Two Ways
25
of thorns. They forget him who, bearing his own cross to Calvary,
fainted beneath its burden, not merely the burden of the wooden cross,
but the heavy burden of the sins of the world were upon him. They
forget the cruel nails driven through his tender hands and feet, and his
expiring, agonizing cries, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me?” And after all this suffering endured for them, they feel a strong
unwillingness to suffer for Christ’s sake.
These individuals, I saw, were deceiving themselves. They have no
part nor lot in the matter. They have got hold of the truth, but the truth
has not got hold of them. When the truth, the solemn, important truth,
[24]
gets hold of them, self will die, and the language will not be, “I shall go
here, and shall not stay there;” but the earnest inquiry will be, “Where
does God want me to be? Where can I best glorify him, and where can
our united labors do the most good?” Their will should be swallowed
up in the will of God. The lack of consecration, and the willfulness
that some of the messengers’ companions possess, will stand in the
way of sinners; and the blood of souls will be upon their garments.
Some of the messengers have borne a strong testimony in regard to the
duty, and the wrongs of the church. It has not had its designed effect;
for their own companions needed all the straight testimony that had
been borne. And the reproof came back upon themselves with great
weight. They let their companions affect them, and drag them down,
and prejudice their minds, and their usefulness and influence is lost,
and they feel desponding and disheartened, and realize not the true
source of the injury. It is close at home.
I saw that these sisters are closely connected with the work of
God if he has called their husbands to preach the present truth. These
servants, if truly called of God, will feel the importance of the truth.
They are standing between the living and the dead, and must watch for
souls as they that must give account. Solemn is their calling. And their
companions can be a great blessing to them, or a great curse. They
can cheer them when desponding, comfort them when cast down, and
encourage them to look up and trust fully in God when their faith fails.
And they can take an opposite course, look upon the dark side, and
think they have a hard time, have no faith in God, and talk their trials
and unbelief to their companions, have a complaining, murmuring
spirit, and be a dead weight, and even a curse, to them.