Enoch was a public teacher of the truth in the age in which he lived. He taught the truth; he lived the truth; and the character of the teacher who walked with God was in every way harmonious with the greatness and sacredness of his mission. Enoch was a prophet who spake as he was moved by the Holy Ghost. He was a light amid the moral darkness, a pattern man, a man who walked with God, being obedient to God’s law,—that law which Satan had refused to obey, which Adam had transgressed, which Abel obeyed, and because of his obedience was murdered. And now God would demonstrate to the universe the falsity of Satan’s charge that man cannot keep God’s law. He would demonstrate that though man had sinned, he could so relate himself to God that he would have the mind and spirit of God and would be a representative symbol of Christ. This holy man was selected of God to denounce the wickedness of the world, and to evidence to the world that it is possible for man to keep all the law of God.
(6MR 146.1)
Wherever there is genuine piety there will be pure morality. How little is said of Enoch, a man who walked with God, one whom God did not permit to come under the domain of death! How short is his brief biography! How many volumes are written of Napoleon. How much is said of Caesar, and of the other great men of the world. Their works and exploits are recorded and sent through the length and breadth of the earth, and yet we have no evidence that these men honored God, or that God honored them. “Enoch walked with God, and was not; for God took him.” How much is said in these few words....
(6MR 146.2)
Enoch was a representative man, but he is not praised, he is not exalted; he simply did that which every son and daughter of Adam may do.
(6MR 147.1)
God said to Cain, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.” Reflections are not to be cast upon God’s holy law, intimating that it is defective and needs improvement, as Satan had declared. God had made every provision that sinful man might overcome through faith in the promised Saviour. The law of God was just what God saw was for the good of the universe, and for the good of mankind.—Manuscript 43, 1900, 1-3. (“The Prophet Enoch,” typed August 2, 1900.)
(6MR 147.2)
Justification by Faith—How Perverted by Some
Said the apostle Paul, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? ... And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. The absence of devotion, piety, and sanctification of the outer man comes through denying Jesus Christ our righteousness. The love of God needs to be constantly cultivated.
(6MR 147.3)
Oh, how my heart cries out to the living God for the mind of Jesus Christ! I want to lose sight of self. I want to work with all the powers I am capable of exercising to save souls for whom Christ has made the infinite sacrifice of His own precious life. I must seek wisdom daily to know how to deal with souls that are entrapped by Satan’s snares. There are many erring, well-beloved souls whom we may win back to God if we are imbued with the 148spirit of Christ. The Lord loves them, notwithstanding their sins and follies. He gave His only beloved Son to save them, and it was because He loved them that He sent His Son into the world that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
(6MR 147.4)
I must ever keep close to Jesus Christ that I may constantly be a partaker of the divine nature and have a deep personal interest in those who have once been my best friends but in time of temptation have lifted up their heels against me. The love of Christ must not be extinguished in the soul. The prejudice against me cannot make me what they think I am, and I shall not feel hard toward them; but when I see my own brethren in the faith, responsible men, working in darkness, my heart aches. They have not injured me, but the Lord Jesus who has delegated me to bear His message to them.
(6MR 148.1)
And now I can but weep as I think of the suffering, stubborn natures who will not yield to evidence. They wear an appearance of nonconcern, but it is not truth. Gladly would they change their relation to me and those whom they have deeply wronged by thoughts, by words, by influence, if they could avoid the humiliation of saying, “I have committed an error; I confess my faults; will you forgive me?” The haughty, stubborn will evades the very points they will have to face if their souls are recovered and converted. Oh, will they never break the spell of Satan that is upon them? Will they cherish their pride to the last? How my heart longs to see them free and not in the strong deceptions of Satan.—Manuscript 36, 1890, 11-13. (“Dangers of False Ideas on Justification by Faith,” undated.) [Remainder of manuscript in Faith and Works, 15-28.]
(6MR 148.2)