What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? James 2:14.

Enshrouded in the pillar of cloud, Christ was the leader of His people. He gave them statutes and laws, that by obedience to His requirements, they might be His denominated people. He bestowed upon them the bounties of heaven, but He expected them, in turn, to share their blessings with others who were less favored. So He deals with His chosen people today….

Nothing gratifies the enemy more than to see the people of God at strife among themselves. We all need the daily, converting power of the grace of God, for many of our churches are backslidden. They do not reveal the genuine Christian life, and the spirit of the Master. A hundredfold more might be done than is being done to spread the gospel message nigh and afar off….

I have a message for our churches…. There is to be a deeper consecration than has yet been seen, or many will be unprepared to enter the Holy City. With some there is a desire to be first, to rule. It is right to desire to be first in good works, in attaining the Christian graces, but to many the words of Christ as recorded in the seventh chapter of Matthew are applicable today. Read and study this chapter carefully. These are the words of Christ, and it is for every individual to make diligent work for his own soul’s salvation….

We must carry on the Lord’s work unitedly. Firmly and decidedly we are to proclaim the words of God. But we must guard against creating unnecessary prejudice. Let no one, in conversation or in discourse, give sharp thrusts, for by this means doors have been closed, and opportunities have been lost.

If all our churches had been wide awake, we would not now see such poisonous influences as are now at work and many who ought to understand the truth being taken in the snares of Satan’s sophistry. Satan is at work among God’s people, even as he worked among the angels in the heavenly courts, and many are being ensnared.

The judgments of God are in the land, and our testimonies are to be given under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Now, just now, is our time to work under the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit. We must give the message quickly, line upon line. Men will be forced to a decision, and it is our part that they are given an opportunity to understand the truth, so that they may take their stand intelligently on the right side.—Manuscript 101, December 3, 1906, “The Lord Loveth a Cheerful Giver.”

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Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. Psalm 17:3.

The past night [December 1] was to me one of great experience. I seemed to be in a meeting where there were a large number assembled—many believers and some unbelievers. On one occasion the company was divided into several smaller companies. I had a special burden and had addressed my remarks to some few under the temptations of the enemy. They were entertaining ideas that were not sound but would lead them into the denying of the truth. This present time in which we live is a period of great temptation to give heed to erroneous sentiments and suggestions of seducing spirits, and to link up with evil angels and present the same as present truth. There was a deep interest manifested in searching the Scriptures.

I had a special burden of prayer, and the peril of souls seemed to me so great upon my soul. I poured out the burden of my soul unto the Lord. I was pleading most earnestly for the Lord to break the power of the enemy and set us free, to let the minds of the beloved ones who are tempted go free, and to let the precious truth shine forth amid the moral darkness. I presented my prayer to the Lord that He would come forth to the help of His people and magnify the truth, that those who were uninformed would not be deceived in this period of great peril. I presented before the Lord our great need of special help to be granted to His people in accordance with the consistency of His attributes to work in our behalf and answer our prayers to glorify His own name.

I was reaching higher and still higher, pleading with God to comply with our earnest supplications and let His truth at this time appear in all its dignity and beauty and saving grace. As He had often made known His special love and His special power and made the truth appear in its strength and its authority, to make known again His clear and sacred truth unmixed with chaff, … I pleaded, and I felt that the Lord had pledged Himself. Victory came in, and I awoke crying aloud in joy that the Lord had manifested to us His grace, His truth, and His salvation. I learned from the members of my family that my praying was aloud in my sleep.

The precious goodness and love of God to me gave me comfort and strength and joy. I felt that I had a new source of hope and encouragement that deliverance would be wrought for souls…. The Word of God will be established forever and forever.—Manuscript 177, December 2, 1903, “Diary—December, 1903.”

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Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness. Ephesians 6:14.

The enemy is on the track of every one of us, and if we would resist temptations which assail us from without and from within, we need to make sure we are on the Lord’s side, that His truth is in our hearts, that it keeps watch in our souls, ready to sound an alarm and summon us to action against every enemy. Without this defense amid unseen foes we shall be like the willow bending to blast, driven of the wind and tossed. But if Christ abides in the soul we may be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might….

The mind can be expanded and ennobled and should be made to dwell upon heavenly things. Our powers must be cultivated to the uttermost, else we shall fail of meeting God’s standard. Unless … [the mind] flows in a heavenward direction it becomes an easy prey to the temptation of Satan to engage in worldly projects and enterprises that have no special connection with God…. All zeal and devotion and restless energy and feverish desire are brought into this work, and the devil stands by and laughs to see human effort wrestling so perseveringly for an object that it will never gain, which eludes its grasp….

To be independent and self-reliant in some respects is [a] duty that we owe to ourselves. But here, where the enemy will come in with his delusive snares, pride takes the place of humility. And when you or I trust to our own resources, our own wisdom, and seek counsel of our own heart, then certain disappointment, shame, and confusion will be our portion at last. We are in a fair way to triumph only when we are closely connected with God, and have on the whole armor of righteousness….

It is essential that you feel the power of the truth as well as to believe it. It should have a steady, abiding influence upon the mind. But dreamlike projects are favored and bar the way to deep and thorough heavenly principles. The things of this life have the precedence of the interest pertaining to the future, immortal life. The common and earthly deaden the sense of the eternal.

There is one safeguard against Satan’s deceptions and snares—that is the truth as it is in Jesus. The truth planted in the heart, nourished by watchfulness and prayer, nourished by the grace of Christ, will give us discernment. The truth must abide in the heart, be felt in its power in spite of all the alluring enchantments of Satan, and your experience and mine must be that the truth can purify, guide, and bless the soul.—Letter 17, December 1, 1886, to “My Dear —” (addressee unknown).

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Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Psalm 16:11.

The Bible is to be the rule of your life practice, for all who follow its teachings are made wise unto salvation.

You cannot depend on your own righteousness. If you make the Lord your trust constantly, you will not be brought into confusion. For keeping power, trust wholly in the One who understands all your spiritual necessities. God is very pitiful. Depend on Him alone. Christ’s righteousness atones for your sins. He is making intercession in your behalf. Seek to please Him by keeping all His commandments.

The more that we, individually, are acquainted with the Bible, and the more earnestly and zealously we criticize ourselves, comparing our hearts and lives with the standard of God’s requirements, the more fully will we trust only in the Wisdom that cannot err. Through faith we will accept the promise given to those who receive Christ as their personal Saviour—the promise that to them He will give power to become sons and daughters of God.

My brother, keep the perfection of Christ’s character ever before you. Whatever may be the human judgment pronounced on your case, remember that God has authorized no human agent to be judge of his fellow man. Put your trust in God at all times, and you will find Him able to keep you by His almighty power. He will be an ever-present, all-sufficient defense against the strife of tongues which Satan inspires to confuse and weaken and discourage….

The Friend of sinners knows how to help and strengthen and bless those who, having sinned, turn again unto the Lord. Those who seek God with the whole heart will find Him a present help in every time of need. He will heal the erring, instead of denouncing and crushing them. He will hear the penitential prayers, and will pardon the repentant ones, doing them good, according to the great riches of His grace….

Lift up heart and soul in praise to God because He has acknowledged you as His child. He will make you His helping hand, and will bless you in the work of trying to help other souls. The Holy Spirit will work every heart susceptible to its holy influence. Christ’s righteousness will go before such an one, and the glory of the Lord will be his rearward.—Letter 192, November 30, 1902, to W. O. Palmer, one of J. E. White’s helpers in his work for the blacks of the Southern States.

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Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Revelation 4:11.

The heart is the place for the truth to begin its work. Truth is to be a power in the life and character. If received and cherished in the heart, it will work as the leaven of a life-giving principle, changing the whole being.

Truth has power to make the sayings of Christ spirit and life. If cherished and respected, it will cause the man to turn from his evil ways. Truth and error cannot abide in the same heart. “He that is not with me is against me,” Christ declares, “and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad” (Matthew 12:30).

Wisdom, intellect, power—these are not God. But God is the Author of all wisdom, all grace, all power. God gave Lucifer his power and wisdom, yet this intelligence was not God Himself. We are to know God as He is revealed in His marvelous works. Who by searching can find out God? This is not part of our work…. God’s character is expressed in the Ten Commandments. To know God as He is—this is the science of all goodness and truth and righteousness. We must obey every expression of His character as revealed in His law.

God requires obedience, not for the purpose of showing His authority, but that we may become one with Him in character. We will find in God the attributes of character needed to form characters after His likeness. We are to form characters that are in harmony with the Deity. Thus our natures become spiritualized in every faculty.

We cannot present any correct representation in words of God’s glory and majesty. It is beyond expression. But we can enjoy the contemplation of God, and the sense of His presence. We can know of Him all that human beings can bear. We can talk with Him in prayer.

At times, when our faith goes out to Him completely, we converse with Him, and by faith endure the seeing of the Invisible. Faith revealed Him and we contemplate all that we can endure. When in times of trouble and perplexity we trust Him fully, we have a living sense of His cheering, all-pervading presence and power. We realize that the Lord is indeed our strength and our portion forever. We can be one with Christ in God. But let us never undertake to define God as an essence. Never, never venture one step into the way of putting God in the place of the things of His creation.—Manuscript 126, November 29, 1905, “A Warning Against Present Dangers.”

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