Chapter 65—Northern Wisconsin
This
chapter of the Testimonies 1 contains much needed instruction for the present
state of things in the advent world. It exposes fatal errors of the nominal SDA
church. And is of great value to the home churches for it describes how to deal
with certain situations that transpire in the church.
Chapter
65—Northern Wisconsin
While in
Roosevelt, New York, August 3, 1861, different churches and families
were presented before me. The different influences that have been exerted, and
their discouraging results, were shown me. Satan has used as agents individuals professing to believe a part of present
truth, while they were warring against a part. Such he can use
more successfully than those who are at war with all our faith. His
artful manner of bringing in error through partial believers in the truth, has
deceived many, and distracted and scattered their faith. This is the
cause of the divisions in northern Wisconsin. Some receive a part of the
message, and reject another portion. Some accept the Sabbath and reject the third angel’s
message; yet because they have received the Sabbath
they claim the fellowship of those who believe all the present truth.
Then they labor to bring others into the same dark position with themselves.
They are not responsible to anyone. They have an independent faith of their
own. Such are allowed to have influence, when no place should be given
to them, notwithstanding their pretensions to honesty. {1T 326.1}
Note
by Dejan: Notice that God here showed Ellen White
churches and families of believers professing to believe the present truth, but
who in reality have accepted only portions of the present truth. They are
clearly represented as Satan's 'more successful tool'. Such is the case of the
nominal SDA "church", for they profess acceptance of the Sabbath
while rejecting other aspects of the present truth. Ellen White describes them as
apostates. They have a new, independent faith, that disregards pillars of the
faith, and that is why they are a new movement masquerading as a seventh day
Adventist church. Many professing Seventh day Adventist believe that they are
the people of God because they have accepted the Sabbath and God's holy law.
This is true ONLY if they accept the present truth. If they do not accept the
present truth, we should shun them. All should understand that those of us who
have accepted the separation message will fall under the same condemnation,
nay, even worse one if we allow Satan to ensnare us by similar errors. Endnote.
Honest
souls will see the straight chain of present truth. They will see its
harmonious connections, link after link uniting into a great whole, and
will lay hold upon it. The present truth is not difficult to be understood, and
the people whom God is leading will be united upon this broad, firm platform.
He will not use individuals of different faith, opinions, and views, to scatter
and divide. Heaven and holy angels are working to unite, to bring into the
unity of the faith, into the one body. Satan opposes this, and is
determined to scatter, and divide, and bring in different sentiments, that the
prayer of Christ may not be answered: “Neither pray I for these alone, but for
them also which shall believe on Me through their word; that they all may be
one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in
Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.” John 17:20, 21. Jesus
designed that the faith of His people should be one. If one goes forth
preaching one thing, and another differing with him preaches something else,
how can those who believe through their word be one? There will be difference
of sentiments. {1T 326.2}
Note
by Dejan: The new movement, nominal SDA
"church", uses this kind of statements to "prove" that all
of us should be united in one faith and one body. But the same argument is
often brought up by the papacy and other fallen denominations. Does this mean
that we should unite with them also? The key to understanding this kind of
passages is to understand and accept the conditions under which such a union
must occur. She clearly says that honest souls will see the "straight
chain of present truth", "link after link", and that God is
leading His people to unite on the "broad, firm platform". All of
those, my friends, are references to the pillars of faith. She did not,
and neither does the word of God, teach unity in error. If the union can be
achieved only by sacrificing pillars of our faith, then let there be
differences, even war. Endnote.
I saw
that if God’s people in Wisconsin would prosper, they must take a decided
position in regard to these things, and thereby cut off the influence of
those who are causing distraction and division by teaching sentiments contrary
to the body. Such are wandering stars. They seem to emit a little light;
they profess and carry along a little truth, and thus deceive the
inexperienced. Satan endows them with his spirit, but God is not with them; His
Spirit does not dwell in them. Jesus prayed that His disciples might be one, as
He is one with the Father, “that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.”
The oneness and unity of God’s truth-believing remnant people
carries powerful conviction to the world that they have the truth, and are the
peculiar, chosen people of God. This oneness and unity disconcerts
the enemy, and he is determined that it shall not exist. The present
truth, believed in the heart and exemplified in the life, makes God’s people
one, and gives them a powerful influence. {1T 327.1}
Note
by Dejan: In the paragraph above, God calls faithful
watchmen to take decided position and CUT OFF Satan's influence. If those with
satanic influence are not dealt with according to the advice of the Bible in
Matt 18, they will become thorns that will suffocate the entire church. Endnote.
Had
professed Sabbathkeepers in Wisconsin earnestly
sought and labored to be in union with the prayer of Christ, to be one as He is
one with the Father, Satan’s work would have been defeated. If all had sought
to be in union with the body, the fanaticism which has brought so deep a stain
upon the cause of present truth in northern Wisconsin would not have arisen;
for it is the result of drawing off from the body, and seeking to have an
original, independent faith, regardless of the faith of the body. {1T 327.2}
Note
by Dejan: God has shown me that this is exactly what
is happening around the world in home churches. Satan is trying to separate
members from the body through various means. We are to resist this and not
allow him to separate us from the body of Christ.
In the
last vision given at Battle Creek I was shown that an unwise course was taken
at —— in regard to the visions at the time of the organization of the church
there. There were some in —— who were God’s children, and yet doubted the
visions. Others had no opposition, yet dared not take a decided stand in regard
to them. Some were skeptical, and they had sufficient cause to make them so.
The false visions and fanatical exercises, and the wretched fruits following,
had an influence upon the cause in Wisconsin to make minds jealous of
everything bearing the name of visions. All these things should have been taken
into consideration, and wisdom exercised. There should be no trial or labor
with those who have never seen the individual having visions, and who have had
no personal knowledge of the influence of the visions. Such should not be
deprived of the benefits and privileges of the church, if their
Christian course is otherwise correct, and they have formed a good Christian
character. {1T 327.3}
Some, I
was shown, could receive the published visions, judging of the tree by its
fruits. Others are like doubting Thomas; they cannot believe the published
Testimonies, nor receive evidence through the testimony of others; but must see
and have the evidence for themselves. Such must not be set aside, but long
patience and brotherly love should be exercised toward them until they
find their position and become established for or against. If they
fight against the visions, of which they have no knowledge; if they
carry their opposition so far as to oppose that in which they have had no
experience, and feel annoyed when those who believe that the visions are of God
speak of them in meeting, and comfort themselves with the instruction given
through vision, the church
may know that they are not right. God’s people should not cringe
and yield, and give up their liberty to such disaffected ones. God has placed
the gifts in the church that the church may be benefited by them; and when
professed believers in the truth oppose these gifts, and fight against the
visions, souls are in danger through their influence, and it is time then to
labor with them, that the weak may not be led astray by their influence.
{1T 328.1}
Note
by Dejan: Valuable instructions. We should wait with
those who have not yet decided whether they believe the visions or not. Be
patient and show brotherly love. When they decide for or against visions, then
we act accordingly. Again, the instruction is to CUT OFF demonic influence. Endnote.
It has
been very hard for the servants of God to labor in ——, for there has been a
class of self-righteous, talkative, unruly ones there, who have stood in
the way of the work of God. If received into the church, they would tear it
to pieces. They
would not be subject to the body, and would never be satisfied unless the reins
of church government were in their own hands. {1T 329.1}
Note
by Dejan: We can recognize those who would tear the
church to the pieces through their influence by their unwillingness to subject
to the body and strong desire to control the church. Be wise and test candidates
for baptism thoroughly. Endnote.
Brother
G sought to move with great caution. He knew that the class who opposed the
visions were wrong, that they were not genuine believers in the truth;
and therefore, to shake off these clogs, he proposed to receive none into the
church who did not believe the third angel’s message and the visions. This kept
out some few precious souls who had not fought against the visions. They dared
not unite with the church, fearing that they should commit themselves upon that
which they did not understand and fully believe. And there were those at hand
ready to prejudice these conscientious ones, and to place matters before them
in the worst possible light. Some have felt grieved and offended because of the
condition of membership, and since the organization their feelings of
dissatisfaction have greatly increased. Strong prejudice has governed them. {1T
329.2}
I was
shown the case of Sister H. She was presented before me in connection with a
professed sister who was strongly prejudiced against my husband and myself, and
opposed to the visions. This spirit had led her to love and cherish every lying
report in regard to us and the visions, and she has communicated this to Sister
H. She has had a bitter spirit of war against me, when she had no personal
knowledge of me. She was unacquainted with my labors, yet has nourished the
most wicked feelings of prejudice against me, and has influenced Sister H, and
they have united together in their bitter remarks and speeches. The person shown
me in connection with Sister H was a strong-minded woman, sanguine, and exalted
in her own estimation. She has thought that her views were correct, and that
others must rely upon her word, when she only darkened counsel by words, and
manifested the spirit of the dragon host to war against those who would be
united on the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus. {1T 329.3}
Since
Sister H has been at ——, she has despised the visions, and has related hearsay
reports, as though she knew that they were true. She has resisted no influence
calculated to injure me. She did not know but that the visions were of God; she
had no personal acquaintance with the humble instrument; and yet she has united
with unconsecrated ones in —— to exert a strong influence against me. They
have strengthened one another by loving and reporting false stories
coming from different sources, and in this way have nourished their
prejudice. There can be no union between their spirit and the spirit of the
messages which the Lord sees fit to give for the benefit of His humble people.
The spirit which dwells in their hearts cannot harmonize with the light given
of God. {1T 330.1}
Many
poor souls do not know what they are doing. They unite their influence with
Satan’s forces, and aid him in his work. They manifest great zeal and
earnestness in their blind opposition, as though they were verily doing God’s
service by fighting against the visions. All who desire to do so can acquaint
themselves with the fruits of these visions. For seventeen years God has seen
fit to let them survive and strengthen against the opposition of Satan’s
forces, and the influence of human agencies that have aided Satan in his work.
{1T 330.2}
Other
women were shown me in —— who were at war with the truth. One was presented
before me who embraced a few points of truth, and then went no further
with God’s remnant people. She was exalted in her own eyes, and thought she
understood it all. She was wise in her own opinion, and was shown me as
constantly looking back and referring to an old experience; because she had
received a degree of light in the past, she had become lifted up, and thought
she had sufficient light and knowledge to instruct the whole body. Her faith is
scattered and disconnected. Many of her ideas of truth are erroneous; yet she
is egotistical, and righteous in her own estimation. She is forward to
instruct, but will not be taught. She has despised instruction, and cast
behind her the teachings of God through His servants. I saw her pointing to her
righteousness, her devotion, her prayerful life. Like the Pharisee, she
enumerates her good deeds. “God, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the
week, I give tithes of all that I possess.” The
Pharisee’s prayer was not regarded; but the poor publican, who could only say,
“God be merciful to me a sinner,” moved the pity of the Lord. His prayer was
accepted, while the prayer of the boasting Pharisee was rejected. “For everyone
that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” {1T 330.3}
Revelation
3:17, 18: “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and
increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest
not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I
counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and
white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness
do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve,
that thou mayest see.” {1T 331.1}
This
person, whose countenance I recognized when I saw her, I was told was Mrs. I. I
saw that her life was not marked with that humility which should ever
characterize the followers of Christ. When poor mortals, however high their
profession, become just in their own eyes, then Jesus leaves them to be
deceived in regard to themselves. I was shown that this woman has influenced
others, and some have united with her to hold up the visions in a ridiculous
light. To God they must answer for all this; for every word of derision against
the light which God has seen fit to communicate in His own chosen way, is
recorded. {1T 331.2}
I was
shown still another woman who is not in union with the people whom God is
leading out. The spirit of truth dwells not in her heart, and she has been busy
doing the work which well pleases the enemy of all good, to distract and
confuse minds. (I recognized this woman the last day of the meeting; she left
before it closed.) She is a great talker, and is ever ready to hear and tell
some new thing, dwelling upon what she calls others’ wrongs; and she
terms her evil surmisings discernment. She puts light
for darkness, and darkness for light, and for a pretense makes long prayers.
She loves to be approved and thought righteous, and has deceived some. She
wishes to teach others, and thinks that God teaches her above others. But the
truth has no place in her heart. {1T 332.1}
A few
others were shown me as joining their influence with those I have mentioned,
and together they do what they can to draw off from the body and cause
confusion; and their influence brings the truth of God into disrepute. Jesus
and holy angels are bringing up and uniting God’s people into one faith, that
they may all have one mind and one judgment. And while they are being
brought into the unity of the faith, to see eye to eye upon
the solemn, important truths for this time, Satan is at work to oppose
their advancement. Jesus is at work through His instruments to gather and
unite. Satan works through his instruments to scatter and divide. “For, lo, I
will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as
corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.”
{1T 332.2}
God is
now testing and proving His people. Character is being developed. Angels are
weighing moral worth, and keeping a faithful record of all the acts of the
children of men. Among God’s professed people are corrupt hearts; but they will
be tested and proved. That God who reads the hearts of everyone, will
bring to light hidden things of darkness where they are often least suspected,
that stumbling blocks which have hindered the progress of truth may be removed,
and God have a clean and holy people to declare His statutes and judgments.
{1T 332.3}
Note
by Dejan: God has shown me that this is in the process
of fulfillment as we speak. Home churches are being sifted through so we may
know the difference between those who serve the Lord and those who do not. Endnote.
The
Captain of our salvation leads His people on step by step, purifying and
fitting them for translation, and leaving in the rear those who are disposed
to draw off from the body, who are not willing to be led, and are
satisfied with their own righteousness. “If
therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” No
greater delusion can deceive the human mind than that which leads men to
indulge a self-confident spirit, to believe that they are right and in the light, when they are drawing away from God’s
people, and their cherished light is darkness. {1T 333.1}
The
class in —— who have been drawing off from the body have possessed a hard,
bitter spirit against those whom God is using as His instruments to bring His people
up united upon the only true platform. Their
spirit is opposed to the work of God, and their influence has brought reproach
upon the cause of God, and has made our faith disgusting to unbelievers, and
caused Satan to exult. Those who are walking in church capacity and trying
to serve God, may for a time be annoyed with those among them who are not
right, and who have been shown me as self-righteous and pharisaical; but if
they are patient, and walk humbly before God, earnestly praying for His
power and Spirit, they will advance, and those who are unsound in the faith
will be left behind. {1T 333.2}
Brother
J was presented before me, and I was shown that his course has not been
pleasing to God. He was unstable. He has been befogged with the Age-to-Come,
and as there is not the least harmony between the Age-to-Come theory and the
third angel’s message, he lost his love for and faith in the message, and felt
irritated because so much had been said in regard to it. The third angel is
proclaiming a most solemn message to the inhabitants of the earth; and shall
God’s chosen people be indifferent to it, and not unite their voice to sound
this solemn warning? Brother J is deceived, and is deceiving others. His theme
has been consecration, when his heart was not right. His mind has been divided.
He has had no anchor to hold him, and has been floating about without a settled
faith. Much of his time has been occupied in relating to one and another
reports and stories calculated to distract and unsettle minds. He has had much
to say in regard to my husband and myself, and against the visions. He has
stood in a position, “Report, ... and we will report it.” God sent him not on
such a mission. He has not known whom he has been serving. Satan has been using
him to throw minds into confusion. What little influence he had he has used to
prejudice minds against the third angel’s message. He has by false reports
presented the visions in a wrong light, and weak souls who were not
established in all the present truth have fed upon these things instead of
clean provender thoroughly winnowed. He has been deceived in regard to
sanctification. Unless he now changes his course, and is willing to be
instructed, and cherishes the light given, he will be left of God to pursue his
own course and follow his own imperfect judgment until he will make shipwreck
of faith, and by his unwise course become a signal warning to those who choose
to go independent of the body. God will open the eyes of honest souls to
understand the cruel work of those who scatter and divide. He will mark those
who cause divisions, that every honest one may escape from Satan’s snare.
{1T 333.3}
Brother
J received from Elder K a false theory of sanctification, which is outside of
the third angel’s message, and wherever received destroys the love for the
message. I was shown that Elder K was upon dangerous ground. He is not in union
with the third angel. He once enjoyed the blessing of God, but does not now,
for he has not prized and cherished the light of truth which has shone upon his
pathway. He has brought along with him a theory of Methodist sanctification,
and presents that in front, making it of the highest importance. And the sacred
truths applicable to this time are by him made of little consequence. He has
followed his own light, and been growing darker and darker, and going further
and further from the truth, until it has but little influence upon him. Satan
has controlled his mind, and he has done great injury to the cause of truth in
northern Wisconsin. {1T 334.1}
It was
this theory of sanctification which Sister G received of Elder K, and which she
tried to follow out, that carried her into that dreadful fanaticism. Elder K
has bewildered and confused many minds with this theory of sanctification. All
who embrace it lose to a great extent their interest in and love for the third
angel’s message. This view of sanctification is a very pretty-looking theory.
It whitewashes over poor souls who are in darkness, error, and pride. It gives
them an appearance of being good Christians, and of possessing holiness, when
their hearts are corrupt. It is a peace-and-safety theory, which does not bring
to light evil and reprove and rebuke wrong. It heals the hurt of the daughter
of God’s people slightly, crying: Peace, peace, when there is no peace. Men and
women of corrupt hearts throw around them the garb of sanctification, and are
looked upon as examples to the flock, when they are Satan’s agents, used by him
to allure and deceive honest souls into a bypath, that they may not feel the
force and importance of the solemn truths proclaimed by the third angel. {1T
335.1}
Elder K
has been looked up to as an example, while he has been an injury to the cause
of God. His life has not been blameless. His ways have not been in accordance
with the holy law of God, or with the spotless life of Christ. His corrupt
nature is not subdued; and yet he dwells much upon sanctification, and thereby
deceives many. I was directed to his past labors. He has failed to bring out
souls into the truth, and to establish them upon the third angel’s message.
He presents a theory of sanctification as a matter of the utmost importance,
while he makes of but little importance the channel through which God’s
blessing comes. “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.” The
present truth, which is the channel, is not regarded, but is trampled
underfoot. Men may cry, Holiness! holiness! sanctification! sanctification!
consecration! consecration! and yet know no more by experience of what they
talk than the sinner with his corrupt propensities. God will soon tear off this
whitewashed garb of professed sanctification which some who are carnally minded
have thrown around them to hide the deformity of the soul. {1T 335.2}
A
faithful record is kept of the acts of the children of men. Nothing can be
concealed from the eye of the high and holy One. Some take a course directly
opposed to the law of God, and then, to cover up their sinful course, they
profess to be consecrated to God. This profession of holiness does not make
itself manifest in their daily lives. It does not have a tendency to elevate
their minds, and lead them to “abstain from all appearance of evil.” We are
made a spectacle unto the world, to angels, and to men. Our faith is blasphemed
in consequence of the crooked course of the carnally minded. They profess
a part of the truth, which gives them influence, while they have no union with
those who believe and are united upon the whole truth. What has been
Elder K’s influence? What have been the fruits of his labors? How many have
been brought out and established upon present truth? How many has he
brought into the unity of the faith? He has not gathered with Christ. His
influence has been to scatter. There is a lack in his preaching, and his
converts lack that which would prove their rock and defense in the day of God’s
anger. His preaching lacks the salt, the savor. He does not bring out souls thoroughly
converted to the truth, separating them from the world, and
uniting them with God’s peculiar people. His converts have no anchor to
hold them, and they drift here and there, until many of them are bewildered and
lost in the world. {1T 336.1}
Note
by Dejan: The most successful tools in the hands of
Satan will be those who have once been in the present truth, and they apostatized.
The more the person knows, the greater the darkness when they fall. We have a
lot more to fear from those who were once upon the platform of truth and then
rejected it, then from a nonbeliever. We should cut off the influence of those
who profess to believe a part of the truth, but not the whole truth. Thoroughly
converted means thoroughly separated. Endnote.
Elder K
knows not of what spirit he is. He is uniting his influence with the dragon
host to oppose those who keep the commandments of God, and who have the
testimony of Jesus. He has a hard warfare before him. As far as the Sabbath is
concerned, he occupies the same position as the Seventh Day Baptists. Separate
the Sabbath from the messages, and it loses its power; but when
connected with the message of the third angel, a power attends it which
convicts unbelievers and infidels, and brings them out with strength to stand,
to live, grow, and flourish in the Lord. It is time for God’s people in
Wisconsin to find their position. “Who will be on the Lord’s side?” should be
sounded by the faithful, experienced ones in every place. God requires them to come out
and cut loose from the various influences which would separate them from one
another and from the great platform of truth upon which God is bringing His
people. {1T 337.1}
Note
by Dejan: It was shown to us in vision that most of
God's people in home churches DO NOT understand how serious the issue of
separation is. The more you separate from the world, the more will you connect
with the Lord and the brethren in the faith. Endnote.
I was
shown the case of Mr. L. He has much to say upon sanctification, but he is
deceived in himself, and others are deceived in him. His sanctification may
last him while he is in meeting, but it cannot bear the test. Bible holiness
purifies the life; but L’s heart is not cleansed. Evil exists in the heart, and
is carried out in the life, and the enemies of our faith have had occasion to
reproach Sabbathkeepers. They judge of the tree by
its fruits. {1T 337.2}
2
Corinthians 4:2: “But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not
walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by
manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in
the sight of God.” {1T 337.3}
Many go
directly contrary to the above scripture. They do walk in craftiness, and
handle the word of God deceitfully. They do not exemplify the truth in their
lives. They have special exercises upon sanctification, yet cast the word of
God behind them. They pray sanctification, sing sanctification, and shout
sanctification. Men with corrupt hearts put on the air of innocence, and
profess to be consecrated; but this is no evidence that they are right. Their
deeds testify of them. Their consciences are seared, but the day of God’s
visitation is coming, and every man’s work shall be manifest, of what sort it
is. And every man shall receive according to his deeds. {1T 338.1}
Said the
angel, as he pointed to L: “What hast thou to do to declare My statutes, or
that thou shouldest take My covenant in thy mouth? seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest
My words behind thee. When thou sawest a thief, then
thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker
with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and
thy tongue frameth deceit.” God will scatter and
shake off these dividing influences, and will free His people, if those
professing the whole truth will come up to the help of the Lord. {1T 338.2}
There is
no Bible sanctification for those who cast a part of the truth behind them.
There is light enough given in the word of God, so that none need err. The
truth is so elevated as to be admired by the greatest minds, and yet it is so
simple that the humblest, feeblest child of God can comprehend it, and be
instructed by it. Those who see not the beauty that there is in the truth, who
attach no importance to the third angel’s message, will be without excuse; for
the truth is plain. {1T 338.3}
2
Corinthians 4:3, 4: “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine unto them.” {1T 338.4}
John
17:17, 19: “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.” “And for their
sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.”
{1T 339.1}
1 Peter
1:22: “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the
Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a
pure heart fervently.” {1T 339.2}
2
Corinthians 7:1: “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us
cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God.” {1T 339.3}
Philippians
2:12-15: “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my
presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to
do of His good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons
of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among
whom ye shine as lights in the world.” {1T 339.4}
John
15:3: “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” {1T
339.5}
Ephesians
5:25-27: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and
gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of
water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not
having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and
without blemish.” {1T 339.6}
Here is
Bible sanctification. It is not merely a show or outside work. It is
sanctification received through the channel of truth. It is truth received in
the heart, and practically carried out in the life. {1T 339.7}
Jesus,
considered as a man, was perfect, yet He grew in grace. Luke 2:52: “And Jesus
increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” Even the most
perfect Christian may increase continually in the knowledge and love of God.
{1T 339.8}
2 Peter
3:14, 18: “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent
that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” “But grow
in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be
glory both now and forever. Amen.” {1T 340.1}
Sanctification
is not the work of a moment, an hour, or a day. It is a continual growth in
grace. We know not one day how strong will be our conflict the next. Satan
lives, and is active, and every day we need to cry earnestly to God for help
and strength to resist him. As long as Satan reigns we shall have self to
subdue, besetments to overcome, and there is no
stopping place, there is no point to which we can come and say we have fully
attained. {1T 340.2}
Philippians
3:12: “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I
follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also
I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.” {1T 340.3}
The
Christian life is constantly an onward march. Jesus sits as a refiner and
purifier of His people; and when His image is perfectly reflected in them, they
are perfect and holy, and prepared for translation. A great work is required of
the Christian. We are exhorted to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Here we see where the
great labor rests. There is a constant work for the Christian. Every branch in
the parent vine must derive life and strength from that vine, in order to yield
fruit. {1T 340.4}