Among our workers are some who feel that a great object would be gained if their feet could tread the soil of old Jerusalem. But God's cause and work will never be advanced by His workers wandering about to find where Jesus traveled and wrought His miracles. Would you trace the footsteps of Christ, behold Him in that hovel, ministering to the poor; see Him at that sick bed, comforting the suffering, and speaking hope and courage to the desponding. Those who walk in the footsteps of Jesus will do as He did. “Whosoever will come after me,” He said, “let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
(RH July 30, 1901, Art. A, 1)
The city of Jerusalem is no longer a sacred place. The curse of God is upon it because of the rejection and crucifixion of Christ. A dark blot of guilt rests upon it, and never again will it be a sacred place until it has been cleansed by the purifying fires of heaven. At the time when this sin-cursed earth is purified from every stain of sin, Christ will again stand upon the Mount of Olives. As His feet rest upon it, it will part asunder, and become a great plain, prepared for the city of God.
(RH July 30, 1901, Art. A, 2)
There is a work to do for God all around us. There is a world to save, and God calls upon us to be co-workers with Him. He calls upon us to work with earnestness and zeal for the unconverted.
(RH July 30, 1901, Art. A, 3)
We are engaged in an exalted, sacred work. Those who are called to teach the truth should be bodies of light, living near to God, where they can be all light in Him. Ministers need daily conversion to the Lord. They should show an unselfish interest in His cause and work. God calls for self-abasement, for a putting away of all evil-surmising, envy, malice, and unbelief. He calls for a transformation of the entire being.
(RH July 30, 1901, Art. A, 4)
Many are in danger, after having preached to others, of themselves becoming castaways; for they do not see the importance of self-knowledge; they do not watch and pray lest they enter into temptation. By watchfulness and prayer they might become acquainted with those points in their character where they are most easily overcome by the enemy; by resistance of every attack, their weak points might become their strong points. Every follower of Christ should daily examine himself, and by constant prayer arm himself for conflict.
(RH July 30, 1901, Art. A, 5)
There are many who neglect self-examination. This neglect is positively dangerous. The example of those who receive the words of God to give to the people has a powerful influence. Unless they are sanctified by the truth they profess to believe, they will raise their converts no higher than their own low standard. It is seldom that a people rise higher than the minister. His ways, his words, his faith, his piety, are looked upon as a sample of what the people's should be. If the people follow the example of the one who has taught them the truth, they think they are doing their duty. Let the minister make the actions of each day a subject of careful thought, that he may know himself. By a close scrutiny of his daily life, let him seek to understand his motives and the principles underlying them. This review of the words and actions is necessary to all who wish to reach perfection of Christian character.
(RH July 30, 1901, Art. A, 6)
The Lord does not desire any minister to work in ignorance and rudeness. Neither is human elegance or learning to take the place of prayer and a study of the Word. Education alone will never make a successful shepherd of the flock. The preaching of the Word is not alone to give information. Hearts must be touched. Men and women must be directed to the path that leads to heaven. The teaching that fails of this is of no value.
(RH July 30, 1901, Art. A, 7)
Love for God and the truth, combined with perseverance and determined effort, will accomplish much. If some who are rough and uncourteous have blundered into the ministry, let them look to Jesus and follow His example. Let them daily be fitting themselves for the great work of God. Those who would excel must be toilers. They must work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. Their work must be mingled with earnest prayer and meditation. Then they will receive from Heaven grace to enable them to enlighten other minds.
(RH July 30, 1901, Art. A, 8)
The minister of God needs the Holy Spirit every moment; he needs to be imbued with the spirit of prayer, that the word he presents to the people may have force and power. His language should be such as can be understood by the most simple, and yet be refreshing to the most learned. He should become acquainted with those for whom he works, and be to them a savor of life unto life. He must participate alike in the joys and sorrows of the rich and the poor, the high and the low; for there is no respect of persons with God.
(RH July 30, 1901, Art. A, 9)
Many who profess to follow Christ have not genuine religion. They do not reveal in their lives the fruit of true conversion. They are controlled by the same habits, the same spirit of fault-finding and selfishness, which controlled them before they accepted Christ.
(RH July 30, 1901, Art. A, 10)
No one can enter the city of God who has not a knowledge of genuine conversion. In true conversion the soul is born again. A new spirit takes possession of the temple of the soul. A new life begins. Christ is revealed in the character. The spirit of a new life works within. Faith passes into knowledge, and the word of God is understood. The branch becomes a living part of the Vine.
(RH July 30, 1901, Art. A, 11)
Truth must stand as a counselor by the side of every worker. Charity must control the life,—that charity which “seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” Self must be hid in Christ.
(RH July 30, 1901, Art. A, 12)
We are altogether too indifferent in regard to the Holy Spirit, which is to take possession of heart and character. Those who are unenlightened by the Spirit of God can see only the things which are of the greatest importance in their human estimation. They mistake phantoms for realities, and realities for phantoms, calling a world an atom, and an atom a world. They need the Holy Spirit to control heart and mind, and to mold the character after the divine similitude. No one is safe in attempting to work without the Holy Spirit. The most powerful sermons may be preached, but the word spoken will be valueless unless it is accompanied by the Holy Spirit.
(RH July 30, 1901, Art. A, 13)
We cannot rightly estimate the value of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Those who yield themselves to the control of this Spirit are made pure and holy. Efficiency in God's work comes not by wading through an immense amount of study, but by a willingness to be guided and controlled by the Spirit. God only can give true success. Yoked up with Christ, men will become more precious than gold, even than the golden wedge of Ophir.
(RH July 30, 1901, Art. A, 14)
God's workers need faith in God. He is not unmindful of their labors. He values their work. Divine agencies are appointed to co-operate with those who are laborers together with God. When we think that God will not do as He has said, and that He has no time to notice His workers, we dishonor our Maker. We are to make God our trust. “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”
(RH July 30, 1901, Art. A, 15)
The true ministers of God are those who represent Christ. Men stand or fall, not by their own judgment, not by the opinions of their fellow men, but by the unchangeable law of God. We are to keep self in subordination, and work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, knowing nothing but Christ, and Him crucified. Separation from the world, obedience to the word of God, is the sure evidence of love to God. Christ declared, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”
(RH July 30, 1901, Art. A, 16)
A distinct work is assigned to every Christian. When a soul is converted and exercises faith in Christ, when prayer is offered and obedience rendered in accordance with the prayer, the active working of the Holy Spirit is revealed. Spiritual quickening from above enters the life. “I know whom I have believed,” is the testimony borne as the newborn souls work out the divine purpose.
(RH July 30, 1901, Art. A, 17)
The God-fearing worker is storing up a treasure in heaven. Earthly riches are not enduring: they are swept away in a moment; but the love of Christ in the heart, expressed in deeds of mercy, love, and benevolence, will endure through the eternal ages.
(RH July 30, 1901, Art. A, 18)
Mrs. E. G. White's Reply to H. T. Nelson
EGW
When Brother Nelson came to my home in California with his message, I gave him all the time I could. I think he spoke for an hour face to face with me. I listened to what he had to say, but I told him that God has not given him his message. He brought the message that God had appointed me to act as Moses, and that he was to connect with me in the work as Joshua. But if God had made this appointment, I should have known something about it. God himself would have given me instruction.
(RH July 30, 1901, 1)
God has not given Brother Nelson the work of acting as Joshua in connection with His people. From the light that I have had, this could not be. It is an impossibility.
(RH July 30, 1901, 2)
Brother Nelson bore me the message also that I had not treated my workers well, that I had been hard with them. But this is the last thing any one who knows me would say against me. This message is false, every word of it. The position I occupy in regard to my workers is a position of tenderness and care. My family know that Brother Nelson's testimony regarding my treatment of them is entirely false. I am willing that they should bear their testimony concerning this. Sometimes I have to call them up at five o'clock in the morning to prepare matter to be sent out in the mail. They take hold cheerfully and willingly, and then when the mail has gone, I say to them, “You have been hurried with this work. You may spend the rest of the day as you please.” I believe in guarding the health of my workers. Those in my household will bear witness that I watch them as a careful guardian. That I have been hard upon my workers I utterly deny. It is true that at times the work has been hard upon them as they have helped me in getting the light before the people.
(RH July 30, 1901, 3)
When the Lord gives a man a message, He gives with it something whereby His people may know that the message is from Him. God does not ask His people to believe every one who comes to them with a message.
(RH July 30, 1901, 4)
The Lord sends warnings to His people, not to destroy them, but to correct their errors. I have never been given the testimony to bear to any one, “You have committed the unpardonable sin.” God never told any one to say to a fellow being, “You have committed the unpardonable sin.” He has not given Brother Nelson this message to bear to Elder Breed, Elder Irwin, or Elder A. T. Jones.
(RH July 30, 1901, 5)
I know that God never gave mortal man such a message as that which Brother Nelson has borne concerning his brethren. It is not like our God. After the disappointment of 1844 there were those who would say to others, “You are lost; you have gone too far to be saved.” Then I was brought to my feet to bid them in the name of the Lord to cease their condemnation. God has never empowered one mortal to say to another mortal, “You are lost.” We are all human beings. We are on this earth to form characters which will fit us to inherit eternal life. If we heed the word of the Lord, He will correct us and guide us.
(RH July 30, 1901, 6)
Since I have been here, I have had messages to bear to different persons, but words like those uttered by Mr. Nelson have never escaped my lips. Brethren, we are to hold together. The satanic agencies are working to destroy, and God calls upon His servants to stand together, and to be meek and lowly in heart. We are to be kind and gentle in our treatment of one another.
(RH July 30, 1901, 7)
We are living in perilous times. From the light I have, I know that Satan is trying to bring in that which will make people think they have a wonderful work to do. But when God gives a man a message, that man, by his meekness and lowliness, will give evidence that God is working through him. God lives and reigns, and He desires us to walk before Him in humility. He does not wish this man Nelson to force himself before a congregation. He does not want this element to come into our meetings to create a disturbance. God has not given Brother Nelson this work to do. It is the means whereby the enemy is trying to divert the minds of the people from the work which God has said must be done.
(RH July 30, 1901, 8)
Mistakes have been made. There must be reorganization. God desires to carry forward the work of perfecting a people who will shine in the kingdom of glory. He is opening doors which His people can enter to work for the salvation of souls. It is that we may co-operate with Him in His work that we are here. We are not going to be interrupted in meeting after meeting by those who claim they have a message to deliver. He who presses himself forward into a place where he is not wanted is not doing the work of God. We are to work like soldiers in an army. We are not to step out of the ranks, and begin to work on our own account.
(RH July 30, 1901, 9)
We have a very solemn, important work to do in this Conference, and we need to pray and search our hearts. We are to work in perfect harmony and order. As we obey the commands of Christ, moving forward in unity, we shall see the salvation of God.
(RH July 30, 1901, 10)
We have come here at great expense to set things in order. There are those who have been working in one place for too long a time. They should have a change. They must go where they can see what God is doing outside of Battle Creek. We do not say to them, because they have made mistakes, “You have committed the unpardonable sin.” We say, “Brethren, let us take hold together. Let us counsel together. Let us stand in our lot and in our place, and work for the whole field.”
(RH July 30, 1901, 11)
We love our brother. We want him to be saved, but we cannot allow him to take the time of this Conference. It is not his time. God has given us a work to do, and we intend to do it under His supervision, that souls may be brought to a knowledge of present truth.
(RH July 30, 1901, 12)