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Testimonies for the Church Volume 2
You have gone directly contrary to the light which God has been
pleased to give in regard to the use of tobacco. The gratification of
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appetite has eclipsed the light given of Heaven, and you have made
a God of this hurtful indulgence. It is your idol. You have bowed
to this instead of God, at the same time professing great faith in the
visions, but acting entirely contrary to them. For years you have not
advanced one step in the divine life, but have been growing weaker
and weaker, darker and darker. You have felt sadly afflicted over the
course of Brother P in opposing the truth as he has done. You have
ascribed the weak, discouraged state of the church to his opposition.
It is true that he has been a great hindrance to the advancement of
the cause of God in-----. But the course you have pursued, while
professing to know the truth and to have an experience in the cause
of God, has been a greater hindrance than his course. If you had
stood in the counsel of God and been sanctified through the truth
which you professed to believe, Brother P would not have had all
the doubts he has had. Your position as a defender of the visions has
been a stumbling block to those who were unbelieving. I was shown
that your brother tried to stand up under the heavy burdens which
the sad condition of the church brought upon him until he nearly
fell under the weight he was bearing, and left for his life. I saw that
God’s care was over Brother and Sister R, and if their faith remained
unwavering they would yet see the salvation of God in their own
house and in the church.
I was shown the case of dear Brother and Sister S. They had
been passing through the dark waters, and the billows had nearly
gone over their heads; yet God loved them, and if they would only
trust their ways to Him He would bring them forth from the furnace
of affliction purified. Brother S has looked upon the dark side, and
doubted whether he was a child of God—doubted his salvation. I
saw that he should not labor too hard to believe, but should trust in
God as a child would confide in its parents. He worries too much—
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he worries himself out of the arms of Jesus, and gives the enemy
a chance to tempt and annoy him. God knows the feebleness of
the body and of the mind, and will require no more of him than
He will give him strength to perform. He has tried to be faithful
and true to his profession. He has failed in his life in a number of
things, all ignorantly. In regard to the discipline of his children, he