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Warnings and Reproofs
97
and walled in by fables and error, and who make no effort to receive
and obey the truth. He knows he is sure of them; but those who are
seeking for truth, that they may obey it in the love of it, are the ones
who excite his malice and stir his ire. He can never weaken them
while they keep close to Jesus; therefore he is pleased when he can
lead them in a course of disobedience.
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When we sin against God, there is a disposition to fall behind
Jesus a day’s journey; we seek to separate from His company because
it is distasteful, for every ray of light from His divine presence points
to the sin of which we have been guilty. Satan exults over the sins
which he has induced souls to commit, and he makes the most of
all these failures and sins. He rehearses them to the angels of God,
and taunts them with these weaknesses and failures. He is in every
sense an accuser of the brethren, and exults over every sin and wrong
which God’s people are beguiled to commit. You, Brother V, have
been engaged in this same work to quite an extent. You have taken
what appeared to you like wrongs, weaknesses, and errors in the
ranks of Sabbathkeeping Adventists, and have brought them to the
notice of the enemies of our faith who were warring against that
company unto whom angels of heaven were ministering, and whose
cause Jesus, their Advocate, was pleading before His Father. He
cries, “Spare them, Father, spare them, they are the purchase of My
blood,” and lifts to His Father His wounded hands. You have been
guilty before God of a great sin. You have been taking advantage of
those things which grieve, which bring anguish upon the people of
God as they see some of their numbers unconsecrated and frequently
overcome by Satan. Instead of aiding these erring souls to get right,
you have triumphantly made their errors conspicuous to those who
hated them because they professed to keep the commandments of
God and the faith of Jesus. You have made it very hard for those
who were engaged in the work of saving the erring, hunting up the
lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Because of Israel’s disobedience and departure from God, they
were allowed to be brought into close places and to suffer adversity;
their enemies were permitted to make war with them, to humble
them and lead them to seek God in their trouble and distress. “Then
came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.” This took place
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immediately after the children of Israel had given themselves up