REFORMATION

HANDBOOK
 REFORMATION
HANDBOOK

Edition 1994

PREPARED BY
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH
REFORM MOVEMENT
AMERICAN UNION
INTERNATIONAL MISSIONARY SOCIETY
287' E. FLORENCE AVENUE, HUNTINCTON, PARK CA 90255
 PUBLISHERS:
Religious Liberty Publishing Association
2877 E. Florence Avenue
Huntington, park CA 90255
 CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 5
APOSTASY 6
BABYLON . . . 13
CRISIS . . . . 16
FAITHFULNESS IN CRISIS. 17
GOVERNMENT. . . . . 19
INVESTIGATION OF TRUTH AND NEW LIGHT 20
LAODICEA-IDENTITY AND DESTINY 24
LATTER RAIN 27
LIBERTY . . 31
MESSENGERS 33
NUMBERS . . 37
ORGANIZATION 39
PERSECUTION . 44
REFORMATION 47
REMNANT CHURCH 50
THE SEALING . . 53
SEPARATION 57
THE SHAKING (SIFTING) 61
SIN (CONFESSION AND DEALING WITH) 63
STRAIGHT TESTIMONY. 66
TESTIMONIES . 67
UNITY . . . . . 69
UN IONS (LABOR) . 73
WAR AND POLITICS 74
WARNINGS ... 79
THE WHEAT AND THE TARES 81
MISCELLANEOUS. . . . . 84
Baptism and the Lord's Supper 84
Bible Study 85
Close of Probation . 85
Difference of Opinion 85
Health . . 86
Holy Spirit. . . 91
Honesty. . . . 92
Houses of Worship 92
Intolerance. . . 93
 Life Insurance. . . . 93
Medical Missionary Work 93
Merchandising. 93
144,000. . . ( . . 94
Providence. . . . . 94
Study of Daniel and Revelation 95
Sunday Decree 95
Systematic Benevolence 95
Time Setting . 96
Titles 96
Truth and Error 96
Work in New Fields 97
Workers. . . . 97
REFORMATION BIBLE TEXTS 98
7 PROPHECIES FOR THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH 100
3 ADDITIONAL PROPHECIES FOR THE REFORM MOVEMENT 100
ABBREVIATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
 INTRODUCTION

It is with deep satisfaction that we present to all our workers and

everyone interested in the prophesied Reform Movement this small but
versatile Handbook of reformation and related topics in the Bible and the
Testimonies of Ellen G. White. It provides ready reference to the state·
ments of the Spirit of Prophecy concerning the basis, purpose, and divine
right to exist of the Reform Movement among the Seventh·day Adventist
people.
We have refrained from making any comment Oil the material, except
for an incidental parenthetical (indicated by [J) and brief indications as to
the contents of the Bible texts, because we firmly believe that the best
defense against misrepresentations against God's cause is the presentation
of truth, regardless of the quarter from which an attack may come.
The reader may rest assured that painstaking care has been exercised
to render each statement in its proper context; and, although space does
not permit us to give the complete testimony, the selections have been
made conscientiously to reflect the true sense of the section given. We
urge anyone who has access to the books to read the statements in full
context.
With the confidence that this small Handbook will become a familiar,
trusted guide and reliable source of information on the subject of reforma·
tion today, we send it out into the world, trusting that the valuable
information it contains will be a great blessing in the salvation of souls
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God.
THE PUBLISHERS

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 APOSTASY

1. "What shall I say to arouse the remnant people of God? I was

shown that dreadful scenes are before us; Satan and his angels are bringing
all their powers to bear upon God's people. He knows that if they sleep a
little longer he is sure of them, for their destruction is certain." 1T 263
(1862)
2. "When I study the Scriptures, I am alarmed for the Israel of God
in these last days. They are exhorted to flee from idolatry. I fear that they
are asleep and so conformed to the world that it would be difficult to
discern between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not. The
distance is widening between Christ and His people, and lessening
between them and the world. The marks of distinction between Christ's
professed people and the world have almost disappeared. Like ancient
Israel, they follow after the abominations of the nations around them."
1T277
[I n connection with fashion of the day and the wearing of hoops.]
3. "Like ancient Israel the church has dishonored her God by departing
from the light, neglecting her duties, and abusing her high and exalted
privilege of being peculiar and holy in character. Her members have
violated their covenant to live for God and Him only. They have joined
with the selfish and world-loving. Pride, the love of pleasure, and sin
have been cherished, and Christ has departed. His Spirit has been quenched
in the church. Satan works side by side with professed Christians; yet they
are so destitute of spiritual discernment that they do not detect him.
They have not the burden of the work. The solemn truths they profess to
believe are not a reality to them. They have not genuine faith." 2T 441,
442
4. "What greater deception can come upon human minds than a
confidence that they are right when they are all wrong! The message of
the True Witness finds the people of God in a sad deception, yet honest
in that deception. They know not that their condition is deplorable in the
sight of God. While those addressed are flattering themselves that they are
in an exalted spiritual condition, the message of the True Witness breaks
their security by the startling denunciation of their true condition of
spiritual blindness, poverty, and wretchedness. The testimony, so
cutting and severe, cannot be a mistake, for it is the True Witness who
speaks, and His testimony must be correct." 3T 252, 253 (1873)
5_ "I have been shown that the greatest reason why the people of God
are now found in this state of spiritual blindness is that they will not
receive correction. Many have despised the reproofs and warnings given
them. The True Witness condemns the lukewarm condition of the people
of God, which gives Satan great power over them in this waiting, watching
time." 3T 255 (1873)

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 6. "The same danger [considering the presence of the ark assurance
of victory, without repentance from sin] exists today among the people
who profess to be the depositaries of God's law. They are too apt to
flatter themselves that the regard in which they hold the commandments
will preserve them from the power of divine justice. They refuse to be
reproved for evil, and charge God's servants with being too zealous in
putting sin out of the camp. A sin-hating God calls upon those who
profess to keep His law to depart from all iniquity. Neglect to repent
and obey His word will bring as serious consequences upon God's people
today as did the same sin upon ancient Israel. There is a limit beyond
which He will no longer delay His judgments. The desolation of Jerusalem
stands as a solemn warning before the eyes of modern Israel, that the
corrections given through H is chosen instruments cannot be disregarded
with impunity." 4T 166, 167 (1876)
7. "Are you not halting between two opinions? Are you not
neglecting to heed the light which God has given you? Take heed lest
there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the
living God. You know not the time of your visitation. The great sin of
the Jews was that of neglecting and rejecting present opportunities. As
Jesus views the state of His professed followers today, He sees base
ingratitude, hollow formalism, hypocritical insincerity, pharisaical
pride and apostasy." 5T 72 (1882)
8. "I have been shown that the spirit of the world is fast leavening
the church. You are following the same path as did ancient Israel. There
is the same falling away from your holy calling as God's peculiar people.
You are having fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Your
concord with unbelievers has provoked the Lord's displeasure. You know
not the things that belong to your peace, and they are fast being hid
from your eyes. Your neglect to follow the light will place you in a more
unfavorable position than the Jews upon whom Christ pronounced a woe.
"I have been shown that unbelief in the testimonies has been steadily
increasing as the people backslide from God. It is all through our ranks,
all over the field. But few know what our churches are to experience.
I saw that at present we are under divine forbearance, but no one can say
how long this will continue. No one knows how great the mercy that has
been exercised toward us. But few are heartily devoted to God. There are
only a few who, like the stars in a tempestuous night, shine here and there
among theciouds." 5T 75,76 (1882)
9. "Many of our people are lukewarm. They occupy the position
of Meroz, neither for nor against, neither cold nor hot. They hear the
words of Christ, but do them not. If they remain in this state, He will
reject them with abhorrence. Many of those who have had great light,
great opportunities, and every spiritual advantage praise Christ and the
world with the same breath. They bow themselves before God and
mammon. They rnake merry with the children of the world, and yet claim

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to be blessed with the children of God. They wish to have Christ as
their Saviour, but will not bear the cross and wear His yoke. May the
Lord have mercy upon you; for if you go on in this way. nothing but evil
can be prophesied concerning you."ST 76,77 (1882)
10. "The church cannot measure herself by the world nor by the
opinion of men nor by what she once was. Her faith and her position
in the world as they now are must be compared with what they would
have been if her course had been continually onward and upward. The
church will be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary. If her moral
character and spiritual state do not correspond with the benefits and
blessings God has conferred upon her, IShe will be found wanting. The
light has been shining clear and definite upon her pathway, and the light
of 1882 calls her to an account .... We profess to know God, and to
believe the truth, but in works deny Him. Our deeds are directly adverse
to the principles of truth and righteousness, by which we profess to be
governed." 5T 83,84
11. "Now is the time when we should closely connect with God, that
we may be hid when the fierceness of His wrath is poured upon the sons
of men. We have wandered away from the old landmarks. Let us return. If
the Lord be God, serve Him; if Baal, serve him. Which side will you be
on?" 5T 137 (1882)

12. "I am filled with sadness when I think of our condition as a people.
The Lord has not closed heaven to us, but our own course of continual
backsl id ing has separated us from God. Pride, covetousness, and love
of the world have lived in the heart without fear of banishment or
condemnation. Grievous and presumptuous sins have dwelt among us.
And yet the general opinion is that the church is flourishing and that
peace and spiritual prosperity are in all her borders.
"The church has turned back from following Christ her Leader and is
steadily retreating toward Egypt. Yet few are alarmed or astonished at
their want of spiritual power. Doubt, and even disbelief of the testimonies
of the Spirit of God, is leavening our churches everywhere. Satan would
have it thus." 5T 217 (May 30,1882, from Healdsburg, California)
13. "The standard of holiness is the same today as in the days of the
apostles. Neither the promises nor the requirements of God have lost
aught of their force. But what is the state of the Lord's professed
people as compared with the early church? Where is the Spirit and power
of God wh ich then attended the preaching of the gospel? Alas, 'how is
the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed!'
"The Lord planted His church as a vine in a fruitful field. With tender·
est care He nourished and cherished it, that it might bring forth the fruits
of righteousness. His language is: 'What could have been done more to My
vineyard, that I have not done in it?' But this vine of God's planting has
inclined to the earth and entwined its tendrils about human supports. Its

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branches are extended far and wide, but it bears the fru it of a degenerate
vine. The Master of the vineyard declares: 'When I looked that it should
bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?' " 5T 240 (1882)

14. "I have seen that self·glorification was becoming common among
Seventh-day Adventists and that unless the pride of man should be abased
and Christ exalted we should, as a people, be in no better condition to
receive Christ at His second advent than were the Jewish people to receive
Him at His first advent." 5T 727,728 (1889)

15. "It is a solemn and terrible truth that many who have been
zealous in proclaiming the third angel's message are now becoming listless
and indifferent! The line of demarcation between worldlings and many
professed Christians is almost indistinguishable. Many who were once
earnest Adventists are conforming to the world-to its practices, its
customs, its selfishness. Instead of leading the world to render obedience
to God's law, the church is uniting more and more closely with the world
in transgression. Daily the church is becoming converted to the world.
How many professing Christians are slaves of mammon! Their indulgence
of appetite, their extravagant expenditure of money for selfish gratifica·
tion, greatly dishonors God." 8T 118,119

16_ "Arouse the people to see how far they have departed from the
Lord's ordinances by adopting worldly policy and conforming to worldly
principles. These have brought them into transgression of God's law." 6T
54

17. "Christ's followers are required to come out from the world, and
be separate, and touch not the unclean, and. they have the prom ise of
being the sons and daughters of the Most High, members of the royal
family. But if the conditions are not complied with on their part, they
will not, cannot, realize the fulfillment of the promise. A profession of
Christianity is nothing in the sight of God; but true, humble, willing
obedience to His requirements designates the children of His adoption,
the recipients of His grace, the partakers of His great salvation. Such
will be peculiar, a spectacle unto the world, to angels, and to men. Their
peculiar, holy character will be discernible, and will distinctly separate
them from the world, from its affections and lust." 2T 441

18. "In the balances of the sanctuary the Seventh-day Adventist

Church is to be weighed. She will be judged by the privileges and advan-
tages that she has had. If her spiritual experience does not correspond to
the advantages that Christ, at infinite cost, has bestowed on her, if the
blessings conferred have not qual ified her to do the work entrusted to her',
on her will be pronounced the sentence: 'Found wanting.' By the light
bestowed, the opportunities given, will she be judged."8T 247 (1903)

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 19. "Let a church become proud and boastful, not depending on God,
not exalting His power, and that church will surely be left by the Lord, to
be brought down to the ground. Let a people glory in wealth, intellect,
knowledge, or in anything but Christ, and they will soon be brought to
confusion." 8T 127

20. 'Why is there so dim a perception of the true spiritual condition of

the church? Has not blindness fallen upon the watchmen standing on the
walls of Zion? Are not many of God's servants unconcerned and well
satisfied, as if the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night
rested upon the sanctuary? Are there not those in positions of responsi-
bility, professing to know God, who in life and character deny Him? Are
not many of those who count themselves as His chosen, peculiar people
satisfied to live without the evidence that of a truth God is among them to
save them from Satan's snares and attacks?" 8T 248 (1903)

21. "Then I was shown a company who were howling in agony. On

their garments was written in large characters, 'Thou art weighed in the
balance, and found wanting.' I asked who this company were. The angel
said, 'These are they who have once kept the Sabbath and have given it
up.' I heard them cry with a loud voice, We have believed in Thy coming
and taught it with energy.' And while they were speaking, their eyes would
fall upon their garments and see the writing, and then they would wail
aloud. I saw that they had drunk of the deep waters, and fouled the
residue with their feet-trodden the Sabbath underfoot-and that was why
they were weighed in the balance and found wanting." EW 37

22. "When God's presence was finally withdrawn from the Jewish
nation, priests and people knew it not. Though under the control of Satan,
and swayed by the most horrible and malignant passions, they still
regarded themselves as the chosen of God. The ministration in the temple
continued; sacrifices were offered upon its polluted altars, and daily the
divine blessing was invoked upon a people guilty of the blood of God's
dear Son and seeking to slay His ministers and apostles. So when the
irrevocable decision of the sanctuary has been pronounced and the
destiny of the world has been forever fixed, the inhabitants of the earth
will know it not. The forms of religion will be continued by a people from
whom the Spirit of God has been finally withdrawn; and the satanic zeal
with which the prince of evil will inspire them for the accomplishment of
his malignant designs, will bear the semblance of zeal for God." GC 615

23. "The conviction is gaining ground in the world that Seventh·day

Adventists are giving the trumpet an uncertain sound, that they are
following in the path of worldlings." TM 86

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 24. "The people of God have accustomed themselves to think that
they must rely upon their own efforts, that little hel p is to be received
from heaven; ... Their spiritual strength has been feeble, their experience
of a dwarfed and crippled character, and they are disqual ified for the work
the Lord would have them to do. They are not able to present the great
and glorious truths of God's holy word that would convict and convert
souls through the agency of the Holy Spirit." TM 175

25. "The professed followers of Christ are on trial before the heavenly
universe; but the coldness of their zeal and the feebleness of their
efforts in God's service mark them as unfaithful. If what they are doing
were the best they could do, condemnation would not rest upon them;
but were their hearts enlisted in the work, they could do much more."
COL 303

26. "The parable of the vineyard applies not alone to the Jewish nation.
It has a lesson for us. The church in th is generation has been endowed by
God with great privileges and blessings, and He expects corresponding
returns ....
"The Jewish leaders looked with pride upon their magnificent temple
and the imposing rites of their religious service; but justice, mercy, and the
love of God were lacking. The glory of the temple, the splendor of their
service, could not recommend them to God; for that which alone is of
value in His sight they did not offer. They did not bring Him the sacrifice
of a humble and contrite spirit. It is when the vital principles of the
kingdom of God are lost that ceremonies become multitudinous and
extravagant. It is when the character building is neglected, when the
adornment of the soul is lacking, when the simplicity of godliness is lost
sight of, that pride and love of display demand magnificent church edifices,
splendid adornings, and imposing ceremonials. In all this God is not
honored ....
"The church is very precious in God's sight. He values it, not for its
external advantages, but for the sincere piety which distinguishes it from
the world. He estimates it according to the growth of the members in the
knowledge of Christ, according to their progress in spiritual experi·
ence .... " COL 296·298

27. "The solemn question should come home to every member of our
churches, How are we standing before God, as the professed followers of
Jesus Christ? Is our light shining forth to the world in clear, steady rays?
Have we, as a people, solemnly dedicated to God, preserved our union
with the Source of all light? Are not the symptoms of decay and declen·
sion painfully visible in the midst of the Christian churches of today?
Spiritual death has come upon the people that should be manifesting life
and zeal, purity and consecration, by the most earnest devotion to the
cause of truth. The facts concerning the real condition of the professed
people of God, speak more loudly than their profession, and make it

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evident that some power has cut the cable that anchored them to the
Eternal Rock, and that they are drifting away to sea, without chart or
compass." (RH, July 24, 1888) COR 36
28. "'And thou, Capernaum [Seventh·day Adventists, who have had
great light], which art exalted unto heaven [in point of privilege], shalt
be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done
in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom
in the day of judgment, than for thee.' " R H, August 1, 1893
29. "Thus again was demonstrated the evil results, ... of appealing to
the secular power in support of the gospel of Him who declared, 'My
kingdom is not of this world.' John 18:36. The union of the church with
the state, be the degree never so slight, while it may appear to bring the
world nearer to the church, does in reality but bring the church nearer to
the world." GC 297
See also 31, 34, 36, 42, 45, 263, 267-272, 315, 318, 319, 321, 375,387,
388

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 BABYLON
30. "The term 'Babylon' is derived from 'Babel: and signifies con-
fusion. It is employed in Scripture to designate the various forms of
false or apostate religion. In Revelation 17, Babylon is represented as a
woman-a figure which is used in the Bible as the symbol of a church, a
virtuous woman representing a pure church, a vile woman an apostate
church." GC 381

31. "Notwithstanding the spiritual darkness and alienation from

God that exist in the churches which constitute Babylon, the great
body of Christ's true followers are still to be found in their com-
munion. There are many of these who have never seen the special
truths for this time. Not a few are dissatisfied with their present
condition and are longing for clearer light. They look in vain for
the image of Christ in the churches with which they are connected.
As these bodies depart further and further from the truth, and ally
themselves more closely with the world, the difference between the
two classes will widen, and it will finally result in separation."
GC 390

32. "Babylon is also charged with the sin of unlawful connection

with 'the kings of the earth.' It was by departure from the Lord, and
alliance with the heathen, that the Jewish church became a harlot; and
Rome, corrupting herself in like manner by seeking the support of
worldly powers, receives a like condemnation.
"Babylon is said to be 'the mother of harlots.' By her daughters
must be symbolized churches that cling to her doctrines and traditions,
and follow her example of sacrificing the truth and the approval of God,
in order to form an unlawful alliance with the world. The message of
Revelation 14, announcing the fall of Babylon must apply to religious
bodies that were once pure and have become corrupt." GC 382, 383

33. "Many of the Protestant churches are following Rome's example

of iniquitous connection with 'the kings of the earth '-the state churches,
by their relation to secular governments; and other denominations, by
seeking the favor of the world. And the term 'Babylon'-confusion-may
be appropriately applied to these bodies, all professing to derive their
doctrines from the Bible, yet divided into almost innumerable sects, with
widely conflicting creeds and theories." GC 383

34. "The world must not be introduced into the church, and married
to the church, forming a bond of unity. Through this means the church
will become indeed corrupt, and as stated in Revelation, 'a cage of every
unclean and hateful bird.' " TM 265

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 35. "There is but one church in the world who are at the present time
[1893] standing in the breach, and making up the hedge, building up the
old waste places; and for any man to call the attention of the world and
other churches to this church, denouncing her as Babylon is to do a work
in harmony with him who is the accuser of the brethren." TM 50 (Empha'
sis ours.)

36. "Who can truthfully say: 'Our gold is tried in the fire; our garments
are unspotted by the world'? I saw our Instructor pointing to the garments
of so-called righteousness. Stripping them off, He laid bare the defilement
beneath. Then He said to me: 'Can you not see how they have preten-
tiously covered up their defilement and rottenness of character? "How is
the faithful city become an harlot!" My Father's house is made a house of
merchandise, a place whence the divine presence and glory have departed!
For this cause there is weakness, and strength is lacking.' " 8T 250

37. "Furthermore, in the eighteenth chapter of the Revelation, the

people of God are called upon to come out of Babylon. According to this
scripture, many of God's people must still be in Babylon. And in what
religious bodies are the greater part of the followers of Christ now to be
found? Without doubt, in the various churches professing the Protestant
faith." GC 383

38. "With the issue thus clearly brought before him, whoever shall
trample upon God's law to obey a human enactment receives the mark
of the beast; he accepts the sign of allegiance to the power which he
chooses to obey instead of God ....
"But not one is made to suffer the wrath of God until the truth has
been brought home to his mind and conscience, and has been rejected.
There are many who have never had an opportunity to hear the special
truths for this time. The obligation of the fourth commandment has
never been set before them in its true light .... The decree is not to be
urged upon the people blindly. Everyone is to have sufficient light to
make his decision intelligently ....
"While one class, by accepting the sign of submission to earthly powers,
receive the mark of the beast, the other choosing the token of allegiance
to divine authority, receive the seal of God." GC 604, 605

39. "But when Sunday observance shall be enforced by law, and

the world shall be enlightened concerning the obligation of the true
Sabbath, then whoever shall transgress the command of God, to obey a
precept which has no higher authority than that of Rome, will thereby
honor popery above God .... As men then reject the institution wh ich
God has declared to be the sign of His authority, and honor in its stead
that which Rome has chosen as the token of her supremacy, they will
thereby accept the sign of allegiance to Rome-'the mark of the beast.'
And it is not until the issue is thus plainly set before the people, and

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they are brought to choose between the commandments of God and the
commandments of men, that those who continue in transgression will
receive 'the mark of the beast.' " GC 449
40. "The change of the Sabbath is the sign or mark of the authority
of the Romish church. Those who, understanding the claims of the
fourth commandment, choose to observe the false sabbath in the place
of the true, are thereby paying homage to that power by which alone
it is commanded. The mark of the beast is the papal sabbath, which has
been accepted by the world in the place of the day of God's appointment.
"No one has yet received the mark of the beast. The testing time has
not yet come. There are true Christians in every church, not excepting
the Roman Catholic communion. None are condemned until they have
had the light and have seen the obligation of the fourth commandment.
But when the decree shall go forth enforcing the counterfeit sabbath, and
the loud cry of the third angel shall warn men against the worship of
the beast and his image, the line will be clearly drawn between the false
and the true. Then those who still continue in transgression will receive
the mark of the beast.
"With rapid steps we are approaching this period." (MS 51, 1899)
Ev 234, 235
41. "If the light of truth has been presented to you, revealing the
Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and showing that there is no
foundation in the Word of God for Sunday observance, and yet you still
cling to the false sabbath, refusing to keep holy the Sabbath which God
calls 'My holy day: you receive the mark of the beast. When does this
take place? When you obey the decree that commands you to cease
from labor on Sunday and worship God, while you know that there is not
a word in the Bible showing Sunday to be other than a common working
day, you consent to receive the mark of the beast, and refuse the seal of
God." (RH, July 13,1897) Ev 235
See also 18,234,235,243,248,402

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 CRISIS
42. "If God abhors one sin above another, of which His people are
guilty, it is doing nothing in case of an emergency. Indifference and
neutrality in a religious crisis is regarded of God as a grievous crime and
equal to the very worst type of hostility against God." 3T 281
43. "It is in a crisis that character is revealed. When the earnest voice
proclaimed at midnight, 'Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to
meet him: and the sleeping virgins were roused from their slumbers,
it was seen who had made preparation for the event. Both parties were
taken unawares; but one was prepared for the emergency, and the other
was found without preparation. So now, a sudden and unlooked-for
calamity, something that brings the soul face to face with death, will show
whether there is any real faith in the promises of God. It will show
whether the soul is sustained by grace. The great final test comes at the
close of human probation, when it will be too late for the soul's need to
be supplied," COL 412
44. "Men of clear understanding are needed now. God calls upon
those who are willing to be controlled by the Holy Spirit to lead out in a
work of thorough reformation. I see a crisis before us, and the Lord
calls for His laborers to come into line. Every soul should now stand in a
position of deeper, truer consecration to God than during the years that
have passed. , . ," TM 514
45. "A storm is arising that will wrench and test the spiritual founda-
tion of everyone to the utmost. Therefore avoid the sand bed; hunt for
the rock. Dig deep; lay your foundation sure. Build, oh, build for eternity!
Build with tears, with heartfelt prayers. Let everyone of you from
henceforth make your life beautiful by good works. Calebs are the men
most needed in these last days. That which will make our churches
vigorous and successful in their efforts is not bustle, but quiet, humble
work; not parade and bombast, but patient, prayerful, persevering
effort." 5T 129, 130
46. "The time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul.
The mark of the beast will be urged upon us. Those who have step by
step yielded to worldly demands and conformed to worldly customs
will not find it a hard matter to yield to the powers that be, rather than
subject themselves to derision, inSUlt, threatened imprisonment, and death.
The contest is between the commandments of God and the command-
ments of men. In this time the gold will be separated from the dross in
the church. True godliness will be clearly distinguished from the appear-
ance and tinsel of it. Many a star that we have admired for its brilliancy
will then go out in darkness. Chaff like a cloud will be borne away on the
wind, even from places where we see only floors of rich wheat. All who
assume the ornaments of the sanctuary, but are not clothed with Christ's
righteousness, will appear in the shame of their own nakedness. II 5T 81

16
 47. "Christ's followers have no right to stand on the ground of
neutrality. There is more hope of an open enemy than of one who is
neutral." R H, February 25, 1902
See also 35-38

FAITHFULNESS IN CRISIS
48. "God will not be trifled with. It is in the time of conflict that the
true colors should be flung to the breeze. It is then that the standard-
bearers need to be firm and let their true position be known. It is then
that the skill of every true soldier for the right is tested. Shirkers can
never wear the laurels of victory." 3T 272
49. "Even one wrong trait of character, one sinful desire cherished, will
eventually neutralize all the power of the gospel. The prevalence of a
sinful desire shows the delusion of the soul. Every indulgence of that
desire strengthens the soul's aversion to God. The pains of duty and the
pleasures of sin are the cords with which Satan binds men in his snares.
Those who would rather die than perform a wrong act are the.only ones
who will be found faithful." 5T 53
50. "Actions reveal principles and motives. The fruit borne by many
who claim to be plants in the Lord's vineyard shows them to be but
thorns and briers. A whole church may sanction the wrong course of some
of its members, but that sanction does not prove the wrong to be right. It
cannot make grapes of thorn berries./I 5T 103

17
 51. "There is to be no change in the general features of our work. It is
to stand as clear and distinct as prophecy has made it. We are to enter into
no confederacy with the world, supposing that by so doing we could
accomplish more. If any stand in the way, to hinder the advancement of
the work in the lines that God has appointed, they will displease God. No
line of truth that has made the Seventh-day Adventist people what they
are is to be weakened. We have the old landmarks of truth, experience,
and duty, and we are to stand firmly in defense of our principles, in full
view of the world." 6T 17
52. "I saw a company who stood well guarded and firm, giving no
countenance to those who would unsettle the established faith of the
body. God looked upon them with approbation. I was shown three steps-
the first, second and third angel's messages. Said my accompanying angel,
Woe to him who shall move a block or stir a pin of these messages. The
true understanding of these messages is of vital importance. The destiny of
souls hangs upon the manner in which they are received.' " EW 258, 259
53. "However weak and compassed with infirmity the people of God
may be, those who turn from disloyalty to God in this wicked and per-
verse generation, and come back to their allegiance, standing to vindicate
the holy law of God, making up the breach made by the man of sin under
the direction of Satan, will be accounted the children of God, and through
the righteousness of Christ will stand perfect before God." TM 41
See also 263, 264, 266, 267, 270, 271

18
 GOVERNMENT
54. "We are to recognize human government as an ordinance of divine
appointment, and teach obedience to it as a sacred duty, within its
legitimate sphere. But when its claims conflict with the claims of God, we
must obey God rather than men. God's Word must be recognized as above
all human legislation. A 'Thus saith the Lord' is not to be set aside for a
'Thus saith the church' or a 'Thus saith the state.' The crown of Christ is
to be lifted above the diadems of earthly potentates." AA 69
55. "I saw that it is our duty in every case to obey the laws of our
land, unless they conflict with the higher law which God spoke with an
audible voice from Sinai, and afterward engraved on stone with His own
finger. 'I will put My laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts:
and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to Me a people.' He who
has God's law written in the heart will obey God rather than men, and will
sooner disobey all men than deviate in the least from the commandment
of God. God's people, taught by the inspiration of truth, and led by a
good conscience to live by every word of God, will take His law, written
in their hearts, as the only authority which they can acknowledge or
consent to obey. The wisdom and authority of the divine law are
supreme." 1T 361
56. "David's power had been given him by God, but to be exercised
only in harmony with the divine law. When he commanded that which
was contrary to God's law, it became si n to obey. 'The powers that be are
ordained of God' (Romans 13: 1), but we are not to obey them contrary
to God's law." PP 719
57. "Consider, my brethren and sisters, that the Lord has a people, a
chosen people, His church, to be His own, His own fortress, which He
holds in a sin·stricken, revolted world; and He intended_that no authority
should be known in it, no laws be acknowledged by it, but His own."
TM 16
58. "In the scene representing the work of Christ for us, and the
determined accusation of Satan against us, Joshua stands as the high priest,
and makes request in behalf of God's commandment·keeping people. At
the same time Satan represents the people of God as great sinners, and
presents before God the list of sins he has tempted them to commit
through their lifetime, and urges that because of their transgressions, they
be given into h is hands to destroy. He urges that they should not be
protected by ministering angels against the confederacy of eviC He is full
of anger because he cannot bind the people of God into bundles with the
world, to render to him complete allegiance. Kings and rulers and gover·
nors have placed upon themselves the brand of antichrist, and are
represented as the dragon who goes to make war with the saints-with
those who keep the commandments of God and who have the faith of
Jesus. If TM 38, 39

19
 INVESTIGATION OF TRUTH AND NEW LIGHT

59. "I said further: As the word of God is walled in with these books
and pamphlets, so has God walled you in with reproofs, counsel, warnings,
and encouragements. Here you are crying before God, in the anguish of
your souls, for more light. I am authorized from God to tell you that not
another ray of light through the Testimonies will shine upon your pathway
until you make a practical use of the light already given. The Lord has
walled you about with light; but you have not appreciated the light; you
have trampled upon it. While some have despised the light, others have
neglected it, or followed it but indifferently. A few have set their hearts
to obey the Iight which God has been pleased to give them." 2T 606
60. " ... He requires of His people faith that rests upon the weight of
evidence, not upon perfect knowledge. Those followers of Christ who
accept the light that God sends them must obey the voice of God speaking
to them when there are many other voices crying out against it. It requires
discernment to distinguish the voice of God.
"Those who will not act when the Lord calls upon them, but wait for
more certain evidence and more favorable opportunities, will walk in
darkness, for the light will be withdrawn. The evidence given one day, if
rejected, may never be repeated." 3T 258
61. "I have been shown that many who profess to have a knowledge of
present truth know not what they believe. They do not understand the
evidences of their faith. They have no just appreciation of the work for
the present time. When the time of trial shall come, there are men now
preaching to others who will find, upon examining the positions they
hold, that there are many th ings for which they can give no satisfactory
reason. Until thus tested they kf"Jew not their great ignorance. And there
are many in the church who tak~ it for granted that they understand what
they believe; but, until controversy arises, they do not know their own
weakness. When separated from those of like faith and compelled to stand
singly and alone to explain their belief, they will be surprised to see how
confused are their ideas of what they had accepted as truth." 5T 707
62. "Those to whom the message of truth is spoken seldom ask, 'Is it
true?' but, 'By whom is it advocated?' Multitudes estimate it by the
numbers who accept it; and the question is still asked, 'Have any of the
learned men or religious leaders believed?' Men are no more favorable to
real godliness now than in the days of Christ." DA 459.
63. "The great danger with our people has been that of depending
upon men, and making flesh their arm. Those who have not been in the
habit of searching the Bible for themselves, or weighing evidence, have
confidence in the leading men, and accept the decisions they make; and
thus many will reject the very messages God sends to His people, if these
leading brethren do not accept them." TM 106,107

20
 64. "There is no excuse for anyone in taking the position that there is
no more truth to be revealed, and that all our expositions of Scripture are
without an error. The fact that certai n doctri nes have been held as truth
for many years by our people, is not a proof that our ideas are infallible.
Age will not make error into truth, and truth can afford to be fair. No true
doctrine will lose anything by close investigation." (RH, December 20,
1892) CW 35

65. "Shall we drive our stakes of doctrine one after another, and then
try to make all Scripture meet our established opinions] or shall we take
our ideas and views to the Scriptures, and measure our theories on every
side by the Scriptures of truth? Many who read and even teach the Bible,
do not comprehend the precious truth they are teaching or studying ....
"Long-cherished opinions must not be regarded as infallible ....
"Those who think that they will never have to give up a cherished view,
never have occasion to change an opinion, will be disappointed. As long as
we hold to our own ideas and opinions with determined persistency, we
cannot have the unity for which Christ prayed." (RH, July 26,1892)
CW 36, 37

66. "Our brethren should be willing to investigate in a candid way

every point of controversy. If a brother is teaching error, those who are in
responsible positions ought to know it; and if he is teaching truth, they
ought to take their stand at his side. We should all know what is being
taught among us; for if it is truth, we need it. We are all under obligation
to God to know what He sends us. He has given directions by which we
may test every doctrine-'To the law and to the testimony: if they speak
not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.' Isaiah
8:20. If the light presented meets this test, we are not to refuse to accept
it because it does not agree with our ideas ....
"No matter by whom light is sent, we should open our hearts to
receive it with the meekness of Christ. But many do not do this. When a
controverted point is presented, they pour in question after question,
without admitting a point when it is well sustained. 0, may we act as men
who want light! May God give us His Holy Spirit day by day, and let the
light of His countenance shine upon us, that we may be learners in the
school of Christ." GW 300,301

67. "The Lord sends light to us to prove what manner of spirit we are
of. We are not to deceive ourselves. '
"In 1844, when anything came to our attention that we did not under-
stand, we kneeled down and asked God to help us take the right position;
and then we were able to come to a right understanding and see eye to eye.
There was no dissension, no enmity, no evil·surmising, no misjudging of
our brethren. If we but knew the evil of the spirit of intolerance, how
carefully would we shun it!" GW 302

21
 68. "No one should claim that he has all the light there is for God's
people. The Lord will not tolerate this. He has said, 'I have set before thee
an open door, and no man can shut it.' Even if all our leading men should
refuse light and truth, that door will still remain open. The Lord will raise
up men who will give the people the message for this time.
"Truth is eternal, and conflict with error will only make manifest its
strength. We should never refuse to examine the Scriptures with those
who, we have reason to believe, desire to know what is truth. Suppose a
bl'Other held a view that differed from yours, and he should come to you,
proposing that you sit down with him and make an investigation of that
point in the Scriptures; should you rise up, filled with prejudice, and
condemn his ideas, while refusing to give him a candid hearing? The only
right way would be to sit down as Christians and investigate the position
presented in the light of God's word, which will reveal truth and unmask
error. To ridicule his ideas would not weaken his position in the least it it
were false, or strengthen your position if it were true. If the pillars of our
faith will not stand the test of investigation, it is time that we knew it.
There must be no spirit of Pharisaism cherished among us." TM 107

69. "We must not think, 'Well, we have all the truth, we understand
the main pillars of our faith, and we may rest on this knowledge.' The
truth is an advancing truth, and we must walk in the increasing light.
"A bl'Other asked, 'Sister White, do you think we must understand the
truth for ourselves? Why can we not take the truths that others have
gathered together, and believe them because they have investigated the
subjects, and then we shall be free to go on without the taxing of the
powers of the mind in the investigation of all these subjects? Do you not
think that these men who have brought out the truth in the past were
inspired of God?'
"I dare not say they were not led of God, for Christ leads into all truth;
but when it comes to inspiration in the fullest sense of the word, I answer,
No. I believe that God has given them a work to do, but if they are not
fully consecrated to God at all times, they will weave self and their
peculiar traits of character into what they are doing, and will put their
mold upon the work, and fashion men in religious experience after their
own pattern. It is dangerous for us to make flesh our arm. We should lean
upon the arm of Infinite Power." (RH, March 25,1890) CW 33, 34

70. "A spirit of Pharisaism has been coming in upon the people who
claim to believe the truth for these last days. They are self-satisfied. They
have said, 'We have the truth. There is no more light for the people of
God.' But we are not safe when we take a position that we will not accept
anything else than that upon which we have settled as truth. We should
take the Bible, and investigate it closely for ourselves. We should dig in
the mine of God's word for truth. 'Light is sown for the righteous, and
gladness for the upright in heart.' Some have asked me if I thought there
was any more light for the people of God. Our minds have become so

22
narrow that we do not seem to understand that the Lord has a mighty
work to do for us. Increasing light is to shine upon us; for 'the path of the
just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect
day.''' (RH, June 18, 1889) CW 34, 35
71. "New light will ever be revealed on the word of God to him who is
in living connection with the Sun of Righteousness. Let no one come to
the conclusion that there is no more truth to be revealed. The diligent,
prayerful seeker for truth will find precious rays of light yet to shine from
the word of God. Many gems are yet scattered that are to be gathered
together to become the property of the remnant people of God." CSW 34
(1892).
72. "Whatever may be man's intellectual advancement, let him not for
a moment think that there is no need of thorough and continuous search·
ing of the Scriptures for greater light. As a people, we are called indivi·
dually to be students of prophecy ....
"When God's people are at ease, and satisfied with their present
enlightenment, we may be sure that He will not favor them. It is His will
that they should be ever moving forward, to receive the increased and
ever· increasing light which is shining for them." GW 300
73. "We are to pray for divine enlightenment, but at the same time we
should be careful how we receive everything termed new light. We must
beware lest, under cover of searching for new truth, Satan shall divert our
minds from Christ and the special truths for this time. I have been shown
that it is the device of the enemy to lead minds to dwell upon some
obscure or unimportant point, something that is not fully revealed or is
not essential to our salvation. This is made the absorbing theme, the
'present truth: when all their investigations and suppositions only serve
to make matters more obscure than before, and to confuse the minds of
some who ought to be seeking for oneness through sanctification of the
truth." CW 49 (1891)

23
 LAODICEA-IDENTITY AND DESTINY

74. "'Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My
voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him,
and he with Me.' Revelation 3:20. I saw that many have so much
rubbish piled up at the door of their heart that they cannot get the
door open. Some have difficulties between themselves and their brethren
to remove. Others have evil tempers, selfish covetousness, to remove
before they can open the door. Others have rolled the world before
the door of their heart, which bars the door. All this rubbish must be
taken away, and then they can open the door and welcome the Saviour
in." 1T 143

75. "I was shown that the testimony to the Laodiceans applies to
God's people at the present time, and the reason it has not accom-
plished a greater work is because of the hardness of their hearts. But
God has given the message time to do its work. The heart must be
purified from sins which have so long shut out Jesus. This fearful
message will do its work. When it was first presented, it led to close
examination of heart. Sins were confessed, and the people of God were
stirred everywhere. Nearly all believed that this message would end in
the loud cry of the th ird angel. But as they failed to see the powerful
work accomplished in a short time, many lost the effect of the message."
lT 186

76. "I was shown the low state of God's people; that God had not
departed from them, but that they had departed from Him, and had
become lukewarm. They possess the theory of the truth, but lack its
saving power." lT 210

77. "The people are overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and
the cares of this life. They are entering deeper and deeper into a spirit of
worldly enterprise. They are ambitious to get gain. Spirituality and devo-
tion are rare. The spirit that prevails is to work, to accumulate, and to
add to that wh ich they already possess." 1 T 469

78. "Our Redeemer sends His messengers to bear a testimony to His

people. He says: 'Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear
My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with
him, and he with Me.' Revelation 3:20. But many refuse to receive Him.
The Holy Spirit waits to soften and subdue hearts; but they are not will-
ing to open the door and let the Saviour in, for fear that He will require
something of them. And so Jesus of Nazareth passes by. He longs to
bestow on them the rich blessings of His grace, but they refuse to accept
them. What a terrible thing it is to exclude Christ from His own temple!
What a loss to the church!" 6T 262

24
 79. "The message to the church of the Laodiceans is a startling denun-
ciation, and is applicable to the people of God at the present time ....
"The Lord here shows us that the message to be borne to His people
by ministers whom He has called to warn the people is not a peace-and-
safety message. It is not merely theoretical, but practical in every
particular. The people of God are represented in the message to the
Laodiceans as in a position of carnal security. They are at ease, believing
themselves to be in an exalted condition of spiritual attainments." 3T 252

80. "The Laodicean message applies to the people of God who profess
to bel ieve present truth. The greater part are lukewarm professors, having
a name but no zeal. ... The term 'lukewarm' is applicable to this class.
They profess to love the truth, yet are deficient in Christian fervor and
devotion. They dare not give up wholly and run the risk of the unbeliever,
yet they are unwilling to die to self and follow out closely the principles
of their faith ....
"They are neither cold nor hot; they occupy a neutral position, and at
the same time flatter themselves that they are in need of nothing. The
True Witness hates this lukewarmness. He loathes the indifference of this
class of persons. Said He: 'I would thou wert cold or hot.' Like lukewarm
water, they are nauseous to His taste." 4T 87

81. "To those who are indifferent at this time Christ's warning is:
'Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out
of My mouth.' Revelation 3: 16. The figure of spewing out of His mouth
means that He can not offer up your prayers or your expressions of love
to God. He cannot endorse your teaching of His word or your spiritual
work in anywise. He cannot present your religious exercises with the
request that grace be given you." 6T 408

82. "As I have of late looked around to find the humble followers of
the meek and lowly Jesus, my mind has been much exercised. Many who
profess to be looking for the speedy coming of Christ are becoming
conformed to this world and seek more earnestly the applause of those
around them than the approbation of God. They are cold and formal, like
the nominal churches from which they but a short time since separated.
The words addressed to the Laodicean church describe their present
condition perfectly." EW 107

83. "The message to the Laodicean Church is applicable to our condi-

tion. How plainly is pictured the position of those who think they have all
the truth, who take pride in their knowledge of the Word of God, while
its sanctifying power has not been felt in their lives. The fervor of the love
of God is wanting in their hearts, but it is this very fervor of love that
makes God's people the light of the world." (RH, July 23, 1889) 7BC 961

25
 84. "The message to the Laodicean Church is highly applicable to us as
a people. It has been placed before us for a long time, but has not been
heeded as it should have been. When the work of repentance is earnest and
deep, the individual members of the church will buy the rich goods of
heaven. [Revelation 3: 18 quoted.] Oh, how many behold things in a
perverted light, in the light in which Satan would have them see.
"You may manifest great zeal in missionary effort, and yet because it
is corrupted with selfishness, and tastes strongly of self, it is nought in
the sight of God; for it is a tainted, corrupted offering. Unless the door of
the heart is open to Jesus, unless He occupies the soul temple, unless the
heart is imbued with His divine attributes, human actions when weighed in
the heavenly balances, will be pronounced, 'Wanting.' The love of Christ
would make you rich; but many do not realize the value of His love. Many
do not realize that the spirit which they cherish is destitute of the meek·
ness and lowliness of Christ, destitute of the love that would constitute
them channels of light." (MS 33,1894) 7BC 961

85. "The Laodicean message applies to all who profess to keep the law
of God, and yet are not doers of it. We are not to be selfish in anything.
Every phase of the Christian life is to be a representation of the life of
Christ. If it is not, we shall hear the terrible words, 'I know you not.'''
(RH, October 17, 1899) 7BC 962

86. "In the spring of 1857, ... The testimony to the Laodicean church
was generally received; but some in the East were making bad use of it.
Instead of apply'lng it to their own hearts, so as to be benefited by it
themselves, they were using the testimony to oppress others. A few taught
that the brethren must sell all out before they could be free, while some
others dwelt much upon dress, carrying the subject to an extreme, and
with a few others there was a narrowing up of the work of the third
message, and following of impressions, and casting fear upon the conscien·
tious. These things have had a blighting influence, and have caused us to
lay down our testimony on the subject almost entirely.
"The design of the message to the Laodiceans was to rid the church of
just such fanatical influences; but the effort of Satan has been to corrupt
the message, and destroy its influence. He would be better pleased to have
fanatical persons embrace the testimony, and use it in his cause, than to
have them remain in a lukewarm state. I have seen that it was not the design
of the message to lead brother to sit in judgment over his brother, to tell
him what to do, and just how far to go; but for each individual to search
his own heart, and attend to his own individual work." 2SG 222, 223

87. "Halfhearted Christians are worse than infidels; for their deceptive
words and noncommittal position lead many astray. The infidel shows his
colors. The lukewarm Christian deceives both parties. He is neither a good
worldling nor a good Christian. Satan uses him to do a work that no one
else can do." (Letter 44,1903) 7BC 963

26
 88. "The Laodicean message has been sounding. Take this message in
all its phases and sound it forth to the people wherever Providence opens
the way. Justification by faith and the righteousness of Christ are the
themes to be presented to a perishing world." (Letter 24, 1892) 7BC 964
See also 42, 43, 46-48, 41, 42, 89, 247

LATTER RAIN
89. "I was shown that if God's people make no efforts on their part,
but wait for the refreshing to come upon them and remove their wrongs
and correct their errors; if they depend upon that to cleanse them from
filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and fit them to engage in the loud cry of
the third angel, they will be found wanting. The refreshing or power of
God comes only on those who have prepared themselves for it by doing
the work which God bids them, namely, cleansing themselves from all
filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."
1T 619
90. "Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our charac-
ters have one spot or stain upon them. It is left with us to remedy the
defects in our characters, to cleanse the soul temple of every defilement.
Then the latter rain will fall upon us as the early rain fell upon the disciples
on the Day of Pentecost." 5T 214
91. "When we bring our hearts into unity with Christ, and our lives
into harmony with His work, the Spirit that fell on the disciples on the
Day of Pentecost will fall on us." 8T 246
92. "Those who come up to every point, and stand every test, and
overcome, be the price what it may, have heeded the counsel of the True
Witness, and they will receive the latter rain, and thus be fitted for
translation." 1 T 187

27
 93. "To the end of time, the presence of the Spirit is to abide with
the true church.
"But near the close of the earth's harvest, a special bestowal of spiritual
grace is promised to prepare the church for the coming of the Sen of man.
This outpouring of the Spirit is likened to the falling of the latter rain; and
it is for this added power that Christians are to send their petitions to the
Lord of the harvest 'in the time of the latter rain.' In response, 'the Lord
shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain.' 'He will cause to
come down ... the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain.'
"But unless the members of God's church today have a living connec·
tion with the Source of all spiritual growth, they will not be ready for the
time of reaping. Unless they keep their lamps trimmed and burning, they
will fail of receiving added grace in times of special need ....
"Instead of looking forward to some future time, when through a
special endowment of spiritual power, they will receive a miraculous fit·
ting up for soul-winning, they are yielding themselves daily to God, that
He may make them vessels meet for His use. Daily they are improving the
opportunities for service that lie within their reach." AA 55

94. "Satan is now using every device in this sealing time to keep the
minds of God's people from the present truth and to cause them to waver.
I saw a covering that God was drawing over His people to protect them in
the time of trouble; and every soul that was decided on the truth and was
pure in heart was to be covered with the covering of the Almighty." EW 43

95. "I saw that many were neglecting the preparation so needful and
were looking to the time of 'refreshing' and 'the latter rain' to fit them to
stand in the day of the Lord and to live in His sight. Oh, how many I saw
in the time of trouble without a shelter! They had neglected the needful
preparation; therefore they could not receive the refreshing that all must
have to fit them to live in the sight of a holy God .... I saw that none
could share the 'refreshing' unless they obtain the victory over every
besetment, over pride, selfishness, love of the world, and over every wrong
word and action." EW 71

96. "'The commencement of that time of trouble: here mentioned,

does not refer to the time when the plagues shall begin to be poured out,
but to a short period just before they are poured out, while Christ is in
the sanctuary. At that time, while the work of salvation is closing, trouble
will be coming on the earth, and the nations will be angry, yet held in
check so as not to prevent the work of the third angel. At that time the
'latter rain: or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, will come, to
give power to the loud voice of the third angel, and prepare the saints to
stand in the period when the seven last plagues shall be poured out."
EW 85,86

28
 97. "Then I saw another mighty angel commissioned to descend to the
earth, to unite his voice with the third angel, and give power and force to
his message .... The message of the fali of Babylon, as given by the second
angel, is repeated, with the additional mention of the corruptions which
have been entering the churches since 1844. The work of this angel comes
in at the right time to join in the last great work of the third angel's
message as it swells to a loud cry. And the people of God are th us prepared
to stand in the hour of temptation, which they are soon to meet. I saw a
great light resting upon them, and they united to fearlessly proclaim the
third angel's message ....
"This message seemed to be an addition to the third message, joining
it as the midnight cry joined the second angel's message in 1844." EW 277

98. "The light that was shed upon the waiting ones penetrated every-
where, and those in the churches who had any light, who had not heard
and rejected the three messages, obeyed the call and left the fallen
churches ....
"Souls that were scattered all through the religious bodies answered
to the call, and the precious were hurried out of the doomed churches, as
Lot was hurried out of Sodom before her destruction." EW 278,279

99. "Servants of God with their faces lighted up and shining with holy
consecration, will hasten from place to place to proclaim the message from
heaven. By thousands of voices allover the earth, the warning will be
given. Miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and signs and
wonders will follow the believers. Satan also works with lying wonders,
even bringing down fire from heaven in the sight of men. Revelation 13:
13. Thus the inhabitants of the earth will be brought to take their stand.
"The message will be carried not so much by argument as by the deep
conviction of the Spirit of God. The arguments have been presented. The
seed has been sown, and now it will spring up and bear fruit. The publica-
tions distributed by missionary workers have exerted their influence, yet
many whose minds were impressed have been prevented from fully com-
prehending the truth or from yielding obedien.ce. Now the rays of light
penetrate everywhere, the truth is seen in its clearness, and the honest
children of God sever the bands which have held them. Family connec-
tions, church relations, are powerless to stay them now. Truth is more
precious than all besides. Notwithstanding the agencies combined against
the truth, a large number take their stand upon the Lord's side." GC 612

100. "I have no specific time of which to speak when the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit vyill take place-when the mighty angel will come down
from heaven, and unite with the third angel in closing up the work for
this world; my message is that our only safety is in being ready for the
heavenly refreshing, having our lamps trimmed and burning." (RH, March
29, 1892) 7BC 984

29
 101. "The time of test is just upon us, for the loud cry of the third
angel has already begun in the revelation of the righteousness of Christ,
the sin·pardoning Redeemer. This is the beginning of the light of the angel
whose glory shall fill the whole earth." (RH, November 22,1892) 7BC 984
102. "We must not wait for the latter rain. It is corning upon all who
will recognize and appropriate the dew and showers of grace that fall upon
us. When we gather up the fragments of I ight, when we appreciate the sure
mercies of God, who loves to have us trust Him, then every promise will
be fulfilled. [Isaiah 61:11 quoted.) The whole earth is to be filled with
the glory of God." (Letter 151, 1897) 7BC 984
See also 184, 186·188, 232

30
 LIBERTY

103. "The prevailing spirit of our time is one of infidelity and aposta·
sy-a spirit of avowed illumination because of a knowledge of truth, but
in reality of the blindest presumption. Human theories are exalted, and
placed where God and His law should be. Satan tempts men and women
to disobey, with the promise that in disobedience they will find liberty
and freedom That will make them as gods." PK 178
104. "The youth have an inborn love of liberty; they desire freedom,
and they need to understand that these inestimable blessings are to be
enjoyed only in obedience to the law of God. This law is the preserver of
true freedom and liberty. It points out and prohibits those things that
degrade and enslave, and thus to the obedient it affords protection from
the power of evil." Ed 291
105. "Children should learn that in submission to the laws of the
household is their perfect liberty. Christians will learn the same lesson-
that in their obedience to God's law is their perfect freedom." (RH,
August 30, 1881) CG 79
106. "God desires Christians to respect the liberty that He has in so
marvelous a manner given them. In Christ is vested the ownership of every
man. Man should not be another man's property. God has bought man·
kind. One man's mind, one man's power, should not rule and control
another's conscience. In the sight of God wealth and position do not
exalt one man above another. Men are free to choose the service of God,
to love the Lord, and to keep all His commandments." (MS 126, 1901)
1BC 1106,1107
107. "He who at the dedication of the temple had said to his people,
'Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God: became
himself an offender, in heart and life denying his own words. He mistook
license for liberty. He tried-but at what cost!-to unite light with dark·
ness, good with evil, purity with impurity, Christ with Belial." PK 58
108. "Satan now beheld the terrible results of his rebellion ....
"But he was lost' beyond redemption, for his presumptuous rebellion'
And this was not all; he had led others to rebellion and to the same lost
condition with himself-angels, who had never thought to question the
will of heaven or refuse obedience to the law of God till he hac! put it Illto
their minds, presenting before them that they might enjoy a greater gooel,
a higher and more glorious liberty." SR 25
109. "Were men free to depart from the Lord's requirements and to
set up a standard of duty for themselves, there would be a variety of
standards to suit different minds and the government would be taken out
of the Lord's hands. The will of man would be made supreme, and the
high and holy will of God-His purpose of love toward His creatures-
would be dishonored, disrespected." MB 51,52

31
 110. "With great caution and humility, yet with decision and firmness,
he [Luther] entered upon his work. 'By the word: said he, 'must we
overthrow and destroy what has.been set up by violence. I will not make
use of force against the superstitious and unbelieving .... No one must be
constrained. Liberty is the very essence of faith.' ...
" 'The mass is a bad th ing; God is opposed to it; it ought to be
abolished; and I would that throughout the whole world it were replaced
by the supper of the gospel. But let no one be torn from it by force. We
must leave the matter in God's hands. His word must act, and not we.
And why so? you will ask. Because I do not hold men's hearts in my hand,
as the potter holds the clay. We have a right to speak: we have not the
right to act. Let us preach; the rest belongs unto God. Were I to employ
force, what should I gain? Grimace, formality, apings, human ordinances,
and hypocrisy .... But there would be no sincerity of heart, nor faith,
nor charity. Where these three are wanting, all is wanting, and I would not
give a pearstalk for such a result .... God does more by His word alone
than you and I and all the world by our united strength. God lays hold
upon the heart; and when the heart is taken, all is won ... .''' GC 189, 190
111. "It is his [Satan's] studied effort to lead professed Christians just
as far from heaven's arrangement as he can; therefore he deceives even the
professed people of God and makes them believe that order and discipline
are enemies to spirituality; that the only safety for them is to let each
pursue his own course, and to remain especially distinct from bodies of
Christians who are united and are laboring to establish discipline and har·
mony of action. All the efforts made to establish this are considered
dangerous, a restriction of rightful liberty, and hence are feared as popllry.
These deceived souls consider it a virtue to boast of their freedom to
think and act independently. They will not take any man's say so. They
are amenable to no man. It was and now is Satan's special work to lead
men to feel that it is God's order to strike out for themselves and choose
their own order independent of their brethren." (Letter 32,1892) Ev 318
See also 145, 146,148,329

32
 MESSENGERS

112. " ... I have waited anxiously. hoping that God would put His
Spirit upon some and use them as instruments of righteousness to awaken
and set in order His church. I have almost despaired as I have seen, year
after year, a greater departured from that simplicity which God has shown
me should characterize the life of His followers." 5T 663

113. "Brethren, if you continue to be as idle, as worldly, as selfish as

you have been, God will surely pass you by, and take those who are less
self-caring, less ambitious for worldly honor, and who will not hesitate to
go, as did their Master, without the camp, bearing the reproach. The work
will be given to those who will take it, those who prize it, who weave rts
principles into their everyday experience. God will choose humble men
who are seeking to glorify His name and advance His cause rather than to
honor and advance themselves. He will raise up men who have not so much
worldly wisdom, but who are connected with Him, and who will seek
strength and cou nsel from above." 5T 461

114. "Companies of Sabbath keepers may be raised up in many

places. Often they will not be large companies; but they must not be
neglected, they must not be left to die for want of proper personal effort
and training. The work should not be left prematurely. See that all are
intelligent in the truth, established in the faith, and interested in every
branch of the work, before leaving them for another field. And then, like
the apostle Pau I, visit them often to see how they do. Oh, the slack work
that is done by many who claim to be commissioned of God to preach His
word, makes angels weep." 5T 256

115. "Christ was an educator, and His ministers, who represent Him,
should be educators. When they neglect to teach the people their obliga-
tion to God in tithes and offerings, they neglect one important part of the
work which their Master has left them to do, and 'Unfaithful servant' is
written against their names in the books of heaven." 5T 256

116. "God will work a work in our day that but few anticipate. He will
raise up and exalt among us those who are taught rather by the unction of
His Spirit than by the outward training of scientific institutions. These
facilities are not to be despised or condemned; they are ordained of God,
but they can furnish only the exterior qualifications. God will manifest
that He is not dependent on learned, self-important mortals." 5T 82

117. "He wants brave men for action, who will not regard the setting
up of idols and the coming in of abominations without lifting up the voice
like a trumpet, showing the people their transgressions and the house of
Jacob their sins." 4T 517

33
 118. "Those who valiantly take their position on the right side, who
encourage submission to God's revealed will and strengthen others in their
efforts to put away their wrongdoings, are the true friends of the Lord,
who in love is trying to correct the errors of His people, that He may wash
them and, cleansing them from every defilement, fit them for His holy
kingdom." 4T 181
119. "God will move upon men in humble positions to declare the
message of present truth. Many such will be seen hastening hither and
thither, constrained by the Spirit of God to give light to those in darkness.
The truth is as a fire in their bones, filling them with a burning desire to
enl ighten those who sit in darkness. Many, even among the uneducated,
will proclaim the word of the Lord. Children will be impelled by the Holy
Spirit to go forth to declare the message of heaven. The Spirit will be
poured out upon those who yield to His promptings. Casting off man's
binding rules and cautious movements, they will join the army of the
Lord." 7T 26, 27
120. "The greatest want of the world is the want of men-men who
will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and
honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose
conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand
for the right though the heavens faiL" Ed 57
121. "We are nearing the close of this earth's history. We have before
us a great work, the closing work of giving the last warning message to a
sinful world. There are men who will be taken from the plow, from the
vineyard, from various other branches of work, and sent forth by the Lord
to give this message to the world." 7T 270, 271
122. "God calls for men who, like Nathan, Elijah, and John, will bear
His message with fearlessness, regardless of consequences; who will speak
the truth, though to do this calls for the sacrifice of all they have." GW 150
123. "Men will believe, not what the minister preaches, but what the
church lives. Too often the influence of the sermon preached from the
pulpit is counteracted by the sermon preached in the lives of those who
claim to be advocates of truth." 9T 21
124. "To the reproaches of his enemies who taunted him with the
weakness of his cause, Luther answered: 'Who knows if God has not
chosen and called me, and if they ought not to fear that, by despising me,
they despise God Himself? Moses was alone at the departure from Egypt;
Elijah was alone in the reign of King Ahab; Isaiah alone in Jerusalem;
Ezekiel alone in Babylon .... God never selected as a prophet either the
high priest or any other great personage; but ordinarily He chose low and
despised men, once even the shepherd Amos. In every age, the saints have
had to reprove the great kings, princes, priests, and wise men, at the peril
of their lives .... I do not say that I am a prophet; but I say that they
ought to fear precisely because I am alone and that they are many. I am

34
sure of this, that the word of God is with me, and that it is not with
them.' " GC 142, 143

125. "The reason why He does not oftener choose men of learning
and high position to lead out in reform movements, is that they trust to
their creeds, theories, and theological systems, and feel no need to be
taught of God. Only those who have a personal connection with the
Source of wisdom are able to understand or explain the Scriptures. Men
who have little of the learning of the schools are sometimes called to
declare the truth, not because they are unlearned, but because they are not
too self-sufficient to be taught of God." GC 456

126. "Because of their backsliding and apostasy, they perished in the

desert, and others were raised up to enter the Promised Land. In like
manner, it was not the will of God that the coming of Christ should be so
long delayed, and His people should remain so many years in this world of
sin and sorrow. But unbelief separated them from God. As they refused to
do the work which He had appointed them, others were raised up to
proclaim the message ....
"As men see that they cannot maintain their position by the Scriptures,
many determine to maintain it at all hazards, and with a malicious spirit
they assail the character and motives of those who stand in defense of
unpopular truth. It is the same policy which has been pursued in all ages.
Elijah was declared to be a troubler in Israel, Jeremiah a traitor, Paul a
polluter of the temple. From that day to this, those who would be loyal
to truth have been denounced as seditious, heretical, or schismatic."
GC 458, 459

127. "Thus the message of the third angel will be proclaimed. As the
time comes for it to be given with greatest power, the Lord wi II work
through humble instruments, leading the minds of those who consecrate
themselves to His service. The laborers will be qualified rather by the
unction of His Spirit than by the training of literary institutions. Men of
faith and prayer will be constrained to go forth with holy zeal, declaring
the words which God gives them." GC 606

128. "The great reason why so few of the world's great men,and those
having a college education are led to obey the commandments of God is
that they have separated education from religion, thinking that each
should occupy a field by itself. God presented a field large enough to
perfect the knowledge of all who should enter it. This knowledge was
obtained under divine supervision; it was bound about with the immuta-
ble law of Jehovah, and the result would have been perfect blessedness."
5T 503

35
 129. "There are many professed Christians who, if they should express
their real feelings, would say, What need is there of speaking so plainly?
They might as well ask, Why need John the Baptist have said to the
Pharisees, '0 generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the
wrath to come?' Why need he have provoked the anger of Herodias by
telling Herod that it was unlawful for him to live with his brother's wife?
The forerunner of Christ lost his life by his plain speaking. Why could he
not have moved along without incurring the displeasure of those who were
living in sin?
"So men who should be standing as faithful guardians of God's law
have argued, till policy has taken the place of faithfulness, and sin is
allowed to go unreproved. When will the voice of faithful rebuke be heard
once more in the church?" PK 140,141
130. "Even if all our leading men should refuse light and truth, that
door will still remain open. The Lord will raise up men who will give the
people the message for th is time." TM 107
131. "When ministers realize the necessity of thorough reformation in
themselves, when they feel that they must reach a higher standard, their
influence upon the churches will be uplifting and refining." TM 145
132. "There is danger now of men's losing sight of the important
truths applicable for this period of time, and seeking for those things that
are new and strange and entrancing. Many, if reproved by the Spirit of
God through His appointed agencies, refuse to receive correction, and a
root of bitterness is planted in their hearts against the Lord's servants who
carry heavy, disagreeable burdens. There are men who teach the truth,
but who are not perfecting their ways before God, who are trying to
conceal their defections and encourage an estrangement from God. They
have not the moral courage to do the things that it is for their special
benefit to do. They see no necessity for reform, and so they reject the
words of the Lord and hate him who reproveth at the gate ....
"The man who rejects the word of the Lord, who endeavors to
establish his own way and will, tears to pieces the messenger and the
message which God sends in order to discover to him his sin .... He
begins to quibble at technicalities and mann~rs. The spirit of Satan links
him up with the enemy to bear a word of criticism on less important
themes. The truth becomes of less and still less value to him. He becomes
an accuser of his brethren, etc., and changes leaders." TM 408,409
See also 134, 136, 137, 139, 144

36
 NUMBERS

133. "Now is the time for God's people to show themselves true to
principle. When the religion of Christ is most held in contempt, when His
law is most despised, then should our zeal be the warmest and our courage
and firmness the most unflinching. To stand in defense of truth and
righteousness when the majority forsake us, to fight the battles of the
Lord when champions are few-this will be our test. At this time we must
gather warmth from the coldness of others, courage from their cowardice,
and loyalty from their treason." 5T 136

134. "There is a great need of zealous, disinterested workers in God's

cause. One Christ-loving, devoted member will do more good in a church
than one hundred half-converted, unsanctified, self-sufficient workers."
5T 114

135. "Ten members, who were walking in all humbleness of mind,

would have a far greater power upon the world than has the entire church,
with its present numbers and lack of unity." 5T 119

136. "When the truth we now cherish was first seen to be Bible tr-uth,
how very strange it appeared, and how strong was the opposition we had
to meet in presenting it to the people for the first time; but how earnest
and sincere were the obedient, truth-loving laborers! We were indeed a
peculiar people. We were few in numbers, without wealth, without world-
ly honors; and yet we believed God and were strong and successful, a
terror to evildoers." 5T 534

137. "To lower the standard in order to secure popularity and an

increase of numbers, and then to make th is increase a cause of rejoicing,
shows great blindness. If numbers were an evidence of success, Satan
might claim the pre-eminence; for in this world his followers are largely in
the majority." 6T 143

138. "A congregation may be the poorest in the land. It may be

without the attraction of any outward show; but if the members possess
the principles of the character of Christ, they will have His joy in their
souls. Angels will unite with them in their worship. The praise and thanks-
giving from grateful hearts will ascend to God as a sweet oblation."
COL 298

139. "The spirit which actuated those priests and rulers is still mani-
fested by many who make a high profession of piety. They refuse to
examine the testimony of the Scriptures concerning the special truths for
this time. They point to their own numbers, wealth, and popularity, and
look with contempt upon the advocates of truth as few, poor, and
unpopular, having a faith that separates them from the world." GC 596

37
 140. "What strange work Elijah would have done in numbering Israel
at the time when God's judgments were falling upon the backsliding
people! He could count only one on the Lord's side. But when he said,
'I, even I only, am left; and they seek my Iife: the word of the Lord
surprised him, 'Yet I have left Me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees
which have not bowed unto Baal:
"Then let no man attempt to number Israel today, but let everyone
have a heart of flesh, a heart of tender sympathy, a heart that, like the
heart of Christ, reaches out for the salvation of a lost world." PK 189
141. "When David offended against God by numberi ng the people,
one angel caused that terrible destruction by which his si n was punished."
GC 614
142. "It is a great mistake to trust in human wisdom or numbers in the
work of God." DA 370
143. "Success does not depend upon numbers. God can del iver by few
as well as by many. He is honored not so much by the great numbers as by
the character of those who serve Him." PP 550
144. "Not in our learning, not in our position, not in our numbers or
entrusted talents, not in the will of man, is to be found the secret of
success. Feeling our inefficiency we are to contemplate Christ, and through
Him who is the strength of all strength, the thought of all thought, the
willing and obedient will gain victory after victory," COL404
See also 128

38
 ORGANIZATION
145. "'God has a church upon the earth who are His chosen people,
who keep His commandments. He is leading, not stray offshoots, not one
here and one there, but a people.' " TM 61
146. "Organization and discipline are essential, but there is now very
great danger of a departure from the simplicity of the gospel of Christ.
What we need is less dependence upon mere form and ceremony, and far
more of the power of true godl iness. If their life and character are exem-
plary, let all work who will, in any capacity." 5T 461
147. "It was at the ordination of the twelve that the first step was
taken in the organization of the church that after Christ's departure was
to carryon His work on the earth ....
"The organization of the church at Jerusalem was to serve as a model
for the organization of churches in every other place where messengers of
truth should win converts to the gospel ....
"Later in the history of the early church, when in various parts of the
world many groups of believers had been formed into churches, the
organization of the church was further perfected, so that order and
harmonious action might be maintained ....
"The order that was maintained in the early Christian church, made it
possible for them to move forward solidly, as a well-disciplined army, clad
with the armor of God. The companies of believers, though scattered over
a large territory, were all members of one body; all moved in concert, and
in harmony with one another. When dissension arose in a local church, ..
and the bel ievers were unable to come to an agreement among themselves,
such matters were not permitted to create a division in the church, but
were referred to a general council of the entire body of bel ievers, made up
of appointed delegates from the various local churches, with the apostles
and elders in positions of leading responsibility." AA 18,91,92,95,96
148. "Some have advanced the thought that, as we near the close of
time, every child of God will act independently of any religious organiza-
tion. But I have been instructed by the Lord that in this work there is no
such thing as every man's being independent. The stars of heaven are all
under law, each influencing the other to do the will of God, yielding their
common obedience to the law that controls their action. And, in order
that the Lord's work may advance healthfully and solidly, His people must
draw together.
"The spasmodic, fitful movements of some who claim to be Christians
are well represented by the work of strong but untrained horses. When one
pulls forward, another pulls back, and at the voice of their master one
plunges ahead and the other stands immovable. If men will not move in
concert in the great and grand work for this time, there will be confusion.
It is not a good sign when men refuse to unite with their brethren and
prefer to act alone. Let laborers take into their confidence the brethren

39
who are free to point out every departure from right principles. If men
wear the yoke of Christ, they cannot pull apart; they will draw with
Christ.
"Some workers pull with all the power that God has given them, but
they have not yet learned that they should not pull alone. Instead of
isolating themselves, let them draw in harmony with their fellow laborers.
Unless they do this, their activity will work at the wrong time and in the
wrong way. They will often work counter to that which God would have
done, and thus their work is worse than wasted." 9T 258, 259
149. "Evil does not result because of organization, but because of
making organization everything, and vital godliness of little moment. When
form and machinery take the pre-eminence, and a laborious task is made
of carrying on the work that should be done with simplicity, evil will
result, and little will be accomplished in proportion to the effort put
forth. The object of organization is just the reverse of this; and should we
disorganize, it would be like tearing down that which we have built up."
FE 253
150. "We must move discreetly, sensibly, for this is our strength; for
then God will work with us, ... Oh, how Satan would rejoice to get in
among this people and disorganize the work at a time when thorough
organization is essential, and will be the greatest power to keep out
spurious uprisings and to refute claims not endorsed by the word of God!
We want to hold the lines evenly, that there shall be no breaking down of
the system of regulation and order. In this way license shall not be given
to disorderly elements to control the work at this time. We are living in a
time when order, system, and unity of action are most essential. And the
truth must bind us together like strong cords in order that no distracted
efforts may be witnessed among the workers. If disorderly manifestations
appear, we must have clear discernment to distinguish the spurious from
the genuine. Let no messages be proclaimed until they have borne a care-
ful scrutiny in every jot and tittle." TM 228,229
151_ "I have often been instructed by the Lord that no man's judgment
should be surrendered to the judgment of any other one man. Never
should the mind of one man or the minds of a few men be regarded as
sufficient in wisdom and power to control the work and to say what plans
shall be followed. But when, in a General Conference, the judgment of the
brethren assembled from all parts of the field is exercised, private indepen-
dence and private judgment must not be stubbornly maintained, but
surrendered. Never should a laborer regard as a virtue the persistent
maintenance of his position of independence, contrary to the decision of
the general body.
"At times, when a small group of men entrusted with the general
management of the work have, in the name of the General Conference,
sought to carry out unwise plans and to restrict God's work, I have said
that I could no longer regard the voice of the General Conference, repre-

40
sented by these few men, as the voice of God. But this is not saying that
the decisions of a General Conference composed of an assembly of duly
appointed, representative men from all parts of the field should not be
respected. God has ordained that the representatives of His church from
all parts of the earth, when assembled in a General Conference, shall have
authority." 9T 260,261

152. "Here [at Sinai] their worship had taken a more definite form,
the laws had been given for the government of the nation, and a more
efficient organization had been effected preparatory to their entrance into
the land of Canaan.
"The government of Israel was characterized by the most thorough
organization, wonderful alike for its completeness and its simplicity."
PP 374

153. "God is a God of order. Everything connected with heaven is in

perfect order; subjection and thorough discipl ine mark the movements of
the angelic host. Success can only attend order and harmonious action.
God requires order and system in His work now no less than in the days of
Israel. All who are working for Him are to labor intelligently, not in a
careless, haphazard manner. He would have His work done with faith and
exactness, that He may place the seal of His approval upon it." PP 376

154. "The travels of the children of Israel are faithfully described; the
deliverance which the Lord wrought for them, their perfect organization
and special order, their sin in murmuring against Moses and thus against
God, their transgressions, their rebellions, their punishments, their
carcasses strewn in the wilderness because of their unwillingness to submit
to God's wise arrangements-this faithful picture is hung up before us as a
warning lest we follow their example of disobedience and fall like them."
1T 652

155. "Has God changed from a God of order? No; He is the same in
the present dispensation as in the former. Paul says: 'God is not the author
of confusion, but of peace.' He is as particular now as then. And He
designs that we should learn lessons of order and organization from the
perfect order instituted in the days of Moses for the benefit of the children
of Israel." 1 T 653

156. "The Lord has declared that the history of the past shall be
rehearsed as we enter upon the closing work. Every truth that He has
given for these last days is to be proclaimed to the world. Every pillar that
He has established is to be strengthened. We cannot now step off the
foundation that God has established. We cannot now enter into any new
organization; for this would mean apostasy from the truth." (MS 129,
1905) 2SM 390

41
 157. "Ministers should love order and should discipline themselves, and
then they can successfully discipline the church of God and teach them to
work harmoniously like a well-drilled company of soldiers. If discipline
and order are necessary for successful action on the battlefield, the same
are as much more needful in the warfare in which we are engaged as the
object to be gained is of greater value and more elevated in character than
those for which opposing forces contend upon the field of battle. In the
conflict in which we are engaged, eternal interests are at stake.
"Angels work harmoniously. Perfect order characterizes all their
movements. The more closely we imitate the harmony and order of the
angelic host, the more successful will be the efforts of these heavenly
agents in our behalf. If we see no necessity for harmonious acti on, and
are disorderly, undisciplined, and disorganized in our course of action,
angels, who are thoroughly organ ized and move in perfect order, cannot
work for us successfu lIy. They turn away in grief, for they are not
authorized to bless confusion, distraction, and disorganization." 1T 649

158. "The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a
great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and
that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand
as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization.
Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of
truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church, would be
discarded. Our religion would be changed_ The fundamental principles
that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted
as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order
would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be intro-
duced. The founders of this system would go into the cities, and do a
wonderful work. The Sabbath of course, would be lightly regarded, as also
the God who created it. Nothing would be allowed to stand in the way of
the new movement ....
"Who has authority to begi n such a movement? We have our Bibles. We
have our experience, attested to by the miraculous working of the Holy
Spirit. We have a truth that admits of no compromise. Shall we not
repud iate everythi ng that is not in harmony with th is truth?" 1 SM 204,
205

159. "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 practice is not as
open as day, belongs to the methods of the prince of evil. His methods
are practiced even among Seventh-day Adventists, who claim to have
advanced truth." TM 366

42
 160. "The work of health reform connected with the present truth for
this time, is a power for good. It is the right hand of the gospel, and often
opens fields for the entrance of the gospel. But let it ever be remembered
that the work must move solidly and in complete harmony with God's
plan of organization. Churches are to be organized, and in no case are
these churches to divorce themselves from the medical missionary work.
Neither is the medical missionary work to be divorced from the gospel
ministry_ When this is done, both are one·sided. Neither is a complete
whole." 1SM 112, 113
161. "My attention was then turned to the company I had seen, who
were mightily shaken. I was shown those whom I had before seen weeping
and praying in agony of spirit. The company of guardian angels around
them had doubled, and they were clothed with an armor from their head
to their feet. They moved in exact order, like a company of soldiers."
EW 271

See also 103·106, 109, 111

43
 PERSECUTION

162. "There is a prospect before us of a continued struggle, at the risk

of imprisonment, loss of property, and even of life itself, to defend the
law of God, which is made void by the laws of men. In this situation
worldly policy will urge an outward compliance with the laws of the land,
for the sake of peace and harmony. And there are some who will even
urge such a course from the Scripture: 'Let every soul be subject unto the
higher powers .... The powers that be are ordained of God.''' 5T 712

163. "Fearful tests and trials await the people of God. The spirit of
war is stirring the nations from one end of the earth to the other. But in
the midst of the time of trouble that is coming-a time of trouble such as
has not been since there was a nation-God 's chosen people will stand
unmoved. Satan and his host cannot destroy them, for angels that excel in
strength will protect them." 9T 17

164. "As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith
in the third angel's message, but have not been sanctified through obedi-
ence to the truth, abandon their position, and join the ranks of the
opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they
have come to view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is
brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent
and pleasing address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers
to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of
their former brethren. When Sabbath keepers are brought before the
courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient
agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and
insinuations to stir up the rulers against them." GC 608

165. "There is another and more important question that should

engage the attention of the churches of today. The apostle Pau I declares
that 'all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.'
2 Timothy 3: 12. Why is it, then, that persecution seems in a great degree
to slumber? The only reason is, that the church has conformed to the
world's standard, and therefore awakens no opposition. The religion
which is current in our day is not of the pure and holy character that
marked the Christian faith in the days of Christ and His apostles. It is only
because of the spirit of compromise with sin, because the great truths of
the word of God are so indifferently regarded, because there is so little
vital godliness in the church, that Christianity is apparently so popular
with the world. Let there be a revival of the faith and power of the early
church, and the spirit of persecution will be revived, and the fires of
persecution will be rekindled." GC 48

44
 166. " ... When the storm of persecution really breaks upon us, the
true sheep will hear the true Shepherd's voice. Self·denying efforts will be
put forth to save the lost, and many who have strayed from the fold will
come back to follow the great Shepherd. The people of God will draw
together and present to the enemy a united front. In view of the common
peril, strife for supremacy will cease; there will be no disputing as to who
shall be accounted greatest." 6T 401
167. "When brethren manifest the spirit of the dragon, to make war
upon those who believe that God has communicated light and comfort to
them through the Testimonies, it is time for the brethren and sisters to
assert their liberty and perfect freedom of conscience. God has given them
light, and it is their privilege to cherish the light and to speak of it to
strengthen and encourage one another." 4T 245, 246
168. "Notwithstanding Christ's warning, men have sought to uproot
the tares. To punish those who were supposed to be evildoers, the church
has had recourse to the civil power. Those who differed from the estab·
lished doctrines have been imprisoned, put to torture and to death, at the
instigation of men who claimed to be acting under the sanction of Christ.
But it is the spirit of Satan, not the Spirit of Christ, that inspires such
acts. This is Satan's own method of bringing the world under his domino
ion. God has been misrepresented through the church by th is way of
dealing with those supposed to be heretics." COL 74
169. "When the priests and the people heard the message that Jeremiah
delivered to them in the name of the Lord, they were very angry and
declared that he should die. They were boisterous in their denunciations
of him, crying: 'Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying,
This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an
inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the
house of the Lord.' Thus was the message of God despised and the servant
with whom He entrusted it threatened with death. The priests, the
unfaithful prophets, and all the people turned in wrath upon him who
would not speak to them smooth things and prophesy deceit.
"The unfaltering servants of God have usually suffered the bitterest
persecution from false teachers of religion. But the true prophets will ever
prefer reproach, and even death, rather than unfaithfulness to God."
4T 167 (1876)

170. "When the testing time shall come, those who have mad~ God's
word their rule of life will be revealed. In summer there is no noticeable
difference between evergreens and other trees; but when the blasts of
winter come, the evergreens remain unchanged, while other trees are
stripped of their foliage. So the false·hearted professor may not now be
distinguished from the real Christian, but the time is just upon us when
the difference will be apparent. Let opposition arise, let bigotry and
intolerance again bear sway, let persecution be kindled, and the half·

45
hearted and hypocritical will waver and yield the faith; but the true
Christian will stand firm as a rock; his faith stronger, his hope brighter,
than in days of prosperity." GC 602
171. "The scribes and Pharisees had accused not only Christ but His
disciples as sinners because of their disregard of the rabbinical rites and
observances. Often the disciples had been perplexed and troubled by
censure and accusation from those whom they had been accustomed to
revere as rei ig ious teachers." MB 53
172. "Satan's attacks against the advocates of the truth will wax more
bitter and determined to the very close of time. As in Christ's day the
chief priests and rulers stirred up the people against Him, so today the
religious leaders will excite bitterness and prejudice against the truth for
this time. The people will be led to acts of violence and opposition which
they would never have thought of had they not been imbued with the
animosity of professed Christians against the truth." GW 324
173. "The heirs of God have come from garrets, from hovels, from
dungeons, from scaffolds, from mountains, from deserts, from the caves
of the earth, from the caverns of the sea. On earth they were 'destitute,
afflicted, tormented.' Millions went down to the grave loaded with
infamy, because they steadfastly refused to yield to the deceptive claims
of Satan. By human tribunals they were adjudged the vilest of criminals."
GC 650
174. "Through trials and persecution, the glory-character-of God is
revealed in His chosen ones. The church of God, hated and persecuted by
the world, are educated and disciplined in the school of Christ. They walk
in narrow paths on earth; they are purified in the furnace of affliction."
MB 31
175. "God in His great love is seeking to develop in us the precious
graces of His Spirit. He permits us to encounter obstacles, persecution,
and hardships, not as a curse, but as the greatest blessing of our lives.
Every temptation resisted, every trial bravely borne, gives us a new
experience and advances us in the work of character building. The soul
that through divine power resists temptation reveals to the world and to
the heavenly universe the efficiency of the grace of Christ." MB 117
See also 317·319

46
 REFORMATION

176. "We need a thorough reformation in all our churches. The

converting power of God must come into the church. Seek the Lord most
earnestly, put away your sins, and tarry in Jerusalem till ye be endowed
with power from on high." TM 443
177. "God will not be trifled with. It is in the time of conflict that the
true colors should be flung to the breeze. It is then that the standard·
bearers need to be firm and let their true position be known. It is then
that the skill of every true soldier for the right is tested. Shirkers can never
wear the laurels of victory." 3T 272
178. "We should have a spirit of progress. We must guard continually
against being fixed in our views, feelings, and actions. The work of God is
onward. Reforms must be carried on, and we must take hold and help
move on the car of reform. Energy, tempered with patience and ambition,
and balanced by wisdom, is now needed by every Christian." 3T 540
179. "Gather up the rays of I ight that have been sl ighted and rejected.
Gather them up with meekness, with trembling, and with fear. The sin of
ancient Israel was in disregarding the expressed will of God and following
their own way according to the leadings of unsanctified hearts. Modern
Israel are fast following in their footsteps, and the displeasure of the Lord
is as surely resting upon them." 5T 94
180. "If we desire to reform others we must ourselves practice the
principles which we would enforce upon them. Words, however good, will
be powerless if contradicted by the daily life." 5T 160
181. "Reformers are not destroyers. Tttey will never seek to ruin
those who do not harmonize with their plans and assimilate to them.
Reformers must advance, not retreat. They must be decided, firm, reso-
lute, unflinching; but firmness must not degenerate into a domineering
spirit. God desires to have all who serve Him firm as a rock where princi-
ple is concerned, but meek and lowly of heart, as was Christ. Then,
abiding in Christ, they can do the work He would do were He in their
place. A rude, condemnatory spirit is not essential to heroism in the
reforms for this time. All selfish methods in the service of God are an
abomination in His sight." 6T 151
182. "No line of truth that has made the Seventh-day Adventist people
what they are is to be weakened. We have the old landmarks of truth,
experience, and duty, and we are to stand firmly in defense of our
principles, in full view of the world." 6T 17
183. "God's people will not endure the test unless there is a revival
and a reformation." 7T 285
"Unless there is a decided reformation among the people of God, He
will turn His face from them." 8T 146

47
 184. "The time has come for a thorough reformation to take place.
When this reformation begins, the spirit of prayer will actuate every
believer and will banish from the church the spirit of discord and strife.
Those who have not been living in Christian fellowship will draw close to
one another. One member working in right lines will lead other members
to unite with him in making intercession for the revelation of the Holy
Spirit. There will be no confusion, because all will be in harmony with
the mind of the Spirit. The barriers separating believer from believer will
be broken down, and God's servants will speak the same things. The Lord
wi II cooperate with His servants. All will pray understandingly the prayer
that Christ taught His servants: 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in
earth, as it is in heaven.' Matthew 6: 10." 8T 251

185. "Men of clear understanding are needed now. God calls upon
those who are willing to be controlled by the Holy Spirit to lead out in a
work of thorough reformation. I see a crisis before us, and the Lord calls
for His laborers to come into line. Every soul should now stand in a
position of deeper, truer consecration to God than during the years that
have passed.
"During the General Conference of 1909 a work should have been
done in the hearts of those in attendance that was not done." 2SM 400

186. "I n visions of the night, representations passed before me of a

great reformatory movement among God's people. Many were praising
God. The sick were healed, and other miracles were wrought. A spirit of
intercession was seen, even as was manifested before the great Day of
Pentecost. Hundreds and thousands were seen visiting families and open·
ing before them the word of God. Hearts were convicted by the power of
the Holy Spirit, and a spirit of genuine conversion was manifest. On every
side doors were thrown open to the proclamation of the truth. The world
seemed to be lightened with the heavenly influence. Great blessings were
received by the true and humble people of God. I heard voices of thanks·
giving and praise, and there seemed to be a reformation such as we
witnessed in 1844." 9T 126

187. "A revival and a reformation must take place, under the ministra·
tion of the Holy Spirit. Revival and reformation are two different things.
Revival signifies a renewal of spiritual life, a quickening of the powers of
mind and heart, a resurrection from spiritual death. Reformation signifies
a reorganization, a change in ideas and theories, habits and practices.
Reformation will not bring forth the good fruit of righteousness unless it
is connected with the revival of the Spirit. Revival and reformation are to
do their appointed work, and in doing this work they must blend."
RH, February 25, 1902

48
 188. "Let me tell you that the Lord will work in this last work in a
manner very much out of the common order of things, and in a way that
will be contrary to any human planning. There will be those among us
who will always want to control the work of God, to dictate even what
movements shall be made when the work goes forward under the direction
of the angel who joins the third angel in the message to be given to the
world. God will use ways and means by which it will be seen that He is
taking the reins in His own hands. The workers will be surprised by the
simple means that He will use to bring about and perfect His work of
righteousness." TM 300
189. "The reason why He does not oftener choose men of learning
and high position to lead out in reform movements, is that they trust to
their creeds, theories, and theological systems, and feel no need to be
taught of God. Only those who have a personal connection with the
Source of wisdom are able to understand or explain the Scriptures. Men
who have little of the learning of the schools are sometimes called to
declare the truth, not because they are unlearned, but because they are
not too self-sufficient to be taught of God. They learn in the school of
Christ, and their humility and obedience make them great. In committing
to them a knowledge of His truth, God confers upon them an honor, in
comparison with which earthly honor and human greatness sink into
insignificance." GC 456
190. "The doctrine preached by Zwingli was not received from Luther.
It was the doctrine of Christ. 'If Luther preaches Christ: said the Swiss
Reformer, 'he does what I am doing. Those whom he has brought to
Christ are more numerous than those whom I have led. But this matters
not. I will bear no other name than that of Christ, whose soldier I am,
and who alone is my chief. Never has one single word been written by me
to Luther, nor by Luther to me. And why? ... That it might be shown
how much the Spirit of God is in unison with itself, since both of us,
without any coli usion, teach the doctri ne of Christ with such uniform ity.' "
GC 174
191. "The fact that a few fanatics worked their way into the ranks of
Adventists is no more a reason to decide that the movement was not of
God, than was the presence of fanatics and deceivers in the church in
Paul's or Luther's day a sufficient excuse for condemning their work."
GC 398
192. "In the time of the end, every divine institution is to be restored.
The breach made in the law at the time the Sabbath was changed 'by man,
is to be repaired. God's remnant people, standing before the world as
reformers, are to show that the law of God is the foundation of all endur-
ing reform, and that the Sabbath of the fourth commandment is to stand as
a memorial of creation, a constant reminder of the power of God. In
clear, distinct lines they are to present the necessity of obedience to all
the precepts of the Decalogue." PK 678

49
 193. "Are we awake to the work that is going on in the heavenly
Sanctuary, or are we waiting for some compelling power to come upon
the church before we shall arouse? Are we hoping to see the whole church
revived? That time will never come ....
"We must enter upon the work individually ....
'We have far more to fear from within than from without. The
hindrances to strength and success are far greater from the church itself
than from the world." RH, March 22, 1887
See also 135·137, 140-144, 216, 242, 244, 250, 251, 253, 259, 260

REMNANT CHURCH
194. "'Every honest soul that may be deceived by these disaffected
ones, will have the true light in regard to them, if every angel from heaven
has to visit them, to enlighten their minds. We have nothing to fear in this
matter. As we near the judgment, all will manifest their true character,
and it will be made plain to what company they belong. The sieve is
moving. Let us not say: Stay Thy hand, 0 God. The church must be
purged, and it will be.''' 1T 100
195. "I have stated before them that, from what was shown me, but a
small number of those now professing to believe the truth would even-
tually be saved-not because they could not be saved, but because they
would not be saved in God's own appointed way." 2T 445 (1868)
196. "'And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax
cold.' The very atmosphere is polluted with sin. Soon God '5 people will be
tested by fiery trials, and the great proportion of those who now appear
to be genuine and true will prove to be base metal. Instead of being
strengthened and confirmed by opposition, threats, and abuse, they will
cowardly take the side of the opposers." 5T 136

50
 197. "The leaven of godliness has not entirely lost its power. At the
time when the danger and depression of the church are greatest, the little
company who are standing in the light will be sighing and crying for the
abominations that are done in the land. But more especially will their
pI-ayers arise in behalf of the church because its members are doing after
the manner of the world." 5T 209,210

198. "Men will employ every means to make less prominent the
difference between Seventh-day Adventists and observers of the first day
of the week. A company was presented before me under the name of
Seventh-day Adventists, who were advising that the banner, or sign, which
makes us a distinct people should not be held out so strikingly; for they
claimed that this was not the best policy in order to secure success to our
institutions. But this is not a time to haul down our colors, to be ashamed
of our faith. This distinctive banner, described in the words, 'Here is the
patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God,
and the faith of Jesus,' is to be borne through the world to the close of
probation." 6T 144

199. "The remnant people of God must be a converted people. The

presentation of this message is to result in the conversion and sanctifica-
tion of souls. We are to feel the power of the Spirit of God in this move-
ment. This is a wonderful, definite message; it means everything to the
receiver, and it is to be proclaimed with a loud cry. We must have a true,
abiding faith that this message will go forth with increasing importance
till the close of time." 9T 154

200. "'The little remnant who love God and keep His commandments
and are faithful to the end will enjoy th is glory and ever be in the presence
of Jesus and sing with the holy angels.' " EW 66

201. "I asked the angel if there were none left. He bade me look in an
opposite direction, and I saw a little company traveling a narrow pathway.
All seemed to be firmly united, bound together by the truth, in bundles,
or companies .... This little company looked careworn, as if they had
passed through severe trials and conflicts. And it appeared as if the sun
had just risen from behind a cloud and shone upon their countenances,
causing them to look triumphant, as if their victories were nearly won."
EW 88, 89

202. "I saw a company who stood well guarded and firm, giving no
countenance to those who would unsettle the established faith of the
body. God looked upon them with approbation." EW 258

203. "But the true faith was not to become extinct. God has ever
preserved a remnant to serve Him." PP 125

51
 204. "God has a church on earth who are lifting up the downtrodden
law, and presenting to the world the Lamb of God that taketh away the
sins of the world. The church is the depositary of the wealth of the riches
of the grace of Christ, a,nd through the church eventually will be made
manifest the final and full display of the love of God to the world that is
to be I ightened with its glory." TM 50
205. "Let everyone be on guard, and be careful to be found standing
in the gap to make up the breach, in place of standing at the wall seeking
to make a breach. Let all be careful not to make an outcry against the
only people who are fulfilling the description given of the remnant people
who keep the commandments of God and have faith in Jesus, who are
exalting the standard of righteousness in these last days.
"God has a distinct people, a church on earth, second to none, but
superior to all in their facilities to teach the truth, to vindicate the law of
God." TM 57,58
206. "It is a solemn statement that I make to the church, that not
one in twenty whose names are registered upon the church books are
prepared to close their earthly history, and would be as verily without God
and without hope in the world as the common sinner. They are professed·
Iy serving God, but they are more earnestly serving mammon. This half·
and·half work is a constant denying of Christ, rather than a confessing of
Christ. So many have brought into the church their own unsubdued spirit,
unrefined; their spiritual taste is perverted by their own immoral, debasing
corruptions, symbolizing the world in spirit, in heart, in purpose, con·
firming themselves in lustful practices, and are full of deception through
and through in their professed Christian life. Living as sinners, claiming to
be Christians! Those who claim to be Christians and will confess Christ
should come out from among them and touch not the unclean thing, and
be separate." (General Conference Bulletin, 1893, pp. 132, 133) ChS 41

See also 99, 119

52
 THE SEALING

207. "I asked my accompanying angel the meaning of what I heard,

and what the four angels were about to do. He said to me that it was God
that restrained the powers, and that He gave His angels charge over things
on the earth; that the four angels had power from God to hold the four
winds, and that they were about to let them go; but while their hands were
loosening, and the four winds were about to blow, the merciful eye of
Jesus gazed on the remnant that were not sealed, and He raised His hands
to the Father and pleaded with Him that He had spilled His blood tor
them. Then another angel was commissioned to fly swiftly to the four
angels and bid them hold, until the servants of God were sealed with the
seal of the living God in their foreheads." EW 38

208. "I saw that Satan was at work in these ways to distract, deceive,
and draw away God's people, just now in this sealing time ....
"Satan was trying his every art to hold them where they were, until
the sealing was past, until the covering was drawn over God's people, and
they left without a shelter from the burning wrath of God, In the seven
last plagues. God has begun to draw this covering over His people, and It
will soon be drawn over all who are to have a shelter in the day of slaugh·
ter. God will work in power for His people; and Satan will be permitted to
work also." EW 44

209. "'The third angel is binding, 01 sealing, them in bundles for the
heavenly garner.' " EW 89

210. "I then saw the third angel. Said my accompanying angel, 'Fear-
ful is his work. Awful is his mission. He is the angel that is to select the
wheat from the tares, and seal, or bind, the wheat for the heavenly
garner. These things should engross the whole mind, the whole atten-
tion.''' EW 118

211. "I saw angels hurrying to and fro in heaven. An angel with a
writer's inkhorn by his side returned from the earth and reported to Jesus
that his work was done, and the saints were numbered and sealed." EW 279

212. "Time has continued a few years longer than they expected;
therefore they think it may continue a few years more, and in this way
their minds are being led from present truth, out after the world. In these
things I saw great danger; for if the mind is filled with other th ings,
present truth is shut out, and there is no place in our foreheads for the
seal of the living God ....
"The sealing time is very short, and will soon be over. Now is the time,
while the four angels are holding the four winds, to make our calling and
election sure." EW 58

53
 213. "Already kingdom is rising against kingdom. There is not now a
determined engagement. As yet the four winds are held until the servants
of God shall be sealed in their foreheads. Then the powers of earth shall
marshal their forces for the last great battle. How carefully we should
improve the little remaining period of our probation l " (RH, November
27,1900) 7BC 968

214. "Just before we entered it [the time of trouble], we all received

the seal of the living God. Then I saw the four angels cease to hold the
four winds. And I saw famine, pestilence and sword, nation rose against
nation, and the whole world was in confusion." (Daystar, March 14,
1846) 7BC 968

215. "Everything in the world is in an unsettled state. The nations are

angry, and great preparations for war are being made. Nation is plotting
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. The great day of God is
hasting greatly. But although the nations are mustering their forces for
war and bloodshed, the command to the angels is still in force, that they
hold the four winds until the servants of God are sealed in their fore·
heads." (RH, January 28, 1909) 7BC 968

216. "The day of God's vengeance is just upon us. The seal of God
will be placed upon the foreheads of those only who sigh and cry for the
abominations done in the land ....
"The seal of the living God is upon His people. This small remnant,
unable to defend themselves in the deadly conflict with the powers of
earth that are marshaled by the dragon host, make God their defense ....
"Not all who profess to keep the Sabbath will be sealed. There are
many even among those who teach the truth to others who will not
receive the seal of God in their foreheads." 5T 212·214

217. "Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our charac-
ters have one spot or stai n upon them. It is left with us to remedy the
defects in our characters, to cleanse the soul temple of every defilement.
Then the latter rain will fall upon us as the early rain fell upon the
disciples on the Day of Pentecost ....
"Now is the time to prepare. The seal of God will never be placed upon
the forehead of an impure man or woman. It will never be placed upon the
forehead of the ambitious, world-loving man or woman. It will never be
placed upon the forehead of men or women of false tongues or deceitful
hearts. All who receive the seal must be without spot before God-
candidates for heaven." 5T 214,216

54
 218. "When Jesus leaves the sanctuary, then they who are holy and
righteous will be holy and righteous still; for all their sins will then be
blotted out, and they will be sealed with the seal of the Iiving God. But
those that are unjust and filthy will be unjust and filthy still; for then
there will be no priest in the sanctuary to offer their sacrifices, their
confessions, and their prayers before the Father's throne. Therefore what
is done to rescue souls from the coming storm of wrath must be done
before Jesus leaves the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary."
EW48

219. "The time has come when we must expect the Lord to do great
things for us. Our efforts must not flag or weaken. We are to grow in
grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. Before the work is closed up and
the sealing of God's people is finished, we shall receive the outpouring of
the Spirit of God. Angels from heaven will be in our midst. The present is
a fitting-up time for heaven when we must walk in full obedience to all
the commands of God." lSM 111 (1907)

220. "Those who receive the pure mark of truth, wrought in them by
the power of the Holy Ghost, represented by a mark by the man in linen,
are those 'that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done' in
the church. Their love for purity and the honor and glory of God is such,
and they have so clear a view of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, that they
are represented as being in agony, even sighing and crying." 3T 267

221. "[Ephesians 1 :12 quoted.] What is the seal of the living God,
which is placed in the foreheads of His people? It is a mark which angels,
but not human eyes, can read; for the destroying angel must see this mark
of redemption." (Letter 126, 1898) 4BC 1161

222. "The angel with the writer's inkhorn is to place a mark upon the
foreheads of all who are separated from sin and sinners, and the destroy-
ing angel follows this angel." (Letter 12, 1886) 4BC 1161

223. "(Revelation 7:2.) Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in
their foreheads-it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling
into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be
moved-just as soon as God's people are sealed and prepared for the
shaking, it will come. Indeed, it has begun already; the judgments of God
are now upon the land, to give us warning, that we may know what is
coming." (MS 173, 1902) 4BC 1161

224. "The sanctification of the Spirit signalizes the difference be·

tween those who have the seal of God and those who keep a spurious rest
day." (Letter 12, 1900) 7 BC 980

55
 225. "'And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself,
even as He is pure.' In a little while everyone who is a child of God will
have His seal placed upon him. 0 that it may be placed upon our fore-
heads! Who can endure the thought of bei ng passed by when the angel
goes forth to seal the servants of God in their foreheads?" (RH, May 28,
1889) 7BC 969, 970
226. "Only those who receive the seal of the I iving God will have the
passport through the gates of the Holy City. But there are many who take
upon themselves responsibilities in connection with the work of God who
are not wholehearted believers, and while they remain thus cannot receive
the seal of the I iving God. They trust in their own righteousness, which
the Lord accounts as foolishness." (Letter 164, 1909) 7BC 970
227. "Those who would have the seal of God in their foreheads must
keep the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. This is what distinguishes
them from the disloyal, who have accepted a man-made institution in the
place of the true Sabbath. The observance of God's rest day is the mark
of distinction between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him
not." (MS 27,1899) 7BC 970
228. "The seal of the living God will be placed upon those only who
bear a likeness to Christ in character." (RH, May 21,1895) 7BC 970
229. "As wax takes the impression of the seal, so the soul is to take
the impression of the Spirit of God and retain the image of Christ."
(ST, July 18, 1911) 7BC 970
230. "Many will not receive the seal of God because they do not keep'
His commandments or bear the fruits of righteousness." (Letter 76, 1900)
7BC 970
231. "The great mass of professing Christians will meet with bitter
disappointment in the day of God. They have not upon their foreheads the
seal of the I iving God. Lukewarm and half-hearted, they dishonor God far
more than the avowed unbeliever. They grope in darkness, when they
might be walking in the noonday light of the Word, under the guidance of
One who never errs." (Letter 121, 1903) 7 BC 970
232. "Those who come up to every point, and stand every test, and
overcome, be the price what it may, have heeded the counsel of the True
Witness, and they will receive the latter rain, and thus be fitted for
translation.
"God proves His people in this world. This is the fitting-up place to
appear in His presence." lT 187,188
See also 90, 92, 94, 95

56
 SEPARATION

233. "I was pointed back to the rise of the advent doctrine, and even
before that time, and saw that there had not been a parallel to the decep-
tion, misrepresentation, and falsehood that has been practiced by the
Messenger party, or such an association of corrupt hearts under a cloak of
religion. Some honest hearts have been influenced by them, concluding
that they must have at least some cause for their statements, thinking
them incapable of uttering so glaring falsehoods. I saw that such will have
evidence of the truth of these matters. The church of God should move
straight along, as though there were not such a people in the world."
1T 117

234. "I saw that decided efforts should be made to show those who
are unchristian in life their wrongs, and if they do not reform, they should
be separated from the precious and holy, that God may have a clean and
pure people that He can delight in. Dishonor Him not by linking or unit-
ing the clean with the unclean." 1T 117,118

235. "Our holy faith cries out, Separation. We should not be con-
formed to the world, or to the dead, heartless professors. 'Be ye trans-
formed by the renewing of your mind.' This is a self-denying way. And
when you think that the way is too strait, that there is too much self-
denial in this narrow path; when you say, How hard to give up all, ask
yourself the question, What did Christ give up for me? This question puts
anything that we may call self·denial in the shade." 1 T 240

236. "The word of the Lord, spoken through His servants, is received
by many with questionings and fears. And many will defer their obedience
to the warnings and reproofs given, waiting till every shadow of uncer-
tainty is removed from their minds. The unbelief that demands perfect
knowledge will never yield to the evidence that God is pleased to give.
He requires of His people faith that rests upon the weight of evidence,
not upon perfect knowledge. Those followers of Christ who accept the
light that God sends them must obey the voice of God speaking to them
when there are many other voices crying out against it. It requires discern-
ment to distinguish the voice of God_
"Those who will not act when the Lord calls upon them, but who wait
for more certain evidence and more favorable opportunities, will walk in
darkness, for the light will be withdrawn. The evidence given one day, if
rejected, may never be repeated." 3T 258

237. "The purification of the people of God cannot be accomplished

without their suffering. God permits the fires of affliction to consume the
dross, to separate the worthless from the valuable, that the pure metal
may shine forth." 4T 85

57
 238. "When trees without fruit are cut down as cumberers of the
ground, when multitudes of false brethren are distinguished from the
true, then the hidden ones will be revealed to view, and with hosannas
range under the banner of Christ. Those who have been timid and self-
distrustful will declare themselves openly for Christ and His truth." 5T 81

239. "r\low is the time when we should closely connect with God, that
we may be hid when the fierceness of His wrath is poured upon the sons
of men. We have wandered away from the old landmarks. Let us return. If
the Lord be God, serve Him; if Baal, serve him. Which side will you be on)"
5T 137
240. "Choose poverty, reproach, separation from friends, or any
suffering rather than to defile the soul with sin. Death before dishonor or
the transgression of God's law should be the motto of every Christian.
As a people, professing to be reformers, treasuring the most solemn,
purifying truths of God's word, we must elevate the standard far higher
than it is at the present time. Sin and sinners in the church must be
promptly dealt with, that others may not be contaminated. Truth and
purity require that we make more thorough work to cleanse the camp
from Achans. Let those in responsible positions not suffer sin in a brother.
Show him that he must either put away his sins or be separated from the
church." 5T 147
241. "God's plan is first to get at the heart. Speak the truth, and let
Him carry forward the reformatory power and principle. Make no
reference to what opponents say, but let the truth alone be advanced. The
truth can cut to the quick. Plainly unfold the word in all its impressiveness.
"As trials thicken around us, both separation and unity will be seen in
our ranks. Some who are now ready to take up weapons of warfare will in
times of real peril make it manifest that they have not built upon the solid
rock; they will yield to temptation. Those who have had great light and
precious privileges, but have not improved them, will, under one pretext or
another, go out from us. Not having received the love of the truth, they
will be taken in the delusions of the enemy; they will give heed to seduc-
ing spirits and doctrines of devils, and will depart from the faith. But, on
the other hand, when the storm of persecution really breaks upon us, the
true sheep will hear the true Shepherd's voice." 6T 400, 401

242_ "Every jewel will be brought out and gathered, for the hand of
the Lord is set to recover the remnant of His people, and He will accom-
plish the work gloriously." EW 70
243_ "I saw that God had honest children among the nominal Adven-
tists and the fallen churches, and before the plagues shall be poured out,
ministers and people will be called out from these churches and will gladly
receive the truth. Satan knows this; and before the loud cry of the third
angel is given, he raises an excitement in these religious bodies, that those
who have rejected the truth may think that God is with them_ He hopes to

58
deceive the honest and lead them to think that God is still working for
the churches. But the light will shine, and all who are honest wil! leave
the fallen churches, and take their stand with the remnant." EW 261

244. "After a long and severe conflict, the faithful few decided to
dissolve all union with the apostate church if she still refused to free
herself from falsehood and idolatry. They saw that separation was an
absolute necessity if they wou Id obey the word of God. They dared not
tolerate errors fatal to their own souls, and set an example which would
imperil the faith of their children and children's children. To secure peace
and unity they were ready to make any concession consistent with
fidelity to God; but they felt that even peace would be too dearly pur·
chased at the sacrifice of principle. If unity could be secured only by the
compromise of truth and righteousness, then let there be difference, and
even war." GC 45

245. "There were some, however, who refused to yield to the authori·
ty of pope or prelate. They were determined to maintain their allegiance
to God and to preserve the purity and simplicity of their faith. A separa·
tion took place. Those who adhered to the ancient faith now withdrew;
some, forsaking their native Alps, raised the banner of truth in foreign
lands; others retreated to the secluded glens and rocky fastnesses of the
mountains, and there preserved their freedom to worsh ip God ....
"Among the leading causes that had led to the separation of the true
church from Rome was the hatred of the latter toward the Bible Sabbath."
GC 64, 65

246. "As this work tended to build up the churches, it was for a time
regarded with favor. But as ministers and religious leaders decided against
the advent doctrine and desired to suppress all agitation of the subject,
they not only opposed it from the pulpit, but denied their members the
privilege of attending preaching upon the second advent, or even of
speaking of their hope in the social meetings of the church. Thus the
believers found themselves in a position of great trial and perplexity. They
loved the ir churches and were loath to separate from them; but as they
saw the testimony of God's word suppressed and their right to investigate
the prophecies denied they felt that loyalty to God forbade them to
submit. Those who sought to shut out the testimony of God's word they
could not regard as constituting the church of Christ, 'the pillar and
ground of the truth.' Hence they felt themselves justified in separating
from their former connection. In the summer of 1844 about fifty thou·
sand withdrew from the churches." GC 376

59
 247. "As the light and life of men was rejected by the ecclesiastical
authorities in the days of Christ, so it has been rejected in every succeeding
generation. Again and again the history of Christ's withdrawal from Judea
has been repeated. When the Reformers preached the word of God, they
had no thought of separating themselves from the established church; but
the religious leaders would not tolerate the light, and those that bore it
were forced to seek another class, who were longing for the truth. In our
day few of the professed followers of the Reformers are actuated by their
spirit. Few are listening for the voice of God, and ready to accept truth in
whatever guise it may be presented. Often those who follow in the steps
of the Reformers are forced to turn away from the churches they love, in
order to declare the plain teaching of the word of God. And many times
those who are seeking for light are by the same teaching obliged to leave
the church of their fathers, that they may render obedience." DA 232
248. "There was a coming out, a decided separation from the wicked,
and escape for life. So it was in the days of Noah; so with Lot; so with the
disciples prior to the destruction of Jerusalem; and so it will be in the last
days. Again the voice of God is heard in a message of warning, bidding His
people separate themselves from the prevailing iniquity. The state of
corruption and apostasy that in the last days would exist in the religious
world, was presented to the prophet John, in the vision of Babylon, 'that
great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.' Revelation 17:18.
Before its destruction the call is to be given from heaven, 'Come out of
her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive
not of her plagues.' Revelation 18:4. As in the days of Noah and Lot,
there must be a marked separation from sin and sinners. There can be no
compromise between God and the world, no turning back to secure earthly
treasures. 'Ye cannot serve God and mammon.' Matthew 6:24." PP 166,
167
249. "Christ does not say that man will not or shall not serve two
masters, but that he cannot. The interests of God and the interests of
mammon have no union or sympathy. Just where the conscience of the
Christian warns him to forbear, to deny himself, to stop, just there the
worldling steps over the line, to indulge his selfish propensities. On one
side of the line is the self·denying follower of Christ; on the other side is
the self-indulgent world lover, pandering to fashion, engaging in frivolity,
and pampering himself in forbidden pleasure. On that side of the line the
Christian cannot go." MB 93
See also 17,43,250,252,253,256-260

60
 THE SHAKING (SIFTING)
250. "Where is the spirituality of the church? Where are men and
women full of faith and the Holy Spirit? My prayer is: Purify Thy church,
o God ....
"God is sifting His people. He will have a clean and holy church. We
cannot read the heart of man. But the Lord has provided means to keep
the church pure. A corrupt people has arisen who could not live with the
people of God. They despised reproof, and would not be corrected. They
had an opportunity to know that theirs was an unrighteous warfare. They
had time to repent of their wrongs; but self was too dear to die. They
nourished it, and it grew strong, and they separated from the trusting
people of God, whom He is purifying unto Himself. We all have reason to
thank God that a way has been opened to save the church; for the wrath
of God must have come upon us if these corrupt pretenders had remained
with us." 1T 99

251. "The sieve is moving. Let us not say: Stay Thy hand, 0 God.
The church must be purged, and it will be." 1T 100

252. "Thank God, all will not be rocked to sleep in the cradle of carnal
security. There will be faithful ones who will discern the signs of the
times. While a large number professing present truth will deny their faith
by their works, there will be some who will endure unto the end." 5T 10

253. "The Lord has faithful servants, who in the shaking, testing time
will be disclosed to view. There are precious ones now hidden who have
not bowed the knee to Baal. They have not had the light wh ich has been
shining in a concentrated blaze upon you. But it may be under a rough
and uninviting exterior the pure brightness of a genuine Christian character
will be revealed. In the daytime we look toward heaven but do not see the
stars. They are there, fixed in the firmament, but the eye cannot distin-
guish them. In the night we behold their genuine luster." 5T 80,81

254. "No superiority of rank, dignity, or worldly wisdom, no position

in sacred office, will preserve men from sacrificing principle when left to
their own deceitful hearts. Those who have been regarded as worthy and
righteous prove to be ringleaders in apostasy and examples in indifference
and in the abuse of God's mercies." 5T 212

255. "There is a high standard to which we are to attain if we would be

children of God, noble, pure, holy, and undefiled; and a pruning process is
necessary if we would reach this standard. How would this pruning be
accompl ished if there were no difficulties to meet, no obstacles to sur-
mount, nothing to callout patience and endurance)" 5T 344

61
 256. "God will arouse His people; if other means fail, heresies will
come in among them, which will sift them, separating the chaff from the
wheat. The Lord calls upon all who believe His word to awake out of
sleep. Precious light has come, appropriate for this time. It is Bible truth,
showing the perils that are right upon us." 5T 707
257. "~~ot all in this world have taken sides with the enemy against
God. Not all have become disloyal .. There are a faithful few who are true
to God; for John writes: 'Here are they that keep the commandments of
God, and the faith of Jesus.' Revelation 14: 12. Soon the battle will be
waged fiercely between those who serve God and those who serve Him
not. Soon everything that can be shaken will be shaken, that those things
that cannot be shaken may remain." 9T 15, 16
258. "Fearful tests and trials await the people of God. The spirit of
war is stirring the nations from one end of the earth to the other. But In
the midst of the time of trouble that is coming-a time of trouble such as
has not been since there was a nation-God 's chosen people will stand
unmoved. Satan and his host cannot destroy them, for angels that excel in
strength will protect them." 9T 17
259. "The mighty shaking has commenced and will go on, and all will
be shaken out who are not willing to take a bold and unyielding stand for
the truth and to sacrifice for God and His cause." EW 50
260. "I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen and was shown
that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the
counsel of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect
upon the heart of the receiver, and will lead him to exalt the standard and
pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony.
They will rise up against it, and this is what will cause a shaking among
God's people." EW 270
261. "The time has come when Jerusalem is being searched as with
lighted candles. God is at work investigating character, weighing moral
worth, and pronouncing decisions en individual cases. It may not be too
late for those who have sinned to be zealous and repent; ... " TM 448
See also 235, 240, 242,243

62
 SIN (CONFESSION AND DEALING WITH)

262. "Those whom God has chosen for an important work have ever
been received with distrust and suspicion. Anciently, when Elijah was sent
with a message from God to the people, they did not heed the warning.
They thought him unnecessarily severe. They even thought that he must
have lost his senses because he denounced them, the favored people of
God, as sinners and their crimes as so aggravated that the judgments of
God would awaken against them. Satan and his host have ever been
arrayed against those who bear the message of warning and who reprove
sins. The unconsecrated will also be united with the adversary of souls to
make the work of God's faithful servants as hard as possible." 3T 261
263. "If wrongs are apparent among His people, and if the servants of
God pass on indifferent to them, they virtually sustain and justify the
sinner, and are alike guilty and will just as surely receive the displeasure
of God; for they will be made responsible for the sins of the guilty. In
vision I have been pointed to many instances where the displeasure of
God has been incurred by a neglect on the part of His servants to deal
with the wrongs and sins existing among them. Those who have excused
these wrongs have been thought by the people to be very amiable and
lovely in disposition, simply because they shunned to discharge a plain
Scriptural duty. The task was not agreeable to their feelings; therefore they
avoided it." 3T 265, 266
264. "It is not safe for us to linger to contemplate the advantages to
be reaped through yielding to Satan's suggestions. Sin means dishonor
and disaster to every soul that indulges in it; but it is blinding and deceiv·
ing in its nature and it will entice us with flattering presentations. If we
venture on Satan's ground we have no assurance of protection from his
power. So far as in us lies, we should close every avenue by wh ich the
tempter may fi nd access to us." MB 118
265. "What a lesson we have here for parents and guardians of youth,
and for those who minister in the service of God. When existing evils are
not met and checked, because men have too little courage to reprove
wrong, or because they have too little interest or are too indolent to tax
their own powers in putting forth earnest efforts to purify the family or
the church of God, they are accountable for the evil which may result in
consequence of neglect to do their duty. We are just as accountable for
evils that we might have checked in others, by reproof, by warning, by
exercise of parental or pastoral authority, as if we were guilty of the acts
ourselves." 4T 516
266. "He [God] wants brave men for action, who will not regard the
setting up of idols and the coming in of abominations without lifting
up the voice like a trumpet, showing the people their transgressions and
the house of Jacob their sins." 4T 517

63
 267. "As we near the close of earth's history, perils and dangers
thicken around us. A mere profession of godliness will not avail. There
must be a living connection with God, that we may have spiritual eyesight
to discern the wickedness which is in a most artful and secret manner
creeping into our midst through those who make a profession of our
faith. The greatest sins are brought in through those who profess to be
sanctified and claim that they cannot sin. Yet many of this class are
sinning daily and are corrupt in heart and life. Such are self-sufficient and
self-r ighteous, making their own standard of righteousness and utterly
failing to meet the Bible standard." 5T 139
268. "The watchmen are responsible for the condition of the people.
While you open the door to pride, envy, doubt, and other sins, there will
be strife, hatred, and every evil work." 5T 235
269. "Ministers of the gospel sometimes do great harm by allowing
their forbearance toward the erring to degenerate into toleration of sins
and even participation in them. Thus they are led to excuse and palliate
that which God condemns, and after a time they become so blinded as to
commend the very ones whom God commands them to reprove. He who
has blunted his spiritual perceptions by sinful leniency toward those whom
God condemns, will erelong commit a greater sin by severity and harsh-
ness toward those whom God approves." AA 504
270. "Jesus Himself never purchased peace by compromise. His heart
overflowed with love for the whole human race, but He was never indul-
gent to their sins. He was too much their friend to remain silent while
they were pursuing a course that would ruin their souls-the souls He had
purchased with His own blood. He labored that man should be true to
himself, true to his higher and eternal interest. The servants of Christ are
called to the same work, and they should beware lest, in seeking to prevent
discord, they surrender the truth. They are to 'follow after the things
which make for peace' (Romans 14:19); but real peace can never be
secured by compromising principle." DA 356
271. "God's servants have to deal plainly, act openly, and not cover
up wrongs; for they are standing between the living and the dead and
must render an account of their faithfulness, their mission, and the influ-
ence they exert over the flock of which the Lord has made them overseers."
EW 99
272. "Christ has plainly taught that those who persist in open sin must
be separated from the church, but He has not committed to us the work
of judging character and motive. He knows our nature too well to entrust
this work to us. Should we try to uproot from the church those whom we
suppose to be spurious Christians, we should be sure to make mistakes.
Often we regard as hopeless subjects the very ones whom Christ is drawing
to Himself. Were we to deal with these souls according to our imperfect
judgment, it would perhaps extinguish their last hope. Many who think

64
themselves Christians will at last be found wanting. Many will be in heaven
who their neighbors supposed would never enter there. Man judges from
appearance, but God judges the heart." COL 71, 72
273. "In the work of reform to be carried forward today, there is need
of men who, like Ezra and Nehemiah, will not palliate or excuse sin, nor
shrink from vindicating the honor of God. Those upon whom rests the
burden of this work will not hold their peace when wrong is done, neither
will they cover evil with a cloak of false charity. They will remember that
God is no respecter of persons, and that severity to a few may prove mercy
to many. They will remember also that in the one who rebukes evi I, the
Spirit of Christ should ever be revealed." PK 675
274. "The men called to the ministry should not be made idols of;
they should not be looked upon with superstitious reverence; and because
of the power vested in them through their office, sin in them should not
lose its offensiveness. Their very office makes sin in them more exceed ing·
Iy sinful; for in committing sin they make themselves the ministers of sin,
the agents of Satan, through whom he can work with success to perpetuate
sin." TM 404
275. "The time has come for earnest and powerful efforts to rid the
church of the slime and filth which is tarnishing her purity." TM 450
276. "The examples in God's word of genuine repentance and humilia·
tion reveal a spirit of confession in which there is no excuse for sin or
attempt at self-justification." SC 41
See also 3, 4,6-9,12,14,17,20,112,117,120,129,132,281,341

65
 STRAIGHT TESTIMONY
277. "What greater deception can come upon human minds than a
confidence that they are right when they are all wrong! The message of the
True Witness finds the people of God in a sad deception, yet honest in that
deception. They know not that their condition is deplorable in the sight of
God. While those addressed are flattering themselves that they are in an
exalted spiritual condition, the message of the True Witness breaks their
security by the startling denunciation of their true condition of spiritual
blindness, poverty and wretchedness. The testimony, so cutting and
severe, cannot be a mistake, for it is the True Witness who speaks, and
His testimony must be correct." 3T 252, 253
278. "The people of God must see their wrongs and arouse to zealous
repentance and a putting away of those sins which have brought them
into such a deplorable condition of poverty, bl indness, wretchedness, and
fearful deception. I was shown that the pointed testimony must live in the
chul·ch. This alone will answer to the message to the Laodiceans. Wrongs
must be reproved, sin must be called sin, and iniquity must be met
promptly and decidedly, and put away from us as a people." 3T 260
279. "The Lord calls for a renewal of the straight testimony borne in
years past. He calls for a renewal of spiritual life. The spiritual energies of
His people have long been torpid, but there is to be resurrection from
apparent death. By prayer and confession of sin we must clear the King's
highway. As we do this, the power of the Spirit will come to us. We need
the pentecostal energy. This will come; for the Lord has promised to send
His Spirit as the all-conquering power." GW 307, 308
280. "I call upon the people of God to open their eyes. When you
sanction or carry out the decisions of men who, as you know, are not in
harmony with truth and righteousness, you weaken your own faith, and
lose your relish for communion with God." TM 91
See also 117, 120, 122, 130, 260

66
 TESTIMONIES

281. "I have sought to do my duty. I have pointed out the special sins
of some. I was shown that in the wisdom of God the sins and errors of all
would not be revealed. All would have sufficient light to see their errors
and sins, if they desired to do so and earnestly wished to put them away,
and to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. They could see what sins
God marked and reproved in others. If these were cherished by themselves,
they should know that they were abhorred of God and were separated
from Him; and that unless they earnestly and zealously set about the
work of putting them away they would be left in darkness ....
"They see, by the testi monies of others, their own case faithfully
pointed out before them." 2T 447

282. "In ancient times God spoke to men by the mouth of prophets
and apostles. In these days He speaks to them by the Testimonies of His
Spirit." 4T 147, 148

283. "God is either teaching His church, reproving their wrongs and
strengthening their faith, or He is not. This work is of God, or it is not.
God does nothing in partnership with Satan. My work for the past thirty
years bears the stamp of God or the stamp of the enemy. There is no
halfway work in the matter. The Testimonies are of the Spirit of God, or
of the devil. In arraying yourself against the servants of God you are doing
a work either for God or for the devil." 4 T 230
See also 5T 671

284. "You might say that this communication was only a letter. Yes,
it was a letter, but prompted by the Spirit of God, to bring before your
minds things that had been shown me. In these letters which I write, in
the testimonies I bear, I am presenting to you that which the Lord has
presented to me. I do not write one article in the paper merely expressing
my own ideas. They are what God has opened before me in vision-the
precious rays of light shining from the throne." 5T 67

285. "I was shown that in the wisdom of God the sins and errors of
all would not be revealed .... All who are gUilty are addressed in these
individual testimonies, although their names may not be attached to the
special testimony borne; and if individuals pass over and cover up their
own sins because their names are not especially called, they will not be
prospered of God. They cannot advance in the divine life, but will become
darker and darker, until the light of heaven will be entirely withdrawn."
2T 447 (1870)

67
 286. "I took the precious Bible and surrounded it with the several
Testimonies for the Church, given for the people of God. Here, said I, the
cases of nearly all are met. The sins they are to shun are pointed out. The
counsel that they desire can be found here, given for other cases situated
similarly to themselves. God has been pleased to give you line upon line
and precept upon precept. But there are not many of you that really
know what is contained in the Testimonies. You are not familiar with the
Scriptures. If you had made God's word your study, with a desire to reach
the Bible standard and attain to Christian perfection, you would not have
needed the Testimonies. It is because you have neglected to acquaint
yourselves with God's inspired Book that He has sought to reach you by
simple, direct testimonies, calling your attention to the words of inspira-
tion wh ich you had neglected to obey, and urging you to fashion your
lives in accordance with its pure and elevated teachings." 2T 605 (1871 )
287. "If God has given me a message to bear to His people, those who
would hinder me in the work and lessen the faith of the people in its truth
are not fighting against the instrument, but against God. 'It is not the
instrument whom you slight and insult, but God, who has spoken to you
in these warnings and reproofs.' 'It is hardly possible for men to offer a
greater insult to God than to despise and reject the instrumenta lities that
He has appointed to lead them.' " 5T 680
288. "The volumes of Spirit of Prophecy [The Great Controversy},
and also the Testimonies, should be introduced into every Sabbathkeeping
family, and the brethren should know their value and be urged to read
them. It is not the wisest plan to place these books at a low figure and
have only one set in a church. They should be in the I ibrary of every
family and read again and again. Let them be kept where they can be
read by many, ... " 4T 390
289. "And now to all who have a desire for truth I would say: Do not
give credence to unauthenticated reports as to what Sister White has done
or said or written. If you desire to know what the Lord has revealed
through her, read her published works. Are there any points of interest
concerning which she has not written, do not eagerly catch up and report
rumors as to what she has said." 5T 696
290. "By this misusing of the Testimonies, souls are placed in perplexi-
ty, because they cannot understand the relation of the Testimonies to such
a position as is taken by those in error; for God intended that the Testi-
monies should always have a setting in the framework of truth." TM 42,
43
291. "Regarding the Testimonies, nothing is ignored; nothing is cast
aside; but time and place must be considered. Nothing must be done
untimely .... Every jot and tittle is essential and must appear at an
opportune time." (Regarding the Testimonies, October 10, 1911) lSM 57
See also 59,271,278,279

68
 UNITY

292. "If Christians were to act in concert, moving forward as one,

under the direction of One Power, for the accomplishment of one purpose,
they would move the world." 9T 221

293. "My attention was then turned to the company I had seen, who
were mightily shaken. I was shown those whom I had before seen weeping
and praying in agony of spirit. The company of guardian angels around
them had been doubled, and they were clothed with an armor from their
head to their feet. They moved in exact order, like a company of soldiers."
EW 271

294. "God is leading out a people from the world upon the exalted
platform of eternal truth, the commandments of God and the faith of
Jesus. He will discipline and fit up His people. They will not be at variance,
one believing one thing and another having faith and views entirely
opposite, each moving independently of the body. Through the diversity
of the gifts and governments that He has placed in the church, they will
all come to the unity of the faith. If one man takes his views of Bible
truth without regard to the opinion of his brethren, and justifies his
course, alleging that he has a right to his own peculiar views, and then
presses them upon others, how can he be fulfilling the prayer of Christ?
And if another and still another arises, each asserting his right to believe
and talk what he pleases without reference to the faith of the body, where
will be that harmony which existed between Christ and His Father, and
which Christ prayed might exist among His brethren?" TM 29, 30

295. "While it is true that the Lord guides individuals, it is also true
that He is leading out a people, not a few separate individuals here and
there, one believing this thing, another that ....
"The spirit of pulling away from our fellow laborers, the spirit of
disorganization, is in the very air we breathe. By some, all efforts to
establish order are regarded as dangerous-as a restriction of personal
liberty, and hence to be feared as popery ....
"Some have advanced the thought that as we near the close of time,
every child of God will act independently of any rei igious organization.
But I have been instructed by the Lord that in this work there is no such
thing as every man's being independent. The stars of heaven are all under
law, each influencing the other to do the will of God, yielding their
common obedience to the law that controls their action. And in order
that the Lord's work may advance healthfully and solidly, His people
must draw together." TM 488, 489

296. "We are to unify, but not on a platform of error." Special

Testimonies, Series B, No.2, p. 47.

69
 297. "[John 17:20,21 quoted.] What kind of unity is spoken of in
these words?-Unity in diversity. Our minds do not all run in the same
channel, and we have not all been given the same work. God has given to
every man his work according to his several ability. There are different
kinds of work to be done, and workers of varied capabilities are needed. If
our hearts are humble, if we have learned in the school of Christ to be
meek and lowly, we may all press together in the narrow path marked out
for us." (MS 52,1904) 5BC 1148
298. "[John 17:20-23 quoted.] What a wonderful statement' The
unity that exists between Christ and His disciples does not destroy the
personality of either. In mind, in purpose, in character, they are one, but
not in person. By partaking of the Spirit of God, conforming to the law of
God, man becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ brings His
disciples into a living union with Himself and with the Father. Through
the working of the Holy Spirit upon the human mind, man is made
complete in Christ Jesus. Unity with Christ established a bond of unity
with one another. This unity is the most convincing proof to the world of
the majesty and virtue of Christ, and of His power to take away sin."
(MS 111, 1903) 5BC 1148, 1149
299. "The strength of God's people lies in their union with Him
through His only-begotten Son, and their union with one another. There
are no two leaves of a tree precisely alike; neither do all minds run in the
same direction. But while this is so, there may be unity in diversity. Christ
is our root, and all who are grafted into this root will bear the fruit which
Christ bore. They will reveal the fragrance of His character in the talent of
speech, in the cultivation of hospitality, of kindness, of Christian courtesy
and heavenly politeness.
"Look at the flowers in a carpet, and notice the different colored
threads. All are not pink, all are not green, all are not blue. A variety of
colors are woven together to perfect the pattern. So it is in the design of
God. He has a purpose in placing us where we must learn to live as
individuals. We are not all fitted to do the same kind of work, but each
man's work is designed by God to help make up His plan." (RH, July 4,
1899) 6BC 1083
300. "[1 Corinthians 12:4-6 quoted.] The vine has many branches,
but though all the branches are different, they do not quarrel. In diversity
there is unity. All the branches obtain their nourishment from one source.
This is an illustration of the unity that is to exist among Christ's followers.
In their different lines of work they all have but one Head. The same
Spirit, in different ways, works through them. There is harmonious action,
though the gifts differ. Study this chapter. You will see from it that the
man who is truly united with Christ will never act as though he were a
complete whole in himself. ...
"The perfection of the church depends not on each member being
fashioned exactly alike. God calls for each one to take his proper place,

70
to stand in his lot to do his appointed work according to the ability which
has been given him." (Letter 19, 1901) 6BC 1090
301. "Floating rumors are frequently the destroyers of unity among
brethren. There are some who watch with open mind and ears to catch
flying scandal. They gather up little incidents which may be trifling in
themselves, but which are repeated and exaggerated unti I a man is made an
offender for a word. Their motto seems to be, 'Report, and we will report
it.' These tale·bearers are doing the devil 's work with surprisi ng fidel ity,
little knowing how offensive their course is to God. If they would spend
half the energy and zeal that is given to this unholy work in examining
their own hearts, they would find so much to do to cleanse their souls
from impurity that they would have no time or disposition to criticize
their brethren, and they would not fall under the power of this temptation.
The door of the mind should be closed against 'They say' or 'I have heard.'
Why should we not, instead of allowing jealousy or evil·surmising to come
into our hearts, go to our brethren, and, after frankly but kindly setting
before them the things we have heard detrimental to their character and
infl uence, pray with and for them? Wh ile we cannot love and fellowsh ip
those who are the bitter enemies of Christ, we should cultivate that spirit
of meekness and love that characterized our Master-a love that thinketh
no evil and is not easily provoked." (RH, June 3,1884) 3BC 1163; TM
504, 505
302. "A union with Christ by living faith is enduring; every other
union must perish. Christ first chose us, paying an infinite price for our
redemption; and the true believer chooses Christ as first, and last, and best
in everything. But this union costs us something. It is a relation of utter
dependence to be entered into by a proud being. All who form this union
must feel their need of the atoning blood of Christ. They must have a
change of heart. They must submit their own will to the will of God.
There will be a struggle with outward and internal obstacles. There must
be a painful work of detachment, as well as a work of attachment. Pride,
selfishness, vanity, worldliness-sin in all its forms-must be overcome, if
we would enter into a union with Christ. The reason why many find the
Christian life so deplorably hard, why they are so fickle, so variable, is,
they try to attach themselves to Christ without detaching themselves
from these cherished idols .... " (ST, November 29, 1910) 5BC 1143,
1144
303. "It is not opposition from the world that most endangers the
church of Christ. It is the evil cherished in the hearts of bel ie'vers that
works their most grievous disaster and most surely retards the progress of
God's cause. There is no surer way of weakening spirituality than by
cherishing envy, suspicion, faultfinding, and evil surmising. On the other
hand, the strongest witness that God has sent His Son into the world is
the existence of harmony and union among men of varied dispositions
who form His church." AA 549

71
 304. "The Creator of all ideas may impress different minds with the
same thought, but each may express it in a different way, yet without
contradiction. The fact that this difference exists should not perplex or
confuse us. It is seldom that two persons will view and express truth in
the very same way. Each dwells on particular points which his constitu·
tion and education have fitted him to appreciate. The sunlight falling
upon the different objects gives those objects a different hue." 1 SM 22
305. "There must be no fixed rules; our work is a progressive work,
and there must be room left for methods to be improved upon. But under
the guidance of the Holy Spirit, unity must and will be preserved."
(RH, July 23,1895) Ev 105
306. "Our church members see that there are differences of opinion
among the leading men, and they themselves enter into controversy
regarding the subjects under dispute. Christ calls for unity. But He does
not call for us to unify on wrong practices. The God of heaven draws a
sharp contrast between pure, elevating, ennobling truth and false, mis·
leading doctrines. He calls sin and impenitence by the right name. He does
not gloss over wrongdoing with a coat of untempered mortar. I urge our
brethren to unify upon a true, scriptural basis." (MS 10,1905) 1SM 175
307. "As we approach the last crisis, it is of vital moment that harmony
and unity exist among the Lord's instrumentalities. The world is filled
with storm and war and variance. Yet under one head-the papal power-
the people will unite to oppose God in the person of His witnesses. This
union is cemented by the great apostate. While he seeks to unite his
agents in warring against the truth he will work to divide and scatter its
advocates. Jealousy, evil surmising, evilspeaking, are instigated by him to
produce discord and dissension. The members of Christ's church have the
power to thwart the purpose of the adversary of souls. At such a time as
this let them not be found at variance with one another or with any of
the Lord's workers. Amidst the general discord let there be one place
where harmony and unity exist because the Bible is made the guide of
life. Let the people of God feel that a responsibility rests upon them to
build up His instrumentalities." 7T 182
See also 241

72
 UNIONS (LABOR)

308. "The trades unions wi.1I be one of the agencies that will bring
upon this earth a time of trouble such as has not been since the world
began." (Letter 200,1903) 2SM 142

309. "The work of the people of God is to prepare for the events of
the future, which will soon come upon them with blinding force. In the
world gigantic monopolies will be formed. Men will bind themselves
together in unions that will wrap them in the folds of the enemy. A few
men will combine to grasp all the means to be obtained in certain lines of
business. Trades unions will be formed, and those who refuse to join
these unions will be marked men." (Letter 26, 1903) 2SM 142

310. "The trades unions and confederacies of the world are a snare.
Keep out of them, and away from them, hrethren. Have nothing to do
with them. Because of the unions and confederacies, it will soon be very
difficult for our institutions to carryon work in the cities. My warning is:
Keep out of the cities. Build no sanitariums in the cities. Edu'cate our
people to get out of the cities into the country, where they can obtain a
small piece of land, and make a home for themselves and their children."
(General Conference Bulletin, April 6, 1903) 2SM 142

311. "These unions are one of the signs of the last days. Men are
binding up in bundles ready to be burned. They may be church members,
but while they belong to these unions, they cannot possibly keep the
commandments of God; for to belong to these unions means to disregard
the entire Decalogue ....
"How can men obey these words, and at the same time pledge them-
selves to support that which deprives their neighbors of freedom of
action? And how can men obey these words, and form combinations that
rob the poorer classes of the advantages which justly belong to them,
preventing them from buying or selling, except under certain conditions?"
(Letter 26,1903) 2SM 143

312. "Those who claim to be the children of God are in no case to

bind up with the labor unions that are formed or that shall be formed.
This the Lord forbids. Cannot those who study the prophecies see and
understand what is before us?" (Letter 201,1902) 2SM 144

313. "Through the working of trusts, and the result of labor unions
and strikes, the conditions of life in the city are constantly becoming
more and more difficult. Serious troubles are before us; and for many
families removal from the cities will become a necessity." MH 364

73
 314. "For years I have been given special light that we are not to center
our work in the cities. The turmoil and confusion that fi II these cities,
the conditions brought about by the labor unions and the strikes, would
prove a great hindrance to our work. Men are seeking to bring those
engaged in the different trades under bondage to certain unions. This is
not God's planning, but the planning of a power that we should in no wise
acknowledge. God's word is fulfilling; the wicked are binding themselves
up in bundles ready to be burned. We are now to use all our entrusted
capabilities in giving the last warning message to the world. In this work
we are to preserve our individuality. We are not to unite with secret
societies or with trade unions. We are to stand free in God, looking
constantly to Christ for instruction. All our movements are to be made
with a realization of the importance of the work to be accomplished for
God." 7T 84
See also 38-41

WAR AND POLITICS

315. "I was shown that God's people, who are His peculiar treasure,
cannot engage in this perplexing war [American Civil War, 1861·1865),
for it is opposed to every principle of their faith. In the army they cannot
obey the truth and at the same time obey the requirements of their
officers. There would be a continual violation of conscience. Worldly men
are governed by worldly principles. They can appreciate no other. Worldly
policy and public opinion comprise the principle of action that governs
them and leads them to practice the form of rightdoing. But God's people
cannot be governed by these motives. The words and commands of God,
written in the soul, are spirit and life, and there is power in them to bring
into subjection and enforce obedience. The ten precepts of Jehovah are
the foundation of all righteous and good laws. Those who love God's
commandments will conform to every good law of the land. But if the
requirements of the rulers are such as confl ict with the laws of God, the
only question to be settled is: 'Shall we obey God, or man?' " 1T 361

74
 316. "I was shown that as a people we cannot be too careful what
influence we exert; we should watch every word. When we by word or
act place ourselves upon the enemy's battle ground, we drive holy angels
from us, and encourage and attract evil angels in crowds around us ....
"Our kingdom is not of this world. We are waiting for our Lord from
heaven to come to earth to put down all authority and power, and set up
His everlasting kingdom. Earthly powers are shaken. We need not, and
cannot, expect union among the nations of the earth. Our position in the
image of Nebuchadnezzar is represented by the toes, in a divided state,
and of a crumbling material, that will not hold together. Prophecy shows
us that the great day of God is right upon us. It hasteth great Iy ." 1 T 360,
361
317. "I saw greater distress in the land than we have yet witnessed. I
heard groans and cries of distress, and saw large companies in active
battle. I heard the boomi ng of the cannon, the clash of arms, the hand-to-
hand fight, and the groans and prayers of the dying. The ground was
covered with the wounded and the dead. I saw desolate, despairing
families and pinching want in many dwellings. Even now many families
are suffering want, but this will increase. The faces of many looked hag-
gard, pale and pinched with hunger ....
"God's people must take warning and discern the signs of the times."
1T 260
318. "I was shown the inhabitants of the earth in the utmost confu-
sion. War, bloodshed, privation, want, famine, and pestilence were
abroad in the land. As these things surrounded God's people, they began
to press together, and to cast aside their little difficulties. Self-dignity no
longer controlled them; deep humility took its place. Suffering, perplexity,
and privation caused reason to resume its throne, and the passionate and
unreasonable man became sane, and acted with discretion and wisdom.
"My attention was then called from the scene. There seemed to be a
little time of peace. Once more the inhabitants of the earth were presented
before me; and again everything was in the utmost confusion. Strife, war,
and bloodshed, with famine and pestilence, raged everywhere. Other
nations were engaged in this war and confusion. War caused famine. Want
and bloodshed caused pestilence. And then men's hearts failed them for
fear, 'and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.' "
1T 268 (1861)
319. "The time is not far distant when the test will come to every
soul. The mark of the beast will be urged upon us. Those who have step by
step yielded to worldly demands and conformed to worldly customs will
not find it a hard matter to yield to the powers that be, rather than
subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened imprisonment, and
death. The contest is between the commandments of God and the com-
mandments of men. In this time the gold will be separated from the dross
in the church. True godliness will be clearly distinguished from the

75
appearance and tinsel of it. Many a star that we have admired for its
brilliancy will then go out in darkness. Chaff like a cloud will be borne
away on the wind, even from places where we see only floors of rich
wheat. All who assume the ornaments of the sanctuary, but are not
clothed with Christ's r'ghteousness, will appear in the shame of their own
nakedness." 5T 81.

320. "Choose poverty, reproach, separation from friends, or any

suffering rather than to defile the soul with sin. Death before dishonor or
the transqression of God's law should be the motto of every Christian. As
a people professing to be reformers, treasuring the most solemn, purify·
ing truths of God's word, we must elevate the standard far higher than it
is at the present time." 5T 147

321. "There is a prospect before us of a continued struggle, at the risk

of imprisonment, loss of property, and even of life itself, to defend the
law of God, which is made void by the laws of men. In this situation
worldly policy will urge an outward compliance with the laws of the land,
for the sake of peace and harmony. And there are some who wi II even
urge such a course from the Scripture: 'Let every soul be subject unto the
higher powers .... The powers that be are ordained of God.''' 5T 712
322. "More and more, as the days go by, it is becoming apparent that
God's judgments are in the world. In fire and flood and earthquake He is
warning the inhabitants of this earth of His near approach. The time is
nearing when the great crisis in the history of the world will have come,
when every movement in the government of God will be watched with
intense interest and inexpressible apprehension. In quick succession the
judgments of God will follow one another-fire and flood and earthquake,
with war and bloodshed." 9T 97
323. "Satan del ights in war, for it excites the worst passions of the
soul and then sweeps into eternity its victims steeped in vice and blood.
It is his object to incite the nations to war against one another, for he can
thus divert the minds of the people from the work of preparation to stand
in the day of God." GC 589
324. "'We have hold from above! We have hold from above!' The
same words were uttered by all the company in the narrow pathway. As
we heard the sounds of mirth and revelry that seemed to come from the
abyss below, we shuddered. We heard the profane oath, the vulgar jest, and
low, vile songs. We heard the war song and the dance song." LS 191

325. "In regard to the world, Christians will say, We will not dabble in
politics. They will say decidedly, We are pilgrims and strangers; our citi-
zenship is above." TM 131
326. "Would we know how we may best please the Saviour? It is not
engaging in political speeches, either in or out of the pUlpit." TM 331

76
 327. "When the speaker shall, in a haphazard way, strike in anywhere,
as the fancy takes him, when he talks politics to the people, he is mingling
the common fire with the sacred. He dishonors God." TM 337

328. "How many books are there concerning war and bloodshed,
which mislead the youth! As they read, Satan stands at their side to
inspire them with the spirit of the warrior of whom they read, and their
blood becomes heated in their veins, and they are stirred up to do cruel
actions." M YP 277

329. "Those who teach the Bible in our churches and our schools are
not at liberty to unite in making apparent their prejudices for or against
political men or measures, because by so doing they stir up the minds of
others, leading each to advocate his favorite theory ....
"The Lord would have His people bury political questions. On these
themes silence is eloquence .... We cannot with safety vote for political
parties; for we do not know whom we are voting for. We cannot with
safety take part in any political scheme. We cannot labor to please men
who wi II use their infl uence to repress rei igious liberty, and to set in
operation oppressive measures to lead or compel their fellow-men to keep
Sunday as the Sabbath ___ . The people of God are not to vote to place
such men in office; for when they do this, they are partakers with them of
the sins which they commit while in office .. __
"We have enlisted in the army of the Lord, and we are not to fight on
the enemy's side, but on the side of Christ, where we can be a united
whole, in sentiment, in spirit, in fellowship. Those who are Christians
indeed will be branches of the true vine, and will bear the same fruit as
the vine_ They will act in harmony, in Christian fellowship. They will not
wear political badges, but the badge of Christ.
"What are we to do, then?-Let political questions alone_ ...
"Those teachers in the church or in the school who distinguish them-
selves by their zeal in politics, should be relieved of their work and
responsibilities without delay; for the Lord will not cooperate with them.
The tithe should not be used to pay anyone for speechifying on political
questions. Every teacher, minister, or leader in our ranks who is stirred
with a desire to ventilate his opinions on political questions, should be
converted by a belief in the truth, or give up his work ....
"It is a mistake for you to link your interests with any political party,
to cast your vote with them or for them ....
"God's children are to separate themselves from politics, from any
alliance with unbelievers .... Do not take part in political strife. _..
"Again and again Christ had been asked to decide legal and political
questions; but He refused to interfere in temporal matters." GW 391-393,
395,396

77
 330. "Soon grievous troubles will arise among the nations-trouble
that will not cease until Jesus comes ....
"The judgments of God are in the land. The wars and rumors of wars,
the destruction by fire and flood, say clearly that the time of trouble,
which is to increase until the end, is very near at hand. We have no time
to lose. The world is stirred with the spirit of war." (RH, November 24,
1904) WM 136
331. "Very soon the strife and oppression of foreign nations will
break forth with an intensity that you do not now anticipate." (General
Conference Bul/etin, 1909, p. 57) The Time and the Work, 1920, p. 10
332. "The tempest is coming, and we r.1ust get ready for its fury, by
having repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord will arise to shake terribly the earth. We shall see troubles on all
sides. Thousands of ships will be hurled into the depths of the sea. Navies
will go down, and human lives will be sacrificed by millions .. , . The end
is near, probation is closing." (ST, April 21, 1890) The Time and the
Work, 1920, pp. 8, 9.
See also 32·34, 163, 164, 166,258,266

78
 WARNINGS
333. "Jerusalem is a representation of what the church will be if it
refuses to walk in the light that God has given. Jerusalem was favored of
God as the depositary of sacred trusts. But her people perverted the truth,
and despised all entreaties and warnings." 8T 67
334. "Satan's snares are laid for us as verily as they were laid for the
children of Israel just prior to their entrance into the land of Canaan. We
are repeating the history of that people." 5T 160 (1882)
335. "The same danger exists today among the people who profess to
be the depositaries of God's law. They are too apt to flatter themselves
that the regard in which they hold the commandments will preserve them
from the power of divine justice. They refuse to be reproved for evil, and
charge God's servants with being too zealous in putting sin out of the
camp. A sin-hating God calls upon those who profess to keep His law to
depart from all iniquity. Neglect to repent and obey His word will bring
as serious consequences upon God's people today as did the same sin upon
ancient Israel. There is a limit beyond which He will no longer delay His
judgments. The desolation of Jerusalem stands as a solemn warning before
the eyes of modern Israel, that the corrections given through His chosen
instruments cannot be disregarded with impunity." 4T 166,16/
336. "What shall I say to arouse the remnant people of God? I was
shown that dreadful scenes are before us; Satan and his angels are
bringing all their powers to bear upon God's people. He knows that if
they sleep a little longer he is sure of them, for their destruction is certain.
I warn all who profess the name of Christ to closely examine themselves
and make full and thorough confession of all their wrongs, that they may
go beforehand to judgment, and that the recording angel may write
pardon opposite their names." 1 T 263
337. "Satan's snares are laid for us as verily as they were laid for the
children of Israel just prior to their entrance into the land of Canaan. We
are repeating the history of that people. Lightness, vanity, love of ease
and pleasure, selfishness, and impurity are increasing among us. There is
need now of men who are firm and fearless in declaring the whole counsel
of God; men who will not sleep as do others, but watch and be sober."
5T 160
338. "God will arouse His people; if other means fail, heresies will
come in among them, which will sift them, separating the chaff from the
wheat." 5T 707
339. "There is a deplorable lack of spirituality among our people. A
great work must be done for them before they can become what Christ
designed they should be-the light of the world. For years I have felt deep
anguish of soul as the Lord has presented before me the want in our
churches of Jesus and His love. There has been a spirit of self·sufficiency

79
and a disposition to strive for position and supremacy. I have seen that
self-glorification was becoming common among Seventh-day Adventists
and that unless the pride of man should be abased and Christ exalted we
should, as a people, be in no better condition to receive Christ at His
second advent than \JIJere the Jewish people to receive Him at His first
advent." 5T 727,728
340. "Jesus wept in anguish over the doomed city, but He could not
deliver her. He had exhausted every resource. In rejecting the warnings of
God's Spirit, Israel had rejected the only means of help. There was no
other power by which they could be delivered.
"The Jewish nation was a symbol of the people of all ages who scorn
the pleadings of Infinite Love. The tears of Christ when He wept over
Jerusalem were for the sins of all time. In the judgments pronounced upon
Israel, those who reject the reproofs and warnings of God's Holy Spirit
may read their own condemnation.
"In this generation there are many who are treading on the same ground
as were the unbelieving Jews." DA 587
341. "Satan deceives many with the plausible theory that God's love
for His people is so great that He will excuse sin in them; he represents
that while the threatenings of God's word are to serve a certain purpose in
His moral government, they are never to be literally fulfilled. But in all
His dealings with His creatures God has maintained the principles of
righteousness by revealing sin in its true character-by demonstrating that
its sure result is misery and death. The unconditional pardon of sin never
has been, and never will be. Such pardon would show the abandonment
of the principles of righteousness, which are the very foundation of the
government of God. It would fill the unfallen universe with consternation.
God has faithfully pointed out the results of sin, and if these warnings
were not true, how could we be sure that His promises would be fulfilled?
That so-called benevolence which would set aside justice is not benevolence
but wea kness." PP 522
342_ "There is no safety except in strict obedience to the word of God.
All His promises are made upon condition of faith and obedience, and a
failure to comply with His commands cuts off the fulfillment to us of the
rich provisions of the Scriptures." PP 621,622
343. "Jesus looked upon the pretentious, fruitless fig tree, and with
mournful reluctance pronounced the words of doom. And under the curse
of an offended God, the fig tree withered away. God help His people to
make an application of this lesson while there is still time." RH, February
25, 1902
See also 81, 85

80
 THE WHEAT AND THE TARES

344. "'God is sifting His people. He will have a clean and holy church.
We cannot read the heart of man. But the Lord has provided means to
keep the church pure. A corrupt people has arisen who could not live
with the people of God. They despised reproof, and would not be cor·
rected. They had an opportunity to know that theirs was an unrighteous
warfare. They had time to repent of their wrongs; but self was too dear to
die. They nourished it, and it grew strong, and they separated from the
trusting people of God, whom He is purifying unto Himself. We all have
reason to thank God that a way has been opened to save the church; for
the wrath of God must have come upon us if these corrupt pretenders had
remained with us.' " 1 T 99

345. "The greatest sin which now exists in the church is covetousness.
God frowns upon His professed people for their selfishness. His servants
have sacrificed their time and strength to carry them the word of life, and
many have shown by their works that they prize it but lightly. If they can
help the servant of God just as well as not, they sometimes do it; but they
often let him pass on, and do but little for him. If they employ a day
laborer, he must be paid full wages. But not so with the self·sacrificing
servant of God. He labors for them in word and doctrine; he carries the
heavy burden of the work on his soul; he patiently shows from the word
of God the dangerous errors which are hurtful to the soul; he enforces the
necessity of immediately tearing up the weeds which choke the good seed
sown; he brings out of the storehouse of God's word things new and old
to feed the flock of God. All acknowledge that they have been benefited;
but the poisonous weed, covetousness, is so deeply rooted that they let
the servant of God leave them without ministering to him of their temporal
things. They have prized his weary labor just as highly as their acts show.
Says the True Witness: 'I know thy works.' " 1T 194, 195

346. "Testimonies of warning have been repeated. I inquire: Who

have heeded them? Who have been zealous in repenting of their sins and
idolatry, and have been earnestly pressing toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus? Who have shown the inward
work of God, leading to self·denial and humble self·sacrifice? Who that
have been warned have so separated themselves from the world, from its
affections and lusts, that they have shown a daily growth in grace and in
the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? Whom do we find
among the active ones, that feel the burden for the church? Whom do we
see that God is especially using, working by and through them to elevate
the standard, and to bring the church up to it, that they may prove the
Lord and see if He will not pour them out a blessing?" 2T 483, 484

81
 347. "We as a people profess to have truth in advance of every other
people upon the earth. Then our life and character should be in harmony
with such a faith. The day is just upon us when the righteous shall be
bound like precious grain in bundles for the heavenly garner, while the
wicked are, like the tares, gathered for the fires of the last great day. But
the wheat and the tares 'grow together until the harvest.' In the discharge
of life's duties the righteous will to the last be brought in contact with the
ungodly. The children of light are scattered among the children of dark-
ness, that the contrast may be seen by all." 5T 100

348. "Can we not discern the signs of the times? Can we not see how
earnestly Satan is at work binding the tares in bundles, uniting the ele-
ments of his kingdom, that he may gain control of the world? This work
of binding up the tares is going forward far more rapidly than we imagine.
Satan is opposing every obstacle to the advancement of the truth."
5T 383, 384

349. "To the heart softened by the grace of God, the sun, the moon,
the stars, the trees, the flowers of the field, utter words of counsel. The
sowing of the seed carries the mind to spiritual seed sowing. The tree
declares that a good tree cannot bear evil fruit, neither can an evil tree
bear good fruit. 'Ye shall know them by their fruits.' Matthew 7: 16. Even
the tares have a lesson. They are of Satan's sowing, and, if left unchecked,
spoil the wheat by their rank growth." 8T 326

350. "'The field: Christ said, 'is the world.' But we must understand
this as signifying the church of Christ in the world. The parable is a
description of that which pertains to the kingdom of God, His work of
salvation of men; and this work is accomplished through the church.
True, the Holy Spirit has gone out into all the world; everywhere it is
moving upon the hearts of men; but it is in the church that we are to grow
and ripen for the garner of God.
" 'He that sowed the good seed is the Son of man .... The good seed
are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the
wicked one.' The good seed represents those who are born of the word of
God, the truth. The tares represent a class who are the fruit or embodi-
ment of error, of false principles. 'The enemy that sowed them is the
devil.' Neither God nor His angels ever sowed a seed that would produce a
tare. The tares are always sown by Satan, the enemy of God and man."
COL 70, 71

82
 351. "Christ has plainly taught that those who persist in open sin must
be separated from the church, but He has not committed to us the work
of judging character and motive. He knows our nature too well to entrust
this work to us. Should we try to uproot from the church those whom we
suppose to be spurious Christians, we should be sure to make mi.stakes.
Often we regard as hopeless subjects the very ones whom Christ is drawing
to Himself. Were we to deal with these souls according to our imperfect
judgment, it would perhaps extinguish their last hope. Many who think
themselves Christians will at last be found wanting. Many will be in heaven
who their neighbors supposed would never enter there. Man judges from
appearance, but God judges the heart. The tares and the wheat are to
grow together until the harvest; and the harvest is the end of probationary
time." COL 71, 72
352. "The Redeemer does not want to lose one soul; His experience
with Judas is recorded to show His long patience with perverse human
natur!'!; and He bids us bear with it as He has borne. He has said that false
brethren will be found in the church till the close of time." COL 73
353. "Then the Lord sends forth His reapers to gather out the tares
and bind them in bundles to burn, while the wheat is gathered into the
heavenly garner. The time of the judgment is a most solemn period, when
the Lord gathers His own from among the tares." TM 234
354. "The tares and the wheat are now commingled, but then the one
hand that alone can separate them will give to everyone his true position.
Those who have had the light of truth, and heard the warning message,
heard the invitation to the marriage supper-the farmer, merchant, lawyer,
false shepherds who have quieted the convictions of the people, unfaithful
watchmen who have not sounded the warning or known the time of
night-all who have refused obedience to the laws of the kingdom of God
will have no right therein. Those who have sought an excuse to avoid the
cross of separation from the world will, with the world, be taken in the
snare. They mingled with the tares from choice. Like drew to like in
transgression. It is a fearful assimilation. Men choose to stand with the
first rebel, who tempted Adam and Eve in Eden to disobey God. The
tares multiply themselves, for they sow tares, and they have their part
with the root of all sin-the devil." TM 235
See also 251,256,259

83
 MISCELLANEOUS

BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER

355. "The ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper are two monu·
mental pillars, one without and one within the church. Upon these
ordinances Christ has inscribed the name of the true God.
"Christ has made baptism the sign of entrance to His spiritual kingdom.
He has made this a positive condition with which all must comply who
wish to be acknowledged as under the authority of the Father, the Son
and the Holy Spirit. Before man can find a home in the church, before
passing the threshold of God's spiritual kingdom, he is to receive the
impress of the divine name, 'The Lord our Righteousness.' Jeremiah
23:6 ....
"There is need of a more thorough preparation on the part of candi·
dates for baptism. They are in need of more faithful instruction than has
usually been given them. The principles of the Christian life should be
made plain to those who have newly come to the truth. None can depend
upon their profession of faith as proof that they have a saving connection
with Christ. We are not only to say, 'I believe: but to practice the truth."
6T 91,92

356. "Then I was pointed back to the time that Jesus took the
disciples away a/one, into an upper room, and then gave them to eat of
the broken bread, to represent His broken body, and the juice of the
vine to represent His spilled blood. I saw that all would move understand-
ingly and follow the example of Jesus in these things, and when attending
to these ordinances, should be as separate from unbelievers as possible."
(Emphases are ours.) Present Truth, November 1850

357. "The test of discipleship is not brought to bear as closely as it

should be upon those who present themselves for baptism. It should be
understood whether they are simply taking the name of Seventh-day
Adventists, or whether they are taking their stand on the Lord's side, to
come out from the world and be separate, and touch not the unclean
th ing. Before baptism there should be a thorough inquiry as to the experi-
ence of the candidates. Let th is inquiry be made, not in a cold and distant
way, but kindly, tenderly, pointing the new converts to the Lamb of God
that taketh away the sin of the world. Bring the requirements of the
gospel to bear upon the candidates for baptism.
"One of the points upon which those newly come to the faith will
need instruction is the subject of dress. Let the new converts be faithfully
dealt with. Are they vain in dress? Do they cherish pride of heart? The
idolatry of dress is a moral disease. It must not be taken over into the new
life. In most cases, submission to the gospel requirements will demand a
decided change in the dress." 6T 95,96

84
 358. "Whenever possible, let baptism be administered in a clear lake or
running stream ....
"In every church, baptismal robes should be provided for the candi·
dates. This should not be regarded as a needless outlay of means. It is one
of the things required in obedience to the injunction: 'Let all things be
done decently and in order.' 1 Corinthians 14:40." 6T 97,98

BIBLE STUDY
359. "Men of ability have devoted a lifetime of study and prayer to the
search ing of the Scri ptures, and yet there are many portions of the Bible
that have not been fully explored. Some passages of Scripture will never
be perfectly comprehended until in the future life Christ shall explain
them. There are mysteries to be unraveled, statements that human minds
cannot harmonize. And the enemy will seek to arouse argument upon
these points, which might better remain undiscussed." GW 312

CLOSE OF PROBATION
360. "When God's presence finally was withdrawn from the Jewish
nation, priests and people knew it not. Though under the control of Satan,
and swayed by the most horrible and malignant passions, they still
regarded themselves as the chosen of God. The ministration in the temple
continued; sacrifices were offered upon its polluted altars, and daily the
divine blessing was invoked upon a people guilty of the blood of God's
dear Son and seeking to slay His ministers and apostles. So when the
irrevocable decision of the sanctuary has been pronounced and the destiny
of the world has been forever fixed, the inhabitants of the earth will know
it not. The forms of religion will be continued by a people from whom the
Spirit of God has been finally withdrawn; and the satanic zeal with which
the prince of evil will inspire them for the accomplishment of his malig·
nant designs, will bear the semblance of zeal for God." GC 615
See also 81, 94-96

DIFFERENCE OF OPINION
361. "The fact that there is no controversy or agitation among God's
people should not be regarded as conclusive evidence that they are holding
fast to sound doctrine. There is reason to fear that they may not be clearly
discriminating between truth and error. When no new questions are
started by investigation of the Scriptures, when no difference of opinion
arises which will set men to searching the Bible for themselves to make
sure that they have the truth, there will be many now, as in ancient times,
who will hold to tradition and worship they know not what." 5T 707
See also 64-67, 71

85
HEALTH

362. "Those who, having had the Iight upon the subject of eating and
dressing with simplicity, in obedience to moral and physical laws, still
turn from the light which points out their duty, will shun duty in other i
things. By shunning the cross which they would have to take up in order
to be in harmony with natural law, they blunt the conscience; and they
will, to avoid reproach, violate the ten commandments. There is with some
a decided unwillingness to endure the cross and despise the shame."
CDF 49
363. "The light has been shining upon your pathway in regard to
health reform, and the duty resting upon God's people in these last days
to exercise temperance in all things. You, I saw, were among the number
who would be backward to see the light, and correct your manner of
eating, and drinking, and working. As the light of truth is received and
followed out, it will work an entire reformation in the life and character
of all those who are sanctified through it." 2T 60 (1868)
364. "Eating, drinking, and dressing all have a direct bearing upon our
spiritual advancement." CDF 57
365. "This is true sanctification. It is not merely a theory, an emotion,
or a form of words, but a living, active principle, entering into the every-
day life. It requires that our habits of eating, drinking, and dressing be
such as to secure the preservation of physical, mental, and moral health,
that we may present to the Lord our bodies-not an offering corrupted by
wrong habits, but 'a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.' "
(RH, January 25, 1881) CDF 57,58
366. "December 10,1871,1 was again shown that the health reform
is one branch of the great work which is to fit a people for the coming of
the Lord. It is as closely connected with the third angel's message as the
hand is with the body. The law of ten commandments has been lightly
regarded by man; but the Lord would not come to punish the transgressors
of that law without first sending them a message of warning. The third
angel proclaims that message. Had men ever been obedient to the law of
ten commandments, carrying out in their lives the principles of those
precepts, the curse of disease now flooding the world would not be.
"Men and women cannot violate natural law by indulging depraved
appetite and lustful passions, and not violate the law of God. Therefore
He has permitted the light of health reform to shine upon us, that we may
see our sin in violating the laws which He has establ ished in our being. All
our enjoyment or suffering may be traced to obedience or transgression
of natural law ....
"Ignorance is no excuse now for the transgression of law. The light
shines clearly, and none need be ignorant, for the great God Himself is
man's instructor. All are bound by the most sacred obligations to God to
heed the sound philosophy and genuine experience which He is now giving

86
them in reference to health reform. He designs that the great subject of
health reform shall be agitated, and the public mind deeply stirred to
investigate; for it is impossible for men and women, with all their sinful,
health-destroying, brain-enervating habits, to discern sacred truth, through
which they are to be sanctified, refined, elevated, and made fit for the
society of heavenly angels in the kingdom of glory ....
"The apostle Paul exhorts the church, '1 beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.'
Men, then, can make their bodies unholy by sinful indulgences. If unholy,
they are unfitted to be spiritual worshipers, and are not worthy of heaven.
If man will cherish the light that God in mercy gives him upon health
reform, he may be sanctified through the truth, and fitted for i mmorta lity .
But if he disregards that light, and lives in violation of natural law, he
must pay the penalty." 3T 161, 162
367. "Greater reforms should be seen among the people who claim to
be looking for the soon appearing of Christ. Health reform is to do among
our people a work which it has not yet done. There are those who ought
to be awake to the danger of meat eating, who are still eating the flesh of
animals, thus endangering the physical, mental, and spiritual health. Many
who are now only half converted on the question of meat eating will go
from God's people to walk no more with them ....
"Those who indulge in meat eating, tea drinking, and gluttony are
sowing seeds for a harvest of pain and death. The unhealthful food placed
in the stomach strengthens the appetites that war against the soul, develop-
ing the lower propensities. A diet of flesh meat tends to develop animalism.
A development of animalism lessens spirituality, rendering the mind
incapable of understanding truth.
"The word of God plainly warns us that unless we abstain from fleshly
lusts, the physical nature will be brought into conflict with the spiritual
nature. Lustful eating wars against health and peace. Thus a warfare is
instituted between the higher and the lower attributes of the man. The
lower propensities, strong and active, oppress the soul. The highest
interests of the being are imperiled by the indulgence of appetites unsanc-
tioned by Heaven." (RH, May 27, 1902) CDF 382
368. "The moral evils of a flesh diet are not less marked than are the
physical ills. Flesh food is injurious to health, and whatever affects the
body has a corresponding effect on the mind and the soul. Think of the
cruelty to animals that meat eating involves, and its effect OrT those who
inflict and those who behold it. How it destroys the tenderness with
which we should regard these creatures of God!" MH 315
369. "The common use of the flesh of dead animals has had a deterio-
rating influence upon the morals, as well as the physical constitution. III
health in a variety of forms, if effect could be traced to the cause, would
reveal the sure result of flesh eating." (MS 22,1887) CDF 383

87
 370. "Those who use flesh meat disregard all the warnings that God
has given concerning this question. They have no evidence that they are
walking in safe paths. They have not the slightest excuse for eating the
flesh of dead animals. God's curse is resting upon the animal creation.
Many times when me!!t is eaten, it decays in the stomach, and creates
disease. Cancers, tumors, and pulmonary diseases are largely caused by
meat eating." CDF 383
371. "F lesh was never the best food; but its use is now doubly
objectionable, since disease in animals is so rapidly increasing." MH 313
372. "Animals are becoming more and more diseased, and it will not
be long until animal food will be discarded by many besides Seventh-day
Adventists. Foods that are healthful and life sustaining are to be prepared,
so that men and women will not need to eat meat." 7T 124
373. "Could you know just the nature of the meat you eat, could you
see the animals when living from which the flesh is taken when dead, you
would turn with loathing from your flesh meats. The very animals whose
flesh you eat, are frequently so diseased that, if left alone, they would die
of themselves; but while the breath of life is in them, they are killed and
brought to market. You take directly into your system humors and
poison of the worst kind, and yet you realize it not." 2T 404, 405
374. "The meat diet is the serious question. Shall human beings live on
the flesh of dead animals? The answer, from the light that God has given,
is, No, decidedly No. Health reform institutions should educate on this
question. Physicians who claim to understand the human organism ought
not to encourage their patients to subsist on the flesh of dead animals.
They should point out the increase of disease in the animal kingdom. The
testimony of examiners is that very few animals are free from disease, and
that the practice of eating largely of meat is contracting diseases of all
kinds-cancers, tumors, scrofula, tuberculosis, and numbers of other like
affections." (MS 3,1897) CDF 388
375. "The children of Israel, after they were brought out of Egypt,
were commanded to have a simple ribbon of blue in the border of their
garments, to distinguish them from the nations around them, and to
signify that they were God's peculiar people. The people of God are not
now required to have a special mark placed upon their garments. But in
the New Testament we are often referred to ancient Israel as examples. If
God gave such definite directions to His ancient people in regard to their
dress, will not the dress of His people in this age come under His notice?
Should there not be in their dress a idistinction from that of the world?
Should not the people of God, who are His peculiar treasure, seek even in
their dress to glorify God? And should they not be examples in point of
dress, and by their simple style rebuke the pride, vanity and extravagance
of worldly, pleasure-loving professors? God requires this of His people.
Pride is rebuked in His word.

88
 "But there is a class who are continually harping upon pride, and
dress, who are careless of their own apparel, and who think it a virtue to
be dirty, and dress without order and taste; and their clothing often looks
as though it flew and lit upon their persons. Their garments are filthy, and
yet such ones will ever be talking against pride. They class decency and
neatness with pride. Had they been among that number who gathered
around the mount to hear the law spoken from Sinai, they would have
been chased from the congregation of Israel, because they had not obeyed
the command of God-'And let them wash their clothes'-preparatory to
listening to His law given in awful grandeur." 2SM 473, 474

376. "A plain, direct testimony is now needed, as given in the word
of God in regard to plainness of dress. This should be our burden. But it is
too late now (1897) to become enthusiastic in making a test of this
matter. There were some things which made the reform dress, which was
once advocated, a decided blessing. With it the ridiculous hoops, which
were then in fashion could not be worn. The long dress skirts trailing on
the ground and sweeping up the filth of the streets could not be patron·
ized. But a more sensible style of dress has been adopted, which does not
embrace these objectionable features. The fashionable part may be dis·
carded, and should be by all who read the word of God. The dress of our
people should be most simple. The skirt and sack I have mentioned may
be used, not that just that pattern and nothing else should be established,
but a simple style as was represented in that dress. Some have supposed
that the very pattern given was the pattern that all should adopt; th is is
not so, but something as simple as this would be the best we could adopt
under the circumstances. No one precise style has been given me as an
exact rule to guide all in their dress. Let our sisters dress plainly, as many
do, in having the dress of good material, durable, modest, appropriate for
the age; and let not the dress question fi II the mind." (Healthful Living,
p.119) Excerpts in Ev 272,273

377. "Much unhappy feeling was created by those who were constantly
urging the reform dress upon their sisters. With extremists, this reform
seemed to constitute the sum and substance of their religion. It was the
theme of conversation and the burden of their hearts; and their minds
were thus diverted from God and the truth. They failed to cherish the
spirit of Christ and manifested a great lack of true courtesy. Instead of
prizing the dress for its real advantages, they seemed to be proud of its
singularity. Perhaps no question has ever come up among us which has
caused such development of character as has the dress reform." 4T 636

378. "There is an increasing tendency to have women in their dress

and appearance as near like the other sex as possible, and to fashion their
dress very much like that of men, but God pronounces it abomination."
1T 421

89
 379. "'The dress should reach somewhat below the top of the boot,
but should be short enough to clear the filth of the sidewalk and street
without being raised by the hand. A still shorter dress than this would
be proper, convenient, and healthful for women when doing their house·
work, and especially fo~ those who are obliged to perform more or less
out·of·door labor.''' IT 460, 461
380. "'My views were calculated to correct the present fashion, the
extreme long dress, trailing upon the ground, and also to correct the
extreme short dress, reaching about to the knees, which is worn by a
certain class. I was shown that we should shun both extremes ....
" 'I would advise those who prepare for themselves a short dress for
working purposes to manifest taste and neatness in getting it up. Have
it arranged in order, to fit the form nicely. Even if it is a working dress, it
should be made becoming, and should be cut after a pattern. Sisters when
about their work should not put on clothing which would make them
look like images to frighten the crows from the corn.' " 1T 464

381. "I would earnestly recommend uniformity in length, and would

say that nine inches as nearly accords with my views of the matter as I am
able to express it in inches." 1T 521

382. "To dress plainly, abstaining from display of jewelry and orna-
ments of every kind, is in keeping with our faith ....
"I have marked with pain your religious declension and your disposi-
tion to trim and ornament your apparel. Some have been so unfortunate
as to come into possession of gold chains or pins, or both, and have shown
bad taste in exhibiting them, making them conspicuous to attract atten-
tion. I can but associate these characters with the vain peacock, that
displays his gorgeous feathers for admiration. It is all this poor bird has
to attract attention, for his voice and form are anything but attractive."
3T 366, 367

383. "Here the Lord, through His apostle, speaks expressly against the
wearing of gold. Let those who have had experience see to it that they do
not lead others astray on this point by their example. That ring encircling
your finger may be very plain, but it is useless, and the wearing of it has a
wrong influence upon others." 4T 630

384. "All this is unnecessary. Let the ministers'wives have the golden
link which binds their souls to Jesus Christ, a pure and holy character, the
true love and meekness and godliness that are the fruit borne upon the
Christian tree, and their influence will be secure anywhere .... Not one
penny should be spent for a circlet of gold to testify that we are married.
In countries where the custom is imperative, we have no burden to con-
demn those who have their marriage ring; let them wear it if they can do
so conscientiously, ... " TM 180, 181

90
 385. "Dear youth, a disposition in you to dress according to the
fashion, and to wear lace and gold and artificials for display, will not
recommend to others your religion or the truth that you profess. People
of discernment will look upon your attempts to beautify the external as
proof of weak minds and proud hearts. Simple, plain, unpretending dress
will be a recommendation to my youthful sisters. In no better way can
you let your light shine to others than in your simplicity of dress and
deportment. You may show to all that, in comparison with eternal things,
you place a proper estimate upon the things of this life." 3T 376
386. "Satan invented the fashions in order to keep the minds of
women so engrossed with the subject of dress that they could th ink of but
little else." 4T 629
387. "Fashion is deteriorating the intellect and eating out the spiritu-
ality of our people. Obedience to fashion is pervading our Seventh-day
Adventist churches and is doing more than any other power to separate
our people from God. I have been shown that our church rules are very
deficient. All exhibitions of pride in dress, which is forbidden in the word
of God, should be sufficient reason for church discipline. If there is a
continuance, in face of warnings and appeals and entreaties, to still follow
the perverse will, it may be regarded as proof that the heart is in no way
assimilated to Christ. Self, and only self, is the object of adoration, and
one such professed Christian will lead many away from God.
"There is a terrible sin upon us as a people, that we have permitted our
church members to dress in a manner inconsistent with their faith. We
must arise at once and close the door against the allurements of fashion.
Unless we do this, our churches will become demoralized." 4T 647,648
388. "I am often pained as I enter the house where God is worshipped,
to see the untidy dress of both men and women. If the heart and charac-
ter were indicated by the outward apparel, then certainly nothing could
be heavenly about them. They have no true idea of the order, the neatness,
and the refined deportment that God requires of all who come into His
presence to worship Him. What impressions do these things give to
unbelievers and to the youth, who are keen to discern and to draw their
conclusions? ...
"Because of the irreverence in attitude, dress, and deportment, and
lack of a worshipful frame of mind, God has often turned His face away
from those assembled for His worship." 5T 498, 499 See also 160

HOLY SPIRIT
389. "The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men cannot explain
it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them. Men having fanciful views
may bring together passages of Scripture and put a human construction on
them, but the acceptance of these views will not strengthen the church.
Regarding such mysteries, which are too deep for human understanciing,
silence is golden." AA 52

91
 390. "We need to real ize that the Holy Spirit, who is as much a person
as God is a person, is walking through these grounds." (MS 66, 1899)
Ev 616
391. "The Holy Spirit is a person, for He beareth witness with our
spirits that we are the children of God. When this witness is borne, it
carries with it its own evidence. At such times we believe and are sure that
we are the children of God .... The Holy Spirit has a personality, else He
could not bear witness to our spirits and with our spirits that we are the
children of God. He must also be a divine person, else He could not search
out the secrets which lie hidden in the mind of God. 'For what man
knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even
so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God:" (MS 20,
1906) Ev 616, 617
392. "The prince of the power of evil can only be held in check by
the power of God in the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit."
(Special Testimonies, Series A, No.1 0, p. 37) (1897) Ev 617 See also 93

HONESTY
393. "Some will be honest when it costs nothing; but when policy will
pay best, honesty is forgotten. Honesty and policy will not work together
in the same mind. In time, either policy will be expelled, and truth and
honesty reign supreme, or, if policy is cherished, honesty will be forgotten.
They are never inagreement; they have nothing in common. One is the
prophet of Baal, the other is the true prophet of God. When the Lord
makes up His jewels, the true, the frank, the honest, will be looked upon
with pleasure. Angels are employed in making crowns for such ones, and
upon these star·gemmed crowns will be reflected, with splendor, the light
which radiates from the throne of God." 5T 96

HOUSES OF WORSHIP
394. "Wherever a company of believers is raised up, a house of worship
should be built. Let not the workers leave the place without accomplish·
ing this. In many places where the message has been preached and souls
have accepted it, they are in limited circumstances and can do but little
toward securing advantages that would give character to the work. Often
this renders it difficult to extend the work. As persons become interested
in the truth, they are told by the ministers of other churches-and these
words are echoed by the church members: 'These people have no church,
and you have no place of worship. You are a small company, poor and
unlearned. In a short time the ministers will go away, and then the interest
will die down. Then you will give up all these new ideas which you have
rece ived: .. 6T 100

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INTOLERANCE
395. "The decree which is to go forth against the people of God will
be very similar to that issued by Ahasuerus against the Jews in the time of
Esther. The Persian edict sprang from the malice of Haman toward
Mordecai. Not that Mordecai had done him harm, but he had refused to
show him reverence which belongs only to God .... The Protestant world
today see in the little company keeping the Sabbath a Mordecai in the
gate. His character and conduct, expressing reverence fur the law of God,
are a constant rebuke to those who have cast off the fear of the Lord and
are trampling upon His Sabbath; the unwelcome intruder must by some
means be put out of the way." 5T 450 See also 164, 165, 167, 172

LIFE INSURANCE
396. "I was shown that Sabbathkeeping Adventists should not engage
in life insurance. This is a commerce with the world which God does not
approve. Those who engage in this enterprise are uniting with the world,
while God calls His people to come out from among them and to be
separate ....
"Life insurance is a worldly policy which leads our brethren who
engage in it to depart from the simplicity and purity of the gospel. Every
such departure weakens our faith and lessens our spirituality." 1T 549,
550

MEDICAL MISSIONARY WORK

397. "Medical missionary work is in no case to be divorced from the
gospel ministry. The Lord has specified that the two shall be as closely
connected as the arm is with the body. Without th is union neither part of
the work is complete. The medical missionary work is the gospel in
illustration.
"But God did not design that the medical missionary work should
eclipse the work of the third angel's message. The arm is not to become
body. The third angel's message is the gospel message for these last days,
and in no case is it to be overshadowed by other interests and made to
appear an unessential consideration. When in our institutions anything is
placed above the third angel's message, the gospel is not there the great
leading power." 6T 240, 241 See also 374

ME RCHANDISING
398. "A great mistake has been made by some who profess present
truth, by introducing merchandise in the course of a series of meetings
and by their traffic diverting minds from the object of the meetings. If
Christ were now upon earth, He would drive out these peddlers and
traffickers, whether they be ministers or people, with a scourge of small
cords, as when He entered the temple anciently, 'and cast out all them
that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money·

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changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, It is
written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it
a den of th ieves.' These traffickers might have pleaded as an excuse that
the articles they held for sale were for sacrificial offerings. But their
object was to get gain, to obtain means, to accumulate ....
"Ministers have stood in the desk and preached a most solemn dis-
course, and then by introducing merchandise, and acting the part of a
salesman, even in the house of God, they have diverted the minds of their
hearers from the impressions received, and destroyed the fruit of their
labor. ... The burden of selling our publications should not rest upon
ministers who labor in word and doctrine .... In entering new fields it
may be necessary for the minister to take publications with him to offer
for sale to the people, and it may be necessary in some other circumstances
also to sell books and transact business for the office of publication. But
such work should be avoided whenever it can be done by others." 1T 471,
472
144,000
399_ "With the Lamb upon Mount Zion, 'having the harps of God:
they stand, the hundred and forty and four thousand that were redeemed
from among men; and there is heard, as the sound of many waters, and as
the sound of a great thunder, 'the voice of harpers harping with their
harps.' And they sing 'a new song' before the throne, a song which no man
can learn save the hundred and forty and four thousand. It is the song of
Moses and the Lamb-a song of deliverance. None but the hundred and
forty four thousand can learn that song; for it is the song of their experi-
ence-an experience such as no other company have ever had. 'These are
they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.' These having been
translated from the earth, from among the living, are counted 'as the
firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb." Revelation 15:2,3; 14: 1-5. 'These
are they which came out of great tribulation;' they have passed through
the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation; they have
endured the anguish of the time of Jacob's trouble; they have stood
without a·n intercessor through the final outpouring of God's judgments."
GC 648, 649 See also 207, 232
PROVIDENCE
400_ "So, in all ages, angels have been near to Christ's faithful follow-
ers. The vast confederacy of evil is arrayed against all who would over-
come; but Christ would have us look to the things which are not seen, to
the armies of heaven encamped about all who love God, to deliver them.
From what dangers, seen and unseen, we have been preserved through the
interposition of the angels, we shall never know, until in the light of
eternity we see the providences of God. Then we shall know that the
whole family of heaven was interested in the family here below, and that
messengers from the throne of God attended our steps from day to day."
DA 240

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STUDY OF DANIEL AND THE REVELATION
401. "There is need of a much closer study of the word of God;
especially should Daniel and the Revelation have attention as never before
in the history of our work. We may have less to say in some lines, in
regard to the Roman power and the papacy, but we should call attention
to what the prophets and apostles have written under the inspiration of
the Spirit of God." CW 65

SUNDAY DECREE
402. "By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in vIola-
tion of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from
righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to
grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss
to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this three-
fold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its constitution
as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision fOI
the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know
that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the
end is near." 5T 451 See also 38-41

SYSTEMATIC BENEVOLENCE
403. "Systematic and liberal giving in accordance with the plan keeps
the channel of the heart open. We place ourselves in connection with God,
that He may use us as channels through which His gifts may flow to
others. The poor will not complain of systematic benevolence, for it
touches them lightly. They are not neglected and passed by, but are
favored with acting a part in being co-workers with Christ, and will
receive the blessing of God as well as the wealthy ....
"God designs that the exercise of benevolence shall be purely voluntary,
not having recourse even to eloquent appeals to excite sympathy. 'God
loveth a cheerful giver.' He is not pleased to have His treasury replenished
with forced supplies. The loyal hearts of His people, rejoicing in the savlllg
truth for this time, will, through love and gratitude to Him for this
precious light, be earnest and anxious to aid with their means in sending
the truth to others. The very best manner in which to give expression to
our love for our Redeemer is to make offerings to bring souls to the
knowledge of the truth. The plan of redemption was entirely voluntary
on the part of our Redeemer, and it is the purpose of Christ that all our
benevolence should be freewill offerings." 3T 412, 413
404. "I was shown that there have been unhappy results from makltlg
urgent calls for means at our camp meetings. This matter has been
pressed too hard .... In most instances urgent calls for means have left a
wrong impression upon some minds. Some have thought that motley was
the burden of our message. Many have gone to their homes blessed
because they had donated to the cause of God. But there are better

95
methods of raising means, by freewill offerings, than by urgent calls at our
large gatherings. If all come up to the plan of systematic benevolence, and
if our tract and missionary workers are faithful in their department of the
work, the treasury will be well supplied without these urgent calls at our
large gatherings." 3T 510

TIME SETTING
405. "Let all our brethren and sisters beware of anyone who would
set a time for the Lord to fulfill His word in regard to His coming, or in
regard to any other promise He has made of special significance." TM 55
406. "There will always be false and fcmatical movements made by
persons in the church who claim to be led of God-those who will run
before they are sent, and will give day and date for the occurrence of
unfulfilled prophecy. The enemy is pleased to have them do this, for their
successive failures and leading into false lines cause confusion and
unbelief." 2SM 84
407. "Again and again have I been warned in regard to time-setting.
There wi 1\ never again be a message for the people of God that will be
based on time. We are not to know the definite time either for the out-
pouring of the Holy Spirit or for the coming of Christ." (RH, March 22,
1892) 6BC 1052
408. "Time has not been a test since 1844, and it will never again be a
test." EW 75

TITLES
409. "If Christ were on earth today, surrounded by those who bear
the title of 'Reverend' or 'Right Reverend: would He not repeat His
saying, 'Neither be ye called masters: for One is your Master, even Christ?
The Scripture declares of God, 'Holy and reverend is His name: Psalm
111 :9. To what human being is such a title befitting? How little does man
reveal of the wisdom and righteousness it indicates! How many of those
who assume this title are misrepresenting the name and character of God!"
DA 613

TRUTH AND ERROR

410. "We are living in an age of great light; but much that is called
light is opening the way for the wisdom and arts of Satan. Many things
wi 1\ be presented that appear to be true, and yet they need to be carefully
considered with much prayer; for they may be specious devices of the
enemy. The path of error often appears to lie close to the path of truth.
It is hardly distinguishable from the path that leads to holiness and heaven.
But the mind enlightened by the Holy Spirit may discern that it is diverg-
ing from the right way. After a while the two are seen to be widely
separated." 8T 290,291

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WORK IN NEW FIELDS
411. "In laboring in a new field, do not think it your duty to say at
once to the people, We are Seventh-day Adventists; we believe that the
seventh day is the Sabbath; we believe in the non-immortality of the soul.
This would often erect a formidable barrier between you and those you
wish to reach. Speak to them, as you have opportunity, upon points of
doctrine on which you can agree." GW 119, 120

WORKERS
412. "Those who are under the influence of the Spirit of God will not
be fanatical, but calm and steadfast, free from extravagance in thought,
word or deed." GW 289
413. "A devoted spiritual worker will avoid bringing up minor theoreti·
cal differences, and will devote his energies to the proclamation of the
great testing truths to be given to the world. He will point the people to
the work of redemption, the commandments of God, the near coming of
Christ; and it will be found that in these subjects there is food enough for
thought." GW 312, 313

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 REFORMATION BIBLE TEXTS
1 Kings 18:21 How long halt between two opinions?
Psalm 147:2 Gathering the outcasts of Israel
Isaiah 10:20-22 Remnant escaped, a trusting, returning
people
Isaiah 11 :12 Outcasts of Israel
Isaiah 17:6-8 2 or 3 berries in uppermost branches
Isaiah 37:31, 32 Remnant takes root downward and bears
fruit upward
Isaiah 52: 11 Depart, go out, be clean
Isaiah 66:5 Cast out for My name's sake
Jeremiah 3: 14 One of a city, two of a family
Jerem iah 50: 20 I niquity and si ns not to be found
Ezekiel 6:8 Leave a remnant
Zephaniah 3:12 Leave an afflicted, poor people
Zechariah 8: 12 Seed prospers-remnant shall possess all
Matthew 5:44 Love enemies
Matthew 7: 14 Few there be that find it
Matthew 10: 16 Sheep among the wolves
Matthew 15:14 Blind leaders of the blind
Matthew 18:20 Two or three gathered in My name
Matthew 21: 19 Nothing but leaves
Matthew 23:3 All they say, do-but not after their works
Matthew 23: 13 Neither suffer ye others to go in
Matthew 23:37 0, Jerusalem, ye would not
Matthew 24:24 If possible, to deceive the very elect
Matthew 24:49 Smite fellow servants
Matthew 25:40 Done to the least, done to Me
Luke 12:32 Fear not, little flock
Luke 22:31,32 Satan has desired to sift you
John 1: 11 He came unto His own, and they received
Him not
John 4:38 Send you to reap where bestowed no labor
John 6:67 Will ye go away also?
John7:17 If any man will do His will, he will know
John 7:48 Have any of the rulers believed?
John 7:51 Does our law judge before it hears a man?
John 8:44 Murderer from the beginning
John 9:22 Be put out of the synagogue

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John 9:39 They which see, are made blind
John 10:27,28 My sheep hear My voice, and they follow Me
John 11 :48 Romans shall come and take place and
nation
John 12:42 Chief rulers did not confess out of fear
John 15:18 If the world hates you
John 16:13 Spirit guides in all truth
John 16:33 Suffer tribulation
John 18:36 My kingdom is not of this world
John 18:37 Everyone of the truth hears the voice
John 20: 19 For fear of the Jews
Acts 4: 19 Whether right to obey you or God
Acts 4:23 Went to their own company
Acts 5:29 Ought to obey God rather than men
Acts 7:39 Turned back to Egypt
Acts 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised
Acts 28:22 Sect spoken against
Romans 1:5 Obedience to faith
Romans 2:21-24 Teach others-not thyself?
Romans 9:27 Remnant shall be saved
Romans 9:28 Cut short in righteousness
Romans 11 : 1-4 God has not cast away His people
Romans 11:5 A remnant left
Romans 12:2 Be not conformed to the world
Romans 15:4 Written for our learning
1 Corinthians 1 :26-29 Not many wi se men
1 Corinthians 3: 16, 17 If any defile temple of God, him shall God
destroy
1 Corinthians 10: 1,6, 11 For our admonition
1 Corinthians 14:33, 40 God not author of confusion but of order
2 Corinthians 6:14-16 Not unequally yoked together with
unbelievers
2 Corinthians 6:17,18 Come out and be separate
2 Corinthians 11:2 Chaste virgin to Christ
Galatians 4:26 Jerusalem above, mother of all
Ephesians 5: 11 No fellowship with works of darkness
Ephesians 5:31, 32 Man-wife; Christ-church
Colossians 1 :28 Present every man perfect
Colossians 3: 10, 11 Neither Greek, nor Jew, all one in Christ

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1 Timothy 2:2 Pray for kings to live peaceably
2 Timothy 3:13 Seducers wax worse and worse
2 Timothy 4:3 Not sound doctrine, itching ears
Hebrews 11:13-16 Strangers and pilgrims
Hebrews 13:12,13 Go outside the camp
James 4:4 Friendship of the world, enmity with God
1 Peter 5:8 Going around as roaring lion
1 John 2:4 Whoever keeps not commandments is a liar
Jude 3 Faith once delivered to the saints
Revelation 3: 14-22 The Laodicean message
Revelation 7: 1-4 144,000 sealed
Revelation 12: 17 Remnant keeps commandments, testimony
of Jesus
Revelation 14:3 Song sung by 144,000
Revelation 19:10 Testimony of Jesus is Spirit of Prophecy
Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they that do His commandments

7 PROPHECIES FOR THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH

Daniel 8:14 2,300-day prophecy, reach ing to 1844

Isaiah 58: 12-14 Restoring of the breach made in God's law,
Sabbath reform
Revelation 3: 14-22 The Laodicean message applicable to the last
church period
Revelation 7: 1-4 The sealing work of the 144,000 since 1844
Revelation 10: 11 Would prophesy again after disappointment;
projection on Advent Movement
Revelation 11: 19 Temple opened in heaven, showing the ark,
as in Sister White's early vision
Revelation 14:6-12 The three angels' messages

3 ADDITIONAL PROPHECIES FOR THE REFORM MOVEMENT

In addition to the above 7 prophecies which Reformers can claim, being

faithful Seventh-day Adventists, there are three more specifically applicable
to this Movement
Revelation 3:20 The Laodicean message contains an
individual call to open the door and accept
the message of Christ's righteousness (1888)
Revelation 12:17 The remnant of the seed of the woman
Revelation 18: 1-4 The loud cry of the third angel-call to
come out of fallen churches

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 ABBR EVIATIONS
AA The Acts of the Apostles
lBC The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 1
(2BC, etc., for vols. 2-7)
CDF Counsels on Diet and Foods
CG Child Guidance
COL Christ's Object Lessons
COR Christ Our Righteousness, by A. G. Daniells
CSW Counsels on Sabbath School Work
CW Counsels to Writers and Editors
ChS Christian Service
DA The Desire of Ages
EW Early Writings
Ed Education
Ev Evangelism
FE Fundamentals of Christian Education
GC The Great Controversy
GW Gospel Workers
LS Life Sketches of Ellen G. White
MB Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing
MH The Ministry of Healing
MS Manuscript
MYP . Messages to Young People
PK Prophets and Kings
PP Patriarchs and Prophets
RH The Review and Herald
SC Steps to Christ
1SG Spiritual Gifts, vol. 1 (2SG, etc., for vols. 1-4)
1SM Selected Messages, vol. 1 (2SM for vol. 2)
SR The Story of Redemption
ST The Signs of the Times
1T Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1 (2T, etc., for
vols.2-9)
TM Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers
WM Welfare Ministry

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 I
I

I
I

I
I

I
I
''To the law and
to the testimony:
if they speak not
according to this
word, it is because
there is no light
in them."
Isaiah 8:20