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Testimonies for the Church Volume 5
My heart is stirred to the very depths. Words are inadequate to
express my feelings as I plead for perishing souls. Must I plead in
vain? As Christ’s ambassador I would arouse you to labor as you never
labored before. Your duty cannot be shifted upon another. No one but
yourself can do your work. If you withhold your light, someone must
be left in darkness through your neglect.
Eternity stretches before us. The curtain is about to be lifted. We
who occupy this solemn, responsible position, what are we doing,
what are we thinking about, that we cling to our selfish love of ease,
while souls are perishing around us? Have our hearts become utterly
callous? Cannot we feel or understand that we have a work to do for
the salvation of others? Brethren, are you of the class who having
eyes see not, and having ears hear not? Is it in vain that God has
given you a knowledge of His will? Is it in vain that He has sent you
warning after warning? Do you believe the declarations of eternal
truth concerning what is about to come upon the earth, do you believe
that God’s judgments are hanging over the people, and can you still sit
at ease, indolent, careless, pleasure loving?
It is no time now for God’s people to be fixing their affections
or laying up their treasure in the world. The time is not far distant,
when, like the early disciples, we shall be forced to seek a refuge
in desolate and solitary places. As the siege of Jerusalem by the
Roman armies was the signal for flight to the Judean Christians, so the
assumption of power on the part of our nation in the decree enforcing
the papal sabbath will be a warning to us. It will then be time to leave
the large cities, preparatory to leaving the smaller ones for retired
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homes in secluded places among the mountains. And now, instead of
seeking expensive dwellings here, we should be preparing to move to
a better country, even a heavenly. Instead of spending our means in
self-gratification, we should be studying to economize. Every talent
lent of God should be used to His glory in giving the warning to the
world. God has a work for His colaborers to do in the cities. Our
missions must be sustained; new missions must be opened. To carry
forward this work successfully will require no small outlay. Houses of
worship are needed, where the people may be invited to hear the truths
for this time. For this very purpose, God has entrusted a capital to His
stewards. Let not your property be tied up in worldly enterprises, so
that this work shall be hindered. Get your means where you can handle