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Pastoral Ministry
undefiled is an active principle. It overreaches the walls of home. It
goes forth in quest of objects that need help. Its light flashes into the
highways and hedges, and it is seen and felt in the larger places of the
earth. The lost sheep are searched for diligently, and wanderers are
brought back to the fold.—
The Review and Herald, March 8, 1887
.
Too many rely on their preacher to support them, when they
should be ministering to others—There is a terrible amount of guilt
for which the church is responsible. Why are not those who have the
light putting forth earnest efforts to give that light to others? They see
that the end is near. They see multitudes daily transgressing God’s
law; and they know that these souls cannot be saved in transgression.
Yet they have more interest in their trades, their farms, their houses,
their merchandise, their dress, their tables, than in the souls of men
and women whom they must meet face to face in the judgment. The
people who claim to obey the truth are asleep. They could not be at
ease as they are if they were awake. The love of the truth is dying out
of their hearts. Their example is not such as to convince the world that
they have truth in advance of every other people upon the earth. At the
very time when they should be strong in God, having a daily, living
experience, they are feeble, hesitating, relying upon the preachers for
support, when they should be ministering to others with mind and soul
and voice and pen and time and money.—
Testimonies for the Church
5:457
.
Members encourage themselves and their ministers by shar-
ing their faith—I entreat you, my brethren and sisters, to be self-
reliant in the strength of Jesus. Do not hang the weight of your per-
plexities and burdens upon your ministers. Christ has invited you to
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come to Him, your burden-bearer. If you pass along in a state of unbe-
lief and lack of consecration to God, you hang your weight upon the
heart of your ministers, and you take just so much time and strength
from them which God requires them to use in giving the message
to those who have not heard it. Brethren, will you not rather work
yourselves in union with the ambassadors of Christ in seeking to win
souls to the truth? When tempted to become unbelieving and discour-
aged, you will find the very best cure for this in talking faith to others,
and in presenting the truth to those who are in darkness. Extend your
efforts to your neighbors, and to those who have not the privileges
of meetings. Sow the seeds of truth beside all waters, and encourage