And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. Numbers 20:12.

Some would regard … [Moses’] sin as one that should be lightly passed over; but God sees not as man sees. When within sight of the hills of Canaan, the Israelites murmured because the stream that had flowed wherever they encamped ceased. The cries of the people were directed against Moses and Aaron, whom they accused of bringing them into the wilderness to perish. The leaders went to the door of the tabernacle and fell on their faces. Again “the glory of the Lord appeared,” and Moses was directed, “Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock” (Numbers 20:8).

The two brothers went on before the multitude, Moses with the rod of God in his hand. They were now aged men. Long had they borne with the rebellion and obstinacy of Israel; but now, at last, even the patience of Moses gave way. “Hear now, ye rebels,” he cried; “must we fetch you water out of this rock?” (verse 10). And instead of speaking to the rock, as God had commanded him, he smote it twice with the rod.

The water gushed forth in abundance to satisfy the host. But a great wrong had been done. Moses had spoken from irritated feeling…. “Shall we bring water?” he questioned, as if the Lord would not do what He promised. “Ye believed me not,” the Lord declared to the two brothers, “to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel” (verse 12).

More than this, Moses and Aaron had assumed power that belongs only to God. The necessity for divine interposition made the occasion one of great solemnity, and the leaders of Israel should have improved it to impress the people with reverence for God and to strengthen their faith in His power and goodness. When they angrily cried, “Must we fetch you water out of this rock?” they put themselves in God’s place, as if the power lay in themselves. By these words they greatly dishonored Christ, their invisible Leader. God, not man, should have been glorified. The Lord reproved these leaders, and declared that they should not enter the Promised Land. Before the Hebrew host He demonstrated that the sin of the leader was greater than the sin of those who were led.—Manuscript 169, October 12, 1903, “Words of Warning Against Present Dangers.”

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Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. Psalm 97:2.

God will test the character on every point. He has a Father’s heart, and He bears long with His children. In His dealings with the children of Israel He pleaded with them in mercy and love. Patiently He set their sins before them, and in forbearance waited for them to see and acknowledge their wrongs. When they repented and confessed their sins, He forgave them; and though the offense was oft repeated, there were no taunting words spoken, no resentment expressed.

Christ plainly stated that though one sin again and again, he is to be forgiven if he repents, even should he sin till seventy times seven….

Words are a talent [given to us] in trust, and God will multiply every investment that is made in His love and in His fear. He will lift up and sustain the very ones who need sustaining…. Remember that silence is eloquence. To expatiate as has been the custom [of some] separates the soul from God, and brings condemnation….

Let there be much praying and less talking of the mistakes of others. By much prayer let self be wholly consecrated to God. Then work with all the facilities and powers God has given to help one another to reach a higher standard. Minister in concert with the ministering angels, and an experience will be gained that will be of the highest value.

The converting power of God needs to be seen upon the tongue, restraining the words that should not be spoken. Then the Holy Spirit will be revealed, binding together, not separating….

All who desire to be among the number who will stand before God without fault must begin without delay the practical work of overcoming. The Lord permits trials to come in order that we may be cleansed from earthliness, from selfishness, from harsh un-Christlikeness of character. He desires to create in every heart a deep and earnest longing to be cleansed from every stain of sin, that we may come forth purer, holier, and happier from every trial which He permits. Our souls become darkened by selfishness, but if we can only see Jesus, there will be a dying to self. Changes will be made in word and action. If we are patient under the crucial test, we shall come forth reflecting the image of the Master. “He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday” (Psalm 37:6). “Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne” (Psalm 97:2).—Manuscript 61, October 11, 1900, untitled manuscript.

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Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. Hosea 6:3.

Let everyone now repent of his mistakes, and seek the Lord with all his heart. The converting power of God will come to everyone who will seek the peace of Jesus Christ. His words of instruction are for all who will listen and follow Him.

In mercy God seeks to lead the unrighteous to repentance. The obedient will delight in the law of the Lord. He puts His laws in their minds, and writes them in their hearts. Their speech will be such as is prompted by an indwelling Saviour. They have that faith that works by love and purifies the soul from all the defilement of Satan’s suggestions. Their heart yearns after God. In their conversation they love to dwell upon His mercy and goodness, for to them He is altogether lovely. They learn the language of heaven, the country of their adoption.

The promise is for us: “I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God” (Ezekiel 11:19, 20).

I am instructed to say that it is not because of lack of opportunity to know the will and way of God that sinners must perish, but because of their determination to carry out their own will. They refuse to become spiritually enlightened in the Word of God. Willingly they remain ignorant of the privileges of the Christian and of his duty day by day to inquire of God. The Lord desires to give to everyone a deep, intelligent experience in spiritual life. But many are contented with a haphazard experience….

The Lord calls for faithfulness in service. He desires servants who will be diligent to help those in error. The day of the Lord is right upon us…. Let not one stumbling block be laid before those who are seeking to know the will of the Lord. Do not make public the supposed errors you see in those who profess to believe the truth. What you have to say, say to them alone, with hearts filled with pity and tenderness….

The will of God is made so plain that the weakest intellect can understand it, if the heart is set to do the will of God. Those who follow on to know the Lord will know that His going forth is prepared as the morning (see Hosea 6:3). Step by step the Lord will unerringly lead those who put their trust in Him.—Letter 281, October 10, 1905, to Dr. and Mrs. D. H. Kress.

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Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord. Jeremiah 9:23, 24.

In … [our] work for the Master, self is [to be] hid. The language of the heart is, He must increase; I must decrease…. The love of self dies, the love of Jesus burns upon the altar of the soul. There is no spirit for low, common, self-seeking, or worldly ambition, because we are living in His presence, doing His work, and are in contact with Jesus Christ and His life. His character and His work are all-absorbing. The life imperceptibly becomes one with Christ as He was one with the Father. The truth and light and life are interwoven with life and character, and the aspirations are elevated, pure, unselfish, after the order of heaven….

If ever a people needed spiritual perception, vigor, and steadfast faith and power in prayer, it is the people who claim to be keeping the commandments of God and looking for the Lord Jesus Christ to come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory….

Love to Christ will always be seen in those who are laborers together with God. The common, earthly thoughts and motives are discarded as the love for Christ increases. None, however weak in faith and hope and courage, need to despair, for Christ has provided divine assistance to combine with man’s human effort. Christ works constantly to draw the soul into a pure and holy atmosphere. He is acquainted with our infirmities, and with the embarrassment we meet on every hand in the world. Assistance has been provided for every advanced step. When the earnest, struggling soul is compassed with infirmities and surrounded by foes to discourage, the Comforter draws near. The Holy Spirit helps our infirmities.

We must, if we overcome, use the means placed within our reach. We must put on the Lord Jesus Christ. By faith we must clothe ourselves with the righteousness of Christ and put no confidence in our own merits. Many are seeking to be present at the marriage supper of the Lamb in their own citizen’s dress, discarding the robe woven in the loom of heaven and prepared for all at infinite cost, as a free gift to His guests that shall eat of His supper. We must wear the livery of heaven. We must be clothed in Christ’s righteousness and go to warfare at His expense and under His bloodstained banner, or we are none of His.—Manuscript 41, October 9, 1890, “Diary: Labors at Adam’s Center.”

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That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:3.

Communion with God is the life of the soul. It is not something that we cannot interpret, something that we can clothe with beautiful words but which does not give us the genuine experience that makes our words of real value. Communion with God gives a daily experience that does indeed make our joy full.

Those who have this union with Christ will declare it in spirit and word and work. Profession is nothing unless in word and work good fruit is manifest. Unity, fellowship with one another and with Christ—this is the fruit borne on every branch of the living vine. The cleansed soul, born again, has a clear, distinct testimony to bear….

To know God is, in the scriptural sense of the term, to be one with Him in heart and mind, having an experimental knowledge of Him, holding reverential communion with Him as the Redeemer. Only through sincere obedience can this communion be obtained. Where this communion is lacking, the heart is not in any sense a temple of God, but is controlled by the foe, who is working out his own purposes through the human agency. Such a man, whatever his profession or claims, is not a temple of the Holy Spirit.

The experience is perfected by fruit bearing. He who does not bear good fruit in words and deeds, in the strength of elevated, ennobling principle, is a bad tree. The fruit that he bears is unpalatable to God. His professed knowledge of Christ is a falsehood, a deception….

In the light of the love of Christ, the gospel is an open book. This is the true light, which Christ came to bring to the world. The Saviour’s true disciples have received this love….

From the light that God has given me, I know that men’s great danger is in being self-deceived. Satan is watching his chance. He will come to men in human form, and will speak to them most entrancing words. He will bring against them the same temptations that he brought against Christ. Unless their minds and hearts are filled with the pure, unselfish, sanctified love that Christ revealed, they will fall under Satan’s power, and will do and say and write strange things, to deceive, if it were possible, the very elect….

Following Christ’s example of unselfish service, trusting like little children in His merits, and obeying His commands, we shall receive the approval of God.—Manuscript 120, October 8, 1903, “Lessons From the [First] Epistle of John.”

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