Formality, Not Organization, an Evil
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it has no sanctifying power on life and character. They do not realize
how much is at stake; for the salvation of their own souls and that of
others is imperiled. They do not realize that in order to be a savor
of life unto life they must be under spiritual discipline and training,
learning in the school of Christ. Without this spiritual discipline, they
become inefficient, ignorant, and undeveloped, and see no necessity
for the spiritual training and knowledge which would qualify them to
hold positions of influence and usefulness. If they do not consecrate
themselves wholly to God, becoming learners in His school, they will
do haphazard work that will result in injury to the church.
But because of these unconsecrated influences, shall we take back-
ward steps, and tear down those methods which it has cost us much
to build, and declare that organization is all a mistake? We dare not
do this. There are many things that need adjusting; for some things
of little importance are made much of, while other things of vast im-
portance are neglected, and looked upon as unessential. The minds
of men need literary as well as spiritual training that they may be
harmoniously developed; for without literary training, men cannot fill
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acceptably various positions of trust.
The great educating book is the Bible, and yet it is little read or
practiced. O that every individual would seek to make of himself all
that he could, improving his opportunities to the very best of his ability,
purposing to use every power which God has given him, not simply to
advance his temporal affairs, but to advance his spiritual interests. O
that all might search diligently to know what is truth, to study earnestly
that they might have correct language and cultivated voices, that they
might present the truth in all its elevated and ennobling beauty. Let
no one imagine that he will drift into some position of usefulness. If
men would be used to work for God, let them put to the stretch their
powers, and concentrate their minds in earnest application. It is Satan
that would keep men in ignorance and inefficiency, that they may be
developed in a one-sided way which they may never be able to correct.
He would have men exercise one set of faculties to the exclusion of
the exercise of another set, so that the mind will lose its vigor, and
when there is a real necessity, be unable to rise to the emergency. God
wants men to do their best, and while Satan is pulling the mind in one
direction, Jesus is drawing it in another.