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To Stand for Principle Despite Opposition, July 25
And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work,
so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I
leave it, and come down to you?
Nehemiah 6:3
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God has men in reserve, prepared to meet the demand, that His work
may be preserved from all contaminating influences. God will be honored
and glorified. When the divine Spirit impresses the mind of the man
appointed by God as fit for the work, he responds, saying, “Here am I;
send me.” ... Nehemiah showed himself to be a man whom God could use
to put down false principles and to restore heaven-born principles; and
God honored him. The Lord will use in His work men who are as true as
steel to principle, who will not be swayed by the sophistries of those who
have lost their spiritual eyesight.
Nehemiah was chosen by God because he was willing to cooperate
with the Lord as a restorer. Falsehood and intrigue were used to pervert
his integrity, but he would not be bribed. He refused to be corrupted by
the devices of unprincipled men, who had been hired to do an evil work.
He would not allow them to intimidate him into following a cowardly
course. When he saw wrong principles being acted upon, he did not stand
by as an onlooker, and by his silence give consent. He did not leave the
people to conclude that he was standing on the wrong side. He took a firm,
unyielding stand for the right. He would not lend one jot of influence to
the perversion of the principles that God has established
We shall meet with opposition of every description, as did the builders
of the walls of Jerusalem; but if we watch and pray, and work as they
did, God will fight our battles for us, and give us precious victories.... We
should move forward with unwavering confidence, believing that God will
give to His truth great and precious victories.... Relying upon Jesus, we
shall carry a convincing power with us that we have the truth
[214]
60
The Review and Herald, May 2, 1899
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61
The Review and Herald, July 6, 1886
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220