Basic HTML Version
240
Testimonies for the Church Volume 2
tious, zealous, and persevering to gain a knowledge of divine things
as they are to obtain the paltry, perishable things of this life. The
masses professing to be Christians have been satisfied to be spiritual
dwarfs. They have no disposition to make it their object to seek first
the kingdom of God and His righteousness; hence godliness is a
hidden mystery to them, they cannot understand it. They know not
Christ by experimental knowledge.
Let those men and women who are satisfied with their dwarfed,
crippled condition in divine things be suddenly transported to heaven
and for an instant witness the high, the holy state of perfection that
ever abides there,—every soul filled with love; every countenance
beaming with joy; enchanting music in melodious strains rising in
honor of God and the Lamb; and ceaseless streams of light flowing
upon the saints from the face of Him who sitteth upon the throne, and
from the Lamb; and let them realize that there is higher and greater
joy yet to experience, for the more they receive of the enjoyment of
God, the more is their capacity increased to rise higher in eternal
enjoyment, and thus continue to receive new and greater supplies
[267]
from the ceaseless sources of glory and bliss inexpressible,—could
such persons, I ask, mingle with the heavenly throng, participate
in their songs, and endure the pure, exalted, transporting glory that
emanates from God and the Lamb? Oh, no! their probation was
lengthened for years that they might learn the language of heaven,
that they might become “partakers of the divine nature, having es-
caped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” But they had
a selfish business of their own to engage the powers of their minds
and the energies of their beings. They could not afford to serve God
unreservedly and make this a business. Worldly enterprises must
come first and take the best of their powers, and a transient thought is
devoted to God. Are such to be transformed after the final decision:
“He that is holy, let him be holy still,” “he which is filthy, let him be
filthy still”? Such a time is coming.
Those who have trained the mind to delight in spiritual exercises
are the ones who can be translated and not be overwhelmed with
the purity and transcendent glory of heaven. You may have a good
knowledge of the arts, you may have an acquaintance with the
sciences, you may excel in music and in penmanship, your manners
may please your associates, but what have these things to do with