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Danger of Doublemindedness, August 19
A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
James 1:8
.
There are many who would serve Christ provided they could serve them-
selves also. But this cannot be. The Lord will not accept cowards in His army.
There can be no dissembling. Christ’s followers must stand ready to serve
Him at all times and in every way that may be required. God will accept only
true-hearted, level-headed, all-round men. “He that is not with me is against
me,” Christ declared; “and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad”
(
Matthew 12:30
).
Many have tried neutrality in a crisis, but they have failed in their purpose.
No one can maintain a neutral ground. Those who endeavor to do this will
fulfill Christ’s words, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate
the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the
other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (
chap. 6:24
). Those who begin
their Christian life by being half and half, whatever may be their intentions,
will at last be found enlisted on the enemy’s side.
Double minded men and women are Satan’s best allies. Whatever favor-
able opinion they may have of themselves, they are dissemblers. All who
are loyal to God and the truth must stand firmly for the right because it is
right. To yoke up with those that are unconsecrated and yet be loyal to the
truth, is simply an impossibility. We cannot unite with those who are serving
themselves, who are working on worldly plans, and not lose our connection
with the heavenly Counsellor. We may recover ourselves from the snare of
the enemy, but we are bruised and wounded, and our experience is dwarfed.
“Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever
therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (
James 4:4
).
“He that loveth his life shall lose it” (
John 12:25
). When a man loses the
shield of a good conscience, he knows that he has lost the cooperation of
heavenly angels. God is not working in him. Another spirit inspires him. And
to be an apostate, a traitor to the cause of God, is much more serious than
death; it means the loss of eternal life.—
Manuscript 87, August 19, 1897
,
“All That Will Live Godly in Christ Jesus Shall Suffer Persecution.”
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