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Testimonies for the Church Volume 2
What impression was this to make upon the people? It was to show
them that every particle of dust must be put away before they could
go into the presence of God; for He was so high and holy that unless
they did comply with these conditions, death would follow.
But look at the style of dress worn by some of our ministers at
the present day. Some who minister in sacred things so arrange their
dress upon their persons that, to some extent at least, it destroys the
influence of their labor. There is an apparent lack of taste in color
and neatness of fit. What is the impression given by such a manner
of dress? It is that the work in which they are engaged is considered
no more sacred or elevated than common labor, as plowing in the
field. The minister by his example brings down sacred things upon
a level with common things.
The influence of such preachers is not pleasing to God. If any
are brought out to receive the truth from their labors, they frequently
imitate their preachers and come down to the same low level with
them. It will be more difficult to remodel these and bring them into
a right position, and teach them true order and love for discipline,
than to labor to convert to the truth men and women who have never
heard it. The Lord requires His ministers to be pure and holy, to
rightly represent the principles of truth in their own lives, and by
their example to bring others up upon a high level.
God requires all who profess to be His chosen people, though
they are not teachers of the truth, to be careful to preserve personal
cleanliness and purity, also cleanliness and order in their houses and
upon their premises. We are examples to the world, living epistles
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known and read of all men. God requires all who profess godliness,
and especially those who teach the truth to others, to abstain from
all appearance of evil.
From the light I have had, the ministry is a sacred and exalted
office, and those who accept this position should have Christ in
their hearts and manifest an earnest desire to represent Him worthily
before the people in all their acts, in their dress, in their speaking, and
even in their manner of speaking. They should speak with reverence.
Some destroy the solemn impression they may have made upon the
people, by raising their voices to a very high pitch and hallooing and
screaming out the truth. When presented in this manner, truth loses
much of its sweetness, its force and solemnity. But if the voice is