General Conference Bulletin, vol. 5

THE GENERAL CONFERENCE BULLETIN WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 1903

Good meetings are sometimes spoiled by long testimonies. GCB April 1, 1903, page 44.1

The weighty questions before this Conference require much prayerful consideration. GCB April 1, 1903, page 44.2

The testimony meeting yesterday morning was a season of real refreshing. The present session of the Conference promises to be one of deep spirituality. GCB April 1, 1903, page 44.3

The key-note of Sister White’s testimony in this Conference is: “Take heed to yourselves.” “Humble your hearts before God.” “Seek righteousness; seek meekness.” GCB April 1, 1903, page 44.4

The cold rains of the past few days have been somewhat unpleasant, but the sun is shining above the clouds, and the earth needs the rain. In California, “April showers bring May flowers.” GCB April 1, 1903, page 44.5

The most effective testimony is not the one that gives a history of past experiences only, but the one that deals with the present. What is your purpose to-day? and what is the Lord doing for you now? GCB April 1, 1903, page 44.6

The conviction seems to be deepening that the Lord is coming soon. This fact gives promise of great spiritual quickening; for it is true that expectation leads to preparation. The Lord by His providences is saying: “Prepare to meet thy God.” “Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” GCB April 1, 1903, page 44.7

Pay day, however postponed, arrives as certainly as the rising of to-morrow’s sun; and the thoughtlessly improvident person, who not only spends as he goes, but spends more than he earns, has pay day to reckon with, and too often meets it unprepared. Then, around one’s neck, weighing one to the earth, debt hangs like a millstone, and health, strength, enthusiasm, gayety, and joy in life vanish under its relentless pressure. As well may one drag a ball and chain around one’s feet as walk through life fettered by the clog of debt, which seems ever larger and less manageable the longer it is carried.—Margaret E. Sangster. GCB April 1, 1903, page 44.8

“And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” GCB April 1, 1903, page 44.9

“Something has been done in foreign missions, and something in home missions, but altogether too much territory has been left unworked. The work is too much centralized.” GCB April 1, 1903, page 44.10

“When we believe the promise, ‘Lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,’ we shall be strong to endure. We need a constant sense of the abiding presence of Christ. He is our righteousness.” GCB April 1, 1903, page 44.11