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Testimonies for the Church Volume 1
They were blinded, they were not standing in the counsel of God. I lift
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my voice of warning against praising or flattering the ministers. I have
seen the evil, the dreadful evil, of this. Never, never speak a word in
praise of ministers to their faces. Exalt God. Ever respect a faithful
minister, realize his burdens and lighten them if you can; but do not
flatter him, for Satan stands ready at his watchtower to do that kind of
work himself.
Ministers should not use flattery or be respecters of persons. There
ever has been, and still is, great danger of erring here, of making a little
difference with the wealthy, or flattering them by special attention, if
not by words. There is danger of “having men’s persons in admiration”
for the sake of gain, but in doing this their eternal interests are endan-
gered. The minister may be the special favorite of some wealthy man,
and he may be very liberal with him; this gratifies the minister, and he
in turn lavishes praise upon the benevolence of his donor. His name
may be exalted by appearing in print, and yet that liberal donor may be
entirely unworthy of the credit given him. His liberality did not arise
from a deep, living principle to do good with his means, to advance the
cause of God because he appreciated it, but from some selfish motive,
a desire to be thought liberal. He may have given from impulse and his
liberality have no depth of principle. He may have been moved upon
by listening to stirring truth which for the time being loosed his purse
strings; yet, after all, his liberality has no deeper motive. He gives
by spasms; his purse opens spasmodically and closes just as securely
spasmodically. He deserves no commendation, for he is in every sense
of the word a stingy man, and unless thoroughly converted, purse and
all, will hear the withering denunciation: “Go to now, ye rich men,
weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches
are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.” Such will awake at
last from a horrible self-deception. Those who praised their spasmodic
liberalities helped Satan to deceive them and make them think that
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they were very liberal, very sacrificing, when they knew not the first
principles of liberality or self-sacrifice.
Some men and women make themselves believe that they do not
consider the things of this world of much value, but prize the truth
and its advancement higher than any worldly gain. Many will awake
at last to find that they have been deceived. They may have once
appreciated the truth, and earthly treasures in comparison with truth