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Chapter 23
8 (see
EGW comment on John 13:14, 15
). No First or Last
in Christ
—Those who, in the spirit and love of Jesus, will become
one with Him, will be in close fellowship one with another, bound
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up by the silken cords of love. Then the ties of human brotherhood
would not be always on the strain, ready at any provocation to snap
asunder. “All ye are brethren” will be the sentiment of every child of
faith. When the followers of Christ are one with Him, there will be
no first and last, no less respected or less important ones. A blessed
brotherly fellowship one with another will bind all who truly receive
the Lord Jesus Christ in a firm loyalty that cannot be broken. All
will be equally one with Christ (
Manuscript 28, 1897
).
All Ye Are Brethren
—God has made men responsible beings,
and placed them in circumstances favorable to obedience to His will.
In the dignity of their God-given manhood, they are to be governed
and controlled by God Himself, not by any human intelligence in our
world. Man is ever to acknowledge that God lives and reigns; men
are never to become lords over God’s heritage. They are to consider
that “all ye are brethren.” In the very fact that men are free moral
agents, God teaches us not to be forced or compelled into any course
of action, also that as responsible beings in copartnership with God
we are to represent God in character. We are to have an interest in
our brother, in our neighbor, in all around (
Letter 65, 1895
).
8-10. None to Place Spiritual Interests Under Another
—The
oft repeated “Rabbi,” was very acceptable to the ear, but Jesus
warned His disciples against this. He said to them, “But be not
ye called rabbi; for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are
brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is
your Father which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for
one is your Master, even Christ.”
By these words Christ meant that no man is to place his spiri-
tual interest under another as a child is guided and directed by his
earthly father. This has encouraged a spirit to desire ecclesiastical
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