Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. 2 Timothy 4:2.

The experience of the past will be repeated. In the future, Satan’s superstitions will assume new forms. Errors will be presented in a pleasing and flattering manner. False theories, clothed with garments of light, will be presented to God’s people. Thus Satan will try to deceive, if possible, the very elect. Most seducing influences will be exerted; minds will be hypnotized.

Corruptions of every type, similar to those existing among the antediluvians, will be brought in to take minds captive. The exaltation of nature as God, the unrestrained license of the human will, the counsel of the ungodly—these Satan uses as agencies to bring about certain ends. He will employ the power of mind on mind to carry out his designs. The most sorrowful thought of all is that under his deceptive influence men and women will have a form of godliness without having a real connection with God. Like Adam and Eve, who ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, many are even now feeding upon the deceptive morsels of error.

Satanic agencies are clothing false theories in an attractive garb, even as Satan in the Garden of Eden concealed his identity from our first parents by speaking through the serpent. These agencies are instilling into human minds that which in reality is deadly error. The hypnotic influence of Satan will rest upon those who turn from the plain Word of God to pleasing fables.

It is those who have had the most light that Satan most assiduously seeks to ensnare. He knows that if he can deceive them, they will, under his control, clothe sin with garments of righteousness and lead many astray.

I say to all, Be on your guard; for as an angel of light Satan is walking in every assembly of Christian workers and in every church, trying to win the members to his side. I am bidden to give the people of God the warning, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked.” …

Walk firmly, decidedly, your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. You may be sure that pure and undefiled religion is not a sensational religion. God has not laid upon anyone the burden of encouraging an appetite for speculative doctrines and theories. My brethren, keep these things out of your teaching. Do not allow them to enter into your experience. Let not your lifework be marred by them.—The Review and Herald, March 3, 1904.

From From the Heart

On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God. Acts 13:44.

The message of the third angel of Revelation 14 is now to be proclaimed not only in lands far off, but in neglected places close by, where multitudes dwell unwarned and unsaved. God is calling His people at this time to a long-delayed work. Decided efforts are to be made to enlighten those who have never yet been warned. The work in the cities is now to be regarded as of special importance. Let workers be carefully selected to labor two and two in the cities in harmony with the counsel of experienced leaders and under the direction and commission of Jesus Christ.

God desires His people to labor in perfect harmony in an effort to carry the truth into the cities. I am bidden to keep this matter before the attention of the believers until they shall be aroused to a realization of its importance. Let not ill-advised lips utter words of discouragement, but let everyone in responsibility unite in planning for the accomplishment of this work, knowing that He who has led His servants hitherto will not fail them in this time of special need. Angels of God will go before the workers and will be their sufficiency. Angels will be in the assemblies to make an impression upon the hearts of the hearers….

The labors of the apostles in the early Christian church were characterized by wonderful manifestations of the power of God in the lives of the believers. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, multitudes were brought to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. The needs of the world today are no less than they were in the days of the apostles. Those who labor for souls in these times of impenitence and unbelief must yield themselves wholly to God, and work in unison with heavenly intelligences. The power of the Holy Spirit will accompany the labors of those who dedicate their energies and their all unreservedly to the completion of the work that must be done in the last days. Angels from heaven will cooperate with them, and many will be brought to a knowledge of the truth and will gladly cast in their lot with God’s commandment-keeping people. Means will flow into the treasury, strong laborers will be raised up, the unwarned fields of the great regions beyond will be entered, and the work will soon close in triumph.—The Review and Herald, April 7, 1910.

From From the Heart

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Matthew 6:14.

“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” Christ taught us to pray. But it is most difficult even for those who claim to be followers of Jesus to forgive as He forgave us. The true spirit of forgiveness is so little practiced, and so many interpretations are placed upon Christ’s requirement, that its force and beauty are lost sight of. We have very uncertain views of the great mercy and loving-kindness of God. He is full of compassion and forgiveness and freely pardons when we truly repent and confess our sins…. We must bring into our characters the love and sympathy expressed in Christ’s life….

If we have received the gift of God and have a knowledge of Jesus Christ, we have a work to do for others. We must imitate the long-suffering of God toward us. The Lord requires of us the same treatment toward His followers that we receive of Him. We are to exercise patience and to be kind, even though they do not meet our expectations. The Lord expects us to be pitiful and loving, to have sympathetic hearts. He desires us to show the fruits of the grace of God in our deportment one to another. Christ did not say, You may tolerate your neighbor, but, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” This means a great deal more than professing Christians carry out in their daily life….

Christ proceeds to teach that the principles of God’s law reach even to the intents and purposes of the mind. And He plainly states that if we faithfully keep the ten precepts, we shall love our neighbor as ourselves….

A consistent religious life, holy conversation, a godly example, true-hearted benevolence, mark the representatives of Christ. They will labor to pluck sinners as brands from the burning; they will perform every duty faithfully. Thus they will become a beacon light.

Reader, we are nearing the judgment. Talents have been lent us on trust. Let none of us be at last condemned as slothful servants. Send forth the words of life to those in darkness. Let the church be true to her trust. Her earnest, humble prayers will make the presentation of truth effectual, and Christ will be glorified.—The Review and Herald, May 19, 1910.

From From the Heart

Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me. Revelation 22:12.

Look upon the world today. Is the voice of prayer heard amidst the din of confusion? Altars are erected, but it is not to God that the sacrifices are offered. Deceivers, robbers, and murderers are many. Pride of ancestry and pride of wealth minister to the work of soul destruction. Avarice, sensuality, malice—these are the attributes that bear sway. Thousands are standing on the brink of perdition. Do you not see them, many of them lost, eternally lost, whilst professing Christians sleep the sleep of indifference?

Earnest, self-sacrificing men and women are needed, men and women who will go to God, and with strong crying and tears plead for the precious souls that are going to ruin…. Christ gave His life to save sinners, and He says to His followers, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end.” He has laid out before us the work to be done and has declared that He will give power for the accomplishment of this work….

The work is fast closing up, and on every side wickedness is increasing. We have but a short time in which to work. God is not willing that any should perish. He has provided abundantly for the salvation of all. If His people had gone forth as they should, giving the invitation of mercy, many souls would have been won to Christ. Let us awake from spiritual slumber and consecrate all that we have and are to the Lord. His Spirit will abide with true missionaries, furnishing them with power for service. God is an overflowing fountain of efficiency and strength. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. When this power is utilized, it will be found to be more than sufficient to meet the power of the enemy.

It is impossible for those of us who believe in Christ to see the work that needs to be done and not do anything. Daily the church is to receive from heaven the healing balm of God’s grace to impart to the needy and suffering. The church of God is weighted with the most sacred responsibilities and the most glorious privileges. All who believe the message of Christ’s soon coming will go forth to do something for the Master…. In practical obedience to the divine command, their confidence will increase and their talents will multiply.—Signs of the Times, November 28, 1906.

From From the Heart

Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth. Revelation 14:6.

The fourteenth chapter of Revelation outlines the work that is to be done by the people of God just before the second advent of our Savior. Three messages are there represented, which must go to all the inhabitants of the world.

John writes of an angel which he saw flying “in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people…. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen…. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God….”

These three angels represent the people who accept the light of God’s messages and go forth as His agents to sound the warning throughout the length and breadth of the earth. Christ declared to His followers, “Ye are the light of the world.” To every soul that accepts Jesus, the cross of Calvary speaks: “Behold the worth of the soul. ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.’” Nothing is to be permitted to hinder this work. It is the all-important work for this time, and it is to be far-reaching as eternity….

In this day, God has called His church, as He called ancient Israel, to stand as a light in the earth. By the mighty cleaver of truth—the messages of the first, second, and third angels—He has separated a people from the churches and from the world, to bring them into a sacred nearness to Himself. He has made them the depositaries of His law and has committed to them the great truths of prophecy for this time. Like the holy oracles committed to ancient Israel, these are a sacred trust to be communicated to the world….

In the issue of the contest, all Christendom will be divided into two great classes—those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark…. The prophet of Patmos beholds “them that had gotten the victory over the beast, … having the harps of God” and singing the “song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.”—Signs of the Times, January 25, 1910.

From From the Heart