It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22, 23.

I have very solemn feelings as I consider the condition the world is in. O how careless, how full of crime and disobedience and sin, how sad, how terribly sad is the fact that the world does not recognize the love of God in giving Jesus Christ as our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who was equal with God. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Sin has for ages disturbed, or I might say, impeded the great work of divine benevolence by obstructing the channel through human agencies that refuse to receive the heavenly gift and therefore cannot impart the same.

God is calling for men and women to become consecrated as laborers with Jesus Christ. Although sin and wickedness have disturbed for ages the flow of rich grace, yet this flow has not been cut off from earth. Its course is earthward, and if men would only cooperate with God, if the channel of communication was kept open, unrestrained, to communicate to the world, the light of heaven would be shining in all parts of the world, scattering the moral darkness.

I am satisfied that we must work in earnest. The ministers are not the only ones who are to shine, but workers are to be raised up in all the churches, and as these who receive the truth shall maintain humility and contrition, they are the very ones God will use to bless their fellow men, by doing whatever they can in their supposed humble capacity.

It is not the most learned, not the most eloquent of the human family through whom the Lord will reveal Himself. “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15). “But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word” (chap. 66:2).

The Lord calls for us to render back to Him the endowments He has given to men, whereby they can use all their powers of intellect, and all their strength, physically and morally, in His service to do good and bless others. A crisis has arrived in the government of God on earth. Divine compassion has been flowing to the people, notwithstanding that the heavenly current has been beaten back by stubborn hearts.—Letter 52, December 6, 1895, to a minister in Australia.

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I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13.

What does God require? Perfection; nothing less than perfection. But if we would be perfect, we must put no confidence in self. Daily we must know and understand that self is not to be trusted. We need to grasp God’s promises with firm faith. We need to ask for the Holy Spirit with a full realization of our own helplessness. Then when the Holy Spirit works, we shall not give self the glory. The Holy Spirit will graciously take the heart into His keeping, bringing to it all the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. We shall be kept by the power of God through faith.

When we are daily under the control of God’s Spirit, we shall be commandment-keeping people. We may show to the world that obedience to God’s commands brings its own reward, even in this life, and in the future life eternal blessedness. Notwithstanding our profession of faith, the Lord by whom our actions are weighed sees but an imperfect representation of Christ. He has declared that such a condition of things cannot glorify Him.

It means much to commit the keeping of the soul to God. It means that we are to live and walk by faith, not trusting in or glorifying self, but looking to Jesus our Advocate as the Author and Finisher of our faith. The Holy Spirit will do its work upon a heart that is contrite, but never can He work upon a self-important, self-righteous soul. In his own wisdom such a one would mend himself. He interposes between his soul and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will work if self will not interpose….

The Holy Spirit is ready to cooperate with all who will receive Him and be taught by Him. All who lay hold on the truth and are sanctified through the truth are so united with Christ that they can represent Him in word and action…. May the Holy Spirit speak to the hearts of God’s chosen people, that their words may be as choice as gold as they give the bread of life to those in transgression and sin….

It is God’s pleasure and will that the blessings bestowed on man shall be given in perfect completeness. He has made provision that every difficulty may be overcome, every want supplied through the Holy Spirit. Thus He designs that man shall perfect a Christian character. God would have us contemplate His love, His promises, given so freely to those who have no merit in themselves, He would have us depend fully, gratefully, rejoicingly in the righteousness provided for us in Christ. To all who come to God in His appointed way, He freely listens.—Manuscript 148, December 5, 1897, “The Christian Life.”

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No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. Isaiah 54:17.

The great apostasy, which is developing and increasing and waxing stronger, … will continue to do so until the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout. We are to hold fast the first principles of our denominated faith, and go forward from strength to increased faith. Ever we are to keep the faith that has been substantiated by the Holy Spirit of God from the earlier events of our experience until the present time. We need now larger breadth, and deeper, more earnest, unwavering faith in the leadings of the Holy Spirit. If we needed the manifest proof of the Holy Spirit’s power to confirm truth in the beginning, after the passing of the time, we need today all the evidence in the confirmation of the truth, when souls are departing from the faith and giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. There must not be any languishing of soul now.

If ever there was a period of time when we needed the Holy Spirit’s power in our discourses, in our prayers, in every action proposed, it is now. We are not to stop at the first experience, but while we bear the same message to the people, this message is to be strengthened and enlarged. We are to see and realize the importance of the message made certain by its divine origin. We are to follow on to know the Lord, that we may know that His going forth is prepared as the morning. Our souls need the quickening from the Source of all power. We may be strengthened and confirmed in the past experience that holds us to the essential points of truth which have made us what we are—Seventh-day Adventists.

The past fifty years have not dimmed one jot or principle of our faith as we received the great and wonderful evidences that were made certain to us in 1844, after the passing of the time. The languishing souls are to be confirmed and quickened according to His Word…. Not a word is changed or denied. That which the Holy Spirit testified to as truth after the passing of the time, in our great disappointment, is the solid foundation of truth. [The] pillars of truth were revealed, and we accepted the foundation principles that have made us what we are—Seventh-day Adventists, keeping the commandments of God and having the faith of Jesus.

Have not the hearts of Christ’s disciples burned within them as He has talked with us by the way and opened to us the Scriptures? Has not the Lord Jesus opened to us the Scriptures, and presented to us things kept secret from the foundation of the world?—Letter 326, December 4, 1905, to W. C. White.

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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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