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Chapter 5—A Solemn Appeal to Ministers
Call to a Higher Standard
[Special Testimonies, Series A 1:1-15 (1890).]
Petoskey, Michigan,
August 20, 1890
Dear Brethren,
I cannot express to you my burden and distress of mind as the
true condition of the cause has been presented before me. There
are men working in the capacity of teachers of the truth who need
to learn their first lessons in the school of Christ. The converting
power of God must come upon the hearts of the ministers, or they
should seek some other calling. If Christ’s ambassadors realize the
solemnity of presenting the truth to the people, they will be sober,
thoughtful men, workers together with God. If they have a true sense
of the commission which Christ gave to His disciples, they will with
reverence open the word of God and listen for instruction from the
Lord, asking for wisdom from heaven that, as they stand between
the living and the dead, they may realize that they must render an
account to God for the work coming forth from their hands.
A Joking Minister
What can the minister do without Jesus? Verily, nothing. Then
if he is a frivolous, joking man, he is not prepared to perform the
duty laid upon him by the Lord. “Without Me,” says Christ, “ye can
do nothing.” The flippant words that fall from his lips, the trifling
anecdotes, the words spoken to create a laugh, are all condemned by
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the word of God and are entirely out of place in the sacred desk.
I tell you plainly, brethren, unless the ministers are converted,
our churches will be sickly and ready to die. God’s power alone can
change the human heart and imbue it with the love of Christ. God’s
power alone can correct and subdue the passions and sanctify the
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