And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Daniel 12:2.

It is our privilege to understand the great responsibilities that God has placed upon us so that we shall not be in darkness as to what is coming upon our world. We cannot afford to meet that day without a preparation. But when we think of this great and solemn event of Christ’s coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, we should live in great humiliation before God lest we fail of the grace of God and prove ourselves unworthy of eternal life….

We see that the world at large have no thoughts of this great day, and many of them do not care to hear anything about it. But we must meet the record of our lives. We must remember that there is a witness to all our works. An eye like a flame of fire beholds us in all our actions of life. Our very thoughts and the intents and purposes of our hearts are laid bare to God’s inspection. As the features are produced upon the polished plate of the artist, so are our characters upon the books of record in heaven.

We ask you, “How stands your character in the sight of God today? Are you preparing your souls for the grand review, that you may have the white robe of character in that day?” You cannot afford to indulge in sin and iniquity. You cannot afford to be found a transgressor of God’s great moral rule of righteousness….

The God of heaven has given us reasoning powers and intellect, and He wants us to use them. He has given us this body which He wishes us to preserve in perfect health so that we can give Him perfect service. The Lord God is an ever-present witness to the deeds of wickedness done among the children of men upon this earth. How does He look upon men and women for whom He has paid an infinite price, but who refuse to obey His laws? …

We cannot wait until the judgment before we consent to deny self and to lift the cross. We cannot then form characters for heaven. It is here in this life that we must take sides with the humble, self-denying Redeemer. It is here that we must overcome envy, strife, selfishness, love of money, and love of the world. It is here that we must enter the school of Christ, and learn of the Master the precious lessons of meekness and lowliness of mind. And here it must be our aim and earnest effort to be loyal and true to the God of heaven by obeying all of His commandments and thus be fitting up for the mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for all who love God.—Manuscript 6a, June 27, 1886, “Preparation for the Judgment,” a sermon by Sister White in Orebro, Sweden.

From The Upward Look – Page 192

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38, 39.

Christ might, because of our guilt, have moved far from us. But instead of moving farther away from us, He came and dwelt among us, filled with all the fullness of the Godhead, to be one with us, that through His grace we might attain to perfection. By a death of shame and suffering He paid man’s ransom. What self-sacrificing love is this! From the highest excellency He came, His divinity clothed with humanity, descending step by step to the very depths of humiliation. No line can measure the depth of this love. Christ has shown us how much God can love and our Redeemer suffer in order to secure our complete restoration. He desires His children to reveal His character, to exert His influence, that other minds may be drawn into harmony with His mind.

Christ, our Saviour, in whom dwelt absolute perfection, became sin for the fallen race. He did not know sin by the experience of sinning, but He bore the terrible weight of the guilt of the whole world. He became our propitiation, that all who receive Him may become sons of God. The cross was erected to save man. Christ lifted on the cross was the means devised in heaven for awakening in the repenting soul a sense of the sinfulness of sin. By the cross Christ sought to draw all to Himself. He died as the only hope of saving those who, because of sin, were in the gall of bitterness. Through the agency of the Holy Spirit, a new principle of mental and spiritual power was to be brought to man, who, through association with divinity, was to become one with God.

To break down the barriers that Satan had erected between God and man, Christ made a full and complete sacrifice, revealing unexampled self-denial. He revealed to the world the amazing spectacle of God living in human flesh, and sacrificing Himself to save fallen man. What wonderful love! As I consider it, I weep to think that so many of those who claim to believe the truth are encrusted with selfishness….

I marvel that professing Christians do not grasp the divine resources; that they do not see the cross more clearly as the medium of forgiveness and pardon, the means of bringing the proud, selfish heart of man into direct contact with the Holy Spirit, that the riches of Christ may be poured into the mind, and the human agent be adorned with the graces of the Spirit, that Christ may be commended to those who know Him not.—Manuscript 91, June 26, 1902, “Christ’s Sacrifice for Us.”

From The Upward Look – Page 191

Bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. 1 Timothy 4:8.

I have kept very well since the warm weather came. I am surprised that at my age [75] I am favored with such good health. I can go up and down stairs as easily and as quickly as any member of my family. Generally, I am cheerful. I do not want to cast a shadow in my family. I desire that every word that falls from my lips shall be fragrant with Christlike love….

We have been commissioned to go forth as God’s missionaries. In the Bible we learn what work God has given us to do, and there, too, we learn how to do this work. No one can know the will of God so certainly as he who abides in Christ. There are some who are constantly inquiring and speculating and guessing, but who, instead of advancing, are retrograding. They are not united with Christ.

We are not to stumble along in uncertainty. Christ says, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34). “He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). As we advance, we become used to following. The path of life shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day.

How deeply grieved the Saviour is by the loss of one of the souls for whom He made so great a sacrifice. He would bring all into the kingdom of heaven. He desires all to see the King in His beauty…. Let us not keep looking at the defects of others. Let us look ever to Jesus…. There are sinners to be saved, and in word and deed we are to fulfill Christ’s purpose for them, as His agencies of healing….

I am making earnest efforts to win the crown of life which at the last great day the Judge of all will give to those who love His appearing. Let us not allow our lips to be tarnished by unbelief. Let us talk the truth. Let us refuse to be deceived by the seducing spirits that will come.

Sister [Lucinda] Hall, will it not be a blessed thing to be an overcomer, to sit with the royal family in the kingdom of heaven, to have a place in the mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for those who love His appearing? Be of good courage, my sister. Let nothing discourage you. Keep cheerful. Stand under the bright rays of the Sun of Righteousness.—Letter 121, June 25, 1903, to Lucinda Hall, a close friend.

From The Upward Look – Page 190

Remember them that are in bonds. Hebrews 13:3.

Yesterday, by invitation, I spoke to the prisoners [near Salem, Oregon]. Sister Jordan, a very amiable woman in the faith, took me in her carriage…. I was surprised to see so fine a company of intelligent men. Oh, so sad! So many young men, younger than our own dear boys, so bright, and looking as though they might fill any position in society. You would not dream that they were prisoners, only as you looked upon their strange dress. And this was so neat and clean. There was nothing repulsive in their appearance.

The superintendent first ushered us in and then, at the sound of the bell, the heavy iron bolts were drawn back with a loud noise, and there swarmed from their cells one hundred and fifty prisoners. Then we were locked in with them—the warden, superintendent’s wife (a Southern lady), Brother and Sister Carter, Sister Jordan, and myself. The prisoners sang, led by Brother Carter. There was an organ. The performer was a young man, an excellent musician, a man of promise—yet oh, how sad, a convict! I engaged in prayer and every brow bowed. They sang again and then I addressed them.

They listened with the most profound attention as I spoke from these words: “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God” (1 John 3:1). I then presented before them Adam’s sin, his fall, and the gift of God to redeem Adam’s failure; the love here manifested to save man from sin and ruin. I dwelt upon the temptation of Christ in the wilderness, the victory gained in behalf of the race, and how man may overcome the seductive snares of Satan by making Christ his trust.

I dwelt a few moments upon the nature of sin; that sin was the transgression of the law, and how through repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ the sinner might be saved with a full and free salvation. But he is not saved by the merits of the blood of Christ while he continues to transgress the Father’s law…. Christ died to evidence to the sinner that there was no hope for him while he continued in sin. Obedience to all God’s requirements is his only hope for pardon through the blood of Christ. I dwelt largely upon the great reward to be given the final overcomer—the crown of life that fadeth not away to be placed upon his brow.

The people listened with the most solemn mien, and the tearful eye and quivering lip showed that their hearts, although calloused with sin, felt the words spoken.—Letter 32, June 24, 1878, to James White, who was traveling in the Eastern United States.

From The Upward Look – Page 189

Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance. Matthew 3:8.

I feel an earnest interest that those who have been creating dissension and strife shall be convicted of their wrong, and shall repent and be converted. Tell this to the people: “Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you” (John 12:35). Because the time is short we need to follow diligently the King’s business.

Two nights ago in visions of the night, I seemed to be addressing a company of our people…. I was saying: “I have a message for those who have been working to destroy the influence of the messages that the Lord has been giving to His servants. There are some who for years have been spreading their roots far, but their fruit-bearing for Christ is represented by the barren fig tree.” …

The lesson of the barren fig tree is one that we should keep continually before us. It is not profession of righteousness that will meet the needs of the world today and fulfill the will of God for the human family. God is looking for fruit-bearing branches. “Feed My sheep with pure provender” is the Lord’s command to those who stand as teachers of the gospel of salvation. He has made provision that the gospel’s saving power shall be represented in all places.

I was shown that mistakes have been made that have left wrong impressions upon minds, because men were allowed to preside over important interests who were deficient of the saving grace of the gospel, who had not made its purity and simplicity a part of their lives, and who did not seek God often in humble, earnest prayer. Righteous, self-denying works were not considered by them to be a necessary part of Christian experience. They did not see the necessity of having the spirit of Christ and of emulating His example in their work of ministry. I heard words of warning and entreaty spoken to young men, imploring them to make a full surrender and to obtain a thorough conversion. Ministers were exhorted to make decided changes.

The Saviour was presented to me as standing before the congregation, and addressing those who had stood to discourage and hinder others. The words were spoken, “Break every yoke. You are years behind where you should be in the carrying out of the plan of redemption. Let each seek his orders from the One in whom dwelleth truth and righteousness. Let all come into right relation to God, making thorough work of repentance.”

Let us press our case to the throne of grace…. I pray that thorough conversions may now be experienced.—Letter 202, June 23, 1908, to S. N. Haskell, president of the California Conference.

From The Upward Look – Page 188