Earlier text: TRUE LOVE.Dear Bro. H: I have been waiting for an opportunity to write you, but have been hindered. After my last vision I felt it to be my duty to speedily lay before you what the Lord was pleased to present to me. I was pointed back and shown that for years in the past, even before your marriage, there had been in you a disposition to overreach in trade. You possessed a spirit of acquisitiveness, a disposition for close dealing, which was detrimental to your spiritual advancement, and greatly injured your influence.153 Your father’s family viewed these matters from the world’s stand-point, rather than from the high, exalted standard quoted by our divine Lord: “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 neighbor as thyself.” In this you have failed. To deal in any way closely and unjustly is displeasing to God. He will not pass over errors and sins in this direction without thorough confession and forsaking. I was pointed far back, and shown the loose manner in which you regarded these things. The Lord marked the transaction of carrying to market that load of animals that were so inferior that they could not be profitable to keep, therefore were prepared for food and carried to market to be bought and introduced into the human stomach. One of these was placed upon our table for some time to feed our large family in the days of our poverty. You were not the only one to be blamed in this. Others of your family were alike guilty. It matters not whether it was designed that they should be bought and eaten by us or by worldlings. It is the principle of the thing which displeased God; you transgressed his command. You did not love your neighbor as you did yourself; for you would be unwilling to have the same thing done by you. You would consider yourself insulted. An avaricious spirit led to this departure from Christian principles, and caused you to descend to a species of trading which advantaged yourself at others’ disadvantage. When the meat-eating question was presented before me five years ago, showing how little the people knew what they were eating for food in the shape of flesh-meats, this transaction of yours was shown. The effect of eating the meat of these unhealthy animals, is diseased blood, sickness, and fevers. Many instances of the kind were shown me as being acted over daily by worldlings. You, my dear brother,154 have not seen this wrong on your part as the Lord sees it. You have never felt that it was a great sin on your part. Many things of like character have taken place in your life, which you will find that the recording angel has faithfully chronicled, and which you will meet again, unless by repentance and confession you make these wrongs right. I was bidden to wait and see. I was directed to speak plainly, give general principles, and leave you to make the application yourself. I was shown that God would not frequently point out the wrongs committed by his people, but would cause to be given in their hearing general principles, close, pointed truths, and all should be open to conviction to see, to feel, and understand whether or not they are condemned. You have not dealt closely and faithfully with your own soul. Said the angel, “I will prove him, I will test him, I will walk contrary unto him, until he acknowledges the hand of God in thus dealing with him.” I saw that while in — those connected with your family did not move right. You manifested a close spirit, savoring of overreaching and dishonesty. You could have had no influence for good in that place until you had redeemed the past by an entire change of conduct in dealing with your fellow-men. Your light was darkness to the people, and your influence while there was a great detriment to the cause of present truth. You brought reproach upon the truth, and your close dealing caused your name to be a by-word among the people. You frequently fell below the standard of many worldlings in regard to honorable dealing. Eld. I can do no good in —. His words are as water spilt upon the ground, for the reason that he was connected with you, and took part in this close trading. In many respects he became like a worldling in business transactions. He was close, and was fast becoming selfish. His course in many things was calculated to destroy his influence,155 and was not becoming a minister of Christ. Said the angel, in the vision given at Rochester, N. Y., in 1866, “My hand shall bring adversity. He may gather, but I will scatter until he redeems the past, and makes clean work for eternity.” Every true Christian should feel above condescending to the low, bartering, trading spirit of worldlings. You are not a miser; you love to be benevolent, free, open-hearted, and open-handed; but that which is wrong in you is the spirit mentioned in this letter, of not loving your neighbor as yourself; it is the neglect of seeing your wrongs, and making them right when the clear, forcible light of truth has told you too plainly your duty. You are a lover of hospitality, and God will not give you over to be deceived by the great deceiver of mankind; but will come directly to you and show you where you err that you may retrace your steps. He now calls upon you to redeem the past, and to come up upon a higher plane of action, and let your life record be unspotted with avarice, or selfish love of gain. Your judgment in worldly things will become foolishness unless you dedicate all to God. You and your wife are not devotional. Your spirituality is not what God would have it to be. Paralysis seems to be upon you; yet you are both capable of exerting a strong influence for God and for his truth, if you adorn your profession with well-ordered lives and godly conversation. You frequently get in too great a hurry, and then become impatient and fretful, and order your help in a hurried manner. This is detrimental to your spiritual advancement. Time is short, and you have no time to delay the preparation of heart necessary to labor earnestly and faithfully for your own soul, and for the salvation of your friends and neighbors, and all who come under your influence. Ever aim to so live in the light that your influence can be sanctifying upon those with whom you are associated in a business capacity or in156 common intercourse. There is fullness in Jesus. You can obtain strength from him which will qualify you to walk even as he walked; but there must be no separation of affections from him. He requires the entire man, the soul, body, and spirit. When you do all on your part which he requires, he will work for you, and bless, and strengthen you by his rich grace. DEAR BRO. J: A great solemnity has rested upon my mind since the vision given Friday evening, June 12, 1868. I was shown that you do not know yourself. You have not felt reconciled to the testimony given in your case, and have not made thorough work to reform. I was referred to Isaiah: “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, 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?” If you do these things, the blessings promised will be given. You may raise the inquiry, “Wherefore have we fasted,” “and thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?” God has given reasons why your prayers were not answered. You have thought that you had found reasons in others, and have charged the fault upon them. But I saw that there are sufficient reasons in yourself. You have a work to do to set your own heart in order. You should realize that the work must begin with yourself. You have oppressed the destitute, and have benefited yourself by taking advantage of their necessities. In regard to means, you157 have been close, and dealt unjustly. You have not possessed that kind, noble, and generous spirit which should ever characterize the life of a follower of Christ. You have oppressed the hireling in her wages. You saw a poorly-clad, hard-working person who you knew was conscientious and God-fearing; yet you took advantage of her because you could do so. I saw that the neglect of seeing and understanding her wants, and the small wages paid her, are all written in Heaven as done to Jesus in the person of one of his saints. As you have done this unto the least of Christ’s disciples, you have done it unto him. Heaven has regarded all your closeness to those who have served in your house, and it will stand faithfully chronicled against you unless it is repented of and restitution made. One wrong move does more harm than can be undone in years; if the wrong-doer could see the extent of the evil, it would wring from his soul cries of anguish. You are selfish in regard to means. In the case of Bro. K, the angel of God pointed to you and said, “Inasmuch as ye have done this to one of Christ’s disciples, ye have done it to Jesus in his person.” The cases I have mentioned are not the only ones. I would you could see these things as Heaven has opened them before me. There is a sad deception upon minds. It is the religion of Christ that you need. He pleased not himself, but lived to benefit others. You have a work to do, and should lose no time in humbling your heart before God, and by humble confessions removing the blots from your Christian character. Then can you engage in the solemn work of laboring for the salvation of others without making so many mistakes. What has your time amounted to, spent as it has been spent while engaged in a work which God did not set you about? Impressions have been made on minds, and experiences gained, which it will require much labor for them to efface. Souls will wander in158 darkness, perplexity, and unbelief, and some will never recover. With fasting and earnest prayer, with deep heart-searching, stern self-examination, lay bare the soul; let no act escape your critical examination. Then, with self dead, and your life hid with Christ in God, offer your humble petitions. If you regard iniquity in your heart, the Lord will not hear you. If he had heard your prayers, you would have been exalted. Satan has stood by, prepared to make the most of the advantage he has gained. Oh, how important it is that faithfulness in little things characterize our lives, that true integrity mark all our course of action, and that we ever bear in mind that angels of God are taking cognizance of every act! That which we mete to others shall be meted to us again. A fearfulness should ever attend you lest you should deal unjustly, selfishly. By sickness and adversity the Lord will remove from us much more than we obtain by grinding the face of the poor. A just God truly estimates all our motives and actions. I was shown Bro. and Sister L. The love of the world has so eaten out true godliness, and benumbed the powers of the mind, that the truth fails to have a transforming influence upon the life and character. The love of the world has closed their hearts to compassion, and to a consideration of the wants of others; its spirit has separated them from God. Brother and sister, you have a work to do to get from beneath the rubbish of the world; you need to make earnest efforts to overcome your love of the world, your selfishness, and your penuriousness. These are sins which are cursing God’s people. I was pointed back to the community in which you lived previous to your moving to ——. You were close and exacting in deal there, taking advantage every time that you could well do so. I tried to find in your lives acts of noble self-sacrifice and benevolence, but could not, they were so rare. Your light has shone before159 others in such a manner that they have felt disgusted with you and your faith. The truth has been reproached by your closeness and overreaching in deal. May God help you to see all, and to have that hatred for this evil that he has. Let your light so shine that others by seeing your good works may be led to glorify your Father who is in Heaven. God has been displeased with your course, for it has been marked by self-interest. He is still displeased with it, and will deal with you in judgment, unless you rid yourself of this spirit of littleness, and seek to be sanctified through the truth. Faith without works is dead, being alone. Faith will never save you unless it is justified by works. God requires of you to be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for yourselves a good foundation against the time to come, that you may lay hold on eternal life. I was shown that you have oppressed hirelings in their wages. You have taken advantage of circumstances, and secured your help at the lowest figure. This has not been pleasing to God. You should have paid your help liberally, all that they earned. God sees and knows. The Searcher of hearts is acquainted with the thoughts, the intents and purposes of the heart. Every dollar that has been gained by you in this way, if retained, will be scattered through adversity and affliction. The world, the world, the world, has been the order of the day with you. The salvation of the soul has become secondary. Oh that you could see, in the light of eternity, just how God views these things. You would be alarmed, and would not rest until you had made restitution. You had light upon health reform, but you did not receive and live up to it. You gratified the appetite, and taught your boy a sad lesson by indulging him in eating when and what he chose. In your love for the world you continued to work upon the high-pressure plan. The hand of God was removed, and you were160 left to your own weakness. Then you both tottered over the brink of the grave; yet you failed to learn the lesson in many things which God would have you learn. You retained your love for the world. Your selfish love for gain, your small, close dealing, was not put away. You did not appreciate the sympathy, kind care, and watchful tenderness of the one who had the care of you in your sickness. If you had, it would have led you to manifest a spirit of noble benevolence above any cheap dealing with her who had been true to you. You have ground the face of the poor; you have dealt unjustly. “There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.” It seemed to me, as these things were presented before me, that Satan had possessed such power to blind minds through a love of the world, that even professed Christians forgot, or lost all sense of the fact, that God lives, and that his angels are making a record of all the doings of the children of men; that every mean act, every small deal, is placed upon the life record. Every day bears its burden of record of unfulfilled duties, of neglect, of selfishness, of deception, of fraud, of overreaching. What an amount of evil works is accumulating for the final Judgment! When Christ shall come, “his reward is with him, and his work before him,” to render to every man according as his works have been. What a revelation will then be made! What confusion of face to some as the acts of their life are revealed upon the pages of history! “Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor.” “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace,161 be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” You may believe all the truth, yet if its principles are not carried out in your lives, your profession will not save you. Satan believes and trembles. He works. He knows his time is short, and he has come down in great power to do his evil works according to his faith. But God’s professed people do not support their faith by their works. They believe in the shortness of time, yet grasp just as eagerly after this world’s goods as though the world was to stand a thousand years as it now is. Selfishness marks the course of many. “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” Divest yourselves of selfishness, and make thorough work for eternity. Redeem the past and do not represent the holy truth you profess where you now live as you have where you have lived hitherto. Let your light so shine that others by seeing your good works, may be led to glorify our Father in Heaven. Stand upon the elevated platform of eternal truth. Regulate all your business transactions in this life in strict accordance with the word of God. DEAR BRO. M: When we met you at ——, we were anxious to help you, and we feared you would not receive the help there which you needed. I proposed your coming to our place and associating with us, and other of God’s dear children, that you might be learning the lessons so important for you to learn before you could be strong to endure the temptations and perils of these last days. I recollected your countenance as that of one whom the Lord had shown me had been struggling for the mastery over powerful evil habits, which were leading not only to the destruction of your body but to your eternal destruction hereafter. You have gained victories, but you have still great victories to gain; you have battles to fight with internal foes, which, unless overcome, will greatly mar your own happiness and that of all who associate with you. The evil traits in your character must be overcome. You must take hold of the work with earnest, humble prayer to God, feeling your helplessness without his special grace. The belief of the truth has already wrought a reformation in your life, yet this reform is not as thorough as it must be in order for you to meet the measurement of God. You love the truth, but it must take a deeper hold of your life, and influence your words and all your deportment. You have a great lesson to learn, and should lose no time in learning it. You have not educated yourself to self-control. Here is a special victory for you to gain. In your organization are more of the elements of war than of peace. You need to cultivate courtesy and true Christian politeness. “In honor preferring one another.” “Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” Your combativeness is large, and you stand braced, prepared to rebut everything where you have a chance. You do not labor to see how near you can make your ideas and views harmonize with those of others, but you stand all ready to differ if there is a possible chance for you to do so. This injures your own soul, retards your spiritual advancement, and not only grieves and wounds those who would be your sincere friends, but sometimes disgusts them, so that your society is not agreeable and pleasant, but annoying. It is as natural as your breath for you to consider the views and opinions of others inferior to yours. You often greatly err here, for you have not all that wisdom and knowledge for which you give yourself credit. You often set your opinions up above men and women who have had many more years of experience than yourself, and who are far better qualified to direct and give words of wise judgment than yourself. But you have not seen these disagreeable besetments, and therefore have not realized the ill and bitter fruit they have produced. You have long indulged a spirit of contention, of war. Your peculiar turn of mind leads you to exult in opposites. Your education has been deplorable; it has not been favorable to your now having a correct religious experience. You have had almost everything to unlearn and learn anew. You possess a hasty temper, which grieves your friends and the holy angels, and wounds your own soul. This is all contrary to the spirit of truth and true holiness. You must learn to cultivate modesty in speaking. Self must be subdued and kept in subjection. A Christian will not pursue a course of bickering and contention with even the most wicked and unbelieving. How wrong to indulge this spirit with those who believe the truth, and who are seeking for peace, love, and harmony! Says Paul, “Be at peace among yourselves.” This spirit of contention is opposed to all the principles of164 Heaven. In Christ’s sermon on the mount, he says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” You will have trouble wherever you go, unless you learn the lesson God designs you to learn. You should be less confident and forward in your own opinion, and possess a teachable spirit, that of a learner. “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city.” “He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding; but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.” Says James, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” A spirit of self-confidence is in keeping with your experience. Had you a more thorough experience in the things of God, you would realize that the fruits you bear are bad. They contain no nourishment, but fill all who partake of them with bitterness. You must overcome your overbearing, dictatorial spirit. I have strong hope, my dear brother, that you, who have shown that you have moral courage to face an enemy in yourself, and fortitude to battle with the foe of appetite and strong evil habits which girded you about as with iron bands, will go to work right here and gain the victory. You have possessed a reckless spirit, have felt that no one cared specially for you, that almost everybody was your enemy, and that it was of no consequence what became of you. The truth found you miserable. You saw in it a power that would exalt you, and impart to you the force and strength that you had not. You grasped the rays of light that shone upon you; and if you will now yield yourself fully to the influence of the truth, it will thoroughly convert and sanctify you, and prepare you for the finishing touch of immortality. You possess many good traits of character;165 you have a liberal heart. God wants you to be right, just right. You are unwilling to be dictated to or directed. You want to do all the dictating yourself. But you must possess a humble, teachable spirit, and be affable, patient, long-suffering, full of gentleness and mercy. We have an interest for you, and want to help you. I pray you to receive these lines with a right spirit, and let them suitably affect your heart and life. SISTER WHITE: The testimony I received yesterday, I look upon as a well-merited rebuke, for which I feel truly thankful to you. I earnestly hope to be an overcomer. I am fully sensible of the magnitude of the work I have to do, yet I trust that by God’s assisting grace I shall be able to conquer. BURDEN-BEARERS IN THE CHURCH.
DEAR BRO. AND SISTER N: June 12, 1868, I was shown some things in reference to you. You have a work to do, but see it not; you have not been burden-bearers. You should feel greater interest in the work and cause of God than you do. You are so blinded by the love of the world that you do not see how great an influence the world has over you. You do not feel that a special weight of responsibility rests upon you, nor do you realize the importance of the time, and the work to be accomplished. You are like persons asleep. Unity is strength. There is great feebleness in the church because there are in it so many backward ones who take no burdens. You are not workers with Christ. The spirit of the world is shutting from your hearts impressions which the truth should make. It is important that all now come up to the work, and act as though they were living men, laboring166 for the salvation of souls who are perishing. If all in the church would come up to the help of the Lord, we would see such a revival of his work as we have not hitherto witnessed. God requires this of you, and of each member of the church. It is not left with you to decide whether it is best for you to obey the call of God. Obedience is required; and unless you obey you will stand on worse than neutral ground. Unless you are favored with the blessing of God, you have his curse. He requires you to be willing and obedient, and says that you shall eat the good of the land. A bitter curse is pronounced on those who come not to the help of the Lord. “Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof, because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.” Satan and his angels are in the field to oppose every advance step that God’s people take, therefore the help of every one is required. Bro. and Sister N, the influence of unbelieving friends affects you more than you are aware of. They bring you no strength, but darkness and unbelief. You have an individual work in the vineyard of the Lord. You have thought and cared too much for yourselves. Set your hearts in order, and then be in earnest. Inquire, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” God requires of you an earnest reaching out after him. He bids you search your own hearts diligently, to discover all there that prevents your bringing forth much fruit, and that which will remain. The reason you possess no more of the Spirit of God is, you do not cheerfully bear the cross of Christ. In the last vision I saw that you were deceived in regard to the strength of your love for this world. The cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and you become unfruitful. God requires us to bear much fruit. He will not give commands without giving with them power for their performance.167 He will not do our part of the work, neither does he require that we do his. It is God that worketh in us, but we must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. “Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” Faith must be sustained by works; the doers of the work are justified before God. You displease God in talking of your poverty, while you have abundance. All that you possess belongs to him, yet he has seen fit to make you a steward of it for a short time. He is testing and proving you. How will you bear the test? He will require his own with usury. You have fixed your eyes upon what you have given to different enterprises, and it looks large to you. But had you done very much more, had your hearts expanded, and your hands dispensed to the cause of God and to the needy, you would have done no more than your duty, and you would have been far happier. The Lord calls upon you to bring your offering to the altar, and not hold it within reach merely, but lay it on the altar. The altar sanctifies the gift when it is placed upon it, and not before. You are not as separate from the world as God requires you to be, but you do not see and understand your danger. You are led astray by your love of the world. You both need to take a deeper draught at the Fountain of truth. Unless you do come into a different condition, where you can honor God with your influence and your substance, his curse will come upon you. You may gather, but he will scatter. Instead of your health springing forth speedily, you will become like a withered branch. The Lord calls for workers,—men who can and will feel for the salvation of souls, and who will sacrifice anything that they may be saved. No one else can do this work for you; the offerings of others, if ever so liberal, cannot take the place of yours. It is a surrender to God which you have to make, which no other one can make for you: It is only the Spirit’s168 power, working through mighty faith, that can make you able to successfully resist the many snares Satan has laid for your feet. The words and example of your Redeemer will be the light and strength of your heart. If you follow and trust in him, he will not leave you to perish. You fear too much the displeasure of those who do not love and serve God. Why should you wish to keep the friendship of your Lord’s enemies, or be influenced by their opinions? “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” If the heart were right, there would be a more decided separation from the world. The Lord would have done a great and good work in this vicinity last spring, had all felt the need of this work, and come up to the help of the Lord. There was not unity of action. All did not feel the necessity of the work, and engage in it heartily. There was not a surrendering of all to God. You were shown me as being troubled and perplexed, a mist of darkness gathering over you. You were questioning, and were not in a position to receive strength yourselves, nor to impart it to others. It is a solemn, fearful time. There is no time now for cherishing idols, no place for concord with Belial, or for friendship with the world. Those whom God accepts and sanctifies to himself are called to be diligent and faithful in his service, being set apart and devoted to him. It is not a form of godliness, nor a name upon the church records, that constitutes a “living stone” in the spiritual building. It is being renewed in knowledge and true holiness, being crucified to the world and made alive in Christ, that unites the soul to God. The followers of Christ have one leading object in view, one great work, the salvation of their fellow-men. Every other interest should be inferior to this; it should engage the most earnest effort and the deepest interest. God first requires the heart, the affections. He requires his followers to love and serve him with all their heart, with all their soul, with all their strength. His commandments and grace are adapted to our necessities, and without them we cannot be saved, do what we may. Acceptable obedience he requires. The offering of goods, or any service, will not be accepted without the heart. The will must be brought into subjection. The Lord requires of you a greater consecration to him, and a greater separation from the spirit and influence of the world. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Christ has called you to be his followers, to imitate his life of self-sacrifice and self-denial, to be interested in the great work of the redemption of the fallen race. You have no just sense of the work that God requires you to perform. Christ is your pattern. That in which you are deficient is love. This pure and holy principle distinguishes the character and conduct of Christians from those of worldlings. Divine love has a powerful, purifying influence. It is to be found only in renewed hearts, and naturally flows out to their fellow-men. “Love one another,” says our Saviour, “as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Christ has given us an example of pure, disinterested love. You have not as yet seen your deficiency in this respect, and your great need of this heavenly attainment, without which all your good purposes, and your zeal, even if it be of that nature that you could give your goods to feed the poor and your body to be burned, is nothing. You need that charity which suffereth long, is not easily provoked, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Without the spirit of love, no one can be like Christ. With this living principle in the soul, no one can be like the world. The conduct of Christians is like that of their Lord. He erected the standard, and it is left for us to say170 whether or not we will rally around it. Our Lord and Saviour laid aside his dominion, his riches and glory, and sought after us, that he might save us from misery, and make us like himself. He humbled himself and took our nature that we might be able to learn of him, and, imitating his life of benevolence and self-denial, follow him step by step to Heaven. You cannot equal the copy, but you can resemble it, and according to your ability do likewise. “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 thyself.” Such love must dwell in your hearts, that you will be ready to give the treasures and honors of this world if thereby you may influence one soul to engage in the service of Christ. God bids you with one hand, faith, take hold of his mighty arm, and with the other hand, love, reach perishing souls. Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. Follow him. Walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Walk even as he walked. This is the will of God, even your sanctification. The work you have to perform is to do the will of him who sustains your life for his glory. If you labor for yourselves, it can profit you nothing. To labor for others’ good, to be less self-caring, and more in earnest to devote all to God, will be acceptable to him, and be returned by his rich grace. God has not apportioned you your lot, to merely watch over and care for yourselves. You are required to minister to, and watch over others, and in this exercise you will manifest those evils in your character which need correcting, and will strengthen those weak points that need strengthening. This is the part of the work we have to perform; not impatiently, fretfully, unwillingly, but cheerfully, gladly, in order to reach Christian perfection. To remove from us everything which is not exactly agreeable, is not imitating Christ. You should be very jealous of171 the honor of God. How circumspectly should you walk, where now your course is not as it should be. If you could see the pure angels with their bright, searching eyes intently fixed on you, watching to record how the Christian glorifies his Master; or could you observe the exulting, sneering triumph of the evil angels, as they trace out every crooked way, and then quote Scripture which is violated, and compare the life with this Scripture which you profess to follow but from which you swerve, you would be astonished and alarmed for yourselves. It takes the entire man to make a valiant Christian. Oh, what blind, short-sighted creatures we are! How little do we discern sacred things, and how feebly do we comprehend the riches of His grace! One thing I wish to impress upon your minds. You have the special mediums of Satan closely connected with you, and their power and influence have a manifest effect upon you, because you do not remain near enough to God to insure the special aid of angels that excel in strength. Your union is altogether too strong with your Lord’s enemies, and you perceive not that you are in danger of making shipwreck of your faith. If you encourage, in the least, the temptations of Satan, you place yourself upon his battleground, and then the conflict will be long and sore before you obtain the victory, and triumph in the name of Jesus, who has conquered him. Satan has great advantages. He possessed the wonderful intellectual power of an angel, of which few form any just idea. Satan was conscious of his power, or he would not have engaged in a conflict with the mighty God, the everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. Satan closely watches events, and when he finds one who has a specially strong spirit of opposition to the truth of God, he will even reveal to him unfulfilled events, that he may more firmly secure himself a seat in his heart. He who did not hesitate to brave a conflict with Him who holds172 creation as in his hand, has malignity to persecute and deceive. He holds mortals in his snare at the present time. During his experience of nearly six thousand years he has lost none of his skill and shrewdness. All this time he has been a close observer of all that concerns our race. Those who have bitterly opposed the truth of God, Satan uses as his mediums. To such he will appear in the assumed person and garb of another, it may be a friend of the medium. He will increase their faith by using the words of this friend, and relating circumstances which are about to take place or which really have taken place, and of which the medium knew nothing. Sometimes previous to a death or an accident, he gives a dream, or, personating another, converses with the medium, even imparting knowledge by means of his suggestions. But it is wisdom from beneath and not from above. The wisdom taught by Satan is opposed to the truth, unless, to serve his purpose, he apparently clothes himself with the light which enshrouds angels. To a certain class of minds he will come sanctioning a part of what Christ’s followers believe to be truth, while he warns them to reject the other part as dangerous and fatal error. Satan is a master workman. His infernal wisdom he employs with good success. He is ready and able to teach those who reject the counsel of God against their own souls. The bait which he has found will avail in bringing souls into his net, that he may fasten his hellish grasp upon them, he will clothe with every possible good, and make as attractive as possible. All who are thus ensnared will learn at a dreadful expense the folly of selling Heaven and immortality for a deception that is fatal in its consequences. Our adversary, the devil, is not void of wisdom or strength. He goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He will work “with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and173 with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” Because they rejected the truth, “God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” We have a powerful, deceptive foe with whom to contend, and our only safety is in Him who is to come, who will consume this arch deceiver with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy with the brightness of his coming. I commend this to you in the fear of God, and implore you to arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you life.