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Testimonies for the Church Volume 3
lived a life of prayer. You need so much to link your life with God,
and then you will not sow to the flesh and reap corruption in the end.
Jesting, joking, and worldly conversation belong to the world.
Christians who have the peace of God in their hearts will be cheerful
and happy without indulging in lightness or frivolity. While watching
unto prayer they will have a serenity and peace which will elevate
them above all superfluities. The mystery of godliness, opened to the
mind of the minister of Christ, will raise him above earthly and sensual
enjoyments. He will be a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped
the corruption that is in the world through lust. The communication
opened between God and his soul will make him fruitful in the knowl-
edge of God’s will and open before him treasures of practical subjects
that he can present to the people, which will not cause levity or the
semblance of a smile, but will solemnize the mind, touch the heart,
and arouse the moral sensibilities to the sacred claims that God has
upon the affections and life. Those who labor in word and doctrine
should be men of God, pure in heart and life.
You are in the greatest danger of bringing reproach upon the cause
of God. Satan knows your weakness. His angels communicate your
weak points to those who are deceived by his lying wonders, and they
are already counting you as one of their number. Satan exults to have
you pursue an unwise course because you place yourself upon his
ground and give him advantage over you. He well knows that the
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indiscretion of men who advocate the law of God will turn souls from
the truth. You have not taken upon your soul the burden of the work
and labored carefully and earnestly in private to favorably impress
minds in regard to the truth. You too frequently become impatient,
irritable, and childish, and make yourself enemies by your abrupt
manners. Unless you are on your guard, you prejudice souls against
the truth. Unless you are a transformed man, and will carry out in your
life the principles of the sacred truths you present in the desk, your
labors will amount to but little.
A weight of responsibility rests upon you. It is the watchman’s
duty to be ever at his post, watching for souls as one that must give
an account. If your mind is diverted from the great work and filled
with unholy thoughts; if selfish plans and projects rob of sleep, and
in consequence the mental and physical strength is lessened, you sin
against your own soul and against God. Your discernment is blunted,