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they should dwell, go to the discourses of the great Teacher, and follow
His lines of thought. The subjects that Jesus regarded as essential are
the subjects that we are to urge home today. We are to encourage our
hearers to dwell upon those subjects which are of eternal moment.
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When at one time a brother came to me with the message that the
world is flat, I was instructed to present the commission that Christ
gave His disciples, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations: ...and, lo, I
am with you alway, even unto the end.” [
Matthew 28:19, 20
.] In regard
to such subjects as the flat-world theory, God says to every soul, “What
is that to thee? follow thou Me. I have given you your commission.
Dwell upon the great testing truths for this time, not upon matters that
have no bearing upon our work.”
Workers for God should not spend time speculating as to what
conditions will prevail in the new earth. It is presumption to indulge
in suppositions and theories regarding matters that the Lord has not
revealed. He has made every provision for our happiness in the future
life, and we are not to speculate regarding His plans for us. Neither
are we to measure the conditions of the future life by the conditions of
this life.
To my ministering brethren I would say, Preach the word. Do not
bring to the foundation wood, hay, and stubble,—your own surmisings
and speculations, which can benefit no one. Subjects of vital impor-
tance are revealed in the word of God, and these are worthy of our
deepest thought. But we are not to search into matters on which God
has been silent.
When questions arise upon which we are uncertain, let us ask,
What saith the Scripture? And if the Scripture is silent upon the
question at issue, let it not be made the subject of discussion. Let those
who wish for something new, seek for that newness of life resulting
from the new birth. Let them purify their souls by obeying the truth,
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and act in harmony with the instruction that Christ has given.
The only question asked in the judgment will be, “Have they been
obedient to My commandments?” Petty strife and contention over
questions of no importance has no part in God’s great plan. Those
who teach the truth should be men of solid minds, who will not lead
their hearers into a field of thistles, as it were, and leave them there.
The sacrifice of Christ as an atonement for sin is the great truth
around which all other truths cluster. In order to be rightly understood