The Pen of Inspiration – Admonitions and Instruction to Workers

There is great and increasing need that those who minister in word and doctrine should be learners in the school of Christ. The influence of the one who preaches the Word should be an influence that will lead souls to seek eternal life.

In these last days many influences will arise to draw the worker from standing firmly for a “Thus saith the Lord.” Men who themselves have departed from the faith, will seek to draw the workers into controversy, and by this method attempt to present heresies that will lead souls astray. My brethren, do not be enticed by such influences. Engage in no debate. Take no heed to the persuasions and challenges of those who would draw you from your legitimate work. You have no time to voice their sentiments or to repeat their words. Time is golden; truth is precious. We are to carry forward the work of God in the same spirit of simplicity that has marked our efforts for the past fifty years. But while our work is to be done in simplicity and meekness, we are to stand firmly for the principles of the faith.

The Saviour has given the promise of His presence to all who labor in the spirit of true service. “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth,” He says; “go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy, Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:18–20.] As you present the Word to your hearers, claim this promise of Christ’s presence. There is no day, no hour of the day, when He will not be near you by His Holy Spirit. He is in every meeting that is held in His name. His promise is given for as long as time shall last.

Be Careful

Be careful messengers. Do not be anxious to hear and accept new theories; for often they are such as should never be presented before any congregation. Speak no boastful, self-exalting words. Let the Word of God come forth from lips that are sanctified by the truth. Every minister is to preach the truth as it is in Jesus. He should be assured of that which he affirms, and should handle the Word of God under the direction of the Holy Spirit of God. Walk and work carefully before God, my brethren, that no soul may be led into deception by your example. It had been better for you never to have been born, than that you should lead one soul astray.

Those who profess to be servants of God need to make diligent work for the obtaining of that life where sin and sickness and sorrow can not enter. They are to be instant in season and out of season.

God is calling for reformers who will speak strong, uplifting words from our pulpits. It is when men speak their own words in their own strength, instead of preaching the Word of God in the power of the Spirit, that they are hurt and offended when their words are not received with enthusiasm. It is then that they are tempted to speak words that will arouse a spirit of bitterness and opposition in their hearts. My brethren, be advised. Such words are not to come from the lips of Christ’s ambassadors. Sanctified lips will speak words that reform, but do not exasperate. The truth is to be presented in the meekness and love of Christ. . . .

Possess Power

If you will learn of Jesus, you will possess a power that will take hold of hearts. You will speak words that will be a savor of life unto life. Shake off the worldly spirit that would take possession of our people. Pray, O pray; and believe that the fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

If the minister’s lips are touched with a live coal from off the altar, he will lift up Jesus as the sinner’s only hope. When the heart of the speaker is sanctified through the truth, his words will be living realities to himself and others. Those who hear him will know that he has been with God, and has drawn near to Him in effectual, fervent prayer. The Holy Spirit has fallen upon him, his soul has felt the vital, heavenly fire, and he will be able to compare spiritual things with spiritual. Power will be given him to tear down the strongholds of Satan. Hearts will be broken by his presentation of the love of God, and many will inquire, “What must I do to be saved?”

Lessons of Christ

Those who teach the Word need not feel that they must search up some new and intricate subject to present to the churches. The most profitable subjects that can be presented are those that Christ dwelt upon when teaching his disciples, and the multitudes that daily followed Him. His lessons seemed always new and interesting. The common people heard Him gladly.

When our ministers seek to present something that is new and strange to the common people, they are not following the custom of Christ. Sometimes the things they endeavor to present they do not themselves understand, and they lead minds away from the path of truth and righteousness. Self, self! When will self die! and when shall we learn what it means to follow in the footsteps of Jesus!

Let us as ministers and teachers study the sermons of Christ, and by prayerful effort learn to comprehend the very spirit of these discourses. They are to be presented so that the common people can understand them. Let us study over and over again the fourteenth to the seventeenth chapters of John. The last sermons of Christ, and His last prayer for His disciples, contain precious instruction, the treasures of which, study as we may, we can never exhaust.

Work Begins With Leaders

The work to be done in our churches should begin with our leaders. When they humble their souls before God, when they confess their sins and become truly converted, their lives will reveal the transformation within. Selfishness will be emptied from their hearts, self-confidence will die, the disposition to dominate and control will disappear.

Humble Heart

“Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh.” [Jeremiah 17:5, 6, first part.]

This is a representation of the man who does not humble his heart before the Lord, and give up his will to the will of God. This man has lost his discernment, and can not be trusted; and because he has rejected the warnings of God, he has greatly hindered the work of the Lord. He shall “inhabit the parched places of the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.” [Verse 6, last part.] . . . [Read verses 7–18.]

Understanding Needed

We need to understand these Old Testament figures and representations. Let us give them earnest consideration. We are slow to realize that these things foretold by the Lord’s servants have been fulfilled, and are being fulfilled in our present history.

God has provided divine assistance for all the emergencies to which our human resources are unequal. He gives the Holy Spirit to help in every strait, to strengthen our hope and assurance, to illuminate our minds and purify our hearts. He means that sufficient facilities shall be provided for the working out of His plans. My ministering brethren, I bid you seek counsel from God. Seek Him with the whole heart, and “whatsoever He saith unto you, do.” [John 2:5.]

Australasian Union Conference Record, December 30, 1907; January 6, 1908.