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Appeal and Warning
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present evidence of His working is revealed to you, and you are now
under obligation to believe. You cannot neglect God’s messages of
warning, and cannot reject them or treat them lightly, but at the peril
of infinite loss.
Debasing the Soul
Caviling, ridicule, and misrepresentation can be indulged in only
at the expense of the debasement of your own souls. The use of
such weapons does not gain precious victories for you, but rather
cheapens the mind and separates the soul from God. Sacred things
are brought down to the level of the common, and a condition of
things is created that pleases the prince of darkness and grieves away
the Spirit of God. Caviling and criticism leave the soul as devoid
of the dew of grace as the hills of Gilboa were destitute of rain.
Confidence cannot be placed in the judgment of those who indulge
in ridicule and misrepresentation. No weight can be attached to their
advice or resolutions. You must bear the divine credentials before
you make decided movements to shape the working of God’s cause.
To accuse and criticize those whom God is using is to accuse
and criticize the Lord who has sent them. All need to cultivate
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their religious faculties, that they may have a right discernment of
religious things. Some have failed to distinguish between pure gold
and mere glitter, between the substance and the shadow.
The prejudices and opinions that prevailed at Minneapolis [
See
appendix.
] are not dead by any means; the seeds sown there in some
hearts are ready to spring into life and bear a like harvest. The tops
have been cut down, but the roots have never been eradicated, and
they still bear their unholy fruit to poison the judgment, pervert the
perceptions, and blind the understanding of those with whom you
connect, in regard to the message and the messengers. When, by
thorough confession, you destroy the root of bitterness, you will see
light in God’s light. Without this thorough work you will never clear
your souls. You need to study the word of God with a purpose, not
to confirm your own ideas, but to bring them to be trimmed, to be
condemned or approved as they are or are not in harmony with the
word of God. The Bible should be your constant companion. You
should study the testimonies, not to pick out certain sentences to use