I have a message for you who are engaged in the work at the office, especially for those who are engaged in handling sacred things.
(PH149 52.1)
“Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.”
(PH149 52.2)
Turning from the Light
Those who turn away from the precious light that God has permitted to shine upon them in messages of warnings, of caution and reproof, would not believe if greater light were shed upon their pathway. They would not be inspired with faith, when they have failed to believe in and act upon the light which has already been given them. “Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? ... He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart.” How does the Lord harden the hearts of men?—In the same way in which the heart of Pharaoh was hardened....
(PH149 52.3)
Result of Rejecting Light
All are left free to choose whom they will serve. They may listen to the suggestions of Satan, and come to look upon matters as he does, reasoning after the same manner, and the result will be that they will follow the same 53course of stubborn resistance to the light that Satan pursued in the courts of heaven. Those who reject the light which God sends them, will walk in sparks of their own kindling, and will lie down in sorrow at last.
(PH149 52.4)
Serious Danger
Among the workers in the office there are those whose hearts are not pure, whose hands are defiled with iniquity, and whose ways are perverted, so that they in no way represent Christ. Satan is beside them to influence them in a course of evil; and as they yield to him, they influence others to take the same course....
(PH149 53.1)
I have been aroused by the Spirit of the Lord to sound an alarm, that these world-bound souls may be awakened to the peril in which they are placed through their course of backsliding. For Christ’s sake, let all those who profess to be Christian’s, depart from all iniquity, all dishonesty. For Christ’s sake, for your own soul’s sake, I urge you to reform. Let there be a solemn consideration of your privileges and responsibilities. Let there not be found among you a selfish, earthly ambition for place and position or money-getting. This spirit prevails to a large extent, and the religion of Christ is brought down to a low, common level. There is great need that the converting power of God may be felt throughout the office, that all may realize that the words of Christ are to be fulfilled in life and character. Every day Jesus is in that office taking note of every worker in 54every department and line of work. The voice of God speaks to all who are there employed, warning and reproving them in His Word, and through the testimonies of His Spirit. But these warnings are first neglected, then despised, then stubbornly resisted and assailed.
(PH149 53.2)
Separation from the World
While the probation is graciously granted to you, come out from the world, separate yourselves from its customs, its maxims, and its influences, and put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. At whatever cost or humiliation to yourselves, you must do this if you would inherit eternal life....
(PH149 54.1)
The whole heart must be entered and purified by the searching Spirit of God. Jesus will not abide in the soul where pride exists; and if we desire His presence, the soul temple must be cleansed of all evil occupants. If the door of the heart is open to Jesus, He will come in, and His presence will expel every unholy thought, and by faith we may hold sweet communion with God. If Jesus abides in the heart, we shall glorify Him in our lives; for the Christian is to let his light shine forth to the world in good works.
(PH149 54.2)
Losing the First Love
Many of you have lost your first love, and you are not preparing yourselves by gaining an experience in true devotion and service to God, to stand in the great day of God. It is essential 55that you become so rooted and grounded in the faith that you will be able to stand when deception and error as a thick cloud will cover the inhabitants of the earth. While good works will not buy your salvation, yet good works are essential for salvation; for they are an evidence of genuine faith which works by love and purifies the soul.
(PH149 54.3)
Unless your heart is stayed upon God, and you are coworker with Christ Jesus, you will be filled with self-confidence, pride, self-sufficiency, and you will be given to the indulgence of self and the sin of unbelief, which so easily besets the soul, and thus you will become the captive of the enemy. You are to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do of His own good pleasure. As God works man must cooperate in order that the result designed may be accomplished. But how long have the heavenly intelligences waited in vain for your cooperation, who ought to have been engaged most earnestly in the work of God for this time!
(PH149 55.1)
Many of you do not feel the need of a daily and hourly connection with Christ. You do not feel the need of prayer, that you may draw from Christ that which is essential for the maintenance of spiritual life....
(PH149 55.2)
Need of a Practical Experience
You are greatly in need of a practical experience in the Christian life. You need to train 56the mind for the work of God. The character of your religious experience is made manifest largely by the character of the books that you choose to read in your leisure moments. The Bible is the Book of books, and if you love the Scriptures, searching them when you have opportunity, that you may come in possession of the rich treasures of the Word of God, and be thoroughly furnished unto all good works, then you may be assured that Jesus is drawing you to Himself. But to read the Scriptures in merely a casual way, without seeking to comprehend the lessons of Christ, that you may comply with His requirements, is not enough. There are rich treasures in the Word of God that can be discovered only by sinking the shaft deep into the mine of truth.
(PH149 55.3)
The Scriptures are given for our benefit that we may have instruction in righteousness. Precious rays of light have been obscured by the clouds of error, but Christ is ready to sweep away the mist of error and superstition, and reveal to us the brightness of the Father’s glory, so that we shall say as did the disciples, “Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way?” The psalmist prayed, “Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law,” and the Lord regarded his sincere prayer, for the sacred record records his satisfaction in the truth revealed to him. He says: “How sweet are Thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”“More to be desired are 57they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” How rare is this experience!
(PH149 56.1)
The carnal mind rejects the truth; but the soul that is converted undergoes a marvelous change. The Book that was unattractive, because it reveals truths which testify against the sinner, to the converted heart becomes the food of the soul, consolation and joy of the life. The eyes anointed with spiritual discernment behold new beauties in the Word of God, and see that the inspired words of the Scriptures are especially adapted to the needs of the soul. The Sun of Righteousness shines upon the Word, and there is the flashing of divinity through humanity. The Spirit of God speaks to the soul, and the heart of the true believer becomes like a watered garden. To those who love Christ, the Bible is as the garden of God, whose promises are as grateful to the heart as the fragrance of flowers to the senses. Then take up your Bibles, and with fresh interest, begin to study the sacred records of the Old and New Testaments. Work the field of precious truth, until you have a deeper comprehension of the mercy and love of God, who gave His only-begotten Son to the world, that through Him we might have life....
(PH149 57.1)
For Christ’s sake cease to prostitute your powers to the service of self. Put your undivided interest into the work that has been committed to your hands. Jesus is looking upon you to see what spirit you manifest in the little 58things of your earthly life. You are now determining what shall be your destiny hereafter, and heaven is worth everything to you. If you accept the grace of Christ, and the gift of His righteousness, you may show by a consistent life that Jesus is all in all to you. His service is reasonable, for He has redeemed you, and every power of your being belongs to Him. You need not make a failure of your Christian life, for Christ has made abundant provision that your faculties may be rightly directed, that your character may be pure and elevated and noble.
(PH149 57.2)
Reaching a High Standard
In becoming a follower of Christ, you need not think it necessary to give up all aspirations to reach a high standard. But if your ambitions have been selfish, and you have sought for the supremacy, and aimed at the glorification of yourself, all this will be changed, and your desire will be to become a diligent, earnest, faithful soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ. The elements of character which lead you to seek for distinction in a worldly life, Jesus will refine and purify and make steadfast, that you may with unselfish purpose seek to become a true coworker with the Majesty of heaven. A holy ambition will take possession of your heart, worthy of the object for which your ability was given. You will have respect to the recompense of the reward that has been purchased for you by the self-denial, the self-sacrifice of the Lord Jesus....
(PH149 58.1)
Necessity of Abiding in Christ
If you had been abiding in Christ, your fruit would have been unto purity and holiness. You would not be self-sufficient, heady, and high-minded, but would have been meek and lowly of heart. You would not be filled with envy, jealousy, evil surmising, strife for supremacy and position, esteeming yourselves more highly than the Lord esteems you. Look at the character of the fruit you have borne these years in the past, and then carefully consider the words of Christ. He says: “Ye shall know them by their fruits.... A good tree can not bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” Many of you know that you are not standing in the light of the Sun of Righteousness. Your works are not the works of righteousness, and should you be cut down as an unfruitful tree, you would lose heaven, and the life that measures with the life of God. You are not ready to close up your accounts here. You need to take heed to yourselves, to watch and pray, to educate your thoughts to think of heavenly things, to educate your lips to speak on heavenly themes, to become familiar with the heavenly atmosphere, and to be able to teach others that which you have learned of Jesus. Let the mind and soul be drawn to the great center of attraction, ever realizing the truth of Christ’s words, “Without Me ye can do nothing. “Then will you have more humble views of yourself than you have ever had before....
(PH149 59.1)
If you had let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, if you had searched the Bible for truth as men seek for hidden treasure, you would have had a precious experience, and as you contemplated the living oracles, daily you would have discovered new beauty in the inspired utterances, and your thoughts and words would have been purified, even as precious metal is purified and refined from dross in the fire of the furnace....
(PH149 60.1)
Working for Wages
With many of the workers the spirit of self-sacrifice has greatly diminished because they have lost their first love. Many are grasping for higher wages; but if they were laborers together with God, their wants would be more simple; for they spend money needlessly for things which they would not desire if their hearts were sanctified by the truth. Look at the example given to you in the life of Christ. There are those in the office who have withheld their tithes from the treasury, claiming that they could not see the requirement in the Word of God. But why could they not see it?—It was because selfishness was firmly rooted in the heart. They did not deny self, and make their offering to God. For years they have practiced robbery toward God; but does not the Lord keep a record of all their doings? Most assuredly, for it is written that every man shall be rewarded according as his works have been, judged according to the deeds done in 61the body, whether they are good or whether they are evil. The Lord will not pass over the embezzlement of His goods. He is testing men to see who will be fit subjects for His kingdom above; for if they disregard His claims here, they will disregard them in the kingdom of heaven. Suppose that all who profess to be followers of Christ should withhold from the Lord His intrusted goods, and appropriate His talents to their own use, and for the advancement of their own glory, how would the work of God move forward in the world? How would those in other nations ever receive the message of truth? The Lord does not rain down money from heaven, but He honors man by intrusting to him His treasures, and He tells him what he must do. Read carefully and prayerfully the instruction the Lord has given to you in Malachi 3:8-12.
(PH149 60.2)
Faithfulness in Tithes and Offerings
The question is asked, “Will a man rob God?” And the answer might be given: “Yes, Lord. Some whom Thou hast honored, and given a place in Thy work, have been engaged in robbing Thee for years. They have indulged themselves, and have centered the good things of life upon themselves, and have refused to act their part in fulfilling the requirements of God.”“Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee?” Now listen, for God is speaking to you out of His Word. “In tithes and offerings.” How does God regard the robbery of His treasury? Listen: 62“Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed Me, even this whole nation.” Hear the words of the most high God, you who have been robbing God: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house”—not a meager portion, not one half, or one quarter, but “all the tithes, ... that there may be meat in Mine house.” The reason is so plain that it commends itself to everyone who has been cherishing the hateful plant of selfishness,—“that there may be meat in Mine house.” The reason that the Lord wants all the tithes in the treasury is that there may not be a scarcity of funds when His providence opens new fields to be occupied by the messengers of truth, that souls as precious in the sight of God as your own may come into the knowledge of the true God and Jesus Christ, whom He hath sent, and in their turn become missionaries to the souls of others.
(PH149 61.1)
Blessings of Self-Denial
The standard of truth must be planted in all countries, but the missionary work is not extended as it should be, because those in our offices of publication, and the members of our churches, do not cultivate the precious plant of love, and do not follow in the footsteps of Him who was meek and lowly of heart. Jesus said, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
(PH149 62.1)
The follower of Christ has a cross to bear, for the requirement of Christ cuts directly 63across the inclination of the natural heart, and uproots pride, empties and cleanses the soul of selfishness and self-love, and leads men to deny self daily for Christ’s sake. If you will act as Christians, there will be meat in the house of the Lord, whereby the sacred, holy work of God may be extended and advanced in the world; for those who are laborers together with God will bind about their wants, and not spend money for trifles, when souls are perishing for the bread of life....
(PH149 62.2)
The precious Saviour did not limit His gifts; for when He gave Himself, He gave all. He died to bring life and immortality to light, to reveal truth, that men might be drawn to Him. All this was done to save fallen man, and individually we have the privilege of becoming His agents, to cooperate with the angels in communicating to the world the knowledge of this great salvation. Man will never be able to comprehend the great work that the heavenly intelligences are waiting to do through the agency of men in behalf of humanity.
(PH149 63.1)
Jesus wants you now to realize your deficiencies while mercy lingers, that you may turn unto Him with your whole heart, and be supplied out of His abundant fullness, so that you shall be perfect, wanting in nothing. “And prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts.” Mark it, this is not man that is addressing you, but the Lord of hosts. Will you hear Him? Will you obey Him? “If I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a 64blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.”
(PH149 63.2)
The religion of Christ is summed up in the words, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart; ... thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” But through love of the world, through unsanctified ambition, through self-love, and desire for supremacy, many are being conformed to the world, although the command from the gospel of Christ is, “Be not conformed to this world [and the preventive is given]: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” You must have a changed mind, a renewed mind. The power of the Holy Spirit must be felt working upon the heart and character, producing a new man in Christ Jesus. You are to prove to God by unselfishly handling His intrusted goods that you can be trusted with His blessings. You are to trade with His talents, to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness—not to seek first your own selfish interests, but to lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
(PH149 64.1)
Love Not the World
Every worker should diligently search his own heart. The Lord requires that those who 65are purchased by the blood of the Son of God should realize that they are God’s property, and no longer look upon themselves as their own, and live to serve themselves. Jesus gave His life to save an apostate race, and will those who accept this heavenly gift be selfish, and withhold from the Lord His own? All selfishness, all love of supremacy, originated with Satan. He is the root, and those who partake of his spirit are the branches; but in the day of God both root and branch will be consumed.... Can we wonder that the sin of covetousness is so decidedly denounced in the Scripture? “For this ye know, that no ... covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom ... of God.” Covetousness is idolatry. Shall be as Christians pay no heed to all the warnings of God? Shall we still be in conformity to the world, when it is forbidden in the Word of God? “Be not conformed to this world.”“Let not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” ...
(PH149 64.2)
Every line of business at the office must be regulated so that the purity of the Christian character shall be preserved.... They are now to store up for the present and the future, supplies that will provide for the soul in times of emergency. They are to lay up in store the 66precious gold and silver and precious gems of the Word of God, jewels that will never perish....
(PH149 65.1)
God Requires All the Heart
The religion of the Bible must be practiced, for the world is watching you and criticizing your actions. The office at Oakland needs weeding out. Either those who have long been there and who have not realized the sacredness of the work, should be converted, or they should be discharged. It is the duty of everyone in the office who professes to be a Christian to give unmistakable evidence to those who come to the office that he is a Christian in deed and in truth, and that he is working out the principles of the Bible in all his work. All lightness, all jesting and trifling is to be regarded as unchristian. Let everyone see that you are governed by divine rule, that you are courteous and kind. If you keep the fear of the Lord ever before your eyes, He will work with your efforts, and crown you with success. Satan is continually at work that he may fill the mind with his suggestions, and cause you to follow his counsel. He advises you not to be overscrupulous in regard to honor and integrity, to look out sharply for your own interests, and demand the highest wages for your services. To some degree this is what has brought embarrassment upon the office. When the work is more attentively done, when there is a spirit of consecration, the Lord will hear your 67prayers, and will work in your behalf. But there is much unfaithfulness, and you need to call a halt, and begin the work of reformation in earnest. Those who are half-hearted and worldly, who are given to gossiping over the imperfections of others, while giving no attention to their own defects of character, should separate from the office, for they will demoralize others by their mischievous tongues.
(PH149 66.1)