comfort cold others - search

Many professed Christians have interposed themselves between Christ, the

Sun of Righteousness, and the world. In place of diffusing light, peace,
hope, and comfort, they diffuse darkness, discouragement, and hopelessness.
Every poor, tried soul needs light, needs tender, sympathizing, hopeful
words. Every widow needs the comfort of helpful and encouraging words that
others can bestow. Orphans who are lent to Christians in trust for God, are
too often passed by and neglected, and yet they are bought with a price, and
are just as valuable in the sight of God as we are. They may be ragged,
uncouth, rough, destitute, cold, and hungry; yet as Gods' property,
Christians should have a lively interest in them. They are members of the
household of God, for whom Christians are responsible. "Their souls," saith
God, "will I require at thy hands." They must be cared for, they must receive
special attention. You cannot expend your means in a better way than by
opening your doors to make homes for them. When the Lord sees that you are
faithful in doing what you can to relieve human misery, he will move upon
others to provide means to care for those who need help. Those who enlarge
their hearts in this kind of work, do no more than their duty. Christ is our
example. He was the Majesty of heaven, yet he did more for our fellow-men
than any of us can possibly do. "Ye are laborers together with God." Let not
one needless expenditure be made for the gratification of pride and vanity.
Put your mites and your larger sums in the bank of heaven, where they will
accumulate. Many who have had precious opportunities to wear the yoke of
Christ in this most precious line of work, have refused to submit to the
yoke. It has not been pleasant to practice unselfishness, and they have
neglected to make the cases of the poor and unfortunate their own. They do
not heed the injunctions of Christ, and improve every talent that the Lord
has given them, co-operating with heavenly intelligences in gathering souls
who will serve, honor, and glorify the name of Christ.
-END-
others coldness - search

Already the judgments of God are abroad in the land, as

seen in storms, in floods, in tempests, in earthquakes, in peril
by land and by sea. The great I AM is speaking to those who
make void His law. When God's wrath is poured out upon
the earth, who will then be able to stand? Now is the time
for God's people to show themselves true to principle. When
the religion of Christ is most held in contempt, when His
law is most despised, then should our zeal be the warmest
and our courage and firmness the most unflinching. To stand
in defense of truth and righteousness when the majority
forsake us, to fight the battles of the Lord when champions are
few--this will be our test. At this time we must gather
warmth from the coldness of others, courage from their
cowardice, and loyalty from their treason. The nation will
be on the side of the great rebel leader.
-END-
fornication church - search

Compassion and Sympathy, But Also Plain Dealing. I

am compelled to deal plainly and rebuke sin, and then I
have it in my heart, placed there by the Spirit of Christ, to
labor in faith, in tender sympathy and compassion for the
erring. I will not let them alone; I will not leave them to
become the sport of Satan's temptations. I will not myself act
the part of the adversary of souls, as is represented by
Joshua and the Angel. Souls cost the price of my
Redeemer's blood.
=END=

My mind is greatly perplexed over these things, because I cannot

harmonize them with the course that is being pursued. I
am fearful to sanction sin, and I am fearful to let go of the
sinner and make no effort to restore him. I think that if our
hearts were more fully imbued with the Spirit of Christ, we
should have His melting love, and should work with
spiritual power to restore the erring and not leave them
under Satan's control.
=END=

-BC- TSB
-TI- Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce.
-CN- 9
-CT- Counsels to Church Administrators
-PR- 01
-PG- 242
-TEXT-
<SI Need of Good Heart Religion. <EI We need good heart
religion, that we shall not only reprove, rebuke, exhort with
all long-suffering and doctrine, but we shall take the erring
in our arms of faith and bear them to the cross of Christ. We
must bring them in contact with the sin-pardoning Saviour.
-END-

I wish that we had much more of the Spirit of Christ and

a great deal less self, and less of human opinions. If we err,
let it be on the side of mercy rather than on the side of
condemnation and harsh dealing.--Letter 16, 1887.
=END=

-BC- TM
-TI- Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers
-CN- 16
-CT- Elevate the Standard
-PR- 02
-PG- 427
-TEXT-
Cleanse the camp of this moral corruption, if it
takes the highest men in the highest positions. God
will not be trifled with. Fornication is in our ranks;[* SEE
APPENDIX.] I know it, for it has been shown me to be strengthening
and extending its pollutions. There is much we will

428

never know; but that which is revealed makes the

church responsible and guilty unless they show a determined
effort to eradicate the evil. Cleanse the camp, for
there is an accursed thing in it.
-END-
church membership - search

Special Testimonies to Ministers and Workers. -- No. 3

-PR- 01
-PG- 36
-TEXT-
Missionary success will be proportionate to
whole-hearted, thoroughly consecrated effort. Every
departure from true missionary effort, every failure
to cherish the missionary spirit, has reacted upon the
church, and there has been a decline of spirituality.
But every earnest effort that has been made in missionary
lines, has brought spiritual health to the church,
and has not only increased the membership of the
church, but has increased its holy zeal and gladness.
=END=

-BC- AH
-TI- The Adventist Home
-CN- 56
-CT- Divorce
-PR- 01
-PG- 346
-TEXT-
<SB Adultery, Divorce, and Church Membership. <EB--In
regard to the case of the injured sister, A.G., we would
say in reply to the questions of ----- that it is a
feature in the cases of most who have been overtaken
in sin, as her husband has, that they have no real
sense of their villainy. Some, however, do and are
restored to the church, but not till they have merited
the confidence of the people of God by unqualified
confessions and a period of sincere repentance. This
case presents difficulties not found in some, and we
would add only the following:
-END-

-PC- RH
-PT- Advent Review and Sabbath Herald
-DT- 01-19-05
-AT- Notes of Travel (The College View Council)
-PR- 09
-TEXT-
The haphazard work done in the church by speaking to others of errors
and mistakes before speaking to the one at fault has been the greatest cause
and manifestation of wickedness and defection in the church. Weakness has
come to many because they have not taken up their appointed work. God will
not accept your gifts, however precious they may be, unless you make a
straight path for your feet by following the directions that Christ has
given.
-END-

-PC- RH
-PT- Advent Review and Sabbath Herald
-DT- 01-19-05
-AT- Notes of Travel (The College View Council)
-PR- 16
-TEXT-
When this work is done, the disunion existing in the church will be
cured, and the cause of God will move forward with power. When you see that
which you think is wrong, do all in your power to correct it. Find out what
it is that separates you from your brother, and plead for the unity that
Christ has said should exist in the church. Love as brethren, and do the work
appointed you. Then you will know the preciousness of Christ's words,
"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open
the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."
-END-

-PC- RH
-PT- Advent Review and Sabbath Herald
-DT- 01-19-05
-AT- Notes of Travel (The College View Council)
-PR- 17
-TEXT-
As you seek for Christ with all your heart, and in faith, that you may
reach a higher standard of righteousness, he may reveal to you a duty undone,
a stumbling-block that you must remove in order that your brother may be
relieved, and that you may advance in the right way. Your brother may be
wrong, and you may be wrong; therefore come together as children of the same
family. Work as earnestly to make things right as you will wish you had
worked in that day when the judgment shall sit, and the books shall be
opened, and every man shall be judged according to the deeds done in the
body.
-END-

-BC- PH005
-TI- An Appeal for Self-supporting Laborers to Enter Unworked Fields
-PR- 04
-PG- 8
-TEXT-
<SB Unite our Efforts <EB

The work of God in this earth can never be finished until

the men and women comprising our church membership
rally to the work, and unite their efforts with those of
ministers and church officers. 9T 117.
-END-

-BC- Ev
-TI- Evangelism
-CN- 5
-CT- Organizing for Evangelistic Meetings
-PR- 03
-PG- 117
-TEXT-
Instead of toiling to prepare set rules and regulations,
you might better be praying and submitting
your own will and your ways to Christ. He is not
pleased when you make hard the thing He has made
easy. He says, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn
of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall
find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and
My burden is light." The Lord Jesus loves His
heritage, and if men will not think it their special

prerogative to prescribe rules for their fellow laborers,

but will bring Christ's rules into their life and copy
His lessons, then each will be an example, and not a
judge.--<SI Manuscript <EI 44, 1894.
-END-
-BC- TSB
-TI- Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce.
-CN- 9
-CT- Counsels to Church Administrators
-PR- 01
-PG- 248
-TEXT-
<SI An Enormous Sin. <EI I saw that the seventh commandment
has been violated by some who are now held in fellowship
by the church. This has brought God's frown upon them.
This sin is awful in these last days, but the church
[members] have brought God's frown and curse upon them by
regarding the sin so lightly. I saw it was an enormous sin
and there have not been as vigilant efforts made as there
should have been to satisfy the displeasure of God and
remove His frown by taking a strict, thorough course with
the offender.
-END-

-BC- TSB
-TI- Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce.
-CN- 9
-CT- Counsels to Church Administrators
-PR- 02
-PG- 248
-TEXT-
It has had an awful, corrupting influence upon the
young. They see how lightly the sin of breaking the seventh
commandment is regarded, and the one who commits this
horrid sin thinks that all he has to do is to confess that he
was wrong and is sorry, and he is then to have all the
privileges of the house of God and be held in [the] embrace
or fellowship of the church.
-END-

-BC- TSB
-TI- Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce.
-CN- 9
-CT- Counsels to Church Administrators
-PR- 03
-PG- 248
-TEXT-
They have thought it was not so great a sin, but have
lightly esteemed the breaking of the seventh commandment.
This has been sufficient to remove the ark of God from the
camp, if there were no other sins to cause the ark to be
taken away and weaken Israel.
-END-

-BC- TSB
-TI- Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce.
-CN- 9
-CT- Counsels to Church Administrators
-PR- 04
-PG- 248
-TEXT-
<SI Suspension From the Church for Adulterers. <EI Those who
break the seventh commandment should be suspended from
the church, and not have its fellowship nor the privileges of
the house of God. Said the angel, "This is not a sin of ignorance.

249

It is a knowing sin and will receive the awful

visitation of God, whether he who commits it be old or
young."
-END-

-BC- TSB
-TI- Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce.
-CN- 9
-CT- Counsels to Church Administrators
-PR- 01
-PG- 249
-TEXT-
<SI High-handed, Deliberate Sinning. <EI Never was this sin
regarded by God as being so exceedingly sinful as at the
present time. Why? Because God is purifying unto Himself
a peculiar people, zealous of good works. It is at the very
time when God is purifying this peculiar people unto Himself
that [unsanctified] individuals step in among us. Notwithstanding
the straight truths they have heard--the terrors
of the Word of God set before them, and all the blazing
truth for these last days calculated to arouse Israel--they sin
with a high hand, give way to all the loose passions of the
carnal heart, gratify their animal propensities, disgrace the
cause of God, and then confess they have sinned and are sorry!
-END-

-BC- TSB
-TI- Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce.
-CN- 9
-CT- Counsels to Church Administrators
-PR- 02
-PG- 249
-TEXT-
And the church receives them and says "Amen" to their
prayers and exhortations, which are a stink in the nostrils of
God, and cause His wrath to come upon the camp. He will
not dwell in their assemblies. Those who move on thus
heedlessly, plastering over these sins, will be left to their
own ways, to be filled with their own doings.
-END-

-BC- TSB
-TI- Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce.
-CN- 9
-CT- Counsels to Church Administrators
-PR- 03
-PG- 249
-TEXT-
Those who anciently committed these sins were taken
without the camp and stoned to death. Temporal and eternal
death was their doom; and because the penalty of stoning to
death is abolished, this sin is indulged in beyond measure
and is thought to be a small offense.--Ms 3, 1854.

-END-

-BC- TSB
-TI- Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce.
-CN- 9
-CT- Counsels to Church Administrators
-PR- 04
-PG- 249
-TEXT-
<SI No Help for This Man. <EI[* THE WHITE ESTATE HAS NO FIRM
DOCUMENTATION ON THE NATURE OF E'S TRANSGRESSION, BUT ARTHUR L.
WHITE RECALLS HEARING HIS FATHER, W. C. WHITE, REFER TO IT AS A
PARTICULARLY REVOLTING CASE OF INCEST.] It is impossible for E
to be fellowshiped by the church of God. He has placed himself

250

where he cannot be helped by the church, where he can

have no communion with, nor voice in, the church. He has
placed himself there in the face of light and truth. He has
stubbornly chosen his own course, and refused to listen to
reproof. He has followed the inclinations of his corrupt
heart, has violated the holy law of God, and has disgraced
the cause of present truth.
-END-

-BC- TSB
-TI- Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce.
-CN- 9
-CT- Counsels to Church Administrators
-PR- 01
-PG- 250
-TEXT-
If he repents ever so heartily, the church must let his
case alone. If he goes to heaven, it must be alone, without
the fellowship of the church. A standing rebuke from God
and the church must ever rest upon him that the standard of
morality be not lowered to the very dust.--1T 215.

-END-

-BC- TSB
-TI- Testimonies on Sexual Behavior, Adultery, and Divorce.
-CN- 9
-CT- Counsels to Church Administrators
-PR- 02
-PG- 250
-TEXT-
<SB 40. A Statement by Ellen and James White <EB[* INASMUCH AS
THIS STATEMENT WAS ISSUED JOINTLY BY JAMES AND ELLEN WHITE, IT SEEMS
CLEAR THAT THE VIEWS EXPRESSED HAD THE FULL SANCTION OF ELLEN WHITE.]

<SI Possibility of Restoration. <EI In regard to the case of the

injured Sister A. G., we would say in reply to the questions of
J. H. W., that it is a feature in the cases of most who have
been overtaken in sin, as her husband has, that they have no
real sense of their villainy. Some, however, do, and are restored
to the church, but not till they have merited the confidence
of the people of God by unqualified confessions,
and a period of sincere repentance. This case presents
difficulties not found in some, and we would add only the
following:
-END-

-BC- TSA
-TI- Testimonies to Southern Africa
-CN- 10
-CT- A Second Letter of Counsel to a Missionary in Africa
-PR- 01
-PG- 90
-TEXT-
The covenant of agreement in church membership is that each
member will walk in the footsteps of Christ, that all will take His
yoke upon them, and learn of Him who is meek and lowly of
heart. Doing this, "Ye shall," saith the dear Saviour, "find rest
unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Those who wear Christ's yoke will draw together. They will
cultivate sympathy and forbearance, and in holy emulation will
strive to show to others the tender sympathy and love of which
they feel such great need themselves. He who is weak and
inexperienced, although he is weak, may be strengthened by the
more hopeful and by those of mature experience. Although the
least of all, he is a stone that must shine in the building. He is a
vital member of the organized body, united to Christ, the living
head, and through Christ identified with all the excellencies of
Christ's character so that the Saviour is not ashamed to call him
brother.

-END-

-PC- RH
-PT- Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald
-DT- 06-03-84
-AT- Love Among Brethren (Gen. Conf., Nov. 15, 1883)
-PR- 13
-TEXT-
Church-membership will not guarantee us Heaven. We must abide in Christ,
and his love must abide in us. We must every day make advancement in the
formation of symmetrical character. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your
Father which is in Heaven is perfect." As God is perfect in his sphere, so
are we required to be perfect in ours. There is a great work before us
individually to reach this high standard, and some have scarcely learned
their a b c's in the school of Christ. Our attainments will be just in
accordance with the efforts we make, our character just what we choose to
make it; for through the divine aid promised us, we can overcome. Jesus knows
our frame; "he remembereth that we are dust." In pitying tenderness, he will
give us the help and strength we need.
-END-

-PC- ST
-PT- The Signs of the Times
-DT- 07-27-88
-AT- A Vital Connection with Christ
-PR- 03
-TEXT-
Faith is that mysterious and mighty principle that attracts the soul of
man to God. As the sapless branch is united to the living vine, so we must
be connected with Christ. There are two kinds of connection between the
branches and the vine stock. One is visible, but superficial. The other is
invisible and vital. So there is an apparent union, a membership with the
church, and a profession of religion, which, though in itself good, is too
often unaccompanied by saving faith in Jesus or living obedience to the
commandments of God. The branches that are connected with Christ, the living
vine, will make it manifest by bearing much fruit in good works to the glory
of God. But the branches which have nothing but an apparent union, will be
fruitless. As the branch cannot possibly bring forth fruit without a vital
connection with the parent stock, so the Christian can be fruitful in good
works only as union with Christ is made and preserved. The ruin of those who
are not connected with Christ, is as complete as though they had no name to
live; for they are dead. Christ compares them to lifeless branches that are
gathered and burned in the fire. "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit
he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it
may bring forth more fruit."
-END-

-BC- PH086
-TI- Special Testimony to Battle Creek Church
-PR- 02
-PG- 22
-TEXT-
The sin of these last days is upon the professed
people of God. Through selfishness, love of
pleasure, and love of dress, they deny the Christ
that their church-membership says that they are
following. I thank God that Jesus Christ knows
every impulse in the heart of the believer. Many
profess to be children of God, who do not follow
Christ. Their frivolity, their cheap conversation,
their want of high-toned piety, their low aims,
mislead others, who would pursue a different
course were it not for the example of these
deceptive characters; those who do not love Christ
or do his will, but simply follow their own
imaginations.
-END-

-BC- PH086
-TI- Special Testimony to Battle Creek Church
-PR- 03
-PG- 22
-TEXT-
Jesus is acquainted with every heart that is
humble, meek, and lowly. These have trials and

-23-

make mistakes, but they are broken-hearted

because they grieve the Saviour, who loved them
and died for them. They come humbly to his
feet; they fight his battles. In meekness and
lowliness of heart they seek to do good to others.
They seek to advance the cause of truth, in good
and earnest endeavor.
-END-