1894

August 1, 1894

Our Work and the Manner of Doing it

(Concluded next week.) 

EGW 

We have a work to do in the world; and if we are followers of Christ, day by day, and hour by hour, we shall copy the model, and by precept and example teach others to be Christlike. Every one of us is exerting an influence for good or for evil; for no man liveth unto himself. Each one composes a part of the great web of humanity, and is continually exerting a secret, silent influence in spirit, word, or action. If we are converted to God, we shall with heaven-born wisdom seek to put to the best use our capabilities and powers in such a way that we shall glorify God, and benefit humanity. The influence of unselfish work is as far-reaching as eternity. HM August 1, 1894, par. 1

But the truth must be brought into the inner sanctuary of the soul. We must by living faith grasp the arm of Omnipotence; for Christ has said, “Without me ye can do nothing.” But if we are laborers together with God, we shall be able to do all things. We shall be tested, we shall be proved to see what kind of material we have brought into our character building. If we have brought material into our life and character that is not of a divine order, this will be made manifest in the moral warfare in which every soul will be called upon to act a part. The truth cannot be justly sustained or defended by words that arouse the unbeliever to resistance and contention. The true spirit that controls the heart will be revealed in a company where ideas are presented that are opposed to ideas that others hold. If those who stand in defense of truth are under the control of the Spirit of Christ, they will be calm and self-possessed, kind and courteous, and will not be betrayed into the use of harsh language. They will not be accusers of those who honestly differ from them in opinion, nor regard their own ideas as infallible, and thus be led to look upon all those who differ with them as enemies and apostates. They will not make them the subjects of jest and ridicule. HM August 1, 1894, par. 2

The defendants of the faith once delivered to the saints, must ever come to Jesus and learn of him who is meek and lowly in heart. He says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me: for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” We testify that the yoke of Christ is not grievous to the wearer; for he who bears it, no longer follows his own will, nor does his own pleasure. In difficulties he looks to his Master to direct his course, and follows not the way of his own choosing. The more trying the circumstances under which he is placed, the more closely will he press to the side of Jesus. He understands that God alone is his helper. HM August 1, 1894, par. 3

If a brother or a sister has followed a wrong course, the true Christian will not speak to others of the wrong he sees in them, but will feel as Christ feels toward them,—a feeling of pity and sorrow, a longing, tender compassion; for he loves their souls. He will not make a jest of their mistakes, or meet them in the spirit of Satan. He will not talk much, for his soul is filled with tender compassion, and his words, his deportment, will testify of the character which he bears. He who is a devoted child of God will reveal this fact in his association with others. HM August 1, 1894, par. 4

Never let him who is named as a child of God, meet another who differs with him in his religious faith with a spirit of ridicule. This was the spirit the persecutors of Protestants had when dealing with those whom they termed “heretics.” They could not show where dissenters were in error from “the law and the testimony,” and therefore they resorted to ridicule, and some of the faithful found it more difficult to bear a sneer, than to face their enemies in open conflict. Soldiers in the army of Jesus Christ have turned cowards before ridicule, and Satan has worked through cold, unconsecrated professors of his name, to intimidate those with the weapon of jest, who never would have been turned from their loyalty to God if the rack, the stake, the dungeon, and death alone had threatened them. HM August 1, 1894, par. 5

Let no one from among us ever stoop to the use of ridicule when dealing with men who do not believe our doctrines. When this is done, it is evident that the would-be defender of truth is filled with self-importance and self-righteousness and with the very spirit that prompted the Pharisees to reject the light which God had graciously given them from heaven. When those who are claiming to investigate the Scriptures for truth, cease to have the meekness and the lowliness of Christ, and form a confederacy to resist every doctrine and view that differs from what they have regarded as truth, then Satan himself presides in their assemblies; and when this is the case, all who are brought within the sphere of their influence are leavened with the spirit of doubt, of questioning, and of unbelief, even as were the Pharisees in the days of Christ. All heaven is looking down upon the people who are to be defenders of truth, to see if they will follow the same course of action as did the Pharisees, and as have all the churches when new rays of light have been sent to them in messages of warning and exhortation. The Pharisees rejected Christ because he did not come in the very manner in which they had flattered themselves that he would come, and as a consequence, they were fettered in chains of their own forging, and bound themselves in doubt, in questioning, in criticism and unbelief, and worked their own eternal ruin. HM August 1, 1894, par. 6

Mrs. E. G. White