An
Earnest Admonition by Ellen G. White
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By Mrs. E. G. White (Emphasis
by Elder D. Bauer) "Norfolk
Villa," Prospect St., Granville,
N. S. W., Sept.
19, 1895. Dear Brother-----:-- I do not find rest in spirit. Scene after
scene is presented in symbols before me, and I find no rest until I begin to
write out the matter. I think we will institute, at least once each day, a
season of prayer for the Lord to set things in order at the center of the
work. Matters are being shaped so that every other institution is
following in the same course. The General Conference is itself becoming
corrupted with wrong sentiments and principles. In the working up of
plans, the same principles are manifest that have controlled at Battle Creek for a long time. Christ said of the Jews, "In
them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias,
which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not
understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: for this
people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their
eyes they have closed." Thus it is with some men who are connected with
the great and important interests in our institutions. I have been shown that the Jewish nation were not brought suddenly
into their condition of thought and practise.
From generation to generation they were working on false theories, carrying
out principles that were opposed to the truth, and combining with their
religion, thoughts and plans that were the product of human minds: human
inventions were made supreme. So it is today. Men connected with the
work of God have been dealing unjustly, and it is time to call a halt. The holy principles
God has given are represented by the sacred fire: but common fire
has been used in place of the sacred. False propositions have been
assumed as truth and righteousness, and everything has been managed in such a
way as to carry out these propositions, which are a misrepresentation of
God's character. Plans contrary to truth and righteousness have
been introduced in a subtle manner, on the plea that this must be done, and
that must be done because it is for the advancement of the cause of God. Men
have taken advantage of those whom they supposed to be under their
jurisdiction. They were determined to bring the individuals to their terms;
they would rule or ruin. This devising leads to
oppression, injustice, and wickedness. There will be no material
change for the better until a decided movement is made to bring in different
state of things. The plea some are so ready to urge, "The cause of
God," or "Working in behalf of the cause of God," to
justify themselves in presenting robbery for burnt offering, is an offense to
God. He accepts no such transactions; prosperity will not attend these
movements. The Lord of heaven does not accept the strange fire
offered to him. Let men deal with men upon the principles of the ten commandments, bringing these principles into their
business transactions; for the great and holy and merciful God will never
be in league with dishonest practises;
not a single touch of injustice will he vindicate. The cause of God is
free from every taint of injustice. It can gain no advantage by robbing
the members of the family of God of their individuality or of their rights.
All such practises are
abhorrent to God. Let all bear in mind that the Lord's eye
is upon all their works, and that he expects fidelity from his servants. When
the four Hebrew youth were receiving an education for the court of the
Babylonish king, they did not feel that the blessing of the Lord was a
substitute for the taxing effort required of them. They were
diligent in study; for they discerned that through the grace of God, their
destiny depended on their own will and action. They knew that they
were to bring all their ability to their work, and by close, severe
taxation of their powers, make the most of their opportunities for study and
labor. He who has created men, and has given them
talent and intellect, seeks to bring their minds into association with the
divine. When this is done, goodness, love for their fellow men, will be their
natural instinct. He would have men love God supremely, and their fellow men
impartially. It is his purpose that we should be closely attached to God, and
tenderly attached to one another. Such was the condition that existed in
heaven before the disaffection of Satan. The heavenly current flowed through
the universe of God without one cloud of evil to cast a shadow upon its
bright waters. Everywhere spotless purity was reflected as in a mirror; and
God was over all. But Satan fell. The human race were created. Adam and Eve fell. And cannot men who have the history of the
fall, the workings of the wily foe since Adam's day, see how the same
principles are still at work, and what will be the end thereof? We are all on
trial during probationary time. Satan is playing the game of life for every
soul; Christ is at work for every soul. Those who consent to receive the
moral image of God, become like him in character. But if they refuse the
character of Christ, heaven is lost to them. When we have so gracious an
opportunity of working out our own salvation through our choice of the
character we form, why will we not lay hold of the Saviour, and by faith receive his merits, and
perfect a character like his? The Lord Jesus himself has bridged the
gulf that sin has made, and the whole scheme of redemption has been put in
operation to restore the moral image of God in man. "The Word was made
flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth." Infinite wisdom is
revealed in Christ. He suffered in our stead, that men could have another
test and trial to prove whether they would be safe subjects for his kingdom.
His blood was our ransom,
his death brings life and immortality within our reach. He has risen from the
dead, and has ascended on high to intercede for the fallen race. He is now at
the right hand of the throne of God,--our Representative before the Father.
Whatever was given to Christ--the "all things" to supply every need
of fallen man--was given to him as the head and representative of humanity.
In and through him we are complete in every grace. We share his throne.
"To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." There is a heaven of bliss, free from all
dissension, free from all selfishness, free from poverty, sickness, and
oppression, for those that overcome. Then I entreat you who have a heaven to
gain and a hell to shun. Do not be presumptuous. Link up in the closest
relationship with Christ, and depart from every species of iniquity. {PH080
29.1} All who, before the universe of heaven,
are adjudged to have, in Christ, endured the penalty of the law, and
in him fulfilled its righteousness, will have eternal life. They will be
one in character with Christ. His
prayer for his followers will be fulfilled. "The glory [character] which
thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I
in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the
world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast
loved me." Shall we not strive to form characters after the divine
similitude? Shall we not here be conformed to the image of Christ? O that God
would give us divine perception to comprehend the breadth and length, the
depth and height, and to know the love of Christ that passeth knowledge, that
we might be filled with all the fulness
of God! Then would man look upon his fellow men as God's own purchased
possession. He would keep his own soul in the love of God, and would
not undertake to lord it over God's heritage. It was a wonderful thing for God to
create man, to make mind. He created him that every faculty might be the
faculty of the divine mind. The
glory of God is to be revealed in the creation of man in God's image, and in
his redemption. One soul is of more value than a world. The Lord Jesus is the
Author of our being, and he is also the Author of our redemption; and
every one who will enter into the kingdom of God will develop a character
that is the counterpart of the character of God. None can dwell with God
in the holy heaven but those who bear his likeness. Those who are redeemed will
be overcomers; they will be elevated, pure, one with Christ. The divine decrees are to be
vindicated; it will be demonstrated that they are not accessory to sin. There was no withdrawal of divine influence from
Lucifer. Not in the slightest particular was there a deficiency in God's
government that would afford a cause for disaffection in heaven. So in the
administration of affairs in connection with God's work on earth, he requires
that those who bear the responsibility of the work are to give no cause for
disaffection. The principles that are according to heaven's order must be
maintained. Everything in our world is in agitation. Coming
events cast their shadows before. The signs of the times are ominous
indeed. There is assurance in nothing human or earthly. There are but two
parties in this world. Satan works with his crooked, deceiving power, and
through strong delusion he catches all who do not abide in the truth, and
have turned their ears away from the truth, and have turned unto fables.
Satan himself abode not in the truth, and he is the mystery of iniquity. Through
his subtility he gives to
his soul-destroying errors the appearance of truth. Herein is their
power to deceive. It is because they are a counterfeit of the truth that
Spiritualism, theosophy, and the like deceptions gain such power over the
minds of men. Herein is the masterly working of Satan. He pretends to be the
Saviour of man, the benefactor of the human race, and thus he more readily
lures his victims to destruction. Rapidly men are ranging themselves under
the banner they have chosen, restlessly waiting and watching the movements of
their leaders. Some are watching and waiting and working for our Lord's
appearing, but the greater part of the
world are rapidly falling into line under the generalship of
the first great apostate. They look for a god in humanity, and Satan
personifies the one they seek. Multitudes will be so deluded
through their rejection of truth, that
they will accept the counterfeit; and humanity will be hailed as God. Satan's skill is exercised in devising
plans and methods without number to accomplish his purpose. Dissimulation
has become a fine art with him, and he works in the guise of an
angel of light. God's eye alone discerns his schemes to contaminate the world
with false and ruinous principles, bearing on their face the appearance of
genuine goodness. He works to restrict religious liberty, and to bring into
the religious world a species of slavery. Organizations,
institutions, unless kept by the power of God, will work under Satan's
dictation to bring men under the control of men and fraud and guile will bear
the semblance of zeal for truth, and for the advancement of the kingdom of
God. Whatever in our practise
is not as open as the day,
belongs to the methods of the prince of evil. We are warned in the word of God that
sleepless vigilance is the price of safety. Only in the straight path of
truth and righteousness can we escape the tempter's power. The
winds are held by the four angels; a moment of respite has been graciously
given us of God. Every power lent us of God, whether practical, mental, or
moral, is to be sacredly cherished to do the work assigned us for our fellow
men who are perishing in
their ignorance. The warning is to go forth to all parts of the world. There
must be no delay. If men resist the warnings the Lord sends
them, they become even leaders in evil practises;
such men assume to exercise the prerogatives of God-- they presume to do that
which God himself will not do in seeking to control the minds of men. They
introduce their own methods and plans, and through their misconceptions of
God, they weaken the faith of others in the truth, and bring in false
principles that will work like leaven to taint and corrupt our institutions
and churches. Anything that lowers men's conception of righteousness and
equity and impartial judgment, any device or precept that brings God's
human agents under the control of human minds,
impairs their faith in God; it separates the soul from God, for it leads away
from the path of strict integrity and righteousness. God will not vindicate any device
whereby man shall in the slightest degree rule or oppress his fellow man. The only hope for fallen man is to look to Jesus,
and receive him as the only Saviour. As soon as man begins to make an iron
rule for other men, as soon as he begins to harness up and drive men
according to his own mind, he dishonors God, and imperils his own soul and
the souls of his brethren. God expects his workers to be
tender-hearted. How merciful are the ways of God! (See Deut. 10:17-20; 2 Chron. 20:5-7, 9; 1 Peter
1:17.) But the rules God has given have been disregarded, and strange
fire has been offered before the Lord. The spirit of domination is
extending to the presidents of our conferences. But if a man is sanguine of
his own powers, and seeks to exercise dominion over his brethren, feeling
that he is invested with authority to make his will the ruling power, the
best and only safe course is to remove him, lest great harm be done, and he
lose his own soul, and imperil the souls of others. "All ye are
brethren." Those in authority should manifest the spirit of
Christ. They should deal as he would deal with every case that requires
attention. They should go weighted with the Holy Spirit. A man's position does not make him one
jot or tittle greater in the sight of God; it is character alone that God
values. The high-handed power that has been developed, as though position
made men gods, makes me afraid, and ought to cause fear. It is a curse
wherever, and by whomsoever
exercised. This lording it over God's heritage will create such a
disgust of man's jurisdiction that a state of insubordination will result.
The people are learning that men in high positions of authority cannot be
trusted to mold and fashion other men's minds and characters. The result
will be a loss of confidence even in the management of faithful men. But
the Lord will raise up
laborers who realize their own nothingness apart from him. Let men be connected with God's work who
will represent his character. They may have much to learn in regard to
business management; but if they pray to God as did Daniel, if with true
contrition of mind they seek that wisdom which comes from above, the Lord
will give them an understanding heart. Read carefully and prayerfully the
third chapter of James,
especially verses 13-16. The whole chapter is an eye-opener, if men wish to
open their eyes. The goodness, mercy, and love of God was proclaimed by Christ to
Moses. This was God's character. When men who profess to serve God,
ignore his parental character, and depart from honor and righteousness in
dealing with their fellow men, Satan exults; for he has inspired them with
his attributes. They are following in the track of Romanism. Those
who are enjoined to represent the attributes of the Lord's character, step
from the Bible platform, and in their own human judgment devise rules and
resolutions to force the will of others. But when men are forced to follow
the prescriptions of other men, an order of things is instituted that
overrides sympathy and tender compassion, blinding the eyes of men to mercy,
justice, and the love of God. Moral influence and personal responsibility
are trodden under foot. The righteousness of Christ by faith
has been ignored by some;
for it is contrary to their spirit, and their whole life-experience. Rule,
rule, has been their course of action; and Satan has had an
opportunity to represent himself through them. When one who professes
to be a representative of Christ, engages in sharp dealing, and presses men
into hard places, those who are thus oppressed will either break every fetter
of restraint, or will be led to regard God as a hard master. They
cherish hard feelings against God, and their souls are alienated from him,
just as Satan planned it should be. This hard-heartedness on the part of
men who claim to believe the truth, Satan charges to the influence of truth
itself, and thus men become disgusted, and turn from the truth. For this
reason no man should have a responsible connection with our institutions,
who thinks it no important matter whether he have a heart of flesh or a heart
of steel. Such men may think they are representing the justice of God,
but they do not represent his tenderness, and the great love wherewith he has
loved us. Their human inventions, originating with the specious devices of
Satan, appear fair enough to the blinded eyes of men, because they are
inherent in their nature. A lie, believed and practised, becomes truth to them. Thus the
purpose of Satan, that men
should reach these conclusions through the working of their own inventive
minds, is accomplished. Men fall into error by starting with false
premises, and then bringing everything to bear to make the error true. In
some cases the first principles have a measure of truth interwoven with the
errors, but it does not lead to any just action; and this is why men are
misled. In order to reign and become a power, they employ Satan's methods
to justify their own principles. They exalt themselves as men of superior
judgment, and profess to stand as representatives of God. These are false
gods. Sinful men can find hope and righteousness
only in God; and no human being is righteous any longer than he has
faith in God, and maintains a vital connection with him. A flower of
the field must have its root in the soil; it must have air, dew, showers, and
sunshine. It will flourish only as it receives these advantages, and all are
from God. So with men. We receive from God that
which ministers to the life of the soul. We are warned not to trust in
man, nor to make flesh our arm. A curse is pronounced upon all that do this. "Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh
his arm, and whose heart departeth
from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not
see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
in a salt land and not inhabited. 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. The heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man
according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. . . . O
Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake
thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the
earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living
water." Jer. 17:5-10, 13 Let no plans or methods be brought into
any of our institutions that will place mind or talent under the control of
human judgment; for this is not in God's order. God has given to man, talents
of influence which belong to him alone, and no greater dishonor can be done
to God than for one finite agent to purchase from men their God-given talent,
or the product of such talent, to be absolutely under his control,
even though the benefits of the same be used to the advantage of the cause. In such arrangements, one man's mind is ruled by
another man's mind, and the human agent is separated from God, and exposed to
temptations. Satan's methods tend to one end,--to
make men the slaves of men. And when this is done, confusion
and distrust, jealousies and evil surmisings,
are the result. Such a course destroys man's faith in God, and in the
principles which are to control his work, to purge from guilt and from every
species of selfishness and hypocrisy. The Lord of heaven, who made our world,
and who created man, guards the interests of every soul. To every man
he has given this work. We are laborers together with God. There are
diversities of gifts, and every man should appreciate the moral and spiritual
capital which God has entrusted to him. No one should treat these entrusted
talents with indifference. No one is accountable for the talents he has never
had; none should complain of the smallness of their gifts. Every one is to
trade on that which God has entrusted to him, working where he can, doing the
best possible service for the Master. Our talent, well used, will gain other
talents, and these still others. The man with a few pence can serve God
faithfully with his pence. If he does this, he is judged as faithful in the
sight of God as the one who has improved pounds. All are to realize their individual
responsibility to employ their talents to the glory of God according to their
ability. Let no man or council of men assume the responsibility of making as
little as possible of these talents, according to their human estimate of
God's entrusted qualifications. No man is to weigh in the balances of human
judgment the talents God has given to other men. Let every man appreciate
God's gifts to him, and faithfully trade upon them. No man is to merge
his individuality into that of any other man. No man should be urged to make
another man his steward. There are diversities of gifts, and a large
work to be done in our world in the use of God's entrusted goods. Let us
never forget that we are here to be fashioned by the hand of God, fitted to
do the work he has given us to do. That work is our own, the accountability
is our own; it cannot be transferred to another. Let not human agents
interpose to take another's work out of the hands of God into their own
finite hands. Individual Responsibility. Some men or councils may say, That is just what we wish you
to do. The Conference Committee will take your capital, and will
appropriate it for this very object. But the Lord has made us individually
his stewards. We each hold a solemn responsibility to invest this means
ourselves. A portion it is right to place in the treasury to
advance the general interests of the work; but the steward of means
will not be guiltless before God, unless, so far as he is able to do this, he
shall use that means as circumstances shall reveal the necessity. We
should be ready to help the suffering, and to set in operation plans to
advance the truth in various ways. It is not in the province of the
Conference or any other organization to relieve us of this stewardship. If
you lack wisdom, go to God; ask him for yourself, and then work with an eye
single to his glory. By exercising your judgment, by giving where you see there is need in any line
of the work, you are putting out your money to the exchangers. If you see in
any locality that the truth is gaining a foothold, and there is no place of
worship, then do something to meet the necessity. By your own action
encourage others to act, in building a humble house for the worship of God.
Have an interest in the work in all parts of the field. While it is not your own property that
you are handling, yet you are made responsible for its wise
investment, for its use or abuse. God does not lay upon you the burden
of asking the Conference or any council of men whether you shall use your
means as you see fit to advance the work of God in destitute towns and
cities, and impoverished localities. If the right plan had been followed, so
much means would not have been used in some localities, and so little in other
places where the banner of truth has not been raised. We are not to merge our
individuality of judgment into any institution in our world. We are to look
to God for wisdom, as did Daniel. Age after age Jesus has been delivering
his goods to his church. At the time of the first advent of Christ to our
world, the men who composed the Sanhedrin exercised their authority in
controlling men according to their will. If men's wills were always
submerged into God's will, this would be safe; but when men are separated
from God, and their own wisdom is made a controlling power, the souls for
whom Christ has given his life to free from the bondage of Satan, are brought
under bondage to him in another form. Do we individually realize our
true position, that as God's hired servants we are not to bargain away our
stewardship; but that before the
heavenly universe we are to administer the truth committed to us by God? Our
own hearts are to be sanctified, our hands are to have something to impart
as occasion demands, of the income that God entrusts to us. The humblest
of us have been entrusted with talents, and made agents for God, using our
gifts for his name's glory. It is the duty of every one to realize his own
responsibility, and to
see that his talents are turned to advantage as a gift that he must return,
having done his best to improve it. He
who improves his talents to the best of his ability, may present his offering
to God as a consecrated gift, that will be as fragrant incense before him, a
savor of life unto life. Mrs. E. G. White in Special Testimonies to
Ministers and Workers, Series A, pgs 177-186, mimeographed edition. "The trials of the children of
Israel, and their attitude just before the first coming of Christ, have been
presented before me again and again to illustrate the position of the people
of God in their experience before the second coming of Christ. How the enemy
sought every occasion to take control of the minds of the Jews, and today he
is seeking to blind the minds of God's servants, that they may not be able to
discern the precious truth. . RH, February 18, 1890 par. 1 "The Jews tried to stop the
proclamation of the message that
had been predicted in the word of God; but prophecy must be fulfilled. The
Lord says, "Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of
the great and dreadful day of the Lord." Somebody is to come in the
spirit and power of Elijah, and when he appears, men may say, "You
are too earnest, you do not interpret the Scriptures in the proper way. Let
me tell you how to teach your message." RH, February 18, 1890 par. 16 "There are many among us who are
prejudiced against the doctrines that are now being discussed. They will not
come to hear, they will not calmly investigate, but they put forth their
objections in the dark. They are perfectly satisfied with their position.
"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
eye-salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be
zealous therefore, and repent." Rev. 3:17-19.
RH, February 18, 1890 par. 18 "This scripture applies to those who
live under the sound of the message, but who will not come to hear it. How
do you know but that the Lord is giving fresh evidences of his truth, placing
it in a new setting, that the way of the Lord may be prepared? What
plans have you been laying
that new light may be infused through the ranks of God's people? What
evidence have you that God
has not sent light to his children? All self-sufficiency, egotism, and pride
of opinion must be put away. We must come to the feet of Jesus, and learn of
him who is meek and lowly of heart. Jesus did not teach his disciples as the
rabbis taught theirs. Many of the Jews came and listened as Christ revealed
the mysteries of salvation, but they came not to learn; they came to criticise, to catch him in some
inconsistency, that they might have something with which to prejudice the
people. They were content with their knowledge, but the children of God
must know the voice of the true Shepherd. Is not this a time when it
would be highly proper to fast and pray before God? We are in danger
of variance, in danger of taking sides on a controverted point; and should we
not seek God in earnestness, with humiliation of soul, that we may know what is truth? RH, February 18, 1890
par. 19 "God wants us to depend upon
him, and not upon man. He
desires us to have a new heart; he would give us revealings of light from the throne of God. We
should wrestle with every difficulty, but when some controverted point
is presented, are you to go to man to find out his opinion, and then shape
your conclusions from his?--No, go to God. Tell him what you want;
take your Bible and search as for hidden treasures." RH, February 18,
1890 par. 22 "God can teach you more in one moment
by his Holy Spirit than you could learn from the great men of the
earth." RH, February 18, 1890 par. 23 |