- Separating Line -

     I saw that God wanted His people to be separated from the world, for wicked persons were the lawful prey of the enemy and he would work through them in every way to perplex and destroy the saints, and if we were obliged to be in company with the wicked persons we must pray and watch every moment lest we should partake of their spirit, for they corrupted the atmosphere where they were and their very breath was darkness, and that the wicked would wax worse and worse, and we must cut loose from them and be free and free indeed, and God does not want His people to mingle with the wicked more than they are obliged to.

     I saw that many, very many, had been truly converted through the influence of persons who were living in open violation of the commandments of God.

     I saw that God would separate the precious from the vile. There would be truth or something from God to call for a decision, and the corrupt have no disposition to receive that call for a decision, but are separated from the precious by the precious receiving this truth...God will work in mysterious ways to save the true, honest ones.

     I then saw the third angel. Said my accompanying angel, "Fearful is his word, awful is his mission. He is the angel that is to select the wheat from the tares, and seal or bind the wheat for the heavenly garner." These things should engage the whole mind, the whole attention.

     Again I was shown the necessity of those who believe we are having the last message of mercy, being separate from those who are daily receiving or imbibing new error. I saw that neither young or old should attend the assemblies of those who are in error and darkness. Said the angel, "Let the mind cease to dwell on things of no profit."

     The Lord was working [at Minneapolis] and I must be faithful to speak the words given men of God, although I was passing through the most grievous trial of my life, for, from this hour, that confidence which I had hitherto had that God was leading and controlling the minds and hearts of my brethren was not as heretofore. I had felt that when a call came to me, "We want you at our meeting, Sister White; your influence is needed," I should not consult my choice or my feelings, but should arise by faith and try to act my part and leave the Lord to do the work that was essential to be done. Now a greater burden falls upon me. From this time I must look alone to God, for I dare not rely upon the wisdom of my brethren. I see they do not always take God for their Counselor, but look in a large degree to the men they have set before them in the place of God....I stated that I stood nearly alone at Minneapolis. I stood alone before them in the conference [at Battle Creek], for the light that God had seen fit to give me was that they were not moving in the counsel of God....

     I then felt my spirit stirred with me, and I bore a very plain testimony to these brethren. I told them a little of how matters had been carried at Minneapolis and stated the position I had taken, that Phariseeism had been at work leavening the camp here at Battle Creek, and the Seventh-day Adventist churches were affected, but the Lord had given me a message and pen and voice I would work until this leaven was expelled and a new leaven was introduced, which was the grace of Christ.

     I was confirmed in all I had stated in Minneapolis, that a reformation must go through the churches. Reforms must be made, for spiritual weakness and blindness were upon the people who had been blessed with great light and precious opportunities and privileges. As reformers they had come out of the denominational churches, but they now act a part similar to that which the churches acted. We hoped that there would not be the necessity for another coming out.... Many will close their ears to the message God sends them, and open their ears to deception and delusion....

     I labored with pen and voice, doing all in my power to change this order of things....I stated that the course that had been pursued at Minneapolis was cruelty to the Spirit of God; and those who went all through that meeting and left with the same spirit were carrying on the same line of work they did at that meeting and since they had come from it, would--unless they were changed in spirit and confessed their mistakes--go into greater deceptions. They would stumble and know not at what they were stumbling. I begged them to stop just where they were. But the position of Elder Butler and Elder Smith influenced them to make no change, but stand where they did. No confession was made. The blessed meeting closed. Many were strengthened, but doubt and darkness enveloped some closer than before. The dew and showers of grace from heaven which softened many hearts did not wet their souls....

     The first step taken in the path of unbelief and rejection of light is a dangerous thing, and the only way for those who have taken this step to recover themselves from the snares of Satan is to accept that which the Lord sent them, but which they refused to receive. This will be humiliating to the soul, but will be for their salvation. God will not be trifled with. He will not remove all reason to doubt, but he will give sufficient evidence upon which to base faith....

     If my brethren had sensed their own weakness, their own inability, and had never lost sight of this, they would have humbled their hearts before God, confessed their errors, and come into light and freedom....What shall we name this element? It is rebellion as in the days of Israel, when they stubbornly wanted their own way and would not submit to God's way and God's will....

     Those who close their eyes to evidence God is pleased to give--as did the Jews--will be passed by. The evidence they refused to receive, others will receive, and others will receive the blessing God tendered to them but which they refused because they were proud, self-sufficient, and self-righteous....

     Unbelief is the occasion of all sin and is the bond of iniquity. It's work is to make crooked things that are straight....A woe is pronounced upon all such unbelief and criticism, as was revealed in Minneapolis, and as was revealed in Battle Creek. By their fruits ye shall know them....

     We are years behind, and yet men in responsible positions will in their blindness keep the key of knowledge, refusing to enter themselves and hindering those who would enter. The message must be broadcast, that those who have been imperceptibly tampering with popery, not knowing what they were doing, may hear. They are fraternizing with popery by compromises and by concessions which surprise the adherents of the papacy....Standout of the way, brethren. Do not interpose yourselves between God and His work....

     The darkest pages of history will be opened in that great day when it will be too late for wrongs to be righted. Registered in the book are crimes that have been committed because of religious differences. We are not ignorant of the history. Europe was shaken as though with an earthquake, when a church lifted up in pride and vanity, haughty and tyrannical, devoted to condemnation and death all who dared to think for themselves, and who ventured to take the Bible as the foundation of their faith....

     Warnings have been scorned, grace resisted, privileges abused, conviction smothered, and the pride of the human heart strengthened. The result is the same as with the Jews--fatal hardness of heart.

     We were anxious to present, and to leave on every soul, [the truth] that feeling is no criterion of our advancement in spirituality. The Word of God must be studied and practiced, and it will be a solid rock under our feet....

     They [our people] should not place themselves in connection with any man that has pursued the course [of evil] that he has done, whatever may be his calling or apparent success; for in thus doing they make themselves serve with his sins, and the Lord is not pleased with their course of action. The Lord's Spirit has been grieved by the unstable course pursued by some of those who profess to believe the truth. Is on the Lord's side, or on the enemy's side? Is he working in harmony with the heavenly intelligences? Is he a laborer together with God? No! No!

     When our people have so little discernment that they will strengthen the hands of him who lies and continues to do evil, they make themselves accountable for his evil course. God is not with him. In the judgment some things will be seen that men do not now discern; then will they be ashamed with linking up with such influences. [When] anyone has a burden of God in love to his soul to try to recover him from the snare of Satan, then they may do this and God will give them grace that they will not endanger their souls. But when men and women will take the side of those who are working against the truth, the Lord will not keep them.

     Those who walk through the world trampling upon the laws of God and righteousness, and [those who] link up and associate with them, will be partakers with their evil doings. Some will fabricate reasons for welcoming them, as inclination to cover their course of action; but it is not a necessity that God creates. "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be Father to you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" [2 Corinthians 6:17, 18]. There is caution to be exercised. Now we cannot come into willing association and intercourse with the workers of evil unless we catch their spirit. They may appear as an angel of light and deceive the very elect; but none need in this particular to be deceived.

     The words of Paul are appropriate in this case: "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness" [Ephesians 5:11].

     My mind is exercised day and night in regard to our missionary work. I am alarmed because there is so little genuine burden for perishing souls. The church knows her duty well, if she would only contemplate the situation. There is work to be done in home missionary efforts. There is work to be done in far-off lands. Why are there not hundreds giving themselves to the performance of the work, where there is [but] one? The truth of God which they profess to believe should sanctify the soul, stirring every power that God has given them--the deep and living fountains of motives and sympathies, that they will cooperate with the heavenly intelligences. It is the Holy Spirit that accomplishes the work. [Said Jesus], "Without me, ye can do nothing" [John 15:5]. Keep this before every congregation, that it is earnestness, wholeness of purpose, that God will accept.

     But what is the matter, that the church does not arouse and seek with earnest prayer and determined effort to set their people in the church to work? Are elders of these churches carrying any burden? Do they feel any love for the souls of the sheep of God's pasture? Do they humble their hearts before God and by faith lay hold on the grace of Christ and put away their sins, and believe their repentance is accepted of God? Have they piety? Have they devotion to God? Will the elders of the church--the officers of the church--draw nigh to God? Will they now, in probationary time, learn the lessons of Jesus Christ and practice them, until they shall ascend the high places of faith and command a clearer, more spiritual view of the situation?

     There has been an abundance of slipshod work done. The only conclusion the world can come to is that those who profess to believe the end of all things is at hand do not really believe the tremendous truth that Christ is at the door. Do they believe the mission of Christ was to save the lost and perishing, that Christ is the only remedy for sin, and that the world's Redeemer came to the world, all seared and marred with the curse, to lift up fallen man, to reveal to the perishing the love of the Father and bring them to look and live and thereby bring many sons and daughters to glory? But everyone must strive lawfully to win the crown of everlasting life. They must believe the only name "given among men, whereby we must be saved" [Acts 4:12] is Jesus Christ. And this must be no pretentious faith, but that faith that makes Christ a personal Saviour.

     There has been very little deep piety and wholeness to God. When the spirit of Christ takes possession of the heart, then there is a missionary for God. The most grievous sin of idolatry exists in the church. And he who interposes between the professed Christian and his whole-hearted service to God, takes the form of an idol, and the most grievous sin of idolatry is idolatry itself.

     The testimonies of God's word are plain and clear in regard to the snares of the devil. Yet there are not only church members on the devil's ground, but those who are opening the Scriptures to others practice evil and defile the soul and body. They are guilty before God because they are unholy. Were the church living by faith, had the oil of faith been in their vessels with their lamps, their guilty repose would end. They who believe the sacred, elevating truths for this time cannot sleep over them. A burden is upon them to reiterate the words of Christ, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" [Revelation 22:17].

     "Ye are the light of the world" [Matthew 5:14]. Is this addressed exclusively to a few men who have been ordained to the ministry? No! but to every Christian, young or old, rich or poor. If Christ has forgiven them of their sins, if the truth has made them free, have they not a work to do for the Master? If they are Christians, they will present the truth to others. They will not consider that all that they have to do is to serve themselves--to please themselves and glorify themselves. They will have a sense that they are Christ's, bought with a price, and will concentrate their energies to the work of building up a kingdom of God by raising souls that are ready to perish, seeking to save the lost. When believers are rejoicing in God because they see the beauty there is in Jesus, because they see He is Chief among ten thousand, the One Altogether Lovely, do they consider how many know nothing of the saving grace of Christ? Many have not the joy and happiness of anticipating the heaven of bliss awaiting the faithful. While the church is indolent, not doing the work God has given it to do, men are sickening and dying without a ray of saving light, without being pardoned of their sins.

     And what are we as a people doing, to whom Christ has entrusted precious light and a knowledge of the truth? Jesus has made us the depositories of sacred truth, but so many are burying their talents in the earth, and point not out the antidote for sin. If they thus neglect their duty, God will pronounce them slothful servants, and will not, cannot, commend them. They will not receive the benediction, "Well, done, good and faithful servant" [Matthew 25:43].

     Elder Haskell, our testimony must be clear cut--there must be no daubing with untempered mortar. Sins of a grave character are cherished in our borders, and unless there is an awakening such as we have not seen for some time, which will convict and convert professed Sabbath keepers, they will die in their sins. The punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah will be light in comparison with that of those who have had great light and precious opportunities, and have been earthly minded, corrupt in thoughts and practices, and have not purified their souls by obeying the truth.

     Now we see need of workers in the opening fields before us, but where are the men that can be trusted? Where are the men who year by year have been growing into a better knowledge of God and His ways and the moving of His providence? I want to sound in the ears of these sleepy, half-paralyzed souls the words spoken to Nicodemus, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" [John 3:5]. There is need to seek God with all the heart. Elevate the standard. The commonness, the cheapness of conversation, reveal the measure of the spirituality of members of the church.

     Now, those who have had years in this same experience, know not God nor Jesus Christ whom He has sent, and should such go forth as representatives of Jesus Christ? These men will never give the right mold to other minds; they have not grown up to the full stature of men and women in Christ. They simply have the name of Christians but are not fitted for the work of God, and never will be until they are born again, and learn the A.B.C. in true religion of Jesus Christ. There is a little hope in one direction: Take the young men and women, and place them where they will come as little in contact with our churches as possible, that the low grade of piety which is current in this day shall not leaven their ideas of what it means to be a Christian.

     The worshipers of God are in need of transforming grace to subordinate the world to religion. In the place of making the temporal interests first, exhausting soul, body, and spirit to secure temporal advantages, Jesus points us to the heavenly treasure, and tells us to lay not up treasures in this earth, which will perish, but "lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven," which will not perish, "for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" [Matthew 6:20-21].

     Jesus would have all who profess to believe in Him deal in the currency of heaven, handling those things upon which God has stamped His image and superscription. These He presents before us as of infinite value. We see the need of a deep and thorough work in our churches but the Lord alone can by His Spirit make the hearts that are as steel, soft and sympathetic and true to the service of Christ. We are far behind because the churches have folded their hands in a peace and safety attitude, and are at ease in Zion, doing almost nothing.

When the living zeal should be in their hearts, now as before Satan is stirring the powers from beneath to make one last desperate effort to convert the world to his principles. He has his plans laid with Satanic subtlety, and destruction cometh suddenly, while those who have the light, the warnings that such a crisis is before us, are almost unmoved.

     I can but feel deeply over the indifference of those who claim to be the repositories of sacred truth. They seem to be blinded in the way they view sin. They cannot see afar off, and have forgotten they were purged from their old sins. Why? Because they did not advance in the knowledge of the truth. They did not practice the truth; they were not sanctified through the truth. The Pattern was before them but they did not copy the Pattern. So perfect was the example and life of Christ, that not the least jot of inconsistency existed between His instructions and His life. Now, what a marked contrast is seen to exist in the truth we profess to believe as a people, and the life and character!

     Then there is not a vigilant supervision over self. There is not felt a necessity of placing self under control of the Spirit of God, and of shunning as they would a serpent all facilities and temptations to evil. The Holy Spirit alone can be the positive remedial agent. We can put no confidence in humanity. Perfect humanity without Christ does not exist in human society. Watch it, and degeneracy will be revealed. Active agencies are at work to pollute and stain the soul. The cross, the cross of Calvary, presented again and again and plainly dwelt upon in every discourse, will prove the life-healing balm; [it] will reveal the beauty and excellence of virtue.

     Those who quibble over the authenticity of the Scriptures and question the authority of revelation, will not be influenced. Their hearts are not sound. They are not at enmity with Satan. The heart is the treasure house of sin. Not being expelled, sin is hidden until an hour of opportunity, and then it is revealed and springs into action. The first work is with the heart. Truth--the love of Jesus--must supply the vacuum. Said Christ, "Make the tree good, and the fruit will be good" [see Matthew 12:33].

     Elder Haskell, the Lord is waiting to do great things for His people. But they must be pure in heart before they can see God or know Him as a pure and Holy God. Jesus led His disciples into the audience chamber of the Most High; He impressed upon their minds what was to be the burden of their prayer. They were to pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit, which would supply every need of the soul, for it would work by love and purify the soul. The Spirit taking Its abode in the heart, will transform the entire being, conforming it to the likeness of Christ. Let us humble our hearts before God and believe He has pardoned all our transgressions and forgiven all our sins. We cannot honor God unless we do believe this, and make Jesus our personal Saviour. We must as a people rise up from our formality. We must enter the strait gate.

     Satan has placed his active agents along the passage to dispute the way of every soul. Christ has encouraged His followers not be intimidated. Press on; urge your way through. "Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able" [Luke 13:24]. Darling, cherished idols will have to be given up, and the sins that have been indulged, even if it comes as close as the plucking out of the right eye or cutting off the right arm. Agonize! force your way through the very armies of hell that oppose your passage.

     Oh! we must be terribly in earnest to impress upon every soul that there is a heaven to win and a hell to shun. Every energy of the soul must be aroused to force their passage, and seize the kingdom by force. Satan is active, and we must be active too. Satan is untiring and persevering, and we must be the same. There is no time to make excuses and blame others for our backslidings; no time now to flatter the soul [that] if circumstances had only been more favorable, how much better, how much easier [it would be] for us to work the works of God. We must tell even those who profess to believe in Christ, that they must cease to offend God by sinful excuses.

     Jesus has provided for every emergency. If they will walk where He leads the way, He will make rough places plain. He, with His experience will create an atmosphere for the soul. He closes the door and brings the soul into seclusion with God, and the need of the soul is to forget everyone and everything, but God. Satan will talk with him, but speak aloud to God and He will drive back the hellish shadow of Satan. With humble, subdued, thankful hearts they will come forth saying, "Thy gentleness hath made me great" [Psalms 18:35]. The sincere seeker comes forth from the alliance with God, rich in the assurance of His love, to go forth to distill a heavenly prayer wherever he goes. He can talk of the righteousness of Christ; he can talk [of] the love of God with sincerity. He has trusted and he knows the Lord is good.

     Thus, work is to be done in all our churches. Christ--His love, His forgiveness, His purity--is to be the theme upon which we are to dwell.

     The charms of Jesus are to be kept ever before our minds. Charged with the elevated character of the true model every soul must copy, let us turn our eyes from everything that would dishearten or discourage.

     Satan will work to distort everything to our vision, and make a mountain of a mole-hill. Our eyes must be steadfastly fixed upon Jesus. The Lord Jesus is our leader; we must follow where He leads the way. We are not to commence to plan for the second step. We are not to say, "Lord, after I take that step, then what shall I do, for I shall meet with difficulties"? But by faith we must take that one step, come what will, and trust in Jesus.

     Elder Haskell, the reason our ministers are so inefficient is because they go to their work and come form their labors, if they have any success, full of themselves. The disciples of Christ did this when they said, "Even the spirits are subject unto us" [Luke 10:17]. Jesus could discern their danger, and He said, "come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile" [Mark 6:31]. Come out of the din of battle, away from the conflict, and hold communion with God. Thus it is with many workers. They are too strong, too full of self. The Lord cannot lead them or teach them or use them to His glory, for they are wise in their own conceits, and vainly imagine that the Lord cannot do without them. Self must be buried. We must educate the people to seek the Lord. We must speak plain words to ministers who are walking in the sparks of their own kindling.

     Praise of men and flattery makes ministers hungry for more until they think, as did Elder [E.P.] Daniels,--that the praise of man is of more value than the approval of God. We must, if saved, imbibe the Spirit and power of Christ. Self must be hidden in Christ, and Christ alone appear. Our work is to elevate not by praising anyone, but by upholding Jesus. Bring the mind to Jesus; lift Him up, the man of Calvary, before the people and He can do all things for the humble, trusting believer.

     As character develops, men and women will take their positions; for varied circumstances brought to bear upon them will cause them to reveal the spirit which prompts them to action. Everyone will reveal the character of the bundle with which he is binding himself. The wheat is being bound up for the heavenly garner...the true people of God are now pulling apart, and the tares are being bound in bundles to burn. Decided positions will be taken.

     Many are strongly convinced of the truth, but either husband or wife prevents them from stepping out. How can one who is in fellowship with Christ's sufferings refuse to obey His will and do His work?...It is by following in the path of obedience in simple faith that the character attains perfection....

     Shall I refuse light, the evidence of truth which leads to obedience, because my relations and friends choose to follow in the paths of disobedience lead away from God?...We cannot overestimate the value of simple faith and unquestioning obedience.

     Those who hide their light will soon lose all power to shine. They are represented by the foolish virgins, and when the crisis comes and the last call is made, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him," they will find that while they have been mingling with the world, their light has gone out. They did not continue to provide themselves with the oil of grace. The peace and safety cry hushed them to slumber and made them careless in regard to their light....

     Those who are watching and waiting for the appearing of Christ in the clouds of heaven will not be mingling with the world in pleasure societies and gathering merely for their own amusement. As faithful watchmen they will be found proclaiming, "The morning cometh, and also the night."...The time is coming when it will be too late to use the light we may have. Then the decree will go forth: "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give to every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city" [Revelation 22:11-14].

     He [Christ] bids us, Lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the House of Jacob their sins....The time is soon coming when the work of God's judgments will begin at His sanctuary. God Himself is now drawing the separating line. He says, "As for Me also, Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head" [Ezekiel 9:10].

     When man has taken the lines in his own hands to guide and drive, he will be rewarded, for the work of God will reveal terrible mistakes. Reason becomes blinded, even with the greatness of light, unless that agency is under the yoke of Christ. Every day some plan will be devised when Satan thinks he can lend a hand to sow his tares among the wheat. Vice is not to be commingled with virtue, and the cry may have to go forth in no measured tones, even now while missionary work is being done, "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you" [2 Corinthians 6:17]. God is now working for His people, but how many do not recognize the work of God from strange work.

     The powers from beneath are stirred with deep intensity. War and bloodshed are the result. The moral atmosphere is poisoned with cruelty and horrible satanic doings. The spirit of strife is spreading. It abounds in every place. Many souls are being taken possession of by the spirit of fraud, of underhanded dealing. Many will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. They do not discern what spirit has taken possession of them....

     What stronger delusion can beguile the mind than the pretense that you are building on the right foundation, and that God accepts your work, when in reality you are working out many things on a worldly policy, and, regardless of the Bible standard, are sinning against the law of Jehovah, which guards the interests of every being for whom Christ has given His life? Oh, it is a great deception, a fascinating delusion, that takes possession of minds, when men who have once known the truth, mistake the form of godliness for the spirit and power thereof; when they suppose that they are rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, whereas they are poor and in need of everything.

     God has not changed toward His faithful servants who are keeping their garments spotless. But many are crying, "Peace and safety," while sudden destruction is coming upon them. Unless there is a thorough repentance, unless men humble their hearts by confession, and receive the truth as it is in Jesus, they will never enter heaven. When purification shall take place in our ranks, we shall no longer rest at ease and boast of being rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing.

     Those who stand obstinate, unconvinced by the warnings that God sends, will be bound up in bundles ready to burn....Peter and James and John left their nets to follow Christ. And today, men and women will leave their vocations to proclaim the message of the gospel. Multitudes are to be gathered into the fold. Many who have known the truth have corrupted their way before God and departed from the faith. The broken ranks will be filled up by those represented by Christ as coming in at the eleventh hour. There are many with whom the Spirit of God is striving. The time of God's destructive judgments is the time of mercy for those who have no opportunity to learn what is truth. Tenderly will the Lord look upon them. His heart of mercy is touched; His hand is still stretched out to save, while the door is closed to those who would not enter. Large numbers will be admitted who in these last days hear the truth for the first time.

     There are dangers before us that we are to avoid. Christ has laid down for His church great principles that are to be made known to the world in good works. His instruction on this point is given with authority. The principles to be maintained are valid for all time, shedding from age to age a clear, definite, steady light to be regarded by every tempest-tossed church that shall exist in our world. These principles are not to be confused with worldly-policy plans, but are to stand free from any binding about of God's people....

     The Lord has presented before me the dangers that are threatening His people who have the sacred work of proclaiming the third angel's message with clearness and distinctness. God's people must beware lest they be ensnared by unsanctified propositions....The truth is not to be blanketed. The message for these last days is to be given in no indistinct utterance....

     The churches, represented by Babylon, are represented as having fallen from their spiritual state to become a persecuting power against those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. To John this persecuting power is represented as having horns like a lamb, but as speaking like a dragon.

     Revelation 13:11-17 quoted.

     By a variety of images the Lord Jesus represented to John the wicked character and seductive influence of those who have been distinguished for their persecution of God's people. All need wisdom carefully to search out the mystery of iniquity that figures so largely in the winding up of this earth's history....More and more will all false religionists of the world manifest their evil doings; for there are but two parties--those who keep the commandments of God and those who war against God's holy law.

     One of the marked characteristics of these false religious powers is that while they profess to have the character and features of a lamb, while they profess to be allied to heaven, they reveal by their actions that they have the heart of a dragon, that they are instigated by and united with Satanic power, the same power that created war in heaven when Satan sought the supremacy and was expelled from heaven....

     Satan is seeking to intrude his own inventions upon the children of God through human methods. He is seeking to be received as God, or even to be placed above God....Through human policy he leads men to regard the expressed commandments of God as of less force than human tradition, and to regard a deviation from that law which is always holy and just and good, as of little account. He sees that by thus preventing human agencies from walking as obedient children in harmony with God, he can hinder the accomplishment of God's work in our world....

     I am instructed to say that the men who are placed in positions of responsibility in the work of God have overestimated their right to control others....The influence of man's having his own way in the place of firmly standing on the solid foundation that God alone has laid, has been repeated over and over again. Refusing to walk in the straight paths that God has signified will bring them to confusion and will not teach wisdom to others who have the same test and trial. When will man learn that God is God, and not a man that He should change?...

     There is no middle path to Paradise restored. The message given to man for these last days is not to become amalgamated with human devising. We are not to lean upon the policy of worldly lawyers. We must be humble men of prayer, not acting like those who are blinded by Satan's agencies....

     The greatest light and blessing that God has bestowed is not a security against transgression and apostasy in these last days. Those whom God has exalted to high positions of truth may turn from heaven's light to human wisdom. Their light will then become darkness, their God-entrusted capabilities a snare, their character an offense to God. God will not be mocked. A departure from Him has been and always will be followed by its sure results. The commission of acts that displease God will, unless decidedly repented of and forsaken, instead of seeking to justify them, lead the evildoer on step by step in deception till many sins are committed with impunity. All who would possess a character that would make them laborers together with God and receive the commendation of God, must separate themselves from the enemies of God, and maintain the truth which Christ gave to John to give to the world....

     Those who claim to be disciples of Christ often express hardness of heart and blindness of mind, because they do not choose and practice God's way instead of their own. Selfish motives come in and take possession of mind and character, and in their self-confidence they suppose their own way to be full of wisdom. They are not particular to follow the ways and words of God. Circumstances, they say, alter cases. Worldly policy comes in and they are tempted and drawn away. They move according to their own unsanctified desires, making crooked paths for their own feet and for the feet of others to tread in. The lame and weak suppose them to be led by God, and therefore think that their judgment must be right. Thus many follow in false paths that are not cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in.

     There may be a necessity of doing the very work that the Lord has in the past inspired His messengers to do, in order to save the largest number of souls from the satanic influences that would lead them astray. The world's opinion will oppose the very work that must be done in order that the safety of the flock of God shall not be imperiled.

     There is to be a turning and an overturning, but our work is not to stop. We are to instruct and enlighten those who have not heard the truth for this time....At this crisis all are called upon to take their position. We must stand apart from those who are determined to make shipwreck of the faith. We must not sell our Lord at any price. We are to refuse to listen to the sophistries that have been brought in to make of no effect the truth for this time. Not a stone is to be moved in the foundation of this truth--not a pillar moved.

     I am weary of trying to withstand the attempts that are being made to do violence to the truth that should be proclaimed at this time. If my words are taken by some to sustain error, I shall not be led into controversy, but I shall continue to set before the people the truth as God designs them to understand it. I shall endeavor to make my words so plain that they cannot be misinterpreted. The truth of God will be vindicated, and effect the purpose that God designed it should. The mind can only be freed from error when every thread is cut that binds it to the fallacy of the enemy.

     A great reformation is needed among the people of God. Many sapless and unfruitful branches are to be removed from the parent vine. Everything will be shaken that can be shaken, that which cannot be shaken may remain.

     The enemy has worked upon the minds of some, and has led them to do violence to our past experience by mingling with the truth erroneous and false theories. He has led ministers and teachers to weave into their doctrines some pleasing figures of His own invention. Every deviation from the truth as we have advocated it in the past is a departure from truth that has been witnessed by the Holy Spirit, and upon which God has placed His seal.

     Truth must stand in its own order, linked only with truth. Unbelief disturbs the balance of the system of truth, and tends to destroy the whole. The mind that cherishes sentiments that tend to destroy the foundation of the faith that has made us what we are becomes confused, and cannot discern between truth and error.

     The truths that have been substantiated by the manifest working of God are to stand fast. Let no one presume to move a pin or a foundation stone from the structure. Those who attempt to undermine the pillars of our faith are among those of whom the Bible says that "in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils" [1 Timothy 4:1]....These following in a path of error lose from the heart the genuine peace of Christ, and become like a troubled sea, dashing up mire and dirt.

     The same deceptive agency that seduced the angels in heaven is working in like manner upon human minds today. By means of his seducing statements he won the confidence of many of the angels, and there was a great war in heaven. Michael and His angels fought against Satan and his deceived followers....

     Some who have received warning and instruction from God have deliberately turned from the messages sent them. They have, as it were, walked blindfolded into Satan's prepared snares. Satan is playing the game of life for their souls. And some who might be in a position to help these ensnared souls have themselves become ensnared as captives to the archdeceiver....

     I am instructed to say that we must do all we possibly can for these deceived ones. Their minds must be freed from the delusions of the enemy, and if we fail in our efforts to save these erring ones, we must "come out from among them" and be separate....For years the backward tendencies of many have greatly hindered the work of God.

     Now, just now, the Lord's people are to show their loyalty. The time has come when the Lord would have all who will honor Him take their stand firmly on the side of truth and righteousness. No longer are we to be a mixed multitude.

     We see the need of earnest, devoted men to take up the work that must be carried forward in the future....We are not to regard any human being as one to be believed and trusted, unless it is evident that he is established in the truth of the word of God. Some who have been leaders in the work of God are seeking to make of none effect the work that God has placed in the world to educate His people, and to prepare them to stand the test of the miracle-working powers that would make void the precious facts of faith that have for the last sixty years been given under the power of the Holy Spirit....

     Christ pronounces a woe upon all who transgress the law of God. He pronounced a woe upon the lawyers in His day because they exercised their power to afflict those who looked to them for justice and judgment. All the terrible consequences of sin will come to those who, even though they may be nominal church members, regard it as a light matter to set aside the law of Jehovah, and to make no distinction between good and evil.

     In the representations the Lord has given me, I have seen those who follow their own desires, misrepresenting the truth, oppressing their brethren, and placing difficulties before them. Characters are now being developed, and men are taking sides, some on the side of the Lord Jesus Christ, some on the side of Satan and his angels. The Lord calls for all who will be true and obedient to His law to come out of and away from all connection with those who have placed themselves on the side of the enemy.

     The Lord has instructed me to say to our churches: There is no safety in placing confidence in human wisdom or strength. "Whom shall He teach knowledge? and whom shall He make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people. To whom He said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

     "Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place" [Isaiah 28:9-17].

     "Who among us," He asks, "shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. Thine eyes shall see the king in His beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off" [Isaiah 33:14-17].

     The government of the kingdom of Christ is like no earthly government. It is a representation of the characters of those who compose the kingdom. "Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God," Christ asked, "or with what comparison shall we compare it?" [Mark 4:30]. He could find nothing on earth that would serve as a perfect comparison. His court is one where holy love presides and whose offices and appointments are graced by the exercise of charity. He charges His servants to bring pity and lovingkindness, His own attributes, into all their office work, to find their happiness and satisfaction in reflecting the love and tender compassion of the divine nature on all with whom they associate.

     The prophet continues: "Look unto Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams; wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; He will save us. Thy tacklings are loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey..." [Isaiah 33:20-24].