“Cheap, earthly, unchristian words may be represented as ‘strange fire,’ and with this God can have nothing to do. The loud, boisterous laugh is a denial of God in the soul, for it reveals that the truth is not ruling in the heart. … By our vain words and unchristian example we dishonor God, and imperil not only our own souls but also the souls of those with whom we associate.” That I May Know Him, 138.
“But strange fire has been offered in the use of harsh words, in self-importance, in self-exaltation, in self-righteousness, in arbitrary authority, in domineering, in oppression, in restricting the liberty of God’s people, binding them about by your plans and rules, which God has not framed, neither have they come into His mind. All these things are strange fire, unacknowledged by God, and are a continual misrepresentation of His character.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 357, 358.
“A failure to study and obey God’s word has brought confusion into the world. Men have left the guardianship of Christ for the guardianship of the great rebel, the prince of darkness. Strange fire has been mingled with the sacred.” Counsels to Parents, Teachers and Students, 440.
“… the spirit of selfishness is strange fire which should not be mingled with God’s sacred service.” The Home Missionary, June 1, 1897.
“We must keep the way of the Lord, and speak and act as standing in His sight, living by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, that no strange fire shall mingle with that which is holy. Light and darkness cannot be mingled and harmonize. Many act partly as children of time, and partly as children of eternity, and this course God abhors. ‘If the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him’ (1 Kings 18:21). If you believe the word of God, submit your ways to its guidance in all things, even though your own inclinations are crossed. Believe the truth heartily. Do not stand as many of you have done, apparently wavering between dependence upon the righteousness of Christ, and dependence upon your own righteousness. Deception has come upon some minds until they have thought that their own merits were of considerable value. Their minds are confused and perplexed where all is clear and plain. The end is near! We have no time to halt between two opinions.” The Review and Herald, May 27, 1890.
“As the searcher for truth advances in his investigation, he sees that inferences and traditions and the suppositions and sayings of men, have baptized Sunday as a Sabbath. The more earnestly and candidly this question is canvassed, the more clearly will men who are judgment-bound see that there is not a particle of Scriptural evidence to sustain Sunday. God never placed his sanctity upon that day. Those who observe it offer God strange fire in place of sacred. …” Ibid., July 13, 1897.
“Your words are not always wise. When you allow your own spirit to have sway, you lose the spirit of God, and then it is that the strange fire is offered.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 13, 313.