Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. Revelation 13:11.

To the apostle John on the Isle of Patmos were opened scenes of deep and thrilling interest in the experience of the church. Subjects of intense interest and vast importance were presented to him in figures and symbols, that the people of God might become intelligent concerning the perils and conflicts before them….

Under the symbols of a great red dragon, a leopardlike beast, and a beast with lamblike horns, the earthly governments which would especially engage in trampling upon God’s law and persecuting His people were presented to John. The war is carried on till the close of time. The people of God, symbolized by a holy woman and her children, were represented as greatly in the minority. In the last days only a remnant still existed….

Through paganism, and then through the Papacy, Satan exerted his power for many centuries in an effort to blot from the earth God’s faithful witnesses. Pagans and papists were actuated by the same dragon spirit. They differed only in that the Papacy, making a pretense of serving God, was the more dangerous and cruel foe. Through the agency of Romanism, Satan took the world captive. The professed church of God was swept into the ranks of this delusion, and for more than a thousand years the people of God suffered under the dragon’s ire.

And when the Papacy, robbed of its strength, was forced to desist from persecution, John beheld a new power coming up to echo the dragon’s voice and carry forward the same cruel and blasphemous work. This power, the last that is to wage war against the church and the law of God, was symbolized by a beast with lamblike horns. The beasts preceding it had risen from the sea, but this came up out of the earth, representing the peaceful rise of the nation which is symbolized. The “two horns like a lamb” well represent the character of the United States Government as expressed in its two fundamental principles, Republicanism and Protestantism. These principles are the secret of our power and prosperity as a nation. Those who first found asylum on the shores of America rejoiced that they had reached a country free from the arrogant claims of popery and the tyranny of kingly rule. They determined to establish a government upon the broad foundation of civil and religious liberty.—Signs of the Times, November 1, 1899.

From From the Heart

Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. John 17:11.

The Holy Spirit will work with the consecrated human instrument, for this is God’s purpose. God has opened a door between heaven and earth which no power can close…. When God’s people place themselves in proper relation to Him and to one another, there will be a full impartation of the Holy Spirit for the harmonious combination of the whole body.

Nothing so manifestly weakens a church as disunion and strife. Nothing so wars against Christ and the truth as this spirit….

We can be united with one another only as we are united with Christ…. Many who have dwelt much upon doctrinal subjects, but who have not learned of Christ, have been found unable to control themselves. They need the Holy Spirit’s power. We should seek to understand what it means to be in complete union with Christ, who is the propitiation for our sins and for the sins of the whole world. Our life should be bound up with His life….

When God’s chosen people are of one mind, barriers of selfishness will disappear as by magic, and many, many more souls will be converted because of the unity which exists among believers. There is one body and one spirit. Those who have been building territorial lines of distinction, barriers of color and caste, might better take these down much faster than they put them up.

Those in whose hearts Christ abides recognize Christ abiding in the hearts of others. Christ never wars against Christ. Christ never exerts an influence against Christ. Christians are to do their work, whatever it may be, in the unity of the Spirit, for the perfecting of the whole body. The church is to be purified, refined, ennobled. The members are to cast from their hearts the idols which have hindered their advancement in spirituality. By the influence of the Spirit, the most discordant may be brought into harmony. Unselfishness is to bind God’s people together with firm, tender bonds. There is a vast power in the church when the energies of the members are under the control of the Spirit, gathering good from every source, educating, training, and disciplining self. Thus is presented to God a powerful organization through which He can work for the conversion of sinners. Thus heaven and earth are connected, and all the divine agencies cooperate with human instrumentalities.—Signs of the Times, February 7, 1900.

From From the Heart

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Revelation 3:20.

The time in which we live is full of the most solemn importance. There is nothing that can be more acceptable to God than to have the youth dedicate their lives to His service in the bloom and freshness of their years. Their talents may become a power for God when they are properly cultivated. Their characters may be characters that will be acceptable to Heaven, but they must be shaped by line upon line and precept upon precept. They must be modeled after the divine pattern….

In the work of saving souls, we are to know whereof we speak. The words of John are full of significance when he says, “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you.” …

When your soul is the temple for the indwelling Spirit of the Savior, the gross elements of your nature will be consumed, and the whole being will become a living purpose. Whoever is truly Christ’s will have an experience like that of Daniel, and the fruits of the Spirit will appear in the life. There are powers within us that are paralyzed through sin, that need the vivifying influence of the grace of Christ, that they may be restored. A mighty power from the Life Giver must quicken them to life and rouse them to action. When this is your experience, you can work as Jesus has given you an example. Divine light and love will be reflected upon those who feel that they are sick in both soul and body. Jesus invites His own presence to your soul. He says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me.” Shall we not open the door of our hearts to the divine Guest?

Those who engage in the work of God must be pure in heart and circumspect in deportment. The souls of God’s people should not be like a barren waste, as are so many souls at this time. God has given to everyone some ability to use in His service, and it is God’s design that it should be employed to His glory and the good of others. Many are losing much, simply because they will not learn in the school of Christ. They might gain eternal treasure, but, in turning away from the divine Teacher, their consciences are violated and seared, and the admonitions of God’s Word lose all power to stir their hearts. But there is no need of making such a failure. Christ will come into the heart and abide there if you will but cleanse the soul temple of every defilement.—Signs of the Times, November 30, 1888.

From From the Heart

And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:15.

The Lord cannot use men and women in His service, in any branch of His work, unless they possess a meek and teachable spirit. Those whom God employs in His service must be true to principle, but, while they must not swerve from the plain path of duty for any selfish interest, they are not to be bigoted and puffed up with self-esteem. Unless the heart is in connection with the Source of all wisdom, there will not be an abiding sense of the sacredness of the work. Workers for Christ must derive all their life and inspiration from God. They must seek to be conformed to His will and His ways and not seek to have their own will and way. Those who would become a living channel of light must be governed by something more than habit or opinion. They must live hourly in conscious communion with God. Their lives must be brought into contact with the principles of truth and righteousness. They must become partakers of divine nature.

The servant of God must be continually seeking for intellectual power, and every acquisition of the mind must be devoted to glorifying God. We must have enlarged conceptions of what the requirement of God is of His people….

We must not be content with anything short of the divine illumination from the central Light of the universe. When we have this illumination, we shall see the necessity of pressing onward and upward, of elevating the standard, of cultivating the loftiest ambition, and of reaching the highest attainments. We shall constantly draw from the Source of all wisdom and live as in the sight of the Lord….

Your talent has been entrusted to you by the Lord, and you will be held responsible for its employment and improvement…. We must manifest the glory of God. This is the high aim of our existence. We must be in such a condition that we can appreciate the light that God has brought into the experience of others. Our lives and characters are influenced by the physical, intellectual, and moral acquirements of past generations. If we remain in ignorance, we have no one to blame but ourselves. If we put to the stretch every power, and task every ability to the utmost, with an eye single to the glory of God, we shall not fail of doing a valuable work for God.—Signs of the Times, November 30, 1888.

From From the Heart

Do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:5.

Those who are Christ’s disciples will take the work where He left it and carry it forward in His name. They will copy the words, the spirit, the practices, of none but Him. Their eye is upon the Captain of their salvation. His will is their law. And as they advance, they catch more and clearer views of His countenance, of His character, of His glory. They do not cling to self, but hold fast His word, which is spirit and life. “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They reduce their knowledge of His will to practice. They hear and do the things that Jesus teaches.

In the church is work for all who love God and keep His commandments. The profession people may make is not certain evidence that they are Christians. The words they may speak give no surety that they are converted. Hear the words of Christ, “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Unless the daily life conforms to the will and works of Christ, no one can establish a claim to be a child of God, an heir of heaven. There is a legal religion, which the Pharisees had, but such a religion does not give to the world a Christlike example; it does not represent Christ’s character. Those who have Christ abiding in the heart will work the works of Christ. Such are entitled to all the promises of His Word. Becoming one with Christ, they do the will of God and exhibit the riches of His grace. “Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.” Oh, precious promise! “And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.”

In marked contrast to the murmuring and complaining of the wicked, the servants of God will sing: “I will praise thee with my whole heart…. Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.” Then let not a semblance of pride or self-importance be cherished, for it will crowd Jesus out of the heart, and the vacuum will be filled with the attributes of Satan.—The Review and Herald, May 1, 1913.

From From the Heart