By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Matthew 12:37.

We all know what mischief an unruly tongue will do if left to run at will. Those who have been brought together in church capacity have bound themselves by their act in joining the church to keep evil speaking out of their ranks. It is the duty of those in responsible positions in the church to closely guard this matter to see that order and harmony are preserved in the church….

Never are you to tear one another down, for you are doing Satan’s work. Day by day you are to help one another to grow up to the full stature of men and women in Christ. In this work you close the door to the enemy. The power of speech is a great talent to bless others or a great curse to cause dissension and strife.

The one who gives himself up to finding fault with this one and that one is neglecting his own precious soul. And those who allow such a one to carry on his un-Christlike work unrebuked are themselves accountable before God of injury to their brethren….

Can we expect the blessing of God to rest upon a church when the members are cherishing bitterness against one another? … Those in whose hearts Christ abides will show in their lives the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness. Those who are controlled by the enemy will be filled with envy, strife, malice, and evil-surmising….

If one of those of whom these cruel words are spoken were tonight lying cold in death, how different would be the words spoken of him. How often this is the case: While a person is living and could be blessed by kind words, unkind, bitter words are spoken of him, but when his work is ended, and his hands are folded in death, words of love and appreciation are spoken. But the words of love fall upon ears that hear not. They are spoken to hearts that cannot be comforted. It is too late! Oh, if some of these words of love could have been spoken in life, how much better it would have been….

God desires His people to bring into their homes all the peace and joy and love that it is possible for them to have. The love that they bring into the home, they will bring into the church. My brethren and sisters, you can bring the peace of heaven into the home and into the church, if you will sanctify to God the talent of speech.—Manuscript 26, July 15, 1886, “Evil-speaking,” a sermon preached in Oslo, Norway.

From The Upward Look – Page 210

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? Galatians 3:1.

The redemption that was wrought out for us by our Lord on the cross of Calvary was to bring us to obedience to the law of God, making it possible, through His righteousness imputed to us, to keep the law of God….

No man’s work, no matter what his position may be, can bear any comparison with this great work for fallen man. The subject is so great, so important. Then why is it that so few pay attention to it? Men act as though they had no souls to save, no heaven to win, no hell to shun. What does it mean?

Says the apostle Paul, “Who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?” (Galatians 3:1). The truth was to the apostle so great, so clear, so important, because eternal interests were involved, that he could only ascribe to the bewitching power of Satan the continued impiety and neglect of this great salvation. Now are there not many who are so bewitched with Satan’s wiles that they do not obey the truth? that they do not see the advantages of obedience? Who is thus unwise? It is those who have not sought the Lord for help that they may cease to longer transgress His law.

There is nothing so offensive to God as sin. Instead of making void the law of God by continuing in sin, every truly converted soul will be walking in the path of humble obedience to all of God’s commandments. They will search the Scriptures that they might know the truth. Who hath bewitched the impenitent, the transgressor, that sin is chosen rather than obedience? It is the power of Satan that came to Adam and Eve in Eden, the deceiving, bewitching power of the fallen angel….

How few talk about this great sacrifice of the life of Jesus to save the guilty sinner! If we appreciated this love manifested by God for our souls we would be elevated by taking hold of the merits of Jesus Christ, for without the righteousness of Christ man could not give to God perfect obedience….

He condescended to this great sacrifice, not that sin in man should become a virtue, not that sin might be made righteousness. He took the steps that man is required to take in conversion. He went forward in baptism, and when He came up out of the water He kneeled down and offered up such a prayer to His Father as Heaven had never heard before.—Manuscript 25, July 14, 1887, “A Peculiar People.”

From The Upward Look – Page 209

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. James 3:17.

Dear Edson and Emma: … My greatest desire is that you may be a polished instrument in the hand of God to be used to His glory.

I hope you will not think you can go forward in your own strength relying upon your own judgment. Seek wisdom from above. Be true, be noble in purpose. Be elevated in life, and may the God of peace sanctify you wholly, soul, body, and spirit. Do not cease searching and studying and getting at the very bottom of things. God will help you in all your earnest efforts, my dear children. If you both consecrate yourselves unselfishly to God and to His work, He will accept you. You will not have the reward here, but you must look for the reward by and by when the “Well done” is spoken by the Master….

All who enter heaven must be brought to the test and tried as gold in the fire even in this world. Our greatest danger will be in a carnal security. God help you, my children, to never boast in self. Unless you both watch unto prayer, you will fail at last. Never fancy it a brave life to live at ease….

Be sure, my son, dig deep, lay the foundation sure. Do not … [be deficient in] thoroughness in your efforts to seek God. Do not seek to cover up or gloss over one sin, but search deep. Guard against moving from impulse, calling it religious zeal. Surrounding influence may affect the feelings of many. The good example of others may have weight for a season, but if the heart is not renewed, if it is not thoroughly converted, it will return naturally to its own element. Watch, my dear children, against self-deception. Selfish ends may want to creep and insinuate themselves into the best actions, but give no place to the devil. Stir up your souls with daily fears of sin. Connect with heaven, and angels will minister unto you….

Cling to Jesus, your Redeemer. He has given you continual evidences of His love in that He has given you adversity time and again. If we cannot bear these lighter trials, if a little lift of prosperity or adversity discover in us falseness, pride, and selfishness in the heart, if we yield to discouragement and to sin, if the scoffs and frowns of wicked men afflict us and take away our courage and hope, and we faint in the day of adversity, O, how shall we stand when He appeareth? …

We pray for you often. We believe the Lord is helping and blessing you. Aim high. Seek for more dignity—that which is of heavenly birth. Mother.—Letter 23, July 13, 1875, to Edson and Emma White.

From The Upward Look – Page 208

Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write: These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works. Revelation 2:1, 2.

These words fall from the lips of One who cannot lie. The picture reveals eternal vigilance. Christ is in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, walking from church to church, from congregation to congregation, from heart to heart. He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. If the candlesticks were left to the care of human agents, how often the light would flicker and go out. But God has not given His church into the hands of men. Christ, the One who gave His life for the world, that all who believe in Him may not perish, but have everlasting life, is the true Watchman of the house. He is the Warder, faithful and true, of the temple-courts of the Lord. We have reason to thank God that we are not dependent on the presence of earthly priest or minister. We are kept by the power of God. The presence and grace of Christ is the secret of all life and light….

A holy Watcher notes every work and action of our lives, and weighs every motive that prompts to action. The hand that traced the characters on the wall of Belshazzar’s palace is everywhere writing, “God is here.” God is in every place. All our words, all our plans, all our secret motives, are weighed in the balances of infinite justice and truth.

Shall the compassionate, self-sacrificing Saviour find us wanting in tenderness, love, sympathy for those for whom He gave His life? God has granted us gracious opportunities for service. He has provided us with precious talents, and we are answerable to Him for the use we make of them. If we use them wisely, God will call us laborers together with Him. If we cleanse ourselves from every impure, selfish principle, we shall one day hear the benediction, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Hannah, the mother of Samuel, said, “The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed” (1 Samuel 2:3). David says, “Men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity” (Psalm 62:9). Isaiah declares, “Thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just” (Isaiah 26:7). And Solomon writes, “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirit” (Proverbs 16:2).

There is not a motive in the heart that the Lord does not read. He reads every purpose, every thought.—Manuscript 99, July 12, 1902, “A Holy People.”

From The Upward Look – Page 207

And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Psalm 37:6.

Humility is greatly needed. If cherished, it would be an ornament of great value in the sight of God. It is essential in the work. But there is no virtue in thinking that humility consists in cheap inefficiency. While humility is always essential in the service of God, while it must always be cultivated, be careful that it does not degenerate into the timidity which leads men to waver when circumstances require them to stand stiffly for the truth. There must be no half-and-half service offered to God. To every man the Lord has given his work. Everyone is to be a channel through which the Lord can work to communicate the will of Heaven….

Arduous and unpleasant duties have to be performed. None are to place themselves where they will sanction wrong by silence. They aid and abet the schemes of the enemy by keeping their lips closed when they should speak decidedly, though not in a boasting, self-sufficient manner. They are to speak the truth in love….

God in His great mercy will give to all His believing people efficiency and power for His work and service, even as He gave power to Joseph, Samuel, Daniel, Timothy, and scores of others who availed themselves of His promises. They believed Him and relied upon Him, and this was their righteousness. Men and women have to move by faith. They have to press their way through the cloud of objections which Satan brings up to hinder their progress. When God sees that they will trust Him as their helper and their efficiency, they may pass safely through the great darkness of men’s unconsecration….

Without the constant help which comes only from God, even those who are looked upon as the most eminent believers are in danger of falling into the sins which Satan has prepared to dishonor God. Bear in mind, all who claim to be believers, that it is only when you have that faith which works by love and purifies the soul, only when you have the joy of Christ’s salvation in the heart, that you are qualified to guide sinners to repentance and reformation. It is the genuine believer, who not only assents to the truth, but believes and practices the truth, who is not satisfied unless he has with him the presence of God, that is a power for good in the world….

Christ, the One who gave His life for the life of the world, that all who believe in Him may not perish, but have everlasting life, is the true Watchman of the house…. We are kept by the power of God. The presence and grace of Christ is the secret of all life and light.—Letter 79, July 11, 1901, to A. G. Daniells.

From The Upward Look – Page 206