| Each one has an important question to answer for himself: Are you on the side of Satan, a transgressor of God's law, or are you loyal to that God who declared himself to be, "The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation." God's character is here displayed as his glory. God has delivered all judgment into the hands of his Son; and as a righteous judge, Christ must pass sentence on every work whether it be good or bad. Justice is as much an expression of love as mercy. {RH, January 30, 1900 par. 5} |
| Fathers and mothers can clear themselves of responsibility for the corrupt actions of their own or their adopted children only by coming into the clear light of the Sun of Righteousness, seeing the great danger of their wrong course, repenting before God, and calling evil by its true name. Too often they compromise themselves by pursuing a vacillating course, or by endeavoring to cover up the wicked deeds of their children. The Lord calls for a work of purification to be done in His church. Those who remain on the side of Satan must be counted as workers of evil. {16MR 143.2} |
| All should be intelligent in regard to the agency by which the soul is destroyed. It is not because of any decree that God has sent out against man. He does not make man spiritually blind. God gives sufficient light and evidence to enable man to distinguish truth from error. But He does not force man to receive truth. He leaves him free to choose the good or to choose the evil. If man resists evidence that is sufficient to guide his judgment in the right direction, and chooses evil once, he will do this more readily the second time. The third time he will still more eagerly withdraw himself from God and choose to stand on the side of Satan. And in this course he will continue until he is confirmed in evil, and believes the lie he has cherished as truth. His resistance has produced its harvest (MS 126, 1901). {6BC 1112.5} |
| Many are quieting a troubled conscience with the thought that they can change a course of evil when they choose; that they can trifle with the invitations of mercy, and yet be again and again impressed. They think that after doing despite to the Spirit of grace, after casting their influence on the side of Satan, in a moment of terrible extremity they can change their course. But this is not so easily done. The experience, the education, of a lifetime, has so thoroughly molded the character that few then desire to receive the image of Jesus. {SC 33.3} |
| We are individually on trial under the proving of God. The intelligences of heaven are all enlisted to help every soul who will be drawn to Jesus, and every true lover of Jesus will co-operate with the heavenly agents in seeking to draw souls away from that which is foolish, low, and frivolous. The followers of Christ will not work on the side of Satan to weaken faith in true religion, to deprave others by casting about them an atmosphere which is ruinous to the morals and the character. But we are sorry to say that even in our schools there are persons who are Christians only in name. It will not take a long acquaintance with these professors to ascertain that they are successful agents of Satan. There are in our schools persons who are corrupt at heart, who yet have a pleasing address, and who are successful in fascinating a certain class of people, and before the unwary are aware of it, the influence of these persons has changed their sentiments, and fashioned them after the objectionable characters of these corrupt persons. But those who wear the garb of Christianity, and yet who are governed by the fashions and maxims of the world, are moral corrupters. They claim to be seeking heavenly treasures, but the atmosphere with which their souls are surrounded is one that is charged with a deadly spiritual miasma, and they should be shunned by those who would remain unspotted by the world. {FE 298.1} {YI, May 3, 1894 par. 4} |
| And through lack of zeal for the promulgation of the third angel's message, many others, while not apparently living in transgression, are nevertheless as verily lending their influence on the side of Satan as are those who openly sin against God. Multitudes are perishing; but how few are burdened for these souls! There is a stupor, a paralysis, upon many of the people of God, which prevents them from understanding the duty of the hour. {8T 119.1} |
| In the time of the end, the world will be divided into two classes --those who follow Christ fully, and those who are on the side of Satan. {18MR 88.2} |
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We should not rest easy and be content to be carried by this institution while others of the brethren are lifting the heaviest load, planning and praying and working and counseling to make a success of the work which God has said should be done for the good of His people. While Satan works to demoralize, by taking the control of minds, leading them to make mistakes in their plans, in their management, in their deportment, and trying to take advantage of every opportunity to reproach Jesus and cause the enemies of our faith by their unwise course to blaspheme, shall Christians stand back as spectators, acting only as critics, and be found on the side of Satan as accusers and yet make no truly interested efforts to bring in a better state of affairs? Shall Satan have everything as he pleases, because he has obtained some advantage over those who should have been proof to his temptations, resisting the first approach to wrong? {18MR 323.4}
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| The wisdom from above is abiding with us just so surely as we ask Him for it. The Lord has not forsaken us, but it is our sins and our iniquities that have separated us from God. We want in the name of Jesus to break down the barriers between our souls and God and then the peace of Christ will abide in our hearts by faith. We want to present ourselves in all humility before God, and get rid of everything like pride, selfishness, evil surmising, evil speaking, and all iniquity. Jesus will not take His abode in the heart where sin is enthroned. We want less of self and more of Jesus. We want to learn how to believe--that it is simply taking God at His word -- but it is impossible to learn this unless we place ourselves in that position where we will be submissive to God. Our will must be on God's side, not on the side of Satan. The result of proving the forgiving love of God is to be perfectly reconciled to God's will. Then the human will and the divine become united. Every faculty must be kept in its place, all consecrated to God; every faculty working in God's order, performing His will and purpose. {1888 71.3} |
