Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Matthew 28:20.

For many months I have been troubled as I have seen that some of our brethren whom God has used in His cause are now perplexed over the scientific theology which has come in to lead men away from a true faith in God. Sabbath night, a week ago, after I had been prayerfully studying over these things, I had a vision in which I was speaking before a large company where many questions were asked concerning my work and writings.

I was directed by a messenger from heaven not to take the burden of picking up and answering all the sayings and doubts that are being put into many minds. “Stand as the messenger of God anywhere, in any place,” I was bidden, “and bear the testimony I shall give you. Be free. Bear the testimony that the Lord has for you to bear in reproof, in rebuke, in the work of encouraging and lifting up the soul; ‘teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.’”

After the vision I prayed aloud with great fervor and earnestness. My soul was strengthened, for the words had been spoken: “Be strong, yea, be strong. Let none of the misleading words of ministers or physicians distress your mind. Tell them to take the light given them in publications. Truth will always bear away the victory. Go straight forward with your work.

“If the Holy Spirit is rejected, all My words will not help to remove, even for the time being, the false representations that have been made, and Satan stands ready to invent more. If the evidence already given is rejected, all other evidence will be useless until there is seen the converting power of God upon minds. If the convincing impressions of the Holy Spirit made in the past will not be accepted as trustworthy evidence, nothing that can be presented hereafter will reach them, because the bewitching guile of Satan has perverted their discernment.” …

God now calls for all who choose to serve Him to stand firmly on the platform of eternal truth. Let those who have brought about the present state of confusion by making the division that exists, stop to consider seriously before going any further. “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” “If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.”—The Review and Herald, August 9, 1906.

From From the Heart

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life. John 3:36.

Those who are truly children of God are believers, not doubters and chronic grumblers…. Through all ages and in every nation those that believe that Jesus can and will save them personally from sin, are the elect and chosen of God; they are His peculiar treasure….

The Lord has graciously opened out to our understanding by the Holy Spirit rich truth, and we should respond to this by corresponding works of piety and devotion, in harmony with the superior privileges and advantages that have been bestowed upon us. The Lord is waiting to be gracious to His people, to give them an increased knowledge of His paternal character, of His goodness, mercy, and love. He waits to show them His glory; and if they follow on to know the Lord, they shall know that His goings forth are prepared as the morning.

The people of God are not to stand upon common ground, but upon the holy ground of gospel truth. They are to keep step with their Leader, looking continually to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of their faith, marching onward and upward, and having no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness….

It is the privilege of the children of God to be delivered from the control of the lusts of the flesh, and to preserve their peculiar, heavenly character, which distinguishes them from the lovers of the world. In their moral taste, in their habits and customs, they are separate from the world. Who are the children of God? They are members of the royal family, and a royal nation, a peculiar people, showing forth the praises of Him who hath called them out of darkness into His marvelous light….

Will not those to whom have been committed the treasures of truth, consider the superior advantages of light and privilege that have been purchased for us by the sacrifice of the Son of God on Calvary’s cross? We are to be judged by the light that has been given us, and we can find no excuse by which to extenuate our course. The Way, the Truth, and the Life has been set before us….

We are to place our will on the side of the Lord’s will, and firmly determine that by His grace we will be free from sin.—The Review and Herald, August 1, 1893.

From From the Heart

By their fruits you will know them. Matthew 7:20.

Jesus came into the world because the human race were under sentence of death for their transgressions. His work was to bring them back to allegiance to the law of God, which Paul declares is “holy, and just, and good.” He kept His Father’s commandments. Those who by repentance and obedience testify their appreciation of the salvation He came to bring will show the work of the Spirit on their hearts. And the test is the life. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” “He that saith, I know Him,” says John, “and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

Yet notwithstanding these inspired testimonies as to the nature of sin, many claim to be sanctified and incapable of sin, while they are constantly transgressing the law of God….

No one who claims holiness is really holy. Those who are registered as holy in the books of heaven are not aware of the fact and are the last ones to boast of their own goodness. None of the prophets and apostles ever professed holiness, not even Daniel, Paul, or John. The righteous never make such a claim. The more nearly they resemble Christ, the more they lament their unlikeness to Him, for their consciences are sensitive, and they regard sin more as God regards it….

The only safe position for any of us to take is to consider ourselves sinners, daily needing divine grace. Mercy through the atoning blood of Christ is our only plea…. Those who have the truth as it is revealed in that Holy Word must stand fast on the platform of truth, relying on, “It is written.” …

God has great blessings to bestow upon His people. They may have the “peace of God, which passeth all understanding.” They “may be able to comprehend with all saints” … “what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height” of the love of Christ, being “filled with all the fulness of God.” But it is only to those who are meek and lowly of heart that Christ will thus manifest Himself. The ones whom God justifies are represented by the publican rather than the self-righteous Pharisee. Humility is heaven-born, and none can enter the pearly gates without it. All unconsciously, it shines in the church and in the world, and it will shine in the courts of heaven.—Signs of the Times, February 26, 1885.

From From the Heart

Give attention to reading. 1 Timothy 4:13.

The enemy knows that to a great degree the mind is affected by that upon which it feeds. He is seeking to lead both the youth and those of mature age to read story books, tales, and other literature. Those who yield to this temptation soon lose their relish for solid reading. They have no interest in Bible study. Their moral powers become enfeebled. Sin appears less and less repulsive. There is manifest an increasing unfaithfulness, a growing distaste for life’s practical duties. As the mind becomes perverted, it is ready to grasp any reading of a stimulating character….

Works that do not so decidedly mislead and corrupt are yet to be shunned, if they impart a disrelish for the study of the Bible. This Word is the true manna. Let all repress the desire for reading matter that is not food for the mind. You cannot possibly do the work of God with clear perception while the mind is occupied with this class of reading….

Question your own experience as to the influence of light reading. Can you, after spending time in such reading, open the Bible and read with interest the words of life? Do you not find the Book of God uninteresting? …

In order to have a healthy tone of mind and sound religious principles, we must live in communion with God through His Word. Pointing out the way of salvation, the Bible is our guide to a higher, better life. It contains the most interesting and most instructive history and biography that were ever written. Those whose imaginations have not been perverted by the reading of fiction will find the Bible the most interesting of all books.

Resolutely discard all worthless reading. Such reading will not strengthen your spirituality, but will introduce into the mind sentiments that will pervert the imagination, causing you to think less of Jesus and to dwell less upon His precious lessons….

The Bible is the Book of books. If you love the Word, searching it as you have opportunity, that you may come into the possession of the rich treasure that it contains and be thoroughly furnished unto all good works, then you may be assured that Jesus is drawing you to Himself.—Signs of the Times, June 13, 1906.

From From the Heart

Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me…. Behold, I have come … to do Your will, O God. Hebrews 10:5-7.

Should the angel Gabriel be sent to this world to take upon himself human nature and to teach the knowledge of God, how eagerly people would listen to his instruction. Supposing that he were able to set us a perfect example of purity and holiness, sympathizing with us in all our sorrows, bereavements, and afflictions, and suffering the punishment of our sins, how eagerly we would follow him….

If, when this heavenly being returned to his home, he should leave behind him a book containing the history of his mission, with revelations regarding the history of the world, how eagerly would its seal be broken! How anxiously men and women would seek to obtain a copy! … But One surpassing all that imagination can present came from heaven to this world…. Of Himself Christ declares, “Before Abraham was, I am.” “I and my Father are one.” …

As Paul beheld Christ in His power, he broke out into exclamations of admiration and amazement: “Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” … “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

The Bible is God’s voice speaking to us, just as surely as if we could hear it with our ears. If we realized this, … with what earnestness we would search its precepts. The reading and contemplation of the Scriptures would be regarded as an audience with the Infinite One….

Christ’s words are the bread of life. As the disciples ate the words of Christ, their understanding was quickened…. In their comprehension of these teachings they stepped from the obscurity of dawn to the radiance of noonday.

So will it be with us as we study God’s Word. Our minds will be quickened and our understanding enlarged. Those who receive and assimilate this Word, making it a part of every act, of every attribute of character, grow strong in the strength of God. It gives vigor to the soul, perfecting the experience, and bringing joys that abide forever.—Signs of the Times, April 4, 1906.

From From the Heart