By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; … for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. Hebrews 11:24-26.

Think of the life of Moses. What endurance and patience characterized his life. Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews says, “For he endured, as seeing him who is invisible” (Hebrews 11:27). This character of Moses does not simply mean passive resistance of evil, but perseverance in a firm, consistent course. He kept the Lord ever before him, and the Lord was at his right hand to help him.

Moses had a deep sense of the presence of God. He saw God. He was not only looking down through the ages to a Christ that would be revealed, but he saw Christ in a special manner accompanying the children of Israel in all their travels. God was real to him and present in his thoughts. When called upon to face danger, to bear insult, and to be misunderstood for Christ’s sake, he was persevering to endure without retaliation.

Moses believed in God as One whom he needed, and One who would help him because he needed His help. God was to him a present help in every time of need. We have far too much dead, nominal faith, but the real trusting, persevering faith we do not have. God was to Moses a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Moses had respect unto the recompense of the reward. Here is another point in faith we wish to study, and if brought into the life and experience, it will enable everyone who fears and loves God to endure trials. God will reward the man of faith and obedience. Moses was full of confidence in God, because he had appropriating faith. He needed the help of God, and he prayed for it, and believed for it, and wove it into his life experience that God cared for him. He believed that God ruled his life in particular. He knew that God had assigned to him a special work, and he would make that work thoroughly successful so far as possible. But he knew that he could not do this without the help of God, for he had a perverse people to deal with. The presence of God, he knew, was strong enough to carry him through the most trying positions that a man could be placed in. He could see and acknowledge God in every detail of his life, that he was under the eye of an all-seeing God, who weighs motives, who tries the hearts. He looked to God and believed in Him for strength to carry him through uncorrupted every form of temptation…. This is the kind of faith we need, faith that will endure the test.—Letter 42, April 7, 1886, to “Brother Ramsey.”

From The Upward Look – Page 111

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. John 12:24.

In this age we can see the necessity of drawing men to Christ. This draws them to one another in that confidence, that love, that unity, for which Christ prayed in His last prayer with and for His disciples. This unity was essential for their spiritual growth. This world is a battlefield, upon which the powers of good and evil are in ceaseless warfare.

At the time when Christ’s work bore only the appearance of cruel defeat, when to the disciples the case seemed hopeless, certain Greeks came to the disciples, saying, “We would see Jesus” (John 12:21). This inquiry showed Christ, who was then standing in the shadow of the cross, that the sacrificial offering of Himself would bring all who believe into perfect harmony with God. By making this propitiation of man’s sins, Christ’s kingdom would be perfected and extended throughout the world. He would work as the Restorer. His Spirit would prevail everywhere.

None of the people, not even the disciples, understood the nature of Christ’s kingdom. They seemed to be unable to believe that Jesus would not sit on David’s throne, that He would not take the scepter, and reign as a temporal prince in Jerusalem, before His ancients gloriously….

Christ heard the eager, hungering cry, “We would see Jesus.” These Greeks represented the nations and tribes and peoples who would awake to their great need of a power out of and above finite power. For a moment Christ looked into futurity, and heard voices proclaiming in all places of the earth, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (chap. 1:29). This anticipation, the consummation of His hopes, is expressed in His words, “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified” (chap. 12:23). But the way and manner that this glorifying was to take place was never absent from Christ’s mind. Only by His death could the world be saved. As the grain of wheat, the Son of man must be cast into the earth, and die, and be buried out of sight; but He was to live again!

[In] every harvest this lesson of the grain of wheat is repeated. Those who till the soil have the illustration of Christ’s words ever before them. The seed buried in the ground produces much fruit, and in their turn the seeds of this fruit are planted. Thus the harvest is multiplied. The harvest of the cross of Calvary will bear fruit unto eternal life. And the contemplation of this will be the glory of those who will live through eternal ages. With this lesson Christ connects the self-sacrifice we must practice.—Manuscript 33, April 6, 1897, “We Would See Jesus.”

From The Upward Look – Page 110

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. Jeremiah 33:3.

We do not always consider that the sanctification we so earnestly desire and for which we pray so earnestly is brought about through the truth and, by the providence of God, in a manner we least expect. When we look for joy, behold there is sorrow. When we expect peace, we frequently have distrust and doubt because we find ourselves plunged into trials we cannot avoid. In these trials we are having the answers to our prayers. In order for us to be purified, the fire of affliction must kindle upon us, and our will must be brought into conformity to the will of God. In order to be conformed to the image of our Saviour, we pass through a most painful process of refining. The very ones that we regard the most dear upon the earth may cause us the greatest sorrow and trial. They may view us in the wrong light. They may think us in error, and that we are deceiving and degrading ourselves because we follow the dictates of enlightened conscience in seeking for the truth as for hid treasures….

Our prayers for conformity to the image of Christ may not be answered exactly as we desire. We may be tested and proved, for God sees it best to put us under a course of discipline which is essential for us before we are fit subjects for the blessing we crave. We should not become discouraged and give way to doubt, and think that our prayers are not noticed. We should rely more securely upon Christ and leave our case with God to answer our prayers in His own way. God has not promised to bestow His blessings through the channels we have marked out. God is too wise to err and too regardful of our good to allow us to choose for ourselves.

The plans of God are always the best, although we may not always discern them. Perfection of Christian character can be obtained only through labor, conflict, and self-denial….

How inestimably precious are the gifts of God—the graces of His Spirit—and we shall not shrink from the trying, testing process, be it ever so painful or humiliating to us. How easy would be the way to heaven if there were no self-denial or cross! How worldlings would rush in the way, and hypocrites would travel in it without number! Thank God for the cross, the self-denial. The ignominy and shame our Saviour endured for us is none too humiliating for those saved by the purchase of His blood. Heaven will indeed be cheap enough.—Letter 9, April 5, 1873, to a “Sister Billet,” of San Francisco, California.

From The Upward Look – Page 109

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Psalm 32:8.

My dear brother, I shall be glad to write just as definitely as I can. I thought I had done this in my former letter. I then presented the situation as plainly and frankly as I could do, and I am unable to write you anything more definite than was said in my letter, which stated the particulars to you.

The Lord does not give light in such a way as to leave the one addressed no chance to walk by faith. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). There is not a straight line marked out for any one of us. We need to pray and believe and watch unto prayer, ever praying and trusting. My brother, you must seek the Lord in order to know your duty….

Never have I been more sure of anything in any move we have made than that the Lord’s hand was in the selection of this land [for Avondale College]. We must now advance with the opening providence of God and erect our hospital. We must have a sanitarium built nearer Sydney, but not in the city. Hawkesbury is the place we are contemplating for its location. We do not propose to have an immense institution, but a plain, suitable building in some such place as Hawkesbury. Then we can have branches established in Sydney, Newcastle, and other places. This is the way the Lord would have us do. He does not design that we shall erect a colony of buildings in one center, as has been done in Battle Creek. Our work is to extend over a large territory. We must move forward slowly, surely, solidly. We are binding about the edges of everything. Economize we must, for it is our only way. The sanitarium in Sydney has been waiting to hear from you, but because of the way in which you have stated matters, we cannot say, “Come,” until you feel it your duty to come. When you can feel it your duty to loose yourself from Africa, we shall be prepared to receive you. The Lord is willing to hear our petitions, and we shall let Him work in His own way. We do not mean to wait for you or anyone if Providence opens the way for us to secure a site for our sanitarium, though as yet we have no means.

You say Dr. Kellogg writes that if I should authorize him to raise $5,000, he would do it. He wrote me that he could raise $5,000 besides the first $5,000, and why do I not say, “Do this”? I am not permitted to tell any man what he shall do or what he shall not do. I lay out our situation as the Lord has directed me to do, but I have no liberty to go farther.—Letter 63, April 4, 1899, to John Wessells and wife, early believers in South Africa.

From The Upward Look – Page 108

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. James 1:5.

There are so many who, when they are in trouble, … forget the invitations God has abundantly given, and begin to look and plan for human help. They go to human beings for aid, and this is the way in which their experience becomes feeble and confused. In all our trials we are directed to seek the Lord most earnestly, remembering that we are His property, His children by adoption. No human being can understand our necessities as Christ [can]. We shall receive help, if we ask Him in faith. We are His by creation; we are His by redemption. By the cords of divine love we are bound to the Source of all power and strength. If we will only make God our dependence, asking Him for what we want, as a little child asks his father for what he wants, we shall obtain a rich experience. We shall learn that God is the source of all strength and power….

God has been greatly dishonored by His people leaning upon human beings. He has not told us to do this. He has told us that He will teach us, He will guide us. We may come to Him and receive help….

What did Christ promise His disciples if they would believe in Him as their personal Saviour? “Lo, I am with you alway,” He said, “even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). Again He says, “I am at thy right hand to help thee” (see Psalm 16:8). Think of how many promises He has given us, which we may grasp by the hand of faith. When we go to the Source of power, we know that we shall receive that intelligence and wisdom which comes from a pure source, which is not mixed with anything of humanity. As we pray, it is our privilege to know that God wants us to pray, to ask Him for help. “Ask, and ye shall receive” (John 16:24). It is for you to believe that you will receive. He wants us to become acquainted with Him, to speak to Him, to tell Him of our difficulties, and obtain an experience in asking of One who never misjudges and never makes a mistake….

We dishonor God by striving to get someone who we think understands our case to help us. Has He not given us His only begotten Son? Is not Christ close beside us, and will He not give us the help we need? …

We forget that the threshold of heaven is flooded with the glory proceeding from the throne of God, that the light may fall directly on those who are seeking the help that Christ alone can give.—Manuscript 144, April 3, 1901, “Early Morning Meeting.”

From The Upward Look – Page 107