236
Testimonies for the Church Volume 4
not rule in the church of God. You need to be cultivating all the
Christian graces, but especially charity, which suffereth long and is
kind, envieth not, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, “doth not behave
itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh
no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all
things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” “Put
on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies,
kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing
one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel
against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all
these things put on charity [love], which is the bond of perfectness.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are
called in one body; and be ye thankful.”
You mark little deviations from what you think is right, and you
sternly seek to correct them. While you are thus overbearing and
dictatorial, quick to observe a brother’s faults, you do not closely
search your own heart to see the evils existing in your life. You show
great moral weakness in the indulgence of your appetite and passions.
The slavery of appetite for tobacco has such control over you that
although you resolve and re-resolve to overcome the habit, you do not
accomplish it. This wrong habit has perverted your senses. My brother,
where is your self-denial? Where is your moral power to overcome?
Christ overcame the power of appetite in the wilderness of temptation
on your account, making it possible for you to overcome on your
own account. Now the battle is yours. In the name of the Conqueror
you have an opportunity to deny your appetite and gain a victory for
yourself. You require much of others; what are you willing to do to
[258]
get the victory over a disgusting, health-destroying, soul-polluting
indulgence? The battle is yours. No one can fight it for you. Others
can pray for you, but the work must be wholly your own.
God calls upon you to no longer dally with the tempter, but to
cleanse yourself from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, per-
fecting holiness in His fear. You need to work fast to remove the
defects from your character. You are in God’s workshop. If you will
submit to the process of hewing and squaring and planing, that the
rough edges may be removed, the knots and uneven surface smoothed
and fitted by the planing knife of God, you will be fitted by His grace
for the heavenly building. But if you cling to self, and are not willing