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Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers
light has come to those at the center of the work, they have not
known how to treat it. The testimonies God has given His people
are in harmony with His word.
When Christ spoke these words, He was standing in the shadow
of the shameful cross, the symbol of the guilt which made the sac-
rifice of Christ necessary in order to save the world from complete
ruin. Christ looked forward to the time when the Holy Spirit, as His
representative, should come to do a wonderful work in and through
His merits; and He felt privileged to communicate His relief to His
disciples....
Those who have not a living connection with God have not an
appreciation of the Holy Spirit’s manifestation, and do not distin-
guish between the sacred and the common. They do not obey God’s
voice, because, as the Jewish nation, they know not the time of their
visitation. There is no help for man, woman, or child who will not
hear and obey the voice of duty, for the voice of duty is the voice of
God. The eyes, the ears, and the heart will become unimpressible
if men and women refuse to give heed to the divine counsel, and
choose the way that is best pleasing to themselves.
Oh, how much better it would be if all who do this were con-
nected with some other work than the sacred institutions appointed
by God as His great centers! They are supposed to be under the
guidance of the Holy Spirit; but this is a mistake. They do not do the
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work of God faithfully; they do not give evidence that they realize
its sacred character. Their influence misleads others, causing them
to regard lightly God’s instrumentalities ordained for the saving of
souls, and leading them to think that they may bring in their own
ideas and common thoughts and plans. Thus a low, cheap level is
reached, and God is greatly dishonored.
God would have all who have such an experience ingrained in
their religious life choose occupation elsewhere, in laborious, nar-
row spheres, where eternal interests will not be cheapened by their
unconsecrated lives, where there is less room to encounter tempta-
tion. Strenuous, flesh-wearing toil may counteract and subdue their
evil propensities, and others will not be leavened by their harmful
tendencies and traits of character.