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Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce
from the Lord. I did not then open them to you, as I have done now,
with my pen. And I do not wish to have this opened to others, for I do
hope that you will see and sense the evil and confess your sin to God
and to your brethren and make clean work, that you may have this foul
blot removed from you by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. You
have not confessed your wrongs. You have done great wickedness;
you have committed adultery, broken the seventh commandment.
[153]
I have carried this heavy load upon my soul all this time. When
we had the meetings in _____, you knew just what you ought to
confess. You knew the warnings were sent of God; you knew the
communications I sent to you from Europe were truth. And when
I carried the burdens until my soul seemed crushed, you obtained
[the] sympathy of your friends by leaving the impression upon their
minds that I was not just, but partial, and very severe; that you were
suffering under accusations which were very difficult to bear; that the
testimonies I had given were my own judgment, my own words; that I
had wronged you; and that false reports had been brought to me. But
my brother, nothing could be more deceptive than this....
Doubts Upon Satan’s Hooks—I showed you that your position
as a minister of the gospel would make any such course as you had
pursued a reproach to the cause of God, a matter of scandal, and your
actions a savor of death rather than of life. When the standard-bearer
falls, who will fight? When the cross is torn down by the ones who
should point it out, whom will you believe? What can be more dreadful
than a minister of Jesus Christ a commandment breaker? I see only
one way for your escape—break with the temptations of Satan at once,
and rush for the light! Even ministers who claim to believe the truth
are only blind guides if the truth is not enthroned in the heart, and a
thorough transition from darkness to light has [not] taken place. They
are clouds without water. I urge upon you, if you care for your own
eternal welfare, the positive necessity of having the truth enthroned in
your heart, for then its principles will sanctify your character....
You have talked over matters as you viewed them, that the com-
munications from Sister White are not all from the Lord, but a portion
is her own mind, her own judgment, which is no better than anybody
[154]
else’s judgment and ideas. This is one of Satan’s hooks to hang your
doubts upon to deceive your soul and the souls of others who will dare
to draw the line in this matter and say, This portion which pleases me is