He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.
There is no neutral ground toward Christ, for to stand apart from Him is to stand against Him, and to fail to work with Him in saving souls is to work to drive them away. He spoke this after healing a demon-possessed man who was blind and dumb so that he spoke and saw, when the wondering people asked if He was the Son of David and the Pharisees charged that He cast out devils by Beelzebub, yet His works no man could do were done by the Spirit of God and showed the power and kingdom of God come. To be with Him and gather with Him is whole surrender of heart and life in obedience to His commandments, joined to earnest active labor to warn the perishing, bless and uplift others, and use every ability, means and opportunity with prayer and abiding in Christ. To scatter against Him is not only open hostility but inactivity, idleness and silence while souls perish, service woven with selfishness and human ways, words and example that discourage and divide, and any hindering of His chosen workers and heaven-sent light. Every soul therefore carries an influence bought by Christ's blood that either helps toward heaven or drives away, so each must definitely choose Christ's yoke of obedience or Satan's yoke of sin, for to attribute the Holy Spirit's work through Christ to Satan cuts off the channel to the heart as the unpardonable sin, while speaking against Jesus Himself from ignorance may still be forgiven through repentance.
Setting and Original Sense
Jesus spoke these words right after healing a man possessed by a devil who was blind and dumb, so that he both spoke and saw, while the crowd wondered whether He was the Son of David and the Pharisees charged that He cast out devils by Beelzebub the prince of devils. His answer to that charge was that His works were done by the Spirit of God and showed that God's kingdom had come, so to reject that evidence was to reject Christ Himself. The leaders saw Him heal the sick yet refused the evidence, claiming He worked through the devil, and their refusal to gather with Him was rejection of the salvation and mercy offered through His sacrifice. Opposition of that kind does not advance His work but hinders the gathering of people to Him and scatters them.
He spoke reading the motives of those before Him like an open book, while their own consciences pronounced them guilty. This was in the waxing strong of the great controversy, where He warred not against finite men but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. The Pharisees had felt drawn to Jesus and convicted by the Spirit, but pride led them to reject Him and deliberately resist the truth, and by choosing deception they placed themselves under Satan's power. A person's response to Christ reveals which side is stood on, for those who listen to the Holy Spirit are drawn to Christ while those who worship self belong to Satan's kingdom, and in choosing a side people pass judgment on themselves as His life and death call them to surrender and share in suffering and bring their purposes to light.
His wonderful healings could not be evaded or attributed to natural causes, for they were works which no man had done or could do and were a manifestation of the power of God. To attribute the work of the Holy Spirit done through Christ to Satan is to stand against Christ and cut oneself off from the fountain of blessing. Speaking against Jesus Himself from ignorance of His divine character can still be forgiven, because through the Holy Spirit the soul can still be brought to see error, repent, believe, and have guilt washed away in His blood. But wilfully rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit and declaring it to be from Satan cuts off the channel by which God works upon the heart and communicates with the soul, placing the person where repentance and faith cannot come, so that when the Spirit is finally rejected there is no more that God can do for the soul. Stubborn, sullen, and ironhearted, the Pharisees determined to close their eyes to all evidence, used their talent of speech to abuse the world's Redeemer, spoke of the Son of God as a mere human being in league with hell, and by that willful rejection sinned against the Holy Ghost in the unpardonable sin, with their words written by the recording angel in the books of heaven.
To ascribe to Satan what belongs to God or what the Holy Ghost has done is to stand against Christ and commit the sin against the Holy Ghost. Those who said the shut door was of the devil did this, and it turns against their own lives and ends in death, with foggy terrible fear and anguish of spirit and loss of bearings. To be with Christ is to look at the Pattern and follow Him, for He is meek and lowly in heart, with eyes shut to everything but present saving truth, and then one who has the truth will chase a thousand and two will put ten thousand to flight.
There are only two sides with no mixture, so what is not of God is of the devil. Christ's work and Satan's work are opposed, not parts of a mixture that can be treated as wholly from God or wholly from Satan, which requires distinguishing God's genuine work from Satan's imperfect counterfeit so that fanaticism is not called God's work, nor the whole Advent movement judged to be Satan's work because of fanaticism among people connected with it. In the same two-sided sense, if the pope's claim to be chief of the Christian church is not by divine right, the papacy is of the devil, a point cutting against errors confirmed by the example of the whole world and made second nature by long use, which can blind even one who knows the Scriptures almost by heart and knows that men are justified and saved not by works but by faith in Jesus Christ.
Every person belongs to God by creation and by redemption, and each one individually must be on one side or the other, with no neutral position, no middle ground, and no middle class who neither love God nor serve the enemy. Human allegiance is made manifest by the character of works: those who are enemies of God work under the generalship of Satan and do his works, while those working under Christ obey the orders of the Captain of their salvation and work the works of God. Refusing to work on Christ's side is working on the side of His enemy, and half-and-half service places a person on the enemy's side as a successful ally of the hosts of darkness from whom come continually the evil works of Satan. Being with Christ and gathering with Him means being His co-laborer doing the works He would do were He on earth, following Him as the light of the world as children of light and of the day and not of night or darkness, marching under the bloodstained banner of Prince Immanuel, honoring God, remaining loyal and not traitors to the Captain, refusing to take commands from the rebel captain and betray sacred trust while professing to be on the Lord's side, a loyalty tested also in schools. Satan is playing the game of life for the soul of every human being, that they may perish with him, and he plans another battle in which he will marshal all who are not with Christ to take not only the kingdoms of the earth but also the kingdom of heaven.
No Neutral Ground
There is no neutral position, middle ground, middle class, or noncommittal place toward Christ and His mission, for whoever is not with Him is against Him and whoever does not gather with Him scatters abroad. This holds whether in open hostility or without positive hostility, for surrounding every soul there is an influence either for or against truth and righteousness. That influence is an important talent, and when used on Christ's side it becomes a power unto eternal life, while each person's work either builds God's kingdom or works against it. Claimed neutrality that fails to stand positively for Christ still serves Satan's side, and professed followers do the enemy's work when they use gifts and influence for themselves rather than as consecrated service to Him. This applies especially to influence exerted in the church through example, where choosing worldly approval instead of faithful service places that influence against Him.
Those who confess Christ before people will be confessed by Him before His Father and the angels, and those who serve Him are to use their God-given abilities actively in harmony with His work of restoring and building His kingdom. Half-and-half, wavering, lukewarm, cowardly, dissembling, or divided service that tries to serve self and Christ or truth and error together is against Him and on the enemy's side as a successful ally of darkness. There is no wholehearted Christian and half Christian, and Christ calls for wholehearted allegiance in which His followers use what they know to share His grace and work for the salvation of others. A high profession without practice has no place in God's work, being lukewarm, and those who have heard the truth but have not obeyed it are difficult to reach.
Loyalty therefore requires fully taking the Lord's side, not serving Him only when convenient, and renouncing self and evil working. To be with Christ is to stand ready to serve Him at all times and in every way required, as a true-hearted, level-headed, all-round man, leaving no place for cowards or dissembling. Any compromise with sin puts a person against Christ and leaves that person unaccepted by Him and forfeiting His blessing and acceptance. Gathering with Him means entirely sacrificing self, surrendering the heart fully to God, and following in self-denial and self-sacrifice, while religion built on selfishness is worthless. A sinful, selfish, unsurrendered heart can never be satisfied, cannot receive His peace, and cannot have mind and soul-temple illuminated by Him, whereas true repentance and true conversion change the entire person, with Christ alone as the pattern to imitate rather than other people.
Every person in probationary life must definitely choose Christ's yoke of obedience or Satan's yoke of sin, for refusing Christ means serving sin and every moment carries responsibility to God. Whoever does not receive Him as personal Saviour is against Him, comes under satanic control, and scatters rather than gathering, yet He calls all to be saved through faith in Him. Truth received and cherished changes the whole life and turns from evil ways, while truth and error cannot abide together in the heart. Whoever is not wholly God's is under another power and control, listening to another voice whose suggestions are of an entirely different character. To be with Christ is for Christ to live in His human agents and work through their faculties and act through their capabilities, with the will submitted to His will and acting with His Spirit, so it is no more they that live but Christ that lives in them. When those claiming to be His soldiers engage with the confederacy of Satan and help along his side, they prove themselves His enemies, betray sacred trusts, and form a connecting link between Satan and the true soldiers through which the enemy constantly works to steal away the hearts of His soldiers.
Gathering with Christ
To gather with Christ is active, earnest, conscientious labor to save souls, warning those perishing in sin, telling those without hope of Christ and His love, praying for God to work and for His power to join human effort, devising plans and using every God-given ability, mind, means, and opportunity from country to country and in home and foreign fields. No one is neutral, and profession of light and truth while doing nothing, standing as an idle looker-on in spiritual idleness, is opposition that scatters and aids the enemy, while silence, neglect, and worldly spellbound inaction leave fellow men blind, deceived, unwarned and uncared for and break up His work. Every church member is pledged at baptism to serve as a gospel worker according to ability, to grow in character and fitness according to God's Word, to join interests to Christ's, to order the life by salvation's plan, to commune with God and abide in Christ daily, and to rely not on own strength but on His grace, truth, and higher power so effort bears fruit with angels cooperating. True conversion is proved by love to God in keeping His commandments and by becoming a living, working agency to draw souls to Him and proclaim truth to those in darkness of error, requiring consecrated service now and aggressive warfare in preparation for the closing scenes, overcoming fear of opposition and failure from looking at seen things instead of unseen, catching Christ's ardor while cherishing His meekness and lowliness, and letting light shine in good works. To be for Christ is to lift the cross of Calvary, and lifting that cross lifts the lifter, as each stands in his own lot and place catching the inspiration of Christ's work for souls, with resurrected faith and the ardor of a hero enduring as seeing Him who is invisible, exerting a positive influence for good as a soldier of the cross.
Being with Him means whole surrender of heart, thoughts, affections, and energies, coming in conviction and faithful practice of the truth and not mere intellectual assent, so that Christ receives the person as His only hope and leads into all truth. It means accepting His restraint and carrying the burdens of obedience, refusing to support evil and refusing divided service, renewed through daily conversion, with obedience and conversion making children and servants fit for responsibility. It means being meek and lowly and tenderhearted yet firm as a rock to His teachings, strictly heeding every word of His instruction and letting none be lost sight of because truth abides forever, learning meekness and lowliness, keeping the commandments and God's Word, and representing Him in character. Trusting any lie or pretense, or trusting frail human supports, is scattering that costs eternal life and leaves a person unprepared to stand trial and persecution, and those who claim to follow yet neglect salvation, refuse humble obedience, or will not take up the cross are not working with Him. True conversion is a radical change turning mind and heart new in Christ, uniting human weakness, ignorance, and unworthiness to His strength, wisdom, and merit.
Gathering is cooperating with God to bless, uplift, strengthen, and ennoble others by showing in one's own life the spirit, ways, and works of Christ learned by studying His character, actively promoting love, unity, equity, and sound principles to build up His kingdom. It draws by tender cords of love with pity, compassion, sympathy, encouragement, and prayer, sustains the fainting in temptation, seeks the straying and wounded and the lost sheep rather than passing by, and refuses discourtesy, un-Christlike harshness, and unmercifulness toward those purchased by His blood. Failing to help a straying soul scatters rather than gathers and displays the enemy's attributes, and scattering also happens when self controls, discouraging and disheartening people, driving souls away, leaving a wrong impression, weakening confidence, and causing light thoughts of professed Christianity, so close self-examination is required over one's course and its impression on connected minds. Being with Christ is proved by care for the poor and suffering, whose souls are as valuable as the rich, for riches belong to God who does not estimate men by money but entrusts means to test its use for the needy, while exalting self, having no care for the needy, and spending thousands and even millions in extravagant display while thousands starve for bread, live in comfortless homes, and are naked and destitute is scattering and not gathering. It is lived in kindness, hospitality, steadiness, and tenderness instead of harshness, selfishness, and self-exaltation.
Gathering is the humble, meek, lowly, brokenhearted response that comes humbly to His feet over mistakes that grieve the Saviour, fights His battles, seeks in meekness to do good to others and advance the cause of truth in earnest endeavor, and turns to Him in affliction with prayers heard, with the most highly honored taking up the cross daily and following Him. It makes straight paths for the feet so the lame are not turned out of the way, knowing that misleading the lame from safe paths brings accountability for setting at naught counsel whose words are eternal life in exchange for deception originating with the father of lies. Scattering is allowing worldly influences to come between the soul and its Helper, choosing idols before Christ, and meeting His appeals with indifference and no response, which grieves Jesus, brings great loss, disappoints His desire that His loved ones shine in His kingdom, and makes them stumbling blocks to sinners. A person gathers or scatters by the character of work seen in home life, spirit, words, actions, dress, service, and influence, and gathering bears the fruit of living connection with God, abiding in His love, receiving His light, and sharing it with others.
Scattering Against Christ
Failing to gather with Christ is itself scattering against Him, for there is no neutral ground in His work. Inactivity, idleness, carelessness, indifference, neglect and silence while souls perish unwarned and uncared for is opposition, denial and backsliding, ranked with open unbelief and positive hostility. Such a course makes the inactive professor a stumbling-block, gives Satan room, grieves Jesus, hides talents for selfish use, and leaves the name unregistered as a laborer together with God. Everyone entrusted with great light must therefore do something to sow the seed and gather the harvest as sheaves to Him, devising every kind of labor according to ability and employing time, means, talents, influence and every means to the utmost, refusing to follow another leader or range with those warring against God. Lack of zeal and Christlike service, and refusal to be a faithful steward working under the Master in active preparation for His second appearing, is counted as working against His cause.
Even apparently good and active service scatters when it is not joined to Christ, but is woven with selfishness, worldliness, compromise, human theories, self-reliance and Christless methods. Trusting frail human supports, doing good in one's own strength, following human plans instead of learning from Him and letting will and powers be guided by Him, and claiming neutrality while failing to stand positively for Him, puts the worker against Him and serves Satan's side. Using gifts, resources and influence for self and for worldly business rather than as consecrated service advancing God's kingdom brings no glory to the Lord, hinders His cause, weakens love for Him and the truth, and obstructs progress by theatrical display and expensive inventions. Failing to practice the health light or to give it to others likewise fails to gather with Him. Being with Him in world-wide gospel work requires the will in subjection to the divine will and ways patterned after His life in the Bible and His methods of labor.
Scattering is also done by words, spirit and example that discourage, dishearten and drive away, leaving wrong impressions, weakening confidence and causing light thoughts of Christianity. Discourtesy and unmercifulness to the blood-bought, criticism, accusation, suspicion, jealousy, discontent, faultfinding, hints and sweeping condemnation, dissension, evil-speaking, discord, blame, harsh denunciation, self-exaltation, unkindness and unbelief all scatter rather than gather, fail to strengthen the church and dishonor God. Choosing God's enemies as friends, spreading false reports that hinder His work, and spreading unbelief make a person an agent of Satan, turning minds from Christ and doing the work of his kingdom, and such conduct is recorded in heaven. A life that professes belief but denies Him in its actions becomes a stumbling-block and scatters people from the truth, as when selfish and wayward conduct with neglect of duty reproached His cause, weakened and discouraged those working for it, and scattered people from Him, leaving no hope but to turn back, become teachable and control self. Those who doubt and reinforce one another in resisting what His Spirit has urged them to overcome strengthen the opposing elements.
Counteracting His chosen workers and hindering His cause is scattering abroad and working at cross-purposes with God. Discouraging those doing their duty and tearing down the work rather than helping to gather, making their labors of no account, leading others by example to look to man instead of God, grasping and absorbing influences that obstruct the ordained light, and standing as a barrier to His work oppose Him. Refusing to advance with Him in the truth and standing in the way of others, using God-given abilities to discourage others and counteract their efforts to advance, and harsh unwise labor in overbearing unmeek manner that confuses and drives people from the fold fail to win people to Him. Sanctioning or carrying out decisions of men known to be out of harmony with truth and righteousness, sympathizing with the rightly reproved and suppressing faithful reproof, encouraging doubt and opposition as Wheeler and Aldrich did, rejecting heaven-sent light by standing between it and the people, opposing advance, refusing harmony and lacking union, and dividing churches as Satan sought at Monterey, weaken faith, take away relish for communion with God, and require open eyes and refusal to join what is known to be wrong.
Influence and Accountability
Surrounding every soul there is an influence that is either for or against truth and righteousness, with no neutral ground and no neutral position. To fail to gather with Christ is to scatter abroad and to be against Him. That influence is an important talent bought by Christ's blood, entrusted by God with time, means and ability, for which each person is accountable to God and responsible for the good left undone. When used on Christ's side it becomes a power unto eternal life, and those who by their influence gather with Him are given ability by angels to labor successfully for Him.
Not casting influence on Christ's side opens a person to be imbued with Satan's spirit and to act in unison with the enemy of good, giving to the cause of evil the influence and ability that belong to the cause of truth. Such a course dishonors Christ, disappoints angels, and violates the pledge made at baptism to serve Christ, to which faithfulness makes indifference to the work of saving souls impossible. Careless inattention to Christian duty therefore opposes His work and gives others an example to follow, while neglecting the privilege of connection with God forfeits the wisdom and grace that would make influence lead others to Jesus. A Christian's influence is never neutral but is used for good or evil, helping others toward heaven or driving them away, affecting the eternal destiny of men, women and youth, and God weighs actions and records them in heaven.
Whether a person serves Christ or opposes Him is shown by words, actions, spirit, dress, home life, business dealings and church relations, which either gather or scatter. Professing to serve God while serving mammon is not possible, and a professing Christian whose words and actions deny Christ exerts a harmful influence that confuses believers and leads some to mistake outward good works for faithfulness. Gathering with Christ means living in God's light and love, learning meekness and lowliness, obeying Him, keeping His commandments, abiding in His love, bearing the fruit of a living connection, receiving His light and sharing it with others. Conduct, kindness, patience and love must show faith's sanctifying, transforming power that stands trial.
Without Him thoughts, actions and influence cannot do good but scatter rather than gather, bringing either blessing or harm to both the one acting and to others. Actions form habits and habits form character, so unguarded habits leave a person unfit to join heavenly agents in salvation's work or to enter heaven, whereas those who enter have surrendered will and way to God, proved character through trial and become partakers of the divine nature. Associations and influences can hinder spiritual growth and weaken or misdirect powers, so Christ calls each person to use all abilities to gather with Him, and when influences impede that work to seek God's guidance and heed the convictions that lead to fuller service.
Indifference, doubt, suspicion, fear, indecision and failure to help build up God's people hinder the work, while firm, united action and earnest effort to advance His cause and save souls support and encourage others. Every person's influence therefore works either for Christ and His work or against them, either through careless indifference that hinders or through earnest effort that gathers. Neglecting duty harms the cause and leaves others to carry one's burdens, and turning from truth leads others away.
Calls to Specific Duties
When testing truth that points out duty from God's Word is presented, every hearer must decide at once to consecrate heart and mind to Christ, for there is no neutral ground, no neutral position, no neutral place, and no noncommittal middle. Each person must make openly known whose side he is on, come out and be separate with living faith, receive truth as God's Word, meet the claims of the gospel, and speak in season to awaken the careless and indifferent to eternal realities. Receiving the truth brings life and rejecting it brings death, so those who preach must urge hearers with earnestness, positiveness, and certainty to declare themselves willing for Christ now. In testing crisis God demands decided changes and decided efforts, while Satan lulls to sleep, and no one divided and undecided until sure of suffering no loss can be used, for those serving must be committed to do what is right in every circumstance, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit. To be for Christ and gather with Him is to lift the cross of Calvary, and lifting that cross lifts the lifter, standing in his own lot and place with resurrected faith and the ardor of a hero who endures seeing Him who is invisible, exerting a positive influence for good as a soldier of the cross, with practical Christianity revealing God's will in word and action and uplifting the Saviour before men so the world can tell by the fruits.
There is no middle ground in serving God, and compromise with the world cannot be joined with enjoying the Lord's blessing. God's people are to show plainly whom they serve, come out from the world and be separate from sin and worldly associations including secret societies, reject human yokes that prevent serving God, and take their stand with Christ in proclaiming the truth. Those who receive the light of truth are to seek and do God's will with living faith that sanctifies the character and transforms the life, shown in Christian cheerfulness, kindness, patience, forbearance, and love that stands the test of trial and proves the power of faith to the world. Christians are not to choose God's enemies as friends nor seek the company of people who reject faith in God, for rejecting Jesus' life and character places a person in opposition to God, company used by Satan scatters, and resistance to the Spirit makes one an active scatterer rather than a gatherer. Refusing daily conversion that separates from evil and supports evil through compromise leaves a person not fully with Christ and therefore against Him.
No one can remain neutral toward Christ, and ministers, church leaders, teachers, students, Sabbath-school teachers, publishing and sanitarium workers, and parents are each either gathering with Him or scattering abroad by example and influence. Preachers and people who fail to stand decisively for what is right risk siding with the powers of darkness, and Sabbath-school teachers who do not value Christ personally or feel a burden to lead souls to Him become indifferent and careless, with a spirit that can lead pupils away from Christ. Workers in a sanitarium and in the Health Retreat whose influence refuses the Spirit and opposes God's plans and principles become a hindrance who scatters rather than a spiritual help, even if contributing skill or knowledge, for faithful devoted service matters more than talent without connection to God. Students who accept Christ are to put influence on God's side, work with Christ, and help lead others into the safe path, and at school gathering with Christ means building up the work by hearing and keeping God's Word rather than spreading disaffection, suspicion, envy, and criticism or standing idle, which tears down. Unfaithful, harsh, self-exalting, or worldly courses that discourage churches, restrain generosity, spread disaffection, criticism, envy, worldly amusement, deceptive teachings, or false reports work against Christ and require separation from office, while faithful devoted service, feeding on the Word, and training children in home religion and practical industry gather with Him.
Being with Christ means giving Him the heart, thoughts, affections, and energies and joining in His work, so wavering partial surrender leaves a person opposed to Christ in practice. Wavering and repeatedly turning back from surrender, knowing the truth yet repeatedly neglecting the Spirit's calls and warnings even without open opposition, hardens the conscience until it is less responsive, turns light into darkness, and places the person against the truth on the enemy's side. To fail to gather is to scatter through evil influence, idleness, and neglect of the Lord's work, and no idler or slothful one who neglects that work will be found inside the kingdom of heaven. Scattering by worldly trash and idols in the heart, anger, selfishness, covetousness, and refusal of restriction grieves Christ and advances Satan's interests unto one's own destruction, while vigilance, tenderness, the righteousness of Christ, keeping the soul in God's love, and deliberately directing mind and action toward Christ are required in the short time before the closing scenes, needing Jehovah's life-giving power as mighty powers seek to destroy.
There is no neutral ground toward Christ, for to stand apart from Him is to stand against Him, and to fail to work with Him in saving souls is to work to drive them away.
He spoke this after healing a demon-possessed man who was blind and dumb so that he spoke and saw, when the wondering people asked if He was the Son of David and the Pharisees charged that He cast out devils by Beelzebub, yet His works no man could do were done by the Spirit of God and showed the power and kingdom of God come.
To be with Him and gather with Him is whole surrender of heart and life in obedience to His commandments, joined to earnest active labor to warn the perishing, bless and uplift others, and use every ability, means and opportunity with prayer and abiding in Christ.
To scatter against Him is not only open hostility but inactivity, idleness and silence while souls perish, service woven with selfishness and human ways, words and example that discourage and divide, and any hindering of His chosen workers and heaven-sent light.
Every soul therefore carries an influence bought by Christ's blood that either helps toward heaven or drives away, so each must definitely choose Christ's yoke of obedience or Satan's yoke of sin, for to attribute the Holy Spirit's work through Christ to Satan cuts off the channel to the heart as the unpardonable sin, while speaking against Jesus Himself from ignorance may still be forgiven through repentance.
Setting and Original Sense
Jesus spoke these words right after healing a man possessed by a devil who was blind and dumb, so that he both spoke and saw, while the crowd wondered whether He was the Son of David and the Pharisees charged that He cast out devils by Beelzebub the prince of devils. His answer to that charge was that His works were done by the Spirit of God and showed that God's kingdom had come, so to reject that evidence was to reject Christ Himself. The leaders saw Him heal the sick yet refused the evidence, claiming He worked through the devil, and their refusal to gather with Him was rejection of the salvation and mercy offered through His sacrifice. Opposition of that kind does not advance His work but hinders the gathering of people to Him and scatters them.
He spoke reading the motives of those before Him like an open book, while their own consciences pronounced them guilty. This was in the waxing strong of the great controversy, where He warred not against finite men but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. The Pharisees had felt drawn to Jesus and convicted by the Spirit, but pride led them to reject Him and deliberately resist the truth, and by choosing deception they placed themselves under Satan's power. A person's response to Christ reveals which side is stood on, for those who listen to the Holy Spirit are drawn to Christ while those who worship self belong to Satan's kingdom, and in choosing a side people pass judgment on themselves as His life and death call them to surrender and share in suffering and bring their purposes to light.
His wonderful healings could not be evaded or attributed to natural causes, for they were works which no man had done or could do and were a manifestation of the power of God. To attribute the work of the Holy Spirit done through Christ to Satan is to stand against Christ and cut oneself off from the fountain of blessing. Speaking against Jesus Himself from ignorance of His divine character can still be forgiven, because through the Holy Spirit the soul can still be brought to see error, repent, believe, and have guilt washed away in His blood. But wilfully rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit and declaring it to be from Satan cuts off the channel by which God works upon the heart and communicates with the soul, placing the person where repentance and faith cannot come, so that when the Spirit is finally rejected there is no more that God can do for the soul. Stubborn, sullen, and ironhearted, the Pharisees determined to close their eyes to all evidence, used their talent of speech to abuse the world's Redeemer, spoke of the Son of God as a mere human being in league with hell, and by that willful rejection sinned against the Holy Ghost in the unpardonable sin, with their words written by the recording angel in the books of heaven.
To ascribe to Satan what belongs to God or what the Holy Ghost has done is to stand against Christ and commit the sin against the Holy Ghost. Those who said the shut door was of the devil did this, and it turns against their own lives and ends in death, with foggy terrible fear and anguish of spirit and loss of bearings. To be with Christ is to look at the Pattern and follow Him, for He is meek and lowly in heart, with eyes shut to everything but present saving truth, and then one who has the truth will chase a thousand and two will put ten thousand to flight.
There are only two sides with no mixture, so what is not of God is of the devil. Christ's work and Satan's work are opposed, not parts of a mixture that can be treated as wholly from God or wholly from Satan, which requires distinguishing God's genuine work from Satan's imperfect counterfeit so that fanaticism is not called God's work, nor the whole Advent movement judged to be Satan's work because of fanaticism among people connected with it. In the same two-sided sense, if the pope's claim to be chief of the Christian church is not by divine right, the papacy is of the devil, a point cutting against errors confirmed by the example of the whole world and made second nature by long use, which can blind even one who knows the Scriptures almost by heart and knows that men are justified and saved not by works but by faith in Jesus Christ.
Every person belongs to God by creation and by redemption, and each one individually must be on one side or the other, with no neutral position, no middle ground, and no middle class who neither love God nor serve the enemy. Human allegiance is made manifest by the character of works: those who are enemies of God work under the generalship of Satan and do his works, while those working under Christ obey the orders of the Captain of their salvation and work the works of God. Refusing to work on Christ's side is working on the side of His enemy, and half-and-half service places a person on the enemy's side as a successful ally of the hosts of darkness from whom come continually the evil works of Satan. Being with Christ and gathering with Him means being His co-laborer doing the works He would do were He on earth, following Him as the light of the world as children of light and of the day and not of night or darkness, marching under the bloodstained banner of Prince Immanuel, honoring God, remaining loyal and not traitors to the Captain, refusing to take commands from the rebel captain and betray sacred trust while professing to be on the Lord's side, a loyalty tested also in schools. Satan is playing the game of life for the soul of every human being, that they may perish with him, and he plans another battle in which he will marshal all who are not with Christ to take not only the kingdoms of the earth but also the kingdom of heaven.
No Neutral Ground
There is no neutral position, middle ground, middle class, or noncommittal place toward Christ and His mission, for whoever is not with Him is against Him and whoever does not gather with Him scatters abroad. This holds whether in open hostility or without positive hostility, for surrounding every soul there is an influence either for or against truth and righteousness. That influence is an important talent, and when used on Christ's side it becomes a power unto eternal life, while each person's work either builds God's kingdom or works against it. Claimed neutrality that fails to stand positively for Christ still serves Satan's side, and professed followers do the enemy's work when they use gifts and influence for themselves rather than as consecrated service to Him. This applies especially to influence exerted in the church through example, where choosing worldly approval instead of faithful service places that influence against Him.
Those who confess Christ before people will be confessed by Him before His Father and the angels, and those who serve Him are to use their God-given abilities actively in harmony with His work of restoring and building His kingdom. Half-and-half, wavering, lukewarm, cowardly, dissembling, or divided service that tries to serve self and Christ or truth and error together is against Him and on the enemy's side as a successful ally of darkness. There is no wholehearted Christian and half Christian, and Christ calls for wholehearted allegiance in which His followers use what they know to share His grace and work for the salvation of others. A high profession without practice has no place in God's work, being lukewarm, and those who have heard the truth but have not obeyed it are difficult to reach.
Loyalty therefore requires fully taking the Lord's side, not serving Him only when convenient, and renouncing self and evil working. To be with Christ is to stand ready to serve Him at all times and in every way required, as a true-hearted, level-headed, all-round man, leaving no place for cowards or dissembling. Any compromise with sin puts a person against Christ and leaves that person unaccepted by Him and forfeiting His blessing and acceptance. Gathering with Him means entirely sacrificing self, surrendering the heart fully to God, and following in self-denial and self-sacrifice, while religion built on selfishness is worthless. A sinful, selfish, unsurrendered heart can never be satisfied, cannot receive His peace, and cannot have mind and soul-temple illuminated by Him, whereas true repentance and true conversion change the entire person, with Christ alone as the pattern to imitate rather than other people.
Every person in probationary life must definitely choose Christ's yoke of obedience or Satan's yoke of sin, for refusing Christ means serving sin and every moment carries responsibility to God. Whoever does not receive Him as personal Saviour is against Him, comes under satanic control, and scatters rather than gathering, yet He calls all to be saved through faith in Him. Truth received and cherished changes the whole life and turns from evil ways, while truth and error cannot abide together in the heart. Whoever is not wholly God's is under another power and control, listening to another voice whose suggestions are of an entirely different character. To be with Christ is for Christ to live in His human agents and work through their faculties and act through their capabilities, with the will submitted to His will and acting with His Spirit, so it is no more they that live but Christ that lives in them. When those claiming to be His soldiers engage with the confederacy of Satan and help along his side, they prove themselves His enemies, betray sacred trusts, and form a connecting link between Satan and the true soldiers through which the enemy constantly works to steal away the hearts of His soldiers.
Gathering with Christ
To gather with Christ is active, earnest, conscientious labor to save souls, warning those perishing in sin, telling those without hope of Christ and His love, praying for God to work and for His power to join human effort, devising plans and using every God-given ability, mind, means, and opportunity from country to country and in home and foreign fields. No one is neutral, and profession of light and truth while doing nothing, standing as an idle looker-on in spiritual idleness, is opposition that scatters and aids the enemy, while silence, neglect, and worldly spellbound inaction leave fellow men blind, deceived, unwarned and uncared for and break up His work. Every church member is pledged at baptism to serve as a gospel worker according to ability, to grow in character and fitness according to God's Word, to join interests to Christ's, to order the life by salvation's plan, to commune with God and abide in Christ daily, and to rely not on own strength but on His grace, truth, and higher power so effort bears fruit with angels cooperating. True conversion is proved by love to God in keeping His commandments and by becoming a living, working agency to draw souls to Him and proclaim truth to those in darkness of error, requiring consecrated service now and aggressive warfare in preparation for the closing scenes, overcoming fear of opposition and failure from looking at seen things instead of unseen, catching Christ's ardor while cherishing His meekness and lowliness, and letting light shine in good works. To be for Christ is to lift the cross of Calvary, and lifting that cross lifts the lifter, as each stands in his own lot and place catching the inspiration of Christ's work for souls, with resurrected faith and the ardor of a hero enduring as seeing Him who is invisible, exerting a positive influence for good as a soldier of the cross.
Being with Him means whole surrender of heart, thoughts, affections, and energies, coming in conviction and faithful practice of the truth and not mere intellectual assent, so that Christ receives the person as His only hope and leads into all truth. It means accepting His restraint and carrying the burdens of obedience, refusing to support evil and refusing divided service, renewed through daily conversion, with obedience and conversion making children and servants fit for responsibility. It means being meek and lowly and tenderhearted yet firm as a rock to His teachings, strictly heeding every word of His instruction and letting none be lost sight of because truth abides forever, learning meekness and lowliness, keeping the commandments and God's Word, and representing Him in character. Trusting any lie or pretense, or trusting frail human supports, is scattering that costs eternal life and leaves a person unprepared to stand trial and persecution, and those who claim to follow yet neglect salvation, refuse humble obedience, or will not take up the cross are not working with Him. True conversion is a radical change turning mind and heart new in Christ, uniting human weakness, ignorance, and unworthiness to His strength, wisdom, and merit.
Gathering is cooperating with God to bless, uplift, strengthen, and ennoble others by showing in one's own life the spirit, ways, and works of Christ learned by studying His character, actively promoting love, unity, equity, and sound principles to build up His kingdom. It draws by tender cords of love with pity, compassion, sympathy, encouragement, and prayer, sustains the fainting in temptation, seeks the straying and wounded and the lost sheep rather than passing by, and refuses discourtesy, un-Christlike harshness, and unmercifulness toward those purchased by His blood. Failing to help a straying soul scatters rather than gathers and displays the enemy's attributes, and scattering also happens when self controls, discouraging and disheartening people, driving souls away, leaving a wrong impression, weakening confidence, and causing light thoughts of professed Christianity, so close self-examination is required over one's course and its impression on connected minds. Being with Christ is proved by care for the poor and suffering, whose souls are as valuable as the rich, for riches belong to God who does not estimate men by money but entrusts means to test its use for the needy, while exalting self, having no care for the needy, and spending thousands and even millions in extravagant display while thousands starve for bread, live in comfortless homes, and are naked and destitute is scattering and not gathering. It is lived in kindness, hospitality, steadiness, and tenderness instead of harshness, selfishness, and self-exaltation.
Gathering is the humble, meek, lowly, brokenhearted response that comes humbly to His feet over mistakes that grieve the Saviour, fights His battles, seeks in meekness to do good to others and advance the cause of truth in earnest endeavor, and turns to Him in affliction with prayers heard, with the most highly honored taking up the cross daily and following Him. It makes straight paths for the feet so the lame are not turned out of the way, knowing that misleading the lame from safe paths brings accountability for setting at naught counsel whose words are eternal life in exchange for deception originating with the father of lies. Scattering is allowing worldly influences to come between the soul and its Helper, choosing idols before Christ, and meeting His appeals with indifference and no response, which grieves Jesus, brings great loss, disappoints His desire that His loved ones shine in His kingdom, and makes them stumbling blocks to sinners. A person gathers or scatters by the character of work seen in home life, spirit, words, actions, dress, service, and influence, and gathering bears the fruit of living connection with God, abiding in His love, receiving His light, and sharing it with others.
Scattering Against Christ
Failing to gather with Christ is itself scattering against Him, for there is no neutral ground in His work. Inactivity, idleness, carelessness, indifference, neglect and silence while souls perish unwarned and uncared for is opposition, denial and backsliding, ranked with open unbelief and positive hostility. Such a course makes the inactive professor a stumbling-block, gives Satan room, grieves Jesus, hides talents for selfish use, and leaves the name unregistered as a laborer together with God. Everyone entrusted with great light must therefore do something to sow the seed and gather the harvest as sheaves to Him, devising every kind of labor according to ability and employing time, means, talents, influence and every means to the utmost, refusing to follow another leader or range with those warring against God. Lack of zeal and Christlike service, and refusal to be a faithful steward working under the Master in active preparation for His second appearing, is counted as working against His cause.
Even apparently good and active service scatters when it is not joined to Christ, but is woven with selfishness, worldliness, compromise, human theories, self-reliance and Christless methods. Trusting frail human supports, doing good in one's own strength, following human plans instead of learning from Him and letting will and powers be guided by Him, and claiming neutrality while failing to stand positively for Him, puts the worker against Him and serves Satan's side. Using gifts, resources and influence for self and for worldly business rather than as consecrated service advancing God's kingdom brings no glory to the Lord, hinders His cause, weakens love for Him and the truth, and obstructs progress by theatrical display and expensive inventions. Failing to practice the health light or to give it to others likewise fails to gather with Him. Being with Him in world-wide gospel work requires the will in subjection to the divine will and ways patterned after His life in the Bible and His methods of labor.
Scattering is also done by words, spirit and example that discourage, dishearten and drive away, leaving wrong impressions, weakening confidence and causing light thoughts of Christianity. Discourtesy and unmercifulness to the blood-bought, criticism, accusation, suspicion, jealousy, discontent, faultfinding, hints and sweeping condemnation, dissension, evil-speaking, discord, blame, harsh denunciation, self-exaltation, unkindness and unbelief all scatter rather than gather, fail to strengthen the church and dishonor God. Choosing God's enemies as friends, spreading false reports that hinder His work, and spreading unbelief make a person an agent of Satan, turning minds from Christ and doing the work of his kingdom, and such conduct is recorded in heaven. A life that professes belief but denies Him in its actions becomes a stumbling-block and scatters people from the truth, as when selfish and wayward conduct with neglect of duty reproached His cause, weakened and discouraged those working for it, and scattered people from Him, leaving no hope but to turn back, become teachable and control self. Those who doubt and reinforce one another in resisting what His Spirit has urged them to overcome strengthen the opposing elements.
Counteracting His chosen workers and hindering His cause is scattering abroad and working at cross-purposes with God. Discouraging those doing their duty and tearing down the work rather than helping to gather, making their labors of no account, leading others by example to look to man instead of God, grasping and absorbing influences that obstruct the ordained light, and standing as a barrier to His work oppose Him. Refusing to advance with Him in the truth and standing in the way of others, using God-given abilities to discourage others and counteract their efforts to advance, and harsh unwise labor in overbearing unmeek manner that confuses and drives people from the fold fail to win people to Him. Sanctioning or carrying out decisions of men known to be out of harmony with truth and righteousness, sympathizing with the rightly reproved and suppressing faithful reproof, encouraging doubt and opposition as Wheeler and Aldrich did, rejecting heaven-sent light by standing between it and the people, opposing advance, refusing harmony and lacking union, and dividing churches as Satan sought at Monterey, weaken faith, take away relish for communion with God, and require open eyes and refusal to join what is known to be wrong.
Influence and Accountability
Surrounding every soul there is an influence that is either for or against truth and righteousness, with no neutral ground and no neutral position. To fail to gather with Christ is to scatter abroad and to be against Him. That influence is an important talent bought by Christ's blood, entrusted by God with time, means and ability, for which each person is accountable to God and responsible for the good left undone. When used on Christ's side it becomes a power unto eternal life, and those who by their influence gather with Him are given ability by angels to labor successfully for Him.
Not casting influence on Christ's side opens a person to be imbued with Satan's spirit and to act in unison with the enemy of good, giving to the cause of evil the influence and ability that belong to the cause of truth. Such a course dishonors Christ, disappoints angels, and violates the pledge made at baptism to serve Christ, to which faithfulness makes indifference to the work of saving souls impossible. Careless inattention to Christian duty therefore opposes His work and gives others an example to follow, while neglecting the privilege of connection with God forfeits the wisdom and grace that would make influence lead others to Jesus. A Christian's influence is never neutral but is used for good or evil, helping others toward heaven or driving them away, affecting the eternal destiny of men, women and youth, and God weighs actions and records them in heaven.
Whether a person serves Christ or opposes Him is shown by words, actions, spirit, dress, home life, business dealings and church relations, which either gather or scatter. Professing to serve God while serving mammon is not possible, and a professing Christian whose words and actions deny Christ exerts a harmful influence that confuses believers and leads some to mistake outward good works for faithfulness. Gathering with Christ means living in God's light and love, learning meekness and lowliness, obeying Him, keeping His commandments, abiding in His love, bearing the fruit of a living connection, receiving His light and sharing it with others. Conduct, kindness, patience and love must show faith's sanctifying, transforming power that stands trial.
Without Him thoughts, actions and influence cannot do good but scatter rather than gather, bringing either blessing or harm to both the one acting and to others. Actions form habits and habits form character, so unguarded habits leave a person unfit to join heavenly agents in salvation's work or to enter heaven, whereas those who enter have surrendered will and way to God, proved character through trial and become partakers of the divine nature. Associations and influences can hinder spiritual growth and weaken or misdirect powers, so Christ calls each person to use all abilities to gather with Him, and when influences impede that work to seek God's guidance and heed the convictions that lead to fuller service.
Indifference, doubt, suspicion, fear, indecision and failure to help build up God's people hinder the work, while firm, united action and earnest effort to advance His cause and save souls support and encourage others. Every person's influence therefore works either for Christ and His work or against them, either through careless indifference that hinders or through earnest effort that gathers. Neglecting duty harms the cause and leaves others to carry one's burdens, and turning from truth leads others away.
Calls to Specific Duties
When testing truth that points out duty from God's Word is presented, every hearer must decide at once to consecrate heart and mind to Christ, for there is no neutral ground, no neutral position, no neutral place, and no noncommittal middle. Each person must make openly known whose side he is on, come out and be separate with living faith, receive truth as God's Word, meet the claims of the gospel, and speak in season to awaken the careless and indifferent to eternal realities. Receiving the truth brings life and rejecting it brings death, so those who preach must urge hearers with earnestness, positiveness, and certainty to declare themselves willing for Christ now. In testing crisis God demands decided changes and decided efforts, while Satan lulls to sleep, and no one divided and undecided until sure of suffering no loss can be used, for those serving must be committed to do what is right in every circumstance, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit. To be for Christ and gather with Him is to lift the cross of Calvary, and lifting that cross lifts the lifter, standing in his own lot and place with resurrected faith and the ardor of a hero who endures seeing Him who is invisible, exerting a positive influence for good as a soldier of the cross, with practical Christianity revealing God's will in word and action and uplifting the Saviour before men so the world can tell by the fruits.
There is no middle ground in serving God, and compromise with the world cannot be joined with enjoying the Lord's blessing. God's people are to show plainly whom they serve, come out from the world and be separate from sin and worldly associations including secret societies, reject human yokes that prevent serving God, and take their stand with Christ in proclaiming the truth. Those who receive the light of truth are to seek and do God's will with living faith that sanctifies the character and transforms the life, shown in Christian cheerfulness, kindness, patience, forbearance, and love that stands the test of trial and proves the power of faith to the world. Christians are not to choose God's enemies as friends nor seek the company of people who reject faith in God, for rejecting Jesus' life and character places a person in opposition to God, company used by Satan scatters, and resistance to the Spirit makes one an active scatterer rather than a gatherer. Refusing daily conversion that separates from evil and supports evil through compromise leaves a person not fully with Christ and therefore against Him.
No one can remain neutral toward Christ, and ministers, church leaders, teachers, students, Sabbath-school teachers, publishing and sanitarium workers, and parents are each either gathering with Him or scattering abroad by example and influence. Preachers and people who fail to stand decisively for what is right risk siding with the powers of darkness, and Sabbath-school teachers who do not value Christ personally or feel a burden to lead souls to Him become indifferent and careless, with a spirit that can lead pupils away from Christ. Workers in a sanitarium and in the Health Retreat whose influence refuses the Spirit and opposes God's plans and principles become a hindrance who scatters rather than a spiritual help, even if contributing skill or knowledge, for faithful devoted service matters more than talent without connection to God. Students who accept Christ are to put influence on God's side, work with Christ, and help lead others into the safe path, and at school gathering with Christ means building up the work by hearing and keeping God's Word rather than spreading disaffection, suspicion, envy, and criticism or standing idle, which tears down. Unfaithful, harsh, self-exalting, or worldly courses that discourage churches, restrain generosity, spread disaffection, criticism, envy, worldly amusement, deceptive teachings, or false reports work against Christ and require separation from office, while faithful devoted service, feeding on the Word, and training children in home religion and practical industry gather with Him.
Being with Christ means giving Him the heart, thoughts, affections, and energies and joining in His work, so wavering partial surrender leaves a person opposed to Christ in practice. Wavering and repeatedly turning back from surrender, knowing the truth yet repeatedly neglecting the Spirit's calls and warnings even without open opposition, hardens the conscience until it is less responsive, turns light into darkness, and places the person against the truth on the enemy's side. To fail to gather is to scatter through evil influence, idleness, and neglect of the Lord's work, and no idler or slothful one who neglects that work will be found inside the kingdom of heaven. Scattering by worldly trash and idols in the heart, anger, selfishness, covetousness, and refusal of restriction grieves Christ and advances Satan's interests unto one's own destruction, while vigilance, tenderness, the righteousness of Christ, keeping the soul in God's love, and deliberately directing mind and action toward Christ are required in the short time before the closing scenes, needing Jehovah's life-giving power as mighty powers seek to destroy.