9T 181, 197-8
(Testimonies for the Church Volume 9 181, 197-8)
I was almost afraid to come to this country because I heard so many say that the different nationalities of Europe were peculiar and had to be reached in a certain way. But the wisdom of God is promised to those who feel their need and who ask for it. God can bring the people where they will receive the truth. Let the Lord take possession of the mind and mold it as the clay is molded in the hands of the potter, and these differences will not exist. Look to Jesus, brethren; copy His manners and spirit, and you will have no trouble in reaching these different classes. We have not six patterns to follow, nor five; we have only one, and that is Christ Jesus. If the Italian brethren, the French brethren, and the German brethren try to be like Him, they will plant their feet upon the same foundation of truth; the same spirit that dwells in one will dwell in the other—Christ in them, the hope of glory. I warn you, brethren and sisters, not to build up a wall of partition between different nationalities. On the contrary, seek to break it down wherever it exists. We should endeavor to bring all into the harmony that there is in Jesus, laboring for the one object, the salvation of our fellow men. (9T 181.1) MC VC
Will you, my ministering brethren, grasp the rich promises of God? Will you put self out of sight and let Jesus appear? Self must die before God can work through you. I feel alarmed as I see self cropping out in one and another here and there. I tell you, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, your wills must die; they must become as God’s will. He wants to melt you over and to cleanse you from every defilement. There is a great work to be done for you before you can be filled with the power of God. I beseech you to draw nigh to Him, that you may realize His rich blessing before this meeting closes. (9T 181.2) MC VC
In the erection of national barriers you present to the world a plan of human invention that God can never endorse. To those who would do this, the apostle Paul says: “Ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal? ... Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are laborers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:3-9. (9T 197.1) MC VC
An Example of Brotherly Kindness VC
When our brethren in Scandinavia faced a financial crisis, the testimony was given that we must not permit our brethren to stand as bankrupt before the world. That would have been dishonoring to God. And the prompt and liberal action of our American brethren was an acknowledgment that the difference in nationality could not release them from their duty to assist one another in the work of God. “All ye are brethren.” Matthew 23:8. We are one in the unity of the truth. (9T 197.2) MC VC
We must now, by diligent, self-sacrificing effort, endeavor to walk in the love of Christ, in the unity of the Spirit, through sanctification of the truth. No halfway work will suffice to fulfill the representation given in the prayer of Christ. We are to practice the principles of heaven here below. In heaven there is one grand meeting place. (9T 197.3) MC VC
I must write plainly regarding the building up of partition walls in the work of God. Such an action has been revealed to me as a fallacy of human invention. It is not the Lord’s plan for His people to separate themselves into separate companies, because of differences in nationality and language. Did they do this, their ideas would become narrow, and their influence would be greatly lessened. God calls for a harmonious blending of a variety of talents. (9T 197.4) MC VC
I again repeat the words of Christ. I would impress them deeply upon your minds. “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. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me.” John 17:20-23. (9T 198.1) MC VC
Christ has hedged in His people from the world, but those who would build up national separation, would do a work for which the Lord Jesus Christ has given no encouragement. (9T 198.2) MC VC
Brethren, unify; draw close together, laying aside every human invention and following closely in the footsteps of Jesus, your great Example. (9T 198.3) MC VC