Testimonies Slighted
73
The church cannot measure herself by the world nor by the opinion
of men nor by what she once was. Her faith and her position in the
world as they now are must be compared with what they would have
been if her course had been continually onward and upward. The
church will be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary. If her moral
character and spiritual state do not correspond with the benefits and
blessings God has conferred upon her, she will be found wanting. The
[84]
light has been shining clear and definite upon her pathway, and the
light of 1882 calls her to an account. If her talents are unimproved, if
her fruit is not perfect before God, if her light has become darkness,
she is indeed found wanting. The knowledge of our state as God views
it, seems to be hidden from us. We see, but perceive not; we hear,
but do not understand; and we rest as unconcerned as if the pillar of
cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, rested upon our sanctuary.
We profess to know God, and to believe the truth, but in works deny
Him. Our deeds are directly adverse to the principles of truth and
righteousness, by which we profess to be governed.
* * * * *