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Testimonies for the Church Volume 2
I took the precious Bible and surrounded it with the several
Testimonies for the Church
, given for the people of God. Here, said
I, the cases of nearly all are met. The sins they are to shun are pointed
out. The counsel that they desire can be found here, given for other
cases situated similarly to themselves. God has been pleased to give
you line upon line and precept upon precept. But there are not many
of you that really know what is contained in the
Testimonies
. You
are not familiar with the Scriptures. If you had made God’s word
your study, with a desire to reach the Bible standard and attain to
Christian perfection, you would not have needed the
Testimonies
.
It is because you have neglected to acquaint yourselves with God’s
inspired Book that He has sought to reach you by simple, direct
testimonies, calling your attention to the words of inspiration which
you had neglected to obey, and urging you to fashion your lives in
accordance with its pure and elevated teachings.
The Lord designs to warn you, to reprove, to counsel, through the
testimonies given, and to impress your minds with the importance
of the truth of His word. The written testimonies are not to give new
light, but to impress vividly upon the heart the truths of inspiration
already revealed. Man’s duty to God and to his fellow man has been
distinctly specified in God’s word; yet but few of you are obedient
to the light given. Additional truth is not brought out; but God has
through the
Testimonies
simplified the great truths already given and
in His own chosen way brought them before the people to awaken
and impress the mind with them, that all may be left without excuse.
Pride, self-love, selfishness, hatred, envy, and jealousy have
beclouded the perceptive powers, and the truth, which would make
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you wise unto salvation, has lost its power to charm and control the
mind. The very essential principles of godliness are not understood
because there is not a hungering and thirsting for Bible knowledge,
purity of heart, and holiness of life. The
Testimonies
are not to
belittle the word of God, but to exalt it and attract minds to it, that
the beautiful simplicity of truth may impress all.
I said further: As the word of God is walled in with these books
and pamphlets, so has God walled you in with reproofs, counsel,
warnings, and encouragements. Here you are crying before God, in
the anguish of your souls, for more light. I am authorized from God
to tell you that not another ray of light through the
Testimonies
will