Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Colossians 2:8.

At this time—the last days of this earth’s history—we are to make the book of Revelation a special study. Why? Because it depicts the scenes that we are to meet. We need to understand what we are to meet, and how we are to meet it. We must know what efforts we are to make, so that in this perilous time we shall not be taken by the enemy’s devices. We know that the last great conflict will be Satan’s most determined effort to accomplish his purposes. He will come, not only as a roaring lion, but as a seducer, clothing sin with beautiful garments of light that he may take human beings in his snare.

The Lord desires us to realize that it is of great importance that we stand in these last days upon the platform of eternal truth. Those who think that the church militant is the church triumphant make a great mistake. The church militant will gain great triumphs, but it will also have fierce conflicts with evil that it may be firmly established upon the platform of eternal truth. And every one of us should be determined to stand with the church upon this platform….

There are those today who call the Revelation a sealed book. [It is a mystery,] but it is a mystery unfolded. We need to understand what it tells us in regard to the scenes that are to take place in the last days of this earth’s history. The enemy will bring in everything that he possibly can to carry out his deceptive designs. Are they not lacking in wisdom who have no desire to understand in regard to the things that are to take place on this earth? …

In a representation which passed before me, I saw a certain work being done by medical missionary workers. Our ministering brethren were looking on, watching what was being done, but they did not seem to understand. The foundation of our faith, which was established by so much prayer, such earnest searching of the Scriptures, was being taken down, pillar by pillar. Our faith was to have nothing to rest upon—the sanctuary was gone, the atonement was gone….

Do you wonder that I have something to say, when I see the pillars of our faith beginning to be moved? Seductive theories are being taught in such a way that we shall not recognize them unless we have clear spiritual discernment.—Manuscript 46, May 18, 1904, “The Foundation of Our Faith,” a talk given at Berrien Springs, Michigan.

From The Upward Look – Page 152

Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 1 Corinthians 2:9.

What a work is before us. We need greater faith in Christ and the Father, for this we must certainly have, else we shall be counted with the unbelievers. We see great opportunities and a great amount of work to do. We want the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. We cannot afford to miss the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. The sanctification of the truth, confirming man’s steadfastness in the faith, will constitute men laborers together with God.

United with the Source of all power, persevering in duty, enlarging the apprehension of the love of God in Christ Jesus, they become one with Christ, until they are complete with Christ in God.

The glories that await the faithful overcomer are beyond any description. The Lord will greatly honor and exalt His faithful ones. They shall grow like the cedar, and their comprehension will be certainly increasing. And at every advanced stage of knowledge their anticipation will fall far beneath the reality. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). Our work now is to prepare for those mansions that God is preparing for those who love Him and keep His commandments…. The Lord Jesus will enlarge every mind and heart for the reception of the Holy Spirit….

Time is short. Let the little time you have be employed for your own present and eternal good by active Christian service, doing all the good possible. Redeem the time that has been lost; seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Then you will have something to impart in good works, in cheerful, consecrated influence….

What preparation have you made for the future, eternal world? … You want something higher and better than you now have. You may exert a conscious and unconscious influence in right doing. God deserves something better from you as His subject than that which you have given Him. Carefully consider: Are you standing under the banner of Prince Emmanuel, or under the black banner of the prince of darkness? There is an obligation resting upon you to return the influence and money that is lent you of the Lord to advance His cause and glorify His name.

The Lord calls upon you, “My son, give me thine heart.”—Letter 71, May 17, 1900, to John Wessels.

From The Upward Look – Page 151

How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Matthew 18:12, 13.

I have read your letter with much interest ….

The Lord wills not that any soul should perish. His mercies are without number, and He will not leave His purchased possession that He has given His own life to ransom to become the sport of Satan’s temptations. All Heaven is given to all those who believe in Jesus Christ as their present personal Saviour, and no soul can dishonor God more than claiming to believe the truth and yet wearing the garments of mourning as though [he were an] orphan….

The Lord does not leave His wounded and bruised sheep to the power of Satan to be torn in pieces. He is ever strengthening His own when they are weak. He delivers the tried and tempted ones from the enemy’s power. The Lord Jesus never forsakes any soul that puts his trust in Him. And those who claim to be sons and daughters of God must trust in Jesus always. To do otherwise is to disown that He loves us, and, by going [about] depressed, covering ourselves with garments of heaviness and mourning, we make a very bad representation of Christ. We virtually say that our Lord is a hard, tyrannical Master. This is lying against the precious Saviour, who gave His own life that He might make it possible for all to believe in Him, and confide in His interest and love for sinful man….

You do great injustice to my Saviour when you walk as though in the shadow of darkness. You are never to walk in the fire and sparks of your own kindling, subject to feelings and emotions.

Jesus said, “He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” Now if you are following another leader than Christ, who is Light and Truth and Life, leave that leader and follow Jesus the Light of the world. Is the Lord pleased to have you tossed about as the restless waves of the sea? No! No! I tell you He bids you be strengthened, stablished, rooted and grounded and built up in the most holy faith. Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price which cannot be estimated. Then your owner is God, the mighty God, and for the price paid look to the cross of Calvary. This fluctuating between hope and fear grieves the heart of Christ, who hath given you unmistakable evidence of His love and hath chosen you.—Letter 41, May 16, 1893, to D. A. Corkham, a member of the Nova Scotia Conference committee.

From The Upward Look – Page 150

And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one. John 17:22.

Our great need is unity. We have not one soul that can be spared. The Lord calls upon us to unify in harmony with Bible truth. This should be repeated over and over in the family and in the church….

Said Christ, “As the Father gave me commandment, even so I do” (John 14:31). He came to our world on a mission from the Father. He came to bridge the gulf that sin had made between God and man. There was to be made a provision for a reconciliation, for a union of the human with the divine nature. Christ would sanctify all who believe in Him. In the gift of Christ to our world, God has provided for everyone a power to overcome evil. He has given unto us “exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4).

The great apostasy originally began in a denial of the love of God, as it is plainly revealed in the Word. Provision was then made whereby fallen man might have a powerful revelation of the love of God, and be given an opportunity to return to his allegiance to Jehovah. “For 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). “I lay down my life for the sheep,” says Christ (chap. 10:15). “The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (chap. 6:51). Here is a revelation of the power mighty to save “to the uttermost.” God is light and love.

After the war in the heavenly courts Satan and his followers were cast out. As human beings, we are subject to the crafty wiles and temptations of this fallen foe. And unless we are kept by the power of Christ, we shall certainly be led away by the satanic sophistries by which the world is flooded. Our safety is to lean not on human power, on the arm of flesh, but upon the divine arm. Those who are partakers of the divine nature will not be beguiled by Satan.

Everyone will be tested. Men professing to be Christians will be placed in positions of trust, as guardians over the flock of God…. We are God’s property. In Jesus Christ we are to behold a pattern of what we should be. Every soul should be educated to look not to his fellow men, but unto Christ. He is the Author and the Finisher of our Faith.—Letter 172, May 15, 1907, to P. T. Magan, cofounder of Madison Institutions.

From The Upward Look – Page 149

Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? John 14:9.

There is a world to be warned, and every effort must now be made to exalt the truth…. The great Teacher held in His hand the entire map of truth. In simple language He made plain to His disciples the way to heaven, and the endless subjects of divine power. The question of the essence of God was a subject on which He maintained a wise reserve, for their entanglements and specifications would bring in science which could not be dwelt upon by unsanctified minds without confusion. In regard to God and in regard to His personality, the Lord Jesus said, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). Christ was the express image of His Father’s person.

The open path, the safe path of walking in the way of His commandments, is a path from which there is no safe departing. And when men follow their own human theories dressed up in soft, fascinating representations, they make a snare in which to catch souls. In the place of devoting your powers to theorizing, Christ has given you a work to do. His commission is, Go throughout the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Before the disciples shall compass the threshold, there is to be the imprint of the sacred name, baptizing the believers in the name of the threefold powers in the heavenly world. The human mind is impressed in this ceremony, the beginning of the Christian life. It means very much. The work of salvation is not a small matter, but so vast that the highest authorities are taken hold of by the expressed faith of the human agent. The eternal Godhead—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost—is involved in the action required to make assurance to the human agent, … confederating the heavenly powers with the human that man may become, through heavenly efficiency, partakers of the divine nature and workers together with Christ.

Man’s capabilities can multiply through the connection of human agencies with divine agencies. United with the heavenly powers, the human capabilities increase according to that faith that works by love and purifies, sanctifies, and ennobles the whole man.—Manuscript 45, May 14, 1904, “That They All May Be One.”

From The Upward Look – Page 148