DANGER IN ADOPTING WORLDLY POLICY IN THE
WORK OF GOD
November 3, 1890, while labouring at Salamanca, N. Y.,
as I was in communion with God in the night season, I was taken out of and away
from myself to assemblies in different States, where I bore a decided testimony
of reproof and warning. In Battle Creek a council of ministers and responsible
men from the publishing house and other institutions was convened, and I heard
those assembled, in no gentle spirit, advance sentiments and urge measures for
adoption that filled me with apprehension and distress. {PH133 1.1}
Years before, I had been called to pass through a similar experience, and the
Lord then revealed to me many things of vital importance, and gave me warnings
that must be delivered to those in peril. On the night of November 3, these
warnings were brought to my mind, and I was commanded to present them before
those in responsible offices of trust, and to fail not, nor be discouraged.
There were laid out before me some things which I could not comprehend; but the
assurance was given me that the Lord would not allow his people to be enshrouded
in the fogs of worldly skepticism and infidelity, bound up in bundles with the
world; but if they would only hear and follow his voice, rendering obedience to
his commandments, he would lead them above the mists of skepticism and unbelief,
and place their feet upon the Rock, where they might breathe the atmosphere of
security and triumph. {PH133 1.2}
While engaged in earnest prayer, I was lost to everything around me; the room
was filled with light, and I was bearing a message to an assembly that seemed to be the General
Conference. I was moved by the spirit of God to make a most earnest appeal; for
I was impressed that great danger was before us at the heart of the work. I had
been, and still was, bowed down with distress of mind and body, burdened with
the thought that I must bear a message to our people at Battle Creek, to warn
them against a line of action that would separate God from the publishing house.
{PH133 1.3}
The eyes of the Lord were bent upon the people in sorrow mingled with
displeasure, and the words were spoken, "I have somewhat against thee, because
thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen,
and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and
will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." He who wept
over impenitent Israel, noting their ignorance of God, and of Christ their
Redeemer, looked upon the heart of the work at Battle Creek. Great peril was
about the people, but some knew it not. Unbelief and impenitence blinded their
eyes, and they trusted to human wisdom in the guidance of the most important
interests of the cause of God relating to the publishing work. In the weakness
of human judgment, men were gathering into their finite hands the lines of
control, while God's will, God's way and counsel, were not sought as
indispensable. Men of stubborn, iron-like will, both in and out of the office,
were confederating together, determined to drive certain measures through in
accordance with their own judgment. I said to them: "You cannot do this. The
control of these large interests cannot be vested wholly in those who make it
manifest that they have little experience in the things of God, and have not
spiritual discernment. The people of God throughout our ranks must not, because
of mismanagement on the part of erring men, have their confidence shaken in the
important interests at the great heart of the work, which have a decided
influence upon our churches in the United States and in foreign lands. If you
lay your hand upon the publishing work, this great instrumentality of God, to
place your mould and superscription upon it, you will find that it will be
dangerous to your own souls, and disastrous to the work of God. It will be as
great as sin in the sight of God as was the sin of Uzzah when he put forth his
hand to steady the ark. There are those who have entered into other men's
labours, and all that God requires of them is to deal justly, to love mercy, and
walk humbly with God, to labour conscientiously as men employed by the people to
do the work entrusted to their hands. Some have failed to do this, as their
works testify. Whatever may be their position, whatever their responsibility, if
they have as much authority even as had Ahab, they will find that God is above
them, that his sovereignty is supreme." {PH133 2.1}
Let none of the workers exalt themselves, and seek to carry through their
ideas without the sanction and cooperation of the people of God. They will not
succeed, for God will not permit it. The foundations of the institutions among
us were laid in sacrifice. They belong to the people, and all who have denied
self, and made sacrifices great or small according to their ability, to bring
these instrumentalities into existence, should feel that they have a special
interest in them. They should not lose their interest, or become despondent in
regard to the success of the work. As the perils of the last days thicken about
us, they should pray more earnestly that the work may prosper. Those who have
lifted burdens when the work went hard, should have a part in important
councils; for they acted a part when counselling together was considered a far
more solemn and sacred matter that it is now. No confederacy should be
formed with unbelievers, neither should you call together a certain chosen
number who think as you do, and who will say Amen to all that you propose, while
others are excluded, who you think will not be in harmony. I was shown that
there was great danger of doing this. {PH133 3.1}
"For the Lord spake thus unto me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I
should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy, to
all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy, neither fear ye their
fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your
fear, and let him be your dread. . . . To the law and to the testimony: if they
speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." The
world is not to be our criterion. Let the Lord work, let the Lord's voice be
heard. {PH133 4.1}
Those employed in any department of the work whereby the world may be
transformed, must not enter into alliance with those who know not the truth. The
world know not the Father or the Son, and they have no spiritual discernment as
to the character of our work, as to what we shall do, or shall not do. We must
obey the orders that come from above. We are not to hear the counsel or follow
the plans suggested by unbelievers. Suggestions made by those who know not the
work that God is doing for this time, will be such as to weaken the power of the
instrumentalities of God. By accepting such suggestions, the counsel of Christ
is set at naught. {PH133 4.2}
There is cherished altogether too little fear, love, and reverence for the
God of heaven. There is far too little faith in the workings of his providence,
in matters concerning his cause, with those who are connected with the active
management of the publishing house. Why is this? Because they are not
spiritually wise. The great peril is in the fact that men live so far apart from Jesus that they
fail to discern his voice, receive his counsel, keep his way, and honour his
name; they become self-exalted, and walk in the sparks of their own kindling.
Because of this they fail to understand the devices of Satan, and are led to
adopt measures that appear right, although they are instigated by the artful
enemy of God and man, to place a human mould upon the work, dishonouring the
name of God. {PH133 4.3}
As far back as 1882, testimonies of the deepest interest on points of vital
importance, were presented to our people, in regard to the work, and the spirit
that should characterize the workers. Because these warnings have been
neglected, the same evils that they pointed out have been cherished by many,
hindering the progress of the work, and imperiling many souls. Satan is wide
awake, and while men sleep, he sows his tares. In completing the work of
rebellion, Satan is represented as a roaring lion, going about seeking whom he
may devour. Those who are self-sufficient, who do not feel the necessity of
constant prayer and watchfulness, will be ensnared. Through living faith and
earnest prayer the sentinels of God must become partakers of the divine nature,
or they will be found professedly working for God, but in reality giving their
service to the prince of darkness. Because their eyes are not anointed with the
heavenly eye-salve, their understanding will be blinded, and they will be
ignorant of the wonderfully specious devices of the enemy. Their vision will be
perverted through their dependence on human wisdom, which is foolishness in the
sight of God. {PH133 5.1}
The eye of the Lord is upon all the work, all the plans, all the imaginings
of every mind; he sees beneath the surface of things, discerning the thoughts
and intents of the heart. There is not a deed of darkness, not a plan, not an
imagination of the heart, not a thought of the mind, but that he reads it as an open book. Every act, every word, every
motive, is faithfully chronicled in the records by the great Heart-searcher, who
said, "I know thy works." {PH133 5.2}
I was shown that the follies of Israel in the days of Samuel will be repeated
among the people of God today, unless there is greater humility, less confidence
in self, and more trust in the Lord God of Israel, the Ruler of the people. It
is only as divine power is combined with human effort that the work will abide
the test. When men lean no longer on men or on their own judgment, but make God
their trust, it will be made manifest in every instance by meekness of spirit,
by less talking and much more praying, by the exercise of caution in their plans
and movements. Such men will reveal the fact that their dependence is in God,
that they have the mind of Christ. {PH133 6.1}
Again and again I have been shown that the people of God in these last days
could not be safe in trusting in men, and making flesh their arm. The mighty
cleaver of truth has taken them out of the world as rough stones that are to be
hewed and squared and polished for the heavenly building. They must be hewed by
the prophets with reproof, warning, admonition, and advice, that they may be
fashioned after the divine Pattern; this is the specified work of the Comforter,
to transform heart and character, that men may keep the way of the Lord. {PH133
6.2}
I now raise my voice in warning; for you are in danger. The people are to
know when peril is threatening them; they are not to be left in darkness. "Son
of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the
word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked,
Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the
wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his
blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not
from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but
thou hast delivered thy soul. Again when a righteous man doth turn from his
righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he
shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sins,
and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood
will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man that
the righteous man sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live because he
is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul." {PH133 6.3}
Since 1845 the dangers of the people of God have from time to time been laid
open before me, and I have been shown the perils that would thicken about the
remnant in the last days. These perils have been revealed to me down to the
present time. Great scenes are soon to open before us. The Lord is coming with
power and great glory. And Satan knows that his usurped authority will soon be
forever at an end. His last opportunity to gain control of the world is now
before him, and he will make most decided efforts to accomplish the destruction
of the inhabitants of the earth. Those who believe the truth must be as faithful
sentinels on the watchtower, or Satan will suggest specious reasonings to them,
and they will give utterance to opinions that will betray sacred, holy trusts.
The enmity of Satan against good, will be manifested more and more, as he brings
his forces into activity in his last work of rebellion, and every soul that is
not fully surrendered to God, and kept by divine power, will form an alliance
with Satan against heaven, and join in battle against the Ruler of the universe.
{PH133 7.1}
In a vision given in 1880 I asked, "Where is the
security for the people of God in these days of peril?" The answer was,
"Jesus maketh intercession for his people, though Satan standeth at his right
hand to resist him." "And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O
Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee: is not this a
brand plucked out of the fire?" As man's Intercessor and Advocate, Jesus will
lead all who are willing to be led, saying, "Follow me upward, step by step,
where the clear light of the Sun of Righteousness shines." {PH133 7.2}
But not all are following the light. Some are moving away from the safe path,
which at every step is a path of humility. God has committed to his servants a
message for this time; but this message does not in every particular coincide
with the ideas of all the leading men, and some criticise the message and the
messengers. They dare even to reject the words of reproof sent to them from God
through his Holy Spirit. {PH133 8.1}
What reserve power has the Lord with which to reach those who have cast aside
his warnings and reproofs, and have accredited the testimonies of the Spirit of
God to no higher source than human wisdom? In the Judgment, what can you who
have done this, offer to God as an excuse for turning from the evidences he has
given you that God was in the work? "By their fruits ye shall know them." I
would not now rehearse before you the evidences given in the past two years of
the dealings of God by his chosen servants; but the present evidence of his
working is revealed to you, and you are now under obligation to believe. You
cannot neglect God's messages of warning, you cannot reject them or treat them
lightly, but at the peril of infinite loss. Cavilling, ridicule, and
misrepresentation can be indulged in only at the expense of the debasement of
your own souls. The use of such weapons does not gain precious victories for
you, but rather cheapens the mind, and separates the soul from God. Sacred things are brought down to the level of
the common, and a condition of things is created that pleases the prince of
darkness, and grieves away the Spirit of God. Cavilling and criticism leave the
soul as devoid of the dew of grace as the hills of Gilboa were destitute of
rain. Confidence cannot be placed in the judgment of those who indulge in
ridicule and misrepresentation. No weight can be attached to their advice or
resolutions. You must bear the divine credentials before you make decided
movements to shape the working of God's cause. {PH133 8.2}
To accuse and criticise those whom God is using, is to accuse and criticise
the Lord, who has sent them. All need to cultivate their religious faculties,
that they may have a right discernment of religious things. Some have failed to
distinguish between pure gold and mere glitter, between the substance and the
shadow. {PH133 9.1}
The prejudices and opinions that prevailed at Minneapolis are not dead by any
means; the seeds sown there in some hearts are ready to spring into life and
bear a like harvest. The tops have been cut down, but the roots have never been
eradicated, and they still bear their unholy fruit to poison the judgment,
pervert the perceptions, and blind the understanding of those with whom you
connect, in regard to the message and the messengers. When by thorough
confession, you destroy the root of bitterness, you will see light in God's
light. Without this thorough work you will never clear your souls. You need to
study the word of God with a purpose, not to confirm your own ideas, but to
bring them to be trimmed, to be condemned or approved, as they are or are not in
harmony with the word of God. The Bible should be your constant companion. You
should study the Testimonies, not to pick out certain sentences to use as you
see fit, to strengthen your assertions, while you disregard the plainest statements given to correct your
course of action. {PH133 9.2}
There has been a departure from God among us, and the zealous work of
repentance and return to our first love essential to restoration to God and
regeneration of heart has not yet been done. Infidelity has been making its
inroads into our ranks; for it is the fashion to depart from Christ, and give
place to skepticism. With many the cry of the heart has been, "We will not have
this man to reign over us." Baal, Baal, is the choice. The religion of many
among us will be the religion of apostate Israel, because they love their own
way, and forsake the way of the Lord. The true religion, the only religion of
the Bible, that teaches forgiveness only through the merits of a crucified and
risen Saviour, that advocates righteousness by the faith of the Son of God, has
been slighted, spoken against, ridiculed, and rejected. It has been denounced as
leading to enthusiasm and fanaticism. But it is the life of Jesus Christ in the
soul, it is the active principle of love imparted by the Holy Spirit, that alone
will make the soul fruitful unto good works. The love of Christ is the force and
power of every message for God that ever fell from human lips. What kind of a
future is before us, if we shall fail to come into the unity of the faith?
{PH133 10.1}
When we are united in the unity for which Christ prayed, this long
controversy that has been kept up through Satanic agency will end, and we shall
not see men framing plans after the order of the world because they have not
spiritual eye-sight to discern spiritual things. They now see men as trees
walking, and they need the divine touch, that they may see as God sees, and work
as Christ worked. Then will Zion's watchmen unitedly sound the trumpet in
clearer, louder notes; for they will see the sword coming, and realize
the danger in which the people of God are placed. {PH133 10.2}
You will need to make straight paths for your feet, lest the lame be turned
out of the way. We are surrounded by the lame and halting in the faith, and you
are to help them, not by halting yourselves, but by standing, like men who have
been tried and proven, in principle firm as a rock. I know that a work must be
done for the people, or many will not be prepared to receive the light of the
angel sent down from heaven to lighten the whole earth with his glory. Do not
think that you will be found as vessels unto honour in the time of the latter
rain, to receive the glory of God, if you are lifting up your souls unto vanity,
speaking perverse things, in secret cherishing roots of bitterness. The frown of
God will certainly be upon every soul who cherishes and nurtures these roots of
dissension, and possesses a spirit so unlike the Spirit of Christ. {PH133 11.1}
As the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me, I seemed to be present in one of
your councils. One of your number rose; his manner was very decided and earnest
as he held up a paper before you. I could read plainly the heading of the paper;
it was the American Sentinel. Criticisms were then passed upon the paper and the
character of the articles therein published. Those in council pointed to certain
passages, declaring that this must be cut out, and that must be changed. Strong
words were uttered in criticism of the methods of the paper, and a strong
unchristlike spirit prevailed. Voices were decided and defiant. {PH133 11.2}
My guide gave me words of warning and reproof to speak to those who took part
in this proceeding, who were not slow to utter their accusations and
condemnation. In substance this was the reproof given: The Lord has not presided
at this council, and there is a spirit of strife among the counsellors. The
minds and hearts of these men are not under the controlling influence
of the Spirit of God. Let the adversaries of our faith be the ones to suggest
and develop such plans as you are now discussing. From the world's point of view
some of these plans are not objectionable; but they are not to be adopted by
those who have had the light of heaven. The light which God has given should be
respected, not only for your own safety, but also for the safety of the church
of God. The steps now being taken by the few cannot be followed by the remnant
people of God. Your course cannot be sustained by the Lord. It is made evident
by your course of action that you have laid your plans without the aid of Him
who is mighty in counsel; but the Lord will work. Those who have criticised the
work of God need to have their eyes anointed, for they have felt mighty in their
own strength; but there is One who can bind the arm of the mighty, and bring to
naught the counsels of the prudent. {PH133 11.3}
The message we have to bear is not a message that men need cringe to declare.
They are not to seek to cover it, to conceal its origin and purpose. Its
advocates must be men who will not hold their peace day nor night. As those who
have made solemn vows to God, and who have been commissioned as the messengers
of Christ, as stewards of the mysteries of the grace of God, we are under
obligation to declare faithfully the whole counsel of God. We are not to make
less prominent the special truths that have separated us from the world, and
made us what we are; for they are fraught with eternal interests. God has given
us light in regard to the things that are now taking place in the last remnant
of time, and with pen and voice we are to proclaim the truth to the world, not
in a tame, spiritless way, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power of God.
The mightiest conflicts are involved in the furtherance of the message, and the
results of its promulgation are of moment to both heaven and earth.
The controversy between the two great powers of good and evil is soon to be
ended; but to the time of its close, there will be continual and sharp contests.
We should now purpose, as Did Daniel and his fellows in Babylon, that we will be
true to principle, come what may. The flaming fiery furnace heated seven times
hotter than it was wont to be heated, did not cause these faithful servants of
God to turn aside from allegiance to the truth. They stood firm in the time of
trial, and were cast into the furnace; and they were not forsaken of God. The
form of the Fourth was seen walking with them in the flames, and they came forth
not having even the smell of fire upon their garments. {PH133 13.1}
The den of lions did not deter Daniel from a steady adherence to duty. He did
not hide his purpose or lower his colours because death threatened him if he
stood faithful to his God. Three times a day, in the face of the king's decree,
he sought his Lord in his chamber, with his window open toward Jerusalem. He was
cast into the den of lions, but God delivered him. {PH133 13.2}
Let us look at the case of Elijah. The time has come when he must meet his
mortal enemy, the cruel Ahab, the despot of Israel, the apostate from the
religion of his fathers. In anger the king inquiries, "Art thou he that
troubleth Israel?" Does Elijah weaken before the king? Does he cringe and cower,
and resort to flattery in order to mollify the feelings of the enraged ruler?
Israel has perverted her way, and forsaken the path of allegiance to God, and
now shall the prophet, to preserve his life, betray sacred, holy trusts? Does he
prophesy smooth things to please the king, and to obtain his favour? Will he
evade the issue? Will he conceal from the king the true reason why the judgments
of God are falling upon the land of Israel? No; as the messenger of God he must
proclaim the truth, just such truth as the occasion demands. He carries a great
weight of sorrow on account of the apostasy of Israel. He must hold up before
them their defection, that they may humble themselves in the sight of the Lord,
that his fierce anger may be turned away from them. Elijah faces the enraged
king, and answers, "I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy Father's
house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast
followed Baalim." {PH133 13.3}
Today the world is full of flatterers and dissemblers; but God forbid that
those who claim to be guardians of sacred trusts, shall betray the interests of
God's cause through the insinuating suggestions and devices of the enemy of all
righteousness. {PH133 14.1}
There is no time now to range ourselves on the side of the transgressors of
God's law, to see with their eyes, to hear with their ears, and to understand
with their perverted senses. We must press together. We must labour to become a
unit, to be holy in life and pure in character. Let those who profess to be
servants of the living God no longer bow down to the idol of men's opinions, no
longer be slaves to any shameful lust, no longer bring a polluted offering to
the Lord, a sin-stained soul.
Ellen White. {PH133 14.2}
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