Professed believers in and about-----do
not come up to the work, and practice the truths which they profess.
A blighting influence is upon the cause in northern Wisconsin.
If all had felt that attachment for the Review which God designed
they should, they would have been benefited and instructed by
the truths it advocates. They would have had a correct faith,
a settled position upon the truth applicable for this time, and
would have been guarded and saved from this fanaticism. The sensibilities
of many are blunted; false excitement has destroyed their discernment
and spiritual eyesight. It is of the highest importance now for
them to move understandingly, that Satan's object may not be
fully accomplished in overthrowing those whom he has had power
to deceive.
When those who have witnessed and experienced
false exercises, are convinced of their mistake, then Satan takes
advantage of their error, and holds it constantly before them,
to make them afraid of any spiritual exercise, and in this way
he seeks to destroy their faith in true godliness. Because they
were once deceived, they fear to make any effort by earnest,
fervent prayer to God for special aid and victory. Such must
not let Satan gain his object, and drive them to cold formality
and unbelief. They must remember that the foundation of God standeth
sure. Let God be true, and every man a liar. Their only safety
is to plant their feet upon a firm platform,
to see and understand the third angel's message, to prize, love,
and obey the truth.
Christ is leading out a people, and bringing
them into the unity of the faith, that they may be one, as He
is one with the Father. Differences of opinion must be yielded,
that all may come into union with the body, that they may have
one mind and one judgment. 1 Corinthians 1:10: "Now I beseech
you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye
all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among
you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind
and in the same judgment." Romans 15:5, 6: "Now the
God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one
toward another according to Christ Jesus: that ye may with one
mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ." Philippians 2:2: "Fulfill ye my joy, that
ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord,
of one mind."
All the people of God should have an interest
in His cause. There has been a lack of this interest among the
brethren in Wisconsin. There has also been a lack of energy.
Some think it no sin to idle away their time, while others who
love the precious cause of truth, economize their time, and in
the strength of God exert themselves and labor hard that their
families may be made neat and comfortable, and they have something
besides to invest in the cause, that they may do their part to
keep the work of God moving and lay up a treasure in heaven.
One is not to be eased and others burdened. God requires those
who have health and strength of body, to do what they can, and
use their strength to His glory, for they are not their own.
They are accountable to God for the use they make of their time
and strength, which are granted them of Heaven.
The duty to help in the advancement of
truth does not rest only upon the wealthy. All have a part to
act. The man who has employed his time and strength to accumulate
property is accountable for the
disposition he makes of that property. If one has health and
strength, that is his capital, and he must make a right use of
it. If he spends hours in idleness and needless visiting and
talking, he is slothful in business, which God's word forbids.
Such have a work to do to provide for their own families, and
then lay by them in store for charitable purposes as God has
prospered them.
We are not placed in this world merely
to care for ourselves, but we are required to aid in the great
work of salvation, thus imitating the self-denying, self-sacrificing,
useful life of Christ. Those who love their own ease better than
they love the truth of God, will not be anxious to use their
time and strength wisely and well, that they may act a part in
spreading the truth. Many of the young in Wisconsin have not
felt the weight of the cause or the necessity of their making
any sacrifice to advance it. They can never gain strength until
they change their course and make special efforts to advance
the truth, that souls may be saved. Some deny themselves and
manifest an interest and have double labor, because of their
untiring efforts to sustain the cause they love. They make the
cause of God a part of them; if it suffers, they suffer with
it; when it prospers, they are happy.
Proverbs 3:9, 10: "Honor the Lord
with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase:
so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall
burst out with new wine." Those who are slothful may quiet
themselves with the thought that God requires nothing of them
because they have no increase. This will be no excuse for them;
for if they had diligently employed their time, if they had not
been slothful in business, they would have had increase. Had
they resolutely exerted themselves to earn something to cast
into the treasury of God, ways would be opened for them, and
they would have some increase to devote to the cause of God,
and thus to lay up a treasure in heaven.