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Testimonies for the Church Volume 4
penetrates the gloom and arouses the mind; but surrounding influences
shut out the ray of light, and the darkness seems denser than before.
[108]
It would have been better for your spiritual welfare had you
changed your place of residence some years ago. The light of truth
tested the community in which you live. A few received the message
of mercy and warning, while it was rejected by many. Still another
class did not accept it because there was a cross to lift. They took a
neutral position and thought that if they did not war against the truth
they would be doing quite well, but the light they neglected to receive
and cherish went out in darkness. They endeavored to quiet conscience
by saying to the Spirit of God: “Go Thy way for this time; when I
have a convenient season, I will call for Thee.” That convenient season
has never come. They neglected the golden opportunity that has never
again returned to them, for the world has shut out the light that they
refused. The interests of this life and the charm of exciting pleasures
absorb their minds and hearts, while their best Friend, the blessed
Saviour, is rejected and forgotten.
Sister K, although possessing excellent natural qualities, is being
drawn away from God by her unbelieving friends and relatives, who
love not the truth and have no sympathy with the sacrifice and self-
denial that must be made for the truth’s sake. Sister K has not felt
the importance of separation from the world, as the command of God
enjoins. The sight of her eyes and the hearing of her ears have perverted
her heart.
John the Baptist was a man filled with the Holy Ghost from his
birth, and if there was anyone who could remain unaffected by the
corrupting influences of the age in which he lived, it was surely he.
Yet he did not venture to trust his strength; he separated himself from
his friends and relatives, that his natural affections might not prove a
snare to him. He would not place himself unnecessarily in the way
of temptation nor where the luxuries or even the conveniences of life
would lead him to indulge in ease or to gratify his appetite, and thus
lessen his physical and mental strength. By such a course the important
mission upon which he came would have failed of its accomplishment.
[109]
He subjected himself to privation and solitude in the wilderness,
where he could preserve the sacred sense of the majesty of God by
studying His great book of nature and there becoming acquainted
with His character as revealed in His wonderful works. It was an