Chapter 43—The Church on Earth
God has a church upon the earth who are His chosen people, who
keep His commandments. He is leading, not stray offshoots, not one
here and one there, but a people. The truth is a sanctifying power;
but the church militant is not the church triumphant. There are tares
among the wheat. “Wilt thou then that we ... gather them up?” was the
question of the servant; but the master answered, “Nay; lest while ye
gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.” The gospel
net draws not only good fish, but bad ones as well, and the Lord only
knows who are His.
It is our individual duty to walk humbly with God. We are not to
seek any strange, new message. We are not to think that the chosen
ones of God who are trying to walk in the light compose Babylon
Although there are evils existing in the church, and will be until the
end of the world, the church in these last days is to be the light of the
world that is polluted and demoralized by sin. The church, enfeebled
and defective, needing to be reproved, warned, and counseled, is the
only object upon earth upon which Christ bestows His supreme regard.
The world is a workshop in which, through the cooperation of human
and divine agencies, Jesus is making experiments by His grace and
divine mercy upon human hearts
God has a distinct people, a church on earth, second to none, but
superior to all in their facilities to teach the truth, to vindicate the
law of God. God has divinely appointed agencies—men whom He
is leading, who have borne the heat and burden of the day, who are
cooperating with heavenly instrumentalities to advance the kingdom
of Christ in our world. Let all unite with these chosen agents, and be
found at last among those who have the patience of the saints, who
keep the commandments of God, and have the faith of Jesus
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Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 61
428
Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 49, 50
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Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 58
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