Editorial – When God is Displeased With the Church Part II

Wherever the will of God is violated by nations or by individuals a day of retribution comes. Many set aside the wisdom of God and prefer the wisdom of man and adopt some human invention or device. . . . Turning from inspired men and those who spread the Word before them praying God to shed light upon it, many make lies their refuge.

“We have more than a royal path to heaven—we have a divine road. We are to stand before the great white throne, and hear the decisions of the infallible Judge of the quick and of the dead. Some act as if they were at liberty to cancel the decisions of the Judge, to review them, and take the warnings given of God, cut them up, choose one part and reject another, endorse or reverse at pleasure. In this way the messages of God are made void and made to bend to men’s likings, ideas, and judgments.

“Those who have the oil of grace in their vessels with their lamps will not be found on the side with those who pronounce judgment upon the works of God and His messages of reproof and warning. We must bring our religion to the Bible standard. We must not place ourselves where we claim wisdom to welcome or reject God’s words at pleasure. Never let the world think that the Christian and the world are the same in mind and judgment. There is a line drawn between the eternal God and the church on one side and the world on the other. There is no unity between the two. One chooses the way of the Lord, the other the ways of Satan.

“There will always be found a necessity to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. With the spirit of Christ, the model character, before us, we must ever strive for perfection. Every soul has a character to form for everlasting life. The Christian’s life is a constant warfare against the slavery of passion.

“Men of the world hate the Bible, because it will not let them sin just as they please and carry along with them their hereditary and cultivated traits of character. They want their own ideas to be cherished as the mind of God. . . .

“In the same way will those who claim to believe the truth war against the testimonies in collision with their ways, their opinions, and when reproved, they will hate them with an intense hatred, will, like Canright, laugh at them and misconstrue them and pour all the contempt upon them that is possible. We must, if we are true and genuine Christians, be diligent soldiers for Christ and listen attentively to all the warnings given us. The works of sin and all uncleanness must be forever removed, and we must put on the armor of Christ’s righteousness, which is proof against all temptations. . . .

“I now beg of you for Christ’s sake to make a decided change. Be true to your faith, true to your God.—Letter 16, 1888.” [Excerpts from the last part of a letter written to an administrator who had committed adultery and had refused to confess his sin and make things right.] Manuscript Releases, vol. 21, 169, 170.