work and thought. If you want a path that leads straight into darkness, you have only to cast the light of God behind you, live without God. When God points out your path and says, "This is your way of safety and peace," you have only to set your face in an opposite direction from the way of the Lord and your feet will take hold on perdition. The voice of the Lamb of God is heard speaking to us, "Follow Me, and ye shall not walk in darkness." {2SM 167.1} [2SM 167.2] A Commission From the King of Kings God has chosen you for a great and solemn work. He has been seeking to discipline, to test, to prove you, to refine and ennoble you, that this sacred work may be done with a single eye to His glory which belongs wholly to God. What a thought that God chooses a man and brings him into close connection with Himself, and gives him a mission to undertake, a work to do, for Him. A weak man is made strong, a timid man is made brave, the irresolute becomes a man of firm and quick decision. What! is it possible that man is of so much consequence as to receive a commission from the King of kings! Shall worldly ambition allure from the sacred trust, the holy commission? {2SM 167.2} [2SM 167.3] The Majesty of heaven came to our world to give to man an example of a pure and spotless life, and to sacrifice Himself to the joy of saving the perishing. Whoever follows Christ is a colaborer with Him, sharing with Him the divine work of saving souls. If you have a thought of being released from it because you see some prospect of 168 forming an alliance with the world which shall bring yourself to greater notice, it is because you forget how great and noble it is to do anything for God, how exalted a position it is to be a colaborer with Jesus Christ, a light bearer to the world, shedding light and love upon the pathway of others. {2SM 167.3} [2SM 168.1] Reward of Fidelity You will have a great conflict with the power of evil in your own heart. You have felt that there was a higher work for you, but, oh, if you would only take up the work lying directly in your path, and do it with fidelity, not seeking in any way to exalt self, the peace and joy would come to your soul, purer, richer, and more satisfying than the conquerors in earthly warfare. To live and work for God and make the best use we can of all our time and faculties, is to grow in grace and knowledge. This we can do, because it is our work. You must needs put away your questioning doubts, and have full faith in the reality of your divine mission, to be indeed successful in labor. {2SM 168.1} [2SM 168.2] The joy, the success, the glory of your ministry, is to be ever ready with listening ear to answer the call of the Master, "Here am I; send me" (Isaiah 6:8). Here, Lord, with my heart's best and holiest affections; here, take my mind with its purest and noblest thoughts, take me, and qualify me for Thy service. {2SM 168.2} [2SM 168.3] I now appeal to you to make back tracks as fast as possible; take up your God-given mission, and seek for purity and holiness to sanctify that mission. Make no delay; halt not between two opinions. If the Lord be God, serve Him; but if Baal, serve him. You have the old lesson of trust in God to learn anew in the hard school of suffering. Let D.M. Canright be swallowed up in Jesus. . . . {2SM 168.3} [2SM 168.4] Our names may be called in a little while, and there will be none to answer. Let that life be hid in God, and that name be registered in heaven, and it is immortalized. Follow on wherever Christ leads the way, and let the footprints which you leave behind you on the sands of time be such that others may safely follow in the path of holiness. 169 {2SM 168.4} [2SM 169.1] All along the path that leads to death there are pains and penalties, there are sorrows and disappointments, there are warnings from God's messengers not to go on, and God will make it hard for the heedless and the headstrong to destroy themselves. All the way up the steep path leading to eternal life are wellsprings of joy to refresh the weary. The true, strong joy of the soul begins when Christ is formed within, the hope of glory. If you now choose the path where God leads, and go forward where the voice of duty calls, the difficulties which Satan has magnified before you will disappear. {2SM 169.1} [2SM 169.2] No path is safe, save that which grows clearer and firmer the farther it is pursued. The foot may sometimes slip upon the safest path. In order to walk without fear, you must know that your hand is firmly held by the hand of Christ. You must not for a moment think there is no danger for you. The wisest make mistakes. The strongest sometimes falter. The foolish, self-confident, heady, and high-minded, who press heedlessly on upon forbidden paths, flattering themselves that they can change their course when they please, are walking upon a path of pitfalls. They may recover a fall, a mistake they make, but how many make one misstep which will prove their eternal ruin. {2SM 169.2} [2SM 169.3] If you play the policy of noncommittal in order to gain objects you would otherwise fail to obtain, if you secure by art and cunning what should be won by perseverance, toil, and conflict, you will be entangled in a net of your own weaving, and will be ruined, not only for this world, but for the future life. {2SM 169.3} [2SM 169.4] God forbid that you should make shipwreck of faith here. Look at Paul; listen to his words sounding along the line to our time: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:7, 8). Here is the battle shout of victory from Paul. What will be yours? 170 {2SM 169.4} [2SM 170.1] Now, Elder Canright, for your soul's sake grasp firmly again the hand of God, I beseech you. I am too weary to write more. God deliver you from Satan's snare is my prayer.--Letter 1, 1880. {2SM 170.1} [2SM 170.2] Exalting Christ Every soul who truly accepts Christ by faith will walk in humility of heart. There will be no exalting of self; but Christ will be exalted as the One on whom the hope of eternal life depends. "By grace are ye saved through faith" (Ephesians 2:8), the apostle Paul declared. And it is the grace of Christ in us that makes us His witnesses. We can be overcomers only by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of our testimony. By a well-ordered life and a godly conversation, we become lights in the church and in the world. Spiritual things must be spiritually discerned. Those who drink most deeply of the waters of salvation will reveal most fully the meekness and lowliness of Christ. {2SM 170.2} [2SM 170.3] I am bidden to say to those who have been called to teach the Word of God to others: {2SM 170.3} [2SM 170.4] Never encourage men to look to you for wisdom. When men come to you for counsel, point them to the One who reads the motives of every heart. A different spirit must come into our ministerial work. No persons must act as confessors; no man must be exalted as supreme. Our work is to humble self and to exalt Christ before the people. After His resurrection, the Saviour promised that His power would be with all who would go forth in His name. Let this power and this name be exalted. We need to keep continually before our minds the prayer of Christ when He prayed that self might be sanctified by truth and righteousness. {2SM 170.4} [2SM 170.5] The power of the eternal Father and the sacrifice of the Son should be studied more than it is. The perfect work of Christ was consummated in His death upon the cross. In His sacrifice and His intercession at the right hand of the Father, is our only hope of salvation. It should be our joy to exalt the character of God before men, and make His name a praise in the earth.--Manuscript 137, 1907. 172 {2SM 170.5} [2SM 172.1] Chap. 19 - An Object Lesson INTRODUCTION - REMUNERATION FOR SERVICES RENDERED IS A SUBJECT OF CONSTANT AND PRACTICAL INTEREST TO EVERYONE. IT IS A TOPIC WELL REPRESENTED IN SEVERAL CURRENT ELLEN G. WHITE BOOKS. {2SM 172.1} [2SM 172.2] PRESENTED HERE ARE SUPPLEMENTARY COUNSELS THAT WERE DRAWN TOGETHER FOR THE STUDY OF CERTAIN COMMITTEES APPOINTED BY THE GENERAL CONFERENCE TO REVIEW THE PRINCIPLES THAT SHOULD GOVERN IN THE REMUNERATION OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST WORKERS. THIS MATERIAL PROVED TO BE HELPFUL TO THE COMMITTEES, AND AT THEIR SUGGESTION IT IS BEING INCLUDED HERE. {2SM 172.2} [2SM 172.3] THE REVIEW OF THESE AND OTHER PRINCIPLES, DRAWN FROM VARIOUS DOCUMENTS AND COUNSELS GIVEN REGARDING THE RELATIONSHIP OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST WORKERS TO THE ORGANIZATIONS WITH WHICH THEY ARE CONNECTED, WILL BE READ WITH PROFIT. {2SM 172.3} [2SM 172.4] AND TO ANY WHO MAY BE TEMPTED, BECAUSE OF FINANCIAL PRESSURES, TO ACCEPT AN INVITING OFFER OF A LARGER INCOME IN LINES OF WORK NOT DIRECTLY CONNECTED WITH THE CAUSE OF GOD, THE CHAPTER, "COUNSEL TO ONE WHO FOR FINANCIAL REASONS, WAS PLANNING TO LEAVE THE WORK OF GOD," WILL OFFER CHALLENGING AND SOBERING THOUGHTS. IN ALL THESE ELLEN G. WHITE MESSAGES THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST, WHICH IS THE SPIRIT OF SACRIFICE, IS THE KEYNOTE.--WHITE TRUSTEES. {2SM 172.4} [2SM 173.1] ［APPEARED IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, JAN. 4, 1906.］ - The beginnings of Solomon's apostasy may be traced to many seemingly slight deviations from right principles. Associations with idolatrous women was by no means the only cause of his downfall. Among the primary causes that led Solomon into extravagance and tyrannical oppression, was his course in developing and cherishing a spirit of covetousness. {2SM 173.1} [2SM 173.2] In the days of ancient Israel, when at the foot of Sinai Moses told the people of the divine command, "Let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them" (Exodus 25:8), the response of the Israelites was accompanied by appropriate gifts. "They came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing" (Exodus 35:21), and brought offerings. For the building of the sanctuary, great and expensive preparations were necessary; a large amount of the most precious and costly material was required; yet the Lord accepted only freewill offerings. "Of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering" (Exodus 25:2), was the divine command repeated by Moses to the congregation. Devotion to God and a spirit of sacrifice 174 were the first requisites in preparing a dwelling place for the Most High. {2SM 173.2} [2SM 174.1] A similar call to self-sacrifice was made when David turned over to Solomon the responsibility of erecting the temple. Of the assembled multitude that had brought their liberal gifts, David asked, "Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?" (1 Chronicles 29:5). This call should ever have been kept in mind by those who had to do with the construction of the temple. {2SM 174.1} [2SM 174.2] Chosen men were specially endowed by God with skill and wisdom for the construction of the wilderness tabernacle. "Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the Lord hath called by name Bezaleel . . . of the tribe of Judah; and he hath filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship. . . . And he hath put in his heart that he may teach, both he, and Aholiab . . . of the tribe of Dan. Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work, of the engraver, and of the cunning workman, and of the embroiderer . . . and of the weaver, even of them that do any work, and of those that devise cunning work" (Exodus 35:30-35). "Then wrought Bezaleel . . . and every wise hearted man, in whom the Lord put wisdom and understanding" (Exodus 36:1). Heavenly intelligences cooperated with the workmen whom God Himself chose. {2SM 174.2} [2SM 174.3] The descendants of these men inherited to a large degree the skill conferred upon their forefathers. In the tribes of Judah and of Dan there were men who were regarded as especially "cunning" in the finer arts. For a time these men remained humble and unselfish; but gradually, almost imperceptibly, they lost their hold upon God and His truth. They began to ask for higher wages because of their superior skill. In some instances their request was granted, but more often those asking higher wages found employment in the surrounding nations. In place of the noble spirit of self-sacrifice that had filled the hearts of their illustrious ancestors, they cherished a spirit of covetousness, of grasping for more and more. They served 175 heathen kings with their God-given skill, and dishonored their Maker. {2SM 174.3} [2SM 175.1] Unbelieving Workmen Employed It was to these apostates that Solomon looked for a master workman to superintend the construction of the temple on Mount Moriah. Minute specifications, in writing, regarding every portion of the sacred structure, had been entrusted to the king, and he should have looked to God in faith for consecrated helpers, to whom would have been granted special skill for doing with exactness the work required. But Solomon lost sight of this opportunity to exercise faith in God. He sent to the king of Tyre for "a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave with the cunning men . . . in Judah and in Jerusalem" (2 Chronicles 2:7). {2SM 175.1} [2SM 175.2] The Phoenician king responded by sending Huram, "a cunning man, endued with understanding, . . . the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre" (2 Chronicles 2:13, 14). This master workman, Huram, was a descendant, on his mother's side, of Aholiab, to whom, hundreds of years before, God had given special wisdom for the construction of the tabernacle. Thus at the head of Solomon's company of workmen there was placed an unsanctified man, who demanded large wages because of his unusual skill. {2SM 175.2} [2SM 175.3] Huram's efforts were not prompted by a desire to render his highest service to God. He served the god of this world--Mammon. The very fibers of his being had been inwrought with principles of selfishness, which were revealed in his grasping for the highest wages. And gradually these wrong principles came to be cherished by his associates. As they labored with him day after day, and yielded to the inclination to compare his wages with their own, they began to lose sight of the holy character of their work, and to dwell upon the difference between their wages and his. Gradually they lost their spirit of self-denial, and fostered a spirit of covetousness. The result 176 was a demand for higher wages, which was granted them. {2SM 175.3} [2SM 176.1] The baleful influences set in operation by the employment of this man of a grasping spirit, permeated all branches of the Lord's service, and extended throughout Solomon's kingdom. The high wages demanded and received gave many an opportunity to indulge in luxury and extravagance. In the far-reaching effects of these influences, may be traced one of the principal causes of the terrible apostasy of him who once was the wisest of mortals. The king was not alone in his apostasy. Extravagance and corruption were to be seen on every hand. The poor were oppressed by the rich; the spirit of self-sacrifice in God's service was well-nigh lost. {2SM 176.1} [2SM 176.2] Herein lies a most important lesson for God's people today--a lesson that many are slow to learn. The spirit of covetousness, of seeking for the highest position and the highest wage, is rife in the world. The old-time spirit of self-denial and self-sacrifice is too seldom met with. But this is the only spirit that can actuate a true follower of Jesus. Our divine Master has given us an example of how we are to work. And to those whom He bade, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19), He offered no stated sum as a reward for their services. They were to share with Him His self-denial and sacrifice. {2SM 176.2} [2SM 176.3] Those who claim to be followers of the Master Worker, and who engage in His service as colaborers with God, are to bring into their work the exactitude and skill, the tact and wisdom, that the God of perfection required in the building of the earthly tabernacle. And now, as in that time and as in the days of Christ's earthly ministry, devotion to God and a spirit of sacrifice should be regarded as the first requisites of acceptable service. God designs that not one thread of selfishness shall be woven into His work. {2SM 176.3} [2SM 176.4] An Experience in Seventh-day Adventist History Great care should be taken in regard to the spirit pervading the Lord's institutions. These institutions were founded in self-sacrifice, and have been built up by the self-denying gifts of God's people and the unselfish labor 177 of His servants. Everything connected with institutional service should bear the signature of Heaven. A sense of the sacredness of God's institutions should be encouraged and cultivated. The workers are to humble their hearts before the Lord, acknowledging His sovereignty. All are to live in accordance with principles of self-denial. As the true, self-sacrificing laborer, with his spiritual lamp trimmed and burning, strives unselfishly to advance the interests of the institution in which he is working, he will have a precious experience, and will be able to say, "The Lord indeed is in this place." He will feel that he is highly privileged in being permitted to give to the Lord's institution his ability, his service, and his unwearying vigilance. {2SM 176.4} [2SM 177.1] In the early days of the third angel's message those who established our institutions, and those who labored in them, were actuated by high motives of unselfishness. For their arduous labors they received no more than a mere pittance--barely enough for a meager support. But their hearts were baptized with the ministry of love. The reward of whole-souled liberality was apparent in their close fellowship with the Spirit of the Master Worker. They practiced the closest economy, in order that as many other laborers as possible might be planting the standard of truth in new places. {2SM 177.1} [2SM 177.2] But in time a change came. The spirit of sacrifice was not so manifest. In some of our institutions the wages of a few workers were increased beyond reason. Those who received these wages claimed that they deserved a greater sum than others, because of their superior talents. But who gave them their talents, their ability? With the increase of wages came a steady increase of covetousness, which is idolatry, and a steady decline of spirituality. Gross evils crept in, and God was dishonored. The minds of many who witnessed this grasping after higher and still higher wages, were leavened with doubt and unbelief. Strange principles, like evil leaven, permeated nearly the entire body of believers. Many ceased to deny self, and not a few withheld their tithes and offerings. {2SM 177.2} [2SM 177.3] God in His providence called for a reform in His 178 sacred work, which should begin at the heart, and work outwardly. Some who blindly continued to place a high estimate upon their services, were removed. Others received the message given to them, turned to God with full purpose of heart, and learned to abhor their covetous spirit. So far as possible, they endeavored to set a right example before the people by voluntarily reducing their wages. They realized that nothing less than complete transformation in mind and heart would save them from being swept off their feet by some masterly temptation. {2SM 177.3} [2SM 178.1] A Threat to Aggressive Denominational Work The work of God in all its wide extent is one, and the same principles should control, the same spirit be revealed, in all its branches. It must bear the stamp of missionary work. Every department of the cause is related to all parts of the gospel field, and the spirit that controls one department will be felt throughout the entire field. If a portion of the workers receive large wages, there are others, in different branches of the work, who will call for higher wages, and the spirit of self-sacrifice will gradually be lost sight of. Other institutions and conferences will catch the same spirit, and the Lord's favor will be removed from them; for He can never sanction selfishness. Thus our aggressive work would come to an end. Only by constant sacrifice can it be carried forward. {2SM 178.1} [2SM 178.2] God will test the faith of every soul. Christ has purchased us at an infinite sacrifice. Although He was rich, yet for our sake He became poor, that we through His poverty might come into possession of eternal riches. All that we possess of ability and intellect has been lent us in trust by the Lord, to use for Him. It is our privilege to be partakers with Christ in His sacrifice. {2SM 178.2} [2SM 179.1] Chap. 20 - General Principles Governing Worker Remuneration - Satisfaction and Blessing in Sacrificial Labor Those who have the cause of God at heart, must realize that they are not working for themselves or for the small wage they may be receiving, and that God can make the little they do receive go farther than they think it can. He will give them satisfaction and blessing as they go forward in self-sacrificing labor. And He will bless every one of us as we labor in the meekness of Christ. And when I see some seeking for higher wages, I say to myself, "They are losing a precious blessing." I know this to be a fact. I have seen it worked out again and again. {2SM 179.1} [2SM 179.2] Now, brethren, let us take hold and do the very best that we possibly can, without asking for higher wages except as we find that it is an impossibility to do the work given us without more; but even then let others see this necessity as well as ourselves, for God puts it into their heart to see it, and they will speak the word that will have more influence than for us to speak a thousand words. They will speak words that will give us a proper standing before the people. The Lord is our helper and God, our front guard and our rearward. {2SM 179.2} [2SM 179.3] As we bring ourselves into right relationship with God, we shall have success wherever we go; and it is 180 success that we want, not money--living success, and God will give it to us because He knows all about our self-denial. He knows every sacrifice that we make. You may think that your self-denial does not make any difference, that you ought to have more consideration and so on. But it makes a great difference with the Lord. Over and over again I have been shown that when individuals begin to reach out after higher and still higher wages, something comes into their experience that places them where they stand no longer on vantage ground. But when they take the wage that carries on the face of it the fact that they are self-sacrificing, the Lord sees their self-denial and He gives them success and victory. This has been presented to me over and over again. The Lord that seeth in secret will reward openly for every sacrifice that His tried servants have been willing to make.--Manuscript 12, 1913. {2SM 179.3} [2SM 180.1] Not to Demand a Stipulated Sum Christ gives to all the invitation, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30). If all will wear Christ's yoke, if all will learn in His school the lessons that He teaches, there will be sufficient means to establish gospel medical missionary work in many places. {2SM 180.1} [2SM 180.2] Let none say, "I will engage in this work for a stipulated sum. If I do not receive this sum, I will not do the work." Those who say this show that they are not wearing Christ's yoke; they are not learning His meekness and lowliness. . . . {2SM 180.2} [2SM 180.3] It is not being rich in the wealth of the world that increases our value in God's sight. It is the meek and the contrite that the Lord acknowledges and honors. Read the fifty-seventh chapter of Isaiah. Study this chapter carefully; for it means much to the people of God. I will make no comments upon it.--Letter 145, 1904. 181 {2SM 180.3} [2SM 181.1] Do the Work and Accept Wages Offered Every man is required to do the work assigned him of God. We should be willing to render small services, doing the things that are to be done, which someone must do, improving the little opportunities. If these are the only opportunities we should still work faithfully. He who wastes hours, days, and weeks, because he is unwilling to do the work that offers, humble though it may be, will be called to render an account to God for his misspent time. If he feels that he can afford to do nothing, because he cannot obtain the desired wages, let him stop and think that that day, that one day, is the Lord's. He is the Lord's servant. He is not to waste his time. Let him think, "I will spend that time in doing something, and will give all I earn to advance the work of God. I will not be counted a do-nothing." {2SM 181.1} [2SM 181.2] When a man loves God supremely, and his neighbor as himself, he will not stop to inquire whether that which he can do is bringing in much or little. He will do the work, and accept the wages offered. He will not set the example of refusing a job because he cannot count upon as large wages as he thinks he should have. {2SM 181.2} [2SM 181.3] The Lord judges a man's character by the principles on which he acts in dealing with his fellow men. If in common business transactions his principles are defective, the same will be brought into his spiritual service for God. The threads are woven into his whole religious life. If you have too much dignity to work for yourself for small wages, then work for the Master; give the proceeds into the Lord's treasury. Make an offering of gratitude to God for sparing your life. But do not on any account be idle.-- Manuscript 156, 1897. {2SM 181.3} [2SM 181.4] Pay to Be According to Labor The ways of the Lord are just and equal. The workers in the school should receive according to the hours they give to the school in honest, hard labor. Injustice must not be done to any worker. If one man or woman gives to the 182 school full time, he is to receive from the school according to the time which the school receives from him. If one gives mind, toil, and strength in bearing the burdens, he is to receive according to the value he gives to the school. Justice and truth are to be maintained, not only for the present and future standing of the school, but for our own individual benefit in righteousness. The Lord will not be a party to the least injustice.--Manuscript 69, 1898. {2SM 181.4} [2SM 182.1] Privilege of Working Versus Wages Those who think more of their wages than of the privilege of being honored as a servant of the Lord, who take up their work in a self-congratulatory spirit because they are to receive wages, do not bring self-denial and self-sacrifice into their work. The last men hired believed the word of the householder, "Whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive" (Matthew 20:7). They knew that they would receive all that they deserved, and they were placed first because they brought faith into their work. If those who had labored during the whole day had brought a loving, trusting spirit into their work, they would have continued to be first. {2SM 182.1} [2SM 182.2] The Lord Jesus estimates the work done by the spirit in which it is done. At a late hour He will accept penitent sinners who come to Him in humble faith and are obedient to His commandments. {2SM 182.2} [2SM 182.3] Christ warns those in His service that they are not to bargain for a stipulated sum, as though their Master would not deal truly with them. He gave this parable that murmurers would not receive sympathy on account of their supposed grievances.--Manuscript 87, 1899. {2SM 182.3} [2SM 182.4] True prosperity can never come to the soul that is constantly aspiring to get higher wages, and who yields to the temptation that leads him away from the work that God has appointed him. There never can be prosperity for any man, or any family, or any firm or institution, unless the wisdom of God presides.--Letter 2, 1898. (Tract "To the Leading Men in Our Churches," p. 4.) 183 {2SM 182.4} [2SM 183.1] "An Expensive Family" Men have written to me saying that they must have high wages, and pleading as an excuse an expensive family. And at the same time the institution with which they were connected was obliged to figure closely to meet running expenses. Why should anyone plead an expensive family as a reason for demanding high wages? Is not the lesson that Christ has given sufficient? He says, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). {2SM 183.1} [2SM 183.2] Our institutions were established to serve as an effectual means of advancing the work of soulsaving. Those connected with them are to study how they can help the institution, not how they can take the most out of the treasury. If they grasp more than is their due, they hinder the cause of God. Let everyone connected with these institutions say: "I will not set my wages at a high figure, because that would rob the treasury, and the proclamation of the message of mercy would be hindered. I must practice economy. Those who are out in the field are doing a work that is as essential as the work that I am doing. I must do all in my power to help them. It is God's means that I am handling, and I will do as Christ would do in my place. I will not spend money for luxuries. I will remember the Lord's workers in mission fields. They have more need of means than I have. In their work they come in contact with much poverty and distress. They must feed the hungry and clothe the naked. I must limit my expenditures, that I may share in their labor of love." --Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 19, pp. 19, 20. {2SM 183.2} [2SM 183.3] An Appeal for Equality Let there be more equality among us. There is too much eager grasping for recompense. Selfish estimates of the labor done are being made. Let no man receive so large a salary because he supposes he has adaptability to do a certain work, thus placing the work done for God and for the advancement of His cause on a mercenary basis. 184 To whom much is given, of him much will be required. Let those who argue that they should receive large salaries because of their abilities and peculiar gifts inquire of themselves, "Whose are the talents I am trading upon? Have I used these talents in such a way as to bring the greatest glory to God? Have I doubled the talents lent me?" A consecrated use of these talents would bring a revenue to the cause of God. All our talents belong to God, and both principal and interest are one day to be handed back to Him. {2SM 183.3} [2SM 184.1] If those who have been connected with the work of God for many years would study carefully how much injury they have done the Lord's vineyard by unwise moves, by departing from right principles and diverting means from the cause of God by using their influence to lead others into crooked paths, instead of grasping for higher wages they would humble themselves before God with a repentance that needeth not to be repented of. Let them ask themselves the question," `How much owest thou unto my lord?' (Luke 16:5). What account shall I render for the talent misused, for following my own unsanctified imagination? What can I do to blot out the evil results of my unwise moves which have so limited the resources of the cause?" Had every man occupied his position of trust with faithfulness, there would be no dearth of means today in the Lord's treasury. {2SM 184.1} [2SM 184.2] Our relation to the work of God is not to be placed on a mercenary foundation--according to the estimate of man, so much work, so much pay. It is a great mistake for men to suppose their services are invaluable. Let God be true to his word, and there will be a great change in the estimate of work done for the Master. {2SM 184.2} [2SM 184.3] Oh, there are many things to be corrected in the men who are ready to grasp so much. How inappropriate are the selfish graspings for reward. This craving for high wages has expelled the love of God from many hearts. Pride of position is a deep-seated evil which has ruined thousands. Yes, tens of thousands, full of ambition for distinction and display, have been ruined because they have 185 lost sight of principle. They have measured themselves among themselves, and compared themselves with themselves. Their eager grasping for credit and reward has resulted in diminished spirituality. This is a lesson all should study carefully, that they may be warned against selfishness and avarice, against pride which destroys love for God and corrodes the soul. {2SM 184.3} [2SM 185.1] When any man connected with the work of God refuses to work for the wages he is receiving, when he is receiving a reasonable sum for his services, he may obtain what he asks for, but it will often be at the loss of the grace of God from his heart, which is of more value than gold and silver and precious stones.--Manuscript 164, 1899. {2SM 185.1} [2SM 185.2] The Toll of Large Wages The incarnation of Christ was an act of self-sacrifice; His life was one of continual self-denial. The highest glory of the love of God to man was manifested in the sacrifice of His only-begotten Son, who was the express image of His person. This is the great mystery of godliness. It is the privilege and the duty of every professed follower of Christ to have the mind of Christ. Without self-denial and cross bearing we cannot be His disciples. {2SM 185.2} [2SM 185.3] When the resolutions were proposed and accepted to pay the large wages to those working in the Review and Herald office, the enemy was succeeding in his plan to turn aside the purposes of God, and to lead souls into false paths. The selfish, grasping spirit accepted the large wages. Had the workers practiced the principles set forth in the lessons of Christ, they could not conscientiously have received such wages. And what was the effect of this increase of wages? The expenses of the family living were greatly increased. There was a departure from the instructions and examples given in the life of Christ. Pride was awakened and indulged; means were invested for display, for needless self-gratification. Love of the world took possession of the heart, and unsanctified ambition ruled the 186 soul temple. The large wages became a curse. The example was not after Christ, but after the world. {2SM 185.3} [2SM 186.1] Love to Christ will not lead to self-indulgence, it will not lead to any unnecessary expenditure of means to please and gratify self or to foster pride in the human heart. The love of Jesus in the heart ever leads the soul to humility and entire conformity to the will of God. --Letter 21, 1894. {2SM 186.1} [2SM 186.2] When sin strikes inwardly, it assails the most noble part of a man's being. It makes terrible confusion and havoc with man's Godlike faculties and powers. While physical disease prostrates the body, the disease of selfishness and covetousness blasts the soul.--Letter 26, 1897. {2SM 186.2} [2SM 186.3] Higher Wages Proposed for Superior Men My heart is deeply stirred by the scenes which during the night have passed before me. In the night season I heard from some of my brethren propositions with which I cannot agree. The statements they made indicate that they are on the wrong track, that they have not an experience which will guard them from deception. I was grieved to hear from the lips of some of our brethren expressions that show neither faith in God nor loyalty to His truth. Propositions were made that, if carried out, would lead away from the straight and narrow way. {2SM 186.3} [2SM 186.4] Some think that if higher wages were paid to men of superior talent, these men would remain among us; then more work would be accomplished, in a more thorough manner, and the cause of truth would stand on a more elevated platform. {2SM 186.4} [2SM 186.5] Concerning this question I have received instruction from One who never errs. Suppose this plan were followed, "Who," I ask, "is competent to measure the genuine usefulness and the influence of his fellow workmen?" No man is qualified to judge of another's usefulness in the service of God. {2SM 186.5} [2SM 186.6] The position or office a man may hold is not alone an indication of his usefulness in the cause of God. It is the development of a Christlike character through sanctification 187 of the spirit that will give him influence for good. In the estimation of God the degree of his faithfulness determines the value of his service. {2SM 186.6} [2SM 187.1] God accepts the services of those only who are partakers of the divine nature. Without Christ man can do nothing. Love for God and man alone places human beings on vantage ground with God. Obedience to the divine command enables us to become laborers together with God. Love is the fruit that is borne on the Christian tree, the fruit that is as the leaves of the tree of life for the healing of the nations.--Manuscript 108, 1903. {2SM 187.1} [2SM 187.2] The Necessities and Comforts of Life In the Lord's treasury there should be sufficient means to give an adequate support to those who devote their time to the work of saving souls. Their just wages should not be begrudged them. Those who are willing to labor for the Master should not be allowed to lack for the necessities of life. They should be enabled to live comfortably, and also to have enough so that they can make donations to the cause of God; for it frequently happens that they are expected to take the lead in making offerings.--Manuscript 103, 1906. {2SM 187.2} [2SM 187.3] Free From Worldly Enterprises and Conflicting Duties There are many things that need to be adjusted, that will be adjusted if we adhere strictly to principle. Special instruction has been given me in regard to our ministers. It is not the will of God that they shall seek to be rich. They should not engage in worldly enterprises, for this disqualifies them for giving their best powers to spiritual things. But they are to receive wages enough to support themselves and their families. And they are not to have so many burdens laid upon them that they cannot give proper attention to the church in their own home. It is their duty to teach their children as did Abraham to 188 keep the way of the Lord, and to do justice and judgment. . . . {2SM 187.3} [2SM 188.1] Let ministers and teachers remember that God holds them accountable to fill their office to the best of their ability, to bring into their work their very best powers. They are not to take up duties that conflict with the work God has given them. When ministers and teachers, pressed continually under the burden of financial responsibility, enter the pulpit or the schoolroom weary and tired, with throbbing brain and overtaxed nerves, what can be expected but that common fire will be used instead of the sacred fire of God's kindling? The strained, tattered efforts hurt the speaker and disappoint the listeners. He has had no time to seek the Lord, no time to ask in faith for the unction of the Holy Spirit. Shall we not change this way of working?--Manuscript 101, 1902. {2SM 188.1} [2SM 188.2] Avoid Cultivating Expensive Tastes The workers must arouse themselves to see afar off. With many self-denial and self-sacrifice are dead, and these elements must be raised to life again. Men must understand that the large wages which they demand are sapping the Lord's treasury. They are binding up God's money in private interests, and by their actions are saying to the world, "My lord delayeth his coming" (Matthew 24:48). Shall not this thing be changed? Who will come up to the great example of the Master Worker?--Letter 120, 1899. {2SM 188.2} [2SM 188.3] Do not talk about your meager wages. Do not cultivate a taste for expensive articles of dress or furniture. Let the work advance as it began, in simple self-denial and faith. Let a different order of things come in.--Letter 94, 1899. {2SM 188.3} [2SM 188.4] Spirit of Self-Denial of Early Days Required Now There is just as much self-denial required now as when we first started in the work, when we were only a little handful of people, when we knew what self-denial 189 meant, what self-sacrifice meant, when we tried to get out the little papers, little leaflets, that should go to those who were in darkness. There are a few connected with the office today who were with us then. For years we received no wages, except barely enough to furnish us with the plainest food and clothing. We were glad to wear secondhand clothes, and sometimes we had hardly food enough to sustain our strength. Everything else was put into the work. After a time my husband received six dollars a week, and we lived on that, and I worked with him in the cause. Others labored in a similar way. . . . {2SM 188.4} [2SM 189.1] Those that have come in to take up the work, after it has been made a success, should walk very modestly. They should manifest the spirit of self-sacrifice. God means that the institutions here shall be carried on by self-sacrifice, just as the foundation was laid.--General Conference Bulletin, March 20, 1891, p. 184. {2SM 189.1} [2SM 189.2] When this work is done as it should be, when we labor with divine zeal to add converts to the truth, the world will see that a power attends the message of truth. The unity of the believers bears testimony to the power of the truth that can bring into perfect harmony men of different dispositions, making their interests one. {2SM 189.2} [2SM 189.3] The prayers and offerings of the believers are combined with earnest, self-sacrificing efforts, and they are indeed a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. Men are converted anew. The hand that once grasped for recompense in higher wages has become the helping hand of God. The believers are united by one interest--the desire to make centers of truth where God shall be exalted. Christ joins them together in holy bonds of union and love, bonds which have irresistible power. {2SM 189.3} [2SM 189.4] It was for this unity that Jesus prayed just before His trial, standing but a step from the cross. "That they all may be one," He said, "as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me" (John 17:21). --Letter 32, 1903. {2SM 189.4} [2SM 190.1] Chap. 21 - The Workers in Our Institutions - Procuring the Very Best Talent From time to time, I have felt urged by the Spirit of the Lord to bear a testimony to our brethren in regard to the necessity of procuring the very best talent to work in our various institutions and in the numerous other departments of our cause. Those who are thus connected with the work must be trained men, men whom God can teach and whom He can honor as He did Daniel, with wisdom and understanding. They must be thinking men, men who bear God's impress, and who are steadily progressing in holiness, in moral dignity, and in the excellence with which they labor. If they are growing men, if they possess reasoning minds and sanctified intelligence, if they listen to the voice of God, and seek to catch every ray of light from heaven, and they will, like the sun, pursue an undeviating course, and they will grow in wisdom and in favor with God. . . . {2SM 190.1} [2SM 190.2] Those who are placed in leading positions in connection with our institutions should be men who have sufficient breadth of mind to respect those of cultivated intellect, and who will recompense them proportionately to the responsibilities they bear. True, those who engage in the work of the Lord should not do so merely for the wages they receive, but to honor God, advance His cause, and to 191 obtain imperishable riches. At the same time we should not expect that those who are capable of taking hold of a work that requires thought and painstaking effort, and of doing it with exactitude and thoroughness should receive no greater compensation than the less skillful workman. A true estimate must be placed upon talent. Those who cannot appreciate true work and mental ability should not occupy the position of managers in our institutions, for their influence will tend to bind about the work, to erect barriers to its progress, and to bring it down to a low level. {2SM 190.2} [2SM 191.1] If our institutions are as prosperous as God designs they shall be, there must be more thoughtfulness and earnest prayer, mingled with unflagging zeal and skillful labor. To connect this class of laborers with the work may require a greater outlay of means. But while it is essential that economy be exercised in everything possible, it will be found that the efforts of some narrow minds to save means by employing those who will work cheap, and whose labor corresponds in character with the cheapness of their wages, will result in the end in their loss. The progress of the work will be retarded, and the cause belittled.--Letter 63, 1886. {2SM 191.1} [2SM 191.2] Wages for Institutional Workers The publishing work has been founded in sacrifice; it has been maintained by the special providence of God. We started it in great poverty. We had scarcely enough to eat and wear. When potatoes were scarce, and we had to pay a high price for them, we supplied their place with turnips. Six dollars per week was all we received for the first years of our labor. We had a large family; but we brought our expenses within our means. We could not purchase all that we desired; we had to bind about our wants. But we were determined that the world should have the light of present truth; and spirit, soul, and body were interwoven with the work. We worked early and late, without rest, without the stimulus of wages.... And God was with us. As prosperity attended the publishing work, the wages were increased, as they should be. 192 {2SM 191.2} [2SM 192.1] A Wage Scale, but with Equity While I was in Switzerland, word came to me from Battle Creek that a plan had been formed by which none working in the office should receive more than twelve dollars per week. I said, This will not work; it will be a necessity for some to receive higher wages than this. But double this amount should not be awarded to any man connected with the office; for if a few take from the treasury so largely, justice cannot be shown to all. Large wages afforded to a few is the world's plan; while others in every way as deserving receive far less. This is not justice. {2SM 192.1} [2SM 192.2] The Lord will have faithful men who love and fear Him connected with every school, every printing office, health institution, and publishing house. Their wages should not be fashioned after the worldling's standard. There should be, as far as possible, excellent judgment exercised to keep up, not an aristocracy, but an equality, which is the law of heaven. "All ye are brethren" (Matthew 23:8). A few should not demand large wages, and such wages should not be presented as an inducement to secure ability and talents. This is placing things on a worldly principle. The increase of wages brings with it a corresponding increase of selfishness, pride, display, self-gratification, and needless extravagance that the people who do their utmost to pay their tithes and present their offerings to God do not have. Poverty is seen in all their borders. The Lord loves the one just as much as the other, with the exception that the self-sacrificing, humble, contrite souls who love God and strive to serve Him, are ever kept nearer to the great heart of Infinite Love than the man who feels at liberty to have all the good things of this life. {2SM 192.2} [2SM 192.3] Not to Copy the World's Standard I have had many testimonies in regard to the point that we are not to copy the world's standard. We are not to indulge our inclination to grasp all we can possibly obtain, to spend our means in dress and luxuries of life as do the worldlings. It makes us not one jot happier to live to please 193 ourselves. The unnecessary outlay of means is robbing the treasury of God; and someone has to supply the deficiency. The facilities for building up the kingdom of Christ in this world are greatly limited because men rob God in tithes and offerings. {2SM 192.3} [2SM 193.1] Let not the idea prevail for a moment that a man's power to command high wages is a measure of his value in the sight of God as a worker. In the eyes of the world a man's value is estimated by, "How much is he worth in property?" But heaven's books register his worth in proportion to the good he has accomplished with the means he has had entrusted to him. In the fear and love of God, with his talents wholly sanctified to advance the glory of God, man can and will show his true value. Only when the reward is given to every man as his work shall be estimated in the judgment, can it be known how much he has sent before him to heaven. {2SM 193.1} [2SM 193.2] For years my testimony has been borne against the meager sum paid to some of our ministers. Inquire, search into the books, and you will find that there has been very close dealing with some of our ministers. The auditing committee need to understand their business and have the mind of Christ. There are some men of narrow minds on this committee, men who have not a true idea of the self-denial and self-sacrifice required of the minister of God. They have no true estimate of what it means to leave home, wife, and children, and become missionaries for God, to labor for souls as they that must give an account. A true minister of God will turn his whole life into a sacrifice. {2SM 193.2} [2SM 193.3] The Warning at Salamanca While at Salamanca, New York, in November, 1890, there were presented to me many things. I was shown that there was coming into the office a spirit that God did not approve. While some accept large wages, there are others who have labored at their post faithfully for years, who receive very much less. I have been repeatedly shown that God's order is not to be broken down and the missionary spirit extinguished. . . . 194 {2SM 193.3} [2SM 194.1] I know there are those who practice much self-denial to pay their tithes and make offerings to the cause of God. Those who stand at the head of the work should take such a course that they can unblushingly say, "Come, let us act mutually in this work which was commenced in sacrifice, and is supported by continual self-denial." The people should not excel those who stand at the head of our institutions in practicing economy, and binding about their wants.--Manuscript 25a, 1891. {2SM 194.1} [2SM 194.2] A View of Threatening Dangers in 1890 I am alarmed at the outlook both for the sanitarium and the publishing house at Battle Creek and our institutions generally. A spirit has been manifesting itself, and strengthening year by year in the institutions, that is of an entirely different character from that which the Lord has revealed in His Word should characterize the physicians and workers connected with our health institutions, and the work of publishing. The idea is entertained that the physicians at the sanitarium and men in responsible positions in the publishing house are not under obligations to be controlled by self-denying, self-sacrificing principles of Christianity. But this idea has its origin in the councils of Satan. When physicians make manifest the fact that they think more of the wages they are to receive than of the work of the institution, they show that they are not men to be depended upon as unselfish, God-fearing servants of Christ, faithful in doing the work of the Master. Men who are controlled by selfish desires should not remain connected with our institutions. . . . {2SM 194.2} [2SM 194.3] God will require a return from men in proportion as they set a value upon themselves and their services, for they will be judged according to their deeds, and by no less a standard than they themselves have established. If they have accounted their talents of so great value, and placed a high estimate upon their abilities, they will be required to render service proportionate to their own estimate and demands. Oh, how few have any real acquaintance with the 195 Father or with His Son Jesus Christ. If they were imbued with the spirit of Christ they would work the works of Christ. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5). {2SM 194.3} [2SM 195.1] Talents Belong to God He who judgeth righteously has said, "Without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5). All talents, great or small, have been entrusted to men by God, to be employed in His service, and when men use their ability simply for themselves, and have no special care to work in harmony with those in medical practice, who are of the same faith, they reveal that they are inclined to judge these men by themselves; they do not seek to answer the prayer of Christ, that they may be one as He is one with the Father. When they demand exorbitant prices for their services, God, the Judge of all the earth, will hold them to the measure of their own overrated estimation, and require of them to the full extent of the value they put upon themselves. {2SM 195.1} [2SM 195.2] As they judge of their worth from a money point of view, God will judge of their works, comparing their services with their valuation of them. Unless converted, no one who thus overrates his ability, will ever enter heaven, for his personal influence in the service of Christ will never balance the scale of his estimation of himself or of his demands for his service for others. . . . {2SM 195.2} [2SM 195.3] He who is selfish and grasping, eager to take every dollar he can get from our institutions for his services, is binding about the work of God; verily he has his reward. He cannot be accounted worthy to be entrusted with the eternal, heavenly reward in the mansions Christ has gone to prepare for those who deny self and take up the cross and follow Him. The fitness of men to enter the blood-bought inheritance is tested during this probationary life. Those who have the spirit of self-sacrifice manifested in Christ, when He gave Himself for the salvation of fallen man, are those who will drink of the cup and be baptized with the baptism, and they will share in the glory of the Redeemer. --Letter 41, 1890. 196 {2SM 195.3} [2SM 196.1] The Importance of Self-Denial I was shown that the office of publication should not be conducted on the same principles as are other publishing houses; for it is to be something after the order of a training school. Everyone connected with it is to be a true missionary, and work upon the same principles that brought it into existence. Self-denial should characterize all the workers. . . . {2SM 196.1} [2SM 196.2] Self-denial should characterize the men employed in responsible positions in the office, and they should be an example to all the workers. The office was brought into existence through self-denial, and the same spirit should be manifested and maintained. The great object must be kept in view. This is missionary work, and those who have no missionary spirit should not continue in the work.--Letter 5, 1892. {2SM 196.2} [2SM 196.3] A Threat to All Our Institutions Paul could see evils coming into the church, and he declared, "I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest, by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:2, 3). {2SM 196.3} [2SM 196.4] This is the evil which today threatens our schools, our institutions, our churches. Unless corrected, it will imperil the souls of many. One man will think that he should be greatly favored, because he is doing a line of work which among unbelievers would command large wages. Becoming dissatisfied, he will sell himself to the highest bidder. For the safety of the principles that should control all who labor in our institutions, the Lord bids me say to all who carry responsibilities, "Disconnect from all such without any delay; for this is the evil leaven of selfishness and covetousness." {2SM 196.4} [2SM 196.5] They are measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves. The worst thing you can do for them is to seek to retain them, even though 197 they be editors or managers. God is not with such a man, and you cannot with any safety hold onto him. An atmosphere of unbelief surrounds his soul. The comparisons he has made have led him to double-dealing. He says to himself,"If such a one received such a sum, I should receive just as much." He becomes wise above what is written in the law, and appropriates means for his own use. Thus he robs the treasury. God looks upon this as He looked upon the sin of Achan. He sees that such men cannot give the right mold to the work. They cannot supply the necessities of those who are laboring in hard fields, who have to give part of their wages to the needs of these fields. God sees every such case, and He will pass judgment on those who thus measure themselves, selfishly taking care that they receive all they think they should have.--Manuscript 97, 1899. {2SM 196.5} [2SM 197.1] A Characteristic Feature of the Work Imperiled In view of the large work that is to be done, our laborers should be willing to work for a reasonable wage. Even if you could obtain large wages, you should consider the example of Christ in coming to our world and living a life of self-denial. Just at this time it means very much what wages are demanded by the workers. If you require and receive a large wage, the door is thrown open for others to do the same. It was the demand for large wages among the workers at Battle Creek that helped to spoil the spirit of the work there. Two men led out in this movement, and they were joined by three or four others, and the result was a union in a course of action which, if followed by the majority, would have destroyed one of the characteristic features of the work of this message. The cause of present truth was founded in self-denial and self-sacrifice. This selfish, grasping spirit is entirely opposed to its principles. It is like the deadly leprosy, which in time will disease the whole body. I am afraid of it. We need to take heed lest we outgrow the simple, self-sacrificing spirit that marked our work in its early years. 198 {2SM 197.1} [2SM 198.1] You will not find it difficult to exert a wide influence in the sanitarium at_____. If you will act an unselfish part, not requiring the wages which you would naturally suppose you must draw, the Lord will sustain you in your work. If, on the other hand, you ask for a high wage, another, and still another, will think that they have a right to demand just as high wage as you; and by this means the money will be used that should be expended in building up the work of the cause of present truth in other places. {2SM 198.1} [2SM 198.2] In making important decisions we should study every side of the question. We are ever to remember that we are given a place in the work to act as responsible agencies. Some would follow a worldly fashion in the drawing of their salaries; but the Lord does not view matters as these men view them. He views our duties and responsibilities in the light of Christ's self-denying example. The gospel must be so presented to the world that precept and example will harmonize. {2SM 198.2} [2SM 198.3] Our sanitariums are not to be conducted after the customs of the world. It is not to be considered necessary that even the medical superintendent shall draw a large salary. We are the servants of God.--Letter 370, 1907. {2SM 198.3} [2SM 198.4] Physicians and Ministers Called to Self-Denial I feel impressed to write to you this morning, and ask that you be sure to treat all men with equity. I have been instructed that there is danger of your taking a course with some physicians that will be an injury to them. We are to do all in our power to encourage ministerial talent, and also that of physicians, by giving them every consistent advantage, but there is a limit beyond which we should not go. {2SM 198.4} [2SM 198.5] When we were trying to find a physician to act as medical superintendent of the Loma Linda Sanitarium, one experienced physician consented to come upon certain conditions. He stated a certain amount for his services, and said that he would not come for less. Some thought that, 199 because it seemed so difficult to find anyone, we might invite this physician on his terms. But I said to Brother ［J. A.］ Burden, "It would not be right to employ this doctor, and pay him so much, when others who are working just as faithfully receive less. This is not justice, and the Lord has instructed me that He would not approve of such discrimination." {2SM 198.5} [2SM 199.1] The Lord calls for self-denial in His service, and this obligation is binding upon physicians as well as upon ministers. We have before us an aggressive work which requires means, and we must call into service young men to labor as ministers and as physicians, not for the highest wages, but because of the great needs of God's cause. The Lord is not pleased with this spirit of grasping for the highest wages. We need physicians and ministers whose hearts are consecrated to God, and who receive their marching orders from the greatest Medical Missionary that has ever trod this earth. Let them behold His life of self-denial, and then gladly sacrifice, in order that more workers may engage in sowing the gospel seed. If all will work in this spirit, less wages will be required. {2SM 199.1} [2SM 199.2] Some have failed on this point. God has blessed them with ability to do acceptable service, but they have failed to learn lessons of economy, of self-denial, and of walking humbly with God. Their demands for high wages were granted, and they became extravagant in the use of means; they lost the influence for good they should have had, and the prospering hand of God was not with them.... Beware of placing too great confidence in those who demand high wages before they will engage in the Lord's work. I write you this as a caution.--Letter 330, 1906. {2SM 199.2} [2SM 199.3] Counsel to a Physician Regarding a Fixed Salary The plan that you are to receive above your wages any money that you may make in certain lines of work, is opening a door of temptation which will lead to evil results. This is not discerned by you or by those who drew 200 up these articles of agreement. But it will be the means of great injury to you, and will bring reproach upon the cause of God. There is in this plan an erroneous principle, which must be considered. Nothing is to be left at loose ends. Everything is to be bound off. You are to receive a definite sum as wages for your work, and live within that sum. {2SM 199.3} [2SM 200.1] Something of this character has been carried on in the negotiations with Dr. U. It is a fraudulent transaction. God sees its tendency and its result. This method of remuneration is not to be carried out in the sanitariums that are to be established. This instruction must pay you a suitable sum for your services. And all who are connected with the institution must receive remuneration in proportion to their services.--Letter 99, 1900. {2SM 200.1} [2SM 200.2] A Percentage Proposition Counseled Against In regard to the proposition made by Brother V, ［A $25-A-WEEK SALARY, 30 PER CENT ON THE OPERATIONS, WITH A FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT, AND ONE MONTH A YEAR OFF FOR STUDY AND IMPROVEMENT AT HIS OWN EXPENSE.--COMPILERS.］ I look at the matter as you do. We cannot afford to start out on the high-wage plan. This was the misfortune of the people in Battle Creek, and I have something to say on this point. We have before us a large field of missionary work. We are to be sure to heed the requirements of Christ, who made Himself a donation to our world. Nothing that we can possibly do should be left undone. There is to be neatness and order, and everything possible is to be done to show thoroughness in every line. But when it comes to paying twenty-five dollars a week, and giving a large percentage on the surgical work done, light was given me in Australia that this could never be, because our record is at stake. The matter was presented to me that many sanitariums would have to be established in Southern California; for there would be a great inflowing of the people there. Many would seek that climate. {2SM 200.2} [2SM 200.3] We must stand in the counsel of God, every one of us 201 prepared to follow the example of Jesus Christ. We cannot consent to pay extravagant wages. God requires of His under-physicians a compliance with the invitation, "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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:29, 30).--Letter 309, 1905. {2SM 200.3} [2SM 201.1] "Do Not Exact a High Salary" I would be very pleased to see and converse with you. I have an intense desire that you shall copy the pattern given in the Word of God.... {2SM 201.1} [2SM 201.2] Dr. W, I entreat of you that you do not exact a high salary. If you do this, others will follow your example; and if this is allowed, we shall soon find that the sanitarium income will all be absorbed for the payment of salaries, and that there will be none to carry on the missionary work to be done in foreign countries. {2SM 201.2} [2SM 201.3] I write you this because I understand that whereof I am speaking. The Lord is testing His people. My husband and I have passed over this ground, and because we did not ask a high wage, but were willing to work in self-denial and self-sacrifice, the Lord blessed us with His rich grace. If you will pursue a course of self-denial, you will be an example to others that will be a blessing to the work. In your work in _____, the most effective sermon you preached was when you lived the principles of the truth in your own family and revealed your earnest devotion to the work. I know what I am talking about when I say this. {2SM 201.3} [2SM 201.4] There should be more equality between the wage of the minister and the physician than there has been. Our ministers are expected to set an example of liberality to the church members, and their salary should be such that they can make many donations.--Letter 372, 1907. {2SM 201.4} [2SM 201.5] Extravagance and Influence Among our ministers, physicians, teachers, and canvassers, there is need of an entire surrender of the mind, 202 the heart, and the soul to God.... Neither dress, expensive homes, nor stylish living gives character to the work. But a meek and quiet spirit is in the sight of God of great value. Religion does not make a man course and rough. The true believer, realizing his own weakness, will guard himself at every point, and place his whole confidence in God. True Christian godliness cannot be forced; it is the outflowing of an honest heart.... {2SM 201.5} [2SM 202.1] God calls for minute men, praying men, practical men. Expensive outward show does not elevate men and women in the eyes of sensible people. It is not right for a physician to make an extravagant outlay of means, and then charge exorbitant prices for performing small operations. God looks at all these matters in their true light.-- Manuscript 34, 1904. {2SM 202.1} [2SM 202.2] An Important Interview Regarding Physicians' Wages ［ON THE MORNING OF DECEMBER 4, 1913, THE LEADING BRETHREN OF THE PACIFIC UNION CONFERENCE CONFERRED WITH MRS. E. G. WHITE AT HER ELMSHAVEN HOME IN REGARD TO THE REMUNERATION OF OUR SANITARIUM PHYSICIANS. A STENOGRAPHIC REPORT OF THE INTERVIEW WAS MADE AND THE RIBBON COPY BEARS A HANDWRITTEN NOTE OF ENDORSEMENT BY MRS. WHITE IN THESE WORDS: "THIS IS CORRECTLY PRESENTED, AND I REPEAT THIS FOR THE BENEFIT OF OTHERS. MAY THE LORD HELP US AND TEACH AND GUIDE US AT EVERY STEP IN OUR DIFFICULTIES." ESSENTIAL PORTIONS OF THE REPORT OF THIS INTERVIEW FOLLOW.-- COMPILERS.］ {2SM 202.2} [2SM 202.3] PRESENT: ELLEN G. WHITE, ELDERS F. M. BURG, G. W. REASER, W. M. ADAMS, J. H. BEHRENS, C. L. TAGGART, A. G. CHRISTIANSEN, W. C. WHITE; ALSO C.C. CRISLER. {2SM 202.3} [2SM 202.4] AFTER INTRODUCTIONS AND GREETINGS, ELDER W. C. WHITE SAID IN PART: {2SM 202.4} [2SM 202.5] ALL DAY YESTERDAY WE WERE CONSIDERING THE INTERESTS OF OUR VARIOUS SCHOOLS IN THE PACIFIC UNION CONFERENCE. IN THESE SCHOOLS LOCATED AT ANGWIN, LODI, FERNANDO, ARMONA, AND LOMA LINDA, THERE ARE BETWEEN SIX AND SEVEN HUNDRED STUDENTS IN TRAINING. WE WERE ENCOURAGED AS WE TOOK COUNSEL TOGETHER REGARDING THESE SCHOOLS. {2SM 202.5} [2SM 202.6] TODAY WE MUST ENTER INTO CONSIDERATION OF SANITARIUM PROBLEMS, PARTICULARLY THE QUESTION OF THE WAGES WE SHOULD PAY TO PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS. WE HAVE IN OUR _____ 203 SANITARIUM A GOD-FEARING PHYSICIAN WHO HAS WON THE CONFIDENCE OF ALL HIS ASSOCIATES--A MAN WHOM GOD HAS BLESSED GREATLY IN HIS MINISTRY TO THE SICK. HE WANTS TO REMAIN, AND EVERYBODY WANTS HIM TO REMAIN; AND HE FEELS THAT IT WOULD BE RIGHT FOR HIM TO REMAIN IF HIS BRETHREN COULD GRANT HIM A WAGE ABOUT TWICE AS LARGE AS THAT PAID TO OUR AVERAGE WORKERS. HE LOVES TO GIVE FREELY, AND HE WISHES TO HAVE FUNDS WITH WHICH TO LIVE AND TO USE FOR THIS PURPOSE. WE ARE MUCH PERPLEXED, AND WE WOULD BE GLAD TO KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY LIGHT ON THIS MATTER. {2SM 202.6} [2SM 203.1] Sister White: If he is granted considerably more than other physicians, they will come to believe they are not treated right unless they have more also. We must move cautiously and understandingly, and not allow wages to creep so high that many will be tempted. There may have to be a coming down rather than going up, in physicians' wages, because there is a great work to be done. Unless you have some clear light from the Lord, it is not advisable to pay one man considerably more than another doing a similar work. For, if you do, the others will think it perfectly proper to expect similar high wages. We must look at all things on all sides, and it is of no use for us to think that we can offer a successful worker a high wage simply because he may demand it. We must, rather, consider what we can afford to do at the present time, when the fields are opening upon which we shall henceforth have to expand much more means than we have spent hitherto. These are matters that will test the faith of our people. {2SM 203.1} [2SM 203.2] W. C. WHITE: THEY DO TEST OUR FAITH, MOTHER--ESPECIALLY WHEN A GROUP OF WORKERS HAVE LABORED WITH A MAN UNTIL THEY HAVE LEARNED TO LOVE HIM AND ADMIRE HIM, AND THEY BELIEVE THAT HE CAN DO BETTER WORK THAN ANY OTHER MAN. THEN IT IS NATURAL FOR THEM TO THINK THAT IT IS WRONG FOR THE BRETHREN TO WITHHOLD FROM HIM THAT WHICH HE MIGHT USE TO ADVANTAGE. THEY THINK, "WHAT IS A THOUSAND DOLLARS, OR FIFTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS, EXTRA, WHEN LIFE IS INVOLVED?" THEY SAY, "HERE IS SUCH AND SUCH A CASE THAT HE HAS JUST BROUGHT THROUGH, AND THERE IS ANOTHER WHOSE LIFE HE HAS SAVED"; AND THEY FEEL AS IF IT WOULD BE AWFULLY MEAN OF US NOT TO MEET 204 HIS REQUIREMENTS. THEY SAY, "THERE IS NO ONE WHO HAS TO WORK AND SUFFER AS DOES A SURGEON. THINK OF THE HOURS OF ARDUOUS LABOR, OF ANXIETY, OF MENTAL ANGUISH HE HAS TO ENDURE, WHEN A PRECIOUS LIFE IS HANGING BY A SLENDER THREAD." {2SM 203.2} [2SM 204.1] BUT, ON THE OTHER HAND, IN CONSIDERING THIS MATTER, WE MUST REMEMBER THAT OTHER INSTITUTIONS ARE INFLUENCED BY OUR ACTION. WE SEE A POOR STRUGGLING SANITARIUM SITUATED IN A BEAUTIFUL PLACE, IN A POSITION TO DO A LARGE BUSINESS, AND WITH EVERY PROSPECT OF MAKING MONEY IF ONLY THEY CAN HAVE A BRILLIANT PHYSICIAN; AND THEY CAN GET A GOOD PHYSICIAN IF THEY ARE ENCOURAGED TO PAY ONLY THREE OR FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS MORE THAN THE WAGE SCALE RECOMMENDED. THEY SAY, "IF YOU WILL ONLY LET US PAY A FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS MORE THAN YOU HAVE ADVISED, WE CAN GAIN FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS TO COVER THIS SMALL ADDITIONAL EXPENSE FOR WAGES." AND THUS IT SEEMS --WHEN WE LOOK AT IT FROM A BUSINESS POINT OF VIEW. {2SM 204.1} [2SM 204.2] Sister White: You see there is a selfishness that underlies that, that the Lord is not pleased with. We must work harmoniously. It is through harmonious action that our work is to be carried forward, and some will have a very hard time. Some will have an easier time. But all these things will have to be taken just as they come, and the workers must remember what Jesus gave in coming to our world. I think of it over and over and over again, and it seems to me that we can do an excellent work if we set a right example. But if we desire that which the most of our brethren cannot receive, this injures our influence. One brother says, "Such and such a brother has a certain wage, and I must have a wage to correspond." And so the wages will climb, and keep climbing, higher and still higher. The fact is, that the wages of some may have to be lower and still lower in order that we may meet the extensive requirements of the work that is before us in warning the world. . . . {2SM 204.2} [2SM 204.3] In years past, when this subject of wages has been under consideration, I have told my brethren that the Lord knows all about the spirit that prompts us to action, and that He can turn matters in our favor at times when we do 205 not expect it. As we set a right example, the blessing of the Lord will rest upon us. I have seen the Lord work in many ways and in many places to help the very ones that view these matters in the right light and set a self-sacrificing example. And, brethren, as you labor earnestly, prayerfully, humbly, in the spirit of Christ, God will open doors before you. The people will see your self-denial. {2SM 204.3} [2SM 205.1] At times when my brethren have come to me, seeking advice as to whether they should demand a higher wage, I have told them they might gain a little means by asking for higher wages, but that the blessing of God will accompany those who follow a different course. God sees the self-denial; the Lord God of Israel sees every motive; and when you come into a hard place, the angels of God are there to help you, and to give you victory after victory. {2SM 205.1} [2SM 205.2] I have been very clear in counseling my brethren not to demand large wages, for this is not the impelling motive that leads us to spend our energies in the work of soulsaving. {2SM 205.2} [2SM 205.3] We are not to let the wage question stand in the way of our responding to the call of duty, wherever our service may be required. The Lord can bring matters around so that a blessing will attach to our labors far exceeding any compensation we may or may not receive; and He will give to His servants words to speak that are of the highest consequence to perishing souls. {2SM 205.3} [2SM 205.4] The people are hungering and thirsting for help from Heaven. I have tried to put in practice these principles of self-sacrifice, and I know whereof I speak when I say that the blessing of God will rest upon you when you make the call of duty first. I am glad for this privilege of testifying before you this morning that the Lord has turned matters, over and over again, in such a way as to give us more than we could possibly ask for. {2SM 205.4} [2SM 205.5] The Lord will prove His servants; and if they prove true to Him, and leave their cases with Him, He will help them in every time of need. {2SM 205.5} [2SM 205.6] We are not laborers together for God for the wages we may receive in His service. True, brethren, you must 206 have wages with which to support your families; but if you should begin to stipulate as to just how much you shall receive, you may prove a stumbling block to someone else who does not have the disposition, perhaps, that you have to be liberal; and the result will be confusion. Others will think that all are not dealt with on an equality. You will soon find that the cause of God will become cramped; and this result you do not desire to see. You wish to see the cause of God placed on vantage ground. By your example, as well as by your words, the people are to have a living assurance that the truth received into the heart begets the spirit of self-denial. And as you go forward in this spirit, there are many that will follow. {2SM 205.6} [2SM 206.1] The Lord desires His children to act in that self-denying, self-sacrificing way that will bring to us the satisfaction of having performed our duty well because it was duty. The only-begotten Son of God gave Himself to an ignominious death on the cross, and should we complain at the sacrifices we are called upon to make? {2SM 206.1} [2SM 206.2] During my wakeful hours through the night season, I have been pleading with the Lord to guard our brethren against the tendency to promise to go here or there on the stipulation that they are to have a little higher wage. If they go in a spirit of self-sacrifice, trusting in Him, the Lord will grant sustaining power to mind and character, and success will be the result. {2SM 206.2} [2SM 206.3] In the future, our work is to be carried forward in self-denial and self-sacrifice even beyond that which we have seen in past years. God desires us to commit our souls to Him, that He may work through us in manifold ways. I feel intensely over these matters. Brethren, let us walk in meekness and lowliness of mind, and put before our associates an example of self-sacrifice. If we do our part in faith, God will open ways before us now undreamed of. . . . {2SM 206.3} [2SM 206.4] If someone proposes something that is not in accordance with self-sacrificing principles on which our work is based, let us remember that one stroke of God's hand can sweep away all seeming benefit because it was not to His name's glory.--Manuscript 12, 1913. 207 {2SM 206.4} [2SM 207.1] Meeting an Emergency If, when cramped for means, you let your competent workers go, to set up business for themselves, you will in a short time wish you had them back. The question of finance can be managed nicely, if all the workers will be willing when there is a pressure for means, to accept less wages. This was the principle the Lord revealed to me to be brought into our publishing institutions. There will be plenty to do, and your work will need these very men. Should we not all be willing to restrict our wants at a time when money is so scarce? {2SM 207.1} [2SM 207.2] My husband and I worked on this principle. We said, "The publishing house is the Lord's institution, and we will economize, reducing our expenses as far as possible." The Lord requires self-sacrifice of all His servants to advance His work and make it a success. Let every worker now do his best to sustain and guard our publishing institution in -----. Do you not think that the Lord will be pleased to see this spirit control in all our institutions? We are to bring principle into the work. Jesus said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me" (Luke 9:23). Are we ready to follow Christ?--Letter 25, 1896. {2SM 207.2} [2SM 207.3] Our institutions are to be entirely under the supervision of God. They were established in sacrifice, and only in sacrifice can their work be successfully carried forward.-- Letter 129, 1903. {2SM 207.3} [2SM 207.4] Human wisdom will lead away from self-denial, from consecration, and will devise many things that tend to make of no effect God's messages.--The Review and Herald, Dec. 13, 1892. {2SM 207.4} [2SM 208.1] Chap. 22 - Financial Assistance in Worker Qualification - Help Promising Young Men It should be made a part of gospel labor to help forward promising young men who give evidence that the love of truth and righteousness has a constraining influence upon them, leading them to dedicate themselves to the work of God, as medical missionaries, as canvassers, as evangelists. Let a fund be established to carry this work forward. Then let those who have received help go forth to minister to the sick and suffering. This work will surely open the way for the balm of Gilead to be applied to sin-sick souls.--Manuscript 35, 1901. {2SM 208.1} [2SM 208.2] Assistance Given Our First Medical Students My husband and myself united in taking three promising young men from their humble labors, and placing in the hands of each one thousand dollars to obtain an education in medical lines. This had been the selection that the Lord put into the mind of my husband. The Lord had given light and preference to these three youth, and they were to give themselves to the work of physicians.--Letter 322, 1905. 209 {2SM 208.2} [2SM 209.1] Qualifying Executives and Evangelists There must be a reaching higher, not seeking to excel in the outlay of large buildings and in display, but in the powers, the capabilities, the capacity that they may know how to manage these large interests. Provisions should be made, means invested; a fund secured to educate men and women of other nations and in our own country to be fitted to reach the higher classes. We have too little working talent in the different branches of the cause.--Letter 44, 1887. {2SM 209.1} [2SM 209.2] Loans Better Than Gifts All these things are to be done, as you propose, to help students to obtain an education, but I ask you, "Shall we not all act in this matter unselfishly, and create a fund, and keep it to draw upon on such occasions?" When you see a young man or a young woman who is a promising subject, advance or loan the sum needed, with the idea that it is a loan, not a gift. It would be better to have it thus. Then when it is returned, it can be used to educate others. But this money is not to be taken from the tithe, but from a separate fund secured for that purpose. This would exert a healthy uprightness and charity and patriotism among our people. There must be thoughtful consideration and a skillful adjustment of the work in the cause of God in all its departments. But let there be no meager, stingy plans, in using the consecrated portion for the sustaining of the ministry; for then the treasury would soon be empty.-- Letter 40, 1897. {2SM 209.2} [2SM 210.1] Chap. 23 - Counsel to One Who for Financial Reasons Was Planning to Leave the Work of God - ［ON NOVEMBER 3, 1892, A PUBLISHING HOUSE MANAGER WROTE TO MRS. E. G. WHITE TO INFORM HER THAT HE HAD DECIDED TO LEAVE THE INSTITUTION FOR EMPLOYMENT OUTSIDE THE DENOMINATIONAL WORK BECAUSE OF PERSONAL FINANCIAL EMBARRASSMENT. HE HAD NOT MANAGED TO LIVE WITHIN HIS INCOME, HAD BECOME INDEBTED TO THE INSTITUTION TO THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF $1,244 DURING A PERIOD OF EIGHT YEARS. IN THE MEANTIME HE HAD ACCUMULATED IN LIKE MANNER A DEBT AT THE SANITARIUM. BOTH INSTITUTIONS WERE KINDLY REQUESTING HIM TO SETTLE THESE ACCOUNTS. HE FELT THAT UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES HE WOULD BE JUSTIFIED IN LEAVING DENOMINATIONAL WORK FOR OUTSIDE EMPLOYMENT PAYING HIGHER WAGES, WITH THE HOPE OF PAYING HIS DEBTS AND WITH THE PROSPECT OF NEVER RETURNING TO LABOR IN THE CAUSE OF GOD. THE FOLLOWING LETTER IS MRS. WHITE'S REPLY.--COMPILERS.］ {2SM 210.1} [2SM 210.2] My brother, in your letter you speak of leaving the Review office. I am sorry that you can be willing to separate from the work for the reasons you mention. They reveal that you have a much deeper experience to gain than you now have. Your faith is very weak. Other families, much larger than yours, sustain themselves without one word of complaint, on half the wages you have. We have been over the ground, and I know what I am talking about. It is evident that whether you remain in the Review office or separate from it you have lessons to learn that will be of the highest interest to you. I do not feel at liberty to urge you to remain; for unless you drink deeper of the Fountain of living waters, your service will not be acceptable to God. 211 {2SM 210.2} [2SM 211.1] I do not know who would occupy the position that would be left vacant if you should leave, but if the work that the Lord designs and longs to do is done for the church in Battle Creek, I am sure He will help them in any crisis. He wants no forced service. Unless His words find entrance to the soul, and bring the entire man into subjection to Christ, the human agent will, when tempted and tried, choose to follow his own inclination rather than the ways of the Lord, I had hoped that the truth which has been shining in clear, distinct beams of light since the Minneapolis meeting, would flood your soul. But from the letters you have written, I know that you are not walking in the light. . . . {2SM 211.1} [2SM 211.2] Whatever position a man may fill in connection with the office of publication, he is not to be paid an exorbitant sum, for God does not work in this way. You lacked spiritual eyesight, and you needed the heavenly anointing, that you might see that the work of God was founded in a sacrifice, and only by a sacrifice can it be carried forward. . . . {2SM 211.2} [2SM 211.3] There have been those connected with the publishing house who know not and do not wish to know by experience what it cost their predecessors to build up the work. When these later workers accepted a part in it, they did not enter into a partnership with God. They do not recognize the principles and conditions that must govern the human agent in cooperation with the divine. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." No man who is not a partaker of this self-sacrificing love is prepared to labor for God. Many are blundering along, clinging to their burden of selfishness, as if it were a precious treasure, keeping diligently their own way. When they knock at the gate of heaven, saying, "Lord, Lord, open unto us," many a man will hear the words, "No one enters here but those who can receive the heavenly benediction, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the 212 joy of thy lord.' But thou hast faithfully served thyself, worked for thine own selfish interest, been good to thyself. Thou hast not laid up a treasure in heaven." {2SM 211.3} [2SM 212.1] We are not safe for one moment in cherishing indifference and carelessness in regard to our soul's salvation. Many will have to arouse and change their course of action if they are saved. The perils of the last days are upon us. Connection with divine influence through a strong, living, working faith, can alone make us to be laborers together with God. Those who would shun the self-denying, self-sacrificing part of religion, will never be partakers with Christ in His glory. There must be prayerful study and determined effort on the part of all who shall win the crown of life. {2SM 212.1} [2SM 212.2] Let none feel that they can claim any merits because of their advantages of birth or position or education. How did they obtain those advantages? Only through Christ: God calls upon all who would have everlasting life to copy the Pattern. Truth and righteousness are the first principles of the gospel, and the only principles that Christ will recognize in any human agent. There must be heartfelt surrender of our will to God; we must renounce all our own supposed merits, and look to the cross of Calvary. This surrender to God involves effort on the part of the human agent to cooperate with the divine agencies; the branch must abide in the vine. . . . {2SM 212.2} [2SM 212.3] Many, oh, so many, among believers have scarcely food enough to eat, yet in their deep poverty they bring their tithes and offerings to the Lord's treasury. Many who know what it is to sustain the cause of God in hard and trying circumstances have invested means in the publishing house. They have willingly endured hardship and privation, and have watched and prayed for the success of the cause. Their gifts and sacrifices express the fervent gratitude and praise of their hearts to Him who has called them out of darkness into His marvelous light. No more fragrant influence can ascend to heaven. Their prayers and their alms come up as a memorial before God. {2SM 212.3} [2SM 212.4] But the work of God in all its wide extent is one, and 213 the same principles should control, the same spirit be revealed, in all its branches. It must bear the stamp of missionary work. Every department of the cause is related to all parts of the gospel field, and the spirit that controls one department, will be felt throughout the entire field. If a portion of the workers receive so large wages, there are others, in different branches of the work, that will call for higher wages, and the spirit of self-sacrifice will become extinct at the great heart of the work. Other institutions will catch the same spirit, and the Lord's favor will be removed from them, for He can never sanction selfishness. Thus our aggressive work would come to an end. It is possible to carry it forward only by continual sacrifice. From all parts of the world the calls are coming in for men and means to carry forward the work. Shall we be compelled to say, "You must wait; we have no money in the treasury"? {2SM 212.4} [2SM 213.1] Brother X knows the earlier history of the work in the office; he knows the testimonies which God has sent to him and others in regard to self-denial and sacrifice. He is not ignorant of the many opening fields where the standard of truth is to be lifted, and where means are needed to establish the work. If he had the spirit of Christ, he would reveal the mind of Christ. {2SM 213.1} [2SM 213.2] Deserters from the Army of the Lord In severing his connection with the work of God in the office, Brother X has done just what I had feared he would do. Had he denied self, standing at his post in obedience to the will of God and because this is the work of God, putting his whole heart into the work and bearing its responsibilities and burdens as others have borne them before him, even though he should not gain as much financially as in business for himself--had he done this, he would have made it manifest that he was not a timeserver. But how great was his interest for the office, if he could step out when he pleased, when it appeared to be for his interest to do so? Ought the soldiers in 214 Christ's ranks to act in this way? Should soldiers in the army of the nation do this, they would be treated as deserters, and how does the heavenly universe look upon such soldiers in Christ's army? No one who engages in the work of God with an appreciation of its sacredness, could turn from the work to secure any worldly advantages whatsoever. {2SM 213.2} [2SM 214.1] Brother Y, God has been very merciful to you and Brother X. Life, that has been so precarious with you both, He has graciously spared. Days, months, and years have been granted, bringing you opportunities to develop character. God has placed you in connection with His work, that you might become imbued with the spirit of Christ. Every day, every hour, comes to you as a blood-bought privilege, that you may not only work out your own salvation, but may be an agent in bringing souls to Christ, building up His kingdom, and making manifest the glory of God. God calls for heart and devotion to the work. Those who are indeed laborers together with God, will carry the burden of the work, and like the minister whom He shall send, they will feel, "Woe is me if I fail to stand faithful and true to my position of trust." {2SM 214.1} [2SM 214.2] My brother, if you have no more heart interest in the work than is indicated by the fact that you can drop it so easily, I have nothing to say, no plea to make for you to remain in the office, or for Brother X to return to it. You both reveal that you are not men that can be depended upon. And an example that would be given in offering you additional inducements to remain would not be pleasing to God. {2SM 214.2} [2SM 214.3] I would not for one moment present to you or any other man a bribe of dollars and cents to hold you in connection with the work, whatever inconvenience it might suffer for a time because of your withdrawal from it. Christ stands at the helm. If His Spirit does not make you willing to be anything or do anything for the truth's sake, then you can learn that lesson only by passing through trial. God will test the faith of every soul. Christ has purchased us at an infinite sacrifice. Although He was 215 rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might come in possession of eternal riches. All that we possess of ability and intellect is only that which the Lord has lent us in trust to use for Him. It is our privilege to be partakers with Christ in His sacrifice if we will. {2SM 214.3} [2SM 215.1] The men of experience and piety who led out in this work, who denied self and did not hesitate to sacrifice anything for its success, are now sleeping in the grave. They were God's appointed channels through which the principles of spiritual life were communicated to the church. They had an experience of the highest value. They could not be bought or sold. Their purity and devotion and self-sacrifice, their living connection with God, were blessed to the upbuilding of the work. Our institutions were characterized by the spirit of self-sacrifice. {2SM 215.1} [2SM 215.2] But in some respects the work has deteriorated. While it has grown in extent and facilities, it has waned in piety. In the days when we were struggling with poverty, those who saw how wondrously God wrought for the upbuilding of the cause, felt that no greater honor could be bestowed upon them than to be bound up with the interests of the work by sacred links which connected them with God. Would they lay down the burden and make terms with the Lord from a money standpoint? No, no. Should every timeserver forsake his post of duty, they would never desert the work. They would say, "If the Lord placed me here, He desires me to be a faithful steward, learning of Him day by day how to perform the work acceptably. I will stand at my post until God shall release me. I will know what it means to be a practical, wholehearted Christian. I expect my reward by and by." {2SM 215.2} [2SM 215.3] The believers who in the early history of the cause sacrificed for the upbuilding of the work were imbued with the same spirit. They felt that God demanded of all connected with His cause an unreserved consecration of soul, body, and spirit, of all their services and capabilities, to make the work a success. The testimonies came to them, claiming for God all their energies in cooperation with the 216 divine agencies, and all the increased ability gained through the exercise of every faculty. {2SM 215.3} [2SM 216.1] Blighting Effects of Selfishness and Covetousness Those who can sever their connection with the Lord's work for some worldly inducement, may think they have a degree of interest in the cause of God; but the selfishness and covetousness lurking in the human heart are most powerful passions, and the outcome of the conflict is not a mere conjecture. Unless the soul is daily living upon Christ's flesh and drinking His blood, the godly element will be overcome by the satanic. Selfishness and covetousness will bear away the victory. A self-confident, independent spirit will never enter into the kingdom of God. It is only those who are partakers with Christ in His self-denial and sacrifice that will be partakers with Him in His glory. {2SM 216.1} [2SM 216.2] Those who realize, even in a limited degree, what redemption means to them and to their fellow men, will walk by faith, and they will comprehend in some measure the vast needs of humanity. Their hearts are moved to compassion as they behold the widespread destitution in our world--multitudes suffering for food and clothing, and the moral destitution of thousands upon thousands who are under the shadow of a terrible doom, in comparison with which physical suffering fades into nothingness. The religion of Jesus Christ has gained wonderful victories over human selfishness. The self-denial, the self-sacrifice of Christ is ever before those who are co-workers with Him, and the will of man becomes submerged in the will of God.... {2SM 216.2} [2SM 216.3] God designs that all who are laborers together with Him should have a rich experience in His love and His power to save. Never should we say, "I have no experience," for that God who gave Paul an experience will reveal Himself to every soul who will earnestly seek Him. What said God to Abraham? "I know him," said the heartsearching God, "that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of 217 the Lord, to do justice and judgment" (Genesis 18:19). Abraham would cultivate home religion, and the fear of the Lord would lead to integrity of life. He who blesses the habitation of the righteous says, "I know him that he will command." There is no betraying of sacred trusts, no hesitating between right and wrong. The Holy One has given rules for the guidance of all--the standard of character from which none can swerve and be guiltless. God's will is to be diligently and conscientiously studied, and it must be made paramount in all the affairs of life. The laws which every human agent is to obey flow from the heart of infinite love. {2SM 216.3} [2SM 217.1] That same Holy Watcher who says, "I know Abraham," knew Cornelius also, and sent His angel with a message to the man who had received and improved all the light God had given him. The angel said, "Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter." Then the specific directions are given, "He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do" (Acts 10:4-6). Thus the angel of the Lord works to bring Cornelius in connection with the human agent through whom he might receive greater light. Study the whole chapter carefully and see the simplicity of the whole transaction. Then consider that the Lord knows every one of us by name, and just where we live, and the spirit we possess, and every act of our life. The ministering angels are passing through the churches, noting our faithfulness in our individual line of duty. {2SM 217.1} [2SM 217.2] They take note also of our neglect of duty. Mark the case of Ananias and Sapphira. In pretending that they had consecrated their entire possession to God, they lied to the Holy Spirit, and as the result of their deception they lost not only the life that now is, but that which is to come. It is sad for anyone to handle sacred things, and yet bring into the service their own peculiar traits of character, making God to serve with their sins. God desires them, in their position of trust, to exemplify the mind of Christ, 218 but the objectionable traits of character are interwoven with all their work, and the sacred cause of God is marred by their selfishness. The Lord knows whether those who carry the burden of responsibility are faithful stewards, maintaining strict integrity in every transaction, and placing this impress upon every phase of their work. . . . {2SM 217.2} [2SM 218.1] Your heart is sad and grieved, but no longer deceive yourself, or expect that men and women will value the light that God has given them from His own holiness, until they shall open their hearts to Jesus. "Lean on Me," He says, "trust in Me: I will never fail you; I will be to you a present help in every time of need." {2SM 218.1} [2SM 218.2] I have been shown that all who now occupy important positions in the Review office will be tested. If they will make Christ their pattern, He will give them wisdom and knowledge and understanding; they will grow in grace and aptitude in Christ's way; their characters will be molded after His similitude. If they fail to keep the way of the Lord, another spirit will control the mind and judgment, and they will devise plans without the Lord, and will take their own course, and leave the positions they have occupied. The light has been given them; If they depart from it, and follow their own course, let no man present a bribe to induce them to remain. They will be a hindrance and a snare. The time has come when everything is to be shaken that can be shaken, that those things that cannot be shaken may remain.--Letter 20a, 1893. 220 {2SM 218.2} [2SM 220.1] Chap. 24 - Words to Those in Advanced Years INTRODUCTION - ELLEN G. WHITE, THE MESSENGER OF THE LORD, KNEW THE MEANING OF SUFFERING. HER CHILDHOOD HOPES WERE BLIGHTED BY AN ACCIDENT, AT THE AGE OF NINE, WHICH NEARLY COST HER LIFE. SHE PASSED THROUGH THE EXPERIENCES OF MOTHERHOOD FOUR TIMES. TWICE SHE WAS BEREAVED OF A SON. FOR NEARLY HALF OF HER PUBLIC LIFE SHE WAS A WIDOW. SHE KNEW THE MEANING OF LINGERING ILLNESS. HER MESSAGES OF ENCOURAGEMENT TO THOSE WHO WERE IN AFFLICTION, TO THOSE WHO FACED DEATH, AND TO THE AGED AND THE BEREAVED WERE TEMPERED BY HER OWN EXPERIENCE. {2SM 220.1} [2SM 220.2] NO ONE CAN EXPLAIN THE MYSTERIES OF PROVIDENCE, BUT THOSE WHO HAVE TRUSTED GOD IN TIMES OF TRIAL AND SUFFERING KNOW THAT GOD IS WORKING OUT HIS PLAN. MRS. WHITE KNEW THIS AND REVEALED IT IN HER DAY-BY-DAY JOURNAL FOR 1892 IN WHICH SHE JOTTED DOWN, WITH DIARY TERSENESS, HER REACTION TO TEN MONTHS OF SUFFERING IN A STRANGE LAND. HER DISAPPOINTMENT IN NOT BEING HEALED IN RESPONSE TO PRAYER AND ANOINTING, AND HER UNFALTERING TRUST IN GOD IN LIFE OR DEATH ARE HERE REVEALED. {2SM 220.2} [2SM 220.3] THE PERSONAL MESSAGES WRITTEN BY MRS. WHITE UNDER VARYING CIRCUMSTANCES, AND PRESENTED HERE FOR THE COMFORT OF THOSE WHO MUST SUFFER, WILL HELP TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS, WHY, IF GOD IS A GOD OF LOVE, MUST HIS PEOPLE SUFFER LONG ILLNESS? WHY MUST THEY LANGUISH ON BEDS OF PAIN? COMFORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT WILL COME TO THE PERSON WHO IS PASSING THROUGH EXPERIENCES OF A CHARACTER DESCRIBED IN THESE PAGES. WHATEVER REPETITION OCCURS IS MERELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF BRINGING COMFORT IN AS MANY PERSONAL SITUATIONS AS POSSIBLE.--WHITE TRUSTEES. {2SM 220.3} [2SM 221.1] The Afternoon Sun--Mellow and Productive The true minister of Christ should make continual improvement. The afternoon sun of his life may be more mellow and productive of fruit than the morning sun. It may continue to increase in size and brightness until it drops behind the western hills. My brethren in the ministry, it is better, far better, to die of hard work in some home or foreign mission field, than to rust out with inaction. Be not dismayed at difficulties; be not content to settle down without studying and without making improvement. Search the Word of God diligently for subjects that will instruct the ignorant and feed the flock of God. Become so full of the matter that you will be able to bring forth from the treasure house of His Word things new and old. {2SM 221.1} [2SM 221.2] Your experience should not be ten, twenty, or thirty years old, but you should have a daily, living experience, that you may be able to give to each his portion of meat in due season. Look forward, not backward. Never be obliged to tug at your memory in order to relate some past experience. What does that amount to today to you or to others? While you treasure all that is good in your past 222 experience, you want a brighter, fresher experience as you pass along. Do not boast of what you have done in the past, but show what you can do now. Let your works and not your words praise you. Prove the promise of God that "those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; to shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him" (Psalm 92:13-15). Keep your heart and mind young by continuous exercise.--The Review and Herald, April 6, 1886. {2SM 221.2} [2SM 222.1] No Excuse for Relaxing Self-Discipline I have heard those who have been in the faith for years, say that they used to be able to endure trial and difficulty, but since the infirmities of age began to press upon them, they had been greatly distressed when brought under discipline. What does this mean? Does it mean that Jesus has ceased to be your Saviour? Does it mean that when you are old and gray-headed, you are privileged to display unholy passion? Think of this. You should use your reasoning powers in this matter, as you do in temporal things. You should deny self, and make your service to God the first business of your life. You must not permit anything to disturb your peace. There is no need of it; there must be a constant growth, a constant progress in the divine life. {2SM 222.1} [2SM 222.2] Christ is the ladder that Jacob saw, whose base rests upon the earth, and whose topmost round reaches into the highest heaven; and round after round, you must mount this ladder until you reach the everlasting kingdom. There is no excuse for becoming more like Satan, more like human nature. God has set before us the height of the Christian's privilege, and it is "to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and 223 height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3:16-19).--The Review and Herald, Oct. 1, 1889. {2SM 222.2} [2SM 223.1] To Rise Up and Call Them Blessed At half past two o'clock P.M. I spoke to a full house ［at Adams Center, N.Y.］. . . . We were gratified to meet the aged servants of God on this occasion. We have been acquainted from the rise of the third angel's message with Elder ［Frederick］ Wheeler, who is now nearing eighty years. We have been acquainted with Elders ［H. H.］ Wilcox and ［Chas. O.］ Taylor for the last forty years. Age is telling on these old standard-bearers, as well as upon me. If we are faithful to the end the Lord will give us a crown of life that fadeth not away. {2SM 223.1} [2SM 223.2] The aged standard-bearers are far from being useless and laid aside. They have a part to act in the work similar to that of John. They can say, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" ( 1 John 1:1-7). {2SM 223.2} [2SM 223.3] This was the spirit and life of the message that John bore to all in his old age, when he was nearly one hundred years old. The standard-bearers are holding fast their 224 banners. They are not loosening their hands on the banner of truth until they lay off the armor. One by one the old warriors' voices become silent. Their place is vacant. We see them no more, but they being dead yet speak, for their works do follow them. Let us treat very tenderly the few aged pilgrims remaining, esteeming them highly for their works' sake. As their powers are becoming worn and enfeebled, what they do say is of value. As precious testimony let their words be treasured. Let not the young men and the new workers discard or in any respect show indifference to the men of hoary hairs, but let them rise up and call them blessed. They should consider that they have themselves entered into these men's labors. We wish that there was much more of the love of Christ in the hearts of our believers for those who were first in the proclamation of the message.--Manuscript 33, 1890. {2SM 223.3} [2SM 224.1] Counsel to Those Who Have Grown Gray in Service A Caution to Elder S. N. Haskell While you are anxious to do all that you possibly can, remember, Elder Haskell, that it is only by the great mercy and grace of God that you have been spared these many years to bear your testimony. Do not take upon yourself loads that others who are younger can carry. {2SM 224.1} [2SM 224.2] It is your duty to be careful in your habits of life. You are to be wise in the use of your physical, mental, and spiritual strength. We who have passed through so many and such varied experiences are to do all that it is possible for us to do to preserve our powers, that we may labor for the Lord as long as He permits us to stand in our lot to help to advance His work. {2SM 224.2} [2SM 224.3] The cause needs the help of the old hands, the aged workers, who have had many years' experience in the cause of God; who have seen many going into fanaticism, cherishing the delusion of false theories, and resisting all the efforts made to let the true light shine forth in the darkness to reveal the superstitions that were coming in to 225 confuse judgment, and to make of none effect the message of truth that in these last days must be given in its purity to the remnant people of God. {2SM 224.3} [2SM 225.1] Many of the tried servants of God have fallen asleep in Jesus. We greatly appreciate the help of those who are left alive to this day. We value their testimony. Read the first chapter of First John, and then praise the Lord that notwithstanding your many infirmities you can still bear witness for Him. . . . {2SM 225.1} [2SM 225.2] Elders Smith and Loughborough We can easily count the first burden bearers now alive ［1902］. Elder ［Uriah］ Smith was connected with us at the beginning of the publishing work. He labored in connection with my husband. We hope always to see his name in the Review and Herald at the head of the list of editors; for thus it should be. Those who began the work, who fought bravely when the battle went so hard, must not lose their hold now. They are to be honored by those who entered the work after the hardest privation had been borne. {2SM 225.2} [2SM 225.3] I feel very tender toward Elder Smith. My life interest in the publishing work is bound up with his. He came to us as a young man, possessing talents that qualified him to stand in his lot and place as an editor. How I rejoice as I read his articles in the Review--so excellent, so full of spiritual truth. I thank God for them. I feel a strong sympathy for Elder Smith, and I believe that his name should always appear in the Review as the name of the leading editor. Thus God would have it. When, some years ago, his name was placed second, I felt hurt. When it was again placed first, I wept, and said, "Thank God." May it always be there, as God designs it shall be, while Elder Smith's right hand can hold a pen. And when the power of his hand fails, let his sons write at his dictation. {2SM 225.3} [2SM 225.4] I am thankful that Elder ［J. N.］ Loughborough can still use his abilities and his gifts in God's work. He has stood faithful amid storm and trial. With Elder Smith, my husband, Brother Butler, who joined us at a later period, 226 and yourself ［S. N. Haskell］, he can say, "That which was from the beginning, . . . that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:1-3). {2SM 225.4} [2SM 226.1] Elder Butler a Most Valuable Laborer It is with feelings of satisfaction and of gratitude to God that we see Elder ［G. I.］ Butler again in active service. His gray hairs testify that he understands what trials are. We welcome him into our ranks once more, and regard him as one of our most valuable laborers. {2SM 226.1} [2SM 226.2] May the Lord help the brethren who have borne their testimony in the early days of the message, to be wise in regard to the preservation of their physical, mental, and spiritual powers. I have been instructed by the Lord to say that He has endowed you with the power of reason, and He desires you to understand the laws that affect the health of the being, and to resolve to obey them. These laws are God's laws. He desires every pioneer worker to stand in his lot and place, that he may do his part in saving the people from being swept downward to destruction by the mighty current of evil--of physical, mental, and spiritual declension. My brethren, He desires you to keep your armor on to the very close of the conflict. Do not be imprudent; do not overwork. Take periods of rest. {2SM 226.2} [2SM 226.3] The church militant is not the church triumphant. The Lord desires His tried servants, as long as they live, to advocate temperance reform. Unfurl the temperance banner. Teach the people to practice strict temperance in all things, and to be champions in favor of obedience to physical laws. Stand firmly to God's truth. Exalt before the people the banner bearing the inscription, "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14:12). . . . {2SM 226.3} [2SM 226.4] To Respect and Honor the Pioneers A few of the old standard-bearers are still living. I am intensely desirous that our brethren and sisters shall 227 respect and honor these pioneers. We present them before you as men who know what trials are. I am instructed to say, Let every believer respect the men who acted a prominent part during the early days of the message, and who have borne trials and hardships and many privations. These men have grown gray in service. Not long hence they will receive their reward. . . . {2SM 226.4} [2SM 227.1] The Lord desires His servants who have grown gray in the advocacy of truth to stand faithful and true, bearing their testimony in favor of the law. {2SM 227.1} [2SM 227.2] God's tried servants must not be put in hard places. Those who served their Master when the work went hard, those who endured poverty and remained faithful in the love of the truth when our numbers were small, are ever to be honored and respected. Let those who have come into the truth in later years take heed to these words. God desires all to heed this caution.--Letter 47, 1902. {2SM 227.2} [2SM 227.3] Aged Workers to Be Teachers and Counselors God calls upon His aged servants to act as counselors, to teach the young men what to do in cases of emergency. Aged workers are to bear, as did John, a living testimony of real experience. And when these faithful workers are laid away to rest, with the words, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord" (Revelation 14:13), there should be found in our schools men and women who can take the standard and raise it in new places. {2SM 227.3} [2SM 227.4] While the aged standard-bearers are in the field, let those who have been benefited by their labors care for and respect them. Do not load them down with burdens. Appreciate their advice, their words of counsel. Treat them as fathers and mothers who have borne the burden of the work. The workers who have in the past anticipated the needs of the cause do a noble work when, in the place of carrying all the burdens themselves, they lay them upon the shoulders of younger men and women, and educate them as Elijah educated Elisha. {2SM 227.4} [2SM 227.5] David offered to God a tribute of gratitude for the divine teaching and guidance he had received. "O God, thou hast 228 taught me from my youth" (Psalm 71:17), he declared. Those who in the history of the message have borne the burden and heat of the day, are to remember that the same Lord who taught them from their youth, inviting them, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me" (Matthew 11:29), and giving them the light of truth, is just as willing to teach young men and women today as He was to teach them. {2SM 227.5} [2SM 228.1] Relieved of Taxing Burdens It is wisdom for those who have borne heavy loads to come apart and rest awhile. These faithful workers should be relieved of every taxing burden. The work they can do as educators should be appreciated. The Lord Himself will cooperate with them in their efforts to teach others. They should leave the wrestling to those who are younger; the future work must be done by strong young men. The work is under the control of the Author and Finisher of our faith. He can and will give fitness to men of opportunity. He will raise up those who can fight His battles. He never leaves His work to chance. This work is a great and solemn one, and it is to go forward. {2SM 228.1} [2SM 228.2] It is not God's will that the fathers in His cause should use up their remaining vitality in bearing heavy loads. Let the young men shoulder every responsibility they can, and fight manfully the good fight of faith. The Lord knows better whom to select to do His work than do the wisest men, however interested they may be. It is God who implants His Spirit in the hearts of young men, leading them to fight for Him against great odds. Thus He inspired Paul of Tarsus, who fought with all his entrusted capabilities for Heaven's revealed truth, against apostates who ought to have upheld him. God's servants will have today to meet the same difficulties that Paul met. This experience some have had who are now raising the banner of truth. It is such men who can stand in defense of the truth. If they continue to be learners, God can use them to vindicate His law. 229 {2SM 228.2} [2SM 229.1] Young Men to Unite With Experienced Workers Let not the aged workers think that they must carry all the responsibilities, all the loads. New fields of labor are constantly opening before us. Let the young men unite with experienced laborers who understand the Scriptures, who have long been doers of the Word, who have brought the truth into the practical life, relying upon Christ day by day, who seek the Lord as Daniel did. Three times a day Daniel offered his petitions to God. He knew that One mighty in counsel was the source of wisdom and power. The truth as it is in Jesus--the sword of the Spirit, which cuts both ways--was his weapon of warfare. {2SM 229.1} [2SM 229.2] In word, in spirit, in principle, the men who have made God their trust are an example to the youth connected with them. These faithful servants of God are to link up with young men, drawing them with the cords of love because they are themselves drawn to them by the cords of Christ's love.--The Review and Herald, March 20, 1900. {2SM 229.2} [2SM 229.3] Growing Old but Continuing to Testify Dear Brother ［G. I.］ Butler: ... I greatly desire that the old soldiers, grown gray in the Master's service, shall continue to bear their testimony right to the point, that those younger in the faith may understand that the messages which the Lord gave us in the past are very important at this stage of the earth's history. Our past experience has not lost one jot of its force. I thank the Lord for every jot and tittle of the Sacred Word. I would not draw back from the hard parts of our experience. {2SM 229.3} [2SM 229.4] You must not work beyond your strength. I suppose that in the future our experience will be varied; but I think that you and I in growing old in the service of Christ, in doing His will, are obtaining an experience of the highest value and most intense interest. {2SM 229.4} [2SM 229.5] The judgments of the Lord are in the land. We must work with wholehearted fidelity, putting the whole being into what we do to help others move forward and upward. 230 Let us press the battle to the gates. Let us be ever ready to speak words of encouragement to the halting and the weary. We can walk safely only as we walk with Christ. Let nothing dampen your courage. Help those with whom you come in contact to work with fidelity. {2SM 229.5} [2SM 230.1] I hope that in the future I may meet you at some of our gatherings. You and I are among the oldest of those living who have long kept the faith. If we should not live to see our Lord's appearing, yet, having done our appointed work, we shall lay off our armor with sanctified dignity. Let us do our best, and let us do it in faith and hope. My heart is filled with gratitude to the Lord for sparing my life for so long. My right hand can still trace subjects of Bible truth without trembling. Tell all that Sister White's hand still traces words of instruction for the people. I am completing another book on Old Testament history. ［REFERENCE HERE IS TO PROPHETS AND KINGS.］ {2SM 230.1} [2SM 230.2] May the Lord bless you and keep you in hope and courage. --Letter 130, 1910. {2SM 230.2} [2SM 230.3] Less Constant Taxing Labor Dear Brother ［S. N.］ Haskell: I urge you not to work above that which you are able to do. You should have less constant, taxing labor, that you may be able to keep yourself in a rested condition. You should take a sleep in the daytime. You can then think more readily, and your thoughts will be more clear and your words more convincing. And be sure to bring your whole being into connection with God. Accept the Holy Spirit for your spiritual illumination, and under its guidance follow on to know the Lord. Go forth where the Lord directs, doing what He commands. Wait on the Lord, and He will renew your strength. {2SM 230.3} [2SM 230.4] But it is not required of you or of me to be on a continual strain. We should surrender continually what He requires of us, and He will show us His covenant. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him" (Psalm 25:14). We shall be instructed more deeply in the mystery of God the 231 Father and of Jesus Christ. We shall have visions of the King in His beauty, and before us will be opened the rest that remaineth for the people of God. We will soon enter the city whose builder and maker is God--the city we have long talked of.--Letter 78, 1906. {2SM 230.4} [2SM 231.1] Trust God--Lean Upon Him Dear Sister ［S. N.］ Haskell: ...Now when you can no longer be active, and infirmities press upon you, all that God requires of you is to trust Him. Commit the keeping of your soul to Him as unto a faithful Creator. His mercies are sure, His covenant is everlasting. Happy is the man whose hope is in the Lord his God, who keepeth truth forever. Let your mind grasp the promises and hold to them. If you cannot call to mind readily the rich assurance contained in the precious promises, listen to them from the lips of another. What fullness, what love and assurance are found in these words from the lips of God Himself, proclaiming His love, His pity and interest in the children of His care: {2SM 231.1} [2SM 231.2] "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin" (Exodus 34:6, 7). {2SM 231.2} [2SM 231.3] The Lord is full of compassion for His suffering ones. What sins are too great for His pardon? He is merciful, and as such is infinitely more ready and more pleased to pardon than to condemn. He is gracious, not looking for wrong in us; He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are but dust. In His boundless compassion and mercy He heals all our backslidings, loving us freely while we are yet sinners, withdrawing not His light, but shining on us for Christ's sake. {2SM 231.3} [2SM 231.4] Will you, my sister, always trust in Jesus, who is your righteousness? The love of God is shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Ghost, which is graciously given unto you. You are one with Christ. He will give you grace to be patient, He will give you grace to be trustful, He will give 232 you grace to overcome restlessness, He will warm your heart with His own sweet Spirit, He will revive your soul in its weakness. Only a few days more to be as pilgrims and strangers in this world, seeking for a better country, even an heavenly. Our home is in heaven. Then stay your soul in confidence upon God. Roll all your burdens upon Him. {2SM 231.4} [2SM 232.1] Oh, how many times has your heart been touched with the beauty of the Saviour's countenance, charmed with the loveliness of His character, and subdued with the thought of His suffering. Now He wants you to lean your whole weight upon Him. I will give you a chapter to comfort you at all times. "And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation" (Isaiah 12:1-3).--Letter 14b, 1891. {2SM 232.1} [2SM 233.1] Chap. 25 - Fortitude in Affliction - WHY THIS AFFLICTION ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, NO. 9.］ ［LATE IN 1891, ELLEN G. WHITE, IN RESPONSE TO A REQUEST FROM THE GENERAL CONFERENCE, JOURNEYED TO AUSTRALIA TO ASSIST IN STRENGTHENING THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED WORK THERE. THE SOJOURN EXTENDED TO NINE YEARS. SOON AFTER HER ARRIVAL SHE WAS OVERTAKEN BY AN EXTENDED AND PAINFUL ILLNESS. THE FOLLOWING ITEMS RECORD HER FORTITUDE IN THIS AFFLICTION. TAKE NOTE OF THE LESSONS SHE LEARNED FROM THIS EXPERIENCE.-- COMPILERS.］ {2SM 233.1} [2SM 233.2] Every mail has taken from one to two hundred pages from my hand, and most of it has been written either as I am now propped up on the bed by pillows, half lying or half sitting, or bolstered up sitting in an uncomfortable chair. {2SM 233.2} [2SM 233.3] It is very painful to my hip and to the lower part of my spine to sit up. If such easy chairs were to be found in this country ［Australia］ as you have at the sanitarium, one would be readily purchased by me, if it cost thirty dollars .... It is with great weariness that I can sit erect and hold up my head. I must rest it against the back of the chair on the pillows, half reclining. This is my condition just now. {2SM 233.3} [2SM 233.4] But I am not at all discouraged. I feel that I am sustained daily. In the long weary hours of the night, when sleep has been out of the question, I have devoted much 234 time to prayer; and when every nerve seemed to be shrieking with pain, when if I considered myself, it seemed I should go frantic, the peace of Christ has come into my heart in such measure that I have been filled with gratitude and thanksgiving. I know that Jesus loves me, and I love Jesus. Some nights I have slept three hours, a few nights four hours, and much of the time only two, and yet in these long Australian nights, in the darkness, all seems light about me, and I enjoy sweet communion with God. {2SM 233.4} [2SM 234.1] When I first found myself in a state of helplessness I deeply regretted having crossed the broad waters. Why was I not in America? Why at such expense was I in this country? Time and again I could have buried my face in the bed quilts and had a good cry. But I did not long indulge in the luxury of tears. {2SM 234.1} [2SM 234.2] I said to myself, "Ellen G. White, what do you mean? Have you not come to Australia because you felt that it was your duty to go where the conference judged it best for you to go? Has this not been your practice?" {2SM 234.2} [2SM 234.3] I said, "Yes." {2SM 234.3} [2SM 234.4] "Then why do you feel almost forsaken and discouraged? Is not this the enemy's work?" {2SM 234.4} [2SM 234.5] I said, "I believe it is." {2SM 234.5} [2SM 234.6] I dried my tears as quickly as possible and said, "It is enough; I will not look on the dark side any more. Live or die, I commit the keeping of my soul to Him who died for me." {2SM 234.6} [2SM 234.7] I then believed that the Lord would do all things well, and during this eight months of helplessness, I have not had any despondency or doubt. I now look at this matter as a part of the Lord's great plan, for the good of His people here in this country, and for those in America, and for my good. I cannot explain why or how, but I believe it. And I am happy in my affliction. I can trust my heavenly Father. I will not doubt His love. I have an ever-watchful guardian day and night, and I will praise the Lord, for His praise is upon my lips because it comes from a heart full of gratitude --Letter 18a, 1892. 235 {2SM 234.7} [2SM 235.1] Meditations Through Days of Affliction Prayer and Anointing--but Not Instantly Healed May 21, 1892. The trying, almost sleepless night is ended. Yesterday afternoon Elder ［A. G.］ Daniells and his wife, Elder ［G. C.］ Tenney and his wife, and Brethren Stockton and Smith came to our house at my request to pray that the Lord would heal me. We had a most earnest season of prayer, and we were all much blessed. I was relieved, but not restored. I have now done all that I can to follow the Bible directions, and I shall wait for the Lord to work, believing that in His own good time He will heal me. My faith takes hold of the promise, "Ask, and ye shall receive" (John 16:24). {2SM 235.1} [2SM 235.2] I believe that the Lord heard our prayers. I hoped that my captivity might be turned immediately, and to my finite judgment it seemed that thus God would be glorified. I was much blessed during our season of prayer, and I shall hold fast to the assurance then given me: "I am your Redeemer; I will heal you."--Manuscript 19, 1892. {2SM 235.2} [2SM 235.3] "I Shall Not Lose Self-control" June 23, 1892. Another night has passed. I slept only three hours. I was not in so much pain as usual, but was restless and nervous. After lying awake for some time, trying to sleep, I gave up the effort, and directed my whole attention to seeking the Lord. How precious to me was the promise, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matthew 7:7). I prayed most earnestly to the Lord for comfort and peace, which the Lord Jesus alone can give. I want the blessing of the Lord, so that, while suffering pain, I shall not lose self-control. I dare not trust in self for one moment. {2SM 235.3} [2SM 235.4] The instant that Peter withdrew his eyes from Christ, that instant he began to sink. When he realized his peril, and lifted his eyes and voice to Jesus, crying, Save, Lord, or I perish, the hand ever ready to save the perishing took hold of him, and he was saved. . . . {2SM 235.4} [2SM 235.5] In my home I must daily seek peace and pursue it. . . . 236 And although the body is suffering, and the nervous system enfeebled, we must not think that we are at liberty to speak fretfully or to think that we are not receiving all the attention we should have. When we give way to impatience, we drive the Spirit of God out of the heart, and give place to the attributes of Satan. {2SM 235.5} [2SM 236.1] When we frame excuses for selfishness, for evil thinking and evil speaking, we are educating the soul in evil, and if we continue to do this, it will become a habit to yield to temptation. We are then on Satan's ground, overcome, weak, and without courage. {2SM 236.1} [2SM 236.2] If we trust in ourselves, we shall certainly fall. Christ says, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me" (John 15:4). {2SM 236.2} [2SM 236.3] What is the fruit that we are to bear? "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22, 23). {2SM 236.3} [2SM 236.4] As I meditated on these things, I felt more and more deeply the sin of neglecting to keep the soul in the love of God. The Lord does nothing without our cooperation. When Christ prayed, Father, keep them in Thy name, He did not mean that we should neglect to keep ourselves in the love and faith of God. Alive unto God, through a living union with Christ, we trust in the promises, constantly gaining greater strength by beholding Jesus. What can change the heart or shake the confidence of the one who by beholding the Saviour is changed into His likeness? Shall such a one be on the watch for slights? Shall his imagination center on self? Shall he allow little things to destroy his peace of mind? He in whose heart Christ abides is willing to be pleased. He thinks no evil, and is content with the assurance that Jesus knows and values aright every soul for whom He died. God says, "I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir" (Isaiah 13:12). Let this satisfy the longing of the soul, and make us careful and guarded, very ready to forgive others because God has forgiven us. 237 {2SM 236.4} [2SM 237.1] The happiness of life is made up of little things. It is in the power of everyone to practice true Christlike courtesy. It is not the possession of splendid talents that will help us to overcome, but the conscientious performance of daily duties. The kind look, the lowly spirit, the contented disposition, the unaffected, sincere interest in the welfare of others--these things are helps in the Christian life. If the love of Jesus fills the heart, this love will be manifested in the life. We shall not show a determination to have our own way, a stubborn, selfish unwillingness to be happy or pleased. The health of the body depends more upon heart healthfulness than many suppose. {2SM 237.1} [2SM 237.2] One can imagine himself slighted, imagine that he is not in as high a position as he is capable of filling, and so make of himself a supposed martyr. He is unhappy, but who is to blame? One thing is certain--kindness and amiability of temper will do more to exalt him than any supposed smartness with the curse of an ungenial disposition. --Manuscript 19, 1892. {2SM 237.2} [2SM 237.3] Jesus Knows Our Griefs and Pains June 26, 1892. I am glad when the daylight comes, for the nights are long and wearisome. But when I cannot sleep, gratitude fills my heart as I think that One who never slumbers is watching over me for good. What a wonderful thought it is that Jesus knows all about the pains and griefs we bear. In all our afflictions He was afflicted. Some among our friends know nothing of human woe or physical pain. They are never sick, and therefore they cannot enter fully into the feelings of those who are sick. But Jesus is touched with the feeling of our infirmity. He is the great medical missionary. He has taken humanity upon Himself, and has placed Himself at the head of a new dispensation, in order that He may reconcile justice and compassion.-- Manuscript 19, 1892. {2SM 237.3} [2SM 237.4] "Make Me a Healthy, Fruit-bearing Branch" June 29, 1892. My prayer on awaking is, Jesus, keep Thy child today. Take me under Thy guardianship. Make 238 me a healthy, fruit-bearing branch of the living Vine. "Without me," Christ says, "ye can do nothing" (John 15:5). In and through Christ we can do all things. {2SM 237.4} [2SM 238.1] He who was the adored of angels, who had listened to the music of the heavenly choir, was ever touched, while upon this earth, with the sorrows of children, ever ready to listen to the story of their childish woe. He often dried their tears, cheering them with the tender sympathy of His words, which seemed to hush their sorrows and make them forget their grief. The emblem in the form of a dove that hovered over Jesus at His baptism represents His gentleness of character.--Manuscript 19, 1892. {2SM 238.1} [2SM 238.2] "Let No Unkind Words Be Spoken by Me" June 30, 1892. Another night of great weariness is nearly passed. Although I continue to suffer much pain, I know that I am not forsaken by my Saviour. My prayer is, Help me, Jesus, that I may not dishonor Thee with my lips. Let no unkind words be spoken by me.--Manuscript 19, 1892. {2SM 238.2} [2SM 238.3] "I Will Not Complain" July 6, 1892. I am so thankful that I can tell the Lord all my fears and perplexities. I feel that I am under the shield of His wings. An infidel once asked a God-fearing youth, "How great is the God you worship?" "So great," was the reply, "that He fills immensity, and yet so small that He dwells in every sanctified heart." {2SM 238.3} [2SM 238.4] O precious Saviour, I long for Thy salvation. "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee" (Psalm 42:1). I long for a clearer view of Jesus. I love to think of His spotless life, to meditate upon His lessons. How many times I repeat the words, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). {2SM 238.4} [2SM 238.5] Much of the time my body is full of pain, but I will not by complaining become unworthy of the name of Christian. I am assured that this lesson of suffering will be to the glory of God, a means of warning others to avoid 239 continuous labor under trying circumstances so unfavorable to health of the body.--Manuscript 19, 1892. {2SM 238.5} [2SM 239.1] "The Lord Strengthens Me" July 7, 1892. The Lord strengthens me by His grace to write important letters. The brethren frequently come to me for counsel. I feel a strong assurance that this tedious affliction is for the glory of the Lord. I will not murmur; for when I wake in the night, it seems that Jesus is looking upon me. The fifty-first chapter of Isaiah is exceedingly precious to me. He bears all our burdens. I read this chapter with assurance and hope.--Manuscript 19, 1892. {2SM 239.1} [2SM 239.2] No Thought of Beating a Retreat July 10, 1892. I awoke Emily ［EMILY CAMPBELL, MRS. WHITE'S TRAVELING COMPANION AND SECRETARY.］ at five o'clock to build my fire and help me to dress. I thank the Lord that I had a better night's rest than usual. My wakeful hours I employ in prayer and meditation. The question forces itself upon me, Why do I not receive the blessing of restoration to health? Shall I interpret these long months of sickness as evidences of the displeasure of God because I came to Australia? I answer decidedly, No, I dare not do this. At times before leaving America I thought that the Lord did not require me to go to a country so far away, at my age and when I was prostrated by overwork. But I followed the voice of the ［General］ Conference, as I have ever tried to do at times when I had no clear light myself. I came to Australia, and found the believers here in a condition where they must have help. For weeks after reaching here I labored as earnestly as I have ever labored in my life. Words were given me to speak in regard to the necessity of personal piety. . . . {2SM 239.2} [2SM 239.3] I am in Australia, and I believe that I am just where the Lord wants me to be. Because suffering is my portion, I have no thought of beating a retreat. The blessed assurance is given me that Jesus is mine and that I am His child. 240 The darkness is dispelled by the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. Who can understand the pain I suffer but the One who is afflicted in all our afflictions? To whom can I speak but to Him who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and who knows how to succor those who are tempted? {2SM 239.3} [2SM 240.1] When I pray earnestly for restoration, and it seems that the Lord does not answer, my spirit almost faints within me. Then it is that the dear Saviour makes me mindful of His presence. He says to me, Cannot you trust Him who has purchased you with His own blood? I have graven thee on the palms of My hands. Then my soul is nourished with the divine Presence. I am lifted out of myself, as it were, into the presence of God.--Manuscript 19, 1892. {2SM 240.1} [2SM 240.2] God Knows What Is Best July 14, 1892. When the affliction under which I have been suffering for several months came upon me, I was surprised that it was not removed at once in answer to prayer. But the promise, "My grace is sufficient" (2 Corinthians 12:9), has been fulfilled in my case. There can be no doubt on my part. My hours of pain have been hours of prayer, for I have known to whom to take my sorrows. I have the privilege of reinforcing my feeble strength by laying hold upon infinite power. By day and night I stand on the solid rock of God's promises. {2SM 240.2} [2SM 240.3] My heart goes out to Jesus in loving trust. He knows what is best for me. My nights would be lonely did I not claim the promise, "Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me" (Psalm 50:15). --Manuscript 19, 1892. {2SM 240.3} [2SM 240.4] Learned Lessons from the Months of Suffering I have been passing through great trial in pain and suffering and helplessness, but through it all I have obtained a precious experience more valuable to me than 241 gold. When I was first convinced that I must give up my cherished plans to visit the churches in Australia and New Zealand, I felt to seriously question whether it was my duty to leave America and come to this far-off country. My sufferings were acute. Many sleepless hours of the nights I spent in going over and over our experience since we left Europe for America, and it has been a continual scene of anxiety, suffering, and burden bearing. Then I said, What does it all mean? {2SM 240.4} [2SM 241.1] I carefully reviewed the history of the past few years and the work the Lord gave me to do. Not once did He fail me, and often He manifested Himself to me in a marked manner, and I saw I had nothing of which to complain, but instead precious things running like threads of gold through all my experience. The Lord understood better than I the things that I needed, and I felt that He was drawing me very nigh to Himself, and I must be careful not to dictate to God as to what He should do with me. This unreconciliation was at the beginning of my sufferings and helplessness, but it was not long until I felt that my affliction was a part of God's plan. I found that by partly lying and partly sitting I could place myself in position to use my crippled hands, and although suffering much pain I could do considerable writing. Since coming to this country I have written sixteen hundred pages of paper of this size. {2SM 241.1} [2SM 241.2] "I Know Whom I Have Believed" Many nights during the past nine months I was enabled to sleep but two hours a night, and then at times darkness would gather about me; but I prayed, and realized much sweet comfort in drawing nigh to God. The promises, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you" (James 4:8), "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him" (Isaiah 59:19), were fulfilled to me. I was all light in the Lord. Jesus was sacredly near, and I found the grace given sufficient, for my soul was stayed upon God, and I was full of grateful praise to Him who loved me and 242 gave Himself for me. I could say from a full heart, "I know whom I have believed" (2 Timothy 1:12). "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it" (1 Corinthians 10:13). Through Jesus Christ I have come off more than conqueror, and held the vantage ground. {2SM 241.2} [2SM 242.1] I cannot read the purpose of God in my affliction, but He knows what is best, and I will commit my soul, body, and spirit to Him as unto my faithful Creator. "For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Timothy 1:12). If we educated and trained our souls to have more faith, more love, greater patience, and a more perfect trust in our heavenly Father, I know we would have more peace and happiness day by day as we pass through the conflicts of this life. {2SM 242.1} [2SM 242.2] The Lord is not pleased to have us fret and worry ourselves out of the arms of Jesus. More is needed of the quiet waiting and watching combined. We think unless we have feeling that we are not in the right track, and we keep looking within for some sign befitting the occasion; but the reckoning is not of feeling but of faith. {2SM 242.2} [2SM 242.3] Walk by Faith When we comply with the written Word, according to our best knowledge, then we are to walk by faith, whether we feel any special gratification or not. We dishonor God when we show we do not trust Him after He has given us such wondrous evidences of His great love in giving His only-begotten Son Jesus to die, our sacrifice, that we may believe in Him, rest our hopes in Him, and trust in His Word without a question or doubt. {2SM 242.3} [2SM 242.4] Keep looking unto Jesus, offering up silent prayers in faith, taking hold of His strength, whether you have any manifest feeling or not. Go right forward as if every prayer offered was lodged in the throne of God and responded to by the One whose promises never fail. Go right along, singing and making melody to God in your 243 hearts, even when depressed by a sense of weight and sadness. I tell you as one who knows, light will come, joy will be ours, and the mists and clouds will be rolled back. And we pass from the oppressive power of the shadow and darkness into the clear sunshine of His presence. {2SM 242.4} [2SM 243.1] If we would give more expression to our faith, rejoice more in the blessings that we know we have--the great mercy, forbearance, and love of God--we would daily have greater strength. Have not the precious words spoken by Christ, the Prince of God, an assurance and power that should have great influence upon us, that our heavenly Father is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him than parents are to give good gifts to their children? {2SM 243.1} [2SM 243.2] We should daily dedicate ourselves to God and believe He accepts the sacrifice, without examining whether we have that degree of feeling that corresponds with our faith. Feeling and faith are as distinct as the east is from the west. Faith is not dependent on feeling. We must earnestly cry to God in faith, feeling or no feeling, and then live our prayers. Our assurance and evidence is God's word, and after we have asked we must believe without doubting. I praise Thee, O God, I praise Thee. Thou hast not failed me in the performance of Thy word. Thou hast revealed Thyself unto me and I am Thine to do Thy will. {2SM 243.2} [2SM 243.3] Watch as faithfully as did Abraham lest the ravens or any birds of prey alight upon your sacrifice and offering to God. Every thought of doubt should be so guarded that it will not see the light of day by utterance. Light always flees from words which honor the powers of darkness. The life of our risen Lord should be daily manifested in us. {2SM 243.3} [2SM 243.4] The Path to Heaven Narrow and Inconvenient What is our path to heaven? Is it a road with every inviting convenience? No, it is a path that is narrow and apparently inconvenient; it is a path of conflict, of trial, of tribulation and suffering. Our Captain, Jesus Christ, 244 has hid nothing from us in regard to the battles we are to fight. He opens the map before us and shows us the way. "Strive," He says, "to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able" (Luke 13:24). "Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat" (Matthew 7:13). "In the world ye shall have tribulation" (John 16:33). The apostle echoes the words of Christ, "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom" (Acts 14:22). Well, is it the discouraging aspect we are to keep before the mind's eye? . . . {2SM 243.4} [2SM 244.1] Gather Every Promise This is Jesus, the life of every grace, the life of every promise, the life of every ordinance, the life of every blessing. Jesus is the substance, the glory and fragrance, the very life itself. "He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12). Then the royal path cast up the ransomed to walk in is not discouraging darkness. Our pilgrimage would indeed be lonely and painful were it not for Jesus. "I will not," He says, "leave you comfortless" (John 14:18). Then let us gather every registered promise. Let us repeat them by day and meditate upon them in the night season, and be happy. {2SM 244.1} [2SM 244.2] "And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee" (Isaiah 12:1-6). {2SM 244.2} [2SM 244.3] Is not this indeed a royal path we are traveling, cast 245 up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in? Can there be provided a better path? A safer way? No! No! Then let us practice the instruction given. Let us see our Saviour as our refuge, as our shield on our right hand to defend us from the arrows of Satan. {2SM 244.3} [2SM 245.1] Temptations will assail, cares and darkness will oppress. When heart and flesh are ready to fail, who throws around us His everlasting arms? Who applies the precious promise? Who brings to our remembrance words of assurance and hope? Whose grace is given in rich measure to those who ask it in sincerity and truth? Who is it imputes to us His righteousness and saves us from sin? Whose light rolls back the fog and mist and brings us into the sunshine of His presence? O who but Jesus? Then love Him, then praise Him. "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice" (Philippians 4:4). Is Jesus today a living Saviour? "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God" (Colossians 3:1). We are risen with Christ. Christ is our life. Through His mercy and gracious love we are declared to be chosen, adopted, pardoned, and justified. Then let us magnify the Lord.--Letter 7, 1892. {2SM 245.1} [2SM 246.1] Chap. 26 - Assurance to Those Facing Death - Messages of Comfort to a Daughter-in-Law Suffering Affliction ［MARY KELSEY WHITE, THE WIFE OF WM. C. WHITE, AND THUS A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW OF MRS. WHITE, WAS FROM HER VERY GIRLHOOD AN EARNEST AND TALENTED WORKER IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD, THE PACIFIC PRESS, AND OUR PUBLISHING HOUSE IN BASEL, SWITZERLAND. SHE CONTRACTED TUBERCULOSIS WHILE IN EUROPE, AND AFTER AN ILLNESS OF THREE YEARS DIED AT BOULDER, COLORADO, AT THE AGE OF THIRTY-THREE. PRESENTED HERE ARE EXCERPTS FROM MESSAGES WRITTEN TO HER DURING THE LAST YEAR OF THIS ILLNESS.--COMPILERS.］ {2SM 246.1} [2SM 246.2] Battle Creek, Michigan November 4, 1889 Dear Daughter Mary: We do not cease to pray for you, my dear child, and the goodness and mercy of God is so clear and distinct to me that every time I pray it seems as though the Saviour had you in His own arms and that you were reposing there. I have faith in your case. I do believe that the Lord has heard prayer in your behalf, and that He will work for your good and His own name's glory. He has said, "Ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you" (John 15:7). "Whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive" (Matthew 21:22). {2SM 246.2} [2SM 246.3] I know that stormy times are before us, and we must know how to trust, how to lay hold on the Source of our strength. The Lord is good to those who trust in Him, and they shall not be overcome. I think of the words of the 247 prophet in your case, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God" (Psalm 43:5). {2SM 246.3} [2SM 247.1] Mary, repose in God. Wait patiently for the Lord. He will be to you a present help in every time of need. The Lord is good. Praise His Holy name. God loves to have us trust Him, loves to have us have confidence in His promises. Only believe, and we shall see the workings of God.-- Letter 71, 1889. {2SM 247.1} [2SM 247.2] Battle Creek, Michigan December 6, 1889 Dear Mary: We do not forget you, my dear afflicted child. We pray most earnestly for you every day. I have freedom in prayer. We do not forget Brethren ［A. D.］ Olsen and ［J. G.］ Matteson and others who are afflicted. We pray; it is all we can do. Then we leave you in humble trust in the hands of One who loves you with a greater love than a mother's. Cling to Jesus and put your entire trust in Him, for He careth for you and He will not withdraw His hand from you, but will lead you Himself. {2SM 247.2} [2SM 247.3] Dear Mary, how pleasant it will be to see the King in His matchless loveliness and be where there is no pain, no sorrow, no sickness, no sadness. I feel so clear that we shall be victorious, and I feel clear that the communication is opened between God and your soul. It seems so sure to me that you have the divine Presence and that Jesus is your constant helper. Oh, He loves you; He loves you, and is looking upon you with pitying tenderness. Never doubt Him for a moment. Commit your case to Him, having faith that He will do for you the very thing that is best for your eternal interest. . . . {2SM 247.3} [2SM 247.4] I pray earnestly for you all every day. The Lord lives, the Lord hears and answers prayer. Look up, my dear child. Look up, be of good courage, trust wholly in the Lord, for He is your helper, your physician, your Saviour.--Letter 75, 1889. 248 {2SM 247.4} [2SM 248.1] Battle Creek, Michigan February 12, 1890 Dear Mary: Sick and weak and lonely, I think of you in this light. . . . Mary, you have the best and most loving, compassionate Being, even the Sun of Righteousness, to shine upon you. Look up, look up. I feel that the rest in the grave would not be so bad a thing for me. I am so tired, so discouraged as I see so much self and so much of Satan's spirit and work. Then I look to Jesus, and I find peace only in Jesus. . . . {2SM 248.1} [2SM 248.2] I lay you by faith on the bosom of Jesus Christ. He loves you. I know that you are not standing afar off from Christ, but you do draw nigh with full assurance of faith in lowly dependence upon the blood and righteousness of Christ. You accept salvation as the gift of His grace, believing the promise because He has spoken it. Look to Jesus; this is my only comfort and hope. The Lord has been leading you along a path of painful humiliation. You have been emptied from vessel to vessel. You have been led by Him step by step, deeper and still deeper into the valley, but only to bring you into close communion with Jesus in His life of humiliation. {2SM 248.2} [2SM 248.3] Is there a step, my dear beloved child, that Jesus has not trodden with you? Is there one pang of distress that He does not feel? Is there one sin that He has not carried, a cross He has not borne, a sorrow that he Has not sympathized with? He is touched with all the feeling of our infirmities. You are knowing what it is to fellowship with the sufferings of Christ. You are a partaker with Christ of His sufferings. You brave, self-denying child, God knows it all. He passes to you a cup into which He pours a drop of His own sufferings. He places the light end of the cross on your shoulders; He throws a shadow on your soul. . . . {2SM 248.3} [2SM 248.4] Trust yourself in the hands of Jesus. Do not worry. Do not think God has forgotten to be gracious. Jesus lives and will not leave you. May the Lord be your staff, your support, your front guard, your rearward.--Letter 56, 1890. 249 {2SM 248.4} [2SM 249.1] Battle Creek, Michigan February 13, 1890 My Dear Child: The Lord blesses you all and will comfort you and give you strong consolation and peace in Him. He wants you to rest in His hands passively, and believe that He will do all things well.... {2SM 249.1} [2SM 249.2] Be of good courage. Keep looking up. Jesus is the only hope of us all. He will not leave or forsake you. Precious are the promises of God. We will hold them fast. We will not let them go.--Letter 57, 1890. {2SM 249.2} [2SM 249.3] St. Helena, California May 28, 1890 Dear Children: I think of you and pray for you all. Oh, if Mary were only improving, how glad it would make my heart. The Lord will let His candle shine about you. He will bless and strengthen and support you, in this your time of trial and distress. The Redeemer is pitiful, full of tender sympathy and love. Now is the time to commit the keeping of the soul to God as unto a faithful Creator. What a blessed hope we have--a hope that grows stronger and stronger as trials and afflictions increase. Now show your trust in One who has given His life for you. {2SM 249.3} [2SM 249.4] Thank God, Mary, the light afflictions which are but for a moment, work for you a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. You know in whom you have believed and are persuaded that He is able to keep that which you have committed unto Him against that day. The trials may be severe, but look to Jesus every moment--not to struggle, but to rest in His love. He careth for you. {2SM 249.4} [2SM 249.5] We know that as trials press closer and closer, the hope grows stronger. The beams of the Sun of Righteousness shall shine into your heart with their healing power. Look beyond the clouds to the brightness, even the light of the Sun of Righteousness. Thank God that in the tempest of trial the anchor holds. We have an ever-living, ever-prevailing Intercessor, who is pleading our individual cases 250 before the Father. The joys of an eternal reward have been purchased at an infinite cost. {2SM 249.5} [2SM 250.1] May the Lord comfort and strengthen and bless you is my daily prayer. Oh, when we see the King in His beauty, what a day of gladness that will be. We will rest in the rich promises of God. He will never fail us, but be to us a present help in every time of need.--Letter 77, 1890. {2SM 250.1} [2SM 250.2] Battle Creek, Michigan June 16, 1890 Dear Willie: I am anxious for you all, especially for dear Mary. I pray for her daily and I say nightly, I know the Lord keeps her in the hollow of His hand. Mary now can say in all confidence, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Timothy 1:12). {2SM 250.2} [2SM 250.3] I have no doubts, no unbelief in the case of Mary. She is the beloved of the Lord. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints" (Psalm 116:15). Mary can say with Paul, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:7, 8). {2SM 250.3} [2SM 250.4] What should we do without a Saviour in the hour that tries the soul? Ministering angels are round about us giving us to drink of the water of life to refresh our souls in the closing scenes of life. There is a pledge from Him who is the resurrection and the life, that those who sleep in Jesus will Christ bring with Him from the grave. The trump will sound, the dead will awaken to life, to die no more. The eternal morning has come to them, for there will be no night in the city of God. {2SM 250.4} [2SM 250.5] Mary has manfully struggled through temptations and trials; she hath done what she could. She has acted a part through the grace of Christ in molding the character of others by her words and by her deeds. She is dying in the faith, but her works live.--Letter 78, 1890. 251 {2SM 250.5} [2SM 251.1] Messages of Sympathy and Hope to a Faithful Assistant ［MISS MARIAN DAVIS, WHO JOINED MRS. WHITE'S STAFF IN 1879 AND WAS ASSOCIATED WITH HER IN THE WORK IN AMERICA, EUROPE, AND AUSTRALIA FOR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS, CONTRACTED TUBERCULOSIS IN 1903, AND A LITTLE OVER A YEAR LATER CLOSED HER LIFEWORK. MISS DAVIS WAS A VERY FAITHFUL AND TRUSTED LITERARY ASSISTANT, MUCH BELOVED BY MRS. WHITE. PRESENTED HERE ARE MESSAGES OF SYMPATHY AND HOPE AND COUNSEL PENNED DURING THE LAST TWO MONTHS OF MISS DAVIS' ILLNESS, AS DRAWN FROM MRS. WHITE'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH HER.--COMPILERS.］ {2SM 251.1} [2SM 251.2] Melrose, Massachusetts August 17, 1904 Dear Sister Marian Davis: I would be pleased to be at home, but just what meetings I shall consent to attend is uncertain; therefore we will do the very best we can. . . . {2SM 251.2} [2SM 251.3] I am asking the Lord to strengthen you. We are hopeful that you are better. Do keep fast hold of the Lord, your hand in the hand of Christ. . . . {2SM 251.3} [2SM 251.4] Marian, you must not become discouraged. Your case is in the hands of the Lord, and you must now submit your case in regard to treatment to let the physicians, Dr. A and Dr. B, do those things for you that must be done. We have other books to put in your hands when you shall overcome the illness now upon you. Be sure to eat, even if it causes some pain. The longer you refrain from eating, the weaker you will become. . . . We may inquire, How can the Lord have need of us? Is not our God full of might? Will you not lay hold on His strength? No living being can help you as the Lord Jesus can. Trust in Him. He will care for you.-- Letter 378, 1904. {2SM 251.4} [2SM 251.5] Melrose, Massachusetts August 24, 1904 Dear Sister Marian Davis: Let not one anxious thought come into your mind. I am sorry you are so ill, but do everything you can on your part for the recovery of your health. I will see that all bills of expense shall be settled. I am not well; not able to travel but 252 a little distance in the carriage. I dare not commit myself to the lengthy journeys on the cars. As long as I and you shall live, my home is your home. . . . {2SM 251.5} [2SM 252.1] Marian, nearly the whole time I have been away I have not relished food, but I dare not cease to eat, for then I could do nothing. I have eaten when I could not relish food, in order that I might live. I have relished food since I came to this place. I put my trust in God and plead with Him for you and for myself. We are to have no anxieties or cares. Just put your trust in the Lord. All that is needed for you and me is to believe and trust in Him who is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto Him and will put their trust in Him. "Hold fast My hand," Jesus says to you and me. You are encouraged to think right thoughts upon Christ our Saviour--your Saviour and my Saviour. You have rejoiced in every opportunity of doing what you could to promote His glory, and you will be led into the city of God when the last trump of God shall sound, and we shall be received with genuine joy. {2SM 252.1} [2SM 252.2] Marian, you have been united with me to bring sound doctrine into actual contact with human souls, that they may catch the inspiration and produce sound practice. "The form of sound words" is to be prized above gold and silver and every earthly attraction. You have loved the truth. You have felt intensely over the great neglect our Lord and Saviour has been receiving. Oh, to be like-minded with God! This you have longed for. There is no genuine saving elevation for man apart from the truth of God. {2SM 252.2} [2SM 252.3] "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name" (Psalm 103:1). Now please let you and me have a thanksgiving service every day. Is it not due Him who has spared your life these many years in answer to the prayer of faith? Give yourself into His hands in your weakness, and trust in Him fully. We will take the Word of God as the grand rule of our lives, the heavenly panacea in our hand. We have tried, you and I united, to bring before minds the true form of doctrine, mingling holiness, mercy, truth, and love. We have tried to present these in simplicity, so that souls shall grasp mingled love and holiness-- 253 which is simply Christianity in the heart. We have done what we could do to present Christianity as the crown and glory of man's life here in this world, preparatory to entrance into the city of God to be His dear, precious redeemed ones in the mansions He has gone to prepare for us. Then praise the Lord. Let us praise Him. {2SM 252.3} [2SM 253.1] Please eat, Marian, because your earthly physician would have you eat, and the great Medical Missionary would have you eat; and Sister ［M. J.］ Nelson will get anything you ask for. No one can be more pleased than I to have your life spared to continue to do the work; but if your or my time is come to fall asleep in Jesus, we must not shorten life by refusing the nourishment that the system must have. Now eat, my dear, whether you want to eat or not, and thus act your part toward recovery. Do your very best to recover, and then if it please the Lord to give you rest, you have done what you could. I appreciate your labors. Praise the Lord, Marian, that Jesus, the Great Physician, can heal you. In love.--Letter 379, 1904. {2SM 253.1} [2SM 253.2] College View, Nebraska September 16, 1904 Dear Sister Marian: I keep your case before me, and I am grieved that you are troubled in mind. I would comfort you if it were in my power. Has not Jesus, the precious Saviour, been to you so many times a present help in times of need? Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, but cease worrying. This is what you have many times talked to others. Let the words of those who are not sick, as you are, comfort you, and may the Lord help you, is my prayer. {2SM 253.2} [2SM 253.3] If it is the Lord's will that you should die, you should feel that it is your privilege to commit your whole being, body, soul, and spirit, into the hands of a just and merciful God. He has no such feelings of condemnation as you imagine. I want you to stop thinking that the Lord does not love you. Cast yourself unreservedly upon the merciful provisions that He has made. He is waiting for you to heed His invitation. . . . You need not think that you have done 254 anything which would lead God to treat you with severity. I know better. Just believe in His love, and take Him at His word.... No suspicion or distrust is to take possession of our minds. No apprehension of the greatness of God is to confuse our faith. May God help us to humble ourselves in meekness and lowliness. Christ laid aside His royal robe and kingly crown, that He might associate with humanity, and show that human beings may be perfect. Clad in the garments of mercy He lived in our world a perfect life, to give us evidence of His love. He has done that which should make unbelief in Him impossible. From His high command in the heavenly courts He stooped to take human nature upon Him. His life is an example of what our lives may be. That no apprehension of God's greatness should come in to efface our belief in God's love, Christ became a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. The human heart, given up to Him, will become a sacred harp, sending forth sacred music.--Letter 365, 1904. {2SM 253.3} [2SM 254.1] College View, Nebraska September 26, 1904 Dear Sister Marian: We pray your life may be preserved until we meet you once more--but you may not die, but live. . . . {2SM 254.1} [2SM 254.2] Look to Jesus. Trust in Jesus, whether you live or die. He is your Redeemer. He is our Life-giver. If you fall asleep in Jesus He will bring you forth from the grave to a glorious immortality. May He give you peace and comfort and hope and joy from henceforth. {2SM 254.2} [2SM 254.3] Put your entire trust in Jesus. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He says, I have graven you upon the palms of My hands. Marian, if you go before I do, we shall know each other there. We shall see as we are seen and know as we are known. Just let the peace of Christ come into your soul. Be true in your trust because He is true to His promise. Lay your poor, nervous hand in His firm hand and let Him hold you and strengthen you, cheer and comfort you. I will now get ready to leave this place. Oh, I wish I were with you this moment! In much love.--Letter 382, 1904. 255 {2SM 254.3} [2SM 255.1] Messages to Others Whose Lives Would Soon Close We can sympathize with you, although at a distance from you. I would say, Do not give up hope, but cling to the promise, "Ask, and it shall be given you" (Luke 11:9). Yet do not feel discouraged if He who can do the work of healing, He who knows the end from the beginning, permits His child to die, to rise in the morning of the resurrection. Say, "Not my will, but Thine, O God, be done.". . . If your wife falls under the affliction, remember that there is a future life. The last trump will call forth all who have received Christ, believed in Him, and trusted in Him for salvation. {2SM 255.1} [2SM 255.2] My dear sister, we will pray for you. You have our sympathy. We shall present your case to the Great Physician. I understand that this has already been done. Hold fast to the hand of Him who can bless and heal if He sees that it is for your present and eternal good. And now, my brother and sister, while you are both alive, take this precious time to appropriate by faith to yourselves the precious promises of the Word of God. I am thankful that you are both presenting yourselves as humble seekers for the pardon of all sin. This is your privilege. Do not disbelieve. {2SM 255.2} [2SM 255.3] Our precious Saviour has given His life for the sins of the world, and has pledged His word that He will save all who come to Him. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). These are the conditions of gaining eternal life. Comply with them, and your hope is secured, whether you live or die. Trust in the soul-saving Redeemer. Cast your helpless soul upon Him, and He will accept and bless and save you. Only believe. Receive Him with all your heart, and know that He wants you to win the crown of life. Let this be your greatest and most earnest request. Make an entire surrender, and He will cleanse you from every pollution, and make you vessels unto honor. You may be washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. Thus you gain the victory....In faith hold fast.--Letter 45, 1905. 256 {2SM 255.3} [2SM 256.1] Words to Minister Dying of Cancer We do not forget you; we remember you in our prayers at the family altar. I lie awake nights pleading with God in your behalf. {2SM 256.1} [2SM 256.2] Oh, I feel so sorry for you. I will continue to pray that the blessing of God may rest upon you. He will not leave you comfortless. This world is of but little account, but, my dear brother and sister, Jesus says, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matthew 7:7). I plead this promise in your behalf.... {2SM 256.2} [2SM 256.3] My brother, one night I seemed to be leaning over you, and saying: "Only a little longer, only a few more pangs of pain, a few more suffering hours, and then rest, blessed rest. In a special manner you will find peace. All humanity must be tested and tried. All of us must drink the cup and be baptized with affliction. But Christ has tasted death for every man in its bitterest form. He knows how to pity, how to sympathize. Only rest in His arms; He loves you, and He has redeemed you with His everlasting love. Be thou faithful unto death, and thou shalt receive a crown of life. {2SM 256.3} [2SM 256.4] "All who live in our world from henceforth will know the meaning of trials. I know that God will give you grace, that He will not forsake you. Call to mind the promise of God: `Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them' (Revelation 14:13). Be of good courage. I would be with you now if I could, but we shall meet in the morning of the resurrection." ... {2SM 256.4} [2SM 256.5] I was also speaking words of comfort to Sister C. I was encouraging her, and the room seemed to be filled with angels of God. Let both of you be of good courage. The Lord will not leave nor forsake you.--Letter 312, 1906. {2SM 256.5} [2SM 257.1] Chap. 27 - The Bereaved - Bereavement Softens and Subdues It has been my lot to be chastened by affliction, which has had a softening and subduing influence, removing enmity from my heart, and filling it with sympathy and love. My life of bereavement, ［TWO OF HER FOUR BOYS HAD DIED AT AN EARLY AGE--THE OLDEST, HENRY, AT THE AGE OF SIXTEEN AND HERBERT, THE YOUNGEST, AT THE AGE OF THREE MONTHS. DEATH CAME TO HER HUSBAND, ELDER JAMES WHITE, IN 1881 AFTER A VERY BRIEF ILLNESS, AT THE AGE OF SIXTY. REFERENCE TO THIS EXPERIENCE IS FOUND LATER IN THE CHAPTER.--COMPILERS.］ pain, and suffering has not been without precious revealings of the presence of my Saviour. My eyes have been attracted to the heavens that shine in beauty above us; I have obtained glimpses of the eternal world and of the exceeding great reward. When all has seemed dark, there has been a rift in the clouds, and sunbeams from the throne have dispersed the gloom. God would not have any of us remain pressed down by dumb sorrow, with sore and breaking hearts. He would have us look up to catch the rainbow of promise, and reflect light to others. {2SM 257.1} [2SM 257.2] Oh, the blessed Saviour stands by many whose eyes are so blinded by tears that they do not discern Him. He longs 258 to clasp our hands firmly, while we cling to Him in simple faith, imploring Him to guide us. It is our privilege to rejoice in God. If we will let the comfort and peace of Jesus into our lives, we shall be kept close to His great heart of love.--The Review and Herald, Nov. 25, 1884. {2SM 257.2} [2SM 258.1] We Shall See Our Children Again Comfort to a Mother on the Death of Her Child As you relate your experience in the death of your child, and how you bowed in prayer, submitting your will to the will of your heavenly Father, leaving the matter with Him, my mother heart is touched. I have passed through an experience similar to the experience through which you have just passed. {2SM 258.1} [2SM 258.2] When my eldest son was sixteen years old, he was stricken down in sickness. His case was considered critical, and he called us to his bedside, and said, "Father, Mother, it will be hard for you to part with your eldest son. If the Lord sees fit to spare my life, for your sake I will be pleased. If it is for my good and His name's glory for my life to close now, I will say, It is well with my soul. Father, go by yourself, and Mother, go by yourself; and pray. Then you will receive an answer according to the will of my Saviour, whom you love and I love." He was afraid that if we should bow together, our sympathies would strengthen, and we would ask for that which it would not be best for the Lord to grant. {2SM 258.2} [2SM 258.3] We did as he requested, and our prayers were similar in every point to the prayers you offered. We received no evidence that our son would recover. He died, putting his full trust in Jesus our Saviour. His death was a great blow to us, but it was a victory even in death; for his life was hid with Christ in God. {2SM 258.3} [2SM 258.4] Before the death of my eldest boy, my babe was sick unto death. We prayed, and thought that the Lord would spare us our darling; but we closed his eyes in death, and laid him away to rest in Jesus, until the Life-giver shall 259 come to awaken His precious loved ones to a glorious immortality. {2SM 258.4} [2SM 259.1] Then my husband, the faithful servant of Jesus Christ, who had stood by my side for thirty-six years, was taken from me, and I was left to labor alone. He sleeps in Jesus. I have no tears to shed over his grave. But how I miss him! How I long for his words of counsel and wisdom! How I long to hear his prayers blending with my prayers for light and guidance, for wisdom to know how to plan and lay out the work! {2SM 259.1} [2SM 259.2] But the Lord has been my Counselor, and the Lord will give you grace to bear your bereavement. {2SM 259.2} [2SM 259.3] You inquire in regard to your little one's being saved. Christ's words are your answer: "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God" (Luke 18:16). {2SM 259.3} [2SM 259.4] Remember the prophecy, "Thus saith the Lord; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted. . . . Thus saith the Lord; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border" (Jeremiah 31:15-17). {2SM 259.4} [2SM 259.5] This promise is yours. You may be comforted and trust in the Lord. The Lord has often instructed me that many little ones are to be laid away before the time of trouble. We shall see our children again. We shall meet them and know them in the heavenly courts. Put your trust in the Lord, and be not afraid.--Letter 196, 1899. {2SM 259.5} [2SM 259.6] Children In the Resurrection Lines Penned on the Death of the Child of Mrs. White's Twin Sister Our fondest hopes are often blighted here. Our loved ones are torn from us by death. We close their eyes and habit them for the tomb, and lay them away from our sight. 260 But hope bears our spirits up. We are not parted forever, but shall meet the loved ones who sleep in Jesus. They shall come again from the land of the enemy. The Life-giver is coming. Myriads of holy angels escort Him on His way. He bursts the bands of death, breaks the fetters of the tomb, the precious captives come forth in health and immortal beauty. {2SM 259.6} [2SM 260.1] As the little infants come forth immortal from their dusty beds, they immediately wing their way to their mothers' arms. They meet again nevermore to part. But many of the little ones have no mother there. We listen in vain for the rapturous song of triumph from the mother. The angels receive the motherless infants and conduct them to the tree of life. {2SM 260.1} [2SM 260.2] Jesus places the golden ring of light, the crown upon their little heads. God grant that the dear mother of "Eva" may be there, that her little wings may be folded upon the glad bosom of her mother.--The Youth's Instructor, April, 1858. {2SM 260.2} [2SM 260.3] Jesus Says, "Lean on Me" Words to Parents Who Had Lost Children at Sea I have thought of you many, many times.... {2SM 260.3} [2SM 260.4] The comforts of the Scriptures are very great; they abound in consolations to the afflicted and bereaved, the sick and the suffering. I seem to see Jesus saying to you, Father and Mother D, "Lean on Me, lean hard. I will bear you up. My arm shall never fail you. It shall be strong to support you over all the rough and difficult places. Only make Me your trust and you shall be guided safely and upheld firmly." {2SM 260.4} [2SM 260.5] Oh, the precious Bible, its truths are full of marrow and fatness. We may consider and rejoice in the light of the promises. They are the gracious utterances of an infinite God. His voice is speaking to us out of His Word. I hope you are of good courage. {2SM 260.5} [2SM 260.6] This affliction that has come to you, you may not be able to explain. Everything may remain in impenetrable mystery 261 until the sea shall give up her dead. But let not your heart bow down in sorrow, for they are the Lord's property and He will do what He will with His own. This we know, that His love is greater than ours possibly can be, and Jesus so loved them that He gave His life to redeem them; then let them rest, and let your heart go out more decidedly after Jesus to supply every soul hunger, every want.... {2SM 260.6} [2SM 261.1] Whatever may be your circumstances, however dark and mysterious may be the ways of Providence, though the path may be through the deep waters, and trials and bereavements may afflict again and again, the assurance still comes, "All things work together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28). "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Timothy 1:12).-- Letter 32, 1893. {2SM 261.1} [2SM 261.2] Blessed Are the Dead Who Die in the Lord Comfort on the Death of a Mother Dear Sister: I have read the letter . . . in regard to your mother's death, and I could but say, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord" (Revelation 14:13). For a long time your mother had been very feeble. You have cared constantly for her. To see her face no more will be a great grief to you. Were we living nearer you, we would say, Come apart, and rest awhile. But your duties claim your time. I would say to you, Trust in the Lord. {2SM 261.2} [2SM 261.3] You will feel the death of your mother very keenly; but let me tell you that I sorrow not for the righteous dead, but for the living. I know that you have laid your mother in the tomb in the full hope that she will come forth when the trump of God shall sound. . . . I know what it means to bury loved ones. My father, mother, brothers and sisters, my husband and two of my sons, are sleeping in their graves. My sister Mary and I and my two sons are all that are left.--Letter 98, 1903. 262 {2SM 261.3} [2SM 262.1] Look to the Happy Family Reunion Comfort on the Loss of a Wife Dear Brother: We have heard the news of your wife's death, but have received no particulars in regard to her sickness. {2SM 262.1} [2SM 262.2] We sympathize with you. We pray that the Lord will comfort you, and impart to you His grace, so that you will not be prostrated by overmuch grief. Let us thank God that our faces are set toward the promised inheritance. Let us thank Him that His salvation is nigh, and not far off. {2SM 262.2} [2SM 262.3] As you look upon your little ones, toward whom your wife so faithfully discharged her responsibilities as a mother, you have reason for rejoicing that she has done what she could to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The blessed Saviour, who took little children in His arms and blessed them, will not leave your children or you comfortless. A double responsibility now rests upon you. May the Lord inspire the hearts of those who shall deal with these lambs of Christ's fold, to treat them gently, tenderly, lovingly, so that their young and inexperienced feet may be ever guided to walk safely. {2SM 262.3} [2SM 262.4] Dear little ones, Sister White loves you, and she will ask the Saviour to bless you, for He loves you as His little children. {2SM 262.4} [2SM 262.5] Brother E, I know you will feel sad because you have had to bury one who was dear to your heart. But what saith the Scriptures? {2SM 262.5} [2SM 262.6] "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them" (Revelation 14:12, 13). {2SM 262.6} [2SM 262.7] We will pray for you and your precious little ones, that you may, by patient continuance in welldoing, keep your face and steps always directed heavenward. We will pray that you may have influence and success in guiding your 263 little ones, that you, with them, may gain the crown of life, and that in the home above, now being prepared for us, you and your wife and children may be a family joyously, happily reunited, nevermore to be separated. {2SM 262.7} [2SM 263.1] In much love and sympathy.--Letter 143, 1903. {2SM 263.1} [2SM 263.2] Will Be Called in Special Resurrection Words to Husband and Children on the Loss of Wife and Mother Dear Brother: I hardly know what to say to you. The news of your wife's death was to me overwhelming. I could hardly believe it and can hardly believe it now. God gave me a view last Sabbath night which I will write.... {2SM 263.2} [2SM 263.3] I saw that she was sealed and would come up at the voice of God and stand upon the earth, and would be with the 144,000. I saw we need not mourn for her; she would rest in the time of trouble, and all that we could mourn for was our loss in being deprived of her company. I saw her death would result in good. {2SM 263.3} [2SM 263.4] I warn F and the rest of the children to prepare to meet Jesus, and then they will meet their mother again, nevermore to be parted. O children, will you heed her faithful warning that she gave you while she was with you, and let not all her prayers that she has offered up to God for you be as water spilt upon the ground? Get ready to meet Jesus, and all will be well. Give your hearts to God and do not rest a day unless you know that you love Jesus. {2SM 263.4} [2SM 263.5] Dear Brother, we have prayed to God to gird you up and strengthen you to sustain your loss. God will be with you and uphold you. Only have faith.... {2SM 263.5} [2SM 263.6] Sorrow not as those who have no hope. The grave can hold her but a little while. Hope thou in God and cheer up, dear brother, and you will meet her in a little while. We will not cease to pray for the blessings of God to rest upon your family and you. God will be your sun and your shield. He will stand by you in this your deep affliction and trial. Endure the trial well and you will receive a crown of glory 264 with your companion at the appearing of Jesus. Hold fast truth, and you with her will be crowned with glory, honor, immortality, and eternal life.--Letter 10, 1850. {2SM 263.6} [2SM 264.1] No Sin in Weeping Comfort to a Widow Dear Sister: We sympathize with you in your bereavement and widowhood. I have passed over the ground that you are now traveling, and know what it means. How much sorrow there is in our world! How much grief! How much weeping! It is not right to say to the bereaved ones, "Do not weep; it is not right to weep." Such words have little consolation in them. There is no sin in weeping. Although the one who passes away has been for years a sufferer because of weakness and pain, yet that does not wipe away the tears from our eyes. {2SM 264.1} [2SM 264.2] Our loved ones die. Their accounts with God are sealed up. But while we consider it a serious, solemn thing to die, we must consider it a much more solemn thing to live. Every day of life is freighted with responsibilities which we must bear. Our individual interests, our words, our actions, are making impressions upon those with whom we are connected. We are to find our consolation in Jesus Christ. Precious Saviour! He was ever touched with human woe.... Cling to the Source of your strength.--Letter 103, 1898. {2SM 264.2} [2SM 264.3] He Sleeps in Jesus On the Death of a Husband and Father My Dear Afflicted Sister: I am afflicted with you in your affliction. Although I did not expect to meet your husband again in this life, yet I have been made sad to hear of his death, and of the heavy responsibilities that this has left to rest upon you in the care of the family. We sympathize with you and will pray often for you and your children. Your husband sleeps in 265 Jesus. "Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours: and their works do follow them" (Revelation 14:13). {2SM 264.3} [2SM 265.1] The Father loves all who are believers in deed and in truth, as members of that body of which Christ is the head. You must now sit down under Christ's shadow, and you will realize His peace. Think of Christ. Look to Him in faith, believing His promises. Keep your mind trustful. He will be your stay. Lean on Him, depend on Him. Do not be sorrowful above measure, but bear up; for a heavy burden rests upon you. Put your trust in One whose arm will never fail you. {2SM 265.1} [2SM 265.2] I have lost my husband, and I know by experience what your sorrow is. But looking to Jesus you will find encouragement. May you have the blessing of the Lord every day. My dear sister, may the Lord bless and sustain you. {2SM 265.2} [2SM 265.3] It is too dark to see now, so I will say good night. Be as cheerful as you can for the sake of your children.--Letter 167, 1905. {2SM 265.3} [2SM 265.4] Dear Children: I must write a few lines to you. We wish that we could step into your home and weep with you and kneel with you in prayer. Will each one of you seek the Lord and serve Him? You can be a great blessing to your mother by doing nothing that will make her heart sad. The Lord Jesus will receive you if you will give your hearts to Him. Do all that is possible to relieve your mother from every care and burden. {2SM 265.4} [2SM 265.5] The Lord has promised to be a Father to the fatherless. If you will give your hearts to Him, He will give you power to become the sons and daughters of God. If the elder children will relieve the mother by bearing as many burdens as possible, and by treating the younger children kindly, teaching them to do right and not to worry Mother, the Lord will greatly bless them. {2SM 265.5} [2SM 265.6] Give your hearts to the loving Saviour, and do only those things that are pleasing in His sight. Do nothing to 266 grieve your mother. Remember that the Lord loves you, and that each one of you can become a member of the family of God. If you are faithful here, when He shall come in the clouds of heaven, you will meet your father, and will be a united family. {2SM 265.6} [2SM 266.1] In love.--Letter 165, 1905. {2SM 266.1} [2SM 266.2] The Lord to Be Your Comfort On the Death of a Husband Dear Sister: A letter has just been placed in my hands from Sister G, giving an account of your bereavement. I deeply sympathize with you, my sister. If I were where I could visit you I would do so.... {2SM 266.2} [2SM 266.3] I will say to you, my sister, the Lord would not have you grieve in sadness. Your husband has been spared to you many years longer than I supposed he would be. God has mercifully spared him, and mercifully, after much suffering, has let him rest in Jesus.... Your husband and my husband are at rest. They have no more pain, no more suffering. They are at rest. {2SM 266.3} [2SM 266.4] I am sorry, my sister, that you are in affliction and sorrow. But Jesus, the precious Saviour, lives. He lives for you. He wants you to be comforted in His love. Do not worry; trust in the Lord. Remember that not a sparrow falls to the ground without the notice of your heavenly Father. . . . {2SM 266.4} [2SM 266.5] Be comforted, my sister, in the Lord. "Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us . . ., arm yourselves likewise with the same mind" (1 Peter 4:1). I urge you in your suffering to stay your soul upon God. The Lord will be your help, your strength, your comfort. Then look to Him and trust in Him. We must receive our consolation from Christ. Learn in His school His meekness and lowliness of heart. Let every word you speak show that you recognize the goodness, the mercy, and the love of God. Be determined to be a comfort and a blessing to all in the home. Create a sweet, pure, heavenly atmosphere. . . . {2SM 266.5} [2SM 266.6] Open the windows of the soul heavenward, and let the 267 light of the Sun of Righteousness in. Do not complain. Do not mourn and weep. Do not look on the dark side. Let the peace of God reign in your soul. Then you will have strength to bear all your sufferings, and you will rejoice that you have grace to endure. Praise the Lord; talk of His goodness; tell of His power. Sweeten the atmosphere which surrounds your soul. {2SM 266.6} [2SM 267.1] Do not dishonor God by words of repining, but praise Him with heart and soul and voice. Look on the bright side of everything. Do not bring a cloud or shadow into your home. Praise Him who is the light of your countenance and your God. Do this, and see how smoothly everything will go. {2SM 267.1} [2SM 267.2] Love to yourself and your daughter.--Letter 56, 1900. {2SM 267.2} [2SM 267.3] Ellen White in Her Hour of Bereavement In my recent bereavement, I have had a near view of eternity. I have, as it were, been brought before the great white throne, and have seen my life as it will there appear. I can find nothing of which to boast, no merit that I can plead. "Unworthy, unworthy of the least of Thy favors, O my God," is my cry. My only hope is in a crucified and risen Saviour. I claim the merits of the blood of Christ. Jesus will save to the uttermost all who put their trust in Him. {2SM 267.3} [2SM 267.4] It is sometimes hard for me to preserve a cheerful countenance when my heart is rent with anguish. But I would not permit my sorrow to cast a gloom upon all around me. Seasons of affliction and bereavement are often rendered more sorrowful and distressing than they should be, because it is customary to give ourselves up to mourning without restraint. By the help of Jesus, I determined to shun this evil; but my resolution has been severely tested. My husband's death was a heavy blow to me, more keenly felt because so sudden. As I saw the seal of death upon his countenance, my feelings were almost insupportable. I longed to cry out in my anguish. But I knew that this could not save the life of my loved one, and I felt that it would be unchristian to give myself up to sorrow. I sought help and 268 comfort from above, and the promises of God were verified to me. The Lord's hand sustained me. It is a sin to indulge, without restraint, in mourning and lamentation. By the grace of Christ, we may be composed and even cheerful under sore trial. {2SM 267.4} [2SM 268.1] Let us learn a lesson of courage and fortitude from the last interview of Christ with His apostles. They were about to be separated. Our Saviour was entering the bloodstained path which would lead Him to Calvary. Never was scene more trying than that through which He was soon to pass. The apostles had heard the words of Christ foretelling His sufferings and death, and their hearts were heavy with sorrow, their minds distracted with doubt and fear. Yet there were no loud outcries; there was no abandonment of grief. Those last solemn, momentous hours were spent by our Saviour in speaking words of comfort and assurance to His disciples, and then all united in a hymn of praise. . . . {2SM 268.1} [2SM 268.2] A Time for Prayer and Praise When difficulties and trials surround us, we should flee to God, and confidently expect help from Him who is mighty to save and strong to deliver. We must ask for God's blessing if we would receive it. Prayer is a duty and a necessity; but do we not neglect praise? Should we not oftener render thanksgiving to the Giver of all our blessings? We need to cultivate gratitude. We should frequently contemplate and recount the mercies of God, and laud and glorify His holy name, even when we are passing through sorrow and affliction. . . . {2SM 268.2} [2SM 268.3] The Lord's merciful kindness is great toward us. He will never leave nor forsake those who trust in Him. If we would think and talk less of our trials, and more of the mercy and goodness of God, we would find ourselves raised above much of our gloom and perplexity. My brethren and sisters, you who feel that you are entering upon a dark path, and like the captives in Babylon must hang your harps upon the willows, let us make trial of cheerful song. You may say, How can I sing, with this dark prospect before me, with this burden of sorrow and bereavement upon my 269 soul? But have earthly sorrows deprived us of the all-powerful Friend we have in Jesus? Should not the marvelous love of God in the gift of His dear Son be a theme of continual rejoicing? When we bring our petitions to the throne of grace, let us not forget to offer also anthems of thanksgiving. "Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me" (Psalm 50:23). As long as our Saviour lives, we have cause for unceasing gratitude and praise.--The Review and Herald, Nov. 1, 1881. {2SM 268.3} [2SM 269.1] The Glorious Resurrection Morning A Message to Friends on Pitcairn Island We were made very sad last Thursday to learn of your deep affliction. Our hearts are pained to hear of the deaths of those of our beloved Brother ［J. R.］ McCoy's family. Our sympathies go out to all who are bereaved by this affliction. We extend our sympathy to the children and members of the family who have been thus sorely bereaved, but we would point you to Jesus as your only hope and consolation. The dear companion of our afflicted Brother McCoy, and the mother of the bereaved children whom she loved, is silent in death. But while we weep with those that weep, we joy at heart because this loved mother and daughter, and Brother Young, the elder of your church, and others who may have been removed by death, believed in and loved Jesus. {2SM 269.1} [2SM 269.2] Let the words of the apostle Paul comfort you: "I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together 270 with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). {2SM 269.2} [2SM 270.1] We are not like the heathen, to have days and nights of mourning when nothing is heard but dismal chanting for the dead, for the purpose of arousing human sympathy. We are not to clothe ourselves with mourning clothing and wear a mournful countenance, as though our friends and relatives were forever parted from us. John exclaims, "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them" (Revelation 14:12, 13). {2SM 270.1} [2SM 270.2] How appropriate are the words of John in the case of these loved ones who sleep in Jesus. The Lord loved them, and the words spoken by them in their life, the labors of love which will be remembered, will be repeated by others. Their earnest wholeheartedness in the work of God leaves an example for others to follow, for the Holy Spirit has worked in them to will and to do of His good pleasure. {2SM 270.2} [2SM 270.3] "But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Romans 8:11). O how precious are these words to every bereaved soul! Christ is our Guide and Comforter, who comforts us in all our tribulations. When He gives us a bitter draught to drink, He also holds a cup of blessing to our lips. He fills the heart with submission, with joy and peace in believing, and enables us to say submissively, Not my will, but Thy will, O Lord, be done. "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21). With this submission hope is resurrected, and the hand of faith lays hold upon the hand of infinite power. "He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Romans 8:11). {2SM 270.3} [2SM 270.4] The very bodies that are sown in corruption will be 271 raised in incorruption. That which is sown in dishonor will be raised in glory; sown in weakness, it will be raised in power; sown a natural body, it will be raised a spiritual body. The mortal bodies are quickened by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. {2SM 270.4} [2SM 271.1] Christ claims all those as His who have believed in His name. The vitalizing power of the Spirit of Christ dwelling in the mortal body binds every believing soul to Jesus Christ. Those who believe in Jesus are sacred to His heart; for their life is hid with Christ in God. The command will come from the Life-giver, "Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead" (Isaiah 26:19). {2SM 271.1} [2SM 271.2] The life-giver will call up His purchased possession in the first resurrection, and until that triumphant hour, when the last trump shall sound and the vast army shall come forth to eternal victory, every sleeping saint will be kept in safety and will be guarded as a precious jewel, who is known to God by name. By the power of the Saviour that dwelt in them while living and because they were partakers of the divine nature, they are brought forth from the dead. {2SM 271.2} [2SM 271.3] Christ claimed to be the Only Begotten of the Father, but men encased in unbelief, barricaded with prejudice, denied the Holy and the Just One. He was charged with blasphemy, and was condemned to a cruel death, but He burst the fetters of the tomb, and rose from the dead triumphant, and over the rent sepulcher of Joseph He declared, "I am the resurrection, and the life" (John 11:25). All power in heaven and in earth was vested in Him, and the righteous will also come forth from the tomb free in Jesus. They shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead. "Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (Matthew 13:43). {2SM 271.3} [2SM 271.4] What a glorious morning will the resurrection morning be! What a wonderful scene will open when Christ shall come to be admired of them that believe! All who were partakers with Christ in His humiliation and sufferings will be partakers with Him in His glory. By the 272 resurrection of Christ from the dead every believing saint who falls asleep in Jesus will come forth from his prison house in triumph. The resurrected saint will proclaim, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (1 Corinthians 15:55). . . . {2SM 271.4} [2SM 272.1] Jesus Christ has triumphed over death and rent the fetters of the tomb, and all who sleep in the tomb will share the victory; they will come forth from their graves as did the Conqueror. . . . {2SM 272.1} [2SM 272.2] God Has Not Left You Dear afflicted ones, so sadly bereaved, God has not left you to be the sport of Satan's temptations. Let your sorrowful hearts be opened to receive the words of consolation from your pitying Redeemer. Jesus loves you. Receive the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness and be comforted. Thank Him who has risen from the dead, and who ever liveth to make intercession for you. Jesus Christ is a living Saviour. He is not in Joseph's new tomb. He is risen, He is risen! Rejoice, even in this your day of sorrow and bereavement, that you have a Saviour who sympathizes with all your grief. He wept at the grave of Lazarus, and identifies His sorrows with those of the sorrowing children. {2SM 272.2} [2SM 272.3] In all your conflicts, in all the trials and perplexities of life, seek counsel from God. The path of obedience to God is as a shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Follow step after step in the path of duty. Steep places may have to be climbed, but go forward in the path of humility, of faith and self-denial, leaving the clouds of doubt behind you. Sorrow not in a hopeless way, for the living need your care and love. You have enlisted in the Lord's army; be brave soldiers of Jesus Christ. Let words of penitence and grateful praise come up before God as sweet incense in His heavenly sanctuary. {2SM 272.3} [2SM 272.4] You may be disappointed, and your will and your way may be denied; but be assured that the Lord loves you. The furnace fire may kindle upon you, not for the purpose of destroying you, but to consume the dross, that you may come forth as gold seven times purified. Bear in mind that 273 God will give you songs in the night. Darkness may seem to enclose you, but you are not to look at the clouds. Beyond the darkest cloud there is an ever-shining light. The Lord has light for every soul. Open the door of the heart to hope, peace, and joy. Jesus says, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full" (John 15:11). {2SM 272.4} [2SM 273.1] God has a special work for everyone to do, and each one of us may do well the work which God has assigned him. The only thing we have to fear on our part is that we shall not keep our eyes continually fixed upon Jesus, that we shall not have an eye single to the glory of God, so that if we were called to lay down our armor and sleep in death we might not be ready to give an account of our trust. Forget not for a moment that you are Christ's property, bought with an infinite price, and that you are to glorify Him in your spirit, and in your body, which are His. {2SM 273.1} [2SM 273.2] Be of Good Comfort To the afflicted ones I would say, Be of good comfort in the hope of the resurrection morning. The waters of which you have been drinking are as bitter to your taste as were the waters of Marah to the children of Israel in the wilderness, but Jesus can make them so sweet with His love. When Moses presented before the Lord the sad difficulties of the children of Israel, He did not present some new remedy, but called their attention to that which was at hand; for there was a bush or shrub which He had created that was to be cast into the water to make the fountain sweet and pure. When this was done, the suffering people could drink of the water with safety and pleasure. {2SM 273.2} [2SM 273.3] God has provided a balm for every wound. There is a balm in Gilead, there is a physician there. Will you not now as never before study the Scriptures? Seek the Lord for wisdom in every emergency. In every trial plead with Jesus to show you a way out of your troubles, then your eyes will be opened to behold the remedy and to apply to your case the healing promises that have been recorded in His Word. In this way the enemy will find no place to lead 274 you into mourning and unbelief, but instead you will have faith and hope and courage in the Lord. The Holy Spirit will give you clear discernment that you may see and appropriate every blessing that will act as an antidote to grief, as a branch of healing to every draught of bitterness that is placed to your lips. Every draught of bitterness will be mingled with the love of Jesus, and in place of complaining of the bitterness, you will realize that Jesus' love and grace are so mingled with sorrow that it has been turned into subdued, holy, sanctified joy. {2SM 273.3} [2SM 274.1] When Henry White, our eldest son, lay dying, he said, "A bed of pain is a precious place when we have the presence of Jesus." When we are obliged to drink of the bitter waters, turn away from the bitter to the precious and the bright. In trial grace can give the human soul assurance, and when we stand at the deathbed and see how the Christian can bear suffering and go through the valley of death, we gather strength and courage to work, and we fail not, neither are we discouraged in leading souls to Jesus.--Letter 65a, 1894. {2SM 274.1} [2SM 274.2] The Best Comforters Those who have borne the greatest sorrows are frequently the ones who carry the greatest comfort to others, bringing sunshine wherever they go. Such ones have been chastened and sweetened by their afflictions; they did not lose confidence in God when trouble assailed them, but clung closer to His protecting love. Such ones are a living proof of the tender care of God, who makes the darkness as well as the light, and chastens us for our good. Christ is the light of the world; in Him is no darkness. Precious light! Let us live in that light! Bid adieu to sadness and repining. Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, Rejoice.-- Health Reformer, vol. 12, No. 10, October, 1877. 276 {2SM 274.2} [2SM 276.1] Chap. 28 - Statements on the Use of Drugs INTRODUCTION - SHORTLY AFTER THE ORGANIZATION OF THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS IN MAY, 1863, AT A TIME WHEN THE CHURCH NUMBERED 3,500 MEMBERS, ELLEN G. WHITE RECEIVED A VISION CALLING THE ATTENTION OF ADVENTISTS TO THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD HEALTH AND THE CLOSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHYSICAL WELL-BEING AND SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE. THE LIGHT GIVEN TOUCHED A NUMBER OF IMPORTANT PHASES OF LIVING, INCLUDING DIET, VALUE OF FRESH AIR, THE USE OF WATER, HEALTHFUL ATTIRE, EXERCISE, REST, ET CETERA. PROMINENT IN THIS IMPORTANT REVELATION OF JUNE 6, 1863, WAS LIGHT CONCERNING THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF THE POISONOUS DRUGS THAT PHYSICIANS SO FREELY PRESCRIBED. {2SM 276.1} [2SM 276.2] IN THE SUBSEQUENT YEARS THE GREAT BASIC HEALTH-REFORM VISION WAS FOLLOWED BY MANY VISIONS OPENING UP IN MORE DETAIL THE PRINCIPLES AND THE APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES THAT SHOULD GUIDE IN MATTERS OF RETAINING GOOD HEALTH AND THE CARE OF THE SICK, THE CALL FOR MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS AND THE MANNER IN WHICH SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS SHOULD CONDUCT SUCH INSTITUTIONS. {2SM 276.2} [2SM 276.3] ON THESE MATTERS MRS. WHITE WROTE MUCH. HER FIRST COMPREHENSIVE PRESENTATION APPEARED IN 1864 IN SPIRITUAL GIFTS, ［CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IN FACSIMILE REPRINT.］ VOLUME 4, PAGES 120 TO 151 IN AN ARTICLE ENTITLED "HEALTH." MRS. WHITE THEN EXPANDED THIS THIRTY-PAGE STATEMENT INTO SIX SEPARATE ARTICLES FOR PUBLICATION UNDER THE GENERAL TITLE OF "DISEASE AND ITS CAUSES." IN 1865 THESE WERE EMBODIED IN THE SIX NUMBERED PAMPHLETS COMPILED BY ELDER AND MRS. WHITE, ENTITLED HEALTH OR HOW TO LIVE, ONE E. G. WHITE ARTICLE APPEARING IN EACH NUMBER. ［THE SIX ARTICLES IN THEIR ENTIRETY APPEAR AS AN APPENDIX TO THIS VOLUME, SEE PP. 409-479.］ FROM TIME TO TIME OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DECADES THE VARIOUS JOURNALS OF THE DENOMINATION CARRIED ARTICLES BY MRS. WHITE ON THE SUBJECT OF HEALTH. IN 1890 SHE PRESENTED A COMPREHENSIVE PICTURE OF THE HEALTH MESSAGE IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE BOOK CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE AND BIBLE HYGIENE. IN 1905 SHE PUBLISHED THE MINISTRY OF HEALING, HER CLIMAXING VOLUME ON THE SUBJECT. THIS SHE INTENDED FOR VERY WIDE DISTRIBUTION IN AMERICA AND OVERSEAS. 277 {2SM 276.3} [2SM 277.1] IN EACH OF HER GENERAL PRESENTATIONS ON HEALTH MRS. WHITE DISCUSSED POISONOUS DRUGS AND THEIR USE IN THE TREATMENT OF THE SICK. THIS PHASE OF THE SUBJECT--PROMINENT IN THE ORIGINAL HEALTH-REFORM VISION--FILLED EIGHT OF THE THIRTY PAGES OF HER INITIAL SPIRITUAL GIFTS PRESENTATION. SHE DEVOTED ONE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN THE "DISEASE AND ITS CAUSES" SERIES TO THE SUBJECT OF DRUGS. {2SM 277.1} [2SM 277.2] NOR WAS ELLEN WHITE'S VOICE ALONE AT THE TIME. THERE WERE CERTAIN PHYSICIANS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC WHO DEPLORED THE ABSENCE OF ADEQUATE DIAGNOSIS, AND GRAVELY QUESTIONED THE USE OF MANY COMMONLY PRESCRIBED POISONOUS DRUGS. AS A RESULT GRADUAL CHANGES TOOK PLACE IN THE TREATMENT OF THE SICK AS REGARDS THE USE OF DRUGS. THESE CHANGES HAVE BEEN MOST RAPID AND STRIKING IN THE YEARS FOLLOWING THE FIRST DECADE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, WHEN MODERN MEDICAL EDUCATION, ALONG SCIENTIFIC AND EXPERIMENTAL LINES, DEVELOPED. {2SM 277.2} [2SM 277.3] IN HER EARLIER WRITINGS, PARTICULARLY, MRS. WHITE MADE SINGULARLY STRONG STATEMENTS CONCERNING THE PHYSICIANS OF THE TIME AND CONCERNING THE USE OF DRUGS. IN ORDER RIGHTLY TO EVALUATE THESE, ONE MUST KNOW SOMETHING OF THE MEDICAL PRACTICES AT THE TIME THE STATEMENTS WERE MADE. THIS KNOWLEDGE CAN BE GAINED BY EXAMINING THE MEDICAL LITERATURE OF THOSE TIMES AND FROM READING THE OPENING CHAPTER OF THE STORY OF OUR HEALTH MESSAGE, BY D. E. ROBINSON. {2SM 277.3} [2SM 277.4] IN HER BOOKS THAT DEAL SPECIFICALLY WITH THE PROBLEMS AND WORK OF THE CHURCH AND ITS MEMBERS, MRS. WHITE DEVOTES MORE SPACE TO THE SUBJECT OF HEALTH AND THE CARE OF THE SICK THAN TO ANY OTHER SINGLE TOPIC. THESE COUNSELS ARE SPREAD BEFORE THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN THE MORE THAN TWO THOUSAND PAGES OF THE MINISTRY OF HEALING, MEDICAL MINISTRY, COUNSELS ON DIET AND FOODS, COUNSELS ON HEALTH, AND TEMPERANCE, AND IN ARTICLES IN THE TESTIMONIES FOR THE CHURCH. THE READER IS DIRECTED TO THESE SOURCES FOR THE FULL, BALANCED PICTURE OF THE HEALTH-REFORM MESSAGE. {2SM 277.4} [2SM 277.5] THIS VOLUME CONTAINS FOUR CHAPTERS COMPOSED OF STATEMENTS DRAWN FROM VARIOUS SOURCES--SOME PUBLISHED AND SOME UNPUBLISHED--WRITTEN MOSTLY TO MEDICAL PERSONNEL IN CONNECTION WITH ADVENTIST INSTITUTIONS. THESE STATEMENTS ILLUSTRATE THE WAY MRS. WHITE HERSELF APPLIED THE PRINCIPLES REVEALED TO HER IN VISION. IN HER VARIOUS UTTERANCES ON THE SUBJECT OF THE CARE OF THE SICK, SHE EVER HELD UP THE IDEAL FOR WHICH TO STRIVE. AT THE SAME TIME SHE RECOGNIZED, AS SEEN BY THE TERMINOLOGY USED, THAT THERE WERE TIMES AND CIRCUMSTANCES 278 IN SPECIAL SITUATIONS WHEN IT WAS JUSTIFIABLE AND NECESSARY TO EMPLOY EVEN MEDICATIONS THAT WERE KNOWN TO BE POISONOUS. {2SM 277.5} [2SM 278.1] IT IS SIGNIFICANT THAT ELLEN WHITE GIVES US THE ASSURANCE THAT CHRIST AND THE ANGELS ARE PRESENT IN THE OPERATING ROOM ATTENDING AND GUIDING THE CONSECRATED CHRISTIAN PHYSICIAN IN PERFORMING SURGICAL OPERATIONS. BEFORE MAJOR SURGERY, THE ENTIRE BODY IS SATURATED WITH A POWERFUL AND, IN A SENSE, HARMFUL DRUG, TO THE POINT OF COMPLETE UNCONSCIOUSNESS AND TO COMPLETE INSENSIBILITY. BY THE SAME TOKEN, AFTER SURGICAL PROCEDURES, THE PHYSICIAN MAY FIND IT NECESSARY TO ADMINISTER SEDATIVES THAT ALMOST CERTAINLY INCLUDE DRUGS, TO GIVE RELIEF AND PREVENT THE PATIENT FROM LAPSING, FROM SHEER PAIN, INTO A STATE OF SURGICAL SHOCK AND, IN SOME INSTANCES, POSSIBLE DEATH. {2SM 278.1} [2SM 278.2] AS THEY STRIVE TO KNOW AND FOLLOW GOD'S WILL, NOT A FEW TODAY ARE MAKING INQUIRIES SIMILAR TO ONE EXPRESSED IN THE WORDS OF A MEDICAL STUDENT WHO IN 1893 WROTE TO MRS. WHITE TO ASK HER ABOUT THE USE OF DRUGS. IN HIS LETTER HE SAID: {2SM 278.2} [2SM 278.3] "FROM OUR STUDY OF THE TESTIMONIES AND THE LITTLE WORK, HOW TO LIVE, WE CAN SEE THAT THE LORD IS STRONGLY OPPOSED TO THE USE OF DRUGS IN OUR MEDICAL WORK. . . .SEVERAL OF THE STUDENTS ARE IN DOUBT AS TO THE MEANING OF THE WORD 'DRUG' AS MENTIONED IN HOW TO LIVE. DOES IT REFER ONLY TO THE STRONGER MEDICINES AS MERCURY, STRYCHNINE, ARSENIC, AND SUCH POISONS, THE THINGS WE MEDICAL STUDENTS CALL 'DRUGS,' OR DOES IT ALSO INCLUDE THE SIMPLER REMEDIES, AS POTASSIUM, IODINE, SQUILLS, ETC.? WE KNOW THAT OUR SUCCESS WILL BE PROPORTIONATE TO OUR ADHERENCE TO God'S METHODS. FOR THIS REASON I HAVE ASKED THE ABOVE QUESTION." {2SM 278.3} [2SM 278.4] THE FIRST ITEM IN CHAPTER 28, WHICH FOLLOWS IMMEDIATELY, IS MRS. WHITE'S REPLY TO THE INQUIRY OF THAT MEDICAL STUDENT.-- WHITE TRUSTEES. {2SM 278.4} [2SM 279.1] Chap. 28 - Statements on the Use of Drugs 279 28. Statements on the Use of Drugs - A Statement in Answer to Questions on Drugs Your questions, ［SEE INTRODUCTORY NOTE, PP. 276-278.］ I will say, are answered largely, if not definitely, in How to Live. Drug poisons mean the articles which you have mentioned. The simpler remedies are less harmful in proportion to their simplicity; but in very many cases these are used when not at all necessary. There are simple herbs and roots that every family may use for themselves and need not call a physician any sooner than they would call a lawyer. I do not think that I can give you any definite line of medicines compounded and dealt out by doctors, that are perfectly harmless. And yet it would not be wisdom to engage in controversy over this subject. {2SM 279.1} [2SM 279.2] The practitioners are very much in earnest in using their dangerous concoctions, and I am decidedly opposed to resorting to such things. They never cure; they may change the difficulty to create a worse one. Many of those who practice the prescribing of drugs, would not take the same or give them to their children. If they have an intelligent knowledge of the human body, if they understand the delicate, wonderful human machinery, they must know 280 that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and that not a particle of these strong drugs should be introduced into this human living organism. {2SM 279.2} [2SM 280.1] As the matter was laid open before me, and the sad burden of the result of drug medication, the light was given me that Seventh-day Adventists should establish health institutions discarding all these health-destroying inventions, and physicians should treat the sick upon hygienic principles. The great burden should be to have well-trained nurses, and well-trained medical practitioners to educate "precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little and there a little" (Isaiah 28:10). {2SM 280.1} [2SM 280.2] Train the people to correct habits and healthful practices, remembering that an ounce of preventive is of more value than a pound of cure. Lectures and studies in this line will prove of the highest value.--Letter 17a, 1893. {2SM 280.2} [2SM 280.3] Other Clarifying Statements Do They Leave Baleful Influences Behind?--Nothing should be put into the human system that will leave a baleful influence behind.--Medical Ministry, p. 228 (Manuscript 162, "How to Conduct Sanitariums," 1897). {2SM 280.3} [2SM 280.4] The simplest remedies may assist nature, and leave no baleful effects after their use.--Letter 82, 1897 (To Dr. J.H. Kellogg). {2SM 280.4} [2SM 280.5] Substances Which Poison the Blood.--In our sanitariums, we advocate the use of simple remedies. We discourage the use of drugs, for they poison the current of the blood. In these institutions sensible instruction should be given how to eat, how to drink, how to dress, and how to live so that the health may be preserved.--Counsels on Diet and Foods, p. 303 (Sermon at Lodi, California, May 9, 1908). {2SM 280.5} [2SM 280.6] Do not endeavor to adjust the difficulties by adding a burden of poisonous medicines.--Ministry of Healing, p. 235 (1905). {2SM 280.6} [2SM 280.7] Every Pernicious Drug.--Every pernicious drug placed in the human stomach, whether by prescription of physicians or by man himself, doing violence to the human 281 organism, injures the whole machinery.--Manuscript 3, 1897 (General Manuscript). {2SM 280.7} [2SM 281.1] Break Down Vital Forces.--Drugs always have a tendency to break down and destroy vital forces.--Medical Ministry, p. 223 (General Manuscript entitled "Sanitarium," 1887). {2SM 281.1} [2SM 281.2] Poisonous Preparations Which Leave Injurious Effects.--God's servants should not administer medicines which they know will leave behind injurious effects upon the system, even if they do relieve present suffering. Every poisonous preparation in the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, taken into the system, will leave its wretched influence, affecting the liver and lungs, and deranging the system generally.--Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4, p. 140 (1864). {2SM 281.2} [2SM 281.3] Deadly Aftereffects of Poisonous Drugs.--Nature's simple remedies will aid in recovery without leaving the deadly aftereffects so often felt by those who use poisonous drugs. They destroy the power of the patient to help himself. This power the patients are to be taught to exercise by learning to eat simple, healthful foods, by refusing to overload the stomach with a variety of foods at one meal. All these things should come into the education of the sick. Talks should be given showing how to preserve health, how to shun sickness, how to rest when rest is needed. --Letter 82, 1908 (To physicians and manager at Loma Linda). {2SM 281.3} [2SM 281.4] Counsel on the Administration of Drugs Seldom Needed--Use Them Less and Less.--Drug medication, as it is generally practiced, is a curse. Educate away from drugs. Use them less and less, and depend more upon hygienic agencies; then nature will respond to God's physicians--pure air, pure water, proper exercise, a clear conscience. Those who persist in the use of tea, coffee, and flesh meats will feel the need of drugs, but many might recover without one grain of medicine if they would obey the laws of health. Drugs need seldom be used. ［IN HARMONY WITH THESE WORDS WAS MRS. WHITE'S COUNSEL WHEN ASKED CONCERNING THE USE OF QUININE IN THE TREATMENT OF MALARIA. HER SON, WHO TRAVELED WITH HER AND ASSISTED HER, REPORTS THE FOLLOWING: "ONE TIME WHILE WE WERE IN AUSTRALIA, A BROTHER WHO HAD BEEN ACTING AS A MISSIONARY IN THE ISLANDS, TOLD MOTHER OF THE SICKNESS AND DEATH OF HIS FIRST-BORN SON. HE WAS SERIOUSLY AFFLICTED WITH MALARIA, AND HIS FATHER WAS ADVISED TO GIVE HIM QUININE, BUT IN VIEW OF THE COUNSEL IN THE TESTIMONIES TO AVOID THE USE OF QUININE HE REFUSED TO ADMINISTER IT, AND HIS SON DIED. WHEN HE MET SISTER WHITE, HE ASKED HER THIS QUESTION: 'WOULD I HAVE SINNED TO GIVE THE BOY QUININE WHEN I KNEW OF NO OTHER WAY TO CHECK MALARIA AND WHEN THE PROSPECT WAS THAT HE WOULD DIE WITHOUT IT?' IN REPLY SHE SAID, 'NO, WE ARE EXPECTED TO DO THE BEST WE CAN.'" --W. C. WHITE LETTER, SEPTEMBER 10, 1935.--COMPILERS.］--Counsels on Health, p. 261 (1890). 282 {2SM 281.4} [2SM 282.1] Seek to Lessen Their Use.--In their practice, the physicians should seek more and more to lessen the use of drugs instead of increasing it. When Dr. A came to the Health Retreat, she laid aside her knowledge and practice of hygiene, and administered the little homeopathic doses for almost every ailment. This was against the light God had given. Thus our people, who had been taught to avoid drugs in almost every form, were receiving a different education.--Letter 26a, 1889 (To a prominent physician in institutional work). {2SM 282.1} [2SM 282.2] Strong Drugs Need Not Be Used.--The first labors of a physician should be to educate the sick and suffering in the very course they should pursue to prevent disease. The greatest good can be done by our trying to enlighten the minds of all we can obtain access to, as to the best course for them to pursue to prevent sickness and suffering, and broken constitutions, and premature death. But those who do not care to undertake work that taxes their physical and mental powers will be ready to prescribe drug medication, which lays a foundation in the human organism for a two-fold greater evil than that which they claim to have relieved. {2SM 282.2} [2SM 282.3] A physician who has the moral courage to imperil his reputation in enlightening the understanding by plain facts, in showing the nature of disease and how to prevent it, and the dangerous practice of resorting to drugs, will have an uphill business, but he will live and let live. . . . He will, if a reformer, talk plainly in regard to the false appetites and ruinous self-indulgence, in dressing, in eating and drinking, in overtaxing to do a large amount of work in a given 283 time, which has a ruinous influence upon the temper, the physical and mental powers. . . . {2SM 282.3} [2SM 283.1] Right and correct habits, intelligently and perseveringly practiced, will be removing the cause for disease, and the strong drugs need not be resorted to. Many go on from step to step with their unnatural indulgences, which is bringing in just as unnatural ［a］ condition of things as possible.-- Medical Ministry, pp. 221, 222 (General Manuscript entitled "Sanitariums," 1887). {2SM 283.1} [2SM 283.2] As It Is Generally Practiced.--Drug medication, as it is generally practiced, is a curse.--Healthful Living, p. 246 (1888). {2SM 283.2} [2SM 283.3] Less Dangerous if Wisely Administered.--Do not administer drugs. True, drugs may not be as dangerous wisely administered as they usually are, but in the hands of many they will be hurtful to the Lord's property.--Letter 3, 1884 (To workers at St. Helena Sanitarium). {2SM 283.3} [2SM 283.4] Discarding Almost Entirely.--Our institutions are established that the sick may be treated by hygienic methods, discarding almost entirely the use of drugs. . . . There is a terrible account to be rendered to God by men who have so little regard for human life as to treat the body so ruthlessly in dealing out their drugs. . . . We are not excusable if through ignorance we destroy God's building by taking into our stomachs poisonous drugs under a variety of names we do not understand. It is our duty to refuse all such prescriptions. {2SM 283.4} [2SM 283.5] We wish to build a sanitarium ［in Australia］ where maladies may be cured by nature's own provisions, and where the people may be taught how to treat themselves when sick; where they will learn to eat temperately of wholesome food, and be educated to refuse all narcotics-- tea, coffee, fermented wines, and stimulants of all kinds-- and to discard the flesh of dead animals.--Temperance, pp. 88, 89 (General Manuscript, 1896). {2SM 283.5} [2SM 283.6] The Ideal--Finally Cease to Deal Out Drugs.-- When you understand physiology in its truest sense, your drug bills will be very much smaller, and finally you will 284 cease to deal out drugs at all. The physician who depends upon drug medication in his practice, shows that he does not understand the delicate machinery of the human organism. He is introducing into the system a seed crop that will never lose its destroying properties throughout the lifetime. I tell you this because I dare not withhold it. Christ paid too much for man's redemption to have his body so ruthlessly treated as it has been by drug medication. {2SM 283.6} [2SM 284.1] Years ago the Lord revealed to me that institutions should be established for treating the sick without drugs. Man is God's property, and the ruin that has been made of the living habitation, the suffering caused by the seeds of death sown in the human system, are an offense to God. --Medical Ministry, p. 229 (To a leading physician and his wife, 1896). {2SM 284.1} [2SM 284.2] The Divine Presence in the Operating Room ［THE ASSURANCES OF THIS CHAPTER WILL REMOVE ANY QUESTION AS TO THE PROPRIETY OF SURGERY WITH ITS ATTENDANT ANESTHETIC.］ Christ in the Operating Room.--Before performing a critical operation, let the physician ask for the aid of the Great Physician. Let him assure the suffering one that God can bring him safely through the ordeal, that in all times of distress He is a sure refuge for those who trust in Him. --Ministry of Healing, p. 118 (1905). {2SM 284.2} [2SM 284.3] The Saviour is present in the sickroom, in the operating room; and His power for His name's glory accomplishes great things.--Manuscript 159, 1899 (Manuscript, "The Privileges and Duties of a Christian Physician"). {2SM 284.3} [2SM 284.4] Surgery Not a Denial of Faith.--It is our privilege to use every God-appointed means in correspondence with our faith, and then trust in God, when we have urged the promise. If there is need of a surgical operation, and the physician is willing to undertake the case, it is not a denial of faith to have the operation performed. After the patient has committed his will to the will of God, let him trust, drawing nigh to the Great Physician, the Mighty Healer, and giving himself up in perfect trust. The Lord will honor his faith 285 in the very manner He sees is for His own name's glory. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength" (Isaiah 26:3, 4).--Manuscript 67, 1899 (General Manuscript). {2SM 284.4} [2SM 285.1] Jesus Guided Your Hands.--Who has been by your side as you have performed these critical operations? Who has kept you calm and self-possessed in the crisis, giving you quick, sharp discernment, clear eyesight, steady nerves, and skillful precision? The Lord Jesus has sent His angel to your side to tell you what to do. A hand has been laid upon your hand. Jesus, and not you, has guided the movements of your instrument. At times you have realized this, and a wonderful calmness has come over you. You dared not hurry, and yet you worked rapidly, knowing that there was not a moment to lose. The Lord has greatly blessed you.-- Testimonies, vol. 8, pp. 187, 188 (To the medical superintendent of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, 1899). {2SM 285.1} [2SM 285.2] As you looked to God in your critical operations, angels of God were standing by your side, and their hands were seen as your hand performing the work with an accuracy that made the beholders surprised.--Letter 73, 1899 (To the physician addressed in the preceding item). {2SM 285.2} [2SM 285.3] The Divine Watcher by the Side of the Physician.-- Christ is the greatest medical missionary that ever lived. He never lost a case. He understands how to give strength and guidance to the physicians in this institution. He stands beside them as they perform their difficult surgical operations. We know that this is so. He has saved lives that might have been lost had the knife swerved a hair's breadth. Angels of God are constantly ministering to those for whom Christ has given His life. {2SM 285.3} [2SM 285.4] God gives the physicians of this institution skill and efficiency because they are serving Him. They know that their skill is not their own, that it comes from above. They realize that there is beside them a divine Watcher, who gives wisdom to His physicians, enabling them to move intelligently in their work.--Manuscript 28, 1901 (Words addressed to workers at the St. Helena Sanitarium). {2SM 285.4} [2SM 286.1] Chap. 29 - The Use of Remedies - To Alleviate Pain and Restore Health Employ Every Facility.--It is not a denial of faith to use such remedies as God has provided to alleviate pain and to aid nature in her work of restoration. It is no denial of faith ［for the sick who request prayer for healing］ to cooperate with God, and place themselves in the condition most favorable to recovery. God has put it in our power to obtain a knowledge of the laws of life. This knowledge has been placed within our reach for use. We should employ every facility for the restoration of health, taking every advantage possible, working in harmony with natural laws. --Ministry of Healing, pp. 231, 232 (1905). {2SM 286.1} [2SM 286.2] Use the Means Within Our Reach.--The idea which you hold, that no remedies should be used for the sick, is an error. God does not heal the sick without the aid of the means of healing which lie within the reach of man; or when men refuse to be benefited by the simple remedies that God has provided in pure air and water. {2SM 286.2} [2SM 286.3] There were physicians in Christ's day and in the days of the apostles. Luke is called the beloved physician. He trusted in the Lord to make him skillful in the application of remedies. {2SM 286.3} [2SM 286.4] When the Lord told Hezekiah that He would spare his 287 life for fifteen years, and as a sign that He would fulfill His promise, caused the sun to go back ten degrees, why did He not put His direct, restoring power upon the king? He told him to apply a bunch of figs to his sore, and that natural remedy, blessed by God, healed him. The God of nature directs the human agent to use natural remedies now. {2SM 286.4} [2SM 287.1] I might go to any length in this matter, my brother, but I leave it now with a few instances. ［Then follow the accounts of two instances of the use of charcoal. See chapter 30.］ {2SM 287.1} [2SM 287.2] All these things teach us that we are to be very careful lest we receive radical ideas and impressions. Your ideas regarding drug medication, I must respect; but even in this you must not always let the patients know that you discard drugs entirely, until they become intelligent on the subject. You often place yourself in positions where you hurt your influence and do no one any good, by expressing all your convictions. Thus you cut yourself away from the people. You should modify your strong prejudices.--Letter 182, 1899 (To a worker in an overseas field). {2SM 287.2} [2SM 287.3] God's Remedies.--There are many ways of practicing the healing art, but there is only one way that Heaven approves. God's remedies are the simple agencies of nature that will not tax or debilitate the system through their powerful properties. Pure air and water, cleanliness, a proper diet, purity of life, and a firm trust in God are remedies for the want of which thousands are dying; yet these remedies are going out of date because their skillful use requires work that the people do not appreciate. Fresh air, exercise, pure water, and clean, sweet premises are within the reach of all with but little expense; but drugs are expensive, both in the outlay of means and in the effect produced upon the system.--Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 443 (1885). {2SM 287.3} [2SM 287.4] Use the Simplest Remedies.--Nature will want some assistance to bring things to their proper condition, which may be found in the simplest remedies, especially in the use of nature's own furnished remedies--pure air, and with a precious knowledge of how to breathe; pure water, with a 288 knowledge of how to apply it; plenty of sunlight in every room in the house if possible, and with an intelligent knowledge of what advantages are to be gained by its use. All these are powerful in their efficiency, and the patient who has obtained a knowledge of how to eat and dress healthfully, may live for comfort, for peace, for health; and will not be prevailed upon to put to his lips drugs, which, in the place of helping nature, paralyzes her powers. If the sick and suffering will do only as well as they know in regard to living out the principles of health reform perseveringly, then they will in nine cases out of ten recover from their ailments.--Medical Ministry, pp. 223, 224 (Manuscript 22, 1887). {2SM 287.4} [2SM 288.1] Remedies in the Natural World Water Treatments and Simple Herbs.--The Lord has taught us that great efficacy for healing lies in a proper use of water. These treatments should be given skillfully. We have been instructed that in our treatment of the sick we should discard the use of drugs. There are simple herbs that can be used for the recovery of the sick, whose effect upon the system is very different from that of those drugs that poison the blood and endanger life.--Manuscript 73, 1908 (Manuscript entitled "Counsels Repeated"). {2SM 288.1} [2SM 288.2] Remedies That Cleanse the System.--Christ never planted the seeds of death in the system. Satan planted these seeds when he tempted Adam to eat of the tree of knowledge which meant disobedience to God. Not one noxious plant was placed in the Lord's great garden, but after Adam and Eve sinned, poisonous herbs sprang up. In the parable of the sower the question was asked the master, "Didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?" The master answered, "An enemy hath done this" (Matthew 13:27, 28). All tares are sown by the evil one. Every noxious herb is of his sowing, and by his ingenious methods of amalgamation he has corrupted the earth with tares. {2SM 288.2} [2SM 288.3] Then shall physicians continue to resort to drugs, which leave a deadly evil in the system, destroying that life which 289 Christ came to restore? Christ's remedies cleanse the system. But Satan has tempted man to introduce into the system that which weakens the human machinery, clogging and destroying the fine, beautiful arrangements of God. The drugs administered to the sick do not restore, but destroy. Drugs never cure. Instead, they place in the system seeds which bear a very bitter harvest. . . . {2SM 288.3} [2SM 289.1] Our Saviour is the restorer of the moral image of God in man. He has supplied in the natural world remedies for the ills of man, that His followers may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. We can with safety discard the concoctions which man has used in the past. {2SM 289.1} [2SM 289.2] The Lord has provided antidotes for diseases in simple plants, and these can be used by faith, with no denial of faith; for by using the blessings provided by God for our benefit we are cooperating with Him. He can use water and sunshine and the herbs which He has caused to grow, in healing maladies brought on by indiscretion or accident. We do not manifest a lack of faith when we ask God to bless His remedies. True faith will thank God for the knowledge of how to use these precious blessings in a way which will restore mental and physical vigor. {2SM 289.2} [2SM 289.3] The body is to be carefully cared for, and in this the Lord demands the cooperation of the human agent. Man must become intelligent in regard to the treatment and use of brain, bone, and muscle. The very best experience we can gain is to know ourselves.--Manuscript 65, 1899 (General Manuscript). {2SM 289.3} [2SM 289.4] All to Understand What to Do for Themselves Your question is, . . . "In urgent cases, should we call in a worldly physician, because the sanitarium doctors are all so busy that they have no time to devote to outside 290 practice?"...If the physicians are so busy that they cannot treat the sick outside of the institution, would it not be wiser for all to educate themselves in the use of simple remedies, than to venture to use drugs that are given a long name to hide their real qualities. Why need anyone be ignorant of God's remedies--hot-water fomentations and cold and hot compresses. It is important to become familiar with the benefit of dieting in case of sickness. All should understand what to do ［for］ themselves. They may call upon someone who understands nursing, but everyone should have an intelligent knowledge of the house he lives in. All should understand what to do in case of sickness. {2SM 289.4} [2SM 290.1] Were I sick, I would just as soon call in a lawyer as a physician from among general practitioners. ［MRS WHITE IS HERE REFERRING TO THE "GENERAL PRACTITIONER" OF 1897 IN THE BACKWOODS OF AUSTRALIA, FROM WHERE SHE PENNED THESE WORDS. THE READER MUST KEEP IN MIND THAT UNTIL THE SECOND DECADE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, PHYSICIAN TRAINING WAS LARGELY UNREGULATED AND WAS OFTEN MEAGER. IN MANY INSTANCES IT WAS ON AN APPRENTICE BASIS, SUPPLEMENTED AT BEST BY A SHORT PERIOD OF TRAINING IN A MORE OR LESS ORTHODOX MEDICAL SCHOOL. THE MEDICAL PROFESSION WAS WITHOUT WELL-ESTABLISHED STANDARDS. THE MAINSTAY IN THE MEDICATIONS OF THE ORDINARY DOCTOR WAS POISONOUS DRUGS, OFTEN PRESCRIBED IN LARGE DOSES. THE FOLLOWING FACTS SHOW CLEARLY THAT MRS. WHITE'S STATEMENT SHOULD NOT BE USED TO DEPRECIATE THE LABORS OF THE CAREFULLY TRAINED CONSCIENTIOUS PHYSICIAN: 1. HER MANY STATEMENTS RELATIVE TO THE HIGH CALLING AND WEIGHTY RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PHYSICIAN; 2. HER PRACTICE OF CONSULTING QUALIFIED PHYSICIANS AS ATTESTED BY THE PUBLISHED RECORD AND BY THOSE WHO WERE MEMBERS OF HER FAMILY; 3. HER COUNSEL TO AN ASSOCIATE WORKER WHO WAS ILL, TO "LET THE PHYSICIANS" "DO THOSE THINGS" FOR HER "THAT MUST BE DONE" (SEE PAGE 251 OF THIS VOLUME), AND URGING HER TO EAT, "BECAUSE YOUR EARTHLY PHYSICIAN WOULD HAVE YOU EAT" (PAGE 253); 4. HER MANY COUNSELS ADDRESSED TO PRACTICING PHYSICIANS PRESENTED IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALING, COUNSELS ON HEALTH, AND MEDICAL MINISTRY; 5. THE GUIDANCE FROM HER PEN IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST MEDICAL COLLEGE AT LOMA LINDA, DESIGNED TO PROVIDE "A MEDICAL EDUCATION THAT WILL ENABLE" ITS GRADUATES "TO PASS THE EXAMINATIONS REQUIRED BY LAW OF ALL THOSE WHO PRACTICE AS REGULARLY QUALIFIED PHYSICIANS."--ELLEN G. WHITE MANUSCRIPT 7, 1910 (PUBLISHED IN PACIFIC UNION RECORDER, FEB. 3, 1910). (SEE THE STORY OF OUR HEALTH MESSAGE (1955), P. 386.)］ I would not touch their nostrums, to which they give Latin names. I am determined to know, in straight English, the name of everything that I introduce into my system. {2SM 290.1} [2SM 290.2] Those who make a practice of taking drugs sin against 291 their intelligence and endanger their whole afterlife. There are herbs that are harmless, the use of which will tide over many apparently serious difficulties. But if all would seek to become intelligent in regard to their bodily necessities, sickness would be rare instead of common. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.--Manuscript 86, 1897 (General Manuscript, "Health Reform Principles," written from Cooranbong, Australia). {2SM 290.2} [2SM 291.1] Simple Remedies in the Sanitarium Program I have received much instruction regarding the location of sanitariums. They should be a few miles distant from the large cities, and land should be secured in connection with them. Fruit and vegetables should be cultivated, and the patients should be encouraged to take up outdoor work. Many who are suffering from pulmonary disease might be cured if they would live in a climate where they could be out-of-doors most of the year. Many who have died of consumption might have lived if they had breathed more pure air. Fresh outdoor air is as healing as medicine, and leaves no injurious aftereffects.... {2SM 291.1} [2SM 291.2] It would have been better if, from the first, all drugs had been kept out of our sanitariums, and use had been made of such simple remedies as are found in pure water, pure air, sunlight, and some of the simple herbs growing in the field. These would be just as efficacious as the drugs used under mysterious names, and concocted by human science. And they would leave no injurious effects in the system. {2SM 291.2} [2SM 291.3] Thousands who are afflicted might recover their health if, instead of depending upon the drugstore for their life, they would discard all drugs, and live simply, without using tea, coffee, liquor, or spices, which irritate the stomach and leave it weak, unable to digest even simple food without stimulation. The Lord is willing to let His light shine forth in clear, distinct rays to all who are weak and feeble.-- Manuscript 115, 1903 (General Manuscript regarding sanitarium work). {2SM 291.3} [2SM 292.2] Chap. 30 - Ellen G. White's Use of Remedial Agencies - ［ELLEN G. WHITE SPEAKS REPEATEDLY OF SIMPLE REMEDIES. SHE TELLS US SPECIFICALLY WHAT SHE MEANS WHEN SHE THUS SPEAKS, NAMING PURE AIR, SUNLIGHT, ABSTEMIOUSNESS, REST, EXERCISE, PROPER DIET, THE USE OF WATER, AND TRUST IN DIVINE POWER. SEE PAGES 287-291 AND THE MINISTRY OF HEALING, PAGE 127. IN ADDITION TO THESE, MRS. WHITE ON A FEW OCCASIONS, IN HER PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE, MADE REFERENCE TO CERTAIN SIMPLE MEDICATIONS SHE KNEW AND USED; ANY SUCH REMEDY WAS USUALLY MENTIONED IN A SINGLE INSTANCE ONLY. SHE ALSO REFERS IN HER CORRESPONDENCE TO A FEW RARE EMERGENCY SITUATIONS THAT LED HER TO EMPLOY REMEDIES SHE WOULD NOT USE EXCEPT IN A CRISIS. {2SM 292.1］ IN EVALUATING THESE REFERENCES TO CERTAIN MEDICATIONS, FOUR POINTS SHOULD BE OBSERVED BY THE READER: {2SM 292.2} [2SM 292.3] 1. THE FOLLOWING PAGES LIST THE SIGNIFICANT STATEMENTS IN WHICH MRS. WHITE MENTIONS SPECIFIC MEDICATIONS OF A SIMPLE CHARACTER, INSOFAR AS SUCH STATEMENTS WERE KNOWN AT THE TIME THIS COMPILATION WAS MADE. {2SM 292.3} [2SM 292.4] 2. A VERY FEW PAGES ARE REQUIRED TO PLACE THESE STATEMENTS IN PRINT, SOME ELEVEN PAGES AS COMPARED WITH THE MORE THAN 2,000 PAGES DEVOTED TO THE COMPREHENSIVE PRESENTATION OF THE HEALTH COUNSELS AS FOUND IN THE E.G. WHITE BOOKS. {2SM 292.4} [2SM 292.5] 3. FOR FIFTY YEARS MRS. WHITE WROTE EXTENSIVELY, FOR PUBLICATION, ON THE SUBJECT OF HEALTH AND THE CARE OF THE SICK. BUT IT IS AN INTERESTING AND SIGNIFICANT FACT THAT, EXCEPT FOR THE BRIEF MENTION OF THE "LUMP OF FIGS" FOR HEZEKIAH'S BOILS, AND A FLEETING ALLUSION TO THE INEFFECTUAL USE OF "SIMPLE HERBS" IN THE ILLNESS OF ONE OF HER SONS (SEE SPIRITUAL GIFTS, VOLUME II, 293 P. 104), SHE MADE NO REFERENCE TO THE MEDICINAL USE OF HERBS OR TO OTHER SPECIFIC SIMPLE MEDICATIONS IN ANY OF HER PUBLISHED STATEMENTS. TO SAY THE LEAST, THIS FACT DOES NOT PERMIT THE CONCLUSION THAT THE USE OF HERBS IS OF PRIME IMPORTANCE IN THE WHOLE HEALTH PROGRAM THAT SHE SET FORTH IN SUCH COMPLETENESS. {2SM 292.5} [2SM 293.1] 4. MRS. WHITE NOWHERE STATES, IN DISCUSSING SUCH SIMPLE MEDICATIONS, THAT OTHER AND MORE EFFECTIVE MEDICATIONS MIGHT NOT LATER BE FOUND. {2SM 293.1} [2SM 293.2] OWING TO IMPRESSIONS HELD BY SOME THAT MRS. WHITE'S WRITINGS NOT ONLY ENDORSE HERBS BUT FEATURE THEM AS THE PRINCIPAL MEANS FOR DEALING WITH DISEASE, AND THAT THERE IS A GREAT ABUNDANCE OF UNPUBLISHED MATERIAL ON THIS POINT, THE WHITE TRUSTEES BELIEVE THAT THE MINDS OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS WILL BE HELPED AND THE RECORD BEST BE KEPT CLEAR BY PRINTING THE STATEMENTS THAT FOLLOW. IN ALL FAIRNESS, THE READER SHOULD NOT ATTACH TO THESE STATEMENTS GREATER SIGNIFICANCE THAN DID THE AUTHOR, WHO, IN HER PUBLISHED WORKS, PLACED BEFORE THE GENERAL PUBLIC THE BROAD PRINCIPLES TO BE FOLLOWED IN THE TREATMENT OF THE SICK.--COMPILERS. {2SM 293.2} [2SM 293.3] I Cannot Testify in Their Favor After seeing so much harm done by the administering of drugs, I cannot use them, and cannot testify in their favor. I must be true to the light given me by the Lord. {2SM 293.3} [2SM 293.4] The treatment we gave when the sanitarium was first established required earnest labor to combat disease. We did not use drug concoctions; we followed hygienic methods. This work was blessed by God. It was a work in which the human instrumentality could cooperate with God in saving life. There should be nothing put into the human system that would leave its baleful influence behind. And to carry out the light on this subject, to practice hygienic treatment, and to educate on altogether different lines of treating the sick, was the reason given me why we should have sanitariums established in various localities. {2SM 293.4} [2SM 293.5] I have been pained when many students have been encouraged to go to_____ ［A STATE-OPERATED MEDICAL COLLEGE, TO WHICH A NUMBER OF OUR EARLY MEDICAL WORKERS WERE SENT TO COMPLETE THEIR TRAINING.--COMPILERS.］ to receive an education in the use of drugs. The light which I have received has placed an altogether different complexion on the use made of 294 drugs than is given at_____ or at the sanitarium. We must become enlightened on these subjects. The intricate names given the medicines are used to cover up the matter, so that none will know what is given them as remedies unless they obtain a dictionary to find out the meaning of these names. {2SM 293.5} [2SM 294.1] The Lord has given some simple herbs of the field that at times are beneficial; and if every family were educated in how to use these herbs in case of sickness, much suffering might be prevented, and no doctor need be called. These old-fashioned, simple herbs, used intelligently, would have recovered many sick who have died under drug medication. {2SM 294.1} [2SM 294.2] One of the most beneficial remedies is pulverized charcoal, placed in a bag and used in fomentations. This is a most successful remedy. If wet in smartweed boiled, it is still better. I have ordered this in cases where the sick were suffering great pain, and when it has been confided to me by the physician that he thought it was the last before the close of life. Then I suggested the charcoal, ［IT IS OF INTEREST TO OBSERVE IN CONNECTION WITH THE SEVERAL E. G. WHITE STATEMENTS CONCERNING THE VALUE OF CHARCOAL, THAT AS WELL AS BEING A PRODUCT OF FREQUENT MEDICAL PRESCRIPTION, A 1,160-PAGE PROFESSIONAL WORK, CLINICAL TOXICOLOGY OF COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS (WILLIAMS AND WILKINS, 1957, $16.00) ADVISES AS AN ANTIDOTE FOR MANY KNOWN POISONS AND FOR ALL POISONOUS SUBSTANCES OF UNKNOWN INGREDIENTS A "UNIVERSAL ANTIDOTE" OF FOUR PARTS, TWO OF WHICH ARE ACTIVATED CHARCOAL.--COMPILERS.］ and the patient slept, the turning point came, and recovery was the result. To students when injured with bruised hands and suffering with inflammation, I have prescribed this simple remedy, with perfect success. The poison of inflammation was overcome, the pain removed, and healing went on rapidly. The most severe inflammation of the eyes will be relieved by a poultice of charcoal, put in a bag, and dipped in hot or cold water, as will best suit the case. This works like a charm. {2SM 294.2} [2SM 294.3] I expect you will laugh at this; but if I could give this remedy some outlandish name that no one knew but myself, it would have greater influence. . . .But the simplest remedies may assist nature, and leave no baleful effects after their use.--Letter 82, 1897 (To Dr. J. H. Kellogg). 295 {2SM 294.3} [2SM 295.1] When Asked for Counsel, Simple Remedies Advised There are many simple herbs which, if our nurses would learn the value of, they could use in the place of drugs, and find very effective. Many times I have been applied to for advice as to what should be done in cases of sickness or accident, and I have mentioned some of these simple remedies, and they have proved helpful. {2SM 295.1} [2SM 295.2] On one occasion a physician came to me in great distress. He had been called to attend a young woman who was dangerously ill. She had contracted fever while on the campground, and was taken to our school building near Melbourne, Australia. But she became so much worse that it was feared she could not live. The physician, Dr. Merritt Kellogg, came to me and said, "Sister White, have you any light for me on this case? If relief cannot be given our sister, she can live but a few hours." I replied, "Send to a blacksmith's shop, and get some pulverized charcoal; make a poultice of it, and lay it over her stomach and sides." The doctor hastened away to follow out my instructions. Soon he returned, saying, "Relief came in less than half an hour after the application of the poultices. She is now having the first natural sleep she has had for days." {2SM 295.2} [2SM 295.3] I have ordered the same treatment for others who were suffering great pain, and it has brought relief and been the means of saving life. My mother had told me that snake bites and the sting of reptiles and poisonous insects could often be rendered harmless by the use of charcoal poultices. When working on the land at Avondale, Australia, the workmen would often bruise their hands and limbs, and this in many cases resulted in such severe inflammation that the worker would have to leave his work for some time. One came to me one day in this condition, with his hand tied in a sling. He was much troubled over the circumstance; for his help was needed in clearing the land I said to him, "Go to the place where you have been burning the timber, and get me some charcoal from the eucalyptus tree, pulverize it, and I will dress your hand." This was 296 done, and the next morning he reported that the pain was gone. Soon he was ready to return to his work. {2SM 295.3} [2SM 296.1] I write these things that you may know that the Lord has not left us without the use of simple remedies which, when used, will not leave the system in the weakened condition in which the use of drugs so often leaves it. We need well-trained nurses who can understand how to use the simple remedies that nature provides for restoration to health, and who can teach those who are ignorant of the laws of health how to use these simple but effective cures. {2SM 296.1} [2SM 296.2] He who created men and women has an interest in those who suffer. He has directed in the establishment of our sanitariums and in the building up of schools close to our sanitariums, that they may become efficient mediums in training men and women for the work of ministering to suffering humanity. In the treatment of the sick, poisonous drugs need not be used. Alcohol or tobacco in any form must not be recommended, lest some soul be led to imbibe a taste for these evil things.--Letter 90, 1908 (To J. A. Burden and others bearing responsibility at Loma Linda). {2SM 296.2} [2SM 296.3] Safe, Simple Remedies In regard to that which we can do for ourselves, there is a point that requires careful, thoughtful consideration. I must become acquainted with myself, I must be a learner always as to how to take care of this building, the body God has given me, that I may preserve it in the very best condition of health. I must eat those things which will be for my very best good physically, and I must take special care to have my clothing such as will conduce to a healthful circulation of the blood. I must not deprive myself of exercise and air. I must get all the sunlight that it is possible for me to obtain. {2SM 296.3} [2SM 296.4] I must have wisdom to be a faithful guardian of my body. I should do a very unwise thing to enter a cool room when in a perspiration; I should show myself an unwise steward to allow myself to sit in a draft, and thus expose myself so as to take cold. I should be unwise to sit with cold feet and limbs, and thus drive back the blood from 297 the extremities to the brain or internal organs. I should always protect my feet in damp weather. {2SM 296.4} [2SM 297.1] I should eat regularly of the most healthful food which will make the best quality of blood, and I should not work intemperately if it is in my power to avoid doing so. {2SM 297.1} [2SM 297.2] And when I violate the laws God has established in my being, I am to repent and reform, and place myself in the most favorable condition under the doctors God has provided--pure air, pure water, and the healing, precious sunlight. {2SM 297.2} [2SM 297.3] Water can be used in many ways to relieve suffering. Drafts of clear, hot water taken before eating (half a quart, more or less), will never do any harm, but will rather be productive of good. {2SM 297.3} [2SM 297.4] A cup of tea made from catnip herb will quiet the nerves. {2SM 297.4} [2SM 297.5] Hop tea will induce sleep. Hop poultices over the stomach will relieve pain. {2SM 297.5} [2SM 297.6] If the eyes are weak, if there is pain in the eyes, or inflammation, soft flannel cloths wet in hot water and salt, will bring relief quickly. {2SM 297.6} [2SM 297.7] When the head is congested, if the feet and limbs are put in a bath with a little mustard, relief will be obtained. {2SM 297.7} [2SM 297.8] There are many more simple remedies which will do much to restore healthful action to the body. All these simple preparations the Lord expects us to use for ourselves, but man's extremities are God's opportunities. If we neglect to do that which is within the reach of nearly every family, and ask the Lord to relieve pain when we are too indolent to make use of these remedies within our power, it is simply presumption. The Lord expects us to work in order that we may obtain food. He does not propose that we shall gather the harvest unless we break the sod, till the soil, and cultivate the produce. Then God sends the rain and the sunshine and the clouds to cause vegetation to flourish. God works and man cooperates with God. Then there is seedtime and harvest. {2SM 297.8} [2SM 297.9] God has caused to grow out of the ground, herbs for the use of man, and if we understand the nature of those roots and herbs, and make a right use of them, there would not 298 be a necessity of running for the doctor so frequently, and people would be in much better health than they are today. I believe in calling upon the Great Physician when we have used the remedies I have mentioned.--Letter 35, 1890 (To a worker in an overseas field). {2SM 297.9} [2SM 298.1] Counsel to the Medical Director of a New Sanitarium Do all that you possibly can to perfect the institution inside and out. Be sure that your premises are in the best of order. Let there be nothing about them that will make a disagreeable impression of the minds of the patients. {2SM 298.1} [2SM 298.2] Encourage the patients to live healthfully and to take an abundance of exercise. This will do much to restore them to health. Let seats be placed under the shade of the trees, that the patients may be encouraged to spend much time out-of-doors. And a place should be provided, enclosed either with canvas or with glass, where, in cooler weather, the patients can sit in the sun without feeling the wind.... {2SM 298.2} [2SM 298.3] Fresh air and sunshine, cheerfulness within and without the institution, pleasant words and kindly acts--these are the remedies that the sick need, and God will crown with success your efforts to provide these remedies for the sick ones who come to the sanitarium. By happiness and cheerfulness and expressions of sympathy and hopefulness for others, your own soul will be filled with light and peace. And never forget that the sunshine of God's blessing is worth everything to us. {2SM 298.3} [2SM 298.4] Teach nurses and patients the value of those health-restoring agencies that are freely provided by God, and the usefulness of simple things that are easily obtained. {2SM 298.4} [2SM 298.5] I will tell you a little about my experience with charcoal as a remedy. For some forms of indigestion, it is more efficacious than drugs. A little olive oil into which some of this powder has been stirred tends to cleanse and heal. I find it is excellent. Pulverized charcoal from eucalyptus wood we have used freely in cases of inflammation.... {2SM 298.5} [2SM 298.6] Always study and teach the use of the simplest remedies, and the special blessing of the Lord may be expected to 299 follow the use of these means which are within the reach of the common people.--Letter 100, 1903. {2SM 298.6} [2SM 299.1] Other Experiences With Charcoal A Rapid Recovery.--A brother was taken sick with inflammation of the bowels and bloody dysentery. The man was not a careful health reformer, but indulged his appetite. We were just preparing to leave Texas, where we had been laboring for several months, and we had carriages prepared to take away this brother and his family, and several others who were suffering from malarial fever. My husband and I thought we would stand this expense rather than have the heads of several families die and leave their wives and children unprovided for. {2SM 299.1} [2SM 299.2] Two or three were taken in a large spring wagon on spring mattresses. But this man who was suffering from inflammation of the bowels, sent for me to come to him. My husband and I decided that it would not do to move him. Fears were entertained that mortification had set in. Then the thought came to me like a communication from the Lord to take pulverized charcoal, put water upon it, and give this water to the sick man to drink, putting bandages of the charcoal over the bowels and stomach. We were about one mile from the city of Denison, but the sick man's son went to a blacksmith's shop, secured the charcoal, and pulverized it, and then used it according to the directions given. The result was that in half an hour there was a change for the better. We had to go on our journey and leave the family behind, but what was our surprise the following day to see their wagon overtake us. The sick man was lying in a bed in the wagon. The blessing of God had worked with the simple means used.--Letter 182, 1899 (To a worker in an overseas field. See p. 287). {2SM 299.2} [2SM 299.3] Charcoal and Flaxseed.--We need a hospital so much. On Thursday Sister Sara McEnterfer ［A TRAINED NURSE OF EXPERIENCE WELL QUALIFIED FOR THIS TYPE OF SERVICE WHO ACCOMPANIED MRS. WHITE AND ASSISTED HER BOTH AS A TRAVELING COMPANION AND PRIVATE SECRETARY.--COMPILERS.］ was called to see if she could do anything for Brother B's little son, who is 300 eighteen months old. For several days he has had a painful swelling on the knee, supposed to be from the bite of some poisonous insect. Pulverized charcoal, mixed with flaxseed, was placed upon the swelling, and this poultice gave relief at once. The child had screamed with pain all night, but when this was applied, he slept. Today she has been to see the little one twice. She opened the swelling in two places, and a large amount of yellow matter and blood was discharged freely. The child was relieved of its great suffering. We thank the Lord that we may become intelligent in using the simple things within our reach to alleviate pain, and successfully remove its cause.--Manuscript 68, 1899 (General Manuscript). {2SM 299.3} [2SM 300.1] Other Remedies Mentioned A Poultice of Figs for Hezekiah.--When Hezekiah was sick, the prophet of God brought him the message that he should die. The king cried to the Lord, and the Lord heard him, and sent the promise that fifteen years should be added to his life. One word from God, one touch of the divine finger, would have been enough to cure Hezekiah instantly. But instead, he was given directions to make a poultice of figs, and lay it upon the part affected. This was done, and Hezekiah was restored to health. It would be well to treasure this prescription which the Lord ordered to be used, more than we do.--Manuscript 29, 1911 (General Manuscript). {2SM 300.1} [2SM 300.2] The Value of Eucalyptus Oil.--I am very sorry to learn that Sister C is not well. I cannot advise any remedy for her cough better than eucalyptus and honey. Into a tumbler of honey put a few drops of the eucalyptus, stir it up well, and take whenever the cough comes on. I have had considerable trouble with my throat, but whenever I use this I overcome the difficulty very quickly. I have to use it only a few times, and the cough is removed. If you will use this prescription, you may be your own physician. If the first trial does not effect a cure, try it again. The best time to take it is before retiring.--Letter 348, 1908 (To a worker). 301 {2SM 300.2} [2SM 301.1] I have already told you the remedy I use when suffering from difficulties with my throat. I take a glass of boiled honey, and into this I put a few drops of eucalyptus oil, stirring it in well. When the cough comes on, I take a teaspoonful of this mixture, and relief comes almost immediately. I have always used this with the best of results. I ask you to use the same remedy when you are troubled with the cough. This prescription may seem so simple that you feel no confidence in it, but I have tried it for a number of years and can highly recommend it. {2SM 301.1} [2SM 301.2] Again, take warm footbaths into which have been put the leaves from the eucalyptus tree. There is great virtue in these leaves, and if you will try this, you will prove my words to be true. The oil of the eucalyptus is especially beneficial in cases of cough and pains in the chest and lungs. I want you to make a trial of this remedy which is so simple, and which costs you nothing.--Letter 20, 1909 (To the worker addressed in the preceding item). {2SM 301.2} [2SM 301.3] Trees With Medicinal Properties.--The Lord has been giving me light in regard to many things. He has shown me that our sanitariums should be erected on as high an elevation as is necessary to secure the best results, and that they are to be surrounded by extensive tracts of land, beautified by flowers and ornamental trees. {2SM 301.3} [2SM 301.4] In a certain place, preparations were being made to clear the land for the erection of a sanitarium. Light was given that there is health in the fragrance of the pine, the cedar, and the fir. And there are several other kinds of trees that have medicinal properties that are health promoting. Let not such trees be ruthlessly cut down.... Let them live.-- Letter 95, 1902 (To workers in the South). {2SM 301.4} [2SM 301.5] "My herb drink."--We need not go to China for our tea, or to Java for our coffee. Some have said: "Sister White uses tea, she keeps it in her house;" and that she has placed it before them to drink. They have not told the truth because I do not use it, neither do I keep it in my house. Once when crossing the waters I was sick and could retain nothing on my stomach and I did take a little weak tea as a medicine, but I don't want any of you again to make the remark 302 that "Sister White uses tea." If you will come to my house I will show you the bag that contains my herb drink. I send to Michigan, across the mountains, and get the red-clover top. In regard to coffee, I never could drink it, so those who reported that Sister White drinks coffee made a mistake.-- Manuscript 3, 1888 (Sermon, Oakland, California). {2SM 301.5} [2SM 302.1] Clover Blossoms--First Crop.--I have a request to make. Will these children please gather me as much clover or even more than they did last year? If they can do this, they will do me a great favor. I cannot do it here. We have no clover on our ground. The first crop is preferable, but if this comes too late, the second crop had better be secured. --Letter 1, 1872 (To a family in Michigan). {2SM 302.1} [2SM 302.2] Tea Used as a Medicine, but Not as a Beverage.--I do not use tea, either green or black. Not a spoonful has passed my lips for many years except when crossing the ocean, and once since on this side I took it as a medicine when I was sick and vomiting. In such circumstances it may prove a present relief. {2SM 302.2} [2SM 302.3] I did not use tea when you were with us. I have always used red-clover top, as I stated to you. I offered you this, and told you it was a good, simple, and wholesome drink.... {2SM 302.3} [2SM 302.4] I have not bought a penny's worth of tea for years. Knowing its influence I would not dare to use it, except in cases of severe vomiting when I take it as a medicine, but not as a beverage.... {2SM 302.4} [2SM 302.5] I do not preach one thing and practice another. I do not present to my hearers rules of life for them to follow while I make an exception in my own case.... {2SM 302.5} [2SM 302.6] I am not guilty of drinking any tea except red-clover-top tea, and if I loved wine, tea, and coffee, I would not use these health-destroying narcotics, for I prize health and I prize a healthful example in all these things. I want to be a pattern of temperance and of good works to others.--Letter 12, 1888 (To a minister on the West Coast). {2SM 302.6} [2SM 302.7] Coffee as Medicine.--I have not knowingly drunk a cup of genuine coffee for twenty years, only, as I stated, during my sickness--for a medicine--I drank a cup of 303 coffee, very strong, with a raw egg broken into it.--Letter 20, 1882 (To friends). {2SM 302.7} [2SM 303.1] Grape Juice and Eggs.--I have received light that you are injuring your body by a poverty-stricken diet. . . . It is the lack of suitable food that has caused you to suffer so keenly. You have not taken the food essential to nourish your frail physical strength. You must not deny yourself of good, wholesome food.... Get eggs of healthy fowls. Use these eggs cooked or raw. Drop them uncooked into the best unfermented wine you can find. This will supply that which is necessary to your system. . . . Eggs contain properties which are remedial agencies in counteracting poisons.-- Counsels on Diet and Foods, pp. 203, 204 (To Dr. D. H. Kress, 1901). {2SM 303.1} [2SM 303.2] Approval of Progressive Medical Procedures Blood Transfusions.--There is one thing that has saved life--an infusion of blood from one person to another; but this would be difficult and perhaps impossible for you to do. I merely suggest it.--Medical Ministry, pp. 286, 287 (To Dr. D. H. Kress). {2SM 303.2} [2SM 303.3] Vaccination.--［VACCINATION FOR SMALLPOX: D. E. ROBINSON, ONE OF MRS. WHITE'S SECRETARIES, UNDER DATE OF JUNE 12, 1931, WROTE AS FOLLOWS CONCERNING MRS. WHITE'S ATTITUDE TOWARD VACCINATION: "YOU ASK FOR DEFINITE AND CONCISE INFORMATION REGARDING WHAT SISTER WHITE WROTE ABOUT VACCINATION AND SERUM. "THIS QUESTION CAN BE ANSWERED VERY BRIEFLY FOR SO FAR AS WE HAVE ANY RECORD, SHE DID NOT REFER TO THEM IN ANY OF HER WRITINGS. "YOU WILL BE INTERESTED TO KNOW, HOWEVER, THAT AT A TIME WHEN THERE WAS AN EPIDEMIC OF SMALLPOX IN THE VICINITY, SHE HERSELF WAS VACCINATED AND URGED HER HELPERS, THOSE CONNECTED WITH HER, TO BE VACCINATED. IN TAKING THIS STEP SISTER WHITE RECOGNIZED THE FACT THAT IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT VACCINATION EITHER RENDERS ONE IMMUNE FROM SMALLPOX OR GREATLY LIGHTENS ITS EFFECTS IF ONE DOES COME DOWN WITH IT. SHE ALSO RECOGNIZED THE DANGER OF THEIR EXPOSING OTHERS IF THEY FAILED TO TAKE THIS PRECAUTION. "［SIGNED］ D. E. ROBINSON."］ {2SM 303.3} [2SM 303.4] X-ray Treatment at Loma Linda.--For several weeks I took treatment with the X-ray for the black spot that was on my forehead. In all I took twenty-three treatments, and these succeeded in entirely removing the mark. For this I am very grateful.--Letter 30, 1911 (To her son J. E. White). {2SM 303.4} [2SM 304.1] Chap. 31 - Personal Experiences - Early Experience In Treating Pneumonia In the winter of 1864, my Willie was suddenly and violently brought down with lung fever. We had just buried our oldest son with this disease, and were very anxious in regard to Willie, fearing that he, too, might die. We decided that we would not send for a physician, but do the best we could with him ourselves by the use of water, and entreat the Lord in behalf of the child. We called in a few who had faith to unite their prayers with ours. We had a sweet assurance of God's presence and blessing. {2SM 304.1} [2SM 304.2] The next day Willie was very sick. He was wandering. He did not seem to see or hear me when I spoke to him. His heart had no regular beat, but was in a constant agitated flutter. We continued to look to God in his behalf, and to use water freely upon his head, and a compress constantly upon his lungs, and soon he seemed rational as ever. He suffered severe pain in his right side, and could not lie upon it for a moment. This pain we subdued with cold water compresses, varying the temperature of the water according to the degree of the fever. We were very careful to keep his hands and feet warm. {2SM 304.2} [2SM 304.3] We expected the crisis would come the seventh day. We had but little rest during his sickness, and were obliged 305 to give him up into others' care the fourth and fifth nights. My husband and myself the fifth day felt very anxious. The child raised fresh blood, and coughed considerably. My husband spent much time in prayer. We left our child in careful hands that night. Before retiring my husband prayed long and earnestly. Suddenly his burden of prayer left him, and it seemed as though a voice spoke to him, and said, "Go lie down, I will take care of the child." {2SM 304.3} [2SM 305.1] I had retired sick, and could not sleep for anxiety for several hours. I felt pressed for breath. Although sleeping in a large chamber, I arose and opened the door into a large hall, and was at once relieved, and soon slept. I dreamed that an experienced physician was standing by my child, watching every breath, with one hand over his heart, and with the other feeling his pulse. He turned to us and said, "The crisis has passed. He has seen his worst night. He will now come up speedily, for he has not the injurious influence of drugs to recover from. Nature has nobly done her work to rid the system of impurities." I related to him my worn-out condition, my pressure for breath, and the relief obtained by opening the door. {2SM 305.1} [2SM 305.2] Said he, "That which gave you relief, will also relieve your child. He needs air. You have kept him too warm. The heated air coming from a stove is injurious, and were it not for the air coming in at the crevices of the windows, would be poisonous and destroy life. Stove heat destroys the vitality of the air, and weakens the lungs. The child's lungs have been weakened by the room being kept too warm. Sick persons are debilitated by disease, and need all the invigorating air that they can bear to strengthen the vital organs to resist disease. And yet in most cases air and light are excluded from the sickroom at the very time when most needed, as though dangerous enemies." {2SM 305.2} [2SM 305.3] This dream and my husband's experience was a consolation to us both. We found in the morning that our boy had passed a restless night. He seemed to be in a high fever until noon. Then the fever left him, and he appeared quite well, except weak. He had eaten but one small cracker through his five-days' sickness. He came up rapidly, and 306 has had better health than he has had for several years before. This experience is valuable to us.--Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4 (first section), pp. 151-153 (1864). {2SM 305.3} [2SM 306.1] The Restoration of James White ［STATEMENT MADE APRIL 13, 1902, AT A COUNCIL MEETING AT ELMSHAVEN, ST. HELENA, CALIFORNIA.］ Many years ago ［1865］, while my husband was bearing heavy responsibilities in Battle Creek, the strain began to tell on him. His health failed rapidly. Finally he broke down in mind and body, and was unable to do anything. My friends said to me, "Mrs. White, your husband cannot live." I determined to remove him to a place more favorable for his recovery. His mother said, "Ellen, you must remain and take care of your family." {2SM 306.1} [2SM 306.2] "Mother," I replied, "I will never allow that masterly brain to fail entirely. I will work with God, and God will work with me, to save my husband's brain." {2SM 306.2} [2SM 306.3] In order to obtain means for our journey, I pulled up my rag carpets and sold them.... With the money secured by the sale of the carpets, I bought a covered wagon, and prepared for the journey, placing in the wagon a mattress for Father to lie on. Accompanied by Willie, a mere lad eleven years of age, we started for Wright, Michigan. {2SM 306.3} [2SM 306.4] While on the journey, Willie tried to put the bits into the mouth of one of the horses, but found that he could not. I said to my husband, "Put your hand on my shoulder, and come and put the bits in." {2SM 306.4} [2SM 306.5] He said that he did not see how he could. "Yes, you can," I replied. "Get right up and come." He did so, and succeeded in putting the bits in. Then he knew that he would have to do it the next time, too. {2SM 306.5} [2SM 306.6] Constantly I kept my husband working at such little things. I would not allow him to remain quiet, but tried to keep him active. This is the plan that physicians and helpers in our sanitariums should pursue. Lead the patients along step by step, step by step, keeping their minds so busily occupied that they have no time to brood over their own condition. 307 {2SM 306.6} [2SM 307.1] Physical and Mental Activity Encouraged Often brethren came to us for counsel. My husband wanted to see no one. He much preferred to go into another room when company came. But usually before he could realize that anyone had come, I brought the visitor before him, and would say, "Husband, here is a brother who has come to ask a question, and as you can answer it much better than I can, I have brought him to you." Of course he could not help himself then. He had to remain in the room and answer the question. In this way, and in many other ways, I made him exercise his mind. If he had not been made to use his mind, in a little while it would have completely failed. {2SM 307.1} [2SM 307.2] Daily my husband went out for a walk. In the winter a terrible snowstorm came, and Father thought he could not go out in the storm and snow. I went to Brother Root and said, "Brother Root, have you a spare pair of boots?" {2SM 307.2} [2SM 307.3] "Yes," he answered. {2SM 307.3} [2SM 307.4] "I should be glad to borrow them this morning," I said. Putting on the boots and starting out, I tracked a quarter of a mile in the deep snow. On my return, I asked my husband to take a walk. He said he could not go out in such weather. "Oh, yes, you can," I replied. "Surely you can step in my tracks." He was a man who had great respect for women; and when he saw my tracks, he thought that if a woman could walk in that snow, he could. That morning he took his usual walk. {2SM 307.4} [2SM 307.5] In the spring there were fruit trees to be set out and garden to be made. "Willie," I said, "please buy three hoes and three rakes. Be sure to buy three of each." When he brought them to me, I told him to take one of the hoes, and Father another. Father objected, but took one. Taking one myself, we began work; and although I blistered my hands, I led them in the hoeing. Father could not do much, but he went through the motions. It was by such methods as these, that I tried to cooperate with God in restoring my husband to health. And oh, how the Lord blessed us! {2SM 307.5} [2SM 307.6] I always took my husband with me when I went out 308 driving. And I took him with me when I went to preach at any place. I had a regular circuit of meetings. I could not persuade him to go into the desk while I preached. Finally, after many, many months, I said to him, "Now, my husband, you are going into the desk today." He did not want to go, but I would not yield. I took him up into the desk with me. That day he spoke to the people. Although the meetinghouse was filled with unbelievers, for half an hour I could not refrain from weeping. My heart was overflowing with joy and gratitude. I knew that the victory had been gained. {2SM 307.6} [2SM 308.1] Rewarded for Persistent Effort After eighteen months of constant cooperation with God in the effort to restore my husband to health, I took him home again. Presenting him to his parents, I said, "Father, Mother, here is your son." {2SM 308.1} [2SM 308.2] "Ellen," said his mother, "you have no one but God and yourself to thank for this wonderful restoration. Your energies have accomplished it." {2SM 308.2} [2SM 308.3] After his recovery, my husband lived for a number of years, during which time he did the best work of his life. Did not those added years of usefulness repay me manyfold for the eighteen months of painstaking care? {2SM 308.3} [2SM 308.4] I have given you this brief recital of personal experience, in order to show you that I know something about the use of natural means for the restoration of the sick. God will work wonders for every one of us if we work in faith, acting as we believe, that when we cooperate with Him, He is ready to do His part. I desire to do everything I can to lead my brethren to pursue a sensible course, in order that their efforts may be the most successful. Many who have gone down into the grave might today be living, if they had cooperated with God. Let us be sensible men and women in regard to these matters.--Manuscript 50, 1902. 310 {2SM 308.4} [2SM 310.1] Chap. 32 - Proper Attitude in Prayer INTRODUCTION - THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY COUNSELS ARE ALWAYS PRACTICAL. FROM THE PEN OF ELLEN WHITE WE FIND COUNSEL AND INSTRUCTION TOUCHING ALMOST EVERY PHASE OF CHRISTIAN LIFE AND EXPERIENCE. ALTHOUGH MOST OF THE LINES OF INSTRUCTION GIVEN ARE REPRESENTED IN THE TESTIMONIES AND OTHER ELLEN G. WHITE BOOKS, THE REINDEXING OF PUBLISHED BUT NOW OUT-OF-PRINT MATERIALS AND OF UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS HAS REVEALED ITEMS OF COUNSEL ALONG CERTAIN LINES, WHICH ARE BECOMING OF INCREASING IMPORTANCE TODAY WITH THE APPEARANCE OF NEW AND DIFFICULT SITUATIONS. THESE ITEMS WILL ADD TANGIBLY TO THE WEALTH OF INSTRUCTION NOW IN THE HANDS OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS. {2SM 310.1} [2SM 310.2] AS AN INSTANCE, WE OFFER THE FORMERLY UNPUBLISHED STATEMENTS ON THE PROBLEM OF HYPNOSIS, WHICH IN SOME MEDICAL CIRCLES IS LOOKED UPON FAVORABLY AS A MEANS OF THERAPY. THE SPECIFIC ELLEN G. WHITE COUNSELS DEALING WITH THE USE OF HYPNOSIS IN THE TREATMENT OF THE SICK, AND INDICATING THE HAZARDS OF USING IT IN ANY WAY, ARE VERY PERTINENT AT THIS TIME. {2SM 310.2} [2SM 310.3] THE SECTION CLOSES WITH COUNSELS CALLING UPON SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS TO CONSIDER THE VALUE OF A RURAL ENVIRONMENT FOR THEIR HOMES. THESE ARE DRAWN FROM SOURCES OTHER THAN THE PUBLISHED BOOKS, BUT HAVE BEEN PRESENTED EARLIER IN THE PAMPHLET COUNTRY LIVING, WITH EMPHASIS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF MOVING CAREFULLY AND GUARDEDLY IN CHOOSING A NEW LOCATION FOR THE HOME IN THE COUNTRY AND AWAY FROM THE CROWDED CITIES. APPEARING HERE IN THIS PERMANENT FORM, THEY ARE AVAILABLE FOR READY REFERENCE.--WHITE TRUSTEES. {2SM 310.3} [2SM 311.1] ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, METHODS, NO. 7.］ - I have received letters questioning me in regard to the proper attitude to be taken by a person offering prayer to the Sovereign of the universe. Where have our brethren obtained the idea that they should stand upon their feet when praying to God? One who has been educated for about five years in Battle Creek was asked to lead in prayer before Sister White should speak to the people. But as I beheld him standing upright upon his feet while his lips were about to open in prayer to God, my soul was stirred within me to give him an open rebuke. Calling him by name, I said, "Get down upon your knees." This is the proper position always. {2SM 311.1} [2SM 311.2] "And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed" (Luke 22:41). {2SM 311.2} [2SM 311.3] "Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up" (Acts 9:40). {2SM 311.3} [2SM 311.4] "They stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their 312 charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep" (Acts 7:59, 60). {2SM 311.4} [2SM 312.1] "When he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all" (Acts 20:36). {2SM 312.1} [2SM 312.2] "When we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed" (Acts 21:5). {2SM 312.2} [2SM 312.3] "At the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God, and said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens" (Ezra 9:5, 6). {2SM 312.3} [2SM 312.4] "O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker" (Psalm 95:6). {2SM 312.4} [2SM 312.5] "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 3:14). And this whole chapter will, if the heart is receptive, be as precious a lesson as we can learn. {2SM 312.5} [2SM 312.6] To bow down when in prayer to God is the proper attitude to occupy. This act of worship was required of the three Hebrew captives in Babylon. . . . But such an act was homage to be rendered to God alone--the Sovereign of the world, the Ruler of the universe; and these three Hebrews refused to give such honor to any idol even though composed of pure gold. In doing so, they would, to all intents and purposes, be bowing to the king of Babylon. Refusing to do as the king had commanded, they suffered the penalty, and were cast into the burning fiery furnace. But Christ came in person and walked with them through the fire, and they received no harm. {2SM 312.6} [2SM 312.7] Both in public and private worship it is our duty to bow down upon our knees before God when we offer our petitions to Him. This act shows our dependence upon God. {2SM 312.7} [2SM 312.8] At the dedication of the Temple, Solomon stood facing the altar. In the court of the Temple was a brazen scaffold or 313 platform, and after ascending this, he stood and lifted up his hands to heaven, and blessed the immense congregation of Israel, and all the congregation of Israel stood. . . . {2SM 312.8} [2SM 313.1] "For Solomon had made a brasen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven" (2 Chronicles 6:13). {2SM 313.1} [2SM 313.2] The lengthy prayer which he then offered was appropriate for the occasion. It was inspired of God, breathing the sentiments of the loftiest piety blended with the deepest humility. {2SM 313.2} [2SM 313.3] A Growing Laxness I present these proof texts with the inquiry, "Where did Brother H obtain his education?"--At Battle Creek. Is it possible that with all the light that God has given to His people on the subject of reverence, that ministers, principals, and teachers in our schools, by precept and example, teach young men to stand erect in devotion as did the Pharisees? Shall we look upon this as significant of their self-sufficiency and self-importance? Are these traits to become conspicuous? {2SM 313.3} [2SM 313.4] "And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess" (Luke 18:9-12). Mark you, it was the self-righteous Pharisee who was not in a position of humility and reverence before God; but standing in his haughty self-sufficiency, he told the Lord all his good deeds. "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself" (Luke 18:11); and his prayer reached no higher than himself. {2SM 313.4} [2SM 313.5] "And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, 314 saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted" (Luke 18:13, 14). {2SM 313.5} [2SM 314.1] We hope that our brethren will not manifest less reverence and awe as they approach the only true and living God than the heathen manifest for their idol deities, or these people will be our judges in the day of final decision. I would speak to all who occupy the place of teachers in our schools. Men and women, do not dishonor God by your irreverence and pomposity. Do not stand up in your Pharisaism and offer your prayers to God. Mistrust your own strength. Depend not in it; but often bow down on your knees before God, and worship Him. {2SM 314.1} [2SM 314.2] On Bended Knee And when you assemble to worship God, be sure and bow your knees before Him. Let this act testify that the whole soul, body, and spirit are in subjection to the Spirit of truth. Who have searched the Word closely for examples and direction in this respect? Whom can we trust as teachers in our schools in America and foreign countries? After years of study shall students return to their own country with perverted ideas of the respect and honor and reverence that should be given to God, and feel under no obligation to honor the men of gray hairs, the men of experience, the chosen servants of God who have been connected with the work of God through almost all the years of their life? I advise all who attend the schools in America or in any other place, do not catch the spirit of irreverence. Be sure you understand for yourself what kind of education you need, that you may educate others to obtain a fitness of character that will stand the test that is soon to be brought upon all who live upon the earth. Keep company with the soundest Christians. Choose not the pretentious instructors or pupils, but those who show the deepest piety, those who have a spirit of intelligence in the things of God. {2SM 314.2} [2SM 314.3] We are living in perilous times. Seventh-day Adventists are professedly the commandment-keeping people of 315 God; but they are losing their devotional spirit. This spirit of reverence for God teaches men how to approach their Maker--with sacredness and awe through faith, not in themselves, but in a Mediator. Thus man is kept fast, under whatever circumstances he is placed. Man must come on bended knee, as a subject of grace, a suppliant at the footstool of mercy. And as he receives daily mercies at the hand of God, he is ever to cherish gratitude in his heart, and give expression to it in the words of thanksgiving and praise for these unmerited favors. Angels have been guarding his pathway through all his life, and many of the snares he has been delivered from he has not seen. And for this guardianship and watchcare by eyes that never slumber and never sleep, he is to recognize in every prayer the service of God for him. {2SM 314.3} [2SM 315.1] All should lean upon God in their helplessness and daily necessity. They should keep humble, watchful, and prayerful. Praise and thanksgiving should flow forth in gratitude and sincere love for God. {2SM 315.1} [2SM 315.2] In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation should they praise the Most High God. All who have a sense of their vital connection with God should stand before the Lord as witnesses for Him, giving expression of the love, the mercies, and the goodness of God. Let the words be sincere, simple, earnest, intelligent, the heart burning with the love of God, the lips sanctified to His glory not only to make known the mercies of God in the assembly of the saints but to be His witnesses in every place. The inhabitants of the earth are to know that He is God, the only true and living God. {2SM 315.2} [2SM 315.3] There should be an intelligent knowledge of how to come to God in reverence and Godly fear with devotional love. There is a growing lack of reverence for our Maker, a growing disregard of His greatness and His majesty. But God is speaking to us in these last days. We hear His voice in the storm, in the rolling thunder. We hear of the calamities He permits in the earthquakes, the breaking forth of waters, and the destructive elements sweeping all before them. We hear of ships going down in the tempestuous 316 ocean. God speaks to families who have refused to recognize Him, sometimes in the whirlwind and storm, sometimes face to face as He talked with Moses. Again He whispers His love to the little trusting child and to the gray-haired sire in his dotage. And earthly wisdom has a wisdom as it beholds the unseen. {2SM 315.3} [2SM 316.1] When the still small voice which succeeds the whirlwind and the tempest that moves the rocks out of position, is heard, let all cover their face, for God is very near. Let them hide themselves in Jesus Christ; for He is their hiding place. The cleft in the rock is hidden with His own pierced hand while the humble seeker waits in bowed attitude to hear what saith the Lord unto His servant.--Manuscript 84b, 1897. {2SM 316.1} [2SM 316.2] No Place Inappropriate for Prayer There is no time or place in which it is inappropriate to offer up a petition to God.... In the crowds of the street, in the midst of a business engagement, we may send up a petition to God, and plead for divine guidance, as did Nehemiah when he made his request before King Artaxerxes --Steps to Christ (Pocket ed.), p. 99. {2SM 316.2} [2SM 316.3] We may speak with Jesus as we walk by the way, and He says, I am at thy right hand. We may commune with God in our hearts; we may walk in companionship with Christ. When engaged in our daily labor, we may breathe out our heart's desire, inaudible to any human ear; but that word cannot die away into silence, nor can it be lost. Nothing can drown the soul's desire. It rises above the din of the street, above the noise of machinery. It is God to whom we are speaking, and our prayer is heard.--Gospel Workers, p. 258. {2SM 316.3} [2SM 316.4] It is not always necessary to bow upon your knees in order to pray. Cultivate the habit of talking with the Saviour when you are alone, when you are walking, and when you are busy with your daily labor.--The Ministry of Healing, pp. 510, 511. {2SM 316.4} [2SM 317.1] Chap. 33 - "No Other Gods Before Me" ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, NO. 13.］ - Every true child of God will be sifted as wheat, and in the sifting process every cherished pleasure which diverts the mind from God must be sacrificed. In many families the mantel shelves, stands, and tables are filled with ornaments and pictures. Albums filled with photographs of the family and their friends are placed where they will attract the attention of visitors. Thus the thoughts, which should be upon God and heavenly interests, are brought down to common things. Is not this a species of idolatry? Should not the money thus spent have been used to bless humanity, to relieve the suffering, to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry? Should it not be placed in the Lord's treasury to advance His cause and build up His kingdom in the earth? {2SM 317.1} [2SM 317.2] This matter is of great importance, and it is urged upon you to save you from the sin of idolatry. Blessing would come to your souls if you would obey the word spoken by the Holy One of Israel, "Thou shalt have no other Gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). Many are creating unnecessary cares and anxieties for themselves by devoting time and thought to the unnecessary ornaments with which their houses are filled. The power of God is needed to 318 arouse them from this devotion; for to all intents and purposes it is idolatry. {2SM 317.2} [2SM 318.1] He who searches the heart, desires to win His people from every species of idolatry. Let the Word of God, the blessed book of life, occupy the tables now filled with useless ornaments. Spend your money in buying books that will be the means of enlightening the mind in regard to present truth. The time you waste in moving and dusting the multitudinous ornaments in your house, spend in writing a few lines to your friends, in sending papers or leaflets or little books to someone who knows not the truth. Grasp the Word of the Lord as the treasure of infinite wisdom and love; this is the Guidebook that points out the path to heaven. It points us to the sin-pardoning Saviour, saying, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). {2SM 318.1} [2SM 318.2] O that you would search the Scriptures with prayerful hearts, and a spirit of surrender to God! O that you would search your hearts as with a lighted candle, and discover and break the finest thread that binds you to worldly habits, which divert the mind from God! Plead with God to show you every practice that draws your thoughts and affections from Him. God has given His holy law to man as His measure of character. By this law you may see and overcome every defect in your character. You may sever yourself from every idol, and link yourself to the throne of God by the golden chain of grace and truth.--The Review and Herald, May 14, 1901. {2SM 318.2} [2SM 318.3] A Caution Regarding Extreme Positions There were some who had capabilities to help the church, but who needed first to set their own hearts in order. Some had been bringing in false tests, and had made their own ideas and notions a criterion, magnifying matters of little importance into tests of Christian fellowship, and binding heavy burdens upon others. Thus a spirit of criticism, faultfinding, and dissension had come in, which had been a great injury to the church. And the impression was given to unbelievers that Sabbathkeeping Adventists 319 were a set of fanatics and extremists, and that their peculiar faith rendered them unkind, uncourteous, and really unchristian in character. Thus the course of a few extremists prevented the influence of the truth from reaching the people. {2SM 318.3} [2SM 319.1] Some were making the matter of dress of first importance, criticizing articles of dress worn by others, and standing ready to condemn everyone who did not exactly meet their ideas. A few condemned pictures, urging that they are prohibited by the second commandment, and that everything of this kind should be destroyed. {2SM 319.1} [2SM 319.2] These one-idea men can see nothing except to press the one thing that presents itself to their minds. Years ago we had to meet this same spirit and work. Men arose claiming to have been sent with a message condemning pictures, and urging that every likeness of anything should be destroyed. They went to such lengths as even to condemn clocks which had figures, or "pictures," upon them. {2SM 319.2} [2SM 319.3] Now we read in the Bible of a good conscience; and there are not only good but bad consciences. There is a conscientiousness that will carry everything to extremes, and make Christian duties as burdensome as the Jews made the observance of the Sabbath. The rebuke which Jesus gave to the scribes and Pharisees applies to this class as well: "Ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God" (Luke 11:42). One fanatic, with his strong spirit and radical ideas, who will oppress the conscience of those who want to be right, will do great harm. The church needs to be purified from all such influences. {2SM 319.3} [2SM 319.4] Pictures Used by God The second commandment prohibits image worship; but God Himself employed pictures and symbols to represent to His prophets lessons which He would have them give to the people, and which could thus be better understood than if given in any other way. He appealed to the understanding through the sense of sight. Prophetic history was presented to Daniel and John in symbols, and these 320 were to be represented plainly upon tables, that he who reads might understand. {2SM 319.4} [2SM 320.1] It is true that altogether too much money is expended upon pictures; not a little means which should flow into the treasury of God is paid to the artist. But the evil that will result to the church from the course of these extremists is far greater than that which they are trying to correct. It is sometimes a difficult matter to tell just where the line is, where picturemaking becomes a sin. But those who love God and desire with all their hearts to keep His commandments, will be directed by Him. God would not have them depend on any man to be conscience for them. He who accepts all the ideas and impressions of unbalanced minds will become confused and bewildered. It is Satan's object to divert the attention from the third angel's message to side issues, that minds and hearts that should be growing in grace and in the knowledge of the truth, may be dwarfed and enfeebled, so that God may not be glorified by them. --Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, pp. 211, 212. {2SM 320.1} [2SM 321.1] Chap. 34 - Useful Occupation Better Than Games ［PORTION OF A LETTER ADDRESSED TO A COLLEGE STUDENT, WRITTEN FROM NAPIER, NEW ZEALAND, OCTOBER 2, 1893. APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, EDUCATION, NO. 6.］ - Educate men and women to bring up their children free from false, fashionable practices, to teach them to be useful. The daughters should be educated under the mothers to do useful labor, not merely indoor labor but out-of- door labor as well. Mothers could also train the sons, to a certain age, to do useful things indoors and out-of-doors. {2SM 321.1} [2SM 321.2] There are plenty of necessary, useful things to do in our world that would make the pleasure-amusement exercise almost wholly unnecessary. Brain, bone, and muscle will acquire solidity and strength in using them to a purpose, doing good hard thinking, and in devising plans which shall train them ［the youth］ to develop powers of intellect and strength of the physical organs, which will be putting into practical use their God-given talents with which they may glorify God. {2SM 321.2} [2SM 321.3] This was plainly laid out before our health institution and our college as the forcible reason why they should be established among us; but as it was in the days of Noah and Lot, so it is in our time. Men have sought out many inventions and have widely departed from God's purposes and His ways. 322 {2SM 321.3} [2SM 322.1] The Danger in Sports I do not condemn the simple exercise of playing ball; but this, even in its simplicity, may be overdone. I shrink always from the almost sure result which follows in the wake of these amusements. It leads to an outlay of means that should be expended in bringing the light of truth to souls that are perishing out of Christ. The amusements and expenditures of means for self-pleasing, which lead on step by step to self-glorifying, and the educating in these games for pleasure, produce a love and passion for such things that is not favorable to the perfection of Christian character. {2SM 322.1} [2SM 322.2] The way that they have been conducted at the college does not bear the impress of heaven. It does not strengthen the intellect. It does not refine and purify the character. There are threads leading out through the habits and customs and worldly practices, and the actors become so engrossed and infatuated that they are pronounced in heaven, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. In the place of the intellect becoming strengthened to do better work as students, to be better qualified as Christians to perform the Christian duties, the exercise in these games is filling their brains with thoughts that distract the mind from their studies. {2SM 322.2} [2SM 322.3] The More Excellent Way Now the same power of exercise of mind and muscle might invent ways and means of altogether a higher class of exercise, in doing missionary work which would make them laborers together with God, and would be educating for higher usefulness in the present life, in doing useful work, which is a most essential branch in education. {2SM 322.3} [2SM 322.4] There are many ways in which the youth can be putting to usury the talents entrusted to them of God, to build up the work and cause of God, not to please themselves but to glorify God. The Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, made the infinite sacrifice in coming to our world in order that He might elevate and ennoble humanity. He was a 323 persevering, diligent worker. We read, He "went about doing good" (Acts 10:38). {2SM 322.4} [2SM 323.1] Is not this the work that every youth should be seeking to do, working in Christ's lines? You have Christ's help. The ideas of the students will broaden. They will be far-reaching, and the powers of usefulness, even in your students' life, will be continually growing. The arms, the hands, which God has given, are to be used in doing good which shall bear the signet of heaven, that you can at last hear the "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21). {2SM 323.1} [2SM 323.2] I do not think, from the way the matter has been presented to me, that your ball games are so conducted that the record of the students will be of that character, in the estimation of Him who weighs actions, that will bring a reward to the actors. {2SM 323.2} [2SM 323.3] Let there be a company formed somewhat after the plan of the Christian Endeavor order, and see what can be done by each accountable human agent, in watching and improving opportunities to do work for the Master. He has a vineyard in which everyone can perform good work. Suffering humanity needs help everywhere. The students may win their way to hearts by speaking words in season, by doing favors for those who need even physical labor. This will not degrade any one of you, and it will bring a consciousness of the approval of God. It will be putting the talents, entrusted to you for wise improvement, to the exchangers. It will increase them by trading upon them. {2SM 323.3} [2SM 323.4] There are healthful methods of exercise that may be planned which will be beneficial to both soul and body. There is a great work to be done, and it is essential that every responsible agent shall educate himself to do this work acceptably to God. There is much for all to learn, and there cannot be invented a better use for brain, bone, and muscle than to accept the wisdom of God in doing good, and adopting some human device for remedying the existing evils of this profligate, extravagant age. {2SM 323.4} [2SM 323.5] It is our duty ever to seek to do good in the use of the muscles and brain God has given to youth, that they may 324 be useful to others, making their labors lighter, soothing the sorrowing, lifting up the discouraged, speaking words of comfort to the hopeless, turning the minds of the students from fun and frolic which often carries them beyond the dignity of manhood and womanhood to shame and disgrace. The Lord would have the mind elevated, seeking higher, nobler channels of usefulness. {2SM 323.5} [2SM 324.1] The Dangers to Spirituality Is the eye single to the glory of God in these games? I know that this is not so. There is a losing sight of God's way and His purposes. The employment of intelligent beings, in probationary time, is superseding God's revealed will, and substituting for it the speculations and inventions of the human agent, with Satan by his side to imbue with his spirit. Keep the Word of God close by your side. Guided by it you will be wise, you will be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. We must in these last days watch unto prayer. The Lord God of heaven protests against the burning passion cultivated for supremacy in the games that are so engrossing. {2SM 324.1} [2SM 324.2] In no time in your life have you been more critically placed than you are while prosecuting your medical studies in Ann Arbor. Satan is watching every avenue whereby he can take advantage to enter with his specious temptations to spoil the soul. You will meet with infidel sentiments in very intelligent men who call themselves Christians. Cling to the wisdom which is revealed to you in the Word of God, for it will bind you, if you obey its teachings, to the throne of God. {2SM 324.2} [2SM 324.3] I am fearful now, more than at any other period of time, that Christians, as individuals, may separate from God because they lose sight of the Pattern, Jesus Christ, and think it is safe to walk in the sparks of their own kindling, deceiving the soul with thinking it is the way of the Lord.--Letter 17a, 1893. {2SM 324.3} [2SM 325.1] Chap. 35 - Guidance by Chance Methods - ［COUNSEL TO A BUSINESSMAN CONCERNING METHODS HE EMPLOYED IN MAKING IMPORTANT DECISIONS.］ {2SM 325.1} [2SM 325.2] You endeavor to reach correct decisions regarding religious duties, and to make decisions regarding business enterprises, by the tossing up of a coin, and letting the position in which it falls decide what course you shall pursue. I am instructed to say that we are not to give encouragement to any such methods. They are too common, too much like sleight-of-hand movements. They are not of the Lord, and those who depend upon them for direction will meet with failure and disappointment. Being nothing more than a matter of chance, the influence of adopting such tests regarding duty is calculated to lead the mind to depend on chance and guesswork, when all our work and plans for work should be established on the sure foundation of the Word of God. {2SM 325.2} [2SM 325.3] The people of God can come to a correct understanding of their duty only through sincere prayer and earnest seeking for the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. When they seek aright for instruction concerning their course of action, these strange and unreliable methods will not be accepted by them. They will then be saved from haphazard work, and from the confusion that is ever the result of depending on human devisings. . . . 326 {2SM 325.3} [2SM 326.1] To our people I will say, Let none be led from the sound, sensible principles that God has laid down for the guidance of His people, to depend for direction on any such device as the tossing up of a coin. Such a course is well pleasing to the enemy of souls; for he works to control the coin, and through its agency works out his plans. Let none be so easily deceived as to place confidence in any such tests. Let none belittle their experience by resorting to cheap devices for direction in important matters connected with the work of God. {2SM 326.1} [2SM 326.2] The Lord works in no haphazard way. Seek Him most earnestly in prayer. He will impress the mind, and will give tongue and utterance. The people of God are to be educated not to trust in human inventions and uncertain tests as a means of learning God's will concerning them. Satan and his agencies are always ready to step into any opening to be found that will lead souls away from the pure principles of the Word of God. The people who are led and taught of God will give no place to devisings for which there is not a "Thus saith the Lord." {2SM 326.2} [2SM 326.3] Let all who claim to be preparing for the coming of the Lord humbly seek Him for a knowledge of His will, and for a spirit that is willing to walk in all the light He sends. As a people we have had much instruction regarding our duty to depend upon God for wisdom and counsel. Let us go to the Word of God for instruction. "Search the scriptures," the Saviour said. . . . We need to humble our hearts and purify our souls daily, learning at all times to walk by the faith of the Son of God. {2SM 326.3} [2SM 326.4] My brethren and sisters, leave all minor tests that you may be tempted to make, and test your spirit by the witness of the Word of God. Study that Word, that you may know the character and will of God. It is positively essential that every believer make the truths of the Bible his guide and safeguard. To every young man and woman, and to those of advanced years, I testify that the study of the Word is the only safeguard for the soul who would remain steadfast unto the end.--Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 17, pp. 25-29. 327 {2SM 326.4} [2SM 327.1] Questions Answered in an Interview W. C. White: What is your mind regarding the matter of deciding business questions and questions about the daily movements and decisions of an individual by asking the Lord to answer "Yes" or "No" to his question, in this way? He writes the words on either side of a card, and then drops it, and accepts as an answer the way in which the card falls, believing that in this way God indicates that He does or does not want him to do a certain thing. {2SM 327.1} [2SM 327.2] E. G. White: ［It is a haphazard method, which God does not approve. To men who have suggested such tests, I have said, "No, no." The sacred things which concern the cause of God must not be dealt with by such methods. God does not instruct us that we are to learn His will in any such way. {2SM 327.2} [2SM 327.3] Will it furnish us with experiences that will glorify God, for us to decide what is His will by the dropping of a card or a coin, and observing how it falls? No, no. Such tests as this will spoil the religious experience of the one who adopts them. Everyone who depends upon such things for guidance, needs to be reconverted. ［INSERTED BY MRS. E. G. WHITE WHEN READING THIS REPORT.］ {2SM 327.3} [2SM 327.4] After the great disappointment of the Adventist people in 1844, we had all these things to contend with over and over again. Then I was raised up from a bed of sickness, and sent to give a message of reproof for such fanaticism. They used different methods. They would select a sign, and then follow the course indicated by the sign. {2SM 327.4} [2SM 327.5] In one case they would not bury a child that had died, because they understood from the sign that they had set, that the child was going to be raised from the dead. {2SM 327.5} [2SM 327.6] I was sent to bear my testimony regarding the fallacy of these things that they were using as signs. According to the light that God has given me, there is no safety for us except to take a "Thus saith the Lord." . . . {2SM 327.6} [2SM 327.7] W. C. White: Suppose it comes to a business transaction. I see a property that looks good to me, I ask the Lord to tell me whether to buy it or not. Then I adopt the manner 328 of tossing up a piece of money, and if it comes one side up, I buy it; and if the other side comes up, I will not buy it. {2SM 327.7} [2SM 328.1] E. G. White: God has given me the message that no such thing is to come into the work of His cause. It would lower it into the dust. This is how it was presented to me. It would divert the mind from God and His power and His grace, to commonplace things, and the enemy would use these commonplace things so as to show something wonderful as the result of following these man-made tests. . . . {2SM 328.1} [2SM 328.2] W. C. White: Sister Harris says that Brother Harris always prays before he tosses up his coin. Would not that make some difference? {2SM 328.2} [2SM 328.3] E. G. White: Not a whit of difference. Did not the fanatics of whom I have spoken always pray when they were going through those awful experiences in the State of Maine? This plan leads to trusting in what the human can do. What we want is not less of the power of God, but more. We want a solemnity that will come alone from the God of heaven. Then we shall work in accordance with His divine teachings. . . . {2SM 328.3} [2SM 328.4] We have been working with all our powers to encourage our people to come to God in faith, and to believe that His Holy Spirit will be freely given them as a teacher and guide, and that by its ministration they may know the will of God.--Ibid., pp. 16-20. {2SM 328.4} [2SM 328.5] Casting Lots in Selecting Church Officers I have no faith in casting lots. We have in the Bible a plain "Thus saith the Lord" in regard to all church duties. . . . {2SM 328.5} [2SM 328.6] I would say to the members of the church in_____, "Read your Bibles with much prayer. Do not try to humble others, but humble yourselves before God, and deal gently with one another. To cast lots for the officers of the church is not in God's order. Let men of responsibility be called upon to select the officers of the church."--Letter 37, 1900. {2SM 328.6} [2SM 329.1] Chap. 36 - Providing for the Day of Need - Systematic Savings Advised Every week you should lay by in some secure place five or ten dollars not to be used up unless in case of sickness. With economy you may place something at interest. With wise management you can save something after paying your debts.--Letter 29, 1884. {2SM 329.1} [2SM 329.2] I have known a family receiving twenty dollars a week to spend every penny of this amount, while another family of the same size, receiving but twelve dollars a week, laid aside one or two dollars a week, managing to do this by refraining from purchasing things which seemed to be necessary but which could be dispensed with.--Letter 156, 1901. {2SM 329.2} [2SM 329.3] Preparing for the Day of Reduced Income You might today have had a capital of means to use in case of emergency and to aid the cause of God, if you had economized as you should. Every week a portion of your wages should be reserved and in no case touched unless suffering actual want, or to render back to the Giver in offerings to God. . . . {2SM 329.3} [2SM 329.4] The means you have earned has not been wisely and economically expended so as to leave a margin, should you 330 be sick and your family deprived of the means you bring to sustain them. Your family should have something to rely upon if you should be brought into straitened places.--Letter 5, 1877. {2SM 329.4} [2SM 330.1] A Young Man Counseled to Economize and Save It is certain you have not economized in everything or you would now have something to show as the result of that wise economy which is praiseworthy in any young man. To carefully reserve a portion of each week's wages and lay by a certain sum every week which is not to be touched, should be your rule. . . . {2SM 330.1} [2SM 330.2] Diligence in business, abstinence from pleasure, even privation, so long as health is not endangered, should be cheerfully maintained by a young man in your circumstances, and you would have a little competency untouched should you become sick, that the charities of others would not be your dependence. You have needlessly expended much means which now might be on interest, and you be having some returns. . . . {2SM 330.2} [2SM 330.3] You might have had, even from your limited wages, means in reserve for any demand. It might have been invested in a lot of land which would be increasing in value. But for a young man to live up to the last dollar he earns shows a great lack of calculation and discernment. {2SM 330.3} [2SM 330.4] Since mortals have bodies and heads and hearts to be provided for, some provision for the body must be made in order to hold a proper position in the world. Not to meet the world's standards--oh, no, no indeed; but to be of influence in the world for good. Love and sympathy may be exercised, and the tenderness of common brotherhood. --Letter 41, 1877. {2SM 330.4} [2SM 331.1] Chap. 37 - The Aged Who Have No Homes ［THE INSTRUCTION PRESENTED HERE WAS GIVEN BY MRS. WHITE IN A MEETING CALLED FOR COUNSEL AT THE CAMP MEETING HELD AT BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA. FURTHER COUNSEL ON THIS TOPIC MAY BE FOUND IN WELFARE MINISTRY, PP. 237-238.--COMPILERS.］ - At nine o'clock we meet in the large tent with a few of the brethren to talk over the matter which is constantly urged upon us--that of the aged people who have no homes. What will be done with them? {2SM 331.1} [2SM 331.2] The light that the Lord has given me was repeated: Let every family take care of its own relatives, making suitable provision for them. If this is not possible, then the church should bear the burden. The Lord will bless His church in exercising benevolence. They are God's poor, and are not to be left unhappy and destitute. {2SM 331.2} [2SM 331.3] If the church cannot do this, then the conference must take it up and make provision for the Lord's needy ones. Provision should also be made for the orphans. If these cannot be taken care of by their relatives, then the church or the conference must take the care of them, and place them in suitable homes.--Manuscript 151, 1898. {2SM 331.3} [2SM 332.1] Chap. 38 - On the Military Question - War in Old Testament Times The Lord commanded Moses to vex the Midianites, and smite them, because they had vexed Israel with their wiles, wherewith they had beguiled them to transgress the commandments of God. {2SM 332.1} [2SM 332.2] The Lord commanded Moses to avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites, and then he should be gathered to his people. Moses commanded the men of war to prepare for battle against the Midianites. And they warred against them as the Lord commanded, and slew all the males, but they took the women and children captives. Balaam was slain with the Midianites. "And Moses, and Eleazar, the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp. And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle. And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord" (Numbers 31:13-16). {2SM 332.2} [2SM 332.3] Moses commanded the men of war to destroy the 333 women and male children. Balaam had sold the children of Israel for a reward, and he perished with the people whose favor he had obtained at the sacrifice of twenty-four thousand of the Israelites. {2SM 332.3} [2SM 333.1] The Lord is regarded as cruel by many in requiring His people to make war with other nations. They say that it is contrary to His benevolent character. But He who made the world, and formed man to dwell upon the earth, has unlimited control over all the works of His hands, and it is His right to do as He pleases, and what He pleases with the work of His hands. Man has no right to say to his Maker, Why doest Thou thus? There is no injustice in His character. He is the Ruler of the world, and a large portion of His subjects have rebelled against His authority, and have trampled upon His law. He has bestowed upon them liberal blessings, and surrounded them with everything needful, yet they have bowed to images of wood and stone, silver and gold, which their own hands have made. They teach their children that these are the Gods that give them life and health, and make their lands fruitful, and give them riches and honor. They scorn the God of Israel. They despise His people, because their works are righteous. "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works" (Psalm 14:1). God has borne with them until they filled up the measure of their iniquity, and then He has brought upon them swift destruction. He has used His people as instruments of His wrath, to punish wicked nations, who have vexed them, and seduced them into idolatry. {2SM 333.1} [2SM 333.2] A family picture was presented before me. A part of the children seem anxious to learn and obey the requirements of the father, while the others trample upon his authority, and seem to exult in showing contempt of his family government. They share the benefits of their father's house, and are constantly receiving of his bounty. They are wholly dependent upon him for all they receive, yet are not grateful, but conduct themselves proudly, as though all the favors they received of their indulgent parent were supplied by themselves. The father notices all the disrespectful 334 acts of his disobedient, ungrateful children, yet he bears with them. {2SM 333.2} [2SM 334.1] At length, these rebellious children go still further, and seek to influence and lead to rebellion those members of their father's family who have hitherto been faithful. Then all the dignity and authority of the father is called into action, and he expels from his house the rebellious children, who have not only abused his love and blessings themselves, but tried to subvert the remaining few who had submitted to the wise and judicious laws of their father's household. {2SM 334.1} [2SM 334.2] For the sake of the few who are loyal, whose happiness was exposed to the seditious influence of the rebellious members of his household, he separates from his family his undutiful children, while at the same time he labors to bring closer to himself the remaining faithful and loyal ones. All would honor the wise and just course of such a parent, in punishing most severely his undutiful, rebellious children. {2SM 334.2} [2SM 334.3] God has dealt thus with His children. But man, in his blindness, will overlook the abominations of the ungodly, and pass by unnoticed the continual ingratitude and rebellion and heaven-daring sins of those who trample upon God's law and defy His authority. They do not stop here, but exult in subverting His people, and influencing them by their wiles to transgress and show open contempt for the wise requirements of Jehovah. {2SM 334.3} [2SM 334.4] Some can see only the destruction of God's enemies, which looks to them unmerciful and severe. They do not look upon the other side. But let everlasting thanks be given, that impulsive, changeable man, with all his boasted benevolence, is not the disposer and controller of events. "The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel" (Proverbs 12:10). --Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4, pp. 49-52. {2SM 334.4} [2SM 334.5] Light Given Concerning the Draft You inquire in regard to the course which should be pursued to secure the rights of our people to worship according to the dictates of our own conscience. This has 335 been a burden of my soul for some time, whether it would be a denial of our faith and an evidence that our trust was not fully in God. But I call to mind many things God has shown me in the past in regard to things of a similar character, as the draft and other things. I can speak in the fear of God, it is right we should use every power we can to avert the pressure that is being brought to bear upon our people.--Letter 55, 1886. {2SM 334.5} [2SM 335.1] Required Drill We have just said farewell to three of our responsible men in the office who were summoned by the government to serve for three weeks of drill. It was a very important stage of our work in the publishing house, but the government calls do not accommodate themselves to our convenience. They demand that young men whom they have accepted as soldiers shall not neglect the exercise and drill essential for soldier service. We were glad to see that these men with their regimentals had tokens of honor for faithfulness in their work. They were trustworthy young men. {2SM 335.1} [2SM 335.2] These did not go from choice, but because the laws of their nation required this. We gave them a word of encouragement to be found true soldiers of the cross of Christ. Our prayers will follow these young men, that the angels of God may go with them and guard them from every temptation. --Manuscript 33, 1886. (Written from Basel, Switzerland, Sept. 2, 1886.) {2SM 335.2} [2SM 336.1] Chap. 39 - Counsel on Voting - Our work is to watch, and wait, and pray. Search the Scriptures. Christ has given you warning not to mingle with the world. We are to come out from among them and be separate, "and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (2 Corinthians 6:17, 18). Whatever the opinions you may entertain in regard to casting your vote in political questions, you are not to proclaim it by pen or voice. Our people need to be silent upon questions which have no relation to the third angel's message. If ever a people needed to draw nigh to God, it is Seventh-day Adventists. There have been wonderful devices and plans made. A burning desire has taken hold of men or women to proclaim something, or bind up with something; they do not know what. But the silence of Christ upon many subjects was true eloquence. . . . {2SM 336.1} [2SM 336.2] My brethren, will you not remember that none of you have any burden laid upon you by the Lord to publish your political preferences in our papers, or to speak of them in the congregation, when the people assemble to hear the Word of the Lord. . . . {2SM 336.2} [2SM 336.3] We are not as a people to become mixed up with political questions. All would do well to take heed to the Word of God, Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers 337 in political strife, nor bind with them in their attachments. There is no safe ground in which they can stand and work together. The loyal and the disloyal have no equal ground on which to meet. {2SM 336.3} [2SM 337.1] He who breaks one precept of the commandments of God is a transgressor of the whole law. Keep your voting to yourself. Do not feel it your duty to urge everyone to do as you do.--Letter 4, 1898. {2SM 337.1} [2SM 337.2] Our Pioneers Reach an Important Decision ［A PAGE FROM ELLEN G. WHITE'S 1859 DIARY.］ Attended meeting in the eve. Had quite a free, interesting meeting. After it was time to close, the subject of voting was considered and dwelt upon. James first talked, then Brother ［J. N.］ Andrews talked, and it was thought by them best to give their influence in favor of right and against wrong. They think it right to vote in favor of temperance men being in office in our city instead of by their silence running the risk of having intemperate men put in office. Brother ［David］ Hewitt tells his experience of a few days ［since］ and is settled that ［it］ is right to cast his vote. Brother ［Josiah］ Hart talks well. Brother ［Henry］ Lyon opposes. No others object to voting, but Brother ［J.P.］ Kellogg begins to feel that it is right. Pleasant feelings exist among all the brethren. O that they may all act in the fear of God. {2SM 337.2} [2SM 337.3] Men of intemperance have been in the office today in a flattering manner expressing their approbation of the course of the Sabbathkeepers not voting and expressed hopes that they will stick to their course and, like the Quakers, not cast their vote. Satan and his evil angels are busy at this time, and he has workers upon the earth. May Satan be disappointed, is my prayer.--E. G. White diary, Sunday, March 6, 1859. {2SM 337.3} [2SM 338.1] Chap. 40 - Hops, Tobacco, and Swine - In answer to many inquiries, we would say that we believe there is business for Seventh-day Adventists to enter upon for a livelihood, more consistent with their faith than the raising of hops, tobacco, or swine. {2SM 338.1} [2SM 338.2] And we would recommend that they plant no more hops, or tobacco fields, and that they reduce the number of their swine. They may yet see it duty, as most consistent believers do, to keep no more. We would not urge this opinion upon any. Much less would we take the responsibility of saying, "Plow up your hop and tobacco fields, and sacrifice your swine to the dogs." {2SM 338.2} [2SM 338.3] While we would say to those who are disposed to crowd hop, tobacco, and swine growers among our people, that they have no right to make these things, in any sense, a test of Christian fellowship, we would also say to those who have these miserable things on hand, "If you can get them off your hands without great loss, consistency with the faith of this people whose publications and oral teachings have so much to say on the subject of reform, more than suggests that you should get them off your hands as soon as possible." ［THIS IS ONE OF THE VERY FEW STATEMENTS TO BE ISSUED JOINTLY BY JAMES AND ELLEN WHITE. INASMUCH AS IT WAS SIGNED BY BOTH, IT IS EVIDENT THAT THE VIEWS EXPRESSED HAD FULL SANCTION OF MRS. WHITE.--COMPILERS.］--The Review and Herald, March 24, 1868. {2SM 338.3} [2SM 339.1] Chap. 41 - Counsels on Certain Marriage Situations - A Case Where a Second Marriage was Justified In regard to the marriage of your daughter with J, I see where you are troubled. But the marriage took place with your consent, and your daughter, knowing all about him, accepted him as her husband, and now I can see no reason why you should carry any burden over this matter. Your daughter loves J, and it may be that this marriage is in the order of God in order that both J and your daughter may have a richer Christian experience, and be built up where they are deficient. Your daughter has pledged herself to J in marriage, and to break her marriage vows would be far from right. She cannot now disannul her obligations to him. . . . I had a personal knowledge of his former relations with his first wife K. J loved K far too well; for she was not worthy of his regard. He did all in his power to help her, and sought in every possible way to retain her as his wife. He could not have done more than he did do. I pleaded with her, and tried to show her the inconsistency of her course, and begged her not to obtain a divorce; but she was determined and willful and stubborn, and would have her own way. While she lived with him, she sought 340 to secure all the money possible from him, but she would not treat him kindly as a wife should treat her husband. {2SM 339.1} [2SM 340.1] J did not put his wife away. She left him, and put him away, and married another man. I see nothing in the Scripture that forbids him to marry again in the Lord. He has a right to the affection of a woman. . . . {2SM 340.1} [2SM 340.2] I cannot see that this new union should be disturbed. It is a serious matter to part a man and his wife. There is no scriptural ground upon which to take such a step in this case. He did not leave her, she left him. He did not marry again until she had obtained a divorce. When K divorced herself from J he suffered most keenly, and it was not until K had married another man that J married again. The one he has chosen I feel certain will be a help to him, and he can be a help to her. . . .I see nothing in the Word of God that would require her to separate from him. As you have asked my advice I will freely give it to you.--Letter 50, 1895. {2SM 340.2} [2SM 340.3] Counsel to a Young Woman Who Contemplated Marrying a Divorced Man ［IN THIS CASE BROTHER L HAD LEFT HIS WIFE AND FAMILY AND HAD JOURNEYED TO A DISTANT LAND, TRUSTING THE WIFE'S FATHER TO PROVIDE FOR THEIR SUPPORT. HIS WIFE IN TIME SUED FOR DIVORCE ON THE GROUNDS OF DESERTION. BEFORE THE DIVORCE WAS GRANTED HE BEGAN TO PLACE HIS AFFECTION ON THE YOUNG LADY TO WHOM THIS MESSAGE IS ADDRESSED.--COMPILERS.］ {2SM 340.3} [2SM 340.4] The Provoking Party has No Right to Remarry I have been considering your case in connection with L, and I have no other counsel to give than I have given. I consider that you have no moral right to marry L; he has no moral right to marry you. He left his wife after giving her great provocation. He left her whom he had vowed before God to love and cherish while both should live. Before ever she obtained her divorce, when she was his lawful wife, he left her for three years, and then left her in heart, and expressed his love to you. The matter has been negotiated largely between you and a married man while he was legally bound to the wife he married, who has had two children by him. 341 {2SM 340.4} [2SM 341.1] I see not a particle of leniency in the Scriptures given either of you to contract marriage, although his wife is divorced. From the provocation he has given her, it was largely his own course of action that has brought this result, and I cannot see in any more favorable light his having a legal right to link his interest with yours or you to link your interest with his. . . . {2SM 341.1} [2SM 341.2] I am astonished that you should for a moment give thought to such a thing, and place your affections on a married man who had left his wife and children under such circumstances. I advise you to lay your thoughts and plans regarding this matter just as they are before our responsible brethren, that you may receive their counsel, and let them show you from the law of God the error into which you have fallen. You have both broken the law even in thinking that you might unite in marriage. You should have repelled the thought at its first suggestion.--Letter 14, 1895. {2SM 341.2} [2SM 341.3] Case Not Bettered by Leaving Present Wife ［COUNSEL GIVEN IN RESPONSE TO THE ENDEAVOR OF A FATHER TO BREAK UP A LONG-STANDING MARRIAGE OF HIS SON TO HIS SECOND WIFE BECAUSE MANY YEARS BEFORE HE HAD, WITHOUT BIBLE GROUNDS, DIVORCED HIS FIRST WIFE TO MAKE LEGALLY POSSIBLE THE SECOND MARRIAGE.--COMPILERS.］ {2SM 341.3} [2SM 341.4] I have just read your letter concerning M. I regard the matter in the same light that you do, and think it a cruel, wicked thing that the father of M should take the course that he is taking. . . . I would say that his ［M's］ case cannot be improved by leaving the present wife. It would not better the case to go to the other woman in the question. {2SM 341.4} [2SM 341.5] I consider the case of the father one that is singular, and his record is one that he will not be pleased to meet in the day of God. He needs to repent, before God, of his spirit and his works. The best thing for him to do is to cease to stir up strife.... Let the father and brother make diligent work for themselves. They both need the converting power of God. May the Lord help these poor souls to remove spot and stain from their own characters, and repent of their wrongs, and leave M with the Lord. 342 {2SM 341.5} [2SM 342.1] I am so sorry for the man; for his course is in such a shape that it will not answer to be meddled with, for there are difficulties upon difficulties. I would say that the Lord understands the situation, and if M will seek Him with all his heart, He will be found of him. If he will do his best, God will pardon and receive him. {2SM 342.1} [2SM 342.2] Oh, how precious it is to know that we have One who does know and understand, and will help the ones who are most helpless. But the rebuke of God is upon the father and the brother who would drive to destruction and perdition one who stands in the sight of God under no worse condemnation than themselves; and yet they will so use their gifts of speech as to dishearten, discourage, and drive M to despair. {2SM 342.2} [2SM 342.3] M may hope in God and do the best he can to serve God in all humility of mind, casting his helpless soul upon the great Sin Bearer. I have not written a word to either father or son. I would gladly do something to help poor M to make things right, but this cannot be done as matters are now situated, without someone's being wronged.--Letter 175, 1901. - {2SM 342.3} [2SM 342.4] All One in Christ Whoever of the human family give themselves to Christ, whoever hear the truth and obey it, become children of one family. The ignorant and the wise, the rich and the poor, the heathen and the slave, white or black,--Jesus paid the purchase money for their souls. If they believe on Him, His cleansing blood is applied to them. The black man's name is written in the book of life beside the white man's. All are one in Christ. Birth, station, nationality, or color cannot elevate or degrade men. The character makes the man. If a red man ［American Indian］, a Chinese, or an African gives his heart to God, in obedience and faith, Jesus loves him none the less for his color. He calls him His well-beloved brother.--Manuscript 6, 1891. {2SM 342.4} [2SM 343.1] Chap. 42 - Counsel Regarding Intermarriage ［NOTE: THESE MESSAGES WERE WRITTEN BY ELLEN G. WHITE IN 1896 AND 1912. REPEATED STATEMENTS FROM HER PEN CONCERNING RACIAL RELATIONSHIPS CLEARLY INDICATE THAT HER COUNSEL ON INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE IS NOT AN ISSUE OF RACIAL INEQUALITY; BUT ESSENTIALLY A QUESTION OF ADVISABILITY OR INADVISABILITY STEMMING FROM CIRCUMSTANCES AND CONDITIONS THAT COULD RESULT IN "CONTROVERSY, CONFUSION AND BITTERNESS." SEE APPENDIX 2, "IMPORTANT FACTORS IN CHOOSING A LIFE COMPANION." ELLEN G. WHITE HAS REPEATEDLY REAFFIRMED HER UNDERSTANDING OF, AND FIRM BELIEF IN, THE EQUALITY OF ALL RACES AND THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND. SEE APPENDIX 3, "THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND."--WHITE TRUSTEES.］ - We are one brotherhood. No matter what the gain or the loss, we must act nobly and courageously in the sight of God and our Saviour. Let us as Christians who accept the principle that all men, white and black, are free and equal, adhere to this principle, and not be cowards in the face of the world, and in the face of the heavenly intelligences. We should treat the colored man just as respectfully as we would treat the white man. And we can now, by precept and example, win others to this course. {2SM 343.1} [2SM 343.2] But there is an objection to the marriage of the white race with the black. All should consider that they have no right to entail upon their offspring that which will place them at a disadvantage; they have no right to give them as a birthright a condition which would subject them to a life of humiliation. The children of these mixed marriages have a feeling of bitterness toward the parents who have 344 given them this lifelong inheritance. For this reason, if there were no other, there should be no intermarriage between the white and the colored race.--Manuscript 7, 1896. {2SM 343.2} [2SM 344.1] Answer to an Inquiry Dear Friend: In reply to inquiries regarding the advisability of intermarriage between Christian young people of the white and black races, I will say that in my earlier experience this question was brought before me, and the light given me of the Lord was that this step should not be taken; for it is sure to create controversy and confusion. I have always had the same counsel to give. No encouragement to marriages of this character should be given among our people. Let the colored brother enter into marriage with a colored sister who is worthy, one who loves God, and keeps His commandments. Let the white sister who contemplates uniting in marriage with the colored brother refuse to take this step, for the Lord is not leading in this direction. {2SM 344.1} [2SM 344.2] Time is too precious to be lost in controversy that will arise over this matter. Let not questions of this kind be permitted to call our ministers from their work. The taking of such a step will create confusion and hindrance. It will not be for the advancement of the work or for the glory of God.--Letter 36, 1912. {2SM 344.2} [2SM 344.3] The Lord looks upon the creatures He has made with compassion, no matter to what race they may belong. God "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth."... Speaking to His disciples the Saviour said, "All ye are brethren." God is our common Father, and each one of us is our brother's keeper.--The Review and Herald, Jan. 21, 1896. {2SM 344.3} [2SM 345.1] Chap. 43 - Miraculous Healing ［THE ITEMS APPEARING HERE ARE SUPPLEMENTAL TO THE ABUNDANCE OF COUNSEL ON PRAYER FOR THE SICK. SEE THE MINISTRY OF HEALING, PP. 225-233; COUNSELS ON HEALTH, PP. 373-382; MEDICAL MINISTRY, PP. 195-196; ALSO THE 36-PAGE PAMPHLET, "GUIDING PRINCIPLES IN PRAYER FOR THE SICK."--COMPILERS.］ - A Delicate Situation In regard to the matter of prayer for the sick, many confusing ideas are advanced. One says, "He who has been prayed for must walk out in faith, giving God the glory, and making use of no remedies. If he is at a health institute he should leave it at once." {2SM 345.1} [2SM 345.2] I know that these ideas are wrong, and that if accepted they would lead to many evils. {2SM 345.2} [2SM 345.3] On the other hand, I do not wish to say anything that might be interpreted to mean a lack of belief in the efficacy of prayer. {2SM 345.3} [2SM 345.4] The path of faith lies close beside the path of presumption. Satan is ever seeking to lead us into false paths. He sees that a misunderstanding of what constitutes faith will confuse and disappoint. He is pleased when he can persuade men and women to reason from false premises. {2SM 345.4} [2SM 345.5] I can pray for the sick only in one way--"Lord, if it be in accordance with Thy will, for Thy glory and the good 346 of the one who is sick, heal the sufferer, we pray. Not our will, but Thine be done." {2SM 345.5} [2SM 346.1] Nehemiah did not regard his duty as done when he had mourned and wept and prayed before the Lord. He did not only pray. He worked, mingling petition and endeavor. {2SM 346.1} [2SM 346.2] It is no denial of faith to use rational remedies judiciously.--Manuscript 31, 1911. {2SM 346.2} [2SM 346.3] May Appear as Natural Course God's miracles do not always bear the outward semblance of miracles. Often they are brought about in a way which looks like the natural course of events. When we pray for the sick, we also work for them. We answer our own prayers by using the remedies within our reach. Water, wisely applied, is a most powerful remedy. As it is used intelligently, favorable results are seen. God has given us intelligence, and He desires us to make the most of His health-giving blessings. We ask that God will give bread to the hungry; we are then to act as His helping hand in relieving hunger. We are to use every blessing God has placed within our reach for the deliverance of those in danger. {2SM 346.3} [2SM 346.4] Natural means, used in accordance with God's will, bring about supernatural results. We ask for a miracle, and the Lord directs the mind to some simple remedy. We ask to be kept from the pestilence that walketh in darkness, that is stalking with such power through the world; we are then to cooperate with God, observing the laws of health and life. Having done all that we possibly can, we are to keep asking in faith for health and strength. We are to eat that food which will preserve the health of the body. God gives us no encouragement that He will do for us what we can do for ourselves. Natural laws are to be obeyed. We are not to fail of doing our part. God says to us, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12, 13). {2SM 346.4} [2SM 346.5] We cannot disregard the laws of nature without 347 disregarding the laws of God. We cannot expect the Lord to work a miracle for us while we neglect the simple remedies He has provided for our use, which, aptly and opportunely applied, will bring about a miraculous result. {2SM 346.5} [2SM 347.1] Therefore, pray, believe, and work.--Letter 66, 1901. {2SM 347.1} [2SM 347.2] A Case of Healing A case was held up before me of_____, a minister; eighty miles he was sent for, to pray for a sick sister who sent for him in compliance with the teaching of James. He went and prayed in earnest, and she prayed; she believed the minister to be a man of God, a man of faith. Physicians had given her up to die of consumption. She was healed immediately. She arose and prepared supper, a thing she had not done for ten years. Now the minister was vile, his life was corrupt, and yet here was a great work. He took the glory all to himself. {2SM 347.2} [2SM 347.3] Then again the scene mentioned above passed before me. I saw that the woman was a true disciple of Christ; her faith was that she should be healed. I saw their prayers: One was misty, dark, fell downward; the other prayer was mixed with light or specks which looked to me like diamonds, and arose upward to Jesus and He sent it up to His Father like sweet incense, and a beam of light was immediately sent to the afflicted one and she revived and strengthened under its influence. Said the angel, God will gather every particle of true, sincere faith; like diamonds shall they be gathered up and will surely bring a return or answer; and God will separate the precious from the vile. Although He bears long with the hypocrite and sinner, yet he will be searched out. Though he may flourish with the honest a while like the green bay tree, yet the time will come when his folly will be made manifest, and he be brought to confusion.--Letter 2, 1851. {2SM 347.3} [2SM 347.4] When Restoration Would Not Be Best We know of instances where the Lord has laid a case of diseased humanity upon the heart of His people and 348 put within them a longing of soul, and they have prayed most earnestly for recovery and have supposed they had a right to claim the promise, and yet the sick died. The Lord, who sees the end from the beginning, understood that should He work by His power to heal, the divine will would be misunderstood. {2SM 347.4} [2SM 348.1] At times, restoration would not be best, either for the friends or for the church, but would result in wild enthusiasm and fanaticism, leading some to the conclusion that impulse is the ground of our faith. The only safe course is to follow the written Word. After you have done all you can for the sufferer, place the case in the hands of the Lord. It may be that death will be for His glory. The Lord permits some to die who for months and years have lingered in sickness. He sees fit to give His suffering ones rest.--Manuscript 67, 1899. {2SM 348.1} [2SM 349.1] Chap. 44 - The Perils of Hypnosis ［COUNSEL SUPPLEMENTARY TO MEDICAL MINISTRY, PP. 110-117; TESTIMONIES, VOL. 1, PP. 290-302; THE MINISTRY OF HEALING, PP. 241-258.］ - A Warning to Physicians Employing Hypnotic Methods Brother and Sister N, in the name of the Lord I ask you to remember that unless your sentiments regarding the science of mind cure are changed, unless you both understand that you are in decided need of having your own minds converted and transformed, you will be stumbling blocks--pitiful spectacles to angels and to men. {2SM 349.1} [2SM 349.2] The truth has had but little influence over you. It is dangerous for anyone, no matter how good a man he is, to endeavor to influence another human mind to come under the control of his mind. Let me tell you that the mind cure is a satanic science. Already you have gone far enough in it to endanger seriously your future experience. From its very first entrance into your mind until the present time, it has been a most injurious growth. Unless you can see that Satan is the mastermind who has devised this science, it will not be so easy a matter as you suppose to separate from it, root and branch. The whole philosophy of this science is a masterpiece of satanic deception. For your souls' sake, cut loose from everything of this order. Every 350 time you put into the mind of another person ideas concerning this science, that you may gain control of his mind, you are on Satan's ground, decidedly cooperating with him. For your souls' sake, break loose from this snare of the enemy. {2SM 349.2} [2SM 350.1] Neither one of you should study the science in which you have been interested. To study this science is to pluck the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God forbids you or any other mortal to learn or to teach such as science. The fact that you have had anything to do with this science, ought alone to be sufficient to show you, Brother N, the inconsistency of your being the leading physician in the sanitarium.... {2SM 350.1} [2SM 350.2] In dealing with the science of mind cure, you have been eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God has forbidden you to touch. It is now high time for you to begin to look to Jesus, and by beholding His character become changed into the divine likeness. {2SM 350.2} [2SM 350.3] Cut away from yourselves everything that savors of hypnotism, the science by which satanic agencies work.-- Letter 20, 1902. {2SM 350.3} [2SM 350.4] Counsel Regarding the Publishing of Books on Hypnotism ［OVER A PERIOD OF YEARS, IN AN ENDEAVOR TO PROFITABLY UTILIZE THE EQUIPMENT IN OUR PUBLISHING HOUSES--ACQUIRED FOR PRINTING THE MESSAGE --A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF COMMERCIAL WORK WAS ACCEPTED. THERE CAME A TIME WHEN, AMONG OTHER ITEMS, COPY OF A DETRIMENTAL CHARACTER WAS ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION. REFERENCE TO THIS SAD EXPERIENCE IS MADE IN TESTIMONIES, VOLUME 7, PAGES 164-168, AND IN THE FOLLOWING ITEM DEALING WITH THE PUBLICATION OF LITERATURE ON HYPNOSIS.--COMPILERS.］ {2SM 350.4} [2SM 350.5] Shall its managers consent to be the agents of Satan by publishing books dealing with the subject of hypnotism? Shall this leprosy be introduced into the office? ... Satan and his agents have been and are working diligently. Will God give His blessing to the publishing houses if they accept the deceptions of the enemy? Shall the institutions which have been kept before the people as holy unto the Lord become schools in which the workers eat the fruit of the forbidden tree of knowledge? Shall we encourage Satan in his stealthy entrance into the citadel of truth to 351 deposit his hellish science, as he did in Eden? Are the men at the heart of the work men who cannot distinguish between truth and error? Are they men who cannot see the terrible consequences of giving influence to wrong? {2SM 350.5} [2SM 351.1] If you should gain millions of dollars by work of this kind, of what value is this gain when compared with the terrible loss that is incurred by giving publicity to Satan's lies, by making it possible for the world to say that books containing errors were published at the Seventh-day Adventist publishing house, to be scattered broadcast to the world? {2SM 351.1} [2SM 351.2] Awake, and realize that your presses have published the devil's lies. Let the men who know the truth act like wise men, placing the whole weight of their influence on the side of truth and righteousness.--Letter 140, 1901 (Addressed to the managers of our publishing houses, Oct. 16, 1901). {2SM 351.2} [2SM 351.3] Sciences Pertaining to the Mind In these days when skepticism and infidelity so often appear in a scientific grab, we need to be guarded on every hand. Through this means our great adversary is deceiving thousands, and leading them captive according to his will. The advantage he takes of the sciences, sciences which pertain to the human mind, is tremendous. Here, serpentlike, he imperceptibly creeps in to corrupt the work of God. {2SM 351.3} [2SM 351.4] This entering in of Satan through the sciences is well devised. Through the channel of phrenology, psychology, and mesmerism, he comes more directly to the people of this generation, and works with that power which is to characterize his efforts near the close of probation. The minds of thousands have thus been poisoned, and led into infidelity. While it is believed that one human mind so wonderfully affects another, Satan, who is ready to press every advantage, insinuates himself, and works on the right hand and on the left. And while those who are devoted to these sciences laud them to the heavens because of the great and good works which they affirm are wrought by them, they little know what a power for evil they are cherishing; but 352 it is a power which will yet work with all signs and lying wonders--with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. Mark the influence of these sciences, dear reader, for the conflict between Christ and Satan is not yet ended. . . . {2SM 351.4} [2SM 352.1] Neglect of prayer leads men to rely on their own strength, and opens the door to temptation. In many cases the imagination is captivated by scientific research, and men are flattered through the consciousness of their own powers. The sciences which treat of the human mind are very much exalted. They are good in their place ［SIGNIFICANT WORDING IN THE LIGHT OF THE STATEMENT IN TESTIMONIES, VOL. 1, P. 296.--COMPILERS.］; but they are seized upon by Satan as his powerful agents to deceive and destroy souls. His arts are accepted as from heaven, and he thus receives the worship which suits him well. The world, which is supposed to be benefited so much by phrenology and animal magnetism, never was so corrupt as now. Through these sciences, virtue is destroyed, and the foundations of Spiritualism are laid.--The Signs of the Times, Nov. 6, 1884. {2SM 352.1} [2SM 352.2] How to Be Preserved From Deceptive Influences ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, NO. 5.］ Satan often finds a powerful agency for evil in the power which one human mind is capable of exerting on another human mind. This influence is so seductive that the person who is being molded by it is often unconscious of its power. God has bidden me speak warning against this evil, that His servants may not come under the deceptive power of Satan. The enemy is a master worker, and if God's people are not constantly led by the Spirit of God, they will be snared and taken. {2SM 352.2} [2SM 352.3] For thousands of years Satan has been experimenting upon the properties of the human mind, and he has learned to know it well. By his subtle workings in these last days, he is linking the human mind with his own, imbuing it 353 with his thoughts; and he is doing this work in so deceptive a manner that those who accept his guidance know not that they are being led by him at his will. The great deceiver hopes so to confuse the minds of men and women, that none but his voice will be heard. {2SM 352.3} [2SM 353.1] When Christ revealed to Peter the time of trial and suffering that was just before Him, and Peter replied, "Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee" (Matthew 16:22), the Saviour commanded, "Get thee behind me, Satan" (Matthew 16:23). Satan was speaking through Peter, making him act the part of the tempter. Satan's presence was unsuspected by Peter, but Christ could detect the presence of the deceiver, and in His rebuke to Peter He addressed the real foe. {2SM 353.1} [2SM 353.2] On one occasion, speaking to the twelve, and referring to Judas, Christ declared, "One of you is a devil" (John 6:70). Often in the days of His earthly ministry the Saviour met His adversary in human form, when Satan as an unclean spirit took possession of men. Satan takes possession of the minds of men today. In my labors in the cause of God, I have again and again met those who have been thus possessed, and in the name of the Lord I have rebuked the evil spirit. {2SM 353.2} [2SM 353.3] It is not by force that Satan takes possession of the human mind. While men sleep, the enemy sows tares in the church. While men are spiritually sleeping, the enemy accomplishes his work of iniquity. It is when his subject "understandeth it not" (Matthew 13:19) that he catcheth away the good seed sown in the heart. When men and women are in this condition, when their spiritual life is not being constantly fed by the Spirit of God, Satan can imbue them with his spirit, and lead them to work his works.... {2SM 353.3} [2SM 353.4] I entreat that there may be a putting away from the life every action which does not bear the approval of God. We are drawing near to the close of earth's history; the battle is growing daily more fierce.--Letter 244, 1907. {2SM 353.4} [2SM 354.1] Chap. 45 - A Call to Country Living ［APPEARED IN COUNTRY LIVING. FOR APPLICATION OF PRINCIPLES HERE SET FORTH TO INSTITUTIONAL LOCATION, SEE TESTIMONIES, VOLUME 7, PAGES 80 TO 89; MEDICAL MINISTRY, PAGES 308, 309; EVANGELISM, PAGES 76 TO 78.］ - I could not sleep past two o'clock this morning. During the night season I was in council. I was pleading with some families to avail themselves of God's appointed means, and get away from the cities to save their children. Some were loitering, making no determined efforts. {2SM 354.1} [2SM 354.2] The angels of mercy hurried Lot and his wife and daughters by taking hold of their hands. Had Lot hastened as the Lord desired him to, his wife would not have become a pillar of salt. Lot had too much of a lingering spirit. Let us not be like him. The same voice that warned Lot to leave Sodom bids us, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate,... and touch not the unclean" (2 Corinthians 6:17). Those who obey this warning will find a refuge. Let every man be wide awake for himself, and try to save his family. Let him gird himself for the work. God will reveal from point to point what to do next. {2SM 354.2} [2SM 354.3] Hear the voice of God through the apostle Paul: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12, 13). Lot trod the plain with 355 unwilling and tardy steps. He had so long associated with evil workers that he could not see his peril until his wife stood on the plain a pillar of salt forever.--The Review and Herald, Dec. 11, 1900. {2SM 354.3} [2SM 355.1] Let children no longer be exposed to the temptations of the cities that are ripe for destruction. The Lord has sent us warning and counsel to get out of the cities. Then let us make no more investments in the cities. Fathers and mothers, how do you regard the souls of your children? Are you preparing the members of your families for translation into the heavenly courts? Are you preparing them to become members of the royal family? children of the heavenly King? "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36). How will ease, comfort, convenience, compare with the value of the souls of your children?--Manuscript 76, 1905. {2SM 355.1} [2SM 355.2] The Refuge of Country Places Let parents understand that the training of their children is an important work in the saving of souls. In country places abundant, useful exercise will be found in doing those things that need to be done, and which will give physical health by developing nerve and muscle. "Out of the cities" is my message for the education of our children. {2SM 355.2} [2SM 355.3] God gave to our first parents the means of true education when He instructed them to till the soil and care for their garden home. After sin came in, through disobedience to the Lord's requirements, the work to be done in cultivating the ground was greatly multiplied, for the earth, because of the curse, brought forth weeds and thistles. But the employment itself was not given because of sin. The great Master Himself blessed the work of tilling the soil. {2SM 355.3} [2SM 355.4] It is Satan's purpose to attract men and women to the cities, and to gain his object he invents every kind of novelty and amusement, every kind of excitement. And the cities of the earth today are becoming as were the cities before the Flood. . . . {2SM 355.4} [2SM 355.5] Who will be warned? We say again, "Out of the cities." 356 Do not consider it a great deprivation, that you must go into the hills and mountains, but seek for that retirement where you can be alone with God, to learn His will and way.... {2SM 355.5} [2SM 356.1] I urge our people to make it their lifework to seek for spirituality. Christ is at the door. This is why I say to our people, "Do not consider it a privation when you are called to leave the cities and move out into the country places. Here there await rich blessings for those who will grasp them. By beholding the scenes of nature, the works of the Creator, by studying God's handiwork, imperceptibly you will be changed into the same image."--Manuscript 85, 1908. {2SM 356.1} [2SM 356.2] Expect No Miracle to Undo Results of Wrong Course I look at these flowers, and every time I see them I think of Eden. They are an expression of God's love for us. Thus He gives us in this world a little taste of Eden. He wants us to delight in the beautiful things of His creation, and to see in them an expression of what He will do for us. {2SM 356.2} [2SM 356.3] He wants us to live where we can have elbow room. His people are not to crowd into the cities. He wants them to take their families out of the cities, that they may better prepare for eternal life. In a little while they will have to leave the cities. {2SM 356.3} [2SM 356.4] These cities are filled with wickedness of every kind-- with strikes and murders and suicides. Satan is in them, controlling men in their work of destruction. Under his influence they kill for the sake of killing, and this they will do more and more.... {2SM 356.4} [2SM 356.5] If we place ourselves under objectionable influences, can we expect God to work a miracle to undo the results of our wrong course?--No, indeed. Get out of the cities as soon as possible, and purchase a little piece of land, where you can have a garden, where your children can watch the flowers growing, and learn from them lessons of simplicity and purity.--General Conference Bulletin, March 30, 1903. 357 {2SM 356.5} [2SM 357.1] Rural Locations for Institutions The instruction is still being given, "Move out of the cities. Establish your sanitariums, your schools, and offices away from the centers of population." Many now will plead to remain in the cities, but the time will come ere-long when all who wish to avoid the sights and sounds of evil will move into the country; for wickedness and corruption will increase to such a degree that the very atmosphere of the cities will seem to be polluted.--Letter 26, 1907. {2SM 357.1} [2SM 357.2] God has sent warning after warning that our schools and publishing houses and sanitariums are to be established out of the city, in places where the youth may be taught most effectively what is truth. Let no one attempt to use the Testimonies to vindicate the establishment of large business interests in the cities. Do not make of no effect the light that has been given upon this subject. {2SM 357.2} [2SM 357.3] Men will arise speaking perverse things, to counterwork the very movements that the Lord is leading His servants to make. But it is time that men and women reasoned from cause to effect. It is too late, too late, to establish large business firms in the cities--too late to call young men and women from the country to the city. Conditions are arising in the cities that will make it very hard for those of our faith to remain in them. It would therefore be a great mistake to invest money in the establishment of business interests in the cities.--Manuscript 76, 1905. {2SM 357.3} [2SM 357.4] Working the Cities From Outposts As far as possible, our institutions should be located away from the cities. We must have workers for these institutions, and if they are located in the city, that means that families of our people must settle near them. But it is not God's will that His people shall settle in the cities, where there is constant turmoil and confusion. Their children should be spared this; for the whole system is demoralized by the hurry and rush and noise. The Lord desires His people to move into the country, where they can settle 358 on the land, and raise their own fruit and vegetables, and where their children can be brought in direct contact with the works of God in nature. Take your families away from the cities is my message. {2SM 357.4} [2SM 358.1] The truth must be spoken, whether men will hear, or whether men will forbear. The cities are filled with temptation. We should plan our work in such a way as to keep our young people as far as possible from this contamination. {2SM 358.1} [2SM 358.2] The cities are to be worked from outposts. Said the messenger of God, "Shall not the cities be warned? Yes; not by God's people living in them, but by their visiting them, to warn them of what is coming upon the earth."-- Letter 182, 1902. {2SM 358.2} [2SM 358.3] Churches, but Not Institutions in the Cities Repeatedly the Lord has instructed us that we are to work the cities from outpost centers. In these cities we are to have houses of worship, as memorials for God; but institutions for the publication of our literature, for the healing of the sick, and for the training of workers, are to be established outside the cities. Especially is it important that our youth be shielded from the temptations of city life. {2SM 358.3} [2SM 358.4] It is in harmony with this instruction, that meeting-houses have been purchased and rededicated in Washington and in Nashville, while the publishing houses and the sanitariums at these centers have been established away from the congested heart of the cities, as outpost centers. This is the plan that has been followed in the removal of other publishing houses and sanitariums into the country, and that is now being followed in Great Britain with regard to the London publishing house and also the training school there. We are now given opportunity to advance in the opening providences of God by Helping our brethren in these and many other important centers to establish the work on a firm basis, in order that it may be carried forward solidly.--Special Testimonies, Series B, No. 8, pp. 7, 8 (1907). 359 {2SM 358.4} [2SM 359.1] We are to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves in our efforts to secure country properties at a low figure, and from these outpost centers we are to work the cities. --Ibid., No. 14, p. 7 (1902). {2SM 359.1} [2SM 359.2] Preparing for the Sunday-Law Crisis We are not to locate ourselves where we will be forced into close relations with those who do not honor God. . . . A crisis is soon to come in regard to the observance of Sunday. . . . {2SM 359.2} [2SM 359.3] The Sunday party is strengthening itself in its false claims, and this will mean oppression to those who determine to keep the Sabbath of the Lord. We are to place ourselves where we can carry out the Sabbath commandment in its fullness. "Six days shalt thou labour," the Lord declares, "and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work" (Exodus 20:9, 10). And we are to be careful not to place ourselves where it will be hard for ourselves and our children to keep the Sabbath. {2SM 359.3} [2SM 359.4] If in the providence of God we can secure places away from the cities, the Lord would have us do this. There are troublous times before us.--Manuscript 99, 1908. {2SM 359.4} [2SM 359.5] When the power invested in kings is allied to goodness, it is because the one in responsibility is under the divine dictation. When power is allied with wickedness, it is allied to satanic agencies, and it will work to destroy those who are the Lord's property. The Protestant world have set up an idol sabbath in the place where God's Sabbath should be, and they are treading in the footsteps of the Papacy. For this reason I see the necessity of the people of God moving out of the cities into retired country ［places］, where they may cultivate the land and raise their own produce. Thus they may bring their children up with simple, healthful habits. I see the necessity of making haste to get all things ready for the crisis.--Letter 90, 1897. {2SM 359.5} [2SM 360.1] Chap. 46 - Guided by God's Providences - The time has come, when, as God opens the way, families should move out of the cities. The children should be taken into the country. The parents should get as suitable a place as their means will allow. Though the dwelling may be small, yet there should be land in connection with it, that may be cultivated.--Manuscript 50, 1903. {2SM 360.1} [2SM 360.2] Parents can secure small homes in the country, with land for cultivation, where they can have orchards and where they can raise vegetables and small fruits to take the place of flesh meat, which is so corrupting to the life blood coursing through the veins. On such places the children will not be surrounded with the corrupting influences of city life. God will help His people to find such homes outside the cities.--Medical Ministry, p. 310. {2SM 360.2} [2SM 360.3] More and more, as time advances, our people will have to leave the cities. For years we have been instructed that our brethren and sisters, and especially families with children, should plan to leave the cities as the way opens before them to do so. Many will have to labor earnestly to help open the way. But until it is possible for them to leave, so long as they remain, they should be most active in doing missionary work, however limited their sphere of influence may be.--The Review and Herald, Sept. 27, 1906. 361 {2SM 360.3} [2SM 361.1] Counsel and Caution to Those Who Anticipate Leaving the Cities ［A COMMUNICATION WRITTEN DECEMBER 22, 1893, IN REPLY TO A LETTER FROM A LEADING WORKER IN BATTLE CREEK, INFORMING MRS. WHITE THAT IN RESPONSE TO THE ADMONITION THAT OUR PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE OUT OF BATTLE CREEK, "BETWEEN ONE AND TWO HUNDRED" WERE PREPARING TO LEAVE "AS SOON AS POSSIBLE."--COMPILERS.］ Your letter tells me, my brother, that there are many who are stirred deeply to move out of Battle Creek. There is need, great need, of this work being done, and now. Those who have felt at last to make a move, let it not be in a rush, in an excitement, or in a rash manner, or in a way that hereafter they will deeply regret that they did move out. . . . {2SM 361.1} [2SM 361.2] Take heed that there shall be no rash movements made in heeding the counsel in moving from Battle Creek. Do nothing without seeking wisdom of God, who hath promised to give liberally to all who ask, and who upbraideth not. All that anyone can do is to advise and counsel, and then leave those who are convicted in regard to duty to move under divine guidance, and with their whole hearts open to learn and obey God. {2SM 361.2} [2SM 361.3] I am troubled when I consider that there may be even some of our teachers who need to be more evenly balanced with sound judgment. The messengers who bear the message of mercy to our world, who have the confidence of the people, will be appealed to for advice. Great caution must be exercised by these men who have not genuine experience in practical life, and who will be in danger of giving advice, ignorant of what that advice may lead others to do. {2SM 361.3} [2SM 361.4] Some men have insight into matters, having ability to counsel. It is a gift of God. In moments when the cause of God is in need of words, sound and solemn and solid, they can speak words which will lead minds perplexed and in darkness, to see as a quick flash of sunlight the course for them to pursue, ［the answer to the question］ which has filled them with perplexity and baffled their 362 minds in study for weeks and months. There is an unraveling, a clearing up of the path before them, and the Lord has let His sunlight in, and they see their prayers are answered, their way is made clear. But some rash advice may be given--only get out of Battle Creek, notwithstanding there is nothing clearly defined as to what improvement they will make in spiritual advancement for themselves or others in doing this. {2SM 361.4} [2SM 362.1] Carefully Consider Every Move Let everyone take time to consider carefully; and not be like the man in the parable who began to build, and was not able to finish. Not a move should be made but that movement and all that it portends are carefully considered--everything weighed. . . . To every man was given his work according to his several ability. Then let him not move hesitatingly, but firmly, and yet humbly trusting in God. {2SM 362.1} [2SM 362.2] There may be individuals who will make a rush to do something, and enter into some business they know nothing about. This God does not require. Think candidly, prayerfully, studying the Word with all carefulness and prayerfulness, with mind and heart awake to hear the voice of God. . . . To understand the will of God is a great thing. . . . {2SM 362.2} [2SM 362.3] I address words to the church at Battle Creek, to move in the counsels of God. There is need of your moving--many from Battle Creek--and there is also need of your having well-defined plans as to what you will do when you go out from Battle Creek. Do not go in a rush, without knowing what you are about. . . . O for generals, wise and considerate, well-balanced men, who will be safe advisers, who have some insight into human nature, who know how to direct and counsel in the fear of God. {2SM 362.3} [2SM 362.4] Danger Attends New Experience I have seen that danger attends every new phase of experience in the church, because some hear things with such a strong spirit. While some teachers may be strong 363 and efficient in teaching in the lines of Bible doctrines, they will not all be men who have a knowledge of practical life and can advise perplexed minds with surety and safety. They do not discern the perplexing situation that must necessarily come to every family who shall make a change. Therefore, let all be careful what they say; if they know not the mind of God in some matters, let them never speak from a guess or suppose so. If they know nothing definite, let them say so, and let the individual rely wholly upon God. Let there be much praying done, and even with fasting, that not one shall move in darkness, but move in the light as God is in the light. . . . {2SM 362.4} [2SM 363.1] Let there be nothing done in a disorderly manner that there shall be a great loss or sacrifice made upon property because of ardent, impulsive speeches which stir up an enthusiasm which is not after the order of God, that a victory that was essential to be gained, shall, for lack of level-headed moderation and proper contemplation and sound principles and purposes, be turned into a defeat. Let there be wise generalship in this matter, and all move under the guidance of a wise, unseen Counselor, which is God. Elements that are human will struggle for the mastery, and there may be a work done that does not bear the signature of God. Now I plead with every soul to look not too strongly and confidently to human counselors, but look most earnestly to God, the One wise in counsel. Submit all your ways and your will to God's ways and to God's will. . . . {2SM 363.1} [2SM 363.2] The Aftermath of Rash Moves Should some move hastily and fly out of Battle Creek, and be brought into discouragement, they will reflect, not upon themselves for moving unadvisedly, but upon others who, they will charge, brought a pressure to bear upon them. All their discomfiture and defeat are charged back upon those who should not be reflected upon.... {2SM 363.2} [2SM 363.3] Now, just now, is the time when the perils of the last days are thickening around us, and we need wise men for counselors, not men who will feel it duty to stir up and 364 create disorder, but who cannot possibly give wise counsel and organize and arrange that every stirring up shall bring order out of confusion, and rest and peace in obeying the Word of the Lord. Let every man be found in his true place, to do some work for the Master, according to his several ability. . . . {2SM 363.3} [2SM 364.1] How shall this be done? "Take my yoke upon you," saith Jesus Christ, who hath bought you with His own precious blood, whose servants and property you are, "and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:29, 30). If everyone will come to Jesus in a teachable spirit, with contrition of heart, then he is in a condition of mind to be instructed and to learn of Jesus and obey His orders.... {2SM 364.1} [2SM 364.2] Spread Every Plan Before God We cannot have a weak faith now; we cannot be safe in a listless, indolent, slothful attitude. Every jot of ability is to be used, and sharp, calm, deep thinking is to be done. The wisdom of any human agent is not sufficient for the planning and devising in this time. Spread every plan before God with fasting, ［and］ with the humbling of the soul before the Lord Jesus, and commit thy ways unto the Lord. The sure promise is, He will direct thy paths. He is infinite in resources. The Holy One of Israel, who calls the host of heaven by name, and holds the stars of heaven in position, has you individually in His keeping. . . . {2SM 364.2} [2SM 364.3] I would that all could realize what possibilities and probabilities there are for all who make Christ their sufficiency and their trust. The life hid with Christ in God ever has a refuge; he can say, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13). {2SM 364.3} [2SM 364.4] I leave this matter with you; for I have been worried and troubled in regard to the dangers that assail all in Battle Creek, lest they shall move indiscreetly and give the enemy advantage. This need not be, for if we walk humbly with God, we shall walk safely.--Letter 45, 1893. 366 {2SM 364.4} [2SM 366.1] Chap. 47 - Preparing for the Final Crisis INTRODUCTION - IN THE PREPARATION OF A VOLUME OF MISCELLANEOUS COUNSELS PUBLISHED DECADES AFTER ELLEN WHITE'S DEATH, IT IS TO BE EXPECTED THAT SOME PAGES WILL BE DEVOTED TO THE COMING CRISIS AND THE EXPERIENCE OF THE CHURCH AS WE NEAR THE TIME FOR THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. THE COUNSELS INCLUDED IN THIS SECTION HAVE BEEN DRAWN LARGELY FROM ELLEN G. WHITE ARTICLES AS THEY HAVE APPEARED IN OUR VARIOUS JOURNALS AND FROM ITEMS PUBLISHED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS. {2SM 366.1} [2SM 366.2] THESE STIRRING MESSAGES DO NOT PRESENT ANYTHING STARTLINGLY NEW, AND THERE IS CONSIDERABLE REPETITION OF THOUGHT; BUT TO A PEOPLE WHO ARE EXPECTING TO MEET THEIR LORD SOON, EACH STATEMENT THAT HAS A BEARING ON THE CRISIS BEFORE US WILL BE READ WITH EAGER INTEREST. {2SM 366.2} [2SM 366.3] THE CLOSING CHAPTER, "THE LAST MESSAGES TO THE GENERAL CONFERENCE," REPRESENTS THE TWO FORMAL STATEMENTS MRS. WHITE PREPARED AND SENT TO BE READ AT THE GENERAL CONFERENCE IN SESSION IN 1913--THE LAST HELD WHILE SHE LIVED. EXCERPTS FROM THESE TWO MESSAGES HAVE APPEARED ELSEWHERE IN PRINT. IT SEEMS APPROPRIATE THAT THE FULL STATEMENTS SHOULD BE INCLUDED HERE, INDICATING, AS THEY DO, MRS. WHITE'S CONFIDENCE IN THE LEADERS OF THE CHURCH AND ITS FINAL TRIUMPH.--WHITE TRUSTEES. {2SM 366.3} [2SM 367.1] ［ADDRESS GIVEN BY ELLEN G. WHITE AT GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSION OF 1891.］ - Brethren and sisters, I appeal to you as Seventh-day Adventists to be all that this name signifies. There is danger of departing from the spirit of the message.... {2SM 367.1} [2SM 367.2] The people of God are not to be guided by the opinions or practices of the world. Hear what the Saviour said to His disciples, "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" (John 14:16, 17). "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not" (1 John 3:1). {2SM 367.2} [2SM 367.3] The Word of God plainly declares that His law is to be scorned, trampled upon, by the world; there will be an extraordinary prevalence of iniquity. The professed Protestant world will form a confederacy with the man of sin, and the church and the world will be in corrupt harmony. {2SM 367.3} [2SM 367.4] Here the great crisis is coming upon the world. The Scriptures teach that popery is to regain its lost supremacy, 368 and that the fires of persecution will be rekindled through the time-serving concessions of the so-called Protestant world. In this time of peril we can stand only as we have the truth and the power of God. Men can know the truth only by being themselves partakers of the divine nature. We have need now for more than human wisdom in reading and searching the Scriptures; and if we come to God's Word with humble hearts, He will raise up a standard for us against the lawless element. {2SM 367.4} [2SM 368.1] It is difficult to hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end; and the difficulty increases when there are hidden influences constantly at work to bring in another spirit, a counterworking element, on Satan's side of the question. In the absence of persecution, there have drifted into our ranks some who appear sound, and their Christianity unquestionable, but who, if persecution should arise, would go out from us. In the crisis, they would see force in specious reasoning that has had an influence on their minds. Satan has prepared various snares to meet varied minds. When the law of God is made void the church will be sifted by fiery trials, and a larger proportion than we now anticipate, will give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Instead of being strengthened when brought into strait places, many prove that they are not living branches of the True Vine; they bore no fruit, and the husbandman taketh them away. {2SM 368.1} [2SM 368.2] The Truly Obedient Will Not Fall But when the world makes void the law of God, what will be the effect upon the truly obedient and righteous? Will they be carried away by the strong current of evil? Because so many rank themselves under the banner of the prince of darkness, will God's commandment-keeping people swerve from their allegiance? Never! Not one who is abiding in Christ will fail or fall. His followers will bow in obedience to a higher authority than that of any earthly potentate. While the contempt placed upon God's commandments leads many to suppress the truth and show less reverence for it, the faithful ones will with greater earnestness 369 hold aloft its distinguishing truths. We are not left to our own direction. In all our ways we should acknowledge God, and He will direct our paths. We should consult His Word with humble hearts, ask His counsel, give up our will to His. We can do nothing without God. {2SM 368.2} [2SM 369.1] There is the highest reason for us to prize the true Sabbath and stand in its defense, for it is the sign which distinguishes the people of God from the world. The commandment that the world makes void is the one to which, for this very reason, God's people will give greater honor. It is when the unbelieving cast contempt upon the Word of God that the faithful Calebs are called for. It is then that they will stand firm at the post of duty, without parade, and without swerving because of reproach. The unbelieving spies stood ready to destroy Caleb. He saw the stones in the hands of those who had brought a false report, but this did not deter him; he had a message, and he would bear it. The same spirit will be manifested today by those who are true to God. {2SM 369.1} [2SM 369.2] The psalmist says, "They have made void thy law. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold" (Psalm 119:126, 127). When men press close to the side of Jesus, when Christ is abiding in their hearts by faith, their love for the commandments of God grows stronger in proportion to the contempt which the world heaps upon His holy precepts. It is at this time that the true Sabbath must be brought before the people by both pen and voice. As the fourth commandment and those who observe it are ignored and despised, the faithful feel that it is the time not to hide their faith but to exalt the law of Jehovah by unfurling the banner on which is inscribed the message of the third angel, the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. {2SM 369.2} [2SM 369.3] No Concessions to the Mystery of Iniquity Let not those who have the truth as it is in Jesus give sanction, even by their silence, to the work of the mystery of iniquity. Let them never cease to sound the note of alarm. Let the education and training of the members of 370 our churches be such that the children and youth among us shall understand there are to be no concessions to this power, the man of sin. Teach them that although the time will come when we can wage the war only at the risk of property and liberty, yet the conflict must be met, in the spirit and meekness of Christ; the truth is to be maintained and advocated as it is in Jesus. Wealth, honor, comfort, home--everything else--is to be a secondary consideration. The truth must not be hid, it must not be denied or disguised, but fully avowed, and boldly proclaimed. {2SM 369.3} [2SM 370.1] The Lord has faithful watchmen on the walls of Zion to cry aloud and spare not, to lift up their voice like a trumpet, and show His people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins. The Lord has permitted the enemy of truth to make a determined effort against the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. He designs by this means to awaken a decided interest in that question which is a test for the last days. This will open the way for the third angel's message to be proclaimed with power. {2SM 370.1} [2SM 370.2] Let not one who believes the truth, be silent now. None should be careless now; let all urge their petitions at the throne of grace, pleading the promise, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do" (John 14:13). It is a perilous time now. If this land of boasted liberty is preparing to sacrifice every principle which enters into her Constitution, making decrees to suppress religious freedom, and for the enforcing of papal falsehood and delusion, then the people of God need to present their petitions in faith to the Most High. There is every encouragement, in the promises of God, for those who put their trust in Him. The prospect of being brought into personal danger and distress, need not cause despondency, but should quicken the vigor and hopes of God's people; for the time of their peril is the season for God to grant them clearer manifestations of His power. {2SM 370.2} [2SM 370.3] We are not to sit in calm expectancy of oppression and tribulation, and fold our hands, doing nothing to avert the evil. Let our united cries be sent up to heaven. Pray and work, and work and pray. But let none act rashly. Learn as 371 never before that you must be meek and lowly in heart. You must not bring a railing accusation against any, whether individuals or churches. Learn to deal with minds as Christ did. Sharp things must sometimes be spoken; but be sure that the Holy Spirit of God is abiding in your heart before you speak the clear-cut truth; then let it cut its way. You are not to do the cutting. {2SM 370.3} [2SM 371.1] Not to Unite With the World There is to be no compromise with those who make void the law of God. It is not safe to rely upon them as counselors. Our testimony is not to be less decided now than formerly; our real position is not to be cloaked in order to please the world's great men. They may desire us to unite with them and accept their plans, and may make propositions in regard to our course of action which may give the enemy an advantage over us. "Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy" (Isaiah 8:12). While we should not seek for controversy, and should not needlessly offend, we must present the truth clearly and decidedly, and stand firm to what God has taught us in His Word. You are not to look to the world in order to learn what you shall write and publish or what you shall speak. Let all your words and works testify, "We have not followed cunningly devised fables" (2 Peter 1:16). "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place" (2 Peter 1:19). {2SM 371.1} [2SM 371.2] The apostle Paul tells us, "After that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe" (1 Corinthians 1:21). This was the carrying out of God's plan for the conviction and conversion of men, who are constantly tempted to magnify their own powers. The Lord would make it manifest whether men by their own finite wisdom could acquire a knowledge of the truth, whether they could know God, their Creator. When Christ came to our world, the experiment had been fully made, and it proved the boasted wisdom to men to be but foolishness. Finite wisdom 372 was utterly unable to come to right conclusions in regard to God, and therefore man was wholly incompetent to judge in regard to His law. The Lord has allowed matters in our day to come to a crisis, in the exaltation of error above truth, that He, the God of Israel, might work mightily for the greater elevation of His truth in proportion as error is exalted. {2SM 371.2} [2SM 372.1] With His eye upon the church, the Lord has again and again allowed matters to come to a crisis, that in their extremity His people should look alone for His help. Their prayers, their faith, together with their steadfast purpose to be true, have called for the interference of God, and then He has fulfilled His promise, "Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am" (Isaiah 58:9). His mighty arm has been stretched out for the deliverance of His people. God reserves His gracious interposition in their behalf till the time of their extremity; thus He makes their deliverance more marked, and their victories more glorious. When all human wisdom fails, the Lord's interference will be more clearly recognized, and He will receive the glory that is His due. Even the enemies of our faith, persecutors, will perceive that God is working for His people in turning their captivity. {2SM 372.1} [2SM 372.2] Prayer, Faith, Reliance on God What is needed in this, our time of danger, is fervent prayer, mingled with earnest faith, a reliance upon God when Satan casts his shadow over God's people. Let everyone bear in mind that God delights to listen to the supplications of His people; for the prevailing iniquity calls for more earnest prayer, and God has promised that He will avenge His own elect, who cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them. {2SM 372.2} [2SM 372.3] Men are prone to abuse the long-suffering of God, and to presume on His forbearance. But there is a point in human iniquity when it is time for God to interfere; and terrible are the issues. "The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked" (Nahum 1:3). The long-suffering of God is wonderful, because He 373 puts constraint on His own attributes; but punishment is nonetheless certain. Every century of profligacy has treasured up wrath against the day of wrath; and when the time comes, and the iniquity is full, then God will do His strange work. It will be found a terrible thing to have worn out the divine patience; for the wrath of God will fall so signally and strongly that it is presented as being unmixed with mercy; and the very earth will be desolated. It is at the time of the national apostasy, when, acting on the policy of Satan, the rulers of the land will rank themselves on the side of the man of sin--it is then the measure of guilt is full; the national apostasy is the signal for national ruin. {2SM 372.3} [2SM 373.1] God has thrust His people into the gap, to make up the hedge, to raise up the foundation of many generations. The heavenly intelligences, angels that excel in strength, are waiting, obedient to His command, to unite with human agencies; and the Lord will interpose when matters have come to such a pass that none but a divine power can counteract the satanic agencies at work. When His people shall be in the greatest danger, seemingly unable to stand against the power of Satan, God will work in their behalf. Man's extremity is God's opportunity. {2SM 373.1} [2SM 373.2] Now is the time when the loyal and true are to arise and shine; for the glory of the Lord is risen upon them. It is no time now to hide our colors, no time to turn traitors when the battle presses sore, no time to lay aside our weapons of warfare. Watchmen on the walls of Zion must be wide awake. {2SM 373.2} [2SM 373.3] I am so thankful at this time that we can have our minds taken off from the difficulties that surround us, and the oppression that is to come upon the people of God, and can look up to the heaven of light and power. If we place ourselves on the side of God, of Christ and the heavenly intelligences, the broad shield of Omnipotence is over us, the mighty God of Israel is our helper, and we need not fear. Those who touch the people of God, touch the apple of His eye.... {2SM 373.3} [2SM 373.4] Brethren, will you carry the spirit of Christ with you as 374 you return to your homes and churches? Will you put away unbelief and criticism? We are coming to a time when, more than ever before, we shall need to press together, to labor unitedly. In union there is strength. In discord and disunion there is only weakness. God never designed that one man, or four, or twenty, should take an important work into their own hands, and carry it forward independently of other workers in the cause. God wants His people to counsel together, to be a united church, in Christ a perfect whole. The only safety for us is to enter into the counsels of heaven, ever seeking to do the will of God, to become laborers together with Him. No one company is to form a confederacy, and say, "We are going to take this work, and carry it on in our own way; and if it does not go as we want it to, we will not give our influence to have it go at all." This is Satan's voice, not God's. Do not obey such suggestions. {2SM 373.4} [2SM 374.1] What we want is the spirit of Jesus. When we have this, we shall love one another. Here are the credentials that we are to bear: "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35).... {2SM 374.1} [2SM 374.2] Press Together! Press Together! Suppose we try daily to have our hearts united in the bonds of Christian love. "I have somewhat against thee," says the True Witness, "because thou hast left thy first love" (Revelation 2:4). And He says, "Except thou repent," "I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place" (Revelation 2:5). Why?--Because in our separation from one another we are separated from Christ. We want to press together. Oh, how many times, when I have seemed to be in the presence of God and holy angels, I have heard the angel voice saying, "Press together, press together, press together. Do not let Satan cast his hellish shadow between brethren. Press together; in unity there is strength." {2SM 374.2} [2SM 374.3] I repeat the message to you. As you go to your homes, be determined that you will press together; seek God with 375 all the heart, and you will find Him, and the love of Christ, that passeth understanding, will come into your hearts and lives.--General Conference Daily Bulletin, April 13, 1891. {2SM 374.3} [2SM 375.1] The Sunday-Law Crisis In the night season I seemed to be enumerating in my mind the evidences we have to substantiate the faith we hold. We see that seducers are waxing worse and worse. We see the world working to the point of establishing by law a false sabbath, and making it a test for all. This question will soon be before us. God's Sabbath will be trampled under foot, and a false sabbath will be exalted. In a Sunday law there is possibility for great suffering to those who observe the seventh day. The working out of Satan's plans will bring persecution to the people of God. But the faithful servants of God need not fear the outcome of the conflict. If they will follow the pattern set for them in the life of Christ, if they will be true to the requirements of God, their reward will be eternal life, a life that measures with the life of God. {2SM 375.1} [2SM 375.2] At this time a very decided work in character building should be going forward among our people. We are to develop before the world the characteristics of the Saviour. It is impossible to please God without the exercise of genuine, sanctifying faith. We are individually responsible for our faith. True faith is not a faith that will fail under test and trial; it is the gift of God to His people. --The Review and Herald, Sept, 30, 1909. {2SM 375.2} [2SM 375.3] If ever we needed to manifest kindness and true courtesy, it is now. We may have to plead most earnestly before legislative councils for the right to worship God according to the dictates of conscience. Thus in His providence God has designed that the claims of His law shall be brought before men in positions of highest authority. But as we stand before these men, we are to show no bitterness of feeling. Constantly we are to pray for divine aid. It is God alone who can hold the four winds until His servants shall be sealed in their foreheads.--The Review and Herald, Feb. 11, 1904. {2SM 375.3} [2SM 376.1] Chap. 48 - A Work of Purification Needed - Basel, Switzerland December 8, 1886 Dear Brethren ［G.I.］ Butler And ［S.N.］ Haskell: For weeks I have not been able to sleep after half past three o'clock. My mind is deeply exercised in regard to our condition as a people. We ought to be far in advance of any other people on the earth because we have greater light and greater knowledge of the truth, which lays us under increased accountability to advance that light and not only to profess to believe the truth but to practice it. When we do practice the truth we are then following Jesus, who is the light of the world; and if we as a people are not constantly elevating, becoming more and more spiritual minded, we are becoming like the Pharisees--self-righteous--while we do not the will of God. {2SM 376.1} [2SM 376.2] We must have a greater nearness to God. Much less of self and much more of Jesus Christ and His grace must be brought into our everyday life. We are living in an important period of this world's history. The end of all things is at hand; the sands of time are fast running out; soon in heaven it will be said: "It is done" (Revelation 377 21:6). "He that is holy, let him be holy still," "he which is filthy, let him be filthy still" (Revelation 22:11). {2SM 376.2} [2SM 377.1] Let our testimonies be sharpened up; let us have a firmer hold on God. I cannot refrain from prayer at one, two, and three o'clock in the morning for the Lord to work upon the hearts of the people. I think of all heaven being interested in the work that is going on upon the earth. Ministering angels are waiting about the throne to instantly obey the mandate of Jesus Christ to answer every prayer offered in earnest, living faith. I think of how many who profess the truth are keeping it apart from their lives. They do not bring its sanctifying, refining, spiritualizing power into their hearts. . . . {2SM 377.1} [2SM 377.2] Living Below Our Privileges We are far from being the people God would have us to be, because we do not elevate the soul and refine the character in harmony with the wonderful unfolding of God's truth and His purposes. "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people" (Proverbs 14:34). Sin is a disorganizer. Wherever it is cherished--in the individual heart, in the household, in the church-- there is disorder, strife, variance, enmity, envy, jealousy, because the enemy of man and of God has the controlling power over the mind. But let the truth be loved and brought into the life, as well as advocated, and that man or woman will hate sin and will be a living representative of Jesus Christ to the world. {2SM 377.2} [2SM 377.3] The people claiming to believe the truth will not be condemned because they had not the light, but because they had great light and did not bring their hearts to the test of God's great moral standard of righteousness. The people who claim to believe the truth must be elevated by living it out. Real Bible religion must leaven the life, refine and ennoble the character, making it more and more like the divine model. Then will the home be vocal with prayer, with thanksgiving and praise to God. Angels will minister in the home and accompany the worshiper to the house of prayer. 378 {2SM 377.3} [2SM 378.1] Let the churches who claim to believe the truth, who are advocating the law of God, keep that law and depart from all iniquity. Let the individual members of the church resist the temptations to practice evils and indulge in sin. Let the church commence the work of purification before God by repentance, humiliation, deep heart searching, for we are in the antitypical day of atonement --solemn hour fraught with eternal results. {2SM 378.1} [2SM 378.2] Let those who teach the truth present it as it is in Jesus. Under the subduing, sanctifying, refining influence of the truth of God they are as clean vessels. Let them be leavened with Bible religion, and what an influence would go forth from them to the world! Let the individual members of the church be pure, steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the love of Jesus, and they will then be a light to the world. Let the men standing as watchmen and as shepherds of the flock proclaim the solemn truth, sound the notes of warning to all people, nations, and tongues. Let them be living representatives of the truth they advocate, and honor God's law by strict and holy compliance with its requirements, walking before the Lord in purity, in holiness, and a power will attend the proclamation of the truth that will reflect light everywhere. {2SM 378.2} [2SM 378.3] Grieving the Spirit of God God never forsakes people or individuals until they forsake Him. Outward opposition will not cause the faith of God's people, who are keeping His commandments, to become dim. The neglect to bring purity and truth into practice will grieve the Spirit of God and weaken them because God is not in their midst to bless. Internal corruption will bring the denunciations of God upon this people as it did upon Jerusalem. Oh, let pleading voices, let earnest prayer be heard, that those who preach to others shall not themselves be castaways. My brethren, we know not what is before us, and our only safety is in following the Light of the world. God will work with us and for us if the sins which brought His wrath upon the 379 old world, upon Sodom and Gomorrah and upon ancient Jerusalem, do not become our crime. {2SM 378.3} [2SM 379.1] The least transgression of God's law brings guilt upon the transgressor, and without earnest repentance and forsaking of sin he will surely become an apostate.... Let us as a people, as far as possible, cleanse the camp of moral defilement and aggravating sins. When sin is making its march upon the people who claim to be elevating the moral standard of righteousness, how can we expect God to turn His power in our behalf and save us as a people that did righteousness? . . . If as a people we do not keep ourselves in the faith and not only advocate with pen and voice the commandments of God, but keep them every one, not violating a single precept knowingly, then weakness and ruin will come upon us. It is a work that we must attend to in every one of our churches. Each man must be a Christian. {2SM 379.1} [2SM 379.2] Putting Away Sin Let the sin of pride be put away, let all superfluities of dress be overcome, and repentance toward God be exercised for the highhanded robbery toward Him which has withheld money which should flow into the treasury to sustain the work of God in its mission fields. Let the work of reformation, of true conversion, be set before and urged upon the people. Let our works, our deportment, correspond with the work for this time, that we may say, "Follow me as I follow Christ." Let us humble our souls before God by humiliation, fasting and prayer, repentance of sin and putting it away. {2SM 379.2} [2SM 379.3] The voice of the true watchman needs now to be heard all along the line, "The morning cometh, and also the night" (Isaiah 21:12). The trumpet must give a certain sound for we are in the great day of the Lord's preparation. . . . There are many doctrines current in our world. There is many a religion current that numbers its thousands and tens of thousands, but there is but one that bears the superscription and the stamp of God. There is a religion of man and a religion of God. We must have 380 our souls riveted to the eternal Rock. Everything in God's world, both men and doctrines and nature itself, is fulfilling God's sure word of prophecy and accomplishing His grand and closing work in this world's history. {2SM 379.3} [2SM 380.1] We are to be ready and waiting for the orders of God. Nations will be stirred to their very center. Support will be withdrawn from those who proclaim God's only standard of righteousness, the only sure test of character. And all who will not bow to the decree of the national councils and obey the national laws to exalt the sabbath instituted by the man of sin, to the disregard of God's holy day, will feel, not the oppressive power of popery alone, but of the Protestant world, the image of the beast. {2SM 380.1} [2SM 380.2] Satan will work his miracles to deceive; he will set up his power as supreme. The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out--the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place. None but those who have been overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with the loyal and true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile in their mouths. We must be divested of our self-righteousness and arrayed in the righteousness of Christ. {2SM 380.2} [2SM 380.3] Arrayed in Christ's Righteousness The remnant that purify their souls by obeying the truth gather strength from the trying process, exhibiting the beauty of holiness amid the surrounding apostasy. All these, He says, "I have graven ... upon the palms of my hands" (Isaiah 49:16). They are held in everlasting, imperishable remembrance. We want faith now, living faith. We want to have a living testimony that shall cut to the heart of the sinner. There is too much sermonizing and too little ministering. We want the holy unction. We need the spirit and fervor of the truth. Many of the ministers are half paralyzed by their own defects of character. They need the converting power of God. {2SM 380.3} [2SM 380.4] That which God required of Adam before his fall was 381 perfect obedience to His law. God requires now what He required of Adam, perfect obedience, righteousness without a flaw, without shortcoming in His sight. God help us to render to Him all His law requires. We cannot do this without that faith that brings Christ's righteousness into daily practice. {2SM 380.4} [2SM 381.1] Dear brethren, the Lord is coming. Lift up your thoughts and heads and rejoice. Oh, we would think that those who hear the joyful news, who claim to love Jesus, would be filled with joy unutterable and full of glory. This is the good, the joyful news which should electrify every soul, which should be repeated in our homes and told to those whom we meet on the street. What more joyful news can be communicated! Caviling and contention with believers or unbelievers is not the work God has given us to do. {2SM 381.1} [2SM 381.2] If Christ is my Saviour, my sacrifice, my atonement, then I shall never perish. Believing on Him, I have life forevermore. Oh, that all who believe the truth would believe in Jesus as their own Saviour. I do not mean that cheap faith unsupported by works, but that earnest, living, constant, abiding faith, that eats the flesh and drinks the blood of the Son of God. I want not only to be pardoned for the transgression of God's holy law, but I want to be lifted into the sunshine of God's countenance. Not simply to be admitted to heaven, but to have an abundant entrance. {2SM 381.2} [2SM 381.3] Salvation a Union With Christ Are we so insensible as a peculiar people, a holy nation, to the inexpressible love that God has manifested for us? Salvation is not to be baptized, not to have our names upon the church books, not to preach the truth. But it is a living union with Jesus Christ, to be renewed in heart, doing the works of Christ in faith and labor of love, in patience, meekness, and hope. Every soul united to Christ will be a living missionary to all around him. He will labor for those near and those afar off. He will have no sectional feeling, no interest merely to build up 382 one branch of the work over which he presides and there let his zeal end. All will work with interest to make every branch strong. There will be no self-love, no selfish interest. The cause is one, the truth a great whole. {2SM 381.3} [2SM 382.1] Well may the question be asked with earnest, anxious heart, "Is envy cherished, is jealousy permitted to find a place in my heart?" If so, Christ is not there. "Do I love the law of God, is the love of Jesus Christ in my heart?" If we love one another as Christ has loved us then we are getting ready for the blessed heaven of peace and rest. There is no struggling there to be first, to have the supremacy; all will love their neighbor as themselves. Oh, that God would open the understanding and speak to the hearts of our churches by arousing the individual members. . . . {2SM 382.1} [2SM 382.2] Those who are at ease in Zion need to be aroused. Great is their accountability who bear the truth and yet feel no weight or burden for souls. Oh, for men and women professing the truth to arouse, to take on the yoke of Christ, to lift His burdens. There are wanted those who will not have merely a nominal interest but a Christlike interest, unselfish--an intense ardor that will not flag under difficulties or cool because iniquity abounds. {2SM 382.2} [2SM 382.3] I want to speak to the ears of our people in America in every church. Awake from the dead, and Christ will give you life. Souls are perishing for the light of truth as it is in Jesus. We are standing upon the very borders of the eternal world. Fair-weather Christians will not be wanted for this work. The sentimental and tasteful religion is not needed for this time. There must be intensity brought into our faith and in the proclamation of truth. I tell you, a new life is proceeding from satanic agencies to work with a power we have not hitherto realized. And shall not a new power from above take possession of God's people? The truth, sanctifying in its influence, must be urged upon the people. There must be earnest supplications offered to God, agonizing prayer to Him, that our hopes as a people may not be founded on suppositions, but on eternal realities. We must know for ourselves, by the evidence of 383 God's Word, whether we are in the faith, going to heaven or not. The moral standard of character is God's law. Do we meet its requirements? Are the Lord's people bringing their property, their time, their talents, and all their influence into the work for this time? Let us arouse. "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God" (Colossians 3:1).--Letter 55, 1886. - {2SM 382.3} [2SM 383.1] Confederacies will increase in number and power as we draw nearer to the end of time. These confederacies will create opposing influences to the truth, forming new parties of professed believers who will act out their own delusive theories. The apostasy will increase. "Some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils" (1 Timothy 4:1). Men and women have confederated to oppose the Lord God of heaven, and the church is only half awake to the situation. There needs to be much more of prayer, much more of earnest effort, among professed believers. {2SM 383.1} [2SM 383.2] Satanic agencies in human form will take part in this last great conflict to oppose the building up of the kingdom of God. And heavenly angels in human guise will be on the field of action. The two opposing parties will continue to exist till the closing up of the last great chapter in this world's history. Satanic agencies are in every city. We cannot afford to be off our guard for one moment. The true, stanch believers will pray more and more, and will talk less of matters of little consequence. More and more decided testimonies will come from their lips to encourage the weak and the needy. This is no time for the people of God to be weaklings, neither one thing nor the other. Let all be diligent students of the Word. We must be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. We cannot live haphazard lives and be true Christians.--The Review and Herald, Aug. 5, 1909. {2SM 383.2} [2SM 384.1] Chap. 49 - A Distinctive Name and People - Not Ashamed of Our Name We are Seventh-day Adventists. Are we ashamed of our name? We answer, "No, no! We are not. It is the name the Lord has given us. It points out the truth that is to be the test of the churches."--Letter 110, 1902. {2SM 384.1} [2SM 384.2] We are Seventh-day Adventists, and of this name we are never to be ashamed. As a people we must take a firm stand for truth and righteousness. Thus we shall glorify God. We are to be delivered from dangers, not ensnared and corrupted by them. That this may be, we must look ever to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.-- Letter 106, 1903. {2SM 384.2} [2SM 384.3] Our Distinctive Sign The banner of the third angel has inscribed upon it, "The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Our institutions have taken a name which sets forth the character of our faith, and of this name we are never to be ashamed. I have been shown that this name means much, and in adopting it we have followed the light given us from heaven. . . . The Sabbath is God's memorial of His creative work, and it is a sign that is to be kept before the world. 385 {2SM 384.3} [2SM 385.1] There is to be no compromise with those who are worshiping an idol sabbath. We are not to spend our time in controversy with those who know the truth, and upon whom the light of truth has been shining, when they turn away their ear from the truth to turn to fables. I was told that men will employ every policy to make less prominent the difference between the faith of Seventh-day Adventists and those who observe the first day of the week. In this controversy the whole world will be engaged, and the time is short. This is no time to haul down our colors. {2SM 385.1} [2SM 385.2] A company was presented before me under the name of Seventh-day Adventists, who were advising that the banner or sign which makes us a distinctive people should not be held out so strikingly; for they claimed it was not the best policy in securing success to our institutions. This distinctive banner is to be borne through the world to the close of probation. In describing the remnant people of God, John says, "Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14:12). This is the law and the gospel. The world and the churches are uniting in harmony in transgressing the law of God, in tearing away God's memorial, and in exalting a sabbath that bears the signature of the man of sin. But the Sabbath of the Lord thy God is to be a sign to show the difference between the obedient and the disobedient. I saw some reaching out their hands to remove the banner, and to obscure its significance. . . . {2SM 385.2} [2SM 385.3] When the people accept and exalt a spurious sabbath, and turn souls away from obedience and loyalty to God, they will reach the point that was reached by the people in the days of Christ. . . . Shall anyone then choose to hide his banner, to relax his devotion? Shall the people whom God has honored and blessed and prospered, refuse to bear testimony in behalf of God's memorial at the very time when such a testimony should be borne? Shall not the commandments of God be more highly esteemed when men pour contempt upon the law of God?--Manuscript 15, 1896. 386 {2SM 385.3} [2SM 386.1] The World is Watching God's commandment-keeping people are described by the prophet as "men wondered at." We are to be a people distinct from the world. The eyes of the world are upon us, and we are observed by many of whom we have no knowledge. There are those who know something of the doctrines we claim to believe, and they are noting the effect of our faith upon our characters. They are waiting to see what kind of influence we exert, and how we carry ourselves before a faithless world. The angels of heaven are looking upon us. "We are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men" (1 Corinthians 4:9).--The Review and Herald, June 18, 1889. {2SM 386.1} [2SM 386.2] The Future of God's People Our people have been regarded as too insignificant to be worthy of notice, but a change will come; the movements are now being made. The Christian world is now making movements which will necessarily bring the commandment-keeping people to notice. There is a daily suppression of God's truth for the theories and false doctrines of human origin. There are plans and movements being set on foot to enslave the consciences of those who would be loyal to God. The law-making powers will be against God's people. Every soul will be tested. O that we would as a people be wise for ourselves and by precept and example impart that wisdom to our children! Every position of our faith will be searched into, and if we are not thorough Bible students, established, strengthened, settled, the wisdom of the world's great men will be too much for us.--Letter 12, 1886. {2SM 386.2} [2SM 387.1] Chap. 50 - The Pillars of Our Faith ［WRITTEN ON THE TRAIN EN ROUTE TO LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, DECEMBER, 1890. APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, THE CHURCH, NO. 4.］ - During the past fifty years of my life, I have had precious opportunities to obtain an experience. I have had an experience in the first, second, and third angels' messages. The angels are represented as flying in the midst of heaven, proclaiming to the world a message of warning, and having a direct bearing upon the people living in the last days of this earth's history. No one hears the voice of these angels, for they are a symbol to represent the people of God who are working in harmony with the universe of heaven. Men and women, enlightened by the Spirit of God and sanctified through the truth, proclaim the three messages in their order. {2SM 387.1} [2SM 387.2] I have acted a part in this solemn work. Nearly all my Christian experience is interwoven with it. There are those now living who have an experience similar to my own. They have recognized the truth unfolding for this time; they have kept in step with the great Leader, the Captain of the Lord's host. {2SM 387.2} [2SM 387.3] In the proclamation of the messages, every specification of prophecy has been fulfilled. Those who were privileged to act a part in proclaiming these messages have 388 gained an experience which is of the highest value to them; and now when we are amid the perils of these last days, when voices will be heard on every side saying, "Here is Christ," "Here is truth," while the burden of many is to unsettle the foundation of our faith which has led us from the churches and from the world to stand as a peculiar people in the world, like John our testimony will be borne: {2SM 387.3} [2SM 388.1] "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; . . . that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us" (1 John 1:1-3). {2SM 388.1} [2SM 388.2] I testify the things which I have seen, the things which I have heard, the things which my hands have handled of the Word of life. And this testimony I know to be of the Father and the Son. We have seen and do testify that the power of the Holy Ghost has accompanied the presentation of the truth, warning with pen and voice, and giving the messages in their order. To deny this work would be to deny the Holy Ghost, and would place us in that company who have departed from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits. {2SM 388.2} [2SM 388.3] Confidence Assailed The enemy will set everything in operation to uproot the confidence of the believers in the pillars of our faith in the messages of the past, which have placed us upon the elevated platform of eternal truth, and which have established and given character to the work. The Lord God of Israel has led out His people, unfolding to them truth of heavenly origin. His voice has been heard, and is still heard, saying, "Go forward from strength to strength, from grace to grace, from glory to glory." The work is strengthening and broadening, for the Lord God of Israel is the defense of His people. {2SM 388.3} [2SM 388.4] Those who have a hold of the truth theoretically, with their finger tips as it were, who have not brought its principles 389 into the inner sanctuary of the soul, but have kept the vital truth in the outer court, will see nothing sacred in the past history of this people which has made them what they are, and has established them as earnest, determined, missionary workers in the world. {2SM 388.4} [2SM 389.1] The truth for this time is precious, but those whose hearts have not been broken by falling on the rock Christ Jesus, will not see and understand what is truth. They will accept that which pleases their ideas, and will begin to manufacture another foundation than that which is laid. They will flatter their own vanity and esteem, thinking that they are capable of removing the pillars of our faith, and replacing them with pillars they have devised. {2SM 389.1} [2SM 389.2] This will continue to be as long as time shall last. Anyone who has been a close student of the Bible will see and understand the solemn position of those who are living in the closing scenes of this earth's history. They will feel their own inefficiency and weakness, and will make it their first business to have not merely a form of Godliness, but a vital connection with God. They will not dare to rest until Christ is formed within, the hope of glory. Self will die; pride will be expelled from the soul, and they will have the meekness and gentleness of Christ.-- Manuscript 28, 1890. {2SM 389.2} [2SM 389.3] No New Organization After the passing of the time, God entrusted to His faithful followers the precious principles of present truth. These principles were not given to those who had had no part in the giving of the first and second angels' messages. They were given to the workers who had had a part in the cause from the beginning. {2SM 389.3} [2SM 389.4] Those who passed through these experiences are to be as firm as a rock to the principles that have made us Seventh-day Adventists. They are to be workers together with God, binding up the testimony and sealing the law among His disciples. Those who took part in the establishment of our work upon a foundation of Bible truth, those who know the waymarks that have pointed out 390 the right path, are to be regarded as workers of the highest value. They can speak from personal experience, regarding the truths entrusted to them. These men are not to permit their faith to be changed to infidelity; they are not to permit the banner of the third angel to be taken from their hands. They are to hold the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end. {2SM 389.4} [2SM 390.1] The Lord has declared that the history of the past shall be rehearsed as we enter upon the closing work. Every truth that He has given for these last days is to be proclaimed to the world. Every pillar that He has established is to be strengthened. We cannot now step off the foundation that God has established. We cannot now enter into any new organization; for this would mean apostasy from the truth.--Manuscript 129, 1905. {2SM 390.1} [2SM 390.2] No Need for Fear There is no need to doubt, to be fearful that the work will not succeed. God is at the head of the work, and He will set everything in order. If matters need adjusting at the head of the work, God will attend to that, and work to right every wrong. Let us have faith that God is going to carry the noble ship which bears the people of God safely into port. {2SM 390.2} [2SM 390.3] When I voyaged from Portland, Maine, to Boston, many years ago, a storm came upon us, and the great waves dashed us to and fro. The chandeliers fell, and the trunks were rolled from side to side, like balls. The passengers were frightened, and many were screaming, waiting in expectation of death. {2SM 390.3} [2SM 390.4] After awhile the pilot came on board. The captain stood near the pilot as he took the wheel, and expressed fear about the course in which the ship was directed. "Will you take the wheel?" asked the pilot. The captain was not ready to do that, for he knew that he lacked experience. {2SM 390.4} [2SM 390.5] Then some of the passengers grew uneasy, and said they feared the pilot would dash them upon the rocks. "Will you take the wheel?" asked the pilot; but they knew that they could not manage the wheel. 391 {2SM 390.5} [2SM 391.1] When you think that the work is in danger, pray, "Lord, stand at the wheel. Carry us through the perplexity. Bring us safely into port." Have we not reason to believe that the Lord will bring us through triumphantly? {2SM 391.1} [2SM 391.2] There are before me many who are old hands in the cause. I have known some of you for the last thirty years. Brethren, have we not seen crisis after crisis come upon the work, and has not the Lord carried us through, and wrought for the glory of His name? Can you not believe in Him? Can you not commit the cause to Him? You cannot with your finite minds understand the working of all the providences of God. Let God take care of His own work.--The Review and Herald, Sept. 20, 1892. {2SM 391.2} [2SM 391.3] "My Hand is on the Wheel" The coming of the Lord is nearer than when we first believed. What a wonderful thought it is that the great controversy is nearing its end! In the closing work we shall meet with perils that we know not how to deal with; but let us not forget that the three great powers of heaven are working, that a divine hand is on the wheel, and that God will bring His purposes to pass. He will gather from the world a people who will serve Him in righteousness. {2SM 391.3} [2SM 391.4] Fearful perils are before those who bear responsibilities in the Lord's work--perils the thought of which makes me tremble. But the word comes, "My hand is on the wheel, and in My providence I will carry out the divine plan."-- The Review and Herald, May 5, 1903. {2SM 391.4} [2SM 391.5] Judgments of God Abroad Troublous times are before us. The judgments of God are abroad in the land. Calamities follow one another in rapid succession. Soon God is to rise out of His place to shake terribly the earth, and to punish the inhabitants for their iniquity. Then He will stand up in behalf of His people, and will give them His protecting care. He will throw His everlasting arms around them to shield them from all harm.--The Review and Herald, April 14, 1904. {2SM 391.5} [2SM 392.1] Chap. 51 - Loyal or Disloyal - Apostasies ［APPEARED IN NOTEBOOK LEAFLETS, THE CHURCH, NO. 3.］ I am in great travail of soul for our people. We are living in the perils of the last days. A superficial faith results in a superficial experience. There is a repentance that needs to be repented of. All genuine experience in religious doctrines will bear the impress of Jehovah. All should see the necessity of understanding the truth for themselves individually. We must understand the doctrines that have been studied out carefully and prayerfully. It has been revealed to me that there is among our people a great lack of knowledge in regard to the rise and progress of the third angel's message. There is great need to search the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation, and learn the texts thoroughly, that we may know what is written. {2SM 392.1} [2SM 392.2] The light given me has been very forcible that many would go out from us, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. The Lord desires that every soul who claims to believe the truth shall have an intelligent knowledge of what is truth. False prophets will arise and will deceive many. Everything is to be shaken that can be shaken. Then does it not become everyone to understand the reasons of our faith? In place of having so many sermons 393 there should be a more close searching of the Word of God, opening the Scriptures, text by text, and searching for the strong evidences that sustain the fundamental doctrines that have brought us where we now are, upon the platform of eternal truth. {2SM 392.2} [2SM 393.1] Charmed by Spurious Holiness My soul is made very sad to see how quickly some who have had light and truth will accept the deceptions of Satan, and be charmed with a spurious holiness. When men turn away from the landmarks the Lord has established that we may understand our position as marked out in prophecy, they are going they know not whither. {2SM 393.1} [2SM 393.2] I question whether genuine rebellion is ever curable. Study in Patriarchs and Prophets the rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. This rebellion was extended, including more than two men. ［A COMPARISON IS HERE DRAWN BETWEEN KORAH'S REBELLION AND A CURRENT APOSTASY LED BY TWO MEN IN A CERTAIN FIELD. SEE ALSO PAGE 394.］ It was led by two hundred and fifty princes of the congregation, men of renown. Call rebellion by its right name and apostasy by its right name, and then consider that the experience of the ancient people of God with all its objectionable features was faithfully chronicled to pass into history. The Scripture declares, "These things . . . are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come" (1 Corinthians 10:11). And if men and women who have the knowledge of the truth are so far separated from their great Leader that they will take the great leader of apostasy and name him Christ our Righteousness, it is because they have not sunk deep into the mines of the truth. They are not able to distinguish the precious ore from the base material. {2SM 393.2} [2SM 393.3] Read the cautions so abundantly given in the Word of God in regard to false prophets that will come in with their heresies, and if possible will deceive the very elect. With these warnings, why is it that the church does not distinguish the false from the genuine? Those who have in any way been thus misled need to humble themselves before 394 God, and sincerely repent, because they have so easily been led astray. They have not distinguished the voice of the True Shepherd from that of a stranger. Let all such review this chapter of their experience. {2SM 393.3} [2SM 394.1] For more than half a century God has been giving His people light through the testimonies of His Spirit. After all this time is it left for a few men and their wives to undeceive the whole church of believers, declaring Mrs. White a fraud and a deceiver? "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:20). {2SM 394.1} [2SM 394.2] Those who can ignore all the evidences which God has given them, and change that blessing into a curse, should tremble for the safety of their own souls. Their candlestick will be removed out of its place unless they repent. The Lord has been insulted. The standard of truth, of the first, second, and third angels' messages has been left to trail in the dust. If the watchmen are left to mislead the people in this fashion, God will hold some souls responsible for a lack of keen discernment to discover what kind of provender was being given to His flock. {2SM 394.2} [2SM 394.3] Apostasies have occurred and the Lord has permitted matters of this nature to develop in the past in order to show how easily His people will be misled when they depend upon the words of men instead of searching the Scriptures for themselves, as did the noble Bereans, to see if these things are so. And the Lord has permitted things of this kind to occur that warnings may be given that such things will take place. {2SM 394.3} [2SM 394.4] Rebellion and Apostasy Rebellion and apostasy are in the very air we breathe. We shall be affected by them unless we by faith hang our helpless souls upon Christ. If men are so easily misled now, how will they stand when Satan shall personate Christ, and work miracles? Who will be unmoved by his misrepresentations then--professing to be Christ when it is only Satan assuming the person of Christ, and apparently working the works of Christ? What will hold God's people from giving 395 their allegiance to false christs? "Go not after them" (Luke 17:23). {2SM 394.4} [2SM 395.1] The doctrines must be plainly understood. The men accepted to preach the truth must be anchored; then their vessel will hold against storm and tempest, because the anchor holds them firmly. The deceptions will increase, and we are to call rebellion by its right name. We are to stand with the whole armor on. In this conflict we do not meet men only, but principalities and powers. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. Let Ephesians 6:10-18 be read carefully and impressively in our churches. {2SM 395.1} [2SM 395.2] Those who apostatize are voicing the words of the dragon. We have to meet the satanic agencies who went to make war with the saints. "The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ" (Revelation 12:17). Those who apostatize leave the true and faithful people of God, and fraternize with those who represent Barabbas. "By their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:20). {2SM 395.2} [2SM 395.3] I write this because many in the church are represented to me as seeing men like trees walking. They must have another and deeper experience before they discern the snares spread to take them in the net of the deceiver. There must be no halfway work done now. The Lord calls for stanch, decided, whole-souled men and women to stand in the gap, and make up the hedge. ［Isaiah 58:12-14 quoted.］ {2SM 395.3} [2SM 395.4] There is a decided testimony to be borne by all our ministers in all our churches. God has permitted apostasies to take place in order to show how little dependence can be placed in man. We are always to look to God; His word is not Yea and Nay, but Yea and Amen.--Undated Manuscript 148. {2SM 395.4} [2SM 396.1] Chap. 52 - The Church Triumphant - 52. The Church Triumphant ［IN 1893 IN MEETING THE CHARGE THAT THE CHURCH HAD BECOME BABYLON, ELLEN G. WHITE WROTE: "THE CHURCH, ENFEEBLED AND DEFECTIVE, NEEDING TO BE REPROVED, WARNED, AND COUNSELED, IS THE ONLY OBJECT UPON EARTH UPON WHICH CHRIST BESTOWS HIS SUPREME REGARD."--TESTIMONIES TO MINISTERS, P. 49. THE REPEATING OF THIS THOUGHT ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS IN SUBSEQUENT YEARS IS ENCOURAGING AND SIGNIFICANT.--COMPILERS.］ An Oft-repeated Assurance The Father loves His people today as He loves His own Son. Someday it will be our privilege to see Him face to face.--Manuscript 103, 1903. (Written Sept. 15, 1902.) {2SM 396.1} [2SM 396.2] We should remember that the church, enfeebled and defective though it be, is the only object on earth on which Christ bestows His supreme regard. He is constantly watching it with solicitude, and is strengthening it by His Holy Spirit.--Manuscript 155, 1902. (Nov. 22, 1902.) {2SM 396.2} [2SM 396.3] Trust to God's guardianship. His church is to be taught. Enfeebled and defective though it is, it is the object of His supreme regard.--Letter 279, 1904. (Aug. 1, 1904.) {2SM 396.3} [2SM 396.4] Ever on Gaining Ground The church is to increase in activity and to enlarge her bounds. Our missionary efforts are to be expansive; we must enlarge our borders. . . . While there have been fierce contentions in the effort to maintain our distinctive character, 397 yet we have as Bible Christians ever been on gaining ground.--Letter 170, 1907. (May 6, 1907.) {2SM 396.4} [2SM 397.1] The evidence we have had for the past fifty years of the presence of the Spirit of God with us as a people, will stand the test of those who are now arraying themselves on the side of the enemy and bracing themselves against the message of God.--Letter 356, 1907. (Oct. 24, 1907.) {2SM 397.1} [2SM 397.2] I write these things to you, my brethren, although all of you may not fully comprehend them. If I did not believe that God's eye is over His people, I could not have the courage to write the same things over and over again. . . . God has a people whom He is leading and instructing.-- Letter 378, 1907. (Nov. 11, 1907.) {2SM 397.2} [2SM 397.3] I am instructed to say to Seventh-day Adventists the world over, God has called us as a people to be a peculiar treasure unto Himself. He has appointed that His church on earth shall stand perfectly united in the Spirit and counsel of the Lord of hosts to the end of time.--Letter 54, 1908. (Jan. 21, 1908.) {2SM 397.3} [2SM 397.4] Nothing in this world is so dear to God as His church. With jealous care He guards those who seek Him. Nothing so offends God as for the servants of Satan to strive to rob His people of their rights. The Lord has not forsaken His people. Satan points to the mistakes that they have made, and tries to make them believe that thus they have separated themselves from God. Evil angels seek in every way to discourage those who are striving for victory over sin. They hold up before them their past unworthiness, and represent their case as hopeless. But we have an all-powerful Redeemer. Christ came from heaven in the guise of humanity to live the principles of righteousness in this world. He was endowed with power to minister to all who would accept Him as their Redeemer, to succor the repentant ones who were convinced of the sinfulness of sin. "We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).--Letter 136, 1910. (Nov. 26, 1910.) {2SM 397.4} [2SM 398.1] Chap. 53 - Last Messages to the General Conference 53. Last Messages to the General Conference ［TWO MESSAGES WERE SENT BY ELLEN G. WHITE IN 1913 TO THE GENERAL CONFERENCE IN SESSION. THE FIRST WAS READ BY ELDER W. C. WHITE TO THE CONFERENCE IN SESSION ON THE AFTERNOON OF THE FIRST SABBATH OF THE MEETING, MAY 17.］ - "Elmshaven." Sanitarium, California May 4, 1913. To those assembled in General Conference, Greeting! My Dear Brethren: "Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God" (2 Corinthians 1:2-4). {2SM 398.1} [2SM 398.2] "Thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish" (2 Corinthians 2:14, 15). {2SM 398.2} [2SM 398.3] "We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; 399 and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us" (2 Corinthians 4:5-7). {2SM 398.3} [2SM 399.1] "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). {2SM 399.1} [2SM 399.2] Hopefulness and Courage It is the privilege of our representative men in attendance at the General Conference to cherish a spirit of hopefulness and courage. My brethren, the Saviour has revealed Himself to you in manifold ways; He has filled your heart with the sunlight of His presence while you have labored in distant lands and in the homeland; He has kept you through dangers seen and unseen; and now, as you meet once more with your brethren in council, it is your privilege to be glad in the Lord, and to rejoice in the knowledge of His sustaining grace. Let His love take possession of mind and heart. Guard against becoming overwearied, careworn, depressed. Bear an uplifting testimony. Turn your eyes away from that which is dark and discouraging, and behold Jesus, our great Leader, under whose watchful supervision the cause of present truth, to which we are giving our lives and our all, is destined to triumph gloriously. {2SM 399.2} [2SM 399.3] The attitude that our representative men maintain during the conference will have a telling influence upon all throughout the field, as well as upon the delegates themselves. Oh, let it be seen, my brethren, that Jesus is abiding in the heart, sustaining, strengthening, comforting. It is your privilege to be endowed, from day to day, with a rich measure of His Holy Spirit, and to have broadened views 400 of the importance and scope of the message we are proclaiming to the world. The Lord is willing to reveal to you wondrous things out of His law. Wait before Him with humility of heart. Pray most earnestly for an understanding of the times in which we live, for a fuller conception of His purpose, and for increased efficiency in soulsaving. {2SM 399.3} [2SM 400.1] Often in the night season I am bidden to urge our brethren in responsible positions to make earnest effort to follow on to know the Lord more perfectly. When our workers realize as they should the importance of the times in which we live, there will be seen a determined purpose to be on the Lord's side, and they will become in truth laborers together with God. When they consecrate heart and soul to the service of God, they will find that an experience deeper than any they have yet obtained is essential if they would triumph over all sin. {2SM 400.1} [2SM 400.2] It will be well for us to consider what is soon to come upon the earth. This is no time for trifling or self-seeking. If the times in which we are living fail to impress our minds seriously, what can reach us? Do not the Scriptures call for a more pure and holy work than we have yet seen? {2SM 400.2} [2SM 400.3] A Call to Reconsecration Men of clear understanding are needed now. God calls upon those who are willing to be controlled by the Holy Spirit to lead out in a work of thorough reformation. I see a crisis before us, and the Lord calls for His laborers to come into line. Every soul should now stand in a position of deeper, truer consecration to God than during the years that have passed. {2SM 400.3} [2SM 400.4] During the General Conference of 1909 a work should have been done in the hearts of those in attendance that was not done. Hours should have been given up to heart searching, that would have led to the breaking up of the fallow ground of the hearts of those who were at the meeting. This would have given them insight to understand the work so essential to be done by them in repentance and confession. But, though opportunities were given for confession of sin, for heartfelt repentance, and for a decided 401 reformation, thorough work was not done. Some felt the influence of the Holy Spirit, and responded; but all did not yield to this influence. The minds of some were running in forbidden channels. Had there been on the part of all in the assembly a humbling of heart, there would have been manifested a wonderful blessing. {2SM 400.4} [2SM 401.1] For a number of months after the close of that meeting I bore a heavy burden, and urged upon the attention of the brethren in responsibility those things which the Lord was instructing me to set before them plainly. Finally some of those in positions of trust in connection with the general work, after much prayer and careful study of the various messages given, ventured to undertake by faith the work called for--a work they could not fully understand; and as they went forward in the fear of God, they received rich blessing. {2SM 401.1} [2SM 401.2] It has brought great rejoicing to my heart to see the marvelous transformations that have been wrought in the lives of some who thus chose to advance by faith in the way of the Lord, rather than to follow a way of their own choosing. Had those brethren in responsibility continued to view matters in a false light, they would have created a condition of things that would sadly have marred the work; but when they heeded the instruction that was sent, and sought the Lord, God brought them into the full light, and enabled them to render acceptable service and to bring about spiritual reformations. {2SM 401.2} [2SM 401.3] When the Lord sets His hand to prepare the way before His ministers it is their duty to follow where He directs. He will never forsake or leave in uncertainty those who follow His leadings with full purpose of heart. {2SM 401.3} [2SM 401.4] An Expression of Confidence "I rejoice," my brethren, "that I have confidence in you in all things" (2 Corinthians 7:16). And while I still feel the deepest anxiety over the attitude that some are taking toward important measures connected with the development of the cause of God in the earth, yet I have strong faith in the workers throughout the field, and believe 402 that as they meet together and humble themselves before the Lord and consecrate themselves anew to His service, they will be enabled to do His will. There are some who do not even now view matters in the right light, but these may learn to see eye to eye with their co-workers, and may avoid making serious mistakes, by earnestly seeking the Lord at this time, and by submitting their will wholly to the will of God. {2SM 401.4} [2SM 402.1] I have been deeply impressed by scenes that have recently passed before me in the night season. There seemed to be a great movement--a work of revival--going forward in many places. Our people were moving into line, responding to God's call. My brethren, the Lord is speaking to us. Shall we not heed His voice? Shall we not trim our lamps, and act like men who look for their Lord to come? The time is one that calls for light bearing, for action. {2SM 402.1} [2SM 402.2] "I therefore . . . beseech you," brethren, "that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:1-3).--General Conference Bulletin, May 19, 1913, pp. 33, 34. {2SM 402.2} [2SM 402.3] Courage in the Lord ［THIS, ELLEN G. WHITE'S SECOND MESSAGE TO THE GENERAL CONFERENCE IN SESSION IN 1913, WAS READ TO THE CONFERENCE BY THE PRESIDENT, A. G. DANIELLS, TUESDAY MORNING, MAY 27.］ Recently in the night season, my mind was impressed by the Holy Spirit with the thought that if the Lord is coming as soon as we believe He is, we ought to be even more active than we have been in years past in getting the truth before the people. {2SM 402.3} [2SM 402.4] In this connection my mind reverted to the activity of the Advent believers in 1843 and 1844. At that time there was much house-to-house visitation, and untiring efforts were made to warn the people of the things that are spoken of in God's Word. We should be putting forth even greater effort than was put forth by those who proclaimed the first angel's message so faithfully. We are 403 rapidly approaching the end of this earth's history; and as we realize that Jesus is indeed coming soon, we shall be aroused to labor as never before. We are bidden to sound an alarm to the people. And in our own lives we are to show forth the power of truth and righteousness. The world is soon to meet the great Lawgiver over His broken law. Those only who turn from transgression to obedience can hope for pardon and peace. {2SM 402.4} [2SM 403.1] We are to raise the banner on which is inscribed, "The commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Obedience to God's law is the great issue. Let it not be put out of sight. We must strive to arouse church members, and those who make no profession, to see and obey the claims of the law of Heaven. We are to magnify this law and make it honorable. {2SM 403.1} [2SM 403.2] Christ has commissioned us to sow the seeds of truth, and to urge upon our people the importance of the work to be done by those who are living amidst the closing scenes of this earth's history. As the words of truth are proclaimed in the highways and the byways, there is to be a revelation of the working of the Spirit of God on human hearts. {2SM 403.2} [2SM 403.3] Oh, how much good might be accomplished if all who have the truth, the Word of life, would labor for the enlightenment of those who have it not. When the Samaritans came to Christ at the call of the Samaritan woman, Christ spoke of them to His disciples as a field of grain ready for harvesting. "Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest?" He said, "Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest" (John 4:35). Christ abode with the Samaritans for two days; for they were hungry to hear the truth. And what busy days they were! As a result of those days of labor, "many more believed because of his own word" (John 4:41). This was their testimony: "We have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world" (John 4:42). {2SM 403.3} [2SM 403.4] Who among God's professing people will take up this sacred work, and labor for the souls who are perishing 404 for lack of knowledge? The world must be warned. Many places are pointed out to me as in need of consecrated, faithful, untiring effort. Christ is opening the hearts and minds of many in our large cities. These need the truths of God's Word; and if we will come into a sacred nearness with Christ, and will seek to draw near to these people, impressions for good will be made. We need to wake up, and enter into sympathy with Christ and with our fellow men. The large and small cities, and places nigh and afar off, are to be worked, and worked intelligently. Never draw back. The Lord will make the right impressions upon hearts, if we will work in unison with His Spirit. {2SM 403.4} [2SM 404.1] I have words of encouragement for you, my brethren. We are to move forward in faith and hope, expecting large things from God. The enemy will seek in every way to hinder the efforts that are being made to advance the truth, but in the strength of the Lord you may gain success. {2SM 404.1} [2SM 404.2] Let no discouraging words be spoken, but only such words as will tend to strengthen and sustain your fellow workers. {2SM 404.2} [2SM 404.3] A Personal Word I long to be personally engaged in earnest work in the field, and I should most assuredly be engaged in more public labor did I not believe that at my age it is not wise to presume on one's physical strength. I have a work to do in communicating to the church and to the world the light that has been entrusted to me from time to time all through the years during which the third angel's message has been proclaimed. My heart is filled with a most earnest desire to place the truth before all who can be reached. And I am still acting a part in preparing matter for publication. But I have to move very carefully, lest I place myself where I cannot write at all. I know not how long I may live, but I am not suffering as much healthwise as I might expect. {2SM 404.3} [2SM 404.4] Following the General Conference of 1909 I spent several weeks attending camp meetings and other general 405 gatherings, and visiting various institutions, in New England, the Central States, and the Middle West. {2SM 404.4} [2SM 405.1] Upon returning to my home in California I took up anew the work of preparing matter for the press. During the past four years I have written comparatively few letters. What strength I have had has been given mostly to the completion of important book work. {2SM 405.1} [2SM 405.2] Occasionally I have attended meetings, and have visited institutions in California, but the greater portion of the time since the last General Conference has been spent in manuscript work at my country home, "Elmshaven," near Saint Helena. {2SM 405.2} [2SM 405.3] I am thankful that the Lord is sparing my life to work a little longer on my books. O that I had strength to do all that I see ought to be done! I pray that He may impart to me wisdom, that the truths our people so much need may be presented clearly and acceptably. I am encouraged to believe that God will enable me to do this. {2SM 405.3} [2SM 405.4] My interest in the general work is still as deep as ever, and I greatly desire that the cause of present truth shall steadily advance in all parts of the world. But I find it advisable not to attempt much public work while my book work demands my supervision. I have some of the best workers--those who in the providence of God connected with me in Australia, with others who have united with me since my return to America. I thank the Lord for these helpers. We are all very busy, doing our best to prepare matter for publication. I want the light of truth to go to every place, that it may enlighten those now ignorant of the reasons of our faith. On some days my eyes trouble me, and I suffer considerable pain in them. But I praise the Lord that He preserves my sight. It would not be strange if at my age I could not use my eyes at all. {2SM 405.4} [2SM 405.5] I am more thankful than I can express for the uplifting of the Spirit of the Lord, for the comfort and grace that He continues to give me, and that He grants me strength and opportunity to impart courage and help to His people. As long as the Lord spares my life, I will be faithful and true to Him, seeking to do His will and to glorify 406 His name. May the Lord increase my faith, that I may follow on to know Him, and to do His will more perfectly. Good is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. {2SM 405.5} [2SM 406.1] Influence of Older Workers I greatly desire that the old soldiers of the cross, those grown gray in the Master's service, shall continue to bear their testimony right to the point, in order that those younger in the faith may understand that the messages which the Lord gave us in the past are very important at this stage of the earth's history. Our past experience has not lost one jot of its force. {2SM 406.1} [2SM 406.2] Let all be careful not to discourage the pioneers, or cause them to feel that there is little they can do. Their influence may still be mightily exerted in the work of the Lord. The testimony of the aged ministers will ever be a help and a blessing to the church. God will watch over His tried and faithful standard-bearers, night and day, until the time comes for them to lay off their armor. Let them be assured that they are under the protecting care of Him who never slumbers or sleeps; that they are watched over by unwearied sentinels. Knowing this, and realizing that they are abiding in Christ, they may rest trustfully in the providences of God. {2SM 406.2} [2SM 406.3] Even to the End I pray earnestly that the work we do at this time shall impress itself deeply on heart and mind and soul. Perplexities will increase; but let us, as believers in God, encourage one another. Let us not lower the standard, but keep it lifted high, looking to Him who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. When in the night season I am unable to sleep, I lift my heart in prayer to God, and He strengthens me and gives me the assurance that He is with His ministering servants in the home field and in distant lands. I am encouraged and blessed as I realize that the God of Israel is still guiding His people, and that He will continue to be with them, even to the end. {2SM 406.3} [2SM 406.4] I am instructed to say to our ministering brethren, Let 407 the messages that come from your lips be charged with the power of the Spirit of God. If ever there was a time when we needed the special guidance of the Holy Spirit, it is now. We need a thorough consecration. It is fully time that we gave to the world a demonstration of the power of God in our own lives and in our ministry. {2SM 406.4} [2SM 407.1] The Lord desires to see the work of proclaiming the third angel's message carried forward with increasing efficiency. As He has worked in all ages to give victories to His people, so in this age He longs to carry to a triumphant fulfillment His purposes for His church. He bids His believing saints to advance unitedly, going from strength to greater strength, from faith to increased assurance and confidence in the truth and righteousness of His cause. {2SM 407.1} [2SM 407.2] We are to stand firm as a rock to the principles of the Word of God, remembering that God is with us to give us strength to meet each new experience. Let us ever maintain in our lives the principles of righteousness, that we may go forward from strength to strength in the name of the Lord. We are to hold as very sacred the faith that has been substantiated by the instruction and approval of the Spirit of God from our earliest experience until the present time. We are to cherish as very precious the work that the Lord has been carrying forward through His commandment-keeping people, and which, through the power of His grace, will grow stronger and more efficient as time advances. The enemy is seeking to becloud the discernment of God's people, and to weaken their efficiency, but if they will labor as the Spirit of God shall direct, He will open doors of opportunity before them for the work of building up the old waste places. Their experience will be one of constant growth, until the Lord shall descend from heaven with power and great glory to set His seal of final triumph upon His faithful ones. {2SM 407.2} [2SM 407.3] The Promise of Final Triumph The work that lies before us is one that will put to the stretch every power of the human being. It will call for 408 the exercise of strong faith and constant vigilance. At times the difficulties that we shall meet will be most disheartening. The very greatness of the task will appall us. And yet, with God's help, His servants will finally triumph. "Wherefore," my brethren, "I desire that ye faint not" (Ephesians 3:13) because of the trying experiences that are before you. Jesus will be with you; He will go before you by His Holy Spirit, preparing the way; and He will be your helper in every emergency. {2SM 407.3} [2SM 408.1] "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. {2SM 408.1} [2SM 408.2] "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen" (Ephesians 3:14-21).--General Conference Bulletin, May 27, 1913, pp. 164, 165. 410 {2SM 408.2} [2SM 410.1] Appendix 1 - Disease and Its Causes APPENDIX 1 INTRODUCTION - THE SIX ARTICLES BEARING THE TITLE "DISEASE AND ITS CAUSES" FORM ONE OF THE EARLIEST LINKS IN THE RATHER LARGE COLLECTION OF WRITINGS BY ELLEN G. WHITE ON THE SUBJECT OF HEALTH. THIS IS THEIR BACKGROUND: FIRST, THERE WAS THE HISTORIC HEALTH-REFORM VISION OF JUNE 6, 1863. NEXT, IN 1864, MRS. WHITE MADE HER FIRST PUBLISHED PRESENTATION OF THE SUBJECT IN A 30-PAGE ARTICLE ENTITLED "HEALTH," IN SPIRITUAL GIFTS, VOLUME IV (CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IN FACSIMILE REPRINT). THEN, IN 1865, SHE FURNISHED ONE ARTICLE FOR EACH OF A SERIES OF SIX PAMPHLETS COMPILED FROM VARIOUS WRITERS AND PUBLISHED UNDER THE TITLE HEALTH, OR HOW TO LIVE. THE SIX ELLEN G. WHITE ARTICLES WERE AN AMPLIFICATION OF THE 30-PAGE ARTICLE IN SPIRITUAL GIFTS OF THE YEAR BEFORE. MRS. WHITE MADE NO OTHER CONTRIBUTION TO THE HOW TO LIVE PAMPHLETS. {2SM 410.1} [2SM 410.2] TO COMPLETE THE HISTORICAL RECORD OF THE EARLY ELLEN G. WHITE PUBLISHED STATEMENTS RELATING TO HEALTH, HER ARTICLES APPEAR HERE IN EXACT REPRODUCTION. BEING REPRODUCED WORD FOR WORD, SENTENCE FOR SENTENCE, THEY CONTAIN SOME GRAMMATICAL IMPERFECTIONS THAT CREPT IN UNDER THE UNTOWARD CIRCUMSTANCES OF PRINTING A CENTURY AGO. {2SM 410.2} [2SM 410.3] IT SHOULD BE OBSERVED THAT ALTHOUGH MRS. WHITE NEVER REQUESTED THE REPRINTING OF THESE ARTICLES, THEY WERE REPUBLISHED IN SHORT INSTALLMENTS IN THE REVIEW AND HERALD IN 1899 AND 1900. THE LATER, FULLER ELLEN G. WHITE PRESENTATIONS ON THE SUBJECT OF HEALTH, CLIMAXED BY THE MINISTRY OF HEALING IN 1905, TOOK THE PLACE OF MANY EARLIER ARTICLES, INCLUDING THE "DISEASE AND ITS CAUSES" SERIES. {2SM 410.3} [2SM 410.4] THE READER MUST BEAR IN MIND THE CONDITIONS THAT EXISTED IN THE FIELD OF MEDICAL PRACTICE AT THE TIME THESE ARTICLES WERE PREPARED. THE LAST ARTICLE, PARTICULARLY, MUST BE READ IN THE LIGHT OF CONDITIONS PREVAILING AT THE TIME OF WRITING. FOR A REVIEW OF THESE CONDITIONS SEE D. E. ROBINSON, THE STORY OF OUR HEALTH MESSAGE, 1965 EDITION, PP. 112-130, 166-169, 427-431; FRANCIS D. NICHOL, ELLEN G. WHITE AND HER CRITICS, PP. 136-160; AND DENTON E. REBOK, BELIEVE HIS PROPHETS, PP. 253-267.--WHITE TRUSTEES. 411 {2SM 410.4} [2SM 411.1] Chapter 1 - Since the fall in Eden, the race has been degenerating. Deformity, imbecility, disease, and human suffering have been pressing heavier and heavier upon each successive generation since the fall, and yet the masses are asleep as to the real causes. They do not consider that they themselves are guilty, in a great measure, for this deplorable state of things. They generally charge their sufferings upon Providence, and regard God as the author of their woes. But it is intemperance, to a greater or less degree, that lies at the foundation of all this suffering. {2SM 411.1} [2SM 411.2] Eve was intemperate in her desires when she put forth the hand to take of the fruit-forbidden tree. Self-gratification has reigned almost supreme in the hearts of men and women since the fall. Especially has the appetite been indulged, and they have been controlled by it, instead of reason. For the sake of gratifying the taste, Eve transgressed the command of God. He had given her everything her wants required, yet she was not satisfied. Ever since, her fallen sons and daughters have followed the desires of their eyes, and of their taste. They have, like Eve, disregarded the prohibitions God has made, and have followed in a course of disobedience, and, like Eve, have flattered themselves that the consequence would not be as fearful as had been apprehended. {2SM 411.2} [2SM 411.3] Man has disregarded the laws of his being, and disease has been steadily increasing. The cause has been followed by the effect. He has not been satisfied with food which was the most healthful; but has gratified the taste even at the expense of health. {2SM 411.3} [2SM 411.4] God has established the laws of our being. If we violate these laws, we must, sooner or later, pay the penalty. The laws of our being cannot be more successfully violated than by crowding upon the stomach unhealthy food, because 412 craved by a morbid appetite. To eat to excess, of even simple food, will eventually break down the digestive organs; but add to this the eating in too great an amount of food, and that unwholesome, and the evil is greatly increased. The constitution must become impaired. {2SM 411.4} [2SM 412.1] The human family have been growing more and more self-indulgent, until health has been most successfully sacrificed upon the altar of lustful appetite. The inhabitants of the Old World were intemperate in eating and drinking. They would have flesh meats, although God had given them no permission to eat animal food. They ate and drank to excess, and their depraved appetites knew no bounds. They gave themselves up to abominable idolatry. They became violent, and ferocious, and so corrupt that God could bear with them no longer. Their cup of iniquity was full, and God cleansed the earth of its moral pollution by a flood. As men multiplied upon the face of the earth after the flood, they forgot God, and corrupted their ways before him. Intemperance in every form increased to a great extent. {2SM 412.1} [2SM 412.2] The Lord brought his people out of Egypt in a victorious manner. He led them through the wilderness to prove them, and try them. He repeatedly manifested his miraculous power in their deliverances from their enemies. He promised to take them to himself, as his peculiar treasure, if they would obey his voice, and keep his commandments. He did not forbid them to eat the flesh of animals, but withheld it from them in a great measure. He provided them food which was the most healthful. He rained their bread from heaven, and gave them purest water from the flinty rock. He made a covenant with them, if they would obey him in all things, he would preserve them from disease. {2SM 412.2} [2SM 412.3] But the Hebrews were not satisfied. They despised the food given them from heaven, and wished themselves back in Egypt where they could sit by the flesh-pots. They preferred slavery, and even death, rather than to be deprived of meat. God, in his anger, gave them flesh to gratify their lustful appetites, and great numbers of them died while eating the meat for which they had lusted. {2SM 412.3} [2SM 412.4] Nadab and Abihu were slain by the fire of God's wrath for their intemperance in the use of wine. God would have his people understand that they will be visited according to their obedience or transgressions. Crime and disease have increased with every successive generation. Intemperance in 413 eating and drinking, and the indulgence of the baser passions, have benumbed the nobler faculties. Appetite, to an alarming extent, has controlled reason. {2SM 412.4} [2SM 413.1] The human family have indulged an increasing desire for rich food, until it has become a fashion to crowd all the delicacies possible into the stomach. Especially at parties of pleasure is the appetite indulged with but little restraint. Rich dinners and late suppers are partaken of, consisting of highly-seasoned meats with rich gravies, rich cakes, pies, ice cream, etc. {2SM 413.1} [2SM 413.2] Professed Christians generally take the lead in these fashionable gatherings. Large sums of money are sacrificed to the gods of fashion and appetite, in preparing feasts of health-destroying dainties to tempt the appetite, that through this channel something may be raised for religious purposes. Thus, ministers, and professed Christians, have acted their part and exerted their influence, by precept and example, in indulging in intemperance in eating, and in leading the people to health-destroying gluttony. Instead of appealing to man's reason, to his benevolence, his humanity, his nobler faculties, the most successful appeal that can be made is to the appetite. {2SM 413.2} [2SM 413.3] The gratification of the appetite will induce men to give means when otherwise they would do nothing. What a sad picture for Christians! With such sacrifice is God well pleased? How much more acceptable to him was the widow's mite. Such as follow her example from the heart, will have well done. To have the blessing of Heaven attend the sacrifice thus made, can make the simplest offering of the highest value. {2SM 413.3} [2SM 413.4] Men and women who profess to be followers of Christ, are often slaves to fashion, and to a gluttonous appetite. Preparatory to fashionable gatherings, time and strength, which should be devoted to higher and nobler purposes, are expended in cooking a variety of unwholesome dishes. Because it is fashion, many who are poor and dependent upon their daily labor, will be to the expense of preparing different kinds of rich cakes, preserves, pies, and a variety of fashionable food for visitors, which only injure those who partake of them; when, at the same time they need the amount thus expended, to purchase clothing for themselves and children. This time occupied in cooking food to gratify 414 the taste to the expense of the stomach, should be devoted to the moral and religious instruction of their children. {2SM 413.4} [2SM 414.1] Fashionable visiting is made an occasion of gluttony. Hurtful food and drinks are partaken of in such a measure as to greatly tax the organs of digestion. The vital forces are called into unnecessary action in the disposal of it, which produces exhaustion, and greatly disturbs the circulation of the blood, and, as a result, want of vital energy is felt throughout the system. The blessings which might result from social visiting, are often lost, for the reason that your entertainer, instead of being profited by your conversation, is toiling over the cook-stove, preparing a variety of dishes for you to feast upon. Christian men and women should never permit their influence to countenance such a course by eating of the dainties thus prepared. Let them understand that your object in visiting them is not to indulge the appetite, but that your associating together, and interchange of thoughts and feelings, might be a mutual blessing. The conversation should be of that elevated, ennobling character which could afterward be called to remembrance with feelings of the highest pleasure. {2SM 414.1} [2SM 414.2] Those who entertain visitors, should have wholesome, nutritious food, from fruits, grains, and vegetables, prepared in a simple, tasteful manner. Such cooking will require but little extra labor or expense, and, partaken of in moderate quantities, will not injure any one. If worldlings choose to sacrifice time, money, and health, to gratify the appetite, let them do so, and pay the penalty of the violation of the laws of health; but Christians should take their position in regard to these things, and exert their influence in the right direction. They can do much in reforming these fashionable, health and soul-destroying customs. {2SM 414.2} [2SM 414.3] Many indulge in the pernicious habit of eating just before sleeping hours. They may have taken three regular meals; yet because they feel a sense of faintness, as though hungry, will eat a lunch, or fourth meal. By indulging this wrong practice, it has become a habit, and they feel as though they could not sleep without taking a lunch before retiring. In many cases, the cause of this faintness is because the digestive organs have been already too severely taxed through the day in disposing of unwholesome food forced upon the stomach too frequently, and in too great quantities. The digestive organs thus taxed become weary, and 415 need a period of entire rest from labor to recover their exhausted energies. A second meal should never be eaten until the stomach has had time to rest from the labor of digesting the preceding meal. If a third meal be eaten at all, it should be light, and several hours before going to bed. {2SM 414.3} [2SM 415.1] But with many, the poor tired stomach may complain of weariness in vain. More food is forced upon it, which sets the digestive organs in motion, again to perform the same round of labor through the sleeping hours. The sleep of such is generally disturbed with unpleasant dreams, and in the morning they awake unrefreshed. There is a sense of languor and loss of appetite. A lack of energy is felt through the entire system. In a short time the digestive organs are worn out, for they have had no time to rest. These become miserable dyspeptics, and wonder what has made them so. The cause has brought the sure result. If this practice be indulged in a great length of time, the health will become seriously impaired. The blood becomes impure, the complexion sallow, and eruptions will frequently appear. You will often hear complaints from such, of frequent pains and soreness in the region of the stomach, and while performing labor, the stomach becomes so tired that they are obliged to desist from work, and rest. They seem to be at loss to account for this state of things; for, setting this aside, they are apparently healthy. {2SM 415.1} [2SM 415.2] Those who are changing from three meals a day, to two, will at first be troubled more or less with faintness, especially about the time they have been in the habit of eating their third meal. But if they persevere for a short time, this faintness will disappear. {2SM 415.2} [2SM 415.3] The stomach, when we lie down to rest, should have its work all done, that it may enjoy rest, as well as other portions of the body. The work of digestion should not be carried on through any period of the sleeping hours. After the stomach, which has been overtaxed, has performed its task, it becomes exhausted, which causes faintness. Here many are deceived, and think that it is the want of food which produces such feelings, and without giving the stomach time to rest, they take more food, which for the time removes the faintness. And the more the appetite is indulged, the more will be its clamors for gratification. This faintness is generally the result of meat-eating, and eating 416 frequently, and too much. The stomach becomes weary by being kept constantly at work, disposing of food not the most healthful. Having no time for rest, the digestive organs become enfeebled, hence the sense of "goneness," and desire for frequent eating. The remedy such require, is to eat less frequently and less liberally, and be satisfied with plain, simple food, eating twice, or, at most, three times a day. The stomach must have its regular periods for labor and rest, hence eating irregularly and between meals, is a most pernicious violation of the laws of health. With regular habits, and proper food, the stomach will gradually recover. {2SM 415.3} [2SM 416.1] Because it is the fashion, in harmony with morbid appetite, rich cake, pies, and puddings, and every hurtful thing, are crowded into the stomach. The table must be loaded down with a variety, or the depraved appetite cannot be satisfied. In the morning, these slaves to appetite often have impure breath, and a furred tongue. They do not enjoy health, and wonder why they suffer with pains, headaches, and various ills. The cause has brought the sure result. {2SM 416.1} [2SM 416.2] In order to preserve health, temperance in all things is necessary. Temperance in labor, temperance in eating and drinking. {2SM 416.2} [2SM 416.3] Many are so devoted to intemperance that they will not change their course of indulging in gluttony under any considerations. They would sooner sacrifice health, and die prematurely, than to restrain the intemperate appetite. And there are many who are ignorant of the relation their eating and drinking has to health. Could such be enlightened, they might have moral courage to deny the appetite, and eat more sparingly, and of that food alone which was healthful, and by their own course of action save themselves a great amount of suffering. {2SM 416.3} [2SM 416.4] Efforts should be made to preserve carefully the remaining strength of the vital forces, by lifting off every overtasking burden. The stomach may never fully recover health, but a proper course of diet will save further debility, and many will recover more or less, unless they have gone very far in gluttonous self-murder. {2SM 416.4} [2SM 416.5] Those who permit themselves to become slaves to a morbid appetite, often go still further, and debase themselves by indulging their corrupt passions, which have become excited by intemperance in eating and in drinking. They 417 give loose rein to their debasing passions, until health and intellect greatly suffer. The reasoning faculties are, in a great measure, destroyed by evil habits. {2SM 416.5} [2SM 417.1] I have wondered that the inhabitants of the earth were not destroyed, like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. I have seen reason enough for the present state of degeneracy and mortality in the world. Blind passion controls reason, and every high consideration with many is sacrificed to lust. {2SM 417.1} [2SM 417.2] The first great evil was intemperance in eating and drinking. Men and women have made themselves slaves to appetite. {2SM 417.2} [2SM 417.3] Pork although one of the most common articles of diet, is one of the most injurious. God did not prohibit the Hebrews from eating swine's flesh merely to show his authority, but because it was not a proper article of food for man. It would fill the system with scrofula, and especially in that warm climate produced leprosy, and disease of various kinds. Its influence upon the system in that climate was far more injurious than in a colder climate. But God never designed the swine to be eaten under any circumstances. The heathen used pork as an article of food, and American people have used pork freely as an important article of diet. Swine's flesh would not be palatable to the taste in its natural state. It is made agreeable to the appetite by highly seasoning, which makes a very bad thing worse. Swine's flesh above all other flesh-meats, produces a bad state of the blood. Those who eat freely of pork can but be diseased. Those who have much out-door exercise do not realize the bad effects of pork eating as those do whose life is mostly in-doors, and whose habits are sedentary, and whose labor is mental. {2SM 417.3} [2SM 417.4] But it is not the physical health alone which is injured by pork-eating. The mind is affected, and the finer sensibilities are blunted by the use of this gross article of food. It is impossible for the flesh of any living creature to be healthy when filth is their natural element, and when they will feed upon every detestable thing. The flesh of swine is composed of what they eat. If human beings eat their flesh, their blood and their flesh will be corrupted by impurities conveyed to them through the swine. {2SM 417.4} [2SM 417.5] The eating of pork has produced scrofula, leprosy, and cancerous humors. Pork-eating is still causing the most intense suffering to the human race. Depraved appetites crave 418 those things which are the most injurious to health. The curse, which has rested heavily upon the earth, and has been felt by the whole race of mankind, has also been felt by the animals. The beasts have degenerated in size, and length of years. They have been made to suffer more than they otherwise would, by the wrong habits of man. {2SM 417.5} [2SM 418.1] There are but few animals that are free from disease. Many have been made to suffer greatly for the want of light, pure air, and wholesome food. When they are fattened, they are often confined in close stables, and are not permitted to exercise, and to enjoy free circulation of air. Many poor animals are left to breathe the poison of filth which is left in barns and stables. Their lungs will not long remain healthy while inhaling such impurities. Disease is conveyed to the liver, and the entire system of the animal is diseased. They are killed, and prepared for the market, and people eat freely of this poisonous animal food. Much disease is caused in this manner. But people cannot be made to believe that it is the meat they have eaten, which has poisoned their blood, and caused their sufferings. Many die of disease caused wholly by meat-eating, yet the world does not seem to be the wiser. {2SM 418.1} [2SM 418.2] Because those who partake of animal food do not immediately feel its effects, is no evidence it does not injure them. It may be doing its work surely upon the system, and yet the persons for the time being realize nothing of it. {2SM 418.2} [2SM 418.3] Animals are crowded into close cars, and are almost wholly deprived of air and light, food and water, and are carried thus thousands of miles, breathing the foul air arising from accumulated filth, and when they arrive at their place of destination, and are taken from the cars, many are in a half starved, smothered, dying condition, and if left alone, would die of themselves. But the butcher finishes the work, and prepares the flesh for market. {2SM 418.3} [2SM 418.4] Animals are frequently killed that have been driven quite a distance for the slaughter. Their blood has become heated. They are full of flesh, and have been deprived of healthy exercise, and when they have to travel far, they become surfeited, and exhausted, and in that condition are killed for market. Their blood is highly inflamed, and those who eat of their meat, eat poison. Some are not immediately affected, while others are attacked with severe pain, and die from fever, cholera, or some unknown disease. Very many 419 animals are sold for the city market, known to be diseased by those who have sold them, and those who buy them for the market are not always ignorant of the matter. Especially in larger cities this is practiced to a great extent, and meateaters know not that they are eating diseased animals. {2SM 418.4} [2SM 419.1] Some animals that are brought to the slaughter seem to realize what is to take place, and they become furious, and literally mad. They are killed while in that state; and their flesh prepared for market. Their meat is poison, and has produced, in those who have eaten it, cramp, convulsions, apoplexy, and sudden death. Yet the cause of all this suffering is not attributed to meat. Some animals are inhumanly treated while being brought to the slaughter. They are literally tortured, and after they have endured many hours of extreme suffering, are butchered. Swine have been prepared for market even while the plague was upon them, and their poisonous flesh has spread contagious diseases, and great mortality has followed.--How to Live, No. 1, pp. 51-60. 420 {2SM 419.1} [2SM 420.1] Chapter 2 - Men and women, by indulging the appetite in eating rich and highly-seasoned foods, especially flesh-meats, with rich gravies, and by using stimulating drinks, as tea and coffee, create unnatural appetites. The system becomes fevered, the organs of digestion become injured, the mental faculties are beclouded, while the baser passions are excited, and predominate over the nobler faculties. The appetite becomes more unnatural, and more difficult of restraint. The circulation of the blood is not equalized, and becomes impure. The whole system is deranged, and the demands of appetite become more unreasonable, craving exciting, hurtful things, until it is thoroughly depraved. {2SM 420.1} [2SM 420.2] With many, the appetite clamors for the disgusting weed, tobacco, and ale, made powerful by poisonous, health-destroying mixtures. Many do not stop even here. Their debased appetites call for stronger drink, which has a still more benumbing influence upon the brain. Thus they give themselves up to every excess, until appetite holds complete control over the reasoning faculties; and man, formed in the image of his Maker, debases himself lower than the beasts. Manhood and honor are alike sacrificed to appetite. It required time to benumb the sensibilities of the mind. It was done gradually, but surely. The indulgence of the appetite in first eating food highly seasoned, created a morbid appetite, and prepared the way for every kind of indulgence, until health and intellect were sacrificed to lust. {2SM 420.2} [2SM 420.3] Many have entered the marriage relation who have not acquired property, and who have had no inheritance. They did not possess physical strength, or mental energy, to acquire property. It has been just such ones who have been in haste to marry, and who have taken upon themselves responsibilities of which they had no just sense. They did not possess noble, elevated feelings, and had no just idea of 421 the duty of a husband and father, and what it would cost them to provide for the wants of a family. And they manifested no more propriety in the increase of their families than that shown in their business transactions. Those who are seriously deficient in business tact, and who are the least qualified to get along in the world, generally fill their houses with children; while men who have ability to acquire property generally have no more children than they can well provide for. Those who are not qualified to take care of themselves should not have children. It has been the case that the numerous offspring of these poor calculators are left to come up like the brutes. They are not suitably fed or clothed, and do not receive physical or mental training, and there is nothing sacred in the word, home, to either parents or children. {2SM 420.3} [2SM 421.1] The marriage institution was designed of Heaven to be a blessing to man; but in a general sense it has been abused in such a manner as to make it a dreadful curse. Most men and women have acted, in entering the marriage relation, as though the only question for them to settle was whether they loved each other. But they should realize that a responsibility rests upon them in their marriage relation farther than this. They should consider whether their offspring will possess physical health, and mental and moral strength. But few have moved with high motives, and with elevated considerations--that society had claims upon them which they could not lightly throw off--that the weight of their families' influence would tell in the upward or downward scale. {2SM 421.1} [2SM 421.2] Society is composed of families. And heads of families are responsible for the molding of society. If those who choose to enter the marriage relation without due consideration were alone to be the sufferers, then the evil would not be as great, and their sin would be comparatively small. But the misery arising from unhappy marriages is felt by the offspring of such unions. They have entailed upon them a life of living misery; and though innocent, suffer the consequences of their parents' inconsiderate course. Men and women have no right to follow impulse, or blind passion, in their marriage relation, and then bring innocent children into the world to realize from various causes that life has but little joy, but little happiness, and is therefore a burden. {2SM 421.2} [2SM 421.3] Children generally inherit the peculiar traits of 422 character which the parents possess, and in addition to all this, many come up without any redeeming influence around them. They are too frequently huddled together in poverty and filth. With such surroundings and examples, what can be expected of the children when they come upon the stage of action, but that they will sink lower in the scale of moral worth than their parents, and their deficiencies in every respect be more apparent than theirs? Thus has this class perpetuated their deficiencies, and cursed their posterity with poverty, imbecility, and degradation. These should not have married. At least, they should not have brought innocent children into existence to share their misery, and hand down their own deficiencies, with accumulating wretchedness, from generation to generation, which is one great cause of the degeneracy of the race. {2SM 421.3} [2SM 422.1] If women of past generations had always moved from high considerations, realizing that future generations would be ennobled or debased by their course of action, they would have taken their stand, that they could not unite their life interest with men who were cherishing unnatural appetites for alcoholic drinks, and tobacco which is a slow, but sure and deadly poison, weakening the nervous system, and debasing the noble faculties of the mind. If men would remain wedded to these vile habits, women should have left them to their life of single blessedness, to enjoy these companions of their choice. Women should not have considered themselves of so little value as to unite their destiny with men who had no control over their appetites, but whose principal happiness consisted in eating and drinking, and gratifying their animal passions. Women have not always followed the dictates of reason instead of impulse. They have not felt in a high degree the responsibilities resting upon them, to form such life connections as would not enstamp upon their offspring a low degree of morals, and a passion to gratify debased appetites, at the expense of health, and even life. God will hold them accountable in a large degree for the physical health and moral characters thus transmitted to future generations. {2SM 422.1} [2SM 422.2] Men and women who have corrupted their own bodies by dissolute habits, have also debased their intellects, and destroyed the fine sensibilities of the soul. Very many of this class have married, and left for an inheritance to their offspring, the taints of their own physical debility and 423 depraved morals. The gratification of animal passions, and gross sensuality, have been the marked characters of their posterity, which have descended from generation to generation, increasing human misery to a fearful degree, and hastening the depreciation of the race. {2SM 422.2} [2SM 423.1] Men and women who have become sickly and diseased, have often in their marriage connections selfishly thought only of their own happiness. They have not seriously considered the matter from the standpoint of noble, elevated principles, reasoning in regard to what they could expect of their posterity, but diminished energy of body and mind, which would not elevate society, but sink it still lower. {2SM 423.1} [2SM 423.2] Sickly men have often won the affections of women apparently healthy, and because they loved each other, they felt themselves at perfect liberty to marry, neither considering that by their union the wife must be a sufferer, more or less, because of the diseased husband. In many cases the diseased husband improves in health, while the wife shares his disease. He lives very much upon her vitality, and she soon complains of failing health. He prolongs his days by shortening the days of his wife. Those who thus marry commit sin in lightly regarding health and life given to them of God to be used to his glory. But if those who thus enter the marriage relation were alone concerned, the sin would not be so great. Their offspring are compelled to be sufferers by disease transmitted to them. Thus disease has been perpetuated from generation to generation. And many charge all this weight of human misery upon God, when their wrong course of action has brought the sure result. They have thrown upon society an enfeebled race, and done their part to deteriorate the race, by rendering disease hereditary, and thus accumulating human suffering. {2SM 423.2} [2SM 423.3] Another cause of the deficiency of the present generation in physical strength and moral worth, is, men and women uniting in marriage whose ages widely differ. It is frequently the case that old men choose to marry young wives. By thus doing the life of the husband has often been prolonged, while the wife has had to feel the want of that vitality which she has imparted to her aged husband. It has not been the duty of any woman to sacrifice life and health, even if she did love one so much older than herself, and felt willing on her part to make such a sacrifice. She should have restrained her affections. She had considerations higher than 424 her own interest to consult. She should consider, if children be born to them, what would be their condition? It is still worse for young men to marry women considerably older than themselves. The offspring of such unions in many cases, where ages widely differ, have not well-balanced minds. They have been deficient also in physical strength. In such families have frequently been manifested varied, peculiar, and often painful, traits of character. They often die prematurely, and those who reach maturity, in many cases, are deficient in physical and mental strength, and moral worth. {2SM 423.3} [2SM 424.1] The father is seldom prepared, with his failing faculties, to properly bring up his young family. These children have peculiar traits of character, which constantly need a counteracting influence, or they will go to certain ruin. They are not educated aright. Their discipline has too often been of the fitful impulsive kind by reason of his age. The father has been susceptible of changeable feelings. At one time over indulgent, while at another he is unwarrantably severe. Every thing in some such families is wrong, and domestic wretchedness is greatly increased. Thus a class of beings have been thrown upon the world as a burden to society. Their parents were accountable in a great degree for the characters developed by their children, which are transmitted from generation to generation. {2SM 424.1} [2SM 424.2] Those who increase their number of children, when if they consulted reason, they must know that physical and mental weakness must be their inheritance, are transgressors of the last six precepts of God's law, which specify the duty of man to his fellow man. They do their part in increasing the degeneracy of the race, and in sinking society lower, thus injuring their neighbor. If God thus regards the rights of neighbors, has he no care in regard to closer, and more sacred relationship? If not a sparrow falls to the ground without his notice, will he be unmindful of the children born into the world, diseased physically and mentally, suffering in a greater or less degree, all their lives? Will he not call parents to an account, to whom he has given reasoning powers, for putting these higher faculties in the background, and becoming slaves to passion, when, as the result, generations must bear the mark of their physical, mental, and moral deficiencies? In addition to the suffering they entail upon their children, they have no portion but poverty to leave to their pitiful flock. They cannot 425 educate them, and many do not see the necessity, neither could they if they did, find time to train them, and instruct them, and lessen, as much as possible, the wretched inheritance transmitted to them. Parents should not increase their families any faster than they know that their children can be well cared for, and educated. A child in the mother's arms from year to year is great injustice to her. It lessens, and often destroys, social enjoyment, and increases domestic wretchedness. It robs their children of that care, education, and happiness, which parents should feel it their duty to bestow upon them. {2SM 424.2} [2SM 425.1] The husband violates the marriage vow, and the duties enjoined upon him in the word of God, when he disregards the health and happiness of the wife, by increasing her burdens and cares by numerous offspring. "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." "So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the lord the church" (Ephesians 5:25, 28, 29). {2SM 425.1} [2SM 425.2] We see this holy injunction almost wholly disregarded, even by professed Christians. Everywhere you may look, you will see pale, sickly, careworn, broken-down, dispirited, discouraged women. They are generally over-worked, and their vital energies exhausted by frequent child-bearing. The world is filled with images of human beings who are of no worth to society. Many are deficient in intellect, and many who possess natural talents do not use them for any beneficial purposes. They are not cultivated, and the one great reason is, children have been multiplied faster than they could be well trained, and have been left to come up much like the brutes. {2SM 425.2} [2SM 425.3] Children in this age are suffering with their parents, more or less, the penalty of the violation of the laws of health. The course generally pursued with them, from their infancy, is in continual opposition to the laws of their being. They were compelled to receive a miserable inheritance of disease and debility, before their birth, occasioned by the wrong habits of their parents, which will affect them in a greater or less degree through life. This bad state of things is made every way worse by parents' continuing to follow a wrong course in the physical training of their children during their childhood. 426 {2SM 425.3} [2SM 426.1] Parents manifest astonishing ignorance, indifference, and recklessness, in regard to the physical health of their children, which often results in destroying the little vitality left the abused infant, and consigns it to an early grave. You will frequently hear parents mourning over the providence of God which has torn their children from their embrace. Our heavenly father is too wise to err, and too good to do us wrong. He has no delight in seeing his creatures suffer. Thousands have been ruined for life because parents have not acted in accordance with the laws of health. They have moved from impulse, instead of following the dictates of sound judgment, constantly having in view the future well-being of their children. {2SM 426.1} [2SM 426.2] The first great object to be attained in the training of children is soundness of constitution which will prepare the way in a great measure for mental and moral training. Physical and moral health are closely united. What an enormous weight of responsibility rests upon parents, when we consider the course pursued by them, before the birth of their children, has very much to do with the development of their character after their birth. {2SM 426.2} [2SM 426.3] Many children are left to come up with less attention from their parents than a good farmer devotes to his dumb animals. Fathers, especially, are often guilty of manifesting less care for wife and children than that shown to their cattle. A merciful farmer will take time, and devote especial thought as to the best manner of managing his stock, and will be particular that his valuable horses shall not be overworked, overfed, or fed when heated, lest they be ruined. He will take time and care for his stock, lest they be injured by neglect, exposure, or any improper treatment, and his increasing young stock depreciate in value. He will observe regular periods for their eating, and will know the amount of work they can perform without injuring them. In order to accomplish this, he will provide them only the most healthful food, in proper quantities, and at stated periods. By thus following the dictates of reason, farmers are successful in preserving the strength of their beasts. If the interest of every father, for his wife and children, corresponded to that care manifested for his cattle, in that degree that their lives are more valuable than the dumb animals, there would be an entire reformation in every family, and human misery be far less. 427 {2SM 426.3} [2SM 427.1] Great care should be manifested by parents in providing the most healthful articles of food for themselves and for their children. And in no case should they place before their children food which their reason teaches them is not conducive to health, but which would fever the system, and derange the digestive organs. Parents do not study from cause to effect in regard to their children, as in the case of their dumb animals and do not reason that to overwork, to eat after violent exercise, and when much exhausted, and heated, will injure the health of human beings, as well as the health of dumb animals, and will lay the foundation for a broken constitution in man, as well as the beasts. {2SM 427.1} [2SM 427.2] If parents or children eat frequently, irregularly, and in too great quantities, even of the most healthful food, it will injure the constitution; but in addition to this, if the food is of an improper quality, and prepared with grease and indigestible spices, the result will be far more injurious. The digestive organs will be severely taxed, and exhausted nature will be left a poor chance to rest, and recover strength, and the vital organs soon become impaired, and break down. If care and regularity is considered needful for dumb animals, it is as much more essential for human beings, formed in the image of their Maker, as they are of more value than the dumb creation. {2SM 427.2} [2SM 427.3] The father in many cases, exercises less reason, and has less care, for his wife, and their offspring, before its birth, than he manifests for his cattle with young. The mother, in many cases previous to the birth of her children, is permitted to toil early and late, heating her blood, while preparing various unhealthy dishes of food to suit the perverted taste of the family, and of visitors. Her strength should have been tenderly cherished. A preparation of healthful food would have required but about one-half of the expense and labor, and would have been far more nourishing. {2SM 427.3} [2SM 427.4] The mother, before the birth of her children, is often permitted to labor beyond her strength. Her burdens and cares are seldom lessened, and that period, which should be to her of all others, a time of rest, is one of fatigue, sadness, and gloom. By too great exertion on her part, she deprives her offspring of that nutrition which nature has provided for it, and by heating her blood, she imparts to it, a bad quality of blood. The offspring is robbed of its vitality, 428 robbed of physical and mental strength. The father should study how to make the mother happy. He should not allow himself to come to his home with a clouded brow. If he is perplexed in business, he should not, unless it is actually necessary to counsel with his wife, trouble her with such matters. She has cares and trials of her own to bear, and she should be tenderly spared every needless burden. {2SM 427.4} [2SM 428.1] The mother too often meets with cold reserve from the father. If everything does not move off just as pleasantly as he could wish, he blames the wife and mother, and seems indifferent to her cares and daily trials. Men who do this, are working directly against their own interest and happiness. The mother becomes discouraged. Hope and cheerfulness depart from her. She goes about her work mechanically, knowing that it must be done, which soon debilitates physical and mental health. Children are born to them suffering with various diseases, and God holds the parents accountable in a great degree; for it was their wrong habits which fastened disease upon their unborn children, under which they are compelled to suffer all through their lives. Some live but a short period with their load of debility. The mother anxiously watches over the life of her child, and is weighed down with sorrow as she is compelled to close its eyes in death, and she often regards God as the author of all this affliction, when the parents in reality were the murderers of their own child. {2SM 428.1} [2SM 428.2] The father should bear in mind that the treatment of his wife before the birth of his offspring will materially affect the disposition of the mother during that period, and will have very much to do with the character developed by the child after its birth. Many fathers have been so anxious to obtain property fast that higher considerations have been sacrificed, and some men have been criminally neglectful of the mother and her offspring, and too frequently the lives of both have been sacrificed to the strong desire to accumulate wealth. Many do not immediately suffer this heavy penalty for their wrong doing, and are asleep as to the result of their course. The condition of the wife is sometimes no better than that of a slave, and sometimes she is equally guilty with the husband, of squandering physical strength, to obtain means to live fashionably. It is a crime for such to have children, for their offspring will often be deficient in physical, mental, and moral worth, and will 429 bear the miserable, close, selfish impress of their parents, and the world will be cursed with their meanness. {2SM 428.2} [2SM 429.1] It is the duty of men and women to act with reason in regard to their labor. They should not exhaust their energies unnecessarily, for by doing this, they not only bring suffering upon themselves but, by their errors, bring anxiety, weariness, and suffering upon those they love. What calls for such an amount of labor? Intemperance in eating, and in drinking, and the desire for wealth have led to this intemperance in labor. If the appetite is controlled, and that food only which is healthful be taken, there will be so great a saving of expense, that men and women will not be compelled to labor beyond their strength, and thus violate the laws of health. The desire of men and women to accumulate property is not sinful if in their efforts to attain their object they do not forget God, and transgress the last six precepts of Jehovah, which dictate the duty of man to his fellow man, and place themselves in a position where it is impossible for them to glorify God in their bodies and spirits which are his. If in their haste to be rich they overtax their energies, and violate the laws of their being, they place themselves in a condition where they cannot render to God perfect service, and are pursuing a course of sin. Property thus obtained is at an immense sacrifice. {2SM 429.1} [2SM 429.2] Hard labor, and anxious care, often make the father nervous, impatient, and exacting. He does not notice the tired look of his wife, who has labored with her feebler strength, just as hard as he has labored, with his stronger energies. He suffers himself to be hurried with business, and through his anxiety to be rich, loses in a great measure the sense of his obligation to his family, and does not measure aright his wife's power of endurance. He often enlarges his farm, requiring an increase of hired help, which necessarily increases the housework. The wife realizes every day that she is doing too much work for her strength, yet she toils on thinking the work must be done. She is continually reaching down into the future, drawing upon her future resources of strength and is living upon borrowed capital, and at the period when she needs that strength, it is not at her command; and if she does not lose her life, her constitution is broken, past recovery. {2SM 429.2} [2SM 429.3] If the father would become acquainted with physical law, he might better understand his obligations, and his 430 responsibilities. He would see that he had been guilty of almost murdering his children, by suffering so many burdens to come upon the mother, compelling her to labor beyond her strength before their birth, in order to obtain means to leave for them. They nurse these children through their suffering life, and often lay them prematurely in the grave, little realizing their wrong course has brought the sure result. How much better to have shielded the mother of his children from wearing labor, and mental anxiety, and let the children inherit good constitutions, and give them an opportunity to battle their way through life, not relying upon their father's property, but upon their own energetic strength. The experience thus obtained would be of more worth to them than houses and lands, purchased at the expense of the health of mother and children. {2SM 429.3} [2SM 430.1] It seems perfectly natural for some men to be morose, selfish, exacting, and overbearing. They have never learned the lesson of self-control, and will not restrain their unreasonable feelings, let the consequences be what they may. Such men will be repaid, by seeing their companions sickly, and dispirited, and their children bearing the peculiarities of their own disagreeable traits of character. {2SM 430.1} [2SM 430.2] It is the duty of every married couple to studiously avoid marring the feelings of each other. They should control every look, and expression of fretfulness, and passion. They should study each others' happiness, in small matters, as well as in large, manifesting a tender thoughtfulness, in acknowledging kind acts, and the little courtesies of each other. These small things should not be neglected, for they are just as important to the happiness of man and wife, as food is necessary to sustain physical strength. The father should encourage the wife and mother to lean upon his large affections. Kind, cheerful, encouraging words from him, with whom she has entrusted her life-happiness, will be more beneficial to her than any medicine; and the cheerful rays of light, such sympathising words will bring to the heart of the wife and mother, will reflect back their own cheering beams upon the heart of the father. {2SM 430.2} [2SM 430.3] The husband will frequently see his wife care-worn and debilitated, growing prematurely old, in laboring to prepare food to suit the vitiated taste. He gratifies the appetite, and will eat and drink those things which cost much time and labor to prepare them for the table, and 431 which have a tendency to make those who partake of these unhealthy things, nervous and irritable. The wife and mother is seldom free from the headache, and the children are suffering the effects of eating unwholesome food, and there is a great lack of patience and affection with parents and children. All are sufferers together, for health has been sacrificed to lustful appetite. The offspring, before its birth, has transmitted to it disease, and an unhealthy appetite. And the irritability, nervousness, and despondency, manifested by the mother, will mark the character of her child. {2SM 430.3} [2SM 431.1] In past generations, if mothers had informed themselves in regard to the laws of their being, they would have understood that their constitutional strength, as well as the tone of their morals, and their mental faculties, would in a great measure be represented in their offspring. Their ignorance upon this subject, where so much is involved, is criminal. Many women never should have become mothers. Their blood was filled with scrofula, transmitted to them from their parents, and increased by their gross manner of living. The intellect has been brought down, and enslaved to serve the animal appetites, and children, born of such parents, have been poor sufferers, and of but little use to society. {2SM 431.1} [2SM 431.2] It has been one of the greatest causes of degeneracy in generations back, up to the present time, that wives and mothers who otherwise would have had a beneficial influence upon society, in raising the standard of morals, have been lost to society through multiplicity of home cares, because of the fashionable, health-destroying manner of cooking, and also in consequence of too frequent child-bearing. She has been compelled to needless suffering, her constitution has failed, and her intellect has become weakened, by so great a draught upon her vital resources. Her offspring suffer her debility, and society has thrown upon them a class poorly fitted, through her inability to educate them, to be of the least benefit. {2SM 431.2} [2SM 431.3] If these mothers had given birth to but few children, and if they had been careful to live upon such food as would preserve physical health, and mental strength, so that the moral and intellectual might predominate over the animal, they could have so educated their children for usefulness, as to have been bright ornaments to society. {2SM 431.3} [2SM 431.4] If parents in past generations had, with firmness of 432 purpose, kept the body servant to the mind, and had not allowed the intellectual to be enslaved by animal passions, there would be in this age a different order of beings upon the earth. And if the mother, before the birth of her offspring, had always possessed self-control, realizing that she was giving the stamp of character to future generations, the present state of society would not be so depreciated in character as at the present time. {2SM 431.4} [2SM 432.1] Every woman, about to become a mother, whatever may be her surroundings, should encourage constantly a happy, cheerful, contented, disposition, knowing that for all her efforts in this direction she will be repaid ten-fold in the physical, as well as the moral character of her offspring. Nor is this all. She can by habit accustom herself to cheerful thinking, and thus encourage a happy state of mind, and cast a cheerful reflection of her own happiness of spirit upon her family, and those with whom she associates. And in a very great degree will her physical health be improved. A force will be imparted to the life springs, the blood will not move sluggishly, as would be the case if she were to yield to despondency, and gloom. Her mental and moral health are invigorated by the buoyancy of her spirits. The power of the will can resist impressions of the mind, and will prove a grand soother of the nerves. Children who are robbed of that vitality which they should have inherited of their parents should have the utmost care. By close attention to the laws of their being, a much better condition of things can be established. {2SM 432.1} [2SM 432.2] The period in which the infant receives its nourishment from the mother, is critical. Many mothers, while nursing their infants, have been permitted to over labor, and to heat their blood in cooking, and the nursling has been seriously affected, not only with fevered nourishment from the mother's breast, but its blood has been poisoned by the unhealthy diet of the mother, which has fevered her whole system thereby affecting the food of the infant. The infant will also be affected by the condition of the mother's mind. If she is unhappy, easily agitated, irritable, giving vent to outbursts of passion, the nourishment the infant receives from its mother, will be inflamed, often producing colic, spasms, and, in some instances, causing convulsions and fits. {2SM 432.2} [2SM 432.3] The character also of the child is more or less affected 433 by the nature of the nourishment received from the mother. How important then that the mother, while nursing her infant, should preserve a happy state of mind, having the perfect control of her own spirit. By thus doing, the food of the child is not injured, and the calm, self-possessed course the mother pursues in the treatment of her child has very much to do in molding the mind of the infant. If it is nervous, and easily agitated, the mother's careful unhurried manner will have a soothing and correcting influence, and the health of the infant can be very much improved. {2SM 432.3} [2SM 433.1] Infants have been greatly abused by improper treatment. If it was fretful, it has generally been fed to keep it quiet, when, in most cases, the very reason of its fretfulness was because of its having received too much food, made injurious by the wrong habits of the mother. More food only made the matter worse, for its stomach was already overloaded. {2SM 433.1} [2SM 433.2] Children are generally brought up from the cradle to indulge the appetite, and are taught that they live to eat. The mother does much toward the formation of the character of her children in their childhood. She can teach them to control the appetite, or she can teach them to indulge the appetite, and become gluttons. The mother often arranges her plans to accomplish a certain amount through the day, and when the children trouble her, instead of taking time to soothe their little sorrows, and divert them, something is given them to eat, to keep them still, which answers the purpose for a short time, but eventually makes things worse. The children's stomachs are pressed with food when they had not the least want of food. All that was required was a little of the mother's time and attention. But she regarded her time altogether too precious to devote to the amusement of her children. Perhaps the arrangement of her house in a tasteful manner for visitors to praise, and to have her food cooked in a fashionable style, are with her higher considerations than the happiness and health of her children. {2SM 433.2} [2SM 433.3] Intemperance in eating and in labor debilitates the parents, often making them nervous, and disqualifying them to rightly discharge their duty to their children. Three times a day parents and children gather around the table, loaded with a variety of fashionable foods. The merits of each dish has to be tested. Perhaps the mother had toiled till she was heated, and exhausted, and was not in a condition 434 to take even the simplest food till she had first had a period of rest. The food she wearied herself in preparing was wholly unfit for her at any time, but especially taxes the digestive organs when the blood is heated and the system exhausted. Those who have thus persisted in violating the laws of their being, have been compelled to pay the penalty at some period in their life. {2SM 433.3} [2SM 434.1] There are ample reasons why there are so many nervous women in the world, complaining of the dyspepsia, with its train of evils. The cause has been followed by the effect. It is impossible for intemperate persons to be patient. They must first reform bad habits, learn to live healthfully, and then it will not be difficult for them to be patient. Many do not seem to understand the relation the mind sustains to the body. If the system is deranged by improper food, the brain and nerves are affected, and slight things annoy those who are thus afflicted. Little difficulties are to them troubles mountain high. Persons thus situated are unfitted to properly train their children. Their life will be marked with extremes, sometimes very indulgent, at other times severe, censuring for trifles which deserved no notice. {2SM 434.1} [2SM 434.2] The mother frequently sends her children from her presence, because she thinks she cannot endure the noise occasioned by their happy frolics. But with no mother's eye over them to approbate, or disapprove, at the right time, unhappy differences often arise. A word from the mother would set all right again. They soon become weary, and desire change, and go into the street for amusement, and pure, innocent minded children are driven into bad company, and evil communications breathed into their ears corrupt their good manners. The mother often seems to be asleep to the interest of her children until she is painfully aroused by the exhibition of vice. The seeds of evil were sown in their young minds, promising an abundant harvest. And it is a marvel to her that her children are so prone to do wrong. Parents should begin in season to instil into infant minds good and correct principles. The mother should be with her children as much as possible, and should sow precious seed in their hearts. {2SM 434.2} [2SM 434.3] The mother's time belongs in a special manner to her children. They have a right to her time as no others can have. In many cases mothers have neglected to discipline their children, because it would require too much of their 435 time, which time they think must be spent in the cooking department, or in preparing their own clothing, and that of their children, according to fashion, to foster pride in their young hearts. In order to keep their restless children still, they have given them cake, or candies, almost any hour of the day, and their stomachs are crowded with hurtful things at irregular periods. Their pale faces testify to the fact, that mothers are doing what they can to destroy the remaining life forces of their poor children. The digestive organs are constantly taxed, and are not allowed periods of rest. The liver becomes inactive, the blood impure, and the children are sickly, and irritable, because they are real sufferers by intemperance, and it is impossible for them to exercise patience. {2SM 434.3} [2SM 435.1] Parents wonder that children are so much more difficult to control than they used to be, when in most cases their own criminal management has made them so. The quality of food they bring upon their tables, and encourage their children to eat, is constantly exciting their animal passions, and weakening the moral and intellectual faculties. Very many children are made miserable dyspeptics in their youth by the wrong course their parents have pursued toward them in childhood. Parents will be called to render an account to God for thus dealing with their children. {2SM 435.1} [2SM 435.2] Many parents do not give their children lessons in self-control. They indulge their appetite, and form the habits of their children in their childhood, to eat and drink, according to their desires. So will they be in their general habits in their youth. Their desires have not been restrained, and as they grow older, they will not only indulge in the common habits of intemperance, but they will go still further in indulgences. They will choose their own associates, although corrupt. They cannot endure restraint from their parents. They will give loose rein to their corrupt passions, and have but little regard for purity or virtue. This is the reason why there is so little purity and moral worth among the youth of the present day, and is the great cause why men and women feel under so little obligation to render obedience to the law of God. Some parents have not control over themselves. They do not control their own morbid appetites, or their passionate tempers, therefore they cannot educate their children in regard to the denial of their appetite, and teach them self-control. 436 {2SM 435.2} [2SM 436.1] Many mothers feel that they have not time to instruct their children, and in order to get them out of the way, and get rid of their noise and trouble, they send them to school. The school-room is a hard place for children who have inherited enfeebled constitutions. School-rooms generally have not been constructed in reference to health, but in regard to cheapness. The rooms have not been arranged so that they could be ventilated as they should have been without exposing the children to severe colds. And the seats have seldom been made so that the children could sit with ease, and keep their little, growing frames in a proper posture to ensure healthy action of the lungs and heart. Young children can grow into almost any shape, and can, by habits of proper exercise and positions of the body, obtain healthy forms. It is destructive to the health and life of young children for them to sit in the school-room, upon hard ill-formed benches, from three to five hours a day, inhaling the impure air caused by many breaths. The weak lungs become affected, the brain, from which the nervous energy of the whole system is derived, becomes enfeebled by being called into active exercise before the strength of the mental organs is sufficiently matured to endure fatigue. {2SM 436.1} [2SM 436.2] In the school-room the foundation has been too surely laid for diseases of various kinds. But, more especially, the most delicate of all organs, the brain, has often been permanently injured by too great exercise. This has often caused inflammation, then dropsy of the head, and convulsions with their dreaded results. And the lives of many have been thus sacrificed by ambitious mothers. Of those children who have apparently had sufficient force of constitution to survive this treatment, there are very many who carry the effects of it through life. The nervous energy of the brain becomes so weakened, that after they come to maturity, it is impossible for them to endure much mental exercise. The force of some of the delicate organs of the brain seems to be expended. {2SM 436.2} [2SM 436.3] And not only has the physical and mental health of children been endangered by being sent to school at too early a period, but they have been the losers in a moral point of view. They have had opportunities to become acquainted with children who were uncultivated in their manners. They were thrown into the society of the coarse and rough, who lie, swear, steal, and deceive, and who 437 delight to impart their knowledge of vice to those younger than themselves. Young children if left to themselves learn the bad more readily than the good. Bad habits agree best with the natural heart, and the things which they see and hear in infancy and childhood are deeply imprinted upon their minds, and the bad seed sown in their young hearts will take root, and will become sharp thorns to wound the hearts of their parents. {2SM 436.3} [2SM 437.1] During the first six or seven years of a child's life special attention should be given to its physical training, rather than the intellect. After this period, if the physical constitution is good, the education of both should receive attention. Infancy extends to the age of six or seven years. Up to this period, children should be left like little lambs, to roam around the house, and in the yards, in the buoyancy of their spirits, skipping and jumping free from care and trouble. {2SM 437.1} [2SM 437.2] Parents, especially mothers, should be the only teachers of such infant minds. They should not educate from books. The children generally will be inquisitive to learn the things of nature. They will ask questions in regard to the things they see and hear, and parents should improve the opportunity to instruct, and patiently answer, these little inquiries. They can in this manner get the advantage of the enemy, and fortify the minds of their children, by sowing good seed in their hearts, leaving no room for the bad to take root. The mother's loving instructions at a tender age is what is needed by children in the formation of character. {2SM 437.2} [2SM 437.3] The first important lesson for children to learn is the proper denial of appetite. It is the duty of mothers to attend to the wants of their children, by soothing and diverting their minds, instead of giving them food, and thus teaching them that eating is the remedy for life's ills. {2SM 437.3} [2SM 437.4] If parents had lived healthfully, being satisfied with simple diet, much expense would have been saved. The father would not have been obliged to labor beyond his strength, in order to supply the wants of his family. A simple nourishing diet would not have had an influence to unduly excite the nervous system, and the animal passions, producing moroseness and irritability. If he had partaken only of plain food, his head would have been clear, his nerves steady, his stomach in a healthy condition, and with a pure system, he would have had no loss of appetite, and 438 the present generation would be in a much better condition than it now is. But even now, in this late period, something can be done to improve our condition. Temperance in all things is necessary. A temperate father will not complain if he has no great variety upon his table. A healthful manner of living will improve the condition of the family in every sense, and will allow the wife and mother time to devote to her children. The great study with the parents will be in what manner can they best train their children for usefulness in this world, and for Heaven hereafter. They will be content to see their children with neat, plain, but comfortable garments free from embroidery and adornment. They will earnestly labor to see their children in the possession of the inward adorning, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. {2SM 437.4} [2SM 438.1] Before the Christian father leaves his home, to go to his labor, he will gather his family around him, and bowing before God will commit them to the care of the Chief Shepherd. He will then go forth to his labor with the love and blessing of his wife, and the love of his children, to make his heart cheerful through his laboring hours. And that mother who is aroused to her duty, realizes the obligations resting upon her to her children in the absence of the father. She will feel that she lives for her husband and children. By training her children aright, teaching them habits of temperance and self-control, and in teaching them their duty to God, she is qualifying them to become useful in the world, to elevate the standard of morals in society, and to reverence and obey the law of God. Patiently and perseveringly will the Godly mother instruct her children, giving them line upon line, and precept upon precept, not in a harsh, compelling manner, but in love, and in tenderness will she win them. They will consider her lessons of love, and will happily listen to her words of instruction. {2SM 438.1} [2SM 438.2] Instead of sending her children from her presence, that she may not be troubled with their noise, and be annoyed with the numerous attentions they would desire, she will feel that her time cannot be better employed than in soothing, and diverting their restless active minds with some amusement, or light, happy employment. The mother will be amply repaid for her efforts in taking time to invent amusement for her children. {2SM 438.2} [2SM 438.3] Young children love society. They cannot, as a general 439 thing, enjoy themselves alone, and the mother should feel that, in most cases, the place for her children, when they are in the house, is in the room she occupies. She can then have a general oversight of them, and be prepared to set little differences right, when appealed to by them, and correct wrong habits, or the manifestation of selfishness or passion, and can give their minds a turn in the right direction. That which children enjoy, they think mother can be pleased with, and it is perfectly natural for them to consult mother in little matters of perplexity. And the mother should not wound the heart of her sensitive child by treating the matter with indifference, or by refusing to be troubled with such small matters. That which may be small to the mother is large to them. And a word of direction, or caution, at the right time, will often prove of great value. An approving glance, a word of encouragement and praise from the mother, will often cast a sunbeam into their young hearts for a whole day. {2SM 438.3} [2SM 439.1] The first education children should receive from the mother in infancy, should be in regard to their physical health. They should be allowed only plain food, of that quality that would preserve to them the best condition of health, and that should be partaken of only at regular periods, not oftener than three times a day, and two meals would be better than three. If children are disciplined aright, they will soon learn that they can receive nothing by crying or fretting. A judicious mother will act in training her children, not merely in regard to her own present comfort, but for their future good. And to this end, she will teach her children the important lesson of controlling the appetite, and of self-denial, that they should eat, drink, and dress in reference to health. {2SM 439.1} [2SM 439.2] A well-disciplined family, who love and obey God, will be cheerful and happy. The father, when he returns from his daily labor, will not bring his perplexities to his home. He will feel that home, and the family circle, are too sacred to be marred with unhappy perplexities. When he left his home, he did not leave his Saviour and his religion behind. Both were his companions. The sweet influence of his home, the blessing of his wife, and love of his children, make his burdens light, and he returns with peace in his heart, and cheerful encouraging words for his wife and children, who are waiting to joyfully welcome his coming. As he bows 440 with his family, at the altar of prayer, to offer up his grateful thanks to God, for his preserving care of himself and loved ones through the day, angels of God hover in the room, and bear the fervent prayers of God-fearing parents to Heaven, as sweet incense, which are answered by returning blessings. {2SM 439.2} [2SM 440.1] Parents should impress upon their children that it is sin to consult the taste, to the injury of the stomach. They should impress upon their minds that by violating the laws of their being, they sin against their Maker. Children thus educated will not be difficult of restraint. They will not be subject to irritable, changeable tempers, and will be in a far better condition of enjoying life. Such children will the more readily and clearly understand their moral obligations. Children who have been taught to yield their will and wishes to their parents, will the more easily and readily yield their wills to God, and will submit to be controlled by the Spirit of Christ. Why so many who claim to be Christians, have numerous trials, which keep the church burdened, is because they have not been correctly trained in their childhood, and were left in a great measure to form their own character. Their wrong habits, and peculiar, unhappy dispositions, were not corrected. They were not taught to yield their will to their parents. Their whole religious experience is affected by their training in childhood. They were not then controlled. They grew up undisciplined, and now, in their religious experience, it is difficult for them to yield to that pure discipline taught in the word of God. Parents should, then, realize the responsibility resting upon them to educate their children in reference to their religious experience. {2SM 440.1} [2SM 440.2] Those who regard the marriage relation as one of God's sacred ordinances, guarded by his holy precept, will be controlled by the dictates of reason. They will consider carefully the result of every privilege the marriage relation grants. Such will feel that their children are precious jewels committed to their keeping by God, to remove from their natures the rough surface by discipline, that their lustre may appear. They will feel under most solemn obligations to so form their characters that they may do good in their life, bless others with their light, and the world be better for their having lived in it, and they be finally fitted for the higher life, the better world, to shine in the presence of God, and the Lamb forever.--How to Live, No. 2, pp. 25-48. 441 {2SM 440.2} [2SM 441.1] Chapter 3 - The human family have brought upon themselves diseases of various forms by their own wrong habits. They have not studied how to live healthfully, and their transgression of the laws of their being has produced a deplorable state of things. The people have seldom accredited their sufferings to the true cause--their own wrong course of action. They have indulged an intemperance in eating, and made a god of their appetite. In all their habits they have manifested a recklessness in regard to health and life; and when, as the result, sickness has come upon them they have made themselves believe that God was the author of it, when their own wrong course of action has brought the sure result. When in distress they send for the doctor, and trust their bodies in his hands, expecting that he will make them well. He deals out to them drugs, the nature of which they know nothing, and in their blind confidence they swallow anything that the doctor may choose to give. Thus powerful poisons are often administered which fetter nature in all her friendly efforts to recover the abuse the system has suffered, and the patient is hurried out of this life. {2SM 441.1} [2SM 441.2] The mother who has been but slightly indisposed, and who might have recovered by abstinence from food for a short period, and a cessation from labor, having quiet and rest, has, instead of doing this, sent for a physician. And he who should be prepared to understandingly give a few simple directions, and restrictions in diet, and place her upon the right track, is either too ignorant to do this, or too anxious to obtain a fee. {2SM 441.2} [2SM 441.3] He makes the case a grave one, and administers his poisons, which, if he were sick, he would not venture to take himself. The patient grows worse, and poisonous drugs are more freely administered, until nature is overpowered in her efforts, and gives up the conflict, and the 442 mother dies. She was drugged to death. Her system was poisoned beyond remedy. She was murdered. Neighbors and relatives marvel at the wonderful dealings of providence in thus removing a mother in the midst of her usefulness, at the period when her children need her care so much. They wrong our good and wise heavenly Father when they cast back upon him this weight of human woe. Heaven wished that mother to live, and her untimely death dishonored God. The mother's wrong habits, and her inattention to the laws of her being, made her sick. And the doctor's fashionable poisons, introduced into the system, closed the period of her existence, and left a helpless, stricken, motherless flock. {2SM 441.3} [2SM 442.1] The above is not always the result which follows the doctor's drugging. Sick people who take these drug-poisons do appear to get well. With some, there is sufficient life-force for nature to draw upon, to so far expel the poison from the system that the sick, having a period of rest, recover. But no credit should be allowed the drugs taken, for they only hindered nature in her efforts. All the credit should be ascribed to nature's restorative powers. {2SM 442.1} [2SM 442.2] Although the patient may recover, yet the powerful effort nature was required to make to induce action to overcome the poison, injured the constitution, and shortened the life of the patient. There are many who do not die under the influence of drugs, but there are very many who are left useless wrecks, hopeless, gloomy, and miserable sufferers, a burden to themselves and to society. {2SM 442.2} [2SM 442.3] If those who take these drugs were alone the sufferers, then the evil would not be as great. But parents not only sin against themselves in swallowing drug-poisons, but they sin against their children. The vitiated state of their blood, the poison distributed throughout the system, the broken constitution, and various drug-diseases, as the result of drug-poisons, are transmitted to their offspring, and left them as a wretched inheritance, which is another great cause of the degeneracy of the race. {2SM 442.3} [2SM 442.4] Physicians, by administering their drug-poisons, have done very much to increase the depreciation of the race, physically, mentally, and morally. Everywhere you may go you will see deformity, disease and imbecility, which in very many cases can be traced directly back to the drug-poisons, administered by the hand of a doctor, as a remedy for some of life's ills. The so-called remedy has fearfully 443 proved itself to the patient, by stern suffering experience, to be far worse than the disease for which the drug was taken. All who possess common capabilities should understand the wants of their own system. The philosophy of health should compose one of the important studies for our children. It is all-important that the human organism be understood, and then intelligent men and women can be their own physicians. If the people would reason from cause to effect, and would follow the light which shines upon them, they would pursue a course which would insure health, and mortality would be far less. But the people are too willing to remain in inexcusable ignorance, and trust their bodies to the doctors, instead of having any special responsibility in the matter themselves. {2SM 442.4} [2SM 443.1] Several illustrations of this great subject have been presented before me. The first was a family consisting of a father and daughter. The daughter was sick, and the father was much troubled on her account, and summoned a physician. As the father conducted him into the sick room, he manifested a painful anxiety. The physician examined the patient, and said but little. They both left the sick room. The father informed the physician that he had buried the mother, a son and daughter, and this daughter was all that was left to him of his family. He anxiously inquired of the physician if he thought his daughter's case hopeless. {2SM 443.1} [2SM 443.2] The physician then inquired in regard to the nature and length of the sickness of those who had died. The father moanfully related the painful facts connected with the illness of his loved ones. "My son was first attacked with a fever. I called a physician. He said that he could administer medicine which would soon break the fever. He gave him powerful medicine, but was disappointed in its effects. The fever was reduced, but my son grew dangerously sick. The same medicine was again given him, without producing any change for the better. The physician then resorted to still more powerful medicines, but my son obtained no relief. The fever left him, but he did not rally. He sank rapidly and died. {2SM 443.2} [2SM 443.3] "The death of my son so sudden and unexpected was a great grief to us all, but especially to his mother. Her watching and anxiety in his sickness, and her grief occasioned by his sudden death, were too much for her nervous system, 444 and my wife was soon prostrated. I felt dissatisfied with the course pursued by this physician. My confidence in his skill was shaken, and I could not employ him a second time. I called another to my suffering wife. This second physician gave her a liberal dose of opium, which he said would relieve her pains, quiet her nerves, and give her rest, which she much needed. The opium stupefied her. She slept, and nothing could arouse her from the death-like stupor. Her pulse and heart at times throbbed violently, and then grew more and more feeble in their action, until she ceased to breathe. Thus she died without giving her family one look of recognition. This second death seemed more than we could endure. We all sorrowed deeply but I was agonized and could not be comforted. {2SM 443.3} [2SM 444.1] "My daughter was next afflicted. Grief, anxiety and watching, had overtasked her powers of endurance, and her strength gave way, and she was brought upon a bed of suffering. I have now lost confidence in both the physicians I had employed. Another physician was recommended to me as being successful in treating the sick. And although he lived at a distance, I was determined to obtain his services. {2SM 444.1} [2SM 444.2] "This third physician professed to understand my daughter's case. He said that she was greatly debilitated, and that her nervous system was deranged, and that fever was upon her, which could be controlled, but that it would take time to bring her up from her present state of debility. He expressed perfect confidence in his ability to raise her. He gave her powerful medicine to break up the fever. This was accomplished. But as the fever left, the case assumed more alarming features, and grew more complicated. As the symptoms changed, the medicines were varied to meet the case. While under the influence of new medicines she would, for a time, appear revived, which would flatter our hopes, that she would get well, only to make our disappointment more bitter as she became worse. {2SM 444.2} [2SM 444.3] "The physician's last resort was calomel. For some time she seemed to be between life and death. She was thrown into convulsions. As these most distressing spasms ceased, we were aroused to the painful fact that her intellect was weakened. She began slowly to improve, although still a great sufferer. Her limbs were crippled as the effect of the powerful poisons which she had taken. She lingered a few years a helpless, pitiful sufferer, and died in much agony." 445 {2SM 444.3} [2SM 445.1] After this sad relation the father looked imploringly to the physician, and entreated him to save his only remaining child. The physician looked sad and anxious, but made no prescription. He arose to leave, saying that he would call the next day. {2SM 445.1} [2SM 445.2] Another scene was then presented before me. I was brought into the presence of a female, apparently about thirty years of age. A physician was standing by her, and reporting, that her nervous system was deranged, that her blood was impure, and moved sluggishly, and that her stomach was in a cold, inactive condition. He said that he would give her active remedies which would soon improve her condition. He gave her a powder from a vial upon which was written, Nux Vomica. I watched to see what effect this would have upon the patient. It appeared to act favorably. Her condition seemed better. She was animated, and even seemed cheerful and active. {2SM 445.2} [2SM 445.3] My attention was then called to still another case. I was introduced into the sick room of a young man who was in a high fever. A physician was standing by the bedside of the sufferer with a portion of medicine taken from a vial upon which was written Calomel. He administered this chemical poison, and a change seemed to take place, but not for the better. {2SM 445.3} [2SM 445.4] I was then shown still another case. It was that of a female, who seemed to be suffering much pain. A physician stood by the bedside of the patient, and was administering medicine, taken from a vial, upon which was written, Opium. At first this drug seemed to affect the mind. She talked strangely, but finally became quiet and slept. {2SM 445.4} [2SM 445.5] My attention was then called to the first case, that of the father who had lost his wife and two children. The physician was in the sick room, standing by the bedside of the afflicted daughter. Again he left the room without giving medicine. The father, when in the presence of the physician alone seemed deeply moved, and he inquired impatiently, "Do you intend to do nothing? Will you leave my only daughter to die?" The physician said,-- {2SM 445.5} [2SM 445.6] "I have listened to the sad history of the death of your much loved wife, and your two children, and have learned from your own lips that all three have died while in the care of physicians, while taking medicines prescribed and administered by their hands. Medicine has not saved your 446 loved ones, and as a physician I solemnly believe that none of them need, or ought to have died. They could have recovered if they had not been so drugged that nature was enfeebled by abuse, and finally crushed." He stated decidedly to the agitated father "I cannot give medicine to your daughter. I shall only seek to assist nature in her efforts, by removing every obstruction, and then leave nature to recover the exhausted energies of the system." He placed in the father's hand a few directions which he enjoined upon him to follow closely. {2SM 445.6} [2SM 446.1] "Keep the patient free from excitement, and every influence calculated to depress. Her attendants should be cheerful and hopeful. She should have a simple diet, and should be allowed plenty of pure soft water to drink. Bathe frequently in pure soft water followed by gentle rubbing. Let the light, and air, be freely admitted into her room. She must have quiet, and undisturbed rest." {2SM 446.1} [2SM 446.2] The father slowly read the prescription, and wondered at the few simple directions it contained, and seemed doubtful of any good resulting from such simple means. Said the physician, {2SM 446.2} [2SM 446.3] "You have had sufficient confidence in my skill to place the life of your daughter in my hands. Withdraw not your confidence. I will visit your daughter daily, and direct you in the management of her case. Follow my directions with confidence, and I trust in a few weeks to present her to you in a much better condition of health, if not fully restored." {2SM 446.3} [2SM 446.4] The father looked sad and doubtful, but submitted to the decision of the physician. He feared that his daughter must die if she had no medicine. {2SM 446.4} [2SM 446.5] The second case was again presented before me. The patient had appeared better under the influence of nux vomica. She was sitting up, folding a shawl closely around her, and complaining of chilliness. The air in the room was impure. It was heated and had lost its vitality. Almost every crevice where the pure air could enter was guarded to protect the patient from a sense of painful chilliness, which was especially felt in the back of the neck and down the spinal column. If the door was left ajar, she seemed nervous and distressed, and entreated that it should be closed, for she was cold. She could not bear the least draught of air from the door or windows. A gentleman of 447 intelligence stood looking pityingly upon her, and said to those present,-- {2SM 446.5} [2SM 447.1] "This is the second result of nux vomica. It is especially felt upon the nerves, and it affects the whole nervous system. There will be, for a time, increased forced action upon the nerves. But as the strength of this drug is spent, there will be chilliness, and prostration. Just to that degree that it excites and enlivens, will be the deadening, benumbing results following." {2SM 447.1} [2SM 447.2] The third case was again presented before me. It was that of the young man to whom was administered calomel. He was a great sufferer. His lips were dark and swollen. His gums were inflamed. His tongue was thick and swollen, and the saliva was running from his mouth in large quantities. The intelligent gentleman before mentioned looked sadly upon the sufferer, and said,-- {2SM 447.2} [2SM 447.3] "This is the influence of mercurial preparations. This young man had remaining, sufficient nervous energy, to commence a warfare upon this intruder, this drug-poison to attempt to expel it from the system. Many have not sufficient life-forces left to arouse to action, and nature is overpowered and ceases her efforts, and the victim dies." {2SM 447.3} [2SM 447.4] The fourth case, the person to whom was given opium, was again presented before me. She had awakened from her sleep much prostrated. Her mind was distracted. She was impatient and irritable, finding fault with her best friends, and imagining that they did not try to relieve her sufferings. She became frantic, and raved like a maniac. The gentleman before mentioned looked sadly upon the sufferer, and said to those present,-- {2SM 447.4} [2SM 447.5] "This is the second result from taking opium." Her physician was called. He gave her an increased dose of opium which quieted her ravings, yet made her very talkative and cheerful. She was at peace with all around her, and expressed much affection for acquaintances, as well as her relatives. She soon grew drowsy and fell into a stupefied condition. The gentleman mentioned above, solemnly said,-- {2SM 447.5} [2SM 447.6] "Her conditions of health are no better now than when she was in her frantic ravings. She is decidedly worse. This drug-poison, opium, gives temporary relief from pain, but does not remove the cause of pain. It only stupefies the brain, rendering it incapable of receiving impressions from the nerves. While the brain is thus insensible, the hearing, 448 the taste, and sight are affected. When the influence of opium wears off, and the brain arouses from its state of paralysis, the nerves, which had been cut off from communication with the brain, shriek out louder than ever the pains in the system, because of the additional outrage the system has sustained in receiving this poison. Every additional drug given to the patient, whether it be opium, or some other poison, will complicate the case, and make the patient's recovery more hopeless. The drugs given to stupefy, whatever they may be, derange the nervous system. An evil, simple in the beginning, which nature aroused herself to overcome, and which she would have done had she been left to herself, has been made ten-fold worse by drug-poisons being introduced into the system, which is a destructive disease of itself, forcing into extraordinary action the remaining life-forces to war against and overcome the drug-intruder." {2SM 447.6} [2SM 448.1] I was brought again into the sick room of the first case, that of the father and his daughter. The daughter was sitting by the side of her father, cheerful and happy, with the glow of health upon her countenance. The father was looking upon her with happy satisfaction, his countenance speaking the gratitude of his heart, that his only child was spared to him. Her physician entered, and after conversing with the father and child for a short time, arose to leave. He addressed the father, thus,-- {2SM 448.1} [2SM 448.2] "I present to you your daughter restored to health. I gave her no medicine that I might leave her with an unbroken constitution. Medicine never could have accomplished this. Medicine deranges nature's fine machinery, and breaks down the constitution, and kills, but never cures. Nature alone possesses the restorative powers. She alone can build up her exhausted energies, and repair the injuries she has received by inattention to her fixed laws." {2SM 448.2} [2SM 448.3] He then asked the father if he was satisfied with his manner of treatment. The happy father expressed his heartfelt gratitude, and perfect satisfaction, saying,-- {2SM 448.3} [2SM 448.4] "I have learned a lesson I shall never forget. It was painful, yet it is of priceless value. I am now convinced that my wife and children need not have died. Their lives were sacrificed while in the hands of physicians by their poisonous drugs." {2SM 448.4} [2SM 448.5] I was then shown the second case, the patient to 449 whom nux vomica had been administered. She was being supported by two attendants, from her chair to her bed. She had nearly lost the use of her limbs. The spinal nerves were partially paralyzed, and the limbs had lost their power to bear the weight of the person. She coughed distressingly, and breathed with difficulty. She was laid upon the bed, and soon lost her hearing, and seeing, and thus she lingered awhile, and died. The gentleman before mentioned looked sorrowfully upon the lifeless body, and said to those present,-- {2SM 448.5} [2SM 449.1] "Witness the mildest and protracted influence of nux vomica upon the human system. At its introduction, the nervous energy was excited to extraordinary action to meet this drug-poison. This extra excitement was followed by prostration, and the final result has been paralysis of the nerves. This drug does not have the same effect upon all. Some who have powerful constitutions can recover from abuses to which they may subject the system. While others, whose hold of life is not as strong, who possess enfeebled constitutions, have never recovered from receiving into the system even one dose, and many die from no other cause than the effects of one portion of this poison. Its effects are always tending to death. The condition the system is in, at the time these poisons are received into it, determine the life of the patient. Nux vomica can cripple, paralyze, destroy health forever, but it never cures." {2SM 449.1} [2SM 449.2] The third case was again presented before me, that of the young man to whom had been administered calomel. He was a pitiful sufferer. His limbs were crippled, and he was greatly deformed. He stated that his sufferings were beyond description, and life was to him a great burden. The gentleman whom I have repeatedly mentioned, looked upon the sufferer with sadness and pity, and said,-- {2SM 449.2} [2SM 449.3] "This is the effect of calomel. It torments the system as long as there is a particle left in it. It ever lives, not losing its properties by its long stay in the living system. It inflames the joints, and often sends rottenness into the bones. It frequently manifests itself in tumors, ulcers, and cancers, years after it has been introduced into the system." {2SM 449.3} [2SM 449.4] The fourth case was again presented before me--the patient to whom opium had been administered. Her countenance was sallow, and her eyes were restless and glassy. Her hands shook as if palsied, and she seemed to be greatly 450 excited, imagining that all present were leagued against her. Her mind was a complete wreck, and she raved in a pitiful manner. The physician was summoned, and seemed to be unmoved at these terrible exhibitions. He gave the patient a more powerful portion of opium, which he said would set her all right. Her ravings did not cease until she became thoroughly intoxicated. She then passed into a deathlike stupor. The gentleman mentioned, looked upon the patient and said sadly,-- {2SM 449.4} [2SM 450.1] "Her days are numbered. The efforts nature has made have been so many times overpowered by this poison, that the vital forces are exhausted by being repeatedly induced to unnatural action to rid the system of this poisonous drug. Nature's efforts are about to cease, and then the patient's suffering life will end." {2SM 450.1} [2SM 450.2] More deaths have been caused by drug-taking than from all other causes combined. If there was in the land one physician in the place of thousands, a vast amount of premature mortality would be prevented. Multitudes of physicians, and multitudes of drugs, have cursed the inhabitants of the earth, and have carried thousands and tens of thousands to untimely graves. {2SM 450.2} [2SM 450.3] Indulging in eating too frequently, and in too large quantities, overtaxes the digestive organs, and produces a feverish state of the system. The blood becomes impure, and then diseases of various kinds occur. A physician is sent for, who prescribes some drug which gives present relief, but which does not cure the disease. It may change the form of disease, but the real evil is increased tenfold. Nature was doing her best to rid the system of an accumulation of impurities, and, could she have been left to herself, aided by the common blessings of Heaven, such as pure air and pure water, a speedy and safe cure would have been effected. {2SM 450.3} [2SM 450.4] The sufferers, in such cases, can do for themselves that which others cannot do as well for them. They should commence to relieve nature of the load they have forced upon her. They should remove the cause. Fast a short time, and give the stomach chance for rest. Reduce the feverish state of the system by a careful and understanding application of water. These efforts will help nature in her struggles to free the system of impurities. But generally the persons who suffer pain become impatient. They are not willing 451 to use self-denial, and suffer a little from hunger. Neither are they willing to wait the slow process of nature to build up the overtaxed energies of the system. But they are determined to obtain relief at once, and take powerful drugs, prescribed by physicians. Nature was doing her work well, and would have triumphed, but while accomplishing her task, a foreign substance of a poisonous nature was introduced. What a mistake! Abused nature has now two evils to war against instead of one. She leaves the work in which she was engaged, and resolutely takes hold to expel the intruder newly introduced into the system. Nature feels this double draft upon her resources, and she becomes enfeebled. {2SM 450.4} [2SM 451.1] Drugs never cure disease. They only change the form and location. Nature alone is the effectual restorer, and how much better could she perform her task if left to herself. But this privilege is seldom allowed her. If crippled nature bears up under the load, and finally accomplishes in a great measure her double task, and the patient lives, the credit is given to the physician. But if nature fails in her effort to expel the poison from the system, and the patient dies, it is called a wonderful dispensation of Providence. If the patient had taken a course to relieve overburdened nature in season, and understandingly used pure soft water, this dispensation of drug-mortality might have been wholly averted. The use of water can accomplish but little, if the patient does not feel the necessity of also strictly attending to his diet. {2SM 451.1} [2SM 451.2] Many are living in violation of the laws of health, and are ignorant of the relation their habits of eating, drinking, and working, sustain to their health. They will not arouse to their true condition, until nature protests against the abuses she is suffering, by aches and pains in the system. If, even then, the sufferers would only commence the work right, and would resort to the simple means they have neglected--the use of water and proper diet, nature would have just the help she requires, and which she ought to have had long before. If this course is pursued, the patient will generally recover without being debilitated. {2SM 451.2} [2SM 451.3] When drugs are introduced into the system, for a time they may seem to have a beneficial effect. A change may take place, but the disease is not cured. It will manifest itself in some other form. In nature's efforts to expel the 452 drug from the system, intense suffering is sometimes caused the patient. And the disease, which the drug was given to cure, may disappear, but only to re-appear in a new form, such as skin diseases, ulcers, painful diseased joints, and sometimes in a more dangerous and deadly form. The liver, heart, and brain, are frequently affected by drugs, and often all these organs are burdened with disease, and the unfortunate subjects, if they live, are invalids for life, wearily dragging out a miserable existence. Oh, how much that poisonous drug cost! If it did not cost the life, it cost quite too much. Nature has been crippled in all her efforts. The whole machinery is out of order, and at a future period in life, when these fine works which have been injured, are to be relied upon to act a more important part in union with all the fine works of nature's machinery, they cannot readily and strongly perform their labor, and the whole system feels the lack. These organs, which should be in a healthy condition, are enfeebled, the blood becomes impure. Nature keeps struggling, and the patient suffers with different ailments, until there is a sudden breaking down in her efforts, and death follows. There are more who die from the use of drugs, than all who would have died of disease had nature been left to do her own work. {2SM 451.3} [2SM 452.1] Very many lives have been sacrificed by physicians' administering drugs for unknown diseases. They have no real knowledge of the exact disease which afflicts the patient. But physicians are expected to know in a moment what to do, and unless they act at once as though they understood the disease perfectly, they are considered by impatient friends, and by the sick, as incompetent physicians. Therefore, to gratify erroneous opinions of the sick and their friends, medicine must be administered, experiments and tests tried, to cure the patient of the disease of which they have no real knowledge. Nature is loaded with poisonous drugs which she cannot expel from the system. The physicians themselves are often convinced that they have used powerful medicines for a disease which did not exist, and death was the consequence. {2SM 452.1} [2SM 452.2] Physicians are censurable, but they are not the only ones at fault. The sick themselves, if they would be patient, diet and suffer a little, and give nature time to rally, would recover much sooner without the use of any medicine. Nature alone possesses curative powers. Medicines have no 453 power to cure, but will most generally hinder nature in her efforts. She, after all, must do the work of restoring. The sick are in a hurry to get well, and the friends of the sick are impatient. They will have medicine, and if they do not feel that powerful influence upon their systems their erroneous views lead them to think they should feel, they impatiently change for another physician. The change often increases the evil. They go through a course of medicine equally as dangerous as the first, and more fatal, because the two treatments do not agree, and the system is poisoned beyond remedy. {2SM 452.2} [2SM 453.1] But many have never experienced the beneficial effects of water, and are afraid to use one of Heaven's greatest blessings. Water has been refused persons suffering with burning fevers, through fear that it would injure them. If, in their fevered state, water had been given them to drink freely, and applications had also been made externally, long days and nights of suffering would have been saved, and many precious lives spared. But thousands have died with raging fevers consuming them, until the fuel which fed the fever was burnt up, the vitals consumed, and have died in the greatest agony, without being permitted to have water to allay their burning thirst. Water, which is allowed a senseless building to put out the raging elements, is not allowed human beings to put out the fire which is consuming the vitals. {2SM 453.1} [2SM 453.2] Multitudes remain in inexcusable ignorance in regard to the laws of their being. They are wondering why our race is so feeble, and why so many die prematurely. Is there not a cause? Physicians who profess to understand the human organism, prescribe for their patients, and even for their own dear children, and their companions, slow poisons to break up disease, or to cure slight indisposition. Surely, they cannot realize the evil of these things or they could not do thus. The effects of the poison may not be immediately perceived, but it is doing its work surely in the system, undermining the constitution, and crippling nature in her efforts. They are seeking to correct an evil, but produce a far greater one, which is often incurable. Those who are thus dealt with, are constantly sick, and constantly dosing. And yet, if you listen to their conversation, you will often hear them praising the drugs they have been using, and recommending their use to others, because 454 they have been benefited by their use. It would seem that to such as can reason from cause to effect, the sallow countenance, the continual complaints of ailments, and general prostration of those who claim to be benefited, would be sufficient proofs of the health-destroying influence of drugs. And yet many are so blinded they do not see that all the drugs they have taken have not cured them, but made them worse. The drug invalid numbers one in the world, but is generally peevish, irritable, always sick, lingering out a miserable existence, and seems to live only to call into constant exercise the patience of others. Poisonous drugs have not killed them outright, for nature is loth to give up her hold on life. She is unwilling to cease her struggles. Yet these drug-takers are never well. {2SM 453.2} [2SM 454.1] The endless variety of medicines in the market, the numerous advertisements of new drugs and mixtures, all of which, as they say, do wonderful cures, kill hundreds where they benefit one. Those who are sick are not patient. They will take the various medicines, some of which are very powerful, although they know nothing of the nature of the mixtures. All the medicines they take only make their recovery more hopeless. Yet they keep dosing, and continue to grow worse until they die. Some will have medicine at all events. Then let them take these hurtful mixtures, and the various deadly poisons, upon their own responsibility. God's servants should not administer medicines which they know will leave behind injurious effects upon the system, even if they do relieve present suffering.--How to Live, no. 3, pp. 49-64. 455 {2SM 454.1} [2SM 455.1] Chapter 4 - When severe sickness enters a family, there is great need of each member giving strict attention to personal cleanliness, and diet, to preserve themselves in a healthful condition, and by thus doing, fortify themselves against disease. It is also of the greatest importance that the sick-room, from the first, be properly ventilated. This will be beneficial to the afflicted, and highly necessary to keep those well who are compelled to remain a length of time in the sick-room. {2SM 455.1} [2SM 455.2] It is of great value to the sick to have an even temperature in the room. This cannot always be correctly determined, if left to the judgment of attendants, for they may not be the best judges of a right temperature. And some persons require more heat than others, and would be only comfortable in a room which to another would be uncomfortably warm. And if each of these are at liberty to arrange the fires, to suit their ideas of proper heat, the atmosphere in the sick-room will be anything but regular. Sometimes it will be distressingly warm for the patient; at another time too cold, which will have a most injurious effect upon the sick. The friends of the sick, or attendants, who through anxiety, and watching, are deprived of sleep, and who are suddenly awakened in the night from sleep to attend in the sick-room, are liable to chilliness. Such are not correct thermometers of the healthful temperature of a sick-room. These things may appear of small account, but they have very much to do with the recovery of the sick. In many instances life has been periled by extreme changes of the temperature of the sick-room. {2SM 455.2} [2SM 455.3] In pleasant weather the sick in no case should be deprived of a full supply of fresh air. Their rooms may not always be so constructed as to allow the windows or doors open in their rooms, without the draught coming directly 456 upon them, and exposing them to take cold. In such cases windows and doors should be opened in an adjoining room, and thus let the fresh air enter the room occupied by the sick. Fresh air will prove more beneficial to the sick than medicine, and is far more essential to them than their food. They will do better, and recover sooner, deprived of food, than of fresh air. {2SM 455.3} [2SM 456.1] Many invalids have been confined weeks and months in close rooms, shutting out the light, and pure, invigorating air of heaven, as though air was a deadly enemy, when it was just the medicine the sick needed to make them well. The whole system was debilitated and diseased for want of air, and nature was sinking under her load of accumulating impurities, in addition to the fashionable poisons administered by physicians, until she was overpowered, and broke down in her efforts, and the sick died. They might have lived. Heaven willed not their death. They died victims to their own ignorance, and that of their friends, and the ignorance and deception of physicians, who gave them fashionable poisons, and would not allow them pure water to drink, and fresh air to breathe, to invigorate the vital organs, purify the blood, and help nature in her task in overcoming the bad conditions of the system. These valuable remedies which Heaven has provided, without money and without price, were cast aside, and considered not only as worthless, but even as dangerous enemies, while poisons, prescribed by physicians, were in blind confidence taken. {2SM 456.1} [2SM 456.2] Thousands have died for want of pure water, and pure air, who might have lived. And thousands of living invalids, who are a burden to themselves and others, think that their lives depend upon taking medicines from the doctors. They are continually guarding themselves against the air, and avoiding the use of water. These blessings they need in order to become well. If they would become enlightened, and let medicine alone, and accustom themselves to outdoor exercise, and to air in their houses, summer and winter, and use soft water for drinking and bathing purposes, they would be comparatively well and happy, instead of dragging out a miserable existence. {2SM 456.2} [2SM 456.3] It is the duty of attendants and nurses in the sick-room to have a special care of their own health, especially in critical cases of fever and consumption. One person should not be kept closely confined to the sick-room. It is safer to 457 have two or three to depend upon, who are careful and understanding nurses, and these changing and sharing the care and confinement of the sick-room. Each should have exercise in the open air, as often as possible. This is important to sick-bed attendants, especially if the friends of the sick are among that class who continue to regard air, if admitted into the sick-room, as an enemy, and will not allow the windows raised, or the doors opened. The sick, and the attendants, are in this case compelled to breathe the poisonous atmosphere from day to day, because of the inexcusable ignorance of the friends of the sick. {2SM 456.3} [2SM 457.1] In very many cases the attendants are ignorant of the wants of the system, and the relation which the breathing of fresh air sustains to health, and the life-destroying influence of inhaling the diseased air of a sick-room. In this case the life of the sick is endangered, and the attendants themselves are liable to take on diseases, and lose health, and perhaps life. {2SM 457.1} [2SM 457.2] If fevers enter a family, often more than one have the same fever. This need not be, if the habits of the family are correct. If their diet is as it should be, and they observe habits of cleanliness, and realize the necessity of ventilation, the fever need not extend to another member of the family. The reason of fevers prevailing in families, and exposing the attendants, is because the sick-room is not kept free from poisonous infection, by cleanliness and proper ventilation. {2SM 457.2} [2SM 457.3] If attendants are awake to the subject of health, and realize the necessity of ventilation for their own benefit, as well as that of the patient, and the relatives, as well as the sick, oppose the admission of air and light into the sick-room, the attendants should have no scruples of conscience in leaving the sick-room. They should feel themselves released from their obligations to the sick. It is not the duty of one or more to risk the liability of incurring disease, and endangering their lives by breathing a poisonous atmosphere. If the sick will fall a victim to their own erroneous ideas, and will shut out of the room the most essential of Heaven's blessings, let them do so, but not at the peril of those who ought to live. {2SM 457.3} [2SM 457.4] The mother, from a sense of duty, has left her family to administer in the sick room, where pure air was not allowed to enter, and has become sick by inhaling the 458 diseased atmosphere, which affected her whole system. After a period of much suffering, she has died leaving her children motherless. The sick, who shared the sympathy and unselfish care of this mother, recovered, but neither the sick, nor the friends of the sick, understood that precious life was sacrificed because of their ignorance of the relation which pure air sustains to health. Neither did they feel responsibility in regard to the stricken flock, left without the tender mother's care. {2SM 457.4} [2SM 458.1] Mothers sometimes permit their daughters to take care of the sick in illy ventilated rooms, and, as a result, have had to nurse them through a period of sickness. And because of the mother's anxiety and care for her child, she has been made sick, and frequently one or both have died, or been left with broken constitutions, or made suffering invalids for life. There is a lamentable catalogue of evils which have their origin in the sick room, from which the pure air of heaven is excluded. All who breathe this poisonous atmosphere violate the laws of their being, and must suffer the penalty. {2SM 458.1} [2SM 458.2] The sick, as a general thing, are taxed with too many visitors and callers, who chat with them, and weary them by introducing different topics of conversation, when they need quiet, and undisturbed rest. Many have made themselves sick by overtaxing their strength. Their exhausted energies compel them to cease labor, and they are brought to a bed of suffering. Rest, freedom from care, light, pure air, pure water, and spare diet, are all that they need to make them well. It is mistaken kindness that leads so many, out of courtesy, to visit the sick. Often have they spent a sleepless, suffering night, after receiving visitors. They have been more or less excited, and the reaction has been too great for their already debilitated energies, and, as the result of these fashionable calls, they have been brought into very dangerous conditions, and lives have been sacrificed for the want of thoughtful prudence. {2SM 458.2} [2SM 458.3] It is sometimes gratifying to the sick to be visited, and to know that friends have not forgotten them in their affliction. But, although these visits may have been gratifying, in very many instances these fashionable calls have turned the scale when the invalid was recovering, and the balance has borne down to death. Those who cannot make themselves useful should be cautious in regard to visiting the sick. If 459 they can do no good, they may do harm. But the sick should not be neglected. They should have the best of care, and the sympathy of friends and relatives. {2SM 458.3} [2SM 459.1] Much harm has resulted to the sick from the universal custom of having watchers, nights. In critical cases this may be necessary; but it is often the case that more harm is done the sick by this practice than good. It has been the custom to shut out the air from the sick room. The atmosphere of such rooms, to say the least, is very impure, which greatly aggravates the condition of the sick. In addition to this, to have one or two watchers to use up the little vital air which may find its way to the sick room through the crevices of doors and windows, is taking from them this vitality, and leaving them more debilitated than they would have been had they been left to themselves. The evil does not end here. Even one watcher will make more or less stir, which disturbs the sick. But where there are two watchers, they often converse together, sometimes aloud, but more frequently in whispered tones, which is far more trying and exciting to the nerves of the sick than talking aloud. {2SM 459.1} [2SM 459.2] Many suffering wakeful nights are endured by the sick because of watchers. If they were left alone without a light, knowing that all were at rest, they could much better compose themselves to sleep, and in the morning they would awake refreshed. Every breath of vital air in the sick room is of the greatest value, although many of the sick are very ignorant on this point. They feel very much depressed, and do not know what the matter is. A draught of pure air through their room would have a happy invigorating influence upon them. {2SM 459.2} [2SM 459.3] But if they are afraid of air, and shut themselves away from this blessing, the little that is allowed to reach them should not be consumed by watchers, or lamp-light. Attendants upon the sick should if possible leave them to quiet and rest through the night, while they occupy a room adjoining. {2SM 459.3} [2SM 459.4] All unnecessary noise and excitement should be avoided in the sick room, and the whole house should be kept as quiet as possible. Ignorance, forgetfulness, and recklessness, have caused the death of many who might have lived, had they received proper care from judicious, thoughtful attendants. The doors should be opened and shut with great 460 care, and the attendants should be unhurried, calm, and self-possessed. {2SM 459.4} [2SM 460.1] The sick room, if possible, should have a draught of air through it, day and night. The draught should not come directly upon the invalid. While burning fevers are raging, there is but little danger of taking cold. But especial care is needful when the crisis comes, and fever is passing away. Then constant watching may be necessary to keep vitality in the system. The sick must have pure, invigorating air. If no other way can be devised, the sick, if possible, should be removed to another room, and another bed, while the sick room, the bed and bedding are being purified by ventilation. If those who are well need the blessings of light and air, and need to observe habits of cleanliness in order to remain well, the sick are in still greater need of them in proportion to their debilitated condition. {2SM 460.1} [2SM 460.2] A great amount of suffering might be saved if all would labor to prevent disease, by strictly obeying the laws of health. Strict habits of cleanliness should be observed. Many, while well, will not take the trouble to keep in a healthy condition. They neglect personal cleanliness, and are not careful to keep their clothing pure. Impurities are constantly and imperceptibly passing from the body, through the pores, and if the surface of the skin is not kept in a healthy condition, the system is burdened with impure matter. If the clothing worn is not often washed, and frequently aired, it becomes filthy with impurities which are thrown off from the body by sensible and insensible perspiration. And if the garments worn are not frequently cleansed from these impurities, the pores of the skin absorb again the waste matter thrown off. The impurities of the body, if not allowed to escape, are taken back into the blood, and forced upon the internal organs. Nature, to relieve herself of poisonous impurities, makes an effort to free the system, which effort produces fevers, and what is termed disease. But even then, if those who are afflicted would assist nature in her efforts, by the use of pure, soft water, much suffering would be prevented. But many, instead of doing this, and seeking to remove the poisonous matter from the system, take a more deadly poison into the system, to remove a poison already there. {2SM 460.2} [2SM 460.3] If every family realized the beneficial results of thorough cleanliness, they would make special efforts to remove 461 every impurity from their persons, and from their houses, and would extend their efforts to their premises. Many suffer decayed vegetable matter to remain about their premises. They are not awake to the influence of these things. There is constantly arising from these decaying substances an effluvia that is poisoning the air. By inhaling the impure air, the blood is poisoned, the lungs become affected, and the whole system is diseased. Disease of almost every description will be cause by inhaling the atmosphere affected by these decaying substances. {2SM 460.3} [2SM 461.1] Families have been afflicted with fevers, some have died, and the remaining portion of the family circle have almost murmured against their Maker because of their distressing bereavements, when the sole cause of all their sickness and death has been the result of their own carelessness. The impurities about their own premises have brought upon them contagious diseases, and the sad afflictions which they charge upon God. Every family that prizes health should cleanse their houses and their premises of all decaying substances. {2SM 461.1} [2SM 461.2] God commanded that the children of Israel should in no case allow impurities of their persons, or of their clothing. Those who had any personal uncleanness were shut out of the camp until evening, and then were required to cleanse themselves and their clothing before they could enter the camp. Also they were commanded of God to have no impurities upon their premises within a great distance of the encampment, lest the Lord should pass by and see their uncleanness. {2SM 461.2} [2SM 461.3] In regard to cleanliness, God requires no less of his people now, than he did of ancient Israel. A neglect of cleanliness will induce disease. Sickness and premature death, do not come without a cause. Stubborn fevers and violent diseases have prevailed in neighborhoods, and towns, that had formerly been considered healthy, and some have died, while others have been left with broken constitutions to be crippled with disease for life. In many instances their own yards contained the agent of destruction, which sent forth deadly poison into the atmosphere, to be inhaled by the family, and the neighborhood. The slackness and recklessness sometimes witnessed, is beastly, and the ignorance of the results of such things upon health is astonishing. 462 Such places should be purified, especially in summer, by lime, or ashes, or by a daily burial with earth. {2SM 461.3} [2SM 462.1] Some houses are furnished expensively, more to gratify pride, and to receive visitors, than for the comfort, convenience and health of the family. The best rooms are kept dark. The light and air are shut out, lest the light of heaven may injure the rich furniture, fade the carpets, or tarnish the picture frames. When visitors are permitted to be seated in these precious rooms, they are in danger of taking cold, because of the cellar-like atmosphere pervading them. Parlor chambers and bedrooms are kept closed in the same manner and for the same reasons. And whoever occupies these beds which have not been freely exposed to the light and air, do so at the expense of health, and often even of life itself. {2SM 462.1} [2SM 462.2] Rooms that are not exposed to light and air become damp. Beds and bedding gather dampness, and the atmosphere in these rooms is poisonous, because it has not been purified by light and air. Various diseases have been brought on by sleeping in these fashionable health-destroying apartments. Every family that prizes health above the empty applause of fashionable visitors, will have a circulation of air, and an abundance of light through every apartment of their houses for several hours each day. But many will follow fashion so closely, they become slaves to it, and would suffer sickness, and even death, rather than be out of fashion. They will reap that which they have sown. They will live fashionably, and suffer with diseases as the result, be doctored with fashionable poisons, and die fashionable deaths. {2SM 462.2} [2SM 462.3] Sleeping rooms especially should be well ventilated, and the atmosphere made healthy by light and air. Blinds should be left open several hours each day, the curtains put aside, and the room thoroughly aired. Nothing should remain, even for a short time, which would destroy the purity of the atmosphere. {2SM 462.3} [2SM 462.4] Many families suffer with sore throat, and lung diseases, and liver complaints, brought upon them by their own course of action. Their sleeping rooms are small, unfit to sleep in for one night, but they occupy the small apartments for weeks, and months, and years. They keep their windows and doors closed, fearing they would take cold if there was a crevice open to let in the air. They breathe the same air over and over, until it becomes impregnated with the poisonous impurities, and waste matter, thrown off from their 463 bodies, through the lungs, and the pores of the skin. Such can test the matter, and be convinced of the unhealthy air in their close rooms, by entering them after they have remained a while in the open air. Then they can have some idea of the impurities they have conveyed to the blood, through the inhalations of the lungs. Those who thus abuse their health, must suffer with disease. All should regard light and air as among Heaven's most precious blessings. They should not shut out these blessings as though they were enemies. {2SM 462.4} [2SM 463.1] Sleeping apartments should be large and so arranged as to have a circulation of air through them, day and night. Those who have excluded the air from their sleeping rooms, should commence to change their course immediately. They should let in air by degrees, and increase its circulation until they can bear it winter and summer, with no danger of taking cold. The lungs, in order to be healthy, must have pure air. {2SM 463.1} [2SM 463.2] Those who have not had a free circulation of air in their rooms through the night, generally awake feeling exhausted, feverish, and know not the cause. It was air, vital air, that the whole system required, but which it could not obtain. Upon rising in the morning, most persons would be benefited by taking a sponge-bath, or, if more agreeable, a hand-bath, with merely a wash-bowl of water. This will remove impurities from the skin. Then the clothing should be removed piece by piece from the bed, and exposed to the air. The windows should be opened, and the blinds fastened back, and the air left to circulate freely for several hours, if not all day, through the sleeping apartments. In this manner the bed and clothing will become thoroughly aired, and the impurities will be removed from the room. {2SM 463.2} [2SM 463.3] Shade trees and shrubbery too close and dense around a house are unhealthy; for they prevent a free circulation of air, and prevent the rays of the sun from shining sufficiently through. In consequence of this, a dampness gathers in the house. Especially in wet seasons the sleeping rooms become damp, and those who sleep in the beds are troubled with rheumatism, neuralgia, and lung complaints, which generally end in consumption. Numerous shade trees cast off many leaves, which, if not immediately removed, decay, and poison the atmosphere. A yard beautified with scattering trees, and some shrubbery, at a proper distance 464 from the house, has a happy, cheerful influence upon the family, and, if well taken care of, will prove no injury to health. Dwellings, if possible, should be built upon high and dry ground. If a house be built where water settles around it, remaining for a time, and then drying away, a poisonous miasma arises, and fever and ague, sore throat, lung diseases, and fevers will be the result. {2SM 463.3} [2SM 464.1] Many have expected that God would keep them from sickness merely because they have asked him to do so. But God did not regard their prayers, because their faith was not made perfect by works. God will not work a miracle to keep those from sickness who have no care for themselves, but are continually violating the laws of health, and make no efforts to prevent disease. When we do all we can on our part to have health, then may we expect that the blessed results will follow, and we can ask God in faith to bless our efforts for the preservation of health. He will then answer our prayer, if his name can be glorified thereby. But let all understand that they have a work to do. God will not work in a miraculous manner to preserve the health of persons who are taking a sure course to make themselves sick, by their careless inattention to the laws of health.-- How to Live, No. 4, pp. 54-64. 465 {2SM 464.1} [2SM 465.1] Chapter 5 - In this age of degeneracy, children are born with enfeebled constitutions. Parents are amazed at the great mortality among infants and youth, and say, "it did not use to be so." Children were then more healthy and vigorous, with far less care than is now bestowed upon them. Yet with all the care they now receive, they grow feeble, wither and die. As the result of wrong habits in parents, disease and imbecility have been transmitted to their offspring. {2SM 465.1} [2SM 465.2] After their birth, they are made very much worse by careless inattention to the laws of their being. Proper management would greatly improve their physical health. But parents seldom pursue a right course toward their infant children, considering the miserable inheritance already received from them. Their wrong course toward their children results in lessening their hold of life, and prepares them for premature death. These parents had no lack of love for their children, but this love was misapplied. One great error with the mother in the treatment of her infant is, she deprives it very much of fresh air, that which it ought to have to make it strong. It is a practice of many mothers to cover their infant's heads while sleeping, and this, too, in a warm room, which is seldom ventilated as it should be. This alone is sufficient to greatly enfeeble the action of the heart and lungs, thereby affecting the whole system. While care may be needful to protect the infant from a draught of air, or from any sudden and too great change, especial care should be taken to have the child breathe a pure invigorating atmosphere. No disagreeable odor should remain in the nursery, or about the child. Such things are more dangerous to the feeble infant than to grown persons. {2SM 465.2} [2SM 465.3] Mothers have been in the practice of dressing their infants in reference to fashion instead of health. The infant wardrobe is generally prepared to look prettily, more for 466 show than for convenience and comfort. Much time is spent in embroidering, and in unnecessary fancy work, to make the garments of the little stranger beautiful. The mother often performs this work at the expense of her own health, and that of her offspring. When she should be enjoying pleasant exercise, she is often bent over work which severely taxes eyes and nerves. And it is often difficult to arouse the mother to her solemn obligations to cherish her own strength, for her own good, as well as that of the child. {2SM 465.3} [2SM 466.1] Show and fashion are the demon altar upon which many American women sacrifice their children. The mother places upon the little morsel of humanity the fashionable dresses which she had spent weeks in making, which are wholly unfit for its use, if health is to be regarded of any account. The garments are made extravagantly long, and in order to keep them upon the infant, its body is girted with tight bands, or waists, which hinder the free action of the heart and lungs. Infants are also compelled to bear a needless weight because of the length of their garments, and thus clothed, they do not have free use of their muscles and limbs. {2SM 466.1} [2SM 466.2] Mothers have thought it necessary to compress the bodies of their infant children to keep them in shape, as though fearful that without tight bandages, they would fall in pieces, or become deformed. Do the animal creation become deformed because nature is left to do her own work? Do the little lambs become deformed because they are not girted about with bands to give them shape? They are delicately and beautifully formed. Human infants are the most perfect, and yet the most helpless, of all the Creator's handiwork, and, therefore, their mothers should be instructed in regard to physical laws, so as to be capable of rearing them with physical, mental, and moral health. Mothers, nature has given your infants forms which need no girts or bands to perfect them. God has supplied them with bones and muscles sufficient for their support, and to guard nature's fine machinery within, before committing it to your care. {2SM 466.2} [2SM 466.3] The dress of the infant should be so arranged that its body will not be the least compressed after taking a full meal. Dressing infants in a fashionable manner, to be introduced into company for visitors to admire, is very injurious to them. Their clothing is ingeniously arranged to make the child miserably uncomfortable, and it is frequently made still more uneasy by passing from one to the other, being 467 fondled by all. But there is an evil greater than those already named. The infant is exposed to a vitiated air, caused by many breaths, some of which are very offensive and injurious to the strong lungs of older people. The infant lungs suffer, and become diseased by inhaling the atmosphere of a room poisoned by the tobacco-user's tainted breath. Many infants are poisoned beyond remedy by sleeping in beds with their tobacco-using fathers. By inhaling the poisonous tobacco effluvia, which is thrown from the lungs and pores of the skin, the system of the infant is filled with the poison. While it acts upon some as a slow poison, and affects the brain, heart, liver, and lungs, and they waste away and fade gradually, upon others it has a more direct influence, causing spasms, fits, paralysis, palsy, and sudden death. The bereaved parents mourn the loss of their loved ones, and wonder at the mysterious providence of God, which has so cruelly afflicted them, when Providence designed not the death of these infants. They died martyrs to the filthy lust of tobacco. Their parents ignorantly, but none the less surely, kill their infant children by the disgusting poison. Every exhalation of the lungs of the tobacco slave, poisons the air about him. Infants should be kept free from every thing which would have an influence to excite the nervous system, and should, whether waking or sleeping, day and night, breathe a pure, cleanly, healthy atmosphere, free from every taint of poison. {2SM 466.3} [2SM 467.1] Another great cause of mortality among infants and youth, is the custom of leaving their arms and shoulders naked. This fashion cannot be too severely censured. It has cost the life of thousands. The air, bathing the arms and limbs, and circulating about the armpits, chills these sensitive portions of the body, so near the vitals, and hinders the healthy circulation of the blood, and induces disease, especially of the lungs and brain. Those who regard the health of their children of more value than the foolish flattery of visitors, or the admiration of strangers, will ever clothe the shoulders and arms of their tender infants. The mother's attention has been frequently called to the purple arms and hands of her child, and she has been cautioned in regard to this health and the life-destroying practice; and the answer has often been, "I always dress my children in this manner. They get used to it. I cannot endure to see the arms of infants covered. It looks old-fashioned." These mothers dress their delicate infants as they would not venture to dress themselves. 468 They know that if their own arms were exposed without a covering, they would shiver with chilliness. Can infants of a tender age endure this process of hardening without receiving injury? Some children may have at birth so strong constitutions that they can endure such abuse without its costing them life; yet thousands are sacrificed, and tens of thousands have the foundation laid for a short, invalid life, by the custom of bandaging and surfeiting the body with much clothing, while the arms--which are at such distance from the seat of life, and for that cause need even more clothing than the chest and lungs--are left naked. Can mothers expect to have quiet and healthy infants, who thus treat them? {2SM 467.1} [2SM 468.1] When the limbs and arms are chilled, the blood is driven from these parts to the lungs and head. The circulation is impeded, and nature's fine machinery does not move harmoniously. The system of the infant is deranged, and it cries and mourns because of the abuse it is compelled to suffer. The mother feeds it, thinking it must be hungry, when food only increases its suffering. Tight bands and an overloaded stomach do not agree. It has no room to breathe. It may scream, struggle and pant for breath, and yet the mother not mistrust the cause. She could relieve the sufferer at once, at least of tight bandages, if she understood the nature of the case. She at length becomes alarmed, and thinks her child really ill, and summons a doctor, who looks gravely upon the infant a few moments and then deals out poisonous medicines, or something called a soothing cordial, which the mother, faithful to directions, pours down the throat of the abused infant. If it was not diseased in reality before, it is after this process. It suffers now from drug-disease, the most stubborn and incurable of all diseases. If it recovers, it must bear about more or less in its system the effects of that poisonous drug, and it is liable to spasms, heart disease, dropsy on the brain, or consumption. Some infants are not strong enough to bear even a trifle of drug-poisons, and as nature rallies to meet the intruder, the vital forces of the tender infant are too severely taxed, and death ends the scene. {2SM 468.1} [2SM 468.2] It is no strange sight in this age of the world, to view the mother lingering around the cradle of her suffering, dying infant, her heart torn with anguish, as she listens to its feeble wail, and witnesses its expiring struggles. It seems mysterious to her, that God should thus afflict her innocent child. She does not think that her wrong course has brought about 469 the sad result. She just as surely destroyed her infant's hold on life as though she had given it poison. Disease never comes without a cause. The way is first prepared, and disease invited by disregarding the laws of health. God does not take pleasure in the sufferings and death of little children. He commits them to parents, for them to educate physically, mentally and morally, and train them for usefulness here, and for Heaven at last. {2SM 468.2} [2SM 469.1] If the mother remains in ignorance in regard to the physical wants of her child, and, as the result, her child sickens, she need not expect that God will work a miracle to counteract her agency in making it sick. Thousands of infants have died who might have lived. They are martyrs to their parent's ignorance of the relation which food, dress and the air they breathe, sustain to health and life. Mothers in past ages, should have been physicians to their own children. The time she devoted to the extra beautifying of her infant's wardrobe, she should have spent in a nobler purpose--in educating her mind with regard to her own physical wants, and that of her offspring. She should have been storing her mind with useful knowledge, in regard to the best course she could pursue in rearing her children healthfully, with the view that generations would be injured or benefited, by her course of action. {2SM 469.1} [2SM 469.2] Mothers who have troublesome, fretful infants, should study into the cause of their uneasiness. By so doing, they will often see that something is wrong in their management. It is often the case, that the mother becomes alarmed by the symptoms of illness manifested by her child, and hurriedly summons a physician, when the infant's sufferings would have been relieved by taking off its tight clothing, and putting upon it garments properly loose and short, that it may use its feet and limbs. Mothers should study from cause to effect. If the child has taken cold, it is generally owing to the wrong management of the mother. If she covers its head, as well as its body while sleeping, in a short time it will be in a perspiration, caused by labored breathing, because of the lack of pure, vital air. When she takes it from beneath the covering, it is almost sure to take cold. The arms being naked, exposes the infant to constant cold, and congestion of lungs or brain. These exposures prepare the way for the infant to become sickly and dwarfed. {2SM 469.2} [2SM 469.3] Parents are accountable in a great degree, for the physical 470 health of their children. Those children who survive the abuses of their infancy, are not out of danger in their childhood. Their parents still pursue a wrong course toward them. Their limbs, as well as their arms, are left almost naked. Those who value fashion above health, place hoops upon their children. Hoops are not convenient, modest or healthful. They prevent the clothing from falling close about the body. Mothers then dress the upper part of their limbs with muslin pantalettes, which reach about to the knee, while the lower part of their limbs are covered with only one thickness of flannel or cotton, while their feet are dressed with thin-soled gaiter boots. Their garments being kept from the body by hoops, it is impossible for them to receive sufficient warmth from their clothing, and their limbs are continually bathed in cold air. The extremities are chilled, and the heart has thrown upon it double labor, to force the blood into these chilled extremities, and when the blood has performed its circuit through the body, and returned to the heart, it is not the same vigorous warm current which left it. It has been chilled in its passage through the limbs. The heart, weakened by too great labor, and poor circulation of poor blood, is then compelled to still greater exertion, to throw the blood to the extremities which are never as healthfully warm as other parts of the body. The heart fails in its efforts, and the limbs become habitually cold; and the blood, which is chilled away from the extremities, is thrown back upon the lungs and brain, and inflammation and congestion of the lungs or the brain is the result. {2SM 469.3} [2SM 470.1] God holds mothers accountable for the diseases their children are compelled to suffer. Mothers bow at the shrine of fashion, and sacrifice the health and lives of their children. Many mothers are ignorant of the result of their course in thus clothing their children. But should they not inform themselves, where so much is at stake? Is ignorance a sufficient excuse for you who possess reasoning powers? You can inform yourselves if you will, and dress your children healthfully. {2SM 470.1} [2SM 470.2] Parents may give up the expectation of their children's having health while they dress them in cloaks and furs, and load down those portions of the body with clothing where there is no call for such an amount, and then leave the extremities, that should have especial protection, almost naked. The portions of the body, close by the life springs, need less 471 covering than the limbs which are remote from the vital organs. If the limbs and feet could have the extra coverings usually put upon the shoulders, lungs, and heart, and healthy circulation be induced to the extremities, the vital organs would act their part healthfully, with only their share of clothing. {2SM 470.2} [2SM 471.1] I appeal to you mothers, do you not feel alarmed, and heart-sick, in seeing your children pale and dwarfed, suffering with catarrh, influenza, croup, scrofula swellings appearing upon the face and neck, inflammation and congestion of lungs and brain? Have you studied from cause to effect? Have you provided for them a simple nutritious diet, free from grease and spices? Have you not been dictated by fashion in clothing your children? Leaving their arms and limbs insufficiently protected has been the cause of a vast amount of disease and premature deaths. There is no reason why the feet and limbs of your girls, should not be in every way as warmly clad as those of your boys. Boys, accustomed to exercise out of doors, become inured to cold and exposure, and are actually less liable to colds when thinly clad, than the girls, because the open air seems to be their natural element. Delicate girls, accustom themselves to live in-doors, and in a heated atmosphere, and yet they go from the heated room out of doors with their limbs and feet seldom better protected from the cold than while remaining in a close warm room. The air soon chills their limbs and feet, and prepares the way for disease. {2SM 471.1} [2SM 471.2] Your girls should wear the waists of their dresses perfectly loose, and they should have a style of dress convenient, comfortable and modest. In cold weather they should wear warm flannel or cotton drawers, which can be placed inside the stockings. Over these should be warm lined pants, which may be full, gathered into a band, and neatly button around the ankle, or taper at the bottom and meet the shoe. Their dress should reach below the knee. With this style of dress, one light skirt, or at most two, is all that is necessary, and these should be buttoned to a waist. The shoes should be thick-soled, and perfectly comfortable. With this style of dress your girls will be no more in danger in the open air than your boys. And their health would be much better, were they to live more out of doors, even in winter, than to be confined to the close air of a room heated by a stove. {2SM 471.2} [2SM 471.3] It is a sin in the sight of Heaven for parents to dress their children as they do. The only excuse that they can make is, it 472 is fashion. They cannot plead modesty to thus expose the limbs of their children with only one covering drawn tight over them. They cannot plead that it is healthful, or really attractive. Because others will continue to follow this health and life-destroying practice, it is no excuse for those who style themselves reformers. Because everybody around you follow a fashion which is injurious to health, it will not make your sin a whit the less, or be any guarantee for the health and life of your children.--How to Live, No. 5, pp. 66-74. 473 {2SM 471.3} [2SM 473.1] Chapter 6 - My sisters, there is need of a dress reform among us. There are many errors in the present style of female dress. It is injurious to health, and, therefore, sin for females to wear tight corsets, or whalebones, or to compress the waist. These have a depressing influence upon the heart, liver, and lungs. The health of the entire system depends upon the healthy action of the respiratory organs. Thousands of females have ruined their constitutions, and brought upon themselves various diseases, in their efforts to make a healthy and natural form unhealthy and unnatural. They are dissatisfied with nature's arrangements, and in their earnest efforts to correct nature, and bring her to their ideas of gentility, they break down her work, and leave her a mere wreck. {2SM 473.1} [2SM 473.2] Many females drag down the bowels and hips by hanging heavy skirts upon them. These were not formed to sustain weights. In the first place, heavy quilted skirts should never be worn. They are unnecessary, and a great evil. The female dress should be suspended from the shoulders. It would be pleasing to God if there was greater uniformity in dress among believers. The style of dress formerly adopted by the Friends, is the least objectionable. Many of them have backslidden, and although they may preserve the uniformity of color, yet they have indulged in pride and extravagance, and their dress has been of the most expensive material. Still their selection of plain colors, and the modest and neat arrangement of their clothing, is worthy of imitation by Christians. {2SM 473.2} [2SM 473.3] The children of Israel, after they were brought out of Egypt, were commanded to have a simple ribbon of blue in the border of their garments, to distinguish them from the nations around them, and to signify that they were God's peculiar people. The people of God are not now required to have a special mark placed upon their garments. But in the 474 New Testament we are often referred to ancient Israel as examples. If God gave such definite directions to his ancient people in regard to their dress, will not the dress of his people in this age come under his notice? Should there not be in their dress a distinction from that of the world? Should not the people of God, who are his peculiar treasure, seek even in their dress to glorify God? And should they not be examples in point of dress, and by their simple style rebuke the pride, vanity and extravagance of worldly, pleasure-loving professors? God requires this of his people. Pride is rebuked in his word. {2SM 473.3} [2SM 474.1] But there is a class who are continually harping upon pride, and dress, who are careless of their own apparel, and who think it a virtue to be dirty, and dress without order and taste; and their clothing often looks as though it flew and lit upon their persons. Their garments are filthy, and yet such ones will ever be talking against pride. They class decency and neatness with pride. Had they been among that number who gathered around the mount to hear the law spoken from Sinai, they would have been chased from the congregation of Israel, because they had not obeyed the command of God --"And let them wash their clothes,"--preparatory to listening to his law given in awful grandeur. {2SM 474.1} [2SM 474.2] The ten commandments spoken by Jehovah from Sinai cannot live in the hearts of persons of disorderly, filthy habits. If ancient Israel could not so much as listen to the proclamation of that holy law, unless they had obeyed the injunction of Jehovah, and had cleansed their clothing, how can that sacred law be written upon the hearts of persons who are not cleanly in person, in clothing, or in their houses? It is impossible. Their profession may be as high as Heaven, yet it is not worth a straw. Their influence disgusts unbelievers. Better if they had ever remained outside the ranks of God's loyal people. The house of God is dishonored by such professors. All who meet upon the Sabbath to worship God should, if possible, have a neat, well-fitting, comely suit to wear in the house of worship. It is a dishonor to the Sabbath, and to God and his house, for those who profess that the Sabbath is the holy of the Lord, and honorable, to wear the same clothing upon the Sabbath that they have worn through the week while laboring upon their farms, when they can obtain other. If there are worthy persons who, with their whole heart would honor the Lord of the Sabbath, and the worship 475 of God, and who cannot obtain a change of clothing, let those who are able, donate to such a Sabbath suit, that they may appear in the house of God with cleanly, fitting apparel. A greater uniformity in dress would be pleasing to God. Those who expend means on costly apparel and extra fixings, can by a little self-denial exemplify pure religion, by simplicity of clothing, and then use the means they have usually expended needlessly in aiding some poor brother or sister, whom God loves, to obtain neat and modest apparel. {2SM 474.2} [2SM 475.1] Some receive the idea that in order to carry out that separation from the world which the word of God requires, they must be neglectful of their apparel. There is a class of sisters who think that they are carrying out the principle of non-conformity to the world by wearing an ordinary sunbonnet, and the same dress worn by them through the week, upon the Sabbath, to appear in the assembly of the saints to engage in the worship of God. And some men who profess to be Christians view the matter of dress in the same light. They assemble with God's people upon the Sabbath, with their clothing dusty, and soiled, and even with gaping rents in them, and placed upon their persons in a slovenly manner. This class, if they had an engagement to meet a friend honored by the world, and they wished to be especially favored by him, would exert themselves to appear in his presence with the best apparel that could be obtained; for this friend would feel insulted were they to come into his presence with hair uncombed, and garments uncleanly, and in disorder. Yet these persons think that it is no matter in what dress they appear, or what is the condition of their persons, when they meet upon the Sabbath to worship the great God. They assemble in his house, which is as the audience-chamber of the Most High, where heavenly angels are in attendance, with but little respect, or reverence, as their persons and clothing indicate. Their whole appearance typifies the character of such men and women. {2SM 475.1} [2SM 475.2] The favorite theme of this class is pride of dress. Decency, taste, and order, they regard as pride. And according to the dress of these mistaken souls will be their conversation, their acts, and their deal. They are careless, and often low in their conversation at their homes, among their brethren, and before the world. The dress, and its arrangement upon the person, is generally found to be the index of the man or the woman. Those who are careless and untidy in 476 dress are seldom elevated in their conversation, and possess but little refinement of feelings. They sometimes consider oddity and coarseness, humility. {2SM 475.2} [2SM 476.1] The followers of Christ are represented by him as the salt of the earth, and the light of the world. Without the saving influence of Christians, the world would perish in its own corruption. Look upon the class of professed Christians described, who are careless of their dress and persons, and loose in their business transactions, as their dress represents, coarse, uncourteous and rough in their manners, low in their conversation; and at the same time they regard these miserable traits as marks of true humility and Christian life. Think you if our Saviour was upon earth, he would point to them as being the salt of the earth, and the light of the world? No, never! Christians are elevated in their conversation, and although they believe it to be a sin to condescend to foolish flattery, they are courteous, kind, and benevolent. Their words are those of sincerity and truth. They are faithful in their deal with their brethren, and with the world. In their dress they avoid superfluity and display; but their clothing will be neat, not gaudy, modest, and arranged upon the person with order and taste. Especial care will be taken to dress in a manner that will show a sacred regard for the holy Sabbath, and the worship of God. The line of demarkation between such a class and the world will be too plain to be mistaken. The influence of believers would be ten-fold greater if men and women who embrace the truth, who have been formerly careless and slack in their habits, would be so elevated, and sanctified through the truth, as to observe habits of neatness, order, and good taste in their dress. Our God is a God of order, and he is not in any degree pleased with distraction, with filthiness, or with sin. {2SM 476.1} [2SM 476.2] Christians should not take pains to make themselves gazing-stocks by dressing differently from the world. But if, in accordance with their faith and duty in respect to their dressing modestly and healthfully, they find themselves out of fashion, they should not change their dress in order to be like the world. But they should manifest a noble independence, and moral courage to be right, if all the world differ from them. If the world introduce a modest, convenient, and healthful mode of dress, which is in accordance with the Bible, it will not change our relation to God, or to the world to adopt such a style of dress. Christians should follow 477 Christ, and conform their dress to God's word. They should shun extremes. They should humbly pursue a straightforward course, irrespective of applause or of censure, and should cling to the right, because of its own merits. {2SM 476.2} [2SM 477.1] Women should clothe their limbs with regard to health and comfort. They need to have their limbs and feet clad as warmly as men. The length of the fashionable female dress is objectionable for several reasons. {2SM 477.1} [2SM 477.2] 1. It is extravagant and unnecessary to have the dress of that length that it will sweep the sidewalks and streets. {2SM 477.2} [2SM 477.3] 2. A dress thus long gathers dew from the grass, and mud from the streets, which makes it uncleanly. {2SM 477.3} [2SM 477.4] 3. In its bedrabbled condition it comes in contact with the sensitive ankles, which are not sufficiently protected, quickly chilling them, and is one of the greatest causes of catarrh, and of scrofula swellings, and endangers health and life. {2SM 477.4} [2SM 477.5] 4. The unnecessary length is an additional weight upon the hips and bowels. {2SM 477.5} [2SM 477.6] 5. It hinders the walking, and is also often in other people's way. {2SM 477.6} [2SM 477.7] There is still another style of dress which will be adopted by a class of so-called dress reformers. They will imitate the opposite sex, as nearly as possible. They will wear the cap, pants, vest, coat, and boots, the last of which is the most sensible part of the costume. Those who adopt and advocate this style of dress, are carrying the so-called dress reform to very objectionable lengths. Confusion will be the result. Some who adopt this costume may be correct in their views in general upon the health question, and they could be instrumental in accomplishing vastly more good if they did not carry the matter of dress to such extremes. {2SM 477.7} [2SM 477.8] In this style of dress God's order has been reversed, and his special directions disregarded. Deuteronomy 22:5. "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God." This style of dress, God would not have his people adopt. It is not modest apparel, and is not at all fitting for modest, humble females who profess to be Christ's followers. God's prohibitions are lightly regarded by all who would advocate the doing away of the distinction of dress between males and females. The extreme 478 positions taken by some dress-reformers upon this subject cripple their influence. {2SM 477.8} [2SM 478.1] God designed there should be a plain distinction between male and female dress, and has considered the matter of sufficient importance to give explicit directions in regard to it; for the same dress worn by both sexes would cause confusion, and great increase of crime. St. Paul would utter a rebuke, were he alive, and should behold females professing Godliness with this style of dress. "In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but (which becometh women professing Godliness) with good works." The mass of professed Christians utterly disregard the teachings of the Apostles, and wear gold, pearls and costly array. {2SM 478.1} [2SM 478.2] God's loyal people are the light of the world, and the salt of the earth. And they should ever remember that their influence is of value. Were they to exchange the extreme long, for the extreme short dress, they would, to a great extent, destroy their influence. Unbelievers, whom it is their duty to benefit, and seek to bring to the Lamb of God, would be disgusted. Many improvements can be made in the dress of females in reference to health, without making so great a change as to disgust the beholder. {2SM 478.2} [2SM 478.3] The female form should not be compressed in the least with corsets and whale bones. The dress should be perfectly easy that the lungs and heart may have healthy action. The dress should reach somewhat below the top of the boot; but should be short enough to clear the filth of the sidewalk and street, without being raised by the hand. A still shorter dress than this would be proper, convenient, and healthful for females, when doing their housework, and especially, for those women who are obliged to perform more or less out-of-door labor. With this style of dress, one light skirt, or, at most two, are all that is necessary, and these should be buttoned on to a waist, or suspended with straps. The hips were not formed to bear heavy weights. The heavy skirts worn by females, their weight dragging down upon the hips, have been the cause of various diseases, which are not easily cured, because the sufferers seem to be ignorant of the cause which has produced them, and they continue to violate the laws of their being by girding the waists and wearing heavy skirts, until they are made life-long invalids. Many will immediately 479 exclaim, "Why such a style of dress would be old-fashioned!" What if it is? I wish we could be old-fashioned in many respects. If we could have the old-fashioned strength that characterized the old-fashioned women of past generations it would be very desirable. I do not speak unadvisedly when I say that the way in which women clothe themselves, together with their indulgence of appetite, is the greatest causes of their present feeble diseased condition. There is but one woman in a thousand who clothes her limbs as she should. Whatever may be the length of the dress, females should clothe their limbs as thoroughly as the males. This may be done by wearing lined pants gathered into a band and fastened about the ankle, or made full and tapering at the bottom; and these should come down long enough to meet the shoe. The limbs and ankles thus clothed are protected against a current of air. If the limbs and feet are kept comfortable with warm clothing, the circulation will be equalized, and the blood will remain healthy and pure, because it is not chilled or hindered in its natural passage through the system.--How to Live, No. 6, pp. 57-64. {2SM 478.3} [2SM 479.1] THE ATTENTION OF THE READER IS CALLED TO THE FACT THAT WHILE MRS. WHITE EVER KEPT BEFORE THE CHURCH THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTIRE THAT WAS HEALTHFUL, MODEST, ECONOMICAL, AND IN CONFORMITY WITH CHRISTIAN SIMPLICITY, SHE RECOGNIZED ALSO THAT WITHIN THE BOUNDS OF THESE PRINCIPLES THE DRESS SHOULD BE THAT WHICH IS "APPROPRIATE FOR THIS AGE." IN 1897, WHEN CERTAIN SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST WOMEN QUESTIONED WHETHER, IN LOYALTY TO THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY COUNSELS, THEY SHOULD RETURN TO THE PARTICULAR STYLE ADOPTED IN THE 1860S, SHE COUNSELED THAT "NO ONE PRECISE STYLE" HAD BEEN GIVEN HER "AS THE EXACT RULE TO GUIDE ALL IN THEIR DRESS." SHE WROTE: "THE LORD HAS NOT INDICATED THAT IT IS THE DUTY OF OUR SISTERS TO GO BACK TO THE REFORM DRESS." HER STATEMENT, SETTING FORTH THE REASONS FOR HER POSITION, APPEARS IN FULL AS AN APPENDIX IN D. E. ROBINSON'S THE STORY OF OUR HEALTH MESSAGE, 1965 EDITION, PP. 441-445.--COMPILERS. 481 {2SM 479.1} [2SM 481.1] Appendix 2 - Important Factors in Choosing a Life Companion APPENDIX 2 IMPORTANT FACTORS IN CHOOSING A LIFE COMPANION (A STATEMENT BY THE TRUSTEES OF THE ELLEN G. WHITE ESTATE) - AS THE READER PERUSES THE "WORD TO THE READER," APPEARING IN EACH OF THE TWO VOLUMES OF SELECTED MESSAGES, HE OBSERVES THAT THE TWO BOOKS ARE COMPRISED OF LINES OF COUNSEL, GIVEN THROUGH THE YEARS, WHICH REACHED THE FIELD BY WAY OF PAMPHLETS, PERIODICAL ARTICLES, AND TYPEWRITTEN MESSAGES, BUT WERE NOT DRAWN INTO THE NINE VOLUMES OF TESTIMONY COUNSELS PUBLISHED BY ELLEN WHITE PRIOR TO HER DEATH. THE PUBLICATION IN 1958 IN THIS FORM PROVIDES THE CHURCH WITH TIMELY COUNSELS IN A MANNER AND AT A TIME TO INCLUDE REFERENCE TO THEM IN THE THREE-VOLUME COMPREHENSIVE INDEX TO THE WRITINGS OF ELLEN G. WHITE. {2SM 481.1} [2SM 481.2] A NUMBER OF PAGES IN THESE TWO VOLUMES AND MANY PAGES IN THE OTHER ELLEN G. WHITE BOOKS, AND ALSO NOT A FEW OF THE PERSONAL TESTIMONIES DIRECTED TO INDIVIDUALS, DEAL WITH THE FAR-REACHING QUESTION OF THE SELECTION OF A LIFE PARTNER IN MARRIAGE. THESE COUNSELS SET FORTH FACTORS IMPORTANT TO A HAPPY, SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE AND TO THE HAPPINESS AND WELFARE OF THE CHILDREN BORN TO THAT MARRIAGE. THEY ALSO PRESENT FACTORS THAT MAY IMPAIR THE SUCCESS OF THE UNION. ELLEN WHITE ASSURES US THAT "JESUS WANTS TO SEE HAPPY MARRIAGES, HAPPY FIRESIDES" (THE ADVENTIST HOME, P. 99). "THE CHOICE OF A 482 LIFE COMPANION," SHE ADMONISHED, "SHOULD BE SUCH AS BEST TO SECURE PHYSICAL, MENTAL, AND SPIRITUAL WELL-BEING FOR PARENTS AND FOR THEIR CHILDREN."--THE MINISTRY OF HEALING, P. 357. {2SM 481.2} [2SM 482.1] IN THESE WRITINGS THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOME IS EVER KEPT BEFORE THE CHURCH. SHE CALLED UPON THOSE LOOKING TOWARD MARRIAGE TO CONSIDER WELL THE INFLUENCE OF THE PARTICULAR UNION CONTEMPLATED. TO THIS END SHE URGED THAT THERE SHOULD BE NO SELFISHNESS OR COVETOUSNESS OR SHORTSIGHTED DECISIONS. (SEE FOOTNOTE.) SHE CALLED UPON MEN AND WOMEN WHO WERE PLANNING TO MARRY TO "DISTINGUISH BETWEEN WHAT IS PLEASING AND WHAT IS PROFITABLE" (LETTER 4, 1901). SHE OBSERVED THAT "IT IS FROM THE MARRIAGE HOUR THAT MANY MEN AND WOMEN DATE THEIR SUCCESS OR FAILURE IN THIS LIFE, AND THEIR HOPES OF THE FUTURE LIFE." --THE ADVENTIST HOME, P. 43. {2SM 482.1} [2SM 482.2] COMPATIBILITY, ELLEN WHITE HELD, WAS VITALLY ESSENTIAL TO A HAPPY MARRIAGE. SHE WROTE OF "LIFELONG WRETCHEDNESS" WHICH MAY RESULT FROM A UNION OF THOSE "NOT ADAPTED TO EACH OTHER" (PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS, P. 189). IN A MESSAGE TO YOUTH SHE DECLARED: {2SM 482.2} [2SM 482.3] "THE WORLD IS FULL OF MISERY AND SIN TODAY IN CONSEQUENCE OF ILL-ASSORTED MARRIAGES. IN MANY CASES IT TAKES ONLY A FEW MONTHS FOR HUSBAND AND WIFE TO REALIZE THAT THEIR DISPOSITIONS CAN NEVER BLEND; AND THE RESULT IS THAT DISCORD PREVAILS IN THE HOME, WHERE ONLY THE LOVE AND HARMONY OF HEAVEN SHOULD EXIST."--YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR, AUG. 10, 1899; MESSAGES TO YOUNG PEOPLE, P. 453; AND THE ADVENTIST HOME, P. 83. {2SM 482.3} [2SM 482.4] SHE SOUNDED A WARNING AGAINST "A GREAT DISPARITY IN AGE" OF THOSE CONTEMPLATING MARRIAGE, WHICH COULD RESULT IN "IMPAIRING THE HEALTH OF THE YOUNGER" PARTNER AND COULD ROB THE CHILDREN "OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL STRENGTH" (THE MINISTRY OF HEALING, P. 358). {2SM 482.4} [2SM 482.5] THE STATE OF HEALTH OF THE PARTNERS OF A CONTEMPLATED MARRIAGE ELLEN WHITE STRESSED AS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR. "SICKLY MEN HAVE OFTEN WON THE AFFECTIONS OF WOMEN APPARENTLY HEALTHY, AND BECAUSE THEY LOVED EACH OTHER, THEY FELT THEMSELVES AT PERFECT LIBERTY TO MARRY, NEITHER CONSIDERING THAT BY THEIR UNION THE WIFE MUST BE A SUFFERER, MORE OR LESS, BECAUSE OF THE DISEASED HUSBAND."--SELECTED MESSAGES, BOOK 2, P. 423. AND THEN SHE CARRIES THE MATTER TO ITS LOGICAL CONCLUSION: "IF THOSE WHO THUS ENTER THE MARRIAGE RELATION WERE ALONE CONCERNED, THE SIN WOULD NOT BE SO GREAT. THEIR OFFSPRING ARE COMPELLED TO BE SUFFERERS BY DISEASE TRANSMITTED TO THEM."--IBID. {2SM 482.5} [2SM 482.6] THE ABILITY OF THE PARTNERS IN A MARRIAGE TO SUSTAIN THEMSELVES FINANCIALLY ALSO WAS PRESENTED BY ELLEN WHITE AS A 483 REQUISITE FOR A SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE. SHE POINTED OUT THAT THERE ARE THOSE "WHO HAVE NOT ACQUIRED PROPERTY" AND DO "NOT POSSESS PHYSICAL STRENGTH, OR MENTAL ENERGY, TO ACQUIRE PROPERTY" "WHO HAVE BEEN IN HASTE TO MARRY, AND WHO HAVE TAKEN UPON THEMSELVES RESPONSIBILITIES OF WHICH THEY HAD NO JUST SENSE." BUT IT IS THE CHILDREN WHO OFTEN ARE THE GREATEST SUFFERERS, FOR "THOSE WHO ARE SERIOUSLY DEFICIENT IN BUSINESS TACT, AND WHO ARE THE LEAST QUALIFIED TO GET ALONG IN THE WORLD, GENERALLY FILL THEIR HOUSES WITH CHILDREN" WHICH, SHE DECLARES, MAY NOT BE "SUITABLY FED OR CLOTHED, AND DO NOT RECEIVE PHYSICAL OR MENTAL TRAINING" (IBID., PP. 420, 421). {2SM 482.6} [2SM 483.1] THEN THERE IS ANOTHER AREA WHERE COUNSEL WAS GIVEN. THIS IS IN BRINGING TOGETHER IN MARRIAGE MEN AND WOMEN OF DIFFERENT ETHNIC AND CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS. FOUR SUCH PRESENTATIONS ARE A MATTER OF MANUSCRIPT AND PUBLISHED RECORD. TWO OF THE FOUR STATEMENTS ON THIS POINT APPEAR IN THIS VOLUME, ON PAGES 343 AND 344. THESE WERE PENNED IN 1896 AND 1912, RESPECTIVELY, AND WERE SELECTED FOR PUBLICATION IN THIS VOLUME BECAUSE THEY PRESENTED THE BASIC PRINCIPLES INVOLVED AND THUS REVEAL WHY SUCH MARRIAGES SHOULD NOT BE ENCOURAGED. SUCH UNIONS, IT IS DECLARED, COULD EASILY CREATE "CONTROVERSY AND CONFUSION." ANOTHER REASON SHE SET FORTH FOR DISCOURAGING SUCH MARRIAGES SEEMS TO BE THE "DISADVANTAGES" WHICH THEY IMPOSE UPON THE OFFSPRING, AND THIS COULD LEAD TO "A FEELING OF BITTERNESS TOWARD THE PARENTS WHO HAVE GIVEN THEM THIS LIFELONG INHERITANCE." ［NOTE: OF THE OTHER TWO STATEMENTS, THE FIRST PRESENTATION OF COUNSEL ON THIS POINT APPEARS IN THE HEART OF A BASIC APPEAL MADE BY ELLEN WHITE ON MARCH 21, 1891, TO THE LEADERS OF THE CHURCH TO ENTER UPON A WORK FOR THE COLORED PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES. SEE THE FULL STATEMENT IN THE SOUTHERN WORK, 1966 EDITION, PAGES 9-18. IN THIS SHE DREW IN BOLD, UNMISTAKABLE LINES, THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND AND MADE CLEAR THAT IN WORSHIP ALL STOOD IN EQUALITY BEFORE GOD. AT THE SAME TIME SHE GAVE VOICE TO WORDS OF CAUTION. IN THIS STATEMENT, READ BY HER TO CHURCH LEADERS, WE FIND THESE LINES: "SIN RESTS UPON US AS A CHURCH BECAUSE WE HAVE NOT MADE GREATER EFFORT FOR THE SALVATION OF SOULS AMONG THE COLORED PEOPLE. . . . YOU HAVE NO LICENSE FROM GOD TO EXCLUDE THE COLORED PEOPLE FROM YOUR PLACES OF WORSHIP. TREAT THEM AS CHRIST'S PROPERTY, WHICH THEY ARE, JUST AS MUCH AS YOURSELVES. THEY SHOULD HOLD MEMBERSHIP IN THE CHURCH WITH THE WHITE BRETHREN. EVERY EFFORT SHOULD BE MADE TO WIPE OUT THE TERRIBLE WRONG WHICH HAS BEEN DONE THEM. AT THE SAME TIME WE MUST NOT CARRY THINGS TO EXTREMES AND RUN INTO FANATICISM ON THIS QUESTION. SOME WOULD THINK IT RIGHT TO THROW DOWN EVERY PARTITION WALL AND INTERMARRY WITH THE COLORED PEOPLE, BUT THIS IS NOT THE RIGHT THING TO TEACH OR TO PRACTICE."--THE SOUTHERN WORK, P. 15. THE OTHER PRESENTATION ON THIS POINT IS A LETTER OF COUNSEL, WRITTEN JANUARY 8, 1901, TO A YOUNG MAN WHO ENTERTAINED PLANS THAT WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN MARRIAGE OF ONE OF THE CAUCASIAN RACE WITH ONE OF THE NEGRO RACE. ITS COUNSELS ARE THOSE EMBODIED IN THE SIMILAR COMMUNICATION OF 1912 AND RECORDED ON PAGE 344 OF THIS VOLUME. BUT ELLEN WHITE ADDS WORDS THAT CALL FOR THOUGHTFUL CONTEMPLATION: "DO NOT UNITE YOURSELF IN MARRIAGE WITH A GIRL WHO WILL HAVE CAUSE TO REGRET THE STEP FOREVER AFTER. . . . "O WHAT COVETOUS, SELFISH, SHORT-SIGHTED CREATURES HUMAN BEINGS ARE. DISTRUST YOUR OWN JUDGMENT, AND DEPEND ON THE JUDGMENT OF GOD. DISTINGUISH BETWEEN WHAT IS PLEASING AND WHAT IS PROFITABLE. DO GOD'S WILL SUBMISSIVELY. . . . FOLLOWING YOUR OWN WAY AND YOUR OWN WILL, YOU WILL FIND THORNS AND THISTLES."--ELLEN G. WHITE LETTER 4, 1901.］ 484 {2SM 483.1} [2SM 484.1] WHILE THESE FOUR MESSAGES OF COUNSEL WERE WRITTEN AT A PARTICULAR TIME TO MEET SITUATIONS IN A PARTICULAR GEOGRAPHICAL AREA, MAY THEY NOT SERVE TO ALERT ANY CONTEMPLATING MARRIAGE TO CIRCUMSTANCES AND FACTORS THAT COULD IMPERIL THE UNION AND BEQUEATH TO THE CHILDREN AN INHERITANCE THAT SOME MAY RESENT? {2SM 484.1} [2SM 484.2] THESE COUNSELS ARE AMONG THOSE GIVEN THE BELIEVER, DEALING WITH A SIGNIFICANT AND FAR-REACHING EXPERIENCE IN LIFE AND PRESENTING A COURSE OF ACTION LEAST FRAUGHT WITH FACTORS THAT MAY LEAD TO HEARTACHES AND COULD IMPAIR OR DESTROY THE UNION. AS ELLEN WHITE SAYS, "JESUS WANTS TO SEE HAPPY MARRIAGES, HAPPY FIRESIDES." {2SM 484.2} [2SM 484.3] THE REPEATED STATEMENTS MADE BY ELLEN G. WHITE ORALLY AND IN HER WRITINGS MAKE CLEAR THAT THE ISSUE IS NOT THAT OF INEQUALITY OF RACE. SHE EVER MAINTAINED THAT THERE IS A CLOSE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND, AND THAT IN THE RECORDS OF HEAVEN THE NAME OF THE INDIVIDUAL OF ONE RACE STANDS BESIDE THE NAME OF ONE OF ANOTHER RACE. READ CAREFULLY THE APPENDIX WHICH FOLLOWS ENTITLED, "THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND."--WHITE TRUSTEES. ELLEN G. WHITE ESTATE, INC. WASHINGTON, D.C. AUGUST, 1967 {2SM 484.3} [2SM 485.1] Appendix 3- The Brotherhood of Mankind APPENDIX 3 The Brotherhood of Mankind - Christ Recognized No Distinction Christ recognized no distinction of nationality or rank or creed. . . . Christ came to break down every wall of partition. He came to show that His gift of mercy and love is as unconfined as the air, the light, or the showers of rain that refresh the earth. {2SM 485.1} [2SM 485.2] The life of Christ established a religion in which there is no caste, a religion by which Jew and Gentile, free and bond, are linked in a common brotherhood, equal before God. No question of policy influenced His movements. He made no difference between neighbors and strangers, friends and enemies. That which appealed to His heart was a soul thirsting for the waters of life. . . . {2SM 485.2} [2SM 485.3] He sought to inspire with hope the roughest and most unpromising, setting before them the assurance that they might become blameless and harmless, attaining such a character as would make them manifest as the children of God.--The Ministry of Healing, pp. 25, 26. {2SM 485.3} [2SM 485.4] One Brotherhood Christ came to this earth with a message of mercy and forgiveness. He laid the foundation for a religion by which Jew and Gentile, black and white, free and bond, are linked together in one common brotherhood, recognized as equal in the sight of God. The Saviour has a boundless love for every 486 human being. In each one He sees capacity for improvement. With divine energy and hope He greets those for whom He has given His life. In His strength they can live a life rich in good works, filled with the power of the Spirit.-- Testimonies, vol. 7, p. 225. {2SM 485.4} [2SM 486.1] One Family by Creation and Redemption No distinction on account of nationality, race, or caste, is recognized by God. He is the Maker of all mankind. All men are of one family by creation, and all are one through redemption. Christ came to demolish every wall of partition, to throw open every compartment of the temple, that every soul may have free access to God. . . . In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free. All are brought nigh by His precious blood.--Christ's Object Lessons p. 386. {2SM 486.1} [2SM 486.2] The Lord has looked with sadness upon the most pitiful of all sights, the colored race in slavery. He desires us, in our work for them, to remember their providential deliverance from slavery, their common relationship to us by creation and by redemption, and their right to the blessings of freedom.-- Testimonies, vol. 7, p. 223. {2SM 486.2} [2SM 486.3] No Caste or Color in Bible Religion The religion of the Bible recognizes no caste or color. It ignores rank, wealth, worldly honor. God estimates men as men. With Him, character decides their worth. And we are to recognize the Spirit of Christ in whomsoever it is revealed.-- Ibid., vol. 9, p. 223. {2SM 486.3} [2SM 486.4] Thus Christ sought to teach the disciples the truth that in God's kingdom there are no territorial lines, no caste, no aristocracy; that they must go to all nations, bearing to them the message of a Saviour's love.--The Acts of the Apostles, p. 20. {2SM 486.4} [2SM 486.5] Impartial Love Melts Prejudice The walls of sectarianism and caste and race will fall down when the true missionary spirit enters the hearts of men. Prejudice is melted away by the love of God.--Review and Herald, Jan. 21, 1896; The Southern Work, 1966 ed., p. 55. {2SM 486.5} [2SM 486.6] Walls of separation have been built up between the whites and the blacks. These walls of prejudice will tumble down of themselves as did the walls of Jericho, when Christians obey the Word of God, which enjoins on them supreme love to 487 their Maker and impartial love to their neighbors.--Review and Herald, Dec. 17, 1895; Republished in The Southern Work, 1966 ed., p. 43. {2SM 486.6} [2SM 487.1] When the Holy Spirit is poured out, there will be a triumph of humanity over prejudice in seeking the salvation of the souls of human beings. God will control minds. Human hearts will love as Christ loved. And the color line will be regarded by many very differently from the way in which it is now regarded. To love as Christ loves, lifts the mind into a pure, heavenly, unselfish atmosphere.--Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 209. {2SM 487.1} [2SM 487.2] Approach God as One Brotherhood When the Holy Spirit moves upon human minds, all petty complaints and accusations between man and his fellow man will be put away. The bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness will shine into the chambers of the mind and heart. In our worship of God there will be no distinction between rich and poor, white and black. All prejudice will be melted away. When we approach God, it will be as one brotherhood. We are pilgrims and strangers, bound for a better country, even a heavenly. There all pride, all accusation, all self-deception, will forever have an end. Every mask will be laid aside, and we shall "see him as he is." There our songs will catch the inspiring theme, and praise and thanksgiving will go up to God.--Review and Herald, Oct. 24, 1899, p. 677. {2SM 487.2} [2SM 487.3] Excerpts From the Appeal of March 20, 1891 The Lord Jesus came to our world to save men and women of all nationalities. He died just as much for the colored people as for the white race. Jesus came to shed light over the whole world. At the beginning of His ministry He declared His mission: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." . . . {2SM 487.3} [2SM 487.4] "Who," says Paul, "maketh thee to differ?" The God of the white man is the God of the black man, and the Lord declares that His love for the least of His children exceeds that of a mother for her beloved child. . . . {2SM 487.4} [2SM 487.5] The Lord's eye is upon all His creatures; He loves them all, and makes no difference between white and black, except that He has a special, tender pity for those who are called to 488 bear a greater burden than others. Those who love God and believe on Christ as their Redeemer, while they must meet the trials and the difficulties that lie in their path, should yet with a cheerful spirit accept their life as it is, considering that God above regards these things, and for all that the world neglects to bestow, He will Himself make up to them in the best of favors. . . . {2SM 487.5} [2SM 488.1] When the sinner is converted he receives the Holy Spirit, that makes him a child of God, and fits him for the society of the redeemed and the angelic host. He is made a joint heir with Christ. Whoever of the human family give themselves to Christ, whoever hear the truth and obey it, become children of one family. The ignorant and the wise, the rich and the poor, the heathen and the slave, white or black--Jesus paid the purchase money for their souls. If they believe on Him, his cleansing blood is applied to them. The black man's name is written in the book of life beside the white man's. All are one in Christ. Birth, station, nationality, or color cannot elevate or degrade men. The character makes the man. If a red man, a Chinese, or an African gives his heart to God, in obedience and faith, Jesus loves him none the less for his color. He calls him His well-beloved brother. . . . {2SM 488.1} [2SM 488.2] Men may have both hereditary and cultivated prejudices, but when the love of Jesus fills the heart, and they become one with Christ, they will have the same spirit that He had. If a colored brother sits by their side, they will not be offended or despise him. They are journeying to the same heaven, and will be seated at the same table to eat bread in the kingdom of God. If Jesus is abiding in our hearts we cannot despise the colored man who has the same Saviour abiding in his heart.--Manuscript 6, 1891. Published in The Southern Work, 1966 ed., pp. 9-14. {2SM 488.2} [OHC 7.1] OHC - Our High Calling (1961) FOREWORD WHEN ELLEN G. WHITE LAID ASIDE HER PEN AFTER SEVENTY BUSY YEARS OF MINISTRY, SHE LEFT TO US A RICH LEGACY OF EVER TIMELY INSTRUCTIONS, INSPIRED COUNSELS, AND EARNEST ADMONITIONS TOUCHING ALMOST EVERY PHASE OF PRACTICAL CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. OUR HIGH CALLING IS MADE UP OF CHOICE SELECTIONS FROM THIS VAST TREASURY AS FOUND IN ELLEN G. WHITE ARTICLES THAT APPEARED WEEK BY WEEK IN THE JOURNALS OF THE CHURCH, HER PUBLIC DISCOURSES, HER MANUSCRIPTS, AND LETTERS OF COUNSEL TO INDIVIDUALS, MANY OF THEM SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST YOUTH. IT IS CLEAR THAT MRS. WHITE CONTEMPLATED THE USE OF THESE MESSAGES IN THE PRODUCTION OF BOOKS, FOR SHE INDICATED IN A STATEMENT WRITTEN IN 1905 THAT "I AM ENDEAVORING BY THE HELP OF GOD TO WRITE LETTERS THAT WILL BE A HELP, NOT MERELY TO THOSE TO WHOM THEY ARE ADDRESSED, BUT TO MANY OTHERS WHO NEED THEM." ALTHOUGH WRITTEN MANY YEARS AGO, THESE COUNSELS SPEAK TO OUR HEARTS TODAY, TO ENCOURAGE, INSTRUCT, AND INSPIRE US IN VICTORIOUS PRACTICAL EVERYDAY CHRISTIAN LIVING AND WITNESSING, PARTICULARLY IN VIEW OF THE IMMINENCE OF OUR LORD'S RETURN. TO MAKE THE READING FOR EACH DAY COMPLETE WITHIN THE LIMITS OF A SINGLE PAGE, IT HAS BEEN NECESSARY AT TIMES TO MAKE DELETIONS IN ORDER TO BRING THE READING TO THE RIGHT LENGTH. ALL DELETIONS ARE INDICATED IN THE USUAL MANNER. LIKEWISE, IN MANY INSTANCES MATERIAL ON A PAGE HAS BEEN DRAWN FROM MORE THAN ONE SOURCE. GREAT CARE HAS BEEN EXERCISED TO AVOID ANY DISTORTION OF MEANING, AND THAT WHICH APPEARS CLEARLY PRESENTS THE INTENT OF THE AUTHOR. PROPER SOURCE REFERENCES FOR EACH QUOTATION ARE GIVEN, WHETHER ARTICLE, PAMPHLET, MANUSCRIPT, OR BOOK. OUR HIGH CALLING, PRESENTING A DEVOTIONAL READING FOR EACH DAY INTRODUCED BY AN APPROPRIATE BIBLE TEXT, HAS BEEN PREPARED AS AN ENRICHMENT OF THE MORNING WATCH DEVOTIONAL PLAN AND APPEARS SIMULTANEOUSLY IN SEVERAL LANGUAGES. THAT THIS VOLUME, COMPRISED OF MESSAGES INSPIRED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD, WILL BE TREASURED AS OTHER LIKE VOLUMES HAVE BEEN IN THE PAST, AND WILL BE THE MEANS OF ENCOURAGING ALL WHO READ TO "PRESS TOWARD THE MARK FOR THE PRIZE OF THE HIGH CALLING OF GOD IN CHRIST JESUS" IS OUR SINCERE WISH. THE TRUSTEES OF THE ELLEN G. WHITE ESTATE WASHINGTON, D.C. Chap. 1 - Happy New Year! So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psalm 90:12. {OHC 7.1} [OHC 7.2] Another year of life is now in the past. A new year is opening before us. What will be its record? What will we each inscribe upon its spotless pages? The manner in which we spend each passing day will decide this question. . . . {OHC 7.2} [OHC 7.3] Let us enter upon the new year with our hearts cleansed from the defilement of selfishness and pride. Let us put away every sinful indulgence, and seek to become faithful, diligent learners in the school of Christ. A new year opens its unsullied pages before us. What shall we write upon them? ... {OHC 7.3} [OHC 7.4] Seek to begin this year with right purposes and pure motives, as beings who are accountable to God. Ever bear in mind that your acts are daily passing into history by the pen of the recording angel. You must meet them again when the Judgment shall sit and the books shall be opened.... {OHC 7.4} [OHC 7.5] If we connect with God, the source of peace, and light, and truth, His Spirit will flow through us as a channel, to refresh and bless all around us. This may be the last year of life to us. Shall we not enter upon it with thoughtful consideration? Shall not sincerity, respect, benevolence, mark our deportment toward all? {OHC 7.5} [OHC 7.6] Let us withhold nothing from Him who gave His precious life for us. . . . Let us all consecrate to God the property He has entrusted to us. Above all, let us give Him ourselves, a freewill offering. {OHC 7.6} [OHC 7.7] May the beginning of this year be a time that shall never be forgotten--a time when Christ shall come in among us, and say, "Peace be unto you." John 20:19. Brethren and sisters, I wish you, one and all, a happy new year. "We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; In feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best." {OHC 7.7} [OHC 8.1] Chap. 2 - Which Way? Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matthew 7:13, 14. {OHC 8.1} [OHC 8.2] Before you are two ways--the broad road of self-indulgence and the narrow path of self-sacrifice. Into the broad road you can take selfishness, pride, love of the world; but those who walk in the narrow way must lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset. Which road have you chosen--the road which leads to everlasting death, or the road which leads to glory and immortality? {OHC 8.2} [OHC 8.3] There never was a more solemn time in the history of the world than the time in which we are now living. Our eternal interests are at stake, and we should arouse to the importance of making our calling and election sure. We dare not risk our eternal interests on mere probabilities. We must be in earnest. What we are, what we are doing, what is to be our course of action in the future, are all questions of untold moment, and we cannot afford to be listless, indifferent, unconcerned. It becomes each one of us to inquire, "What is eternity to me?" Are our feet in the path that leads to heaven, or in the broad road that leads to perdition? ... {OHC 8.3} [OHC 8.4] Those who make a success of the Christian life will count all things as loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. Only those who are abiding in Christ can know what true life is. They realize the value of true religion. They have brought their talents of influence and means and ability to the altar of consecration, seeking only to know and do the will of Him who has died to redeem them. They know that the path they must travel is strait and narrow, and that they will have to meet many obstacles and temptations, as they resist the enticements of the broader road that leads to ruin; but they will discern the footsteps of Jesus, and press onward toward the mark for the prize of the high calling in their Lord and Saviour. They will choose the royal way that leads to heaven. {OHC 8.4} [OHC 9.1] Chap. 3 - Compassed With God's Mercy Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about. Psalm 32:10. {OHC 9.1} [OHC 9.2] We often think that those who serve God have more trials than the unbeliever, and that the path marked out for them to travel in is rugged. . . . But does the sinner enjoy his worldly pleasure and enjoyment unalloyed? Oh, no. There are times when the sinner is fearfully troubled. He fears God but does not love Him. {OHC 9.2} [OHC 9.3] Are the wicked free from disappointment, perplexity, earthly losses, poverty, and distress? Many of them suffer a lingering sickness, yet have no strong and mighty One to lean upon, no strengthening grace from a higher power to support them in their weakness. They lean upon their own strength. They obtain no consolation by looking forward to the future, but a fearful uncertainty torments them; and thus they close their eyes in death, not finding any pleasure in looking forward to the resurrection morn, for they have no cheering hope that they shall have part in the first resurrection. . . . {OHC 9.3} [OHC 9.4] The Christian is subject to sickness, disappointment, poverty, reproach, and distress. Yet amid all this he loves God, he chooses to do His will, and prizes nothing so highly as His approbation. In the conflicting trials and changing scenes of this life, he knows that there is One who knows it all, One who will bend His ear low to the cry of the sorrowful and distressed, One who can sympathize with every sorrow and soothe the keen anguish of every heart. . . . {OHC 9.4} [OHC 9.5] Amid all his affliction, the Christian has strong consolation. And if God permits him to suffer a lingering, distressing sickness before he closes his eyes in death, he can with cheerfulness bear it all. . . . He contemplates the future with heavenly satisfaction. A short rest in the grave, and then the Life-giver will break the fetters of the tomb, release the captive, and bring him from his dusty bed immortal, never more to know pain, sorrow, or death. Oh, what a hope is the Christian's! Let this hope of the Christian be mine. Let it be yours. {OHC 9.5} [OHC 10.1] Chap. 4 - Blessings to Cheer Us Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! Psalm 31:19. {OHC 10.1} [OHC 10.2] God scatters blessings all along our path to brighten our journey and lead our hearts out to love and praise Him, and He wants us to draw water from the well of salvation that our hearts may be refreshed. We may sing the songs of Zion, we may cheer our own hearts, and we may cheer the hearts of others; hope may be strengthened, darkness turned to light. God has not left us in a dark world--as pilgrims and strangers seeking a better country, even an heavenly--without giving us precious promises to lighten every burden. The borders of our path are strewn with fair flowers of promise. They blossom all around, sending forth rich fragrance. {OHC 10.2} [OHC 10.3] How many blessings we lose because we slight and overlook the blessings we daily receive, yearning for that which we have not. Common mercies which thickly strew our pathway are forgotten and undervalued. We may learn lessons from the humble things of God in nature. The flower in dark and humble places responds to all the rays of light it can get, and puts forth its leaves. The caged bird sings in the prison cage, in the sunless tenement, as if in the lordly, sunny dwelling. God knows whether we will make a wise and saving use of His blessings; He will never give them to us to abuse. God loves the thankful heart, trusting implicitly in His words of promise, gathering comfort and hope and place from them; and He will reveal to us still greater depths of His love. {OHC 10.3} [OHC 10.4] If we praised God's holy name as we should, the flame of love would be kindled in many hearts. . . . The praise of God should continually be in our hearts and on our lips. This is the very best way to resist the temptation to indulge in idle, frivolous conversation. {OHC 10.4} [OHC 10.5] The Lord would have us look up, and be grateful to Him that there is a heaven. . . . Let us grasp by living faith the rich promises of God, and be thankful from morning till night. {OHC 10.5} [OHC 11.1] Chap. 5 - Perils to Shun O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. Jeremiah 10:23. {OHC 11.1} [OHC 11.2] The road through Knight's Canyon, always perilous to the inexperienced traveler, is often impassable in the rainy season. ［ACCOUNT OF A JOURNEY FROM HEALDSBURG TO ST. HELENA, CALIFORNIA, MADE BY MRS. WHITE AND A FRIEND, IN DECEMBER, 1881. FRIENDS DROVE AHEAD TO GUIDE THEM THROUGH A DANGEROUS PASS.］ We were very thankful for a pilot in this part of our journey. I dared not look either to the right or left to view the scenery, but, holding the lines firmly, and guiding my horse in the narrow passage, I followed our leader. Carelessness here would have been fatal. Had our horse turned out of the right path, we should have plunged down a steep precipice, into the ravine below. {OHC 11.2} [OHC 11.3] As we rode along in almost breathless silence, I could but think how forcibly this dangerous ride illustrates the Christian's experience. We are making life's journey amid the perils of the last days. We need to watch carefully every step, and to be sure that we are following our great Leader. Skepticism, infidelity, dissipation, and crime are on every hand. It would be an easy matter to let go the reins of self-control, and plunge over the precipice to sure destruction.... {OHC 11.3} [OHC 11.4] Infinite Love has cast up a pathway upon which the ransomed of the Lord may pass from earth to heaven. That path is the Son of God. Angel guides are sent to direct our erring feet. Heaven's glorious ladder is let down in every man's path, barring his way to vice and folly. He must trample upon a crucified Redeemer ere he can pass onward to a life of sin. Our heavenly Father's voice is calling us, Come up hither. . . . The humble, trusting ones are guided and protected in the way of peace. But He who is infinite in wisdom compels none to accept Heaven's most precious gift--compels none to walk in the path which has been cast up at such a cost. Every one is permitted to choose for himself the narrow, shining steep that leads to heaven, or that broader and easier way which ends in death. {OHC 11.4} [OHC 12.1] Chap. 6 - The Bridge Love Built Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10. {OHC 12.1} [OHC 12.2] God's love for the world was not manifest because He sent His Son, but because He loved the world He sent His Son into the world that divinity clothed with humanity might touch humanity, while divinity lays hold of divinity. Though sin had produced a gulf between man and his God, a divine benevolence provided a plan to bridge that gulf. And what material did He use? A part of Himself. The brightness of the Father's glory came to a world all seared and marred with the curse, and in His own divine character, in His own divine body, bridged the gulf. . . . The windows of heaven were opened and the showers of heavenly grace in healing streams came to our benighted world. . . . {OHC 12.2} [OHC 12.3] Had God given us less we could not have been saved. But He gave to our world so abundantly that it could not be said that He could love us more. Then how foolish is the position taken that there is to be a second probation after the first is exhausted. God has exhausted His benevolence . . . in pouring out all heaven to man in one great gift. Only in comprehending the value of this offering can we comprehend infinity. O the breadth and height and depth of the love of God! Who of finite beings can comprehend it? . . . {OHC 12.3} [OHC 12.4] God claims the whole of the affections of man, the whole heart, the whole soul, the whole mind, the whole strength. He lays claim to all that there is of man, because He has poured out the whole treasure of heaven by giving us His all at once, reserving nothing greater that heaven can do.... {OHC 12.4} [OHC 12.5] When I commence writing on this subject, I go on and on, and try to get beyond the outer edge, but I fail. When we shall reach the mansions above, Jesus will Himself lead the white-robed ones, made white in the blood of the Lamb, to the Father. "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them." Revelation 7:15. {OHC 12.5} [OHC 13.1] Chap. 7 - The One Vast Gift of God Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. 2 Corinthians 2:15. {OHC 13.1} [OHC 13.2] Those who receive Christ by faith will be looked upon by Heaven as precious pearls for which the merchantman has paid an infinite price, and the human agents who find Christ will realize that they have found a heavenly treasure. They will be anxious to sell all that they have in order to buy the field which contains this treasure. As they contemplate the love of God, as the plan of salvation opens to their view, as the mystery of Christ's condescension becomes plainer to them, as they see the sacrifice that He made for them, they count nothing too dear to give up for His sake. The more they dwell upon the wonderful love of God, the vaster becomes its proportion, and the brightness of the glory of God becomes too glorious for mortal vision. {OHC 13.2} [OHC 13.3] The Lord God of heaven collected all the riches of the universe, and laid them down in order to purchase the pearl of lost humanity. The Father gave all His divine resources into the hands of Christ in order that the richest blessings of heaven might be poured out upon a fallen race. God could not express greater love than He has expressed in giving the Son of His bosom to this world. This gift was given to man to convince him that God had left nothing undone that He could do, that there is nothing held in reserve, but that all heaven has been poured out in one vast gift. The present and eternal happiness of man consists in receiving God's love, and in keeping God's commandments. {OHC 13.3} [OHC 13.4] Christ is our redeemer. He is the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us. He is the fountain in which we may be washed and cleansed from all impurity. He is the costly sacrifice that has been given for the reconciliation of man. The universe of heaven, the worlds unfallen, the fallen world, and the confederacy of evil cannot say that God could do more for the salvation of man than He has done. Never can His gift be surpassed, never can He display a richer depth of love. Calvary represents His crowning work. . . . The Lord would have His followers enraptured with God through the knowledge of His paternal character. {OHC 13.4} [OHC 14.1] Chap. 8 - Calling All Youth! For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth. Psalm 71:5. {OHC 14.1} [OHC 14.2] Jesus calls to every wanderer, "My son, give me thine heart." Proverbs 23:26.... The youth cannot be happy without the love of Jesus. He is waiting with pitying tenderness to hear the confessions of the wayward, and to accept their penitence. He watches for some return of gratitude from us, as the mother watches for the smile of recognition from her beloved child. The great God teaches us to call Him Father. He would have us understand how earnestly and tenderly His heart yearns over us in all our trials and temptations.... {OHC 14.2} [OHC 14.3] The young should be constantly growing in grace, and in a knowledge of the truth. The Creator of all things, with whom are all the treasures of wisdom, has promised to be the guide of their youth. He who has conquered in their behalf all the powers of evil asks for their homage. There can be no higher knowledge than the knowledge of Him whom to know aright is life and peace; no purer, deeper affection than the love of our Saviour.... {OHC 14.3} [OHC 14.4] There are temptations on every hand to ensnare the feet of the unwary. Ungodly, corrupt youth exert a strong influence to lead others into forbidden paths. These are among the most successful agents of Satan. . . . The lovers of the world will often approach under a garb of friendship, and attempt to introduce its customs and practices. Let every true soldier stand ready to resist these allurements.... {OHC 14.4} [OHC 14.5] Satan attacks us at our weak points; but we need not be overcome. The assault may be severe and protracted, but God has promised help for us, and in His strength we may conquer. . . . The precepts and promises of God's word will arm you with divine power to resist the enemy. . . . Satan will be baffled and defeated when he finds the heart preoccupied with the truth of God. We need also to be often found at the throne of grace. Earnest, persevering prayer, uniting our human weakness to Omnipotence, will give us the victory. {OHC 14.5} [OHC 15.1] Chap. 9 - Mine to Choose And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; ... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15. {OHC 15.1} [OHC 15.2] In our world there are two classes. One is made up of those who behold a crucified and risen Saviour. The other includes all who have chosen to look away from the cross, and to follow the leadings of satanic influences. The latter class are busily engaged in putting stumbling blocks before God's people, to cause them to fall, and turn from the path of obedience into the broad way of disobedience and death.... {OHC 15.2} [OHC 15.3] Many choose unrighteousness because Satan presents it in such a way that it seems attractive to those who are not on guard against his wiles. And he works in a special manner through unsanctified men and women who profess to be children of God. In some way or other the enemy will seek to deceive all, even the very elect. Only as we are partakers of the divine nature can we escape the corrupting influences that are brought to bear upon us by the enemy of our souls. {OHC 15.3} [OHC 15.4] As Satan seeks to break down the barriers of the soul, by tempting us to indulge in sin, we must by living faith retain our connection with God, and have confidence in His strength to enable us to overcome every besetment. We are to flee from evil, and seek righteousness, meekness, and holiness. . . . {OHC 15.4} [OHC 15.5] It is time for every one of us to decide whose side we are on. The agencies of Satan will work with every mind that will allow itself to be worked by him. But there are also heavenly agencies waiting to communicate the bright rays of the glory of God to all who are willing to receive Him. {OHC 15.5} [OHC 15.6] It is ours to choose whether we will be numbered with the servants of Christ or the servants of Satan. Every day we show by our conduct whose service we have chosen.... {OHC 15.6} [OHC 15.7] Dear young reader, what choice have you made? What is the record of your daily life? {OHC 15.7} [OHC 16.1] Chap. 10 - A Safe Guide Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:12. {OHC 16.1} [OHC 16.2] All who are traveling the road to heaven need a safe guide. We must not walk in human wisdom. It is our privilege to listen to the voice of Christ speaking to us as we walk the journey of life, and His words are always words of wisdom.... {OHC 16.2} [OHC 16.3] Satan is working with great diligence to compass the ruin of the souls of men. He has come down with great power, knowing that he has but a short time to work. Our only safety lies in following closely after Christ, walking in His wisdom, and practicing His truth. We cannot always readily detect the working of Satan; we do not know where he lays his traps. But Jesus understands the subtle arts of the enemy, and He can keep our feet in safe paths. . . . "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6) Christ declares. {OHC 16.3} [OHC 16.4] What would be the use of a way direct and sure in its course to glory, if no light of truth shone upon that path, that travelers should desire it? What would be the use of truth shining on the way if there was no life in the persons that walked in the way, in the pilgrims' journey from the earthly to the heavenly? Having the statement of Christ, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," all who believe in Jesus, the Leader, may in confidence walk heavenward, sure that they are in the path outlined in the Word as the way. {OHC 16.4} [OHC 16.5] Christ, His character and work, is the center and circumference of all truth. He is the chain upon which the jewels of doctrine are linked. In Him is found the complete system of truth. {OHC 16.5} [OHC 16.6] Those who walk in obedience will know what truth is....In order to know the truth, we must be willing to obey. Those whose affections are placed on the world are not willing to give up their plans for the plans of Christ. They walk in darkness, not knowing whither they go. {OHC 16.6} [OHC 16.7] The precious light of truth flashes upon the pathway of everyone who seeks for it. {OHC 16.7} [OHC 17.1] Chap. 11 - Children of the Heavenly King Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 1 John 3:1. {OHC 17.1} [OHC 17.2] Let no one feel that he is stepping down in becoming a child of God. It was the only begotten Son of God who stepped down. . . . Leaving His splendor, His majesty, His high command, and clothing His divinity with humanity, that humanity might touch humanity, and divinity lay hold upon divinity, He came to this earth, and in our behalf suffered the death of the cross.... {OHC 17.2} [OHC 17.3] Christ has made an infinite sacrifice. He gave His own life for us. He took upon His divine soul the result of the transgression of God's law. Laying aside His royal crown, He condescended to step down, step by step, to the level of fallen humanity. He hung upon Calvary's cross, dying in our behalf, that we might have eternal life. . . . Does it seem a small thing that He should endure all this, that we might be called the sons of God? Does it seem a small thing to you to become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, partakers of an immortal inheritance? {OHC 17.3} [OHC 17.4] Such is the infinite goodness of God that through Jesus Christ's merits He not only spares but pardons and justifies us, and through the righteousness of Christ imputes righteousness to us, and exalts and ennobles us by making us children of His adoption. We become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. He lifts men and women from their degradation and exalts them in righteousness. . . . He calls them His jewels, and a peculiar treasure unto Him. They are trophies of His grace and power, and of His greatness and riches in glory. They therefore are not their own, but are bought with a price, and through the extraordinary office of the atonement of Christ have been brought into nearness and the most sacred relationship to Jesus Christ. They are called His heritage, His children, the members of Christ's body, of His flesh and of His bones; yea, they are joined to the Lord by intimate relationship with Him. {OHC 17.4} [OHC 18.1] Chap. 12 - Whosoever Means Me For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16. {OHC 18.1} [OHC 18.2] We should contemplate the love of Jesus, His mission and His work in reference to us as individuals. We are to say, Jesus so loved me that He gave His own life to save me. The Father loves me, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." It becomes us to ascertain upon what terms Christ promises the gift of eternal life. I answer, It is upon our faith. {OHC 18.2} [OHC 18.3] The gift of God's dear Son makes the promises of God ours of a surety. {OHC 18.3} [OHC 18.4] How many can say, "He saves me"? I know that He wants that I should be saved. He looks upon me as of value in His sight, and therefore I know that my thoughts, my words, and my works, all pass in review before Him. Everything that is connected with the purchase of the blood of Christ is of value in the sight of God. By the price paid for our redemption we are under obligation to devote our entire affections to Christ. We are to give God all there is of us; and in giving to God our all, are we to consider that we sustain a great loss?--No, for in giving to Him our talents, we are doubling them. Every gift He has given to us, when returned to Him, receives His blessing, that it may have increased influence in the work of God. Wherever you may be, you are to realize that you belong to Christ. {OHC 18.4} [OHC 18.5] The gift of Christ to the world was beyond computation, and no power could compete with God by giving a gift that would bear any comparison to the value of heaven's best treasure. The greatness of this gift was to furnish men with a theme of thanksgiving and praise that would last through time and through eternity. Having given His all in Christ, God lays claim to the heart, mind, soul, and strength of man. Looking upon the treasure which God has provided in the full and complete gift of Christ, we can exclaim: "Herein is love!" {OHC 18.5} [OHC 19.1] Chap. 13 - Rich Currents of Grace And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8. {OHC 19.1} [OHC 19.2] Is it not wonderful that we can receive the rich current of grace from Deity, and work in harmony with Deity? What does Deity want with us, poor, weak, and feeble as we are? What can Deity do with us? Everything, if we are willing to surrender all. God loves every youth. He knows all about your trials. He knows that you have to battle against the powers of darkness, who strive to gain control of the human mind. {OHC 19.2} [OHC 19.3] God's purpose for His children is that they shall grow to the full stature of men and women in Christ. In order to do this, we must use aright every power of mind and soul and body. We cannot afford to waste any mental or physical strength.... {OHC 19.3} [OHC 19.4] Satan has summoned the hosts of darkness to war against the saints. We cannot afford to be indifferent to his attacks. He comes in many ways, and we must have clear spiritual discernment, that we may be able to discern when he is seeking to gain possession of our minds. God calls on those on whom the light of truth is shining to take their stand in His army. He calls upon them to show their loyalty by walking in the light He has given. {OHC 19.4} [OHC 19.5] The Lord desires you to understand the position you occupy as sons and daughters of the Most High, children of the heavenly King. He desires you to live in close connection with Him.... Cut away from everything frivolous. Do not think that you must indulge in this pleasure and that pleasure. Determine that you will be on the Lord's side.... {OHC 19.5} [OHC 19.6] Take firm hold of the arm of Divine power. . . . Harness your habits. Put on the bit and bridle. Say, "I love the Lord, and I am determined to use every particle of my intelligence in His work."... {OHC 19.6} [OHC 19.7] If you will stand under the bloodstained banner of Prince Emmanuel, faithfully doing His service, you need never yield to temptation; for One stands by your side who is able to keep you from falling. {OHC 19.7} [OHC 20.1] Chap. 14 - Look and Live As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:14, 15. {OHC 20.1} [OHC 20.2] The same lesson that Christ bade Moses to give to the children of Israel in the wilderness is for all such souls suffering under the plague spot of sin. From the billowy cloud Christ spoke to Moses and told him to make a brazen serpent and place it upon a pole, and then bid all that were bitten with the fiery serpents to look and live. What if, in the place of looking as Christ commanded them, they had said, "I do not believe it will do me the least bit of good to look. I am too great a sufferer from the sting of the poisonous serpent." Obedience was the object to be gained, implicit and blind obedience, without stopping to inquire the reason or the science of the matter. Christ's word was, "Look and live." ... {OHC 20.2} [OHC 20.3] We want clear views of what Jesus is to us. We want to have distinct views of the victories gained in our behalf. He spoiled principalities and powers and made a show of them openly. He broke the fetters of the tomb and came forth to take again His life that He laid down for us. He ascended on high, having led captivity captive and received gifts for men. All this suffering He endured for us....He will be our helper and He will be our refuge in every time of need. He should be revealed in our Christian experience as all-sufficient, a present Saviour. {OHC 20.3} [OHC 20.4] Only look and live. We dishonor God when we do not go forth from the dark cellar of doubts unto the upper chamber of hope and faith. When the Light shineth in all its brightness let us take hold on Jesus Christ by the mighty hand of faith. No longer cultivate your doubts by expressing them and pouring them into other minds, and thus becoming an agent of Satan to sow the seeds of doubt. Talk faith, live faith, cultivate love to God; evidence to the world all that Jesus is to you. Magnify His holy name. Tell of His goodness; talk of His mercy, and tell of His power. {OHC 20.4} [OHC 21.1] Chap. 15 - A Higher Standard The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10. {OHC 21.1} [OHC 21.2] What fullness is expressed in the words, "I am the light of the world." John 8:12. "I am the bread of life." John 6:35. "I am the way, the truth, and the life." John 14:6. "I am the good shepherd." John 10:14. "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10. This life is what we must have, and we must have it more abundantly. God will breathe this life into every soul that dies to self and lives to Christ. But entire self-renunciation is required. Unless this takes place, we carry with us the evil that destroys our happiness. But when self is crucified, Christ lives in us, and the power of the Spirit attends our efforts. {OHC 21.2} [OHC 21.3] I wish we could be what God would have us--all light in the Lord. We need to reach a higher standard, but we can never do this until self is laid on the altar, until we let the Holy Spirit control us, molding and fashioning us according to the divine similitude.... {OHC 21.3} [OHC 21.4] We must daily consecrate ourselves to God's service. We must come to God in faith. . . . We need to humble ourselves before God. It is self that we have first to do with. Criticize the heart closely. Search it to see what hinders the free access of God's Spirit. We must receive the Holy Ghost. Then we shall have power to prevail with God. {OHC 21.4} [OHC 21.5] A mere assent to truth is not enough. Daily we must live the truth. We must shut ourselves in with God, surrendering all to Him. To listen to the great and grand truths of the Word is not enough. We must ask ourselves the question, Does Christ dwell in my heart by faith? He alone can show us our necessity and reveal the dignity and glory of the truth. At the altar of self-sacrifice--the appointed place of meeting between God and the soul--we receive from the hand of God the celestial torch which searches the heart, revealing its great need of an abiding Christ. {OHC 21.5} [OHC 22.1] Chap. 16 - Strong in the Lord The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? . . . Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. Psalm 27:1, 3. {OHC 22.1} [OHC 22.2] We are passing through an enemy's land. Foes are upon every side to hinder our advancement. They hate God and all who follow after Him and bear His name. But those who are our enemies are the Lord's enemies, and although they are strong and artful, yet the Captain of our salvation who leadeth us can vanquish them. As the sun disperses the clouds from its path, so will the Sun of Righteousness remove the obstacles to our progress. We may cheer our souls by looking at the things unseen which will cheer and animate us in our journey.... {OHC 22.2} [OHC 22.3] If we cling to Him by living faith, saying with Jacob, "I will not let thee go" (Genesis 32:26); if we entreat, "Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me," (Psalm 51:11), the promise is to us, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." . . . {OHC 22.3} [OHC 22.4] We have read an account of a noble prince who carried the picture of his father always near his heart and on important occasions when there was danger of forgetting him, he would take out the likeness and view it and say, "Let me do nothing unbecoming so excellent a father." As Christians, God has claims upon us that we should never, never lose sight of for a moment; and as we are His children by adoption, how careful should we be that we retain His image and do nothing that will belittle or degrade our holy calling, for we rank among the royal family. God has made us as vessels unto honor, prepared unto every good work. "This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise." Isaiah 43:21. God's people are called a crown, a diadem. Satan would eagerly seize the Lord's treasure, but God has secured it so that Satan cannot obtain it. "Thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God." Isaiah 62:3. We are secure, perfectly secure from the enemy's subtlety while we have unwavering trust in God." {OHC 22.4} [OHC 23.1] Chap. 17 - Angels to Guard Us For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. Psalm 91:11. {OHC 23.1} [OHC 23.2] Oh, that we could all realize the nearness of heaven to earth! When the earthborn children know it not, they have the angels of light as their companions; for the heavenly messengers are sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. A silent witness guards every soul that lives, seeking to win and draw him to Christ. The angels never leave the tempted one a prey to the enemy who would destroy the souls of men if permitted to do so. As long as there is hope, until they resist the Holy Spirit to their eternal ruin, men are guarded by heavenly intelligences. {OHC 23.2} [OHC 23.3] Oh, that all could behold our precious Saviour as He is, a Saviour. Let His hand draw aside the veil which conceals His glory from our eyes. It shows Him in His high and holy place. What do we see? Our Saviour, not in a position of silence and inactivity. He is surrounded with heavenly intelligences, cherubim, and seraphim, ten thousand times ten thousand of angels. All these heavenly beings have one object above all others, in which they are intensely interested--His church in a world of corruption. . . . They are working for Christ under His commission, to save to the uttermost all who look to Him and believe in Him. {OHC 23.3} [OHC 23.4] Heavenly angels are commissioned to watch the sheep of Christ's pasture. When Satan with his deceptive snares would deceive if possible the very elect, these angels set in operation influences that will save the tempted souls if they will take heed to the Word of the Lord, realize their danger, and say, "No, I will not enter into that scheme of Satan. I have an Elder Brother on the throne in heaven, who has shown that He has a tender interest in me, and I will not grieve His heart of love." {OHC 23.4} [OHC 23.5] Living amid these opposing forces, we may through the exercise of faith and prayer, call to our side a retinue of heavenly angels, who will guard us from every corrupting influence. {OHC 23.5} [OHC 24.1] Chap. 18 - Promises to those Who Obey Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine. Exodus 19:5. {OHC 24.1} [OHC 24.2] This pledge was given not only to Israel but to all who are obedient to God's Word. Those who live amid the perils of the last days may realize that just as at the beginning of their experience the truth united them to the Saviour, so He who is the author and finisher of their faith will perfect the work He has begun for them. God is faithful, by whom we are called to fellowship with His Son. As men and women cooperate with God in doing the work He has given them, they go forward from strength to greater strength. As they exercise simple faith, believing day by day that God will not fail to establish them in Christ, God says to them as He did to ancient Israel: "Thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth." Deuteronomy 7:6. {OHC 24.2} [OHC 24.3] Thus God is able and willing to lead all who will be led. He desires to teach each one a lesson of constant trust, unwavering faith, and unquestioning submission. He says to each one, I am the Lord thy God. Walk with Me, and I will fill thy path with light.... {OHC 24.3} [OHC 24.4] But God requires obedience to all His commands. The only way in which it is possible for men to be happy is by rendering obedience to the laws of God's kingdom. {OHC 24.4} [OHC 24.5] Life, with its privileges and endowments, is God's gift. Let us remember that all we have comes from God, and is to be wholly and freely consecrated to Him. Paul declares, "I count all things but loss for the excellency of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, but the righteousness which is of God by faith." Philippians 3:8. The sacrifice of our ideas, our will, is necessary if we would be one with Christ in God. All we have and are must be laid at Christ's feet. {OHC 24.5} [OHC 25.1] Chap. 19 - Our Only Safety The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. Proverbs 29:25. {OHC 25.1} [OHC 25.2] You are safe only as you trust in God. We have a vigilant foe to contend against. . . . He ［Christ］ saw that it was not possible for man to overcome the powerful foe in his own strength, therefore He came in person from the courts of heaven and bore in behalf of man the test that Adam failed to endure.... Christ overcame Satan, making it possible for man to overcome on his own behalf in the name of Christ. But the victory can only be gained in Christ's name, through His grace. When burdened, when pressed with temptation, when the feelings and desires of the natural heart are clamoring for the victory, earnest, fervent, importunate prayer in the name of Christ brings Jesus to your side as a helper, and through His name you gain the victory and Satan is vanquished.... {OHC 25.2} [OHC 25.3] I implore you to trust wholly in God. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you." James 4:7, 8. The Christian life is a life of conflict, or self-denial and conquest. It is a continual battle and a march. Every act of obedience to Christ, every victory obtained over self, is a step in the march to glory and final victory. Take Christ for your Guide and He will lead you safely along. The pathway may be rough and thorny and the ascents steep, requiring toil. You may have to press on when weary, when you long for rest. You may have to fight on when faint and hope on when discouraged, but, with Christ as your Guide, you cannot lose the path of immortal life. You cannot fail to reach the exalted seat by the side of your Guide, whose own feet trod the rough path before you, evening the way for your feet. If you follow pride and selfish ambition you will find it pleasant at first, but the end is pain and sorrow. You may follow selfishness, which will promise you much but will poison and embitter your life. To follow Christ is safe. He will not suffer the powers of darkness to hurt one hair of your head. Trust in your Redeemer and you are safe. {OHC 25.3} [OHC 26.1] Chap. 20 - Light or Shadow? Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20. {OHC 26.1} [OHC 26.2] God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If there were no light, there would be no shade. But while the shade comes by the sun, it is not created by it. It is some obstruction that causes the shadow. So darkness emanates not from God, but is the result of an intruding object between the soul and God.... Disregard of the light that God has given brings the sure result. It creates a shadow, a darkness that is more dark because of the light which has been sent.... If a man withdraws himself from light and evidence, and yields to Satan's seducing arts, he himself draws the curtain of unbelief about him, so that light cannot be distinguished from darkness. More light and evidence would only be misunderstood by him. The greater the evidence, the greater will be the indifference. This will lead the deceived soul to call darkness light and truth error. {OHC 26.2} [OHC 26.3] Satan is constantly working to lead men to deny the light. It is but a step from the straightforward path to a diverging one, in which Satan leads the way, and where light is all darkness, and darkness light. ... It is a dangerous thing to open the heart to unbelief, for it drives the Spirit of God away from the heart, and Satan's suggestions come in. ... We must ... avoid the first admission of doubt and unbelief. {OHC 26.3} [OHC 26.4] "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Galatians 6:7. God destroys no man. Every man who is destroyed will destroy himself. When a man stifles the admonitions of conscience, he sows the seeds of unbelief and these produce a sure harvest.... {OHC 26.4} [OHC 26.5] "They would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil." Proverbs 1:30-33. {OHC 26.5} [OHC 27.1] Chap. 21 - Hope for the Hopeless Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. Isaiah 55:7, 8. {OHC 27.1} [OHC 27.2] It is your thought that your mistakes and transgressions have been so grievous that the Lord will not have respect unto your prayers, and will bless and save you. . . . The closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you will appear in your own eyes; for your vision will be clearer, and your imperfections will be seen in broad and distinct contrast to His perfect nature. But do not be discouraged. This is evidence that Satan's delusions have lost their power; that the vivifying influence of the Spirit of God is arousing you, and your indifference and unconcern are passing away. {OHC 27.2} [OHC 27.3] No deep-seated love for Jesus can dwell in the heart that does not see and realize its own sinfulness. The soul that is transformed by grace will admire His divine character; but if we do not see our own moral deformity, it is unmistakable evidence that we have not had a view of the beauty and excellence of Christ. The less we see to esteem in ourselves, the more we shall see to esteem in the infinite purity and loveliness of our Saviour. A view of our own sinfulness drives us to Him who can pardon.... {OHC 27.3} [OHC 27.4] God does not deal with us as finite men deal with one another. His thoughts are thoughts of mercy, love, and tenderest compassion. "He will abundantly pardon." He says, "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions." . . . {OHC 27.4} [OHC 27.5] Look up, you who are tried, tempted, and discouraged, look up.... It is ever safe to look up; it is fatal to look down. If you look down, the earth reels and sways beneath you; nothing is sure. But heaven above you is calm and steady, and there is divine aid for every climber. The hand of the Infinite is reaching over the battlements of heaven to grasp yours in its strong embrace. The mighty Helper is nigh to bless, lift up, and encourage the most erring, the most sinful, if they will look to Him by faith. But the sinner must look up. {OHC 27.5} [OHC 28.1] Chap. 22 - Never Absent from the Mind of God Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 1 Peter 5:7. {OHC 28.1} [OHC 28.2] To enlarge our views of God's goodness, Christ calls upon us to behold the works of His hands. "Behold the fowls of the air," He says, "they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" Matthew 6:26.... {OHC 28.2} [OHC 28.3] Though men and women have sinned grievously, they are not forsaken. The hand that upholds the world, upholds and strengthens His weakest child. The great Master Artist, whose skill is infinitely beyond the skill of any human being, who gives to the lily of the field its delicate and beautiful tints, cares for the little sparrow. Not one falls to the ground without His notice.... {OHC 28.3} [OHC 28.4] If the flower is given a beauty that outvies the glory of Solomon, what can be the measurement of the estimate God places on His purchased heritage? Christ points us to the care bestowed on the things that wither in a day, to show us how much love God must have for the beings created in His own image.... He opens before us the volume of providence, and bids us behold the names written therein. In this volume every human being has a page, on which is written the events of his life history. And from the mind of God these names are never absent for a moment. Wonderful indeed is God's love and care for the beings He has created.... {OHC 28.4} [OHC 28.5] That He might save the souls of perishing human beings, He made a gift of such magnitude that it can never be said that God could have made His gift, His donation to the human family, greater. His gift defies computation. All this God did that man might become impregnated with the divine love and benevolence. Thus He would assure sinners that sins of the greatest magnitude can be forgiven if the transgressor seeks for pardon, surrendering himself, body, soul, and spirit, to be transformed by the grace of God and changed into His likeness. {OHC 28.5} [OHC 28.6] In behalf of man God has poured out the whole treasury of heaven, and in return He expects and claims our entire affections. {OHC 28.6} [OHC 29.1] Chap. 23 - To Be Like Christ For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Colossians 3:3. {OHC 29.1} [OHC 29.2] Jesus wants you to be happy, but you cannot be happy in having your own way and following the impulses of your own heart. . . . Our notions, our peculiarities, are wholly human and must not be humored or indulged. Self is to be crucified, not now and then but daily, and the physical, mental, and spiritual must be subordinate to the will of God. The glory of God, the perfection of Christian character, is to be the aim, the purpose, of our life. Christ's followers must imitate Christ in disposition.... Like Christ is the watchword, not like your father or your mother, but like Jesus Christ--hid in Christ, clothed with Christ's righteousness, imbued with the Spirit of Christ. All the peculiarities given us as an inheritance or acquired by indulgence or through erroneous education must be thoroughly overcome, decidedly resisted. Love of esteem and pride of opinion, all must be brought to the sacrifice. . . . {OHC 29.2} [OHC 29.3] Jesus is our helper; in Him and through Him we must conquer. . . . The grace of Christ is waiting your demand upon it. He will give you grace and strength as you need it if you ask Him. . . . The religion of Christ will bind and restrain every unholy passion, will stimulate to energy, to self-discipline, and industry, even in the matters of homely, everyday life, leading us to learn economy, tact, and self-denial, and to endure even privation without a murmur. The Spirit of Christ in the heart will be revealed in the character, will develop noble qualities and powers. "My grace is sufficient" (2 Corinthians 12:9) says Christ. {OHC 29.3} [OHC 29.4] God has done so much to make it possible for us to be free in Christ, free from the slavery of wrong habits and evil inclinations. Dear young friends, will you not strive to be free in Christ? You point to this and that professed Christian, saying, We have no confidence in them. If their lives are examples of Christianity, we want none of it. Look not at those around you. Look instead at the only perfect pattern, the man Christ Jesus. Beholding Him, you will be changed into the same image. {OHC 29.4} [OHC 30.1] Chap. 24 - Stay Close to Jesus Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Psalm 73:23, 24. {OHC 30.1} [OHC 30.2] Before you engage in any important work, remember that Jesus is your counselor, and that it is your privilege to cast all your care upon Him. . . . Do not keep Jesus in the background and never mention His name, never call the attention of your friends to Him who is at your side to be your counselor. Would not your friends look upon you as disrespectful were they at your side, and you never spoke to them or of them? . . . {OHC 30.2} [OHC 30.3] Many complain that Jesus seems a long way off. Who has placed Him a long way off? Has it not been your own course of action that has separated you from Jesus? He has not forsaken you, but you have forsaken Him for other lovers. . . . It is when you wander from His side, and are charmed with the voice of the seducer, and fasten your affections upon some trifling thing, that you are in danger of losing your peace and trust and confidence in God.... Then it is that Satan presents to you the thought that Jesus has forsaken you; but is it not that you have forsaken Jesus? . . . We dare not let His name languish on our lips, and His love and memory die out of our hearts. {OHC 30.3} [OHC 30.4] "Well," says the cold, formal professor, "this is making Christ too much like a human being"; but the Word of God warrants us to have these very ideas. It is the want of these practical, definite views of Christ, that hinders so many from having a genuine experience in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This is the reason that many are fearing and doubting and mourning. Their ideas of Christ and the plan of salvation are vague, dreary, and confused. If they had, like David, set the Lord ever before them,... their feet would be upon solid rock. Behold Jesus crucified for you. Behold Him grieved with your sins; and when you pray, repent, and earnestly desire to see Him as your sin-pardoning Redeemer, ready to bless you, and to hear your acknowledgment of Him. Keep close to His side. {OHC 30.4} [OHC 31.1] Chap. 25 - The Bible a Light for My Way Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Psalm 119:105. "Most wondrous book! bright candle of the Lord! Star of eternity! the only light By which the bark of man can navigate The sea of life, and gain the coast of bliss securely." {OHC 31.1} [OHC 31.2] Why should not this book--this precious treasure--be exalted and esteemed as a valued friend? This is our chart across the stormy sea of life. It is our guide-book, showing us the way to the eternal mansions, and the character we must have to inhabit them. There is no book the perusal of which will so elevate and strengthen the mind as the study of the Bible. Here the intellect will find themes of the most elevated character to call out its powers. There is nothing that will so endow with vigor all our faculties as bringing them in contact with the stupendous truths of revelation. The effort to grasp and measure these great thoughts expands the mind. We may dig down deep into the mine of truth, and gather precious treasures with which to enrich the soul. Here we may learn the true way to live, the safe way to die. {OHC 31.2} [OHC 31.3] A familiar acquaintance with the Scriptures sharpens the discerning powers, and fortifies the soul against the attacks of Satan. The Bible is the sword of the Spirit, which will never fail to vanquish the adversary. It is the only true guide in all matters of faith and practice. The reason why Satan has so great control over the minds and hearts of men is that they have not made the Word of God the man of their counsel, and all their ways have not been tried by the true test. The Bible will show us what course we must pursue to become heirs of glory. {OHC 31.3} [OHC 31.4] As the heart is opened to the entrance of the Word, light from the throne of God will shine into the soul. That Word, cherished in the heart, will yield to the student a treasure of knowledge that is priceless. Its ennobling principles will stamp the character with honesty and truthfulness, temperance and integrity. {OHC 31.4} [OHC 32.1] Chap. 26 - Truth in the Heart I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me. Psalm 119:30. {OHC 32.1} [OHC 32.2] The cause of God needs men and women who will stand on the platform of truth without wavering, and who will hold the banner of truth firmly aloft, so that no man can fail to see on which side they are standing. Their position is to be clearly defined. Their hearts are to be pure and holy, free from pretense or deception. {OHC 32.2} [OHC 32.3] The truth must find an abiding place in the heart. Then through the power of the Holy Spirit it will exert its influence in all you do and say. Shall we try to keep the truth out of sight? No, no, not for a moment! It is to be sacredly regarded. Its principles are to be consulted in all your transactions. It is to be a counselor in all your difficulties, a guide in all your relations of life, a present help in every time of need. In public, in private, where no human eye can see, where no ear but God's can hear, there the truth should control us, directing our thoughts, prompting our words and deeds. {OHC 32.3} [OHC 32.4] You may show to the world that the truth which you profess sanctifies and ennobles the character and leads to industry and frugality, while it avoids avarice, overreaching, and every species of dishonesty. In your words manifest patience and forbearance, and you may every day be preaching a sermon upon the power of truth and do effectual service to the cause of God. Let no one say that the truth you profess makes you no different from the worldling. . . . Do not give the least occasion for anyone to speak ill of your faith because you are not sanctified through the truth. {OHC 32.4} [OHC 32.5] When the truth as it is in Jesus molds our characters, it will be seen to be truth indeed. As it is contemplated by the true believer, it will grow brighter, shining in its original beauty. As we behold it, it will increase in value, brightening in its own natural loveliness, quickening and vivifying the mind, and subduing our selfish, un-Christlike coarseness of character. It will elevate our aspirations, enabling us to reach the perfect standard of holiness. {OHC 32.5} [OHC 33.1] Chap. 27 - Enjoyment of the Truth Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. Psalm 86:11. {OHC 33.1} [OHC 33.2] Say with your whole heart, "I will walk in Thy truth." Every resolution expressed in the fear of God will give strength to purpose and to faith. It will tend to stimulate and to humble, to strengthen and confirm. "I will walk in thy truth." Truth deserves our confidence none the less because the world is flooded with fables. Because error and counterfeit are in circulation it only evidences the fact that there is truth, genuine truth, somewhere. . . . {OHC 33.2} [OHC 33.3] It is not enough for us to hear the truth only. God requires of us obedience. "Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." Luke 11:28. "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." John 13:17. {OHC 33.3} [OHC 33.4] We may walk in the enjoyment of the truth. It need not be to us a yoke of bondage, but a consolation, a message to us of glad tidings of great joy, animating our hearts and causing us to make melody in our hearts unto God. Through patience and comfort of the Scriptures we have hope. The Christian hope is not gloomy, comfortless. Oh, no, no. It does not shut us up in a prison of doubts and fears. The truth makes free those who love and are sanctified through it. They walk in the glorious liberty of the sons of God. {OHC 33.4} [OHC 33.5] We who claim to believe the truth should reveal its fruits in our words and character. We are to be far advanced in a knowledge of Jesus Christ, in the reception of His love for God and for our neighbor, in order to have the sunlight of heaven shining in our daily life. Truth must reach down to the deepest recesses of the soul, and cleanse away everything unlike the spirit of Christ, and the vacuum be supplied by the attributes of His character who was pure and holy and undefiled, that all the springs of the heart may be as flowers, fragrant with perfume, a sweet-smelling savor, a savor of life unto life. {OHC 33.5} [OHC 33.6] It is truth enshrined in the soul that makes one a man of God. {OHC 33.6} [OHC 34.1] Chap. 28 - Truth a Precious Treasure Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. Proverbs 23:23. {OHC 34.1} [OHC 34.2] The truth is precious; it has wrought important changes upon the life and character, exerting a masterly influence over words, deportment, thoughts, and experience. {OHC 34.2} [OHC 34.3] The religion of Jesus Christ never degrades the receiver. If it finds men and women earthly, common, coarse, unkindly in words, harsh in speech, selfish and self-caring, truth received in the heart commences its purifying, refining process. In words, in dress, in all our habits, there is seen reformation and those things that please God. Then all the world may see its influence in the transforming process. {OHC 34.3} [OHC 34.4] Truth refines the taste and sanctifies the judgment. It elevates and ennobles, and is silently and constantly doing its leavening work till the whole being is cleansed and made a vessel unto honor, under the operation of the Holy Spirit, to make the receiver of truth fit for the society of pure and sinless angels. . . . {OHC 34.4} [OHC 34.5] A salvation which was purchased for humanity at such an infinite cost should be held in the most precious vessel by every believer. That which is of such value should ever be highly regarded and not cheapened and made common by the coarseness and roughness retained by those who receive the truth. {OHC 34.5} [OHC 34.6] Truth as it is in Jesus is not cold and lifeless and formal. . . . Truth is full of warmth, of evidence from the presence of Jesus. . . . {OHC 34.6} [OHC 34.7] We have a message to bear to the world. It involves a cross. The truths are unpleasant because they require self-denial and self-sacrifice. Then how essential that those who bear the truth, as they speak the truth faithfully, shall by every word and act show that the love of Christ moves them. Truth is ... always lovely, and those who live the truth as it is in Jesus should study how to present the truth so that its loveliness may appear. {OHC 34.7} [OHC 34.8] Treasure the truth above everything; sell it not for any price. {OHC 34.8} [OHC 35.1] Chap. 29 - The Bible Without a Rival The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Psalm 12:6. {OHC 35.1} [OHC 35.2] The Bible is second to no other book; it is without a rival. A knowledge and acceptance of its teachings will impart vigor and health of mind. A comprehension of its teachings requires the student to grasp the knowledge of God's infinite will. The Word of God teaches men and women how to become the sons and daughters of God. No other book, no other study, can equal this; the principles it instills, like the power and nature of its Author, are omnipotent. It is capable of imparting the highest education to which the mortal mind can attain. {OHC 35.2} [OHC 35.3] It is not safe for us to turn from the Holy Scriptures, with only a casual reading of their sacred pages. . . . Rein the mind up to the high task that has been set before it, and study with determined interest, that you may understand divine truth. Those who do this, will be surprised to find to what the mind can attain. {OHC 35.3} [OHC 35.4] The minds of all who make the Word of God their study will enlarge. Far more than any other study its influence is calculated to increase the powers of comprehension and endow every faculty with a new power. It brings the mind in contact with broad, ennobling principles of truth. It brings all heaven into close connection with human minds, imparting wisdom and knowledge and understanding. {OHC 35.4} [OHC 35.5] In dealing with commonplace productions, and feeding on the writings of uninspired men, the mind becomes dwarfed and cheapened. . . . The understanding unconsciously accommodates itself to the comprehension of the things with which it is familiar, and in the consideration of these finite things, the understanding is weakened, its powers contracted, and after a time it becomes unable to expand.... {OHC 35.5} [OHC 35.6] All knowledge gained in this life of probation which will help us to form characters that will fit us to be companions of the saints in light is true education. It will bring blessings to ourselves and others in this life, and will secure to us the future, immortal life with its imperishable riches. {OHC 35.6} [OHC 36.1] Chap. 30 - Sure Remedy for the Soul Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases. Psalm 103:3. {OHC 36.1} [OHC 36.2] Christ has given us His Word, that men and women may be thoroughly furnished with a remedy for all spiritual diseases. The Word is a test of human character. It points out the disease, and prescribes the remedy. In the Word is a prescription for every spiritual ailment. The plain commands of God will exert a healthful influence upon the mind, and upon the whole body. If taken in faith and faithfully practiced, its remedies are infallible. {OHC 36.2} [OHC 36.3] Before the humblest is opened the promises of the Word of God. God declares, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally...." James 1:5. He will never be sent away empty. And the man who lives by every word of God will improve in mental and moral capabilities. He will have a clearer understanding than he manifested before he opened his heart to the entrance of the Word of life. Connected by faith with the living Source of wisdom and knowledge, the mental powers will grow and expand. While the powers of the intellect were under the sway of Satan, the whole man was deformed. But when the power of the truth is brought into the heart, it influences the entire being. {OHC 36.3} [OHC 36.4] The Lord has uttered His voice in His Holy Word. Those blessed pages are full of instruction and life, harmonious with truth. They are a perfect rule of conduct. Instructions are given, principles are laid down, which apply to every circumstance in life, even though some particular case may not be stated. Nothing is left unrevealed which is essential to a complete system of faith and a correct line of practice. Every duty that God requires at our hands is made plain.... None will err from the right path who meekly and honestly take the Bible as their guide, making it the man of their counsel. {OHC 36.4} [OHC 36.5] Depend on this: If you study the Word of God with a sincere desire to get help, the Lord will fill your soul with light. Your work will be approved of God, and your influence will be a savor of life. {OHC 36.5} [OHC 37.1] Chap. 31 - Storing the Mind with Truth That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more. Job 34:32. {OHC 37.1} [OHC 37.2] Take your Bible and present yourself before your heavenly Father, saying, "Enlighten me; teach me what is truth." The Lord will regard your prayer, and the Holy Spirit will impress the truth upon your soul. In searching the Scriptures for yourself, you will become established in the faith. It is of the greatest importance that you continually search the Scriptures, storing the mind with the Word of God, for you may be separated from the companionship of Christians, and placed where you will not have the privilege of meeting with the children of God. You need the treasures of God's Word hidden in your heart, that when opposition comes upon you, you may bring everything to the Scriptures. . . . {OHC 37.2} [OHC 37.3] We are living in the last days, when error of a most deceptive character is accepted and believed, while truth is discarded. Many are drifting into darkness and infidelity, picking flaws with the Bible, bringing in superstitious inventions, unscriptural theories, and speculations of vain philosophy; but it is the duty of everyone to seek a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. {OHC 37.3} [OHC 37.4] Truth is efficient only as it is carried out in practical life. If the Word of God condemns some habit you have indulged, a feeling you have cherished, a spirit you have manifested, turn not from the Word of God, but turn away from the evil of your doings, and let Jesus cleanse and sanctify your heart. Confess your faults, and forsake them. {OHC 37.4} [OHC 37.5] Do not merely assent to the truth, and fail to be a doer of the words of Christ. The truth must be applied to self; it must bring men and women who receive it to the Rock, that they may fall upon the Rock and be broken. Then Jesus can mold and fashion their characters after His own divine character. If we would listen to His voice, we must let silence reign in the heart. The clamors of self, its pretensions, its lusts, must be rebuked, and we must put on the robe of humility, and take our place as humble learners in the school of Christ. {OHC 37.5} [OHC 38.1] Chap. 32 - Let Jesus Lead Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6. {OHC 38.1} [OHC 38.2] Oh, that we who are pilgrims and strangers in this foreign country . . . might comprehend Christ, the way, the truth, and the life. He says, "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me." The path He has marked out is so plain and distinct that the veriest sinner, loaded with guilt, need not miss his way. Not one trembling seeker need fail of finding the true path, and of walking in pure and holy light, for Jesus leads the way. {OHC 38.2} [OHC 38.3] The path is so narrow, so holy, that sin cannot be tolerated therein, yet access to the path has been made for all, and not one desponding, doubting, trembling soul needs to say, "God cares nought for me." Every soul is precious in His sight. . . . When Satan was triumphing as the prince of the world, when he claimed the world as his kingdom, when we were all marred and corrupted with sin, God sent His messenger from heaven, even His only begotten Son, to proclaim to all the inhabitants of the world, "I have found a ransom. I have made a way of escape for all the perishing. I have your emancipation papers provided for you, sealed by the Lord of heaven and earth." . . . {OHC 38.3} [OHC 38.4] It is not because there is any flaw in the title which has been purchased for you that you do not accept it. It is not because the mercy, the grace, the love of the Father and the Son is not ample, and has not been freely bestowed, that you do not rejoice in pardoning love. . . . If you are lost, it will be because you will not come unto Christ that you might have life. {OHC 38.4} [OHC 38.5] God waits to bestow the blessing of forgiveness of sins, of pardon for iniquity, of the gift of righteousness upon all who will believe in His love, and accept of His salvation. Christ is ready to say to the repenting sinner, ". . . Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee. . . ." Zechariah 3:4-7. Christ is the connecting link between God and man. The blood of Jesus Christ is the eloquent plea that speaks in behalf of sinners. {OHC 38.5} [OHC 39.1] Chap. 33 - Man More Precious Than Gold I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Isaiah 13:12. {OHC 39.1} [OHC 39.2] Few appreciate the value of man, and the glory that would redound to God were he to cultivate and preserve purity, nobility, and integrity of character. . . . The short space of time allotted to men here is exceedingly valuable. Now, while probation lingers, God proposes to unite His strength with the weakness of finite man. . . . Those who truly love God will desire so to improve the talents that He has given them, that they may be a blessing to others. And by and by the gates of heaven will be thrown wide open to admit them, and from the lips of the King of glory the benediction will fall upon their ears like richest music, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matthew 25:34. {OHC 39.2} [OHC 39.3] Thus the redeemed will be welcomed to the mansions that Jesus is preparing for them. There their companions will not be the vile of earth--liars, idolaters, the impure, or the unbelieving; but they will associate with those who have overcome Satan and his devices, and through divine aid have formed perfect characters. Every sinful tendency, every imperfection that afflicts them here, has been removed by the blood of Christ; and the excellence and brightness of His glory, far exceeding the brightness of the sun in its meridian splendor, is imparted to them. And the moral beauty, the perfection of His character, shines through them, in worth far exceeding this outward splendor. They are without fault around the great white throne, sharing the dignity and privileges of the angels. {OHC 39.3} [OHC 39.4] "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." 1 Corinthians 2:9. In view of the glorious inheritance which may be his, "what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" He may be poor; yet he possesses in himself a wealth and dignity that the world could never bestow. The soul redeemed and cleansed from sin, with all its noble powers dedicated to the service of God, is of surpassing worth. {OHC 39.4} [OHC 40.1] Chap. 34 - I Am Not My Own Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men. 1 Corinthians 7:23. {OHC 40.1} [OHC 40.2] How natural it is to regard ourselves as complete owners of ourselves! But the Inspired Word declares, "Ye are not your own." "Ye are bought with a price." 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. . . . In our relation to our fellow men we are owners of our entrusted mental and physical capabilities. In our relation to God, we are borrowers, stewards of His grace. {OHC 40.2} [OHC 40.3] Time is to be used judiciously, earnestly, and under the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. We are to understand just what is right and what is wrong to do with property and with mental and physical capabilities. God has a positive ownership of every power He has committed to the human agent. By His own wisdom He makes the terms of man's use of every gift of God. He will bless the proper use of every power put forth for His own name's glory. The talent of speech, of memory, of property, all are to accumulate for the glory of God, to advance His kingdom. God has left us in charge of His goods in His absence. Each steward has his own special work to do in advancing God's kingdom. Not one is excused. {OHC 40.3} [OHC 40.4] The youth must be educated to respect themselves because they are bought with a price. {OHC 40.4} [OHC 40.5] Christ clothed His divinity with humanity and paid the ransom for man, and He desires that man shall estimate the life thus provided for him by the infinite price paid. {OHC 40.5} [OHC 40.6] It is your privilege to obey the living Word of God as a truly converted and transformed soul, to perform the highest service as a free, heaven-born spirit, to give evidence that you are worthy of the sacred trust that God has given you by sending His only begotten Son to die for you. If you believe in Christ as your personal Saviour, you receive every grace, every spiritual endowment, necessary for the perfecting of the Christian character. Show that you appreciate the sacrifice made for you, and regard it as too great to allow you to make a mock of your religious profession by being molded and fashioned after the world's criterion. {OHC 40.6} [OHC 41.1] Chap. 35 - Purchase of Christ's Blood Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 1 Peter 1:18, 19. {OHC 41.1} [OHC 41.2] You must consider that you are not at your own disposal to do that which you please for your own self. You are the Lord's property. Christ has purchased you with the price of His own blood. Your body is to be sanctified unto the Lord as a vessel unto honor. It is Christ's purchased possession. Then preserve every power, every organ, as an instrument unto righteousness. Satan desires to have your brain power, and your will, but they belong to Jesus. Consider always, "I am not my own. I must carefully and holily cherish every part of Christ's purchased possession." . . . {OHC 41.2} [OHC 41.3] Satan may try to bind you to his car ［chariot］ as a helpless soul. But shout in victory that Christ has made you a free man. Do not dishonor God by one expression of inefficiency and inability to overcome fully, entirely, and gloriously through Jesus Christ, who has died to redeem you, and make you a free man. Conquer, yes, conquer. Put your will every moment on the side of God's will. Think hopefully and courageously. In faith cry out against Satan, and looking unto Jesus who is the author and finisher of your faith, say, "Jesus, my Redeemer, I am weak. I cannot do anything without Thy special help. I hang my helpless soul on Thee." Then let your imagination dwell on the thought that you are in the presence of Jesus, walking with God, your life hid with Christ in God. . . . Then you will not glorify Satan by imagining yourself weak and helpless. You will keep yourself uplifted into a pure and holy atmosphere. You will receive the Holy Spirit as a comforter, as a sanctifier. . . . You will have a calm, restful spirit in God. You will say, "Jesus lives, and because He lives I will live also. He has conquered Satan in my behalf, and I will not be conquered by the devil once. I will not disgrace my Lord and Leader; but I will triumph in His holy name, and come off more than conqueror." {OHC 41.3} [OHC 42.1] Chap. 36 - God Wants His Own Property But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. Isaiah 43:1. {OHC 42.1} [OHC 42.2] Every man and woman has had the ransom money paid by Jesus Christ. "Ye are not your own. For ye are bought with a price"--even the precious blood of the Son of God. {OHC 42.2} [OHC 42.3] Whether we give ourselves to the Lord or not, we are His. Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price. We are the Lord's by creation, and we are His by redemption. Therefore we have no right to think that we can do as we please. All we handle is the Lord's. We have no right of ourselves to anything, not even to an existence. All our money, time, and talents belong to God, and are lent us by Him that we may accomplish the work He has given us to do. He has given us the charge, "Occupy till I come." Luke 19:13. {OHC 42.3} [OHC 42.4] Do not make it a business to serve yourselves and become indifferent in regard to the claims of God upon you. You are His property. . . . Jesus has bought you at an infinite cost. Your thoughts should be kept pure; they are the Lord's. Give them to Him. We can merit nothing from God. We can give Him nothing which is not His own. Will we keep back from God what is His own? Do not rob God and pawn His time, His talents, and His strength with the world. He asks your affections; give them to Him. They are His own. He asks your time, moment by moment; give it to Him. It is His own. He asks your intellect; give it to Him. It is His own. . . . {OHC 42.4} [OHC 42.5] The Lord wants His own property. When we have given to God soul, body, and spirit; when we have kept appetite under the control of enlightened conscience, and wrestled against every lust, showing that we consider each organ as God's property, intended for His service; when all our affections move in harmony with the Lord's mind, fastening on objects "which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God"--then we have given the Lord His own. O God, "all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee." 1 Chronicles 29:14. {OHC 42.5} [OHC 43.1] Chap. 37 - Take Care of God's Property Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father. Galatians 1:4. {OHC 43.1} [OHC 43.2] You have cost much. "Glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Corinthians 6:20. That which you may regard as your own is God's. Take care of His property. He has bought you with an infinite price. Your mind is His. What right has any person to abuse a body that belongs not to himself, but to the Lord Jesus Christ? What satisfaction can anyone take in gradually lessening the powers of body and mind by selfish indulgence of any form? {OHC 43.2} [OHC 43.3] God has given to every human being a brain. He desires that it shall be used to His glory. By it, man is enabled to cooperate with God in efforts to save perishing fellow mortals. We have none too much brain power or reasoning faculties. We are to educate and train every power of mind and body--the human mechanism that Christ has bought--in order that we may put it to the best possible use. We are to do all we can to strengthen these powers; for God is pleased to have us become more and still more efficient colaborers with Him. . . . {OHC 43.3} [OHC 43.4] In Exodus we read that at the time the Lord directed the Israelites to build a tabernacle in the wilderness, He gave certain men special ability, talent, and skill in devising, and then He appointed them to the work. He will deal with us in the same way. . . . And although we may have to begin in a very small way, He will bless us and multiply our talents as a reward for faithfulness. {OHC 43.4} [OHC 43.5] Christ has died for you, and you are to live as unto God. Let your reasoning powers, refined, purified, sanctified, be brought to God. The Lord requires the sanctification of the whole being. The mind, as well as the whole body, is to be elevated and ennobled. God has claims upon mind, soul, and body. {OHC 43.5} [OHC 43.6] It is not in the power of those who have named the name of Jesus to give Him more than is His own. He has bought every human agent with an infinite price, and we are His property for both time and eternity. {OHC 43.6} [OHC 44.1] Chap. 38 - Take God Into Your Counsel Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 1 Peter 2:24. {OHC 44.1} [OHC 44.2] Christ bore our sins in His own body on the tree. . . . What must sin be, if no finite being could make atonement? What must its curse be if Deity alone could exhaust it? The cross of Christ testifies to every man that the penalty of sin is death. . . . Oh, must there be some strong bewitching power which holds the moral senses, steeling them against the impressions of the Spirit of God? I entreat of you, as Christ's ambassador, . . . to be diligent in securing the grace of God. You need it every day, that you make no mistake in your life. . . . {OHC 44.2} [OHC 44.3] You may feel that you are competent to manage yourself, to lay plans and execute them in your own judgment. This is unsafe for you or for any one to do. I speak of the things I know. Take God into your counsel. Seek Him for guidance. He will not be sought of in vain. . . . I entreat of you not to let these precious hours of probation pass without spiritual advancement. In no case allow your moral powers to become dwarfed. . . . {OHC 44.3} [OHC 44.4] Heaven with its attractions is before you, an eternal weight of glory, which you may lose or gain. Which shall it be? Your life and your character will testify the choice you have made. I feel the more anxious because I see so many indifferent upon the subjects of infinite importance. They are always busy here and there about matters of minor importance, and the one great subject is put out of their thoughts. They have no time to pray, no time to watch, no time to search the Scriptures. They are altogether too busy to make the necessary preparation for the future life. They cannot devote time to perfect Christian characters and in diligence to secure a title to heaven. {OHC 44.4} [OHC 44.5] If you have life eternal, you must be earnest and work to the point. . . . Glorify God by choosing His way, His will. He will be your wise counselor and your fast, unchanging friend. {OHC 44.5} [OHC 45.1] Chap. 39 - The Cord Let Down from Heaven And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:8. {OHC 45.1} [OHC 45.2] Measure the cord, if you can, that has been let down from heaven to lift man up. The only estimate we can give you of the length of that chain is to point you to Calvary. {OHC 45.2} [OHC 45.3] Fallen men could not have a home in the paradise of God without the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Shall we not then exalt the cross of Christ? ... {OHC 45.3} [OHC 45.4] Angelic perfection failed in heaven. Human perfection failed in Eden, the paradise of bliss. All who wish for security in earth or heaven must look to the Lamb of God. The plan of salvation, making manifest the justice and love of God, provides an eternal safeguard against defection in unfallen worlds, as well as among those who shall be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Our only hope is perfect trust in the blood of Him who can save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. The death of Christ on the cross of Calvary is our only hope in this world, and it will be our theme in the world to come. Oh, we do not comprehend the value of the atonement! If we did, we would talk more about it. The gift of God in His beloved Son was the expression of an incomprehensible love. It was the utmost that God could do to preserve the honor of His law, and still save the transgressor. {OHC 45.4} [OHC 45.5] Jesus placed the cross in line with the light coming from heaven, for it is there that it shall catch the eye of man. The cross is in direct line with the shining of the divine countenances, so that by beholding the cross men may see and know God and Jesus Christ, whom He hath sent. In beholding God we behold the One who poured out His soul unto death. In beholding the cross the view is extended to God, and His hatred of sin is discerned. But while we behold in the cross God's hatred of sin, we also behold His love for sinners, which is stronger than death. To the world the cross is the incontrovertible argument that God is truth and light and love. {OHC 45.5} [OHC 46.1] Chap. 40 - The Center of my Hope But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. Galatians 6:14. {OHC 46.1} [OHC 46.2] Remove the cross from the Christian and it is like blotting out the sun which illumines the day, and dropping the moon and the stars out of the firmament of the heavens at night. The cross of Christ brings us nigh to God, reconciling man to God, and God to man. The Father looks upon the cross, upon the suffering He has given His Son to endure in order to save the race from hopeless misery and to draw man to Himself. He looks upon it with the relenting compassion of a Father's love. The cross has been almost lost sight of, but without the cross there is no connection with the Father, no unity with the Lamb in the midst of the throne in heaven, no welcome reception of the wandering who would return to the forsaken path of righteousness and truth, no hope for the transgressor in the day of judgment. Without the cross there is no means provided for overcoming the power of our strong foe. Every hope of the race hangs upon the cross. {OHC 46.2} [OHC 46.3] When the sinner reaches the cross, and looks up to the One who died to save him, he may rejoice with fullness of joy; for his sins are pardoned. Kneeling at the cross, he has reached the highest place to which man can attain. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ; and the words of pardon are spoken: Live, O ye guilty sinners, live. Your repentance is accepted; for I have found a ransom. {OHC 46.3} [OHC 46.4] Through the cross we learn that our heavenly Father loves us with an infinite and everlasting love, and draws us to Him with more than a mother's yearning sympathy for a wayward child. Can we wonder that Paul exclaimed, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ"? It is our privilege also to glory in the cross of Calvary, our privilege to give ourselves wholly to Him who gave Himself for us. Then with the light of love that shines from His face on ours, we shall go forth to reflect it to those in darkness. {OHC 46.4} [OHC 47.1] Chap. 41 - Efficacy of Christ's Blood It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Leviticus 17:11. {OHC 47.1} [OHC 47.2] Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. To many it has been a mystery why so many sacrificial offerings were required in the old dispensation, why so many bleeding victims were led to the altar. But the great truth that was to be kept before men, and imprinted upon mind and heart, was this, "Without shedding of blood is no remission." Hebrews 9:22. In every bleeding sacrifice was typified "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29. {OHC 47.2} [OHC 47.3] Christ Himself was the originator of the Jewish system of worship, in which, by types and symbols, were shadowed forth spiritual and heavenly things....Today we are living when type has met antitype in the offering of Christ for the sins of the world; we are living in the day of increased light, and yet how few are benefited with the grand and all-important truth that Christ has made an ample sacrifice for all! What justice required, Christ had rendered in the offering of Himself, and "how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" Hebrews 2:3. Those who reject the gift of life will be without excuse. {OHC 47.3} [OHC 47.4] Thank God that He who spilled His blood for us, lives to plead it, lives to make intercession for every soul who receives Him. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. It speaketh better things than the blood of Abel, for Christ ever liveth to make intercession for us. We need to keep ever before us the efficacy of the blood of Jesus. That life-cleansing, life-sustaining blood, appropriated by living faith, is our hope. We need to grow in appreciation of its inestimable value, for it speaks for us only as we by faith claim its virtue, keeping the conscience clean and at peace with God. {OHC 47.4} [OHC 47.5] This is represented as the pardoning blood, inseparably connected with the resurrection and life of our Redeemer, illustrated by the ever-flowing stream that proceeds from the throne of God, the water of the river of life. {OHC 47.5} [OHC 48.1] Chap. 42 - Christ's Humanity a Golden Chain For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15. {OHC 48.1} [OHC 48.2] Christ's overcoming and obedience is that of a true human being. In our conclusions, we make many mistakes because of our erroneous views of the human nature of our Lord. When we give to His human nature a power that it is not possible for man to have in his conflicts with Satan, we destroy the completeness of His humanity. His imputed grace and power He gives to all who receive Him by faith. {OHC 48.2} [OHC 48.3] The obedience of Christ to His Father was the same obedience that is required of man. Man cannot overcome Satan's temptations without divine power to combine with his instrumentality. So with Jesus Christ; He could lay hold of divine power. He came not to our world to give the obedience of a lesser God to a greater, but as a man to obey God's Holy Law, and in this way He is our example. The Lord Jesus came to our world, not to reveal what a God could do, but what a man could do, through faith in God's power to help in every emergency. Man is, through faith, to be a partaker in the divine nature, and to overcome every temptation wherewith he is beset. {OHC 48.3} [OHC 48.4] The Lord now demands that every son and daughter of Adam, through faith in Jesus Christ, serve Him in human nature which we now have. The Lord Jesus has bridged the gulf that sin has made. He has connected earth with heaven, and finite man with the infinite God. Jesus, the world's Redeemer, could only keep the commandments of God in the same way that humanity can keep them. {OHC 48.4} [OHC 48.5] We are not to serve God as if we were not human, but we are to serve Him in the nature we have, that has been redeemed by the Son of God; through the righteousness of Christ we shall stand before God pardoned, and as though we had never sinned. {OHC 48.5} [OHC 48.6] The humanity of the Son of God is everything to us. It is the golden chain that binds our souls to Christ, and through Christ to God. {OHC 48.6} [OHC 49.1] Chap. 43 - An Advocate with the Father My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 1 John 2:1. {OHC 49.1} [OHC 49.2] How careful is the Lord Jesus to give no occasion for a soul to despair. How He fences about the soul from Satan's fierce attacks. If through manifold temptations we are surprised or deceived into sin, He does not turn from us and leave us to perish. No, no, that is not our Saviour.... He was tempted in all points like as we are; and having been tempted, He knows how to succor those who are tempted. Our crucified Lord is pleading for us in the presence of the Father at the throne of grace. His atoning sacrifice we may plead for our pardon, our justification, and our sanctification. The Lamb slain is our only hope. Our faith looks up to Him, grasps Him as the One who can save to the uttermost, and the fragrance of the all-sufficient offering is accepted of the Father. {OHC 49.2} [OHC 49.3] If you make failures and are betrayed into sin, do not feel then you cannot pray ... but seek the Lord more earnestly. {OHC 49.3} [OHC 49.4] The blood of Jesus is pleading with power and efficacy for those who are backslidden, for those who are rebellious, for those who sin against great light and love. Satan stands at our right hand to accuse us, and our Advocate stands at God's right hand to plead for us. He has never lost a case that has been committed to Him. We may trust in our Advocate; for He pleads His own merits in our behalf.... He is making intercession for the most lowly, the most oppressed and suffering, for the most tried and tempted ones. With upraised hands He pleads, "I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands." Isaiah 49:16. {OHC 49.4} [OHC 49.5] I would I might sound the glad note to earth's remotest bounds. "If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Oh, precious redemption! How broad this great truth is-- that God for Christ's dear sake, forgives us the moment we ask Him in living faith, believing that He is fully able! {OHC 49.5} [OHC 50.1] Chap. 44 - Connecting Link Between God and Man Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25. {OHC 50.1} [OHC 50.2] Christ is the connecting link between God and man. He has promised His personal intercession by employing His name. He places the whole virtue of His righteousness on the side of the suppliant. Christ pleads for man, and man, in need of divine help, pleads for himself in the presence of God, using the power of the influence of the One who gave His life for the world. As we acknowledge before God our appreciation of Christ's merits, fragrance is given to our intercessions. Oh, who can value this great mercy and love! As we approach God through the virtue of Christ's merits, we are clothed with His priestly vestments. He places us close by His side, encircling us with His human arm, while with His divine arm He grasps the throne of the Infinite. He puts His merits, as sweet incense, in a censer in our hands, in order to encourage our petitions. He promises to hear and answer our supplications. {OHC 50.2} [OHC 50.3] Everyone who will break from the slavery and service of Satan, and will stand under the blood-stained banner of Prince Immanuel will be kept by Christ's intercessions. Christ, as our Mediator, at the right hand of the Father, ever keeps us in view, for it is as necessary that He should keep us by His intercessions as that He should redeem us with His blood. If He lets go His hold of us for one moment, Satan stands ready to destroy. {OHC 50.3} [OHC 50.4] As the prayers of the sincere and contrite ones ascend to heaven Christ says to the Father, "I will take their sins. Let them stand before You innocent." As He takes their sins from them, He fills their hearts with the glorious light of truth and love. {OHC 50.4} [OHC 50.5] Our need of Christ's intercession is constant. Day by day, morning and evening, the humble heart needs to offer up prayers to which will be returned answers of grace and peace and joy. "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually." Hebrews 13:15. {OHC 50.5} [OHC 51.1] Chap. 45 - Faultless in Christ's Perfection For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:21. {OHC 51.1} [OHC 51.2] Pardon and justification are one and the same thing. Through faith, the believer passes from the position of a rebel, a child of sin and Satan, to the position of a loyal subject of Christ Jesus, not because of an inherent goodness, but because Christ receives him as His child by adoption. The sinner receives the forgiveness of his sins, because these sins are borne by his Substitute and Surety. The Lord speaks to His heavenly Father, saying: "This is My child, I reprieve him from the condemnation of death, giving him My life insurance policy--eternal life--because I have taken his place and have suffered for his sins. He is even My beloved son." Thus man, pardoned, and clothed with the beautiful garments of Christ's righteousness, stands faultless before God.... {OHC 51.2} [OHC 51.3] It is the Father's prerogative to forgive our transgressions and sins, because Christ has taken upon Himself our guilt and reprieved us, imputing to us His own righteousness. His sacrifice satisfies fully the demands of justice. {OHC 51.3} [OHC 51.4] Many feel that their faults of character make it impossible for them to meet the standard that Christ has erected; but all that such ones have to do is to humble themselves at every step under the mighty hand of God; Christ does not estimate the man by the amount of work he does, but by the spirit in which the work is performed. {OHC 51.4} [OHC 51.5] When He sees men lifting the burdens, trying to carry them in lowliness of mind, with distrust of self and with reliance upon Him, He adds to their work His perfection and sufficiency, and it is accepted of the Father. We are accepted in the beloved. The sinner's defects are covered by the perfection and fullness of the Lord our righteousness. Those who with sincere will, with contrite heart, are putting forth humble efforts to live up to the requirements of God, are looked upon by the Father with pitying, tender love; He regards such as obedient children, and the righteousness of Christ is imputed unto them. {OHC 51.5} [OHC 52.1] Chap. 46 - The Faith that Justifies Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1. {OHC 52.1} [OHC 52.2] Justification by faith is to many a mystery. A sinner is justified by God when he repents of his sins. He sees Jesus upon the cross of Calvary.... He looks to the atoning Sacrifice as his only hope, through repentance toward God--because the laws of His government have been broken--and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ as the One who can save and cleanse the sinner from every transgression. {OHC 52.2} [OHC 52.3] The mediatorial work of Christ commenced with the commencement of human guilt and suffering and misery, as soon as man became a transgressor. The law was not abolished to save man and bring him into union with God. But Christ assumed the office of his surety and deliverer in becoming sin for man, that man might become the righteousness of God in and through Him who was one with the Father. Sinners can be justified by God only when He pardons their sins, remits the punishment they deserve, and treats them as though they were really just and had not sinned, receiving them into divine favor and treating them as if they were righteous. They are justified alone through the imputed righteousness of Christ. The Father accepts the Son, and through the atoning sacrifice of His Son accepts the sinner.... {OHC 52.3} [OHC 52.4] There are thousands who believe in the gospel and in Jesus Christ as the world's Redeemer, but they are not saved by that faith.... They do not repent and have that faith that lays hold upon Christ as their sin-pardoning Saviour; their belief is not unto repentance.... {OHC 52.4} [OHC 52.5] The faith that justifies always produces first true repentance, and then good works, which are the fruit of that faith. There is no saving faith that does not produce good fruit. God gave Christ to our world to become the sinner's substitute. The moment true faith in the merits of the costly atoning sacrifice is exercised, claiming Christ as a personal Saviour, that moment the sinner is justified before God, because he is pardoned. {OHC 52.5} [OHC 53.1] Chap. 47 - Accepted in the Beloved To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Ephesians 1:6. {OHC 53.1} [OHC 53.2] The Father gave all honor to His Son, seating Him at His right hand, far above all principalities and powers. He expressed His great joy and delight in receiving the Crucified One, and crowning Him with glory and honor. And all the favors He has shown to His Son in His acceptance of the great atonement, are shown to His people. Those who have united their interests in love with Christ are accepted in the Beloved. They suffered with Christ in His deepest humiliation, and His glorification is of great interest to them, because they are accepted in Him. God loves them as He loves His Son. Christ, Emmanuel, stands between God and the believer, revealing the glory of God to His chosen ones, and covering their defects and transgressions with the garments of His own spotless righteousness. {OHC 53.2} [OHC 53.3] "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in them that hope in his mercy." Psalm 147:11. But it is only through the value of the sacrifice made for us that we are of value in the Lord's sight. It is because of the imputed righteousness of Christ that we are counted precious by God. For Christ's sake He pardons them that fear Him. He does not see in them the vileness of the sinner; He recognizes in them the likeness of His Son, in whom they believe. In this way only can God take pleasure in any of us. "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." John 1:12. {OHC 53.3} [OHC 53.4] The more perfectly the Lord sees the character of His beloved Son revealed in His people, the greater is His satisfaction and delight in them. God Himself and the heavenly universe rejoice over them with singing, because Christ has not died for them in vain. The believing sinner is pronounced innocent, while the guilt is placed on Jesus Christ. The righteousness of Christ is placed on the debtor's account, and against his name on the balance sheet is written, Pardoned. Eternal Life. {OHC 53.4} [OHC 54.1] Chap. 48 - Our Redeemer a Tried Stone Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Isaiah 28:16. {OHC 54.1} [OHC 54.2] Our Redeemer is a "Tried Stone." The experiment has been made, the great test has been applied, and with perfect success. In Him is fulfilled all the purpose of God for the saving of a lost world. Never was a foundation subject to so severe a trial and test as this "Tried Stone." The Lord Jehovah knew what this foundation stone could sustain. The sins of the whole world could be piled upon it. The Lord's chosen were to be revealed, heaven's gates to be thrown open to all who would believe; its untold glories were to be given to the overcomers. {OHC 54.2} [OHC 54.3] "A Tried Stone" is Christ, tried by the perversity of man. Thou, O our Saviour, hast taken the burden; Thou hast given peace and rest; Thou hast been tried, proved by believers who have taken their trials to Thy sympathy, their sorrows to Thy love, their wounds to Thy healing, their weakness to Thy strength, their emptiness to Thy fullness; and never, never has one soul been disappointed. Jesus, my Tried Stone, to Thee will I come, moment by moment. In Thy presence I am lifted above pain. "When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the Rock that is higher than I." Psalm 61:2. {OHC 54.3} [OHC 54.4] It is our privilege to enjoy sweet communion with God. Precious to the believer is His atoning blood, precious is His justifying righteousness. "Unto you therefore which believe he is precious." 1 Peter 2:7. {OHC 54.4} [OHC 54.5] When I meditate upon this fountain of living power from which we may draw, I mourn that so many are losing the delight they might have had in considering His goodness. We are to be sons and daughters of God, growing into a holy temple in the Lord. "No more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God. . . . Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone." Ephesians 2:19, 20. This is our privilege. {OHC 54.5} [OHC 55.1] Chap. 49 - Jesus Our Best Friend A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24. {OHC 55.1} [OHC 55.2] How few are constantly beholding the unseen Guest, realizing that He is at their right hand! How many ignore His presence! Did we treat others as we treat Jesus, what discourtesy it would be thought! {OHC 55.2} [OHC 55.3] Suppose a friend were with us, and we should meet an acquaintance on the way and direct our whole attention to our new-found acquaintance, ignoring the presence of our friend, what opinion would men have of our loyalty to our friend, of our degree of respect to him? And yet this is the way we treat Jesus. We forget that He is our companion. We engage in conversation, and never mention His name. . . . We talk of worldly business matters, and where it does not bruise the soul, where it is essential, we do not dishonor Jesus, but we do dishonor Him when we fail to mention Him in our intercourse with our friends and associates. He is our best friend, and we should seek for opportunities to speak of Him. . . . We should ever keep Him in view. Our conversation should be of a character that would be of no offense to God. {OHC 55.3} [OHC 55.4] I know that in many hearts the inquiry arises, "Where shall I find Jesus?" There are many who want His presence, want His love and His light; but they know not where to look for Him for whom their hearts yearn. And yet Jesus does not hide Himself away; no one need search for Him in vain. "Behold," He says, "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." Revelation 3:20. Jesus invites us to accept His presence; we are to open the door of the heart, and let Him in. But He will not share a divided heart. If it be given to the service of mammon, if selfishness and pride fill its chambers, there will be no room for the heavenly Guest; He will not take up His abode with us until the soul-temple has been emptied and cleansed. Yet there is no need of making a failure in the Christian life. Jesus is waiting to do a great work for us, and all heaven is interested in our salvation. {OHC 55.4} [OHC 56.1] Chap. 50 - Jesus is Always Near But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. Matthew 14:27. {OHC 56.1} [OHC 56.2] I think of the disciples in that sore tempest; the boat labored with strong winds and heavy gales. They have given up their efforts as hopeless, and while the hungry waves talk with death, amid the storm a light form is seen walking upon the foam-capped billows. . . . A voice is heard amid the roar of the tempest, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." {OHC 56.2} [OHC 56.3] Oh, how many in this time of peril, are making a hard pull against a head sea! The moon and stars seem to be hidden by storm clouds, and in despondency and despair, many of us say, "It is no use; our efforts are as nothing. We shall perish. We have toiled at the oars, but without any success." . . . Jesus is just as near to us amid scenes of tempest and trial as He was to His followers who were tossed on the Sea of Galilee. We must have calm, steady, firm, unwavering trust in God. . . . We must now have an individual experience in holding fast unto God. Christ is on board the vessel. Believe that Christ is our Captain, that He will take care, not only of us, but of the ship. . . . {OHC 56.3} [OHC 56.4] That night in that boat was to the disciples a school where they were to receive their education for the great work which was to be done afterwards. The dark hours of trial are to come to every one as a part of his education for higher work, for more devoted, consecrated effort. The storm was not sent upon the disciples to shipwreck them, but to test and prove them, individually. . . . {OHC 56.4} [OHC 56.5] The time of our educating will soon be over. We have no time to lose in walking through clouds of doubt and uncertainty. . . . We may stand close to the side of Jesus. Let none . . . shirk one hard lesson or lose the blessing of one hard discipline. . . . {OHC 56.5} [OHC 56.6] Whatever be our condition in life, our business, we have a sure Guide. Whatever be our condition, He is our counselor. Whatever be our loneliness, He is our friend in whom we may ever trust. {OHC 56.6} [OHC 57.1] Chap. 51 - Our Great Exemplar Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus. Hebrews 3:1. {OHC 57.1} [OHC 57.2] I present before you the great Exemplar. . . . As really did He meet and resist the temptations of Satan as any of the children of humanity. In this sense alone could He be a perfect example for man. He subjected Himself to humanity to become acquainted with all the temptations wherewith man is beset. He took upon Him the infirmities and bore the sorrows of the sons of Adam. {OHC 57.2} [OHC 57.3] He was "made like unto his brethren." Hebrews 2:17. He felt both joy and grief as they feel. His body was susceptible to weariness, as yours. His mind, like yours, could be harassed and perplexed. If you have hardships, so did He. Satan could tempt Him. His enemies could annoy Him. The ruling powers could torture His body; the soldiers could crucify Him; and they can do no more to us. Jesus was exposed to hardships, to conflict and temptation, as a man. He became the Captain of our Salvation through suffering. He could bear His burden better than we, for He bore it without complaint, without impatience, without unbelief, without repining; but this is no evidence He felt it less than any of the suffering sons of Adam. . . . {OHC 57.3} [OHC 57.4] The period of His childhood and youth was one of comparative obscurity, but of the highest importance. He was in this obscurity laying the foundation of a sound constitution and vigorous mind. He "grew, and waxed strong in spirit." Luke 1:80. It is not as a man bending under the pressure of age that Jesus is revealed to us traversing the hills of Judea. He was in the strength of His manhood. Jesus once stood in age just where you now stand. ［THIS EXTRACT IS FROM A LETTER TO A YOUNG MAN.］ Your circumstances, your cogitations at this period of your life, Jesus has had. He cannot overlook you at this critical period. He sees your dangers. He is acquainted with your temptations. He invites you to follow His example. {OHC 57.4} [OHC 58.1] Chap. 52 - Reflecting Christ's Image But 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. 2 Corinthians 3:18. {OHC 58.1} [OHC 58.2] Looking unto Jesus, dwelling upon His virtues, mercies, and purity will create in the soul an utter abhorrence for that which is sinful, and an intense longing and thirsting for righteousness. The more closely we discern Jesus, the more will we see our own defects of character: then confess these things to Jesus and with true contrition of soul co-operate with the divine power, the Holy Spirit, to put these things away. {OHC 58.2} [OHC 58.3] It is the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, which Jesus said He would send into the world, that changes our character into the image of Christ; and when this is accomplished, we reflect, as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord. That is, the character of the one who thus beholds Christ is so like His, that one looking at him sees Christ's own character shining out as from a mirror. Imperceptibly to ourselves we are changed day by day from our own ways and will into the ways and will of Christ, into the loveliness of His character. Thus we grow up into Christ, and unconsciously reflect His image. {OHC 58.3} [OHC 58.4] It is not by looking away from Him that we imitate the life of Jesus, but by talking of Him, by dwelling upon His perfections, by seeking to refine the taste and elevate the character, by trying, through faith and love, and by earnest, persevering effort, to approach the perfect Pattern. By having a knowledge of Christ--His words, His habits and His lessons of instruction--we borrow the virtues of the character we have so closely studied, and become imbued with the spirit we have so much admired. Jesus becomes to us " the chiefest among ten thousand," the One "altogether lovely." {OHC 58.4} [OHC 58.5] When the soul is brought into close relationship with the great Author of light and truth, impressions are made upon it revealing its true position before God. Then self will die, pride will be laid low, and Christ will draw His own image in deeper lines upon the soul. {OHC 58.5} [OHC 59.1] Chap. 53 - In Love with Christ For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. Hebrews 7:26. {OHC 59.1} [OHC 59.2] The character of Christ was one of unexampled excellence, embracing everything pure, true, lovely, and of good report. We have no knowledge of His ever visiting a party of pleasure or a dance hall, and yet He was the perfection of grace and courtly bearing. Christ was no novice; He was distinguished for the high intellectual powers He possessed even in the morning of His life. His youth was not wasted in indolence, neither was it wasted in sensual pleasure, self-indulgence, or frittered away in things of no profit. Not one of His hours from childhood to manhood was misspent, none were misappropriated. . . . {OHC 59.2} [OHC 59.3] Jesus was sinless and had no dread of the consequences of sin. With this exception His condition was as yours. You have not a difficulty that did not press with equal weight upon Him, not a sorrow that His heart has not experienced. His feelings could be hurt with neglect, with indifference of professed friends, as easily as yours. Is your path thorny? Christ's was so in a tenfold sense. Are you distressed? So was He. How well fitted was Christ to be an example! . . . {OHC 59.3} [OHC 59.4] The Inspired Record says of Him: "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." Luke 2:52. As He grew in years He grew in knowledge. He lived temperately; His precious hours were not wasted in dissipating pleasures. He had a truly healthy body and true powers of mind. The physical and mental powers could be expanded and developed as yours or any other youth's. The Word of God was His study, as it should be yours. {OHC 59.4} [OHC 59.5] Take Jesus as your standard. Imitate His life. Fall in love with His character. Walk as Christ walked. A new spring will be given to your intellectual faculties, a large scope to your thoughts, when you bring your powers into vigorous contact with eternal things which are intrinsically grand and great. {OHC 59.5} [OHC 60.1] Chap. 54 - To God Be the Glory Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:1. {OHC 60.1} [OHC 60.2] What a grand theme this is for contemplation--the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ! Contemplating Christ and His righteousness leaves no room for self-righteousness, for the glorifying of self. In this chapter there is no standstill. There is continual advancement in every stage in the knowledge of Christ. . . . {OHC 60.2} [OHC 60.3] In God we are to glory. The prophet says, "Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth." Jeremiah 9:23, 24. . . . {OHC 60.3} [OHC 60.4] We have been called to the knowledge of Christ, and that is to the knowledge of glory and virtue. It is a knowledge of the perfection of the divine character, manifested to us in Jesus Christ, that opens up to us communion with God. . . . Scarcely can the human mind comprehend what is the breadth and depth and height of the spiritual attainments that can be reached by becoming partakers of the divine nature. {OHC 60.4} [OHC 60.5] I long to address the young men and women who are so willing to reach only cheap standards. O that the Lord might influence their minds to see what perfection of character is! O that they might know the faith that works by love, and purifies the soul! We are living in days of peril. Christ alone can help us and give us the victory. Christ must be all in all to us; He must dwell in the heart; His life must circulate through us, as the blood circulates through the veins. His Spirit must be a vitalizing power that will cause us to influence others to become Christlike and holy. {OHC 60.5} [OHC 60.6] If our youth would take heed to the rules laid down in this chapter, and practice them, what an influence they would exert on the side of right! {OHC 60.6} [OHC 61.1] Chap. 55 - The Highest Exercise of Our Powers And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. John 17:3. {OHC 61.1} [OHC 61.2] To comprehend and enjoy God is the highest exercise of the powers of man. This may be attained only when our affections are sanctified and ennobled by the grace of Christ. . . . In Christ was the brightness of His Father's glory, the express image of His person. Said our Saviour, "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father." John 14:9. In Christ is the life of the soul. In the outgoings of our hearts to Him, in our earnest, affectionate yearnings for His excellence, in our eager searching into His glory, we find life. In communion with Him we eat the bread of life. {OHC 61.2} [OHC 61.3] When we allow objects of minor importance to absorb our attention, to the forgetfulness of Christ, turning away from Him to accept other companionship, we set our feet in a path which leads away from God and from heaven. Christ must be the central object of our affections, and then we shall live in Him, then we shall have His spirit. . . . {OHC 61.3} [OHC 61.4] What constitutes the brightness of heaven? In what will consist the happiness of the redeemed? Christ is all in all. They will gaze with rapture unutterable upon the Lamb of God. They will pour out their songs of grateful praise and adoration to Him whom they loved and worshiped here. That song they learned and began to sing on earth. They learned to put their trust in Jesus while they were forming characters for heaven. Their hearts were attuned to His will here. Their joy in Christ will be proportioned to the love and trust which they learned to repose in Him here. {OHC 61.4} [OHC 61.5] God must be ever in our thoughts. We must hold converse with Him while we walk by the way, and while our hands are engaged in labor. In all the purposes and pursuits of life we must inquire, What will the Lord have me to do? How shall I please Him who has given His life a ransom for me? Thus may we walk with God, as did Enoch of old; and ours may be the testimony which he received, that he pleased God. {OHC 61.5} [OHC 62.1] Chap. 56 - Follow On to Know the Lord Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. Hosea 6:3. {OHC 62.1} [OHC 62.2] We may think we understand something about the truth and the Bible, but the revelation of truth is much beyond anything that our finite vision can comprehend. Christ leads us. When we are caught up to meet Him, and enter through the pearly gates into the city of God, He leads us by the living waters, and all the time He is educating and talking with us about things that He would have opened to our understanding upon the earth if we could have borne it. But we do not walk fast enough. We take too many back steps. We do not advance heavenward; therefore the light that would have come in glorious rays, could not come to us because we were not prepared for it. We take a step back into the world, to the gratifications of earth, and then we take a step toward heaven, and then we take a step back, and then we take a step toward heaven. {OHC 62.2} [OHC 62.3] If you follow on to know the Lord, you shall know that His goings forth are prepared as the morning. You know the morning light first breaks upon us in a very dim light, and then increases and increases in brightness until the king of the day marches in the heavens in all his glory, in all his beauty. . . . Now if God's glory were to shine first upon us as He wants to let it shine, we could not endure it. . . . That is just why Christ came in humanity. We could not have borne Him if He had come in all His glory. . . . {OHC 62.3} [OHC 62.4] Now if we will follow on, and if we will not backslide a step or two every now and then, and have to gather up our forces and go on -- it is better to gather up our forces than to remain in a backslidden condition and keep on backsliding, but I wish that we did not lose so much time and so much strength -- we may know more of God and more of heaven, and become better acquainted with the precious truth and the rich blessings that God has for us if we will only comprehend them. He has prepared wonderful things for us. {OHC 62.4} [OHC 63.1] Chap. 57 - The Girdle of Gladness Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness. Psalm 30:11. {OHC 63.1} [OHC 63.2] Many who are seeking for happiness will be disappointed in their hopes, because they seek it amiss. True happiness is not to be found in selfish gratification, but in the path of duty. God desires man to be happy, and for this reason He gave him the precepts of His law, that in obeying these he might have joy at home and abroad. While he stands in his moral integrity, true to principle, having the control of all his powers, he cannot be miserable. With its tendrils entwined about God, the soul will flourish amid unbelief and depravity. But many who are constantly looking forward for happiness fail to receive it, because, by neglecting to discharge the little duties and observe the little courtesies of life, they violate the principles upon which happiness depends. {OHC 63.2} [OHC 63.3] The currents of spiritual life must not become stagnant. The water of the living fountain should be in us, a well of water springing up into everlasting life, and sweeping away the selfishness of the natural heart. . . . Many build up barriers between themselves and Jesus so that His love cannot flow into their hearts, and then they complain that they do not see the Sun of Righteousness. Let them forget self and live for Jesus, and the light of Heaven will bring gladness to their souls. . . . {OHC 63.3} [OHC 63.4] The fact that Jesus died to bring happiness and heaven within our reach should be a theme for constant gratitude. The beauty spread before us in God's created works, as an expression of His love, should bring gladness to our hearts. We open to ourselves the floodgates of woe or joy. If we permit our thoughts to be engrossed with the troubles and trifles of earth, our hearts will be filled with unbelief, gloom, and foreboding. If we set our affections on things above, the voice of Jesus will speak peace to our souls; murmurings will cease; vexing thoughts will be lost in praise to our Redeemer. Those who dwell upon God's great mercies, and are not unmindful of His lesser gifts, will put on the girdle of gladness, and make melody in their hearts to the Lord. {OHC 63.4} [OHC 64.1] Chap. 58 - Life with a Purpose Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God. Psalm 146:5. {OHC 64.1} [OHC 64.2] Your only safety and happiness are in making Christ your constant counselor. You can be happy in Him if you had not another friend in the wide world. Your feelings of unrest and homesickness or loneliness may be for your good. Your heavenly Father means to teach you to find in Him the friendship and love and consolation that will satisfy your most earnest hopes and desires. . . . {OHC 64.2} [OHC 64.3] Do not be overanxious about anything. Go quietly about your duty which the day brings you. Do the best you can; ask God to be your helper. . . . Feel every day, "I am doing my work for God. I am not living for myself, to glorify myself, but to glorify God." Oh, trust in Jesus and not in your own heart! Cast your burden and yourself upon Him. If you feel no joy, no consolation, do not be discouraged. Hope and believe. You may have a precious experience in the things of God. Wrestle with your discouragements and doubts until you gain the victory over them in Jesus' name. Do not encourage grief, despondency, and darkness. . . . Repose in the broad, sure promises of God. Rest in these promises, without a doubt. {OHC 64.3} [OHC 64.4] I have seen that those who live for a purpose, seeking to benefit and bless their fellow men and to honor and glorify their Redeemer, are the truly happy ones on the earth, while the man who is restless, discontented, and seeking this and testing that, hoping to find happiness, is always complaining of disappointment. He is always in want, never satisfied, because he lives for himself alone. Let it be your aim to do good, to act your part in life faithfully. {OHC 64.4} [OHC 64.5] Find time to comfort some other heart, to bless with a kind, cheering word someone who is battling with temptation and maybe with affliction. In thus blessing another with cheering, hopeful words, pointing him to the Burden Bearer, you may unexpectedly find peace, happiness, and consolation yourself. {OHC 64.5} [OHC 65.1] Chap. 59 - Joy Unspeakable and Full of Glory Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 1 Peter 1:8. {OHC 65.1} [OHC 65.2] Christ has said: "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." John 7:37. Have you exhausted the fountain? -- No; for it is inexhaustible. Just as soon as you feel your need, you may drink, and drink again. The fountain is always full. And when you have once drunk of that fountain, you will not be seeking to quench your thirst from the broken cisterns of this world; you will not be studying how you can find the most pleasure, amusement, fun, and frolic. No; because you have been drinking from the stream which makes glad the city of God. Then your joy will be full. {OHC 65.2} [OHC 65.3] Why should not the religion of Christ be represented as it really is, as full of attractiveness and power? Why should we not present before the world the loveliness of Christ? Why do we not show that we have a living Saviour, one who can walk with us in the darkness as well as in the light, and that we can trust in Him? . . . {OHC 65.3} [OHC 65.4] We have seen clouds interpose between us and the sun, but we did not mourn and clothe ourselves in sackcloth for fear that we should never see the sun again. We manifested no anxiety about it, but waited as cheerfully as possible until the cloud passed away and revealed the sun. Just so in our trials and temptations. Clouds may seem to shut from us the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness; but we know that the face of our Redeemer is not forever hidden. He is looking upon us with love and tender compassion. Let us not cast away our confidence, which hath great recompense of reward, but when clouds hang over the soul, let us keep our eyes fixed where we can see the Sun of Righteousness, and rejoice that we have a living Saviour. Think how beautiful was the light which we enjoyed, keep the mind stayed on Jesus, and the light will again shine upon us, and dismal thoughts will flee. We shall have joy in Christ, and shall go singing on our way to Mount Zion. {OHC 65.4} [OHC 66.1] Chap. 60 - Christ, the Ladder to Heaven And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. Genesis 28:12. {OHC 66.1} [OHC 66.2] Let us consider this ladder which was presented to Jacob. . . . The sin of Adam cut off all intercourse between heaven and earth. Up to the moment of man's transgression of God's law there had been free communion between earth and heaven. They were connected by a path which Deity could traverse. But the transgression of God's law broke up this path and man was separated from God. . . . {OHC 66.2} [OHC 66.3] Every link which bound earth to heaven and man to the infinite God seemed broken. Man might look to heaven, but how could he attain it? But joy to the world! The Son of God, the Sinless One, the One perfect in obedience, becomes the channel through which the lost communion may be renewed, the way through which the lost paradise may be regained. Through Christ, man's substitute and surety, man may keep the commandments of God. He may return to his allegiance and God will accept him. Christ is the ladder. "By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture." John 10:9. . . . {OHC 66.3} [OHC 66.4] The ladder is the medium of communication between God and man. Through the mystic ladder the gospel was preached to Jacob. As the ladder stretched from earth, reaching to the highest heavens, and the glory of God was seen above the ladder, so Christ in His divine nature reached immensity and was one with the Father. As the ladder, though its top penetrated into heaven, had its base upon the earth, so Christ, though God, clothed His divinity with humanity and was in the world "found in fashion as a man" (Philippians 2:8). The ladder would be useless if it rested not on the earth or if it reached not to the heavens. {OHC 66.4} [OHC 66.5] God appeared in glory above the ladder, looking down with compassion on erring, sinful Jacob. . . . It is through Christ that the Father beholds sinful man. . . . The broken links have been repaired. A highway has been thrown up along which the weary and heavy laden may pass. They may enter heaven and find rest. {OHC 66.5} [OHC 67.1] Chap. 61 - The Precious Treasure of Faith Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. 2 Peter 1:2, 3. {OHC 67.1} [OHC 67.2] "Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ: . . . Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." 2 Peter 1:1-4. {OHC 67.2} [OHC 67.3] "Like precious faith" . . . is a genuine faith. It is not a fruitless faith. True, saving faith is a precious treasure of inestimable value. It is not superficial. The just lives by faith a truly spiritual, Christlike life. It is through faith that the steps are taken one at a time up the ladder of progress. Faith must be cultivated. It unites the human with the divine nature. {OHC 67.3} [OHC 67.4] The life of obedience to all of God's commandments is a life of progression, a life of constant advancement. As the elect, precious, have increased understanding of the mediatorial work of Jesus Christ, they see and grasp the rich promises that come through the righteousness of Christ. The more they receive of the divine grace the more they work on the plan of addition. {OHC 67.4} [OHC 67.5] "Grace and peace" will be multiplied "through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." Here is the Source of all spiritual power, and faith must be in constant exercise, for all spiritual life is from Christ. Knowledge of God inspires faith in Him as the only channel to convey heaven's blessing to the soul, elevating, ennobling, refining the soul, as--through the knowledge of God--it is brought up to the high attainment of glory and virtue. "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue." {OHC 67.5} [OHC 68.1] Chap. 62 - Virtue and Knowledge And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge. 2 Peter 1:5. {OHC 68.1} [OHC 68.2] "Add to your faith virtue." There is no promise given to the one who is retrograding. The apostle, in his testimony, is aiming to excite the believers to advancement in grace and holiness. They already profess to be living the truth, they have a knowledge of the precious faith, they have been made partakers of the divine nature. But if they stop here they will lose the grace they have received. . . . {OHC 68.2} [OHC 68.3] Without giving "all diligence" to make step after step upward to God above the ladder, there is no gaining ground in peace and grace and the work of holiness. "Strive," said Jesus, "to enter in at the strait gate." Luke 13:24. The way of the believer is marked out by God above the ladder. All his endeavors will be in vain if he has not virtue of character, a practical knowledge of Christ through obedience to all His requirements. Those who have faith must be careful to show their faith by their works. . . . {OHC 68.3} [OHC 68.4] "Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge"--knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, knowledge of the great plan of salvation. To be ignorant of God's commandments and laws will not excuse a soul. He will not dare to plead around the throne of God, "I did not know the truth. I was ignorant." The Lord has given His Word to be our guide, our instructor, and with this heavenly enlightening there is no excuse for ignorance. . . . {OHC 68.4} [OHC 68.5] Truth is an active, working principle, molding heart and life so that there is a constant upward movement. . . . In every step of climbing, the will is obtaining a new spring of action. The moral tone is becoming more like the mind and character of Christ. The progressive Christian has grace and love which passes knowledge, for divine insight into the character of Christ takes a deep hold upon his affections. The glory of God revealed above the ladder can only be appreciated by the progressive climber, who is ever attracted higher, to nobler aims which Christ reveals. All the faculties of mind and body must be enlisted. {OHC 68.5} [OHC 69.1] Chap. 63 - "And to Knowledge Temperance" And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness. 2 Peter 1:6. {OHC 69.1} [OHC 69.2] To knowledge must be added temperance. "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection." 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. {OHC 69.2} [OHC 69.3] Athletes cheerfully comply with the conditions in order to be trained for the highest taxation of their physical strength. They do not indulge appetite, but put a constant restraint upon themselves, refraining from food which would weaken or lessen the full power of any of their organs. Yet they fight "as one that beateth the air," while Christians are in a real contest. Combatants in the games seek for mere perishable laurels. Christians have before them a glorious crown of immortality, incorruptible. And in this heavenly race there is plenty of room for all to obtain the prize. Not one will fail if he runs well, if he does according to the light which shines upon him, exercising his abilities which, to the best of his knowledge, he has kept in a healthful condition. . . . {OHC 69.3} [OHC 69.4] Any habit or practice which will weaken the nerve and brain power or the physical strength disqualifies for the exercise of the next grace which comes in after temperance--patience. . . . {OHC 69.4} [OHC 69.5] A man who is intemperate, who uses stimulating indulgences--beer, wine, strong drinks, tea and coffee, opium, tobacco, or any of these substances that are deleterious to health--cannot be a patient man. So temperance is a round of the ladder upon which we must plant our feet before we can add the grace of patience. In food, in raiment, in work, in regular hours, in healthful exercise, we must be regulated by the knowledge which it is our duty to obtain that we may, through earnest endeavor, place ourselves in right relation to life and health. {OHC 69.5} [OHC 70.1] Chap. 64 - The Perfect Work of Patience Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. James 1:3, 4. {OHC 70.1} [OHC 70.2] The apostle says we succeed in the grace of temperance that we may add patience. Patience under trials will keep us from saying and doing those things which will injure our own souls and injure those with whom we associate. Let your trials be what they will, nothing can seriously injure you if you exercise patience, if you are calm and unexcited when in trying positions. . . . {OHC 70.2} [OHC 70.3] We can see the wisdom of Peter in placing temperance to be added to knowledge before patience. This is one strong reason for overcoming the appetite for all stimulants, for as the nerves become excited under the influence of these irritating substances, how many and grievous are the evils that are done! . . . {OHC 70.3} [OHC 70.4] There is necessity for the Christian adding patience to temperance. There will need to be firm principle and fixedness of purpose not to offend in word or action either our own conscience or the feelings of others. There must be a rising above the customs of the world in order to bear reproach, disappointment, losses and crosses without one murmur, but with uncomplaining dignity. . . . A petulant, ill-natured man or woman really knows not what it is to be happy. Every cup which he puts to his lips seems to be bitter as wormwood and his path seems strewn with rough stones, with briars and thorns; but he must add to temperance patience and he will not see or feel slights. {OHC 70.4} [OHC 70.5] Patience must have its perfect work or we cannot be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. Troubles and afflictions are appointed unto us, and shall we bear them all patiently or shall we make everything bitter by our complaining? The gold is put into the furnace that the dross may be removed. Shall we, then, not be patient under the eye of the refiner? We must refuse to sink into a sad and disconsolate state of mind, but show calm trust in God, counting it all joy when we are permitted to endure trials for Christ's sake. {OHC 70.5} [OHC 71.1] Chap. 65 - "To Patience Godliness" For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. 1 Timothy 4:8. {OHC 71.1} [OHC 71.2] Having added patience to temperance, we are then to ascend the ladder of progress and add to patience godliness. This is the very outgrowth of patience. Said the apostle Paul, "We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope." . . . Romans 5:3, 4. {OHC 71.2} [OHC 71.3] Here, then, is an advance grace, godliness, which is to have the spirit and the likeness of the character of Jesus Christ. To raise us to His divine ideal is the one end of all the dealings of God with us, and of the whole plan of salvation. . . . The corruption of the world is seeking to steal our senses, all the unholy influences on every side are working to hold us to a low, earthly level--blinding our sensibilities, degrading our desires, enfeebling our conscience and crippling our religious faculties by urging us to give sway to the lower nature. . . . {OHC 71.3} [OHC 71.4] To draw us away from all this is the precious ladder. The eye is attracted to God above the ladder. The invitation comes from the glory above it, Come up higher. The heart is attracted. Steps are taken in advance, one after another. Higher and still higher we ascend. At every step the attraction becomes greater. Higher, holier ambitions take possession of the soul. The guilt of the past life is left behind. We dare not look down the ladder at those things which long poisoned the springs of true happiness and kindled remorse, weakened and depraved the will, and repressed every better impulse. . . . {OHC 71.4} [OHC 71.5] The aim of God's Word is to inspire hope, to lead us to . . . climb step by step heavenward, with ever-increasing vigor. . . .We attain a likeness of character to God by the imparting of His own grace. . . . As wax takes the counterpart of the seal, so the soul receives and retains the moral image of God. We become filled and transfigured by His brightness, as the cloud--dark in itself--when filled with the light is turned to stainless whiteness. {OHC 71.5} [OHC 72.1] Chap. 66 - The Virtue of Brotherly Kindness And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 2 Peter 1:7. {OHC 72.1} [OHC 72.2] The Word of God enjoins upon every one of His children: "Be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous." 1 Peter 3:8. Now unless godliness was added to patience man would not show that brotherly kindness. In His mission to our world, Christ has shown man the graces of the Spirit of God which, when accepted, fashion and mold the entire man, externally as well as internally, by abasing his pride and leading him not to esteem himself highly but to esteem his brother as precious in the sight of God because Christ paid an infinite price for his soul. When man is valued as God's property then we will be kind, amiable, and condescending toward him. {OHC 72.2} [OHC 72.3] The religion of Jesus Christ is a system of the true heavenly politeness and leads to a practical exhibition of habitual tenderness of feeling, kindness of deportment. He who possesses godliness will also add this grace, taking a step higher on the ladder. The higher he mounts the ladder, the more of the grace of God is revealed in his life, his sentiments, his principles. He is learning, ever learning the terms of his acceptance with God, and the only way to obtain an inheritance in the heavens is to become like Christ in character. The whole scheme of mercy is to soften down what is harsh in temper, and refine whatever is rugged in the deportment. The internal change reveals itself in the external actions. The graces of the Spirit of God work with hidden power in the transformation of character. The religion of Christ never will reveal a sour, coarse, and uncourteous action. Courtesy is a Bible virtue. The virtue of this grace of brotherly kindness characterized the life of Christ. Never was such courtesy exhibited upon the earth as Christ revealed, and we cannot overestimate its value. . . . {OHC 72.3} [OHC 72.4] Growing in grace is an earnest working out of what God works in. It is an earnest of future glory, the working out here upon the earth of the spirit that is cherished in heaven. {OHC 72.4} [OHC 73.1] Chap. 67 - Charity the Topmost Round And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. Colossians 3:14. {OHC 73.1} [OHC 73.2] The next step in the ladder is charity. Add "to brotherly kindness charity," which is love. Love to God and love to our neighbor constitute the whole duty of man. Without brotherly kindness we cannot exhibit the grace of love to God or to our fellow men. {OHC 73.2} [OHC 73.3] This last step in the ladder gives to the will a new spring of action. Christ offers a love that passeth knowledge. This love is not something kept apart from our life, but it takes hold of the entire being. The heaven to which the Christian is climbing will be attained only by those who have this crowning grace. This is the new affection which pervades the soul. The old is left behind. Love is the great controlling power. When love leads, all the faculties of mind and spirit are enlisted. Love to God and love to man will give the clear title to heaven. {OHC 73.3} [OHC 73.4] No one can love God supremely and transgress one of His commandments. The heart softened and subdued with the beauty of Christ's character and bridled by the pure and lofty rules which He has given us will put into practice what it has learned of love, and will follow Jesus forthwith in humble obedience. The living power of faith will reveal itself in loving acts. {OHC 73.4} [OHC 73.5] What evidence have we that we have the pure love, without alloy? God has erected a standard--His commandments. "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." John 14:21. The words of God must have an abiding place in our hearts. {OHC 73.5} [OHC 73.6] We are to love our brethren as Christ has loved us. We are to be patient and kind, and yet there is something lacking--we must love. Christ tells us that we must forgive the erring even seventy times seven. . . . When there is much forgiven, the heart loves much. Love is a tender plant. It needs to be constantly cultured or it will wither and die. {OHC 73.6} [OHC 73.7] All these graces we must have. We must climb the whole length of the ladder. {OHC 73.7} [OHC 74.1] Chap. 68 - Make Your Calling and Election Sure For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:8. {OHC 74.1} [OHC 74.2] The only safety for the Christian is to be unwearied in his efforts to live on the plan of addition. The apostle shows the advantages to be gained in thus doing. For those who add grace to grace, God will work on the plan of multiplication, so that the graces will be in and abound in the religious life and he will not "be barren nor unfruitful. . . ." Those abounding in the Christian graces will be zealous, lively, vigorous in all practical Christianity, and will practice righteousness--just as the branch abiding in the vine will produce the same fruit that the vine bears. . . . {OHC 74.2} [OHC 74.3] He who does not climb the ladder of progress and add grace to grace "is blind, and cannot see afar off." He fails to discern that without taking these successive steps in ascending the ladder round after round, in growing in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, he is not placing himself in a position where the light of God above the ladder is reflected upon him. As he does not add grace to grace, he has forgotten the claims of God upon him, and that he was to receive the forgiveness of sins through obedience to the requirements of God. . . . {OHC 74.3} [OHC 74.4] "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure." 2 Peter 1:10. We need not have a supposed hope, but an assurance. To make our calling and election sure is to follow the Bible plan to closely examine ourselves, to make strict inquiry whether we are indeed converted, whether our minds are drawn out after God and heavenly things, our wills renewed, our whole souls changed. To make our calling and election sure requires far greater diligence than many are giving to this important matter. "For if ye do these things"-- live on the plan of addition, growing in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ--ye shall mount up, step by step, the ladder Jacob saw, and "ye shall never fall." {OHC 74.4} [OHC 75.1] Chap. 69 - Holding Fast to Christ, the Ladder For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:11. {OHC 75.1} [OHC 75.2] We ascend to heaven by climbing the ladder--the whole height of Christ's work--step by step. There must be a holding fast to Christ, a climbing up by the merits of Christ. To let go is to cease to climb, is to fall, to perish. We are to mount by the Mediator and all the while to keep hold on the Mediator, ascending by successive steps, round above round, stretching the hand from one round to the next above. . . . There is fearful peril in relaxing our efforts in spiritual diligence for a moment, for we are hanging, as it were, between heaven and earth. {OHC 75.2} [OHC 75.3] We must keep the eye directed upward to God above the ladder. The question with men and women gazing heavenward is, How can I obtain the mansions for the blessed? It is by being a partaker of the divine nature. It is by escaping the "corruption that is in the world through lust." It is by entering into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, laying hold of the hope set before you in the gospel. It is by fastening yourself to Christ and straining every nerve to leave the world behind. . . . It is by being in Christ and yet led by Christ; by believing and working, . . . holding onto Christ and constantly mounting upward toward God. . . . {OHC 75.3} [OHC 75.4] We point you to the mansions Christ is preparing for all those who love Him. We point you to that city that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. We show you its massive walls, with the twelve foundations, and tell you that these walls must be scaled. You look discouraged at the magnitude of the work before you. We point you to the ladder set up on earth, reaching to the city of God. Plant your feet on the ladder. Forsake your sins. Climb step by step and you will reach God above the ladder, and the Holy City of God. . . . {OHC 75.4} [OHC 75.5] When the successive steps have all been mounted, when the graces have been added one after another, the crowning grace is the perfect love of God--supreme love to God and love to our fellow men. And then the abundant entrance into the kingdom of God. {OHC 75.5} [OHC 76.1] Chap. 70 - The Privilege of Assurance And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. 1 John 3:19. {OHC 76.1} [OHC 76.2] I would impress upon our young men and young women the necessity of making their calling and election sure. I would beseech you to do no haphazard or uncertain work where your eternal interests are involved. By so doing you lose happiness, peace, comfort, and hope in this life, and you lose also your immortal inheritance. {OHC 76.2} [OHC 76.3] My young friends, you are judgment bound, and through the grace of Christ you may render obedience to the commands of God, and daily gain fortitude and strength of character, so that you need not fail or be discouraged. Divine grace has been abundantly provided for every soul, so that each one may engage in the conflict and come off victorious. Do not become sluggish; do not flatter yourselves that you may be saved in walking in accordance with the natural traits of your character--that you may drift with the current of the world, and indulge and please self, and yet be able to withstand the forces of evil in a time of crisis, and come off victorious when the battle waxes hot. . . . You must learn every day to obey the orders of the Captain of the Lord's host. {OHC 76.3} [OHC 76.4] My young friends, do you pray? Are you educating yourselves to offer petitions for pure thoughts, for holy aspirations, for a pure heart and clean hands? Are you educating your lips to sing the praises of God, and are you seeking to do the will of God? This is the kind of education that will be of the greatest value to you; for it will aid you in the formation of Christlike character. {OHC 76.4} [OHC 76.5] Do not settle down in Satan's easy chair, and say that there is no use, you cannot cease to sin, that there is no power in you to overcome. There is no power in you apart from Christ, but it is your privilege to have Christ abiding in your heart by faith, and He can overcome sin in you, when you cooperate with His efforts. . . . You may be living epistles, known and read of all men. You are not to be a dead letter, but a living one, testifying to the world that Jesus is able to save. {OHC 76.5} [OHC 77.1] Chap. 71 - Chosen of God Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. Isaiah 41:9. {OHC 77.1} [OHC 77.2] Many have confused ideas as to what constitutes faith, and they live altogether below their privileges. They confuse feeling and faith, and are continually distressed and perplexed in mind; for Satan takes all possible advantage of their ignorance and inexperience. . . . We are to accept of Christ as our personal Saviour, or we shall fail in our attempt to be overcomers. It will not answer for us to hold ourselves aloof from Him, to believe that our friend or our neighbor may have Him for a personal Saviour, but that we may not experience His pardoning love. We are to believe that we are chosen of God, to be saved by the exercise of faith, through the grace of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit; and we are to praise and glorify God for such a marvelous manifestation of His unmerited favor. It is the love of God that draws the soul to Christ, to be graciously received, and presented to the Father. Through the work of the Spirit the divine relationship between God and the sinner is renewed. The Father says: "I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. I will exercise forgiving love toward them, and bestow upon them my joy. They shall be to me a peculiar treasure; for this people whom I have formed for myself shall show forth my praise." {OHC 77.2} [OHC 77.3] The Father sets His love upon His elect people who live in the midst of men. These are the people whom Christ has redeemed by the price of His own blood; and because they respond to the drawing of Christ, through the sovereign mercy of God, they are elected to be saved as His obedient children. Upon them is manifested the free grace of God, the love wherewith He hath loved them. Everyone who will humble himself as a little child, who will receive and obey the word of God with a child's simplicity, will be among the elect of God. {OHC 77.3} [OHC 77.4] You can prove yourself elected of Christ by being faithful; you can prove yourself the chosen of Christ by abiding in the vine. {OHC 77.4} [OHC 78.1] Chap. 72 - Fullness of Christ's Ransom According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. Ephesians 1:4, 5. {OHC 78.1} [OHC 78.2] In the council of heaven, provision was made that men, though transgressors, should not perish in their disobedience, but, through faith in Christ as their substitute and surety, might become the elect of God. . . . God wills that all men should be saved; for ample provision has been made, in giving His only begotten Son to pay man's ransom. Those who perish will perish because they refuse to be adopted as children of God through Christ Jesus. The pride of man hinders him from accepting the provisions of salvation. But human merit will not admit a soul into the presence of God. That which will make a man acceptable to God is the imparted grace of Christ through faith in His name. No dependence can be placed in works or in happy flights of feelings as evidence that men are chosen of God; for the elect are chosen through Christ. {OHC 78.2} [OHC 78.3] Jesus says, "Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out." John 6:37. When the repenting sinner comes to Christ, conscious of his guilt and unworthiness, realizing that he is deserving of punishment, but relying on the mercy and love of Christ, he will not be turned away. The pardoning love of God is appropriated, and joyful gratitude springs up in his heart for the infinite compassion and love of his Saviour. That provision was made for him in the councils of heaven before the foundation of the world, that Christ should take upon Himself the penalty of man's transgression and impute to him His righteousness, overwhelms him with amazement. {OHC 78.3} [OHC 78.4] The Father laid our sins where none but His own eyes could discern them. And as He hid His face from the innocence of Christ, so He will hide His eyes from the guilt of the believing sinner, because of the righteousness imputed to him. The righteousness of Christ laid upon us will draw upon us the most precious blessings in this life, and will bestow upon us everlasting life in the kingdom of God. {OHC 78.4} [OHC 79.1] Chap. 73 - God Calls for Our Best Affections No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24. {OHC 79.1} [OHC 79.2] Many are on the enchanted ground of the enemy. Things of the least importance--foolish social parties, singing, jesting, joking-- engross their minds and they serve God with a divided heart. . . . The declaration of Christ, "No man can serve two masters," is unheeded. {OHC 79.2} [OHC 79.3] One of the most marked features of the earth's inhabitants in the days of Noah was their intense worldliness. They made eating and drinking, buying and selling, marrying and giving in marriage, the supreme objects of life. It is not sinful, but the fulfillment of a duty, to eat and drink, if that which is lawful is not carried to excess. . . . God Himself instituted marriage when He gave Eve to Adam. All God's laws are marvelously adapted to meet the nature of man. The sin of the antediluvians was in perverting that which in itself was lawful. They corrupted God's gifts by using them to minister to their selfish desires. . . . {OHC 79.3} [OHC 79.4] Excessive love and devotion to that which in itself is lawful, proves the ruination of thousands upon thousands of souls. To matters of minor importance is often given the strength of intellect that should be wholly devoted to God. We need always to be guarded against carrying to excess that which, rightly used, is lawful. Many, many souls are lost by engaging in those things which, properly managed, are harmless, but which, perverted and misapplied, become sinful and demoralizing. {OHC 79.4} [OHC 79.5] If we are constantly thinking of and struggling for the things that pertain to this life, we cannot keep our thoughts fixed on the things of heaven. Satan is seeking to lead our minds away from God, and to center them on the fashions, the customs, and the demands of the world, which bring disease and death. . . . {OHC 79.5} [OHC 79.6] In this world we are to obtain a fitness for the higher world. God has left a trust with us, and He expects us to use all our faculties in helping and blessing our fellow men. He calls for our best affections, our highest powers. {OHC 79.6} [OHC 80.1] Chap. 74 - Which Captain? For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even unto death. Psalm 48:14. {OHC 80.1} [OHC 80.2] We are all under one or the other of two great captains. One, the Creator of man and of the world, is the greatest of all. All owe Him the allegiance of their whole being, the devotion of their entire affection. If the mind is given to His control, and if God has the molding and developing of the powers of the mind, new moral power will be received daily from the Source of all wisdom and all strength. Moral blessings and divine beauties will reward the efforts of everyone whose mind is heaven bent. We may grasp revelations--heavenly beauties-- that lie beyond the short vision of the worldling, that outshine the imagination of the greatest mind. . . . {OHC 80.2} [OHC 80.3] Satan is the leader of the worldly. . . . His highest aim is to gather under his banner the majority of the world, that numbers may stand against the power of righteousness and eternal truth. Talent and ability given of God to be devoted to His service, are laid at the feet of the great rebel of God's government. . . . {OHC 80.3} [OHC 80.4] While the worldly wise is skimming along the surface, grasping the things of sight and sense, the one who fears and reveres God is reaching into eternity, penetrating the deepest recesses and gathering the knowledge and riches that are as enduring as eternity. Justice, honor, love, and truth are the attributes of God's throne. They are the principles of His government. . . . These are jewels to be sought after and cherished for time and for eternity. . . . {OHC 80.4} [OHC 80.5] To walk the world a pure man of untarnished morals, bearing the sacred principles of truth in your heart, its influence seen in the acts of your life; to live uncorrupted by the baseness, falsity, and dishonesty of a world which must soon be purified of its moral corruption by the fires of God's retributive justice, is to be a man whose record is immortalized in heaven, honored among the pure angels who weigh and appreciate moral worth. This is what it is to be a man of God. {OHC 80.5} [OHC 81.1] Chap. 75 - The Cause of All Our Woes But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:13. {OHC 81.1} [OHC 81.2] Mark the words "deceitfulness of sin." Satan always presents his temptations under the guise of goodness. Beware that you yield not to them. One violation of straightforward truthfulness prepares the way for the second violation, and wrongs are repeated, until the heart of unbelief becomes hardened, and the conscience loses its sensitiveness. {OHC 81.2} [OHC 81.3] Let none flatter themselves that the sins of their youth can easily be given up by and by. This is not so. Every sin cherished weakens the character and strengthens the habit; and physical, mental, and moral depravity result. You may repent of the wrong you have done, and set your feet in right paths; but the mold of your mind and your familiarity with evil will make it difficult for you to distinguish between right and wrong. Through the wrong habits you have formed Satan will assail you again and again. {OHC 81.3} [OHC 81.4] Many . . . look upon sin as a little thing. . . . Many take counsel of their own wishes and desires and follow their inclinations and finally conclude that sin is not so very offensive, not so terrible and dreadful in the sight of God. Sin that may appear little, that may be termed little by the blunted conscience, is so grievous a thing in the sight of God that nothing but the blood of God's own Son could wash it away. This fact places the true estimate upon sin. God will never tarnish His glory to come to our ideas and views. We shall certainly have to come to His. Just in proportion to the excellence of God is the heinous character of sin. . . . {OHC 81.4} [OHC 81.5] God seeks our real happiness. If anything lies in the way of this, He sees it must first be removed. He will thwart our purposes and disappoint our expectations and bring us through disappointments and trials to reveal to us ourselves as we are. . . . Sin is the cause of all our woes. If we would have true peace and happiness of mind, sin must be removed. {OHC 81.5} [OHC 82.1] Chap. 76 - In Self-Distrust We Cry to God I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Psalm 32:5. {OHC 82.1} [OHC 82.2] David often triumphed in God, and yet he dwelt much upon his own unworthiness and sinfulness. His conscience was not asleep or dead. "My sin," he cried, "is ever before me." Psalm 51:3 . He did not flatter himself that sin was a matter with which he had nothing to do, and that should not concern him. As he saw the depths of deceit in his heart, he . . . prayed that God would . . . cleanse him from secret faults. {OHC 82.2} [OHC 82.3] It is not safe for us to close our eyes and harden our consciences, that we shall not see or realize our sins. {OHC 82.3} [OHC 82.4] The humble heart will not think confession beneath him. He will not feel it a disgrace to confess if he has in any way, even in thought, hurt his brother or hindered God's work through him. {OHC 82.4} [OHC 82.5] Sins not repented of are sins not forgiven. Those who think themselves forgiven for sins of which they have never felt the sinfulness and over which they have never felt contrition of soul, only deceive themselves. . . . Our strength lies in our conscious weakness. . . . In self-distrust we cry to God for help, and work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Casting away all confidence in the arm of flesh, we cling with firm grasp to Jesus. . . . {OHC 82.5} [OHC 82.6] Heaven will never be reached by an easy-going people merely professing to be Christians. God calls for thorough work on the part of every one of His followers. . . . By resolute self-denial, By constant watchfulness, By earnest prayer, By the diligent use of every means of grace, And by the help of Jesus Christ our Redeemer, We shall come off victorious. The rest in heaven is for the weary, The crown for the brows of the warriors. {OHC 82.6} [OHC 83.1] Chap. 77 - Full Provision for Pardon The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Psalm 34:18. {OHC 83.1} [OHC 83.2] Do not think that because you have made mistakes you must always be under condemnation, for this is not necessary. . . . {OHC 83.2} [OHC 83.3] Shall we look at our sins, and begin to mourn, and say, I have done wrong, and I cannot come to God with any degree of confidence? Does not the Bible say, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"? 1 John 1:9. It is a proper thing for us to have a realization of the terrible character of sin. It was sin that caused Christ to suffer ignominious death on Calvary. But while we should understand that sin is a terrible thing, yet we should not listen to the voice of our adversary, who says, "You have sinned, and you have no right to claim the promises of God." You should say to the adversary, "It is written, 'If any man sin, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous' (1 John 2:1)." . . . {OHC 83.3} [OHC 83.4] The psalmist says, "I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." Psalm 32:5. . . . This is the kind of experience that we should have. {OHC 83.4} [OHC 83.5] David was pardoned of his transgression because he humbled his heart before God in repentance and contrition of soul, and believed that God's promise to forgive would be fulfilled. He confessed his sin, repented, and was reconverted. In the rapture of the assurance of forgiveness, he exclaimed, "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile." Psalm 32:1, 2. The blessing comes because of pardon; pardon comes through faith that the sin, confessed and repented of, is borne by the great Sin Bearer. Thus from Christ cometh all our blessings. His death is an atoning sacrifice for our sins. He is the great Medium through whom we receive the mercy and favor of God. {OHC 83.5} [OHC 84.1] Chap. 78 - Building for Eternity Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. Matthew 7:24, 25. {OHC 84.1} [OHC 84.2] The formation of character is the work of a lifetime, and it is for eternity. If all could realize this, if they would awake to the thought that we are individually deciding our own destiny for eternal life or eternal ruin, what a change would take place! How differently would this probationary time be occupied! . . . {OHC 84.2} [OHC 84.3] In character building it is of the greatest importance that we dig deep, removing all the rubbish and building on the immovable, solid Rock, Christ Jesus. The foundation firmly laid, we need wisdom to know how to build. . . . In His law God has given us a pattern, and it is after this pattern that we are to build. The law is the great standard of righteousness. It represents the character of God, and is the test of our loyalty to His government. {OHC 84.3} [OHC 84.4] Thoroughness is necessary to success in character building. There must be an earnest desire to carry out the plans of the Master Builder. The timbers used must be solid; no careless, unreliable work can be accepted; it would ruin the building. The whole being is to be put into this work. It demands strength and energy; there is no reserve to be wasted in unimportant matters. There must be determined human force put into the work, in cooperation with the divine Worker. There must be earnest, persevering effort to break away from the customs and maxims and associations of the world. Deep thought, earnest purpose, steadfast integrity, are essential. There must be no idleness. Life is a sacred trust; and every moment should be wisely improved. . . . {OHC 84.4} [OHC 84.5] Remember that you are building for eternity. See that your foundation is sure; then build firmly, and with persistent effort, but in gentleness, meekness, and love. So shall your house stand unshaken, not only when the storms of temptation come but when the overwhelming flood of God's wrath shall sweep over the world. {OHC 84.5} [OHC 85.1] Chap. 79 - Give No Place to Temptation In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge. Proverbs 14:26. {OHC 85.1} [OHC 85.2] God requires that we confess our sins and humble our hearts before Him; but at the same time we should have confidence in Him as a tender Father, who will not forsake those who put their trust in Him. We do not realize how many of us walk by sight and not by faith. We believe the things that are seen, but do not appreciate the precious promises given us in His Word. And yet we cannot dishonor God more decidedly than by showing that we distrust what He says. {OHC 85.2} [OHC 85.3] Do not for a moment acknowledge Satan's temptations as being in harmony with your own mind. Turn from them as you would from the adversary himself. Satan's work is to discourage the soul. Christ's work is to inspire the heart with faith and hope. Satan seeks to unsettle our confidence. He tells us that our hopes are built upon false premises, rather than upon the sure, immutable word of Him who cannot lie. {OHC 85.3} [OHC 85.4] When he ［Satan］ suggests doubts as to whether we are really the people whom God is leading, whom by tests and provings He is preparing to stand in the great day, be ready to meet his insinuations by presenting the clear evidence from the Word of God that this is the remnant people who are keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. {OHC 85.4} [OHC 85.5] Let us trust fully, humbly, unselfishly, in God. We are His little children, and thus He deals with us. When we draw near to Him, He mercifully preserves us from the assaults of the enemy. Never will He betray one who trusts in Him as a child trusts in its parents. He sees the humble, trusting souls drawing near to Him, and in pity and love He draws near to them, and lifts up for them a standard against the enemy. "Touch them not," He says, "for they are mine. I have graven them upon the palms of my hands." He teaches them to exercise unquestioning faith in His power to work in their behalf. With assurance they say, "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 1 John 5:4. {OHC 85.5} [OHC 86.1] Chap. 80 - Above the Fog of Doubt Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24. {OHC 86.1} [OHC 86.2] Even Christians of long experience are often assaulted with the most terrible doubts and waverings. . . . You must not consider that for these temptations your case is hopeless. . . . Hope in God, trust in Him and rest in His promises. {OHC 86.2} [OHC 86.3] When the devil comes with his doubts and unbeliefs, shut the door of your heart. Shut your eyes so that you will not dwell upon his hellish shadow. Lift them up where they can behold the things which are eternal, and you will have strength every hour. The trial of your faith is much more precious than gold. . . . It makes you valiant to fight the battle of the Lord. . . . {OHC 86.3} [OHC 86.4] Satan connects with everyone that will connect with him. If he can get those that have had an experience in religion, they are his most effectual agents to reach just such men and compass their souls with unbelief. You cannot afford to let any doubts come into your mind. Do not please the devil enough to tell about the terrible burdens you are carrying. Every time you do it, Satan laughs that his soul can control you and that you have lost sight of Jesus Christ your Redeemer. . . . {OHC 86.4} [OHC 86.5] We are to show forth Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. It is by living faith that we rest in that light. It is by living faith that we rejoice in that light every day. We are not to talk our doubts and trials, because they grow bigger every time we talk them. Every time we talk them, Satan has gained the victory; but when we say, "I will commit the keeping of my soul unto Him, as unto a faithful witness," then we testify that we have given ourselves to Jesus Christ without any reservation, and then God gives us light and we rejoice in Him. {OHC 86.5} [OHC 86.6] The soul that loves God, rises above the fog of doubt; he gains a bright, broad, deep, living experience, and becomes meek and Christ-like. His soul is committed to God, hid with Christ in God. {OHC 86.6} [OHC 87.1] Chap. 81 - Progressive Conquest of Evil Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. James 1:12. {OHC 87.1} [OHC 87.2] It is not the order and will of God to shield His people from temptation. . . . When truth takes possession of the heart, the Christian will be brought into conflict. . . . There are opposing elements in his own household, even in his own heart, and nothing but the free Spirit of God can ensure for him the victory. {OHC 87.2} [OHC 87.3] The beginning of yielding to temptation is in the sin of permitting the mind to waver, to be inconsistent in your trust in God. The wicked one is ever watching for a chance to misrepresent God, and to attract the mind to that which is forbidden. If he can, he will fasten the mind upon the things of the world. He will endeavor to excite the emotions, to arouse the passions, to fasten the affections on that which is not for your good; but it is for you to hold every emotion and passion under control, in calm subjection to reason and conscience. Then Satan loses his power to control the mind. The work to which Christ calls us is to the work of progressive conquest over spiritual evil in our characters. Natural tendencies are to be overcome. . . . Appetite and passion must be conquered, and the will must be placed wholly on the side of Christ. {OHC 87.3} [OHC 87.4] We pray to our heavenly Father, "Lead us not into temptation," and then, too often, we fail to guard our feet against leading us into temptation. We are to keep away from the temptations by which we are easily overcome. Our success is wrought out by ourselves through the grace of Christ. We are to roll out of the way the stone of stumbling that has caused us and others so much sadness. {OHC 87.4} [OHC 87.5] Temptation and trial will come to us all, but we need never be worsted by the enemy. Our Saviour has conquered in our behalf. Satan is not invincible. . . . Christ was tempted that He might know how to help every soul that should afterward be tempted. Temptation is not sin; the sin lies in yielding. To the soul who trusts in Jesus, temptation means victory and greater strength. {OHC 87.5} [OHC 88.1] Chap. 82 - Beware of Satan's Devices Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. 2 Corinthians 2:11. {OHC 88.1} [OHC 88.2] Satan's plans and devices are soliciting us on every hand. We should ever remember that he comes to us in disguise, covering his motives and the character of his temptations. He comes in garments of light, clad apparently in pure angel robes, that we may not discern that it is he. We need to use great caution, to closely investigate his devices, lest we be deceived. {OHC 88.2} [OHC 88.3] Satan has his evil angels around us; and though they cannot read men's thoughts, they closely watch their words and actions. Satan takes advantage of the weaknesses and defects of character that are thus revealed, and presses his temptations where there is the least power of resistance. He makes evil suggestions, and inspires worldly thoughts, knowing that he can thus bring the soul into condemnation and bondage. To those who are selfish, worldly, avaricious, proud, faultfinding, or given to detraction--to all who are cherishing errors and defects of character--Satan presents the indulgence of self, and leads the soul off upon a track that the Bible condemns. . . . {OHC 88.3} [OHC 88.4] For every class of temptations there is a remedy. We are not left to ourselves to fight the battle against self and our sinful natures in our own finite strength. Jesus is a mighty helper, a never-failing support. . . . None need fail or become discouraged, when such ample provision has been made for us. {OHC 88.4} [OHC 88.5] The mind must be restrained, and not allowed to wander. It should be trained to dwell upon the Scriptures, and upon noble, elevating themes. Portions of Scripture, even whole chapters, may be committed to memory, to be repeated when Satan comes in with his temptations. The fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah is a profitable one for this purpose. Wall the soul in with the restrictions and instructions given by inspiration of the Spirit of God. When Satan would lead the mind to dwell upon earthly and sensual things, he is most effectually resisted with "It is written." {OHC 88.5} [OHC 89.1] Chap. 83 - How Satan's Power is Broken Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1. {OHC 89.1} [OHC 89.2] The repentance of one soul sends inexpressible joy through all the host of heaven. Melody is called forth from every harp and every voice in glorious anthems because another name is registered in the book of life, another light is kindled to shine amid the moral darkness of this corrupt world. The very same event spreads consternation among the fallen angels and humiliates the great leader in the rebellion against God's holy law. The prince of darkness, seeing a soul whom he has counted his own escaping from under his control as a bird out of the snare of the fowler, and making Christ his refuge, works with hellish intensity to again entrap the one escaped. {OHC 89.2} [OHC 89.3] We must dwell more on the results of genuine conversion. Not only is the sinner forgiven when he repents and confesses his iniquity; he becomes a child of God, . . . an heir of God and a joint heir with Christ to an immortal inheritance. . . . The power of Satan is broken. Man is brought into sacred unity with Christ. {OHC 89.3} [OHC 89.4] There is not a soul won to Christ . . . without defeat to the tempter, and bruising of the head of the serpent. This will arouse the malice of the adversary to greater activity. . . . Alarmed because he is losing his prey, Satan will first seek to deceive, next to oppress and persecute. Evil men, rebuked by the precept and example of those who come to the light of Bible truth, will become agents of the great adversary of souls and will leave no means untried to draw them away from their allegiance to God and induce them to leave the narrow path of holiness. {OHC 89.4} [OHC 89.5] But none need to be alarmed and afraid. God's word is pledged that if they are true to principle, if they believe and obey all God's requirements, they are members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. They are certain to have enlisted in their behalf the agencies of heaven and to come off victorious through the merits of Christ--more than conquerors through Him that loved them. {OHC 89.5} [OHC 90.1] Chap. 84 - Not Saved by Proxy Let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. Galatians 6:4. {OHC 90.1} [OHC 90.2] No one can serve God by proxy. There are so many who seem to think that there is someone in this world stronger than Christ, upon whom they can lean. And instead of coming right to Christ, just as they are, giving themselves unreservedly to Him, they reach out for human help. God wants us to have an individual experience. . . . I cannot work out a character for you, and you cannot work out a character for me. {OHC 90.2} [OHC 90.3] The gospel deals with individuals. Every human being has a soul to save or to lose. Each has an individuality separate and distinct from all others. Each must be convicted for himself, converted for himself. He must receive the truth, repent, believe, and obey for himself. He must exercise his will for himself. . . . Each must surrender to God by his own act. {OHC 90.3} [OHC 90.4] The Lord does not desire that our individuality shall be destroyed; it is not His purpose that any two persons shall be exactly alike in tastes and dispositions. All have characteristics peculiar to themselves, and these are not to be destroyed, but to be trained, molded, fashioned, after the similitude of Christ. The Lord turns the natural aptitudes and capabilities into profitable channels. In the improvement of the faculties God has given, talent and ability are developed if the human agent will recognize the fact that all his powers are an endowment from God, to be used, not for selfish purposes, . . . but for the glory of God and the good of our fellow men. {OHC 90.4} [OHC 90.5] To every man God--not man--has given his work. This is an individual work--the formation of a character after the divine similitude. The lily is not to strive to be like the rose. There are distinctions in the formation of the flowers and in the fruits, but all derive their peculiar variance from God. . . . So it is God's design that even the best of men shall not all be of the same character. A life consecrated to the service of God will be developed and beautified in its individuality. {OHC 90.5} [OHC 91.1] Chap. 85 - God's Part and Mine Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2:12, 13. {OHC 91.1} [OHC 91.2] "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." What does this mean? It means that every day you are to distrust your own human efforts and wisdom. You are to fear to speak at random, fear to follow your own impulses, fear that pride of heart and love of the world and lust of the flesh shall exclude the precious grace the Lord Jesus is longing to bestow upon you. {OHC 91.2} [OHC 91.3] Man's working, as brought out in the text, is not an independent work he performs without God. His whole dependence is upon the power and grace of the Divine Worker. Many miss the mark here, and claim that man must work his own individual self, free from divine power. This is not in accordance with the text. Another argues that man is free from all obligation, because God does it all, both the willing and the doing. The text means that the salvation of the human soul requires the will power to be subjected to the divine will power. . . . And it is the very hardest, sternest conflict which comes with the purpose and hour of great resolve and decision of the human to incline the will and way to God's will and God's way. {OHC 91.3} [OHC 91.4] Man is allotted a part in this great struggle for everlasting life; he must respond to the working of the Holy Spirit. It will require a struggle to break through the powers of darkness, but the Spirit that works in him can and will accomplish this. But man is no passive instrument to be saved in indolence. He is called upon to strain every muscle in the struggle for immortality, yet it is God that supplies the efficiency. {OHC 91.4} [OHC 91.5] Here are man's works, and here are God's works. . . . With these two combined powers, man will be victorious, and receive a crown of life at last. . . . He puts to the stretch every spiritual nerve and muscle that he may be a successful overcomer in this work, and that he may obtain the precious boon of eternal life. {OHC 91.5} [OHC 92.1] Chap. 86 - The Struggle of Unseen Forces For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12. {OHC 92.1} [OHC 92.2] The Lord would have our minds aroused regarding the influence of evil angels. Christ does not tell us of the danger threatening us from the attacks of the apostate foe without furnishing us with power to resist every attack. . . . Angelic agencies, both good and evil, are striving for the mastery, and every influence that is now exerted is to be closely investigated. {OHC 92.2} [OHC 92.3] Satan is ever on the alert to deceive and mislead. He is using every enchantment to allure men into the broad road of disobedience. He is working to confuse the senses with erroneous sentiments, and remove the landmarks by placing his false inscription on the signposts which God has established to point the right way. It is because these evil agencies are striving to eclipse every ray of light from the soul that heavenly beings are appointed to do their work of ministry, to guide, guard, and control those who shall be heirs of salvation. None need despair because of the inherited tendencies to evil, but when the Spirit of God convicts of sin, the wrongdoer must repent and confess and forsake the evil. Faithful sentinels are on guard to direct souls in right paths. {OHC 92.3} [OHC 92.4] Either the evil angels or the angels of God are controlling the minds of men. Our minds are given to the control of God, or to the control of the powers of darkness; and it will be well for us to inquire where we are standing today--whether under the bloodstained banner of Prince Emmanuel, or under the black banner of the powers of darkness. {OHC 92.4} [OHC 92.5] So long as the people of God preserve their fidelity to Him, so long as they cling by living faith to Jesus, they are under the protection of heavenly angels, and Satan will not be permitted to exercise his hellish arts upon them to their destruction. {OHC 92.5} [OHC 92.6] It is the greatest joy of the angels of heaven to spread the shield of their tender love over souls who turn to God. {OHC 92.6} [OHC 93.1] Chap. 87 - Christ's Example in Overcoming Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Psalm 19:13. {OHC 93.1} [OHC 93.2] The great leading temptations wherewith man would be beset, Christ met and overcame in the wilderness. His coming off victor over appetite, presumption, and the world shows how we may overcome. Satan has overcome his millions in tempting the appetite and leading men to give up to presumptuous sins. There are many who profess to be followers of Christ, . . . who, with hardly a thought, plunge into scenes of temptation that would require a miracle to bring them forth unsullied. Meditation and prayer would have preserved them and led them to shun the dangerous positions in which they have placed themselves and which give Satan the advantage over them. {OHC 93.2} [OHC 93.3] The promises of God are not for us to claim rashly, to protect us while we rush on recklessly into danger, violating the laws of nature, or disregarding prudence and the judgment God has given us to use. This would not be genuine faith but presumption. . . . Satan comes to us with worldly honor, wealth, and the pleasures of life. These temptations are varied to meet men of every rank and degree, tempting them away from God to serve themselves more than their Creator. "All these things will I give thee," said Satan to Christ. "All these things will I give thee," says Satan to man. "All this money, this land, all this power, and honor, and riches, will I give thee"; and man is charmed, deceived, and treacherously allured on to his ruin. If we give ourselves up to worldliness of heart and of life, Satan is satisfied. {OHC 93.3} [OHC 93.4] The Saviour overcame the wily foe, showing us how we may overcome. He has left us His example, to repel Satan with Scripture. He might have had recourse to His own divine power, . . . but His example would not then have been as useful to us. Christ used only Scripture. How important that the Word of God be thoroughly studied and followed, that in case of emergency we may be "throughly furnished unto all good works" and especially fortified to meet the wily foe. {OHC 93.4} [OHC 94.1] Chap. 88 - How to Maintain Your Integrity! Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Romans 6:11, 12. {OHC 94.1} [OHC 94.2] Some regard sin as altogether so light a matter that they have no defense against its indulgence or its consequence. . . . {OHC 94.2} [OHC 94.3] If you suppose for a moment that God will treat sin lightly, or make provisions or exemptions so that you can go on in committing sin, and the soul suffer no penalty from so doing, you are under a terrible delusion of Satan. Any willful violation of the righteous law of Jehovah exposes your soul to the full assaults of Satan. {OHC 94.3} [OHC 94.4] When you lose your conscious integrity, your soul becomes a battlefield for Satan; you have doubts and fears enough to paralyze your energies and drive you to discouragement. . . . {OHC 94.4} [OHC 94.5] Remember that temptation is not sin. Remember that however trying the circumstances in which a man may be placed, nothing can really weaken his soul so long as he does not yield to temptation but maintains his own integrity. The interests most vital to you individually are in your own keeping. No one can damage them without your consent. All the satanic legions cannot injure you unless you open your soul to the arts and arrows of Satan. Your ruin can never take place until your will consents. If there is not pollution of mind in yourself, all the surrounding pollution cannot taint or defile you. {OHC 94.5} [OHC 94.6] Eternal life is worth everything to us or it is worth nothing. Those only who put forth persevering effort and untiring zeal with intense desire proportionate to the value of the object they are in pursuit of, will gain that life which measures with the life of God.... {OHC 94.6} [OHC 94.7] We have the example of Adam and Eve before us, and the result of their transgression should lead every soul of us to avoid sin, to abhor sin as the hateful thing it is, and to feel, in view of the sufferings which sin is sure to inflict, that it is better to suffer loss of all things than to depart from the least of God's commandments. {OHC 94.7} [OHC 95.1] Chap. 89 - Success in Resistance Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7. {OHC 95.1} [OHC 95.2] There are those who recklessly place themselves in scenes of danger and peril, and expose themselves to temptations, out of which it would require a miracle of God to bring them unharmed and untainted. These are presumptuous acts, with which God is not pleased. Satan's temptation to the Saviour of the world to cast Himself from the pinnacle of the temple, was firmly met and resisted. The archenemy quoted a promise of God as security, that Christ might with safety do this on the strength of the promise. Jesus met this temptation with Scripture: "It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." In the same way Satan urges men into places where God does not require them to go, presenting Scripture to justify his suggestions. {OHC 95.2} [OHC 95.3] The precious promises of God are not given to strengthen man in a presumptuous course, or for him to rely upon when he rushes needlessly into danger. . . . We are required, as children of God, to maintain the consistency of our Christian character. We should exercise prudence, caution, and humility, and walk circumspectly toward them that are without. Yet we are not in any case to surrender principle. {OHC 95.3} [OHC 95.4] Our only safety is in giving no place to the devil; for his suggestions and purposes are ever to injure us, and hinder us from relying upon God. He transforms himself into an angel of purity, that he may, through his specious temptations, introduce his devices in such a manner that we may not discern his wiles. The more we yield, the more powerful will be his deceptions over us. It is unsafe to controvert or to parley with him. For every advantage we give the enemy, he will claim more. Our only safety is to reject firmly the first insinuation to presumption. God has given us grace through the merits of Christ sufficient to withstand Satan, and be more than conquerors. Resistance is success. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Resistance must be firm and steadfast. We lose all we gain if we resist today only to yield tomorrow. {OHC 95.4} [OHC 96.1] Chap. 90 - The Closer, the Safer Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. James 4:8. {OHC 96.1} [OHC 96.2] "Draw nigh to God." How? By secret, earnest examination of your own heart, by childlike, heartfelt, humble dependence upon God, making known all your weakness to Jesus, and by confessing your sins. {OHC 96.2} [OHC 96.3] We cannot draw nigh to God and behold His loveliness and compassion without realizing our defects and being filled with a desire to rise higher. "And he will draw nigh to you." The Lord will draw nigh to him who confesses to his brethren the wrongs he has done them, and then comes to God in humility and contrition. {OHC 96.3} [OHC 96.4] He who feels his own danger is on the watch lest he shall grieve the Holy Spirit and then draw away from God because he knows that He is not pleased with his course of action. How much better and safer it is to draw nigh to God, that the pure light shining from His Word may heal the wounds that sin has made in the soul. The closer we are to God, the safer we are, for Satan hates and fears the presence of God. {OHC 96.4} [OHC 96.5] Draw nigh to Him by prayer, by contemplation, by reading His Word. When He draws nigh to you, He lifts up for you a standard against the enemy. Let us take courage; for the enemy cannot pass this standard. {OHC 96.5} [OHC 96.6] If we draw nigh to God, individually, then don't you see what the result will be? Can't you see that we will draw nigh to one another? We cannot draw nigh to God, and come to the same cross, without our hearts being blended together in perfect unity, answering the prayer of Christ that they may be one as He is one with the Father. And therefore we should seek in spirit, in understanding, in faith, that we may be one, that God may be glorified in us as He is glorified in the Son; and that God shall love us as He loves the Son. {OHC 96.6} [OHC 96.7] The soul that loves God, loves to draw strength from Him by constant communion with Him. When it becomes the habit of the soul to converse with God, the power of the evil one is broken; for Satan cannot abide near the soul that draws nigh unto God. {OHC 96.7} [OHC 97.1] Chap. 91 - "Come Unto Me" Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28. {OHC 97.1} [OHC 97.2] Many who hear this invitation, while sighing for rest, yet press on the rugged path, hugging their burdens close to their heart. Jesus loves them, and longs to bear their burdens and themselves also in His strong arms. He would remove the fears and uncertainties that rob them of peace and rest; but they must first come to Him, and tell Him the secret woes of their heart. . . . {OHC 97.2} [OHC 97.3] Sometimes we pour our troubles into human ears, and tell our afflictions to those who cannot help us, and neglect to confide all to Jesus, who is able to change the sorrowful way to paths of joy and peace. . . . {OHC 97.3} [OHC 97.4] He proposes to be our friend, to walk with us through all the rough pathways of life. He says to us, I am the Lord thy God; walk with me, and I will fill thy path with light. Jesus, the Majesty of Heaven, proposes to elevate to companionship with Himself those who come to Him with their burdens, their weaknesses, and their cares. . . . {OHC 97.4} [OHC 97.5] His invitation to us is a call to a pure, holy, and happy life--a life of peace and rest, of liberty and love--and to a rich inheritance in the future, immortal life. . . . It is our privilege to have daily a calm, close, happy walk with Jesus. {OHC 97.5} [OHC 97.6] Rest is found when all self-justification, all reasoning from a selfish standpoint, is put away. Entire self-surrender, an acceptance of His ways, is the secret of perfect rest in His love. . . . Do just what He has told you to do, and be assured that God will do all that He has said He would do. . . . Have you come to Him, renouncing all your makeshifts, all your unbelief, all your self-righteousness? Come just as you are, weak, helpless, and ready to die. {OHC 97.6} [OHC 97.7] What is the "rest" promised?--It is the consciousness that God is true, that He never disappoints the one who comes to Him. His pardon is full and free, and His acceptance means rest to the soul, rest in His love. {OHC 97.7} [OHC 98.1] Chap. 92 - Rest for the Restless For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. Isaiah 30:15. {OHC 98.1} [OHC 98.2] Jesus invites the restless, the murmuring, the oppressed and sorrowing, to come to Him. {OHC 98.2} [OHC 98.3] Jesus loves you and He wants your love. He would have you remember that He gave His precious life that you should not perish; and He will be unto you a present help in every time of need. Only look to Jesus and tell Him every perplexity and trial. . . . Ask Him to help and strengthen and bless you, and believe that He hears your prayers. . . . {OHC 98.3} [OHC 98.4] All heaven is looking upon you with deep interest. One soul for whom Christ has died is worth more than the whole world. I wish every young man and woman could appreciate the value of the human soul. If they would give themselves to Jesus just as they are, though sinful and polluted, He will accept them the very moment that they give themselves to Him, and Jesus will put His Spirit in the humble seeker's heart. Whosoever cometh unto Him, He will in no wise cast out. You may love Jesus with your whole heart, and He will never disappoint that love and confidence. His words are life, comfort, and hope. Satan knows that all you have to do is to look to Jesus, an uplifted Saviour. The wounded, bruised, stricken soul will find in Jesus a balm for his wounds. . . . {OHC 98.4} [OHC 98.5] There will be peace, constant peace, flowing into the soul, for the rest is found in perfect submission to Jesus Christ. Obedience to God's will finds the rest. The disciple that treads in the meek and lowly steps of the Redeemer finds rest which the world cannot give, and the world cannot take away. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." Isaiah 26:3. {OHC 98.5} [OHC 98.6] Lowliness and meekness of mind, which ever characterized the life of the divine Son of God, possessed by His true followers, bring contentment, peace, and happiness, that elevate them above the slavery of artificial life. {OHC 98.6} [OHC 99.1] Chap. 93 - "Learn of Me" 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. Matthew 11:29. {OHC 99.1} [OHC 99.2] "Learn of me," said the Divine Teacher, "for I am meek and lowly in heart. . . ." We must learn self-denial, we must learn courage, patience, fortitude, and forgiving love. . . . If we have faith in Jesus as our helper, if our eyes of faith are directed to Him constantly, we shall become like Jesus in character. He will abide in our hearts and we will abide in Christ. Being clothed with the righteousness of Christ, our lives are hid with Christ in God. He will be our counselor. If we ask Him in faith, He will enlighten our understanding. . . . The lessons which Christ has given us will be practiced. {OHC 99.2} [OHC 99.3] As Christ the Pattern is constantly kept before the mind's eye, new habits will be formed, powerful hereditary and cultivated tendencies will be subdued and overcome, self-esteem will be laid in the dust, old habits of thought will be constantly resisted, love for the supremacy will be seen in its real, despicable character, and will be overcome. {OHC 99.3} [OHC 99.4] Christ must be blended with all our thoughts, our feelings, our affections. He must be exemplified in the minutest details of everyday service in the work that He has given us to do. When, in the place of leaning upon human understanding or conforming to worldly maxims, we sit at the feet of Jesus, eagerly drinking in His words, learning of Him, and saying. "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" our natural independence, our self-confidence, our strong self-will, will be exchanged for a childlike, submissive, teachable spirit. When we are in right relation to God, we shall recognize Christ's authority to direct us, and His claim to our unquestioning obedience. {OHC 99.4} [OHC 99.5] We will have such exalted views of Jesus Christ that self will be abased. Our affections will center in Jesus, our thoughts will be strongly drawn heavenward. Christ will increase, I will decrease . . . . We will cultivate the virtues that dwell in Jesus, that we may reflect to others a representation of His character. {OHC 99.5} [OHC 100.1] Chap. 94 - Wearing Christ's Yoke For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:30. {OHC 100.1} [OHC 100.2] Wearing the yoke with Christ, means to work in His lines, to be a copartner with Him in His sufferings and toils for lost humanity. {OHC 100.2} [OHC 100.3] In accepting Christ's yoke of restraint and obedience, you will find that it is of the greatest help to you. Wearing this yoke keeps you near the side of Christ, and He bears the heaviest part of the load. {OHC 100.3} [OHC 100.4] The yoke and the cross are symbols representing the same thing-- the giving up of the will to God. Wearing the yoke unites finite man in companionship with the dearly beloved Son of God. Lifting the cross cuts away self from the soul, and places man where he learns how to bear Christ's burdens. We cannot follow Christ without wearing His yoke, without lifting the cross and bearing it after Him. If our will is not in accord with the divine requirements, we are to deny our inclinations, give up our darling desires, and step in Christ's footsteps. . . . {OHC 100.4} [OHC 100.5] Men frame for their own necks yokes that seem light and pleasant to wear, but they prove galling in the extreme. Christ sees this, and He says, "Take My yoke upon you. The yoke you would place upon your own neck, thinking it a precise fit, will not fit at all. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me the lessons essential for you to learn." {OHC 100.5} [OHC 100.6] Your work is not to gather up burdens of your own. . . . We often think we are having a hard time in bearing burdens, and it is too often the case, because God has not made any provision for us to carry these burdens; but when we bear His yoke and carry His burdens, we can testify that the yoke of Christ is easy and His burdens are light, because He has made provision for these. {OHC 100.6} [OHC 100.7] Yet that yoke will not give us a life of ease and freedom and selfish indulgence. The life of Christ was one of self-sacrifice and self-denial at every step; and with consistent, Christlike tenderness and love, His true follower will walk in the footsteps of the Master; and as he advances in this life, he will become more and more inspired with the spirit and life of Christ. {OHC 100.7} [OHC 101.1] Chap. 95 - Learning in Christ's School What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. Psalm 25:12. {OHC 101.1} [OHC 101.2] Jesus has opened a school for the education and training of His chosen ones, and they are ever to be learning to practice the lessons that He gives them, in order that they may know Him fully. {OHC 101.2} [OHC 101.3] Those who think they are very nearly good enough, and do not work diligently for the perfection of Christian character, will set up idols in their hearts, and will continue to practice sinful habits until sin will no longer appear sinful.... {OHC 101.3} [OHC 101.4] Jesus offers Himself to every sin-sick soul, to every soul who is struggling to overcome. The Holy Spirit is making intercession for every sincere wrestler, and Christ will make His words to be spirit and life, the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. But you will certainly fail if you permit the devil to control your mind, to guide your imaginings.... God will not be trifled with; He will not accept a divided heart. He claims entire, wholehearted service. He has paid the ransom money of His own life for every son and daughter of Adam.... {OHC 101.4} [OHC 101.5] Christ has a claim upon every soul; but many choose a life of sin. Some will not come unto Jesus that He may give them life. Some say, "I go, sir," to His invitation; but they do not go; they do not make an entire surrender to abide in Jesus alone, which is life and peace and joy unspeakable, and full of glory.... Will you not rise to be wise and to make diligent work for eternity? Seek the grace of Christ with the whole heart, might, mind, and strength.... {OHC 101.5} [OHC 101.6] God has given you a right to take hold of Him through the prayer of faith. Believing prayer is the very essence of pure religion, the secret of power with every Christian.... {OHC 101.6} [OHC 101.7] Take time to pray, to search the Scriptures, to put self under discipline to Jesus Christ. Live in contact with the living Christ, and as soon as you do this, He will take hold of you and hold you firmly by a strong hand that will never let go. {OHC 101.7} [OHC 102.1] Chap. 96 - Preparing for the Higher School Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. Psalm 25:5. {OHC 102.1} [OHC 102.2] Those who in this earth become sons of God sit together with Christ in the preparatory school, getting ready to be received into the higher school. Day by day we are to make an individual preparation; for in the courts above no one will be represented by proxy. Each one must heed for himself the call, "Come unto me,... and I will give you rest...." {OHC 102.2} [OHC 102.3] The Lord Jesus has paid your tuition fees. All that you have to do is to learn of Him. The Christlike politeness practiced in the higher school is to be practiced in this lower school, by both old and young believers. All who learn in Christ's school are under the training of heavenly agencies; and they are never to forget that they are a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. {OHC 102.3} [OHC 102.4] They are to represent Christ. They are to help one another to become worthy of admission into the higher school. They are to help one another to be pure and noble, and to cherish a true idea of what it means to be a child of God. They are to speak encouraging words. They are to lift up the feeble hands and strengthen the feeble knees. Upon every heart there is to be inscribed the words, as with the point of a diamond, "There is nothing that I fear, save that I shall not know my duty, or shall fail to do it." ... {OHC 102.4} [OHC 102.5] A self-controlled spirit, words of love and tenderness, honor the Saviour. Those who speak kind, loving words, words that make for peace, will be richly rewarded.... We are to let His spirit shine forth in the meekness and lowliness learned of Him. {OHC 102.5} [OHC 102.6] Jesus is the great Teacher.... He is so willing, so ready to take you into a closer fellowship with Himself. He is willing to teach you how to pray with the believing confidence and assurance of a little child. ...Enroll your name anew as a student in His school. Learn to pray in faith. Receive the knowledge of Jesus.... {OHC 102.6} [OHC 102.7] Will you not sit at the feet of Jesus and learn of Him? {OHC 102.7} [OHC 103.1] Chap. 97 - The True Force of the Will For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. 2 Corinthians 8:12. {OHC 103.1} [OHC 103.2] Pure religion has to do with the will. The will is the governing power in the nature of man, bringing all the other faculties under its sway. The will is not the taste or the inclination, but it is the deciding power which works in the children of men unto obedience to God or unto disobedience.... {OHC 103.2} [OHC 103.3] You desire to make your life such as will fit you for heaven at last. You are often discouraged at finding yourself weak in moral power, in slavery to doubt, and controlled by the habits and customs of your old life in sin.... Your promises are like ropes of sand.... {OHC 103.3} [OHC 103.4] You will be in constant peril until you understand the true force of the will. You may believe and promise all things, but your promises or your faith are of no value until you put your will on the side of faith and action. If you fight the fight of faith with all your will power, you will conquer. Your feelings, your impressions, your emotions, are not to be trusted, for they are not reliable.... {OHC 103.4} [OHC 103.5] But you need not despair.... It is for you to yield up your will to the will of Jesus Christ; and as you do this, God will immediately take possession and work in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. Your whole nature will then be brought under the control of the Spirit of Christ, and even your thoughts will be subject to Him. You cannot control your impulses, your emotions, as you may desire; but you can control the will, and you can make an entire change in your life. By yielding up your will to Christ, your life will be hid with Christ in God and allied to the power which is above all principalities and powers. You will have strength from God that will hold you fast to His strength; and a new light, even the light of living faith, will be possible to you. But your will must cooperate with God's will.... {OHC 103.5} [OHC 103.6] Will you not say, "I will give my will to Jesus, and I will do it now," and from this moment be wholly on the Lord's side? {OHC 103.6} [OHC 104.1] Chap. 98 - When My Will is Safe But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Romans 6:22. {OHC 104.1} [OHC 104.2] The Spirit of God does not create new faculties in the converted man, but works a decided change in the employment of those faculties. When mind and heart and soul are changed, man is not given a new conscience, but his will is submitted to a conscience renewed, a conscience whose dormant sensibilities are aroused by the working of the Holy Spirit. {OHC 104.2} [OHC 104.3] Through yielding to sin, man placed his will under the control of Satan. He became a helpless captive in the tempter's power. God sent His Son into our world to break the power of Satan, and to emancipate the will of man. He sent Him to proclaim liberty to the captives, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free. By pouring the whole treasury of heaven into this world, by giving us in Christ all heaven, God has purchased the will, the affections, the mind, the soul, of every human being. When man places himself under the control of God, the will becomes firm and strong to do right, the heart is cleansed from selfishness, and filled with Christlike love. The mind yields to the authority of the law of love, and every thought is brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. {OHC 104.3} [OHC 104.4] When the will is placed on the Lord's side, the Holy Spirit takes that will and makes it one with the divine will. {OHC 104.4} [OHC 104.5] The Lord loves man. He has given evidence of this love by giving His only begotten Son to die for man, that through His grace He might redeem him from hostility to God, and bring him back to his loyalty. If man will cooperate with God, the Lord will bring his will into connection with Himself, and will vitalize it by His own Spirit.... The gospel must be received in order to regenerate the heart, and the reception of truth will mean the surrender of mind and will to the will of divine power. {OHC 104.5} [OHC 104.6] The will of man is only safe when united with the will of God. {OHC 104.6} [OHC 105.1] Chap. 99 - A Submissive Will If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. John 7:17. {OHC 105.1} [OHC 105.2] Those who have yielded their will to God are trained in Christ's school.... They are disciplined to habits of obedience, to do service to God. We are not creatures devoid of moral nature. The gospel does not address the understanding alone. If it did, we might approach it as we approach the study of a book dealing with mathematical formulas, which relate to the intellect alone.... Its aim is the heart. It addresses our moral nature, and takes possession of the will. It casts down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and brings into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. {OHC 105.2} [OHC 105.3] It is the wayward heart that has dragged down the faculties of the soul. All who would learn the science of salvation must be submissive students in the school of Christ, that the soul temple may be the abiding place of the most High. If we would learn of Christ, the soul must be emptied of all its proud possessions, that Christ may imprint His image on the soul.... {OHC 105.3} [OHC 105.4] Then we shall have such a view of Christ's infinite sacrifice in our behalf that the soul will be softened and humbled and made full of thanksgiving to God. An intense desire will be begotten by the Holy Spirit for a favorable opportunity to witness for Christ and to express gratitude and devotion to Him who has redeemed us. Loyalty and love will be seen in all the service. A burning desire to be like Christ will keep the soul tender, leading it to give vent to grateful emotion, and in the sight of heaven to offer thanks to God for His goodness, His love, and His compassion. Such have a grace that cannot be repressed into a tame, everyday evenness of assenting to truth, while the heart is not affected. {OHC 105.4} [OHC 105.5] Oh, how much more safe it is to agonize to enter into the strait gate! It is only at the altar of God that human beings can receive the celestial torch. {OHC 105.5} [OHC 106.1] Chap. 100 - Cultivating God's Garden And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2. {OHC 106.1} [OHC 106.2] Man, fallen man, may be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that he can "prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." How does he prove this? By the Holy Spirit taking possession of his mind, spirit, heart, and character. {OHC 106.2} [OHC 106.3] The rubbish of questionable principles and practices is to be swept away. The Lord desires the mind to be renovated, and the heart filled with the treasures of truth. {OHC 106.3} [OHC 106.4] Truth has a power to elevate the receiver. It has a sanctifying influence upon mind and character.... Only by a continual improvement of the intellectual as well as the moral powers can we hope to answer the purpose of our Creator.... {OHC 106.4} [OHC 106.5] A Christian should possess more intelligence and keener discernment than the worldling. The study of God's Word is continually expanding the mind and strengthening the intellect. There is nothing that will so refine and elevate the character, and give vigor to every faculty, as the continual exercise of the mind to grasp and comprehend weighty and important truths. {OHC 106.5} [OHC 106.6] The human mind becomes dwarfed and enfeebled when dealing with commonplace matters only, never rising above the level of time and sense to grasp the mysteries of the unseen. The understanding is gradually brought to the level of the things with which it is constantly familiar.... Man need not cease to grow intellectually and spiritually during his lifetime. {OHC 106.6} [OHC 106.7] We are to cultivate the talents given us by God. They are His gifts, and are to be used in their right relation to each other, so as to make a perfect whole. God gives the talents, the powers of the mind; man makes the character. The mind is the Lord's garden, and man must cultivate it earnestly in order to form a character after the divine similitude. {OHC 106.7} [OHC 107.1] Chap. 101 - In Unison with God Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. John 4:34. {OHC 107.1} [OHC 107.2] Christ declared, "I came ... not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me." John 6:38. His will was put into active exercise to save the souls of men. His human will was nourished by the divine. His servants today would do well to ask themselves, "What kind of will am I individually cultivating? Have I been gratifying my own desires, confirming myself in selfishness and obstinacy?" If we are doing this, we are in great peril, for Satan will always rule the will that is not under the control of the Spirit of God. When we place our will in unison with the will of God, the holy obedience that was exemplified in the life of Christ will be seen in our lives.... {OHC 107.2} [OHC 107.3] Paul declares, "I am crucified with Christ." Galatians 2:20. There is nothing so hard as the crucifixion of the will. Christ was tempted in all points like as we are; but His will was ever kept on the side of God's will. In His humanity He had the same free will that Adam had in Eden. He could have yielded to temptation as Adam yielded. And Adam, by believing God and being a doer of His word, could have resisted temptation as Christ resisted it. Had Christ so willed it, He could have commanded the stones to be made bread. He might have cast Himself down from the pinnacle of the Temple. He might have yielded to Satan's temptation to fall down and worship him, the usurper of the world. But at every point He met the tempter with, "It is written." His will was in perfect obedience to the will of God, and the will of God was revealed throughout His entire life.... {OHC 107.3} [OHC 107.4] Christ's obedience to His Father's commandments is to be the measure of our obedience. Those who follow Christ, if they would become complete in Him, must keep their will surrendered to the will of God. Abundant provision has been made that those who will seek God with the whole heart may find Him a present help in every time of trouble. Help has been laid on One that is mighty. Christ has promised, I will be your helper. {OHC 107.4} [OHC 108.1] Chap. 102 - "Let this Mind be in You" Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5. {OHC 108.1} [OHC 108.2] The prayer that Christ has given us, that the will of God shall be done in earth as it is in heaven, is to be answered. Wonderful is this prayer, which we are to offer to God, and then fulfill in the daily life! The science of holiness, the ethics that the gospel inculcates, acknowledge no standard but the perfection of God's mind, God's will. It is the character and mind of Christ which, by conversion and transformation, men are to receive. Through His Son, God has revealed the excellency to which man is capable of attaining. And before the world God is developing us as living witnesses of what man may become through the grace of Christ. Oh, why do so many grieve the heart of infinite love? ... {OHC 108.2} [OHC 108.3] God permits every person to exercise his individuality. No human mind should be submerged in another human mind. But the invitation has been given, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Each person is to stand before God with an individual faith, an individual experience, knowing for himself that Christ is formed within, the hope of glory. For us to imitate the example of any man-- even a person who in our human judgment we might regard as nearly perfect in character--would be to put our trust in an imperfect, defective human being, who is unable to impart one jot or tittle of perfection to any other human being. {OHC 108.3} [OHC 108.4] As our pattern we have One who is all and in all, the chiefest among ten thousand, One whose excellency is beyond comparison. What saith the Divine Teacher?-- "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Matthew 5:48. Would Christ tantalize us by requiring of us an impossibility?--Never, never! What an honor He confers upon us, in urging us to be holy in our sphere, as the Father is holy in His sphere. And through His power we are able to do this; for He declares, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." Matthew 28:18. This unlimited power it is your privilege and mine to claim. {OHC 108.4} [OHC 109.1] Chap. 103 - The Influence of Mind on Mind For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7. {OHC 109.1} [OHC 109.2] The influence of mind on mind, so strong a power for good when sanctified, is equally strong for evil in the hands of those opposed to God. This power Satan used in his work of instilling evil into the minds of the angels, and he made it appear that he was seeking the good of the universe. . . . Cast out of heaven, Satan set up his kingdom in this world, and ever since, he has been untiringly striving to seduce human beings from their allegiance to God. He uses the same power that he used in heaven--the influence of mind on mind. Men become tempters of their fellow men. The strong, corrupting sentiments of Satan are cherished, and they exert a masterly, compelling power. {OHC 109.2} [OHC 109.3] Clear spiritual eyesight is needed to distinguish between the chaff and the wheat, between the science of Satan and the science of the Word of truth. Christ, the Great Physician, came to our world to give health and peace and perfection of character to all who will receive Him. His gospel does not consist of outward methods and performances through which the science of an evil work may be introduced as a great blessing, afterward to prove a great curse. In the second chapter of Philippians is found a presentation of true godliness. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:5. . . . {OHC 109.3} [OHC 109.4] To advocate the science of mind cure is opening a door through which Satan will enter to take possession of mind and heart. Satan controls both the mind that is given up to be controlled by another, and the mind that controls. May God help us to understand the true science of building on Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer. {OHC 109.4} [OHC 109.5] Christ is the greatest of all physicians. He is a physician of the soul as well as of the body. Had He not come to this world to redeem us from Satan's hellish power, we would have had no hope of gaining eternal life. . . . Let us not point minds to erring human beings. Let us say, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29. {OHC 109.5} [OHC 110.1] Chap. 104 - Entangled Minds Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Colossians 2:8. {OHC 110.1} [OHC 110.2] Satan often finds a powerful agency for evil in the power which one human mind is capable of exerting on another human mind. This influence is so seductive that the person who is being molded by it is often unconscious of its power. God has bidden me speak warning against this evil, that His servants may not come under the deceptive power of Satan. The enemy is a master worker, and if God's people are not constantly led by the Spirit of God, they will be snared and taken. For thousands of years Satan has been experimenting upon the properties of the human mind, and he has learned to know it well. By his subtle workings in these last days, he is linking the human mind with his own, imbuing it with his thoughts; and he is doing this work in so deceptive a manner that those who accept his guidance know not that they are being led by him at his will. The great deceiver hopes so to confuse the minds of men and women, that none but his voice will be heard. {OHC 110.2} [OHC 110.3] The gospel of Christ is to be wrought into our everyday experience. The mind must be in a state to appreciate the divine claims of the gospel. It must be girded about, and disciplined to habits of self-control and obedience. . . . {OHC 110.3} [OHC 110.4] The teachings of the living oracles cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Satan has great power over the soul, to drag it down to a low level. Those who really want to learn of Christ will have to empty the soul of all its proud imaginings, that there may be room to enthrone Him there. {OHC 110.4} [OHC 110.5] The controversy between Christ and Satan is not yet ended. The latter is constantly seeking to establish his own power and authority. If he can entangle minds, he will do it. . . . The deceptions of Satan are manifold, but the Lord will be our helper if we seek him earnestly. {OHC 110.5} [OHC 111.1] Chap. 105 - Preoccupying the Mind A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Luke 6:45. {OHC 111.1} [OHC 111.2] The mind is so constituted that it must be occupied with either good or evil. If it takes a low level, it is generally because it is left to deal with commonplace subjects. . . . Man has the power to regulate and control the workings of the mind, and give direction to the current of his thoughts. But this requires greater effort than we can make in our own strength. We must stay our minds on God, if we would have right thoughts, and proper subjects for meditation. {OHC 111.2} [OHC 111.3] Few realize that it is a duty to exercise control over their thoughts and imaginations. It is difficult to keep the undisciplined mind fixed upon profitable subjects. But if the thoughts are not properly employed, religion cannot flourish in the soul. The mind must be preoccupied with sacred and eternal things, or it will cherish trifling and superficial thoughts. Both the intellectual and the moral powers must be disciplined, and they will strengthen and improve by exercise. {OHC 111.3} [OHC 111.4] To understand this matter aright, we must remember that our hearts are naturally depraved, and we are unable, of ourselves, to pursue a right course. It is only by the grace of God, combined with the most earnest efforts on our part, that we can gain the victory. {OHC 111.4} [OHC 111.5] There are, in the Christian faith, subjects upon which every one should accustom his mind to dwell. The love of Jesus, which passeth knowledge, His sufferings for the fallen race, His work of mediation in our behalf, and His exalted glory--these are the mysteries into which angels desired to look. Heavenly beings find in these themes enough to attract and engage their deepest thoughts; and shall we, who are so intimately concerned, manifest less interest than the angels, in the wonders of redeeming love? {OHC 111.5} [OHC 111.6] The intellect, as well as the heart, must be consecrated to the service of God. He has claims upon all there is of us. {OHC 111.6} [OHC 112.1] Chap. 106 - Training the Thoughts Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:13. {OHC 112.1} [OHC 112.2] Many need to make a decided change in the tenor of their thoughts and actions, if they would please Jesus. {OHC 112.2} [OHC 112.3] The thoughts must be trained. Gird up the loins of the mind that it shall work in the right direction, and after the order of well-formed plans; then every step is one in advance, and no effort or time is lost in following vague ideas and random plans. We must consider the aim and object of life, and ever keep worthy purposes in view. Every day the thoughts should be trained and kept to the point as the compass to the pole. Every one should have his aims and purposes, and then make every thought and action of that character to accomplish that which he purposes. The thoughts must be controlled. There must be a fixedness of purpose to carry out that which you shall undertake. . . . {OHC 112.3} [OHC 112.4] No one but yourself can control your thoughts. In the struggle to reach the highest standard, success or failure will depend much upon the character, and the manner in which the thoughts are disciplined. If the thoughts are well girded, as God directs they shall be each day, they will be upon those subjects that will help us to greater devotion. If the thoughts are right, then as a result the words will be right; the actions will be of that character to bring gladness and comfort and rest to souls. . . . {OHC 112.4} [OHC 112.5] Those who move without thoughtful consideration move unwisely. They make fitful efforts, strike out here and there, catch at this and that, but it amounts to nothing. They resemble the vine; its tendrils untrained and left to struggle out in every direction will fasten upon any rubbish within their reach; but before the vine can be of any use these tendrils must be broken off from the things they have grasped, and trained to entwine about those things which will make them graceful and well formed. {OHC 112.5} [OHC 113.1] Chap. 107 - How to Discipline the Mind Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14. {OHC 113.1} [OHC 113.2] The thoughts must be pure, the meditations of the heart must be clean, if the words of the mouth are to be words acceptable to Heaven, and helpful to your associates. {OHC 113.2} [OHC 113.3] The natural, selfish mind, if left to follow out its own evil desires, will act without high motives, without reference to the glory of God or the benefit of mankind. The thoughts will be evil, and only evil, continually. . . . The Spirit of God produces a new life in the soul, bringing the thoughts and desires into obedience to the will of Christ. . . . {OHC 113.3} [OHC 113.4] The youth should begin early to cultivate correct habits of thought. We should discipline the mind to think in a healthful channel, and not permit it to dwell upon things that are evil. . . . As God works upon the heart by His Holy Spirit, man must cooperate with Him. . . . {OHC 113.4} [OHC 113.5] We should meditate upon the Scriptures, thinking soberly and candidly upon the things that pertain to our eternal salvation. The infinite mercy and love of Jesus, the sacrifice made in our behalf, call for most serious and solemn reflection. We should dwell upon the character of our dear Redeemer and Intercessor. We should seek to comprehend the meaning of the plan of salvation. We should meditate upon the mission of Him who came to save His people from their sins. By constantly contemplating heavenly themes, our faith and love will grow stronger. Our prayers will be more and more acceptable to God, because they will be more and more mixed with faith and love. They will be more intelligent and fervent. There will be more constant confidence in Jesus, and you will have a daily, living experience in the willingness and power of Christ to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. . . . {OHC 113.5} [OHC 113.6] There will be a hungering and thirsting of soul to be made like Him whom we adore. The more our thoughts are upon Christ, the more we shall speak of Him to others, and represent Him to the world. {OHC 113.6} [OHC 114.1] Chap. 108 - Proper Level of the Human Mind Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. James 4:10. {OHC 114.1} [OHC 114.2] What gives the proper level to the human mind? It is the cross of Calvary. By looking unto Jesus, who is the Author and Finisher of our faith, all the desire for self-glorification is laid in the dust. There comes, as we see aright, a spirit of self-abasement that promotes lowliness and humbleness of mind. As we contemplate the cross, we are enabled to see the wonderful provision it has brought to every believer. God in Christ . . . if seen aright, will level human exaltation and pride. There will be no self-exaltation, but there will be true humility. {OHC 114.2} [OHC 114.3] The light reflected from the cross of Calvary will humble every proud thought. Those who seek God with all the heart, and accept the great salvation offered them, will open the door of the heart to Jesus. They will cease to ascribe glory to themselves. They will not pride themselves on their acquirements, or take credit to themselves for their capabilities, but will regard all their talents as God's gifts, to be used to His glory. Every intellectual ability they will regard as precious only as it can be used in the service of Christ. {OHC 114.3} [OHC 114.4] Christ's humiliation in clothing His divinity with humanity is worthy of our consideration. Had this subject been studied as carefully as it should have been, there would be far less of "I" heard and far more of Christ. It is self-esteem that stands between the human agent and his God and impedes the vital current that flows from Christ to enrich every human being. When we follow Jesus in the path of self-denial and the cross, we shall find that we do not have to strive for humility. As we walk in Christ's footsteps, we shall learn His meekness and lowliness of heart. Very few thoughts should be devoted to self; for we can never make ourselves great. It is Christ's gentleness that makes us great. {OHC 114.4} [OHC 114.5] God's faithful, humble, believing people will cut the idolatry of self out of their hearts, and Christ will become all and in all. {OHC 114.5} [OHC 115.1] Chap. 109 - The Brightest Subject of Our Thoughts My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord. Psalm 104:34. {OHC 115.1} [OHC 115.2] Why not keep your minds fixed on the unsearchable riches of Christ, that you may present to others the gems of truth? In the Word of God there are rich mines of truth that we may spend our whole lifetime in exploring, and yet we shall find that we have only begun to view their precious stores. Sink the shaft deep, and bring up the hidden treasures. But it is impossible to do this while we indulge an idle, restless spirit, seeking constantly for something that will merely gratify the senses, something to amuse, and cause a foolish laugh. . . . Minds that are occupied with frivolous reading, with exciting stories, or with seeking after amusement, do not dwell upon Christ, and cannot rejoice in the fullness of His love. The mind that finds pleasure in foolish thoughts and trifling conversation, is as destitute of the joy of Christ as were the hills of Gilboa of dew or rain. {OHC 115.2} [OHC 115.3] Does not your own experience testify to this? How much peace of mind do you have at the close of a day spent in frivolity, in light and trifling conversation? Can you retire to rest at night, saying, "It is well, it is well with my soul"? . . . How often when you come into the house of God, into the solemn assembly, your thoughts are turned to that foolish remark which someone has made, to that idle story, or that comical thing which you read or saw. And the thought will come at just such a time as to eclipse a bright ray of the glory of Christ, and you lose the benefit of the heaven-sent light which you ought to receive. . . . {OHC 115.3} [OHC 115.4] We need to be constantly filling the mind with Christ, and emptying it of selfishness and sin. . . . Just as surely as you empty your mind of vanity and frivolity, the vacuum will be supplied with that which God is waiting to give you--His Holy Spirit. Then out of the good treasure of the heart you will bring forth good things, rich gems of thought, and others will catch the words. . . . Your thoughts and affections will dwell upon Christ, and you will reflect upon others that which has shone upon you from the Sun of Righteousness. {OHC 115.4} [OHC 116.1] Chap. 110 - Time for Meditation But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Psalm 1:2. {OHC 116.1} [OHC 116.2] Your last thought at night, your first thought in the morning, should be of Him in whom is centered your hope of eternal life. {OHC 116.2} [OHC 116.3] Many seem to begrudge moments spent in meditation, and the searching of the Scriptures, and prayer, as though the time thus occupied was lost. I wish you could all view these things in the light God would have you; for you would then make the kingdom of heaven of the first importance. . . . As exercise increases the appetite, and gives strength and healthy vigor to the body, so will devotional exercises bring an increase of grace and spiritual vigor. {OHC 116.3} [OHC 116.4] The affections should center upon God. Contemplate His greatness, His mercy and excellences. Let His goodness and love and perfection of character captivate your heart. Converse upon His divine charms, and the heavenly mansions He is preparing for the faithful. He whose conversation is in heaven, is the most profitable Christian to all around him. His words are useful and refreshing. They have a transforming power upon those who hear them. {OHC 116.4} [OHC 116.5] There is constant need of private communion with God. We must take in the spirit of Christ if we would impart it to others. We cannot meet satanic and human agencies combined unless we spend much time in intercourse with the Source of all strength. There are times when we should get away from the sounds of earthly toil and human voices, and in retired places listen to the voice of Jesus. Thus we may taste of His love and imbibe His spirit. Thus we shall learn to crucify self. This course of action may seem impossible to the human mind. "I have not time," you may say. But when you consider the matter as it really is, you lose no time; for when you secure the power and grace that come alone from God, you do not accomplish the work. It is Jesus who is the real worker. "Without me," says Christ, "ye can do nothing." John 15:5. . . . Reflection and earnest prayer will inspire to holy endeavor. {OHC 116.5} [OHC 117.1] Chap. 111 - What is Faith? Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1. {OHC 117.1} [OHC 117.2] Faith in Christ is not the work of nature, but the work of God on human minds, wrought in the very soul by the Holy Spirit, who reveals Christ, as Christ revealed the Father. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. With its justifying, sanctifying power, it is above what men call science. It is the science of eternal realities. Human science is often deceptive and misleading, but this heavenly science never misleads. It is so simple that a child can understand it, and yet the most learned men cannot explain it. It is inexplainable and immeasurable, beyond all human expression. {OHC 117.2} [OHC 117.3] The acceptance of Christ's atonement is the groundwork of true faith. . . . Those who will look long enough into the divine mirror to see and despise their sins, their unlikeness to the meek and lowly Jesus, will have strength to overcome. All who truly believe will confess and forsake their sins. They will cooperate with Christ in the work of bringing their hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong under the control of the divine will, so that sin shall not have dominion over them. Looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith, they will be changed into His likeness. They will grow up into the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. . . . Those who truly believe, who confess and forsake their sins, will grow more and more like Christ, until of them it can in heaven be said, "Ye are complete in him." Colossians 2:10. {OHC 117.3} [OHC 117.4] "Ask, and it shall be given you" (Matthew 7:7) is the promise. Our part is to rest on the Word with unwavering faith, believing that God will do according to His promise. Let faith cut its way through the shadow of the enemy. When a questioning doubt arises, go to Christ and let the soul be encouraged by communion with Him. The redemption He has purchased for us is complete. The offering He made was plenteous and without stint. Heaven has a never-failing supply of help for all who are needy. {OHC 117.4} [OHC 118.1] Chap. 112 - Saved by God's Grace For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8, 9. {OHC 118.1} [OHC 118.2] The divine favor, the grace of God bestowed upon us through Jesus Christ, is too precious to be given in exchange for any supposed meritorious work on the part of finite, erring man. Man has nothing in himself. The most exalted talent does not originate from man, but is the endowment of his Creator, and can purchase nothing from God. Gold and silver cannot buy the favor of God; for the wealth of the world is the entrusted talent of the Lord. Let no one think that costly offerings to benevolent enterprises will elevate him in the sight of God, or purchase for him the favor of Heaven, or procure for him a place in the mansions which Jesus has gone to prepare for those who love Him. The precious blood of Christ is wholly efficacious. . . . {OHC 118.2} [OHC 118.3] The resurrection of Christ from the dead was the Father's seal to the mission of Christ. It was a public expression of His entire satisfaction in the atoning work. He accepted the sacrifice that Jesus had made on our behalf. It was everything that God required, perfect and complete. No human being by any work of his own could piece out the work of Christ. When on the cross Jesus uttered the cry, "It is finished!" glory and joy thrilled heaven, and discomfiture fell upon the confederacy of evil. After that triumphant cry, the world's Redeemer bowed His head and died,. . . but by His death He was a conqueror, and He has opened the gates of eternal glory so that all who believe in Him may not perish, but have everlasting life. {OHC 118.3} [OHC 118.4] The sinner's only hope is to rely wholly upon Jesus Christ. . . . Our acceptance with God is sure only through His beloved Son, and good works are but the result of the working of His sin-pardoning love. They are no credit to us, and we have nothing accorded to us for our good works by which we may claim a part in the salvation of our souls. Salvation is God's free gift to the believer, given to him for Christ's sake alone. The troubled soul may find peace through faith in Christ. . . . He cannot present his good works as a plea for the salvation of his soul. {OHC 118.4} [OHC 119.1] Chap. 113 - Feeling Not a Safe Guide The just shall live by his faith. Habakkuk 2:4. {OHC 119.1} [OHC 119.2] Many pass long years in darkness and doubt because they do not feel as they desire. But feeling has nothing to do with faith. That faith which works by love and purifies the soul is not a matter of impulse. It ventures out upon the promises of God, firmly believing that what He has said, He is able also to perform. Our souls may be trained to believe, taught to rely upon the Word of God. That Word declares that "the just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17), not by feeling. {OHC 119.2} [OHC 119.3] Let us put away everything like distrust and want of faith in Jesus. Let us commence a life of simple, childlike trust, not relying upon feeling, but upon faith. Do not dishonor Jesus by doubting His precious promises. He wants us to believe in Him with unwavering faith. {OHC 119.3} [OHC 119.4] There is a class who say, "I believe, I believe," and lay claim to all the promises which are given on condition of obedience; but they do not the works of Christ. God is not honored by any such faith. It is spurious. Another class are trying to keep all the commandments of God, but many of them do not come up to their exalted privilege in claiming the promises that were given for them. God's promises are for those who keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. {OHC 119.4} [OHC 119.5] I find that I have to fight the good fight of faith every day. I have to exercise all my faith, and not rely upon feeling; I have to act as though I knew the Lord heard me, and would answer me and bless me. Faith is not a happy flight of feeling; it is simply taking God at His word--believing that He will fulfill His promises because He said He would. {OHC 119.5} [OHC 119.6] Hope in God, trust in Him, and rest in His promises, whether you feel happy or not. A good emotion is no evidence that you are a child of God, neither are disturbed, troubled, perplexing feelings an evidence that you are not a child of God. Come to the Scriptures and intelligently take God at His word. Comply with the conditions and believe He will accept you as His child. Be not faithless, but believing. {OHC 119.6} [OHC 120.1] Chap. 114 - Feeling and Faith Distinct For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7. {OHC 120.1} [OHC 120.2] When we comply with the Written Word then we are to walk by faith. We dishonor God when we fail to trust Him after He has given such wonderful evidence of His compassionate love in the gift of His Son. We are to keep looking to Jesus, offering up our prayers in faith, taking hold of His strength. If we would give more expression to our faith, rejoice more in the blessings that we know we have, we would daily have great cheerfulness and strength. {OHC 120.2} [OHC 120.3] Feeling and faith are as distinct from each other as the east is from the west. Faith is not dependent on feeling. Daily we should dedicate ourselves to God, and believe that Christ understands and accepts the sacrifice, without examining ourselves to see if we have that degree of feeling that we think should correspond with our faith. Have we not the assurance that our heavenly Father is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him in faith than parents are to give good gifts to their children? We should go forward as if to every prayer that we send to the throne of God we heard the response from the One whose promises never fail. Even when depressed by sadness it is our privilege to make melody in our hearts to God. When we do this the mists and clouds will be rolled back and we will pass from the shadow and darkness into the clear sunshine of His presence. {OHC 120.3} [OHC 120.4] If we educated our souls to have more faith, more love, greater patience, a more perfect trust in our heavenly Father, we would have more peace and happiness as we pass through the conflicts of this life. The Lord is not pleased to have us fret and worry ourselves out of the arms of Jesus. He is the only source of every grace, the fulfillment of every promise, the realization of every blessing. . . . Our pilgrimage would indeed be lonely were it not for Jesus. "I will not leave you comfortless," (John 14:18) He says to us. Let us cherish His words, believe His promises, repeat them by day and meditate upon them in the night season, and be happy. {OHC 120.4} [OHC 121.1] Chap. 115 - Faith that Works and Purifies Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Titus 2:14. {OHC 121.1} [OHC 121.2] When you look to Calvary it is not to quiet your soul in the nonperformance of duty, not to compose yourself to sleep, but to create faith in Jesus, faith that will work, purifying the soul from the slime of selfishness. When we lay hold of Christ by faith, our work has just begun. Every man has corrupt and sinful habits that must be overcome by vigorous warfare. Every soul is required to fight the fight of faith. If one is a follower of Christ, he cannot be sharp in deal, he cannot be hardhearted, devoid of sympathy. He cannot be coarse in his speech. He cannot be full of pomposity and self-esteem. He cannot be overbearing, nor can he use harsh words, and censure and condemn. {OHC 121.2} [OHC 121.3] The labor of love springs from the work of faith. Bible religion means constant work. . . . We are to be zealous of good works; be careful to maintain good works. And the true Witness says, "I know thy works." While it is true that our busy activities will not in themselves ensure salvation, it is also true that faith which unites us to Christ will stir the soul to activity. {OHC 121.3} [OHC 121.4] The true Christian abounds in good works; he brings forth much fruit. He feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, visits the sick, and ministers to the afflicted. Christians take a heartfelt interest in the children that are about them, who, through the subtle temptations of the enemy, are ready to perish. Fathers and mothers, if you have guarded your own children from the wiles of the foe, look about you to save the souls of the children who have not such care. . . . There are youth all around us to whom the members of the church owe a duty; for Christ has died for them. . . . They are precious in the sight of God, and He desires their eternal happiness. . . . Christ calls for voluntary cooperation on the part of His agents in doing earnest, consistent work for the salvation of souls. {OHC 121.4} [OHC 121.5] A religion which shines out in good works emits a clear, sure, safe light. {OHC 121.5} [OHC 122.1] Chap. 116 - The Place of Good Works For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10. {OHC 122.1} [OHC 122.2] Let no one take the limited, narrow position that any of the works of man can help in the least possible way to liquidate the debt of his transgression. This is a fatal deception. If you would understand it, you must . . . with humble hearts survey the atonement. This matter is so dimly comprehended that thousands upon thousands claiming to be sons of God are children of the wicked one, because they will depend on their own works. God always demanded good works, the law demands it, but because man placed himself in sin where his good works were valueless, Jesus' righteousness alone can avail. {OHC 122.2} [OHC 122.3] But are good works of no real value? Is the sinner who commits sin every day with impunity, regarded of God with the same favor as the one who through faith in Christ tries to work in his integrity? The Scripture answers,"We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained 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. . . . 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. {OHC 122.3} [OHC 122.4] Christ is able to save to the uttermost. . . . All that man can possibly do toward his own salvation is to accept the invitation, "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Revelation 22:17. No sin can be committed by man for which satisfaction has not been met on Calvary. {OHC 122.4} [OHC 123.1] Chap. 117 - Don't Be a Pretender Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. John 14:12. {OHC 123.1} [OHC 123.2] Christians are to be indeed the representatives of Jesus Christ; they are not to be pretenders. Shall the world form its conceptions of God by the course of those who only take the name of Christ, and do not His works? Shall they point to those who claim to be believers, but who are not believers at heart, who betray sacred trusts, and work the works of the enemy, and say, "O these are Christians, and they will cheat and lie, and they cannot be trusted"? These are not the ones who truly represent God. But God will not leave the world to be deceived. The Lord has a peculiar people on the earth, and He is not ashamed to call them brethren; for they do the works of Christ. They make it manifest that they love God, because they keep His commandments. They bear the divine image. They are a spectacle unto the world, to angels, and to men. {OHC 123.2} [OHC 123.3] The reward, the glories of heaven, bestowed upon the overcomers, will be proportionate to the degree in which they have represented the character of Christ to the world. "He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly." 2 Corinthians 9:6. Thank God that it is our privilege to sow on earth the seed that will be harvested in eternity. The crown of life will be bright or dim, will glitter with many stars, or be lighted by few gems, in accordance with our own course of action. Day by day we may be laying up a good foundation against the time to come. By self-denial, by the exercise of the missionary spirit, by crowding all the good works possible into our life, by seeking so to represent Christ in character that we shall win many souls to the truth, we shall have respect unto the recompense of reward. {OHC 123.3} [OHC 123.4] It rests with us to walk in the light, to make the most of every opportunity and privilege, to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and so we shall work the works of Christ, and insure for ourselves treasure in the heavens. {OHC 123.4} [OHC 124.1] Chap. 118 - Hold Your Position Hour by Hour Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised). Hebrews 10:23. {OHC 124.1} [OHC 124.2] It is our privilege, as children of God, to hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering. At times the masterly power of temptation seems to tax our will power to the uttermost, and to exercise faith seems utterly contrary to all the evidences of sense or emotion; but our will must be kept on God's side. We must believe that in Jesus Christ is everlasting strength and efficiency. . . . Hour by hour we must hold our position triumphantly in God, strong in His strength. . . . {OHC 124.2} [OHC 124.3] All things are possible to them that believe. Since God is working in you, you can safely set your face as a flint to do His will, and you may trust the Lord perfectly. . . . {OHC 124.3} [OHC 124.4] You must make a daily, personal consecration of all to God, You must daily renew your covenant to be His wholly and forever. Place no dependence upon changeable feelings, but plant your feet upon the sure platform of the promises of God: Thou hast said it; I believe the promise. This is an intelligent faith. {OHC 124.4} [OHC 124.5] Your feelings will be troubled as you see some pursuing a course contrary to the principles of Christ; trials and tests of faith will come to you; but I entreat you to look only to Jesus, and allow none of these things to harden your heart, or to cause darkness or unbelief. Let nothing cause your faith to fail. Live as in the sight of God. Talk with Jesus as you would speak with a friend. He is ready to help you in the sorest trial; He is with you in the gravest perplexity. . . . {OHC 124.5} [OHC 124.6] A feeling of assurance is not to be despised; we should praise God for it; but when your feelings are depressed, do not think that God has changed. Praise Him just as much, because you trust in His word, and not in feelings. You have covenanted to walk by faith, not to be controlled by feelings. Feelings vary with circumstances. . . . {OHC 124.6} [OHC 124.7] Walk before God by faith, and rest fully upon His promises. Jesus says, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Matthew 28:20. {OHC 124.7} [OHC 125.1] Chap. 119 - Strength for Today As thy days, so shall thy strength be. Deuteronomy 33:25. {OHC 125.1} [OHC 125.2] I thank the Lord for the assurance of His grace, that is for His people now, today.... The promise is not that we will have strength today for a future emergency, that anticipated future trouble will be provided for beforehand, before it comes to us. We may, if we walk by faith, expect strength and provision for us as fast as our circumstances demand it. We live by faith, not by sight. The Lord's arrangement is for us to ask Him for the very things that we need. The grace of tomorrow will not be given today. Men's necessity is God's opportunity. . . . The grace of God is never given to be squandered, to be misapplied or perverted, or to be left to rust with disuse.... {OHC 125.2} [OHC 125.3] While you are bearing daily responsibilities in the love and fear of God, as obedient children walking in all humility of mind, strength and wisdom from God will be given to meet every trying circumstance. {OHC 125.3} [OHC 125.4] We will not be able to meet the trials of this time without God. We are not to have the courage and fortitude of martyrs of old until brought into the position they were in. . . . We are to receive daily supplies of grace for each daily emergency. Thus we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and if persecution comes upon us, if we must be enclosed in prison walls for the faith of Jesus and the keeping of God's holy law, "As thy days, so shall thy strength be." Should there be a return of persecution there would be grace given to arouse every energy of the soul to show a true heroism.... {OHC 125.4} [OHC 125.5] We are to keep close to the Source of our strength day by day, and when the enemy comes in like a flood the Spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard for us against the enemy. The promise of God is sure, that strength shall be proportioned to our day. We may be confident for the future only in the strength that is given for the present necessities. The experience in God is daily becoming more precious. . . . Do not borrow anxiety for the future. It is today that we are in need. . . . The Lord is our helper, our God, and our strength in every time of need. {OHC 125.5} [OHC 126.1] Chap. 120 - Victory After Victory For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 1 John 5:4. {OHC 126.1} [OHC 126.2] When clouds come between your soul and God, when all around you is dark and forbidding, when the enemy stands ready to rob the soul of its integrity to God and the truth, and when error stands out plausible and attractive, then it is time to pray and exercise faith in God.... Cherishing faith, the soul is enabled to rise beyond itself, and penetrate the hellish shadow which the enemy casts athwart the pathway of every soul that is striving for an immortal crown. . . . {OHC 126.2} [OHC 126.3] Jesus said, "Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation." Mark 14:38. We are to watch and pray just as long as Satan brings up clouds of unbelief, composed of every evil thing that he can devise to lead the human mind to yield to temptation. But this cloud that lies between God and the human agent cannot envelop man and penetrate his soul unless he opens his mind and heart to its dark beams. The angels of God will guard from the poisonous malaria of temptations of the wicked one every man who will rise beyond self and circumstances and surroundings, looking unto Jesus through every mist and fog and cloud, and penetrating by faith the darkest temptations. . . . {OHC 126.3} [OHC 126.4] United with Christ, all the power you require will be given you. Abiding in Him, you can fight manfully. The more you believe and trust as a child in the Lord Jesus, the greater will be your capacity for believing. By faith you stand. Only by exercising faith can you conquer self. . . . Self is the ground where Satan always meets and manages those whom he wishes to deceive and conquer. But if the righteousness of Christ is revealed in you, you become strong. Looking beyond yourself to a crucified Saviour, a risen and ascended Lord, who is, as your Advocate, making intercession for you, taking hold of Christ's power and efficiency, you can conquer. {OHC 126.4} [OHC 126.5] No victories ever won can compare in any wise with the victories of faith. Never let go your hold upon faith. It may triumph amid discouragement, gaining victory after victory. {OHC 126.5} [OHC 127.1] Chap. 121 - Prayer, the Channel of All Blessings And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Matthew 21:22. {OHC 127.1} [OHC 127.2] Prayer is the breath of the soul, the channel of all blessings. As, with a realization of the needs of humanity, with a feeling of self- loathing, the repentant soul offers its prayer, God sees its struggles, watches its conflicts, and marks its sincerity. He has His finger upon its pulse, and He takes note of every throb. Not a feeling thrills it, not an emotion agitates it, not a sorrow shades it, not a sin stains it, not a thought or purpose moves it, of which He is not cognizant. That soul was purchased at an infinite cost, and is loved with a devotion that is unalterable.... {OHC 127.2} [OHC 127.3] Christ our Saviour . . . had bodily wants to be supplied, bodily weariness to be relieved. It was by prayer to His Father that He was braced for duty and for trial. Day by day He followed His round of duty, seeking to save souls. His heart went out in tender sympathy for the weary and heavy laden. And He spent whole nights in prayer in behalf of the tempted ones.... {OHC 127.3} [OHC 127.4] The Christian is given the invitation to carry his burdens to God in prayer, and to fasten himself closely to Christ by the cords of living faith. The Lord authorizes us to pray, declaring that He will hear the prayers of those who trust in His infinite power. He will be honored by those who draw nigh to Him, who faithfully do His service. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." Isaiah 26:3. The arm of Omnipotence is outstretched to guide us and lead us onward and still onward. Go forward, the Lord says; I understand the case, and I will send you help. Continue to pray. Have faith in Me. It is for My name's glory that you ask, and you shall receive. I will be honored before those who are watching critically for your failure. They shall see the truth triumph gloriously. "All things, whatsoever ye ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."... {OHC 127.4} [OHC 127.5] True faith, true prayer--how strong they are! {OHC 127.5} [OHC 128.1] Chap. 122 - An Open Door to God's Throne Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. Revelation 3:8. {OHC 128.1} [OHC 128.2] The true Witness declares: "Behold, I have set before thee an open door." Let us thank God with heart and soul and voice; and let us learn to approach unto Him as through an open door, believing that we may come freely with our petitions, and that He will hear and answer. It is by a living faith in His power to help, that we shall receive strength to fight the battles of the Lord with the confident assurance of victory. {OHC 128.2} [OHC 128.3] Those who are seeking to be faithful to God may be denied many of the privileges of the world; their way may be hedged up and their work hindered by the enemies of truth; but there is no power that can close the door of communication between God and their souls. The Christian himself may close this door by indulgence in sin, or by rejection of heaven's light. He may turn away his ears from hearing the message of truth, and in this way sever the connection between God and his soul.... Every day we have the precious privilege of connecting ourselves with Christ, who has set before us an open door. All heaven is at our command. If we are obedient children of God, we may draw daily supplies of grace. Whatever temptations, trials, or persecutions may come upon us, we need not be discouraged. Neither man nor Satan can close the door which Christ has opened for us. {OHC 128.3} [OHC 128.4] Whenever tempted, we have this open door to behold. No power can hide from us the light of the glory which shines from the threshold of heaven along the whole length of the ladder we are to climb; for the Lord has given us strength in His strength, courage in His courage, light in His light. When the powers of darkness are overcome, when the light of the glory of God floods the world, we shall see and understand more clearly than we do today. If we only realized that the glory of God is round about us, that heaven is nearer earth than we suppose, we should have a heaven in our homes while preparing for the heaven above. {OHC 128.4} [OHC 129.1] Chap. 123 - Blessings for Those Who Ask Ye have not, because ye ask not. James 4:2. {OHC 129.1} [OHC 129.2] The grace of Christ we cannot do without. We must have help from above if we resist the manifold temptations of Satan, and escape his devices. Amid the prevailing darkness, we must have light from God to reveal the traps and gins of error, or we shall be ensnared. We should improve the opportunity for prayer, both in secret and around the family altar. Many need to learn how to pray.... When we in humility tell the Lord our wants, the Spirit itself makes intercession for us; as our sense of need causes us to lay bare our souls before the all-searching eye of Omnipotence, our earnest, fervent prayers enter within the vail, our faith claims the promises of God, and help comes to us.... {OHC 129.2} [OHC 129.3] Prayer is both a duty and a privilege. We must have help which God alone can give, and that help will not come unasked. If we are too self-righteous to feel our need of help from God, we shall not have His help when we need it most. If we are too independent and self-sufficient to throw ourselves daily by earnest prayer upon the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, we shall be left subject to Satan's temptations. . . . Earnest, sincere . . . prayer would bring strength and grace to resist the powers of darkness. God wants to bless. He is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him than are parents to give good gifts to their children. But many do not feel their need. They do not realize that they can do nothing without the help of Jesus.... {OHC 129.3} [OHC 129.4] I have been shown angels of God all ready to impart grace and power to those who feel their need of divine strength. But these heavenly messengers will not bestow blessings unless solicited. They have waited for the cry from souls hungering and thirsting for the blessing of God; often have they waited in vain. There were, indeed, casual prayers, but not the earnest supplication from humble, contrite hearts.... {OHC 129.4} [OHC 129.5] Those who would receive the blessing of the Lord, must themselves prepare the way, by confession of sin, by humiliation before God, with true penitence, and with faith in the merits of the blood of Christ. {OHC 129.5} [OHC 130.1] Chap. 124 - Learn How to Pray Lord, teach us to pray. Luke 11:1. {OHC 130.1} [OHC 130.2] Christ did not give this prayer ［the Lord's Prayer, Luke 11:2-4］ for men to repeat as a form. He gave it as an illustration of what our prayers should be--simple, earnest, and comprehensive. {OHC 130.2} [OHC 130.3] Many prayers are offered without faith. A set form of words is used, but there is no real importunity. These prayers are doubtful, hesitating; they bring no relief to those who offer them, and no comfort or hope to others. The form of prayer is used, but the spirit is wanting, showing that the petitioner does not feel his need. . . . {OHC 130.3} [OHC 130.4] Learn to pray short and right to the point, asking for just what you need. Learn to pray aloud where only God can hear you. Do not offer make-believe prayers, but earnest, feeling petitions, expressing the hunger of the soul for the Bread of Life. If we prayed more in secret, we should be able to pray more intelligently in public. These doubtful, hesitating prayers would cease. And when we engaged with our brethren in public worship, we could add to the interest of the meeting; for we should bring with us some of the atmosphere of heaven, and our worship would be a reality, and not a mere form. . . .If the soul is not drawn out in prayer in the closet and while engaged in the business of the day, it will be manifest in the prayer meeting. . . . {OHC 130.4} [OHC 130.5] The life of the soul depends upon habitual communion with God. Its wants are made known, and the heart is open to receive fresh blessings. Gratitude flows from unfeigned lips; and the refreshing that is received from Jesus is manifested in words, in deeds of active benevolence, and in public devotion. There is love to Jesus in the heart; and where love exists, it will not be repressed, but will express itself. Secret prayer sustains this inner life. The heart that loves God will desire to commune with Him, and will lean on Him in holy confidence. {OHC 130.5} [OHC 130.6] Let us learn to pray intelligently, expressing our requests with clearness and precision. Let us . . . pray as though we meant it. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." James 5:16. {OHC 130.6} [OHC 131.1] Chap. 125 - Seek God with All the Heart Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto thee. Zechariah 9:12. {OHC 131.1} [OHC 131.2] We need to educate the soul to lay hold, and hold fast the rich promises of Christ. The Lord Jesus knows that it is not possible for us to resist the many temptations of Satan, only as we shall have divine power given us from God. He well knows that in our own human strength we should surely fail. Therefore every provision has been made, that in every emergency and trial we shall flee to the Stronghold.... We have the word of promise from lips that will not lie. . . . We must individually cherish the faith that we receive of Him the things He hath promised. {OHC 131.2} [OHC 131.3] God will be to us everything we will let Him be. Our languid, half-hearted prayers will not bring us returns from heaven. Oh, we need to press our petitions! Ask in faith, wait in faith, receive in faith, rejoice in hope, for everyone that seeketh findeth. Be in earnest in the matter. Seek God with all the heart. People put soul and earnestness into everything they undertake in temporal things, until their efforts are crowned with success. With intense earnestness learn the trade of seeking the rich blessings that God has promised, and with persevering, determined effort you shall have His light and His truth and His rich grace. {OHC 131.3} [OHC 131.4] In sincerity, in soul hunger, cry after God. Wrestle with the heavenly agencies until you have the victory. Put your whole being into the Lord's hands, soul, body, and spirit, and resolve to be His loving, consecrated agency, moved by His will, controlled by His mind, infused by His Spirit. {OHC 131.4} [OHC 131.5] Tell Jesus your wants in the sincerity of your soul. You are not required to hold a long controversy with, or preach a sermon to, God, but with a heart of sorrow for your sins, say, "Save me, Lord, or I perish." There is hope for such souls. They will seek, they will ask, they will knock, and they will find. When Jesus has taken away the burden of sin that is crushing the soul, you will experience the blessedness of the peace of Christ. {OHC 131.5} [OHC 132.1] Chap. 126 - Victory Through Watchfulness Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. Mark 14:38. {OHC 132.1} [OHC 132.2] Temptations may be all around you, yet you are safe as long as you do not enter into them. Many of us are overcome by Satan because we walk right into temptation. . . . It is your business to keep aloof from everyone and everything which will have a tendency to lead you away from duty and divert your mind from God. . . . If compelled to be in the society of those who are evil, you are not compelled to enter into or engage in their evil. You can, by prayer and watching, remain unsullied by the evil manifested about you. {OHC 132.2} [OHC 132.3] "Watch and pray" is an injunction often repeated in the Scriptures. In the lives of those who obey this injunction there will be an undercurrent of happiness that will bless all with whom they are brought in contact. Those who are sour and cross in disposition will become sweet and gentle; those who are proud will become meek and lowly. {OHC 132.3} [OHC 132.4] A man cannot be a happy Christian unless he is a watchful Christian. He who overcomes must watch; for with worldly entanglements, error, and superstition, Satan strives to win Christ's followers from Him, and to keep their minds employed with his devices. It is not enough that we avoid glaring dangers and perilous, inconsistent moves. We are to keep close to the side of Christ, walking in the path of self-denial and self-sacrifice. We are not to allow our spiritual perceptions to be blinded, as they often are, by a strong, determined will. And in order to detect the artifices of Satan and to withstand his unexpected attacks, we must have the grace of Christ and the impartation of His Spirit. . . . {OHC 132.4} [OHC 132.5] God's Word warns us that we have manifold enemies, not open and avowed, but enemies who come with smooth words and fair speeches, and who would deceive if possible the very elect. Thus Satan comes. And again, when it suits his purpose, he goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Man's will, unless kept in subjection to the will of God, is as often on the enemy's side as on the Lord's side. Therefore watch unto prayer; watch and pray always. {OHC 132.5} [OHC 133.1] Chap. 127 - Humble, Persevering Prayer Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. James 5:17, 18. {OHC 133.1} [OHC 133.2] Important lessons are presented to us in the experience of Elijah. When upon Mount Carmel he offered the prayer for rain, his faith was tested, but he persevered in making known his request unto God. {OHC 133.2} [OHC 133.3] The servant watched while Elijah prayed. Six times he returned from the watch, saying, There is nothing, no cloud, no sign of rain. But the prophet did not give up in discouragement. He kept reviewing his life, to see where he had failed to honor God. . . . As he searched his heart, he seemed to be less and less, both in his own estimation and in the sight of God. It seemed to him that he was nothing, and that God was everything; and when he reached the point of renouncing self, while he clung to the Saviour as his only strength and righteousness, the answer came. The servant appeared, and said, "Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand." 1 Kings 18:34. {OHC 133.3} [OHC 133.4] We have a God whose ear is not closed to our petitions; and if we prove His word, He will honor our faith. He wants us to have all our interests interwoven with His interests, and then He can safely bless us; for we shall not then take glory to self when the blessing is ours, but shall render all the praise to God. God does not always answer our prayers the first time we call upon Him; for should He do this, we might take it for granted that we had a right to all the blessings and favors He bestowed upon us. Instead of searching our hearts to see if any evil was entertained by us, any sin indulged, we should become careless, and fail to realize our dependence upon Him. . . . {OHC 133.4} [OHC 133.5] Elijah humbled himself until he was in a condition where he would not take the glory to himself. This is the condition upon which the Lord hears prayer, for then we shall give the praise to Him. . . . God alone is worthy to be glorified. {OHC 133.5} [OHC 134.1] Chap. 128 - Wait for God's Answer It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3:26. {OHC 134.1} [OHC 134.2] There are precious promises in the Scriptures to those who wait upon the Lord. We all desire an immediate answer to our prayers, and we are tempted to become discouraged if our prayer is not immediately answered. Now my experience has taught me that this is a great mistake. The delay is for our special benefit. Our faith has a chance to be tested to see whether it is true, sincere, or changeable like the waves of the sea. We must bind ourselves upon the altar with the strong cords of faith and love, and let patience have her perfect work. Faith strengthens through continual exercise. {OHC 134.2} [OHC 134.3] We must pray more and in faith. We must not pray and then run away as though afraid we should receive an answer. God will not mock us. He will answer if we watch unto prayer, if we believe we receive the things we ask for, and keep believing and never lose patience in believing. This is watching unto prayer. We guard the prayer of faith with expectancy and hope. We must wall it in with assurance and be not faithless, but believing. The fervent prayer of the righteous is never lost. The answer may not come according as we expected, but it will come, because God's word is pledged. {OHC 134.3} [OHC 134.4] We need a calm waiting upon God. The need of this is imperious. It is not the noise and bustle we make in the world which proves our usefulness. See how silently God works! . . . Those who desire to labor with God have need of His Spirit every day; they need to walk and labor in meekness and humility of spirit, without seeking to accomplish extraordinary things, satisfied to do the work before them and doing it faithfully. Men may not see or appreciate their efforts, but the names of these faithful children of God are written in heaven among His noblest workers, as scattering His seed in view of a glorious harvest. {OHC 134.4} [OHC 134.5] Wait for the Lord, not in fretful anxiety, but in undaunted faith and unshaken trust. {OHC 134.5} [OHC 135.1] Chap. 129 - Mementos in Memory's Halls Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. 1 Samuel 7:12. {OHC 135.1} [OHC 135.2] There is more encouragement to us in the least blessing which we receive ourselves than in reading biographical works relating to the faith and experience of noted men of God. The things we ourselves have experienced of the blessings of God through His gracious promises we may hang in memory's halls, and whether rich or poor, learned or illiterate, we may look and may consider these tokens of God's love. Every token of God's care and goodness and mercy should be hung as imperishable mementos in memory's halls. God would have His love, His promises, written upon the tablets of the mind. Guard the precious revealings of God that not a letter shall become obliterated or dimmed. {OHC 135.2} [OHC 135.3] When Israel obtained special victories after leaving Egypt, memorials were preserved of these victories. Moses and Joshua were commanded of God to do this, to build up remembrances. When the Israelites had won a special victory over the Philistines, Samuel set up a commemorative stone and called it Ebenezer, saying, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." . . . {OHC 135.3} [OHC 135.4] Can we not, in view of the past, look on new trials and increased perplexities--even afflictions, privations, and bereavements--and not be dismayed, but look upon the past and say, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.' I will commit the keeping of my soul unto Him as unto a faithful Creator. He will keep that which I have committed to His trust against that day." {OHC 135.4} [OHC 135.5] Let us look to the monumental pillars, reminders of what the Lord has done to comfort us and to save us from the hand of the destroyer. Let us keep fresh in our memory all the tender mercies that God has shown us--the tears He has wiped away, the pains He has soothed, the anxieties removed, the fears dispelled, the wants supplied, the blessings bestowed--thus strengthening ourselves for all that is before us through the remainder of our pilgrimage. {OHC 135.5} [OHC 136.1] Chap. 130 - On the Mount Before God And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. 1 Kings 19:11. {OHC 136.1} [OHC 136.2] This command comes to every one of us who is looking to his discouragements and mourning over his frailties and giving to the world an example of distrust of God, refusing to look and live. . . . You please the enemy of God and of man by keeping in the cave of darkness where there is not a ray of the Light of life. . . . {OHC 136.2} [OHC 136.3] I want to lift up my voice for Jesus and say, Whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Go forth from the cave by faith. Look to Jesus, your helper. Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world. Look to your atoning Sacrifice lifted up upon the cross, the Innocent dying for the guilty. . . . {OHC 136.3} [OHC 136.4] His offering of Himself was full and ample. Nothing was wanting. It was indeed a whole and ample atonement that was made. Then why . . . indicate by words and example that Christ has died for you in vain? After the exhibitions of love that was without a parallel, you say by your words of doubt and mournful discouragement, "He does not love me. He will not forgive me. My sins are of too hard a character to be cured by the blood of Jesus. The offering is not of sufficient value to pay the debt I owe for the rescue of my soul." {OHC 136.4} [OHC 136.5] If men and women could only see and realize how their unbelief and mournful murmurings exalt Satan and give him honor, while they rob Jesus Christ of His glory in the work of saving them, wholly and entirely, from all sin! . . . Let us come out of the cavern of darkness. Let us educate our intellects to discern what Jesus is to us. Let us train our minds to stand on the mount before God in faith, strong in God under any and every temptation. . . . {OHC 136.5} [OHC 136.6] In the mount we shall have correct views of Jesus. Satan will not have power to cast his hellish shadow between our souls and Jesus, eclipse our view of Jesus, falsify Him, and encourage our hearts in cruel unbelief of His goodness, His mercy, and His love wherewith He hath loved us. {OHC 136.6} [OHC 137.1] Chap. 131 - God's Law a Wall of Protection Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Psalm 119:1. {OHC 137.1} [OHC 137.2] God, the great governor of the universe, has put everything under law. The tiny flower and the towering oak, the grain of sand and the mighty ocean, sunshine and shower, wind and rain, all obey nature's laws. But man has been placed under a higher law. He has been given an intellect to see, and a conscience to feel, the powerful claims of God's great moral law, the expression of what He desires His children to be. {OHC 137.2} [OHC 137.3] God has made known His will so plainly that none need err. He desires all to have a correct understanding of His law, to feel the power of its principles; for their eternal interests are here involved. He who has an understanding of the far-reaching claims of God's law can understand something of the heinousness of sin. And the more exalted his ideas of God's requirements, the greater will be his gratitude for the pardon granted him. . . . {OHC 137.3} [OHC 137.4] In his own strength the sinner cannot meet the demands of God. He must go for help to the One who paid the ransom for him. . . . {OHC 137.4} [OHC 137.5] Christ is our hope. Those who trust in Him are cleansed. The grace of Christ and the government of God walk together in perfect harmony. When Jesus became man's substitute, mercy and truth met together, and righteousness and peace kissed each other. The cross of Calvary bears witness to the high claims of God's law. {OHC 137.5} [OHC 137.6] The law of ten commandments is not to be looked upon as much from the prohibitory side, as from the mercy side. Its prohibitions are the sure guarantee of happiness in obedience. As received in Christ, it works in us the purity of character that will bring joy to us through eternal ages. To the obedient it is a wall of protection. We behold in it the goodness of God, who by revealing to men the immutable principles of righteousness, seeks to shield them from the evils that result from transgression. {OHC 137.6} [OHC 138.1] Chap. 132 - A Complete Rule of Life And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament. Revelation 11:19. {OHC 138.1} [OHC 138.2] Our Redeemer testifies: "Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it." Revelation 3:8. Through this open door into the temple of God, we see the royal law, deposited in the ark of the testament. Through this open door, light shines from that holy, just, and good law, presenting to man the true standard of righteousness, that he may make no mistake in the formation of a character that will meet the requirements of God. Sin is condemned by that law; we must put it away. Pride and selfishness can find no place in the character without crowding out Him who was meek and lowly of heart. {OHC 138.2} [OHC 138.3] The law of God is the standard by which character is to be tested; if we erect a standard to suit ourselves, and attempt to follow a criterion of our own devising, we shall utterly fail to secure heaven at last. . . . {OHC 138.3} [OHC 138.4] The mind must yield obedience to the royal law of liberty, the law which the Spirit of God impresses upon the heart, and makes plain to the understanding. The expulsion of sin must be the act of the soul itself, in calling into exercise its noblest powers. The only freedom a finite will can enjoy, consists in coming into harmony with the will of God, complying with the conditions that make man a partaker of the divine nature. {OHC 138.4} [OHC 138.5] The law of God given from Sinai is a copy of the mind and will of the Infinite God. It is sacredly revered by the holy angels. Obedience to its requirements will perfect Christian character, and restore man, through Christ, to his condition before the Fall. The sins forbidden in the law could never find place in heaven. {OHC 138.5} [OHC 138.6] It was the love of God to man that prompted Him to express His will in the ten precepts of the Decalogue. . . . God has given man a complete rule of life in His law. Obeyed, he shall live by it, through the merits of Christ. Transgressed, it has power to condemn. The law sends men to Christ, and Christ points them back to the law. {OHC 138.6} [OHC 139.1] Chap. 133 - Weighing in for Heaven Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity. Job 31:6. {OHC 139.1} [OHC 139.2] True measure is everything. It is the very law of God. He puts His law into the least of men's acts and dealings, that learning and living it they may be elevated, ennobled, and sanctified in heart and affection-- faithful in the least. {OHC 139.2} [OHC 139.3] God weighs motives, purposes, character. All men are weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, and God would have all realize this fact. Hannah said, "The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed." 1 Samuel 2:3. David hath said, "Men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity." Psalm 62:9. Isaiah says: "Thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just." Isaiah 26:7. . . . {OHC 139.3} [OHC 139.4] The God of heaven is true. There is not a motive in the depths of the heart, not a secret within us, not a design that God does not fully comprehend. But what is the standard of justice? God's law. God's law is placed in one scale, His holy immutable law whose claims are specified, taking, in the first four commandments, supreme love to God, and in the last six, love to our neighbor. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, . . . and thy neighbour as thyself." Luke 10:27. From this standard we will not subtract one atom. God requires all the heart, mind, soul, and strength, and "love thy neighbour as thyself." This is placed in one scale, while every individual character has to pass the weighing test by being placed in the opposite scale. And by its just comparison every man's doom is irretrievably fixed. . . . {OHC 139.4} [OHC 139.5] Shall there be written, "Weighed in the balance, and found wanting"? If found wanting in the day of God it will be a terrible thing, therefore we want to be closely examining our own motives and actions by the holy law of God, to repent of every act of transgression, and as sinners lay hold of the merits of Christ to supply the deficiency. The blood of Christ alone will do this. {OHC 139.5} [OHC 140.1] Chap. 134 - Heart Allegiance Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. Ephesians 6:6. {OHC 140.1} [OHC 140.2] The law of Jehovah is exceedingly broad. Jesus . . . plainly declared to His disciples that this holy law of God may be violated in even the thoughts and feelings and desires, as well as in the word and deed. The heart that loves God supremely will not in any way be inclined to narrow down His precepts to the very smallest possible claims, but the obedient, loyal soul will cheerfully render full spiritual obedience when the law is seen in its spiritual power. Then will the commandments come home to the soul in their real force. Sin will appear exceedingly sinful. . . . There is no longer self-righteousness, self-esteem, self-honor. Self-security is gone. Deep conviction of sin and self-loathing is the result, and the soul in its desperate sense of peril lays hold on the blood of the Lamb of God as his only remedy. . . . {OHC 140.2} [OHC 140.3] Many are deceiving their own souls today. They restrict the injunctions of God to condemn outward acts alone, and do not consider it sin to dishonor God in thoughts and affections. They flatter themselves that they are keeping the law of Jehovah while their life and character as daguerreotyped ［photographed］ in the books of heaven reveal them as venturing to see how far they can go in the direction of wrongdoing without being branded as transgressors of God's law. . . . {OHC 140.3} [OHC 140.4] Every soul who desires to depart from all iniquity . . . will be ever laboring to be on the Lord's side in thought, in word, and in character, obedient to all His requirements. In the place of seeking opportunities to evade the law of God, he will give the largest interpretation to His far-reaching commandments and will strive most earnestly to bring the will, the affections, and all the heart to exemplify the great principles of His holy commandments. . . . The work must begin at the heart. . . . If the heart is right with God, then the whole life will be purified, refined, ennobled, sanctified. If the eye is single the whole body is filled with light. Religion is not a matter of externalities. . . . Religion is a thing of the heart. {OHC 140.4} [OHC 141.1] Chap. 135 - Blending the Law and Gospel Do we then make void the law of God through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. Romans 3:31. {OHC 141.1} [OHC 141.2] We hear so many who are deceived by the enemy constantly claiming, "I am saved"; but . . . they show such contempt of God's rule of righteousness that we know that they . . . know nothing of saving grace. The heart is not in harmony with the law of God, but is at enmity with that law. Thus was the great rebel in heaven. Will the Lord take men and women to heaven who have no respect for the law of His universe? . . . {OHC 141.2} [OHC 141.3] What is to bring the sinner to the knowledge of his sins unless he knows what sin is? The only definition of sin in the Word of God is given us in 1 John 3:4. "Sin is the transgression of the law." The sinner must be made to feel that he is a transgressor. Christ dying upon the cross of Calvary is drawing his attention. Why did Christ die? Because it was the only means for man to be saved. . . . He took upon Himself our sins that He might impute His righteousness to all who believe in Him. . . . The goodness and the love of God lead the sinner to repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. The awakened sinner . . . is pointed to the law he has transgressed. It calls to him to repent, yet there is no saving quality in law to pardon the transgression of law, and his case seems hopeless. But the law draws him to Christ. However deep are his sins of transgression, the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse him from all sin. . . . {OHC 141.3} [OHC 141.4] The law and the gospel go hand in hand. The one is the complement of the other. The law without faith in the gospel of Christ cannot save the transgressor of law. The gospel without the law is inefficient and powerless. The law and the gospel are a perfect whole. The Lord Jesus laid the foundation of the building, and He lays "the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it." Zechariah 4:7. He is the author and finisher of our faith, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. The two blended--the gospel of Christ and the law of God--produce the love and faith unfeigned. {OHC 141.4} [OHC 142.1] Chap. 136 - Pathway to Purity And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. 1 John 3:3. {OHC 142.1} [OHC 142.2] Does this text mean that the human agent can remove one stain of sin from his soul? No. Then what does it mean to purify himself? It means to look upon the Lord's great moral standard of righteousness, the holy law of God, and see that he is a sinner in the light of that law. "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin." 1 John 3:4, 5. It is through faith in Jesus Christ that . . . the human agent is purified and cleansed. . . . "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not." Verse 6. God has power to keep the soul that is in Christ. . . . A mere profession of godliness is worthless. It is he that abideth in Christ that is a Christian. . . . {OHC 142.2} [OHC 142.3] In every clime, in every nation, our youth should cooperate with God. The only way a person can be pure is to become like-minded with God. How can we know God? By studying His Word. . . . {OHC 142.3} [OHC 142.4] Unless the mind of God becomes the mind of man, every effort to purify himself will be useless; for it is impossible to elevate man except through a knowledge of God. The outward gloss may be put on, and men may be as were the Pharisees whom Jesus describes as "whited sepulchres," full of corruption and dead men's bones. But all the deformity of the soul is open to Him who judgeth righteously, and unless the truth is planted in the heart, it cannot control the life. Cleansing the outside of the cup will never make the vessel pure within. A nominal acceptance of truth is good as far as it goes, and the ability to give a reason for our faith is a good accomplishment, but if the truth does not go deeper than this, the soul will never be saved. The heart must be purified from all moral defilement. "I know also my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness." 1 Chronicles 29:17. "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23, 24. {OHC 142.4} [OHC 143.1] Chap. 137 - An Enlightened Conscience And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men. Acts 24:16. {OHC 143.1} [OHC 143.2] In the Word of God we read that there are good and bad consciences. . . . Take your conscience to the Word of God, and see if your life and character are in accordance with the standard of righteousness which God has there revealed. You can then determine whether or not you have an intelligent faith, and what manner of conscience is yours. The conscience of man cannot be trusted unless it is under the influence of divine grace. Satan takes advantage of an unenlightened conscience, and thereby leads men into all manner of delusions. {OHC 143.2} [OHC 143.3] It is not enough for a man to think himself safe in following the dictates of his conscience. . . . The question to be settled is, Is the conscience in harmony with the Word of God? If not, it cannot safely be followed, for it will deceive. The conscience must be enlightened by God. Time must be given to a study of the Scriptures and to prayer. Thus the mind will be stablished, strengthened, and settled. {OHC 143.3} [OHC 143.4] It is the privilege of everyone to so live that God will approve and bless him. You may be hourly in communion with Heaven; it is not the will of your heavenly Father that you should ever be under condemnation and darkness. It is not pleasing to God that you should demerit yourself. You should cultivate self-respect by living so that you will be approved by your own conscience, and before men and angels. . . . It is your privilege to go to Jesus and be cleansed, and to stand before the law without shame and remorse. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Romans 8:1. While we should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought, the Word of God does not condemn a proper self-respect. As sons and daughters of God, we should have a conscious dignity of character, in which pride and self-importance have no part. {OHC 143.4} [OHC 143.5] A conscience void of offense toward God and man is a wonderful acquirement. {OHC 143.5} [OHC 144.1] Chap. 138 - Fruit-Bearing Branches I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. John 15:1, 2. {OHC 144.1} [OHC 144.2] The Saviour . . . points out the sign of discipleship: "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." By faith we are to lay hold on a living God, and maintain an experience that shall breathe love, tenderness, kindness, compassion, and affection. These traits of character are the fruit that the Lord Jesus desires us to produce, and to present before the world as a witness that we have a Saviour who can uplift and who can satisfy. . . . We need not be on the losing side, for in everything He is our sufficiency. {OHC 144.2} [OHC 144.3] What we need is the presence of Jesus Christ. We want His truth shining in our hearts, pervading all our life actions. This will determine whether or not we are branches of the True Vine. If we are fruit-bearing branches we may expect that the Great Husbandman will prune us, that we may bring forth more fruit. All that is useless, all that would hinder our growth in the Christian life, must be removed. {OHC 144.3} [OHC 144.4] When the purging comes, we frequently feel that the Lord is against us. Instead of this we should look to ourselves and see if there is not something we have left undone or something we need to take away from our lives before we can stand in right relation to God. . . . {OHC 144.4} [OHC 144.5] We must be living branches of the True Vine, daily laying hold of our Redeemer that we may bear the fruits of a Christian character. . . . When we are willing to practice self-denial and self-sacrifice, as Christ practiced it in His life, we shall bear fruit to God's glory. {OHC 144.5} [OHC 144.6] It is the Saviour's delight to see His followers colaborers with God, receiving bountifully all the means of fruit bearing, and giving bountifully, as workers under Him. Christ glorified His Father by the fruit He bore, and the lives of His true followers will produce the same result. Receiving and imparting, His workers will produce much fruit. {OHC 144.6} [OHC 145.1] Chap. 139 - Abiding in Christ Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. John 15:4. {OHC 145.1} [OHC 145.2] As the severed branch, leafless, and apparently lifeless, is ingrafted into the living stock, and, fiber by fiber, and vein by vein, drinks in the life and strength of the vine until it buds and blossoms and bears fruit, even so may the sinner, by repentance and faith, connect himself with Christ, become a partaker of the divine nature, and bring forth in words and deeds the fruit of a holy life. {OHC 145.2} [OHC 145.3] Jesus "has life in himself," and this life He offers to impart freely, to souls that are dead in trespasses and sins. Yea, He shares with them His purity, His honor, and exaltation. . . . The sapless branch, ingrafted into the living vine, becomes a part of the vine. It lives while united to the vine. So the Christian lives by virtue of his union with Christ. The sinful and human is linked to the holy and divine. The believing soul abides in Christ, and becomes one with Him. When persons are closely united in the relations of this life, their tastes become similar, they come to love the same things. So those who abide in Christ will love the things which He loves. They will sacredly cherish and obey His commandments. . . . {OHC 145.3} [OHC 145.4] The vine-branch, nourished from the parent stock, becomes flourishing and fruitful. Its rich and fragrant clusters attest its union with the living vine. So the Christian, abiding in Jesus, will bring forth fruit. In character and life will be manifested, like the teeming cluster of the vine, the precious graces of the Spirit,--love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. . . . {OHC 145.4} [OHC 145.5] Resolve that you will be fruit-bearing members of the living Vine. The scion can flourish only as it receives life and strength from the parent stock. Improve, then, every opportunity to connect yourselves more closely with Christ. It is by believing Him, loving Him, copying Him, and depending wholly upon Him, that you are to become one with Him; and through you His life and character will be revealed to the world. {OHC 145.5} [OHC 146.1] Chap. 140 - The Source of My Strength I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. John 15:5. {OHC 146.1} [OHC 146.2] We are finite, but a wonderful arrangement has been made that we may have close connection with the Infinite. . . . Finite beings at their best can do but little, but Christ working through humanity may accomplish wonderful results. {OHC 146.2} [OHC 146.3] It is a painful thought to me that I can do so little. The limited sphere of human capabilities leads me to feel indeed the words of Christ, "Without Me ye can do nothing." Many are endowed with superior talents and do not use them, because they have no living connection with God. . . . My own scanty knowledge and feeble energies drive me to Jesus, and the language of my heart is, "Oh God, I can do nothing. I hang my helpless soul on Thee, Jesus Christ my Saviour. Put Thy grace into my heart. Attract my mind from my weakness to Thy almighty strength, from my ignorance to Thy eternal wisdom, from my frailty to Thy enduring might. Give me correct views of the great plan of redemption. Let me see and understand what Christ is to me, and that my heart, soul, mind, and strength are bought with a price. Christ has imparted to me that I may impart to others. Lift up my soul; strengthen and enlighten my mind that I may comprehend more clearly the character of God as revealed in Jesus Christ, that I may know that it is my privilege to be a partaker of the divine nature." {OHC 146.3} [OHC 146.4] The great and eternal power of God fills my mind with awe, and sometimes even terror. . . . May I indeed look upon Jesus, full of goodness and compassion and love, and behold the Lord God, and call Him by the endearing name of Father. {OHC 146.4} [OHC 146.5] The deep struggles of my own soul against temptations, the earnest longings of my mind and heart to know God and Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour, and to have assurance, peace, and rest in their love, lead me to desire every day to be where the beams of the Sun of Righteousness can shine upon me. {OHC 146.5} [OHC 147.1] Chap. 141 - Rejoicing in Assurance If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. John 15:7. {OHC 147.1} [OHC 147.2] Precious are the privileges accorded him who abides in Christ. . . . The mind of Christ dwells in His faithful followers; their desires are in accordance with His will; their petitions are indited by His Spirit. They obtain answers to their prayers; for they ask for such blessings as He delights to bestow. {OHC 147.2} [OHC 147.3] But there are thousands of prayers daily offered that God does not answer. There are faithless prayers. "He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Hebrews 11:6. There are selfish prayers, proceeding from a heart that is cherishing idols. . . . There are petulant, fretful prayers, murmuring because of the burdens and cares of life, instead of humbly seeking grace to lighten them. Those who offer such petitions are not abiding in Christ. They have not submitted their will to the will of God. They do not comply with the condition of the promise, and it is not fulfilled to them. {OHC 147.3} [OHC 147.4] They that are abiding in Jesus have the assurance that God will hear them, because they love to do His will. They offer no formal, wordy prayer, but come to God in earnest, humble confidence as a child to a tender father, and pour out the story of their grief and fears and sins, and in the name of Jesus present their wants; they depart from His presence rejoicing in the assurance of pardoning love and sustaining grace. {OHC 147.4} [OHC 147.5] With a sense that Jesus is by your side, you will have cheerfulness, hope, courage, and joy. . . . Never, never separate from Jesus. He never separates from us. By the cross of Calvary He has given evidence of His deep love for us. He does not leave us to fight the battle in our own finite strength. He says, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." Hebrews 13:5. . . . Jesus does not cast us off, even when we grieve Him; He clings to us still. Let your heart be animated by the love of Jesus to ardent activity for His glory. {OHC 147.5} [OHC 148.1] Chap. 142 - Most Happy People on Earth These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. John 15:11. {OHC 148.1} [OHC 148.2] We, as Christians, are not required to go about with long faces, sighing as though we had no Saviour and no hope. This will not glorify God. He desires us to be cheerful. He desires us to be filled with praises to His name. He desires us to carry light in our countenances, and joy in our hearts. We have a hope that is far above any pleasures that the world can give, and this fact should be made manifest. {OHC 148.2} [OHC 148.3] Why should not our joy be full--full, lacking nothing? We have an assurance that Jesus is our Saviour, and that we may draw freely from Him. We may partake freely of the rich provision that He has made for us in His Word. We may take Him at His word, believe on Him, and know that He will give us grace and power to do just as He bids us. . . . We may constantly seek the joy of His presence. We need not be all the time upon our knees in prayer, but we may be constantly asking for His grace, even when we are walking on the streets, or when we are engaged in our ordinary daily duties. We may constantly keep the mind ascending to Christ, and He will freely impart to us of His grace. . . . {OHC 148.3} [OHC 148.4] The joy of Christ is a pure, unalloyed cheerfulness. It is not a cheap gaiety, that leads to vanity of words or lightness of conduct. No, we are to have His joy, and His greatest joy was to see men obeying the truth. . . . Plead with God, saying, "I make an entire surrender. I give myself away to Thee." Then be joyful. The Word is in you, purifying and cleansing your character. God does not want His children to go about with anxiety and sorrow expressed in their faces. He wants the lovely expression of His countenance to be revealed in every one of us who are partakers of the divine nature; for we have power to escape the corruptions of the world. . . . {OHC 148.4} [OHC 148.5] We are not, because Christ died, left a company of orphans. . . . It is possible for us to obtain victory after victory, and be the most happy people on the face of the earth. {OHC 148.5} [OHC 149.1] Chap. 143 - Friendship with Jesus Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. John 15:14. {OHC 149.1} [OHC 149.2] The character and course of the Christian is in marked contrast to that of worldlings. The Christian cannot find pleasure in the amusements and in the varied scenes of gaiety of the world. Higher and holier attractions engage the affections. Christians will show that they are the friends of God by their obedience. "Ye are my friends," says Christ, "if ye do whatsoever I command you. . . . If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." {OHC 149.2} [OHC 149.3] Christ is your rock and your fortress. Unto His name the righteous runneth and are safe. . . . The righteousness and excellency of His requirements are not comprehended by the world, who look upon the religion of Christ as a yoke of bondage, a surrender of their liberty. Each of God's requirements is an order to become wise, rich, and noble by uniting our weak strength with the power of the Infinite. While following the footsteps of Christ we need never blush, for our conscience will never reproach us. His service is always reasonable. His work is always honorable and glorious. Our friends who desire us to choose the pleasures of the world and to conform to the customs of the world, who look upon us as obstinate, can have no claims upon us that bear any comparison with the claims of Christ. . . . {OHC 149.3} [OHC 149.4] The value of man as God estimates him is through his union with Christ; for God is the only One able to raise man in the scale of moral worth through the righteousness of Christ. Worldly honor and worldly greatness are of just that value that the Creator of man places upon them. Their wisdom is foolishness, their strength weakness. {OHC 149.4} [OHC 149.5] Let us value what God esteems. True elevation of character is found alone through Christ. Our Saviour imputes His righteousness to the man who yields to Him his heart's best and holiest affections. Our value is in proportion to our alliance to God. {OHC 149.5} [OHC 150.1] Chap. 144 - Jesus' Crowning Gift Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. John 16:7. {OHC 150.1} [OHC 150.2] Christ declared that after His ascension, He would send to His church, as His crowning gift, the Comforter, who was to take His place. This Comforter is the Holy Spirit--the soul of His life, the efficacy of His church, the light and life of the world. . . . {OHC 150.2} [OHC 150.3] In the gift of the Spirit, Jesus gave to man the highest good that heaven could bestow. . . . It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world's Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon the church. . . . It is the privilege of every son and daughter of God to have the indwelling of the Spirit. {OHC 150.3} [OHC 150.4] Let every church member kneel before God, and pray earnestly for the impartation of the Spirit. Cry, "Lord, increase my faith. Make me to understand thy word; for the entrance of thy word giveth light. Refresh me by thy presence. Fill my heart with thy Spirit." . . . {OHC 150.4} [OHC 150.5] When a man is filled with the Spirit, the more severely he is tested and tried, the more clearly he proves that he is a representative of Christ. The peace that dwells in the soul is seen on the countenance. The words and actions express the love of the Saviour. . . . Self is renounced. The name of Jesus is written on all that is said and done. {OHC 150.5} [OHC 150.6] We may talk of the blessings of the Holy Spirit, but unless we prepare ourselves for its reception, of what avail are our works? Are we striving with all our power to attain to the stature of men and women in Christ? Are we seeking for His fullness, ever pressing toward the mark set before us--the perfection of His character? When the Lord's people reach this mark, they will be sealed in their foreheads. Filled with the Spirit, they will be complete in Christ, and the recording angel will declare, "It is finished." {OHC 150.6} [OHC 151.1] Chap. 145 - Spirit Given on Condition If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Luke 11:13. {OHC 151.1} [OHC 151.2] Christ has promised the gift of the Spirit to His church, and the promise belongs to us as much as to the first disciples. But like every other promise, it is given on conditions. There are many who believe, and profess to claim the Lord's promise; they talk about Christ and about the Holy Spirit, yet receive no benefit. They do not surrender the soul to be guided and controlled by the divine agencies. We cannot use the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is to use us. Through the Spirit, God works in His people "to will and to do of his good pleasure." Philippians 2:13. But many will not submit to this. They want to manage themselves. This is why they do not receive the heavenly gift. Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch for His guidance and grace, is the Spirit given. . . . {OHC 151.2} [OHC 151.3] There is no limit to the usefulness of one who, putting aside self, makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart, and lives a life wholly consecrated to God. . . .If His people will remove the obstructions, He will pour forth the waters of salvation in abundant streams through human channels. . . . {OHC 151.3} [OHC 151.4] The Spirit furnishes the strength that sustains striving, wrestling souls in every emergency, amid the unfriendliness of relatives, the hatred of the world, and the realization of their own imperfections and mistakes. A union of divine and human endeavor, a close connection first, last, and ever, with God, the source of all strength--this is absolutely necessary. {OHC 151.4} [OHC 151.5] To Jesus, who emptied Himself for the salvation of lost humanity, the Holy Spirit was given without measure. So it will be given to every follower of Christ when the whole heart is surrendered for His indwelling. Our Lord Himself has given the command, "Be filled with the Spirit," and this command is also a promise of its fulfillment. It was the good pleasure of the Father that in Christ should "all the fulness" dwell; and "in him ye are made full" (Colossians 2:9, 10, R.V.). {OHC 151.5} [OHC 152.1] Chap. 146 - Christ's Representative And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. John 16:8. {OHC 152.1} [OHC 152.2] As the Comforter shall come, and reprove you of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, be careful lest you resist the Spirit of God. . . . Be willing to discern what it shall reveal to you. Yield up your self-will, the long idolized habits peculiar to yourself, that you may receive the principles of truth. {OHC 152.2} [OHC 152.3] At the cost of infinite sacrifice and suffering, Christ has provided for us every essential to success in the Christian warfare. The Holy Spirit brings power that enables man to overcome. It is through the agency of the Spirit that the government of Satan is to be subdued. It is the Spirit that convinces of sin, and, with the consent of the human being, expels sin from the heart. The mind is then brought under a new law--the royal law of liberty. {OHC 152.3} [OHC 152.4] The Lord Jesus acts through the Holy Spirit; for it is His representative. Through it He infuses spiritual life into the soul, quickening its energies for good, cleansing from moral defilement, and giving it a fitness for His kingdom. Jesus has large blessings to bestow, rich gifts to distribute among men. He is the wonderful Counselor, infinite in wisdom and strength; and if we will acknowledge the power of His Spirit, and submit to be molded by it, we shall stand complete in Him. What a thought is this! In Christ "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him." Colossians 2:9, 10. {OHC 152.4} [OHC 152.5] Never will the human heart know happiness until it is submitted to be molded by the Spirit of God. The Spirit conforms the renewed soul to the model, Jesus Christ. Through its influence, enmity against God is changed into faith and love, and pride into humility. The soul perceives the beauty of truth, and Christ is honored in excellence and perfection of character. As these changes are effected, angels break out in rapturous song, and God and Christ rejoice over souls fashioned after the divine similitude. {OHC 152.5} [OHC 153.1] Chap. 147 - Yielding to the Spirit's Control For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Romans 8:13, 14. {OHC 153.1} [OHC 153.2] The will of man is aggressive, and is constantly striving to bend all things to its purposes. If it is enlisted on the side of God and right, the fruits of the Spirit will appear in the life; and God has appointed glory, honor, and peace to every man that worketh good. {OHC 153.2} [OHC 153.3] When Satan is permitted to mold the will, he uses it to accomplish his ends. . . . He stirs up the evil propensities, awakening unholy passions and ambitions. He says, "All this power, these honors, and riches, and sinful pleasures, will I give thee"; but his conditions are that integrity shall be yielded, conscience blunted. Thus he degrades the human faculties, and brings them into captivity to sin. {OHC 153.3} [OHC 153.4] But God is ever seeking to impress our hearts by His Holy Spirit, that we shall be convinced of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment to come. We may place our will on the side of God's will, and in His strength and grace resist the temptations of the enemy. As we yield to the influence of the Spirit of God, our conscience becomes tender and sensitive, and sin that we have passed by with little thought, becomes exceeding sinful. {OHC 153.4} [OHC 153.5] God calls upon men to oppose the powers of evil. He says: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." Romans 6:13, 14. . . . {OHC 153.5} [OHC 153.6] In this conflict of righteousness against unrighteousness, we can be successful only by divine aid. Our finite will must be brought into submission to the will of the Infinite; the human will must be blended with the divine. This will bring the Holy Spirit to our aid; and every conquest will tend to the recovery of God's purchased possession, to the restoration of His image in the soul. {OHC 153.6} [OHC 154.1] Chap. 148 - Revealer of Christ's Grace Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that he shall speak: and he will shew you things to come. John 16:13. {OHC 154.1} [OHC 154.2] Of the Comforter it is written, "He will guide you into all truth. . . ." Through the Holy Spirit, Christ will open more clearly to those who believe on Him that which He has inspired holy men to write concerning the truth. {OHC 154.2} [OHC 154.3] Christ said of the Spirit, "He shall glorify me." John 16:14. As Christ glorified the Father by the demonstration of His love, so the Spirit was to glorify Christ by revealing to the world the riches of His grace. The very image of God is to be reproduced in humanity. The honor of God, the honor of Christ, is involved in the perfection of the character of His people. . . . {OHC 154.3} [OHC 154.4] The Spirit works in us by bringing to mind, vividly and often, the precious truths of the plan of redemption. We should forget these truths, and for us God's rich promises would lose their efficiency, were it not for the Spirit, who takes of the things of God, and shows them to us. . . . The Spirit illumines our darkness, informs our ignorance, and helps us in our manifold necessities. But the mind must be constantly going out after God. If worldliness is allowed to come in, if we have no desire to pray, no desire to commune with Him who is the source of strength and wisdom, the Spirit will not abide with us. Those who are unbelieving do not receive the rich endowment of grace that would make them wise unto salvation, patient, forbearing, quick to perceive and appreciate heavenly ministrations, quick to discern Satan's devices, and strong to resist sin. {OHC 154.4} [OHC 154.5] The religion of Christ means more than the forgiveness of sin; it means that sin is taken away, and that the vacuum is filled with the Spirit. It means that the mind is divinely illumined, that the heart is emptied of self, and filled with the presence of Christ. When this work is done for church members, the church will be a living, working church. {OHC 154.5} [OHC 155.1] Chap. 149 - The Time of the Spirit's Power But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8. {OHC 155.1} [OHC 155.2] We should pray as earnestly for the descent of the Holy Spirit as the disciples prayed on the day of Pentecost. If they needed it at that time, we need it more today. All manner of false doctrines, heresies, and deceptions are misleading the minds of men; and without the Spirit's aid, our efforts to present divine truth will be in vain. {OHC 155.2} [OHC 155.3] We are living in the time of the Holy Spirit's power. It is seeking to diffuse itself through the agency of humanity, thus increasing its influence in the world. For if any man drinks of the water of life, it will be in him "a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:14); and the blessing will not be confined to himself, but will be shared by others. . . . {OHC 155.3} [OHC 155.4] To reject the Holy Spirit, through whose power we conquer the forces of evil, is the sin that surpasses all others; for it cuts us off from the source of our power--from Christ and communion with Him. . . . {OHC 155.4} [OHC 155.5] The warfare between good and evil has not grown less fierce than it was in the days of the Saviour. The path to heaven is no smoother now than it was then. All our sins must be put away. Every darling indulgence that hinders our religious life must be cut off. The right eye or the right hand must be sacrificed, if it causes us to offend. Are we willing to renounce our own wisdom, and to receive the kingdom of heaven as a little child? Are we willing to part with our self-righteousness? Are we willing to sacrifice the approbation of men? The prize of eternal life is of infinite value. Are we willing to welcome the Holy Spirit's aid, and cooperate with it, putting forth efforts and making sacrifices proportionate to the value of the object to be obtained? {OHC 155.5} [OHC 155.6] The heart of man may be the abode of the Holy Spirit. The peace of Christ, which passeth understanding, may rest in your soul; and the transforming power of His grace may work in your life, and fit you for the courts of glory. {OHC 155.6} [OHC 156.1] Chap. 150 - Pledge of Our Acceptance And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Matthew 3:16, 17. {OHC 156.1} [OHC 156.2] What does this scene mean to us? How thoughtlessly we have read the account of the baptism of our Lord, not realizing that its significance was of the greatest importance to us, and that Christ was accepted of the Father in man's behalf. As Jesus bowed on the banks of Jordan and offered up His petition, humanity was presented to the Father by Him who had clothed His divinity with humanity. Jesus offered Himself to the Father in man's behalf, that those who had been separated from God through sin, might be brought back to God through the merits of the divine Petitioner. . . . {OHC 156.2} [OHC 156.3] The prayer of Christ in behalf of lost humanity cleaved its way through every shadow that Satan had cast between man and God, and left a clear channel of communication to the very throne of glory. . . . {OHC 156.3} [OHC 156.4] The voice of God was heard in answer to the petition of Christ, and this tells the sinner that his prayer will find a lodgment at the throne of the Father. The Holy Spirit will be given to those who seek for its power and grace, and will help our infirmities when we would have audience with God. Heaven is open to our petitions, and we are invited to come "boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16. {OHC 156.4} [OHC 156.5] With all our sins and weakness we are not cast aside as worthless. "He hath made us accepted in the beloved." Ephesians 1:6. The glory that rested upon Christ is a pledge of the love of God for us. It tells of the power of prayer--how the human voice may reach the ear of God, and our petitions find acceptance in the courts of heaven. The light that fell from the open portals upon the head of our Saviour, will fall upon us as we pray for help to resist temptation. The voice that spoke to Jesus says to every believing soul, "This is my beloved child, in whom I am well pleased." {OHC 156.5} [OHC 157.1] Chap. 151 - Three Mighty Helpers Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 6:4. {OHC 157.1} [OHC 157.2] Jesus was our example in all things that pertain to life and godliness. He was baptized in Jordan, just as those who come to Him must be baptized. {OHC 157.2} [OHC 157.3] Christ made baptism the entrance to His spiritual kingdom. . . . Those who receive the ordinance of baptism thereby make a public declaration that they have renounced the world, and have become members of the royal family. . . . Those who do this are to make all worldly considerations secondary to their new relations. Publicly they have declared that they will no longer live in pride and self-indulgence. . . . They are bound by a solemn covenant to live to the Lord. They are to use for Him all their entrusted capabilities. {OHC 157.3} [OHC 157.4] When we submit to the solemn rite of baptism, we testify to angels and to men that we are purged from our old sins, and that henceforth, having died to the world, we will "seek those things which are above. . . ." (Colossians 3:1). Let us not forget our baptismal vow. In the presence of the three highest powers of heaven--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit--we have pledged ourselves to do the will of Him who . . . declared, "I am the resurrection, and the life.: John 11:25. Christ forgives every penitent sinner, and as the forgiven one, at the time of baptism, rises from the watery grave, he is declared a new creature, whose life is hid with Christ in God. Let us ever remember that it is our high privilege to be purged from our old sins. {OHC 157.4} [OHC 157.5] When the Christian takes his baptismal vow, divine help is pledged to him. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit stand ready to work in his behalf. God places at his command the resources of heaven, that he may be an overcomer. His own power is small; but God is omnipotent, and God is his helper. Daily he is to make known his wants at the throne of grace. By faith and trust, by availing himself of the resources provided, he can be more than a conqueror. {OHC 157.5} [OHC 158.1] Chap. 152 - Summertime with God For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. Song of Solomon 2:11, 12. {OHC 158.1} [OHC 158.2] This lovely morning all nature appears fresh and beautiful. Earth has put on her summer robes of green and is smiling in almost Edenic loveliness. {OHC 158.2} [OHC 158.3] I think our enjoyment of the summertime is heightened by the memory of the long, cold months of winter; and on the other hand, the hope of summer helps us to endure more cheerfully the winter's reign. If we were to permit our minds to dwell upon the barrenness and desolation with which the ice king surrounds us, we might be very unhappy; but, being wiser than this, we look forward in anticipation to the coming springtime, which is to bring back the birds, awaken the sleeping flowers, clothe the earth in her robes of green, and fill the air with light and fragrance and song. {OHC 158.3} [OHC 158.4] The Christian's sojourn in this world may be fitly compared to the long, cold winter. Here we experience trials, sorrows and disappointments, but we should not permit our minds to dwell upon these. Let us rather look forward with hope and faith to the coming summer when we shall be welcomed to our Eden home, where all is light and joy, where all is peace and love. {OHC 158.4} [OHC 158.5] Had the Christian never experienced the storms of affliction in this world, had his heart never been chilled by disappointment or oppressed by fear, he would scarcely know how to appreciate heaven. We will not be despondent, though often weary, sad, and heartsick; the winter will not always last. The summer of peace, joy, and eternal gladness soon will come. Then Christ will dwell with us and will lead us to fountains of living waters, and will wipe all tears from our eyes. {OHC 158.5} [OHC 158.6] Let nothing . . . hinder you from making thorough work for eternity. . . . There will be no chilling winds, no wintry colds, but an eternal summer. There is light for the intellect, love that is abiding, sincere. There will be health and immortality, vigor for every faculty. There will be shut out forever every sorrow and every grief. {OHC 158.6} [OHC 159.1] Chap. 153 - The Sign of the New Heart A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26. {OHC 159.1} [OHC 159.2] One of the most earnest prayers recorded in the Word of God is that of David when he pleaded, "Create in me a clean heart, O God." Psalm 51:10. God's response to such a prayer is, A new heart will I give you. This is a work that no finite man can do. Men and women are to begin at the beginning, seeking God most earnestly for a true Christian experience. They are to feel the creative power of the Holy Spirit. They are to receive the new heart, that is kept soft and tender by the grace of heaven. The selfish spirit is to be cleansed from the soul. They are to labor earnestly and with humility of heart, each one looking to Jesus for guidance and encouragement. Then the building, fitly framed together, will grow into a holy temple in the Lord. {OHC 159.2} [OHC 159.3] The youth especially stumble over this phrase, "a new heart." They do not know what it means. They look for a special change to take place in their feelings. This they term conversion. Over this error thousands have stumbled to ruin, not understanding the expression, "Ye must be born again." John 3:7. {OHC 159.3} [OHC 159.4] Satan leads people to think that because they have felt a rapture of feeling, they are converted. But their experience does not change. Their actions are the same as before. Their lives show no good fruit. They pray often and long, and are constantly referring to the feelings they had at such and such a time. But they do not live the new life. They are deceived. Their experience goes no deeper than feeling. They build upon the sand, and when adverse winds come, their house is swept away. . . . {OHC 159.4} [OHC 159.5] When Jesus speaks of the new heart, He means the mind, the life, the whole being. To have a change of heart is to withdraw the affections from the world, and fasten them upon Christ. To have a new heart is to have a new mind, new purposes, new motives. What is the sign of a new heart?--A changed life. {OHC 159.5} [OHC 160.1] Chap. 154 - Beware of the Hard Heart For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness. Psalm 95:7, 8. {OHC 160.1} [OHC 160.2] No man can even once devote his God-given powers to the service of worldliness or pride without placing himself on the enemy's ground. . . . Every repetition of the sin weakens his power of resistance, blinds his eyes, and stifles conviction. . . . {OHC 160.2} [OHC 160.3] The Lord sends us warning, counsel, and reproof, that we may have opportunity to correct our errors before they become second nature. But if we refuse to be corrected, God does not interfere to counteract the tendencies of our own course of action. He works no miracle that the seed sown may not spring up and bear fruit. That man who manifests an infidel hardihood or a stolid indifference to divine truth, is but reaping the harvest which he has himself sown. Such has been the experience of many. They listen with stoical indifference to the truths which once stirred their very souls. They sowed neglect, indifference, and resistance to the truth; and such is the harvest which they reap. The coldness of ice, the hardness of iron, the impenetrable, unimpressible nature of rock--all these find a counterpart in the character of many a professed Christian. It was thus that the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh. God spoke to the Egyptian king by the mouth of Moses, giving him the most striking evidences of divine power; but the monarch stubbornly refused the light which would have brought him to repentance. God did not send a supernatural power to harden the heart of the rebellious king, but as Pharaoh resisted the truth, the Holy Spirit was withdrawn, and he was left to the darkness and unbelief which he had chosen. By persistent rejection of the Spirit's influence, men cut themselves off from God. He has in reserve no more potent agency to enlighten their minds. No revelation of His will can reach them in their unbelief. {OHC 160.3} [OHC 160.4] Unbending principle will mark the course of those who sit at the feet of Jesus and learn of Him. {OHC 160.4} [OHC 161.1] Chap. 155 - The Work of Heart-Keeping Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23. {OHC 161.1} [OHC 161.2] Diligent heart-keeping is essential to a healthy growth in grace. The heart in its natural state is a habitation for unholy thoughts and sinful passions. When brought into subjection to Christ, it must be cleansed by the Spirit from all defilement. This can not be done without the consent of the individual. {OHC 161.2} [OHC 161.3] When the soul has been cleansed, it is the duty of the Christian to keep it undefiled. Many seem to think that the religion of Christ does not call for the abandonment of daily sins, the breaking loose from habits which have held the soul in bondage. They renounce some things condemned by the conscience, but they fail to represent Christ in the daily life. They do not bring Christlikeness into the home. They do not show a thoughtful care in their choice of words. Too often, fretful, impatient words are spoken, words which stir the worst passions of the human heart. Such ones need the abiding presence of Christ in the soul. Only in His strength can they keep guard over the words and actions. {OHC 161.3} [OHC 161.4] In the work of heart-keeping we must be instant in prayer, unwearied in petitioning the throne of grace for assistance. Those who take the name of Christian should come to God in earnestness and humility, pleading for help. . . . The Christian cannot always be in the position of prayer, but his thoughts and desires can always be upward. {OHC 161.4} [OHC 161.5] To keep your heart in heaven will give vigor to all your graces and put life into all your duties. To discipline the mind to dwell upon heavenly things will put life and earnestness into all our endeavors. Our efforts are languid, and we run the Christian race slowly, and manifest indolence and sloth, because we so little value the heavenly prize. We are dwarfs in spiritual attainments. It is the privilege and duty of the Christian to be increasing in the knowledge of the Son of God, "unto a perfect man." {OHC 161.5} [OHC 162.1] Chap. 156 - Who Has Control of My Life? Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23, 24. {OHC 162.1} [OHC 162.2] God leads His people on, step by step. He brings them into positions which are calculated to reveal the motives of the heart. Some endure at one point, but fall off at the next. At every advance step the heart is tested, and tried a little closer. If any find their hearts opposed to the straight work of God, it should convince them that they have a work to do in overcoming, or they will be finally rejected of the Lord. {OHC 162.2} [OHC 162.3] This world is the place in which to prepare to appear in God's presence. Individuals will here show what power affects their hearts, and controls their actions. . . . If they prize anything higher than the truth, their hearts are not prepared to receive Jesus, and He is consequently shut out. If individuals, when tested, refuse to sacrifice their idols, . . . the Spirit of God will leave them with their sinful traits unsubdued, to the control of evil angels. {OHC 162.3} [OHC 162.4] Many who profess to be Christ's followers are unwilling to closely examine their own hearts, to see whether they have passed from death unto life. Some lean upon an old experience, seeming to think a mere profession of the truth will save them; but God's Word reveals the terrible fact that all such are cherishing a false hope. . . . {OHC 162.4} [OHC 162.5] Young and old, God is now testing you. You are now deciding your own eternal destiny. Pride, fashion, empty conversation, and selfishness are evils which, if fostered, will increase, and choke the good seed sown in your hearts. {OHC 162.5} [OHC 162.6] Let us, as Christ's followers, search our hearts as with a lighted candle to see what manner of spirit we are of. For our present and eternal good, let us criticize our actions, to see how they stand in the light of the law of God. {OHC 162.6} [OHC 162.7] We need those who will follow Christ fully, whose head, hands, ears, and every faculty and power are consecrated to Jesus. It is not purse power or brain power, but heart power we need. {OHC 162.7} [OHC 163.1] Chap. 157 - Soldiers on Life's Battlefield Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12. {OHC 163.1} [OHC 163.2] When souls are converted, their salvation is not yet accomplished. They then have the race to run; the arduous struggle is before them to "fight the good fight of faith." . . . The battle is lifelong, and must be carried forward with determined energy proportionate to the value of the object you are in pursuit of, which is eternal life. . . . {OHC 163.2} [OHC 163.3] Satan is ever seeking to destroy; he is casting his hellish shadow between our souls and the light of the Sun of Righteousness. When you talk doubts, and distrust your heavenly Father's love, Satan comes in and deepens the impression, and that which is shadowed is made the blackness of despair. Now, your only hope is to cease talking darkness. In dwelling on the dark side, you cast away your confidence in God, and this is just what Satan wants you to do. He wants to sift you as wheat; but Jesus is making intercession for you; His love is broad and deep. Perhaps you will say, "How do you know He loves me?" I look where you may look, to the cross of Calvary. That blood shed upon the cross cleanseth from all sin. . . . {OHC 163.3} [OHC 163.4] We are daily working out our destiny. We have a crown of eternal life to win, a hell to shun. We certainly cannot save ourselves, and we know that Christ wants us to be saved. He gave His own life that He might pay the ransom for our souls. When He has made this infinite sacrifice, He does not regard us with indifference. . . . {OHC 163.4} [OHC 163.5] We want to cling to the Way, the Truth, and the Life. . . . We have a living Saviour, a living Intercessor, one who will help us in every time of need. When tempted to go into the dark cave of doubt and despair, sing, "Arise, my soul, arise! Shake off thy guilty fears; The bleeding Sacrifice in thy behalf appears; Before the throne my Surety stands; My name is written in His hands." {OHC 163.5} [OHC 164.1] Chap. 158 - The Court of Holy Life But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. 1 Peter 2:9. {OHC 164.1} [OHC 164.2] The church of Christ on earth is amid the moral darkness of a disloyal world, which is trampling upon the law of Jehovah. But their Redeemer, who has purchased their ransom with the price of His own precious blood, has made every provision that His church shall be a transformed body, illumined with Light of the world, possessing the glory of Emmanuel. The bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, shining through His church, will gather into His fold every lost, straying sheep who will come unto Him and find refuge in Him. They will find peace and light and joy in Him who is peace and righteousness forever. {OHC 164.2} [OHC 164.3] The members of the church should individually keep the light of God's love burning brightly in their own souls, that it may also shine forth to others. We have too much at stake to allow spiritual lethargy to creep over us. Let us beware of indulging a disrelish for religious services and religious duties. Let us resolutely battle against that sluggishness of soul which is so fatal to the growth and even the life of the Christian. That church will be healthy and prosperous whose members are putting forth active, personal effort to do good to others, to save souls. This will be a constant incentive to every good work. Such Christians will labor with greater earnestness to secure their own salvation. The dormant energies will be aroused, the whole soul inspired with an unconquerable determination to win the Saviour's plaudit of "Well done," and to wear the victor's crown. {OHC 164.3} [OHC 164.4] Christ makes His church a beautiful temple for God. "Where two or three are gathered together in my name," He declared, "there am I in the midst of them," Matthew 18:20. His church is the court of holy life, filled with varied gifts, and endowed with the Holy Spirit. Appropriate duties are assigned by Heaven to each member of the church on earth, and all are to find their happiness in the happiness of those whom they help and bless. {OHC 164.4} [OHC 165.1] Chap. 159 - In the Workshop of God Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5. {OHC 165.1} [OHC 165.2] The Jewish temple was built of hewn stones quarried out of the mountains; and every stone was fitted for its place in the Temple, hewn, polished, and tested, before it was brought to Jerusalem. And when all were brought to the ground, the building went together without the sound of ax or hammer. This building represents God's spiritual temple, which is composed of material gathered out of every nation, and tongue, and people, of all grades, high and low, rich and poor, learned and unlearned. These are not dead substances, to be fitted by hammer and chisel. They are living stones, quarried out from the world by the truth; and the great Master Builder, the Lord of the temple, is now hewing and polishing them, and fitting them for their respective places in the spiritual temple. When completed, this temple will be perfect in all its parts, the admiration of angels and of men; for its Builder and Maker is God. {OHC 165.2} [OHC 165.3] The care shown in the building of the temple is a lesson to us regarding the care that we are to show in our character building. No cheap material was to be used. No haphazard work was to be done in matching the different parts. Piece must fit piece perfectly. Just as God's temple was, so must His church be. Into their character building His people are to bring no worthless timbers, no careless, indifferent work. {OHC 165.3} [OHC 165.4] Now we are in the workshop of God, and the process is going on in these hours of probation to fit us for the glorious temple. We cannot now be indifferent, and negligent, and careless, and refuse to depart from sin, . . . and expect to become pure and holy and fashioned in character after the similitude of a palace. . . . Now is the day of preparation; now is the time when we can have our defects removed. {OHC 165.4} [OHC 165.5] A stone that does not shine is worthless. That which constitutes the value of our churches is not dead, lusterless stones, but living stones, stones that catch the bright beams from the Chief Cornerstone, even the Sun of Righteousness. {OHC 165.5} [OHC 166.1] Chap. 160 - The Blessings of Christian Fellowship Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. Hebrews 10:25. {OHC 166.1} [OHC 166.2] Those who are of the household of faith should never neglect the assembling of themselves together; for this is God's appointed means of leading His children into unity, in order that in Christian love and fellowship they may help, strengthen, and encourage one another. . . . {OHC 166.2} [OHC 166.3] As brethren of our Lord, we are called with a holy calling to a holy, happy life. Having entered the narrow path of obedience, let us refresh our minds by communion with one another and with God. As we see the day of God approaching, let us meet often to study His Word and to exhort one another to be faithful unto the end. These earthly assemblies are God's appointed means by which we have opportunity to speak with one another and to gather all the help possible to prepare, in the right way, to receive in the heavenly assemblies the fulfillment of the pledges of our inheritance. {OHC 166.3} [OHC 166.4] Remember that in every assembly you meet with Christ, the Master of assemblies. Encourage a personal interest in one another; for it is not enough simply to know men. We must know men in Christ Jesus. We are enjoined to "consider one another." This is the keynote of the gospel. The keynote of the world is self. {OHC 166.4} [OHC 166.5] I would encourage those who assemble in little companies to worship God. Brethren and sisters, be not disheartened because you are so few in number. The tree that stands alone upon the plain, strikes its roots deeper into the earth, spreads out its branches farther on every side, and grows stronger and more symmetrical while wrestling singly with the tempest of rejoicing in the sunshine. So the Christian, cut off from earthly dependence, may learn to rely wholly upon God, and may gain strength and courage from every conflict. {OHC 166.5} [OHC 166.6] May the Lord bless the scattered and lonely ones, and make them efficient workers for Him. {OHC 166.6} [OHC 167.1] Chap. 161 - One with the Church Above For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. Ephesians 3:14, 15. {OHC 167.1} [OHC 167.2] The church of God upon the earth is one with the church of God above. Believers on the earth, and those who have never fallen in heaven, are one church. Every heavenly intelligence is interested in the assemblies of the saints, who on earth meet to worship God in spirit and truth, and in the beauty of holiness. In the inner court of heaven they listen to the testimonies of the witnesses for Christ in the outer court on earth, and the praise and thanksgiving that comes from the church below, is taken up in the heavenly anthem, and praise and rejoicing resounds through the heavenly court because Christ has not died in vain for the fallen sons of Adam. While angels drink from the fountainhead, the saints on earth drink of the pure streams flowing from the throne of God, making glad the city of God. . . . {OHC 167.2} [OHC 167.3] In every assembly of the saints below, are the angels of God listening to the thanksgiving, the praise, the supplication, that is offered by the people of God in testimonies, songs, and prayers. Let them remember that their praises are supplemented by the choirs of the angelic host above. . . . {OHC 167.3} [OHC 167.4] The company of believers may be few in number, but they have been taken by the cleaver of truth as rough stones from the quarry of the world . . . to be fitted up by test and trial for a place in God's heavenly temple, and they are very precious in the sight of the Lord. . . . Even in the rough they are precious in the sight of God. The ax and the hammer and the chisel of trial and test are in the hands of One who is skillful, and are used not to destroy, not to bring to nothingness, but to work out the perfections of every soul. . . . {OHC 167.4} [OHC 167.5] The Lord will no more cast off the humblest, lowliest believer in Jesus, than He will demolish His throne. We are accepted in the Beloved. We are members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. {OHC 167.5} [OHC 168.1] Chap. 162 - Most Precious of All Meetings Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. Malachi 3:16. {OHC 168.1} [OHC 168.2] What a hope-inspiring picture is this, where the Lord is represented as bending down and hearkening to the testimonies borne by His witnesses! . . . {OHC 168.2} [OHC 168.3] The words to which God and the angels listen with delight are words of appreciation for the great gift that has been made to the world in the only-begotten Son of God. Every word of praise for the blessing of the light of truth . . . is written in the heavenly records. Every word that acknowledges the merciful kindness of our heavenly Father in giving Jesus to take away our sins, and to impute to us His righteousness, is recorded in the book of His remembrance. Testimonies of this kind "shew forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light." 1 Peter 2:9. . . . {OHC 168.3} [OHC 168.4] The time and season are very precious. The assembled believers are in the audience chamber of the universe of heaven. They are to witness for God and the Lord Jesus Christ who gave His life for the world. . . . What deep and grave importance is attached to these little assemblies! Jesus Christ has paid the ransom money of His own blood for their souls, and He is in the midst of them when they meet to worship God. The Majesty of heaven identifies His interests with those of the believers, however humble may be their circumstances. And wherever they are privileged to meet together, it is appropriate that they speak often one to another, giving utterance to the gratitude and love that results from thinking upon the name of the Lord. Thus shall God be glorified as He hearkens and hears, and the testimony meeting will be considered the most precious of all meetings. . . . {OHC 168.4} [OHC 168.5] Let all remember that . . . angels are recording in the book of remembrance every word that vindicates the character and mission of Christ. Of those who testify of the love of God, the Lord says, "They shall be mine, . . . in that day when I make up my jewels." Malachi 3:17. {OHC 168.5} [OHC 169.1] Chap. 163 - Unity in Diversity There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; . . . one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Ephesians 4:4-7. {OHC 169.1} [OHC 169.2] Unity in diversity is God's plan. Among the followers of Christ there is to be the blending of diverse elements, one adapted to the other, and each to do its special work for God. Every individual has his place in the filling up of one great plan bearing the stamp of Christ's image. . . . One is fitted to do a certain work, another has a different work for which he is adapted, another has a still different line; but each is to be the complement of the others. . . . The Spirit of God, working in and through the diverse elements, will produce harmony of action. . . . There is to be only one master spirit--the Spirit of Him who is infinite in wisdom, and in whom all the diverse elements meet in beautiful, matchless unity. . . . {OHC 169.2} [OHC 169.3] Differences of character exist by nature, but our unity depends upon the degree in which we yield to the transforming influence of the Spirit of God. Through the grace of Christ, some persons possess precious traits of character, a kindly and genial disposition; their very rebukes are imbued with tenderness, for the Spirit of Christ seems manifest in them. . . . The power of His grace will mold and fashion character according to the divine Model, renewing it in softness and beauty, in conformity to His own blessed image. . . . {OHC 169.3} [OHC 169.4] How great the diversity manifested in the natural world! Every object has its peculiar sphere of action; yet all are found to be linked together in the great whole. Christ Jesus is in union with the Father, and from the great center this wonderful unity is to extend . . . through all classes and diversities of talents. We are all to respect one another's talent; we are to harmonize in goodness, in unselfish thoughts and actions, because the Spirit of Christ, as the living, working agency, is circulating through the whole. . . . It is not striking actions that produce unity; it is the mold of the Holy Spirit upon the character. {OHC 169.4} [OHC 170.1] Chap. 164 - United in Christ That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. John 17:21. {OHC 170.1} [OHC 170.2] The solemn, earnest prayer of Christ . . . . reaches down along the line to our time. What a position is this for fallen man to attain through obedience--oneness with God through Jesus Christ! To what heights we are permitted to rise if we will have respect unto the recompense of the reward! We are to receive power from God that human nature, under the divine working, may not always be perverted and not always be under the depraving, corrupting influence of sin. Human nature, through Jesus Christ, becomes allied to angels--yes, even to the great God. {OHC 170.2} [OHC 170.3] Those who are truly connected with God will not be at variance with one another. . . . His Spirit ruling in their hearts will create harmony, love, and unity. The opposite of this works in the children of Satan; there is with them a continual contradiction. Strife and envy and jealousy are the ruling elements. The characteristic of the Christian is the meekness of Christ. Benevolence, kindness, mercy, and love originate from Infinite Wisdom, while the opposite is the unholy fruit of a heart that is not in harmony with Jesus Christ. . . .In union there is strength. In division there is weakness and defeat. {OHC 170.3} [OHC 170.4] The most convincing argument we can give to the world of Christ's mission is to be found in perfect unity. . . .In proportion to our unity with Christ will be our power to save souls. {OHC 170.4} [OHC 170.5] If we reach the standard of perfection, our peculiar traits of disposition must be molded in harmony with Christ's will. Then we shall sit together in heavenly places in Christ. Brethren will work together, without a thought of collision. Little differences, dwelt upon, lead to actions that destroy Christian fellowship. . . . Let us keep drawing near to God, and He will draw near to us. Then, as one, we shall reach upward to Him. The churches will be as gardens of the Lord, under His cultivation. God's people will be trees of righteousness, planted by the Lord, and watered with the river of life. {OHC 170.5} [OHC 171.1] Chap. 165 - One Great Brotherhood Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 1 Corinthians 1:10. {OHC 171.1} [OHC 171.2] We have one Lord, one faith, one baptism. The gospel of Christ is to reach all classes, all nations, all tongues and people. The influence of the gospel is to unite in one great brotherhood. We have only one Model that we are to imitate in character building, and then we all shall have Christ's mold; we shall be in perfect harmony; nationalities will blend in Jesus Christ, having the same mind, and the same judgment, speaking the same things, and with one mouth glorifying God. This is the work the world's Redeemer is to do for us. If we accept the truth as it is in Jesus, national prejudices and jealousies will be broken down, and the Spirit of truth will blend hearts in one. We will love as brethren; we will esteem others better than ourselves; we will be kind and courteous, meek and lowly, easy to be entreated; full of mercy and good fruits. . . . {OHC 171.2} [OHC 171.3] God knows just how to meet the peculiarities of different nationalities. . . . The third angel's message . . . is to unite the people to do a special work, preparing them with perfection of character to unite in one great family in the mansions Christ has gone to prepare for those who love Him. . . . {OHC 171.3} [OHC 171.4] The truth is all powerful and far reaching. It will unite nationalities in one great brotherhood. . . . Christ in men unites them on one grand platform, preparing for the uniting in one family in heaven. It is the truth that makes men one and removes national prejudice. . . . {OHC 171.4} [OHC 171.5] The truth will have the same molding influence upon hearts whatever the nationalities. Every human heart that accepts the truth will bow to the majesty of its sway, and when Christ is abiding in the heart by faith they will be of one mind, for Christ is not divided. They will be strong in His strength, happy and united in His peace. The truth is the same in its subduing power upon all hearts. It will refine and ennoble the heart of the receiver. {OHC 171.5} [OHC 172.1] Chap. 166 - Victory Over Every Foe By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left. 2 Corinthians 6:7. {OHC 172.1} [OHC 172.2] Through the ages of moral darkness, through centuries of strife and persecution, the church of Christ has been as a city set on a hill. From age to age, through successive generations to the present time, the pure doctrines of the Bible have been unfolding within her borders. The church of Christ, enfeebled and defective though she may appear, is the one object on earth on which He bestows in a special sense His love and regard. The church is the theater of His grace, in which He delights to make experiments of mercy on human hearts. {OHC 172.2} [OHC 172.3] The church is God's fortress, His city of refuge, which He holds in a revolted world. Any betrayal of her sacred trust is treachery to Him who has bought her with the precious blood of His only begotten Son. All down through the history of the world, faithful souls have constituted the church on earth. . . . {OHC 172.3} [OHC 172.4] Today, as in the past, all heaven is watching to see the church develop in the true science of salvation. . . . Christ calls upon us to enter the narrow pathway, where every step means a denial of self. He calls upon us to stand upon the platform of eternal truth, and contend, yes, contend earnestly, for the faith once delivered to the saints. . . . {OHC 172.4} [OHC 172.5] As we near the time . . . when Satan's deceptive power will be so great that, if it were possible, he would deceive the very elect, our discernment must be sharpened by divine enlightenment, that we may not be ignorant of Satan's devices. The whole treasury of heaven is at our command in the work of preparing the way of the Lord. {OHC 172.5} [OHC 172.6] It is God's design that His church shall ever advance in purity and knowledge, from light to light, from glory to glory. {OHC 172.6} [OHC 172.7] Our hope is not in man, but in the living God. With full assurance of faith, we may expect that He will unite His omnipotence with the efforts of human instrumentalities, for the glory of His name. Clad with the armor of His righteousness, we may gain the victory over every foe. {OHC 172.7} [OHC 173.1] Chap. 167 - The Golden Chain of Love A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. John 13:34, 35. {OHC 173.1} [OHC 173.2] The love of Christ is a golden chain that binds finite, human beings who believe in Jesus Christ to the Infinite God. The love that the Lord has for His children passeth knowledge. No science can define or explain it. No human wisdom can fathom it. {OHC 173.2} [OHC 173.3] Selfishness and pride hinder the pure love that unites us in spirit with Jesus Christ. If this love is truly cultivated, finite will blend with finite, and all will center in the Infinite. Humanity will unite with humanity, and all will be bound up with the heart of Infinite Love. Sanctified love for one another is sacred. In this great work Christian love for one another--far higher, more constant, more courteous, more unselfish, than has been seen--preserves Christian tenderness, Christian benevolence, and politeness, and enfolds the human brotherhood in the embrace of God, acknowledging the dignity with which God has invested the rights of man. {OHC 173.3} [OHC 173.4] The golden chain of love, binding the hearts of the believers in unity, in bonds of fellowship and love, and in oneness with Christ and the Father, makes the connection perfect and bears to the world a testimony of the power of Christianity that cannot be controverted. . . . Then will selfishness be uprooted and unfaithfulness will not exist. There will not be strife and divisions. There will not be stubbornness in anyone who is bound up with Christ. Not one will act out the stubborn independence of the wayward, impulsive child who drops the hand that is leading him and chooses to stumble on alone and walk in his own ways. {OHC 173.4} [OHC 173.5] Love is a tender plant, and it must be cultivated and cherished, and the roots of bitterness all have to be plucked up around it in order for it to have room to circulate, and then it will bring in under its influence all the powers of the mind, all the heart, so that we shall love God supremely, and our neighbor as ourselves. {OHC 173.5} [OHC 174.1] Chap. 168 - Under the Yoke of Christ He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 1 John 2:10. {OHC 174.1} [OHC 174.2] Satan is seeking by his temptations to obtain advantage over souls. Let nothing that you may do or say prove a temptation or discouragement to any soul. Remember he is the purchase of the blood of Christ. Every soul is precious. Only as you look to the cross of Calvary can you place a right estimate upon the soul. How sad a thing it would be to have anything you may do or say balance a soul in the wrong direction. You are bound by cords of obligation to God and to your fellow man; you cannot break these cords and free yourself from these obligations. {OHC 174.2} [OHC 174.3] Do not be troubled by what other people think or say,...but cling to the Lord; He will never fail you.... We must ever bear in mind that Satan is working hard to secure every soul. We must work on the Lord's side, not giving the least occasion which anyone can take advantage of. ...If words are spoken and charges made to provoke you, the very best reproof you can give is to remain silent, as though you heard not.... We are all to remember that we are under the yoke of Christ, and we must not disgrace our Saviour or the yoke He has invited us to wear. We will just as surely rule our spirit as we wear the yoke. {OHC 174.3} [OHC 174.4] What others may do, what others may say, what others may think of you, will not change God's thoughts toward you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, and the opinion of man will not change his character.... Jesus loves you; and He takes no man's measurement of your character. You are to behold Jesus and reflect His image. Keep His love in your thoughts. Invite the heavenly Guest to abide with you.... {OHC 174.4} [OHC 174.5] Let your spirit be cleansed from all earthliness, all unholy, uncharitable thoughts. Let your words be clean, sanctified, vivifying and refreshing all with whom you associate. Be not easily provoked. Let the praise of God be in your hearts and upon your lips, that no evil thing may truthfully be said of you. {OHC 174.5} [OHC 175.1] Chap. 169 - The Outflow of Love Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 1 John 4:7. {OHC 175.1} [OHC 175.2] When the heavenly principle of eternal love fills the heart, it will flow out to others, not merely because favors are received of them, but because love is the principle of action, and modifies the character, governs the impulses, controls the passions, subdues enmity, and elevates the affections. This love is not contracted, so as merely to include "me and mine," but is as broad as the world and as high as heaven. It is in harmony with that of the angel workers. This love, cherished in the soul, sweetens the entire life, and sheds a refining influence on all around. Possessing it, we cannot but be happy, let fortune smile or frown. And if we love God with all the heart, we must love His children also. This love is the spirit of God. It is the heavenly adorning that gives true nobility and dignity to the soul. {OHC 175.2} [OHC 175.3] A soul filled with the love of Jesus lends to the words, the manners, the looks, hope, courage, and serenity.... It awakens a desire for a better life; souls ready to faint are strengthened; those struggling against temptation will be fortified and comforted. The words, the expression, the manners, throw out a bright ray of sunshine, and leave behind them a clear path toward heaven. . . . Every one of us has opportunities of helping others. We are constantly making impressions upon the youth about us. The expression of the countenance is itself a mirror of the life within. Jesus desires that we shall become like Himself, filled with tender sympathy, exerting a ministry of love in the small duties of life. . . . {OHC 175.3} [OHC 175.4] Our duty is to live in the atmosphere of Christ's love, to breathe His love deeply, and to reflect its warmth around us. Oh, what a sphere of influence is open before us! How carefully we should cultivate the garden of the soul, so that it may bring forth only pure, sweet, fragrant flowers! Words of love, tenderness, and charity sanctify our influence over others. {OHC 175.4} [OHC 176.1] Chap. 170 - The Silken Cord that Binds Hearts By love serve one another. Galatians 5:13. {OHC 176.1} [OHC 176.2] Love is the silken cord that binds hearts together. We are not to feel that we must set up ourselves as a pattern. As long as we think of ourselves and what is due to us from others it will be impossible for us to do our work of saving souls. When Christ takes possession of our hearts we shall no longer make the narrow circle of self the center of our thoughts and of our attentions. {OHC 176.2} [OHC 176.3] What a wonderful reverence for human life Jesus expressed in His life mission! He stood not among the people as a king, demanding attention, reverence, service, but as one who wished to serve, to uplift humanity. He said He had not come to be ministered unto but to minister. . . . Wherever Christ saw a human being, He saw one who needed human sympathy. Many of us are willing to serve particular ones--those whom we honor--but the very ones to whom Christ would make us a blessing if we were not so cold-hearted, so unkind and selfish, we pass by as unworthy of our notice.... {OHC 176.3} [OHC 176.4] The great lesson of forgiveness must be more perfectly learned by all of us.... The greatest wrong we can do to others is to be unforgiving if we think they injure us in any way. This is a most dangerous position for a professed Christian, because just in the manner in which he treats his brethren so will the Lord of heaven treat him. {OHC 176.4} [OHC 176.5] We need to have higher and more distinct views of the character of Christ.... We are not to think of God only as a judge and to forget Him as a loving Father. Nothing can do our souls greater harm than this, for our whole spiritual life is molded from our conceptions of God's character. We have lessons to learn of Jesus' love. {OHC 176.5} [OHC 176.6] "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour." Ephesians 5:1, 2. This is the height of the love we are required to reach. And the texture of this love is not tainted with selfishness. {OHC 176.6} [OHC 177.1] Chap. 171 - Help for the Erring One Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Galatians 6:1. {OHC 177.1} [OHC 177.2] Here is a special direction to deal tenderly with those overtaken in a fault. "Overtaken" must have its full significance.... To be led into sin unawares--not intending to sin, but to sin through want of watchfulness and prayer, not discerning the temptation of Satan and so falling into his snare--is very different from the one who plans and deliberately enters into temptation and plans out a course of sin.... {OHC 177.2} [OHC 177.3] More effective measures are needed to check the premeditated sin, but the apostle directs the treatment to be given to those who are overtaken or surprised or overcome by temptation.... Restore him in meekness, "considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." Faith and reproofs will be needed, and kindly counsel and supplications to God, to bring them to see their danger and sin. The original word is, set in joint, as a dislocated bone; therefore the efforts should be made to set them in joint, and bring them to themselves by convincing them of their sin and error. . . . There should be no triumphing in a brother's fall. But in meekness, in the fear of God, in love for their soul's sake, seek to save them from sin. {OHC 177.3} [OHC 177.4] When men have to swim against the stream, there is a weight of waves driving them back. Let a hand then be held out, as was the Elder Brother's hand to a sinking Peter. . . . Let the one who is supposed to have moved wrongly be given no occasion by his brother to become discouraged, but let him feel the strong clasp of a sympathizing hand; let him hear the whisper, "Let us pray." The Holy Spirit will give a rich experience to both. It is prayer that unites hearts. It is prayer to the Great Physician to heal the soul that will bring the blessing of God. Prayer unites us with one another and with God. Prayer brings Jesus to our side, and gives new strength and fresh grace to the fainting, perplexed soul to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. Prayer turns aside the attacks of Satan. {OHC 177.4} [OHC 178.1] Chap. 172 - One to a Hundred Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Matthew 18:21, 22. {OHC 178.1} [OHC 178.2] There is a great work before us. There are men and women straying from the fold of Christ, and as they become cold and indifferent, and lose all disposition to return, they will not run after you. You must take them where they are.... When you find a wandering sheep, call him to the fold; and leave him not until you see him safely enfolded there. ...Go out for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. {OHC 178.2} [OHC 178.3] If there is any point on which you have committed one wrong, although he may have committed one hundred, take that which you have done out of the way and open the way for him to come back again. Perhaps that was the very thing that was keeping a soul away. In your humility, confess your one wrong, and perhaps it may touch him and lead him with weeping to confess his hundred wrongs, and to take them out of the way. Thus a soul for whom Christ died will be saved. . . . {OHC 178.3} [OHC 178.4] You may say, I have tried to save this one and that one, and they have only wounded me, and I am not going to try to help them any more. But do not become discouraged if they do not at once return to the fold. Reach out still for your fellow mortals around you. You shall reap if you faint not. {OHC 178.4} [OHC 178.5] Press together. Do not make little wedges of slight differences of opinion, and drive them in to separate heart from heart, but see how you can love one another even as Christ has loved you. See how you can forgive those who trespass against you, even as you want your Father in heaven to forgive your trespasses. Then you can be definite in your requests; you can be bold in Christ; for Christ presents your requests to God with the heavenly credentials which are His own righteousness, and you can believe that Christ does hear, believe that He does bless, and say, "I am His, and He is mine." {OHC 178.5} [OHC 179.1] Chap. 173 - All Honor to the Peacemakers! Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9. {OHC 179.1} [OHC 179.2] Peacemakers! What a treasure is a peacemaker in the family; what a blessing in the church! Peacemakers may be tempted, but their life is hid with Christ in God. They look unto Jesus, copying His pattern. . . . They receive the peace which Christ gives. . . . {OHC 179.2} [OHC 179.3] The true nature of our religion is not found in the position we occupy, but in the gentle spirit, the kindness, the peace which we manifest. Our religion is made manifest in the home circle by the atmosphere surrounding the soul that brings happiness to the family.... {OHC 179.3} [OHC 179.4] True Christians will not ... speak in a cheap or fretting way. In the familiar circle of the home they will do services of love and Christian courtesy. These services may seem very commonplace, but the universe of heaven will be interested in the consistent walk of those who seek to benefit others. . . . {OHC 179.4} [OHC 179.5] It is not only our privilege but our duty to cultivate gentleness, to have the peace of Christ in the heart and as peacemakers and followers of Christ to sow precious seed that will produce a harvest unto eternal life. Professed followers of Christ may possess many good and useful qualities; but their characters are greatly marred by an unkind, fretful, faultfinding, harshly judging temper. The husband or the wife who cherishes suspicion and distrust creates dissension and strife in the home. Neither of them should keep his gentle words and smiles for strangers alone, and manifest irritability in the home, thus driving out peace and contentment.... {OHC 179.5} [OHC 179.6] It is practical Christlikeness alone that can make one a peacemaker in the home, in the church, in the neighborhood, and in the world. Home religion is practical sanctification.... The true quality of religion is gauged by the manner in which each member in the family does his duty to his associates. . . . Learn the precious lesson of being peacemakers in your home life. {OHC 179.6} [OHC 180.1] Chap. 174 - No Caste with God My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. James 2:1. {OHC 180.1} [OHC 180.2] The wrongs existing in the society of the world should never, never find sanction among Christians. . . . God demands that you open your hand wide to the needy, and have the tenderest compassion for those who are afflicted, or who are suffering from want. . . . {OHC 180.2} [OHC 180.3] If you have the spirit of Christ, you will love as brethren; you will honor the humble disciple in his poor home, because God loves him as much as He loves you, and it may be more. He recognizes no caste. He places His own signet upon men, not by their rank, not by their wealth, not by intellectual greatness, but by their oneness with Christ. It is purity of heart, singleness of purpose, that constitutes the true value of human beings.... All who are living in daily communion with Christ, will place His estimate upon men. They will reverence the good and pure, although these are poor in this world's goods. . . . Avarice, selfishness, and covetousness are idolatry, and are dishonoring to God. . . . Tenderness, compassion, and benevolence are enjoined upon Christians. {OHC 180.3} [OHC 180.4] We should study to copy the Pattern, that the Spirit that dwelt in Christ may dwell in us. The Saviour was not found among the exalted and honorable of the world. He did not spend His time among those who were seeking their ease and pleasure. He went about doing good. His work was to help those who needed help, to save the lost and perishing, to lift up the bowed down, to break the yoke of oppression from those who were in bondage, to heal the afflicted, and to speak words of sympathy and consolation to the distressed and sorrowing. We are required to copy this pattern. Let us be up and doing, seeking to bless the needy and comfort the distressed. The more we partake of the spirit of Christ, the more we shall see to do for our fellow men. We shall be filled with a love for perishing souls, and shall find our delight in following the footsteps of the Majesty of heaven. {OHC 180.4} [OHC 181.1] Chap. 175 - Root Out the Poisonous Plants Above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8. {OHC 181.1} [OHC 181.2] How close and tender should be the tie that binds us together! How careful we should be to have our words and actions in harmony with the sacred truths that God has committed to us! . . . {OHC 181.2} [OHC 181.3] Let your conversation be of such a nature that you will have no need to repent of it. . . . If a word is dropped that is detrimental to the character of a friend or brother, never encourage this evilspeaking; for it is the work of the enemy. Remind the speaker that God's Word forbids this kind of conversation. . . . The Redeemer has told us how we may reveal Him to the world. If we cherish His spirit, if we manifest His love toward others, if we guard one another's interests, if we are kind, patient, forbearing, the fruits we bear will give evidence to the world that we are God's children. . . . To build up one another in the most holy faith is a blessed work; to tear down is a work full of bitterness and sorrow. . . . {OHC 181.3} [OHC 181.4] We should seek to lighten one another's burdens by manifesting the love of Jesus to those around us. If our conversation were upon heaven and heavenly things, evilspeaking would soon cease to have any attraction for us. We would not then be placing our feet upon dangerous ground; nor would we enter into temptation, falling under the power of the evil one. {OHC 181.4} [OHC 181.5] Instead of finding fault with others, let us be critical with ourselves. Every one should inquire, Is my heart right before God? Am I glorifying my heavenly Father? If you have cherished a wrong spirit, banish it from the soul. Eradicate from your heart everything that is of a defiling nature. Pluck up every root of bitterness, lest others be contaminated by the baleful influence. Do not allow one poisonous plant to remain in the soil of your heart. Root it out this very hour, and cultivate in its stead the plant of love. Let Jesus be enshrined in the soul-temple. . . . "If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us." 1 John 4:12. {OHC 181.5} [OHC 182.1] Chap. 176 - Helping One Another As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:10. {OHC 182.1} [OHC 182.2] In the Lord's plan human beings have been made necessary to one another. If all would do their utmost to help those who need their help, their unselfish sympathy and love, what a blessed work might be done. To every one God has entrusted talents. These talents we are to use to help one another to walk in the narrow path. In this work each one is connected with the other, and all are united with Christ. It is by unselfish service that we improve and increase our talents. {OHC 182.2} [OHC 182.3] The members of the church of God on this earth are as the different parts of a machine, all closely related to one another, and all closely related to and dependent on one great center. There is to be unity in diversity. No member of the Lord's firm can work successfully in independence, detached from the others. . . . All are to use their entrusted capabilities in His service, that each may minister to the perfection of the whole. Each is to work under the supervision of God. {OHC 182.3} [OHC 182.4] By Christ's wonderful union of divinity with humanity, we are assured that even in this world we may be partakers of the divine nature. . . . Christ has pledged Himself to cooperate with those to whom He has entrusted talents. He has pledged Himself to train us to be His co-laborers. He will help us to follow His example, doing good and refusing to do evil. We are to be consecrated channels through whom the love of Christ flows to those in need of help. . . . {OHC 182.4} [OHC 182.5] Christ sends His light to those who keep the windows of the soul open heavenward. Under the Holy Spirit's influence, they work the works of God. He who approaches nearest to obedience to the divine law will be of the most service to God. He who follows Christ, reaching out after His goodness, His compassion, His love for the human family, will be accepted by God as a worker together with Him. Such a one will not be content to remain on a low level of spirituality. He will constantly reach higher and higher. {OHC 182.5} [OHC 183.1] Chap. 177 - The Grace of Sympathy We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Romans 15:1. {OHC 183.1} [OHC 183.2] What we all need is a more pure, Christlike sympathy; not sympathy for those who are perfect--they do not need it--but sympathy for poor, suffering, struggling souls who are often overtaken in fault, sinning and repenting, tempted and discouraged. The effect of grace is to soften and subdue the soul. Then all this cold unapproachableness is melted, subdued, and Christ appears. {OHC 183.2} [OHC 183.3] The love of God alone can open and expand the heart, and give to love and sympathy a breadth and height that is without measure. Those who love Jesus will love all the children of God. The sense of personal infirmities and imperfections will lead the human agent to look away from self to Christ; and the Saviour's love will break down every cold, Pharisaical barrier, it will banish all harshness and selfishness, and there will be a blending of soul with soul, even with those who are opposite in temperament. {OHC 183.3} [OHC 183.4] The goodness and forbearance of God, His self-sacrificing love to sinful men, must lead all who discern His grace to manifest the same, to give sympathy liberally to others. The wonderful example of the life of Christ, the matchless tenderness with which He entered into the feelings of the oppressed soul, weeping with those that wept, rejoicing with all that rejoiced in His love, must have a deep influence upon the character of all who love God and keep His commandments. {OHC 183.4} [OHC 183.5] They will give sympathy, not grudgingly but liberally; by kindly words and acts they will try to make the path just as easy for weary feet as they desire the path to be made for their feet. As we receive daily and hourly the blessing of God, we can do no less to show our gratitude than to have a kindly, unselfish interest in those for whom Christ has died. Have we blessings? Yes, we have. Well, Christ says, Pass them along to others, not to a favored few, but to all with whom we come in contact. We must give grace for grace. {OHC 183.5} [OHC 184.1] Chap. 178 - "Who is My Neighbour?" Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another. Romans 12:10. {OHC 184.1} [OHC 184.2] A Christian life will be revealed by Christian thoughts, Christian words, and Christian deportment. In Christ there is a divine completeness of character. In Christ we will work the works of Christ. We shall in Christ sense our binding, far-reaching obligations to God and to our fellow man. . . . There are many cords which unite us to our fellow men, to humanity, and to God, and this relationship is solemn with its weight of responsibility. {OHC 184.2} [OHC 184.3] As long as we are in this world, we must be linked one with another. Humanity is interlaced and interwoven with humanity. As Christians we are members one of another. . . . The Lord designs us as His sons and daughters, whom He calls His friends, to help one another. This is to be a part of our practical Christian work. {OHC 184.3} [OHC 184.4] "Who is my neighbour?" . . . He is the very one who needs help the most. Thy brother, sick in spirit, needs you as you needed him. He needs the experience of one who has been as weak as himself, who can sympathize with and help him. The very knowledge of his own weakness helps that one to help another in his weakness. {OHC 184.4} [OHC 184.5] Let it not be that the sympathetic cords, which should be quick to vibrate at the least touch, shall be cold as steel, frozen, as it were, and unable to help where help is needed. {OHC 184.5} [OHC 184.6] Seek to help, to strengthen, to bless those with whom you are associated. The Lord will be merciful to those who are merciful. The Lord will be tender and pitiful to those who exercise tenderness and compassion and pity for others. We must realize that we are in Christ's school, not to learn how we may esteem ourselves, how we shall conduct ourselves so as to receive honor of men, but how we may cherish the meekness of Christ. Self and selfishness will be ever striving for the mastery. It is a fight we must have with ourselves, that self shall not have the victory. Through Christ you may triumph; through Christ you may conquer. {OHC 184.6} [OHC 185.1] Chap. 179 - In the Footsteps of Jesus Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Hebrews 12:12, 13. {OHC 185.1} [OHC 185.2] The efficiency of Satan's kingdom is found in the blending together of satanic forces to extend the contagion of evil; but the Lord Jesus has devised a plan whereby He may work counter to the work of Satan. He designs to imbue His human agents, the subjects of His kingdom, with the principles of love and unity. With sanctified heart they are to build one another up and strengthen and extend that which is good. Reciprocating Christ's love, they are to deal in the goods of heaven. His church is to bear His superscription, and thus testify to the world that God has sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world. . . . Love is to be interwoven as threads of gold in all their actions. {OHC 185.2} [OHC 185.3] Every Christian who is happy in the Lord will work zealously to bring the same happiness into the heart and life of one who is in need and affliction. Followers of Christ will produce their own happiness in the hearts of others by performing Christlike works. They will diffuse an atmosphere which is pure, peaceful, and Christlike. They will act out heavenly attributes, and will produce fruit after the heavenly kind and quality. That which they sow they shall also reap. {OHC 185.3} [OHC 185.4] It is essential that every soul that names the name of Christ should make straight paths for his feet. Why? Lest the lame be turned out of the way. It is a terrible, terrible thing to give a soul a wrong example, and to lead him in a crooked course by the way in which you may walk. . . . Whatever you may see others doing that your judgment convicts you as being unseemly for a Christian, see to it that you never do the same things yourself. . . . Just as long as you will follow in the footsteps of Jesus, you will walk securely. . . . {OHC 185.4} [OHC 185.5] We must look on the faults of others not to condemn, but to restore and heal. Watch unto prayer, go forward and upward, catching more and more of the spirit of Jesus, and sowing the same beside all waters. {OHC 185.5} [OHC 186.1] Chap. 180 - Joy in Humble Service Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Acts 9:6. {OHC 186.1} [OHC 186.2] It matters not what our position may be or how limited our capacities, we have a work to do for the Master. Our graces are developed and matured by exercise. With the truth of God burning in the soul we cannot be idle. The happiness we shall experience in doing will compensate even in this life for every effort. Those only who have experienced happiness resulting from self-denying effort in the service of Christ can speak of the matter understandingly. It is indeed joy so pure, so deep, that language cannot express it. ". . . Through life's transient day There is a special work marked out for you; It may be of the lowliest kind, it may Be such as shall the loftiest powers display. But none besides yourself your work can do. 'What wilt Thou have me do?' With single eye To your Redeemer's glory, work for Him; Illumined every moment from on high, Strive in each action God to glorify, Nor let one thought of self life's radiance dim." . . . {OHC 186.2} [OHC 186.3] We may have Christ with us while engaged in our daily avocations. Wherever we are, in whatever we are engaged, we may be indeed elevated because we are united to Christ. We may take up our humble life duties ennobled by and sanctified through the assurance of the love of God. Working from principle in the humblest calling invests it with dignity. The consciousness that we are indeed the servants of Christ will give a higher tone of character to our everyday duties--ever cheerful, patient, forbearing, and gentle. . . . {OHC 186.3} [OHC 186.4] If you are seen to be firm in principle, fearless in duty, zealous in seeking to exemplify Christ in your daily work, yet humble, lowly, gentle and tender, patient and forgiving, ready to suffer and to forgive injuries, you will be a living epistle known and read of all men. {OHC 186.4} [OHC 187.1] Chap. 181 - The Precious Treasure of Time The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Romans 13:12. {OHC 187.1} [OHC 187.2] If we would at last share the reward of the righteous, we must wisely improve the time of our probation. Moments are more precious than gold. . . . {OHC 187.2} [OHC 187.3] The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. We have but a little time in which to make ready. If precious opportunities are slighted, it will result in eternal loss. We need a close connection with God. We are not safe a moment unless guided and controlled by the Holy Spirit. . . . {OHC 187.3} [OHC 187.4] The months . . . are swiftly passing. Soon this year, with its burden of records, will be numbered with the past. Let the precious months remaining be devoted to earnest soul labor for our Master. Could we behold a faithful record of the manner in which we have spent the months already past, would the view be satisfactory? Deduct every action which would benefit no one, . . . and how little remains of willing service, performed for the glory of God! Is not the record alarming? How many precious hours have been squandered in selfish gratification! How often, to please ourselves, have we neglected opportunities to work for Christ! . . . {OHC 187.4} [OHC 187.5] Life, with its marvelous privileges and opportunities, will soon be ended. The time for improvement in character will be past. Unless our sins are now repented of, and blotted out by the blood of the Lamb, they will stand in the ledger of heaven to confront us in the coming day. . . . {OHC 187.5} [OHC 187.6] Life is short. The things of the world must perish with the using. Let us be wise, and build for eternity. We cannot afford to idle away our precious moments, or engage in busy activities that will bring forth no fruit for eternity. Let the time hitherto devoted to idleness, frivolity, worldliness, be spent in gaining a knowledge of the Scriptures, in beautifying our life, and blessing and ennobling the life and character of others. This work will meet the approval of God, and win for us the heavenly benediction of "Well done." {OHC 187.6} [OHC 188.1] Chap. 182 - More, More, More! Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver. Proverbs 8:18, 19. {OHC 188.1} [OHC 188.2] The covetous man becomes more covetous as he draws near his death. The man who all through his life is accumulating earthly treasure, cannot readily withdraw himself from his accustomed pursuits. Shall not he who is seeking a heavenly treasure become more earnest, more zealous, and more intensely interested in seeking the treasure which is above? Shall he not covet the best and most enduring substance? Shall he not seek the crown of glory that is imperishable, the riches which moth and rust doth not corrupt, nor thieves break through and steal? The more ardent his hopes, the more strenuous are his efforts and the more determined he is not to fail of the immortal treasure. . . . His business on the earth is to secure eternal riches. He cannot, will not, consent, after tasting of the heavenly gifts of God, to be a pauper, left in destitution for eternity. The soul passion is more, more. This is the real want of the soul. We want more of the divine grace, more enlightenment, more faith. . . . {OHC 188.2} [OHC 188.3] Oh, if all the misdirected energies were devoted to the one great object--the rich provisions of the grace of God in this life--what testimonials we could hang in memory's halls, recounting the mercies and favors of God!. . . Then the habit would be carried with us as an abiding principle to accumulate spiritual treasures as earnestly and perseveringly as the worldly aspirants labor for the earthly and temporal things. You may well be dissatisfied with the present supply when the Lord has a heaven of blessedness and a treasure house of good and gracious things to supply the necessities of the soul. Today we want more grace, today we want a renewal of God's love and tokens of His goodness, and He will not withhold these good and heavenly treasures from the true seeker. . . . {OHC 188.3} [OHC 188.4] Those who feel their spiritual necessities will show their soul eagerness, their ardent desires, which extend upward and onward above every earthly, temporal inducement, to the eternal. {OHC 188.4} [OHC 189.1] Chap. 183 - The Peril of Prosperity If riches increase, set not your heart upon them. Psalm 62:10. {OHC 189.1} [OHC 189.2] Among the greatest dangers that threaten the church is the love of the world. Out of this spring the sins of selfishness and covetousness. With many, the more they get of earthly treasure, the more they set their affections on it, and still they reach out for more. . . . {OHC 189.2} [OHC 189.3] Satan employs every means which he can devise to overthrow the followers of Christ. With marvelous skill and cunning he adapts his temptations to the peculiar temperament of each. Those who are naturally selfish and covetous he often tempts by throwing prosperity in their way. He knows that if they do not overcome their natural temperament, the love of mammon will cause them to stumble and fall. His object is often accomplished. When the riches of the world are offered them, many eagerly grasp the treasure, and think they are wonderfully prospered. The strong love of the world soon swallows up the love of the truth. . . . {OHC 189.3} [OHC 189.4] If those who are thus prospered would lay their possessions upon the altar of God, they might overcome their selfish, covetous spirit, and so thwart the design of Satan. Worldly wealth may be made a blessing, if rightly used. All who possess it should realize that is lent them of God, to be employed in His service. By giving freely to advance the cause of truth and to relieve the wants of the needy, they may be the means of saving others, and thus bring a blessing to their own souls here, and lay up in heaven a treasure that shall be theirs hereafter. . . . {OHC 189.4} [OHC 189.5] Many hardly know, as yet, what self-denial is, or what it is to sacrifice for the truth's sake. But none will enter Heaven but by the same path of humiliation, self-sacrifice, and cross-bearing, that the Saviour trod. Only those who are willing to sacrifice all for eternal life will have it, but it will be worth suffering for, worth crucifying self and sacrificing every idol for. The far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory will outweigh every earthly treasure and eclipse every earthly attraction. {OHC 189.5} [OHC 190.1] Chap. 184 - Agents to Relieve Distress And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matthew 25:40. {OHC 190.1} [OHC 190.2] What if the professed followers of Jesus should look upon their expensive garments and should see the words written upon them by the finger of God, "Clothe the naked." What if they should see inscribed upon their expensive decorations in their homes, the pictures, and furniture, "Bring the poor that are cast out to thy house"! In the dining room, where the table is laden with abundant food, the finger of God has traced, "Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry . . . ?" Let all, old and young, consider that it is not a light matter to be the Lord's steward. . . . The needy, the oppressed, are left in want, while the Lord's money is selfishly squandered in extravagance and luxury. O that all will remember that God is no respecter of persons! It is a great thing to be a steward, faithful and true, before a just, impartial God. . . . {OHC 190.2} [OHC 190.3] The law of God holds every man accountable for the use he makes of every dollar that comes into his hands; for the Lord has made men His agents to relieve the world's distress. If man hoards or selfishly uses his Lord's entrusted goods, it will be to the ruin of his own soul; for he honors, exalts, and glorifies himself. . . . There are those in our world who, although the professedly chosen of God, can always pass the needy by on the other side. Jesus sees this; Jesus marks this; He will not pass it by. Jesus declared that He came to preach the gospel to the poor. He has bestowed His goods, that love and beneficence shall live, ever growing stronger in the hearts of His people. . . . {OHC 190.3} [OHC 190.4] The apportioning of rewards at the last day turns upon the question of our practical benevolence: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Christ puts Himself in the poor man's place, identifying His interest with that of the poor. . . . He calls upon each disciple to dispense with grateful liberality the gifts entrusted to him, as if he were bestowing the same upon his Redeemer. {OHC 190.4} [OHC 191.1] Chap. 185 - Nothing Too Precious to Give to God By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son. Hebrews 11:17. {OHC 191.1} [OHC 191.2] Abraham's test was the most severe that could come to a human being. Had he failed under it, he would never have been registered as the father of the faithful. . . . The lesson was given to shine down through the ages, that we may learn that there is nothing too precious to be given to God. It is when we look upon every gift as the Lord's, to be used in His service, that we secure the heavenly benediction. Give back to God your entrusted possessions, and more will be entrusted to you. Keep your possessions to yourself, and you will receive no reward in this life, and will lose the reward of the life to come. . . . {OHC 191.2} [OHC 191.3] There are many who have never made an unreserved surrender of themselves to God. They have not a right idea of the infinite sacrifice made by God to save a ruined world. If God should speak to them as He did to Abraham, they would not be sufficiently acquainted with His voice to know that He was calling upon them to make a sacrifice, in order to test the depth of their love and the sincerity of their faith. {OHC 191.3} [OHC 191.4] The plague spot of selfishness is as contagious as leprosy. Those who enter the heavenly courts must be purified from every vestige of this plague. . . . {OHC 191.4} [OHC 191.5] The Lord has a great work for us to do, and He invites us to look to Him, to trust in Him, to walk with Him, to talk with Him. He invites us to make an unreserved surrender of all that we have and are to Him, that when He shall call upon us to sacrifice for Him, we may be ready and willing to obey. We shall enjoy the fullness of divine grace only as we give all to Christ. We shall know the meaning of true happiness only as we keep the fire burning on the altar of sacrifice. God will bequeath the most in the future to those who have done the most in the present.... Each day, under different circumstances, He tries us; and in each truehearted endeavor He chooses His workers, not because they are perfect, but because they are willing to work unselfishly for Him, and He sees that through connection with Him they may gain perfection. {OHC 191.5} [OHC 192.1] Chap. 186 - How Does Your Account Stand? Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. 1 Corinthians 4:2. {OHC 192.1} [OHC 192.2] Money is a blessing when those who use it consider that they are the Lord's stewards, that they are handling the Lord's capital, and must one day give account of their stewardship. {OHC 192.2} [OHC 192.3] Do you confess Christ in your expenditures of His entrusted means? . . . If Christ had that which is His own in tithes and offerings, so much would not be left for selfish outlay on knickknacks and display. Less would be spent for dress, for pleasure excursions, for entertainments, or for display in table fare. We may confess Christ by making no elaborate preparations for visitors; we may deny Him by making more than ordinary preparations, which takes time that rightly belongs to the Lord. . . . Before you enter into amusement for the gratification of self, ask yourself the question, Is not this God's time and money that I am expending needlessly? Open your account book, and see how your account stands with God, with your household, and with the world. {OHC 192.3} [OHC 192.4] Have you confessed Christ by faithfully tithing the mint, the anise, and the rue? When we give the Lord the tithe, we are only giving Him that which is His own, to withhold which is theft and robbery. . . . Does your account book reveal that you have dealt faithfully with your Lord? Are you poor? Then give your little. Have you been blessed with abundance? Then be sure to lay aside that which the Lord registers as His own. . . . The neglect to confess Christ in your account books cuts you off from the great privilege of having your name registered in the Lamb's book of life. {OHC 192.4} [OHC 192.5] Our heavenly Father teaches by His own example of beneficence. God gives to us regularly, freely, and abundantly. Every earthly blessing is from His hand. What if the Lord should cease to bestow His gifts upon us? What a cry of wretchedness, suffering, and want would go up from the earth! We need daily the unfailing flow of Jehovah's love and goodness. {OHC 192.5} [OHC 193.1] Chap. 187 - When Loss is Gain And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Luke 12:15. {OHC 193.1} [OHC 193.2] One marked feature in the teachings of Christ is the frequency and earnestness with which He rebuked the sin of covetousness and pointed out the danger of worldly acquisitions and the inordinate love of gain. . . . When the head and hands are constantly occupied with planning and toiling for the accumulation of riches, the claims of God and humanity are forgotten. {OHC 193.2} [OHC 193.3] Means is valuable and to be desired. It is a blessing, a precious treasure, if used prudently, wisely, and not abused. . . . Since mortals have bodies and heads and hearts to be provided for, some provision for the body must be made in order to hold a proper position in the world. Not to meet the world's standards--oh, no, no indeed; but to be of influence in the world for good. . . . {OHC 193.3} [OHC 193.4] Want and poverty are evils to be dreaded; but hunger and nakedness, lack of home, sympathy, or a name, and even starvation, are more desirable than to sacrifice one principle of truth. Let the eternal truth be cherished, for it is immortal. If we make it a part of us we shall surely gain immortal glory and eternal riches. . . . {OHC 193.4} [OHC 193.5] If God has not given you the power to obtain means with perfect uprightness and integrity, then He never meant that you should have it, and it is best for you to submit to the will of God. . . . The infinite Creator is the possessor of all things. Any loss you may sustain in your allegiance to Him is infinite gain in the future immortal life, if not fully realized in this life. . . . {OHC 193.5} [OHC 193.6] Behold the glories of the firmament. Look up to the gems of light which like precious gold stud the heavens. . . . Cannot He who spread above us this glorious canopy, who, if the sun, moon, and stars were swept away could call them again into existence in a moment, requite His faithful, loyal servants who would be obedient to Him though they lost wealth, honor, or even a kingdom for His sake? {OHC 193.6} [OHC 194.1] Chap. 188 - A Curse or a Blessing? Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. Matthew 6:19. {OHC 194.1} [OHC 194.2] Treasures are those things which engross the mind, and absorb the attention, to the exclusion of God and the truth. . . . Our Saviour gave a decided warning against hoarding up the treasures of earth. {OHC 194.2} [OHC 194.3] All branches of business, all manner of employments, are under the eye of God; and every Christian has been given ability to do something in the cause of the Master. Whether engaged in business in the field, in the warehouse, or in the countingroom, men will be held responsible to God for the wise and honest employment of their talents. They are just as accountable to God for their work, as the minister who labors in word and doctrine is for his. . . . {OHC 194.3} [OHC 194.4] Property that is treasured up upon the earth will prove only a curse, but if it is devoted to the upbuilding of the cause of truth, that God may be honored, and that souls may be saved, it will not prove a curse, but a blessing. Means are necessary to the furtherance of every good cause; and as some men have been endowed with more ability to acquire wealth than have others, they should put out their talents to the exchangers, that the Lord may receive His own, with usury, at His appearing. . . . {OHC 194.4} [OHC 194.5] Those who are ready and willing to invest in the cause of God, will be blessed in their efforts to acquire money. God created the source of wealth. He gave the sunshine, and the dew, and the rain, and caused vegetation to flourish. He blessed men with mental and physical ability, and qualified them to acquire property, so that His cause might be sustained by His professed children. The needy are all around us, and God is glorified, when the poor and the afflicted are aided and comforted. It is no sin to acquire and control property as stewards for God, holding it only until He shall require it for the necessities of His work. {OHC 194.5} [OHC 194.6] We must ever bear in mind that we are in copartnership with God. His work and His cause demand the first consideration. {OHC 194.6} [OHC 195.1] Chap. 189 - A Bank That Never Fails But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew 6:20, 21. {OHC 195.1} [OHC 195.2] Here is portrayed the value of eternal riches, in contrast with the treasures of earth. If the purpose and aim of your life is to lay up treasure in heaven, you will be lifted above the base, sordid, demoralizing influence of an inordinate desire to obtain wealth in this life. Laying up treasure in heaven will give nobility to the character; it will strengthen benevolence, encourage mercy; cultivate sympathy, brotherly kindness, and charity. It will unite the soul of man with Christ, by links that can never be broken. You may lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven by being rich in good works--rich in imperishable and spiritual things. {OHC 195.2} [OHC 195.3] The instruction is to "lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." It is for our own interest that we secure heavenly riches. God is not benefited by our benevolence. The cattle upon a thousand hills are His. "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof." Psalm 24:1. But in using the gifts that He has entrusted to our care for the salvation of souls, we transfer our wealth to the treasury of heaven. When we are seeking the glory of God, and hasting unto the day of God, we are colaborers with Christ, and our joy is not a base and fleeting emotion; but it is the joy of our Lord. We are elevated above the corroding, perplexing cares of this frail, fickle world. {OHC 195.3} [OHC 195.4] While we are in this world, we are subject to losses and disappointments. Thieves break through and steal; moth and rust corrupt; fire and storm sweep away our possessions. . . . How many have devoted life and soul to acquiring wealth, but were not rich toward God; and when adversity came upon them, and their possessions were swept away, they had nothing laid up in heaven. They had lost all--both temporal and eternal riches. . . . {OHC 195.4} [OHC 195.5] Everything that is laid up upon earth may be swept away in a moment; but nothing can disturb the treasure that is laid up in heaven. {OHC 195.5} [OHC 196.1] Chap. 190 - The Smiles of God The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. Proverbs 10:22. {OHC 196.1} [OHC 196.2] Nothing can do us real good without the blessing of God. What God blesses is blessed. Therefore "a little that a righteous man hath is better that the riches of many wicked." Psalm 37:16. The little with the blessing of God is more efficient, and it will extend farther. The grace of God will make a little go a great ways. When we devote ourselves to the affairs of the kingdom of God, He will mind our affairs." {OHC 196.2} [OHC 196.3] The Lord has given us precious blessings in the simple flowers of the field, in the fragrance so grateful to our senses. He has tinted every flower with beauty; for He is the great Master Artist. He who has created the beautiful things in nature will do far greater things for the soul. God is a lover of the beautiful, and He would adorn our characters with His own rich graces. He would have our words as fragrant as the flowers of the field. He has given us blessings in daily provision for our physical needs. The very bread we are has upon it the image and superscription of the cross. {OHC 196.3} [OHC 196.4] They only are truly blessed whose chief concern is to secure those blessings which will nourish the soul and endure forever. Our Saviour says to us, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33. God has a care for us, even to bestow His temporal blessings upon us. Our earthly good is not beneath the notice of our heavenly Father. He knoweth that we have need of these things. . . . When God smiles upon our efforts it is worth more than any earthly income. {OHC 196.4} [OHC 196.5] "How sweet our daily comforts prove When they are seasoned with His love." {OHC 196.5} [OHC 196.6] Every deliverance, every blessing, that God in the past has granted to His people, should be kept fresh in memory's hall as a sure pledge of further and richer, increasing blessings that He will bestow. {OHC 196.6} [OHC 196.7] These is no limit to the blessings that it is our privilege to receive. {OHC 196.7} [OHC 197.1] Chap. 191 - The Gift God Accepts Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. Luke 6:38. {OHC 197.1} [OHC 197.2] Let us not complain because we are often asked to give for the upbuilding of the cause. What is it that makes these frequent calls a necessity? Is it not the rapid increase of missionary enterprises? Shall we, by refusing to give, retard the growth of these enterprises? . . . {OHC 197.2} [OHC 197.3] All who possess the Spirit of Christ will have a tender, sympathetic heart, and an open, generous hand. . . . To us has been entrusted the work of proclaiming the last message of mercy to be given to our world--the message that is to prepare a people to stand in the day of God. Do we realize our accountability? Are we acting our part in the proclamation of the message? The present time is burdened with eternal interests. We are to unfurl the standard of truth before a world perishing in error. {OHC 197.3} [OHC 197.4] The more we bring to God's treasure house, the more we shall have to bring; for He will open ways before us, increasing our substance. I have found this to be true in my own experience. As God multiplies His gifts to us, we must not grow selfish, and withhold from Him our tithes and offerings. We each have a part to act in the work of salvation. {OHC 197.4} [OHC 197.5] Gifts and offerings will not purchase salvation for any of us. The religion of the Bible is that development of our moral natures in which the soul holds converse with God, loves that which God loves, and hates that which God hates. God will not accept your offerings if you withhold yourself. He asks not only for that which is His own in the means entrusted to you, but for His own property in your body, soul, and spirit, purchased at the infinite price of the blood of the Son of God. {OHC 197.5} [OHC 197.6] It is the humble, grateful, reverential heart that makes the offering as a sweet-smelling savor, acceptable to God. {OHC 197.6} [OHC 198.1] Chap. 192 - God's Merciful Helping Hand Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Matthew 5:7. {OHC 198.1} [OHC 198.2] Be merciful, even as your Father in heaven is merciful. Think of the great gift God has made for you. . . . God has given you a proof of His love that defies all computation. We have no line with which to measure it, no standard with which to compare it. God invites you to let your gratitude flow forth in gifts and offerings. He calls upon you to be His merciful helping hand. Can you refuse the request of One who has done so much for you? {OHC 198.2} [OHC 198.3] Christ wept at the sight of woe. Let His tenderness come into your hearts. Practice self-denial that you may have wherewith to relieve the sufferings of God's children. {OHC 198.3} [OHC 198.4] The Lord saw that it was essential for us to be surrounded with the poor, who in their helplessness and need would lay claim to our ministration. They would be an aid to us in perfecting Christian character; for in providing food for their tables and clothing for their bodies, we would cultivate the attributes of the character of Christ. If we had not the poor among us, we would lose much; for in order to perfect Christian character, we must deny self. {OHC 198.4} [OHC 198.5] Christ Himself, the Lord of glory, was in this earth a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He knew the meaning of want and privation. As a child, subject to poverty, He practiced the principles of self-denial. He . . . came to help fallen, needy humanity. And He expects His followers, to whom He has entrusted means, to bind about their own supposed wants, and to be liberal in relieving the necessities of others. {OHC 198.5} [OHC 198.6] When spending your money, think of what Jesus would do were He in your place. He calls upon His followers to tread in His footsteps of self-denial and self-sacrifice. The character of the Christian is to be a reproduction of the character of Christ. The same love, the same grace, the same unselfish benevolence, seen in His life, is to characterize the lives of His followers. {OHC 198.6} [OHC 199.1] Chap. 193 - Sweetness of Self-Denial Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. Proverbs 3:9, 10. {OHC 199.1} [OHC 199.2] God's claims underlie all other claims. He lays His hand upon all that He, from His fullness and beneficence, has entrusted to man, and says: "I am the rightful owner of the universe, and these goods are Mine. Use them to advance My cause, to build up My kingdom, and My blessing shall rest upon you." {OHC 199.2} [OHC 199.3] Some give of their abundance, yet feel no lack. They do not practice self-denial for the cause of Christ. They give liberally and heartily, but they still have all that heart can wish. God regards it. The action and motive are strictly marked by Him, and they will not lose their reward. But those who have less means must not excuse themselves because they cannot do as much as some others. Do what you can. Deny yourself of some article you can do without, and sacrifice for the cause of God. Like the poor widow, cast in your two mites. You will actually give more than all those who give of their abundance; and you will know how sweet it is to deny self, to give to the needy, to sacrifice for the truth, and to lay up treasure in heaven. {OHC 199.3} [OHC 199.4] The young . . . who profess the truth, have yet a lesson of self-denial to learn. If these made more sacrifice for the truth, they would esteem it more highly. It would affect their hearts, and purify their lives. Too often the young do not take the burden of the cause of God, or feel any responsibility in regard to it. Is it because God has excused them? Oh, no; they excuse themselves. They do not realize that they are not their own. Their strength, their time, is not their own. They are bought with a price; and unless they possess the spirit of self-denial and sacrifice, they can never gain the immortal inheritance. {OHC 199.4} [OHC 199.5] Give what you can now, and as you cooperate with Christ, your hand will open to impart still more. And God will refill your hand, that the treasure of truth may be taken to many souls. He will give to you that you may give to others. {OHC 199.5} [OHC 200.1] Chap. 194 - A Test of Character But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil. 1 Timothy 6:9, 10. {OHC 200.1} [OHC 200.2] Satan has nets and snares, like the snares of the fowler, all prepared to entrap souls. It is his studied purpose that men shall employ their God-given powers for selfish ends rather than yield them to glorify God. God would have men engage in a work that will bring them peace and joy, and will render them eternal profit; but Satan wants us to concentrate our efforts for that which profiteth not, for the things that perish with the using. {OHC 200.2} [OHC 200.3] The glory of the world to come is eclipsed by the corruptible things of earth. "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Matthew 6:21. Your thoughts, your plans, your motives, will have an earthly mold, and your soul will be defiled with covetousness and selfishness. "What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Mark 8:36. The day is coming when the idols of silver and gold will be cast to the moles and to the bats, and the rich men will weep and howl for the miseries that shall come upon them. . . . {OHC 200.3} [OHC 200.4] If your thoughts, your plans, your purposes, are all directed toward the accumulation of the things of earth, your anxiety, your study, your interests, will all be centered upon the world. The heavenly attractions will lose their beauty. . . . Your heart will be with your treasure. . . . You will have no time to devote to the study of the Scriptures and to earnest prayer that you may escape the snares of Satan. . . . {OHC 200.4} [OHC 200.5] O that the great interests of the world to come were appreciated! Why is it that men are so unconcerned about the salvation of the soul when it was purchased at such cost by the Son of God? {OHC 200.5} [OHC 200.6] In the providence of God, by physical skill or ingenious inventions, some may gather more wealth than others. The Lord blesses them with health, with tact, and skill, that they may receive of His goods to bestow upon others who may not have received these blessings. The possession of means constitutes a test of character. {OHC 200.6} [OHC 201.1] Chap. 195 - Do We Really Sacrifice? Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified. Psalm 40:16. {OHC 201.1} [OHC 201.2] Many speak of the life of the Christian taking away from us pleasures and worldly enjoyments. I say it takes away nothing worth saving. Is there perplexity, poverty, and distress endured by the Christian? Oh, yes, this is expected in this life. But is the sinner, of whom we speak as enjoying the pleasures of this world, free from these ills of life? Do we not often see them in deep perplexity and trouble? . . . {OHC 201.2} [OHC 201.3] Christians sometimes think they have a hard time and that it is a condescension in them to lay hold of unpopular truth and profess to be Christ's followers, that the road seems hard and that they have many sacrifices to make, when in reality they make no sacrifice at all. If in reality they are adopted into the family of God, what sacrifice have they made? Their following Christ may have broken some friendship with their world-loving relatives, but look at the exchange--their names written in the Lamb's book of life, elevated, yes, greatly exalted, to be partakers of salvation, heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ to an imperishable inheritance. Shall we call it a sacrifice on our part to yield error for truth, darkness for light, sin for righteousness, a perishable name and inheritance upon earth for honors that are lasting, and a treasure undefiled that fadeth not away? {OHC 201.3} [OHC 201.4] Even in this life, the Christian has One upon whom to lean for support, who will help him bear all his trials. Yet the sinner has to bear his trials alone. He goes down into the grave suffering remorse under darkness, bound by Satan, for he is his lawful prey. . . . {OHC 201.4} [OHC 201.5] If there is any one who should be continually grateful, it is the follower of Christ. If there is any one who enjoys real happiness, even in this life, it is the faithful Christian. . . . If we appreciate or have any sense of how dearly our salvation was purchased, anything which we may call sacrifice will sink away into insignificance. {OHC 201.5} [OHC 202.1] Chap. 196 - Truth an Antidote for Evil And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Deuteronomy 6:6, 7. {OHC 202.1} [OHC 202.2] The similarity between an uncultivated field and an untrained mind is striking. Children and youth already have in their minds and hearts corrupt seed, ready to spring up and bear its perverting harvest; and the greatest care and watchfulness are needed in cultivating and storing the mind with precious seeds of Bible truth. . . . {OHC 202.2} [OHC 202.3] When the mind is stored with Bible truth, its principles take deep root in the soul, and the preference and tastes become wedded to truth, and there is no desire for debasing, exciting literature, that enfeebles the moral powers, and wrecks the faculties God has bestowed for usefulness. Bible knowledge will prove an antidote for the poisonous insinuations received through unguarded reading. . . . {OHC 202.3} [OHC 202.4] Parents can choose, if they will, whether or not their children's minds shall be filled with pure and holy thoughts and sentiments; but their tastes must be disciplined and educated with the greatest care. They must commence early to unfold the Scriptures before the expanding minds of their children, that proper habits and tastes may be formed. . . . The elements of evil cannot be exterminated except by the introduction of food for pure, solid thought. . . . {OHC 202.4} [OHC 202.5] I call upon the children and youth to empty their minds of foolish vanities, and make Jesus their everlasting friend. Be sure you have a well-grounded hope. . . . It is insanity to be quiet and at ease as so many are at the present time, having no assurance that they are indeed sons and daughters of God. Eternal interests are at stake. Put away that story, fall upon your knees in prayer for strength to overcome temptations, and devote your time to searching the Bible. . . . You need not remain in suspense; true light shines from God's Word upon all hearts that are open to receive its precious rays; and it is your privilege to say, "I know that my redeemer liveth." Job 19:25. {OHC 202.5} [OHC 203.1] Chap. 197 - With Eyes of Faith The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. Ephesians 1:18. {OHC 203.1} [OHC 203.2] The highest qualification of the mind will not, cannot, supply the place of true simplicity, of genuine piety. The Bible may be studied as a branch of human science would be; but its beauty, the evidence of its power to save the soul that believes, is a lesson that is never thus learned. If the practice of the Word is not brought into the life, then the sword of the Spirit has not wounded the natural heart. It has been shielded in poetic fancy. Sentimentalism has so wrapped it about that the heart has not sufficiently felt the keenness of its edge, piercing and cutting away the sinful shrines where self is worshipped. . . . {OHC 203.2} [OHC 203.3] The eyes of the understanding must be enlightened, and the heart and mind brought into harmony with God, who is truth. He who beholds Jesus with the eye of faith sees no glory in himself, for the glory of the Redeemer is reflected into the mind and heart. The atonement of His blood is realized, and the taking away of sin stirs the heart with gratitude. {OHC 203.3} [OHC 203.4] Being justified by Christ, the receiver of truth is constrained to make an entire surrender to God, and is admitted into the school of Christ, that he may learn of Him who is meek and lowly of heart. A knowledge of the love of God is shed abroad in his heart. He exclaims, Oh, what love! What condescension! Grasping the rich promises by faith, he becomes a partaker of the divine nature. His heart being emptied of self, the waters of life flow in; the glory of the Lord shines forth. Perpetually looking unto Jesus, the human is assimilated by the divine. The believer is changed into His likeness. . . . The human character is changed into the divine. {OHC 203.4} [OHC 203.5] Christ looks upon His people in their purity and perfection as the reward of all His sufferings, His humiliation, and His love, and the supplement of His glory--Christ the great center, from whom radiates all glory. {OHC 203.5} [OHC 204.1] Chap. 198 - Working the Mines of Truth The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. Psalm 119:130. {OHC 204.1} [OHC 204.2] I feel a special interest in our youth who are interested in the truth. . . . I am anxious that you should press your way forward and upward in order that you shall reach the standard of Christian character that is revealed in the Word of God. Let the Word of God be your guidebook, that in everything you may be molded in conduct and character according to its requirements. . . . {OHC 204.2} [OHC 204.3] The only way in which the Christian will be able to keep himself unspotted from worldly influence will be by searching the Scriptures and by obeying the Word of God to the very letter. Satan is playing the game of life for every soul, but no one needs to be overcome by his deceptive reasoning. Those only who consent to his sophistry will be deceived by his counsels. But if the truth of God regulates the life, it must be planted in the heart. The truth will produce true beauty in the soul that will be revealed in the character. But if this result is attained, it will be because the truth is cultivated and cherished. {OHC 204.3} [OHC 204.4] The Bible is to be your standard; the living oracles of Jehovah are to be your guide. You are to dig for the truth as for hidden treasures: you are to find where the treasure is, and then you are to plow every inch of that field to get the jewels. You are to work the mines of truth for new jewels, for new gems, for new diamonds, and you will find them. {OHC 204.4} [OHC 204.5] As the true seeker after the truth reads the Word, and opens his mind to receive the Word, he longs after truth with his whole heart. The love, the pity, the tenderness, the courtesy, the Christian politeness, which will be the elements in the heavenly mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for those that love Him, take possession of his soul. {OHC 204.5} [OHC 204.6] Let the youth be taught to love the study of the Bible. Let the first place in our thoughts and affections be given to the Book of books, for it contains knowledge which we need above all other. {OHC 204.6} [OHC 205.1] Chap. 199 - How to Study the Bible Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. John 5:39. {OHC 205.1} [OHC 205.2] The Book of books has the highest claim to our reverent attention. We must not be satisfied with superficial knowledge, but must seek to learn the full meaning of the words of truth, and to drink deep of the spirit of the Holy Oracles. To read a certain number of chapters daily, or commit to memory a stipulated amount without careful thought as to the meaning of the sacred text, is a work of little profit.... Some portions of Scripture are, indeed, too plain to be misunderstood; but there are others whose meaning does not lie upon the surface, to be seen at a glance. Scripture must be compared with scripture; there must be careful research and patient reflection. And such study will be richly repaid. As the miner discovers veins of precious metal concealed beneath the surface of the earth, so will he who perseveringly searches the Word of God as for hid treasure, find truths of greatest value, which are concealed from the view of the careless seeker. {OHC 205.2} [OHC 205.3] No effort should be spared to establish a right habit of study. If the mind wanders, bring it back. If the intellectual and moral taste has been perverted by the overwrought and exciting tales of fiction, ... then you have a battle to fight with yourself to overcome this depraved habit. . . . We are surrounded by unbelief. The very atmosphere seems charged with it. Only by constant effort can we resist its power. . . . I appeal to young and old: Make the Word of God your textbook. Here you will find the true standard of character. . . . {OHC 205.3} [OHC 205.4] All over the field of revelation are scattered the glad springs of heavenly truth, and peace, and joy. They are within the reach of every seeker. The words of inspiration, pondered in the heart, will be as streams flowing from the river of the water of life. Our Saviour prayed that the minds of the disciples might be opened to understand the Scriptures. And whenever we study the Bible with a prayerful heart, the Holy Spirit is near to open to us the meaning of the words we read. {OHC 205.4} [OHC 206.1] Chap. 200 - The Bible Speaks to Me Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. Jeremiah 6:16. {OHC 206.1} [OHC 206.2] The Holy One has given rules for the guidance of every soul so that no one need miss his way. These directions mean everything to us; for they form the standard to which every son and daughter of Adam must conform. We can not turn aside from any of these divine rules, and be found guiltless. We are required to make the will of God paramount in our lives, and to have the faith that works by love and purifies the soul. I would warn you to keep from the dangerous ground on which your feet would naturally be inclined to stray. . . . {OHC 206.2} [OHC 206.3] Take the Word of God, and kneeling before God, ask, What has God spoken to me from His Word? Wait before the Lord to learn the way in which you are to go.... You may learn of the heavenly Teacher His meekness and lowliness of heart. In His strength be steadfast, and stand in opposition to all that is displeasing to God, and encourage all that is right, and pure, and true. Live a life that Jesus, your heavenly Father, and the angelic host can look upon with favor. . . . {OHC 206.3} [OHC 206.4] The Lord will be your helper, and if you trust Him, will bring you up to a noble, elevated standard, and will place your feet upon the platform of eternal truth. Through the grace of Christ, you can make a right use of your entrusted capabilities, and become an agent for good in winning souls to Christ. Every talent you have should be used on the right side. Those of the youth Who put on the whole armor of God, Who will devote time every day to self-examination, Who will seek the Lord in earnest prayer, and Who will diligently study the Scriptures, Will have the help of the angels of God, And will form characters that will fit them For the society of the redeemed in the kingdom of glory. {OHC 206.4} [OHC 207.1] Chap. 201 - "It is Written" All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. 2 Timothy 3:16, 17. {OHC 207.1} [OHC 207.2] Let the seeker for truth who accepts the Bible as the inspired Word of God, lay aside every previous idea, and take that Word in its simplicity. He should renounce every sinful practice, and enter the Holy of Holies with heart softened and subdued, ready to listen to what God says. {OHC 207.2} [OHC 207.3] Do not carry your creed to the Bible, and read the Scriptures in the light of that creed. If you find that your opinions are opposed to a plain "Thus saith the Lord," or to any command or prohibition He has given, give heed to the Word of God rather than to the sayings of men. Let every controversy or dispute be settled by "It is written." ... {OHC 207.3} [OHC 207.4] Let the heart be softened and subdued by the spirit of prayer before the Bible is read. Truth will triumph when the Spirit of truth cooperates with the humble Bible student. How precious the thought that the Author of truth still lives and reigns. Ask Him to impress your minds with the truth. Your searching of the Scriptures will then be profitable. Christ is the Great Teacher of His followers, and He will not leave you to walk in darkness. {OHC 207.4} [OHC 207.5] The Bible is its own interpreter. With beautiful simplicity one portion connects itself with the truth of another portion, until the whole Bible is blended in one harmonious whole. Light flashes forth from one text to illuminate some portion of the Word that has seemed more obscure. {OHC 207.5} [OHC 207.6] Christ's lessons will bear close study. One truth comprehended in its simplicity will prove a key to a whole treasure house of truth. Christ is the great mystery of godliness. He is as the Master scattering the golden grains of truth, which require tact, skill, and deep, laborious search to pick up and link together in the chain of truth. The Word is the treasure house of truth. It puts in our possession all things essential for our preparation for entrance into the city of God. {OHC 207.6} [OHC 208.1] Chap. 202 - Leaves from the Tree of Life And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. John 6:35. {OHC 208.1} [OHC 208.2] The world is perishing for want of truth, pure, unadulterated truth. Christ is the truth. His words are truth. {OHC 208.2} [OHC 208.3] When the believer, in the fellowship of the Spirit, can lay his hand upon truth itself, and appropriate it, he eats the bread that comes down from heaven. He enters into the life of Christ, and appreciates the great sacrifice made in behalf of the sinful race. {OHC 208.3} [OHC 208.4] The knowledge that comes from God is the bread of Life. It is the leaves of the tree of life which are for the healing of the nations. The current of spiritual life thrills the soul as the words of Christ are believed and practiced. Thus it is that we are made one with Christ. The experience that was weak and feeble becomes strong. It is eternal life to us if we hold the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end. {OHC 208.4} [OHC 208.5] All truth is to be received as the life of Jesus. Truth cleanses us from all impurity, and prepares the soul for Christ's presence. Christ is formed within, the hope of glory. {OHC 208.5} [OHC 208.6] The truth is to be partaken of every day. Thus we eat the words of Christ, which He declares are spirit and life. The acceptance of the truth will make every receiver a child of God, an heir of heaven. {OHC 208.6} [OHC 208.7] Truth that is in the heart is not a cold, dead letter.... There is fullness of joy in the truth. There is a nobleness in the life of the human agent who lives and works under the vivifying influence of the truth. Truth is sacred and divine. It is stronger and more powerful than anything else in the formation of a character after the likeness of Christ. When it is cherished in the heart, the love of Christ is preferred to the love of any human being. This is Christianity. Thus truth--pure, unadulterated truth--occupies the citadel of the being. This is the life of God in the soul. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you." Ezekiel 36:26. {OHC 208.7} [OHC 209.1] Chap. 203 - The Bread that Satisfies I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.... For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. John 6:51-55. {OHC 209.1} [OHC 209.2] The words, "Give us this day our daily bread," refer not only to temporal food but to the spiritual food which brings everlasting life to the receiver. When we believe and receive Christ's word, we eat His flesh and drink His blood.... {OHC 209.2} [OHC 209.3] As by eating temporal food the physical system becomes strong, so by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God, the spiritual nature is strengthened. God's Word is spirit and life to all who appropriate it. He who partakes of Christ's flesh and blood is a partaker of the divine nature. . . . A vital, life-giving current flows from his Saviour to him. {OHC 209.3} [OHC 209.4] No one can eat this flesh and drink this blood for another. Each must come to Christ with his own soul hunger, each must have his own convictions, feel his own soul's need, and learn of Christ for himself. {OHC 209.4} [OHC 209.5] Filled with the Bread of Life, we cannot hunger for earthly attractions, worldly excitements, and earthly grandeur. Our religious experience will be of the same order as the food upon which we feed. {OHC 209.5} [OHC 209.6] The food we eat at one meal does not satisfy us forever. We must daily partake of food. So we must daily eat the Word of God that the life of the soul may be renewed. In those who feed constantly upon the Word, Christ is formed, the hope of glory. A neglect to read and study the Bible brings spiritual starvation.... {OHC 209.6} [OHC 209.7] Christ is our life. The soul in whom He abides will meet the requirements of His principles, in thorough devotion and consecration to God. Christ's personal contact with the soul builds it up, supplying its ever-recurring wants. He is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. He is our sufficiency. . . . {OHC 209.7} [OHC 209.8] He is the lifeblood of the soul. If He abides with us, we may say, "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Galatians 2:20. {OHC 209.8} [OHC 210.1] Chap. 204 - As a Wall of Fire Against Temptation Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Psalm 119:11. {OHC 210.1} [OHC 210.2] Satan is continually seeking to influence human minds by his subtle arts. His is a master mind, given of God, but prostituted with all its noble capabilities to oppose and to make of no effect the counsels of the Most High. . . . {OHC 210.2} [OHC 210.3] We can overcome only by believing in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. We must know what is written in order that we may not be defeated by the sophistry and enchantments of Satan. . . . If we have been ensnared by his enchanting power, let us in the name of Jesus rebuke his power, and break with Satan without delay. . . . {OHC 210.3} [OHC 210.4] Those who cry unto God for deliverance from the terrible spell that Satan would weave about them, will set a high estimate upon the Scriptures. Our only safety is in receiving the whole Bible, not taking merely detached portions, but believing the whole truth. Your feet are upon sliding sand if you depreciate one word that is written. The Bible is a divine communication, and is as verily a message to the soul as though a voice from heaven were heard speaking to us. With what awe and reverence and humiliation should we come to the searching of the Scriptures, that we may learn of eternal realities.... Let everyone study the Bible, knowing that the Word of God is as enduring as the eternal throne. If you come to the study of the Scriptures in humility, with earnest prayer for guidance, angels of God will open to you its living realities; and if you cherish the precepts of truth, they will be to you as a wall of fire against the temptations, delusions, and enchantments of Satan. . . . {OHC 210.4} [OHC 210.5] The Word of God is able to save your souls, to make you wise unto salvation. The psalmist says, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." Then let us hide the Word of God in our hearts, that we may "be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." Ephesians 6:13. {OHC 210.5} [OHC 211.1] Chap. 205 - Truth Continually Unfolding I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. John 16:12. {OHC 211.1} [OHC 211.2] The very limited and earthly apprehension which the disciples had of the teachings of Christ made it difficult for the Great Teacher to lead their minds into an understanding of heavenly things, and determined the measure of His divine communications. . . . His work was especially to reveal the moral excellency of character which the Lord requires. {OHC 211.2} [OHC 211.3] Jesus did not give full comments or connected discourses upon doctrines, but He oft spoke in short sentences, as one sowing the heavenly grains of doctrines like pearls which need to be gathered up by a discerning laborer. . . . True learners, sitting at Christ's feet, discover the precious gems of truth uttered by our Saviour, and will discern their significance and appreciate their value. And more and more, as they become humble and teachable, will their understanding be opened to discover wondrous things out of His law.... The truth will be continually unfolding, expanding, and developing, for it is divine, like its Author. {OHC 211.3} [OHC 211.4] Says Christ, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." John 16:12. "'Ye cannot bear them now.' What tenderness Breathes in this language! Well does it express Thy principle of teaching. 'Here and there A little,' is the plan Thou dost pursue; Waiting until our feeble sight can bear The truths which love unfolds before our view. The gentleness of Christ! Lord, should not we In teaching others strive to act like Thee? Patient, not hasty, toward those who learn But slowly in Thy school; who seem to need Line upon line before they can discern The hallowed lessons we so plainly read." {OHC 211.4} [OHC 212.1] Chap. 206 - Sanctifying Power of Truth Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. John 17:17. {OHC 212.1} [OHC 212.2] What is sanctification? It is to give one's self wholly and without reserve--soul, body, and spirit--to God; to deal justly; to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God; to know and to do the will of God without regard to self or self-interest; to be heavenly-minded, pure, unselfish, holy, and without spot or stain. {OHC 212.2} [OHC 212.3] It is through the truth, by the power of the Holy Spirit, that we are to be sanctified--transformed into the likeness of Christ. And in order for this change to be wrought in us, there must be an unconditional, wholehearted acceptance of the truth, an unreserved surrender of the soul to its transforming power. {OHC 212.3} [OHC 212.4] Our characters are by nature warped and perverted. Through the lack of proper development they are wanting in symmetry. With some excellent qualities are united objectionable traits, and through long indulgence wrong tendencies become second nature, and many persons cling tenaciously to their peculiarities. Even after they profess to accept the truth, to yield themselves to Christ, the same old habits are indulged, the same self-esteem is manifested, the same false notions entertained. Although such ones claim to be converted, it is evident that they have not yielded themselves to the transforming power of the truth.... {OHC 212.4} [OHC 212.5] If the one who is thus misrepresenting Christ could know what harm has been wrought by the faults of character which he has excused and cherished, he would be filled with horror. . . . {OHC 212.5} [OHC 212.6] Let none feel that their way needs no changing. . . . None can walk safely unless they are distrustful of self, and are constantly looking to the Word of God, studying it with willing heart to see their own errors, and to learn the will of Christ, and praying that it may be done in and by and through them. They show that their confidence is not in themselves, but in Christ. They hold the truth as a sacred treasure, able to sanctify and refine, and they are constantly seeking to bring their words and ways into harmony with its principles. {OHC 212.6} [OHC 213.1] Chap. 207 - "Holier, Yea Holier Still" For this is the will of God, even your sanctification. 1 Thessalonians 4:3. {OHC 213.1} [OHC 213.2] Our sanctification is God's object in all His dealing with us. He has chosen us from eternity that we might be holy. Christ gave Himself for our redemption, that through faith in His power to save from sin, we might be made complete in Him. . . . {OHC 213.2} [OHC 213.3] As Christians we have pledged ourselves to fulfil the responsibilities resting on us, and to show to the world that we have a close connection with God. Thus, through the good words and works of His disciples, Christ is to be represented and honored. {OHC 213.3} [OHC 213.4] God expects of us perfect obedience to His law. This law is the echo of His voice, saying to us, Holier, yea holier still. Desire after the fullness of the grace of Christ, yea, long--hunger and thirst--after righteousness. The promise is, "Ye shall be filled." Let your heart be filled with a longing for this righteousness. . . . {OHC 213.4} [OHC 213.5] God has plainly stated that He expects us to be perfect, and because He expects this, He has made provision for us to be partakers of the divine nature. Only thus can we gain success in striving for eternal life. The power is given by Christ. "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." John 1:12. {OHC 213.5} [OHC 213.6] God's people are to reflect to the world the bright rays of His glory. But in order for them to do this, they must stand where these rays can fall on them. They must cooperate with God. The heart must be cleansed of all that leads to wrong. The Word of God must be read and studied with an earnest desire to gain from it spiritual power. The bread of heaven must be eaten and assimilated, becoming part of the life. Thus we gain eternal life. Thus is answered the prayer of Christ, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." John 17:17. {OHC 213.6} [OHC 213.7] "This is the will of God, even your sanctification." Is it your will that your desires and inclinations shall be brought into harmony with the divine mind? {OHC 213.7} [OHC 214.1] Chap. 208 - The Secret of Holiness And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Ephesians 4:24. {OHC 214.1} [OHC 214.2] No man receives holiness as a birthright, or as a gift from any other human being. Holiness is the gift of God through Christ. Those who receive the Saviour become sons of God. They are His spiritual children, born again, renewed in righteousness and true holiness. Their minds are changed. With clearer vision they behold eternal realities. They are adopted into God's family, and they become conformed to His likeness, changed by His Spirit from glory to glory. From cherishing supreme love for self, they come to cherish supreme love for God and for Christ. . . . {OHC 214.2} [OHC 214.3] Accepting Christ as a personal Saviour, and following His example of self-denial--this is the secret of holiness. {OHC 214.3} [OHC 214.4] Holiness is not rapture; it is the result of surrendering all to God; it is living by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God; it is doing the will of our heavenly Father; it is trusting in God in trial, believing in His promise in the darkness as well as in the light. Religion is to walk by faith, as well as by sight, trusting in God with all confidence, and resting in His love. {OHC 214.4} [OHC 214.5] Sanctification is a state of holiness, without and within, being holy and without reserve the Lord's, not in form, but in truth. Every impurity of thought, every lustful passion, separates the soul from God; for Christ can never put His robe of righteousness upon a sinner, to hide his deformity. . . . There must be a progressive work of triumph over evil, of sympathy with good, a reflection of the character of Jesus. We must walk in the light, which will increase and grow brighter unto the perfect day. This is real, substantial growth, which will finally attain to the full stature of men and women in Jesus Christ. . . . {OHC 214.5} [OHC 214.6] Conformity to the likeness of Christ's character, overcoming all sin and temptation, walking in the fear of God, setting the Lord continually before us, will bring peace and joy on earth, and ensure us pure happiness in heaven. {OHC 214.6} [OHC 215.1] Chap. 209 - A Daily Experience in Conversion For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16. {OHC 215.1} [OHC 215.2] Genuine conversion is needed, not once in years, but daily. This conversion brings man into a new relation with God. Old things, his natural passions and hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong, pass away, and he is renewed and sanctified. But this work must be continual; for as long as Satan exists, he will make an effort to carry on his work. He who strives to serve God will encounter a strong undercurrent of wrong. His heart needs to be barricaded by constant watchfulness and prayer, or else the embankment will give way; and like a millstream, the undercurrent of wrong will sweep away the safeguard. No renewed heart can be kept in a condition of sweetness without the daily application of the salt of the Word. Divine grace must be received daily, or no man will stay converted. . . . {OHC 215.2} [OHC 215.3] Test and trial will come to every soul that loves God. The Lord does not work a miracle to prevent this ordeal of trial, to shield His people from the temptations of the enemy. . . . Characters are to be developed that will decide the fitness of the human family for the heavenly home--characters that will stand through the pressure of unfavorable circumstances in private and public life, and that will, under the severest temptations, through the grace of God grow brave and true, be firm as a rock to principle, and come forth from the fiery ordeal, of more value than the golden wedge of Ophir. God will endorse, with His own superscription, as His elect, those who possess such characters. . . . {OHC 215.3} [OHC 215.4] The Lord accepts no halfhearted service. He demands the whole man. Religion is to be brought into every phase of life, carried into labor of every kind. The whole being is to be under God's control. We must not think that we can take supervision of our own thoughts. They must be brought into captivity to Christ. Self cannot manage self; it is not sufficient for the work. . . . God alone can make and keep us loyal. {OHC 215.4} [OHC 216.1] Chap. 210 - In the Sunlight of Christ That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. Ephesians 4:14, 15. {OHC 216.1} [OHC 216.2] "Watch unto prayer," and you will steadily grow in grace and in a knowledge of Christ. Your experience will not be one-sided, deformed, but healthful, symmetrical. All unawares to yourself, you will have expanded like the widespreading cedar, and many will profit by your counsel; your association with them will have the fragrance of heaven. {OHC 216.2} [OHC 216.3] There are many professors of religion who for years have not grown one inch. The rubbish of the world, selfishness, and indolence, have separated them in sympathy and in their works from Christ. . . . {OHC 216.3} [OHC 216.4] If you are living in the sunlight of Christ, you will diffuse light to those poor souls who are dwarfs in the religious life. With the righteousness of Christ covering you as with a garment, what may you not do to bless others! . . . {OHC 216.4} [OHC 216.5] Your fellowship is with the Father and with the Son, and you grow into the knowledge of the divine perfection. You grow in reverence, you gain confidence in communion with God. Looking steadfastly to Jesus, you grow in faith, and learning to distrust self, you appreciate the words of Christ, "Without me ye can do nothing." John 15:5. . . . {OHC 216.5} [OHC 216.6] You may have a fervent spirit, your heart all aglow with the love of Jesus. Abide in Christ as the branch abides in the vine; drawing sustenance from the vine, you will be a flourishing branch, and will bear much fruit to the glory of God. Oh, you much need to gaze fixedly upon Jesus! Keep beholding His charms. As you behold they will keep brightening and enlarging until you are filled with all the fullness of God and bear much fruit to His glory. The branch is too firmly connected with the parent stock to be swayed by every breeze. Strength and vigorous growth tell to the world that your root is in Jesus, that your foundation is sure. {OHC 216.6} [OHC 217.1] Chap. 211 - How to Grow in Grace But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. 2 Peter 3:18. {OHC 217.1} [OHC 217.2] How is it possible that we may grow in grace? It is possible to us only as we empty our hearts of self, and present them to Heaven, to be molded after the Divine Pattern. We may have a connection with the living channel of light; we may be refreshed with the heavenly dew, and have the showers of heaven descend upon us. As we appropriate the blessing of God, we shall be able to receive greater measures of His grace. {OHC 217.2} [OHC 217.3] As little children we are to sit at the feet of Christ, learning of Him. . . . We should not allow a day to pass without gaining an increase of knowledge in temporal and spiritual things. We are to plant no stakes that we are not willing to take up and plant further on, nearer the heights we hope to ascend. The highest education is to be found in training the mind to advance day by day. The close of each day should find us a day's march nearer the overcomer's reward. Day by day our understanding is to ripen. Day by day we are to work out conclusions that will bring a rich reward in this life and in the life to come. Looking daily to Jesus, instead of to what we ourselves have done, we shall make decided advancement in temporal as well as spiritual knowledge. {OHC 217.3} [OHC 217.4] The end of all things is at hand. What we have done must not be allowed to place the period to our work. The Captain of our salvation says, "Advance. The night cometh, in which no man can work." Constantly we are to increase in usefulness. Our lives are always to be under the power of Christ. Our lamps are to be kept burning brightly. . . . He who places himself where God can enlighten him, advances, as it were, from the partial obscurity of dawn to the full radiance of noonday. {OHC 217.4} [OHC 217.5] We must put to the stretch every spiritual nerve and muscle. . . . God . . . does not desire you to remain novices. He wants you to reach the very highest round of the ladder, and then step from it into the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. {OHC 217.5} [OHC 218.1] Chap. 212 - "Almost to the Excellence of the Angels" The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. Job 17:9. {OHC 218.1} [OHC 218.2] To every man God has entrusted talents for wise improvement. If rightly used, these talents will reflect glory to the Giver. But the most precious gifts of God may be perverted, and thus become a curse rather than a blessing. . . . {OHC 218.2} [OHC 218.3] The Lord has given man capacity for continual improvement, and has granted him all possible aid in the work. Through the provisions of divine grace, we may attain almost to the excellence of the angels. What shall be said of those who, having had many years of experience in the truth, and many precious advantages for growth in grace, are yet inclined toward the world, and find pleasure in its amusements and display? Instead of going on from strength to strength, they are, little by little, departing from God, and losing their spiritual life. . . . {OHC 218.3} [OHC 218.4] Talent can never take the place of piety, nor can the applause of men recommend us to the favor of God. What the majority of professed Christians need, is genuine conversion. If the heart is right, the actions will be right. An earthly, debasing influence marks the character and the life of those whose hearts do not glow with the fire of true goodness. Too many profess to be followers of Christ, and feel at liberty to follow their own judgment, and indulge the desires of their own hearts. He who would advance in the Christian life must put his own hands and heart to the work. Friends may exhort and counsel, to urge him onward and upward; Heaven may pour its choicest blessings upon him; he may have all possible assistance on the right hand and on the left, and yet all will be in vain, unless he shall put forth earnest effort to help himself. He himself must engage in the warfare against sin and Satan, or he will fail of everlasting life. {OHC 218.4} [OHC 218.5] Pure religion leads its possessor ever upward, inspiring him with noble purposes, teaching him propriety of deportment, and imparting a becoming dignity to every action. {OHC 218.5} [OHC 219.1] Chap. 213 - Necessity of Self-Cultivation Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. Ecclesiastes 12:1. {OHC 219.1} [OHC 219.2] How can I best present before the youth the necessity of self-cultivation, is my constant inquiry. I would urge upon our youth to regard every moment of time as golden. Do not waste it in indolence; do not spend it in folly; but grasp the higher treasures. Cultivate the thoughts and expand the soul by girding about the mind, not allowing it to be filled with unimportant matters. Secure every advantage within your reach for strengthening the intellect. Do not be satisfied with a low standard. Do not rest content until by faithful endeavor, watchfulness, and earnest prayer, you have secured the wisdom that is from above. Thus you may rise in character, and gain an influence over other minds, enabling you to lead them in the path of uprightness and holiness. This is your privilege. {OHC 219.2} [OHC 219.3] Cherish every ray of light that you can obtain by searching the Word of God. Take up your God-given work today, and see how much good you can accomplish in the strength of Christ. Make God your Counselor. Discipline and control the mental faculties. Self-control is a power that all may possess. It is gained by placing the will wholly on the side of God, taking the will of God for your will. {OHC 219.3} [OHC 219.4] Christ . . . can and will, if we submit to Him, fill the chambers of the mind and the recesses of the soul with His Spirit. Then our will will be in perfect harmony with the Divine will. Our spirit and will may be so identified with His Spirit and will that in thought and aim we shall be one with Him. Then Satan will no longer control us. Christ is our Leader, and His followers love to keep step and step with Him. He speaks, and they obey His voice as one mind and one soul. {OHC 219.4} [OHC 219.5] Dear youth, the very best thing you can do is to enlist freely and decidedly in the army of the Lord. Surrender yourself into the hands of God, that your will and ways may be guided by the One who is unerring in wisdom and infinite in goodness. . . . Let your name be enrolled in the heavenly records as one of the chosen and elect of God. {OHC 219.5} [OHC 220.1] Chap. 214 - Choosing My Lifework Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. 1 Corinthians 3:13. {OHC 220.1} [OHC 220.2] We should carefully weigh the matters relative to the work we take up. Will this work be a blessing to souls? God has not given us work merely to keep us busy, but for His name's glory. Many are busily engaged gathering wood, hay, stubble. But this will all be consumed. . . . {OHC 220.2} [OHC 220.3] By God's appointment each man has his post of duty. The careful, prayerful inquiry is to be made, What duty is assigned us individually, as men and women under accountability to God? And whether our labor be wholly limited to spiritual things, or whether it is temporal and spiritual combined, we are to faithfully discharge our work. Things secular and things sacred must be combined, but spiritual things are not to be hidden by secular matters. Christ requires the service of the whole being, the physical, mental, and moral powers combined. These are to be enlisted in God's service. Man is to remember that God has the ownership of all, and that his pursuits are invested with a sacredness that they did not possess before he enlisted in the army of the Lord. Every action is to be a consecrated action, for it occupies God's entrusted talent of time. Holiness unto the Lord is inscribed on all the actions of such a one, because his whole being is brought under subjection to God. {OHC 220.3} [OHC 220.4] No business is to be undertaken, even in ordinary life, if it is corrupting in its influence upon the senses. We are in the Lord's training school, and He has His own appointed means whereby we may be brought into His service. . . . Many are troubled because they are not working directly for the advancement of God's kingdom. But the humblest work must not be ignored. If it is honest work, it is a blessing, and may lead to the higher parts of the work. {OHC 220.4} [OHC 220.5] Whether we have one year before us, or five, or ten, we are to be faithful to our trust today. We are to perform each day's duties as faithfully as though that day were to be our last. {OHC 220.5} [OHC 221.1] Chap. 215 - Meditation with Diligent Work Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord. Romans 12:11. {OHC 221.1} [OHC 221.2] There are many who are absorbed in worldly business, and they do not give the Lord that devotion which is essential for their spiritual improvement. They tax brain, bone, and muscle to the uttermost, and gather to themselves burdens which lead them to forget God. Their spiritual powers are not exercised as well as their physical powers, and every day they are on the losing side, growing poorer and poorer in heavenly riches. {OHC 221.2} [OHC 221.3] There is another class who meet with loss because they are indolent and spend their powers in pleasing themselves, in using their tongues, and letting their muscles rust with inaction. They waste their opportunities by inaction, and do not glorify God. . . . {OHC 221.3} [OHC 221.4] There is something for everyone to do in this world of ours. The Lord is coming, and our waiting is to be not a time of idle expectation, but of vigilant work. We are not to spend our time wholly in prayerful meditation, neither are we to drive and hurry and work as if this were required in order that we should gain heaven, while neglecting to devote time to the cultivation of personal piety. There must be a combination of meditation and diligent work. As God has expressed it in His Word, we are to be "not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord." Worldly activities are not to crowd out the service of the Lord. The soul needs the riches of the grace of God, and the body needs physical exercise, in order to accomplish the work that must be done for the promulgation of the gospel of Christ. . . . {OHC 221.4} [OHC 221.5] Parents should teach their children that the Lord means them to be diligent workers, not idlers in His vineyard. . . . Each one is to act his part in the great work for humanity. . . . Thus the lamp of the soul will not be neglected, if time is taken to pray and to search the Scriptures. The allotted task may be done, and the lamp of the soul kept trimmed and burning. {OHC 221.5} [OHC 222.1] Chap. 216 - The Peril of "Nothing to Do" The way of the slothful man is an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain. Proverbs 15:19. {OHC 222.1} [OHC 222.2] Industry is a blessing to youth. A life of idleness is to be shunned by a young man as a vice. However humble the occupation may be, if only honorable, if the humble duties are done faithfully, he will not lose his reward. Industry is essential to health. If habits of industry were encouraged, a door would be closed against a thousand temptations. Those who lounge away their days, having no aim or object in life, are troubled with dejection and tempted to seek amusement in forbidden indulgences which enervate the system and tax the physical powers tenfold more than the most taxing labor. Indolence destroys more than hard labor. Many die because they have not the ability or inclination to set themselves to work. "Nothing to do" has killed its thousands. {OHC 222.2} [OHC 222.3] If youth will preserve habits of virtue and strict purity, and observe the laws God has established in the being, they may preserve their lives although required to perform severe labor during their lifetime. Long life is the heritage of diligence. {OHC 222.3} [OHC 222.4] Some young men think if they could spend a life in doing nothing they would be supremely happy. They cultivate a hatred for useful labor. They envy the sons of pleasure who devote their lives to amusement and gaiety. . . . Unhappiness and heartaches are the result of such thoughts and conduct. Nothing to do has sunk many a young man in perdition. Well-regulated labor is essential for the success of every youth. God could not have inflicted a greater curse upon men and women than to doom them to live a life of inaction. Idleness will destroy soul and body. The heart, the moral character, and physical energies are enfeebled. The intellect suffers, and the heart is open to temptation as an open avenue to sink into every vice. The indolent man tempts the devil to tempt him. . . . {OHC 222.4} [OHC 222.5] Religion will prove to you an anchor. Communion with God will impart to every holy impulse a vigor that will make the duties of life a pleasure. {OHC 222.5} [OHC 223.1] Chap. 217 - The Blessing of Work Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Proverbs 6:6. {OHC 223.1} [OHC 223.2] God placed our first parents in Paradise, surrounding them with all that was useful and lovely. In their Eden home nothing was wanting that could minister to their comfort and happiness. And to Adam was given the work of caring for the Garden. The Creator knew that Adam could not be happy without employment. The beauty of the Garden delighted him, but this was not enough. He must have labor to call into exercise the wonderful organs of the body. Had happiness consisted in doing nothing, man, in his state of holy innocence, would have been left unemployed. But He who created man knew what would be for his happiness; and no sooner had He created him, than He gave him his appointed work. The promise of future glory, and the decree that man must toil for his daily bread, came from the same throne. . . . {OHC 223.2} [OHC 223.3] When the body is inactive, the blood flows sluggishly, and the muscles decrease in size and strength. . . . Physical exercise, and a free use of air and sunlight--blessings which heaven has abundantly bestowed on all--would give life and strength to many an emaciated invalid. . . . Work is a blessing, not a curse. Diligent labor keeps many, young and old, from the snares of him who "finds some mischief still for idle hands to do." Let no one be ashamed of work, for honest toil is ennobling. While the hands are engaged in the most common tasks, the mind may be filled with high and holy thoughts. {OHC 223.3} [OHC 223.4] Drowsiness and indolence destroy godliness, and grieve the Spirit of God. A stagnant pool is offensive; but a pure, flowing stream spreads health and gladness over the land. No man or woman who is converted can be anything but a worker. There certainly is and ever will be employment in heaven. The redeemed will not live in a state of dreamy idleness. There remaineth a rest for the people of God--a rest which they will find in serving Him to whom they owe all they have and are. {OHC 223.4} [OHC 224.1] Chap. 218 - Sustained Versus Spasmodic Effort The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want. Proverbs 21:5. {OHC 224.1} [OHC 224.2] How many youth who might have become men of usefulness and power have failed because in early life they contracted habits of indecision which followed them through life to cripple all their efforts. Now and then they are filled with sudden zeal to do some great thing, but they leave their work half finished and it comes to nothing. Patient continuance in welldoing is indispensable to success. . . . Temperate, persevering, steady labor will achieve far more than can be accomplished by spasmodic efforts. . . . {OHC 224.2} [OHC 224.3] Labor was appointed to man by his Creator. God provided employment for our first parents in holy Eden. And since the Fall, man has been a toiler, eating his bread by the sweat of his brow. Every bone of his body, every feature of his countenance, every muscle of his limbs, evinces the fact that he was made for activity--not for idleness. {OHC 224.3} [OHC 224.4] Habits of industry should be formed in youth. . . . The faithful discharge of life's duties, whatever your position, calls for a wise improvement of all the talents and abilities that God has given you. Guard against being always hurried, yet accomplishing nothing worthy of the effort. These fruitless efforts are often caused by a failure to do the work at the proper time. Whatever is neglected at the time when it should be performed, whether in secular or in religious things, is rarely done well. Many appear to labor diligently every hour in the day, and yet produce no results to correspond with their efforts. . . . {OHC 224.4} [OHC 224.5] Be careful not to fritter away your time upon trifles, and then fail to carry out your undertakings that are of real account. . . . A steadfast adherence to a purpose is necessary in order to secure the end. A distinguished man was once asked how it was possible for him to accomplish such a vast amount of business. His answer was, "I do one thing at a time." . . . Jesus was an earnest worker, and those who follow His example will experience self-denial, toil, and sacrifice. {OHC 224.5} [OHC 225.1] Chap. 219 - God Concerned with Every Transaction A false balance is abomination to the Lord: but a just weight is his delight. Proverbs 11:1. {OHC 225.1} [OHC 225.2] A false balance is a symbol of all unfair dealing, all devices to conceal selfishness and injustice under an appearance of fairness and equity. God will not in the slightest degree favor such practices. He hates every false way. He abhors all selfishness and covetousness. Unmerciful dealing He will not tolerate, but will repay in kind. God can give prosperity to the working men whose means are acquired honestly. But His curse rests upon all that is gained by selfish practices. {OHC 225.2} [OHC 225.3] When one indulges in selfishness or sharp dealing, he shows that he does not fear the Lord or reverence His name. Those who are connected with God will not only shun all injustice, but will manifest His mercy and goodness toward all with whom they have to do. The Lord will sanction no respect of person; but He will not approve the course of those who make no difference in favor of the poor, the widow, and the orphan. {OHC 225.3} [OHC 225.4] Your religious faith must elevate you above every low trick. Industry, faithfulness, a firm adherence to right, and trust in God will ensure success. Move slowly, honestly, upon strictly Bible principles, or stop business. No bargain is ever made, no debt is ever paid, in which God is not concerned. He is the all-wise, eternal guardian of justice. You can never exclude God from any matter in which the rights of His people are involved. The hand of God is spread as a shield over all His creatures. No man can wound your rights without smiting that hand; you can wound no man's rights without smiting it. That hand holds the sword of justice. Beware how you deal with men. . . . {OHC 225.4} [OHC 225.5] Your light shining in your business life, exhibiting the power of practical godliness, is worth vastly more to all with whom you come in contact than sermons or creeds. The world will watch and criticize and take knowledge of you in the midst of your temporal affairs, with keenness and severity. What you say in the church is not of half as much consequence as what you do in your daily business. {OHC 225.5} [OHC 226.1] Chap. 220 - Cultivate Honesty Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. Romans 12:17. {OHC 226.1} [OHC 226.2] The religion of Christ enjoins upon men to carry the pure principles of truth into their daily life, in buying and selling, in the transaction of all business, with as true a sense of religious obligation as that with which they offer to God their supplications. Business must not divert the soul from God. You should by your example demonstrate to the world that the truth of God sanctifies the receiver and produces industry, frugality, and perseverance, while it extirpates avarice, overreaching, and every species of dishonesty. . . . {OHC 226.2} [OHC 226.3] Nothing is worth so much to a young man just starting out in life as a reputation for unbending integrity. {OHC 226.3} [OHC 226.4] Every business transaction is to be such as can be endorsed by Heaven, else it will bear the unsavory odor of Satan's influence. Every action is to represent the science of Heaven's principles. {OHC 226.4} [OHC 226.5] Truthfulness and frankness should be ever cherished by all who claim to be followers of Christ. God and the right should be the motto. Deal honestly and righteously in this present evil world. Some will be honest when they see that honesty will not endanger their worldly interests; but all who act from this principle will have their names blotted out of the book of life. {OHC 226.5} [OHC 226.6] Strict honesty must be cultivated. We can go through the world but once; we cannot come back to rectify any mistakes; therefore every move made should be with godly fear and careful consideration. Honesty and policy will not harmonize; either policy will be subdued, and truth and honesty hold the lines of control, or policy will take the lines, and honesty cease to direct. Both cannot act together; they can never be in agreement. When God makes up His jewels, the true, the frank, the honest, will be His chosen ones, His treasures. Angels are preparing crowns for such, and light from the throne of God will be reflected in its splendor from these star-gemmed diadems. {OHC 226.6} [OHC 227.1] Chap. 221 - Great in God's Sight He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. Luke 16:10. {OHC 227.1} [OHC 227.2] Life is not made up of great things alone; it is the little things that make the sum of life's happiness or miseries. It is the little things in life that reveal a person's real character. Oh, if all youth and those of mature age could see as I have seen the mirror of person's lives presented before them, they would look more gravely upon even the little duties of life. Every mistake, every error, unimportant though it may be regarded, leaves a scar in this life and a blot on the heavenly records. {OHC 227.2} [OHC 227.3] Life is full of duties that are not agreeable, but all these unpleasant duties will be made agreeable by a cheerful performance of them because it is right. Taking an interest in the duties which someone must do, and striving to do them with the heart, will make the most disagreeable duties pleasant. {OHC 227.3} [OHC 227.4] There are many who undervalue the small events of life, the little deeds that are to be performed day by day; but these are not to be estimated as small, as every action tells either for the blessing or the injuring of someone. Every action tells its own story, it bears its own history to the throne of God. It is known whether it is on the side of right or on the side of wrong. It is only by acting in accordance with the principles of God's Word in the small transactions of life, that we place ourselves on the right side. We are tried and tested by these small occurrences, and our character will be estimated according as our work shall be. {OHC 227.4} [OHC 227.5] It is the conscientious attention to what the world calls little things that makes the great beauty and success of life. Little deeds of charity, Little words of kindness, Little acts of self-denial, A wise improvement of opportunities, A diligent cultivation of little talents, Make great men in God's sight. {OHC 227.5} [OHC 228.1] Chap. 222 - Benefits of Regularity and Order I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; that in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge. 1 Corinthians 1:4, 5. {OHC 228.1} [OHC 228.2] There is need to cultivate every grace that Jesus . . . has brought within our reach; for that grace alone can remedy our defects; Christ alone can transform the character. And God would have us manifest this grace, so richly provided, in the little as well as the large things of life. . . . Our God is a God of order and He desires that His children shall will to bring themselves into order, and under His discipline. . . . If the youth would form habits of regularity and order, they would improve in health, in spirits, in memory, and in disposition. {OHC 228.2} [OHC 228.3] It is the duty of all to observe strict rules in their habits of life. This is for your own good, dear youth, both physically and morally. When you rise in the morning, take into consideration, as far as possible, the work you must accomplish during the day. If necessary, have a small book in which to jot down the things that need to be done, and set yourself a time in which to do your work. . . . Slow, dilatory habits make much work out of very little. But if you will, you may overcome these fussy, lingering habits. The exercise of the will power will make the hands move deftly. . . . {OHC 228.3} [OHC 228.4] These matters have been looked upon as little things, and almost unworthy of notice. But many are deceived as to the importance of these little things. They bear strongly upon the great whole. God does not regard anything as unimportant that pertains to the well-being of the human family. He gave His only begotten Son for the body as well as for the soul, and all is to be consecrated to Him. . . . Great truth can be brought into little things; practical religion must be carried into the lowly duties of daily life. And in the performance of these duties, you are forming characters that will stand the test of the Judgment. Then, in whatever position you may be placed, whatever your duties may be, do them nobly and faithfully, realizing that all heaven is beholding your work. {OHC 228.4} [OHC 229.1] Chap. 223 - Big Little Things Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes. Song of Solomon 2:15. {OHC 229.1} [OHC 229.2] God requires us to be right in important matters, while He tells us that faithfulness in little things will fit us for higher positions of trust. . . . {OHC 229.2} [OHC 229.3] The good qualities which many possess are hidden, and instead of attracting souls to Christ they repulse them. If these persons could see the influence of their uncourteous ways and unkind expressions upon unbelievers, and how offensive is such conduct in the sight of God, they would reform their habits, for a lack of courtesy is one of the greatest stumbling blocks to sinners. Selfish, complaining, sour Christians bar the way, so that sinners do not care to approach Christ. {OHC 229.3} [OHC 229.4] Could we look beneath the surface of things, we should see that half life's misery is created by frowns and unkind speeches, which might be prevented as well as not. Many make a hell upon earth for themselves and for those whom they might comfort and bless. These are not worthy of the Christian name. . . . {OHC 229.4} [OHC 229.5] Some persons speak in a harsh, uncourteous manner, that wounds the feeling of others, and then they justify themselves by saying, "It is my way; I always tell just what I think"; and they exalt this wicked trait of character as a virtue. Their uncourteous deportment should be firmly rebuked. {OHC 229.5} [OHC 229.6] That unkind word should be left unspoken, that selfish disregard for the happiness of others should give place to sympathy and thoughtfulness. True courtesy, blended with truth and justice, will make the life not only useful, but fragrant. . . . {OHC 229.6} [OHC 229.7] Integrity, justice, and Christian kindness, blended, make a beautiful combination. Courtesy is one of the graces of the Spirit. It is an attribute of heaven. The angels never fly into a passion, never are envious, selfish, and jealous. No harsh or unkind words escape their lips. And if we are to be the companions of angels, we too must be refined and courteous. {OHC 229.7} [OHC 230.1] Chap. 224 - Order and Cleanliness Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 Corinthians 7:1. {OHC 230.1} [OHC 230.2] It is of the highest importance that Sabbathkeepers live out their faith in every particular. They should be prompt and neat, and keep their business matters all straight. . . . {OHC 230.2} [OHC 230.3] None should be so fearful of being like the world that it will lead them to be careless in their houses, leaving things in disorder and uncleanness. It is not pride to be neat in dress, cleanly in person, orderly and tasteful in their household arrangements. . . . These outside appearances tell the business character of those living in the house, and not only this but the religious character of its inmates. It is impossible for a slack, disorderly person to make a good Christian. Their lives, in temporal and religious things, are just as disorderly as their dress, houses, persons, and premises. {OHC 230.3} [OHC 230.4] There is order in heaven. There are rules and regulations which govern the whole heavenly host. All move in order. All there is cleanly, all in perfect harmony. And everyone who will be counted worthy to enter heaven will be thoroughly disciplined and will be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. The uncultivated have spots and wrinkles upon them now. They had better lose no time in commencing the work of cleansing themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. {OHC 230.4} [OHC 230.5] God loves purity, cleanliness, order, and holiness. God requires all His people who lack these qualifications to seek them and never rest until they obtain them. They must commence the work of reform and elevate their lives, so that in conversation and deportment their acts, their lives, will be a continual recommendation of their faith and will have such a winning, compelling power upon unbelievers that they will be compelled to acknowledge that they are the children of God. {OHC 230.5} [OHC 230.6] The truth as it is in Jesus will not degrade but elevate the receiver, purify his life, refine his taste, sanctify his judgment. {OHC 230.6} [OHC 231.1] Chap. 225 - Love's Fragrant Outreach And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you. 1 Thessalonians 3:12. {OHC 231.1} [OHC 231.2] God would have His children realize that in order to glorify Him their affection must be given to those who most need it. . . . No selfishness, in look, word, or deed, is to be manifested when dealing with those of like precious faith, . . . whether they be high or low, rich or poor. The love that gives kind words to only a few, while others are treated with coldness and indifference, is not love, but selfishness. It will not in any way work for the good of souls or the glory of God. Our love . . . is not to be sealed up for special ones, to the neglect of others. Break the bottle, and the fragrance will fill the house. {OHC 231.2} [OHC 231.3] Those who gather the sunshine of Christ's righteousness, and do not let it shine forth into the lives of others, will soon lose the sweet, bright rays of heavenly grace, selfishly reserved to be lavished only upon a few. Those who possess much affection are responsible to God to bestow this affection . . . on all who need help. . . . {OHC 231.3} [OHC 231.4] To love as Christ loved means to manifest unselfishness at all times and in all places, by kind words and pleasant looks. These cost those who give them nothing, but they leave behind a fragrance that surrounds the soul. Their effect can never be estimated. Not only are they a blessing to the receiver, but to the giver; for they react upon him. Genuine love is a precious attribute of heavenly origin, which increases in fragrance in proportion as it is dispensed to others. . . . {OHC 231.4} [OHC 231.5] The souls of those who love Jesus will be surrounded with a pure, fragrant atmosphere. There are those who hide their soul hunger. These will be greatly helped by a tender word or a kind remembrance. The heavenly gifts, freely and richly bestowed by God, are in turn to be freely bestowed by us upon all who come within the sphere of our influence. Thus we reveal a love that is heaven-born, and which will increase as it is freely used in blessing others. Thus we glorify God. {OHC 231.5} [OHC 232.1] Chap. 226 - Why Look for Flaws? Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Philippians 2:3. {OHC 232.1} [OHC 232.2] Oh, how hard many make the Christian life! They climb the steep, briary path, staggering under imposed burdens, as though they must tinker up the characters of others. . . . They do not experience the sweet peace of Christ. They do not grasp the help Jesus gives them, but they are continually grieving over supposed wrongs of others, and overlook the cheering, blessed tokens for good all along their pathway. {OHC 232.2} [OHC 232.3] Just as soon as one has a vivid and all-absorbing consciousness of his own personal accountability to God and of his duty to his fellow men, and senses that his influence is far reaching, stretching into eternity, he will not be satisfied with a low standard, he will not be faultfinding and critical of others. He will make his own life what he would wish the lives of others to be. He will live only in Christ, utterly and wholly dependent on Him for every beauty and loveliness of character. {OHC 232.3} [OHC 232.4] We should be weeding out of our thoughts all complaining and faultfinding. Let us not continue to look upon any defects that we may see. . . . If we would get the right hold on God, we must keep beholding the great precious things--the purity, the glory, the power, the kindness, the affection, the love, that God bestows upon us. And thus beholding, our minds will become so fixed upon these things of eternal interest that we shall have no desire to find the flaws in others. {OHC 232.4} [OHC 232.5] Think of the Lord Jesus, and His merits and His love, but do not seek to find the defects and dwell upon the mistakes that others have made. Call to your mind the things worthy of your recognition and your praise; and if you are sharp to discern errors in others, be more sharp to recognize the good and praise the good. You may, if you criticize yourselves, find things just as objectionable as that which you see in others. Then let us work constantly to strengthen one another in the most holy faith. {OHC 232.5} [OHC 233.1] Chap. 227 - Criticism Not Our Work Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:1, 2. {OHC 233.1} [OHC 233.2] Our bodies are built up from what we eat and drink; and the character of our spiritual experience depends on what our minds feed upon and assimilate. By continually dwelling upon the mistakes and defects of others, many become religious dyspeptics. . . . Those who are so busy in dissecting the words and acts of others, to discover all that is objectionable, fail to discern the good and pleasant things. They do not eat of the proper food to promote spiritual vitality and healthy growth. {OHC 233.2} [OHC 233.3] The Lord is not pleased with His people when they neglect to criticize their own soul, criticizing others instead. This is Satan's work. When you do this work, remember that the enemy is using you as a means of tempting others, in order that those who should be united in harmony and joy, building up one another in the most holy faith, shall be warring and complaining because some one else is sinning. Christ has not made you a sin bearer. You cannot even bear your own sin. Therefore be very careful not to take up any reproach against your neighbor. God wants His people to be free. . . . Shall we not remember that by the words we speak we may either wound or heal? Shall we not remember that as we judge, so we shall be judged, we who perhaps have had many more opportunities than those whom we judge? {OHC 233.3} [OHC 233.4] Our hearts must be melted into tenderness and love for one another. We may criticize ourselves just as severely as we please. The one who criticizes another gives evidence that he is the very one who needs to criticize himself. Pray God to show you what you must remove from yourselves in order that you may see the kingdom of God.... {OHC 233.4} [OHC 233.5] There is a crown for the overcomer. Do you want it? Do you want to run the race with patience? Then do not seek to find something to condemn in your neighbor, but look right to Jesus Christ. Behold His purity, and you will be charmed and will reflect His likeness. {OHC 233.5} [OHC 234.1] Chap. 228 - Overcoming Envy and Jealousy Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Galatians 5:26. {OHC 234.1} [OHC 234.2] Envy and jealousy are diseases which disorder all the faculties of the being. They originated with Satan in paradise. . . . Those who listen to his ［Satan's］ voice will demerit others, and will misrepresent and falsify in order to build up themselves. But nothing that defiles can enter heaven, and unless those who cherish this spirit are changed, they can never enter there, for they would criticize the angels. They would envy another's crown. They would not know what to talk of unless they could bring up the imperfections and errors of others. {OHC 234.2} [OHC 234.3] O that such would become changed by beholding Christ! O that they would become meek and lowly by learning of Him! Then they would go forth, not as missionaries for Satan, to cause disunion and alienation, to bruise and mangle character, but as missionaries for Christ, to be peacemakers and to restore. Let the Holy Spirit come in and expel this unholy passion, which cannot survive in heaven. Let it die; let it be crucified. Open the heart to the attributes of Christ, who was holy, harmless, undefiled. . . . {OHC 234.3} [OHC 234.4] The Word of God exhorts, "Love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous." 2 Peter 3:8. True moral worth does not seek to make a place for itself by thinking and speaking evil, by depreciating others. All envy, all jealousy, all evilspeaking, with all unbelief, must be put away from God's children. {OHC 234.4} [OHC 234.5] The Bible is full of instruction enjoining us to show love, patience, and respect in our speech and in our treatment of one another. The love of Jesus in the soul never leads to malice and envy. The tender plant of Christlike love must be carefully cherished. It will not grow unless it is cultivated. {OHC 234.5} [OHC 234.6] Heaven takes notice of the one who carries about with him an atmosphere of peace and love. Such a one will receive his reward. He will stand in the great day of the Lord. {OHC 234.6} [OHC 235.1] Chap. 229 - How to Deal with Anger He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. Proverbs 16:32. {OHC 235.1} [OHC 235.2] How Satan exults when he is enabled to set the soul into a white heat of anger! A glance, a gesture, an intonation, may be seized upon and used, as the arrow of Satan, to wound and poison the heart that is open to receive it. {OHC 235.2} [OHC 235.3] When one once gives place to an angry spirit he is just as much intoxicated as the man who has put the glass to his lips. {OHC 235.3} [OHC 235.4] Christ treats anger as murder. . . . Passionate words are a savor of death unto death. He who utters them is not cooperating with God to save his fellow man. In heaven this wicked railing is placed in the same list as common swearing. While hatred is cherished in the soul there is not one iota of the love of God there. {OHC 235.4} [OHC 235.5] When you feel an angry spirit arising, take firm hold of Jesus Christ by faith. Utter no word. Danger lies in the utterance of a single word when you are angry, for a volley of passionate utterances will follow. . . . The man who gives way to folly in speaking passionate words, bears false witness; for he is never just. He exaggerates every defect he thinks he sees; he is too blind and unreasonable to be convinced of his madness. He transgresses the commandments of God, and his imagination is perverted by the inspiration of Satan. He knows not what he is doing. Blind and deaf, he permits Satan to take the helm and guide him wherever he pleases. The door is then thrown open to malice, to envy, and to evil surmisings, and the poor victim is borne helplessly on. . . . But there is hope while the hours of probation linger, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.... {OHC 235.5} [OHC 235.6] "Be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless." 2 Peter 3:14. This is the standard for which every Christian must strive, not in his own natural ability, but through the grace given him of Jesus Christ. Let us wrestle for the mastery over every sin, and be able to check every impatient, fretful expression. {OHC 235.6} [OHC 236.1] Chap. 230 - The Fragrant Touch of Courtesy Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous. 1 Peter 3:8. {OHC 236.1} [OHC 236.2] In dealing with our fellow men we all are to consider that they are of like passions with ourselves, feeling the same weaknesses and suffering the same temptations. They, with us, have a struggle with life if they maintain their integrity. . . . True Christian courtesy unites and perfects both justice and politeness, and mercy and love make up the filling, giving the finest touches and most graceful charms to the character. . . . {OHC 236.2} [OHC 236.3] Abraham was a true gentleman. In his life we have the finest example of the power of true courtesy. Look at his course with Lot. . . . How courteously he welcomes the travelers, the messengers of God, to his tent, and entertains them! He bowed before the sons of Heth when he purchased of them a cave in which to bury his beloved Sarah. . . . Well did Abraham know what was due from man to his fellow man. {OHC 236.3} [OHC 236.4] Paul, though firm as a rock to principle, yet ever preserved his courtesy. He was zealous for the vital points and was not regardless of the grace and politeness due to social life. The man of God did not absorb the man of humanity. {OHC 236.4} [OHC 236.5] But we present a greater than Abraham and Paul--the Saviour of the world. His life was a striking illustration of genuine courtesy. It is impossible to enumerate the instances of His kindness, courtesy, and tender sympathy and love. What rays of softness and beauty did His marvelous condescension shed over His entire life! He had a kind look and an encouraging word for all who were wearied and worn with labor. He was ready to help the most helpless. {OHC 236.5} [OHC 236.6] Love, courtesy, amiability--these are never lost. When men shall be changed from mortal to immortal, all the deeds of sanctified goodness done by them will be made manifest. These deeds will be preserved through the eternal ages. Not one, however small or simple, is ever lost. Through the merits of Christ's imputed righteousness they preserve their fragrance. {OHC 236.6} [OHC 237.1] Chap. 231 - "A System of Truest Politeness" And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32. {OHC 237.1} [OHC 237.2] We must learn to place the best possible construction upon doubtful conduct of others. . . . If we are ever suspecting evil we are in danger of creating what we allow ourselves to suspect. . . . We cannot pass along without sometimes having our feelings hurt and our temper tried, but as Christians we must be just as patient, forbearing, humble, and meek as we desire others to be. Oh, how many thousand good acts and deeds of kindness that we receive . . . pass from the mind like dew before the sun, while imaginary or real injury leaves an impression which it is next to impossible to efface! The very best example to give to others is to be right ourselves, and then leave ourselves, our reputation, with God and not show too great anxiety to right every wrong impression and present our case in a favorable light. . . . {OHC 237.2} [OHC 237.3] The neglect to cultivate tender consideration and forbearance for one another has caused dissension, distrust, faultfinding, and general disunion. God . . . calls upon us to put away this great sin and to strive to answer the prayer of Christ that His disciples may be one as He is one with the Father. . . . It is the special work of Satan to cause dissension, . . . that the world should be deprived of the most powerful testimony Christians can give it that God has sent His Son to bring into harmony turbulent, proud, envious, jealous, bigoted minds. . . . {OHC 237.3} [OHC 237.4] The truth of God is not designed merely to deal with errors and vices. . . . The truth is designed to sanctify the receiver, to fashion and mold the entire man, externally as well as internally, by abasing pride and disposing his heart to be kind and amiable and condescending. Yes, the religion of Christ is a system of the truest politeness, and its triumphs are complete when a world may look on a people professing godliness with a united front, believers showing habitual tenderness of feeling and kindness of deportment and sincere regard for the reputation of each other. {OHC 237.4} [OHC 238.1] Chap. 232 - An Irresistible Influence Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience. Colossians 3:12, R.S.V. {OHC 238.1} [OHC 238.2] Kind words, pleasant looks, a cheerful countenance, throw a charm around the Christian that makes his influence almost irresistible. This is a way to gain respect, and extend the sphere of usefulness, which costs but little. It is the religion of Christ in the heart that causes the words issuing therefrom to be gentle and the demeanor condescending, even to those in the humblest walks of life. A blustering, faultfinding, overbearing man is not a Christian; for to be a Christian is to be Christlike. . . . {OHC 238.2} [OHC 238.3] He who drinks in the spirit of Christ will let it flow forth in kind words, and be expressed in courteous deportment. The plan of salvation is to soften whatever is harsh and rough in the temper, and to smooth off whatever is rugged or sharp in the manners. External change will testify of an internal change. The truth is the sanctifier, the refiner. Received into the heart, it works with hidden power, transforming the receiver. But those who profess the truth and at the same time are rough, and sour, and unkind in words and deportment, have not learned of Jesus; all these manifestations show that they are yet servants of the wicked one. No man can be a Christian without having the spirit of Christ, manifesting meekness, gentleness, and refinement of manners. . . . {OHC 238.3} [OHC 238.4] Pleasant, kind, and well-bred Christians will have an influence for God and His truth; it cannot be otherwise. The light borrowed from Heaven will shed its brightening rays through them to the pathway of others. . . . The words we speak, our daily deportment, are the fruit growing upon the tree. If the fruit is sour and unpalatable, the rootlets of that tree are not drawing nourishment from a pure source. If our affections are brought into harmony with our Saviour, if our characters are meek and lowly, we evidence that our life is hid with Christ in God; and we shall leave behind us a bright track. . . . Beholders will discern that we have been with Jesus and learned of Him. {OHC 238.4} [OHC 239.1] Chap. 233 - Cherishing the Spirit of Jesus Forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Colossians 3:13, R.S.V. {OHC 239.1} [OHC 239.2] We are in this world to meet with persons of varied minds and different temperaments, and you must consider that they do not differ with you any more than you differ with them. . . . We are to cultivate forbearance, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, and love and be bound together by the ties of human brotherhood. {OHC 239.2} [OHC 239.3] May the dear Saviour be a welcome guest in your heart. If Christ is abiding in your heart, you will manifest Christ in your words, the law of kindness will be upon your tongues, and you will have peace within. Then all will be peace without, and you will make melody to God in your hearts. {OHC 239.3} [OHC 239.4] A blessing rests upon the peacemakers. . . . O that the Lord would imbue me with His Holy Spirit, that I shall ever be what Christ calls a peacemaker! I do not love the atmosphere of strife and contention. I want to be able to say the Lord's Prayer, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." Oh, how can we utter this prayer and be unforgiving? . . . {OHC 239.4} [OHC 239.5] To judge our brethren, to allow feelings to be cherished against them, even if we feel they have not done exactly right toward us, will bring no blessing to our hearts and will not help the case at all. I dare not allow my feelings to run in the channel of hunting up all my grievances and telling them over and over, and dwelling in the atmosphere of distrust, enmity, and dissension. . . . {OHC 239.5} [OHC 239.6] There is light in following Jesus, talking of Jesus, loving Jesus, and I will not allow my mind to think or speak ill of my brethren. "Inasmuch," said Christ, "as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matthew 25:40. I would not feel unkindness or hatred to anyone. I would not be an accuser of my brethren. Satan will try to stir up my mind to do this, but I cannot do it. I will cherish the forgiving Spirit of Jesus. {OHC 239.6} [OHC 240.1] Chap. 234 - "Not Easily Provoked" Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil. 1 Corinthians 13:4, 5. {OHC 240.1} [OHC 240.2] Many have a vivid, unsanctified sensitiveness which keeps them constantly on the alert for some word, some look, or some action which they can construe as a lack of respect and appreciation. All this must be overcome. Everyone should go forward in the fear of God, doing his best without being troubled by praise or offended by censure, serving God fervently, and learning to place the most favorable interpretation upon whatever in others may seem offensive. {OHC 240.2} [OHC 240.3] We may expect that false reports will circulate about us; but if we follow a straight course, if we remain indifferent to these things, others will also be indifferent. Let us leave to God the care of our reputation. . . . Slander can be lived down by our manner of living; it is not lived down by words of indignation. Let our great anxiety be to act in the fear of God, and show by our conduct that these reports are false. No one can injure our character as much as ourselves. It is the weak trees and the tottering houses that need to be constantly propped. When we show ourselves so anxious to protect our reputation against attacks from the outside, we give the impression that it is not blameless before God, and that it needs therefore to be continually bolstered up. {OHC 240.3} [OHC 240.4] It does not behoove those from whom Jesus has so much to bear, in their failings and perversity, to be ever mindful of slights and real or imaginary offense. . . . The heart filled with that love which thinketh no evil will not be on the watch to notice discourtesies and grievances of which he may be the object. The will of God is that His love shall close the eyes, the ears and the heart to all such provocations and to all the suggestions with which Satan would fill them. There is a noble majesty in the silence of the one exposed to evil surmising or outrage. To be master of one's spirit is to be stronger than kings or conquerors. {OHC 240.4} [OHC 241.1] Chap. 235 - Has Religion Made You Better? Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. 1 Peter 2:12. {OHC 241.1} [OHC 241.2] Whatever we are at heart will be revealed in character, and will have an influence on all those with whom we associate. Our words, our actions, are a savor of life unto life or of death unto death. And in the judgment we shall be brought face to face with those whom we might have helped in right, safe paths by choice words, by counsel, if we had daily connection with God and a living, abiding interest in the saving of their souls. {OHC 241.2} [OHC 241.3] The Christian should not be content to be merely an active man of business. He should not be so absorbed in worldly affairs as to have scarcely a spare moment or a thought for recreation or friendship, for the good of others, for the culture of the mind, or the welfare of the soul. Energy and diligence in business are commendable, but these should not lead us to neglect that love for God and man which the Bible enjoins. . . . {OHC 241.3} [OHC 241.4] Our course in temporal matters, our conduct toward one another, is commented upon with keenness and severity. What we say in the church is not of so great consequence as our deportment in the home circle and among our neighbors. The kindly word, the thoughtful act, true politeness and hospitality, will constantly exert an influence in favor of the Christian religion. {OHC 241.4} [OHC 241.5] Let not the testimony be borne concerning any of us, "Religion has made them no better. They are as self-indulgent, as worldly, as sharp in trade, as ever." All who bear such fruit scatter from Christ, instead of gathering with Him. They place obstacles in the way of those whom they might by a consistent course have won to Jesus. It is our duty as Christians to give the world unmistakable evidence that we are obeying the great commandment, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," which is the same as our Saviour's golden rule, "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." {OHC 241.5} [OHC 242.1] Chap. 236 - The Secret of Contentment But godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6. {OHC 242.1} [OHC 242.2] Pure religion brings peace, happiness, contentment; godliness is profitable to this life and the life to come. {OHC 242.2} [OHC 242.3] That unrest and discontent which ends in fretting and complaining is sinful; but the discontent with one's self which urges on to more earnest effort for greater improvement of the mind for a broader field of usefulness is praiseworthy. This discontent does not end in disappointment but in gathering force for a higher and more extended field of usefulness. Only be ever balanced by firm religious principle and a sensitive conscience, having ever the fear of God before you, and you will certainly prosper in becoming fitted for a life of usefulness. {OHC 242.3} [OHC 242.4] We should live for the next world. It is so wretched to live a haphazard, aimless life. We want an object in life--to live for a purpose. God help us all to be self-sacrificing, less self-caring, more forgetful of self and selfish interest; and to do good, not for the honor we expect to receive here, but because this is the object of our life and will answer the end of our existence. Let our daily prayer go up to God that He will divest us of selfishness. . . . {OHC 242.4} [OHC 242.5] I have seen that those who live for a purpose, seeking to benefit and bless their fellow men and to honor and glorify their Redeemer, are the truly happy ones on the earth, while the man who is restless, discontented, and seeking this and testing that, hoping to find happiness, is always complaining of disappointment. He is always in want, never satisfied, because he lives for himself alone. Let it be your aim to do good, to act your part in life faithfully. {OHC 242.5} [OHC 242.6] Be anxious and earnest to grow in grace, seeking for a more distinct and intelligent understanding of the will of God concerning you, striving earnestly for the mark of the prize before you. Christian perfection alone will win the spotless robes of character which will entitle you to stand before the throne of God among the blood-washed throng, bearing the palm branch of everlasting victory and eternal triumph. {OHC 242.6} [OHC 243.1] Chap. 237 - Watch Your Step! Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Proverbs 4:26. {OHC 243.1} [OHC 243.2] "Make straight paths for your feet," says the apostle, "lest that which is lame be turned out of the way." Hebrews 12:13. The path that leads away from God, away from His holy, perfect standard of right, is always crooked and dangerous. Yet . . . many have been walking in this path of transgression. In many cases they did not start right in childhood and youth, and they have pursued crooked paths all the way along. Not only have they erred from the right way themselves but through the influence of their example others have been turned aside from the straight, plain path, and have made fatal mistakes. . . . {OHC 243.2} [OHC 243.3] We do not always realize the power of example. We are brought in contact with others. We meet persons who are erring, who do wrong in various ways; they may be disagreeable, quick, passionate, dictatorial. While dealing with these we must be patient, forbearing, kind, and gentle. Satan works through them to provoke and harass, so that we shall not exhibit a pleasant and lovable disposition. There are trials and perplexities for us all to encounter; for we are in a world of cares, anxieties, and disappointments. But these continual annoyances must be met in the spirit of Christ. Through grace we may rise superior to our surroundings, and keep our spirits calm and unruffled amid the frets and worries of everyday life. We shall thus represent Christ to the world. . . . {OHC 243.3} [OHC 243.4] Consecration to God must be a living, practical matter; not a theory to be talked about, but a principle interwoven with all our experience. We should let our light so shine before others that they, seeing our good works, shall glorify our Father who is in Heaven. We should show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. If the light of Heaven is in the soul, it will be reflected to all around us. I wish all could see this important subject in its true light. There would not then be such thoughtlessness of words and acts, such careless, indolent, irreligious living. {OHC 243.4} [OHC 244.1] Chap. 238 - Habits and Character Building Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Proverbs 4:14. {OHC 244.1} [OHC 244.2] Few realize the power of habit. Inspiration asks, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" and adds, "then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil." Jeremiah 13:23. This is a solemn assertion. . . . But there is comfort and courage in the reflection that if evil habits acquire such force that it seems almost impossible to turn in the right direction, the power of good habits is equally strong. The results of each day's work, whether the tendency be to elevate us in the scale of moral worth or to push us downward toward perdition, are influenced by the days that have preceded it. Defeat today prepares the way for still greater defeat tomorrow; victory today ensures an easier victory tomorrow. Then how careful we should be to see that the habits and characters we are forming are correct and virtuous. . . . {OHC 244.2} [OHC 244.3] Young friends, restrain your feet from all evil ways. . . . Men may discipline themselves to do right. Like Daniel they may have a Heaven-born purpose in their hearts that they will not defile soul or body, notwithstanding the degeneracy and corruption of the age. God gave Daniel "knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom." Daniel 1:17. His blessing attended the man who put forth human effort in accordance with the divine will. The same help will still be given to all who pursue a similar course, and with the glory of God in view practice abstinence and self-restraint. The same difference will be seen between them and the self-indulgent that there was between Daniel and his fellows and the other youth in the king's court. There will be the clear eye and complexion, the firm tread, the strength and vigor of intellect, the keen perception of spiritual truth. {OHC 244.3} [OHC 244.4] Let us remember that character is not the result of accident, but day by day it is forming for good or for evil. Great importance attaches to this work of character building; for it is far reaching in its results. We are builders for time and for eternity. {OHC 244.4} [OHC 245.1] Chap. 239 - Blessings Diffusive as Sunlight That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:45. {OHC 245.1} [OHC 245.2] I see a providence in all of God's works.... The clouds and rain, as well as the bright sunshine, have their mission in blessings to man. The God of nature knows just what we need and He moves forward in a straight line, sending blessings upon the just and upon the unjust. I am so grateful that finite minds cannot have the ordering of things. What cross-purposes would be revealed! {OHC 245.2} [OHC 245.3] There is a narrowness in human comprehension that is dishonoring to God. Let not him who claims Christ as his Saviour entertain the thought that God's mercies are confined to him and to the few in whom he is interested. The love and mercy of God are for everyone. Let us gather up the divine tokens of His favor, and return praise and thanksgiving to Him for His goodness, which is bestowed upon us, not to be hoarded, but to be passed along to others.... God expects everyone who enjoys His grace to diffuse this grace as freely as Christ bestows His mercies. As the sun shines upon the just and the unjust, so the Sun of Righteousness reflects light to the whole world. {OHC 245.3} [OHC 245.4] God's blessings, sunshine and showers, heat and cold, and every natural blessing, are given to the world. Exclusiveness is not to be maintained by any people. "I am the light of the world." (John 8:12), Christ said. Light is a blessing, a universal blessing, which pours forth its treasures on a world unthankful, unholy, demoralized. The Lord Jesus came to demolish every wall of exclusion, to throw open every wall in the temple where God presides, that every ear may hear, that every eye may see, that every thirsty soul may drink of the water of life freely. {OHC 245.4} [OHC 245.5] God scatters blessings all along our path.... We may weep and groan and mourn and stumble at every step if we choose, or we may gather up the precious, fragrant flowers and rejoice in the Lord for His goodness in making our path to heaven so pleasant. {OHC 245.5} [OHC 246.1] Chap. 240 - Studying the Character of Christ Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto thy commandments. Psalm 119:6. {OHC 246.1} [OHC 246.2] In this world we might become hopelessly perplexed, as the devil wants us to be, if we keep looking upon those things that are perplexing; for by dwelling upon them, and talking of them, we become discouraged. In criticizing others because they fail to manifest love, we shall kill the precious plant of love in our own hearts. Have we individually appreciated and felt the warmth of love which Christ represented in His life? Then it is our duty to manifest this love to the world. Let us fear to dwell upon, to behold and talk of the great mistakes that others are making.... {OHC 246.2} [OHC 246.3] You may create an unreal world in your own mind and picture an ideal church, where the temptations of Satan no longer prompt to evil; but perfection exists only in your imagination. The world is a fallen world, and the church is a place represented by a field in which grow tares and wheat. They are to grow together until the harvest. It is not our place to uproot the tares, according to human wisdom, lest under the suggestions of Satan, the wheat may be rooted up.... {OHC 246.3} [OHC 246.4] None need to lose the golden moments of time in their short life history through seeking to weigh the imperfections of professed Christians. Not one of us has time to do this. If we see clearly what is the manner of character Christians should develop, and yet see in others that which is inconsistent with this character, let us determine that we will firmly resist the enemy in his temptations to make us act in an inconsistent way, and say, "I will not make Christ ashamed of me. I will more earnestly study the character of Christ in whom there was no imperfection, no selfishness, no spot, no stain of evil, who lived not to please and glorify Himself, but to glorify God and save fallen humanity. I will not copy the defective characters of these inconsistent Christians, and the mistakes that they have made shall not lead me to be like them. I will turn to the precious Saviour, that I may be like Him." {OHC 246.4} [OHC 247.1] Chap. 241 - A Strong Fortress of Truth To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27. {OHC 247.1} [OHC 247.2] I have a continual longing for Christ to be formed within, the hope of glory. I long to be beautified every day with the meekness and gentleness of Christ, growing in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ up to the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. I must as an individual, through the grace given me of Jesus Christ, keep my own soul in health by keeping it as a divine channel through which His grace, His love, His patience, His meekness, shall flow to the world. This is my duty and no less the duty of every church member who claims to be a son or a daughter of God. {OHC 247.2} [OHC 247.3] The Lord Jesus has made His church the depositary of sacred truth. He has left with her the work of carrying out His purposes and His plans to save the souls for whom He has manifested such interest, such unmeasured love. Like the sun in relation to our world, He rises amid the moral darkness--the Sun of Righteousness. He said of Himself, "I am the light of the world." John 8:12. He said to his followers, "Ye are the light of the world." Matthew 5:14.... By reflecting the image of Jesus Christ, by the beauty and holiness of their characters, by their continual self-denial and their separation from all idols, large or small, they reveal that they have learned in the school of Christ. They are continually catching the spirit of love and forbearance, meekness, and gentleness, and they stand as representatives of Christ, a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.... {OHC 247.3} [OHC 247.4] Walking and working in the world, but not of the world, they are answering in their characters the prayer of Christ: "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." John 17:15. They are to stand as the strong fortress of truth, their light shining far in the moral darkness of the world. The Lord has a message for the watchmen on the walls of Zion to bear. The trumpet is to give no uncertain sound. {OHC 247.4} [OHC 248.1] Chap. 242 - The Way to Look at Things Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Philippians 4:8. {OHC 248.1} [OHC 248.2] As long as Satan has power to work upon human minds that are not barricaded with the Holy Spirit, there will be stern and earnest conflict between good and evil, and evil will be manifested, even among those who claim to be the children of God. . . . {OHC 248.2} [OHC 248.3] There is no reason for us to fix our eyes upon error, to grieve and complain, and lose precious time and opportunities in lamenting the faults of others. . . .Would it not be more pleasing to God to take an impartial outlook, and see how many souls are serving God, and resisting temptation, and glorifying and honoring Him with their talents of means and intellect? Would it not be better to consider the wonderful, miracle-working power of God in the transformation of poor, degraded sinners, who have been full of moral pollution, who become so transformed that they are Christlike in character? . . . {OHC 248.3} [OHC 248.4] Let us turn away our eyes from beholding the imperfections of those who are in the church, but who have not the likeness of Christ. We shall not be held responsible because those who make a high profession do not possess corresponding virtues. Let us thank God that it is our privilege to turn away our eyes from these defective Christians, and look upon those who are truly devoted, who are doers of the Word, and who in life and character bear the image of the Divine. And above all things, thank God that it is your privilege to look upon Christ, the perfect pattern. . . . {OHC 248.4} [OHC 248.5] Everything that causes us to see the weakness of humanity is in the Lord's purpose to help us to look to Him, and in no case put trust in man, or make flesh our arm. . . .We become changed into the image of that upon which we dwell. Then how important to open our hearts to the things that are true and lovely and of good report! {OHC 248.5} [OHC 249.1] Chap. 243 - Hold High the Standard Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. Isaiah 62:10. {OHC 249.1} [OHC 249.2] The Word of God not only sets forth the great principles of truth and duty which should govern our lives, but it presents also, for our encouragement, the history of many who have exemplified these principles. . . .Except the one perfect Pattern, there is not described in the Sacred Pages a single character more worthy of emulation than that of the prophet Daniel. Exposed in youth to all the allurements of a royal court, he became a man of unbending integrity and fervent devotion to God. He was subjected to the fierce temptations of Satan, yet his character was not vacillating, nor his course changeable. He was firm where many would be yielding; he was true where they would be false; he was strong where they would be weak. Daniel was a lofty cedar of Lebanon. ... Would that the faith, integrity, and devotion of the prophet Daniel might live in the hearts of God's people of today. Never were these noble qualities more needed in the world than now.... {OHC 249.2} [OHC 249.3] In the records of those who have done and suffered for the name of Jesus, there is no name that shines with a brighter or purer luster than the name of Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. The love of Jesus, glowing in his heart, made him self-forgetful, self-denying. He had seen the risen Christ, and the Saviour's image was impressed upon his soul, and shone forth in his life. With faith, courage, and fortitude, that would not be daunted by danger or stayed by obstacles, he pressed his way from land to land to spread the knowledge of the cross.... {OHC 249.3} [OHC 249.4] Are the professed followers of Christ thus exemplifying the principles of their faith? Where are the deep, living, holy experiences which men of God were wont to recount? Has the standard of Christianity been lowered? ... No; that standard remains just where God placed it. Holy men of ages past were required to give up all for Christ, to cherish His spirit, and to imitate His example. Nothing less than this will He accept now.... When called to give up all for Christ, who will stand the test? {OHC 249.4} [OHC 250.1] Chap. 244 - Reminders of Our Heavenly Home Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. Nehemiah 9:6. {OHC 250.1} [OHC 250.2] There is beauty in the valley's awful grandeur, in the solemn, massive, cleft rocks; there is majesty in the towering mountains that look as if they touched the heavens. There are the lofty trees with their delicately formed leaves; the spires of grass, the opening bud and blossoming flower, the forest trees, and every living thing. They all point the mind to the great and living God. Every faculty of our being testifies that there is a living God, and we may learn from the open book of nature the most precious lessons in regard to the Lord of heaven. {OHC 250.2} [OHC 250.3] In this study the mind expands, is elevated and uplifted, and becomes hungry to know more of God and His majesty. We have awakened in our hearts feelings not only of reverence and awe but of love, of faith, of trust and entire dependence upon One who is the giver of all good. And as I look at His marvelous works and see the evidences of His power I instinctively inquire, "What is man that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" Psalm 8:4. {OHC 250.3} [OHC 250.4] All the greatness and glory of these wonderful things in God's house can only be appreciated as they are, in the mind, associated with God and the future home of bliss He is preparing for those who love Him. . . .While we talk freely of other countries, why should we be reticent in regard to the heavenly country, and the house not built with hands, eternal in the heavens? This heavenly country is of more consequence to us than any other city or country on the globe, therefore we should think and talk of this better--even an heavenly--country. And why should we not converse more earnestly, and in a heavenly frame of mind, in regard to God's gifts in nature? He has made all these things, and designs that we shall see God in His created works. These things are to keep God in our remembrance and to lift our hearts from sensual things and bind them in bonds of love and gratitude to our Creator. {OHC 250.4} [OHC 251.1] Chap. 245 - Nature Speaks of God I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Psalm 143:5, 6. {OHC 251.1} [OHC 251.2] We have looked upon the lofty, terraced mountains in their majestic beauty, with their rocky battlements resembling grand old castles. These mountains speak to us of the desolating wrath of God in vindication of His broken law; for they were heaved up by the stormy convulsions of the flood. They are like mighty waves that at the voice of God stood still--stiffened billows, arrested in their proudest swell. These towering mountains belong to God; He presides over their rocky fastnesses. The wealth of their mines is His also, and so are the deep places of the earth. {OHC 251.2} [OHC 251.3] If you would see the evidences that there is a God, look around you wherever your lot may be cast. He is speaking to your senses and impressing your soul through His created works. Let your heart receive these impressions, and nature will be to you an open book, and will teach you divine truth through familiar things. The lofty trees will not be regarded with indifference. Every opening flower, every leaf with its delicate veins, will testify of the infinite skill of the great Master Artist. The massive rocks and towering mountains that rise in the distance are not the result of chance. They speak in silent eloquence of One who sits upon the throne of the universe, high and lifted up. "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world." All His plans are perfect. What awe and reverence should His name inspire! . . . {OHC 251.3} [OHC 251.4] God is Himself the Rock of Ages, a refuge for His people, a covert from the storm, a shadow from the burning heat. He has given us His promises, which are more firm and immovable than the rocky heights, the everlasting hills. The mountains shall depart, and the hills shall be removed; but His kindness shall not depart, nor His covenant of peace be removed from those who by faith make Him their trust. If we would look to God for help as steadfastly as these rocky, barren mountains point to the heavens above them, we should never be moved from our faith in Him and our allegiance to His holy law. {OHC 251.4} [OHC 252.1] Chap. 246 - A School for Mind and Morals And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Revelation 15:3. {OHC 252.1} [OHC 252.2] The great Architect has formed and fashioned the scenes of nature that they may have an important bearing upon man's intellectual and moral character. These are to be God's school to educate the mind and morals. Here the mind may have a vast field for study in the display of the majestic works of the Infinite One. The rocks are among the precious things of earth, containing treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In the rocks and mountains are registered the fact that God did destroy the wicked from off the earth by a flood. {OHC 252.2} [OHC 252.3] Men thought themselves wiser than God, and altogether too wise to obey . . . the statutes and precepts of Jehovah. The rich things of earth which God had given them did not lead them to obedience, but away from obedience, because they misused their choice favors of heaven, and made the blessings given them of God objects to separate from God. And because they became satanic in their nature, rather than divine, the Lord sent the flood of waters upon the old world. {OHC 252.3} [OHC 252.4] God is full of love and plenteous in mercy; but He will by no means acquit those who neglect the great salvation He has provided. The long-lived antediluvians were swept from the earth because they made void the divine law. God will not again bring from the heavens above and the earth beneath waters as His weapons to use in the destruction of the world; but when next His vengeance shall be poured out against those who despise His authority, they will be destroyed by fire concealed in the bowels of the earth, awakened into intense activity by fires from heaven above. Then from the purified earth shall arise a song of praise: "Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." Revelation 5:13. "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints." And every one who has made the heavenly treasure the first consideration, . . . will join in the glad triumphant strain. {OHC 252.4} [OHC 253.1] Chap. 247 - God's Great Reservoirs Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Psalm 90:2. {OHC 253.1} [OHC 253.2] Our heavenly Father has furnished us with tokens of His greatness and His majesty. Especially is this so in a wonderful degree in these mountainous regions. ［WRITTEN IN EUROPE.］ . . . The varied scenery in the towering mountains and rocky heights, the deep mountain gorges with their rapid, noisy streams of water coming from the mountains above,. . . the waters breaking as they strike the rocks, and scattering into spray like a veil, render this scenery altogether one of surpassing beauty and grandeur. . . . {OHC 253.2} [OHC 253.3] The mountains contain treasures of blessings which the Creator bestows upon the inhabitants of the earth. It is the diversity in the surface of the earth, in mountains, plains, and valleys, which reveals the wisdom and the power of the great Master Worker. And those who would banish from our earth the rocks and mountains, the wild gorges and the noisy, rushing streams, and the precipices--their senses . . . are too limited to comprehend the majesty of God. . . . {OHC 253.3} [OHC 253.4] God, the great Architect, has built these lofty mountains, and their influence upon climate is a blessing to our world. They draw from the clouds enriching moisture. Mountain chains are God's great reservoirs, to supply the ocean with its water. These are the sources of the springs, rills, and brooks, as well as the rivers. They receive, in the form of rain and snow, the vapors with which the atmosphere is charged, and communicate them to the parched plains below. {OHC 253.4} [OHC 253.5] We should look upon the irregular mountains of the earth as God's fountains of blessings from which flow forth the waters to supply all the living creatures. Every time I look upon the mountains I feel gratitude to God. . . . {OHC 253.5} [OHC 253.6] Everything about us teaches us from day to day lessons of our Father's love and of His power, and of His laws that govern nature and that lie at the foundation of all government in heaven and in earth. {OHC 253.6} [OHC 254.1] Chap. 248 - Fragrance in our Lifework And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Matthew 6:28, 29. {OHC 254.1} [OHC 254.2] The great Master Artist calls our attention to the soulless flowers of the field, pointing out the beautiful tints and the wonderful variety of shades one flower may possess. Thus God has revealed His skill and care. Thus He would show the great love He has for every human being. {OHC 254.2} [OHC 254.3] The Lord our Creator expends as much care, wisdom, and time upon the tiny flower as upon the great things He creates. In the tiniest flowers are seen a beauty and perfection that no human art can copy. The delicate tracery of the tinted rose, as well as the stars in the heavens, shows the penciling of the great Master Artist. {OHC 254.3} [OHC 254.4] Choice flowers . . . reveal the advantages of culture. They teach us that it is our privilege to improve. God desires us to bring fragrance into our lifework. We are to be the plants of the Lord, serving Him in whatever way He wills. Let us do all in our power to beautify our characters. . . . Tender care must be given to the delicate plants. The useless offshoots must be taken away. The bruised parts must be carefully bound up. So those who are weak in the faith must have fostering care. We are to bind to our stronger purposes the weaklings in the Lord's garden, giving them support. {OHC 254.4} [OHC 254.5] From the endless variety of plants and flowers, we may learn an important lesson. All blossoms are not the same in form or color. Some possess healing virtues. Some are always fragrant. There are professing Christians who think it their duty to make every other Christian like themselves. This is man's plan, not the plan of God. In the church of God there is room for characters as varied as are the flowers in a garden. In His spiritual garden there are many varieties of flowers. {OHC 254.5} [OHC 254.6] The Lord cares for the flowers. He gives them beauty and fragrance. Will He not much more give us the fragrance of a cheerful disposition? {OHC 254.6} [OHC 255.1] Chap. 249 - A Pure Moral Atmosphere That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. Proverbs 2:20. {OHC 255.1} [OHC 255.2] In order to have a healthy body, the blood circulating through the veins must be pure; in order to be pure it must have pure air and pure food. The use of improper food and the inhalation of impure air cause disease, which appears in various forms. {OHC 255.2} [OHC 255.3] The purity and soundness of our religious life is dependent not only on the truth we accept, but on the company we keep, and the moral atmosphere we breathe. Faith, elasticity and vigor, hopefulness, joyfulness, doubts and fears, slothfulness, stupidity, envy, jealousy, distrust, selfishness, waywardness, and backsliding, are the result of the associations we form, the company we keep, and the air we breathe. {OHC 255.3} [OHC 255.4] The indulgence of wrong associations will have its baleful results. . . .The Bible may be read and prayer be offered, yet there will be no increase of spiritual health, no growth of soul, so long as the air which is breathed is bad. . . . The greatest care should be exercised by the believers to place themselves in close connection with God and with those who have been taught of God. It is painful to see those who have believed present truth walking into Satan's net. . . . {OHC 255.4} [OHC 255.5] We raise our voice and cry to every believer in the present truth: If you would have spiritual health, look to your lungs. Look to your spiritual food. Cultivate a love for the society of those who are pure and good, if you would have Christ formed in you as the life of the soul. The health of the soul depends upon the breathing of a good moral atmosphere. {OHC 255.5} [OHC 255.6] Christ, the Great Physician, has given a prescription for every believer. He must eat the food provided in the Word of God. And the faith that works by love to God and man is dependent not only upon the food we eat but upon the air we breathe. If we associate with those who are evil, we breathe an atmosphere tainted with the malaria of sin. Be sure, by association with the meek and lowly followers of Jesus, to breathe a pure, holy atmosphere. {OHC 255.6} [OHC 256.1] Chap. 250 - Be Selective! And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Ephesians 5:11. {OHC 256.1} [OHC 256.2] The Christian should withdraw himself from the company of those who are as a snare to his soul. When you come in contact with those whom you cannot lift into a pure and holy atmosphere, because their moral tastes are wholly perverted, you must shun their society. Persons of this class have generally a strong will and positive temperament, and when wrought upon by the enemy of God, they become efficient agents in leading souls from the path of righteousness to paths that are false and dangerous. The moral atmosphere surrounding these souls is tainted with evil, and exerts only a defiling influence. {OHC 256.2} [OHC 256.3] Your associates may not be expected to be free from imperfections or sin. But in choosing your friends, you should place your standard as high as possible. The tone of your morals is estimated by the associates you choose. You should avoid contracting an intimate friendship with those whose example you would not choose to imitate. . . . {OHC 256.3} [OHC 256.4] Choose for your associates those who hold religion and its practical influences in high respect. Keep the future life constantly in view. Let not your associations put these thoughts out of your mind. Nothing will so effectually banish serious impressions as intercourse with the vain, careless, and irreligious. Whatever intellectual greatness such persons may attain, if they treat religion with levity or even with indifference, they should not be your chosen friends. The more engaging their manners in other respects, the more should you dread their influence as companions, because they would throw around you an irreligious, godless, irreverent influence and yet combine it with so many attractions that it is positively dangerous to morals. {OHC 256.4} [OHC 256.5] Dare to be a Daniel. Dare to stand alone. . . . A cowardly and silent reserve before evil associates, while you listen to their devices, makes you one with them. . . . Have courage to do right. {OHC 256.5} [OHC 257.1] Chap. 251 - Guard Your Affections Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14. {OHC 257.1} [OHC 257.2] I would warn you ［COUNSEL TO A YOUNG WOMAN.］ to be guarded as to where you bestow your affections. . . . Remember that your life belongs to Jesus, and that you are not to live for yourself alone. You are not to enter into the marriage relation with an unbeliever; for in so doing, you do exactly contrary to that which Jesus has commanded. Shun those who are irreverent. Shun one who is a lover of idleness; shun the one who is a scoffer of hallowed things. Avoid the society of one who uses profane language, or is addicted to the use of even one glass of liquor. Listen not to the proposals of a man who has no realization of his responsibility to God. {OHC 257.2} [OHC 257.3] The pure truth, which sanctifies the soul, will give you courage to cut yourself loose from the most pleasing acquaintance whom you know does not love and fear God, and knows nothing of the principles of true righteousness. We may always bear with a friend's infirmities and with his ignorance, but never with his vices. Never marry an unbeliever. {OHC 257.3} [OHC 257.4] I am only voicing to you the word of God, for He declares that such a union will result in drawing away your heart from loving and serving Him. . . . As a child of God, you are permitted to contract marriage only in the Lord. . . . Should you consent to unite your life with that of an unbeliever, you would be disregarding the Word of God and imperiling your soul. . . . {OHC 257.4} [OHC 257.5] Your life is too precious a thing to be treated as of little worth. Calvary testifies to you the value of your soul. {OHC 257.5} [OHC 257.6] Let every step toward a marriage alliance be characterized by modesty, simplicity, sincerity, and an earnest purpose to please and honor God. Marriage affects the afterlife both in this world and in the world to come. A sincere Christian will make no plans that God cannot approve. . . . Make Christ your counselor. Study His word with prayer. {OHC 257.6} [OHC 258.1] Chap. 252 - You Must Choose Your Company Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. 2 Corinthians 6:17. {OHC 258.1} [OHC 258.2] The true Christian will not choose the company of the unconverted. If Christ is formed within, the hope of glory, we cannot enjoy the malarious spiritual atmosphere which surrounds the souls of the irreligious. . . . {OHC 258.2} [OHC 258.3] Your acquaintances who are utterly averse to spiritual things are not refined, ennobled, and elevated by the practice of the truth. They are not under the leadership of Christ, but under the black banner of the prince of darkness. To associate with those who neither fear nor love God, unless you associate with them for the purpose of winning them to Jesus, will be a detriment to your spirituality. If you cannot lift them up, their influence will tell upon you in corrupting and tainting your faith. It is right for you to treat them kindly; but not well for you to love and choose their society, for if you choose the atmosphere that surrounds their souls, you will forfeit the companionship of Jesus. By every means in your power seek to repress sin; but never for one moment give sanction to sin either by your deeds, your words, your silence, or your presence. Every time sin is sanctioned by the professed follower of Christ, his sense of sin is weakened, and his judgment thus becomes perverted. . . . {OHC 258.3} [OHC 258.4] The Lord Jesus cannot keep any soul who places himself upon the enemy's ground and surrounds himself with the society of those who prefer such conversation and conduct as is an offense to the God he reveres and loves. . . . {OHC 258.4} [OHC 258.5] Cling close to those who will have an uplifting tendency, whose souls are surrounded with a pure and holy atmosphere. . . . God will be nearer to your heart, more in your thoughts, because you have separated from the world and from influences that would lead you away from the truth, and you will be less compassed with the snares of Satan. {OHC 258.5} [OHC 259.1] Chap. 253 - A Friend to the Friendless Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel. Proverbs 27:9. {OHC 259.1} [OHC 259.2] We should have the love of Christ in the heart to such a degree that our interest in others will be impartial and sincere. Our affections should take a wide range, and not center simply upon a few who flatter us by special confidences. The tendency of such friendships is to lead us to neglect those who are in greater need of love than those upon whom we bestow our attentions. {OHC 259.2} [OHC 259.3] We should not narrow our circle of friends to a few favorites because they pet and flatter us by their professed affection. The partial attention so often bestowed and received, works not for the highest good of those who would serve God. One draws upon the other for strength, and the praise, flattery, and affection one receives of the other, supplies the place that should be supplied by the grace of God, and thus human friends take the affections from Christ. . . . Human confidants, human associates, absorb the love and trust that should be given to God alone. . . . {OHC 259.3} [OHC 259.4] Instead of seeking to become a favorite yourself, or to flatter one who may be highly regarded, see if there is not a poor child who is not a favorite, to whom no special kindnesses are shown, and make this one the object of your unselfish attention. Those who are especially attractive will be at no loss for friends; while those who are less pleasing in appearance, who are timid and hard to become acquainted with, may have choice traits of character, and they are the purchase of the blood of Christ. {OHC 259.4} [OHC 259.5] Feelings of unrest and homesickness or loneliness may be for your good. Your heavenly Father means to teach you to find in Him the friendship and love and consolation that will satisfy your most earnest hopes and desires. . . . Your only safety and happiness are in making Christ your constant counselor. You can be happy in Him if you had not another friend in the wide world. {OHC 259.5} [OHC 260.1] Chap. 254 - Graces Increased by Exercise In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. Titus 2:7, 8. {OHC 260.1} [OHC 260.2] A healthy, growing Christian will not be a passive recipient among his fellows. He must give as well as receive. Our graces are increased by exercise. Christian society will furnish us with pure air to breathe, and in breathing it we must be active. The Christian work performed, the sympathies, encouragements, and instructions given by us to those who need them, the self-restraint, love, patience, and forbearance which are needed, exercised in Christian work, will create in ourselves faith, obedience, hope, and love to God. . . . It is essential for spiritual muscle and strength that the soul have exercise. Work must be done by putting forth spiritual activity in improving opportunities to do good. . . . The more faithful one is in the discharge of Christian duties, the more soundness will he develop. . . . {OHC 260.2} [OHC 260.3] Weakness and vacillation will never secure respect to the Christian profession. It is impossible to reach men where they are and elevate them unless some confidence is inspired in them for your sincerity and piety. You can never reach them by stepping down from the platform of truth and reform, but by bringing others up to that platform God's Word has provided for you. If men opposed to our faith see that you who profess it are earnest, steadfast, and uncorrupted at all times and under all circumstances, and that you abide in Christ, the living Vine, and are unshaken followers of truth and reform, you will reflect the spirit and character of Christ. In your business, in the associations with believers and unbelievers, in the sanctuary, at home, in every place, you will show the influence of a Saviour's love, which will have a controlling influence upon believers. {OHC 260.3} [OHC 260.4] Genius, talents, and money are not essential in order to exert this influence; but it is essential that you abide in Christ, and that He abide in you, for thus your fruit will be unto righteousness. {OHC 260.4} [OHC 261.1] Chap. 255 - Make Your Mark in the World Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12. {OHC 261.1} [OHC 261.2] The period of childhood and youth--how much is bound up in these years of probation! God desires that you shall improve this time, dear youth, by obtaining a fitness for the work. If you need an education, set yourselves to work with a determination to get one. Do not wait for an opening; make one for yourselves. Take hold in any small way that opens before you. Be thorough and faithful in whatever you take in hand, however small it may be. {OHC 261.2} [OHC 261.3] Some of our youth are so vacillating that they accomplish nothing for themselves; their lifetime is often half spent before they decide what they shall do, and what they will be. They bury their talents beneath a mass of rubbish. To these I would say, Practice economy. Do not spend your means for the gratification of appetite or for pleasure seeking. Make your mark in the world. Have before you the object of becoming as useful and efficient as God calls you to be. As you improve the knowledge you gain, you will be able to gather increased knowledge. Application to your books and useful manual labor, combined with earnest Christian devotion and loyalty to God, will make you men and women in the highest sense. True devotion to God, combined with the study of the sciences, will give the youth an education that will make them gentle, humble lovers of God, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Such souls, fragrant with love for God and for their fellow men, God can use as vessels unto honor. {OHC 261.3} [OHC 261.4] Jesus died, dear youth, not to save you in your sins, but from your sins. He wants you to follow the example which He has set before you--to deny self, take up your cross daily, and follow Him. He claims your service, your heart's best and holiest affections. If you will walk in obedience to His will, learning cheerfully and diligently the lessons of His providence, by and by He will say, "Child, come up higher to the heavenly mansions which I have prepared for you." {OHC 261.4} [OHC 262.1] Chap. 256 - The Home Training Ground Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight. Psalm 119:35. {OHC 262.1} [OHC 262.2] Men have taught that God's law has been done away. Were this the case we would have no standard of character, and would have nothing to show us God's righteous claims. We should be adrift upon an ocean of uncertainty, and have no guide in dealing with the solemn responsibilities of the family relation. But it is in the family relation that we receive our training in dealing with our fellow men in general. If God had no law by which to govern human intelligences, nothing by which His character could be represented as a sample to which the human family could shape their characters, then what impression could possibly be made upon our children as to what constitutes rectitude of life and perfection of character? ... {OHC 262.2} [OHC 262.3] The fifth commandment enjoins upon children obedience to their parents, and parents are to help their children to keep this commandment by acting their part in cooperating with God in requiring obedience through childhood and youth. Parents themselves must be under rule to God. They must reveal precious traits of character, presenting a pattern before their children, manifesting patience and forbearance mingled with firmness, and thus educate their children to obey their heavenly Father. . . . Satan delights to look upon disordered and ill-governed families, for his success depends largely upon the control he can have over the families of earth.... He is determined the standard of righteousness shall not be the rule for the formation of character. . . . {OHC 262.3} [OHC 262.4] The Ten Commandments come forth from the God of heaven, whose heart is full of love, who is infinite in wisdom, who never makes a mistake. He is too wise to err, too good to harm any one who will obey His requirements. Blessing will follow those who obey and who administer the law of Jehovah.... The happiness and peace of parents and children in this life, and their best good, will be worked out by walking in the path of His precepts; for by so doing they are in harmony with the God of heaven. {OHC 262.4} [OHC 263.1] Chap. 257 - Teach the Source of True Happiness Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6. {OHC 263.1} [OHC 263.2] By their neglect to exercise proper restraint, many parents are creating great unhappiness for their children. The youth who are left to constantly seek for pleasure in amusement or selfish gratification are not happy, and never can be happy while following this course. Fathers and mothers, teach your children that the only way to be truly happy is to love and fear God; and enforce the lesson by your example. Let them see that the peace of Christ is ruling in your heart, and that His love pervades your life. {OHC 263.2} [OHC 263.3] Will you consecrate your own hearts to God, that you may exert a sanctifying influence upon your children? Will you separate them from sin and sinners, and by living faith connect them with God? It should be the work of every parent to cultivate all that is good, and true, and noble in his children. It is his duty to correct their faults, to restrain their waywardness.... {OHC 263.3} [OHC 263.4] Make the Word of God your guide in the education of your children, ever considering what will be for their future good.... The mother may bestow upon her daughters an education that will be invaluable, by training them to bear their share of the family burdens. The father may give his sons a capital of more worth than gold or lands, by teaching them to love useful employment, instead of seeking happiness in idle amusements or dissipation. Parents, now is the time to form in your children habits of industry, self-reliance, and self-control; to cultivate economy and business tact. Now is the time to teach them courtesy and benevolence toward their fellow men, and reverence and love for God.... Home should be the most sunny and attractive spot on earth; and it may be made such by pleasant words and kind acts, and, underlying all, a steadfast adherence to the right. . . . {OHC 263.4} [OHC 263.5] Let us withhold nothing from Him who gave His precious life for us. Fathers and mothers, bring to Him your children, in the freshness and bloom of youth, and devote them to His service. {OHC 263.5} [OHC 264.1] Chap. 258 - Obedience an Element of Greatness Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Ephesians 6:1. {OHC 264.1} [OHC 264.2] Jesus has given to childhood and youth a perfect example. Study the Pattern, Christ Jesus, and copy it if you would be like Him--pure, holy, sinless, and undefiled. Study the childhood of Christ. He was the Son of God, yet the Bible record tells us He returned from Jerusalem and was subject unto His parents.... {OHC 264.2} [OHC 264.3] Jesus, the world's Redeemer, did as He was told even if the task was not agreeable to His feelings. Obedience is an element of true greatness. No one can be truly good and great who has not learned to obey with alacrity.... {OHC 264.3} [OHC 264.4] When tempted to have your own way in regard to the wishes of your parents, say, "No; Jesus was subject to His parents." Ask help of Jesus, who knows the temptations of every child, of every youth, for He has been tempted and knows your every weakness and will help you to overcome it.... {OHC 264.4} [OHC 264.5] Seek to be useful, to help your parents; to be care-taking and thoughtful. You can help them in a variety of ways. . . . Doing what you can do cheerfully, with quick step, your face bright with gladness because you can do something for your parents to lighten their load, will make you a blessing in the house.... {OHC 264.5} [OHC 264.6] All these little duties faithfully done are entered upon the ledger of heaven. . . . God will make no mistakes; He will make an accurate entry of all your life duties done to His glory. So never frown but always carry a cheerful, happy face, a ready hand to help, an attentive ear to hear the requirements, and a heart to obey, a quick sympathy for those who need help.... {OHC 264.6} [OHC 264.7] Remember your characters are not finished; you are building up day by day a character. Weave all the kindness, obedience, thoughtfulness, painstaking, and love into it you can. Make it after the divine model. Educate yourselves that you may possess the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price. You can make the world better by living in it if you only do the very best you can. {OHC 264.7} [OHC 265.1] Chap. 259 - The Sacred Temple of the Body What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20. {OHC 265.1} [OHC 265.2] That perfection of character which the Lord requires is the fitting up of the whole being as a temple for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. God will accept of nothing less than the service of the entire human organism. It is not enough to bring into action certain parts of the living machinery. All parts must work in perfect harmony, or the service will be deficient. It is thus that man is qualified to cooperate with God in representing Christ to the world. Thus God desires to prepare a people to stand before Him pure and holy, that He may introduce them into the society of heavenly angels. {OHC 265.2} [OHC 265.3] We have been entrusted with the most solemn message ever given to our world, and the object to be kept plainly and distinctly before our minds is the glory of God. Let us take care that we do nothing which will weaken physical, mental, or spiritual healthfulness, for God will not accept a tainted, diseased, corrupted sacrifice. Care must be exercised in eating, in drinking, in dressing, and in working, lest we detract from our efficiency and fail of doing our most exalted work in the best manner, in order that the results of our labor may be as lasting as eternity. {OHC 265.3} [OHC 265.4] It is our duty to train and discipline the body in order that we shall render to the Master the highest possible service. Inclination must not control us. We are not to pamper the appetite and indulge in the use of that which is not for our good, simply because it gratifies the palate; neither are we to seek to live by the starvation plan, with the idea that we shall become spiritually-minded, and that God shall be glorified. We must use the intelligence that God has given in order that we may be perfect in body, soul, and spirit, that we may have a symmetrical character, a well-balanced mind, and do perfect work for the Master. {OHC 265.4} [OHC 265.5] The sacred temple of the body must be kept pure and uncontaminated, that God's Holy Spirit may dwell therein. {OHC 265.5} [OHC 266.1] Chap. 260 - The Sure Penalty of Self-Indulgence If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. 1 Corinthians 3:17. {OHC 266.1} [OHC 266.2] Perfection of character cannot be attained when the laws of nature are disregarded; for this is transgression of the law of God. His law is written by His own finger upon every nerve, every muscle, every fiber of our being, upon every faculty which has been entrusted to man. These gifts are bestowed, not to be abused and corrupted, but to be used to His honor and glory in the uplifting of humanity.... {OHC 266.2} [OHC 266.3] The relation that exists between mind and body is very intimate: when one is affected, the other is always more or less in sympathy. It is impossible for men, while under the power of sinful, health-destroying habits, to appreciate sacred truths. When the intellect is clouded, the moral powers are enfeebled, and sin does not look sinful. The most ennobling, grand, and glorious themes of God's Word seem but idle tales. Satan can then easily snatch away the good seed that has been sown in the heart; for the soul is in no condition to comprehend or understand its true value. It is thus that selfish, health-destroying indulgences are counteracting the influence of the message which is to prepare a people for the great day of God. {OHC 266.3} [OHC 266.4] We are living in a most solemn, awful moment of this earth's history. Not a soul whose life is one of careless self-degradation, through transgression of physical laws, will stand in the great day of trial just before us. There is a terrible account to be rendered to God by those who have but little regard for the human body, and treat it ruthlessly. ... True religion and the laws of health go hand in hand. {OHC 266.4} [OHC 266.5] The least departure from the strictest integrity under any circumstances because it is convenient, will harden the conscience and prepare the way for the violation of moral obligations in other ways. If we treat the health of the body, which is our highest earthly interest, without due consideration, we prepare the way for temptation and the violation of higher claims. {OHC 266.5} [OHC 267.1] Chap. 261 - The Light of Health Reform Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 2. {OHC 267.1} [OHC 267.2] The light God has given on health reform is for our salvation and the salvation of the world. Men and women should be informed in regard to the human habitation, fitted up by our Creator as His dwelling place, and over which He desires us to be faithful stewards. . . . Our bodies are wonderfully made, and the Lord requires us to keep them in order. All are under obligation to Him to keep the human structure in a healthful, wholesome condition, that every muscle, every organ, may be used in the service of God. . . . God, who formed the wonderful structure of the body, will take special care to keep it in order, if men cooperate, instead of working at cross-purposes, with Him. {OHC 267.2} [OHC 267.3] These grand truths must be given to the world. We must reach the people where they are, and by example and precept lead them to see the beauties of the better way. The world is in sad need of instruction along these lines. The time has come when each soul must be staunch and true to every ray of light God has given, and begin in earnest to give this gospel of health to the people. We shall have strength and power to do this if we practice these truths in our own lives.... {OHC 267.3} [OHC 267.4] Those who are enjoying the precious blessings which come to them through obeying this message of mercy will do all in their power that others may share the same blessings. But we may rest assured that Satan will do all in his power to prevent anything like a message of reform from being given to the world at this time. Shall God's people be found on the enemy's side, either by failing to heed it themselves, or by neglecting to give it to others? "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." Matthew 12:30. If we would be safe, we must not fail to know on whose side we stand. {OHC 267.4} [OHC 267.5] God desires His light bearers ever to keep a high standard before them. By precept and example they must hold this perfect standard high above Satan's false standard. {OHC 267.5} [OHC 268.1] Chap. 262 - A Perfected People Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31. {OHC 268.1} [OHC 268.2] With an eye single to the glory of God, we should give careful, thoughtful attention to the matter of our eating and drinking. We need divine guidance, even in our commonest habits of everyday life, that there may be no little leaks which will consume means unnecessarily, simply for the gratification of perverted appetites. In the New Testament not one of God's requirements loses its binding force, or relaxes in the least its obligation to be fulfilled. . . . Instead of the requirements of God being relaxed in the New Testament, the lines are drawn closer, and duty is more distinctly defined. The apostle says, "Whatsoever ye do," even in the matter of eating and drinking, "do all to the glory of God." The question may be asked, "May I not do what I like with myself? Am I never to have my own way? Is not my body my own?" You may have your own way, but it will be at the loss of your soul, or you may have God's way and live to a purpose in this world, and in the world to come have life everlasting. {OHC 268.2} [OHC 268.3] Those who have received instruction regarding the evils of the use of flesh foods, tea and coffee, and rich and unhealthful food preparations, and who are determined to make a covenant with God by sacrifice, will not continue to indulge their appetite for food that they know to be unhealthful. God demands that the appetites be cleansed, and that self-denial be practiced in regard to those things which are not good. This is a work that will have to be done before His people can stand before Him a perfected people. . . . Those who claim to believe in health reform, and yet work counter to its principles in the daily life practice, are hurting their own souls and are leaving wrong impressions upon the minds of believers and unbelievers. {OHC 268.3} [OHC 268.4] Do not misuse or abuse any portion of your God-given powers, physical, mental, or moral. All your habits are to be brought under the control of a mind that is itself under the control of God. {OHC 268.4} [OHC 269.1] Chap. 263 - The Reward of Temperate Habits But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank. Daniel 1:8. {OHC 269.1} [OHC 269.2] Inspiration has recorded the history of Daniel and his companions as a shining example for the youth of all succeeding ages. . . . Those who would preserve their powers unimpaired for the service of God must observe strict temperance in the use of all His bounties, as well as total abstinence from every injurious or debasing indulgence. {OHC 269.2} [OHC 269.3] The youth are surrounded by allurements addressed to the appetite. . . . Those who, like Daniel, refuse to defile themselves, will reap the reward of their temperate habits. With their greater physical stamina and increased power of endurance, they have a bank of deposit upon which to draw in case of emergency. {OHC 269.3} [OHC 269.4] Right physical habits promote mental superiority. Intellectual power, physical strength, and longevity, depend upon immutable laws. There is no happen-so, no chance, about this matter. The higher powers will not interfere to preserve men from the consequences of the violation of nature's laws. {OHC 269.4} [OHC 269.5] The question with every youth ... should be, Shall I consult my inclination, and indulge my appetite, or shall I follow the dictates of conscience, and keep my head clear and preserve my physical powers by abstaining from every practice that would bring weakness upon them? Shall I fall a prey to the customs of the world, ... or shall I separate myself from every custom that is debasing in its results? Shall I not honor God, rather than please the world? . . . {OHC 269.5} [OHC 269.6] Daniel and his fellows realized that principle was at stake, and that they could afford to make no compromise with the tempter. The light and truth reflected from the throne of God were dearer to them than any honor that men could bestow. It is the privilege of the young people of today to be as firm and true, as modest and successful, as were the Jewish youths in the kingdom of Babylon.... God honored Daniel, and He will honor every youth who takes the course that Daniel took in honoring God. {OHC 269.6} [OHC 270.1] Chap. 264 - A Sound Mind in a Sound Body But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. 1 Corinthians 9:27. {OHC 270.1} [OHC 270.2] Whatever detracts from physical vigor weakens mental effort. Hence, every practice unfavorable to the health of the body should be resolutely shunned. . . . We cannot maintain consecration to God, and yet injure our health by the willful indulgence of a wrong habit. Self-denial is one of the conditions, not only of admission into the service of Christ but of continuance therein. . . . {OHC 270.2} [OHC 270.3] Yet how many who call themselves Christians are unwilling to exercise self-denial, even for Christ's sake. How often the love for some pernicious indulgence is stronger than the desire for a sound mind in a sound body! Precious hours of probation are spent, God-given means squandered, to please the eye or to gratify the appetite.... {OHC 270.3} [OHC 270.4] None need fail in this work of self-renunciation. God will give help to every earnest seeker.... If we sincerely seek His grace, our life will correspond with our profession of faith. . . . He knows whether our hearts are wholly devoted to His service, or given to the things of the world. We may profess what we will, but unless our life corresponds with our profession, our faith is dead. The rule given by the apostle Paul is the only safe rule for our guidance in all the affairs of life. "Whether ... ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31. In the selection of our food, we should not seek merely to please the taste, but should choose that which is most healthful. In dress, we should seek that which is simple, comfortable, convenient, and appropriate. {OHC 270.4} [OHC 270.5] He who will observe simplicity in all his habits, restricting the appetite and controlling the passions, may preserve his mental powers strong, active, and vigorous, quick to perceive everything which demands thought or action, keen to discriminate between the holy and the unholy, and ready to engage in every enterprise for the glory of God and the benefit of humanity. {OHC 270.5} [OHC 271.1] Chap. 265 - A Distinction in Dress In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. 1 Timothy 2:9, 10. {OHC 271.1} [OHC 271.2] The children of Israel . . . were commanded to have a simple ribbon of blue in the border of their garments, to distinguish them from the nations around them, and to signify that they were God's peculiar people. ［See Numbers 15:39, 40.］ The people of God are not now required to have a special mark placed upon their garments. But in the New Testament we are often referred to ancient Israel for examples. If God gave such definite directions to His ancient people in regard to their dress, will not the dress of His people in this age come under His notice? Should there not be in their dress a distinction from that of the world? Should not the people of God, who are His peculiar treasure, seek even in their dress to glorify God? And should they not be examples in point of dress, and by their simple style rebuke the pride, vanity, and extravagance of worldly, pleasure-loving professors? God requires this of His people. Pride is rebuked in His Word. {OHC 271.2} [OHC 271.3] We must know more of Jesus and His love than of the fashions of the world. In the name of my Master, I call upon the youth to study the example of Christ. When you wish to make an article, you carefully study the pattern, that you may reproduce it as nearly as possible. Now set to work to copy the divine Exemplar.... You cannot be like Jesus, and cherish pride in your heart.... {OHC 271.3} [OHC 271.4] Of how little value are gold or pearls or costly array, in comparison with the meekness and loveliness of Christ. Natural loveliness consists in symmetry, or the harmonious proportion of parts, each with the other; but spiritual loveliness consists in the harmony or likeness of our souls of Jesus. This will make its possessor more precious than fine gold, even the golden wedge of Ophir. The grace of Christ is indeed a priceless adornment. It elevates and ennobles its possessor, and reflects beams of glory upon others, attracting them also to the Source of light and blessing. {OHC 271.4} [OHC 272.1] Chap. 266 - The Charm of Simplicity For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 1 John 2:16. {OHC 272.1} [OHC 272.2] Pride of dress is not a small matter, but a serious evil. It causes time, thought, and money to be spent in the decoration of the body, while the culture of the heavenly graces is neglected. Precious hours that our Saviour has exhorted us to devote to prayer and the study of the Scriptures are given to an unnecessary preparation of apparel for outward display. {OHC 272.2} [OHC 272.3] Satan stands in the background, devising the fashions which lead to extravagance in the outlay of means. In forming the fashions of the day, he has a fixed purpose. He knows that time and money which are devoted to meet the demands of fashion will not be used for higher, holier objects. Precious time is wasted in keeping pace with ever-changing and never-satisfying fashions. No sooner is one style introduced than new styles are devised, and then, in order for fashionable persons to remain fashionable, the dress must be remodeled. Thus professing Christians, with divided hearts, waste their time, giving to the world nearly all their energies.... {OHC 272.3} [OHC 272.4] Correct taste in dress is not to be despised or condemned. . . . Nothing is gained in trying to save means by purchasing cheap fabrics. Let the clothing be plain and neat, without extravagance or display. {OHC 272.4} [OHC 272.5] Young ladies who break away from slavery to fashion will be ornaments in society. The one who is simple and unpretending in her dress and in her manners shows that she understands that a true lady is characterized by moral worth. How charming, how interesting, is simplicity in dress, which in its comeliness can be compared with the flowers of the field! ... {OHC 272.5} [OHC 272.6] Those who practice simplicity in dress have time to visit the afflicted, and are better prepared to pray with and for them. On every Christian man and woman rests the solemn duty of regulating and contracting personal expenses, that by so doing they may be able to help the needy, feed the hungry, and clothe the naked. {OHC 272.6} [OHC 273.1] Chap. 267 - A Mark of Christian Womanhood Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. 1 Peter 3:3, 4. {OHC 273.1} [OHC 273.2] Lovers of fashion may claim to be followers of Christ, but their dress and conversation show what occupies the mind and engages the affections. The outside appearance is an index to the heart. True refinement does not find satisfaction in the adorning of the body for display. A modest, godly woman will dress modestly. Simplicity of apparel always makes a sensible woman appear to the best advantage. A refined, cultured mind will be revealed in the choice of simple and appropriate attire. In the sanctified heart there is no place for thoughts of needless adornment. {OHC 273.2} [OHC 273.3] There is an ornament that will never perish, that will promote the happiness of all around us in this life, and will shine with undimmed luster in the immortal future. It is the adorning of a meek and lowly spirit. God has bidden us wear the richest dress upon the soul. {OHC 273.3} [OHC 273.4] The inward adorning of a meek and quiet spirit is priceless. In the life of the true Christian the outward adorning is always in harmony with the inward peace and holiness.... Self-denial and sacrifice will mark the Christian's life. Evidence that the taste is converted will be seen in the dress of all who walk in the path cast up for the ransomed of the Lord. {OHC 273.4} [OHC 273.5] It is right to love beauty and to desire it; but God desires us to love and seek first the highest beauty, that which is imperishable. No outward adorning can compare in value or loveliness with that "meek and quiet spirit," the "fine linen, white and clean" (Revelation 19:14), which all the holy ones of earth will wear. This apparel will make them beautiful and beloved here, and will hereafter be their badge of admission to the palace of the King. His promise is, "They shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy." Revelation 3:4. {OHC 273.5} [OHC 274.1] Chap. 268 - The Beauty of Christlikeness Shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. Titus 2:10. {OHC 274.1} [OHC 274.2] Everyone who names the name of Christ is to adorn the doctrine of Christ our Saviour by a well-ordered life and a godly conversation, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit.... Possessing this, you will have favor both with God and with men. {OHC 274.2} [OHC 274.3] Words spoken hastily wound and bruise souls, and the deepest wound is made upon the soul of the speaker. Christ's gift, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, is authoritatively declared by Him who can make no mistake to be of great price. We must each find out its worth for ourselves by seeking it from God. However men may estimate us, if we wear this ornament, we bear the sign of our discipleship with Christ. We are esteemed by the Most High; for the ornament we wear is in His sight of great price. This precious gem is to be sought for.... {OHC 274.3} [OHC 274.4] To every soul things will come to provoke, to stir up anger, and if you are not under the full control of God, you will be provoked when these things come. But the meekness of Christ calms the ruffled spirit, controls the tongue, and brings the whole being into subjection to God. Thus we learn how to bear with the censure of others. We shall be misjudged, but the precious ornament of a meek and quiet spirit teaches us how to bear, how to have pity for those who utter hasty, unadvised words. Any unpleasant spirit displayed is sure to arouse the demon of passion in unguarded hearts. Unholy anger need not to be strengthened, but bridled. It is a spark which will set on fire untamed human nature. Avoid speaking words which will stir up strife. Rather suffer wrong than do wrong. God requires every one of His followers, as far as is possible, to live peaceably with all men.... {OHC 274.4} [OHC 274.5] We must be Christlike. Let us strive to make our lives what Christ designs them to be, full of the fragrance of love to God and our fellow men, full of Christ's own divine Spirit, full of holy aspirations toward God, rich in the beauty of Christlikeness. {OHC 274.5} [OHC 275.1] Chap. 269 - Consecrated Eyes The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness. Proverbs 15:14. {OHC 275.1} [OHC 275.2] Many do not earnestly seek to understand the lessons found in God's Word. They lay aside the Bible, and allow their minds to become engrossed with the cheap reading found in books of fiction, newspapers, and magazines. {OHC 275.2} [OHC 275.3] The pernicious practice of story reading is one of the means employed by Satan to destroy souls. The mind that is occupied with exciting stories loses all relish for solid reading.... I am acquainted with many sad examples of the evil effects of this baneful practice.... The more they indulged the appetite for this kind of mental food, the greater was the demand. The imagination constantly craved its accustomed stimulus, as the inebriate longs for his wine or tobacco. Their mental and moral powers were weakened and perverted. They lost their interest in the Scriptures, and their relish for prayer; and they were as truly ruined, mentally and spiritually, as is the liquor drinker or the tobacco devotee. Novel readers are mental inebriates; and they need to sign a pledge of total abstinence as verily as does the victim of any other form of intemperance. {OHC 275.3} [OHC 275.4] God has given to His people the choicest reading matter. Let the Word of God find a place in every room in the house. Keep the Bible, the bread of life, in plain sight. . . . Keep choice, elevating literature ever before the members of the family. {OHC 275.4} [OHC 275.5] The reading of God's Word does not fascinate the imagination and inflame the passions, like the fictions of a storybook, but it softens and soothes the heart, and elevates and sanctifies the affections. {OHC 275.5} [OHC 275.6] It is the privilege of the youth to say, "The Lord has given me my sight and hearing for His glory. I will close my ears to that which is foolish and cheap. I will read that Word that will fit me for a place in the home Christ is preparing for those who have sanctified their souls by obedience to the truth. My voice shall proclaim the glory of God; every power of my being shall be consecrated to God." {OHC 275.6} [OHC 276.1] Chap. 270 - Be Careful What You Read For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. Proverbs 2:6, 7. {OHC 276.1} [OHC 276.2] Age after age the curiosity of men has led them to seek for the tree of knowledge; and often they think they are plucking fruit most essential, when, like Solomon in his research, they find it altogether vanity and nothingness in comparison with the science of true holiness. {OHC 276.2} [OHC 276.3] Books from the pens of infidels should have no place in the libraries of those who would serve God. They will make better kindling material for your stove than food for the mind. Infidel books have been a cause of ruin to many souls. Men have studied these books of Satan's inspiration, and they have become confused in regard to what was truth. Satan stands at the side of him who opens an infidel book, and he will educate the mind that peruses such literature, and so bewitch the soul that it will be almost impossible to break the infatuation. Let no believer flatter himself that his mountain standeth sure, and that he will never be moved away from his position of faith. {OHC 276.3} [OHC 276.4] We are surrounded by unbelief. The very atmosphere seems charged with it; and only by constant effort can we resist its power. Those who value their soul's salvation should shun infidel writings as they would shun the leprosy. {OHC 276.4} [OHC 276.5] To the youth I would say, Be careful what you read. So long as the mind is directed into wrong channels by an improper course of reading, it is impossible for you to make the truth of God the constant subject of meditation. If there was ever a time when a knowledge of the Scriptures was more important than at any other, that time is the present. I appeal to old and young, Make the Bible your textbook. Here you will find the true standard of character. {OHC 276.5} [OHC 276.6] Do not devote the precious talent of sight to reading that which ... will not benefit you.... The powers of mind and soul and body are to be sanctified to the Lord Jesus, who has bought you with His blood. {OHC 276.6} [OHC 277.1] Chap. 271 - Chaff or Wheat? My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Proverbs 4:20-22. {OHC 277.1} [OHC 277.2] Light and truth are within the reach of all, . . . but if they do not set their minds to searching God's Word, Satan will find chaff to fill their minds, leaving no room for the growth of the precious seed of truth. . . . We are surrounded with temptations so disguised that they allure while they taint and corrupt the soul. {OHC 277.2} [OHC 277.3] The youth of our cities breathe in the tainted, polluted atmosphere of crime.... They are educated in crime by reading the stories which fill the popular publications of the day. Having no regard for the right because it is right, as they read stories of theft, murder, and every other species of crime, they are led to devise plans by which they could improve upon the criminals' methods, and escape detection. Thus these foul publications assist in perfecting the education of the youth in the way that leads to perdition. {OHC 277.3} [OHC 277.4] It is a great evil to bring these trashy magazines into the family, and yet many parents are asleep to this peril. They do not know what kind of food is being supplied to the minds of their children. The food that is given to the mind should be pure and wholesome. God calls upon His people to turn away from the brackish streams of the valley, and drink from the pure streams of Lebanon. A study of God's Word, which is eternal life to the receiver, would invigorate and strengthen the mind; but too often the grace of Christ finds the right of way obstructed by the mass of rubbish which has been allowed to accumulate in the mind. The mind is not kept hungry for the blessed Word, which must be eaten in order for the thoughts to be pure and holy. . . . {OHC 277.4} [OHC 277.5] To those who are tempted to indulge in trashy reading I would say, Read your Bible. "Search the scriptures," Christ commanded; "for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." John 5:39. Obedience to the Word of God is our only safety. {OHC 277.5} [OHC 278.1] Chap. 272 - Walking with God in a Corrupt World And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. Genesis 5:24. {OHC 278.1} [OHC 278.2] Enoch's life and character, which were so holy that he was translated to heaven without seeing death, represent what the lives and characters of all must be, if, like Enoch, they are to be translated when Christ shall come. His life was what the life of every individual may be if he closely connects with God. We should remember that Enoch was surrounded with influences so depraved that God brought a flood of waters on the world to destroy its inhabitants for their corruption.... {OHC 278.2} [OHC 278.3] When Christ shall come, our vile bodies are to be changed, and made like His glorious body; but the vile character will not be made holy then. The transformation of character must take place before His coming. Our natures must be pure and holy; we must have the mind of Christ, that He may behold with pleasure His image reflected upon our souls. . . . {OHC 278.3} [OHC 278.4] Joseph preserved his integrity when surrounded by idolaters in Egypt, in the midst of sin and blasphemy and corrupting influences. When tempted to turn from the path of virtue, his answer was, "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" Genesis 39:9. Enoch, Joseph, and Daniel depended upon a strength that was infinite. This is the only course of safety for Christians to pursue in our day. . . . {OHC 278.4} [OHC 278.5] The lives of these marked men were hid with Christ in God. They were loyal to God amidst infidelity, pure amidst depravity, devout and fervent when brought in contact with atheism and idolatry. By faith they gathered to themselves only those properties which are favorable to the development of pure and holy characters. Thus may it be with us; whatever our position, however repulsive or fascinating our surroundings, faith can reach above it all and find the Holy Spirit. {OHC 278.5} [OHC 278.6] The spirit which Enoch, Joseph, and Daniel possessed, we may have. We may draw from the same source of strength, and realize the same power of self-control; and the same graces may shine out in our lives. {OHC 278.6} [OHC 279.1] Chap. 273 - Youth to Stand Up for Christ For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. Luke 9:26. {OHC 279.1} [OHC 279.2] Always stand up for Christ. In word, in spirit, in action, be His witness. He loves you, and He wants to impart to you His rich grace, that you may impart this to others. . . . Christ has purchased you with His own blood. Then, everywhere, at all times and under all circumstances, stand up for Jesus. Remember that thus you will exert the very best influence upon all with whom you associate. . . . {OHC 279.2} [OHC 279.3] It is your privilege ever to grow in grace, advancing in the knowledge and love of God, if you maintain the sweet communion with Christ it is your privilege to enjoy. In the simplicity of humble faith ask the Lord to open your understanding, that you may discern and appreciate the precious things of His Word. Thus you may grow in grace, grow in simple, trusting faith. Then your light will shine forth to all with whom you associate. Keep your mind fixed upon the Saviour. . . . {OHC 279.3} [OHC 279.4] Be sure that your spiritual life does not become poor, sickly, inefficient. There are many who have need of the words and example of a Christian. Weakness and indecision provoke the assaults of the enemy, and any one who fails to increase in spiritual growth, in a knowledge of truth and righteousness, will frequently be overcome by the enemy. {OHC 279.4} [OHC 279.5] Let your countenance reflect the joy of the Lord. Speak of His goodness and tell His power. Then your light will shine more and more distinctly. Above your trials and disappointments will be revealed the reflection of a pure, healthy religious life. {OHC 279.5} [OHC 279.6] There is no limit to the influence of the human agent who wears the yoke with Christ. Daily he studies the life of Christ and conforms his life to the divine pattern.... It is by the manifestation of the spirit of Christ in our words and actions that the world takes knowledge of us that we have been with Jesus, that we are the children of God. The true nature of our religion is ... in the gentle spirit, the kindness, the peace which we manifest. {OHC 279.6} [OHC 280.1] Chap. 274 - Don't Starve Your Soul! And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. Mark 4:19. {OHC 280.1} [OHC 280.2] We must beware that we do not become overburdened even with what seem the necessary cares of life, so that we are unable to do the most essential work.... The largest share of the thoughts and the busy activities that engage hands and hearts, are given to selfish, personal, earthly interests. These are allowed to become so engrossing as to prevent attention to the things of eternity. The soul is left to starve for want of nourishment. Mind and body become worn out by protracted hours of application to worldly things. This is just as Satan designed it should be. All the freshness and vigor of the mind, all the keen thought, is given to the world, and God has the feeble, distracted thought, the fruit of a wearied and worried mind. The things of the highest consequence, which pertain to the eternal peace, are made subordinate to the common concerns of life, and God is robbed every day of service which would strengthen spirituality, lifting the thoughts heavenward, and bringing the soul into communion with God and holy angels. {OHC 280.2} [OHC 280.3] We are not to allow the things of this world so to absorb the attention that mind and body are completely engrossed. Thus those around us are robbed of the kindly words and deeds that would help them in the upward way. The channel of light is clogged with worldly matters. The grace that Christ is longing to impart, He cannot bestow. Many are coming to have less and less strength to impart to others, because they do not receive power from the Source of all power. God calls upon them to separate from the things which corrode the mind and spoil the religious experience. {OHC 280.3} [OHC 280.4] All are pressed with urgent cares, burdens, and duties; but the greater the pressure upon you, the heavier the burdens you have to bear, the greater your need of divine aid. Jesus will be your helper. You need constantly the light of life of lighten your pathway, and then its divine rays will reflect upon others. {OHC 280.4} [OHC 281.1] Chap. 275 - The Better Part And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Luke 10:41, 42. {OHC 281.1} [OHC 281.2] This reproof of Christ comes to many Marthas in our time. They lose much spiritual and divine knowledge that would make them wise unto salvation, through their bustling activity to do so much in temporal things, to shower favors upon those whom they love. If they would preserve simplicity in all their preparations, and improve their precious opportunities to obtain a better knowledge of God's will and be doers of His words, they would save much irritability and would drink of the perpetual Fountain of life.... {OHC 281.2} [OHC 281.3] Martha . . . was so anxious for all due honor to be given to Christ that in her active preparations in provision of food, she lost the most precious, golden moments of listening to instruction from His divine lips. Mary sat at His feet to catch every word. She regarded this of highest importance. This offended Martha, and she asked the Lord Jesus if He did not care that she served alone, while Mary shunned these responsibilities. Said Jesus, Martha, Mary hath chosen the better part, which shall never be taken from her. What was that better part? To learn of Jesus, to appreciate His words. In giving attention to the words which fell from His lips, she was showing her love for her Saviour.... {OHC 281.3} [OHC 281.4] Every word from the lips of Jesus was precious. It was joy to Him to see Mary appreciate His instruction. The more frequently the words of Christ are heard the more deeply do they influence the mind, the better they are understood, and the more easily and perfectly are they obeyed. {OHC 281.4} [OHC 281.5] This spirit that is ever ready to make great outward display for our friends is a device of the enemy.... {OHC 281.5} [OHC 281.6] He ［Christ］ requires His followers--the purchase of His blood--to leave all the follies and vanities and tainting corruptions of the world out of their lives.... Let the impression, "Lo, God is here," solemnize every mind and make glad every soul. {OHC 281.6} [OHC 282.1] Chap. 276 - Youthful Zeal and Courage Needed I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. 1 John 2:14. {OHC 282.1} [OHC 282.2] The work of God is in need of youthful ardor, zeal, and courage. Mental and physical vigor are essential for the advancement of the cause of God. To plan with clear mind and execute with courageous hand demand fresh and uncrippled energies. In order that the work may be forwarded in all its branches, God calls for youthful ardor. Young men and young women are invited to give Him the strength of their youth, that through the exercise of their God-given powers, through healthful thought and vigorous action, they may bring glory to God and salvation to men. God calls upon you, young men, to make the most of the powers entrusted to you. Cultivate the habit of doing your best in everything you undertake. God is your Master, and you are His employed servants.... {OHC 282.2} [OHC 282.3] You are ever to be learning in the school of Christ; you are to bring your entrusted capital of physical and mental energy into your work. ... Mental effort will become easier and more satisfactory as you put yourselves to the task of understanding the deep things of God.... {OHC 282.3} [OHC 282.4] You can rally the mind's best powers, and with a sense of your accountability to God, you can do your best, and you will not cease to advance, and to conquer difficulties. Do not settle down in slothful ease, making no special effort to accomplish your work. Make a choice of some part in the large vineyard of the Master, and do a work that will require the exercise of tact and talent. {OHC 282.4} [OHC 282.5] I make an appeal to the youthful disciples of Christ to arouse, no longer to indulge in pleasure seeking, in self-love and ease; no longer be controlled by inclination, and by the lusts of the carnal heart.... {OHC 282.5} [OHC 282.6] My prayer to God is that the converting power of His Holy Spirit may come upon our youth, that they may become working agents to win scores of youth to Jesus Christ, that they may be among the number who shall be accounted wise, who shall "shine as the brightness of the firmament," and "as the stars for ever and ever." Daniel 12:3. {OHC 282.6} [OHC 283.1] Chap. 277 - Are We Guilty? Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:15. {OHC 283.1} [OHC 283.2] It is an alarming fact that the love of the world predominates in the minds of the young. They decidedly love the world and the things that are in the world, and for this very reason the love of God finds no room in their hearts. Their pleasures are found in the world, and in the things of the world, and they are strangers to the Father and the graces of His Spirit. Frivolity and fashion, and empty, vain talking and laughing, characterize the life of the youth generally, and God is dishonored.... {OHC 283.2} [OHC 283.3] Satan is gratified to have the attention of youth attracted by anything to divert their minds from God.... They are not aware that the heavenly Artist is taking cognizance of every act, every word, ... and that even the thoughts and intents of the heart stand faithfully delineated. . . . Those vain, frivolous words are all written in the book. Those false words are written. Those deceptive acts, with the motives concealed from human eyes, but discerned by the all-seeing eye of Jehovah, are all written in living characters. Every selfish act is exposed. The young generally conduct themselves as though the precious hours of probation, while mercy lingers, were one grand holiday, and that they are placed in this world simply for their own amusement. {OHC 283.3} [OHC 283.4] Words and acts testify plainly what is in the heart. If vanity and pride, love of self and love of dress, fill the heart, the conversation will be upon the fashions, the dress, and the appearance, but not upon Christ or the kingdom of heaven. If envious feelings dwell in the heart, the same will be manifested in words and acts.... {OHC 283.4} [OHC 283.5] Some dwell upon what they shall eat and drink and wherewithal they shall be clothed. Their hearts are filled with these thoughts, and they flow out from the abundance of the heart, as though these things were their grand aim in life, their highest attainment. They forget the words of Christ, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33. {OHC 283.5} [OHC 284.1] Chap. 278 - The Only Safe Amusements They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. Psalm 36:8. {OHC 284.1} [OHC 284.2] The enemy seeks in many ways to draw our minds from the study of the Word. Many he leads to seek for satisfaction in amusements and pleasures that seem desirable to the carnal heart. But the true children of God are not seeking their happiness in this world; they seek for the lasting joys of a home in the eternal city, where Christ dwells, and where the redeemed shall receive the rewards of obedience to the requirements of God. These do not desire the transitory, cheap amusements of this life, but the enduring bliss of heaven. {OHC 284.2} [OHC 284.3] God has entrusted men and women with great powers--powers that He would have to be devoted to His service; and precious is the light that comes to every one who faithfully uses his talents for the glory of God. We should endeavor to have our minds in that condition where we can receive the impressions of the Holy Spirit. But they cannot receive increased light who allow their thoughts to run constantly upon frivolous things. The mind should be stored with heavenly treasure, with food that will enable us to grow spiritually, and thus prepare us for a holy heaven.... {OHC 284.3} [OHC 284.4] There are many ways in which we may help our associates, if we will give our minds to it. But it fills me with sorrow when I see plans laid for amusement and self-gratification. As these occupy the mind, there is no opportunity for the precious truth of God to take possession of the soul. When I see those whose interests are given to the amusements of the world, how I wish that they might be converted. Then they would see where they could help others, instead of devoting their time and energy to self-gratification. They would find opportunity for speaking words that would encourage, and would bring light and joy to souls in need of such help. {OHC 284.4} [OHC 284.5] The only safe amusements are such as will not banish serious and religious thoughts; the only safe places of resort are those to which we can take Jesus with us. {OHC 284.5} [OHC 285.1] Chap. 279 - Breaking the World's Enchantment And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 1 John 2:17. {OHC 285.1} [OHC 285.2] The lessons of Christ are of that character to show the relative importance of heaven and earth. He presents before the mind's eye that the claims of heaven are first in importance. God's claims are supreme. He demands the whole heart, mind, might, and strength. Earthly things He assigns their place, to be subordinate to the eternal interests. {OHC 285.2} [OHC 285.3] The temptations of Satan present earthly things and make them all-absorbing and attractive, so that the heavenly realities are eclipsed and the attachment to the world made first; and this has become so great a power that Omnipotence alone can dislodge it. Satan's work is to chain the senses to this world. Christ came to break the satanic enchantment, counterwork the work of Satan, and charm the mind away from the earthly to the heavenly. He alone is able to break the enchantment. . . . A few years and the world and all its glory, which has through the bewitching power of the great deceiver become an object of worship, are to be burned, with all the embellishments of the art of man. Then what will be found to compensate for the loss of the human soul? {OHC 285.3} [OHC 285.4] The Prince of life calls the attention to the eternal world. . . . He would have the infinite grandeur of the future hold the attraction of human minds, and the present world take its subordinate place in the affections. He sets in order things that Satan has transposed. Having taken the world from the throne where it has become a ruling power and worshiped as a god, He assigns it its proper place. . . . {OHC 285.4} [OHC 285.5] With eternal realities in view we will habitually cultivate thoughts of the presence of God. This will be a shield against the incoming of the enemy; it will give strength and assurance, and lift the soul above fear. Breathing in the atmosphere of heaven, we will not be breathing the malaria of the world. We will not remain in the darkened cellar, but come up into the upper chambers where every window that looks toward heaven is open and catches the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. {OHC 285.5} [OHC 286.1] Chap. 280 - First Things First Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? Matthew 6:31. {OHC 286.1} [OHC 286.2] The Lord would not have any one of us be presumptuous, care not for health, and make no provision whatever for a sustenance; but when He sees the world taking all the thoughts and absorbing all the affections, He sees that eternal realities are lost sight of. He would correct this evil, which is the work of Satan. The mind, which should be trained to high, elevated contemplation of eternal realities, becomes common, bearing the image of the earthly. Jesus comes to present the advantages and beautiful imagery of the heavenly, that the attractions of heaven shall become familiar to the thoughts, and memory's hall be hung with pictures of celestial and eternal loveliness. {OHC 286.2} [OHC 286.3] He sees the chambers of the mind filled with those things which defile. He places God before them as the center. . . . He passes through the market places, where everything is full of activity and bustle, and the voice of the traders is heard. The lessons He gives in the dense crowd that gathers to listen to His words are a warning from heaven like the trump of God to break the spell of infatuation. "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall he give in exchange for his soul?" Mark 8:36, 37. {OHC 286.3} [OHC 286.4] The great Teacher gives man a view of the future world. He brings it, with its attractive possessions, within the range of his vision. . . . He presents the actual claims of God and heaven. If He can fasten the mind upon the future life and its blessedness, in comparison with the temporal concerns of this world, the striking contrast is deeply impressed upon the mind, absorbing the heart and soul and the whole being. He thus removes the things of time and sense from the affections where they have had the supremacy, and gives them their place as subordinate to the higher and eternal realities. He invests life with the highest responsibilities. He shows man that he must live to a purpose, separating from all life's vanities. {OHC 286.4} [OHC 287.1] Chap. 281 - Subject to God's Call And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. Luke 9:23. {OHC 287.1} [OHC 287.2] Genuine self-denial will be practiced by all who follow Christ. Judas undertook to follow Christ, and at the same time to carry out his selfish, covetous plans. He had the same privileges as had the other disciples. He had the same privileges of hearing the lessons of Christ, which plainly presented practical godliness; but he was not always pleased with the plain truth. It cut him, and instead of taking up personal labor with Judas Iscariot, he found fault with the words and works of Christ, and criticized His plain teachings. Instead of being transformed in character, he was cultivating self-love, self-esteem, and the love of money. {OHC 287.2} [OHC 287.3] To live for self is to perish. Covetousness, the desire of benefit for self's sake, cuts the soul off from life. It is the spirit of Satan to get, to draw to self. It is the spirit of Christ to give, to sacrifice self for the good of others. {OHC 287.3} [OHC 287.4] There can be no self-seeking in the life of him who follows the Saviour. The true Christian banishes all selfishness from his heart. How can he live for self as he thinks of Christ hanging on the cross, giving His life for the life of the world? In your behalf Jesus died a death of shame. Are you willing to consecrate yourself to His service? to hold yourself ready to be or to do anything He may require? Are you willing to put self aside, and speak a word of warning to the companion you see yielding to Satan's temptations? Are you willing to sacrifice some of your plans for the sake of trying to lead him in safe paths? Many youth are in peril who might be saved if Christians would manifest toward them a loving, unselfish interest. . . . {OHC 287.4} [OHC 287.5] The true Christian works unselfishly and untiringly for the Master. He does not seek ease or self-gratification, but holds all, even life itself, subject to God's call. And to him are spoken the words, "He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." Matthew 10:39. {OHC 287.5} [OHC 288.1] Chap. 282 - Heaven Cheap at Any Price And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:27. {OHC 288.1} [OHC 288.2] It is too true that the great mass who possess ability and talent do not choose to travel the Christian road. Are their talent and ability too precious to devote to the Giver, the Lord of heaven and earth? . . . {OHC 288.2} [OHC 288.3] Many would be followers of Christ if He would come down from the cross and appear to them in such a manner as they desire. If He would come with riches and pleasure, many would receive Him gladly and would be in haste to crown Him Lord of all. If He would only lay aside His humiliation and sufferings and cry, "If any man will come after Me, let him please himself and enjoy the world and he shall be My disciple," multitudes would believe on Him. {OHC 288.3} [OHC 288.4] But the blessed Jesus will come to us in no other character than the meek and lowly Crucified One. We must partake of His self-denial and suffering here if we would take the crown hereafter. . . . {OHC 288.4} [OHC 288.5] The Word of God has not widened the narrow way, and if the multitude have found a path where they can wear a form of godliness and not bear the cross or suffer tribulation, they have found a way where our Saviour did not walk and they follow another example than that which Christ set before us. Is it not enough that Jesus left the felicity and glory of heaven, endured a life of poverty and deep affliction, and died a cruel, shameful death to provide for us the joys of holiness and heaven? And can it be that we, the worthless objects of so great a condescension and love, will seek after a better portion in this life than was given to our Redeemer? {OHC 288.5} [OHC 288.6] How easy would be the way to heaven if there was no self-denial or cross! How worldlings would rush in the way, and hypocrites would travel in it without number! Thank God for the cross, the self-denial. The ignominy and shame our Saviour endured for us is none too humiliating for those saved by the purchase of His blood. Heaven will indeed be cheap enough. {OHC 288.6} [OHC 289.1] Chap. 283 - Talents for Everyone For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Matthew 25:14, 15. {OHC 289.1} [OHC 289.2] God has not given talents to merely a chosen few, but to everyone He has committed some peculiar gift to be used in His service. Many to whom the Lord has given precious talents have refused to employ them for the advancement of the kingdom of God; nevertheless, they are under obligation to God for their use of His gifts. Everyone, whether serving God or pleasing himself, is a possessor of some trust, whose proper use will bring glory to God and whose perverted use will rob the Giver. . . . {OHC 289.2} [OHC 289.3] The human family is composed of responsible moral agents, and from the highest and most gifted to the lowest and most obscure, all are invested with the goods of heaven. Time is an entrusted gift of God, and is to be diligently employed in the service of Christ. Influence is a gift of God, and is to be exerted for the forwarding of the highest, noblest purposes. . . . Intellect is an entrusted talent. Sympathy and affection are talents to be sacredly guarded and improved, that we may render service to Him whose purchased possession we are. {OHC 289.3} [OHC 289.4] All that we are or can be belongs to God. Education, discipline, and skill in every line should be used for Him. The capital is His, and the improvement is the usury that rightfully belongs to the Master. Whether the amount entrusted is large or small, the Lord requires that His householders do their best. It is not the amount entrusted or the improvement made that brings to men the approbation of Heaven, but it is the faithfulness, the loyalty to God, the loving service rendered, that brings the divine benediction, "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." Verse 23. This reward of joy does not wait until our entrance into the city of God, but the faithful servant has a foretaste of it even in this life. {OHC 289.4} [OHC 290.1] Chap. 284 - How are you Using your Talents? Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his Lord's money. Matthew 25:16-18. {OHC 290.1} [OHC 290.2] The knowledge of the truth is altogether too precious to be hoarded up, and bound about, and hid in the earth. Even the one talent entrusted by the Master is to be faithfully employed. . . . {OHC 290.2} [OHC 290.3] God pronounces His blessing upon unselfish, unwearied diligence; and though we may have but one talent, and can make but a small investment, yet God will make the effort fruitful in results. The man who works in faith will realize that his intellect, his affections, his whole power, belongs to God, and he will seek to make diligent use of his powers, and will improve his faculties and talents. But, instead of realizing that all our faculties belong to God, how many are reckless, little thinking that their influence, their cheap, light words, are molding the characters of those with whom they associate, and bringing down their minds to a low level. . . . {OHC 290.3} [OHC 290.4] The atmosphere that surrounds the soul is fraught with influence for good or evil. . . . It may be full of poison and malaria, or be fragrant and pure and health giving. This moral influence will be according to our connection with Christ or our separation from Him, who is light and life. Those who are united with Christ will realize that He has given them trusts according to their several ability; and, whatever their surroundings, they will consider them favorable for the development of moral character. We are to make the most of every advantage and opportunity. . . . We must train and improve our ability that we may not disappoint our Master, but reach the highest possible standard, and thus influence others to follow in the footsteps of our Example. We may say, "Neither society nor intimate companions must have their ideas of Christian character cheapened by my course of action." . . . {OHC 290.4} [OHC 290.5] What are you doing with your talents? Are you putting them out to the exchangers? {OHC 290.5} [OHC 291.1] Chap. 285 - Speech a Precious Talent By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Matthew 12:37. {OHC 291.1} [OHC 291.2] God has given every youth the talent of speech to be improved for Him. This is a most important trust. . . . Let your words be life-giving, pointing those around you to the Saviour. Let them bring sunshine instead of gloom, harmony instead of animosity. Say nothing that you would not be willing to say in the presence of Jesus and the angels. Utter no word that will stir up strife in another heart. However provoked you may feel, restrain the hasty word. If you are Christlike in speech and action, those who associate with you will be blessed by the association. Righteous words and deeds have a more powerful influence for good than all the sermons that can be preached. {OHC 291.2} [OHC 291.3] Let us guard against speaking words that discourage. Let us resolve never to engage in evilspeaking and backbiting. Let us refuse to serve Satan by implanting seeds of doubt. Let us guard against cherishing unbelief, or expressing it to others. Many, many times I have wished that there might be circulated a pledge containing a solemn promise to speak only those words that are pleasing to God. There is a great need for such a pledge as there is for one against the use of intoxicating liquor. Let us begin to discipline the tongue, remembering always that we can do this only by disciplining the mind, for "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Matthew 12:34. {OHC 291.3} [OHC 291.4] Through the help that Christ can give, we shall be able to learn to bridle the tongue. Sorely as He was tried on the point of hasty and angry speech, He never once sinned with His lips. With patient calmness He met the sneers, the taunts, and the ridicule of His fellow workers at the carpenter's bench. Instead of retorting angrily, He would begin to sing one of David's beautiful psalms; and His companions, before realizing what they were doing, would unite with Him in the hymn. What a transformation would be wrought in this word if men and women today would follow Christ's example in the use of words! {OHC 291.4} [OHC 292.1] Chap. 286 - An Index to Character Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. Ephesians 5:4. {OHC 292.1} [OHC 292.2] A man's character may be quite accurately estimated by the nature of his conversation. . . . Those who jest and joke and indulge in cheap conversation place themselves upon a level where Satan can gain access to them. . . . When you associate together, you may be a help and a blessing one to another if you surround yourselves with an influence that is divine. But there are those who have grave defects, which are gaining a deeper hold upon them and which if not overcome will drive the Spirit of God out of the heart. . . . Jesting and joking may please a class of cheap minds, and yet the influence of this kind of conduct is destructive to spirituality. I speak to you as a class and also as individuals: Guard your words. Let sobriety and sound common sense characterize your conversation. Do not trifle with the purity and nobility of your souls by condescending to indulgence in stale jokes, and in cultivating habits of trifling conversation. {OHC 292.2} [OHC 292.3] The requirement of God is explicit on these points, and presents before you the obligations that rest upon you as children of God. The Word of God says, "Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." Colossians 3:17. {OHC 292.3} [OHC 292.4] O that every one of our youth would realize the evil of foolish conversation, and correct the habit of speaking idle words! Let every one who has indulged in this sin repent of it, confess it before God, and put it far from him. In speaking foolish words, you have dishonored the name of Christ; for you have misrepresented Him in character. No word of guile was found in His lips, no word of prevarication or falsehood. The people that are described as making up the one hundred and forty-four thousand, have the Father's name written in their foreheads, and of them it is said: "In their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God." Revelation 14:5. {OHC 292.4} [OHC 293.1] Chap. 287 - When Silence is Eloquence He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends. Proverbs 17:9. {OHC 293.1} [OHC 293.2] The psalmist asks, "Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour." When anyone comes to you with a tale about your neighbor, you should refuse to hear it. You should say to him, "Have you spoken of this matter to the individual concerned?" ... Tell him he should obey the Bible rule, and go first to his brother, and tell him his fault privately, and in love. If the directions of God were carried out, the floodgates of gossip would be closed. {OHC 293.2} [OHC 293.3] When your brethren and neighbors come in to see you, talk of the wonderful love of Jesus. Rejoice in His intercession for lost man. Tell your friends of the love that you have for their souls, because they are the purchase of the blood of Christ. God forbid that we should make the pathway of other weary travelers harder by magnifying their errors, and by sitting in judgment upon their actions. God help us, that we may speak words of comfort and hope and courage to cheer the life of the lonely, and discouraged, and erring. {OHC 293.3} [OHC 293.4] When you are tempted to speak unadvisedly, be on guard. If some one else approaches you with words of criticism regarding one of God's children, turn a deaf ear to every such word. If you are spoken to harshly, never retaliate. Utter not a word. When under provocation, remember that "silence in eloquence." Silence is the greatest rebuke that you can possibly give to a faultfinder or one whose temper is irritated. {OHC 293.4} [OHC 293.5] It should be our aim to bring all the pleasantness possible into our lives, and to do all the kindness possible to those around us. Kind words are never lost. Jesus records them as if spoken to Himself. Sow the seeds of kindness, of love, and of tenderness, and they will blossom and bear fruit. {OHC 293.5} [OHC 294.1] Chap. 288 - Words that Bring Sunshine and Joy Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. Colossians 4:6. {OHC 294.1} [OHC 294.2] The talent of speech was given to be used for the benefit of all. Pleasant, cheery words cost no more than unpleasant, moody words. Sharp words wound and bruise the soul. In this life everyone has difficulties with which to wrestle. Everyone meets with grievances and disappointments. Shall we not bring sunshine instead of gloom into the lives of those with whom we come in contact? Shall we not speak words that will help and bless? Such words will be just as verily a blessing to us as to those to whom they are spoken. {OHC 294.2} [OHC 294.3] Parents, allow no faultfinding in your home. Teach your children to speak pleasant words, words that will bring sunshine and joy. Angels are not attracted to a home where discord reigns. Bring practical godliness into the home. Prepare yourselves and your children for entrance into the city of God. Angels will be your helpers. Satan will tempt you, but do not yield. Do not speak one word of which the enemy can take advantage. {OHC 294.3} [OHC 294.4] Day by day we are sowing seeds for the future harvest. We cannot be too careful of the seed we sow by our words. Often words are carelessly spoken and forgotten, but these words, for good or ill, will bring forth a harvest. Sow one unkind, harsh word, and this seed, finding soil in the minds of the hearers, will spring up to bear fruit after its kind. Sow one seed in loving, gentle, Christlike words, and it will bring you rich returns. Let us guard ourselves, lest we speak words that are not a blessing, but a curse. If we sow wheat we shall reap wheat; if we sow tares we shall reap tares; and the harvest, whether of wheat or of tares, will be sure and abundant. {OHC 294.4} [OHC 294.5] "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Galatians 6:7. The harvest is sure. No frost shall blight it, no palmer worm destroy it. {OHC 294.5} [OHC 294.6] God calls upon His children to guard their words. {OHC 294.6} [OHC 295.1] Chap. 289 - Words Like Apples of Gold A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. Proverbs 25:11. {OHC 295.1} [OHC 295.2] Some are seen to come forth from their daily communion with God clothed with the meekness of Christ. Their words ... come forth sweetly from their lips. They scatter seeds of love and kindness all along their path, ... because Christ lives in their heart. {OHC 295.2} [OHC 295.3] The tongue needs to be educated and disciplined and trained to speak of the glories of heaven, to talk of the matchless love of Jesus. {OHC 295.3} [OHC 295.4] There are souls who err, and who feel their shame and their folly. They are hungry for words of encouragement. They look upon their mistakes and errors until they are almost driven to desperation. Instead of ... reproving and condemning and taking away the last ray of hope that the Sun of Righteousness sheds into their hearts, let your words fall as healing balm upon the bruised soul. Be not like desolating hail that beats down and destroys the tender hope springing up in the hearts. Leave not the hungry, starving soul in his helplessness to perish because you fail to speak words of tenderness and encouragement. {OHC 295.4} [OHC 295.5] The most persuasive eloquence is the word that is spoken in love and sympathy. Such words will bring light to confused minds and hope to the discouraged, brightening the prospect before them. The time in which we live calls for vital, sanctified energy; for earnestness, zeal, and the tenderest sympathy and love; for words that will not increase misery, but will inspire faith and hope. We are homeward bound, seeking a better country, even an heavenly. Instead of speaking words which will rankle in the breasts of those that hear, shall we not speak of the love wherewith God hath loved us? Shall we not try to lighten the hearts of those around us by words of Christlike sympathy? {OHC 295.5} [OHC 295.6] Those who love Jesus Christ will contemplate His character, meditate upon His words, practice His precepts, and become living missionaries. The words they speak will be like apples of gold in pictures of silver. {OHC 295.6} [OHC 296.1] Chap. 290 - Christians Like the Sunlight Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Isaiah 60:1. {OHC 296.1} [OHC 296.2] It is the privilege of the Christian to connect with the Source of light, and through this living connection become the light of the world. Christ's true followers will walk in the light as He is in the light, and therefore they will not travel in an uncertain way, stumbling because they walk in darkness. The Great Teacher is impressing upon His hearers the blessing which they may be to the world, represented as the sun rising in the east, dispelling the mist and shadows of darkness. The dawn gives place to day. The sun, gilding, tinting, and then glorifying the heavens with its blaze of light is a symbol of the Christian life. As the light of the sun is light and life and blessing to all that live, so should Christians, by their good works, by their cheerfulness and courage, be the light of the world. As the light of the sun chases away the shades of night and pours its glories on valleys and hills, so will the Christian reflect the Sun of Righteousness which shines on him. {OHC 296.2} [OHC 296.3] Before the consistent lives of Christ's true followers, ignorance, superstition, and darkness will pass away, as the sun dispels the gloom of night. In like manner the disciples of Jesus will go into the dark places of the earth, disseminating the light of truth until the pathway of those in darkness shall be illuminated by the light of truth. In what contrast to this is the life of the professed child of God who is as the salt without the savor.... These sunless professors are shadows of darkness.... All may be channels of light if they will connect with the Source of light. They can communicate the bright rays of light to the world. None need strengthen unbelief by talking darkness. Every expression of doubt strengthens unbelief. Every thought and word of hope, courage, light, and love strengthens faith and fortifies the soul to withstand the moral darkness that exists in the world. {OHC 296.3} [OHC 296.4] True Christians are a savor of life unto life, because Christ abides in their hearts. Reflecting His image, they are children of the light. {OHC 296.4} [OHC 297.1] Chap. 291 - Let Your Light Shine Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16. {OHC 297.1} [OHC 297.2] To every soul born into Christ's kingdom is given a solemn charge, Let your light so shine before men that they, by seeing your good works, shall glorify your Father which is in heaven. Pour forth upon your neighbors the rich rays of light received from the Sun of Righteousness; flash upon your friends in the world the bright gems of light and truth imparted to you abundantly from the throne of God. This is trading upon the talents entrusted. Go on from light to a greater light, catching more and more the bright beams from the Sun of Righteousness, and shine more and more unto the perfect day. {OHC 297.2} [OHC 297.3] Jesus does not bid the Christian to strive to shine, but just to let his light shine in clear and distinct rays to the world. Do not blanket your light. Do not sinfully withhold your light. Do not let the mist and fog and malaria of the world put out your light. Do not hide it under a bed or under a bushel, but set it on a candlestick, that it may give light to all that are in the house.... God bids you shine, penetrating the moral darkness of the world. {OHC 297.3} [OHC 297.4] Many do not know what is the matter with them. They want light and see no ray. They are calling for help and they hear no response. Shall doubt and unbelief be perpetuated because I do not gather the divine rays of light from Jesus Christ and let them shine forth to others? . . . {OHC 297.4} [OHC 297.5] The deep struggles of my own soul against temptations, the earnest longings of my mind and heart to know God and Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour, and to have assurance, peace, and rest in their love, lead me to desire every day to be where the beams of the Sun of Righteousness can shine upon me. Without this experience, I shall indeed meet with great loss, and all with whom I associate will be affected by the loss of the light I ought to be receiving from the Source of all light and comfort, and to be flashing into their pathway. Shall I be indeed a light unto the world, or a shadow of darkness? {OHC 297.5} [OHC 298.1] Chap. 292 - Faithful Where You Are And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15. {OHC 298.1} [OHC 298.2] Preaching the gospel includes more than sermonizing; and the work is not confined to the ministry. Thousands are idle who should be working in various ways for the salvation of souls. {OHC 298.2} [OHC 298.3] Many feel stirred with an ambition to minister to others. Let them learn to walk humbly with God, to be doers of His Word where they are. Let them learn to be obedient, to serve in whatever capacity they may. Let them learn to do the humblest work, and to realize that they are serving Christ in whatever circumstances they may be placed. In doing humble physical work, you may reveal the fact that God is with you, and that you are trading upon the talents He has entrusted to you. Right where you are, opportunities and privileges will present themselves to you, and if you are seeking to serve Christ, you will see and improve them. In the humblest situations you will find occasions for the exercise of firm integrity and fidelity; and if faithful in serving God in the lowest place, you will be entrusted with higher responsibilities. If you are faithful in a few things, your faithfulness will testify that you are a student in the school of Christ, and that you are cultivating your ability to serve Him in larger fields. {OHC 298.3} [OHC 298.4] We are nearing the close of this earth's history; soon we shall stand before the great white throne. Your opportunities for work will soon be past. Therefore work while it is called today. With the help of God, every true believer can see where there is work to be done. When the human will cooperates with the will of God, it becomes omnipotent, and the worker can make opportunities. Watch for the souls with whom you come in contact. Watch for opportunities to speak a word in season to them. Do not wait for an introduction, or until you become acquainted with them, before you seek to save the perishing souls around you. If you will go to work in earnest, ways will open before you for the accomplishment of this work. Lean upon the divine arm for wisdom, strength, and skill for the work that God has given you to do. {OHC 298.4} [OHC 299.1] Chap. 293 - Character of Christ's Ambassadors Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20. {OHC 299.1} [OHC 299.2] Every true Christian will feel that he has something to do for the salvation of souls. {OHC 299.2} [OHC 299.3] When you approach the stranger, when you stand face to face with the impenitent, the afflicted, the soul-needy, the Lord is by your side if you have indeed given yourself to Him. He makes the impression on the heart. But you may be the instrument for His gracious work.... {OHC 299.3} [OHC 299.4] The advocates of truth must hide in Jesus; He is their greatness, their power and efficiency. They must love souls as He loved them, be obedient as He was, be courteous, full of sympathy. They should war with all their power against the least defect of character in themselves. They must represent Jesus. In every act let Him appear. {OHC 299.4} [OHC 299.5] He who can read the hearts of men ... knows the atmosphere surrounding every soul. He knows how many and fierce are the struggles of the human soul to overcome the natural hereditary tendencies and the sins which have become common through habit of repetition.... Thousands ... are exposed to Satan's masterly temptations, and are without a knowledge of God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent into the world to save the chiefest sinners. Oh, why do we not discern our part of the work in the great plan of redemption? . . . {OHC 299.5} [OHC 299.6] In every truly converted soul there will be genuine, sanctified sympathy with the suffering of Christ, endured by Him to save the sinful. They will, if colaborers with Christ, overcome selfish ease, selfish gratification, selfish indulgence, and will grow in spiritual sinew and muscle by exercising the powers given them of God to win souls to Jesus Christ. This heaven-appointed work is calculated to give breadth and depth and stability to Christian experience and character, and to bring the laborers together with God into a higher, purer atmosphere where their love for Christ will be ever increasing and their love for their fellow men will abound more and more. {OHC 299.6} [OHC 300.1] Chap. 294 - Do I Rightly Represent my Lord? Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen. Isaiah 43:10. {OHC 300.1} [OHC 300.2] If believers associate with unbelievers for the purpose of winning them to Christ, they will be witnesses for Christ, and having fulfilled their mission, will withdraw themselves in order to breathe in a pure and holy atmosphere. They will draw near to God, and send up earnest petitions to Christ in behalf of their friends and associates, knowing that He is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. {OHC 300.2} [OHC 300.3] When in the society of unbelievers, ever remember that in character you are a representative of Jesus Christ, and let no light and trifling words, no cheap conversation, be upon your lips. Keep in mind the value of the soul, and remember that it is your privilege and your duty to be in every possible way a laborer together with God. You are not to lower yourself to the same level as that of unbelievers, and laugh, and make the same cheap speeches. In thus doing you ... make yourself one with the sinner. This manner of conduct will only make you a stumbling block in the way of sinners.... {OHC 300.3} [OHC 300.4] When the Holy Spirit moves upon the heart, we should cooperate with its molding influence, and we shall have noble aspirations, a clear perception of truth, meekness, teachableness, and will perform our duty with humility. This is the way in which you will become better acquainted with God, and acquaintance with God is the privilege of the Christian. Then you can labor for those who are unconverted, and the society of unbelievers will do you no harm, because your life is hid with Christ in God, and you seek the companionship of those who are out of Christ for the purpose of winning them to His service. Your connection with God makes you strong spiritually, so that you can withstand any wrong influences which are exerted by them.... {OHC 300.4} [OHC 300.5] Be sure to place yourself in the channel of light, and to be a practical follower of Him who went about "doing good." {OHC 300.5} [OHC 301.1] Chap. 295 - Planting Seeds of Truth In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. Ecclesiastes 11:6. {OHC 301.1} [OHC 301.2] As professing children of God, we are under solemn obligation to seek and to save the lost.... God wants you to associate with believers and unbelievers, that you may help all to a fuller knowledge of the truth. Get acquainted with those whom you think you can help; then when you get into conversation with them do not talk of nothingness and folly, but tell of the precious things of God.... Angels of God will make impressions upon the mind, if in the spirit of Christ you will seek to reach and to help souls. {OHC 301.2} [OHC 301.3] Wherever you are, let your light shine forth. Hand out papers and pamphlets to those with whom you associate, when you are riding on the cars, visiting, conversing with your neighbors; and improve every opportunity to speak a word in season.... {OHC 301.3} [OHC 301.4] We should cultivate kindliness and courtesy in our association with those whom we meet. Let us ... strive always to present the truth in an easy way. This truth means life, eternal life to the receiver. Study therefore to pass easily and courteously from subjects of a temporal nature to the spiritual and eternal.... While walking by the way, or seated by the wayside, you may drop into some heart the seed of truth. {OHC 301.4} [OHC 301.5] There is work to be done for our Master. There are souls who may by our influence be led to Christ. Who is ready to engage in this work with all the heart? ... "Thine is the seedtime; God alone Beholds the end of what is sown; Beyond our vision, weak and dim, The harvesttime is hid with Him; Yet unforgotten where it lies, The seed of generous sacrifice, Though seeming on the desert cast, Shall rise with bloom and fruit at last." {OHC 301.5} [OHC 302.1] Chap. 296 - Watch, Pray, Work I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. John 9:4. {OHC 302.1} [OHC 302.2] Could the ledger of Heaven be opened before us, we would be greatly astonished at the large proportion of professing Christians who really contribute nothing toward the upbuilding of Christ's kingdom, who put forth no efforts for the salvation of souls. Such are slothful servants. Many who are satisfied not to do much good, flatter themselves that they are doing no harm so long as they do not oppose the earnest, active workers. But this class are doing much harm by their example.... {OHC 302.2} [OHC 302.3] The slothful servant was not condemned for what he had done, but for what he had not done. There is no more dangerous enemy to the cause of God than an indolent Christian. An open profaner does less harm, for he deceives no one; he appears what he is, a brier, a thorn. The do-nothings are the greatest hindrance. Those who will not bear burdens, who shun all disagreeable responsibilities, are the first to be taken in Satan's snare, the first to lend their influence to a wrong course. {OHC 302.3} [OHC 302.4] Watch, pray, work--these are the Christian's watchwords. Let none excuse themselves from labor for the salvation of souls. Let none deceive themselves into the belief that nothing is required of them. No less is required of any than was expected of the man with one talent. {OHC 302.4} [OHC 302.5] There is work to be done for Christ in our families, in our neighborhoods, everywhere. By kindness to the poor, the sick, or the bereaved, we may obtain an influence over them, so that divine truth may find access to their hearts. Opportunities for usefulness are on every hand. All who are imbued with the spirit of Christ will show themselves to be fruit-bearing branches of the living Vine.... {OHC 302.5} [OHC 302.6] It is ours to make the record which we desire to meet hereafter. Would we have its pages filled with the history of earnest work for God and humanity? Let us follow in the footsteps of Him who declared, "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work." John 9:4. {OHC 302.6} [OHC 303.1] Chap. 297 - "To Every Man His Work" For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Mark 13:34. {OHC 303.1} [OHC 303.2] We have a personal work, an individual responsibility, a personal account to render, and it is our own salvation we must secure, for it is a matter of individual concern. . . . The piety and obedience of others will not save us or be doing our work. Their efforts will never be registered against our names as ours.... {OHC 303.2} [OHC 303.3] God has left to every one of us our work--not the temporal labor as planting, sowing, reaping, and gathering in the harvest, but to build up His kingdom, to bring souls to the knowledge of the truth, and to regard this as our first and highest duty. God has claims upon us. He has endowed us with capabilities and given us opportunities, if we will see them and improve them. These obligations to God none but ourselves, individually, can meet. The delinquencies of others . . . will be no excuse for any one to follow their example, because Christ is lifted up as the only true Pattern--faultless, pure, uncorrupted.... {OHC 303.3} [OHC 303.4] There are those who associate together to do evil and seem to think in this they lose their individual responsibility. But God holds them accountable for every act performed that has the slightest tendency to counteract the work of Christ; whether they are united with many or with the few, the sin is the same. We are individually responsible. We ourselves should be our concern. Are we in all our words and actions building up the kingdom of Christ, or are we tearing down? Christ says to each one of us, "Follow me." Then let us be found followers of Jesus Christ. {OHC 303.4} [OHC 303.5] Now is our time to work. Now is the time for us to form characters after the divine Model.... If we know Christ, we shall reveal Him to others. "As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world." John 17:18. He came into the world to represent the Father; and the work He has given us is to represent His character. We cannot be excused from doing this work. {OHC 303.5} [OHC 304.1] Chap. 298 - A Little Church in the Home Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. Mark 5:19. {OHC 304.1} [OHC 304.2] In forming a relationship with Christ, the renewed man is but coming back to his appointed relationship with God. He is a representative of Christ. . . . His duties lie around him, nigh and afar off. His first duty is to his children and his nearest relatives. Nothing can excuse him from neglecting the inner circle for the larger circle outside. In the day of final reckoning fathers and mothers will be required to answer in regard to their children. Parents will be asked what they did and said to secure the salvation of the souls they took upon themselves the responsibility of bringing into the world. . . . {OHC 304.2} [OHC 304.3] Fathers and mothers, are you allowing your children to grow up in impurity and sin? A great good done for others will not cancel the debt you owe to God to care for your children. The spiritual welfare of your family comes first. Take them with you to the cross of Calvary, laboring for them as those that must give an account. {OHC 304.3} [OHC 304.4] Parents should seek to gain the cooperation of their children. Thus children can become laborers together with God. Some households have a little church in their home. Mutual love binds heart to heart, and the unity that exists among the members of the family preaches the most effectual sermon that could be preached on practical godliness. {OHC 304.4} [OHC 304.5] As parents faithfully do their duty in the family, restraining, correcting, advising, counseling, guiding, the father as priest of the household, the mother as a home missionary, they are filling the sphere God would have them fill. By faithfully doing their duty in the home, they are multiplying agencies for doing good outside the home. They are becoming better fitted to labor in the church. By training their little flock discreetly, binding their children to themselves and to God, fathers and mothers become laborers together with God. . . . The members of the family become members of the royal family above, children of the heavenly King. {OHC 304.5} [OHC 305.1] Chap. 299 - No Middle Ground in God's Service He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Matthew 12:30. {OHC 305.1} [OHC 305.2] My fellow Christians, we are far from reaching the divine standard. Our works do not correspond with our privileges and opportunities.... {OHC 305.2} [OHC 305.3] In the service of God there is no middle ground.... Let none expect to make a compromise with the world, and yet enjoy the blessing of the Lord. Let God's people come out from this world, and be separate. Let us seek more earnestly to know and do the will of our Father in heaven. Let the light of truth which has shone upon us be so received that its bright rays may go forth from us to the world. Let unbelievers see that the faith we hold makes us better men and better women; that it is a living reality, sanctifying the character, transforming the life.... Let our conversation be upon heavenly things. Let us surround ourselves with an atmosphere of Christian cheerfulness. Let us show that our religion can stand the test of trial. Let us by our kindness, forbearance, and love prove to the world the power of our faith. {OHC 305.3} [OHC 305.4] Many who set out well in the Christian life are losing spiritual strength, and placing themselves in the enemy's power, by their indulgence in vain and trifling conversation. They cannot look up to God with holy confidence to ask for needed strength. By their irreligious course they bar the way of souls that might have come to Christ. Let these careless triflers remember that every word and act is photographed in the books of heaven. No human hand can erase one disgraceful blot.... {OHC 305.4} [OHC 305.5] As we are daily brought in contact with those who have not a knowledge of Christ and the truth, shall we talk only of our farms, our merchandise, our gains and losses; or shall we speak of those things which concern our future life? Shall we seek to win souls to Jesus? Oh, what shameful neglect of duty stands registered against the professed followers of Christ! Let us earnestly examine ourselves by the light of God's Word, seeking to discover every defect of character, that we may wash our robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. {OHC 305.5} [OHC 306.1] Chap. 300 - Rewards of Service It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Lamentations 3:27. {OHC 306.1} [OHC 306.2] The Lord calls for young men and women to enter His service. The youth are receptive, fresh, ardent, hopeful. When once they have tasted the spirit of self-sacrifice, they will not be satisfied unless they are learning constantly of the great Teacher.... {OHC 306.2} [OHC 306.3] As we work in connection with the great Teacher, our experience improves. The faculties of the mind are enlarged. The conscience is under divine guidance. Christ takes the entire being under His control. We are safe only as we allow Him to do this; for there is another close by, watching for an opportunity to come in and begin his destructive, ensnaring work. Then, as we enter the service of God, let Him take possession of the whole being, body, soul, and spirit.... {OHC 306.3} [OHC 306.4] No one can be truly united to Christ, practicing His lessons, submitting to His yoke of restraint, without realizing that which he can never express in words. New, rich thoughts come to him. Light is given to the intellect, determination to the will, tenderness to the conscience, purity to the imagination. {OHC 306.4} [OHC 306.5] Young men and women who are truly converted will depart from all iniquity.... If they see the offensive character of sin, and hate it as the vile thing it is, and come to Jesus in contrition, purifying their souls by obedience to the truth, then they may be entrusted with some part in the work.... {OHC 306.5} [OHC 306.6] God reads the heart, He weighs the character, and is acquainted with every man's work. He gives His Spirit in proportion to the consecration and self-sacrifice manifested by those who engage in His work. {OHC 306.6} [OHC 306.7] The youth are strong. They are not worn down with the weight of years, and with cares. Their affections are ardent, and if they are withdrawn from the world, and placed upon Christ and heaven, doing the will of God, they will have a hope of the better life that is enduring, and they will abide forever, being crowned with glory, honor, immortality, eternal life. {OHC 306.7} [OHC 307.1] Chap. 301 - Beware of Self-Confidence Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice. John 13:37, 38. {OHC 307.1} [OHC 307.2] Just before Peter's fall, Christ said to him, "Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat." Luke 22:31. How true was the Saviour's friendship for Peter! how compassionate His warning! But the warning was resented. In self-sufficiency Peter declared confidently that he would never do what Christ had warned him against. "Lord," he said, "I am ready to go with thee to prison, and to death." His self-confidence proved his ruin. He tempted Satan to tempt him, and he fell under the arts of the wily foe. When Christ needed him most, he stood on the side of the enemy, and openly denied his Lord.... {OHC 307.2} [OHC 307.3] Many today stand where Peter stood when in self-confidence he declared that he would not deny his Lord. And because of their self-sufficiency, they fall an easy prey to Satan's devices. Those who realize their weakness trust in a power higher than self. And while they look to God, Satan has no power against them. But those who trust in self are easily defeated. Let us remember that if we do not heed the cautions that God gives us, a fall is before us. Christ will not save from wounds the one who places himself unbidden on the enemy's ground. He lets the self-sufficient one, who acts as if he knew more than his Lord, go on in his supposed strength. Then comes suffering and a crippled life or perhaps defeat and death. {OHC 307.3} [OHC 307.4] In the warfare the enemy takes advantage of the weakest points in the defense of those he is attacking. Here he makes his fiercest assaults. The Christian should have no weak points in his defense. He should be barricaded by the support that the Scriptures give to the one who is doing God's will. The tempted soul will bear away the victory if he follows the example of Him who met the tempter with the word, "It is written." He can stand securely in the protection of a "Thus saith the Lord." {OHC 307.4} [OHC 308.1] Chap. 302 - Energy in the Christian Race Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 1 Corinthians 9:24, 25. {OHC 308.1} [OHC 308.2] In order to render to God perfect service, we must have clear conceptions of His will. This will require us to use only healthful food, prepared in a simple manner, that the fine nerves of the brain be not injured, making it impossible for us to discern the value of the atonement, and the priceless worth of the cleansing blood of Christ. . . . {OHC 308.2} [OHC 308.3] If, for no higher object than a wreath or perishable crown as a reward of their ambition, men subjected themselves to temperance in all things, how much more should those who profess to be seeking, not only an unfading crown of immortal glory, but a life which is to endure as long as the throne of Jehovah, and riches that are eternal, honors which are imperishable, and an eternal weight of glory. Will not the inducements presented before those who are running in the Christian race, lead them to practice self-denial, and temperance in all things? ... {OHC 308.3} [OHC 308.4] With earnestness and intensity of desire to do the will of God, we should excel the zeal of those who are engaged in any other enterprise, to a degree as much greater as the value of the object we are seeking to attain is higher. The treasure we are striving to secure is imperishable, immortal, and all-glorious; while that which the worldling is in pursuit of endures but a day.... {OHC 308.4} [OHC 308.5] May it not be our great anxiety to succeed in this world; but may the burden of our souls be, How shall I secure the better world? What have I to do to be saved? . . . The position all must come into, is to value salvation dearer than earthly gain, to count everything but loss that they may win Christ. The consecration must be entire. God will admit of no reserve, of no divided sacrifice, no idol. All must die to self, and to the world. Then let us each renew our consecration to God daily. Everlasting life is worth a lifelong, persevering, untiring effort. {OHC 308.5} [OHC 309.1] Chap. 303 - "Take Heed Unto Thyself" Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. 1 Timothy 4:16. {OHC 309.1} [OHC 309.2] The charge given to Timothy should be heeded in every household, and become an educating power in every family and in every school. . . . {OHC 309.2} [OHC 309.3] The highest aim of our youth should not be to strain after something novel. There was none of this in the mind and work of Timothy. They should bear in mind that, in the hands of the enemy of all good, knowledge alone may be a power to destroy them. It was a very intellectual being, one who occupied a high position among the angelic throng, that finally became a rebel; and many a mind of superior intellectual attainments is now being led captive by his power. The youth should place themselves under the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, and weave them into their daily thoughts and practical life. Then they will possess the attributes classed as highest in the heavenly courts. They will hide themselves in God, and their lives will tell to His glory. {OHC 309.3} [OHC 309.4] "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine." Thyself needs the first attention. First give yourself to the Lord for sanctification to His service. A godly example will tell more for the truth than the greatest eloquence unaccompanied by a well-ordered life. Trim the lamp of the soul, and replenish it with the oil of the Spirit. Seek from Christ that grace, that clearness of comprehension, which will enable you to do successful work. Learn from Him what it means to labor for those for whom He gave His life. The most talented worker can do little unless Christ is formed within, the hope and strength of the life. {OHC 309.4} [OHC 309.5] A noble, all-round manhood does not come by chance. It is the result of character building in the early years of youth, a practice of the law of God in the home. {OHC 309.5} [OHC 309.6] God is waiting to inspire the youth with power from above, that all who stand under the bloodstained banner of Jesus Christ may work to call, to warn, and to lead souls into safe paths, and to plant the feet of many upon the Rock of Ages. {OHC 309.6} [OHC 310.1] Chap. 304 - Laborers Together with God For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. 1 Corinthians 3:9. {OHC 310.1} [OHC 310.2] Man cannot be towed to heaven; he cannot go as a passive passenger. He must himself use the oars, and work as a laborer together with God. {OHC 310.2} [OHC 310.3] If you think you can lay down the oars, and still make your way upstream, you are mistaken. It is only by earnest effort, by using the oars with all your might, that you can stem the current. How many there are as weak as water, when they have a never-failing Source of strength! Heaven is ready to impart to us, that we may be mighty in God, and attain the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. But who of you in the past year have been making progress in the way of holiness? . . . Who have been enabled to gain one precious attainment after another, until envy, pride, malice, jealousy, and every evil stain have been swept away, and only the graces of the Spirit remain? . . . {OHC 310.3} [OHC 310.4] God will help us if we take hold of the help He has provided. "Let him take hold of my strength," He says, "that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me." Isaiah 27:5. This is a blessed promise. Many times when I have been discouraged and almost in despair, I have come to the Lord with this promise. . . . And as I have laid hold of the strength of God, I have found a peace which passeth understanding. {OHC 310.4} [OHC 310.5] There are two grand forces at work in the salvation of the human soul. It requires the cooperation of man with the divine agencies-- divine influences, and a strong, living, working faith. It is in this way only that the human agent can become a laborer together with God. The Lord does not sanction in any one of us a blind, stupid credulity. He does not dishonor the human understanding, but, far from this, He calls for the human will to be brought into connection with the divine will. He calls for the ingenuity of the human mind, the tact, the skill, to be strenuously exercised in searching out the truth as it is in Jesus. . . . Ye are labourers together with God. {OHC 310.5} [OHC 311.1] Chap. 305 - Have You Counted the Cost? In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33. {OHC 311.1} [OHC 311.2] The world's Redeemer presents to His followers the plan of the battle in which they are called to engage, and He bids them count the cost. He assures them that angels who excel in strength shall be in His army, and will enable those who trust in Him to fight valiantly. One shall chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight--not through their own strength, but through the power of Omnipotence. . . . The Captain of the Lord's host is with them, taking the command of the armies, and leading them on to victory. {OHC 311.2} [OHC 311.3] Because of their human frailty, because of their sinfulness, they may fear and tremble as they view the vast hosts of the powers of darkness; but they may rejoice as they look upon the angels of God ready to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. They may rejoice as they realize that the Captain of the Lord's host will lead them forward in every conflict against natural and supernatural foes. . . . Your Leader is a conqueror. Advance to victory. . . . {OHC 311.3} [OHC 311.4] How precious are these assurances that we shall never be left to take one step in our own finite strength, for He has said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Hebrews 13:5. We are fighting in the presence of invisible hosts. Unseen intelligences survey the whole array of evil, and help is at hand. We shall not only be provided with that which is necessary but shall be placed upon vantage ground. . . . {OHC 311.4} [OHC 311.5] To every Christian comes the word that was addressed to Peter, "Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." Luke 22:31. Thank God we are not left alone. This is our safety. Satan can never touch with eternal disaster one whom Christ has prepared for temptation by His previous intercession; for grace is provided in Christ for every soul, and a way of escape has been made, so that no one need fall under the power of the enemy. {OHC 311.5} [OHC 312.1] Chap. 306 - Will You Bear the Refiner's Fire? That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:7. {OHC 312.1} [OHC 312.2] Gold is tried in the fire, that it may be purified from dross; but faith that is purified by trial, is more precious than refined gold. Then let us look upon trials in a reasonable way. Let us not come through them with murmuring and discontent. Let us not make mistakes in getting out of them. In times of trial we must cling to God and His promises. {OHC 312.2} [OHC 312.3] Some have said to me, "Do you not get discouraged at times when you are under trial?" And I have answered, "Yes, if by discouragement you mean sad or cast down." "Didn't you talk to any one of your feelings?" "No; there is a time for silence, a time to keep the tongue as with a bridle, and I was determined to utter no word of doubt or darkness, to bring no shade of gloom upon those with whom I was associated. I have said to myself, I will bear the Refiner's fire; I shall not be consumed. When I speak, it shall be of light; it shall be of faith and hope in God; it shall be of righteousness, of goodness, of the love of Christ my Saviour; it shall be to direct the minds of others toward heaven and heavenly things, to Christ's work in heaven for us, and our work upon earth for Him." {OHC 312.3} [OHC 312.4] The refining furnace is to remove the dross. When the Refiner sees His image reflected in you perfectly, He will remove you from the furnace. You will not be left to be consumed or to endure the fiery ordeal any longer than is necessary for your purification. But it is necessary for you, in order to reflect the divine image, to submit to the process the Refiner chooses for you, that you may be cleansed, purified, and every spot and blemish removed--not even a wrinkle left in your Christian character. May the Lord help you . . . to choose to have the will and work of God accomplished in you. . . . Look up! Jesus lives. Jesus loves. Jesus pities, and He will receive you with all your burden of care and trouble if you will come to Him and lay your burden upon Him. He has promised He will never leave or forsake those who put their trust in Him. {OHC 312.4} [OHC 313.1] Chap. 307 - Joy Through Suffering with Christ Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 1 Peter 4:12, 13. {OHC 313.1} [OHC 313.2] We do not always consider that the sanctification we so earnestly desire and for which we pray so earnestly is brought about through the truth and, by the providence of God, in a manner we least expect. When we look for joy, behold there is sorrow. When we expect peace, we frequently have distrust and doubt, because we find ourselves plunged into trials we cannot avoid. In these trials we are having the answers to our prayers. In order for us to be purified, the fire of affliction must kindle upon us, and our will must be brought into conformity to the will of God. . . . God sees it best to put us under a course of discipline which is essential for us before we are fit subjects for the blessing we crave. {OHC 313.2} [OHC 313.3] We should not become discouraged and give way to doubt, and think that our prayers are not noticed. We should rely more securely upon Christ and leave our case with God to answer our prayers in His own way. God has not promised to bestow His blessings through the channels we have marked out. . . . The plans of God are always the best, although we may not always discern them. Perfection of Christian character can be obtained only through labor, conflict, and self-denial. We do not always count upon this, and do not consider the painful and often protracted process of purifying necessary for us in order that we may be conformed to the image of Christ. God frequently answers our prayers in a way we least expect. He brings us into positions which are the most trying, to reveal what is in our hearts. To further the development of Christian graces He will place us in circumstances which will demand increased exertion on our part to keep our faith in lively exercise. {OHC 313.3} [OHC 313.4] Let us bear in mind how inestimably precious are the gifts of God-- the graces of His Spirit--and we shall not shrink from the trying, testing process, be it ever so painful or humiliating to us. {OHC 313.4} [OHC 314.1] Chap. 308 - Token of the Everlasting Covenant And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. Genesis 9:16. {OHC 314.1} [OHC 314.2] Some time ago, we were favored with a view of the most glorious rainbow we ever beheld. We have often visited galleries of art, and have admired the skill displayed by the artist in paintings representing God's great bow of promise. But here we saw the varied tints--crimson, purple, blue, green, silver, and golden, all perfectly blended by the great Master Artist. We were entranced as we looked upon this glorious picture in the heavens. {OHC 314.2} [OHC 314.3] As we look upon this bow, the seal and sign of God's promise to man, that the tempest of His wrath should no more desolate our world by the waters of a flood, we contemplate that other than finite eyes are looking upon this glorious sight. Angels rejoice as they gaze upon this precious token of God's love to man. The world's Redeemer looks upon it; for it was through His instrumentality that this bow was made to appear in the heavens, as a token or covenant of promise to man. God Himself looks upon the bow in the clouds, and remembers His everlasting covenant between Himself and man. . . . The bow represents Christ's love which encircles the earth, and reaches unto the highest heavens, connecting men with God, and linking earth with heaven. {OHC 314.3} [OHC 314.4] As we gaze upon the beautiful sight, we may be joyful in God, assured that He Himself is looking upon this token of His covenant, and that as He looks upon it He remembers the children of earth, to whom it was given. Their afflictions, perils, and trials are not hidden from Him. We may rejoice in hope, for the bow of God's covenant is over us. He never will forget the children of His care. How difficult for the mind of finite man to take in the peculiar love and tenderness of God, and His matchless condescension when He said, "I will look upon the bow in the cloud, and remember thee." {OHC 314.4} [OHC 314.5] Oh, how easy for us to forget God, while He never forgets us; He visits us with His mercies every hour. {OHC 314.5} [OHC 315.1] Chap. 309 - God Speaks Through the Silence I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 1:9. {OHC 315.1} [OHC 315.2] By permitting John to be banished to the Isle of Patmos, Christ placed His disciple in a position where he could receive the most precious truth for the enlightenment of the churches. He placed him in solitude, that his ear and his heart might be sanctified to receive this truth. . . . The persecution of John's enemies became a means of grace. Patmos was made resplendent by the glory of a risen Saviour. . . . What a Sabbath that was to the lonely exile! . . . Never had he learned so much of Jesus. Never had he heard such exalted truth. {OHC 315.2} [OHC 315.3] The worker for God often regards the activities of life as essential to the advancement of the work. Self is mingled with all that is said and done. . . . The worker looks upon himself as a necessity. God says, "This poor soul has lost sight of Me and My sufficiency. I must cast My light and My vitalizing power into his heart. I must prepare him to receive truth by anointing him with the heavenly eyesalve. He sees too many things. His eye is not fastened on Me. . . ." {OHC 315.3} [OHC 315.4] Sometimes the Lord makes His path to the soul by a process painful to humanity. He is compelled to fortify the soul against self-esteem and self-dependence, in order that the worker shall not regard the failings and infirmities of his unsanctified nature as virtues, and thus be ruined by self-exaltation. {OHC 315.4} [OHC 315.5] If those who claim to believe the grand truths for this time would prepare themselves by searching the Scriptures, by earnest prayer, and by the exercise of faith, they would place themselves where they would receive the light they so much crave. . . . The eloquence of silence before God is often essential. If the mind is kept in continual excitement, the ear is prevented from hearing the truth that the Lord would communicate to His believing ones. Christ takes His children from that which holds their attention, that they may behold His glory. {OHC 315.5} [OHC 316.1] Chap. 310 - The Training Necessary for Heaven But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. Job 23:10. {OHC 316.1} [OHC 316.2] The Lord will work for those who put their trust in Him. Precious victories will be gained by the faithful. Precious lessons will be learned. Precious experiences will be realized that will be of the greatest advantage in times of trial and temptation. Those who will give all the glory to God, not taking credit to themselves, will be trusted with more and more of the blessing of God. The Lord will be magnified by those who honor Him in the midst of the people. The trial that has been borne with patience, the test that has been met with faithfulness, will prove them worthy of responsibility, and God will make them agents to carry out His will. . . . {OHC 316.2} [OHC 316.3] The conflicts of earth, in the providence of God, furnish the very training necessary to develop characters fit for the courts of heaven. We are to become members of the royal family, the sons of God, and "all things work together for good" to those who love God, and submit themselves to His will. {OHC 316.3} [OHC 316.4] Our God is an ever-present help in every time of need. He is perfectly acquainted with the most secret thoughts of our heart, with all the intents and purposes of our souls. When we are in perplexity, even before we open to Him our distress, He is making arrangements for our deliverance. Our sorrow is not unnoticed. He always knows much better than we do, just what is necessary for the good of His children, and He leads us as we would choose to be led if we could discern our own hearts and see our necessities and perils, as God sees them. But finite beings seldom know themselves. They do not understand their own weakness. . . . God knows them better than they know themselves, and He understands how to lead them. . . . {OHC 316.4} [OHC 316.5] If we will trust Him, and commit our ways to Him, He will direct our steps in the very path that will result in our obtaining the victory over every evil passion, and every trait of character that is unlike the character of our divine Pattern. {OHC 316.5} [OHC 317.1] Chap. 311 - God Knows What is Best Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Hebrews 12:11. {OHC 317.1} [OHC 317.2] God knows what is for our best good. The peculiar discipline to which we are subject is discipline to bring out not the worst and most unlovely traits of character, but the meekness and loveliness of Christ, developing the precious graces of Christ. {OHC 317.2} [OHC 317.3] You need to learn in Christ's school to become Christlike. God adapts His grace to the peculiarities of each one's necessities. "My grace is sufficient for thee." 2 Corinthians 12:9. As your burden grows heavier look up and by faith cling more firmly to the hand of Jesus, your mighty helper. As difficulties thicken about His people amid the perils of the last days, He sends His angels to walk all the way by our side, drawing us closer and still closer to the bleeding side of Jesus. And as the greater trials come, lesser trials are forgotten. . . . {OHC 317.3} [OHC 317.4] You must remain pure and true and firm, remembering your character is being imprinted upon the books of heaven. . . . There is no circumstance or place or difficulty or hardship, where we cannot live beautiful lives of Christian fidelity and approved conduct. . . . Victory is not found in shunning trials--getting rid of them--but in meeting them heroically, enduring them patiently. {OHC 317.4} [OHC 317.5] Everyone will meet with trials. . . . If you look to Jesus, if you believe in Him as your personal Saviour, you will be brought through every trial, and enduring these trials with patience, you will become stronger to endure the next test, the next trial. {OHC 317.5} [OHC 317.6] It is only the narrowness of our vision that prevents us from discerning God's loving-kindness in the discipline to which He subjects His church, as well as in the great blessings which He provides. In all times of distress and confusion, God is a sure refuge to His people. In the shadow of His protection they may safely keep His way. In the affliction designed to purify them, the power of the gospel is to be their consolation. In His sure word they have a fortress. {OHC 317.6} [OHC 318.1] Chap. 312 - All Things Work Together And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28. {OHC 318.1} [OHC 318.2] The heart surrendered to God's wise discipline will trust every working out of His providence.... If God should let everyone do as he pleases, conceit and pride would be fostered, and the grace of humility would not be cherished in the heart. True culture is only possible for those who are truly humble. {OHC 318.2} [OHC 318.3] The things we may so much desire to do may become a reality after God has proved us in the school of experience, and among our greatest blessings may be counted the thing we were not privileged to do, that would have barred the way from doing the very things best calculated to prepare us for a higher work. The plain, sober duties of real life were essential to prevent the fruitless striving to do things that we were not fitted to do. Our devised plans often fail that God's plans for us may be a complete success. Oh, it is in the future life we shall see the tangles and mysteries of life, that have so annoyed and disappointed our fond hopes, explained. We will see that the prayers and hopes for certain things which have been withheld have been among our greatest blessings. {OHC 318.3} [OHC 318.4] We need not expect all sunshine in this world. Clouds and storms will cluster about us, and we must be prepared to keep our eyes directed where we saw the light last. Its rays may be hidden but they still live, still shine beyond the cloud. It is our work to wait, to watch, to pray, and to believe. We shall prize the light of the sun more highly after the clouds disappear. We shall see the salvation of God if we trust in God in the darkness as well as in the light. {OHC 318.4} [OHC 318.5] All trials, all afflictions, all peace, all safety, health, hope, life, and success are in God's hands, and He can control them all for the good of His children. It is our privilege to be suppliants, to ask anything and everything of God, submitting our request in submission to His wise purposes and infinite will. {OHC 318.5} [OHC 319.1] Chap. 313 - Seeing the Unseen For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17, 18. {OHC 319.1} [OHC 319.2] If our minds are fixed upon the things that are eternal, and not on the things of earth, we shall grasp the hand of infinite power, and what can make us sad? . . . {OHC 319.2} [OHC 319.3] We need not be left a prey to Satan's power. . . . The children of God should not permit Satan to place himself between them and their God. If you permit him to do this, he will tell you that your troubles are the most grievous, the sorest troubles that any mortal ever bore. He will place his magnifying glasses before your eyes, and present everything to you in an exaggerated form to overwhelm you with discouragement.... Take the Word of God as the man of your counsel, and humble your doubting soul before God, and with contrition of heart say, "Here I lay my burden down. I cannot bear it. It is too heavy for me. I lay it down at the feet of my compassionate Redeemer." . . . {OHC 319.3} [OHC 319.4] When Satan tempts you, breathe not a word of doubt or darkness. You may have your choice as to who shall rule your heart and control your mind. If you choose to open the door to the suggestions of the evil one, your mind will be filled with distrust and rebellious questioning. You may talk out your feelings, but every doubt you utter is a seed that will germinate and bear fruit in another's life, and it will be impossible to counteract the influence of your words. You may be able to recover from your season of temptation, and from the snare of Satan, but others that have been swayed by your influence may not be able to escape from the unbelief you have suggested. How important it is that we speak to those around us only those things which will give spiritual strength and enlightenment! Let us seek to lift souls to Jesus, whom having not seen we may love, and be filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory. {OHC 319.4} [OHC 320.1] Chap. 314 - No Power can Separate from Christ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Romans 8:35. {OHC 320.1} [OHC 320.2] How precious in time of need is the assurance of union with Jesus! ... We can say. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation?"--No, for this makes us feel that Christ alone is our refuge, and we flee to Him for shelter. "Or distress?"--No, for He is our consolation. "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort: who comforteth us in all our tribulation. . . ." 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4. {OHC 320.2} [OHC 320.3] "Or persecution?"--No; "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for their's is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:10.... "Or famine?"--No, for we have God's promise,... "In famine he shall redeem thee from death." Job 5:20. ". . . In the days of famine they shall be satisfied." Psalm 37:19. In fleeing unto Jesus we shall be fully satisfied. "Or nakedness?"--Hear the voice of Jesus saying, "Buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear." Revelation 3:18. . . . "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment." Revelation 3:5. . . . {OHC 320.3} [OHC 320.4] "Or peril?"--No; Paul knew by experience what it was to be in peril. . . . "In perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren." 2 Corinthians 11:26. "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee." 2 Corinthians 12:9. . . . "Or sword?" . . . The sword cannot kill the soul, for the life is hid with Christ in God. {OHC 320.4} [OHC 320.5] Well may we ask with Paul, "Who shall separate us from the love of God?" And answer, "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38, 39. {OHC 320.5} [OHC 321.1] Chap. 315 - The Crucible of Trouble Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. Jeremiah 30:7. {OHC 321.1} [OHC 321.2] The path to freedom from sin is through crucifixion of self, and conflict with the powers of darkness. Let none be discouraged in view of the severe trials to be met in the time of Jacob's trouble, which is yet before them. They are to work earnestly, anxiously, not for that time, but for today. What we want is to have a knowledge of the truth as it is in Christ now, and a personal experience now. In these precious closing hours of probation, we have a deep and living experience to gain. We shall thus form characters that will ensure our deliverance in the time of trouble. {OHC 321.2} [OHC 321.3] The time of trouble is the crucible that is to bring out Christlike characters. It is designed to lead the people of God to renounce Satan and his temptations. The last conflict will reveal Satan to them in his true character, that of a cruel tyrant, and it will do for them what nothing else could do, uproot him entirely from their affections. For to love and cherish sin, is to love and cherish its author, that deadly foe of Christ. When they excuse sin and cling to perversity of character, they give Satan a place in their affections, and pay him homage. {OHC 321.3} [OHC 321.4] All heaven is interested in man and desires his salvation. This is the great aim in all God's dealings with individuals.... It is a matter of the greatest wonder to the heavenly host that so few care to be freed from the bondage of evil influences, so few are willing to exercise all their powers in harmony with Christ in the great work of their deliverance. If men could have unveiled before them the workings of the great deceiver to keep them in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity, how earnest would they be to renounce the works of darkness, how guarded lest they yield to temptation, how careful to see and remove every defect which mars the image of God in them; how they would press to the side of Jesus, and what earnest supplications would ascend to heaven for a calmer, closer, happier, walk with God. {OHC 321.4} [OHC 322.1] Chap. 316 - A Jewel or a Pebble? In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts. Haggai 2:23. {OHC 322.1} [OHC 322.2] Christians are Christ's jewels. They are to shine brightly for Him, shedding forth the light of His loveliness. Their luster depends on the polishing they receive. They may choose to be polished or to remain unpolished. But everyone who is pronounced worthy of a place in the Lord's temple must submit to the polishing process. Without the polishing that the Lord gives they can reflect no more light than a common pebble. {OHC 322.2} [OHC 322.3] Christ says to man, "You are mine. I have bought you. You are now only a rough stone, but if you will place yourself in my hands, I will polish you, and the luster with which you shall shine will bring honor to My name. No man shall pluck you out of My hand. I will make you My peculiar treasure. On My coronation day, you will be a jewel in My crown of rejoicing." {OHC 322.3} [OHC 322.4] The divine Worker spends little time on worthless material. Only the precious jewels does He polish after the similitude of a palace, cutting away all the rough edges. This process is severe and trying; it hurts human pride. Christ cuts deep into the experience that man in his self-sufficiency has regarded as complete, and takes away self-uplifting from the character. He cuts away the surplus surface, and putting the stone to the polishing wheel, presses it close, that all roughness may be worn away. Then, holding the jewel up to the light, the Master sees in it a reflection of Himself, and He pronounces it worthy of a place in His casket. "In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee,... and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts." Blessed be the experience, however severe, that gives new value to the stone, and causes it to shine with living brightness. {OHC 322.4} [OHC 322.5] God will not suffer one of His truehearted workers to be left alone to struggle against great odds and be overcome. He preserves as a precious jewel every one whose life is hid with Christ in God. {OHC 322.5} [OHC 323.1] Chap. 317 - God Measures Every Trial There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 1 Corinthians 10:13. {OHC 323.1} [OHC 323.2] Each one has his own battles to fight, his own Christian experience to gain, independent in some respects from any other soul; and God has lessons for each to gain for himself that no other one can gain for him. . . . Our heavenly Father measures and weighs every trial before He permits it to come upon the believer. He considers the circumstances and the strength of the one who is to stand under the proving and test of God, and He never permits the temptations to be greater than the capacity of resistance. If the soul is overborne, the person overpowered, this can never be charged to God, ... but the one tempted was not vigilant and prayerful and did not appropriate by faith the provisions God had abundantly in store for him. Christ never failed a believer in his hour of combat. The believer must claim the promise and meet the foe in the name of the Lord.... {OHC 323.2} [OHC 323.3] Oh, there is a great work to be done for the people of God, ere they are prepared for translation to heaven! The heat of the furnace upon some must be severe to reveal the dross. Self will have to be crucified. When each believer is to the very extent of his knowledge obeying the Lord, and yet seeking to give no just occasion to his fellow men to oppress him, he should not fear the results, even though it be imprisonment and death.... {OHC 323.3} [OHC 323.4] The tender compassion of God is toward His people. Faith, wondrous faith--it leads the people of God in straight paths. Without this faith we shall certainly misunderstand His dealings with us, and distrust His love and faithfulness. Whatever may be the trials and sufferings, ... let there be no faintheartedness, no peevish repining, no complaining.... {OHC 323.4} [OHC 323.5] A single ray of the evidences of the undeserved favor of God shining into our hearts will overbalance every trial of whatever character and however severe it may be. {OHC 323.5} [OHC 324.1] Chap. 318 - Faith Must Pierce the Gloom Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.... He also shall be my salvation. Job 13:15, 16. {OHC 324.1} [OHC 324.2] The true Christian does not allow any earthly consideration to come in between his soul and God. . . . {OHC 324.2} [OHC 324.3] When depression settles upon the soul, it is no evidence that God has changed. He is "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." Hebrews 13:8. You are sure of the favor of God when you are sensible of the beams of the Sun of Righteousness; but if the clouds sweep over your soul, you must not feel that you are forsaken. Your faith must pierce the gloom. Your eye must be single, and your whole body will be full of light. The riches of the grace of Christ must be kept before the mind. Treasure up the lessons that His love provides. Let your faith be like Job's, that you may declare, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him."... {OHC 324.3} [OHC 324.4] The most trying experiences in the Christian's life may be the most blessed. The special providences of the dark hours may encourage the soul in future attacks of Satan, and equip the servant of God to stand in fiery trials. The trial of your faith is more precious than gold. You must have that abiding confidence in God that is not disturbed by the temptations and arguments of the deceiver. Take the Lord at His word. You must study the promises, and appropriate them as you have need. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17.... {OHC 324.4} [OHC 324.5] It is faith that familiarizes the soul with the existence and presence of God; and when we live with an eye single to His glory, we discern more and more the beauty of His character. Our souls become strong in spiritual power, for we are breathing the atmosphere of heaven, and, realizing that God is at our right hand, we shall not be moved.... We should live as in the presence of the Infinite One.... {OHC 324.5} [OHC 324.6] Divine wisdom will order the steps of those who put their trust in the Lord. Divine love will encircle them, and they will realize the presence of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. {OHC 324.6} [OHC 325.1] Chap. 319 - "I Tasted the Lord's Goodness" If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 1 Peter 2:3. {OHC 325.1} [OHC 325.2] Have you tasted that the Lord is gracious? Does your spiritual appetite crave communion with the Lord? You may discover that He is gracious, not by having all you desire, but by passing through the school of affliction. Since I was nine years old I have been learning in the school of affliction. In my early childhood I could find nothing desirable but the precious words of Jesus. Since I tasted the Word of God in all its sweetness, I have never lost the desire for more. {OHC 325.2} [OHC 325.3] After I went to Australia I was afflicted with rheumatism and malaria. For eleven months I did not have the free use of my arms. After the first week of wonder as to what it all meant, I concluded it would be best to stop wondering, and to leave myself in the hands of the Lord. I tasted His goodness and found that He is gracious. Only a little while during the night could I forget the pain enough to sleep. Yet I tasted the Lord's goodness. The sense of His presence shut me in from the world, so that it seemed as if I could speak to Him face to face, as did Moses. Throughout all the pain and suffering, I felt that I had with me a heavenly Companion. . . . {OHC 325.3} [OHC 325.4] Christ says, I am at thy right hand to help thee. What more could we in our weakness desire? Shall we go to one another with all our troubles, telling human beings the temptations we have and how weak we are? The Saviour is standing at our right hand, offering to lift us up, that we may "sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:6. But so often we turn away from Him and His promises, and tell our troubles to those who, like ourselves, are but mortal, with troubles which only Christ can bear. . . . Let us no longer dishonor God by turning from Him to human inefficiency. . . . {OHC 325.4} [OHC 325.5] Take your troubles to the Master. Say, "Here I am, Lord. Thou knowest all about me, and Thou canst help me. I will follow in Thy footsteps and do Thy will." When you commit yourself to God, you may be sure that in all times of affliction you will have the very help that you need. {OHC 325.5} [OHC 326.1] Chap. 320 - Rejoice! Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. . . . Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Philippians 4:4-6. {OHC 326.1} [OHC 326.2] It may seem difficult to rejoice in the Lord when in trouble, but we lose a great deal by giving way to a spirit of complaint. It is our privilege to have in our hearts, at all times, the peace of Christ. We should not allow ourselves to be easily disturbed. It is to test us that God brings us through trials and difficulties, and if we are patient and trustful under His proving, He will purify us from all dross, and at last bring us forth with triumph and rejoicing. Great blessings are reserved for those who uncomplainingly submit to the yoke that God wishes them to bear. . . . {OHC 326.2} [OHC 326.3] Let the light of truth shine forth in your life. Do you say, How shall I let it shine? If before you accepted the truth, you were impatient and fretful, let your life now show to those around you that the truth has had a sanctifying influence upon your heart and character, that instead of being fretful and impatient, you are now cheerful and uncomplaining. Thus you reveal Christ to the world. . . . {OHC 326.3} [OHC 326.4] "In every thing give thanks" (1 Thessalonians 5:18) for the keeping power of God through Jesus Christ. . . . At the moment when you are offering your prayer for help you may not feel all the joy and blessing that you would like to feel, but if you believe that Christ will hear and answer your petition, the peace of Christ will come. . . . {OHC 326.4} [OHC 326.5] If you take hold of the strength of the mighty Helper, and not reason with your adversary and never complain of God, His promises will be verified. The experience that you gain today in trusting Him will help you in meeting the difficulties of tomorrow. Each day you are to come, trusting as a little child drawing nearer to Jesus and heaven. In meeting with unwavering trust in God the daily trials and difficulties, you will again and again test the promises of Heaven, and each time you will learn a lesson of faith. Thus you will gain strength to resist temptation, and when the harder trials come, you will be able to endure. {OHC 326.5} [OHC 327.1] Chap. 321 - Peace in Affliction And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7. {OHC 327.1} [OHC 327.2] Jesus came to earth to be not only man's Redeemer but his great Exemplar. His was a perfect life, a life of meekness, lowliness, purity, and unlimited trust in God. . . . He taught us practically the great lesson of calm, constant, unwavering confidence in our heavenly Father. He permits temptations, trials, and afflictions to come to His loved ones. They are His providences, visitations of mercy to bring them back when they stray from His side, and give them a deeper sense of His presence and providential care. The peace that passeth understanding is not for those who shrink from trials, from struggles, and from self-denial. . . . {OHC 327.2} [OHC 327.3] The eye of Jesus is upon us every moment. The clouds which intervene between the soul and the Sun of Righteousness are in the providence of God permitted to arise that our faith may be strengthened to grasp the great hopes, the sure promises, that shine undimmed through the darkness of every storm. Faith must grow through conflict and suffering. We must individually learn to suffer and be strong, and not sink down in weakness. . . . {OHC 327.3} [OHC 327.4] It is a great kindness on the part of our heavenly Father when He allows us to be placed under circumstances that lessen the attractions of earth, and lead us to place our affections on things above. Frequently, the loss of earthly blessings teaches us more than their possession. When we pass through trials and afflictions, it is no evidence that Jesus does not love and bless us. The pitying Lamb of God identifies His interest with that of His suffering ones. He guards them every moment. He is acquainted with every grief; He knows every suggestion of Satan, every doubt that tortures the soul. . . . He is pleading the case of the tempted, the erring, and the faithless. He is striving to lift them into companionship with Himself. It is His work to sanctify His people, to cleanse, ennoble, and purify them, and fill their hearts with peace. He is thus fitting them for glory, honor, and eternal life; for an inheritance richer and more lasting than that of any earthly prince. {OHC 327.4} [OHC 328.1] Chap. 322 - Christ's Legacy of Peace Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27. {OHC 328.1} [OHC 328.2] Shortly before His crucifixion Christ bequeathed to His disciples a legacy of peace. . . . This peace is not the peace that comes through conformity with the world. It is an internal rather than an external peace. Without will be wars and fightings, through the opposition of avowed enemies, and the coldness and suspicion of those who claim to be friends. The peace of Christ is not to banish division, but it is to remain amid strife and division. {OHC 328.2} [OHC 328.3] Though he bore the title of Prince of Peace, Christ said of Himself, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." Matthew 10:34. . . . The Prince of Peace, He was yet the cause of division. {OHC 328.3} [OHC 328.4] Families must be divided in order that all who call upon the name of the Lord may be saved. All who refuse His infinite love will find Christianity a sword, a disturber of their peace. . . . {OHC 328.4} [OHC 328.5] It is impossible for anyone to become a true follower of Jesus Christ without distinguishing himself from the worldly mass of unbelievers. If the world would accept of Jesus, then there would be no sword of dissension; for all would be disciples of Christ and in fellowship one with another, and their unity would be unbroken. But this is not the case. Here and there an individual member of a family is true to the convictions of his conscience, and is compelled to stand alone. . . . The line of demarcation is made distinct. One stands upon the Word of God, the others upon the traditions and sayings of men. . . . {OHC 328.5} [OHC 328.6] The peace that Christ gave to His disciples, and for which we pray, is the peace that is born of truth, a peace that is not to be quenched because of division. Without may be wars and fightings, jealousies, envies, hatred, strife; but the peace of Christ is not that which the world giveth or taketh away. {OHC 328.6} [OHC 329.1] Chap. 323 - The Foundation of All True Peace These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. John 16:33. {OHC 329.1} [OHC 329.2] "That in me ye might have peace"--peace in Christ, peace through belief of the truth. The Comforter is called the Spirit of truth because there is comfort and hope and peace in the truth. Falsehood cannot give genuine peace; this can be received only through the truth. . . . {OHC 329.2} [OHC 329.3] Jesus prayed that His followers might be one; but we are not to sacrifice the truth in order to secure this union, for we are to be sanctified through the truth. Here is the foundation of all true peace. Human wisdom would change all this, pronouncing this basis too narrow. Men would try to effect unity through concession to popular opinion, through compromise with the world, a sacrifice of vital godliness. But truth is God's basis for the unity of His people. {OHC 329.3} [OHC 329.4] Sanctification, unity, peace--all are to be ours through the truth. The belief of the truth does not make men gloomy and uncomfortable. If you have peace in Christ, His precious blood is speaking pardon and hope to your soul. Yes, more, you have joy in the Holy Spirit, through accepting the precious promises. Jesus says, "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16:33. Therefore the world shall not overcome you if you believe in Me. It is a world that I have conquered. Because I have overcome, if you believe in Me, you shall overcome. . . . {OHC 329.4} [OHC 329.5] All that Jesus has promised, He will fulfill; and it is greatly dishonoring to Him for us to doubt Him. All His words are spirit and life. Accepted and obeyed, they will give peace and happiness and assurance forever. . . . Christ declares that He has given us peace; it belongs to us. And He has spoken these things, that in Him we may have that which through infinite sacrifice He had purchased for us--what He holds as ours. This peace we need not seek in the world, for the world has it not to bestow. It is in Christ. He will give it, in spite of the world, notwithstanding its threats and decrees, its alluring, deceiving promises. {OHC 329.5} [OHC 330.1] Chap. 324 - A Superficial Experience Not Enough That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world. Philippians 2:15. {OHC 330.1} [OHC 330.2] There is always danger of being satisfied with a superficial work; there is always danger that souls will not anchor themselves in God, but be content to drift hither and thither, the sport of Satan's temptations. . . . The work of the Spirit of God in the heart will develop true penitence, which will not end with confession, but will work a decided reformation in the daily life. There will be manifested an earnestness, a perseverance, and a determination that can be properly represented by agonizing. . . . {OHC 330.2} [OHC 330.3] The fact that iniquity abounds, that we are surrounded by infidels and skeptics, or by professed Christians who have a name to live, and are dead, is no reason why one of us should be swept away by the current toward perdition. Because there is an almost universal forsaking of God, there is the greater need that we stand firm and loyal. . . . We must gather the divine rays from the Sun of Righteousness, and reflect them to the world. In the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, we must show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. {OHC 330.3} [OHC 330.4] Nothing but a deep personal experience will enable us to stand the test of the trials and temptations we shall meet in the Christian warfare. Too often we feel well when everything goes smoothly; but when doubts assail the soul, and Satan whispers his suggestions, our defense is gone, and we yield quickly to the arts of the tempter, with scarcely an effort to resist and repulse him, It is not enough to have good impulses. The soul must be barricaded by prayer and study the Scriptures. Armed with these weapons, Jesus encountered our wily foe on the field of battle, and overcame him. We may all conquer in His strength; but it will not answer for us to suppose that we can dispense with His help. He says, "Without me ye can do nothing." John 15:5. But no truly humble soul who walks in the light as Christ is in the light, will be ensnared by Satan's deceptive devices. {OHC 330.4} [OHC 331.1] Chap. 325 - Rooted in Christ The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Psalm 92:12. {OHC 331.1} [OHC 331.2] The Christian is likened to the cedar of Lebanon. I have read that this tree does more than send down a few short roots into the yielding loam. It sends strong roots deep down into the earth, and strikes down farther and still farther in search of a still stronger hold. And in the fierce blast of the tempest, it stands firm, held by its network of cables beneath. {OHC 331.2} [OHC 331.3] So the Christian strikes root deep into Christ. He has faith in his Redeemer. He knows in whom he believes. He is fully persuaded that Jesus is the Son of God and the Saviour of sinners. . . . The roots of faith strike deep down. Genuine Christians, like the cedar of Lebanon, do not grow in the soft surface soil, but are rooted in God, riveted in the clefts of the mountain rocks. {OHC 331.3} [OHC 331.4] If the Christian thrives and progresses at all, he must do so amid strangers to God, amid scoffing, subject to ridicule. He must stand upright like the palm tree in the desert. The sky may be as brass, the desert sand may beat about the palm tree's roots, and pile itself in heaps about its trunk. Yet the tree lives as an evergreen, fresh and vigorous amid the burning desert sands. Remove the sand till you reach the rootlets of the palm tree, and you discover the secret of its life; it strikes down deep beneath the surface, to the secret waters hidden in the earth. {OHC 331.4} [OHC 331.5] As the palm tree, drawing nourishment from fountains of living water, is green and flourishing in the midst of the desert, so the Christian may draw rich supplies of grace from the fountain of God's love, and may guide weary souls, that are full of unrest and ready to perish in the desert of sin, to those waters of which they may drink, and live. The Christian is ever pointing his fellow men to Jesus, who invites, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." John 7:37. This fountain never fails us; we may draw, and draw again. {OHC 331.5} [OHC 332.1] Chap. 326 - No Taproot? Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:58. {OHC 332.1} [OHC 332.2] In order to be firmly anchored, there must be something firm to hold us; and nothing will avail until Christ takes possession of the soul. . . . Many who now appear strong, and talk in vindication of the truth, are not rooted and grounded. They have no tap-root; and when the storms of opposition and persecution come, they are like a tree uprooted by the blast. {OHC 332.2} [OHC 332.3] We shall be attacked on every point; we shall be tried to the utmost. We do not want to hold our faith simply because it was handed down to us by our fathers, Such a faith will not stand the terrible test that is before us. We want to know why we are Seventh-day Adventists --what real reason we have for coming out from the world as a separate and distinct people. . . . {OHC 332.3} [OHC 332.4] When men are willing to become intelligent in regard to the cause of God because they have invested faith and means in it, God will help them to understand, and they will be steadfast in the faith; but when they have merely a theory, a shallow faith they cannot explain, a sudden temptation will cause them to drift away with the current bearing toward the world. . . . {OHC 332.4} [OHC 332.5] Our minds must be prepared to stand every test, and to resist every temptation, whether from without or from within. We must know why we believe as we do, why we are on the Lord's side. The truth must keep watch in our hearts, ready to sound an alarm, and summon us to action against every foe. The powers of darkness will open their batteries upon us; and all who are indifferent and careless, who have set their affections on their earthly treasure, and who have not cared to understand God's dealings with His people, will be ready victims. No power but a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, will ever make us steadfast; but with this, one may chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight. {OHC 332.5} [OHC 333.1] Chap. 327 - The Stamina of Pure Religion And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts. Psalm 119:45. {OHC 333.1} [OHC 333.2] There are some who talk in a regretful way concerning the restraints that the religion of the Bible imposes upon those who would follow its teachings. They seem to think that restraint is a great disadvantage, but we have reason to thank God with all our heart that He has raised a heavenly barrier between us and the ground of the enemy. There are certain tendencies of the natural heart that many think must be followed in order that the best development of the individual may result, but that which man thinks essential God sees would not be the blessing to humanity which men imagine; for the development of these very traits of character would unfit them for the mansions above. The Lord places men under test and trial that the dross may be separated from the gold; but He forces none. He does not bind with fetters and cords and barriers; for they increase disaffection rather than decrease it. . . . Genuine religion does not have a narrowing influence; it is a lack of religion that cramps the faculties and narrows the mind. {OHC 333.2} [OHC 333.3] Religion is an active, working principle, and furnishes a stamina sufficient for the stern realities of life.... Religion ever imparts power to its possessor to restrain, control, and balance the character and intellect and emotions. It has a power to persuade, entreat, and command with divine authority all the ability and affections. Religion--oh, I wish we all understood its workings! It lays us under the weightiest obligations. As we connect ourselves with Christ we solemnly pledge ourselves to walk as Christ walked. {OHC 333.3} [OHC 333.4] It is our privilege to show forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. . . . The Lord's way must be kept, and His way is exalted in righteousness. Christians, in their manner and words and character, are to reveal their heavenly extraction. We are never to apologize to the world for being Christians and daring to be right. {OHC 333.4} [OHC 333.5] Pure religion brings peace, happiness, contentment; godliness is profitable to this life and the life to come. {OHC 333.5} [OHC 334.1] Chap. 328 - A Time to be Blind and Deaf Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord's servant? Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not. Isaiah 42:19, 20. {OHC 334.1} [OHC 334.2] What kind of blindness is this? It is a blindness that will not allow our eyes to contemplate evil. It will not allow our eyes to rest upon iniquity. It will not grasp the things of sight and lose eternity out of its reckoning. . . . We want to see aright, we want to see as God sees; for Satan is constantly trying to convert the things our eyes rest upon in order that we may see through his medium. . . . {OHC 334.2} [OHC 334.3] The servant of the living God sees to some purpose. The eyes are sanctified and the ears are sanctified, and those who will close their eyes and ears to evil will become changed. But if they will listen to those who will address them and try to lead their thoughts away from God and their eternal interests, then their whole senses are perverted by that which their eyes rest upon. Jesus says, "If . . . thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness." Matthew 6:22, 23. {OHC 334.3} [OHC 334.4] It makes every difference what we give our minds and souls to feed upon. We can let our minds dwell upon romance and castle-building, and what will it do for us? It will ruin us, soul and body. . . . We want to have that power that will enable us to close our eyes to scenes that are not elevating, that are not ennobling, that will not purify and refine us; and to keep our ears closed to everything that is forbidden in God's Word. He forbids us to imagine evil, to speak evil, and even to think evil. . . . {OHC 334.4} [OHC 334.5] I see in Jesus everything that is lovely, everything that is holy, everything that is uplifting and pure. Then why should I want to open my eyes wide to see everything that is disagreeable? By beholding we become changed. Let us look to Jesus and consider the loveliness of His character, and by beholding we shall become changed into the same likeness. {OHC 334.5} [OHC 335.1] Chap. 329 - Let God's Hand Mold the Clay But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we are all the work of thy hand. Isaiah 64:8. {OHC 335.1} [OHC 335.2] We do not know what the Lord will do for us, if we will come into line. God sees what He can make of man. There are possibilities which our feeble faith does not discern. "Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." 1 Corinthians 3:9. He sees all the now unamiable traits of character in man, and He knows, if men will learn the meekness and lowliness of Christ, He can mold and fashion the combative spirit, the unamiable disposition, and bring every power of the being into working order to advance His kingdom. He longs to refine, elevate, and ennoble the entire life. . . . Through the Holy Spirit's power He can use the very worst characters, and make them men and women of opportunity. {OHC 335.2} [OHC 335.3] Blessed is the man who by faith can get a glimpse of Christ's faith. . . . Then there is a possibility of his becoming Christlike in character. . . . Great light comes to man as he sees the privileges that are for him. He sees God's plans for him and he dies to self. . . . He submits to be worked. . . . When he submits to be as clay in the hands of the potter, then God works the man into a vessel of honor. {OHC 335.3} [OHC 335.4] Clay in the hands of the potter . . . is turned again and again until the will of the potter is wrought out in the vessel. Grace and truth will make perfect the work of fashioning the human clay, that the glory of the great Potter may appear in the production of a shapely vessel, molded and polished for service. {OHC 335.4} [OHC 335.5] The Potter cannot mold and fashion unto honor that which has never been placed in His hands. The Christian life is one of daily surrender, submission, and continual overcoming. Every day fresh victories will be gained. Self must be lost sight of, and the love of God must be constantly cultivated. Thus we grow up into Christ. Thus the life is fashioned according to the divine model. {OHC 335.5} [OHC 335.6] Let the hand of God work the clay for His own service. He knows just what kind of vessel He wants. {OHC 335.6} [OHC 336.1] Chap. 330 - Examine Yourselves Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 2 Corinthians 13:5. {OHC 336.1} [OHC 336.2] "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith." Many . . . may immediately respond, "Why, yes; I am in the faith, I believe every point of the truth." But do you practice what you believe? Are you at peace with God and with your brethren? Can you pray with sincerity, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors"? ... Is there no bitterness in your hearts, no envying, no jealousy, no evil surmising? ... Is there no emulation, no desire for special favor and honors, no wish to have the supremacy? . . . {OHC 336.2} [OHC 336.3] We do well to examine ourselves to see what manner of spirit we are cherishing. Let us learn to speak gently, quietly, even under circumstances the most trying. Let us control not only our words, but our thoughts and imaginations. Let us be kind, be courteous. {OHC 336.3} [OHC 336.4] Many are sensible of their great deficiency, and they read, and pray, and resolve, and yet make no progress. They seem to be powerless to resist temptation. The reason is, they do not go deep enough. They do not seek for a thorough conversion of the soul, that the streams which issue from it may be pure, and the deportment may testify that Christ reigns within. All defects of character originate in the heart. Pride, vanity, evil temper, and covetousness proceed from the carnal heart unrenewed by the grace of Christ. If the heart is refined, softened, and ennobled, the words and actions will testify to the fact. When the soul has been entirely surrendered to God, there will be a firm reliance upon His promises, and earnest prayer and determined effort to control the words and actions. {OHC 336.4} [OHC 336.5] We profess a great and holy faith; and our characters must be in accordance with that faith, and with God's great moral standard. . . . {OHC 336.5} [OHC 336.6] Let us examine our hearts in the light of the great principles of the law of God as defined by Christ: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." Luke 10:27. {OHC 336.6} [OHC 337.1] Chap. 331 - "Keep Thyself Pure" Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8. {OHC 337.1} [OHC 337.2] To know what constitutes purity of mind, soul, and body is the highest class of education. Paul the apostle sums up in his letter to Timothy the attainments possible for him, by saying "Keep thyself pure." {OHC 337.2} [OHC 337.3] It is the special work of Satan in these last days to take possession of the minds of the youth, to corrupt their thoughts, and inflame their passions. All are free moral agents, and as such they must bring their thoughts to run in the right channel. . . . If Satan seeks to divert the mind to low and sensual things, bring it back again, and place it on eternal things; and when the Lord sees the determined effort made to retain only pure thoughts, He will attract the mind, like the magnet, and purify the thoughts. . . . The first work of those who would reform is to purify the imagination. If the mind is led out in a vicious direction, it must be restrained to dwell only upon pure and elevated subjects. When tempted to yield to a corrupt imagination, then flee to the throne of grace, and pray for strength from Heaven. In the strength of God the imagination can be disciplined to dwell upon things which are pure and heavenly. . . . {OHC 337.3} [OHC 337.4] Those who would have that wisdom which is from God, must become fools in the sinful knowledge of this age, in order to be wise. They should shut their eyes, that they may see and learn no evil. They should close their ears, lest they hear that which is evil, and obtain that knowledge which would stain their purity of thoughts and acts. And they should guard their tongues, lest they utter corrupt communications, and guile be found in their mouths. All are accountable for their actions while upon probation in this world. All have power to control their actions. If they are weak in virtue and purity of thoughts and acts, they can obtain help from the Friend of the helpless. Jesus is acquainted with all the weaknesses of human nature, and if entreated, will give strength to overcome the most powerful temptations. All can obtain this strength if they seek for it in humility. {OHC 337.4} [OHC 338.1] Chap. 332 - "On Unto Perfection" Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. Ephesians 4:13. {OHC 338.1} [OHC 338.2] It is a great, a solemn work to obtain a moral fitness for the society of the pure and the blest. . . . Only by conforming to the Word of God can we hope to come to "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." But we must do this, or we shall never enter heaven. Without purity and holiness of heart, we cannot win the crown of immortal glory. {OHC 338.2} [OHC 338.3] The life of the soul cannot be sustained, except by the right exercise of the affections heavenward, Christward, Godward. Repentance and faith in Christ for the forgiveness of sins are essential, but not all that is required. . . . The Christian's life is now but just begun. He must, as exhorted by the apostle, "go on unto perfection." He must bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. If we believe in Jesus, we will love to think of Him, love to talk of Him, love to pray to Him. He is supreme in our affections. We love that which Christ loves, and hate that which Christ hates. . . . {OHC 338.3} [OHC 338.4] The Christian life is never at a standstill. It is, it must be, progressive. Our love for Christ should become stronger and stronger. . . . {OHC 338.4} [OHC 338.5] My brother, my sister, is your soul in the love of God? Many of you have a twilight perception of Christ's excellence, and your soul thrills with joy. You long for a fuller, deeper sense of the Saviour's love. You long to entwine your affections about Him more closely. You are unsatisfied. But do not despair. Give to Jesus the heart's best and holiest affections. Treasure every ray of light. Cherish every desire of the soul after God. Give yourselves the culture of spiritual thoughts and holy communings.... Make haste to ripen for Heaven.... {OHC 338.5} [OHC 338.6] It will cost us something to obtain a Christian experience, and to develop a true and noble character. . . . But the white-robed throng of the redeemed ones, are those who have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. {OHC 338.6} [OHC 339.1] Chap. 333 - Seeing Him Who is Invisible By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. . . . By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. Hebrews 11:24-27. {OHC 339.1} [OHC 339.2] Moses . . . lived as seeing Him who is invisible, and was therefore able to count the reproaches of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. If men would live in this way, we should see their faces aglow with the glory of God; for they would be viewing the glory of the eternal, and by beholding, would be transformed into the image of Christ. {OHC 339.2} [OHC 339.3] Our minds take the level of the things on which our thoughts dwell, and if we think upon earthly things, we shall fail to take the impress of that which is heavenly. We would be greatly benefited by contemplating the mercy, goodness, and love of God; but we sustain great loss by dwelling upon those things which are earthly and temporal. We allow sorrow and care and perplexity to attract our minds to earth, and we magnify a molehill into a mountain. . . . Temporal things are not to . . . engross our minds until our thoughts are entirely of the earth and the earthly. We are to train, discipline, and educate the mind so that we may think in a heavenly channel, that we may dwell on things unseen and eternal, which will be discerned by spiritual vision. It is by seeing Him who is invisible that we may obtain strength of mind and vigor of spirit. . . . {OHC 339.3} [OHC 339.4] In whatever place we are called by the providence of God, we may confidently expect that God will be our helper. We are not to be a toy to circumstances, but to be above circumstances. . . . When we are placed in trying positions, and find things about us that we do not like, that try our patience, and test our faith, we are not to sink down in despondency, but to take a firmer hold upon God, and prove that we are not setting our affection on things on the earth, but on things above; that we are looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Jesus is to be the beginning and the end, the first and the last. He is to be our strength in every time of trial. {OHC 339.4} [OHC 340.1] Chap. 334 - Charmed with Christ's Love If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:1, 2. {OHC 340.1} [OHC 340.2] When we are tempted to place our affections on any earthly object that has a tendency to absorb our love, we must seek grace to turn from it, and not allow it to come between us and our God. We want to keep before the mind's eye the mansions which Jesus has gone to prepare for us. We must not allow our houses and lands, our business transactions and worldly enterprises to come between us and our God. We should keep before us the rich promises that He has left on record. {OHC 340.2} [OHC 340.3] We should study the great waymarks that point out the times in which we are living. . . . We should now pray most earnestly that we may be prepared for the struggles of the great day of God's preparation. We should rejoice in the prospect of soon being with Jesus in the mansions He has gone to prepare for us. . . . Jesus can supply your every need. . . . As you behold Him you will be charmed with the riches of the glory of His divine love. The idolatrous love of things that are seen will be superseded by a higher and better love for things that are imperishable and precious. You may contemplate eternal riches until your affections are bound to things above, and you may be an instrument in directing others to set their affections on heavenly treasures. . . . {OHC 340.3} [OHC 340.4] Those who rightly value money are those who see its availability in bringing the truth before those who have never heard it, and by this means rescuing them from the power of the enemy. If one soul accepts the truth, his love for earthly things is dislodged. He sees the surpassing glory of heavenly things, appreciates the excellency of that which relates to everlasting life. He is charmed with the unseen and eternal. His grasp loosens from earthly things. He fastens his eye with admiration upon the invincible glories of the other world. He realizes that his trials are working out for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, and in comparison to the riches that are his to enjoy he counts them light afflictions which are but for a moment. {OHC 340.4} [OHC 341.1] Chap. 335 - Show Your Colors! Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Proverbs 4:25. {OHC 341.1} [OHC 341.2] In Pilgrim's Progress there is a character called Pliable. Youth, shun this character. Those represented by it are very accommodating, but they are as a reed shaken by the wind. They possess no will power. Every youth needs to cultivate decision. A divided state of the will is a snare, and will be the ruin of many youth. Be firm, else you will be left with your house, or character, built upon a sandy foundation. . . . Manifest decision at any cost. . . . Those who would walk in the path cast up for the chosen of the Lord, must not be swayed in the matters of conscience by men who have often been zealous for the wrong. They must show moral independence, and must not be afraid to be singular. . . . {OHC 341.2} [OHC 341.3] Many are changed by every current. They wait to hear what someone else thinks, and his opinion is accepted as altogether true. If they would lean wholly upon God, they would grow strong in His strength; but they do not say to the Lord, I cannot make any decision until I know Thy will. Their natural inclination is to allow another to be conscience for them; and they speak after he has spoken, saying what he says, and acting as he acts. When these persons are placed in circumstances where they must think and act for themselves, they dare not express any decided opinion. Yet often, like Aaron, they have much ability. God pity such weaklings. . . . {OHC 341.3} [OHC 341.4] We must free ourselves from the customs and bondage of society, that when the principles of our faith are at stake, we shall not hesitate to show our colors, even though we are called singular for so doing. Keep the conscience tender, that you may hear the faintest whisper of the voice that spoke as never man spoke. Let all who would wear the yoke of Christ show an inflexible purpose to do right because it is right. Keep the eye fixed on Jesus, inquiring at every step, Is this the way of the Lord? The Lord will not leave any one who does this, to become the sport of Satan's temptation. . . . {OHC 341.4} [OHC 341.5] Do not imitate men. Study your Bibles, and imitate Christ. {OHC 341.5} [OHC 342.1] Chap. 336 - No Patchwork Religion! But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. Matthew 24:13. {OHC 342.1} [OHC 342.2] The religion that is built on self is worthless; for God makes no compromise with selfishness. . . . {OHC 342.2} [OHC 342.3] The religion of Christ is a firm fabric, composed of innumerable threads, woven together with tact and skill. Only by the wisdom that God gives can we weave this fabric. Trusting to ourselves, we draw into it threads of selfishness, and the pattern is spoiled. {OHC 342.3} [OHC 342.4] There are many kinds of cloth which at first have a fine appearance, but they do not endure test. The colors are not fast. They wash out. Under the heat of summer they fade, and are lost. Such a fabric cannot endure rough handling, and is worth very little. {OHC 342.4} [OHC 342.5] So it is with religion. When the warp and woof of religion will not stand the test of trial, the material of which it is composed is worthless. And an effort to patch the old cloth with a new piece does not better the condition of things; for the worn-out, flimsy material breaks away from the new, leaving the rent much larger than before. Patching will not do. The only way is to discard the old garment and procure a new one. The religion of self, composed of threads that fade and give way under the stress of temptation, must be cast aside, to be replaced by the religion woven by Him in whose life no selfishness found place. {OHC 342.5} [OHC 342.6] Christ's plan is the only safe one. He declares, " Behold, I make all things new." Revelation 21:5. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." 2 Corinthians 5:17. The Saviour gives no encouragement to any to think that He will accept a patchwork religion. Such a religion is of no value in His sight. There may at first seem to be some of self and some of Christ; but it soon seen that there is none of Christ. The patches of selfishness increase till the entire garment is covered with them. . . . {OHC 342.6} [OHC 342.7] A religion formed after the divine pattern is the only one that will endure. Only by striving to live the life of Christ here can we prepare ourselves to live with Him through the eternal ages. {OHC 342.7} [OHC 343.1] Chap. 337 - God's Special Sign I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgements, and do them; and hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God. Ezekiel 20:19, 20. {OHC 343.1} [OHC 343.2] The Sabbath was given to all mankind to commemorate the work of Creation. The great Jehovah, when He had laid the foundations of the earth, when he had dressed the whole world in its garb of beauty, and created all the wonders of the land and the sea, instituted the Sabbath day and made it holy. When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy, the Sabbath was set apart as God's memorial. God sanctified and blessed the day in which he had rested from all His wondrous work. . . . {OHC 343.2} [OHC 343.3] As the tree of knowledge was placed in the midst of the Garden of Eden, so the Sabbath command is placed in the midst of the Decalogue. In regard to the fruit of the tree of knowledge, the restriction was made, "Ye shall not eat of it, . . . lest ye die." Genesis 3:3. Of the Sabbath God said, Ye shall not defile it, but keep it holy. "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." Exodus 20:8. As the tree of knowledge was the test of Adam's obedience, so the fourth command is the test that God has given to prove the loyalty of all His people. {OHC 343.3} [OHC 343.4] The Sabbath is a token between God and His people. It is a holy day, given by the Creator to man as a day upon which to rest, and reflect upon sacred things. God designed it to be observed through every age as a perpetual covenant. It was to be regarded as a peculiar treasure, a trust to be carefully cherished. {OHC 343.4} [OHC 343.5] As we observe the Sabbath let us remember that it is the sign which heaven has given to man that he is accepted in the Beloved; that if he is obedient, he may enter the city of God, and partake of the fruit of the tree of life. As we refrain from labor on the seventh day, we testify to the world that we are on God's side, and are striving to live in perfect conformity to His commandments. Thus we recognize as our sovereign the God who made the world in six days and rested on the seventh. {OHC 343.5} [OHC 343.6] The Sabbath is the clasp which unites God and His people. {OHC 343.6} [OHC 344.1] Chap. 338 - In the Testing Time Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations. Deuteronomy 7:9. {OHC 344.1} [OHC 344.2] Where shall we be before the thousand generations mentioned in this scripture are ended? Our fate will have been decided for eternity. We shall either have been pronounced worthy of a home in the everlasting kingdom of God, or we shall have received sentence of eternal death. {OHC 344.2} [OHC 344.3] God is testing His people, to see who will be loyal to the principles of His truth. Our work is to proclaim to the world the first, second, and third angels' messages. In the discharge of our duty we are neither to despise nor fear our enemies. . . . {OHC 344.3} [OHC 344.4] The true Sabbath is to be the sign that distinguishes those who serve God from those who serve Him not. Let those who have become sleepy and indifferent awake. We are called to be holy, and we should carefully avoid giving the impression that it is of little consequence whether or not we retain the peculiar features of our faith. Upon us rests the solemn obligation of taking a more decided stand for truth and righteousness than we have taken in the past. The line of demarcation between those who keep the commandments of God and those who do not is to be revealed with unmistakable clearness. We are conscientiously to honor God, diligently using every means of keeping in covenant relation with Him, that we may receive His blessings--the blessings so essential for a people who are to be so severely tried. To give the impression that our faith, our religion, is not a dominating power in our lives, is greatly to dishonor God. {OHC 344.4} [OHC 344.5] Putting our trust in God, we are to move steadily forward, doing His work with unselfishness, in humble dependence upon Him, committing ourselves and our present and future to His wise providence, holding the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end, remembering that it is not because of our worthiness that we receive the blessings of heaven, but because of the worthiness of Christ, and our acceptance, through faith in Him, of God's abounding grace. {OHC 344.5} [OHC 345.1] Chap. 339 - A Distinct and Peculiar People Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. Revelation 14:12. {OHC 345.1} [OHC 345.2] God's people are to be distinguished as a people who serve Him fully, wholeheartedly, taking no honor to themselves, and remembering that by a most solemn covenant they have bound themselves to serve the Lord, and Him only.... {OHC 345.2} [OHC 345.3] The children of Israel were to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations "for a perpetual covenant." Exodus 31:16. The Sabbath has lost none of its meaning. It is still the sign between God and His people, and it will be so forever. Now and ever we are to stand as a distinct and peculiar people, free from all worldly policy, unembarrassed by confederation with those who have not wisdom to discern the claims of God, so plainly set forth in His law. {OHC 345.3} [OHC 345.4] We are to show that we are seeking to work in harmony with heaven in preparing the way of the Lord. We are to bear witness to all nations, kindreds, and tongues, that we are a people who love and fear God, a people who keep holy the seventh-day Sabbath, and we are to show plainly that we have full faith that the Lord is soon to come in the clouds of heaven.... {OHC 345.4} [OHC 345.5] "And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: and they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads." Revelation 22:3, 4. {OHC 345.5} [OHC 345.6] Who are these?--God's denominated people--those who on this earth have witnessed to their loyalty. Who are they?--Those who have kept the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus; those who have owned the Crucified One as their Saviour. {OHC 345.6} [OHC 345.7] "And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever." Verse 5. "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Verse 14. {OHC 345.7} [OHC 346.1] Chap. 340 - High Time to Awake And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Romans 13:11. {OHC 346.1} [OHC 346.2] The great controversy is nearing its end. Every report of calamity by sea or land is a testimony to the fact that the end of all things is at hand. Wars and rumors of wars declare it. Is there a Christian whose pulse does not beat with quickened action as he anticipates the great events opening before us? The Lord is coming. We hear the footsteps of an approaching God. {OHC 346.2} [OHC 346.3] This knowledge of the nearness of Christ's coming should not be allowed to lose its force, and we become careless and inattentive, and fall into slumber--into an insensibility and indifference to realities. In slumber we are in an unreal world, and not sensible of the things which are taking place around us.... {OHC 346.3} [OHC 346.4] There are those who have the blazing light of truth shining all around them, and yet are insensible to it. They are enchanted by the enemy, held under a spell by his bewitching power. They are not preparing for that great day which is soon to come to our world. They seem utterly insensible to religious truth. {OHC 346.4} [OHC 346.5] Are there not some youth who are awake? Those who see that the night cometh, and also the morning, should work with untiring energy to arouse their sleeping associates. Can they not feel their peril, pray for them, and show them by their own life and character that they believe themselves that Christ is soon to come? . . . The rapidly diminishing space of time between us and eternity should more deeply impress us. Every day that passes makes one less left us to complete our work of perfecting character.... {OHC 346.5} [OHC 346.6] As long as there are many asleep, many sporting away the precious hours in careless indifference, as it were, upon the very brink of the eternal world, those who do believe must be sober, must be awake, must be earnest and diligent, and watch unto prayer.... {OHC 346.6} [OHC 346.7] Have you, dear youth, your lamps trimmed and burning? {OHC 346.7} [OHC 347.1] Chap. 341 - Where Apostasy Begins Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. 2 Peter 3:17. {OHC 347.1} [OHC 347.2] In these last days, when iniquity shall abound, and the love of many shall wax cold, God will have a people to glorify His name, and stand as reprovers of unrighteousness. They are to be a "peculiar people," who will be true to the law of God, when the world shall seek to make void its precepts; and when the converting power of God works through His servants, the hosts of darkness will array themselves in bitter and determined opposition. Satan will work with "all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness." He will employ every device of deception to seduce the souls of men. . . . {OHC 347.2} [OHC 347.3] The work of apostasy begins in some secret rebellion of the heart against the requirements of God's law. Unholy desires, unlawful ambitions, are cherished and indulged, and unbelief and darkness separate the soul from God. If we do not overcome these evils, they will overcome us. {OHC 347.3} [OHC 347.4] Men who have long been advancing in the path of truth, will be tested with trial and temptation. Those who listen to the suggestions of Satan, and swerve from their integrity, begin the downward path, and some masterful temptation hastens them on in the way of apostasy, till their descent is marked and rapid. Sins that were once most repugnant, become attractive, and are welcomed and practiced by those who have cast off the fear of God and their allegiance to His law. But the most pleasurable beginning in transgression, will end in misery, degradation, and ruin. {OHC 347.4} [OHC 347.5] We need to be constantly on our guard, to watch and pray lest we enter into temptation. The indulgence of spiritual pride, of unholy desires, of evil thoughts, of anything that separates us from an intimate and sacred association with Jesus, imperils our souls. We must have living faith in God. . . . If the thought of apostasy is grievous to you, and you do not desire to become the enemies of the truth,... then "abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good." Romans 12:9. {OHC 347.5} [OHC 348.1] Chap. 342 - Am I a Laodicean? I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Revelation 3:15, 16. {OHC 348.1} [OHC 348.2] The condition of many of those who claim to be the children of God is exactly represented by the message to the Laodicean church. There is opened before those who serve God, truths of inestimable value, which, brought into the practical life, show the difference between those who serve God and those who serve Him not. . . . {OHC 348.2} [OHC 348.3] The Bible is the storehouse of the unsearchable riches of God. But those who have a knowledge of the truth do not understand it as fully as they might. They do not bring the love of Christ into the heart and life. The student of the Word finds himself bending over a fountain of living water. The church needs to drink deeply of the spirituality of the Word. Their service to God needs to be very different from the tame, lifeless, emotionless religious experience that makes many believers but little different from those who believe not. {OHC 348.3} [OHC 348.4] Halfhearted Christians are worse than infidels; for their deceptive words and noncommittal position lead many astray. The infidel shows his colors. The lukewarm Christian deceives both parties. He is neither a good worldling nor a good Christian. Satan uses him to do a work that no one else can do. {OHC 348.4} [OHC 348.5] Love of self excludes the love of Christ. Those who live for self are ranged under the head of the Laodicean church who are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot. The ardor of the first love has lapsed into a selfish egotism. The love of Christ in the heart is expressed in the actions. If love for Christ is dull, the love for those for whom Christ has died will degenerate. There may be a wonderful appearance for zeal and ceremonies, but this is the substance of their self-inflated religion. Christ represents them as nauseating to His taste. {OHC 348.5} [OHC 348.6] Let us thank the Lord that while this class is so numerous, there is still time for repentance. {OHC 348.6} [OHC 349.1] Chap. 343 - The Rags of Self-Righteousness Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Revelation 3:17. {OHC 349.1} [OHC 349.2] How plainly is pictured the position of those who think they have all the truth, who take pride in their knowledge of the Word of God, while its sanctifying power has not been felt in their lives. The fervor of the love of God is wanting in their hearts. {OHC 349.2} [OHC 349.3] Many are Laodiceans, living in a spiritual self-deception. They clothe themselves in the garments of their own righteousness, imagining themselves to be rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing, when they need daily to learn of Jesus, His meekness and lowliness. {OHC 349.3} [OHC 349.4] What is it that constitutes the wretchedness, the nakedness, of those who feel rich and increased with goods? It is the want of the righteousness of Christ. In their own righteousness they are represented as clothed with filthy rags, and yet in this condition they flatter themselves that they are clothed upon with Christ's righteousness. . . . They may be crying, "The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we," while their hearts are filled with unholy traffic and unrighteous barter. The courts of the soul temple may be the haunt of envy, pride, passion, evil surmising, bitterness, and hollow formalism. Christ looks mournfully upon His professed people who feel rich and increased in the knowledge of the truth, and who are yet destitute of the truth in life and character. {OHC 349.4} [OHC 349.5] Jesus says, "I, your Redeemer, know your works. I am familiar with the motives that prompt you to declare boastingly in regard to your spiritual condition, 'I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.' Thou 'knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.'" . . . What a position to be in! They stand in their own light. {OHC 349.5} [OHC 349.6] But notwithstanding their willful ignorance, they are not left by the Lord without added warning and counsel. {OHC 349.6} [OHC 350.1] Chap. 344 - The Spotless Robe of Christ's Righteousness I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. Revelation 3:18. {OHC 350.1} [OHC 350.2] The great Redeemer represents Himself as a heavenly merchantman, laden with riches, calling from house to house, presenting His priceless goods. {OHC 350.2} [OHC 350.3] We must have the buyers and the sellers cleared out of the soul temple, that Jesus may take up His abode within us. Now He stands at the door of the heart as a heavenly merchantman; He says, . . . "Open unto me; buy of me the heavenly wares; buy of me the gold tried in the fire." Buy faith and love, the precious, beautiful attributes of our Redeemer. . . . He invites us to buy 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 visitor? {OHC 350.3} [OHC 350.4] We cannot provide a robe of righteousness for ourselves, for the prophet says, "All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Isaiah 64:6. There is nothing in us from which we can clothe the soul so that its nakedness shall not appear. We are to receive the robe of righteousness woven in the loom of heaven, even the spotless robe of Christ's righteousness. {OHC 350.4} [OHC 350.5] The eye is the sensitive conscience, the inner light, of the mind. Upon its correct view of things the spiritual healthfulness of the whole soul and being depends. The "eyesalve," the Word of God, makes the conscience smart under its application, for it convicts of sin. But the smarting is necessary that the healing may follow, and the eye be single to the glory of God. . . . Says Christ, By renouncing your own self-sufficiency, giving up all things, however dear to you, you may buy the gold, the raiment, and the eyesalve that you may see. {OHC 350.5} [OHC 350.6] The Saviour comes with jewels of truth of the richest value in distinction from all counterfeits, all that is spurious. He comes to every house, to every door; He is knocking, presenting His priceless treasure, urging, "Buy of me." {OHC 350.6} [OHC 351.1] Chap. 345 - A Message Full of Encouragement As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Revelation 3:19. {OHC 351.1} [OHC 351.2] The counsel of the true Witness does not represent those who are lukewarm as in a hopeless case. There is yet a chance to remedy their state, and the Laodicean message is full of encouragement. . . . Purity of heart, purity of motive, may yet characterize those who are halfhearted and who are striving to serve God and mammon. They may yet wash their robes of character and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. {OHC 351.2} [OHC 351.3] The gold of faith and love, the white raiment of a spotless character, and the eyesalve, or the power of clear discernment between good and evil--all these we must obtain before we can hope to enter the kingdom of God. But these precious treasures will not drop upon us without some exertion on our part. We must buy--we must "be zealous and repent" of our lukewarm state. We must be awake to see our wrongs, to search for our sins, and to put them away from us. . . . {OHC 351.3} [OHC 351.4] It is the worthiness of Christ that must save us, His blood that must cleanse us. But we have efforts to make. We must do what we can, be zealous and repent, then believe that God accepts us. . . . {OHC 351.4} [OHC 351.5] All heaven is interested in our salvation; and shall we be indifferent? Shall we be careless, as though it was a small matter whether we are saved or lost? Shall we slight the sacrifice that has been made for us? . . . {OHC 351.5} [OHC 351.6] In the time of peril before us the professed followers of Christ will be tested. None will be able to stand but those who have had a deep and living experience in the things of God. The work of all will then be tried; if it is gold, silver, and precious stones, they will be safely shielded, as in the secret of the Lord's pavilion. . . . {OHC 351.6} [OHC 351.7] Only those who are willing to sacrifice all for eternal life will have it; but it will be worth suffering for, worth crucifying self and sacrificing every idol for. The far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory will outweigh every earthly treasure and eclipse every earthly attraction. {OHC 351.7} [OHC 352.1] Chap. 346 - Will You Open the Door? 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. Revelation 3:20. {OHC 352.1} [OHC 352.2] Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock." Will we let Him in? He would not have us stand at this time, amid the perils of the last days, in our own finite strength.... It is our privilege to walk in the sunshine of His presence, and to weave into the characters we are forming the golden threads of cheerfulness, gratitude, forbearance, and love. We may thus show the power of divine grace, and reflect light from Heaven amid all the frets and irritations that come to us day by day. . . . Then why do we go stumbling along without light? {OHC 352.2} [OHC 352.3] Every warning, reproof, and entreaty in the Word of God, or through His delegated messengers, is a knock at the door of the heart; it is the voice of Jesus, asking for entrance. With every knock unheeded, your determination to open becomes weaker and weaker. If the voice of Jesus is not heeded at once, it becomes confused in the mind with a multitude of other voices, the world's care and business engross the attention, and conviction dies away. The heart becomes less impressible, and lapses into a perilous unconsciousness of the shortness of time, and of the great eternity beyond. {OHC 352.3} [OHC 352.4] Many have so much rubbish piled up at the door of the heart that they cannot admit Jesus. Some have difficulties between themselves and their brethren to remove; others have evil tempers, pride, covetousness; with others, love of the world bars the entrance. All this must be taken away, before they can open the door and welcome the Saviour in. {OHC 352.4} [OHC 352.5] How precious is the promise, "I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Oh, the love, the wondrous love of God! After all our lukewarmness and sins He says, Return unto Me, and I will return unto thee, and will heal all thy backslidings. {OHC 352.5} [OHC 352.6] Our work is to open the door of the heart and let Jesus come in. He is knocking for entrance.... Will you open the door? Jesus is standing at the door of your heart. Let Him in, the heavenly Guest. {OHC 352.6} [OHC 353.1] Chap. 347 - Victory is Assured To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. Revelation 3:21. {OHC 353.1} [OHC 353.2] The true Witness presents encouragements to all who are seeking to walk in the path of humble obedience, through faith in His name. He declares, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." These are the words of our Substitute and Surety. He who is the divine Head of the church, the mightiest of conquerors, would point His followers to His life, His toils, His self-denials, His struggles and sufferings, through contempt, through rejection, ridicule, scorn, insult, mockery, falsehood, up the path of Calvary to the scene of the crucifixion, that they might be encouraged to press on toward the mark for the prize and reward of the overcomer. Victory is assured through faith and obedience. {OHC 353.2} [OHC 353.3] Let us make an application of the words of Christ to our own individual cases. Are we poor, and blind, and wretched, and miserable? Then let us seek the gold and white raiment that He offers. The work of overcoming is not restricted to the age of the martyrs. The conflict is for us in these days of subtle temptation to worldliness, to self-security, to indulgence of pride, covetousness, false doctrines, and immorality of life. {OHC 353.3} [OHC 353.4] We can overcome. Yes; fully, entirely. Jesus died to make a way of escape for us, that we might overcome every fault, resist every temptation, and sit down at last with Him in His throne. {OHC 353.4} [OHC 353.5] We have no discouraging message for the church. Although reproofs and cautions and corrections have been made, yet the church has stood as God's instrumentality to diffuse light. The commandment-keeping people of God have sounded forth a warning to the world. . . . The church of God is a living witness, a continual testimony, to convince men if accepted, to condemn them if resisted and rejected. {OHC 353.5} [OHC 353.6] The church must and will shine forth "fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners." Song of Solomon 6:10. {OHC 353.6} [OHC 354.1] Chap. 348 - Unmoved in a Shaken World I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Psalm 16:8. {OHC 354.1} [OHC 354.2] We are living in an age of peril, when ungodliness is common. Even professed Christians do not believe their Bibles. The truth of the Word of God is too plain and pointed for them. . . . Antichristian ideas, customs, and practices prevail, and they are even construed to be Christian; but that which is of most value, that which God esteems most highly, is treated with contempt. Well may the God-fearing inquire, What shall the end of these things be? Love for Christ and love for one another is fast dying out of the hearts of men.... {OHC 354.2} [OHC 354.3] Wickedness prevails on every hand; for Satan has come down having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time. He is a persevering, diligent, untiring worker, and if ever there was a time when men needed the presence of Christ at their right hand, it is now. . . . We need the Captain of our salvation continually by our side. {OHC 354.3} [OHC 354.4] There is, and will continue to be, agitation all around us; for the kingdoms of the world will not be at rest. Never was there a time when the temptation to deny Christ in spirit and in deportment, was stronger, and this temptation will increase in power as we near the end. Strong and overpowering temptations will come upon men. False doctrines and fables will be presented as Bible truth, for men's acceptance; and if it were possible, they will deceive the very elect. But is it a time for our love to grow cold, when iniquity abounds? Is this a time to be at ease? Is this the time to separate from God, our Counselor? {OHC 354.4} [OHC 354.5] The end of all things is at hand. The day of God is hastening on apace. The world is full of crime and anguish and sorrow. There are calamities by land and by sea. Storm and tempest make it unsafe for us to be separated from God for one single moment. Only those who live by faith in this probationary life, will be able to stand in the day of test, when everything that can be shaken will be shaken, but they shall dwell in safety and be unmoved. {OHC 354.5} [OHC 355.1] Chap. 349 - A Crisis Before Us And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. Matthew 10:18. {OHC 355.1} [OHC 355.2] The time is not far off when the people of God will be called upon to give their testimony before the rulers of the earth. Not one in twenty has a realization of what rapid strides we are making toward the great crisis in our history. . . . There is no time for vanity, for trifling, for engaging the mind in unimportant matters. {OHC 355.2} [OHC 355.3] Kings, governors, and great men will hear of you through the reports of those who are at enmity with you, and your faith and character will be misrepresented before them. But those who are falsely accused will have an opportunity to appear in the presence of their accusers to answer for themselves. They will have the privilege of bringing the light before those who are called the great men of the earth, and if you have studied the Bible, if you are ready to give an answer to every man that asketh you of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear, your enemies will not be able to gainsay your wisdom. {OHC 355.3} [OHC 355.4] You now have an opportunity to attain to the greatest intellectual power through the study of the Word of God. But if you are indolent, and fail to dig deep in the mines of truth, you will not be ready for the crisis that is soon to come upon us. O that you would realize that each moment is golden. If you live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, you will not be found unprepared. {OHC 355.4} [OHC 355.5] You know not where you may be called upon to give your witness of truth. Many will have to stand in the legislative courts; some will have to stand before kings and before the learned of the earth, to answer for their faith. Those who have only a superficial understanding of truth will not be able clearly to expound the Scriptures, and give definite reasons for their faith. They will become confused, and will not be workmen that need not to be ashamed. Let no one imagine that he has no need to study, because he is not to preach in the sacred desk. You know not what God may require of you. {OHC 355.5} [OHC 356.1] Chap. 350 - Are You Ready for the Testing? But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. Matthew 10:19. {OHC 356.1} [OHC 356.2] The servants of Christ are to prepare no set speech to present when brought to trial for their faith. Their preparation is to be made day by day, in treasuring up in their hearts the precious truths of God's Word, in feeding upon the teaching of Christ, and through prayer strengthening their faith; then, when brought into trial, the Holy Spirit will bring to their remembrance the very truths that will reach the hearts of those who shall come to hear. God will flash the knowledge obtained by diligent searching of the Scriptures, into their memory at the very time when it is needed. {OHC 356.2} [OHC 356.3] You are now to get ready for the time of trial. Now you are to know whether your feet are planted on the Eternal Rock. You must have an individual experience, and not depend upon others for your light. When you are brought to the test, how do you know that you will not be alone, with no earthly friend at your side? Will you then be able to realize that Christ is your support? Will you be able to recall the promise, "Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world"? There will be invisible ones all about you bent upon your destruction. Satan and his agents will seek in every way to make you waver from your steadfastness to God and His truth. But if you have an eye single to His glory, you need not take thought as to how you shall witness for His truth. {OHC 356.3} [OHC 356.4] Young men and women, are you growing up to the full stature of men and women in Christ, so that when the crisis comes, you cannot be separated from the Source of your strength? If we would stand during the time of test, we must now, in the time of peace, be gaining a living experience in the things of God. We must now learn to understand what are the deep movings of the Spirit of God. Christ must be our all and in all, the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. {OHC 356.4} [OHC 357.1] Chap. 351 - Out of the Lion's Mouth And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28. {OHC 357.1} [OHC 357.2] Daniel is an example to believers as to what it means to confess Christ. He held the responsible position of prime minister in the kingdom of Babylon, and there were those who were envious of Daniel among the great men of the court, and they wanted to find something against him that they might bring an accusation against him to the king. But he was a faithful statesman, and they could find no flaw in his character or life. . . . So they agreed together to ask the king to make a decree that no one should ask any petition of any God or man for thirty days save of the king, and if any disobeyed this decree, he was to be cast into the den of lions. {OHC 357.2} [OHC 357.3] But did Daniel cease to pray because this decree was to go into force? No, that was just the time when he needed to pray. . . . Daniel did not seek to hide his loyalty to God. He did not pray in his heart, but with his voice, aloud, with his window open toward Jerusalem, he offered up his petition to heaven. Then his enemies made their complaint to the king, and Daniel was thrown into the den of lions. But the Son of God was there. . . . When the king came in the morning, and called, "O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions? Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me." Daniel 6:20-22. . . . {OHC 357.3} [OHC 357.4] We may know that if our life is hid with Christ in God, when we are brought into trial because of our faith, Jesus will be with us. When we are brought before rulers and dignitaries to answer for our faith, the Spirit of the Lord will illuminate our understanding, and we shall be able to bear a testimony to the glory of God. And if we are called to suffer for Christ's sake, we shall be able to go to prison trusting in Him as a little child trusts in its parents. Now is the time to cultivate faith in God. {OHC 357.4} [OHC 358.1] Chap. 352 - In the Midst of the Fire Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 10:32. {OHC 358.1} [OHC 358.2] A confession of Christ means something more than bearing testimony in social ［prayer］ meeting. {OHC 358.2} [OHC 358.3] We have a different confession to make from that which we have made; and we shall have to make it under different circumstances. The three Hebrews were called upon to confess Christ in the face of the burning fiery furnace. They had been commanded by the king to fall down and worship the golden image which he had set up, and threatened that if they would not, they should be cast alive into the fiery furnace, but they answered, "We are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." Daniel 3:16-18. It cost them something to confess Christ, for their lives were at stake. {OHC 358.3} [OHC 358.4] Then the king commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than it was wont to be heated, and the faithful children of God were cast into the furnace. "Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." Verses 24, 25. . . . Then Nebuchadnezzar called forth the servants of God, and they had not so much as the smell of fire upon them. If you are called to go through the fiery furnace for Christ's sake, Jesus will be at your side. "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." Isaiah 43:2. {OHC 358.4} [OHC 359.1] Chap. 353 - The Struggle Against Wind and Tide Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Matthew 5:11, 12. {OHC 359.1} [OHC 359.2] Our gracious Redeemer looked down the stream of time, and beheld the perils that would in the last days surround His chosen. . . . {OHC 359.2} [OHC 359.3] If the members of the church labor faithfully to build up the cause of truth, they will not escape the tongue of gossip, falsehood, and slander. "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." 2 Timothy 3:12. Their consistent, unwavering course is a constant rebuke of the unbelief, pride, and selfishness of the hypocritical professor. {OHC 359.3} [OHC 359.4] Their prayers and admonitions disturb his worldly ambition, and he endeavors to cast reproach upon the faithful followers of Jesus. He will garble, distort, and misrepresent facts, in the same spirit that actuated the Pharisees in their opposition to Christ. {OHC 359.4} [OHC 359.5] Jesus does not lose sight of His people who have so many discouragements to encounter. It requires little effort to float with the popular current, but those who would gain the immortal shores must struggle against wind and tide. There is a form of Christianity--a spurious article--which has no reformative energy. Its possessors delight to oppose and decry the faith of others. Their religion is not seen in the market place, in the family, or in the workshop. Their religious experience runs in the corrupt channel of the world. {OHC 359.5} [OHC 359.6] The true follower of Christ should not be dismayed at receiving reproach from this class. Said the beloved apostle, "Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you." 1 John 3:13. And our Saviour reminds His disciples, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you." John 15:18. Those who are faithful to God will not be harmed by reproach or opposition. Nay, rather, virtues will thus be developed that will not flourish in the sunshine of prosperity. Faith, patience, meekness, and love will bud and blossom amid clouds and darkness. {OHC 359.6} [OHC 360.1] Chap. 354 - The Most Dangerous of Foes Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. 1 Timothy 4:1. {OHC 360.1} [OHC 360.2] The adversary of souls is constantly seeking to divert our minds by bringing in side issues. Let us not be deceived. Let enemies handle your name and mine as they please. Let them distort, misrepresent, our words and deeds. Let them fabricate falsehoods as best pleases them. We cannot afford to allow our minds to be diverted from Jesus and the preparation of soul which we must have in order to meet Him in peace. . . . In Christ's stead, I beseech you to pray as you never prayed before, to seek earnestly for faith and love, that seem to be almost banished from the earth. Live each day as in the sight of God. . . . {OHC 360.2} [OHC 360.3] Let not false teachers confuse your minds and unsettle your faith by casting reproach upon those whom God has sent you with messages of warning and instruction. Remember that it is not mere men whom you have to meet, but "principalities and powers, and wicked spirits in high places." Now is the very time when Satan is working with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. {OHC 360.3} [OHC 360.4] Many are in reality fighting his battles while they profess to serve under the banner of Christ. These traitors in the camp may not be suspected, but they are doing their work to create unbelief, discord, and strife. Such are the most dangerous of foes. While they insinuate themselves into our favor, and gain our confidence and sympathy, they are busy suggesting doubts and creating suspicion. They work in the same manner as did Satan in heaven when he deceived the angels by his artful representations, placing darkness for light, and making the forbearance and mercy of God to appear as harshness and severity. As he worked at the beginning, so he works in the end, only concealing himself more perfectly from view. . . . {OHC 360.4} [OHC 360.5] It is not enough that we have the theory of the truth; its principles must be inwrought in the soul, and exemplified in the life, or we shall fall a prey to the delusions prepared for the last days. {OHC 360.5} [OHC 361.1] Chap. 355 - The Cross Before the Crown Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 2 Timothy 3:12. {OHC 361.1} [OHC 361.2] We may strengthen our faith and quicken our love by going often to the foot of the cross, and there contemplating our Saviour's humiliation. Behold the Majesty of heaven suffering as a transgressor! Spotless purity, untarnished righteousness, did not shield Him from falsehood and reproach. He meekly bore the contradiction of sinners against Himself, and yielded up His life, that we might be forgiven and live forevermore. Are we willing to follow in His steps? The only reason why we do not now suffer greater persecution is, we do not in our lives more faithfully exemplify the life of Christ. I assure you, brethren and sisters, if you walk as He walked, you will know what it is to be persecuted and reproached for His sake. {OHC 361.2} [OHC 361.3] If we hope to wear the crown, we must expect to bear the cross. Our greatest trials will come from those who profess godliness. It was so with the world's Redeemer; it will be so with His followers. . . . Those who are in earnest to win the crown of eternal life need not be surprised or disheartened because at every step toward the heavenly Canaan they meet with obstacles and encounter trials. . . . {OHC 361.3} [OHC 361.4] The Saviour knows what is best. Faith grows by conflict with doubt and difficulty and trial. Virtue gathers strength by resistance to temptation. The life of the faithful soldier is a battle and a march. No rest, fellow pilgrim, this side the heavenly Canaan. . . . But John in holy vision beholds the faithful souls that come up out of great tribulation, surrounding the throne of God, clad in white robes, and crowned with immortal glory. What though they have been counted the offscouring of the earth? In the investigative judgment their lives and characters are brought in review before God, and that solemn tribunal reverses the decision of their enemies. Their faithfulness to God and to His Word stands revealed, and Heaven's high honors are awarded them as conquerors in the strife with sin and Satan. {OHC 361.4} [OHC 362.1] Chap. 356 - On Guard Every Moment But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. 2 Timothy 3:13. {OHC 362.1} [OHC 362.2] By every conceivable device the foe is seeking to throw us off our guard. He may first attempt to deceive with smooth words and crafty insinuations; and if these fail, he proceeds to open violence. He has many a deep-laid snare for unwary feet, and those who once become entangled find it almost impossible to extricate themselves. While he praises, flatters, and exalts some, he hurls his fiery darts at others. We must be on guard every moment. Days of peculiar trial, difficulty, and danger are before us. . . . {OHC 362.2} [OHC 362.3] We must make up our minds that instead of matters taking a more favorable turn, wicked men, seducing teachers, will grow worse and worse, deceiving themselves and deceiving others. We may expect greater opposition than has yet been experienced. . . . We must now make Christ our refuge, or in the days before us our souls will be overwhelmed with darkness and despair. There is a point beyond which human help cannot avail. Every one must live by faith as he is forced into close and apparently deadly conflict with the powers of darkness. Each must stand or fall for himself. The arrows of the destroyer are about to be hurled against the faithful ones, and no earthly power can turn aside the shaft. But could our eyes be opened we could see angels of God encircling the righteous, that no harm may come upon them. . . . {OHC 362.3} [OHC 362.4] We must look to Jesus, study His words, pray for His spirit. We should be more frequently alone with God in meditation and prayer. Let us pray more and talk less. We cannot trust to our own wisdom, our own experience, our own knowledge of the truth; we must be daily learners, looking to our heavenly Teacher for instruction, and then, without regard to ease, pleasure, or convenience, we must go forward, knowing that He is faithful who has called. . . . {OHC 362.4} [OHC 362.5] While we realize our weakness, let us rely upon His strength, and overcome by the grace which He imparts. {OHC 362.5} [OHC 363.1] Chap. 357 - Crowns for the Faithful Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:8. {OHC 363.1} [OHC 363.2] Did the great apostle to the Gentiles make any real sacrifice when he exchanged Pharisaism for the gospel of Christ? We answer No! With decided purpose, he turned away from wealth, from friends and social distinction, from public honors, and from his kinsmen whom he loved fervently and earnestly. He chose to link his name and his destiny with that of a people he had regarded as low and the offscouring of all things; but for the sake of Christ he suffered the loss of all things. {OHC 363.2} [OHC 363.3] His labors were more abundant than any of the disciples, his stripes above measure. He was beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked, in deaths oft. He was in peril by land and sea, in the city and in the wilderness, from robbers and from his own countrymen. He prosecuted his mission under continual infirmities, in painfulness, in weariness, in watchings often, in cold, in nakedness. . . . When he answered the bloodthirsty Nero, no man stood with him. . . . {OHC 363.3} [OHC 363.4] But did Paul devote his precious time to the relation of his grievous abuses? No, he called the attention from himself to Jesus. He did not live for his own happiness, yet he was happy. . . . "I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation." 2 Corinthians 7:4. And in the last days of his life, with a martyr's death in full view, he exclaims with satisfaction, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." 2 Timothy 4:7. And fixing his eye upon the immortal future, which had been the grand, inspiring motive of his whole career, he adds, in full assurance of faith, "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day"--and then this man who had lived for others forgets himself--"and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." Oh, noble man of faith! {OHC 363.4} [OHC 363.5] Paul was a living example of what every true Christian should be. He lived for God's glory. . . . "For me to live is Christ." Philippians 1:21. {OHC 363.5} [OHC 364.1] Chap. 358 - Aim High! For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power. Colossians 2:9, 10. {OHC 364.1} [OHC 364.2] We aim too low. The mark is much higher. Our minds need expansion, that we may comprehend the significance of the provision of God. We are to reflect the highest attributes of the character of God. . . . The law of God is the exalted standard to which we are to attain through the imputed righteousness of Christ. {OHC 364.2} [OHC 364.3] It is only through a correct understanding of Christ's mission and work that the possibility of being complete in Him, accepted in the Beloved, is brought within our reach. . . . Human science is not divine enlightenment. Divine science is the demonstration of the Spirit of God, inspiring implicit faith in Him. The men of the world suppose this faith to be beneath the notice of their great and intelligent minds, something too low to give attention to; but here they make a great mistake. It is altogether too high for their human intelligence to reach. {OHC 364.3} [OHC 364.4] The gospel message is far from being opposed to true knowledge and intellectual attainments. It is itself true science, true intellectual knowledge. True wisdom is infinitely above the comprehension of the worldly wise. The hidden wisdom, which is Christ formed within, the hope of glory, is a wisdom high as heaven. The deep principles of godliness are sublime and eternal. A Christian experience alone can help us to understand this problem, and obtain the treasures of knowledge which have been hidden in the counsels of God, but are now made known to all who have a vital connection with Christ. {OHC 364.4} [OHC 364.5] In Christ dwelt 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 also to become partakers of that fullness, and is it not thus, and thus only, that we can overcome as He overcame? {OHC 364.5} [OHC 364.6] Through His sacrifice, human beings may reach the high ideal set before them, and hear at last the words, "Ye are complete in him." {OHC 364.6} [OHC 365.1] Chap. 359 - The Unsearchable Riches of Christ That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. Ephesians 3:16. {OHC 365.1} [OHC 365.2] The themes of redemption are momentous themes, and only those who are spiritually-minded can discern their depth and significance. It is our safety, our joy, to dwell upon the truths of the plan of salvation. Faith and prayer are necessary in order that we may behold the deep things of God. Our minds are so bound about by narrow ideas that we catch but limited views of the experience it is our privilege to have.... {OHC 365.2} [OHC 365.3] Why is it that many who profess to have faith in Christ have no strength to stand against the temptations of the enemy?--It is because they are not strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man. The apostle prays "that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19. If we had this experience, we should know something of the cross of Calvary. We would know what it means to be partakers with Christ in His sufferings. The love of Christ would constrain us, and though we would not be able to explain how the love of Christ warmed our hearts, we would manifest His love in fervent devotion to His cause. {OHC 365.3} [OHC 365.4] Paul opens before the Ephesian church, in the most comprehensive language, the marvelous power and knowledge they might possess as sons and daughters of the Most High. It was theirs "to be strengthened with might ...," to be "rooted and grounded in love," ... "to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge." ... {OHC 365.4} [OHC 365.5] Jehovah Emmanuel--He in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge--to be brought into sympathy with Him, to possess Him, as the heart opens more and more to receive His attributes: to know His love and power, to possess the unsearchable riches of Christ ... this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and "their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." Isaiah 54:17. {OHC 365.5} [OHC 366.1] Chap. 360 - Filled with God's Fullness And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Ephesians 3:19. {OHC 366.1} [OHC 366.2] Here are revealed the heights of attainment that we may reach through faith in the promises of our heavenly Father, when we fulfill His requirements. Through the merits of Christ, we have access to the throne of infinite power. "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Romans 8:32. ... {OHC 366.2} [OHC 366.3] The heart that has once tasted of the love of Christ, cries out continually for a deeper draft; and as you impart, you will receive in richer and more abundant measure. Every revelation of God to the soul increases the capacity to know and to love. The continual cry of the heart is, More of thee, and ever the Spirit's answer is, Much more. ... {OHC 366.3} [OHC 366.4] The life of Christ was a life charged with a divine message of the love of God, and He longed intensely to impart this love to others in rich measure. Compassion beamed from His countenance, and His conduct was characterized by grace and humility, love and truth. Every member of His church militant must manifest the same qualities, if he would join the church triumphant. The love of Christ is so broad, so full of glory, that in comparison to it, everything that man esteems so great dwindles into insignificance. When we obtain a view of it, we exclaim, O the depth of the riches of the love that God bestowed upon men in the gift of His only begotten Son! ... {OHC 366.4} [OHC 366.5] It is the mystery of God in the flesh, God in Christ, divinity in humanity. Christ bowed down in unparalleled humility, that in His exaltation to the throne of God He might also exalt those who believe in Him to a seat with Him upon His throne. . . . "Exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think," will be given unto us "the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him" (Ephesians 1:17), that we may be able to "comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge," that we may be "filled with all the fulness of God." {OHC 366.5} [OHC 367.1] Chap. 361 - Almost Home! And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. John 14:3. {OHC 367.1} [OHC 367.2] More than eighteen hundred years have passed since the Saviour gave the promise of His coming. Throughout the centuries His words have filled with courage the hearts of His faithful ones. The promise has not yet been fulfilled; ... but none the less sure is the word that has been spoken. {OHC 367.2} [OHC 367.3] Christ will come in His own glory, in the glory of His Father, and in the glory of the holy angels. Ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of angels, the beautiful, triumphant sons of God, possessing surpassing loveliness and glory, will escort Him on His way. In the place of a crown of thorns, He will wear a crown of glory--a crown within a crown. In the place of that old purple robe, He will be clothed in a garment of whitest white, "so as no fuller on earth can white" (Mark 9:3) it. And on His vesture and on His thigh a name will be written, "King of kings, and Lord of lords." Revelation 19:16. ... {OHC 367.3} [OHC 367.4] To His faithful followers Christ has been a daily companion, a familiar friend. They have lived in close, constant communion with God. Upon them the glory of the Lord has risen. In them the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ has been reflected. Now they rejoice in the undimmed rays of the brightness and glory of the King in His majesty. They are prepared for the communion of heaven, for they have heaven in their hearts. {OHC 367.4} [OHC 367.5] With uplifted heads, with the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness shining upon them, with rejoicing that their redemption draweth nigh, they go forth to meet the Bridegroom, saying, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us." ... {OHC 367.5} [OHC 367.6] The time of tarrying is almost ended. The pilgrims and strangers who have so long been seeking a better country are almost home. I feel as if I must cry aloud, Homeward bound! . . . "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless." 2 Peter 3:14. {OHC 367.6} [OHC 368.1] Chap. 362 - In the Inner Circle He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his Angels. Revelation 3:5. {OHC 368.1} [OHC 368.2] Can you, dear youth, look forward with joyful hope and expectation to the time when the Lord, your righteous Judge, shall confess your name before the Father and before the holy angels? The very best preparation you can have for Christ's second appearing is to rest with firm faith in the great salvation brought to us at His first coming. You must believe in Christ as a personal Saviour. {OHC 368.2} [OHC 368.3] Many of us do not realize the covenant relation in which we stand before God as His people. We are under the most solemn obligations to represent God and Christ. We are to guard against dishonoring God by professing to be His people, and then going directly contrary to His will. We are getting ready to move. Then let us act as if we were. Let us prepare for the mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for those that love Him. {OHC 368.3} [OHC 368.4] Unless those who claim to believe the truth for this time submit to the training of God on earth for the future life, they will never see the King in His beauty. . . . They must cultivate patience, kindness, meekness, goodness, sympathy, and tender compassion for one another. All their rough, uncourteous, un-Christlike disposition must be purged away, for none of these unkind attributes are of Christ, but after the satanic order. The pure, heavenly graces are received and flourish in mind, heart, and character only as man becomes a partaker of the divine nature.... Heaven must begin on earth for every soul who will enter the heavenly mansions above. {OHC 368.4} [OHC 368.5] All heaven appreciates the struggles of those who are fighting for the crown of everlasting life, that they may be partakers with Christ in the city of God.... God wants you there, Christ wants you there, the heavenly host wants you there. The angels are willing to stand in the outer circle, and let those who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus stand in the inner circle.... A crown of glory waits for all who fight the good fight of faith. {OHC 368.5} [OHC 369.1] Chap. 363 - Let's Take Inventory Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am. Psalm 39:4. {OHC 369.1} [OHC 369.2] Another year has almost passed into eternity.... Let us review the record of the year that so soon will be past. What advancement have we made in Christian experience? Our work--have we so done it that it will bear the inspection of the Master, who has given to every man work according to his several ability? Will it be consumed as hay, wood, and stubble, unworthy of preservation? or will it stand the trial by fire? ... {OHC 369.2} [OHC 369.3] Every provision has been made that we may attain a height of stature in Christ Jesus that will meet the divine standard. God is not pleased with His representatives if they are content to be dwarfs when they might grow up to the full stature of men and women in Christ. He wants you to have height and breadth in Christian experience. He wants you to have great thoughts, noble aspirations, clear perceptions of truth, and lofty purposes of action. Every passing year should increase the soul's yearning for purity and perfection of Christian character. And if this knowledge increases day by day, month by month, year by year, it will not be work consumed as hay, wood, and stubble; but it will be laying on the foundation stone, gold, silver, and precious stones--works that are not perishable, but which will stand the fires of the last day. {OHC 369.3} [OHC 369.4] Is our earthly, temporal work done with a thoroughness, a fidelity, that will bear scrutiny? Are there those whom we have wronged who will testify against us in the day of God? If so, the record has passed up to heaven, and we shall meet it again. We are to work for the great Taskmaster's eye, whether our painstaking efforts are seen and appreciated by men or not. No man, woman, nor child can acceptably serve God with neglectful, haphazard, sham work, whether it be secular or religious service. The true Christian will have an eye single to the glory of God in all things, encouraging his purposes and strengthening his principles with this thought, "I do this for Christ." {OHC 369.4} [OHC 370.1] Chap. 364 - Bury All Bitterness My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle. Job 7:6. {OHC 370.1} [OHC 370.2] If we have but little time, let us improve that little earnestly. The Bible assures us that we are in the great day of atonement. The typical Day of Atonement was a day when all Israel afflicted their souls before God, confessed their sins, and came before the Lord with contribution of soul, remorse for their sins, genuine repentance, and living faith in the atoning sacrifice. {OHC 370.2} [OHC 370.3] If there have been difficulties, . . . if envy, malice, bitterness, evil surmisings, have existed, confess these sins, not in a general way, but go to your brethren and sisters personally. Be definite. If you have committed one wrong and they twenty, confess that one as though you were the chief offender. Take them by the hand, let your heart soften under the influence of the Spirit of God, and say, "Will you forgive me? I have not felt right toward you. I want to make right every wrong, that naught may stand registered against me in the books of heaven. I must have a clean record." Who, think you, would withstand such a movement as this? {OHC 370.3} [OHC 370.4] There is too much coldness and indifference--too much of the "I don't care" spirit--exercised among the professed followers of Christ. All should feel a care for one another, jealousy guarding each other's interests. "Love one another." Then we should stand a strong wall against Satan's devices. Amid opposition and persecution we would not join the vindictive ones, not unite with the followers of the great rebel, whose special work is to accuse the brethren, to defame and cast stain upon their characters. {OHC 370.4} [OHC 370.5] Let the remnant of this year be improved in destroying every fiber of the root of bitterness, burying them in the grave with the old year. Begin the new year with more tender regard, with deeper love, for every member of the Lord's family. Press together. "United, we stand; divided, we fall." Take a higher, nobler stand than you ever have before. {OHC 370.5} [OHC 371.1] Chap. 365 - The Prize of Our High Calling I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13, 14. {OHC 371.1} [OHC 371.2] He who would build up a strong, symmetrical character, he who would be a well-balanced Christian, must give all and do all for Christ. ...Paul did many things. From the time that he gave his allegiance to Christ, his life was filled with untiring service. From city to city, from country to country, he journeyed, telling the story of the cross, winning converts to the gospel, and establishing churches. . . . At times he worked at his trade, to earn his daily bread. But in all the busy activities of his life, Paul never lost sight of one great purpose--to press toward the prize of his high calling. One aim he kept steadfastly before him-- to be faithful to the One who at the gate of Damascus had revealed Himself to him. From this aim nothing had power to turn him aside.... {OHC 371.2} [OHC 371.3] The great purpose that constrained Paul to press forward in the face of hardship and difficulty should lead every Christian worker to consecrate himself wholly to God's service. Worldly attractions will be presented to draw his attention from the Saviour, but he is to press on toward the goal, showing to the world, to angels, and to men that the hope of seeing the face of God is worth all the effort and sacrifice that the attainment of this hope demands. {OHC 371.3} [OHC 371.4] The lowliest disciple of Christ may become an inhabitant of heaven, an heir of God to an inheritance incorruptible, and that fadeth not away. O that every one might make choice of the heavenly gift, become an heir of God to that inheritance whose title is secure from any destroyer, world without end! O, choose not the world, but choose the better inheritance! Press, urge your way toward the mark for the prize of your high calling in Christ Jesus. {OHC 371.4} [OHC 371.5] Soon we shall witness the coronation of our King. Those whose lives have been hidden with Christ, those who on this earth have fought the good fight of faith, will shine forth with the Redeemer's glory in the kingdom of God. {OHC 371.5} [TMK 7.1] TMK - That I May Know Him (1964) FOREWORD THOSE WHO ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE ELLEN G. WHITE WRITINGS AND WHO HAVE TREASURED THE DEVOTIONAL BOOKS FROM HER INSPIRED PEN IN THE PAST WILL WELCOME THIS NEW VOLUME FROM THE SAME RICH SOURCE. IT WILL BE PARTICULARLY PRIZED BECAUSE IT CONSISTS LARGELY OF MATERIAL NOT OTHERWISE AVAILABLE TO THE AVERAGE READER. ONLY A FEW PAGES DUPLICATE WHAT IS FOUND IN THE CURRENT ELLEN G. WHITE BOOKS. MORE THAN HALF OF THE BOOK IS DRAWN FROM THE WEALTH OF INSPIRED MATERIAL IN THE ARTICLES FROM HER PEN THAT APPEARED DURING HER LONG LIFETIME IN SUCH PERIODICALS AS THE REVIEW AND HERALD, YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR, AND SIGNS OF THE TIMES. ABOUT ONE THIRD IS DRAWN FROM UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS AND LETTERS IN THE CUSTODY OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE ELLEN G. WHITE WRITINGS, UNDER WHOSE DIRECTION THE VOLUME HAS BEEN PREPARED. MANY OF THESE UNPUBLISHED ITEMS ARE FROM PERSONAL HEART-TO-HEART MESSAGES SENT TO INDIVIDUALS--MESSAGES THAT COME TO US TODAY WITH THE SAME EARNEST APPEAL, THE SAME TENDER ADMONITION AND ENCOURAGEMENT, AS WHEN THEY WERE WRITTEN. OF SPECIAL INTEREST ARE SEVERAL PAGES WHICH CONTAIN EXTRACTS FROM EARLY MORNING ENTRIES IN ELLEN WHITE'S DIARY, AND GIVE THE READER SIGNIFICANT GLIMPSES INTO HER PERSONAL PRAYER LIFE. IN ORDER TO BRING EACH READING INTO THE COMPASS OF A SINGLE PAGE, FREQUENT DELETIONS HAVE BEEN NECESSARY, AND THESE ARE INDICATED IN THE USUAL WAY. GREAT CARE HAS BEEN EXERCISED TO PRESERVE WITHOUT DISTORTION THE THOUGHT AND INTENT OF THE WRITER. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT WHEN LINES FROM A HYMN OR A POEM APPEAR THEY WERE QUOTED BY ELLEN WHITE HERSELF. THE DAILY MEMORY VERSES HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO HARMONIZE WITH THE MESSAGE OF EACH DAY. "THAT I MAY KNOW HIM" GOES FORTH WITH OUR HOPE AND PRAYER THAT IT MAY TRULY HELP ITS READERS TO BECOME BETTER ACQUAINTED WITH OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR, TO HAVE A DEEPER APPRECIATION OF HIS AMAZING SACRIFICE FOR LOST MANKIND, TO GAIN CLEARER VIEWS OF THE BEAUTY AND PERFECTION OF HIS CHARACTER, AND TO UNDERSTAND BETTER THE HEIGHTS WE MAY REACH IN OUR OWN CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT, AS CLOTHED IN THE GARMENTS OF HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS WE STRIVE TO BECOME "COMPLETE IN HIM." THE TRUSTEES OF THE ELLEN G. WHITE ESTATE WASHINGTON, D.C. Chap. 1 - Unlock the Storehouse! Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Ephesians 3:8. {TMK 7.1} [TMK 7.2] In the Word of God there are rich mines of truth that we may spend our whole lifetime in exploring, and yet we shall find that we have only begun to view their precious stores. . . . There are unsearchable riches for us. It will take us all eternity to comprehend the riches of the glory of God and of Jesus Christ. . . . {TMK 7.2} [TMK 7.3] Christ has said: "If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink" (John 7:37). Have you exhausted the fountain? No, for it is inexhaustible. Just as soon as you feel your need, you may drink, and drink again. The fountain is always full. And when you have once drunk of that fountain you will not be seeking to quench your thirst from the broken cisterns of this world; you will not be studying how you can find the most pleasure, amusement, fun, and frolic. No, because you have been drinking from the stream which makes glad the city of God. Then your joy will be full, for Christ will be in you. {TMK 7.3} [TMK 7.4] Jehovah Immanuel--He "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," in whom dwells "all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:3, 9)--to be brought into sympathy with Him, to know Him, to possess Him, as the heart opens more and more to receive His attributes; to know His love and power, to possess the unsearchable riches of Christ, to comprehend more and more "what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3:18, 19)--"this is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord" (Isaiah 54:17). {TMK 7.4} [TMK 7.5] There is no need for us to hunger, there is no need for us to thirst, while the storehouse of heaven is open for us and the key is given into our possession. What is the key? Faith, which is the gift of God. Unlock the storehouse; take of its rich treasures. {TMK 7.5} [TMK 8.1] Chap. 2 - Where Wisdom Begins The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Proverbs 9:10. {TMK 8.1} [TMK 8.2] There is a wide difference between what God has given men capacity to become, and the degree of excellence to which they actually attain. {TMK 8.2} [TMK 8.3] The Word of God presents the most potent means of education, as well as the most valuable source of knowledge, within the reach of man. The understanding adapts itself to the dimensions of the subjects with which it is required to deal. If occupied with trivial, commonplace matters only, never summoned to earnest effort to comprehend great and eternal truths, it becomes dwarfed and enfeebled. Hence the value of the Scriptures, as a means of intellectual culture. . . . They lead directly to the contemplation of the most exalted, the most ennobling, and the most stupendous truths that are presented to the mind of man. They direct our thoughts to the infinite Author of all things. We see revealed the character of the Eternal, and listen to His voice as He communes with patriarchs and prophets. We see explained the mysteries of His providence, the great problems which have engaged the attention of every thoughtful mind, but which, without the aid of revelation, human intellect seeks in vain to solve. They open to our understanding a simple yet sublime system of theology, presenting truths which a child may grasp, but which are yet so far reaching as to baffle the powers of the strongest mind. {TMK 8.3} [TMK 8.4] The more closely God's Word is searched, and the better understood, the more vividly will the student realize that there is, beyond, infinite wisdom, knowledge, and power. . . . {TMK 8.4} [TMK 8.5] If the youth will but learn of the heavenly Teacher, as did Daniel, they will know that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. . . . Those who consecrate themselves to God, and who have the protection of His grace and the quickening influence of His Spirit, will manifest keener intellectual power than the mere worldling. They will be able to reach the highest, noblest exercise of every faculty. {TMK 8.5} [TMK 9.1] Chap. 3 - Who May Know God? Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? Job 11:7. {TMK 9.1} [TMK 9.2] We cannot by searching find out God, but He has revealed Himself in His Son, who is the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of His person. If we desire a knowledge of God we must be Christlike. . . . Living a pure life through faith in Christ as a personal Saviour will bring to the believer a clearer, higher conception of God. . . . {TMK 9.2} [TMK 9.3] Eternal life is the reward that will be given to all who obey the two great principles of God's law--love to God and love to man. The first four commandments define and enjoin love to God; the last six, love to our fellow men. Obedience to these commands is the only evidence man can give that he possesses a genuine, saving knowledge of God. Love for God is demonstrated by love for those for whom Christ has died. While enshrouded in the pillar of cloud, Christ gave directions regarding this love. Distinctly and clearly He laid down the principles of heaven as rules that His chosen people were to observe in their dealings one with another. These principles Christ lived out in His life of humanity. In His teaching He presented the motives that should govern the lives of His followers. . . . {TMK 9.3} [TMK 9.4] Those who partake of God's love through a reception of the truth will give evidence of this by making earnest, self-sacrificing efforts to give the message of God's love to others. Thus they become laborers together with Christ. Love for God and for one another unites them to Christ by golden links. Their life is bound up with His life in sanctified, elevated union. . . . This union causes rich currents of Christ's love to flow continually into the heart, and then flow forth again in love for others. {TMK 9.4} [TMK 9.5] The qualities that it is essential for all to possess in order to know God are those that mark the completeness of Christ's character--His love, His patience, His unselfishness. These attributes are cultivated by doing kind actions with a kindly heart. {TMK 9.5} [TMK 10.1] Chap. 4 - Superficial Knowledge Not Enough To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27. {TMK 10.1} [TMK 10.2] There are many mysteries in the Word of God that we do not comprehend, and many of us are content to stop our investigation when we have just begun to receive a little knowledge concerning Christ. When there begins to be a little unfolding of the divine purposes to the mind, and we begin to obtain a slight knowledge of the character of God, we become satisfied and think that we have received about all the light that there is for us in the Word of God. But the truth of God is infinite. With painstaking effort we should work in the mines of truth, discovering the precious jewels that have been hidden. . . . Jesus meant just what He said when He directed His disciples to "search the Scriptures" (John 5:39). Searching means to compare scripture with scripture, and spiritual things with spiritual. We should not be satisfied with a superficial knowledge. {TMK 10.2} [TMK 10.3] We do not half realize what the Lord is willing to do for His people. . . . Our petitions, mingled with faith and contrition, should go up to God for an understanding of the mysteries that God would make known to His saints. . . . An angel's pen could not portray all the glory of the revealed plan of redemption. The Bible tells how Christ bore our sins and carried our sorrows. Here is revealed how mercy and truth have met together at the cross of Calvary, how righteousness and peace have kissed each other, how the righteousness of Christ may be imparted to fallen man. There infinite wisdom, infinite justice, infinite mercy, and infinite love were displayed. Depths, heights, lengths, and breadths of love and wisdom, all passing knowledge, are made known in the plan of salvation. {TMK 10.3} [TMK 10.4] He who desires the truth in his heart, who longs for the working of its powers upon the life and character, will be sure to have it. Says the Saviour, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6). {TMK 10.4} [TMK 11.1] Chap. 5 - Christ the Eternal Word In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. John 1:13. {TMK 11.1} [TMK 11.2] Christ, the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father,--one in nature, in character, in purpose,--the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God. "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." His "goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." And the Son of God declares concerning Himself: "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting. . . . When he appointed the foundations of the earth: then I was by him, as one brought up with him" (Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2; Proverbs 8:22-30). {TMK 11.2} [TMK 11.3] The Father wrought by His Son in the creation of all heavenly beings. "By him were all things created, . . . whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him" (Colossians 1:16). Angels are God's ministers, radiant with the light ever flowing from His presence, and speeding on rapid wing to execute His will. But the Son, the anointed of God, the "express image of his person," "the brightness of his glory," "upholding all things by the word of his power," holds supremacy over them all (Hebrews 1:3). {TMK 11.3} [TMK 11.4] Christ was God essentially, and in the highest sense. . . . The Lord Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, existed from eternity, a distinct person, yet one with the Father. He was the surpassing glory of heaven. He was the commander of the heavenly intelligences, and the adoring homage of the angels was received by Him as His right. . . . {TMK 11.4} [TMK 11.5] There are light and glory in the truth that Christ was one with the Father before the foundation of the world was laid. This is the light shining in a dark place, making it resplendent with divine, original glory. {TMK 11.5} [TMK 12.1] Chap. 6 - The Great I Am Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. John 8:58. {TMK 12.1} [TMK 12.2] I AM means an eternal presence; the past, present, and future are alike with God. He sees the most remote events of past history and the far distant future with as clear a vision as we do those things which are transpiring daily. We know not what is before us, and if we did, it would not contribute to our eternal welfare. God gives us an opportunity to exercise faith and trust in the great I AM. . . . Our Saviour says, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad" (John 8:56). Fifteen hundred years before Christ laid off His royal robe, His kingly crown, and left His position of honor in the heavenly courts, assumed humanity, and walked a man among the children of men, Abraham saw His day, and was glad. "Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am" (verses 57, 58). . . . {TMK 12.2} [TMK 12.3] Isaiah also saw Christ, and his prophetic words are full of significance. He says, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). Speaking through him, the Lord says, "I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour. . . . Fear not: for I am with thee. . . . I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour. . . . Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God. Yea, before the day was I am he. . . . I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King" (Isaiah 43:3-15). . . . When Jesus came to our world, He proclaimed Himself, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). . . . {TMK 12.3} [TMK 12.4] The Lord must be believed and served as the great "I AM," and we must trust implicitly in Him. {TMK 12.4} [TMK 13.1] Chap. 7 - Co-Workers in Creation And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. ... So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Genesis 1:26, 27. {TMK 13.1} [TMK 13.2] After the earth was created, and the beasts upon it, the Father and Son carried out their purpose, which was designed before the fall of Satan, to make man in their own image. They had wrought together in the creation of the earth and every living thing upon it. And now God said to His Son, "Let us make man in our image." {TMK 13.2} [TMK 13.3] Adam and Eve came forth from the hand of their Creator in the perfection of every physical, mental, and spiritual endowment. God planted for them a garden and surrounded them with everything lovely and attractive to the eye, and that which their physical necessities required. . . . {TMK 13.3} [TMK 13.4] The holy pair looked upon nature as a picture of unsurpassed loveliness. The brown earth was clothed with a carpet of living green, diversified with an endless variety of self-propagating, self-perpetuating flowers. Shrubs, flowers, and trailing vines regaled the senses with their beauty and fragrance. The many varieties of lofty trees were laden with fruit of every kind and of delicious flavor. ... {TMK 13.4} [TMK 13.5] Adam and Eve could trace the skill and glory of God in every spire of grass and in every shrub and flower. The natural loveliness which surrounded them, like a mirror reflected the wisdom, excellence, and love of their heavenly Father. And their songs of affection and praise rose sweetly and reverentially to heaven, harmonizing with the songs of the exalted angels, and with the happy birds who were caroling forth their music without a care. There was no disease, decay, nor death anywhere. Life, life was in everything the eye rested upon. The atmosphere was impregnated with life. . . . {TMK 13.5} [TMK 13.6] Adam could reflect that he was created in the image of God, to be like Him in righteousness and holiness. His mind was capable of continual cultivation, expansion, refinement and noble elevation, for God was his teacher, and angels were his companions. {TMK 13.6} [TMK 14.1] Chap. 8 - A Sad Day for the Universe Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Romans 5:12. {TMK 14.1} [TMK 14.2] When our first parents were placed in the beautiful garden of Eden, they were tested in regard to their loyalty to God. They were free to choose the service of God, or by disobedience to ally themselves with the enemy of God and man. . . . If they disregard God's commands, and listened to the voice of Satan, as he spoke through the serpent, they would not only forfeit their claim to Eden, but to life itself. {TMK 14.2} [TMK 14.3] The first great moral lesson given Adam was that of self-denial. The reins of self-government were placed in his hands. Judgment, reason, and conscience were to bear sway. . . . {TMK 14.3} [TMK 14.4] Adam and Eve were permitted to partake of every tree in the Garden save one. There was only a single prohibition. The forbidden tree was as attractive and lovely as any of the trees in the Garden. It was called the tree of knowledge, because in partaking of that tree, of which God had said, "Thou shalt not eat of it," (Genesis 2:17) they would have a knowledge of sin, an experience in disobedience. {TMK 14.4} [TMK 14.5] With what intense interest the whole universe watched the conflict that was to decide the position of Adam and Eve. How attentively the angels listened to the words of Satan, the originator of sin, as he ... sought to make of none effect the law of God through his deceptive reasoning! How anxiously they waited to see if the holy pair would be deluded by the tempter, and yield to his arts! They asked themselves, Will the holy pair transfer their faith and love from the Father and Son to Satan? Will they accept his falsehoods as truth? {TMK 14.5} [TMK 14.6] Adam and Eve persuaded themselves that in so small a matter as eating of the forbidden fruit, there could not result such terrible consequences as God had declared. But this small matter was sin, the transgression of God's immutable and holy law, and it opened the floodgates of death and untold woe upon our world. . . . Let us not esteem sin as a trivial thing. {TMK 14.6} [TMK 15.1] Chap. 9 - The Mystery of Sin Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so. ... Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. Ezekiel 28:14, 15. {TMK 15.1} [TMK 15.2] It is impossible to explain the origin of sin so as to give a reason for its existence. Yet enough may be understood concerning both the origin and the final disposition of sin, to make fully manifest the justice and benevolence of God in all His dealings with evil. Nothing is more plainly taught in Scripture than that God was in no wise responsible for the entrance of sin. . . . Sin is an intruder, for whose presence no reason can be given. It is mysterious, unaccountable; to excuse it, is to defend it. Could excuse for it be found, or cause be shown for its existence, it would cease to be sin. Our only definition of sin is that given in the word of God; it is "the transgression of the law;" (1 John 3:4) it is the outworking of a principle at war with the great law of love which is the foundation of the divine government. {TMK 15.2} [TMK 15.3] Sin originated in self-seeking. Lucifer, the covering cherub, desired to be first in heaven. He sought to gain control of heavenly beings, to draw them away from their Creator, and to win their homage to himself. . . . Thus he deceived angels. Thus he deceived men. He led them to doubt the word of God, and to distrust His goodness. . . . Thus he drew men to join him in rebellion against God, and the night of woe settled down upon the world. {TMK 15.3} [TMK 15.4] Sin appeared in a perfect universe. . . . The reason of its inception or development was never explained and never can be, even at the last great day when the judgment shall sit and the books be opened. . . . At that day it will be evident to all that there is not, and never was, any cause for sin. At the final condemnation of Satan and his angels and of all men who have finally identified themselves with him as transgressors of God's law, every mouth will be stopped. When the hosts of rebellion, from the first great rebel to the last transgressor, are asked why they have broken the law of God, they will be speechless. There will be no answer to give. {TMK 15.4} [TMK 16.1] Chap. 10 - Divine Enmity in the Soul And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15. {TMK 16.1} [TMK 16.2] Adam and Eve stood as criminals before their God, awaiting the sentence which transgression had incurred. But before they hear of the thorn and the thistle, the sorrow and anguish which should be their portion, and the dust to which they should return, they listen to words which must have inspired them with hope. Though they must suffer . . . , they might look forward to ultimate victory. {TMK 16.2} [TMK 16.3] God declares, "I will put enmity." This enmity is supernaturally put, and not naturally entertained. When man sinned, his nature became evil, and he was in harmony, and not at variance, with Satan. The lofty usurper, having succeeded in seducing our first parents as he had seduced angels, counted on securing their allegiance and cooperation in all his enterprises against the government of Heaven. . . . But when Satan heard that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, he knew that though he had succeeded in depraving human nature . . . , yet by some mysterious process God would restore to man his lost power, and enable him to resist and overcome his conqueror. {TMK 16.3} [TMK 16.4] It is the grace that Christ implants in the soul that creates the enmity against Satan. Without this grace, man would continue the captive of Satan, a servant ever ready to do his bidding. The new principle in the soul creates conflict where hitherto had been peace. The power which Christ imparts, enables man to resist the tyrant and usurper. Whenever a man is seen to abhor sin instead of loving it, when he resists and conquers those passions that have held sway within, there is seen the operation of a principle wholly from above. The Holy Spirit must be constantly imparted to man, or he has no disposition to contend against the powers of darkness. {TMK 16.4} [TMK 16.5] Shall we not accept the enmity which Christ has placed between man and the serpent? . . . We have a right to say, In the strength of Jesus Christ I will be a conqueror. {TMK 16.5} [TMK 17.1] Chap. 11 - A Star of Hope Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1:29. {TMK 17.1} [TMK 17.2] To fallen man was revealed the plan of infinite sacrifice through which salvation was to be provided. Nothing but the death of God's dear Son could expiate man's sin, and Adam marveled at the goodness of God in providing such a ransom for the sinner. Through the love of God, a star of hope illumined the terrible future that spreads before the transgressor. Through the institution of the typical system of sacrifice and offering, the death of Christ was ever to be kept before guilty man, that he might better comprehend the nature of sin, the results of transgression, and the merit of the divine offering. Had there been no sin, man would never have known death. But in the innocent offering slain by his own hand he beheld the fruits of sin--the death of the Son of God in his behalf. He sees the immutable character of the law he has transgressed, and confesses his sin; he relies upon the merits of the Lamb of God. . . . {TMK 17.2} [TMK 17.3] In becoming man's substitute, in bearing the curse which should fall upon man, Christ has pledged Himself in behalf of the race to maintain the sacred and exalted honor of His Father's law. . . . God has given the world into the hands of Christ, that He may completely vindicate the binding claims of the law and make manifest the holiness of every principle. {TMK 17.3} [TMK 17.4] The sacrifice of beasts shadowed forth the sinless offering of God's dear Son, and pointed forward to His death upon the cross. But at the crucifixion type met antitype, and the typical system there ceased. . . . {TMK 17.4} [TMK 17.5] The Son of God is the center of the great plan of redemption which covers all dispensations. He is the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8). He is the Redeemer of the fallen sons and daughters of Adam in all ages of human probation. "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). {TMK 17.5} [TMK 18.1] Chap. 12 - God's Character Revealed But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8. {TMK 18.1} [TMK 18.2] The fall of man, with all its consequences, was not hidden from the Omnipotent. Redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam, but an eternal purpose, suffered to be wrought out for the blessing not only of this atom of a world, but for the good of all the worlds that God had created. . . . {TMK 18.2} [TMK 18.3] When man sinned, all heaven was filled with sorrow. . . . Out of harmony with the nature of God, unyielding to the claims of His law, naught but destruction was before the human race. Since the divine law is as changeless as the character of God, there could be no hope for man unless some way could be devised whereby his transgression might be pardoned, his nature renewed, and his spirit restored to reflect the image of God. Divine love had conceived such a plan. . . . {TMK 18.3} [TMK 18.4] In the work of creation Christ was with God. He was one with God, equal with Him. . . . He alone, the Creator of man, could be his Saviour. No angel of heaven could reveal the Father to the sinner, and win him back to allegiance to God. But Christ could manifest the Father's love, for God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. Christ could be the "daysman" between a holy God and lost humanity, one who could "lay his hand upon us both" (Job 9:33). . . . He proposed to take upon Himself the guilt and shame of sin--sin so offensive in the sight of God that it would necessitate separation from His Father. Christ proposed to reach to the depths of man's degradation and woe, and restore the repenting, believing soul to harmony with God. Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, offered Himself as a sacrifice and substitute for the fallen sons of Adam. {TMK 18.4} [TMK 18.5] Through creation and redemption, through nature and through Christ, the glories of the divine character are revealed. By the marvelous display of His love in giving "his only begotten Son," . . . the character of God is revealed to the intelligences of the universe. {TMK 18.5} [TMK 19.1] Chap. 13 - Love So Amazing! For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16. {TMK 19.1} [TMK 19.2] Having undertaken the work of man's redemption, the Father would spare nothing, however dear, which was essential for the completion of His work. He would make opportunities for men; He would pour upon them His blessings; He would heap favor upon favor, gift upon gift, until the whole treasury of heaven was open to those whom He came to save. Having collected all the riches of the universe, and laid open all the resources of His divine nature, God gave them all for the use of man. They were His free gift. What an ocean of love is circulating, like a divine atmosphere, around the world! What manner of love is this, that the eternal God should adopt human nature in the person of His Son, and carry the same into the highest heaven! {TMK 19.2} [TMK 19.3] All the heavenly intelligences were watching with intense interest the warfare that was going on upon the earth--the earth that Satan claimed as his dominion. Every moment was big with eternal realities. How would the conflict end? The angels looked for the justice of God to be revealed, His anger to be aroused against the prince of darkness and his sympathizers. But lo, mercy prevailed. When the Son of God might have come to the world to condemn, He came as righteousness and peace, to save not merely the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but all the world--every son and daughter of Adam who would believe on Him, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. What an exhibition of the love of Jehovah! This is love without a parallel. {TMK 19.3} [TMK 19.4] Our Redeemer determined on nothing less than that through His merits the love of God should be transfused through the soul that believes in Him. As our life, the vitality of God's love is to circulate through every part of our nature, that it may abide in us as it dwells in Christ Jesus. United with Christ by living faith, the Father loves us as the members of Christ's mystical body, of which Christ is the glorified head. {TMK 19.4} [TMK 20.1] Chap. 14 - Isaac a Figure of Christ By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Hebrews 11:17, 18. {TMK 20.1} [TMK 20.2] The offering of Isaac was designed by God to prefigure the sacrifice of His Son. Isaac was a figure of the Son of God, who was offered a sacrifice for the sins of the world. God desired to impress upon Abraham the gospel of salvation of men. . . . He was made to understand in his own experience how great was the self-denial of the infinite God in giving His Son to rescue man from ruin. {TMK 20.2} [TMK 20.3] To Abraham no mental torture could be equal to that which he endured in obeying the command to sacrifice his son. ... With a breaking heart and unnerved hand, he takes the fire, while Isaac inquires, "Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" (Genesis 22:7). But oh, Abraham cannot tell him now! Father and son build the altar, and the terrible moment comes for Abraham to make known to Isaac that which has agonized his soul during all that long journey--that Isaac himself is the victim. . . . The son submits to the sacrifice because he believes in the integrity of his father. But when everything is ready, when the faith of the father and the submission of the son are fully tested, the angel of God stays the uplifted hand of Abraham, and tells him that it is enough. "Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me" (verse 12). {TMK 20.3} [TMK 20.4] Our heavenly Father surrendered His beloved Son to the agonies of the crucifixion. Legions of angels witnessed the humiliation and soul anguish of the Son of God, but were not permitted to interpose as in the case of Isaac. No voice was heard to stay the sacrifice. God's dear Son, the world's Redeemer, was insulted, mocked at, derided, and tortured, until He bowed His head in death. What greater proof can the Infinite One give us of His divine love and pity? "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32). {TMK 20.4} [TMK 21.1] Chap. 15 - Christ the Mystic Ladder And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. Genesis 28:12. {TMK 21.1} [TMK 21.2] Jacob's experience as a wanderer from his home, when he was shown the mystic ladder, . . . was designed to teach a great truth in regard to the plan of salvation. . . . {TMK 21.2} [TMK 21.3] The ladder represented Christ. He is the channel of communication between heaven and earth, and angels go to and fro in continual intercourse with the fallen race. The words of Christ to Nathanael were in harmony with the figure of the ladder, when He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man" (John 1:51). Here the Redeemer identifies Himself as the mystic ladder that makes communication possible between heaven and earth. . . . {TMK 21.3} [TMK 21.4] In assuming humanity, Christ planted the ladder firmly upon the earth. The ladder reaches unto the highest heaven, and God's glory shines from its summit and illuminates its whole length, while the angels pass to and fro with messages from God to man, with petition and praise from man to God. . . . In the vision of Jacob was represented the union of the human and the divine in Christ. As the angels pass to and fro on the ladder, God is represented as looking down with favor upon the children of men because of the merit of His Son. . . . {TMK 21.4} [TMK 21.5] The gaining of eternal life is no easy thing. By living faith we are to keep on reaching forward, ascending the ladder round by round, seeing and taking the necessary steps; and yet we must understand that not one holy thought, not one unselfish act, can be originated in self. It is only through Christ that there can be any virtue in humanity. . . . But while we can do nothing without Him, we have something to do in connection with Him. At no time must we relax our spiritual vigilance, for we are hanging, as it were, between heaven and earth. We must cling to Christ, climb up by Christ, become laborers together with Him in the saving of our souls. {TMK 21.5} [TMK 22.1] Chap. 16 - Christ's First Advent Prefigured By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Hebrews 11:24, 25. {TMK 22.1} [TMK 22.2] was sitting under the very shadow of the throne, the Spirit of the Lord stirred his heart to lift the crushing weight that was pressing his brethren into the lowest degradation and slavery. His heart ached with sorrow, as if he himself were in slavery, laboring in the brick kiln, and sharing their degradation. They were slaves, suffering under the cruel lash. They were a reproach and a hissing to all the Egyptians, from Pharaoh down to the lowest serf. {TMK 22.2} [TMK 22.3] But the Lord had singled out Moses as the one to deliver the oppressed race, and by forty years of exile, under the discipline of God, he was prepared for the work. Understanding the evil disposition of his own countrymen, knowing how many would be perverse and unreasonable, understanding that they might betray him, he was yet considering ways and means to accomplish their deliverance, though supposing that he himself had forfeited all right to be the instrument. But God, in the bush which though burning was yet unconsumed by the fire, presented Himself, and selected Moses as His agent. . . . {TMK 22.3} [TMK 22.4] Moses was accepted as a co-worker with God. He knew that scorn, hatred, persecution, and maybe death would be his portion if he should act any part in espousing the cause of the Hebrew captives. . . . He had stood in great popularity as the general of Pharaoh's armies, and he knew that now his name would be bandied round and falsified, but he esteemed "the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt" (Hebrews 11:26). He laid down the prospect of a kingly crown, and took up the burdens of his oppressed and afflicted people. {TMK 22.4} [TMK 22.5] Moses was chosen of God to break the yoke of bondage upon the children of Israel, and . . . in his work he prefigured Christ's first advent to break Satan's power over the human family and deliver those who were made captives by his power. {TMK 22.5} [TMK 23.1] Chap. 17 - The Smitten Rock Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. Exodus 17:6. {TMK 23.1} [TMK 23.2] From the smitten rock in Horeb first flowed the living stream that refreshed Israel in the desert. During all their wanderings, wherever the need existed, they were supplied with water by a miracle of God's mercy. . . . {TMK 23.2} [TMK 23.3] It was Christ, by the power of His word, that caused the refreshing stream to flow for Israel. "They drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4). He was the source of all temporal as well as spiritual blessings. Christ, the true Rock, was with them in all their wanderings. "They thirsted not when he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them." "They ran in the dry places like a river" (Isaiah 48:21; Psalm 105:41). {TMK 23.3} [TMK 23.4] The smitten rock was a figure of Christ, and through this symbol the most precious spiritual truths are taught. As the life-giving waters flowed from the smitten rock, so from Christ, "smitten of God," "wounded for our transgressions," "bruised for our iniquities" (Isaiah 53:4, 5), the stream of salvation flows for a lost race. As the rock had been once smitten, so Christ was to be "once offered to bear the sins of many" (Hebrews 9:28). Our Saviour was not to be sacrificed a second time; and it is only necessary for those who seek the blessings of His grace to ask in the name of Jesus, pouring forth the heart's desire in penitential prayer. Such prayer will bring before the Lord of hosts the wounds of Jesus, and then will flow forth afresh the life-giving blood, symbolized by the flowing of the living water for Israel. . . . {TMK 23.4} [TMK 23.5] The refreshing water, welling up in a parched and barren land, . . . is an emblem of the divine grace which Christ alone can bestow, and which is as the living water purifying, refreshing, and invigorating the soul. He in whom Christ is abiding has within him a never-failing fountain of grace and strength. {TMK 23.5} [TMK 24.1] Chap. 18 - The Living Water And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:4. {TMK 24.1} [TMK 24.2] Christ combines the two types. He is the rock, He is the living water. {TMK 24.2} [TMK 24.3] as a flowing brook." To Jeremiah, Christ is "the fountain of living waters"; to Zechariah, "a fountain opened . . . for sin and for uncleanness." {TMK 24.3} [TMK 24.4] Isaiah describes Him as the "rock of ages," and "the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." And he records the precious promise, bringing vividly to mind the living stream that flowed for Israel: "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them." "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground"; "in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert." The invitation is given, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters." And in the closing pages of the sacred word this invitation is echoed. The river of the water of life, "clear as crystal," proceeds from the throne of God and the Lamb; and the gracious call is ringing down through the ages, "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." {TMK 24.4} [TMK 24.5] References: Deuteronomy 32:15; Psalm 19:14; 62:7; 61:2; 71:3 (margin); 73:26 (margin); 94:22; 23:2; 36:8, 9; Proverbs 18:4; Jeremiah 2:13; Zechariah 13:1; Isaiah 26:4 (margin); 32:2; 41:17; 44:3; 35:6; 55:1; Revelation 22:1, 17. {TMK 24.5} [TMK 25.1] Chap. 19 - God in Human Flesh And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:14. {TMK 25.1} [TMK 25.2] When we want a deep problem to study, let us fix our minds on the most marvelous thing that ever took place in earth or heaven-- the incarnation of the Son of God. {TMK 25.2} [TMK 25.3] Christ alone was able to represent the Deity. . . . God Himself must be revealed to humanity. In order to do this, our Saviour clothed His divinity with humanity. He employed the human faculties, for only by adopting these could He be comprehended by humanity. Only humanity could reach humanity. He lived out the character of God through the human body which God had prepared for Him. {TMK 25.3} [TMK 25.4] Had Christ come in His divine form, humanity could not have endured the sight. The contrast would have been too painful, the glory too overwhelming. Humanity could not have endured the presence of one of the pure, bright angels from glory; therefore Christ took not on Him the nature of angels; He came in the likeness of men. {TMK 25.4} [TMK 25.5] Looking upon Him, we behold the invisible God, who clothed His divinity with humanity in order that through humanity He might shed forth a subdued and softened glory, so that our eyes might be enabled to rest upon Him, and our souls not be extinguished by His undimmed splendor. We behold God through Christ, our Creator and Redeemer. It is our privilege to contemplate Jesus by faith, and see Him standing between humanity and the eternal throne. He is our Advocate, presenting our prayers and offerings as spiritual sacrifices to God. Jesus is the great sinless propitiation, and through His merit God and man may hold converse together. {TMK 25.5} [TMK 25.6] Christ has carried His humanity into eternity. He stands before God as the representative of our race. When we are clothed with the wedding garment of His righteousness, we become one with Him, and He says of us, "They shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy" (Revelation 3:4). His saints will behold Him in His glory, with no dimming veil between. {TMK 25.6} [TMK 26.1] Chap. 20 - The Babe of Bethlehem Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Luke 2:11, 12. {TMK 26.1} [TMK 26.2] We cannot understand how Christ became a little, helpless babe. He could have come to earth in such beauty that He would have been unlike the sons of men. His face could have been bright with light, and His form could have been tall and beautiful. He could have come in such a way as to charm those who looked upon Him, but this was not the way that God planned He should come among the sons of men. He was to be like those who belonged to the human family and to the Jewish race. His features were to be like those of other human beings and He was not to have such beauty of person as to make people point Him out as different from others. He was to come as one of the human family, and to stand as a man before heaven and earth. He had come to take man's place, to pledge Himself in man's behalf, to pay the debt that sinners owed. He was to live a pure life on the earth, and show that Satan had told a falsehood when he claimed that the human family belonged to him forever, and that God could not take men out of his hands. {TMK 26.2} [TMK 26.3] Men first beheld Christ as a babe, as a child. His parents were very poor, and He had nothing in this earth save that which the poor have. He passed through all the trials that the poor and lowly pass through from babyhood to childhood, from youth to manhood. . . . {TMK 26.3} [TMK 26.4] The more we think about Christ's becoming a babe here on earth, the more wonderful it appears. How can it be that the helpless babe in Bethlehem's manger is still the divine Son of God? Though we cannot understand it, we can believe that He who made the worlds, for our sakes became a helpless babe. Though higher than any of the angels, though as great as the Father on the throne of heaven, He became one with us. In Him God and man became one, and it is in this fact that we find the hope of our fallen race. Looking upon Christ in the flesh, we look upon God in humanity and see in Him the brightness of divine glory, the express image of God the Father. {TMK 26.4} [TMK 27.1] Chap. 21 - A Light to the Young And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. Luke 2:40. {TMK 27.1} [TMK 27.2] The example of Jesus is a light to the young as well as to those of mature years, for His was a representative childhood and youth. From His earliest years His example was perfect. In both His physical and His spiritual nature He followed the divine order of growth illustrated by the plant, as He wishes all youth to do. Although He was the majesty of heaven, the King of glory, He became a babe in Bethlehem, and for a time represented the helpless infant in its mother's care. In childhood He did the works of an obedient child. He spoke and acted with the wisdom of a child and not of a man, honoring His parents, and carrying out their wishes in helpful ways, according to the ability of a child. But at each stage of His development He was perfect, with the simple, natural grace of a sinless life. {TMK 27.2} [TMK 27.3] Joseph, and especially Mary, kept before them the remembrance of their child's divine Fatherhood. Jesus was instructed in accordance with the sacred character of His mission. His inclination to right was a constant gratification to His parents. The questions He asked them led them to study most earnestly the great elements of truth. His soul-stirring words about nature and the God of nature opened and enlightened their minds. {TMK 27.3} [TMK 27.4] On the rocks and knolls about His home the eye of the Son of God often rested. He was familiar with the things of nature. He saw the sun in the heavens, the moon and the stars fulfilling their mission. With the voice of singing He welcomed the morning light. He listened to the lark caroling forth music to its God, and joined His voice with the voice of praise and thanksgiving. {TMK 27.4} [TMK 27.5] Quiet and gentle, He seemed as one who was set apart. Whenever He could He went out alone into the fields and on the mountainsides to commune with the God of nature. When His work was done He wandered by the lakeside, among the trees of the forest, and in the green valleys, where He could think about God and lift His soul to heaven in prayer. {TMK 27.5} [TMK 28.1] Chap. 22 - A Child in the Temple Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? Luke 2:49. {TMK 28.1} [TMK 28.2] When Christ was twelve years old He went with His parents to Jerusalem to attend the feast of the Passover, and on their return He was lost in the multitude. After Joseph and Mary had searched for Him for three days, they found Him in the court of the Temple, "sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers" (Luke 2:46, 47). {TMK 28.2} [TMK 28.3] His parents listened in amazement as they heard His searching inquiries. . . . Though taking the attitude of a learner, Christ imparted light in every word He uttered. He interpreted the Scripture to the darkened mind of the rabbis, and gave them clear light in regard to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. The sharp, clear questions of the child learner brought a flood of light to their darkened understanding. The truth shone out as the clear shining of a light in a darkened place, as He received and imparted the knowledge of the plan of salvation. {TMK 28.3} [TMK 28.4] It is plainly stated that Christ grew in knowledge. What a lesson is found in this incident in the life of Christ for all youth! If they shall diligently search the Word of God, and through the Holy Spirit receive divine guidance, they will be able to impart light to others. . . . {TMK 28.4} [TMK 28.5] Mary, the mother of Jesus, . . . asked, "Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing." Divine light shone through humanity as Jesus lifted His right hand and asked, "How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them" (verses 48-50). They did not comprehend the true meaning of His words. But, though He was the Son of God, He went down with His parents and came unto Nazareth, and was subject unto them. . . . At the age of twelve the Holy Spirit was abiding upon Jesus and He felt something of the burden of the mission for which He had come to our world. {TMK 28.5} [TMK 29.1] Chap. 23 - Keep the Saviour With You! And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. Luke 2:43. {TMK 29.1} [TMK 29.2] Not one act in the life of Christ was unimportant. Every event of His life was for the benefit of His followers in future time. This circumstance of the tarry of Christ in Jerusalem teaches an important lesson. . . . {TMK 29.2} [TMK 29.3] Jesus was acquainted with hearts. He knew that, as the crowd returned in company from Jerusalem, there would be much talking and visiting which would not be seasoned with humility and grace, and the Messiah and His mission would be nearly forgotten. It was His choice to return from Jerusalem with His parents alone; for in being retired, His father and mother would have more time for reflection, and for meditation upon the prophecies which referred to His future sufferings and death. He did not wish the painful events which they were to experience in His offering up His life for the sins of the world, to be new and unexpected to them. He was separated from them in their return to Jerusalem. After the celebration of the Passover, they sought Him sorrowing three days. . . . {TMK 29.3} [TMK 29.4] Here is a lesson of instruction to all the followers of Christ. . . . There is necessity of carefulness of words and actions when Christians are associated together, lest Jesus be forgotten of them, and they pass along careless of the fact that Jesus is not among them. When they are aroused to their condition, they discover that they have journeyed without the presence of Him who could give peace and joy to their hearts, and days are occupied in returning, and searching for Him whom they should have retained with them every moment. Jesus will not be found in the company of those who are careless of His presence, and who engage in conversation having no reference to their Redeemer. . . . It is the privilege of all to retain Jesus with them. If they do this, their words must be select, seasoned with grace. The thoughts of their hearts must be disciplined to meditate upon heavenly and divine things. {TMK 29.4} [TMK 30.1] Chap. 24 - The Ideal for All Humanity And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. Luke 2:52. {TMK 30.1} [TMK 30.2] Christ lived the life of a toiler from His earliest years. In His youth He worked with His Father at the carpenter's trade, and thus honored all labor. Though He was the King of glory, yet by His practice of following a humble employment He rebuked idleness in every member of the human family, and dignified all labor as noble and Christlike. . . . From childhood He was a pattern of obedience and industry. He was as a pleasant sunbeam in the home circle. . . . {TMK 30.2} [TMK 30.3] Though His wisdom had astonished the doctors, yet He meekly subjected Himself to His human guardians. . . . The knowledge He was daily obtaining of His wonderful mission did not disqualify Him for performing the most humble duties. He cheerfully took up the work that devolves upon youth who dwell in humble households pressed by poverty. He understood the temptations of children, for He bore their sorrows and trials. Firm and steadfast was His purpose to do the right. Though enticed to evil, He refused to depart in a single instance from the strictest truth and rectitude. {TMK 30.3} [TMK 30.4] Christ is the ideal for all humanity. He has left a perfect example for childhood, youth, and manhood. He came to this earth, and passed through the different phases of human life. He talked and acted like other children and youth, except that He did no wrong. Sin found no place in His life. Ever He lived in an atmosphere of heavenly purity. . . . {TMK 30.4} [TMK 30.5] In the sanctuary of the home, Jesus received His education, not merely from His parents, but from His heavenly Father. As He grew older, God opened to Him more and more of the great work before Him. But notwithstanding His knowledge of this, He assumed no airs of superiority. Never did He by disrespect cause His parents pain or anxiety. He delighted to honor and obey them. Although He was not ignorant of His great mission, He consulted their wishes, and submitted to their authority. {TMK 30.5} [TMK 31.1] Chap. 25 - The Meaning of Christ's Baptism Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. Matthew 3:13. {TMK 31.1} [TMK 31.2] Many had come to him ［John］ to receive the baptism of repentance, confessing their sins. . . . Christ came not confessing His own sins, but guilt was imputed to Him as the sinner's substitute. He came not to repent on His own account, but in behalf of the sinner. . . . Christ honored the ordinance of baptism by submitting to this rite. In this act He identified Himself with His people as their representative and head. As their substitute He takes upon Him their sins, numbering Himself with the transgressors, taking the steps the sinner is required to take, and doing the work the sinner must do. . . . {TMK 31.2} [TMK 31.3] After Christ rose up from the water. . . . He walked out to the bank of Jordan and bowed in the attitude of prayer. . . . As the believer's example, His sinless humanity supplicated support and strength from His heavenly Father, as He was about to commence His public labor as the Messiah. . . . {TMK 31.3} [TMK 31.4] Never before had angels listened to such a prayer as Christ offered at His baptism, and they were solicitous to be the bearers of the message from the Father to His Son. But, no! Direct from the Father issues the light of His glory. The heavens were opened and beams of glory rested upon the Son of God and assumed the form of a dove, in appearance like burnished gold. The dovelike form was emblematical of the meekness and gentleness of Christ. . . . From the opening heavens came these words: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." . . . Notwithstanding the Son of God was clothed with humanity, yet Jehovah, with His own voice, assures Him of His sonship with the Eternal. In this manifestation to His Son, God accepts humanity as exalted through the excellence of His beloved Son. {TMK 31.4} [TMK 31.5] Christ's prayer on the banks of the Jordan includes everyone who will believe in Him. The promise that you are accepted in the Beloved comes to you. God said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." . . . Christ has cleaved the way for you to the throne of the infinite God. {TMK 31.5} [TMK 32.1] Chap. 26 - The Wilderness Temptation Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Matthew 4:1. {TMK 32.1} [TMK 32.2] Why was it that at the beginning of His public ministry Christ was led into the wilderness to be tempted? . . . He went, not in His own behalf, but in our behalf; to overcome for us. . . . He was to be tried and tested as a representative of the race. He was to meet the foe in personal encounter, to overthrow him who claimed to be the head of the kingdoms of the world. {TMK 32.2} [TMK 32.3] Satan met Him and tempted Him on the very points where man will be tempted. Our Substitute and Surety passed over the ground where Adam stumbled and fell. And the question was, Will He stumble and fall as Adam did over God's commandments? He met Satan's attacks again and again with "It is written," and Satan left the field of conflict a conquered foe. Christ has redeemed Adam's disgraceful fall, and has perfected a character of perfect obedience, and left an example for the human family. . . . Had He failed on one point in reference to the law of God, He would not have been a perfect offering, for it was on one point only that Adam failed. . . . {TMK 32.3} [TMK 32.4] Our Saviour withstood on every point the test of temptation, and in this way He has made it possible for man to overcome. Now, there is enough in this idea, in this thought, to fill our hearts with gratitude every day of our lives. As Jesus was accepted as our substitute and surety, every one of us will be accepted if we stand the test and trial for ourselves. He took our nature that He might become acquainted with the trials wherewith man should be beset, and He is our mediator and intercessor before the Father. {TMK 32.4} [TMK 32.5] Those who would overcome must put to the tax every power of their being. They must agonize on their knees before God for divine power. . . . Men may have a power to resist evil--a power that neither earth, nor death, nor hell can master; a power that will place them where they may overcome as Christ overcame. Divinity and humanity may be combined in them. {TMK 32.5} [TMK 33.1] Chap. 27 - A Life Without Sin We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15. {TMK 33.1} [TMK 33.2] Let us consider how much it cost our Saviour in the wilderness of temptation to carry on in our behalf the conflict with the wily, malignant foe. Satan knew that everything depended upon his success or failure in his attempt to overcome Christ with his manifold temptations. Satan knew that the plan of salvation would be carried out to its fulfillment, that his power would be taken away, that his destruction would be certain, if Christ bore the test that Adam failed to endure. The temptations of Satan were most effective in degrading human nature, for man could not stand against their powerful influence; but Christ in man's behalf, as man's representative, resting wholly upon the power of God, endured the severe conflict, in order that He might be a perfect example to us. There is hope for man. . . . The work before us is to overcome as Christ overcame. He fasted forty days, and suffered the keenest pangs of hunger. Christ suffered on our account beyond our comprehension, and we should welcome trial and suffering on our own account for Christ's sake, that we may overcome as Christ also overcame, and be exalted to the throne of our Redeemer. . . . {TMK 33.2} [TMK 33.3] We have everything to gain in the conflict with our mighty foe, and we dare not for a moment yield to his temptations. We know that in our own strength it is not possible for us to succeed; but as Christ humbled Himself, and took upon Himself our nature, He is acquainted with our necessities, and has Himself borne the heaviest temptations that man will have to bear, has conquered the enemy in resisting his suggestions, in order that man may learn how to be conqueror. He was clothed with a body like ours, and in every respect suffered what man will suffer, and very much more. We shall never be called upon to suffer as Christ suffered, for the sins not of one, but the sins of the whole world were laid upon Christ. He endured humiliation, reproach, suffering, and death, that we by following His example might inherit all things. {TMK 33.3} [TMK 34.1] Chap. 28 - Christ Suffered, Being Tempted For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Hebrews 2:16. {TMK 34.1} [TMK 34.2] We need not place the obedience of Christ by itself, as something for which He was particularly adapted, by His particular divine nature, for He stood before God as man's representative and was tempted as man's substitute and surety. If Christ had a special power which it is not the privilege of man to have, Satan would have made capital of this matter. The work of Christ was to take from the claims of Satan his control of man, and He could do this only in the way that He came--a man, tempted as a man, rendering the obedience of a man. {TMK 34.2} [TMK 34.3] Would that we could comprehend the significance of the words, Christ "suffered being tempted" (Hebrews 2:18). While He was free from the taint of sin, the refined sensibilities of His holy nature rendered contact with evil unspeakably painful to Him. Yet with human nature upon Him, He met the arch apostate face to face, and singlehanded withstood the foe of His throne. Not even by a thought could Christ be brought to yield to the power of temptation. {TMK 34.3} [TMK 34.4] Satan finds in human hearts some point where he can gain a foothold; some sinful desire is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. But Christ declared of Himself, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me" (John 14:30). The storms of temptation burst upon Him, but they could not cause Him to swerve from His allegiance to God. {TMK 34.4} [TMK 34.5] All the followers of Christ have to meet the same malignant foe that assailed their Master. With marvelous skill he adapts his temptations to their circumstances, their temperament, their mental and moral bias, their strong passions. He is ever whispering in the ears of the children of men, as he points to worldly pleasures, gains, or honors, "All this will I give you, if you will do my bidding." We must look to Christ; we must resist as He resisted; we must pray as He prayed; we must agonize as He agonized, if we would conquer as He conquered. {TMK 34.5} [TMK 35.1] Chap. 29 - Our Divine Redeemer Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Philippians 2:6. {TMK 35.1} [TMK 35.2] Jesus Christ "counted it not a thing to be grasped to be equal with God." Because divinity alone could be efficacious in the restoration of man from the poisonous bruise of the serpent, God Himself, in His only begotten Son, assumed human nature, and in the weakness of human nature sustained the character of God, vindicated His holy law in every particular, and accepted the sentence of wrath and death for the sons of men. What a thought is this! He who was one with the Father before the world was made had such compassion for a world lost and ruined by transgression that He gave His life a ransom for it. He who was the brightness of the Father's glory, the express image of His person, bore our sins in His own body on the tree, suffering the penalty of man's transgression until justice was satisfied and required no more. How great is the redemption that has been worked out for us! So great that the Son of God died the cruel death of the cross to bring to us life and immortality through faith in Him. {TMK 35.2} [TMK 35.3] This wonderful problem--how God could be just and yet the justifier of sinners--is beyond human ken. As we attempt to fathom it, it broadens and deepens beyond our comprehension. When we look with the eye of faith upon the cross of Calvary, and see our sins laid upon the victim hanging in weakness and ignominy there--when we grasp the fact that this is God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace--we are led to exclaim, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us" (1 John 3:1)! . . . {TMK 35.3} [TMK 35.4] When man can measure the exalted character of the Lord of hosts, and distinguish between the eternal God and finite humanity, he will know how great has been the sacrifice of Heaven to bring man from where he has fallen through disobedience to become part of the family of God. . . . The divinity of Christ is our assurance of eternal life. . . . He, the Sin Bearer of the world, is our only medium of reconciliation with a holy God. {TMK 35.4} [TMK 36.1] Chap. 30 - Marvel of the Heavenly Hosts But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. Philippians 2:7. {TMK 36.1} [TMK 36.2] It is important that we each study to know the reason of the life of Christ in humanity, and what it means to us--why the Son of God left the courts of heaven--why He stepped down from His position as commander of the heavenly angels who came and went at His bidding --why He clothed His divinity with humanity, and in lowliness and humility came to the world as our Redeemer. {TMK 36.2} [TMK 36.3] It was the marvel of the heavenly hosts that Christ should come to earth and do as He did--that His life here should be one of poverty, in such incomparable contrast with His glory in the heavenly courts. He might have come attended by the angelic throng. . . . {TMK 36.3} [TMK 36.4] Before the universe of heaven, Christ condescended to take upon Him the form of humanity, and stand among the lowly ones of earth, that He might reach them where they were, and by precept and example teach them, that though among the poor and oppressed they might be pure, and true, and noble. He came to reveal to the world that the life and character need not become contaminated amid poverty and lowliness. The lily that rests upon the bosom of the lake may be surrounded with weeds and unsightly debris, yet, unsullied, it opens its fragrant white blossom to the sunlight. It strikes its channeled stem down through the mass of rubbish to the pure sands beneath. Refusing everything that would defile, it gathers to itself only those properties that will develop into the spotless, fragrant flower. {TMK 36.4} [TMK 36.5] The lily is a representation of Christ among men. He came to a world all seared and marred with the curse, but He was not polluted by His surroundings. He was the Light, the Life, and the Way. He voluntarily became an inhabitant of earth, that He might grasp the whole world in His merciful arms and lay it in the arms of His heavenly Father. What love is manifested in this sacrifice, that the Lord Himself should come to the help of the fallen sons and daughters of Adam! {TMK 36.5} [TMK 37.1] Chap. 31 - The Greatness of Humility And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:8. {TMK 37.1} [TMK 37.2] Christ came to this world for no other purpose than to manifest the glory of God, that man might be uplifted by its restoring power. All power and grace were given to Him. His heart was a wellspring of living water, a never-failing fountain, ever ready to flow forth in a rich, clear stream to those around Him. His whole life was spent in pure disinterested benevolence. His purposes were full of love and sympathy. He rejoiced that He could do more for His followers than they could ask or think. His constant prayer for them was that they might be sanctified through the truth, and He prayed with assurance, knowing that an almighty decree had been given before the world was made. He knew that the gospel of the kingdom would be preached in all the world; that truth, armed with the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit, would conquer in the contest with evil; and that the bloodstained banner would one day wave triumphantly over His followers. {TMK 37.2} [TMK 37.3] Yet Christ came in great humility. When He was here He pleased not Himself, but "humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." To His followers He says, "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" (Matthew 11:29). . . . {TMK 37.3} [TMK 37.4] From the root of true humility springs the most precious greatness of mind--greatness which leads men to conform to the image of Christ. Those who possess this greatness gain patience and trust in God. Their faith is invincible. Their true consecration and devotion keep self hidden. The words that fall from their lips are molded into expressions of Christlike tenderness and love. Having a sense of their own weakness, they appreciate the help which the Lord gives them, and they crave His grace that they may do that which is right and true. By their manner, their attitude, and their spirit, they carry with them the credentials of learners in the school of Christ. {TMK 37.4} [TMK 38.1] Chap. 32 - Christ the Revelation of God No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. John 1:18. {TMK 38.1} [TMK 38.2] Christ came to the world to reveal the character of the Father and to redeem the fallen race. The world's Redeemer was equal with God. His authority was as the authority of God. He declared that He had no existence separate from the Father. The authority by which He spoke and wrought miracles was expressly His own, yet He assures us that He and the Father are one. . . . {TMK 38.2} [TMK 38.3] Jesus had imparted a knowledge of God to patriarchs, prophets, and apostles. The revelations of the Old Testament were emphatically the unfoldings of the gospel, the unveiling of the purpose and will of the infinite Father. Through the holy men of old, Christ labored for the salvation of fallen humanity. And when He came to the world it was with the same message of redemption from sin, and restoration to the favor of God. {TMK 38.3} [TMK 38.4] What speech is to thought, so is Christ to the invisible Father. He is the manifestation of the Father, and is called the Word of God. God sent His Son into the world, His divinity clothed with humanity, that man might bear the image of the invisible God. He made known in His words, His character, His power and majesty, the nature and attributes of God. {TMK 38.4} [TMK 38.5] As legislator, Jesus exercised the authority of God; His commands and decisions were supported by the sovereignty of the eternal throne. The glory of the Father was revealed in the Son; Christ made manifest the character of the Father. He was so perfectly connected with God, so completely embraced in His encircling light, that he who had seen the Son had seen the Father. His voice was as the voice of God. . . . He says, "I am in the Father, and the Father in me." "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:11; Matthew 11:27; 14:9). {TMK 38.5} [TMK 39.1] Chap. 33 - Christ in the Home And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: and both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. John 2:1, 2. {TMK 39.1} [TMK 39.2] desired to express His sympathy with, and approval of, those at the wedding. Christ did not come to this world to forbid marriage or to break down or destroy the relationship and influence which exist in the domestic circle. He came to restore, elevate, purify, and ennoble every current of pure affection, that the family on earth might become a symbol of the family in heaven. . . . {TMK 39.2} [TMK 39.3] Mothers are under the tender care of heavenly angels. How interestedly the Lord Jesus knocks at the door of families where there are little children to be educated and trained! How gently he watches over the mothers' interest, and how sad He feels to see children neglected. . . . In the home characters are formed; human beings are molded and fashioned to be either a blessing or a curse. To the mother the Lord has committed the younger members of the family as they come into our world weak and helpless. Infinite wisdom and infinite love does not commit this gentle office, so pregnant with eternal results, to the fathers, full of business plans and cares. Woman's heart is full of patience and love if that woman has surrendered her heart to God. She must cooperate with God and her husband in training the precious souls entrusted to her, to grow up into Christ Jesus. And the father, relying upon the grace of God, should bear the sacred responsibility that rests upon him as the husband, which means house-band. {TMK 39.3} [TMK 39.4] In babyhood and childhood, when the nature is pliable, God would have the firmest impressions made for right. A battle is constantly going on between the Prince of life and the prince of this world. The question to be settled is, Whom will the mother choose as her co-worker to mold and fashion the characters of her children? If she will learn that love is the key to the souls of her children, Christ will preside in the home, filling it with heavenly sunshine. This is His work in every home that will admit Him. {TMK 39.4} [TMK 40.1] Chap. 34 - Lover of Little Children Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them. Matthew 19:13-15. {TMK 40.1} [TMK 40.2] Children are the Lord's heritage. The soul of the little child that believes in Christ is as precious in His sight as are the angels about His throne. They are to be brought to Christ, and trained for Christ. They are to be guided in the path of obedience, not indulged in appetite or vanity. {TMK 40.2} [TMK 40.3] When the disciples sought to send away the mothers who were bringing their little ones to Christ, He rebuked their narrow faith, saying, "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." He was grieved that the disciples should rebuke the mothers for bringing their children to Him; that His followers should say, by word or action, that His grace was limited, and that children should be kept away from Him. . . . {TMK 40.3} [TMK 40.4] A great responsibility rests upon parents, for the education and training which shape the eternal destiny of children and youth are received in their early childhood. The parents' work is to sow the good seed diligently and untiringly in the hearts of their children, occupying their hearts with seed which will bring forth a harvest of right habits, of truthfulness and willing obedience. Correct, virtuous habits formed in youth will generally mark the course of the individual through life. In most cases those who reverence God and honor the right will be found to have learned this lesson before the world could stamp its image of sin upon the soul. . . . {TMK 40.4} [TMK 40.5] O that parents were truly the sons and daughters of God! Their lives would then be fragrant with good works. A holy atmosphere would surround their souls. Their earnest supplications for grace and for the guidance of the Holy Spirit would ascend to heaven, and religion would be diffused through their homes as the bright, warming rays of the sun are diffused through the earth. {TMK 40.5} [TMK 41.1] Chap. 35 - A Message for Boys and Girls Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Psalm 34:11. {TMK 41.1} [TMK 41.2] Every child and every youth should bear in mind, "I am of value in the sight of God; I am bought with a price, and I am the property of Jesus Christ. As a follower of Christ I am to practice His virtues, that I may represent my Saviour." {TMK 41.2} [TMK 41.3] Pray much. While at your work let your heart be uplifted to God. When you have committed to God the keeping of your soul, do not go away and act directly contrary to the prayer you have made. Watch as well as pray, lest you be overcome with temptation. Resist the first inclination to do wrong. Pray in your heart, "Jesus, help me; preserve me from evil," and then do what you know Christ would be pleased to have you do. . . . {TMK 41.3} [TMK 41.4] You may ask, as many others have done, How may I know that Jesus receives me and loves me? Shall I know by my feelings? No; by obedience to His Holy Word. Appropriate to yourself the rich promises of God. Believe His word that Jesus is abiding in your heart by faith. Through faith and trust in God you may have His peace, and you can then say, "I know in whom I have believed. I will listen to every whisper of His Holy Spirit." {TMK 41.4} [TMK 41.5] There is but one way to be victorious. Serve God with all your heart because you love Him. Seek Him daily because you love Him and know what He is to you. Be faithful in the little things, although no eye but the Lord's may review your work. Remember that you are doing service for Christ. You may now be obtaining a precious experience every day in serving God. Plant the principles of truth in your own soul, and reveal Christ in your character. Do not be satisfied with a common, low level. You can . . . resemble Christ in character. . . . {TMK 41.5} [TMK 41.6] Look unto Jesus constantly if you would advance step by step in the narrow path cast up for the chosen of the Lord to walk in, saying in your heart, "Thee will I seek, O God; Thee will I follow; Thee will I serve; under Thy guidance I can and will go forward." {TMK 41.6} [TMK 42.1] Chap. 36 - Armies of Missionary Children Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right. Proverbs 20:11. {TMK 42.1} [TMK 42.2] God wants the children and youth to join the Lord's army. . . . The children have as strong temptations to meet, on the right hand and on the left, as do the older soldiers. Satan and his legions will work every device to ensnare the young. It is the privilege of the children to enlist in the army of the Lord and seek to persuade others to join their ranks. Children must be educated and trained for Jesus Christ. They must be trained to resist temptation and to fight the good fight of faith. Direct their minds to Jesus as soon as they can comprehend your lessons in simple words, easy to be understood. Teach them self-control. Teach them to begin the work of overcoming when young, and they will receive the precious help that Jesus can and will give, connected with prayerful efforts of parents. Cheer them with encouraging words for the battles they fight in resisting temptation and coming off conquerors through grace given them of Jesus Christ. . . . {TMK 42.2} [TMK 42.3] Parents should hang in memory's hall the precious sayings of Christ. The children will repeat the words they hear often on the parents' lips--of Christ, and faith, and truth. Precious truth may be spoken by children. Whole armies of children may come under Christ's banner as missionaries, even in their childhood years. Never repulse the desire of children to do something for Jesus. Never quench their ardor for working in some way for the Master. Children rightly educated will learn to love Jesus and to grieve if they think they have grieved the Saviour by any sin committed by them. Keep their hearts tender and sensitive by your own words and example. {TMK 42.3} [TMK 42.4] The angels of God are ever near your little ones. . . . Let love and tenderness, patience and self-control, be at all times the law of your speech. Winning love is to be like deep waters, ever flowing forth in the management of your children. All through His life, Christ performed acts of love and tenderness for the children. {TMK 42.4} [TMK 43.1] Chap. 37 - Missionary to the Poor The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. Luke 4:18. {TMK 43.1} [TMK 43.2] The sufferings of humanity ever touched the heart and called forth the sympathy and love of Christ. He exercised pity and compassion toward those who were afflicted in soul or body. His example in the matter of treating the suffering and afflicted should teach us how to have compassion and pity for the sufferings of His creatures. {TMK 43.2} [TMK 43.3] Christ suffered in the flesh. . . . He knew what it was to suffer keen pangs of hunger, and He has given special lessons in regard to feeding the hungry and caring for the needy poor, and has declared that in ministering to the needy we are ministering to Himself in the person of His saints. He says, "I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat" (Matthew 25:35). He knew the discomfort and suffering of thirst, and He declared that a cup of cold water given in His name to any of His disciples should not lose its reward. {TMK 43.3} [TMK 43.4] Christ was an active, constant worker. He found the domain of religion fenced in by high, steep walls of seclusion as too sacred a matter for everyday life. He threw down the walls of partition, and exercised His helping power in behalf of every one who needed Him. He brought cheerfulness and hope to the desponding. . . . He did not ask, What is your creed? To what church do you belong? Active, earnest, loving interest marked His life. . . . {TMK 43.4} [TMK 43.5] The Lord Jesus knows what poverty means. He is the great missionary to the poor, the sick, the suffering. The King of heaven, He could have led a life of wealth and have lived among the wealthiest; but He chose poverty. And He has honored the poor who believe in Him, for He blessed them forever. Poverty with Christ is riches of the highest value. This poverty is sanctified and blessed. . . . {TMK 43.5} [TMK 43.6] In the humanity of Christ there are golden threads that bind the believing, trusting poor man to His own soul of infinite love. {TMK 43.6} [TMK 44.1] Chap. 38 - The Pattern Man For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9. {TMK 44.1} [TMK 44.2] This world has been visited by the Majesty of heaven, the Son of God. . . . Christ came to this world as the expression of the very heart and mind and nature and character of God. . . . But He laid aside His royal robe and kingly crown, and stepped down from His high command to take the place of a servant. He was rich, but for our sake, that we might have eternal riches, He became poor. He made the world, but so completely did He empty Himself that during His ministry He declared, ". . . the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.". . . {TMK 44.2} [TMK 44.3] Christ stood at the head of humanity in the garb of humanity. So full of sympathy and love was His attitude that the poorest was not afraid to come to Him. He was kind to all; easily approached by the most lowly. He went from house to house, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, comforting the mourners, soothing the afflicted, speaking peace to the distressed. He took the little children in His arms and blessed them, and spoke words of hope and comfort to the weary mothers. With unfailing tenderness and gentleness He met every form of human woe and affliction. Not for Himself, but for others did He labor. He was willing to humble Himself, to deny Himself. He did not seek to distinguish Himself. He was the servant of all. It was His meat and drink to be a comfort and a consolation to others, to gladden the sad and heavy-laden ones with whom He daily came in contact. {TMK 44.3} [TMK 44.4] Christ stands before us as the pattern Man, the great Medical Missionary,--an example for all who should come after. His love, pure and holy, blessed all who came within the sphere of its influence. His character was absolutely perfect, free from the slightest stain of sin. He came as an expression of the perfect love of God, not to crush, not to judge and condemn, but to heal every weak, defective character, to save men and women from Satan's power. He is the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer of the human race. {TMK 44.4} [TMK 45.1] Chap. 39 - Tender, Loving, Compassionate But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. Psalm 86:15. {TMK 45.1} [TMK 45.2] God has ordained according to the law of ministry that we should comfort one another in tenderness and love when great sorrows come upon us. No man liveth unto himself. No one dieth unto himself. Life and death both mean something to every human being. . . . God has enjoined the duty upon His human agents to communicate the character of God, testifying to His grace, His wisdom, and His benevolence, by manifesting His refined, tender, merciful love. . . . Jesus . . . was ever touched with human woe, and our hearts should be softened and subdued by His Holy Spirit, that we may be like Him. . . . {TMK 45.2} [TMK 45.3] Our work is to restore the moral image of God in man through the abundant grace given us of God by Jesus Christ. Everywhere we shall find souls ready to die, and how essential it is that the compassion of Christ shall be given us of Him, in order that we may never place one soul in defiance by not manifesting long forbearance and pitying tenderness. . . . I inquire, Will we ever learn the gentleness of Christ? Oh, how much we need to know Jesus and our heavenly Father that we may represent Him in character! . . . {TMK 45.3} [TMK 45.4] Jesus calls us to Himself not simply to refresh us with His grace and presence for a few hours, and then to send us forth from His light to walk apart from Him in sadness and gloom. No, no. He tells us that we must abide with Him and He with us. Wherever His work is to be done He is present--tender, loving, and compassionate. He has prepared for you and me an abiding dwelling place in Himself. He is our refuge. Our experience should broaden and deepen. Jesus has opened up all the divine fullness of His inexpressible love, and He declares to you, Ye "are labourers together with God" (1 Corinthians 3:9). O what meaning these words have--"Abide in me" (John 15:4), "Take my yoke upon you" (Matthew 11:29). Will we take it? for the promise is, "Ye shall find rest unto your souls." There is rest, complete rest in abiding in Christ. {TMK 45.4} [TMK 46.1] Chap. 40 - An Attribute We May Share Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Luke 6:36. {TMK 46.1} [TMK 46.2] Mercy is an attribute that the human agent may share with God, thus cooperating with Him. Mercy is kind, pitiful. Mercy and the love of God purify the soul and beautify the heart, cleansing the life from selfishness. . . . {TMK 46.2} [TMK 46.3] God's love for the angelic host is as a part of Himself, direct and positive in its divinity. God's love for the human race is a peculiar form--a love born of mercy, for the human subject is all-undeserving. . . . {TMK 46.3} [TMK 46.4] Mercy implies the imperfection of the object upon which it is bestowed. Because of man's imperfection, mercy was brought into active existence. Sin is not the object of God's love, but of His hatred. Yet He pities the sinner, because the guilty one bears the Creator's image and has received from Him the capabilities that make it possible for him to become a son of God, not through his own merits, but through the imputed merits of Jesus Christ, through the great sacrifice the Saviour has made in his behalf. . . . {TMK 46.4} [TMK 46.5] In the church militant the children of men will be ever in need of restoration from the results of sin. . . . We are all dependent on one another. Almost invariably a man who is superior to another man in some respect is inferior to him in other respects. Every human being on earth is subject to temptation. And all are in need of human influence and sympathy. . . . He who cooperates with God by showing mercy brings himself into a position where God will extend mercy to him, for he is in harmony with the divine attributes. {TMK 46.5} [TMK 46.6] God's love and mercy are ever extended toward sinners. Shall men who themselves have sinned against God, refuse to forgive and accept a repentant sinner? . . . God loved us while we were yet sinners. How clear and unmistakable the line of duty is made by the words, "As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise" (Luke 6:31). . . . Only those who walk with Christ can be truly merciful. {TMK 46.6} [TMK 47.1] Chap. 41 - The Compassionate Healer And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. Matthew 14:14. {TMK 47.1} [TMK 47.2] Jesus, precious Saviour, never seemed to become weary of the importunities of the sin-sick souls and the sick with all kinds of diseases. "And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them" (Mark 6:34). This means a great deal to the suffering ones. He identified His interest with theirs. He shared their burdens. He felt their fears. He had yearning pity that was pain to the heart of Christ. {TMK 47.2} [TMK 47.3] O what love, what matchless love! He has become one with us that He might share with humanity in all their experience. He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet was without sin. Humanity is not to be demerited as a cheap and common thing. Christ clothed His divinity with humanity that humanity might be clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Man is the object of His solicitude and great love. {TMK 47.3} [TMK 47.4] Redemption--O how much is comprehended in the word! All who will consent to be redeemed are uplifted and sanctified, redeemed through Jesus Christ from all commonness and earthliness, and enabled to cooperate with God in the great work of salvation. Jesus accepted humanity and revealed in His own life and character what man may be even when, in the providence of God, he is placed in the poorest circumstances of life. He had not even a penny wherewith to pay the tax money exacted, and wrought a miracle to obtain the little sum. {TMK 47.4} [TMK 47.5] Jesus, precious Saviour, was homeless and often hungry. He had not where to lay His head. He was wearied oft. Humanity is honored because Jesus assumed humanity to reveal to the world what humanity may become. He came to bring life and immortality to light, to fill the commonplace, homeliest pursuits of life with brightness. Jesus is bending over us, searching into our characters to see if His own character is reflected in us. {TMK 47.5} [TMK 48.1] Chap. 42 - Bearer of Our Afflictions That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. Matthew 8:17. {TMK 48.1} [TMK 48.2] Christ alone was able to bear the afflictions of the many. "In all their affliction he was afflicted" (Isaiah 63:9). He never bore disease in His own flesh, but He carried the sickness of others. With tenderest sympathy He looked upon the suffering ones who pressed about Him. He groaned in spirit as He saw the work of Satan revealed in all their woe, and He made every case of need and of sorrow His own. No multiplicity of numbers distracted Him. No anguish overwhelmed Him. With a power that never quailed He cast out the evil spirits that possessed mind and body, while the pain of the sufferers thrilled through His whole being. The power of love was in all His healing. He identified His interests with suffering humanity. {TMK 48.2} [TMK 48.3] Christ was health and strength in Himself, and when sufferers were in His immediate presence, disease was always rebuked. It was for this reason that He did not go at once to Lazarus. He could not witness his suffering and not bring him relief. He could not witness disease or death without combating the power of Satan. The death of Lazarus was permitted that through his resurrection the last and crowning evidence might be given to the Jews that Jesus was the Son of God. {TMK 48.3} [TMK 48.4] And in all this conflict with the power of evil there was ever before Christ the darkened shadow into which He Himself must enter. Ever before Him was the means by which He must pay the ransom for these souls.... When He raised Lazarus from the dead He knew that for that life He must pay the ransom on the cross of Calvary. Every rescue made was to cause Him the deepest humiliation. He was to taste death for every man. . . . Of the suffering multitudes brought to Christ it is said, "He healed them all" (Matthew 12:15). Thus He expressed His love for the children of men. His miracles were part of His mission. . . . He knows how to speak the word "Be whole," and when He has healed the sufferer He says, "Go and sin no more." {TMK 48.4} [TMK 49.1] Chap. 43 - Sharing Heaven's Treasures Freely ye have received, freely give. Matthew 10:8. {TMK 49.1} [TMK 49.2] The blessed Redeemer has set us an example in living out the precepts of the law. He says to His followers, "Freely ye have received, freely give." We are to have an open heart to receive the rich treasures of heaven, and our hearts are to be opened to let those rich treasures out to others. Oh, we need to abide in Christ, then we will be a constant channel through which God will communicate to our brethren and to the world His own gracious Spirit. . . . {TMK 49.2} [TMK 49.3] When we have an assurance which is bright and clear of our own salvation, we shall exhibit cheerfulness and joyfulness, which becomes every follower of Jesus Christ. The softening, subduing influence of the love of God, brought into practical life, will make impressions upon minds that will be a savor of life unto life. But a harsh, denunciatory spirit, if manifested, will turn many souls away from the truth into the ranks of the enemy. Solemn thought! To deal patiently with the tempted requires us to battle with self. But God has given Jesus to us, and believing on Him as our personal Saviour, all heaven is at our command. The purchased possession of Christ is around us on every hand. There is want, there is wretchedness and sin on every side. "Freely ye have received, freely give." "Oh, hearts are bruised, dead, And homes are bare and cold, And lambs for whom the Shepherd bled, Are straying from the fold. . . . . . "The captives to release, To God the lost to bring, To teach the way of life and peace, It is a Christlike thing." {TMK 49.3} [TMK 50.1] Chap. 44 - The Greatest Teacher And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. 1 John 5:20. {TMK 50.1} [TMK 50.2] The world's Redeemer did not come with outward display, or a show of worldly wisdom. Men could not see beneath the disguise of humility the glory of the Son of God.... {TMK 50.2} [TMK 50.3] Christ reached the people where they were. He presented the plain truth to their minds in the most forcible and simple language. The humble poor, the most unlearned, could comprehend, through faith in Him, the most exalted truths of God. No one needed to consult the learned doctors as to His meaning. He did not perplex the ignorant with mysterious inferences, or use unaccustomed and learned words of which they had no knowledge. The greatest Teacher the world has ever known was the most definite, simple, and practical in His instruction. . . . {TMK 50.3} [TMK 50.4] He attracted attention to purity of life, to humility of spirit, and to devotion to God and His cause without hope of worldly honor or reward. He must divest religion of the narrow, conceited formalism which made it a burden and a reproach. He must present a complete, harmonious salvation to all. The narrow bounds of national exclusiveness must be overthrown, for His salvation was to reach the ends of the earth. He rejoiced in spirit as He beheld the poor of this world eagerly accepting the precious message which He brought. He looked up to heaven and said, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes" (Matthew 11:25). . . . {TMK 50.4} [TMK 50.5] Men of the highest education and accomplishments have learned the most precious lessons from the precept and example of the humble follower of Christ, who is designated as "unlearned" by the world. But could men look with deeper insight they would see that these humble men had obtained an education in the highest of all schools, even in the school of the divine Teacher, who spake as never man spake. {TMK 50.5} [TMK 51.1] Chap. 45 - Teaching in Depth The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. John 7:46. {TMK 51.1} [TMK 51.2] Of Christ's teaching it is said, "The common people heard him gladly" (Mark 12:37). "Never man spake like this man," declared the officers who were sent to take Him. His words comforted, strengthened, and blessed those who were hungering for that peace which He alone could give. O how tender and forbearing was Christ! how filled with pity and tenderness were His lessons to the poor, the afflicted, and the oppressed! . . . His illustrations were taken from the things of daily life, and . . . had in them a wonderful depth of meaning. The fowls of the air, the lilies of the field, the seed, the shepherd and the sheep--with these objects Christ illustrated immortal truth, and ever afterward, when His hearers chanced to see these things of nature, they recalled His words. . . . {TMK 51.2} [TMK 51.3] Christ's words, so comforting and cheering to those that listened to them, are for us today. As a faithful shepherd knows and cares for his sheep, so Christ cares for His children. He knows the trials and difficulties surrounding each one. "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd," declares Isaiah: "he shall gather the lambs with his arms, and carry them in his bosom." Christ knows His sheep intimately, and the suffering and helpless are objects of His special care. . . . {TMK 51.3} [TMK 51.4] Christ has weighed every human affliction, every human sorrow. He bears the weight of the yoke for every soul that yokes up with Him. He knows the sorrows which we feel to the depth of our being, and which we cannot express. If no human heart is aroused to sympathy for us, we need not feel that we are without sympathy. Christ knows; and He says, Look unto Me, and live. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). I have borne your griefs and carried your sorrows. You have the deepest, richest sympathy in the tender, pitying love of your Shepherd. . . . His humanity is not lost in the exalted character of His Omnipotence. He is ever longing to pour out His sympathy and love upon those whom He has chosen, and who will respond to His invitation. {TMK 51.4} [TMK 52.1] Chap. 46 - Christ the Good Shepherd I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. John 10:14, 15. {TMK 52.1} [TMK 52.2] Jesus says, "I know my sheep." Let us consider this statement. We are known by God before we receive Him. "I know my sheep." How do souls become Christ's sheep? By choosing to receive Him. But Christ had first chosen them. He knew every one who would respond to His drawing, and He knew every one who would be inclined to receive Him but who, through popular opposing influences, would turn from Him, John says to all, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). Those who heard the voice and did behold Jesus as the Lamb of God believed in Him and became His property from their own choice. But . . . their choosing of Christ was in response to His drawing. The love of Jesus was expressed to us before we loved Him. . . . {TMK 52.2} [TMK 52.3] To Jesus the whole human family is entrusted, as the flocks of sheep are entrusted to a shepherd. These sheep and lambs are to be tended with pastoral care. They will be guarded by the faithful Chief Shepherd, under the care of faithful under shepherds, and if they will obey the voice of the Chief Shepherd they will not be left to be devoured by wolves. . . . {TMK 52.3} [TMK 52.4] Jesus says, "My sheep hear my voice, . . . and they follow me" (John 10:27). The Shepherd of Israel does not drive His flock, but He leads them. His attitude is wholly one of invitation. "My sheep hear my voice." If we are indeed sons and daughters of God we not only hear, but recognize the voice above all others. We appreciate the words of Christ, we distinguish the truth as it is in Jesus from all error, and the truth refreshes the soul, and fills it with gladness. . . . {TMK 52.4} [TMK 52.5] The beautiful illustration in Revelation 7 is a pastoral symbol. ". . . They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters . . ." (Revelation 7:16, 17). {TMK 52.5} [TMK 53.1] Chap. 47 - In the Bosom of the Shepherd He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. Isaiah 40:11. {TMK 53.1} [TMK 53.2] A true shepherd knows and pities and helps the sheep that most need his help--those that are bruised and lame and feeble. "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd." {TMK 53.2} [TMK 53.3] Far more intimately than the patriarch Jacob knew the weak, the suffering, and the lame among his sheep, does the Chief Shepherd know His flock. He knows what no one else knows. He has Himself weighed every burden. No one knows the weight like Himself, for He has borne all our griefs, and carried all our sorrows. It was this that made Him a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. . . . {TMK 53.3} [TMK 53.4] If there is not another soul in the universe that regards you, the Lord God of Israel is looking upon you with thoughts of compassion, tenderness, and sympathy. He sees you with your strong impulses when fainthearted and discouraged. . . . You have the deepest, the richest, the most refreshing sympathy in the bosom of the great Shepherd. We have not an high priest who cannot sympathize with us, but One who was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. . . . {TMK 53.4} [TMK 53.5] Not only has every provision been made that when tried and tempted you should find help and strength and grace, but also that your influence upon other minds should be fragrant. Not only does Christ know every soul, and the temptations and trials of that soul, but He knows all the circumstances that irritate and chafe the spirit. Your great danger is in being self-sufficient. This will not do for a Christian. Christ will give you His patience if you ask for it. . . . {TMK 53.5} [TMK 53.6] God's abounding love and presence will give you the power of self-control. He will mold and fashion your mind and character. He will direct your aims and purposes and capabilities in a channel that will give you moral and spiritual power which you will not have to leave here in this world but can carry with you and retain through eternal ages. {TMK 53.6} [TMK 54.1] Chap. 48 - The Sons of God But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. John 1:12. {TMK 54.1} [TMK 54.2] How did men treat Christ when He came? . . . "He came unto his own, and his own received him not" (John 1:11). Thus it is today. This history is being repeated, and will be repeated again and again before the Lord shall come in the clouds of heaven. The deceptions of Satan will be upon those who dwell on the earth.... {TMK 54.2} [TMK 54.3] "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." . . . After fitting up this world as the dwelling place of man, God looked upon it, and rejoiced in it, pronouncing it very good. So He will accept of and rejoice in the reformation wrought out by those who, receiving Christ as their Saviour, have obtained power to become the sons of God. . . . {TMK 54.3} [TMK 54.4] The first chapter of Colossians shows us the heights to which it is our privilege to attain. We may be "filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding," walking "worthy of the Lord," "being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:9-14). {TMK 54.4} [TMK 54.5] Is there not woe enough in this sin-stricken, sin-cursed earth to lead us to consecrate ourselves to the work of proclaiming the message that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16)? This earth has been trodden by the Son of God. He came to bring men light and life, to set them free from the bondage of sin. He is coming again in power and great glory to receive to Himself those who during this life have followed in His footsteps. {TMK 54.5} [TMK 55.1] Chap. 49 - When Man Cooperates For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2:13. {TMK 55.1} [TMK 55.2] "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" (Revelation 3:20). Thus the world's Redeemer illustrates the work of the Holy Spirit upon the human heart. The living agent, by an act of faith of his own, places himself in the hands of the Lord for Him to work in him His good pleasure in His time. There must be a continual exercise of faith to be in Christ and keep in Christ, abiding by faith in Him. {TMK 55.2} [TMK 55.3] This is a training process, a constant discipline of the mind and heart, that Christ shall work His great work in human hearts. Self, the old natural self, dies, and Christ's will is our will, His way is our way, and the human agent becomes, with heart, mind, and intellect, an instrument in the hands of God to work no more wickedness but the righteousness of Christ. . . . {TMK 55.3} [TMK 55.4] In the divine arrangement God does nothing without the cooperation of man. He compels no man's will. That must be given to the Lord completely, else the Lord is not able to accomplish His divine work that He would do through the human agency. Jesus declared that in a certain place He could not do many mighty works among the people because of their unbelief. He wanted to do for them in that place just what He knew that they needed to have done, but He could not because unbelief barred the way. The potter cannot mold and fashion unto honor that which has never been placed in his hands. The Christian life is one of daily surrender, submission, and continual overcoming, gaining fresh victories every day. This is the growing up into Christ, fashioning the life into the divine Model. . . . {TMK 55.4} [TMK 55.5] Devotion, piety, and sanctification of the entire man come through Jesus Christ our righteousness. The love of God needs to be constantly cultivated. O how my heart cries out to the living God for the mind of Jesus Christ! I want to lose sight of self. {TMK 55.5} [TMK 56.1] Chap. 50 - Will You Let Him In? The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Jeremiah 31:3. {TMK 56.1} [TMK 56.2] The work dearest to the heart of Christ is that of drawing souls to Him.... Look at Jesus, the Majesty of heaven. ［FROM A PERSONAL LETTER OF APPEAL.］ What do you behold in His life history? His divinity clothed with humanity, a whole life of continual humility, the doing of one act of condescension after another, a line of continual descent from the heavenly courts to a world all seared and marred with the curse, and in a world unworthy of His presence, descending lower and still lower, taking the form of a servant, to be despised and rejected of men, obliged to flee from place to place to save His life, and at last betrayed, rejected, crucified. Then, as sinners for whom Jesus suffered more than the power of mortal can portray, shall we refuse to humble our proud will? {TMK 56.2} [TMK 56.3] Study day and night the character of Christ. It was His tender compassion, His inexpressible, unparalleled love for your soul, that led Him to endure all the shame, the revilings, the abuse, the misapprehensions of earth. Approach nearer Him, behold His hands and His feet, bruised and wounded for our transgressions. "The chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." {TMK 56.3} [TMK 56.4] Lose no time, let not another day pass into eternity, but just as you are, whatever your weakness, your unworthiness, your neglect, delay not to come now.... The call of Jesus to come to Him, the presentation of a crown of glory that fadeth not away, the life, the eternal life that measures with the life of God, has not been of sufficient inducement to lead you to serve Him with your undivided affections. . . . {TMK 56.4} [TMK 56.5] Be no longer on Satan's side of the question. Make decided, radical changes through the grace given you of God. No longer insult His grace. He is saying with tears, "Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life" (John 5:40). Now Jesus is inviting you, knocking at the door of your heart for entrance. Will you let Him come in? {TMK 56.5} [TMK 57.1] Chap. 51 - The Holy Spirit Our Helper For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Romans 8:14. {TMK 57.1} [TMK 57.2] Through the ministry of the angels the Holy Spirit is enabled to work upon the mind and heart of the human agent and draw him to Christ. . . . But the Spirit of God does not interfere with the freedom of the human agent. The Holy Spirit is given to be a helper, so that man may cooperate with the Divine, and it is given to Him to draw the soul but never to force obedience. {TMK 57.2} [TMK 57.3] Christ is ready to impart all heavenly influences. He knows every temptation that comes to man, and the capabilities of each. He weighs his strength. He sees the present and the future, and presents before the mind the obligations that should be met, and urges that common, earthly things shall not be permitted to be so absorbing that eternal things shall be lost out of the reckoning. The Lord has fullness of grace to bestow on every one that will receive of the heavenly gift. The Holy Spirit will bring the God-entrusted capabilities into Christ's service, and will mold and fashion the human agent according to the divine Pattern. {TMK 57.3} [TMK 57.4] The Holy Spirit is our efficiency in the work of character building, in forming characters after the divine similitude. When we think ourselves capable of molding our own experience, we make a great mistake. We can never of ourselves obtain the victory over temptation. But those who have genuine faith in Christ will be worked by the Holy Spirit. The soul in whose heart faith abides will grow into a beautiful temple for the Lord. He is directed by the grace of Christ. Just in proportion as he depends on the Holy Spirit's teaching he will grow. {TMK 57.4} [TMK 57.5] The influence of the Holy Spirit is the life of Christ in the soul. We do not now see Christ and speak to Him, but His Holy Spirit is just as near us in one place as another. It works in and through every one who receives Christ. Those who know the indwelling of the Spirit reveal the fruit of the Spirit--love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. {TMK 57.5} [TMK 58.1] Chap. 52 - A Hidden Treasure Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Matthew 13:44. {TMK 58.1} [TMK 58.2] Without the kingdom of God we are lost . . . and are without hope in the world, but salvation has been provided for us through faith in Jesus Christ. He is the treasure, and when the rubbish of the world is swept away, we are enabled to discern His infinite value. . . . {TMK 58.2} [TMK 58.3] The divinity of Christ was as a hidden treasure. At times when He was upon earth divinity flashed through humanity, and His true character was revealed. The God of heaven testified to His oneness with His Son. At His baptism the heavens were opened and the glory of God in the similitude of a dove like burnished gold hovered over the Saviour, and a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). But the nation to whom Christ came, though professing to be the peculiar people of God, did not recognize the heavenly treasure in the person of Jesus Christ. . . . {TMK 58.3} [TMK 58.4] The Majesty of heaven was not discerned in the disguise of humanity. He was the divine Teacher sent from God, the glorious Treasure given to humanity. He was fairer than the sons of men, but His matchless glory was hidden under a cover of poverty and suffering. He veiled His glory in order that divinity might touch humanity, and the treasure of immense value was not discerned by the human race.... {TMK 58.4} [TMK 58.5] "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). The treasure indeed is hidden under the garb of humanity. Christ is the unsearchable riches, and he who finds Christ finds heaven. The human agent who looks upon Jesus, who dwells by faith on His matchless charms, finds the eternal treasure. {TMK 58.5} [TMK 58.6] Christ does not use this parable to commend the man who hides the treasure until he can buy the field, but His object in using this illustration is to convey to our mind the value of spiritual things. To obtain worldly treasure, the man would make a sacrifice of his all, and how much more should we give for the priceless, heavenly treasure! {TMK 58.6} [TMK 59.1] Chap. 53 - Have You Enrolled? My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. Proverbs 23:26. {TMK 59.1} [TMK 59.2] Dear youth, the very best thing you can do is to enlist freely and decidedly in the army of the Lord. Surrender yourself into the hands of God, that your will and ways may be guided by the One who is unerring in wisdom and infinite in goodness. To withhold yourself from God is to rob God of that which is His own. The Lord hath need of you, and you have need of the Lord. It is not safe for you to put off the decisive step, or delay the matter of making a complete surrender of yourself to God. If you have not already given yourself to God, I beseech you to do it now. Let your name be enrolled in the heavenly records as one of the chosen and elect of God. . . . {TMK 59.2} [TMK 59.3] "God so loved the world, the he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). . . . It is through the inestimable gift of Christ that all our blessings come. Life, health, friends, reason, happiness, are ours through the merit of Christ. O that the young and the old might realize that all comes to them through the virtue of Christ's life and death, and acknowledge the ownership of God. . . . {TMK 59.3} [TMK 59.4] Even when we were under the control of a cruel master, even when the prince of darkness ruled our spirits, the Lord Jesus Christ paid the ransom price of His own blood for us. You have been bought with a price, even with the precious blood of Christ; you are His property, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. . . . {TMK 59.4} [TMK 59.5] Were it not for the love freely given us of Christ, we should now be in hopeless despair, in spiritual midnight. Thank God every day that He gave us Jesus. Will you not accept His gift? Will you not be His witness? Time is short, and it becomes you to work while the day lasts, living an imperishable life, hiding your life with Christ in God. Then "when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory" (Colossians 3:4). {TMK 59.5} [TMK 60.1] Chap. 54 - "What Manner of Love"! Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 1 John 3:1. {TMK 60.1} [TMK 60.2] "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God" (John 1:12).... "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:14-18). {TMK 60.2} [TMK 60.3] John cannot find adequate words wherein to describe the amazing love of God to sinful man, but he calls upon all to behold the love of God revealed in the gift of His only begotten Son. Through the perfection of the sacrifice given for the guilty race, those who believe in Christ . . . may be saved from eternal ruin. Christ was one with the Father, yet when sin entered our world through Adam's transgression, He was willing to step down from the exaltation of One who was equal with God, who dwelt in light unapproachable by humanity, so full of glory that no man could behold His face and live, and submit to insult, mockery, suffering, pain, and death, in order to answer the claims of the immutable law of God, and make a way of escape for the transgressor by His death and righteousness. This was the work which His Father gave Him to do, and those who accept Christ, relying wholly upon His merits, are made the adopted sons and daughters of God--are heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. . . . {TMK 60.3} [TMK 60.4] Let no one . . . think that it is a condescension for any man, however talented or learned or honored, to accept Christ. Every human being should look to heaven with reverence and gratitude, and exclaim with amazement, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us." {TMK 60.4} [TMK 61.1] Chap. 55 - "We Shall Be Like Him" Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2. {TMK 61.1} [TMK 61.2] Jesus, the world's Redeemer, knows all His children by name, and on those who believe shall come the glory of God. . . . Those who behold Jesus become changed to His image, become assimilated to His nature, and the glory of God that shines in the face of Jesus, is reflected in the lives of His followers. More and more the Christian is changed from glory to glory. . . . The more he looks on Christ, the more he loves and longs to look again, and the more light and love and glory he sees in Christ, the more his light increases. . . . {TMK 61.2} [TMK 61.3] It is by faith that the spiritual eye beholds the glory of Jesus. This glory is hidden until the Lord imparts the light of spiritual truth, for the eye of reason cannot see it. The glory and mystery of Christ remains incomprehensible, clouded by its excessive brightness, until the Lord flashes its meaning before the soul. . . . By faith the soul catches divine light from Jesus. We see matchless charms in His purity and humility, His self-denial, His wonderful sacrifice to save fallen man. Contemplation of Christ leads man to place a proper estimate upon himself. . . . The possibility of being like Jesus, whom he loves and adores, inspires within him that faith which works by love and purifies the heart. . . . {TMK 61.3} [TMK 61.4] Jesus is more precious to the soul that beholds Him by the eye of faith than is anything else beside, and the believing soul is more precious to Jesus than fine gold of Ophir. Christ looks upon His hands--the marks of the crucifixion are there--and He says, "I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me" (Isaiah 49:16). The Christian is walled in by the rich full promises of an infinite God. {TMK 61.4} [TMK 61.5] The Lord is coming with power and great glory. All who have made Christ their refuge will reflect His image, and they will be like Him, for they shall see Him as He is. They are to be presented to Him without "spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing" (Ephesians 5:27). {TMK 61.5} [TMK 62.1] Chap. 56 - Under the Great Teacher Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17. {TMK 62.1} [TMK 62.2] When true conversion takes place in the heart, it is made manifest in a transformation of character, for those who are converted become Christlike. Pride no longer lives in the heart, sin seems abominable. The converted soul hates the thing that depraves his moral sensibilities. He hates that which crucified the Lord of life and glory. Those who are truly converted grow in the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and as knowledge of Christ increases, they see more clearly where their own weakness lies; they realize the deep depravity of their natures. They understand the strength of sin, and know the power of their old habits. . . . They have daily a sense of their entire inability to do anything without the help of Jesus Christ, therefore they say to Him, "I cast my helpless soul upon Thee. 'In my hand no price I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling.'" {TMK 62.2} [TMK 62.3] As the sinner beholds the Lamb of God, he sees more clearly what provision God has made to take away the sins of the world. He sees the sufficiency and adaptation of the Spirit of grace for every conflict. The mysterious provision for the taking away of sin is Jesus Christ. . . . "He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2). . . . {TMK 62.3} [TMK 62.4] The true Christian will not refuse to practice self-denial for Christ's sake. Those who are children of God are earnest workers; they are not slothful servants. There are no drones in the household of God. Every member of the household of faith has his work appointed to him. . . . If he is a learner in the school of Christ, he will learn how to give a testimony, how to pray, how to be a living witness for the Master. . . . {TMK 62.4} [TMK 62.5] The true Christian will be a diligent and constant student. He will realize that he lacks wisdom, strength, and experience, and he will place his will and all his interests in the care of the great Teacher. {TMK 62.5} [TMK 63.1] Chap. 57 - Redeemed by Christ's Blood Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 1 Peter 1:18, 19. {TMK 63.1}