No less sacred appreciation of and devotion to the work of the ministry does God require of His servants who are living so near the end of all things. He cannot accept the work of laborers unless they realize in their own hearts the life and power of the truth which they present to others. He will not accept of anything short of earnest, active, zealous heart labor. Vigilance and fruitfulness are required for this great work. God wants unselfish workmen, those who will labor with disinterested benevolence and give their undivided interest to the work. (2T 502.1) MC VC

Brethren, you lack devotion and consecration to the work. Your hearts are selfish. The deficiencies in you must be supplied, or you will erelong meet with a fatal disappointment—you will lose heaven. God does not lightly regard a neglect of the faithful performance of the work which He has left His servants to do. Enduring energy and a constant reliance upon God are lacking in many who are laboring in the ministry. The result of this lack brings great burdens upon the few who possess these qualities, and they are necessitated to make up the deficiencies so apparent in those who might be able work men if they would become so. There are a few who are working day and night, depriving themselves of rest and social enjoyments, taxing the brain to the utmost, each performing the labor of three men, wearing away their valuable lives to do the work that others might do, but neglect. Some are too lazy to perform their part; many ministers are carefully preserving themselves by shunning burdens, remaining in a state of inefficiency, and accomplishing next to nothing. Therefore those who realize the worth of souls, who appreciate the sacredness of the work and feel that it must go forward, are doing extra labor, making superhuman efforts, and using up their brain power to keep the work moving. Were the interest in the work and the devotion to it equally divided, were all who profess to be ministers diligently devoting their interest wholly to the cause, not saving themselves, the few earnest, God-fearing workmen who are fast wearing away their lives would be relieved of this high pressure upon them, and their strength might be preserved so that, when actually required, it would tell with double power, and produce far greater results than can now be seen while under the pressure of overwhelming care and anxiety. The Lord is not pleased with this inequality. (2T 502.2) MC VC

God’s ministers must have the truth in their hearts in order to successfully present it to others. They must be sanctified by the truths they preach or they will be only stumbling blocks to sinners. Those who are called of God to minister in holy things are called to be pure in heart and holy in life. “Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.” Isaiah 52:11. If God pronounces a woe upon those who are called to preach the truth and refuse to obey, a heavier woe rests upon those who take upon them this sacred work without clean hands and pure hearts. As there are woes for those who preach the truth while they are unsanctified in heart and life, so there are woes for those who receive and maintain the unsanctified in the position which they cannot fill. If the Spirit of God has not sanctified and made pure and clean the hands and heart of those who minister in sacred things, they will speak according to their own imperfect, deficient experience, and their counsels will lead astray from God those who look to them and trust in their judgment and experience. May God help ministers to heed the exhortation of Paul to the Corinthians: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” 2 Corinthians 13:5. There is a work for you to do, my brother, if you gain eternal life. May God help you to do this work thoroughly, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. (2T 552.1) MC VC