Experiences in Australia

Experiences in Australia, 1895-1899

Lt 20, 1895
Granville, New South Wales, Australia
September 13, 1895
Elder [J. O.]Corliss: EA 220.1

We have not an High Priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmity, but one who was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. His sympathy and tender compassion is not lost in His Godhead. He condescended to take human nature that He might be a surety, a substitute for man, in order to redeem him from sin and the power of Satan. His humanity is not lost in His divinity. On earth He manifested His deep sympathy with human woe, He poured out His tender regard for humanity in precious currents of sympathy, of the most wonderful heaven-born love. This was not restricted to those whom He recognized as His believing friends and disciples. He drew to His side those who knew Him not, as in the case of healing the man born blind. The man knew not who had performed the gracious work upon him, until Jesus revealed Himself to him as the Son of God, and received worship from him. EA 220.2

Jesus says, “I know my sheep.” Let us consider this statement. We are known by God before we receive Him. “I know my sheep.” How do souls become Christ’s sheep? By choosing to receive him. But Christ had first chosen them. He knew every one who would respond to His drawing, and He knew every one who would be inclined to receive Him, but who, through popular influences, would turn from Him. John says to all, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Those who heard the voice and did behold Jesus as the Lamb of God, believed in Him and became His property from their own choice. But they were not the first to see, for God chose them, and their choosing of Christ is in response to His drawing. EA 220.3

The love of Jesus was expressed to us before we loved Him. His grace touched the hearts that contemplated the love of God. We become the property of Christ because God gave His only begotten Son to humiliation and shame and reproach for our sake, to bear our sins, to suffer in our stead. The whole human family are made over to Christ. “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent.” All may obtain this education if they will. Jesus says, “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word, . . . And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.” What a statement is this! “I am glorified in them.” This can be true of any soul only as he in sincerity becomes not merely a hearer but a doer of the Word of Christ. In Matthew these are likened to a wise man, “which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” EA 220.4

Jesus says, “Behold, I and the children whom thou hast given me.” To Jesus the whole human family is entrusted, as the flocks of sheep are entrusted to a shepherd. These sheep and lambs are to be tended with pastoral care. They will be guarded by the faithful Chief Shepherd, under the care of faithful under shepherd, and if they will obey the voice of the Chief Shepherd, they will not be left to be devoured by wolves. We are Christ’s by creation, and by the giving of His life for the sheep. EA 221.1

“Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price.” And what a price! Not with gold or silver, but with the precious blood of Christ. “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as gold and silver, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. EA 221.2

We must through faith accept the truth as it is in Jesus. The Bible election is plainly stated in the Word of God. “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his words, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.” “And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the spirit which he hath given us.” (See Revelation 22:12 21.) EA 221.3

Jesus says, “My sheep know my voice, and they follow me.” The shepherd of Israel does not drive His flock, but He leads them. His attitude is wholly one of invitation. “My sheep know my voice.” If we are indeed sons and daughters of God, we not only hear, but recognize, the voice above all others; we appreciate the words of Christ, we distinguish the truth as it is in Jesus from all error, and the truth refreshes the soul and fills it with gladness. The truth received into the heart transforms the character. Christ is the Truth and the Life, and all who follow Him practice the truth. We obey the Word. EA 221.4

When questioners came to Christ He referred them to the Scriptures, saying, “Have ye not read?” To the lawyer He said, “What is written in the law? how readest thou?” He could have answered every question from His own infinite wisdom, but He met objections and queries as the human agent must meet them, from the written Word. He wants every advocate of truth to follow His example in this respect. Never meet railings and falsehoods and bitter accusings with the words of man’s wisdom. The Lord’s workers are never to make charges, never to make thrusts at opponents, but have the mind well stored with Scripture, and be able to draw the sword of truth, a “Thus saith the Lord.” (See Matt. 12:34 37.) Follow the plain Bible teachings if you would follow Jesus. Souls cost too much to be imperiled by following the words of men. We cannot safely accept any man’s decision in matters that involve eternal interests unless he can open the Scriptures and present his authority as from Him who is the Truth. Obey the words of Christ by searching the Scriptures, and through diligent study have the Word of God stored in your memory, so that in any emergency you can say earnestly, solemnly, “It is written.” Jesus says, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” And He declared to the multitude at the Feast of Tabernacles, “He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” As the Word of God is received into the heart, it transforms character and life. Then the influence that flows from the believer is the influence of the Word of God, a positive life-giving power. EA 221.5

The devils rejoice when schemes of wickedness appear to be crowned with success. The Lord would have every advocate of truth pass by all the words and actions of our enemy as if unnoticed. The words may be such as would cut to the very soul and arouse the worst passions of the human heart, but we are to be as those who hear not. God’s servants should not be betrayed into using Satan’s methods. They are to fix their eyes upon the loveliness of Jesus. Common sense, sanctified, will meet the enemy only on Christ’s ground. He who stands with Christ is with the majority, for Christ is always a majority. He has the whole angelic host under His generalship, and can command the armies of heaven. EA 223.1

Are we followers of Christ? Have we taken upon us His yoke? Are we lifting His burdens? Do we possess His meekness and lowliness, and is His likeness becoming more and more distinct in our characters? If we are followers of Christ, He, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, hath said, “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” This promise is made upon conditions that we follow not a stranger, but that we know and understand the voice of Christ. This is the only election brought to view in God’s Word. The beautiful illustration in Revelation 7 is a pastoral symbol. EA 223.2

The question was asked of John as he beheld the grand scenes of his vision, “What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? John replied, “Sir, thou knowest.” And the Holy One said, “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” EA 223.3

Lt 21, 1895
Granville, New South Wales, Australia
September 13, 1895
[J. O. Corliss:] EA 224.1

There must certainly be a change in our ministers. In heart and character there must be more of Christ and less of self. We are to be representatives of our Lord. Those who have had great light and precious opportunities are accountable to God, who has given to every man his work. They are never to betray the sacred trust, but are to be indeed the light of the world. EA 224.2

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Here is language that expresses His mind toward a corrupt and idolatrous people: “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned in me, my repentings are kindled together.” Must He give up the people for whom such a provision had been made, even His only begotten Son, the express image of Himself? God permitted His Son to be delivered up for our offenses. He Himself assumes toward the Sin Bearer the character of a judge, divesting Himself of the endearing qualities of a father. EA 224.3

Herein His love commends itself in the most marvelous manner to the rebellious race. What a sight for angels to behold! What a hope for man, “that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” The just suffered for the unjust; He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” EA 224.4

As witnesses chosen of God, do we value Christ’s purchased possession? Are we ready to make any and every sacrifice within our power, to place ourselves under Christ’s yoke, to co-operate with Him, [and] to be laborers together with God. All who are bearing the test of God, obeying His commandments, love the perishing human race as Christ loved them. They follow the example of Christ in most earnest, self-sacrificing labor, to seek out in the highways and hedges the high and the low, the rich and the poor, and to bear to all the message that they are the objects of Christ’s special love and guardian care. EA 224.5

So great is the natural blindness and ignorance of men in regard to God and to the Saviour that every one who loves Jesus may find work to do. Not one who has true love for Christ will remain indifferent and indolent. There is a marked difference between the character and life of those who are obedient to all the commandments of God, and of those who are disobedient. Many who profess to be commandment keepers are commandment breakers. Parents have not restrained the selfishness of their children. Self-indulgence has been the object of pursuit. Through self-serving, multitudes are bound in servitude to Satan. They are the slaves of their own impulses and passions, which are under the control of the wicked one. In calling them to His service, God offers them freedom. Obedience to God is liberty from the thralldom of sin, deliverance from human passion and impulse. EA 224.6

But we have to meet and contend with men who employ all their power in opposing and slandering those who are loyal to God. Their wit and their God-given reason are devoted to making it appear that obedience to the commandments of God is an irksome service. But those who advocate the claims of the law of God testify, “Great peace have they that love thy law, and nothing shall offend them.” “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” The Lord presents truth in contrast with error, and presents also the sure result of accepting truth, the experience that always follows willing obedience. It is peace and rest. EA 225.1

The work before the servants of God is to present Jesus. The work for the ministers of Christ is to hang their helpless souls upon His merit. Men who turn away from the path of obedience and make transgression of the law of God a virtue are under the inspiration of the arch-deceiver. They are blinded by his power. They need to have before them a representation of what the truth can do in enabling men to preserve a Christlike temper when provoked and tempted to become impetuous and impatient. The enemies of the truth want to provoke those who teach the binding claims of the law of God. If there is retaliation on our part, Satan’s hosts triumph. He has found a weak place in the armor. By their mean course of action, in bitterest opposition, these agents of Satan tempt the advocates of truth to say and do things that will not be commendable. EA 225.2

Christlike meekness, fine perceptions, nobility of soul, are to be cherished and practiced by the believers in truth. The spirit of truth and righteousness is to control our deportment, our words, and our pens. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.” If the minister when before his congregation, sees a disbelieving smile upon the faces of opponents, let him be as one who sees not. If any should be so impolite as to laugh and sneer, let not the minister, by voice [or] attitude, reflect the same spirit. Show that you handle no such weapons. The pen so often traces words that are sharp, and by repeating the statements of the advocates of error, our brethren sometimes give currency to the error. This is a mistake. Let your pen trace advanced truth. EA 225.3

The Holy Spirit does not work with men who love to be sharp and critical. The spirit has been cherished in meeting debaters, and some have formed the habit of squaring for a combat. They repeat the errors that their opponents have presented, and endeavored to refute them. God is dishonored in this. Keep back the sharp thrusts; do not learn in Satan’s school his methods of warfare. The enemy is best discomfited when no notice is taken of the errors, when truth is advanced which will make these errors of none effect. The Holy Spirit does not inspire the words of censure and condemnation. A time of trouble is before us, such as never was since the beginning of nations, and every honest soul who has not had the light of truth will then take a stand for Christ. Those who believe the truth are to be newly converted to the Master’s use every day. Then they will be vessels unto honor. Do not repeat the words of your opponents, or enter into controversy with them. You meet not merely the man, but Satan and his angels. Christ did not bring against Satan a railing accusation concerning the body of Moses. If the world’s Redeemer, who understood the crooked, deceptive arts of Satan, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but in holiness and humility said, “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan,” is it not wise for His servants to follow His example? Will finite human beings take a course that Christ shunned because it would afford Satan occasion to pervert, misrepresent, and falsify the truth? EA 225.4

In this period of the world’s history we have altogether too great a work to begin a new kind of warfare, aside from Christ’s methods, in meeting the supernatural power of satanic agencies. We must put aside personalities, however we may be tempted to take advantage of words or actions. In patience we must possess our souls. Brethren, make it manifest that you are wholly on the Lord’s side. Let the truth of God’s Holy Word reveal transgression and sin and manifest the sanctifying power of truth upon human hearts. A haughty spirit must not come in to mar the work of God’s ministers. We have reason for gratitude to God every moment that we have the privilege of connecting with God. Success in preaching Christ, our crucified and risen Saviour, who ascended to heaven as our Advocate, is the proof of our calling, the practical argument to weaken error. EA 227.1

There is need of contrition of soul every day, and the Lord declares the great advantage of every one who will humble his heart and hide in Jesus. “Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.” EA 227.2

Let those who hate the law of the Lord rave and pour out their anathemas against such as have moral courage to receive and live the truth. Let them manifest the mob spirit, but take no notice of them. The Lord is our strength. It is safe for us not to build up self, but to let the Lord work His will in and by and through us. Let us preserve a contrite, humble spirit, which the Lord will revive. EA 227.3

Self-esteem and self-flattery will be sure to stir up in the heart resentment against any who venture to question one’s course of action. Everything like counsel or advice is resented with indignation as a design to bruise and wound. This spirit cherished by those who preach the truth will lead to numerous evils. None will venture to tell you when you err, because the faithful one would be regarded as an enemy, seeking to hurt your influence. Thus the kindness and faithfulness that should exist between brethren in the faith is killed because of the jealous interpretation put upon the God-fearing cautions given. Undue stress is laid upon words, imagination exaggerates the matter and creates alienation. In matters where eternal interest are involved, we are to be subject one to another, ready to take advise and counsel. We must not suffer wrong upon a brother. Self-sufficiency must be overcome, for we are all alike dependent upon God. Love of all applause must be seen as a snare. There is always danger of making grave blunders through conceit of our own wisdom and qualifications. Let these qualifications reveal their true value, and they will be appreciated, because Christ will be revealed in word and action. EA 227.4

I am urged by the Spirit of God to counsel my brethren to unite with one another in labor. Love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous, be true as steel to one another, but crush that feeling of superiority over your brother ministers which leads one to feel that he cannot link up with others in labor, because they do not in his line. God would have no one submerge his individuality in another man. EA 228.1

No one man should feel that he must do the whole work. However well-experienced or well-qualified he may be, there is need of other talent to unite with his. It is a mistake to think that one man’s train of thought will accomplish the work for all hearts in a religious effort. Men of different minds are needed, men whose hearts are tenderly led out to win souls. It is a delusion to think that one man can take all the labor and do the work alone. God has not made this the rule. Different methods of labor are really essential in sowing the seeds of truth and gathering in the harvest. It is often the case that men of the humblest ability will reach hearts that have been sealed against another man’s labors who may have presented the truth with supposed greater ability. Much praying is essential. The soul’s drawing nigh to God in communion, God’s drawing nigh to the soul that is seeking him, can alone do the work that is needed. EA 228.2

There needs to be greater devotion of heart and life in the service of God. More love and unity is needed, more blending of the talents which the providence of God has provided. Much is lost in religious effort when one minister thinks himself capable of managing the meetings, of holding everything in his own hands, when he makes very little effort to share the work and responsibilities with his brethren. The Lord has His own instrumentalities through which to work for the saving of souls; and among these instrumentalities there should be free, hearty unity of action. EA 228.3

If ministers will link up together, hiding self in Christ Jesus and go forward unitedly, not feeling that one man must do almost all the thinking, God will let His Holy Spirit sustain them in their labor. Let their hearts be connected together in free, open companionship; let them esteem each other as brethren; and God will put His seal upon their apostleship by giving them success in winning souls to Christ. EA 228.4

Lt 18, 1895
Granville, N.S.W., Australia
September 13, 1895
Elder J. O. Corliss
Stanmore, Sydney, Australia
Dear Brother: EA 229.1

The Lord has not forsaken you, but you have not committed the keeping of your soul to God and waited patiently for Him. You have taken upon yourself burdens that should have been shared with your brother ministers. God has not required you to do this. Your human strength cannot endure so great a strain. The Lord has sent you counsel and warnings which, had you heeded them, would have saved you from your worn condition. EA 229.2

The Lord is not unjust to forget your labors of love, but you have mingled with your offerings strange fire, which God has forbidden you and every one of His workers to use. God is dishonored, the truth is brought into disrepute, the work of God is misjudged and reproached, because you have acted in your own unsanctified way, and not in God’s way. The honor of God, the salvation of souls, requires that you deny self, and restrain the uprising [of] passion; but in your unholy zeal you break both tables of the law. You have furnished arguments against the truth in unadvised speech and actions. EA 229.3

Your work is in Christ’s stead, to beseech men to be reconciled to God. You stand as His messenger, as a steward of the mysteries of God; and when your spirit does not reveal a calm, holy trust in God, stop just where you are, lest you speak unadvisedly. EA 229.4

Never in a single instance let your impetuous spirit triumph. Wherever you may go, in any place, in any country, self must die daily, and Christ must live and be revealed in you, else you dishonor God and the truth. Wherever you may go, you are under God’s jurisdiction; in all places and under all circumstances your liberty is to be exercised in strict accordance to the law of God. EA 229.5

All the stewards of God have a divine commission to preach Christ and Him crucified. You are not to speak from human impulse, but from the Spirit of Christ working in you to do God’s will and His pleasure. Amid the cloud of witnesses you are to be as one who has a message, weighty and important, to impart to sinners in the name of the Lord. God Himself marks the work of His servants. He gives no man authority to stir up the evil spirits that are waiting for an opportunity to accuse the people of God. We are not to give men an excuse for depreciating the truth. The Lord God is exact and infallible in His comprehension. He understands the working of the human mind, the active principles of the human agents He has formed, just how they will be moved upon by the objects that come before them, and in what manner they will act under every temptation that can try them and in every circumstance in which they are placed. “The ways of man are before the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.” “The eyes of the Lord are in every place.” “He looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heavens.” “The Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts.” He knows the things that come into our minds, every one of them. “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight; but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” EA 229.6

The messenger of God looked at a writing in your hand, and spoke these words, “You will not care to immortalize these things, for they are not true.” God pities the poor, self-deceived souls who are trampling upon His truth. Let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest. Pity and deplore the blindness of the minds that are under the dominion of Satan, but restrain your own wrath and passion, and do not pass your judgment upon them. Leave in God’s hands the despisers of His truth. The right and liberty of passing judgment upon others is not given you. It was not given to Moses to pronounce judgment against rebellious Israel. The glaring weakness of His agents, as displayed by Moses, will bring its reward. EA 230.1

Those who reject and despise the truth of God are inspired from beneath. The Lord does not call His people to go into their assemblies, for the evil angels are present to excite unhappy feelings, to stir up the passions of human nature, to take advantage of the rising of self; and evil angels triumph. You have reviled the revilers, and have given occasion for those who are controlled by Satan to point to you as unsanctified and unholy. EA 230.2

Let no untruth go forth traced by your pen. The harm you have done to your own soul, and the dishonor to God, should go no farther. God’s workmen must continue to bear the blame of being troublers of Israel, but they are not at liberty to make such assertions true. Go not into the assembly of scoffers, sit not in the seat of the scorners, keep away from the gatherings of those who will make your presence an occasion to speak to you humiliating things, and will pour contempt upon your faith. Have no controversy with these men. You have not to do with the men only, but with Satan and his synagogue. When compelled to meet them, remember the Saviour’s words, “I send you forth as lambs among wolves.” The Lord must be your dependence; He will clothe you with a divine panoply, and His Holy Spirit will influence your mind and heart so that your voice shall not catch the notes of the baying of the wolves. EA 230.3

We are never to forget that we are representatives of Christ. We are to use no carnal weapons when unbelieving and deluded souls come among us. We are not even to insinuate anything against those who shall come into our assemblies. Not an unkind or discourteous word, defensive or offensive, should escape our lips or be traced by our pen. When reviled, we are not to revile again. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” Your words are not always wise. When you allow your own spirit to have sway, you lose the Spirit of God, and then it is that the strange fire is offered. Your imagination is deceptive, you arrive at false conclusions, and things appear to you in a perverted light. Your imagination is wrought upon by satanic agencies. Be careful not to trace a word of your suppositions, to be immortalized. EA 230.4

True faith and repose in God are always accompanied by the illuminations of the Holy Spirit, whose temple we are. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, it is His representative. Here is the divine agency that carries conviction to hearts. When the power of His spirit is revealed through the servants of God, we behold divinity flashing through humanity. When accompanied by the Holy Spirit, the presentation of truth as it is in Jesus will be of more value than all the honor or glory of the world. EA 231.1

Let the unction from the Holy One pervade your whole being, and you will bear the impress of Christ. This is an armor that is proof against all the arrows of Satan. The safety of the messengers of truth is found in their possession of the meekness and lowliness of Christ. Jesus said, “In this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” The price of our high calling should be kept continually before us. As we look unto Jesus, self will sink into insignificance. EA 231.2

Let the messengers of God live the truth, and then—and then only—will they be epistles of Christ, known and read of all men. What kind of epistles did you, by your attitude and words, open before the revilers of truth? You gave the enemies advantage which they will claim as justifying all the falsehoods they have told. Your strange fire will dishonor your Maker. Your imaginary pictures were the presentation made to a tempted mind. Your forebodings were not correct. You must not exaggerate the enemy’s power. By providential experience you are to learn your own weakness, and not trust to yourself for one moment. Christ is our sufficiency. God would not have you exalt deceptive human judgment and human passion, which flashes forth from a highly wrought up spirit. EA 231.3

The providence of God places man in unexpected positions to reveal his own weakness, to make it manifest that his power is in God alone. At the time when a soul is bearing weighty responsibilities, God tests the human agent. If his faith is not wholly centered in God, the little strength he himself possesses becomes exhausted, and impatience and railing reveal the fact that he needs to set his feet upon the solid rock. Every soul engaged in the Lord’s work, who becomes spiritually proud, flattering himself that he has made great proficiency above his brethren, will be left to learn the truth of the case. All boasting is laid in the dust. EA 231.4

The lesson we have to learn is, that which John the Baptist had learned, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Such discipline is painful to human nature, “nevertheless afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness.” “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” It is the dragon that is wroth; it is the spirit of Satan that is revealed in anger and accusing. Not a semblance of the dragon’s spirit must be seen in the life or the character of Christ’s servants. The testimony you bear is to be a testimony to the truth as it is in Jesus. God’s servants, who have had great light and blessing from Him, are not to be like a blast of hail, to beat down and destroy. The salt that is to save from corruption is the confession of the truth, the revelation of the love of Christ. The magnifying of the law of Jehovah is not accomplished by breaking its principles. God cannot manifest His power to exalt the human agent; it is truth that is to bear away the victory. And Christ’s ambassadors must learn the lesson that sharp speeches and word thrusts bring no victory. EA 231.5

God would have His messengers, when they know the spirit of their opponents, keep on their own ground, and not go out of the way to learn what their opponents say of the truth. Satan inspires them when you come into their presence. Never say or do anything that would keep them away from your assemblies. Keep to your legitimate work. “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant.” “The Lord sitteth upon the floods, yea, the Lord sitteth king forever. The Lord will give strength unto his people: the Lord will bless his people with peace.” “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.” “This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come and make our abode with him.” EA 232.1

The Lord has declared that He will never leave thee nor forsake thee. When He revealed His character to Moses, He “passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.” “His eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men.” “The Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.” “I the Lord search the hearts, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” EA 232.2

The Lord has given simple, plain warnings to those who flatter themselves that He is not exact to punish the wrongdoers who live in daily transgression of His law. But His Word is sure and steadfast. “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” “He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness.” “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” EA 232.3