Remarks of Mrs. E. G. White, February 6,
1890
Jesus has some very precious words I want
to read to you: "Neither pray I for these alone (that is,
the disciples immediately around him), but for them also which
shall believe on me through their word" [John 17:20]. That is us. That
means us brethren. "That they all may be one; as thou, Father,
art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that
the world may believe that thou hast sent me" [verse 21].
The unity and the harmony.
Now, I have thought of a good many that
ought to be here that are not here. Where are Leon Smith, and
Brother Ballenger, and Brother Smith? Can't they spend an hour?
Will they draw off for fear that they shall be won? Why not gather
these men in here? And if they do not know what they are
opposing at all, they will not understand. No, brethren, where
is your burden? Is it that you should get those that do not understand
these things, and are all the time firing in the dark against
them? We know they will not come to hear, and where the
Lord can impress their hearts and their minds. Can't you see,
that is not the way for man to work?
Now, brethren, let us look at these matters
in the right light. If we have precious things, we want they
should have it, we want they should understand where the Spirit
of God is; but if they keep on the outskirts of the camp all
the time, they do not know the impressions that the Lord is making
upon His people. We want them to come right in with us, that
we may [have] a unity in faith
and in purpose, and we may understand where the Spirit of God
is working. And there are a great many others that ought to be
here.
Now, here is the word: "That the world
may believe that thou hast sent me, And the glory which thou
gavest me I have given them" [verse 21]. That is what we
are waiting for here; we want some of that glory; and it is our
privilege to have it. There is darkness enough in the world,
and we want the light of the glory of God to lighten our pathway
and to lighten the pathway of others. We want some of that glory,
that you may go forth to your labors with that glory shining
upon our countenances, expressed in your words and in your testimonies,
that it will make an impression on minds wherever you go.
"And the glory which thou gavest me
I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one."
Who is it that is burdened that they may get into unity? Who
are they? Where are they? God help us that we may understand
what spirit actuates and moves us. "I in them, and thou
in me, that they may be made perfect in one" [verse 23].
Now their profit is not in seeing just how far they can keep
off, and keep another mind, and their own ideas, and cherish
their own ideas, and water their own ideas. No, it is that they
may be made perfect in one; and they want to be made in one,
and they are trying to be one, and they are trying to get where
they may be in unity.
"That the world may know that thou
hast sent me." Those are the credentials they bear to the
world. "And hast loved"--now, mark this. O, it
is such a power with me. It has such a power
for my heart; it melts and dissolves my very being as I read
this. "And hast loved them, as thou hast loved me."
Why, brethren, can we comprehend this? Can we take hold of it?
Can we measure it?
"Hast loved them, as thou hast loved
me." Why, that ought to bring every soul of us in gladness
and joy and thankfulness and gratitude the whole time to God,
that the preparation has been made that this shall be done; that
God loves us as His Son. Why? Because we are united in Christ
as He is united with the Father.
There is a oneness with those that are
partakers of the Spirit of Christ. You may bring the horse to
the water, but you never can make him drink; he has got to drink
for himself. Just so it is with us; we may have a house around
us, and the words of life may be presented in all their beauty
and in all their clearness, and it is like the bright shining
of the candle; but unless they will kindle their tapers from
it, unless they are willing to get some light, they won't have
any, no, indeed. Now, that is the most precious to me.
And He says, "Father, I will that
they also [that thou lovest], whom thou hast given me, be with
me where I am." Why, in His kingdom they will be right around
Him, right about Him. Oh, what a thought! It makes me willing--even
if I die at my post--it makes me willing to make an entire sacrifice
for the truth's sake. Oh, if I can be with Him where He is! He
is my love, my crown of rejoicing; He is my hope and comfort.
Now what? "That they may behold my
glory." We have felt Him in the humiliation; we have felt
Him in the sacrifice; we have felt Him in the trials; we have
felt Him in the test; now that we may behold Him; that we may
see Him as He is; that we may behold His glory; and if we behold
Him we will be a partaker with Him of His glory.
"And the glory which thou gavest me
I have given them. . . . For thou lovedst me before the foundation
of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee"
[verses 24, 25]. Oh, how little we know "Thee," and
we profess to be His followers. He says, "The world hath
not known thee." God forbid that it should be of those that
carry the truth to those who are in darkness that Christ will
say, "They do not know Thee." How few know my Saviour!
"But I have known thee, and these
have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them
thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast
loved me may be in them, and I in them" [verses 25, 26].
That is His word. We have been reading it for more than the last
year more distinctly. "I have declared unto them thy name"--Thy
name, its goodness, its mercy, its love, its compassion, that
you may gather up your forces and think, and that you may plant
yourselves upon the rock Christ Jesus and believe Him. "I
have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it."
That is what He came here for.
"That the love wherewith thou hast
loved me may be in them, and I in them." I am so glad, brethren,
I am so glad that we have the privilege. But our minds have become
separated from God; and the enemy meant it should
be so. He cast his hellish shadow right between
us and our hope, and our strength, and our comfort, that we should
not see Him; that he might eclipse Jesus, that we should [not]
discern Him and what He was to us, and what He would do for us,
and what He would be to us--that he should cast this dark and
gloomy shadow between us and our Saviour.
Now, we have been getting just a glimmering
of faith. We have but a little of it. Yet it is so very hard
for the mind that has been looking on the dark shadows, and that
has been hanging memory's hall all through with disconsolate
things and pictures that are draped in mourning, that it seems
as though we cannot look upon anything else. But may God help
to gather up the jewels of Christ. God help us that we may hang
memory's hall all through with the rich promises of God, that
when Satan shall come to cast his hellish shadow between us and
the source of our strength we may just be armed; we have got
the memorials all surrounding us--barricaded with the promises--and
we can say, "Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither
shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail,
and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off
from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet
I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation"
[Hab. 3:17,18].
And when sometimes it seems that the Word
is made so hard because unbelief is planted in the hearts where
faith ought to be flourishing, I repeat that text over and over
and over again, and I bring myself in position where the light
and the brightness of the Sun of righteousness I can perceive.
I will not look at the darkness.
Brethren and sisters, I beg of you for
Christ's sake, to lift Him, up--the Man of Calvary. Lift Him
up, the sinner's only hope. Learn of Him, every one of you. Oh,
may chapters be opened in your experience that you never have
opened before in regard to the blessedness and the trust and
confidence that you may have in God.
Just see what our Saviour says: "When
the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"
[Luke 18:8]. Why? Why, because the devil has put his dark mantle
to enshroud the people, when we want light, light, brethren,
light, precious light from the throne of God. Well, then, you
want to be sure that you learn how to tell it when you go from
here; you want to be so rooted and grounded in it that when you
go to those that are fastened in unbelief that they shall not
throw their darkness over your mind; that you shall become so
settled as to what is truth that you will not be shaken away
from it; but that God can reveal to you His precious, precious
light.
Now, Paul knew that he was not going to
stay very long with Timothy, and he kept giving him lessons all
the time; and he says, "My son, be strong in the grace that
is in Christ Jesus" [2
Tim 2:1]. That is what every one of us
wants--not any of your own opinions, or smartness, or intellect,
or any of these things; but be strong in the grace that is in
Christ Jesus.
"And the things that thou hast heard
of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful
men, who shall be able to teach also. Thou therefore endure hardness,
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" [verses 2,3].
There is the very word before us. And the
very men that ought to be here to feel their interest of having
the truth for their positions of trust here in Battle Creek,
on this missionary soil--the very men that ought to be fitting
for these positions, they are not here at all; they do not come
near.
Now, brethren, that is not as it ought
to be. I want you to meditate over these matters. I want you
to seek God in regard to it. I want you to tell the Lord to stir
up these souls, that they may begin to feel that they need something
more than they [have] got. Brethren, we want light, precious
light from the throne of God; and in the place of quibbling,
and in the place of fastening upon hooks that you can hang your
doubts upon, for Christ's sake go to your knees in prayer; for
Christ's sake see the error and mistake of the Jews; because
Christ has said, "Light has come, and ye choose darkness
rather than light." [See John 3:19] Now, this can be done
right where light is shining. You meet men who say, Beware, beware;
we must go careful; we must be very careful to press out the
darkness, and let the light come in.
Brethren, we want to come right up as a
man and obtain a living experience here in this meeting. You
want light enough that you can carry it with you into eternity.
That is what you want. We have not half faith enough. We are
only just beginning to learn as little children. The child first
takes a step, and falls; and then takes another step, and finally
learns how to walk. Now, we want to learn how to exercise faith.
When the centurion came to Christ, just
look at his faith. Why, he did not claim all the knowledge of
the Jews; but here this centurion came, and he says, O Lord,
You need not go away down there to heal my servant; You just
say it and it will be done. What kind of power did he think was
in Christ? Just what was invested in him. Now, said he, You may
just say the word. I say to my servant, go, and he goeth, and
I say to him, do this, and he doeth. Well now, all You have to
say is to command, and it will be done.
What was his insight? That there were angels
all around Christ; the word of Christ would go right to that
sick chamber and heal that soul. The Jews saw how Christ said
to him, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel."
Now there are those outside of us that are standing in greater
favor to God than we are; and why? Because they live up to every
jot of light that they have. And we have light pouring in on
us, and for months we have been pleading that the people would
come up and accept the light; and they do not know whether to
do it or not. They do not seem to see that they can come and
drink, that they can open their hearts and let the Saviour in.
My soul is agonized at times over these
things. But I cannot do anything, I cannot speak to the heart;
but God alone can speak to the heart. I entreat of you, as an
ambassador of Jesus Christ, to bruise Satan under your feet.
I beseech of you to begin to labor for yourself, labor for souls
that are in darkness and unbelief. I beseech of you to spend
your efforts in order to bring them where they can come where
the living waters flow--where the light of heaven may come upon
them, that they can stand amid the people as a light, and not
as a shadow of darkness.
Well, yesterday morning I awoke about two
o'clock, and I could not rest; it seemed as though there was
an agony of soul upon me, and I could not say anything. I knelt
right down before the Lord and I said, You know all about it;
You know what the burden is. And I must have something more than
this. I cannot carry this load. I feel such a responsibility
when I know that men are not walking in the light, when I know
that they are going contrary from what God has told me. And it
seemed as though there was a light-wave came right down upon
me and the peace of God came upon me; and the words, I will be
with you; I will give thee My strength, came to me. And since
yesterday morning I have felt that I could die for Jesus Christ.
And I am not going to worry or put myself under this load; I
am going to leave it right in the hands of God. Brethren, do
we carry our loads there and leave them? Let us do it. Let us
roll it right on the Burden-bearer; and when we have a part to
act we will act it. And when you go from this place, Oh be so
full of the message that it is like fire shut up in your bones,
that you cannot hold your peace. It is true men will say. "You
are too excited; you are making too much of this matter, and
you do not think enough of the law; now, you must think more
of the law; don't be all the time reaching for this righteousness
of Christ, but build up the law."
Let the law take care of itself. We have
been at work on the law until we get as dry as the hills of Gilboa,
without dew or rain. Let us trust in the merits of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth. May God help us that our eyes may be anointed with
eyesalve, that we may see. God helping us, we will draw nigh
to Him, and He says he will draw nigh to us. Do we believe? Will
we come in God's appointed way? May the Lord help us and enlighten
us, that we may go forth from this place as
they went forth to proclaim the truth after the day of Pentecost;
and there were souls converted; they could not resist the testimony.
(MR 900.17)