Errors in Diet
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Spirit. I saw that God had laid upon His chosen ministers the duty of
deciding who was fit for the holy work; and in union with the church
and the manifest tokens of the Holy Spirit, they were to decide who
should go and who were unfit to go. I saw that if it should be left to
a few individuals here and there to decide who was sufficient for this
great work, confusion and distraction everywhere would be the fruit.
God has repeatedly shown that persons should not be encouraged
into the field without unmistakable evidence that He has called them.
The Lord will not entrust the burden for his flock to unqualified indi-
viduals. Those whom God calls must be men of deep experience, tried
and proved, men of sound judgment, men who will dare to reprove sin
in the spirit of meekness, men who understand how to feed the flock.
God knows the heart, and He knows whom to select. Brother and
Sister A may decide in this matter, and be all wrong. Your judgment is
imperfect, and can be no evidence in this matter. I saw that you were
drawing off from the church, and if you continue to do so, you will
have enough of it; for God will let you go, to suffer by following your
own way.
Now God invites you to get right, to try your motives, and to press
into harmony with His people.
Mannsville, New York,
October 21, 1858.
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