Brother and Sister N, the influence of unbelieving friends affects you more than you are aware of. They bring you no strength, but darkness and unbelief. You have an individual work in the vineyard of the Lord. You have thought and cared too much for yourselves. Set your hearts in order, and then be in earnest. Inquire: “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” Acts 9:6. God requires of you an earnest reaching out after Him. He bids you search your own hearts diligently to discover all there that prevents your bringing forth much fruit, and that which will remain. The reason you possess no more of the Spirit of God is that you do not cheerfully bear the cross of Christ. In the last vision I saw that you were deceived in regard to the strength of your love for this world. The cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and you become unfruitful. God requires us to bear much fruit. He will not give commands without giving with them power for their performance. He will not do our part of the work, neither does He require that we do His. It is God that worketh in us, but we must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. “Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” James 2:17. Faith must be sustained by works; the doers of the work are justified before God. You displease God in talking of your poverty, while you have abundance. All that you possess belongs to Him, yet He has seen fit to make you a steward of it for a short time, He is testing and proving you. How will you bear the test? He will require His own with usury. (2T 166.1) MC VC

The Lord will not depend upon niggardly souls to take care of the worthy poor nor to sustain His cause. Such are too narrow-minded; they would grudge the smallest pittance to the needy in their distress. They would also want the cause narrowed down to meet their limited ideas. To save means would be the prominent idea with them. Their money would be more valuable to them than precious souls for whom Christ died. The lives of such, so far as God and heaven are concerned, are worse than a blank. God will not trust His important work with them. (2T 284.1) MC VC

“Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.” Judges 5:23. What had Meroz done? Nothing. This was their sin. The curse of God came upon them for what they had not done. The man with a selfish, narrow mind is responsible for his niggardliness, but those who have kindly affections, generous impulses, and a love for souls are laid under weighty responsibilities; for if they allow these talents to remain unemployed and to waste they are classed with unfaithful servants. The mere possession of these gifts is not enough. Those who have them should realize that their obligations and responsibilities are increased. (2T 284.2) MC VC

The Master will require each of His stewards to give an account of his stewardship, to show what he has gained with the talents entrusted to him. Those to whom rewards are given will impute no merit to themselves for their diligent trading; they will give all the glory to God. They speak of that which was delivered to them, as “Thy pound,” not their own. When they speak of their gain, they are careful to state whence it came. The capital was advanced by the Master. They have traded upon it successfully, and return the principal and interest to the Giver. He rewards their efforts as if the merit belonged to them, when they owe all to the grace and mercy of the bountiful Giver. His words of unqualified approval fall upon their ears: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” Matthew 25:21. (2T 284.3) MC VC