The truth as it is in Jesus has shone with great clearness upon God's people. Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, the truth has been given. But the light which it has been our privilege to enjoy has not been carefully cherished and carried into practical life. For this reason there is little power among us at the present time.
(RH January 2, 1900, Art. A, 1)
Many are inquiring, “Why is it that we have so little strength? Is it because heaven is sealed? Is it because there are no precious blessings in store for us? Is it because our source of strength is exhausted, and we can receive no more? Why is it that we are not all light in the Lord? He who was a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, who was wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities, is high and lifted up, and the glory of his train fills the temple. Why is this glory withheld from those who are in a world of sin and sorrow, trouble and sadness, corruption and iniquity?”
(RH January 2, 1900, Art. A, 2)
The trouble lies with ourselves. Our iniquities have separated us from God. We are not filled, because we do not feel our need; we do not hunger and thirst after righteousness. The promise is that if we hunger and thirst after righteousness, we shall be filled. The promise is to you, my brethren and sisters. It is to me; it is to every one of us. It is the hungering, thirsting souls who will be filled. We may come to Christ just as we are, in our weakness, with our folly and imperfections, and offer our petitions in faith. In spite of our errors, our continual backsliding, the voice of the long-suffering Saviour invites us, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” To the needy, the fainting, those who are bowed down with burden and care and perplexity, the invitation is, Come. It is Christ's glory to encircle us in the arms of his mercy and love, and bind up our wounds. He will sympathize with those who need sympathy, and strengthen those who need strength.
(RH January 2, 1900, Art. A, 3)
To the unbelieving, obstinate Pharisees, Christ said, “Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” Oh that this may never be said of us! There is life and peace and joy in Jesus Christ. He is the sinner's friend. In him there is power and glory and strength for all. If we believe that this power and glory are ours, and comply with the conditions laid down in his word, we shall be strong in the strength of the Mighty One.
(RH January 2, 1900, Art. A, 4)
Many professed Christians are well represented by the vine that is trailing upon the ground, and entwining its tendrils about the roots and rubbish that lie in its path. To all such the message comes, “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” There are conditions to meet if we would be blessed and honored by God. We are to separate from the world, and refuse to touch those things that will separate our affections from God. God has the first and highest claims upon his people. Set your affections upon him and upon heavenly things. Your tendrils must be severed from everything earthly. You are exhorted to touch not the unclean thing; for in touching this, you will yourself become unclean. It is impossible for you to unite with those who are corrupt, and still remain pure. “What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial?” God and Christ and the heavenly host would have man know that if he unites with the corrupt, he will become corrupt. Ample provision has been made that we may be raised from the lowlands of earth, and have our affections fastened upon God and upon heavenly things.
(RH January 2, 1900, Art. A, 5)
Will separation from the world, in obedience to the divine command, unfit us for the work the Lord has left us? Will it hinder us from doing good to those around us?—No; the firmer hold we have on heaven, the greater will be our power for usefulness. We should study the Pattern, that the spirit which dwelt in Christ may dwell in us. The Saviour was not found among the exalted and honorable of the world. He did not spend his time among those who were seeking their ease and pleasure. He worked to help those who needed help, to save the lost and perishing, to lift up the bowed down, to break the yoke of oppression from those in bondage, to heal the afflicted, and to speak words of sympathy and consolation to the distressed and sorrowing. We are required to follow this example. The more we partake of the Spirit of Christ, the more we shall seek to do for our fellow men. We shall bless the needy and comfort the distressed. Filled with a love for perishing souls, we shall find our delight in following the footsteps of the Majesty of heaven.
(RH January 2, 1900, Art. A, 6)
The requirements of God are set plainly before us; the question to be settled is, Will we comply with them? Will we accept the condition laid down in his word—separation from the world? This is not the work of a moment or of a day. It is not accomplished by bowing at the family altar and offering up lip-service, nor by public exhortation and prayer. It is a lifelong work. Our consecration to God must be a living principle, interwoven with the life, and leading to self-denial and self-sacrifice. It must underlie all our thoughts, and be the spring of every action. This will elevate us above the world, and separate us from its polluting influence.
(RH January 2, 1900, Art. A, 7)
All our actions are affected by our religious experience. If our experience is founded in God; if we are daily tasting the power of the world to come, and have the fellowship of the Spirit; if each day we hold with a firmer grasp the higher life, principles that are holy and elevating will be inwrought in us, and it will be as natural for us to seek purity and holiness and separation from the world, as it is for the angels of glory to execute the mission of love assigned them. Every one who enters the pearly gates of the city of God will be a doer of the Word. He will be a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
(RH January 2, 1900, Art. A, 8)
Probation is about to close. In heaven the edict will soon go forth, “It is done.”“He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Soon the last prayer for sinners will have been offered, the last tear shed, the last warning given, the last entreaty made, and the sweet voice of mercy will be heard no more. This is why Satan is making such mighty efforts to secure men and women in his snare. He has come down with great power, knowing that his time is short. His special work is to secure professed Christians in his ranks, that through them he may allure and destroy souls. The enemy is playing the game of life for every soul. He is working to remove from us everything of a spiritual nature, and in the place of the precious graces of Christ to crowd our hearts with the evil traits of the carnal nature,—hatred, evil surmising, jealousy, love of the world, love of self, love of pleasure, and the pride of life. We need to be fortified against the incoming foe, who is working with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; for unless we are watchful and prayerful, these evils will enter the heart, and crowd out all that is good.
(RH January 2, 1900, Art. A, 9)
Many who profess to believe the word of God do not seem to understand the deceptive working of the enemy. They do not realize that the end of time is near; but Satan knows it; and while men sleep, he works. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life are controlling men and women. Satan is at work even among the people of God, to cause disunion. Selfishness, corruption, and evil of every kind are taking a firm hold upon hearts. With many the precious word of God is neglected. A novel or a storybook engages the attention, and fascinates the mind. That which excites the imagination is eagerly devoured, while the word of God is set aside. It was because they overlooked the word of God that the Jewish nation rejected Christ, demanding that a robber be granted them, and that the Prince of Life be crucified. And in these last days professed Christians are committing the same sin. They are weighed in the balances, and are found wanting because they suffer their minds to be engrossed with things of little importance, while eternal truth is neglected. The truth of God, which would elevate and sanctify and refine, and fit men for the finishing touch of immortality, is set aside for things of minor importance. Oh that this blindness might pass away, and men and women understand the work that Satan is accomplishing among them!
(RH January 2, 1900, Art. A, 10)
Disease and Its Causes
Care of Children EGW
Another great cause of mortality among infants and youth is the custom of leaving their arms and shoulders naked. This fashion can not be too severely censured. It has cost the life of thousands. The air, bathing the arms and limbs, and circulating about the armpits, chills these sensitive portions of the body so near the vitals, and hinders the healthy circulation of the blood, thus inducing disease, especially of the lungs and brain. Those who regard the health of their children of more value than the foolish flattery of visitors or the admiration of strangers, will ever clothe the shoulders and arms of their tender infants. The mother's attention has been frequently called to the purple arms and hands of her child, and she has been cautioned in regard to this health- and life-destroying practice; and the answer has often been, “I always dress my children in this manner. They get used to it. I can not endure to see the arms of infants covered. It looks old-fashioned.” These mothers dress their delicate infants as they would not venture to dress themselves. They know that if their own arms were exposed without a covering, they would shiver with chilliness. Can infants of a tender age endure this process of hardening without receiving injury? Some children may have at birth such strong constitutions that they can endure this abuse without its costing them life; yet thousands are sacrificed, and tens of thousands have the foundation laid for a short, invalid life, by the custom of bandaging and surfeiting the body with much clothing, while the arms—which are at greater distance from the seat of life, and for that cause need even more clothing than the chest and lungs—are left naked. Can mothers expect to have quiet, healthy infants, who thus treat them?
(RH January 2, 1900, 1)
When the limbs and arms are chilled, the blood is driven from these parts to the lungs and head. The circulation is impeded, and nature's fine machinery does not move harmoniously. The system of the infant is deranged, and it cries and moans because of the abuse it is compelled to suffer. The mother feeds it, thinking it must be hungry, but food only increases its suffering. Tight bands and an overloaded stomach do not agree. The child has no room to breathe. It may scream, struggle and pant for breath, and yet the mother not mistrust the cause. She could relieve the sufferer at once, at least of tight bandages, if she understood the nature of the case. At length she becomes alarmed, thinks her child really ill, and summons a doctor, who looks upon the infant a few moments, and then deals out poisonous medicines, or something called a soothing cordial, which the mother, faithful to directions, pours down the throat of the abused infant. If it was not diseased in reality before, it is after this process. It suffers now from drug-disease, the most stubborn and incurable of all diseases. If it recovers, it must bear about more or less in its system the effects of that poisonous drug, and it is liable to spasms, heart-disease, dropsy on the brain, or consumption. Some infants are not strong enough to bear even a trifle of drug poisons; and as nature rallies to meet the intruder, the vital forces of the tender infant are too severely taxed, and death ends the scene.
(RH January 2, 1900, 2)
In this age of the world, it is no strange sight to see the mother lingering by the cradle of her suffering, dying infant, her heart torn with anguish as she listens to its feeble wail, and witnesses its expiring struggles. It seems mysterious to her that God should thus afflict her innocent child. She does not think that her wrong course has brought about the sad result. She just as surely destroyed her infant's hold on life as if she had given it poison. Disease never comes without a cause. The way is first prepared, and disease invited, by disregarding the laws of health. God does not take pleasure in the sufferings and death of little children. He commits them to parents, for them to educate physically, mentally, and morally, and to train for usefulness here, and for heaven at last.
(RH January 2, 1900, 3)
If the mother remains in ignorance in regard to the physical needs of her child, and, as the result, her child sickens, she need not expect that God will work a miracle to counteract her agency in making it sick. Thousand of infants have died who might have lived. They are martyrs to their parents’ ignorance of the relation which food, dress, and the air they breathe, sustain to health and life. Mothers in past ages should have been physicians to their own children. The time the mother devoted to the extra beautifying of her infant's wardrobe, she should have spent in a nobler purpose—in educating her mind with regard to her own physical needs and those of her offspring. She should have been storing her mind with useful knowledge in regard to the best course she could pursue in rearing her children healthfully, realizing that generations would be injured or benefited by her course of action.
(RH January 2, 1900, 4)
Mothers who have troublesome, fretful infants should study into the cause of their uneasiness. By so doing, they will often see that something is wrong in their management. It is often the case that the mother becomes alarmed at the symptoms of illness manifested by her child, and hurriedly summons a physician, when the infant's sufferings would have been relieved by taking off its tight clothing, and putting upon it garments properly loose and short, thus allowing it the use of its feet and limbs. Mothers should study from cause to effect. If the child has taken cold, it is generally owing to the wrong management of the mother. If she covers its head as well as its body while sleeping, in a short time it will be in a perspiration, caused by labored breathing, because of the lack of pure, vital air. When she takes it from beneath the covering, it is almost sure to take cold. The arms being naked, exposes the infant to constant cold, and congestion of lungs or brain. These exposures prepare the way for the infant to become sickly and dwarfed.
(RH January 2, 1900, 5)