EGW
From the Omaha camp-meeting we went to College View, where the General Conference Committee was in council from September 15 to 25. We were made welcome, and were well cared for at the Nebraska Sanitarium. RH January 19, 1905, par. 1
On Thursday morning I spoke to the students in the college chapel. A goodly number of the College View church-members were present, and I was led to present to them the exhortation given by the apostle to those who know that the day of the Lord is near at hand. Please read 1 Thessalonians 5:1-7. The apostle continues, “Let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breast-plate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another.” RH January 19, 1905, par. 2
This is our work. We are not to watch for defects in those around us. By so doing, we are placing ourselves on the judgment-seat, and are judging. This is not our proper place or work. RH January 19, 1905, par. 3
If we see one in error, we should go to him kindly, and speak to him in regard to the matter, seeking by every possible means to present the truth in contrast with error. There is always a truth with which to meet error. Let this never be forgotten. And believers are to watch for souls as they that must give an account. Not that you are to watch for their haltings and their errors; you are to watch for the prosperity of their souls, that you may know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary. RH January 19, 1905, par. 4
We take upon ourselves a grave responsibility when we unite with the church. The church is God's family, and the members of this family are to be unselfishly interested in one another. They are to pray and work for one another's salvation. RH January 19, 1905, par. 5
This is the work that God expects from us as a people. When you see a church whose members are in arms against one another, complaining and finding fault, you may know that there are duties which they have neglected. You may know that there is something lacking in those who always see something defective in their brethren. You may know that such ones have something to correct in their own characters. RH January 19, 1905, par. 6
If you think that a brother is in the wrong, go right to him. Do not go to some one else, because this will not cure the difficulty. Go to the very one who you think is in error, and ask him if he is standing in a position that will lead others to make missteps. Tell him that he must make straight paths for his feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way. RH January 19, 1905, par. 7
It will not do for any of us to get careless and indifferent in regard to our church-membership. While on this journey that I am now taking, I have felt a most solemn responsibility to try to show our people that God holds them accountable to live lives that will keep the atmosphere of the church pure and fragrant. God is dishonored, and his Spirit is grieved, when this atmosphere is tainted by careless living and by evil-speaking. RH January 19, 1905, par. 8
The haphazard work done in the church by speaking to others of errors and mistakes before speaking to the one at fault has been the greatest cause and manifestation of wickedness and defection in the church. Weakness has come to many because they have not taken up their appointed work. God will not accept your gifts, however precious they may be, unless you make a straight path for your feet by following the directions that Christ has given. RH January 19, 1905, par. 9
“If thou bring thy gift to the altar,” he says, “and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” RH January 19, 1905, par. 10
We read again, “Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.” RH January 19, 1905, par. 11
Tell him his fault “between thee and him alone.” If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. You have not lost him, you have not built up a barrier between him and you. You have gained him. RH January 19, 1905, par. 12
Say to him, If you have anything against me, tell me what it is, that I may take it out of the way. Do not blame him. Do not cast reflections on him, but ask, What have I done? If I have done wrong, I want this to be removed; for I have a gift to offer to the Lord, and he has told me first to be reconciled to my brother. RH January 19, 1905, par. 13
When you have done all in your power to bring about a reconciliation, you have acted your part, and you can then offer your gift, knowing that it will be accepted by God. You will have removed a mountain of difficulty out of the way of your brother. It may be that the difficulty was really only a mole-hill, but it had been made into a mountain. When you remove the mole-hill, the mountain has gone. RH January 19, 1905, par. 14
This is the work resting upon us, and we are not to delay to do it. We can not afford to delay. We have much of this work to do, because we have left much undone. It is because of this neglect that the Lord of heaven is not glorified in our lives. RH January 19, 1905, par. 15
When this work is done, the disunion existing in the church will be cured, and the cause of God will move forward with power. When you see that which you think is wrong, do all in your power to correct it. Find out what it is that separates you from your brother, and plead for the unity that Christ has said should exist in the church. Love as brethren, and do the work appointed you. Then you will know the preciousness of Christ's words, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” RH January 19, 1905, par. 16
As you seek for Christ with all your heart, and in faith, that you may reach a higher standard of righteousness, he may reveal to you a duty undone, a stumbling-block that you must remove in order that your brother may be relieved, and that you may advance in the right way. Your brother may be wrong, and you may be wrong; therefore come together as children of the same family. Work as earnestly to make things right as you will wish you had worked in that day when the judgment shall sit, and the books shall be opened, and every man shall be judged according to the deeds done in the body. RH January 19, 1905, par. 17
It is the neglect of this work that is standing in the way of our churches all through our conferences. When believers stand where Christ has said they should stand, when they clear difficulties out of the way by the very process that he has outlined, they will be greatly blessed. RH January 19, 1905, par. 18
On Sabbath morning I spoke in the church to a large congregation. I read from the first chapters of Revelation the messages given to the apostle John for the churches. RH January 19, 1905, par. 19
John had a message for the people in his day. But they became tired of hearing of Jesus, and of the character which, in order to be saved, they must perfect through him, so they tried to kill the faithful messenger. This plan being thwarted, they banished him to the lonely, rocky island of Patmos. They thought that by separating him from his fellow men, they would silence his testimony, and that he would live out the remainder of his life in mournful solitude. But God was with the lonely exile, and opened to his view the glories of heaven, and the things that “must shortly come to pass.” RH January 19, 1905, par. 20
John bore no uncertain message. “That which was from the beginning,” he says, “which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us); that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” RH January 19, 1905, par. 21
We have, as had John, a message to bear of the things which we have seen and heard. God is not giving us a new message. We are to proclaim the message that in 1843 and 1844 brought us out of the other churches. We need the Holy Spirit to kindle in our hearts the zeal and earnestness that were then seen among God's people. I thank the Lord that there are still living a few who can remember those days, and who know whereof they speak. RH January 19, 1905, par. 22
John continues: “These things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” RH January 19, 1905, par. 23
The Lord does not want us to walk in darkness and perplexity. He desires us to know the truth as it is in Jesus, and wherever we go, to proclaim that truth. By word and deed we are to reveal Jesus to the world. RH January 19, 1905, par. 24
“If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” RH January 19, 1905, par. 25
“These things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby we know that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk even as he walked.” RH January 19, 1905, par. 26
My heart was made glad to hear of the unity and good cheer that prevailed during the council. I had a severe cold, and was not able to attend all the meetings, but my mind was constantly exercised. In the night season scene after scene passed before me. I am so sorry that we are such dwarfs in the work of Christ, when such wonderful incentives are placed before us to encourage us to cultivate our powers to the very highest point of development. We are to grow. Christians are to grow up to the full stature of men and women in Christ. Our words and works are to bear witness to the world of what Christianity can do for human beings. RH January 19, 1905, par. 27
Every church should be a light in the world. If there is in your church a deadness, a stagnation, come together, as the disciples did before the day of Pentecost, and plead with God until you receive the light of life. Then let the light shine forth to those around you. Do not go on from week to week, from year to year, without knowing whether or not you are in the love of God. When Jesus went away, he promised to send the Holy Spirit, and we have a right to claim this promise. God wants us to work in the power of the Spirit. He wants us to be guided and controlled by the living, abiding principles that will keep us firm in the truth. RH January 19, 1905, par. 28
God has not placed us on the judgment-seat, to pronounce sentence against our brethren. There is only one Judge,—the One who died for us, who took upon himself our nature and all the infirmities of humanity, that we might stand on vantage-ground with God. Never are we to dissect the work or the character of another. Each one has enough to do to attend to the work that has been delivered to him. Each one is to bear his burden in the place in which he has been appointed to labor, doing his work with that perfection which will give character and influence to the cause of God. This is what the Lord expects of every conference president. This is what he expects of every worker in every line. Stand at your post of duty. When you act well your part, in your own place, there will come to you a freedom, a light, a power, that will enable you to endure as seeing him who is invisible. RH January 19, 1905, par. 29