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Testimonies for the Church Volume 3
righted, nor reformations in character made, by a few feeble, intermit-
tent efforts. Sanctification is not a work of a day or a year, but of a
lifetime. Without continual efforts and constant activity, there can be
no advancement in the divine life, no attainment of the victor’s crown.
We are doing up work for the judgment, and it is unsafe to work in
our own wisdom and trust to our own judgment. With the spirit of
self-confidence that you now possess, neither of you could be happy
in heaven; for there all, even the exalted angels, are subordinate. You
have yet to learn subordination and submission. Both of you must be
transformed by the grace of God.
Sister A, I saw that you should be careful that you do not open a
door of temptation to your husband that you cannot close at will. It is
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easier to invite the enemy into your hearts than to dismiss him after he
has the ground. Your pride is easily hurt, and you need to come closer
to God, and seek with earnestness for grace, divine grace, to endure
hardness as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. God will be your helper
if you choose Him for your strength. Both of you should encourage
greater devotion to God. The only way to watch humbly is to watch
prayerfully. Do not for a moment think that you may sit down and
enjoy yourselves, and study your own pleasure and convenience. The
life of Christ is our example. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief; He was wounded, He was bruised. You are too well satisfied
with your position. You have need of constant watchfulness, lest Satan
beguile you through his subtlety, corrupt your minds, and lead you
into inconsistencies and gross darkness. Your watchfulness should be
characterized by a spirit of humble dependence upon God. It should
not be carried on with a proud, self-reliant spirit, but with a deep sense
of your personal weakness and a childlike trust in the promises of God.
It is now an easy and pleasant task to preach the truth of the third
angel’s message, in comparison with what it was when the message
first started, when the numbers were few and we were looked upon as
fanatics. Those who bore the responsibility of the work in the rise and
early progress of the message knew what conflict, distress, and soul
anguish were. Night and day the burden was heavy upon them. They
thought not of rest or convenience even when they were pressed with
suffering and disease. The shortness of time called for activity, and the
laborers were few.