The trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. James 1:3, 4.

To the angels, the course followed by human beings seems strangely inconsistent. They see how plainly degradation is revealed on the side of unbelief and indulgence of appetite. They see how untiringly Satan is working to destroy the image of God in man. They wonder why beings dependent on their Creator for every breath they draw act so unreasonably and inconsistently; why they choose the side of the one who crucified Christ and who has filled the world with strife and envy and jealousy….

Christ is the Lord our Righteousness. Let us take our stand on His side now, just now. Let none be ashamed to acknowledge Christ as their Saviour, their counselor, their guide, and their exceeding great reward. Is this sacrificing anything? Is it an honor to be numbered among Satan’s army? Those who make this choice gain nothing. Only death, eternal death, awaits them. Let those who are tempted to choose the world, to strive to gain the recognition of the world, remember that unless they choose Christ here, they will not have the recognition of heaven. Tempted ones, whom have you chosen as your leader? …

Come to Christ just as you are, weak, helpless, and ready to die. Cast yourselves wholly on His mercy. There is no difficulty within or without that cannot be conquered in His strength. Some have stormy tempers; but He who calmed the stormy sea of Galilee can say to your heart, if you repent, “Peace, be still.” There is no nature that Christ cannot subdue, no temper so stormy that He cannot quell it, if the heart is surrendered to His keeping.

No one need despond who commits his soul to Jesus. We have an all-powerful Saviour. Looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith, you can say, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof” (Psalm 46:1-3)….

In the future life we shall understand things that here greatly perplex us. We shall realize how strong an opponent we had, and how angels of God were commissioned to guard us as we followed the counsel of the Word of God. Christ tells us that our sea will not always be smooth. We shall have tribulation. This is a part of our education, necessary to the formation of a strong, symmetrical character.—Manuscript 130, November 3, 1903, “Christ Stilling the Tempest.”

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I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. Hebrews 13:5.

We have but one life to live, and through our daily connection with God we have, in and through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, a constant sustenance in doing the things that will represent Christ to the world. We may not have all the conveniences that some have in ease and comfort and in earthly goods, but we have the blessed assurance which Christ gave to His believing disciples…. To them He said, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:1-3)….

Blessed words! We may receive Him into our hearts, and He will be unto us hope and courage and sustaining grace. The Lord would have us trust fully and entirely in Him. Then we will, in the simplicity of our faith, believe that Christ will do for us all that He has promised. Let all come to the Saviour in the full assurance that He will do all that He has promised.

We cannot please our Saviour more than by having faith in His promises. His mercies can come to you, and your prayers can come to Him. Nothing can break this line of communication. We must learn to bring all perplexities to Jesus Christ, for He will help us. He will listen to our requests. We may come to Him in full assurance of faith, nothing doubting, for He is the living Way….

The more we press our petitions to His throne, the more sure we are of constantly receiving the great grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. You do not give strength to the road you are traveling by [having] faith. But you increase in strength and in assurance because you have a Guide right by your side, and you can ask Him with perfect faith to guide your steps aright.

Then trust in the Lord Jesus to lead you step by step into the right path. You can derive assurance and strength at every step you advance, for you can be assured that your hand is in His hand. You can “run and not be weary”; you can “walk and not faint,” for you can realize by faith that you have your hand in the hand of Christ. You will not sink under discouragement, for as you follow on to know the Lord, trusting in Him, you will have the assurance that the One who never forsakes those who fully trust Him is your constant Helper.—Letter 313, November 2, 1905, to Mabel White, her 19-year-old granddaughter.

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O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. Psalm 34:8.

Christ was the Prince of heaven, but He made an infinite sacrifice, and came to a world all marred with the curse brought upon it by the fallen foe. He lays hold of the fallen race. He invites us, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). The offer is ours, and every advantage is ours, if we will accept the terms….

The good news of saving grace is to be carried to every place; the warning must be given to the world, but economy must be practiced if we move in the spirit of which Christ has given us an example in His life-service….

The gospel is associated with light and life. If there were no sunlight, all vegetation would perish, and human life could not exist. All animal life would die. We are all to consider that there is to be no extravagance in any line…. We are preparing for the future, immortal life in the kingdom of heaven. We expect to do our work in the light and in the power of the great, mighty Healer. All are to act the self-sacrificing part. Every one of us is to learn of Christ. “Learn of me,” He says; “for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29)….

Our work is to be carefully studied, and is to be in accordance with our Saviour’s plan. He might have had armies of angels to display His true, princely character, but He laid all that aside, and came to our world in the garb of humanity, to suffer with humanity all the temptations wherewith man is tempted. He was tempted in all points as human beings are tempted, that He might reveal that it is possible for us to be victorious overcomers—one with Christ as Christ is one with the Father. “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:11, 12).

God calls upon Seventh-day Adventists to reveal to the world that we are preparing for those mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for those who will purify their souls by obeying the truth as it is in Jesus. Let every soul who will come after Christ deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Him.—Letter 309, November 1, 1905, to Elder and Mrs. J. A. Burden.

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And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15.

How hard it is for man to walk humbly with God, to believe His Word and accept His plans. Satan’s propositions appear to present great advantages, but they end in ruin. Over and over again men have found out by experience the result of refusing to walk in the path of obedience. Will not others gain wisdom from their experience? Let us think of the experience of our first parents and be afraid of any plans that are not based on obedience to God’s will.

When will men learn that God is God, not man, and that He does not change. Every calamity, every death, is a witness to the power of evil and to the truth of the living God. The Word of God is life, and it will abide forever. Through all eternity it will stand fast. How can man, knowing what God is and what He has done, choose Satan’s way instead of God’s way? There is only one path to Paradise restored—the path of obedience.

The message given man to proclaim in these last days is not to be amalgamated with worldly opinions. In these days of peril, nothing but obedience will keep man from apostasy. God has bestowed on man great light and many blessings. But unless this light and these blessings are received, they are no security against apostasy and disobedience. When those whom God has exalted to positions of high trust turn from Him to human wisdom, their light becomes darkness, and how great is that darkness! Their entrusted capabilities are a snare to them. They are become an offense to God….

There always has been, and till the conflict is ended, there always will be a departing from God. Sins have a close connection. One act of disobedience, unless repented of, leads to another. He who justifies himself in sin is led on step by step in deception, till at length he sins with impunity.

Often the professed followers of Christ are found with hearts hardened and eyes blinded, because they do not obey the truth. Selfish motives and purposes take possession of the mind. In their self-confidence they suppose that their way is the way of wisdom. They are not particular to follow the path that God has marked out. They declare that circumstances alter cases, and when Satan tempts them to follow worldly principles, they yield, and making crooked paths for their feet, they lead others astray. The inexperienced follow where they go, supposing that the judgment of Christians so experienced must be wise.—Manuscript 135, October 31, 1902, “Instruction to the Church.”

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Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. Isaiah 29:9.

It is presented to me that in our experience we have been and are meeting this very condition of things. Men who have had great light and wonderful privileges have taken the word of leaders who think themselves wise, who have been greatly favored and blessed by the Lord, but who have taken themselves out of the hands of God and placed themselves in the ranks of the enemy.

The world is to be flooded with specious fallacies. One human mind, accepting these fallacies, will work upon other human minds, who have been turning the precious evidence of God’s truth into a lie. These men will be deceived by fallen angels, when they should have stood as faithful guardians, watching for souls, as they that must give an account. They have laid down the weapons of their warfare, and have given heed to seducing spirits. They make of no effect the counsel of God and set aside His warnings and reproofs, and are positively on Satan’s side….

Spiritual drunkenness is now upon men who ought not to be staggering as men under the influence of strong drink. Crimes and irregularities, fraud, deceit, and unfair dealing fill the world, in accordance with the teaching of the leader who rebelled in the heavenly courts.

History is to be repeated. I could specify what will be in the near future, but the time is not yet. The forms of the dead will appear, through the cunning device of Satan, and many will link up with the one who loveth and maketh a lie. I warn our people that right among us some will turn away from the faith and give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, and by them the truth will be evil spoken of.

A marvelous work shall take place. Ministers, lawyers, doctors, who have permitted these falsehoods to overmaster their spirit of discernment, will be themselves deceivers, united with the deceived. A spiritual drunkenness will take possession of them. To the unfaithful stewards the Lord says, “Take your pleasure and walk in blindness as drunken men, for, after having many opportunities, and refusing to improve them, you will act at last as the drunkard acts, throwing away your hope of eternal life.” Seeking deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and making lies their refuge, they will misinterpret the warnings and messages God has sent, placing on these warnings their false statements, to make God’s Word of no effect.—Letter 311, October 30, 1905, to “Brethren Daniells and Prescott and Their Associates.”

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