There are many things that need to be corrected in the Upper Columbia and North Pacific Conferences. [These were local conferences in what is now the North Pacific Union Conference.—Trustees of Ellen G. White.] The Creator expected the brethren there to bear fruit according to the light and privileges bestowed upon them, but in this He has been disappointed. He has given them every advantage; but they have not improved in meekness, godliness, benevolence. They have not pursued that course of life, have not revealed that character nor exercised that influence, which would tend most to honor their Creator, ennoble themselves, and make them a blessing to their fellow men. Selfishness exists in their hearts. They love to have their own way and seek their own ease, honor, and wealth, and their own pleasure in its grosser or more refined forms. If we pursue the course of the world and follow the bent of our own minds, will that work for our best good? Does not God, who formed man, look for something better from us?
(5T 249.1)
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“Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children.”Ephesians 5:1. Christians must be like Christ. They should have the same spirit, exert the same influence, and have the same moral excellence that He possessed. The idolatrous and corrupt in heart must repent and turn to God. Those who are proud and self-righteous must abase self and become penitent and meek and lowly in heart. The worldly-minded must have the tendrils of the heart removed from the rubbish of the world, around which they are clinging, and entwined about God; they must become spiritually minded. The dishonest and untruthful must become just and true. The ambitious and covetous must be hid in Jesus and seek His glory, not their own. They must despise their own holiness and lay up their treasure above. The prayerless must feel the need of both secret and family prayer, and must make their supplications to God with great earnestness.
(5T 249.2)
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In the Scriptures thousands of gems of truth lie hidden from the surface seeker. The mine of truth is never exhausted. The more you search the Scriptures with humble hearts, the greater will be your interest, and the more you will feel like exclaiming with Paul: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!”Romans 11:33. Every day you should learn something new from the Scriptures. Search them as for hid treasures, for they contain the words of eternal life. Pray for wisdom and understanding to comprehend these holy writings. If you would do this you would find new glories in the word of God; you would feel that you had received new and precious light on subjects connected with the truth, and the Scriptures would be constantly receiving a new value in your estimation.
(5T 266.1)
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“The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly.”Zephaniah 1:14. Jesus says: “Behold, I come quickly.”Revelation 22:7, 12. We should keep these words ever in mind, and act as though we do indeed believe that the coming of the Lord is nigh, and that we are pilgrims and strangers upon the earth. The vital energies of the church of God must be brought into active exercise for the great object of self-renovation; every member must be an active agent for God. “For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief Cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”Ephesians 2:18-22. This is a particular work, which must be carried forward in all harmony, in unity of Spirit, and in the bonds of peace. No place should be given to criticisms, doubts, and unbelief.
(5T 266.2)
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The Upper Columbia and North Pacific Conferences [See footnote on page 249.] are years behind. Some who ought to be strong and established in Christ are as babes in understanding and experimental knowledge of the workings of the Spirit of God. After years of experience they are able to comprehend only the first principles of that grand system of faith and doctrine that constitutes the Christian religion. They do not comprehend that perfection of character which will receive the commendation: “Well done.”
(5T 266.3)
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One mistake leads to another. Our brethren must learn to move intelligently and not from impulse. Feeling must not be the criterion. A neglect of duty, the indulgence of undue sympathy, will be followed by a neglect to properly estimate those who are laboring to build up the cause of God. Jesus said: “I am come in My Father’s name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.”John 5:43.
(5T 298.1)
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Many do not look upon preaching as Christ’s appointed means of instructing His people and therefore always to be highly prized. They do not feel that the sermon is the word of the Lord to them and estimate it by the value of the truths spoken; but they judge it as they would the speech of a lawyer at the bar—by the argumentative skill displayed and the power and beauty of the language. The minister is not infallible, but God has honored him by making him His messenger. If you listen to him as though he were not commissioned from above you will not respect his words nor receive them as the message of God. Your souls will not feed upon the heavenly manna; doubts will arise concerning some things that are not pleasing to the natural heart, and you will sit in judgment upon the sermon as you would upon the remarks of a lecturer or a political speaker. As soon as the meeting closes you will be ready with some complaint or sarcastic remark, thus showing that the message, however true and needful, has not profited you. You esteem it not; you have learned the habit of criticizing and finding fault, and you pick and choose, and perhaps reject the very things that you most need.
(5T 298.2)
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There is very little reverence for sacred things in either the Upper Columbia or the North Pacific Conference. [See footnote on page 249.] The ordained instrumentalities of God are almost entirely lost sight of. God has instituted no new method of reaching the children of men. If they cut themselves off from heaven’s appointed agencies to reprove their sins, correct their errors, and point out the path of duty, there is no way to reach them with any heavenly communication. They are left in darkness and are ensnared and taken by the adversary.
(5T 298.3)
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Elder M, although you may be sustained by many, as were the unfaithful spies, yet the sentiments of your letter are not prompted by the Spirit of the Lord. Beware lest your words and your spirit be like theirs, and your work of the same baleful character. At such a time as this we must not harbor a thought nor breathe a word of unbelief, nor encourage an act of self-serving. This has been done in the Upper Columbia and North Pacific Conferences; and while there we felt in some measure the sorrow, mortification, and discouragement that Moses and Aaron, Caleb and Joshua, experienced. We tried to set the current flowing in an opposite direction; but it was at the cost of much severe labor and great anxiety and distress of mind. And the work of reform in these conferences has but just commenced. It is the work of time to overcome the unbelief, distrust, and suspicion of years. Satan has been to a great extent successful in carrying out his purposes in these conferences because he has found persons whom he could use as his agents.
(5T 379.1)
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For Christ’s sake and the truth’s sake, Brother M, do not leave the work in your conference in such a shape that it will be impossible for the one that succeeds you to set things in order. The people have received narrow and limited views of the work; selfishness has been encouraged, and worldliness has been unrebuked. I call upon you to do all in your power to efface the wrong mold you have given to this conference, to remedy the sad effects of your neglect of duty, and thus to prepare the field for another laborer. Unless you do this, may God pity the workman who shall follow you.
(5T 379.2)
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Presidents of conferences should be men who can be fully trusted with God’s work. They should be men of integrity, unselfish, devoted, working Christians. If they are deficient in these respects, the churches under their care will not prosper. They, even more than other ministers of Christ, should set an example of holy living and of unselfish devotion to the interests of God’s cause, that those looking to them for an example may not be misled. But in some instances they are trying to serve both God and mammon. They are not self-denying; they do not carry a burden for souls. Their consciences are not sensitive; when the cause of God is wounded, they are not bruised in spirit. In their hearts they question and doubt the Testimonies of the Spirit of God. They do not themselves bear the cross of Christ; they know not the fervent love of Jesus. And they are not faithful shepherds of the flock over which they have been made overseers; their record is not one that they will rejoice to meet in the day of God.
(5T 379.3)
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