Earlier text: SOLEMN WARNING AGAINST DESPISING GOD’S MESSAGE AND MESSENGERS.I wrote, some time since, in reference to the Oakland Office, and then my guide revealed to me that the same spirit, in a more decided manner leavened the Office at Battle Creek; and there were souls lost, eternally lost, through the influence of words of severity and of harshness. Things will transpire in our institutions that will need adjustment, and at once; but let the reformation be made with a spirit to restore, not to destroy.167We are fearfully behind in the work of Christ for the saving of souls. We have not that sharp conception of duty required by the truth which we profess to love and to honor. We allow a freezing atmosphere to surround our souls; we withhold words that ought to be spoken from the Scriptures. In order to fulfil our duty as God’s faithful watchmen, we should give words of correction in humility of mind, “considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Neglect not to bind up, with your reproof, words of encouragement. Be cheerful, but not light and trifling; pray for discernment, for a wholesome Christlike spirit. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, said, “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.” Sincerity means much more than many are inclined to suppose. It means being true to your brother; never allowing yourself to do him wrong, or suffer him to be unfaithful in the discharge of his duty. Those who are set to keep the rooms in a healthful condition, that the angel of God passing through may approve, must be sincere. There must be no haphazard work; carry the Spirit of Christ in all your dealings. I would not, under any consideration, send a child of mine to learn the printer’s trade under the present discipline and management in the several rooms. All are not managed in exactly the same objectionable manner; but all are much in need of the sanctifying grace of Christ Jesus. Are the men set over others, wise counselors of youth? Are they sincere Christians, or make-believes? Is their submission to divine authority as perfect as that which they require of the youth who are being educated under them? Overbearing, harsh words are unprofitable in professors of religion. A harsh, tyrannical spirit has come in, resulting in great and various evils. The temptations to sin come to every youth; and the overseers in every room need to be thoroughly converted men. What are the attributes most prized, and which bring greatest joy to the Saviour who died to save sinners?—It is to have men and women co-operating with him to seek and to save the lost. Every one who is self-denying, self-sacrificing, for the sake of poor souls that need help, will have his reward. If we are children of God, we should be, and will be living channels of light. Those who have not received Christ as their personal Saviour, should never be placed as directors of the youth. If they cannot submit themselves to the control of God, they are not qualified to manage and teach order and law to those brought under them. Those who claim to be Christ’s disciples, if themselves under discipline to God, will make tender, loving, wise guides and instructors of the youth; for Christ says, “I will manifest myself unto them.” “If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us;” and that love cannot be restrained. “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” Only by partakers of the divine nature, can the law of God be fulfilled by men. Only he who loves God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and his neighbor as himself, can give glory to God in the highest, and peace on168earth, good will to men. This was the work of Christ; and when his work is appreciated and represented by his followers, the great result will be achieved in the “joy that was set before him” in the saving of the souls for whom he gave his life. The Lord has been laboring constantly from age to age to awaken in the souls of men a sense of their divine brotherhood, and thus to establish an order and divine harmony proportionate to the great and eternal deliverance he has wrought out for every one who will receive him. The Lord calls upon all who profess to believe in him to be coworkers with him, to use every God-given ability, opportunity, and privilege to lead perishing souls within the sphere of their influence, to Jesus Christ. Here is the only hope for transformation of character; this will give peace and joy in believing, and fit them for the society of the heavenly angels in the kingdom of God. O how earnest, persevering, and untiring should be the efforts of every sin-pardoned soul to seek to bring other souls to Jesus Christ, that their neighbors shall become joint-heirs with Jesus! Whoever is your neighbor is to be sought for, labored for. Is he ignorant? Let your communication, your association make him more intelligent. The outcast, the youth, full of defects in character, are the very ones God enjoins upon us to help. “I came not to call the righteous,” said Christ, “but sinners to repentance.” See what sinners the colored people were, the down-trodden, the poor! These Christ died to save; and they can, through painstaking and judicious management, become trophies of his grace, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. Through faith in Jesus Christ they become purified, sanctified; for the religion of Jesus Christ never degrades the receiver, but works with transforming power, refining the taste, sanctifying the judgment, fitting the soul for the entrance of the Word that giveth life, that giveth understanding even to the simple. Those who will be humble enough to learn, the very nobility of the world will consider it an honor to go to heaven in their company, and angels of God will co-operate with such as are workers together with God. We need to hunger and thirst after righteousness, that we may have Christ in us as a well of water, springing up into everlasting life. Right at the head of the work there must be deeper piety, more faithful taking heed to the word of God, a watching for souls as they that must give an account. Each worker should be moved by a living, abiding, converting principle. It is not large establishments where much money is invested to make them more convenient, that will obtain influence and win hearts. The school and the Office should be an asylum for the sorely tempted youth. They are God’s property. They have hearts to be won; they have souls to save. Instead of spending money in bicycles, in picture-making, in little and great idols to place upon your tables and on your walls, let the means be used to gather in the youth; teach them, and patiently watch over them, in wisdom dealing with their follies. Pray with them alone. Converse with them, with hearts filled with pity and that love which Christ has shown for you. Angels of God will give every true worker a rich experience in doing this work. We are to labor in earnest to break down every barrier that has been built up to keep Christ from entering the citadel of the heart. There is more joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth than over ninety and nine persons that think they need no repentance. Let instructors do their169duty patiently, and although they may be often tried, be assured they will not fail nor be discouraged. Be not weary in well-doing; the heavenly intelligences will work with your every effort. A word of love and encouragement will do more to subdue the hasty temper and wilful disposition than all the fault-finding and severe censure that you can heap upon the erring ones. It is those who are in positions of trust, those who have great light, large opportunities, who are not forming characters and carrying into their life-practise, principles that will stand the test of trial. These need to be rebuked sharply for their influence over the young. The impetuous temper must be eradicated. When provoked, do not pour out a torrent of words and commit sin; but talk with your Lord about it. He says to your soul, “Be still, and know that I am God.” If the God-given responsibilities of saving souls ready to perish, were understood, old habits, traditionary sentiments that clog and hinder reformatory action, would be cut away from the heart and life, and a transformation would take place in character. Advice, reproof, and counsel should be given patiently, taking out the bitterness of the self-mingling spirit. The language should not be exaggerated, but should be gentle and humble. The stern, harsh spirit that humiliates and crushes the wrong-doer, will seldom work a reformation. “Thy gentleness hath made me great.” It sets before the wrong-doer his sins, and helps him to recover himself from the snares of Satan. God has not set any man on the judgment-seat. “Judge not,” he said, “that ye be not judged.” The grace of humility should be cherished in the heart. It will modify and mold the words that fall from our lips, into expressions of Christlike tenderness and care. The Master’s work is not to be neglected; but it must be done in love, declaring the Master’s message in the Master’s spirit. Wrongs are often in need of being met; and though firmness and decision may be required, we should not meet them in an arbitrary, overbearing, crushing manner. Not until the heart is cleansed and purified through obedience to the truth, can we be laborers together with God, and work with the mind of Christ.
MRS. E. G. WHITE. “SUNNYSIDE,” COORANBONG, N. S. W., THE Lord intends that a great work shall be done by the institutions which have been established by his direction; and he is dishonored when human principles which find no sanction in the word of God, are allowed to rule, when self and pride of opinion press to the front, giving the enemy room to intrude. Thus the enemy tries to hinder the work, but God calls upon his people to co-operate with him. “Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. Neither let the170son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. The Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.” DANGERS IN OUR INSTITUTIONS.
In order that the work of the Lord may go forward, our institutions need discreet, pure-minded, righteous managers. But some in positions of trust have been confirmed in a wrong course of action by being tolerated for years, by being allowed to make decisions, to advocate methods, to carry out plans, which are not of the Lord’s devising. The enemy has been given an opportunity to control men, and to manage the work which is sacred, and use common fire in God’s service, God will despise their offering to him. This is still being done and has been. For years a degree of pharisaism has been springing up among us, which has separated some from the Bible standard. If the preconceived ideas of those actuated by this spirit are crossed, they immediately assume a controversial combative attitude, as a man puts on armor when preparing for battle. Much pride and loftiness, and a spirit which desires to rule, has been manifested; but very little of the spirit which leads men to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn of him, has been shown. Human inventions and human plans are eclipsing sacred things, and excluding divine instruction. Men are taking the place of God by seeking to assume authority over their fellow men. But they rule without a vestige of the authority of God, which alone can make their ruling a healthful element; and others are becoming leavened by this wrong influence. If the principles of truth had been enthroned in the hearts of these men, human passions, and human affections would have been guided and controlled by the Spirit of Christ. The atmosphere surrounding the soul would not be deleterious and poisonous; for self would be hid in Jesus. Let those who desire to rule their fellow men, read God’s declaration on this subject. He says, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote of thy brother’s eye.” “Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, Brother Olsen, you speak of my return to America. For three years I stood in Battle Creek as a witness for the truth. Those who then refused to receive the testimony given me by God for them, and rejected the evidences attending these testimonies, would not be benefited should I return. I shall write to you; but should I return to Battle Creek, and bear my testimony to those who love not the truth, the ever-ready words would rise from unbelieving hearts, “Somebody has told her.” Even now unbelief is expressed by the words, “Who has written these things to Sister White?” But I know of no one who knows them as they are, and no one who could write that which he does not suppose has an existence. Some one has told me,—He who does not falsify, misjudge, or exaggerate any case. While in Minneapolis He bade me follow him from room to room that I might hear what was spoken in the bedchamber. The enemy had things much his own way. I heard no word of prayer, but I heard my name mentioned in a slurring, criticizing way. I shall never, I think, be called to stand under the direction of the Holy Spirit as I stood at Minneapolis. The presence of Jesus was with me. All assembled in that meeting had an opportunity to place themselves on the side of truth by receiving the Holy Spirit, which was sent by God in such a rich current of love and mercy. But in the rooms occupied by some of our people, were heard ridicule, jeering, criticism, laughter. The manifestations of the Holy Spirit were attributed to fanaticism. Who searched the Holy Scriptures, as did the noble Bereans, to see if the things they heard were so? Who prayed for divine guidance? The scenes which took place at this meeting made the God of heaven ashamed to call those who took part in them, his brethren. All this the Heavenly Watcher noticed, and it is written in the book of God’s remembrance. “The Lord will blot out the transgression of those who, since that time, have repented with a sincere repentance; but every time the same spirit wakens in the soul, the deeds done on that occasion are endorsed and the doers of them are made responsible to God, and must answer for them at his judgment throne. The same spirit that actuated the rejecters of Christ, rankles in their hearts and had they lived in the days of Christ, they would have acted toward him in a manner similar to that of the godless and unbelieving Jews.” God’s servants have no tame testimony to bear at this time, whether men will hear or whether they will forbear. He who rejects the light and evidence God has been liberally bestowing upon us, rejects Christ; and for him there is no other Saviour. THE WORK AT BATTLE CREEK.
The Spirit of the Lord has outlined the condition of things at the Review and Herald Office. Speaking through Isaiah, God says, “I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.” This is precisely what has been done in the Office of publication at Battle Creek. Covetousness has been woven into nearly all the business174transactions of the institution, and has been practised by individuals. This influence has spread like the leprosy, until it has tainted and corrupted the whole. As the publishing house has become corrupted, The General Conference Association has stepped in, and proposed to take the diseased child off its hands, and care for it. But it is a snare for the General Conference Association to take the publishing work on its shoulders. This puts no special sanctity upon the work, but upon the General Conference Association a burden which will weigh it down, cripple it, and weaken its efficiency, unless men who have firm principle, mingled with love, shall conduct the business lines. In this step there has been a change of responsibility, but the wrong principles remain unchanged. The same work that has been done in the past, will be carried forward under the guise of the General Conference Association. The sacred character of this Association is fast disappearing. What will then be respected as pure, holy, and undefiled? Will there be any voice that God’s people can regard as a voice they can respect? There certainly is nothing now that bears the divine credentials. Sacred things are mixed and mingled with earthly business that has no connection with God. To a large degree the General Conference Association has lost its sacred character, because some connected with it have not changed their sentiments in any particular since the Conference held at Minneapolis. Some in responsible positions go on “frowardly” in the way of their own hearts. Some who came from South Africa and from other places to receive an education which would qualify them for the work, have imbibed this spirit, carried it with them to their homes, and their work has not borne the right kind of fruit. The opinions of men, which were received by them, still cleave to them like the leprosy; and it is a very solemn question whether the souls who became imbued with the spiritual leprosy in Battle Creek, will ever be able to distinguish the principles of heaven from the methods and plans of men. The influences and impressions received in Battle Creek have done much to retard the work in South Africa. As things now exist in Battle Creek, the work of God cannot be carried forward on a correct basis. How long will these things be? When will the perceptions of men be made clear and sharp by the ministration of the Holy Spirit? Some there do not detect the injurious effects of the plans which for years have been working in an underhanded manner. Some of the managers at the present time are walking in the light that they have received, and are doing the best they can, but their fellow workers are making things so oppressive for them that they can do but little. The enslaving of the souls of men by their fellow men is deepening the darkness which already envelops them. Who can now feel sure that they are safe in respecting the voice of the General Conference Association? If the people in our churches understood the management of the men who walk in the light of the sparks of their own kindling, would they respect their decisions? I answer, No, not for a moment. I have been shown that the people at large do not know that the heart of the work is being diseased and corrupted at Battle Creek. Many of the people are in a lethargic, listless, apathetic condition, and assent to plans which they do not understand. Where is the voice, from whence will it come, to whom the people may listen, knowing that it comes from the True Shepherd? I am called upon by the Spirit of God to present these things before you, and they are correct to the life, according to the practise of the past few years. “NORFOLK VILLA,” PROSPECT ST.,
GRANVILLE, N. S. W., I do not find rest in spirit. Scene after scene is presented in symbols before me, and I find no rest until I begin to write out the matter. I think we will institute, at least once each day, a season of prayer for the Lord to set things in order at the center of the work. Matters are being shaped so that every other institution is following in the same course. The General Conference is itself becoming corrupted with wrong sentiments and principles. In the working up of plans, the same principles are manifest that have controlled at Battle Creek for a long time. Christ said of the Jews, “In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: for this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed.” Thus it is with some men who are connected with the great and important interests in our institutions. I have been shown that the Jewish nation were not brought suddenly into their condition of thought and practise. From generation to generation they were working on false theories, carrying out principles that were opposed to the truth, and combining with their religion, thoughts and plans that were the product of human minds; human inventions were made supreme. So it is to-day. Men connected with the work of God have been dealing unjustly, and it is time to call a halt. The holy principles God has given are represented by the sacred fire; but common fire has been used in place of the sacred. False propositions have been assumed as truth and righteousness, and everything has been managed which are a misrepresentation of God’s character. Plans contrary to truth and righteousness have been introduced in a subtle manner, on the plea that this must be done, and that must be done because it is for the advancement of the cause of God. Men have taken advantage of those whom they supposed to be under their jurisdiction. They were determined to bring the individuals to their terms; they would rule or ruin. This devising leads to oppression, injustice, and wickedness. There will be no material change for the better until a decided movement is made to bring in a different state of things. The plea some are so ready to urge, “The cause of God,” or “Working in behalf of the cause of God,” to justify themselves in presenting robbery for burnt offering, is an offense to God. He accepts no such transactions; prosperity will not attend these movements. The Lord of heaven does not accept the strange fire offered to him. Let men deal with men upon the principles of the ten178commandments, bringing these principles into their business transactions; for the great and holy and merciful God will never be in league with dishonest practises; not a single touch of injustice will he vindicate. The cause of God is free from every taint of injustice. It can gain no advantage by robbing the members of the family of God of their individuality or of their rights. All such practises are abhorrent to God. Let all bear in mind that the Lord’s eye is upon all their works, and that he expects fidelity from his servants. When the four Hebrew youth were receiving an education for the court of the Babylonish king, they did not feel that the blessing of the Lord was a substitute for the taxing effort required of them. They were diligent in study; for they discerned that through the grace of God, their destiny depended on their own will and action. They knew that they were to bring all their ability to their work, and by close, severe taxation of their powers, make the most of their opportunities for study and labor. He who has created men, and has given them talent and intellect, seeks to bring their minds into association with the divine. When this is done, goodness, love for their fellow men, will be their natural instinct. He would have men love God supremely, and their fellow men impartially. It is his purpose that we should be closely attached to God, and tenderly attached to one another. Such was the condition that existed in heaven before the disaffection of Satan. The heavenly current flowed through the universe of God without one cloud of evil to cast a shadow upon its bright waters. Everywhere spotless purity was reflected as in a mirror; and God was over all. But Satan fell. The human race were created. Adam and Eve fell. And cannot men who have the history of the fall, the workings of the wily foe since Adam’s day, see how the same principles are still at work, and what will be the end thereof? We are all on trial during probationary time. Satan is playing the game of life for every soul; Christ is at work for every soul. Those who consent to receive the moral image of God, become like him in character. But if they refuse the character of Christ, heaven is lost to them. When we have so gracious an opportunity of working out our own salvation through our choice of the character we form, why will we not lay hold of the Saviour, and by faith receive his merits, and perfect a character like his? The Lord Jesus himself has bridged the gulf that sin has made, and the whole scheme of redemption has been put in operation to restore the moral image of God in man. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.” Infinite wisdom is revealed in Christ. He suffered in our stead, that men could have another test and trial to prove whether they would be safe subjects for his kingdom. His blood was our ransom, his death brings life and immortality within our reach. He has risen from the dead, and has ascended on high to intercede for the fallen race. He is now at the right hand of the throne of God,--our Representative before the Father. Whatever was given to Christ--the “all things” to supply every need of fallen man--was given to him as the head and representative of humanity. In and through him we179are complete in every grace. We share his throne. “To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” There is a heaven of bliss, free from all dissension, free from all selfishness, free from poverty, sickness, and oppression, for those that overcome. Then I entreat you who have a heaven to gain and a hell to shun, Do not be presumptuous. Link up to the closest relationship with Christ, and depart from every species of iniquity. All who, before the universe of heaven, are adjudged to have, in Christ, endured the penalty of the law, and in him fulfilled its righteousness, will have eternal life. They will be one in character with Christ. His prayer for his followers will be fulfilled. “The glory (character) which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” Shall we not strive to form characters after the divine similitude? Shall we not here be conformed to the image of Christ? O that God would give us divine perception to comprehend the breadth and length, the depth and height, and to know the love of Christ that passeth knowledge, that we might be filled with all the fulness of God! Then would man look upon his fellow men as God’s own purchased possession. He would keep his own soul in the love of God, and would not undertake to lord it over God’s heritage. It was a wonderful thing for God to create man, to make mind. He created him that every faculty might be the faculty of the divine mind. The glory of God is to be revealed in the creation of man in God’s image, and in his redemption. One soul is of more value than a world. The Lord Jesus is the Author of our being and he is also the Author of our redemption; and every one who will enter into the kingdom of God will develop a character that is the counterpart of the character of God. None can dwell with God in the holy heaven but those who bear his likeness. Those who are redeemed will be overcomers; they will be elevated, pure, one with Christ. The divine decrees are to be vindicated; it will be demonstrated that they are not accessory to sin. There was no withdrawal of divine influence from Lucifer. Not in the slightest particular was there a deficiency in God’s government that would afford a cause for disaffection in heaven. So in the administration of affairs in connection with God’s work on earth, he requires that those who bear the responsibility of the work are to give no cause for disaffection. The principles that are according to heaven’s order must be maintained. Everything in our world is in agitation. Coming events cast their shadows before. The signs of the times are ominous indeed. There is assurance in nothing human or earthly. There are but two parties in this world. Satan works with his crooked, deceiving power, and through strong delusion he catches all who do not abide in the truth, who have turned their ears away from the truth, and have turned unto fables. Satan himself abode not in the truth, and he is the mystery of iniquity. Through his subtility he gives to his soul-destroying errors the appearance of truth. Herein is their power to deceive.180It is because they are a counterfeit of the truth that Spiritualism, theosophy, and the like deceptions gain such power over the minds of men. Herein is the masterly working of Satan. He pretends to be the Saviour of man, the benefactor of the human race, and thus he more readily lures his victims to destruction. Rapidly men are ranging themselves under the banner they have chosen, restlessly waiting and watching the movements of their leaders. Some are watching and waiting and working for our Lord’s appearing, but the great part of the world are rapidly falling into line under the generalship of the first great apostate. They look for a god in humanity, and Satan personifies the one they seek. Multitudes will be so deluded through their rejection of truth, that they will accept the counterfeit; and humanity will be hailed as God. Satan’s skill is exercised in devising plans and methods without number to accomplish his purpose. Dissimulation has become a fine art with him, and he works in the guise of an angel of light. God’s eye alone discerns his schemes to contaminate the world with false and ruinous principles, bearing on their face the appearance of genuine goodness. He works to restrict religious liberty, and to bring into the religious world a species of slavery. Organizations, institutions, unless kept by the power of God, will work under Satan’s dictation to bring men under the control of men; and fraud and guile will bear the semblance of zeal for truth, and for the advancement of the kingdom of God. Whatever in our practise is not as open as the day, belongs to the methods of the prince of evil. We are warned in the word of God that sleepless vigilance is the price of safety. Only in the straight path of truth and righteousness can we escape the tempter’s power. The winds are held by the four angels; a moment of respite has been graciously given us of God. Every power lent us of God, whether physical, mental, or moral, is to be sacredly cherished to do the work assigned us for our fellow men who are perishing in their ignorance. The warning is to go forth to all parts of the world. There must be no delay. If men resist the warnings the Lord sends them, they become even leaders in evil practises; such men assume to exercise the prerogatives of God—they presume to do that which God himself will not do in seeking to control the minds of men. They introduce their own methods and plans, and through their misconceptions of God, they weaken the faith of others in the truth, and bring in false principles that will work like leaven to taint and corrupt our institutions and churches. Anything that lowers men’s conception of righteousness and equity and impartial judgment, any device or precept that brings God’s human agents under the control of human minds, impairs their faith in God; it separates the soul from God, for it leads away from the path of strict integrity and righteousness. God will not vindicate any device whereby man shall in the slightest degree rule or oppress his fellow man. The only hope for fallen man is to look to Jesus, and receive him as the only Saviour. As soon as man begins to make an iron rule for other men, as soon as he begins to harness up and drive men according to181his own mind, he dishonors God, and imperils his own soul and the souls of his brethren. God expects his workers to be tender-hearted. How merciful are the ways of God! (See Deut. 10: 17–20; 2 Chron. 20: 5–7; 1 Peter 1: 17.) But the rules God has given have been disregarded, and strange fire has been offered before the Lord. The spirit of domination is extending to the presidents of our conferences. But if a man is sanguine of his own powers, and seeks to exercise dominion over his brethren, feeling that he is invested with authority to make his will the ruling power, the best and only safe course is to remove him, lest great harm be done, and he lose his own soul, and imperil the souls of others. “All ye are brethren.” Those in authority should manifest the spirit of Christ. They should deal as he would deal with every case that requires attention. They should go weighted with the Holy Spirit. A man’s position does not make him one jot or tittle greater in the sight of God; it is character alone that God values. The high-handed power that has been developed, as though position made men gods, makes me afraid, and ought to cause fear. It is a curse wherever, and by whomsoever exercised. This lording it over God’s heritage will create such a disgust of man’s jurisdiction that a state of insubordination will result. The people are learning that men in high positions of authority cannot be trusted to mold and fashion other men’s minds and characters. The result will be a loss of confidence even in the management of faithful men. But the Lord will raise up laborers who realize their own nothingness apart from him. Let men be connected with God’s work who will represent his character. They may have much to learn in regard to business management; but if they pray to God as did Daniel, if with true contrition of mind they seek that wisdom which comes from above, the Lord will give them an understanding heart. Read carefully and prayerfully the third chapter of James, especially verses 13-16. The whole chapter is an eye-opener, if men wish to open their eyes. The goodness, mercy, and love of God was proclaimed by Christ to Moses. This was God’s character. When men who profess to serve God, ignore his parental character, and depart from honor and righteousness in dealing with their fellow men, Satan exults; for he has inspired them with his attributes. They are following in the track of Romanism. Those who are enjoined to represent the attributes of the Lord’s character, step from the Bible platform, and in their own human judgment devise rules and resolutions to force the will of others. But when men are forced to follow the prescriptions of other men, an order of things is instituted that overrides sympathy and tender compassion, blinding the eyes of men to mercy, justice, and the love of God. Moral influence and personal responsibility are trodden under foot. The righteousness of Christ by faith has been ignored by some; for it is contrary to their spirit, and their whole life-experience. Rule, rule, has been their course of action; and Satan has had an opportunity to represent himself through them. When one who professes to be a representative of Christ, engages in sharp dealing, and presses men into hard places, those who are thus oppressed will either break every fetter of restraint, or will be led to regard182God as a hard master. They cherish hard feelings against God, and their souls are alienated from him, just as Satan planned it should be. This hard-heartedness of the part of men who claim to believe the truth, Satan charges to the influence of truth itself, and thus men become disgusted, and turn from the truth. For this reason no man should have a responsible connection with our institutions, who thinks it no important matter whether he have a heart of flesh or a heart of steel. Such men may think they are representing the justice of God, but they do not represent his tenderness, and the great love wherewith he has loved us. Their human inventions, originating with the specious devices of Satan, appear fair enough to the blinded eyes of men, because they are inherent in their nature. A lie, believed and practised, becomes truth to them. Thus the purpose of Satan, that men should reach these conclusions through the working of their own inventive minds, is accomplished.