God has selected a people in these last days, whom he has made the depositaries of his law; and this people will ever have disagreeable tasks to perform. “I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil; and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast 28found them liars; and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast labored, and hast not fainted.” It will require much diligence and a continual struggle to keep evil out of our churches. There must be rigid, impartial discipline exercised; for some who have a semblance of religion, will seek to undermine the faith of others, and will privily work to exalt themselves.
(PH157 27.1)
The Lord Jesus, on the Mount of Olives, plainly stated that “because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” He speaks of a class who have fallen from a high state of spirituality. Let such utterances as these come home with solemn, searching power to our hearts. Where is the fervor, the devotion to God, that corresponds to the greatness of the truth which we claim to believe? The love of the world, the love of some darling sin, has weaned the heart from the love of prayer, and of meditation on sacred things. A formal round of religious services is kept up; but where is the love of Jesus? Spirituality is dying. Is this torpor, this mournful deterioration, to be perpetuated? Is the lamp of truth to flicker and go out in darkness, because it is not replenished by the oil of grace?
(PH157 28.1)
There will be some terrible falls by those who think they stand firm, because they have the truth; but they have it not as it is in Jesus. A moment’s carelessness may plunge a soul into irretrievable ruin. One sin leads to the second, and the second prepares the way for the third, and so on. We must, as faithful messengers of God, plead with him constantly to be kept by his power. If we swerve a single inch from duty, we are in danger 29of following on in a course of sin that will end in perdition. There is hope for every one of us, but only in one way, and that is by binding ourselves to Christ, and exerting every energy to attain to the perfection of his character.
(PH157 28.2)
Solemn Warnings
(PH157 29)
That religion which makes of sin a light matter, dwelling upon the love of God to the sinner regardless of his actions, only encourages the sinner to believe that God will receive him while he continues in that which he knows to be sin. This is what some are doing who profess to believe present truth. The truth is kept apart from the life, and that is the reason it has no power to convict and convert the soul.
(PH157 29.1)
God has shown me that the truth as it is in Jesus has never been brought into the lives of some in California. They do not have the religion of the Bible. They have never been converted; and unless their hearts are sanctified through the truth which they have accepted, they will be bound up with the tares; for they bear no clusters of precious fruit to show that they are branches of the Living Vine.
(PH157 29.2)
“Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” The lives of many show that they have no living connection with God. They are drifting into the channel of the world. They have, in reality, no part or lot with 30Christ. They love amusement, and are filled with selfish ideas, plans, hopes, and ambitions. They serve the enemy under the pretense of serving God. They are in bondage to a task-master, and this bondage they choose, making themselves willing slaves of Satan.
(PH157 29.3)
The false idea entertained by many, that the restraining of children is an injury, is ruining thousands upon thousands. Satan will surely take possession of the children if you are not on your guard. Do not encourage their association with the ungodly. Draw them away. Come out from among such yourselves, and show them that you are on the Lord’s side.
(PH157 30.1)
Will those who claim to be the children of the Most High, elevate the standard,—not simply while assembled in your meeting, but as long as time shall last? Will you not be on the Lord’s side, and serve him with full purpose of heart? If you do as did the children of Israel in forsaking God’s express requirements, you will surely receive of his judgments; but if you put away sin, and exercise living faith, the richest of heaven’s blessings will be yours.
(PH157 30.2)