(Testimonies for the Church Volume 5 77, 83, 199, 205, 280, 340, 436, 481)
The patience of God has an object, but you are defeating it. He is allowing a state of things to come that you would fain see counteracted by and by, but it will be too late. God commanded Elijah to anoint the cruel and deceitful Hazael king over Syria, that he might be a scourge to idolatrous Israel. Who knows whether God will not give you up to the deceptions you love? Who knows but that the preachers who are faithful, firm, and true may be the last who shall offer the gospel of peace to our unthankful churches? It may be that the destroyers are already training under the hand of Satan and only wait the departure of a few more standard-bearers to take their places, and with the voice of the false prophet cry, “Peace, peace,” when the Lord hath not spoken peace. I seldom weep, but now I find my eyes blinded with tears; they are falling upon my paper as I write. It may be that erelong all prophesyings among us will be at an end, and the voice which has stirred the people may no longer disturb their carnal slumbers.
(5T 77.1)
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When God shall work His strange work on the earth, when holy hands bear the ark no longer, woe will be upon the people. Oh, that thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day, the things that belong unto thy peace! Oh, that our people may, as did Nineveh, repent with all their might and believe with all their heart, that God may turn away His fierce anger from them.
(5T 77.2)
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He “that forsaketh not all that he hath,” says Jesus, “cannot be My disciple.”Luke 14:33. Whatever shall divert the affections from God must be given up. Mammon is the idol of many. Its golden chain binds them to Satan. Reputation and worldly honor are worshiped by another class. The life of selfish ease and freedom from responsibility is the idol of others. These are Satan’s snares, set for unwary feet. But these slavish bands must be broken; the flesh must be crucified with the affections and lusts. We cannot be half the Lord’s and half the world’s. We are not God’s people unless we are such entirely. Every weight, every besetting sin, must be laid aside. God’s watchmen will not cry, “Peace, peace,”(Jeremiah 8:11) when God has not spoken peace. The voice of the faithful watchmen will be heard: “Go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.”Isaiah 52:11.
(5T 83.1) 2 I
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The church cannot measure herself by the world nor by the opinion of men nor by what she once was. Her faith and her position in the world as they now are must be compared with what they would have been if her course had been continually onward and upward. The church will be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary. If her moral character and spiritual state do not correspond with the benefits and blessings God has conferred upon her, she will be found wanting. The light has been shining clear and definite upon her pathway, and the light of 1882 calls her to an account. If her talents are unimproved, if her fruit is not perfect before God, if her light has become darkness, she is indeed found wanting. The knowledge of our state as God views it, seems to be hidden from us. We see, but perceive not; we hear, but do not understand; and we rest as unconcerned as if the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, rested upon our sanctuary. We profess to know God, and to believe the truth, but in works deny Him. Our deeds are directly adverse to the principles of truth and righteousness, by which we profess to be governed.
(5T 83.2)
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The visible and the invisible world are in close contact. Could the veil be lifted, we would see evil angels pressing their darkness around us and working with all their power to deceive and destroy. Wicked men are surrounded, influenced, and aided by evil spirits. The man of faith and prayer has yielded his soul to divine guidance, and angels of God bring to him light and strength from heaven.
(5T 199.1)
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No man can serve two masters. Light and darkness are no more opposites than are the service of God and the service of Satan. The prophet Elijah presented the matter in the true light when he fearlessly appealed to apostate Israel: “If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him.”1 Kings 18:21.
(5T 199.2)
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Those who give themselves up to the sorcery of Satan may boast of great benefit received thereby, but does this prove their course to be wise or safe? What if life should be prolonged? What if temporal gain should be secured? Will it pay in the end to disregard the will of God? All such apparent gain will prove at last an irrecoverable loss. We cannot with impunity break down a single barrier which God has erected to guard His people from Satan’s power.
(5T 199.3)
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Our only safety is in preserving the ancient landmarks. “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.
(5T 199.4)
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Many make a serious mistake in their religious life by keeping the attention fixed upon their feelings and thus judging of their advancement or decline. Feelings are not a safe criterion. We are not to look within for evidence of our acceptance with God. We shall find there nothing but that which will discourage us. Our only hope is in “looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith.”Hebrews 12:2. There is everything in Him to inspire with hope, with faith, and with courage. He is our righteousness, our consolation and rejoicing.
(5T 199.5) 2 I
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Doing nothing to bring souls to Jesus, who sacrificed everything to bring salvation within our reach! Selfishness is driving benevolence and the love of Christ from the church. Millions of the Lord’s money are squandered in the gratification of worldly lust, while His treasury is left empty. I know not how to present this matter before you as it was presented to me. Thousands of dollars are spent every year in gratifying pride of dress. That very means should be used in our missions. I was shown families who load their tables with almost every luxury and gratify almost every desire for fine clothes. They are engaged in a prosperous business, or are earning good wages, but nearly every dollar is expended upon themselves or their families. Is this imitating Christ? What burden do these feel to carefully economize and deny inclination that they may do more to advance the work of God on earth? Should Elder Andrews have the advantage of some of the means thus needlessly expended, it would be a great blessing to him and give him advantages which would prolong his life. The missionary work might be enlarged a hundredfold if there were more means to employ in carrying out larger plans. But the means which God designed should be used for this very purpose is expended for articles which are thought necessary to comfort and happiness, and which there might be no sin in possessing were not means so greatly needed in extending the truth. How many of you, my brethren, are seeking your own and not the things which are Jesus Christ’s!
(5T 205.1)
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The day of trust and responsibility is ours; we have a work to do for God. The church in ----- has been gradually growing cold and irreligious. There is much to be done for its individual members. Great light has shone upon their pathway. For this they will be held accountable. Said Christ: “Ye are the light of the world;”“ye are the salt of the earth.”Matthew 5:13, 14. They need a deeper work of grace in their hearts. There must be a reformation before God can bless them. There are plenty of formal professors. A selfish grasping for gain eclipses the heavenly inheritance. If the kingdom of heaven is made first, noble integrity will shine forth in the life and character. This is what Brother A needs if he would exert an influence for good. He loves to handle money, and to see it accumulate by turning it one way and another. His mind and affections are absorbed in worldly enterprises. He is drunken with the cares of this life; that is, he is so swallowed up in his business that he cannot think rationally and intelligently of the things of God; his vision is obscured by love of money. The truth should reach down deep into his heart and develop fruit in his private and public life.
(5T 280.1)
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Brother A has excused himself for not making the Scriptures his study because he was a businessman. But to one pressed with business cares the Scriptures will be a source of strength and safety. Such a man has greater need of light from the word of God, of its counsels and warnings, than if he were not placed in such a dangerous position. If Brother A would exercise the same forethought and business tact in the things of God that he has given to worldly matters, he would realize blessed results. If he thinks that God is satisfied with him while giving his talent and energy almost entirely to the service of mammon, he is fearfully deceived. Said Christ: “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. If Brother A continues to make eternal things subordinate to his worldly interests, his passion for accumulating will steadily increase until it will overrule principle, and he will be so blinded by the God of this world that he will be unable to discern between the sacred and the common.
(5T 280.2)
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My brother, you must make a strong, decided effort, or you will never be able to cast off the works of darkness. Satan looks upon you as his own. When you listen to the testimonies of God’s servants, as at the late camp meeting, you are deeply convicted. But you do not respond to the impressions of the Spirit of God; and as you mingle with worldlings you drink in their spirit and are borne down by the worldly current, having no moral power to resist its influence. You become one with the world-loving, and your spirit is worse than theirs, for your choice is voluntary. You love the praise of men, and you love worldly possessions above Jesus. The love of mammon has been woven into every fiber of your being and has become all-absorbing. To eradicate it will be like plucking out the right eye or cutting off the right arm. But I speak to you as one who knows: Unless you overcome this intense love of money, it will cost you your soul’s salvation, and then it would have been better for you had you never been born.
(5T 340.1)
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“Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”Matthew 6:24. Just as far as you love and cherish the spirit of the world you will have a spirit of defiance and will question and find fault with those who bring you the message of truth. You will deride the truth, and will become a false witness, an accuser of the brethren. The talents given you of God to be improved to His glory will be actively employed against His work and cause. There is no concord between Christ and Belial. You have already chosen the friendship of the world, therefore you are decidedly on the side of Satan. The natural heart is at enmity against God, and will resist the clearest evidence of truth. The wicked will not endure the light that condemns their wrong course of action.
(5T 340.2)
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Brother and Sister P, had you heeded the Testimonies of the Spirit of God, you would now be walking in the light, in harmony with the people of God; but your unbelief has shut you away from great good. Sister P has not risen up against the Testimonies, neither has she shown confidence in them as from the Lord by obeying them. She loves to have her husband praised and honored by the world; it gratifies her pride, which is by no means small. You may each appropriately inquire: “Why am I so slow to come out from the world and take Christ for my portion? Why should I love and honor those whom I know do not love God nor respect His claims? Why should I wish to retain the friendship of my Lord’s enemies? Why should I follow their customs or be influenced by their opinions?” You cannot, my dear friends, serve both God and mammon. You must make an unreserved surrender, or in the near future the light that shines upon your pathway will go out in the darkness of despair. You are on the enemy’s ground. You have voluntarily placed yourselves there, and the Lord will not protect you against his assaults.
(5T 436.1)
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In your present state you are doing far more harm than good; for you have a form of godliness and profess to believe the truth, while your words and actions say: “Wide is the gate, and broad is the way” that leads to life, “and many there be which go in thereat.”Matthew 7:13. If your life is a confession of Christ, then we may truly say that the world has gone after Him. Your profession may be right; but have you humility and love, meekness and devotion? “Whosoever shall confess Me before men,” by a holy life and godly conversation, “him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God.”Luke 12:8. No one can confess Christ unless he has the mind and spirit of Christ; he cannot communicate that which he does not possess. The daily life must be an expression of the sanctifying power of the truth, and evidence that Christ is abiding in the soul by faith. Whatever is opposed to the fruits of the Spirit, or to the work of God in separating His people from the world, is a denial of Christ; and His words are: “He that denieth Me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.”Luke 12:9.
(5T 436.2)
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Let each church member feel that he himself must be right with God, that he must be sanctified through the truth. Then he can represent Christian character to others and can set an example of unselfishness. If each will do this, the church will increase in spirituality and in favor with God.
(5T 481.1)
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Every church member should feel under obligation to consecrate his tithe to God. None are to follow the sight of their eyes or the inclination of their selfish hearts and thus rob God. They should not use their means to gratify vanity or for any other selfish indulgence, for in so doing they entangle themselves in Satan’s snares. God is the giver of tact, of ability to accumulate wealth, and therefore all is to be laid upon His altar. The requirement is: “Honor the Lord with thy substance.”Proverbs 3:9. The tendency to covetousness must be constantly restrained, else it will eat into the hearts of men and women, and they will run greedily after gain.
(5T 481.2)
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In the wilderness of temptation, Satan, the adversary of souls, presented before Christ the glories of this world and said: “If Thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Thine.”Matthew 4:9. The Saviour repulsed Satan; but how easily is man seduced by the representations of the great enemy! Many are charmed with the attractions of the world; they serve mammon rather than God, and so lose their souls.
(5T 481.3)
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In a little while we are to meet our Lord; and what account shall we have to give Him of the use we have made of our time, our talents of influence, and our possessions? Our joy should be in the work of saving souls. I solemnly inquire of the Healdsburg church: Is God among you of a truth? Says the True Witness: “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white: for they are worthy.”Revelation 3:4. Are you of this number? Have you held fast your integrity? As drowning men, have you clung to Jesus, who is your refuge? Are you obeying Him, living for Him, loving Him? Is each member pure and holy and undefiled, one in whose mouth there is no guile? If so, you are most happy; for you are, in the sight of God, “more precious than fine gold; even ... than the golden wedge of Ophir.”Isaiah 13:12. While multitudes are devoted to mammon, and serve not the Holy One of Israel, there are a few who have not defiled their garments, but have kept them unspotted from the world; and these few will be a power. This class will have that faith which works by love and purifies the soul. They will exemplify lofty Christian principles. They will seek for personal connection with the Source of light and will endeavor to make constant improvement, cultivating every faculty to its fullest extent. God would have you bring into your life the most unbending uprightness and integrity; this will distinguish you before the world as children of the most high God. Jesus was calm and gentle, not losing His self-command, even when in stormy conflict, amid fiercest elements of opposition.
(5T 481.4)
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