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Chapter 50—Appeal to Ministers
October 2, 1868, I was shown the great and solemn work before
us of warning the world of the coming judgment. Our example, if in
accordance with the truth we profess, will save a few, and condemn
the many, leaving them without excuse in the day when the cases of
all will be decided. The righteous are to be prepared for everlasting
life, and sinners, who will not become acquainted with the will and
ways of God, are appointed to destruction.
Not all who preach the truth to others are sanctified by it. Some
have but faint views of the sacred character of the work. They fail to
trust in God and to have all their works wrought in Him. Their inmost
souls have not been converted. They have not in their daily life
experienced the mystery of godliness. They are handling immortal
truths, weighty as eternity, but are not careful and earnest to have
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these truths inwrought in their souls, made a part of themselves, so
that they shall influence them in all they do. They are not so wedded
to the principles which these truths inculcate that it is impossible to
separate any part of the truth from them.
Sanctification of heart and life is alone acceptable with God.
Said the angel, as he pointed to the ministers who are not right:
“Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-
minded.” “Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.” God calls
for integrity of soul; for truth in the inward parts, transforming the
entire man by the renewing of the mind through the influences of
the divine Spirit. Not all the ministers are devoted to the work; not
all have put their hearts into it. They move as listlessly as though
a temporal millennium were allowed them in which to work for
souls. They shun burdens and responsibilities, care and privations.
Self-denial, suffering, and weariness are not pleasant nor convenient.
It is the study of some to save themselves from wearing labor. They
study their own convenience and how to please themselves, their
wives, and their children; and the work upon which they have entered
is nearly lost sight of.
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