Romans 14:12, commentary and pictures

Every person will stand before the judgment seat of God, which is the judgment seat of Christ, and answer to God for himself and his own life. No one answers for another, and responsibility cannot be transferred, done by proxy, or excused by another's wrongdoing, authority, or approval. Because Christ alone who took humanity and lived perfectly has been made Judge, no person has been appointed judge of others or set over mind and conscience to condemn and control. The reckoning is kept in heaven's books and renders to each according to works, covering time, talents, means, opportunities, influence, words, and neglected good left undone. Therefore each is to live daily as in God's sight, in personal dependence on Him, examining self rather than brother and using all entrusted powers faithfully to prepare for the soon-coming judgment.

Verse Setting and Meaning

So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God means every person will stand before the judgment seat of God and answer to God for himself. That seat is the judgment seat of Christ, where all stand and where every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess to God. Each person is individually accountable to God for himself, faithful or not, and must answer for his own life, conduct, and service. This personal accountability is reason to conduct every business transaction righteously and to live in God's sight.

Its immediate setting forbids judging a brother or despising him or setting him at naught, and commands stopping judgment of one another. In place of judging, the command is to judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way. Believers are to take care not to put a stumbling block in another person's way, including leading others into temptation by placing stumbling blocks through influence. Instead they are to love one another as brethren, while a variety of gifts each find their proper place and grow into a holy temple in the Lord.

This accountability rests on Christ, who lived and died as a man and rose and revived to be Lord of both the dead and the living. Having been executed in man's stead, He purchased human life to make it impossible to lose eternal life by believing and to make immortality possible. Therefore no one lives to himself or dies to himself but lives and dies to the Lord, and human life is precious to God. Together with Romans 12 the verse is the voice of God to those engaged in the work of health reform, to be studied and made a guide for future labors. That study calls for self-denial and self-sacrifice and simple, healthful living in order to understand and do the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Personal Accountability to God

Every person, faithful or unfaithful, whether professing to be Christian or not, must give account to God for himself, for his own life, conduct, deeds, actions and service, with neglect of divine claims and slighted opportunities for mercy charged to the account to be investigated, and with the nearness of judgment calling for powers to be used to do good rather than harm and for the self to be given wholly to God. Knowing this personal accountability, taking the responsibility upon oneself instead of leaving it upon another, being faithful, and keeping the fear of God continually before the mind keeps from going astray and brings divine approval.

Each answers for himself and not for others, and for his own sins only, for no one is a sin-bearer for others, carrying his own sins being hard enough, and no one connected with the work can lay his own mistakes and sins upon another whatever course that other may have taken. One who has been gathering up a great burden of others' misdoings is to lay that burden and himself at the feet of Jesus to be relieved of it, to lay down the sins of others and not load himself down with them, and to break away from the enemy at once, while having the Word of God brings responsibility to be humble and to walk in the light, showing by words and works a longing after God, even the living God. Seeing faults in fellow believers and condemning their course does not excuse or offset any of one's own errors, for other people are not the standard and Christ's character and faultless life provide the perfect pattern.

The responsibility cannot be transferred to someone else, done by proxy, sold, taken over by others, or submerged in another, for God entrusts gifts, work, talents, influence, mind, judgment, tact and wisdom to people as individuals to be used under His direction and traded and exercised by each for himself. Each must be convicted, converted, believe, obey, and work out salvation for himself, living his own life according to God's Word and answering to God for his own record and stewardship, with work judged according to his own ability and not measured against another's example nor required to follow another's exact plan. Even a person in a lofty position is not ruler over others and holding higher office does not make one more trustworthy, while having a lower position does not make responsibility small, for each person's influence and responsibility matter regardless of age or position and each must use abilities diligently and do his best, with no person to be subject to another and no one ordained to lift himself up in vanity to rule and command and judge and condemn and censure another or to climb upon the judgment seat to take the position of commander, because there is but one Lawgiver. All who are redeemed by the blood of the only begotten Son of God are amenable to God directly, and those sanctified through the grace Christ bestows will love God supremely and neighbor as self and in every particular act out the example of the Lord Jesus in loving righteousness and hating iniquity.

Another person's disobedience, influence, wrongdoing, defects, approval, opposition, numbers, standing, or religious authority cannot excuse neglecting God's commandments, does not excuse one's own sin and guilt, and does not lessen condemnation, for each must choose to serve God, set his own heart in order, remember God's claims, and answer for his own actions, course, influence and its consequences. Knowing the right way but choosing not to follow it leaves a person without excuse and subject to just condemnation, and the bad example of others does not remove personal responsibility. A person's standing is determined by real character before God, not by the approval or opposition of a group or by another's judgment, and while the church can warn, counsel and admonish it cannot compel obedience, so whoever disregards God's word bears responsibility for his own course. No one can pardon another's sins, and leading others into sin also brings responsibility for that influence.

Therefore each must live in personal dependence on God, act as God moves upon him rather than merely following another's mind or merely voicing another's words, seek personal guidance and to be impressed and directed by the Spirit, and learn truth for himself from Scripture with divine help rather than rely on what others have thought or learned or surrender mind and conscience to human control. This personal accountability means no one may control another's mind, judge another's conscience, prescribe another's duty, or dictate detailed rules for how God's agents must carry out their work, but each is free to think and follow personal convictions and Christ's disciples are to be treated as brethren. No one is to surrender responsibility by relying unquestioningly on human guidance or by allowing others to dictate what to do, say, or where to go, and counsel should be followed only when there is evidence that those giving it are guided by God's Spirit, with each diligently studying Scripture, comparing its teachings, forming convictions with divine help, and living according to the light received.

No one is his own, but is bought with a price by Christ's blood, with body, spirit, time, words, influence, means and physical, mental and moral powers belonging to God to glorify God and respond to Christ, which makes life intensely solemn and plainly to be shown in words and actions. To every man is assigned his particular sphere, place and work, and God asks no more and no less from the lowliest as well as the greatest than that they fulfil their calling, putting talents to use to increase the Master's gift and bless others with blessings given, with each at the judgment receiving a reward proportionate to efforts. Because time is very short not a moment is to be lost but all is to be used in work for eternity, seeking from Jesus His Holy Spirit and clear spiritual eyesight to approve things that are excellent and to shun every false path, and in a time of temptation and trial that is a life-or-death question looking well to steps, listening to no human promises, believing only the Word of God that makes wise unto salvation, refusing to trust the deceitful and desperately wicked heart, acting in decided obedience to plain directions of the Word, seeing and avoiding every snare, and clinging to Jesus with heart and soul and mind and strength. Life is a test of character reaching a turning point of decision whether to follow personal devising and refuse light with mind and heart cast into the scale of evil or to be on the Lord's side in whole-souled service, a choice proved when the helps of school and scriptural instruction are left behind and permitted temptations test and prove the character, and how much misuse of entrusted goods in unnecessary channels for self-gratification and selfish indulgences has hindered spiritual advancement eternity alone will reveal.

God does not compel obedience or override the will, but people are accountable for how they use capacities and reason, including weakness, disobedience, impurity, evil thoughts and evil deeds, and each is free to choose obedience or disobedience and thereby decides eternal destiny. God has provided a way to immortality through His Son, but that provision does not remove personal responsibility, and words and actions are tested by God's high standard with those that fail it leading to eternal retribution.

Christ Alone as Judge

Christ has been made Judge, and the Father is not the Judge and the angels are not, but only He who took humanity upon Himself and lived a perfect life in this world can be Judge. Because judgment belongs to Christ alone, no one has been appointed to be a judge of others, and it is all anyone can do to discipline himself. Placing oneself on the judgment-seat is forbidden, and brethren, ministers, fathers and mothers are called to come down from it in humility.

All are answerable to God and will be judged by Jesus Christ, and therefore people must not judge one another. Every person is accountable and responsible to God in view of the future judgment, and the opening of God's Word gives a new revelation of His dealings with the world and with individuals in working out His great plan so that people realize this accountability. At that judgment Jesus Christ, who died to make cleansing from sin and keeping God's commandments possible and who serves as Redeemer and Advocate, will be Judge.

Every person is individually accountable to God, for in the judgment God examines each person with searching scrutiny, as if no one else were being judged. No one can rely on another person's purity or devotion. This personal accountability calls each person to repentance and earnest preparation during probation.

Not Judging One Another

Because judgment belongs to Christ alone, who took humanity and lived a perfect life in this world, no one has been appointed to be a judge of others. The Father is not the Judge and the angels are not, for only He can be Judge, and each will answer for himself to God and be judged by Jesus Christ. The verse therefore forbids placing oneself on the judgment seat, calling brethren, ministers, fathers and mothers to come down from it in humility, since it is all anyone can do to discipline himself. No one man nor any number of men should take that seat to rule, command, condemn and censure, and those who lose sight of their own imperfect character yet press discontented words on their brethren and pass judgment on the ways and works of Christ in the person of His saints will meet every deed written in the books. In light of that accountability believers should live in God's sight, remember their own errors, and act with humility, fairness and care rather than condemning others.

Personal accountability means no one may control another's mind, judge another's conscience, or prescribe another's duty, for each is free to think and follow personal convictions before God. Each must act as God moves upon them rather than merely following another person's mind, otherwise they are restrained from freedom of action and choice and cannot be impressed and directed by the Spirit. This responsibility supports treating Christ's disciples as brethren and cautions against dictating detailed rules for how God's agents must carry out their work. No one is to surrender individual responsibility by relying unquestioningly on human guidance or allowing others to dictate what to do, say, or where to go, and counsel should be followed only when there is evidence those giving it are guided by God's Spirit. God does not exalt one man to control the mind and practices of another, so no man in trust is to put a yoke of human sayings and customs opposed to the Lord's word upon fellowmen, command with You shall and You shall not, take authority over God's purchased possession never given him, or lord it over God's heritage.

The right end of all government is shelter and protection, as in the tree that sheltered beasts and birds and as in Nebuchadnezzar's compassionate rule when rightly exercised, and a man in trust guided by God's Spirit will protect the weak, relieve the needy, and look after the widow and fatherless. Every person remains Christ's property and answerable to Him alone, keeping an individuality no other person can claim. Therefore no minister, however great the work he has done in leading souls to truth, gains ownership over those converted through him, and no convert is to place himself under the minister's control, for ministry must bring souls directly to Christ. God's law serves as a mirror for finding and correcting one's own character defects, not for judging whether a neighbor meets the standard, and no one can do another's work of self-examination or answer in that person's place. Being right with God is personal work between God and one's own soul, so watching others' faults while neglecting self-examination turns the mind from God and truth, and persistent fault-finding and gossip must be abandoned lest the fault-finder find fault even with the Lord.

Each must answer to God for his own conduct, and every unjust act, harsh word, and decision that harms others will come into judgment with motives behind actions and their effects on people made plain. This calls for repentance, confession and faith in Christ, and warns against harsh speech and condemning others. Everyone must labor as one who will give account of himself to God, which requires guarding the interests of one another and living out the truth, and when someone is seen doing wrong requires going directly to him in the meekness of Christ to show him what it is to be a Christian instead of going to others about him and thereby strengthening him in the wrong way. God sees unequal and unjust treatment in wages and will call those responsible to account, because He is just and equitable. A person's standing is determined by real character before God, not by approval or opposition of a group or by another's judgment, so the church can warn, counsel and admonish but cannot compel obedience, and whoever disregards God's word bears responsibility for his own course and its consequences, as the church in Fresno will also answer for exalting a man and encouraging him in a way that turned his head. Accountability includes obeying God's holy law in conduct toward others because God reads the heart, so receiving the affections of someone married to another violates that law and wrongs the spouse.

Placing an obstacle through speech that obstructs a fellow Christian is something to settle with God, for each must answer for himself. Each is answerable to God for his own actions and influence, including leading others into temptation by placing stumbling blocks in their way. Those who by example lead weaker believers into temptation will have a fearful account to give at the final reckoning, being held responsible for the harm their example causes. A student who acts wrongly and becomes an agent of Satan by placing stumbling blocks in others' way is accountable to God for that influence.

The Final Reckoning

The reckoning takes place at the day of judgment, the day of God, when each one's life-work is investigated and every action, including sins of unfulfilled duty, passes in review before God in the investigative judgment that will take place soon. Daily words and works pass into eternity carrying the burden of record, and everyone will receive according to the things done, whether good or evil. Few are genuinely daily converted to stand that review, and to see its genuine truth would bring deep conviction and awaken a true sense that daily conversion to the mind and will of Christ is necessary. The warning applies with special force to those peculiarly favored with great light, not left in ignorance of the will of God, made in a special sense the depositaries of His commandments and entrusted with the most solemn message of mercy ever given to the world. Such exalted position and sacred obligation require being a separate, peculiar, holy people, obedient and devotional children walking in the light far in advance of the present state, with the light reflected from heaven given not for benefit alone but to shine forth to others and be reflected again to God by those who receive the truth glorifying Him, so that neglect to walk in the light and spread it is the sin for which account must be given. Mothers and fathers must answer for neglected work in their families at home, and all who are called to be working burden-bearers with the cause of God at heart must answer for their own life.

Heaven keeps the record in books, where every deed is written for that reckoning and all sins are faithfully recorded to be judged according to what was done. God is always present and takes notice of all that people do, whether good or evil, and no one can escape His authority or the claims of His law. He sees even the most secret thoughts, motives, desires, and purposes, and transgressors of His law must render a fearful account at His judgment. Those who frame falsehoods and stir discord will face this reckoning, for their falsehoods and sins are recorded in heaven. The account covers not only shrewd, scheming transactions themselves, such as unjust dealing with means meant for His work including profits that should have gone to start and sustain the work in the Southern field, but all the good that money might have accomplished if a covetous spirit had not intercepted it, with all transactions written in God's book. Because each one answers to God, no one man nor any number of men should take the judgment seat, yet when they lose sight of their own imperfect character they still press discontented words on their brethren and pass judgment on the ways and works of Christ in the person of His saints.

People are justified by faith and judged by their works, for God holds each one accountable for how gifts and responsibilities entrusted are used, and only for the work He has placed in their hands. God renders to each person according to work, so that neglecting the fatherless and the widow and failing to use money and influence entrusted to relieve suffering will be charged to those who could have helped, and liquor sellers will answer for tempting others into destructive appetite. At the judgment each person's life-work is examined, each receives according to things done, and each receives a reward proportionate to efforts, therefore each should now put talents to use to increase the Master's gift and bless others with blessings given.

Each will meet his own work, be judged for deeds done in the body, and stand before God to hear a sentence, and the number of people who share a sinful practice neither excuses the wrongdoing nor lessens its condemnation. Even when the truth about faulty or apparently unreliable bookkeeping is not known in this life, every person's work will be reviewed before God, the invisible Bookkeeper. Physicians and all others connected with a sanitarium must meet their own work in the judgment and give account for the work done. When all accounts are settled, those who reject God's testimonies will face them at the judgment. Both the giver and the receivers of a Heaven-given testimony of reproof will meet that testimony again and answer to God for their relation to it, for despising the testimony and speaking bitterly against brethren and organization because of it is sin against God as Author of the testimony rather than against the humble human instrument, injures the opposer's own soul, and makes work for repentance.

This personal accountability calls each person to repentance and earnest preparation during probation, for in the judgment God examines each person with searching scrutiny, as if no one else were being judged, so no one can rely on another person's purity or devotion. It calls for repentance, confession, and faith in Christ, while every unjust act, harsh word, and decision that harms others will come into judgment with motives behind actions and their effects on people made plain, warning against harsh speech and condemning others. Claims must be settled, so neglecting duty in giving, holding back what belongs to God day by day, breaking vows and leaving pledges unpaid is guilt that should trouble the conscience and bring remorse, calling for awakening, new and deeper conviction, and earnest attention. Life must be ordered and fashioned as in the eye of the great Taskmaster, with the account borne constantly in mind by cultivating spirituality and testing character by God's standard of right, and those professing great light cannot be content with a low level. With the end of all things at hand and the Judge of all the earth standing at the door, no course of sin, unholy thought, or base passion can be cherished guiltlessly in full view of pure angels and of the Redeemer who gave Himself to redeem from all iniquity and purify a peculiar people zealous of good works, for seen in the light shining from the cross sin is too mean, perilous, and fearful to indulge. Only seeking the divine presence, watching continually unto prayer, doing everything as in the immediate presence of God, and holding the beginning of confidence firm unto the end keeps feet from forbidden paths and keeps pure, spotless, and undefiled until what grace has begun is crowned with glory in the kingdom of God.

Time Talents and Opportunity

Every one must answer to God for time, talents, possessions, and every physical, mental, and moral faculty, for none of these are his own but are entrusted by God as capital to be improved with usury. God alone gives all benefits and alone can give wisdom to use them for His purposes, and He sees hearts and character when men do not see themselves aright, seeing where uncorrected wrongs would make His work and cause suffer. To every man is assigned his particular sphere, place, and work, and God asks no more and no less from the lowliest than from the greatest except to fulfill his calling, for men are not their own property to exercise will and discretion as if they were, being bought with the blood of the Son of God. Talents, time, influence, abilities, and skill are gifts held in trust to be used for Him and to uplift humanity, and God tests by giving opportunities to prove faithful and will require His own with usury. Right use of powers honoring and glorifying God prepares for eternal life in His kingdom, unto perfection as God is perfect in divine character.

Time is God's time and a talent in trust, and precious hours wantonly thrown away must be accounted for and will be brought into judgment with every work. The reckoning covers idleness and indolence, for lost hours are gone yet must be answered for, including time excused as lack of time for learning Sabbath-school lessons when interest could have found time. It covers hours spent in needless display and trimming of dresses for display that cultivates pride and vanity, in needless ornamentation and dress, in amusement and sight-seeing, and in idle talk and idle conversation, all of which is sin. Each is accountable for the wise improvement of every mental faculty and every physical power, and for the influence exerted on others, which cannot be measured because a small defect reproduced in others in greater degree increases and perpetuates evil. Each must give solemn account in the judgment for how God-given powers were appropriated, including whether self was placed where attracted to Christ and heaven or to earth and hell, for no one is his own to dispose of himself as he thinks best, being purchased at dear price by the blood of Jesus for redemption. Therefore in temptation and trial, which is a life-or-death question, steps must be watched, no human promises listened to, only the Word of God believed that makes wise unto salvation, the deceitful and desperately wicked heart not trusted, plain directions obeyed decidedly, every snare of Satan seen and avoided, and Jesus clung to with heart and soul and mind and strength.

Each is assessed according to what was received and can do, not by comparison with greater means or strength, and work is judged according to own ability, not measured against another's example nor required to follow another's exact plan. This calls each to do duty where placed, to make best use of opportunities, to use small opportunities and do ordinary and humble or low-paid work with sound principles rather than refuse it and waste time, and not to complain of smaller talents or envy others. Influence and responsibility matter regardless of age or position, for holding higher office does not make one more trustworthy and holding lower position does not make responsibility small, and each must use abilities diligently and do his best. Stewardship cannot be transferred, sold, or taken over by another, whether another person, publishing house, or conference; no one can trade, serve, write, or exercise mind, judgment, tact, and wisdom on another's behalf, and even one in lofty position is not ruler over others but must live his own life by God's Word and answer for his own record. Each must trade with what Christ has lent to be improved in His service and show returns in results and increase proportionate to talents bestowed, including ordinary duties of life and home life made acceptable to God in blessing humanity and glorifying His holy name. Nothing God has given is left out of His reckoning even when left out of human reckoning, no plea that God does not expect strictness in little things removes the debt, and unused talents still count against the holder and testify against him.

Each must answer for opportunities, privileges, meetings heard, and every ray of light shining on the pathway, according to whether it was improved to grow in divine things or rejected to follow inclination and desire. Neglect of God's claims and slighting of opportunities for mercy are charged to the account and will be considered when every soul's account is investigated, whether professing Christian or not. Those given great light and entrusted with sacred truth, peculiarly favored and not left in ignorance of God's will, made in a special sense depositaries of His commandments and entrusted with the most solemn message of mercy ever given, will give a fearful account on the day of God if they neglect duty to live by that light and share it. Such exalted position and sacred obligation require being a separate, peculiar, holy people, obedient and devotional children walking in the light far in advance of the present state, for light reflected from heaven is given not for benefit alone but to shine to others and be reflected again to God by those receiving truth to His glory. The coming judgment makes each accountable for using abilities and opportunities in service to Christ, including efforts to lead others to truth, and this belongs to every church member, not only ministers.

The account covers not only what was done, good or evil, in thoughts, words, and deeds, but also good that could have been done and was left undone through shunning work, living for self, and lack of full devotion to God. Failing to use the grace, strength, wisdom, and knowledge Christ provides leaves accountability for failing to honor God and help save others, and knowing God's will without doing it demands manifest reformation lest Christ's commendation as good and faithful servant be lost. It includes influence that could have been used to do right but was not used, and endowments put to the enemy's service to lead others away from truth, moral integrity, and holiness, and when evil in others is strengthened or activated there is a share in their sin to be answered for with its neglected opportunities. A physician who weakens physical and mental powers by selfish indulgence must answer for the good he could have done but failed to do and for his example's influence on others. Above all each must answer for his own course in loving souls for whom Christ died and going into the harvest field to labor as Jesus worked, and those who refuse to be disciplined to work under the Captain of salvation, keeping their own way and letting inclination govern so duty is not seen, must answer for that refusal and neglect, including neglect to labor for souls, to warn cities, and to help others learn truth.
Ministers, teachers, physicians, restaurant workers, and all connected with God's work must give account for talents, time, and work done, and every one must meet his own work in the judgment. Each minister, including those teaching truth and standing between the living and the dead, must answer for the work coming from his hands, take his calling seriously, and recognize he will give account for his service, with solemn reckoning for unfaithful service that did not lay hold on God's strength and work with His Spirit to save perishing souls. Ministers who waste time in idleness and neglect of Bible study must answer for lost opportunities, for such neglect displeases God and leaves them unprepared to teach the Scriptures fully. Physicians and all others connected with a sanitarium, and every one connected with God's work in any line, must move carefully, for he must answer for words, spirit, and every plan, device, and method set in operation, doing daily work with God-fearing exactitude as if the heavenly universe looked down, guarding words and impulses of the heart in the fear and love of God under His special direction, with God first and last and best in everything. Capabilities are God's gifts as owner of every talent, to be invested in His work with sense of the sacredness of the cause and honor of cooperating with Him, putting self out of sight and trusting Him so no good thing is lacking, setting aim high, acting even outside assigned lines when need requires, and standing purified in Christ's righteousness to prepare a people to stand in the great day of test and trial that will try every soul.

Each must render an exact account for amusement and recreation in the improvement of time and abilities and privileges enjoyed. Variation from taxing work and change that refreshes for greater usefulness is allowed, but trifling away precious moments in selfish indulgence is condemned. Only amusement that can be engaged in asking God's blessing upon it in faith is not dangerous, while any amusement that disqualifies for secret prayer, for devotion at the altar of prayer, or for taking part in the prayer meeting is not safe but dangerous. Following the fashions and follies of the day falls under the reckoning, for minds devoted almost entirely to arranging dress according to fashion instead of being developed and strengthened by proper cultivation are dwarfed and crippled, and those professing to follow Jesus Christ yet serving worldly fashions and delighting in new inventions in styles and deformities of dress must answer for it. Keeping heaps of fiction magazines and putting their poison into minds of family members and others must also be answered for, for even a little truth mixed in does not cure the poison of the rest, and bringing the devil's work of fiction into the home leaves the introducer accountable. A husband and father must face his responsibilities and do his individual work faithfully by religious principles according to what God expects in the use of time and the duties and talents entrusted to him. Every person has individual responsibilities and must give the trumpet a certain sound, setting the saving truths of the gospel before the world to glorify God's name, stem moral corruption, restore the moral image of God in man, and carry the third angel's message with power as the last testing message to a fallen world before probation closes.

Money and Possessions

Every one will give account to God for the means entrusted to him, for money, property, pay, profit, and all that he handles is the Lord's money held in trust to be used wisely for His glory and greatest good. Each person, each family, and each institution must answer individually as a steward, no matter how large income or possessions, for all profit, pay, time, talents, and opportunities come from Him and must be rendered back to Him as His own. Those entrusted with means are accountable for supporting the work of God with them, and shifting that responsibility to children, withholding funds, or allowing them to be squandered does not remove the reckoning for unfaithfulness. Those who travel without a duty or message from God must answer for the money so spent, since it could have supported His cause, and those able to work with their hands are accountable for their strength just as others are accountable for their property. Ministers as servants of the Master are connected with God and entrusted with means for His cause, requiring well-balanced, sound stewardship that denies self, keeps careful track of outgoes rather than trusting defective memory, avoids self-indulgent travel and needless expenditure for personal gratification and to please children's desires, and bears the expense of children's schooling rather than letting it fall on the cause. God constantly tests whether the work is free from selfishness and pride and allows no thread of selfishness woven into His work, and the richest reward goes to workers who prove they love God supremely and their neighbor as themselves.

Money spent on vanity, luxuries, selfish wants, and needless adornment must be accounted for before God, while those who deny themselves to help others are faithful stewards of His gifts. In the day of judgment each must give account for every cent and dollar misspent, including money wasted to gratify selfish feeling by buying costly Bibles when a cheaper Bible contains all the words of God and answers the same purpose, with messengers held to be examples to the flock in this stewardship. Means that flowed in unnecessary channels for self-gratification and selfish indulgences does the soul only harm and is worse than lost, instead of being invested in the upbuilding of the cause and rendered to the Lord as His own, for no one is his own but is bought with a price and body and spirit are God's to glorify God and respond to Christ. Every member of the family should have taken this into account, and how much such misuse has hindered spiritual advancement eternity alone will reveal. In the day of final reckoning the Lord will deal with each soul individually, requiring answer for time and money lent in trust, and none will feel justified in saying it was spent for self, for dress and amusements, while fellow beings in the unworked South were left in ignorance and sin, especially old colored men and women deprived for generations of educational advantages who should have been taught how to read. Whether money that belongs to the Lord is spent on worldly investments and pride and selfish indulgence or given to meet the needs of missionary work is part of that personal answer.

Those who neglect the needs of God's servants are accountable not only for selfish use of the Lord's money, but also for the discouragement and heartache they cause, which can hinder the servants' work. Every person has an account to settle with God for unjust dealing with means meant for His work, including the profits of the Gospel Primer that should have gone to start and sustain the work in the Southern field. The account covers not only the shrewd, scheming transactions themselves but all the good that money might have accomplished if a covetous spirit had not intercepted it. All transactions are written in God's book, and those who acted a part with pen or voice must repent, confess, and make full restitution, or they will meet their work in the judgment with all its evil results and consequences. Those responsible for permitting funds raised for the Southern field to be diverted must answer to God for the work left undone, for those who selfishly withhold needed means are accountable for the consequences of that neglect. Those entrusted with leading influence in the churches are answerable for whether by word or influence they hold the church back from responding to appeals for donations to provide schoolhouses and places of worship for Black people in the South, and people entrusted with means are answerable to God alone for how they use them and may give direct help to missions, while misuse of funds has hindered the work in the South.

Each will answer to God in the last day and His claims must be settled, and this applies to beneficence and promises. Neglecting duty in giving, holding back what belongs to God day by day, breaking vows and leaving pledges unpaid is guilt that should trouble the conscience and bring remorse. Such guilt calls for awakening, new and deeper conviction, and earnest attention.

Influence Words and Example

Every one must answer to God for the influence exerted and the impressions made in daily associations. That responsibility cannot be measured, for what appears as a small defect of character is reproduced in others in greater degree, so that evil influence is increased and perpetuated. Those whose position and example affect others bear greater responsibility when they fail to regulate conduct by the Bible standard, and must give account if their influence draws others away from God toward vanity, folly, and selfish pleasure. Those who profess sanctification while acting with pride, selfishness, or unkindness must answer for misleading others and bringing Bible sanctification into contempt, whereas true sanctification is shown by humility and conduct that displays Christ. When a person strengthens or activates evil in those around them, they share in that sin and must answer for that influence and for the good they could have done but failed to do. No action is hidden from God and the angels, and conduct both reveals the character being formed and affects others.

Leading others into sin brings responsibility for that influence, and another person's disobedience, influence, or religious authority cannot excuse neglecting God's commandments. Each must answer for how money and influence entrusted by God are used, and at the judgment neglecting the fatherless and the widow and failing to use resources to relieve suffering will be charged to those who could have helped. Liquor sellers will answer for tempting others into destructive appetite, and heaven keeps a record of these deeds, for God renders to each according to work. Those who lead weaker believers into temptation through example will have a fearful account to give at the final reckoning. That account includes opportunities given, when time is spent on unessential matters instead of earnest work for those ready to perish while the Lord's coming is at hand and the cities testify of corruption. It includes murders done under the influence of poisoned liquor, for men in high authority who know its influence and allow liquor stores to stay open will give account to God for those murders because they allowed them, and no one can avoid responsibility to come to the front and do everything possible to hedge the way of this iniquity and take temptation away with an eye single to God's glory.

Teachers must render account to God for every impression made upon pupils' minds and for the mold given to character, because pupils are God's property. Meeting this accountability requires thinking less of self and being more deeply interested in the prosperity and success of pupils, and when teachers do this their school will attract angels, Jesus will look lovingly upon the teachers' work and will send His grace into students' hearts. Those who frame falsehoods and stir discord will face this reckoning, for all such sins are faithfully recorded in heaven and they will be judged according to what they have done. Those who spread false reports and mislead others must answer to God for what they have done, for each person is accountable in the judgment. Turning aside God's counsel or weakening His people's confidence in His message is rebellion against God for which each must answer for himself.

Every one must give account for the fruits revealed in associations and influence over others, especially the youth misled as by a false guidepost pointing the wrong way, for no friend can pay ransom for another soul and everyone who is saved must be saved by his own faith in Jesus Christ. Self-indulgence and trifling influence stand exposed before God and holy angels, and each person's record stands written in the book of God's account with its burden of record. Henry must answer for the influence he exerts over his brothers and for whether he neglects his duties toward them, and the first-born eldest bears responsibility because the salvation of younger brothers depends much on the course he pursues. This requires loving brothers and keeping regular seasons of prayer for and with each other, and not letting love for writing and study divert the mind and cause neglect of duties that ought to be done. A person is responsible for leading another into habits of disobedience and concealment and prevarication, for doing wrong and enjoining secrecy, for causing another to evade with "I don't know" when he does know and thus to lie to conceal cherished projects, and for reasoning and making wrong appear smooth until another adopts that view and is in danger of losing candor and frankness. Such leading injures the mind, blunts the fine sense of right, and destroys candor, frankness, truthfulness and character, and the responsibility is weighty, yielding the mind to Satan's control and hindering labor among God's people. More is expected of one blessed with good instruction than of others generally, and vanity and pride and gratifying cherished projects against known duty increase the account to be rendered.

Paul knew he would meet each hearer before heaven's tribunal and give account not only for words and actions but also for motives and spirit. When the word of life is held forth, speaker and hearers stand together as before the judgment seat of God where every one must give account of himself to God, so nothing must be left unsaid that might influence a soul to make peace with God. Those entrusted with responsibility for educating others will be called to account if their influence gives others a wrong bias, and in the final reckoning an unfaithful servant will face the consequences of that unfaithfulness. His judgments may be delayed, but they will come upon the unfaithful servant. Stewards are under God's jurisdiction and must give account to Him for speech, words, spirit, plans, devices, methods, and actions, working with God-fearing exactitude as if heaven looked on.

Those who burden God's servants with trials they should settle themselves will answer to God for the time and means spent gratifying their own demands. Musical talent is a gift from God to be consecrated to His service, and each person is accountable for using it to glorify God rather than to please self or those who do not fear God.

Parents and Children

Parents must answer to God for how they treat their children, including the food they give them and the way they manage and discipline them. That answer covers the influence exercised over children entrusted to them as those who belong to the Lord. At the final reckoning each person must answer to God, and parents bear fearful responsibility for the children they have shaped, so that children whose lives have been ruined by appetite and vice will face those parents. Parents will be held responsible for neglecting the duty to train their children and for passing on habits and appetites that helped lead them into ruin. They will answer for indulging their children's unreasonable wishes, with responsibility including training children to accept a refusal in the right spirit and as final. They must answer for feeding children in ways that harm health and weaken moral and intellectual faculties.

The day of accounts will test a mother's work, with failures and crimes traceable to neglect of the duty to guide children, while lasting usefulness of people of integrity reflects careful religious training by a praying mother. Every mother must answer to God for her work as a mother, and that work will be tested in the solemn day of accounts. Then it will be shown that many failures and crimes of adult men and women resulted from ignorance and gross neglect by those whose duty was to guide childish feet in the right way. Then it will also be shown that many who blessed the world with genius and truth and holiness owed the firm principles and integrity behind their usefulness and success to the careful religious training of a praying Christian mother, which makes a mother's moments priceless. A mother is accountable for how she uses her influence and fulfills the responsibility entrusted to her to train her children.

Every parent, and especially every mother, will answer to God in the day of God for the children given and entrusted to her care as His property. She stands in the place of God to her children to do a work for eternity, to train them for Jesus with self-controlled pure characters, to refuse disobedience, pride, vanity and worldly amusements, to tell them why, and to teach them to bring their troubles to Jesus in prayer. Her duty and her failure are written in the books of heaven. If she watches, warns, teaches the right way, and prays earnestly even through the night to break the enemy's spell, she will stand clear before God even if her children turn from her into paths of wickedness, and they will then suffer for their own sins.

A father or mother who oppresses young people or lays burdens on them that God's Word does not warrant will have to render an account to Him. Every person must answer to God as Judge of all the earth for wicked deeds done in this life. A father who by deceit takes little children from their mother, leaving her broken-hearted, must give account for that cruelty, and God will not permit such cruelty to go unpunished. The reckoning is weightier because children are the Lord's property, bought with the price of the Son of God.

For fathers and mothers the day of final account includes a weight of crime charged for physical and moral harm done to children by wrong habits. Parents who fail to teach right and appropriate use of eating and drinking and dressing, who indulge appetite and allow stimulants and narcotics and food loaded with condiments and spices, must answer for that neglect and example. Parents who by their own use of tobacco and liquor poison their blood and transmit vitiated appetites and feeble moral powers to their children render youth less susceptible to Bible instruction and perpetuate their own sins in their offspring.

Caring for children is a trust for which account must be rendered to the Lord, because they are members of His family. A stepmother who accepted responsibility for her husband's children will face a fearful account for failing to care for and love them. Every person must answer to God for himself for whether Christianity is in the heart and in the home life. That reckoning requires thorough individual work done now, humbling oneself before God and educating children, with a deeper experience and deeper conversion, especially in leading men, lest hindering causes create divisions and disappointment.

Body Health and Habits

Each must answer to God at the final judgment for conduct, including the choices made about personal health. Living unnaturally, using harmful stimulants or poisonous drugs, and neglecting the laws of mind and body are wrongs for which a person is accountable. Each is individually accountable for personal habits and practices, including how the body is treated. The body belongs to Christ, so health practices are a personal duty governed by God's laws, not by the customs of the world.

Transgressing the laws of physical life is also sin against God, so indulging appetite in ways that harm the body brings accountability at the judgment. This includes the voluntary use of tobacco, for which users must answer for cultivating an appetite and a will that enslave them. That use damages physical and spiritual health, clouds the mind, and influences others, including families. Reckless neglect of the laws governing the body God formed for His service disorders the body and brings disease and suffering. That misery and death extend to children and later generations.

Every person must soon give an account to God of life-work, having been created to glorify God as Creator. Iniquity, pride, vanity, self-indulgence, indulgence of appetite for liquor and tobacco, and engrossment in gaining wealth and making a display dishonor Him as Creator. So controlled and so engrossed in the things of this world that there is no time to study God's Word or think seriously of spiritual welfare, men and women hurry on without remedying mistakes and scarcely think of this reckoning. Thus they neglect to prepare for the judgment, while the wrath of God is soon to fall upon the ungodly and the world is led captive through worship of self and riches.

Living Ready Every Day

Before resting at night each is to ask what can be done to glorify God and whether the day's actions have glorified Him, doing a humble individual part with God and speaking timely words that bring blessing, for each must answer to God for his own life and remain watchful because time to prepare for the future life is short. No moments may be spent in indifference, for every one must give account of himself to God for time, words, and influence. Because time is very short, not a moment is to be lost but all is to be used in work for eternity, seeking from Jesus His Holy Spirit and clear spiritual eyesight to approve excellent things and shun every false path. This calls for sterling integrity that cannot be bought or sold even by promises of worldly gain, representing Christ's character, living as in God's presence in the sunshine of Christ's righteousness, longing for salvation, working faithfully through Christ's strength day and night, betraying no sacred trust, and remaining at the post of duty even to falling in view of the short time and the judgment meeting with all for whom labor has been done.

Each must live as in Heaven's sight with the glory of the Creator and Redeemer as sole object of ambition and toil, refusing to pander to worldly prejudices and customs at the expense of duty to God. Continual self-examination is required over whether character is being fashioned after the Pattern God has given, whether the eye is fixed on Jesus, and whether actions are controlled by heavenly influences. Life must be ordered as in the eye of the great Taskmaster and as in the immediate presence of God, with the account borne constantly in mind by cultivating spirituality and testing character by God's standard of right, and those professing great light cannot be content with a low level. With the end of all things at hand and the Judge standing at the door, no sin, unholy thought, or base passion can be cherished guiltlessly in full view of pure angels and of the Redeemer who gave Himself to redeem from all iniquity and purify a peculiar people zealous of good works, for sin seen in light from the cross is too mean, perilous, and fearful to indulge. Only seeking the divine presence, watching continually unto prayer, doing everything as in God's immediate presence, and holding the beginning of confidence firm unto the end keeps feet from forbidden paths and keeps pure, spotless, and undefiled until grace begun is crowned with glory in the kingdom.

God's people must walk and work as men and women accountable to God, depending wholly upon Him and willing to be controlled and guided by Him, while He imparts tact, skill, and wisdom to all who have part in His cause just as He gave tact and skill to Israel in building the tabernacle. Each must give account for how allotted time to work is used, whose length is unknown because it is God's secret withheld for wise purposes, and this requires alacrity, promptness, earnest energy, deep interest, and unwavering fidelity, springing to work at duty's call and staying wide awake at the post. Faithfulness can save many souls and prevent misery and transgression of God's law, while negligence and carelessness can cause fellow creatures to lose both present life and immortal life, making the account include responsibility for the bliss or woe of others. This should arouse the careless, inattentive, and ignorant to know God's laws and feel the necessity of obedience for their own good and God's glory, since transgression brings great suffering and loss of life here and immortal life hereafter, and should inspire disinterested benevolence and intense desire for fellow men's welfare, opening channels for good and closing avenues of error and moral darkness. Each must answer individually by personal surrender seeking things above now rather than waiting for a church revival, a meeting, or others to act, drawing near to God and trusting the living Saviour as substitute and surety. No one can serve God while doing as he pleases and having his own way and will, for no one is his own, and each must answer for thoughts, words, time, and actions by deciding to be a servant of Christ or of the devil, either gathering with Christ by representing Him in character or scattering from Him.

Canvassing work is to be carried out with the coming account before the Lord in mind, for everyone will answer to God for deeds and for use of what He entrusted, with no action hidden from God and angels, conduct both revealing character being formed and affecting others. Every worker in the Lord's work in San Francisco and Oakland and in Mountain View is under most solemn obligation to labor according to the Lord's plan and bears great individual accountability, requiring each to consider, take heed, and examine individual standing before God, especially in view of special calamities that came to San Francisco and to the office in Mountain View. Life is intensely solemn because all must render account, so each is personally accountable and should now put talents out to the exchangers, adding to the Master's gift and blessing others with blessings given, with workers in sanitarium and school plainly revealing this accountability by words and actions and setting right example before idle, self-indulgent patients whose lives contrast with self-denial and service. The prospect of Christ appearing suddenly calls workers to be ready to give that stewardship account, purified and made ready through Christ's righteousness. Everyone connected with God's work in any line must move carefully because he must give account for words, spirit, and every plan, device, and method set in operation, with God first and last and best in everything, daily work done with God-fearing exactitude as if the heavenly universe looked down, guarding words and heart impulses in God's fear and love under His special direction, putting self out of sight, trusting Him and lacking no good thing, investing God-owned talents and capabilities in His work with sense of the cause's sacredness and the honor of cooperating to prepare a people to stand in the great day of test and trial that will try every soul.

Institutions as well as persons are individually accountable to God alone and answerable to Him, to retain their own individuality and be guided by God rather than be bound by written contracts to one person or group, working in fellowship without being placed under human control, with God to lead and guide them. Every church member, not only ministers, must labor for souls as one who must give account, for coming judgment makes each accountable for using abilities and opportunities in service to Christ including efforts to lead others to truth. All members must communicate received knowledge, gaining spiritual strength by imparting light to neighbors and friends, telling those enslaved by appetite of divine power to overcome harmful indulgence, and teaching truth in simplicity with sympathy, tenderness, and converted voice and tongue to win souls. God requires every steward to use the entrusted talent, bestowing rich gifts and flooding the heart with His presence's light to be freely bestowed to reveal Christ, so no church need be barren, but those folding hands in ease content to do nothing while constantly hearing preaching are in danger of starving spiritually and cannot expect God to continue supplying necessities, and this accountability calls for earnest active soul-saving work. The present moment must be used as what may be the last opportunity and privilege to speak and act as one accountable, keeping vital connection with God, growing into full stature in Christ and in grace and knowledge of truth, employing physical and mental powers and talents to God's glory without wasting them in inaction, remembering God holds life in hand, and meeting the requirement on every steward of means and ability whose example reminds others what God requires.

Secret choices and evil habits are not hidden from God and angels but must be faced again, for chosen principles and influences shape character for eternity, making each answerable for use of light and privileges given. Accountability is to be taught until sensed, leading each to do his utmost with earnestness and fervent spirit without boasting. That accountability covers all attributes and talents given, requiring making gifts vocal to communicate precious truth, multiplying entrusted talents and returning them to Him, which awakens rejoicing among angels around the throne, producing revenue of thanksgiving and praise from thankful hearts and lips. The certainty that every case will be decided in judgment makes responsibility for others' spiritual welfare a heavy burden, and the account includes unkind words, hateful feelings, disregard for others' rights, and every violation of moral duty with its consequences, so profession of truth is not enough if selfishness and inconsistency mark conduct. To be ready for that accounting and for heaven, a person must be sanctified in soul, body, and spirit, with selfishness removed and Christ shaping character.

Those who know truth hold the precious sacred charge of truth and grace in trust to communicate to others and will stand side by side around God's throne to answer for use of blessings bestowed. In the highest sense they are their brother's keeper, held responsible for souls with whom they associate, so that if duty is left undone the blood of the lost will be required at their hand, and at that day the unfaithful will see unsaved souls who might have been saved if their own hearts had been worked by the Holy Spirit. Each must render his own account in the day of judgment with conscience void of offense toward God and man, requiring every word and act now to accord with God's will, keeping baptismal vows to work for God who bought men, doing appointed work according to ability, denying self, refusing selfish spending, and using all spare money to God's glory to sustain missions and faithfully proclaim the gospel rather than letting His cause suffer, and each is personally responsible for whether what he taught or stated is correct. Those who dishonor God by expressing confidence in physicians not of the faith, acting according to hereditary and cultivated tendencies to wrong, will answer in the great day when every soul stands in review for confusion and many other evil results harvested from such sowing, for failure to uphold by word and action men of God's appointment shows estrangement from God and makes an unfavorable showing to the world.

Daily interactions involve both receiving from and giving to others, and each remains accountable for meeting obligations to others even if ties that bind are ignored or abused, for each person's influence carries responsibility. Each is individually responsible before God, and others' conduct or circumstances do not remove duty to be truthful and honest, resist temptation, and refuse even small wrong, with choices also affecting the Sanitarium's prosperity, while teachers should model the purity, impartiality, and nobility they teach. The lesson is taught by angels expelled from heaven because they would not work in harmony with God, falling from high estate because they wanted exaltation and were lifted up by beauty, forgetting beauty of person and character came from the Lord Jesus, obscuring that Christ was the only begotten Son of God and considering they need not consult Christ, with one angel beginning controversy and carrying it on until rebellion in heavenly courts. Learning this means loving God with all the heart and so becoming wise unto salvation, doing His will, with light remaining as undiminished glory through recognizing, fearing, and serving the Lord, and the solemn work rests on every soul as a servant of Jesus Christ, solemnly pledged by baptismal vows to clothe himself with Christ's righteousness and carry out the Lord Jesus' living example.