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Testimonies for the Church Volume 5
The cross of Christ has been presented to Brother P; but he has
turned away from it, for it involves shame and reproach rather than
the honor and praise of the world. Again and again Jesus has called:
Take up the cross and follow Me, so shall ye be My disciple. But
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other voices have been calling in the direction of worldly pride and
ambition; and he has listened to these voices because their spirit is
more pleasing to the natural heart. He has turned from Jesus, divorced
himself from God, and embraced the world. He was called to represent
Christ, and to be a bright light in the world; but he has betrayed his
sacred trust. The world interposes between his soul and Jesus, and he
has had a worldly experience when he should have been gaining one
of an entirely opposite character. He has been decidedly worldly in his
tastes and opinions, and consequently has been unable to comprehend
spiritual things.
Brother P’s success in the ministry, and also in his position of
trust in the office, depended upon the character he should maintain.
Painstaking, persevering effort was needed that in going out and com-
ing in before his fellow laborers no wrong example should be set.
The plan he should have adopted, the course of action he should have
pursued, is plainly marked out in the word of God. Had he taken
heed to that word, it would have been a light to his path, guiding
his inexperienced feet into a safe way. Testimonies of the Spirit of
God have been sent to him again and again, showing him where he
was diverging from the highway cast up for the ransomed of the Lord
to walk in and warning and entreating him to change his course of
action. But his own ways have seemed right in his eyes; and he has
followed inclination, not heeding the light given him. He was not a
safe counselor. He was not a safe man in the office; neither was he a
safe shepherd, for he would lead the sheep astray. He has preached
excellent discourses; but out of the desk he has not carried out the
principles he has preached. This kind of work is an offense to God.
Brother P’s union with the world has proved a snare to himself
and to others. Oh, how many stumble over such lives as his. They
get the impression that when they take the first steps in conversion,—
repentance, faith, and baptism,—this is all that is required of them.
But this is a fatal error. The arduous struggle for conquest over self,
for holiness and heaven, is a lifelong struggle. There is no release
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in this war; the effort must be continuous and persevering. Christian