Testimonies Slighted
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thy portion. Oh, that the cold, formal, worldly heart may be melted!
Christ shed not only tears for us, but His own blood. Will not these
manifestations of His love arouse us to deep humiliation before God?
It is humility and self-abasement that we need, to be approved of God.
The man whom God is leading will be dissatisfied with himself
because the light from the perfect Man shines upon him. But those who
lose sight of the Pattern, and place an undue estimate upon themselves,
will see faults to criticize in others; they will be sharp, suspicious,
condemnatory; they will be tearing others down to build themselves
up.
When the Lord last presented your case before me, and made
known to me that you had not regarded the light which had been given
you, I was bidden to speak to you plainly in His name, for His anger
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was kindled against you. These words were spoken to me: “Your work
is appointed you of God. Many will not hear you, for they refused to
hear the Great Teacher; many will not be corrected, for their ways are
right in their own eyes. Yet bear to them the reproofs and warnings I
shall give you, whether they will hear or forbear.”
I bear you the testimony of the Lord. All will hear His voice who
are willing to be corrected; but those who have been deceived by the
enemy are not willing now to come to the light, lest their deeds shall
be reproved. Many of you cannot discern the work and presence of
God. You know not that it is He. The Lord is still gracious, willing to
pardon all who turn to Him with penitence and faith. Said the Lord:
Many know not at what they stumble. They heed not the voice of God,
but follow the sight of their own eyes and the understanding of their
own hearts. Unbelief and skepticism have taken the place of faith.
They have forsaken Me.
I was shown that fathers and mothers have departed from their
simplicity and neglected the holy calling of the gospel. The Lord
has admonished them not to corrupt themselves by adopting the cus-
toms and maxims of the world. Christ would have given them the
unsearchable riches of His grace freely and abundantly, but they prove
themselves unworthy.
Many are lifting up the soul unto vanity. No sooner does a person
imagine that he possesses any talent which might be of use in the
cause of God than he overestimates the gift and is inclined to think too
highly of himself, as though he were a pillar of the church. The work