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Testimonies for the Church Volume 2
thought you would use with wisdom and to the glory of God. How
anxiously did your ministering angel watch the new trial to see how
you would stand the test. As means came into your hands, I saw
you gradually and almost imperceptibly separating from God. The
means entrusted to you were expended for your own convenience, to
surround yourself with the good things of this life. I saw the angels
looking upon you with yearning sadness, their faces half averted,
loath to leave you. Yet their presence was not perceived by you, and
your course was pursued without reference to your angel guard.
The business and cares of your new position claimed your time
and attention, and your duty to God was not considered. Jesus had
purchased you by His own blood. You were not your own. Your
time, your strength, and the means you handled all belonged to your
Redeemer. He had been your constant Friend, your strength and
support when every other friend had proved a broken reed. You have
repaid the love and bounty of God with ingratitude and forgetfulness.
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Your only safety was in implicit trust in Christ, your Saviour.
There was no safety for you away from the cross. How weak human
strength seemed in this instance! Oh, how evident that there is no
real strength but that which God imparts to those who trust in Him!
One petition offered up to God in faith has more power than a wealth
of human intellect.
In your prosperity you did not carry out the resolves you had
made in adversity. The deceitfulness of riches turned you from your
purposes. Cares increased upon you. Your influence became ex-
tended. As the afflicted realized relief from suffering, they glorified
you, and you learned to love praise from the lips of poor mortals.
You were in a popular city, and thought it necessary for the success
of your business, as well as to retain your influence, for your sur-
roundings to be somewhat in accordance with your business. But
you carried things too far. You were swayed too much by the opin-
ions and judgment of others. You expended means needlessly, only
to gratify the lust of the eye and the pride of life. You forgot that you
were handling your Lord’s money. When means were expended by
you which would only encourage vanity, you did not consider that
the recording angel was making a record which you would blush to
meet again. Said the angel, pointing to you: “You glorified yourself,