Church Duties
551
church guard every word and action lest they hurt the oil and the
wine! How patiently, kindly, and affectionately should they deal with
the purchase of the blood of Christ! How faithfully and earnestly
should they labor to lift up the desponding and the discouraged! How
tenderly should they treat those who are trying to obey the truth and
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have no encouragement at home, who have constantly to breathe the
atmosphere of unbelief and darkness!
Treatment of the Erring
If a brother is supposed to have erred, his brethren and sisters
should not whisper it among themselves and comment upon it, magni-
fying these supposed errors and faults. Much of this work is done, and
the result is that the displeasure of God rests upon those who do it, and
Satan exults that he can weaken and annoy those who might be strong
in the Lord. The world sees their weakness and judges this class and
the truth they profess to love, by the fruits manifested in them.
“Lord, who shall abide in Thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in Thy
holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and
speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue,
nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his
neighbor. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoreth
them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth
not. He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward
against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.”
Here the backbiter is excluded from abiding in the tabernacle of God
and dwelling in the holy hill of Zion. He that taketh up a reproach
against his neighbor cannot receive the approval of God.
How many ministers, while engaged in a good work in which souls
are turning to God and to the truth, are called away to settle some
church trial among brethren who were wholly wrong themselves and
who had a contentious and overbearing spirit?
This work of withdrawing men from their fields of labor has been
repeated again and again in the progress of this cause. It is a device
of the great adversary of man to hinder the work of God. When souls
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that are upon the point of deciding in favor of the truth are thus left
to unfavorable influences, they lose their interest, and it is very rarely
that so powerful an impression can again be made upon them. Satan is