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No Place for Pride, July 3
Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you
be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God
resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves
therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due
time.
1 Peter 5:5, 6
.
The Lord has given abundant evidence of the truthfulness of His promises
and threatenings. His people may trust His word. Will they then, in the face
of light and evidence, follow a course of their own choosing, independent of
God’s ordained agencies? Even good men need to be guarded on every hand,
lest they shall become so elevated over the blessings God has given them that
the applause and praise from worldlings shall be as a stimulus for them to
display their great wisdom and acquisitions.
The Lord sees, the Lord knows. He will certainly humble all such as-
pirations; for He hates pride and selfishness and covetousness. The more
prosperous the work may be in itself, the less appropriate is it for men to
exalt themselves, as though they were the ones who should be lifted up. Our
trust must be in God. He has entrusted men with abilities and capabilities,
that they may act a prominent part in His work. Let them take heed how they
shall exalt themselves....
The set time to favor Zion will soon come. God has provided men and
means whereby His work shall be accomplished. He will not leave His people
to shame, but will accomplish His work. His work will move just as He has
ordained it to move. Our covenant with Christ unites with the majesty of
an omnipotent King the gentleness and tenderness of a caretaking shepherd.
Please read the forty-second chapter of Isaiah.
God desires men to understand the claims He has upon them. He will
judge any man who shall interpose between his fellow men and their God, to
lead them into paths not cast up for the ransomed. “Known unto God are all
his works from the beginning of the world” (
Acts 15:18
). He has ordained
that His works shall be presented before the world in distinct, holy, sacred
lines. The kingdom of God cometh not with observation, but by the gentleness
of the inspiration of His word, by the operation of His Spirit in the soul. His
work in many places of the world would now be much farther advanced had
not man interposed between the people and God, to do a work God has not
appointed.—
Letter 93, July 3, 1900
, to Elder G. A. Irwin, president of the
General Conference.
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