I have seen that men of worth have embraced
the truth West who will yet be pillars to the cause. When they
can place their temporal affairs in a condition where they can
use a portion of their means, they will do their part toward
sustaining the cause. I also saw that some were willing to receive
the truth, brought to them by the liberalities of their Eastern
brethren, without its costing them anything. The brethren West
should arouse and meet the expenses of their own states. God
requires this at their hands, and they should feel it a privilege
to do so. The Lord will prove them, He will try them to see if
they will withdraw their affections from the world and make their
faith perfect by works.
I saw that God's hand was stretched out
to gather in souls in the West. He has been bringing out men
who can teach the truth to others, whose duty it will be to bear
the message into new fields. I saw that if the men who have moved
from the East to the West and have endured the hardships of settling
in a new country, receive present truth understandingly, they
will manifest a perseverance and decision of character in regard
to the truth, similar to that manifested in securing to themselves
temporal possessions, and will engage as heartily in the work
of advancing the truth. If this corresponding zeal is lacking,
the truth has not yet had its saving, sanctifying influence upon
them.
I was pointed back to a meeting in -----.
Brother P felt the burden of the cause, but R had a spirit of
opposition. His testimony was not in union with the work of God,
and he brought grief and burden upon those who were laboring
for its advancement. But it would have been better for the cause
had he been suffered a time longer, and the brethren borne the
confusion he caused. I saw that Brother P moved unwisely in his
case. It gave R and the enemies of our faith the advantage. Brother
P should have waited until R's religious
character was more fully developed. He would soon either have
united with the remnant people of God or been left one side.
But R obtained sympathy on account of his age. He had partaken
of the spirit of the Messenger party, and his whole course was
darkened by it. His wife has an excitable, bitter spirit, and
has been zealous to spread false reports. She acts the part to
her husband that Jezebel did to Ahab, and stirs him up to fight
against the servants of God, who bear a pointed testimony.
Their influence East has been decidedly
against the spirit of the truth and those who have devoted their
lives to labor for its advancement. There is a class East who
profess to believe the truth, but who cherish secret feelings
of dissatisfaction against those who bear the burden in this
work. The true sentiments of such do not appear until some influence
opposed to the work of God arises, and then they manifest their
true character. Such readily receive, cherish, and circulate
reports which have no foundation in truth, to destroy the influence
of those who are engaged in this work. All who wish to draw off
from the body will have opportunity. Something will arise to
test everyone. The great sifting time is just before us. The
jealous and the faultfinding, who are watching for evil, will
be shaken out. They hate reproof and despise correction. Those
who love the spirit of the third angel's message can have no
union with the spirit of R and his wife.