Name: Testimonies for the Church Volume Five
Author: Ellen G. White

THE DAY OF THE LORD AT HAND.

“THE great day of the Lord is near; it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord. The mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities and against the high towers. And

I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord.”

“And it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees, that say in their heart, The Lord will do no good, neither will he do evil.”

“Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness; it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.”

We are near the close of time. I have been shown that the retributive judgments of God are already in the land. The Lord has given us warning of the events about to take place. Light is shining from his word, yet darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people. "While they shall cry, Peace and safety, sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape."

It is our duty to inquire the cause of this terrible darkness, that we may shun the course by which men have brought upon themselves so great delusion. God has given the world an opportunity to learn and to obey his will. He has given them, in his word, the light of truth, he has sent them warning, counsel, and admonition; but few will obey his voice. Like the Jewish nation, the majority, even of professed Christians, pride themselves on their superior advantages, but make no returns to God for these great blessings. In infinite mercy, a last warning message has been sent to the world, announcing that Christ is at the door, and calling attention to God's broken law. But as the antediluvians rejected with scorn the warning of Noah, so will the pleasure-lovers of to-day reject the message of God's faithful

servants. The world pursues its unvarying round, absorbed as ever in its business and its pleasures, while the wrath of God is about to be visited on the transgressors of his law.

Our compassionate Redeemer, foreseeing the perils that would surround his followers at this time, has given them special warning: “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” If the church pursue a course similar to that of the world, they will share the same fate. Nay, rather, as they have received greater light, their punishment will be greater than that of the impenitent.

We, as a people, profess to have truth in advance of every other people upon the earth. Then our life and character should be in harmony with such a faith. The day is just upon us, when the righteous shall be bound, like precious grain, in bundles for the heavenly garner, while the wicked are, like the tares, gathered for the fires of the last great day. But "the wheat and tares grow together till the harvest." In the discharge of life's duties, the righteous will, to the last, be brought in contact with the ungodly. The children of light are scattered among the children of darkness, that the contrast may be seen by all. Thus are the children of God to "show forth the praises of Him who hath called them out of darkness into his marvelous light." The divine love glowing in the heart, the Christ-like harmony manifested in the life, will be as a glimpse of Heaven granted to men of the world that they may see and appreciate its excellence.

Like will attract like. Those who are drinking from the same fountain of blessing will draw nearer

together. Truth dwelling in the hearts of believers will lead to blessed and happy assimilation. Thus will be answered the prayer of Christ that his disciples might be one, even as he is one with the Father. For this oneness, every truly converted heart will be striving.

With the ungodly there will be a deceptive harmony that but partially conceals a perpetual discord. In their opposition to the will and the truth of God they are united, while on every other point they are rent with hatred, emulation, jealousy, and deadly strife.

The pure and the base metal are now so mingled that only the discerning eye of the infinite God can with certainty distinguish between them. But the moral magnet of holiness and truth will attract together the pure metal, while it will repel the base and counterfeit.

“The day of the Lord is near, and hasteth greatly;” but where do we behold the true Advent spirit? Who are preparing to stand in that time of temptation which is just before us? The people to whom God has entrusted the sacred, solemn, testing truths for this time, are sleeping at their post. They say by their actions, We have the truth, we are “rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;” while the True Witness declares, “Thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”

With what fidelity do these words portray the present condition of the church: “Knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Messages of warning, dictated by the Holy Spirit, are borne by the servants of God, defects of character are presented before the erring; but they say, “That does not represent my case. I do not accept the message you bring. I am doing the best I can. I believe the truth.”

That evil servant who said in his heart, "My Lord delayeth his coming," professed to be waiting for

Christ. He was a "servant," outwardly devoted to the service of God, while at heart he had yielded to Satan. He does not, like the scoffer, openly deny the truth, but reveals in his life the sentiment of the heart,—that the Lord's coming is delayed. Presumption renders him careless of eternal interests. He accepts the world's maxims, and conforms to its customs and practices. Selfishness, worldly pride and ambitions predominate. Fearing that his brethren may stand higher than himself, he begins to disparage their efforts and impugn their motives. Thus he smites his fellow-servants. As he alienates himself from the people of God, he unites more and more with the ungodly. He is found "eating and drinking with the drunken,"—joining with worldlings, and partaking of their spirit. Thus he is lulled into a carnal security, and overcome by forgetfulness, indifference, and sloth.

The very beginning of the evil was a neglect of watchfulness and secret prayer; then came a neglect of other religious duties, and thus the way was opened for all the sins that followed. Every Christian will be assailed by the allurements of the world, the clamors of the carnal nature, and the direct temptations of Satan. No one is safe. No matter what our experience has been, no matter how high our station, we need to watch and pray continually. We must be daily controlled by the Spirit of God, or we are controlled by Satan.

The Saviour's instructions to his disciples were given for the benefit of his followers in every age. He had those in view who were living near the close of time, when he said, "Take heed to yourselves." It is our work, each for himself, to cherish in the heart the precious graces of the Holy Spirit.

Satan is working with unfailing perseverance and intense energy to draw into his ranks the professed followers of Christ. He is working "with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish." But Satan is not the only worker by whom the kingdom of darkness is supported.

Whoever solicits to sin is a tempter. Whoever imitates the great deceiver becomes his aid. Those who give their influence to sustain an evil work are doing Satan’s drudgery.

Actions reveal principles and motives. The fruit borne by many that claim to be plants in the Lord’s vineyard, shows them to be but thorns and briers. A whole church may sanction the wrong course of some of its members, but that sanction does not prove the wrong to be right. It cannot make grapes of thorn-berries.

If some who profess to believe present truth, could understand their true position, they would despair of the mercy of God. They have been exerting all their influence against the truth, against the voice of warning, against the people of God. They have been doing the work of Satan. Many have become so infatuated by his deceptions that they will never recover. Such a state of backsliding cannot exist without causing the loss of many souls.

The church has received warning after warning. The duties and dangers of God's people have been plainly revealed. But the worldly element has proved too strong for them. Customs, practices, and fashions which lead the soul away from God, have been for years gaining ground, in defiance of the warnings and entreaties of the Holy Spirit; until at last their ways have become right in their own eyes, and the Spirit's voice is scarcely heard. No man can tell how far he may go in sin, when once he yields himself to the power of the great deceiver. Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, and induced him to betray his Lord. Satan led Ananias and Sapphira to lie to the Holy Ghost. Those who are not wholly consecrated to God may be led to do the work of Satan, while yet they flatter themselves that they are in the service of Christ.

Brethren and sisters, I entreat you to "examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith; prove your

own selves." To maintain the warmth and purity of Christian love, requires a constant supply of the grace of Christ. Have you employed every means that your "love may abound yet more and more," "that you may approve things that are excellent," and be filled with the fruits of righteousness "which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God"?

Many who should stand firm for righteousness and truth, have manifested weakness and indecision that have encouraged the assaults of Satan. Those who fail to grow in grace, not seeking to reach the highest standard in divine attainments, will be overcome.

‘This world is to the Christian a land of strangers and enemies. Unless he shall take for his defense the divine panoply, and wield the sword of the Spirit, he will become the prey of the powers of darkness. The faith of all will be tested. All will be tried as gold is tried in the fire.

The church is composed of imperfect, erring men and women, who call for the continual exercise of charity and forbearance. But there has been a long period of general lukewarmness; a worldly spirit coming into the church, has been followed by alienation, fault-finding, malice, strife, and iniquity.

Should there be less sermonizing by men who are unconsecrated in heart and life, and were more time devoted to humbling the soul before God, then might we hope that the Lord would appear to your help, and heal your backslidings. Much of the preaching of late begets a false security. Important interests in the cause of God cannot be wisely managed by those who have had so little real connection with God as some of our ministers have had. To entrust the work to such men is like setting children to manage great vessels at sea. Those who are destitute of heavenly wisdom, destitute of living power with God, are not competent to steer the gospel ship amid icebergs and tempests. The church is passing through severe conflicts, but in her peril, many would trust her

to hands that will surely wreck her. We need a pilot on board now; for we are nearing the harbor. As a people we should be the light of the world. But how many are foolish virgins, having no oil in their vessels with their lamps. May the Lord of all grace, abundant in mercy, full of forgiveness, pity and save us, that we perish not with the wicked!

In this season of conflict and trial, we need all the support and consolation we can derive from righteous principles, from fixed religious convictions, from the abiding assurance of the love of Christ, and from a rich experience in divine things. We shall attain to the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus, only as the result of a steady growth in grace.

Oh, what can I say to open blind eyes, to enlighten the spiritual understanding! Sin must be crucified. A complete moral renovation must be wrought by the Holy Spirit. We must have the love of God, with living, abiding faith. This is the gold tried in the fire. We can obtain it only of Christ. Every sincere and earnest seeker will become a partaker of the divine nature. His soul will be filled with intense longing to know the fullness of that love which passes knowledge; as he advances in the divine life, he will be better able to grasp the elevated, ennobling truths of the word of God, until, by beholding, he becomes changed, and is enabled to reflect the likeness of his Redeemer.

UNWISE MARRIAGES.

I HAVE been shown that the youth of to-day have no true sense of their great danger. There are many of the young whom God would accept as laborers in the various branches of his work; but Satan steps in and so entangles them in his web that they become estranged from God and powerless in his work. Satan is a sharp and persevering workman. He knows just how to entrap the unwary, and it is an

alarming fact that but few succeed in escaping from his wiles. They see no danger, and do not guard against his devices. He prompts them to fasten their affections upon one another without seeking wisdom of God, or of those whom he has sent to warn, reprove, and counsel. They feel self-sufficient, and will not bear restraint.

Your own case, Bro. ——, is a forcible illustration of this. You have become infatuated with the thought of marriage. As is generally the case with those who have their minds directed in this channel, the warnings of the servants of God have but little influence upon you. I have been shown how easily you are affected by surrounding influences. Should you connect with associates whose minds are cast in an inferior mold, you would become like them. Unless the love and fear of God were before you, their thoughts would be your thoughts; if they lacked reverence, you also would become irreverent; if they were frivolous and given to pleasure-seeking, you would follow in the same path with a zeal and perseverance worthy of a better cause.

The young lady upon whom you have placed your affections has not depth of thought or character. Her life has been frivolous, and her mind is narrow and superficial. Yet you have steadily refused to be cautioned by your father, your loving sister, or by your friends in the church. I came to you as Christ’s ambassador, but your strong feelings, your self-confidence, closed your eyes to danger, and your ears to warnings. Your course has been as persistent as though no one knew quite so much as yourself, or as though the salvation of your soul depended upon your following your own judgment.

Should every young man who professes the truth do as you have done, what would be the condition of families and of the church? Consider the influence of the disrespect you have shown for your parents by your self-will and self-sufficiency. You are among the class described as heady, high-minded. This infatuation

has caused you to lose your interest in religious things, and to think only of yourself instead of the glory of God. No good can come of this intimacy or attachment. The blessing of God will not attend any such willful course as you are pursuing. You should not be eager to enter the marriage relation and assume the care of a family before you have thoroughly established your own character. I regard you as in great darkness, but unable to realize your peril.

The truth was reforming your life and character, and you were gaining the confidence of the brethren; but Satan saw that he was losing you, and therefore he increased his efforts to entangle you in his wily snare, and has succeeded wonderfully. The weakness of your nature, hitherto undiscovered, is now developed. You do not see your condition, although it is very apparent to others. Light does not come to a man who makes no effort to obtain it. When you saw that your brethren and sisters were grieved with your course, then it was time for you to stop and consider what you were doing, to pray much, and to counsel with men of experience in the church, and gratefully accept their advice.

“But,” say you, “should I follow the judgment of the brethren independent of my own feelings?” I answer, The church is God’s delegated authority upon earth. Christ has said, “Whatsoever ye bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven, and whatsoever ye loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.” There is altogether too little respect paid to the opinion of members of the same church. It is the want of deference for the opinions of the church that causes so much trouble among brethren. The eyes of the church may be able to discern in its individual members that which the erring may not see. A few persons may be as blind as the one in error, but the majority of the church is a power which should control its individual members.

The apostle Peter says: "Likewise, ye younger,

submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility; for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace unto the humble." Paul exhorts, "Be kindly affectioned one toward another with brotherly love, in honor preferring one another," "submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." "Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." Unless the advice and counsel of the church can be respected, it is indeed powerless. God has placed a voice in the church which must control its members.

If you are led by truth rather than error, you will be willing to obey your parents, and sacredly regard the voice of the church. Your prayers have been made with a determination to carry out what you regarded as right, irrespective of the wishes of your parents or of the church. All through your life you have been actuated in a large degree by selfish feelings. Ofttimes a great sacrifice of feeling has to be made in order to comply with the conditions laid down in God's word, and to act from principle.

“Should parents,” you ask, “select a companion without regard to the mind or feelings of son or daughter?” I put the question to you as it should be, Should a son or daughter select a companion without first consulting the parents, when such a step must materially affect the happiness of parents, if they have any affection for their children? And should that child, notwithstanding the counsel and entreaties of his parents, persist in following his own course? I answer decidedly, No; not if he never marries. The fifth commandment forbids such a course. “Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” Here is a commandment with a promise which the Lord will surely fulfill to those who obey.

Wise parents will never select companions for their children without respect to their wishes. No one

has ever proposed to do this in your case. But most of that which the youth of our day term love is only blind impulse, which originates with Satan to compass their destruction.

Should you, my brother, go to our College now, as you have planned, I fear for your course there. Your expressed determination to have a lady’s company wherever you should go, shows me that you are far from being in a position to be benefited by going to Battle Creek. The infatuation which is upon you is more Satanic than divine. I do not wish to have you disappointed in regard to Battle Creek. The rules are strict there. No courting is allowed. The school would be worth nothing to students, were they to become entangled in love affairs as you have been. Our College would soon be demoralized. Parents do not send their children to our College or to our Offices, to commence a love-sick, sentimental life, but to be educated in the sciences or to learn the printer’s trade. Were the rules so lax that the youth were allowed to become bewildered and infatuated with the society of the opposite sex as you have been for some months past, the object of their going to Battle Creek would be lost. If you cannot put this entirely out of your mind, and go there with the spirit of a learner, and with a purpose to arouse yourself to the most earnest, humble, sincere efforts, praying that you may have a close connection with God, it would be better for you to remain at home.

Should you go, you ought to be prepared to withstand temptation, and to hold up the hands of professors and teachers, letting your influence be wholly on the side of discipline and order. God designs that all who work in his cause shall be subject one to another, ready to receive advice and instruction. They should train themselves by the severest mental and moral discipline, that by the assisting grace of God, they may be fitted in mind and heart to train others. Fervent prayer, humility, and earnestness must be combined with God's help, for human frailties

and human feelings are continually striving for the mastery. Every man must purify his soul through obedience to the truth, and with an eye single to God's glory he must abase self and exalt Jesus and his grace. By thus continually advancing toward the light, he will become acquainted with God, and receive his help.

Some of those who attend the College do not properly improve their time. Full of the buoyancy of youth, they spurn the restraint that is brought to bear upon them. Especially do they rebel against the rules that will not allow young gentlemen to pay their attentions to young ladies. Full well is known the evil of such a course in this degenerate age. In a college where so many youth are associated, imitating the customs of the world in this respect would turn the thoughts in a channel that would hinder them in their pursuit of knowledge, and in their interest in religious things. The infatuation on the part of both young men and women in thus placing the affections upon each other during school days, shows a lack of good judgment. As in your own case, blind impulse controls reason and judgment. Under this bewitching delusion, the momentous responsibility felt by every sincere Christian is laid aside, spirituality dies, and the Judgment and eternity lose their awful significance.

Every faculty of those who become affected by this contagious disease—blind love—is brought in subjection to it. They seem to be devoid of good sense, and their course of action is disgusting to all who behold it. My brother, you have made yourself a subject of talk, and have lowered yourself in the estimation of those whose approval you should prize. With many the crisis of the disease is reached in an immature marriage, and when the novelty is past, and the bewitching power of love-making is over, one or both parties awake to their true situation. They then find themselves ill-mated, but united for life. Bound to each other by the most solemn vows, they

look with sinking hearts upon the miserable life they must lead. They ought then to make the best of their situation; but many will not do this. They will either prove false to their marriage vows, or make the yoke which they persisted in placing upon their own necks so very galling that not a few cowardly put an end to their existence.

Associating with the vain, the superficial, and the skeptical, will be productive of moral depravity and ruin. Bold, forward young gentlemen or ladies may have something pleasing in their address; they may have brilliant powers of mind, and skill to make the bad appear even preferable to the good. Such persons will enchant and bewilder a certain class, and souls will be lost in consequence. The influence of every man’s thoughts and actions surrounds him like an invisible atmosphere, which is unconsciously breathed in by all who come in contact with him. This atmosphere is frequently charged with poisonous influences, and when these are inhaled, moral degeneracy is the sure result.

My young brother, would that I could impress upon you your true condition. You must repent, or you can never see the kingdom of Heaven. Many young men and women who profess godliness, do not know what it is to follow Christ. They do not imitate his example in doing good. Love and gratitude toward God are not springing up in the heart, nor expressed in their words and deportment. They do not possess the spirit of self-denial, neither do they encourage each other in the way of holiness. We do not want young people to engage in the solemn work of God, who profess Christ, but have not the moral strength to take their position with those who are sober, and watch unto prayer, and who have their conversation in Heaven, whence they look for the Saviour. We do not feel over-anxious for youth to go to Battle Creek, who profess to be Sabbath-keepers, but who indicate by their choice of companions their low state of morals.

The door of our College will ever be open to those who are not professors of religion; and the youth coming to Battle Creek may have this irreligious society, if it is their choice. If they have right motives in associating with these, and sufficient spiritual strength to withstand their influence, they may be a power for good,—while they are learners, they may become teachers. The true Christian does not choose the company of the unconverted for love of the atmosphere surrounding their irreligious lives, or to excite admiration and secure applause, but for the purpose of communicating light and knowledge, and bringing them up to a noble, elevated standard,—the broad platform of eternal truth.

One person with pure motives, intent on becoming intelligent that he may make a right use of his abilities, will be a power for good in the school. He will have a molding influence. When parents justify the complaints of their children against the authority and discipline of the school, they do not see that they are increasing the demoralizing power which now prevails to such a fearful extent. Every influence surrounding the youth needs to be on the right side; for youthful depravity is increasing.

With worldly youth, the love of society and pleasure becomes an absorbing passion. To dress, to visit, to indulge the appetite and passions, and to whirl through the round of social dissipation, appears to be the great end of existence. They are unhappy if left in solitude. Their chief desire is to be admired and flattered, and to make a sensation in society; and when this desire is not gratified, life seems unendurable.

Those who will put on the whole armor of God, and devote some time every day to meditation and prayer, and to the study of the Scriptures, will be connected with Heaven, and will have a saving, transforming influence upon those around them. Great thoughts, noble aspirations, clear perceptions of truth and duty to God, will be theirs. They will be yearning

for purity, for light, for love, for all the graces of heavenly birth. Their earnest prayers will enter into that within the vail. This class will have a sanctified boldness to come into the presence of the Infinite One. They will feel that Heaven's light and glories are for them, and they will become refined, elevated, ennobled by this intimate acquaintance with God. Such is the privilege of true Christians.

Abstract meditation is not enough; busy action is not enough; both are essential to the formation of Christian character. Strength acquired in earnest, secret prayer prepares us to withstand the allurements of society. And yet we should not exclude ourselves from the world, for our Christian experience is to be the light of the world. The society of unbelievers will do us no harm if we mingle with them for the purpose of connecting them with God, and are strong enough spiritually to withstand their influence.

Christ came into the world to save it, to connect fallen man with the Infinite God. Christ’s followers are to be channels of light. Maintaining communion with God, they are to transmit to those in darkness and error the choice blessings which they receive of Heaven. Enoch did not become polluted with the iniquities existing in his day; why need we in our day? But we may, like our Master, have compassion for suffering humanity, pity for the unfortunate, and a generous consideration for the feelings and necessities of the needy, the troubled, and the despairing.

Those who are Christians indeed, will seek to do good to others, and at the same time will so order their conversation and deportment as to maintain a calm, hallowed peace of mind. God's word requires that we should be like our Saviour, that we should bear his image, imitate his example, live his life. Selfishness and worldliness are not fruits of a Christian tree. No man can live for himself, and yet enjoy the approbation of God.

Sept. 5, 1879,

Continue reading: WARNINGS AND REPROOFS.