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“Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.” We are continually receiving rich mercies from the hands of God. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Jesus has commanded, saying, “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” The merciful man does good to his own soul; for the merciful shall obtain mercy. The possession of this precious grace produces the fruit of kindliness and love. The hardness, the coldness of heart that many professing Christians cherish, is a characteristic of the great apostate. Were Christlike mercy exercised by all who profess to be Christ’s followers, the world would bear an altogether different aspect. Praise would ascend to God from many voices that are now silent. The love and tenderness of Christ revealed in the characters of those who are his followers, would beget love in others. It is impossible for us to represent Christ, and be cold, unsympathetic, and bound about by selfishness.

We are placed in this world, and surrounded by men and women who need our compassion, and we are responsible for putting into exercise the tender mercies of our God. He has richly bestowed upon us his love, and deposited with us his mercy, that we may become stewards of the same, in ministering his love to others. Paul writes: “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” Suffering humanity continually surrounds us, and demands the exercise of mercy. “The poor ye have always with you.”

It is the duty of the children of God to be all light in the Lord, and scatter blessings upon the path of others. They are not to say, “Be ye warmed, and be ye fed,” and do nothing to relieve the necessities of those who are in want. The Lord would have his children actively engaged in works of mercy. There are broken-hearted ones who need the expression of kindly words, who need practical help to relieve their necessities. With many life is a painful struggle. They feel their deficiencies, and are miserable and unbelieving. They think they have nothing for which to be grateful. Let the sons and daughters of God reveal the Christlike attributes of character, administering to these needy souls. Let them show what a great debt of gratitude they owe to God as recipients of temporal and spiritual good.

We are the Lord’s purchased possession, and as his human agents it is our positive duty to administer in temporal and spiritual things from the store which God has given us. Love must be kept in constant exercise to inspire faith in God, that praise may be called forth from human hearts to God, and that the golden chain of love may bind the hearts of humanity together. Those who are recipients of the mercy, sympathy, and compassion of God should pass it along to others. But many who claim to love God and to be keepers of his commandments, are cold and unsympathetic and unchristlike. They have little love to exercise except for a few who are congenial to them, and their affection for these few whom they fancy does more harm than good. They do not manifest love towards those who would appreciate the least manifestation of affection. Those who are truly Christlike possess an underlying principle of love. But however closely related human beings may be, they are not to be idolized, they are not to be surrounded with superabundant affection, while other souls who are just as dear to the heart of Infinite Love are not embraced within their circle. Selfish love is a snare to the souls of those who are entangled in it. The life and practice of Christ show that the circle for our love should be unlimited. Christ does not acknowledge that love as sanctified which is showered without stint upon a few favorites, while the heart is cold toward the very ones who need a manifestation of love.

The Son of the infinite God is our Pattern. Heaven is full of mercy, and it is constantly outflowing not only to a favored few, but for the blessing of those who need it most, for the benefit of those who have the least pleasantness and happiness brought into their lives. The life of God is bound up with the life of those for whom Christ died. He whose life is hid with Christ in God will possess the attributes of the divine character, and will be a partaker of the divine nature, making it manifest to the world that God is merciful, full of tender compassion, abundant in grace and truth. The severity which God manifests through his providences toward those who are rebellious and wicked, is manifested for the salvation of the wayward. O, how Christ yearned over the souls whom he came to save, with intense desire that they might understand eternal life! “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

Satan is a vigilant watcher and worker, and seeks to intercept every ray of heaven’s light in order that it shall not come to the soul; but Christ is also working, and by mercies given, and by mercies withheld, he seeks to lead men and women to look above the earthly to the heavenly and eternal. Every man is intrusted with capabilities, with a stewardship for the great Householder, and he is to look to the great Counselor for directions and for wisdom. Christ would have his servants work for those who understand him not; for he looks with infinite compassion upon the human family under the deceptive wiles of Satan. He sees them employing their God-given probationary time in seeking everything but the one thing essential. The voice of Jesus pleads with men, saying, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink, and the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.” No creature that God has created is looked upon with indifference. God has an intense desire to relieve the woes of mankind and apply his balsam to their wounds. His love is ever exercised for the needy and oppressed. His heart is full of joy when the sinner breaks with Satan, and looks up to God as to a merciful, sympathizing, loving Father. Jesus declared, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” The Lord is ever active in exercising his mercy; he would have every soul become acquainted with the paternal character of God. When men obtain a correct view of the unceasing mercy of God, they will be attracted, and by beholding will become changed into the same image. Those whom God has made stewards of capabilities and means, he commands, for their own interest, to lay up their treasure in heaven, and as he has given freely to them of his bountiful mercy, to give freely to others. Instead of living for themselves, Christ is to live in them, and his Holy Spirit is to lead them to dispense wisely their goods, being merciful to others even as he is merciful to all. No man can be a follower of Christ and live for himself. The Christian is to be an agent for God, dispensing his blessings to others, and thus laying up for themselves treasure in heaven. His treasure will thus never be lost, but will ever accumulate increasing interest, and a good foundation be laid against the time to come.

How much better it is to deposit uncertain riches in the bank of heaven, by rendering benefit to the Lord’s heritage, than to use up God-given wealth in the gratification of self by obtaining those things which perish in the using. In blessing others, they are made glad with the thought that God has not forgotten them, and gratitude springs up in the hearts of those who have been suffering and oppressed. It is thus we make friends with the mammon of unrighteousness, and the very wealth which we dispense to others is that which has been lent in trust to be used as the Householder shall direct, that his faithful servants shall use it in works of mercy and compassion. But in working on these lines a welcome is insured into the everlasting habitations. In proportion as goods are intrusted they should be dispensed to others. The humblest men and women are to trade upon the Lord’s talents, realizing that what has been lent to them should be returned with usury to God. Though we have but one talent, if it be faithfully consecrated to God, and employed in acts of mercy in temporal or spiritual things, we thus ministering to the wants of the needy, our talent will increase in value, and be noted upon the heavenly record as exceeding our powers of computation. Every merciful action, every sacrifice, every self-denial, will bring a sure requital, a hundred-fold in this time, and in the world to come everlasting life.

*To be merciful is to treat others better than they deserve. SJ 61.45

In order to be compassionate like our Saviour, we shall need to study the divine pattern. Those who study nothing but their own inclinations, whose hearts are not affected by the necessities of others, will not manifest a Christ-like character. If their path is crossed, if their wills are thwarted, they will be vindictive and hard. The merciful spirit must be within the heart, or it will not be developed in the life. But where this spirit is cultivated, kindness will be manifested not only to the human beings that are about us, but to the dumb creatures which God has given to serve us. Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful.” Those who possess this attribute are blessed here; a sweet spirit of satisfaction is the reward of the soul who possesses compassion and love. They realize the fulfilment of the promise that “they shall obtain mercy.” The God of heaven sends the angels to encamp around such ones, and to move upon the hard hearts of those with whom they associate. By the manifestation of mercy, they confess to all the world that they are on the Lord’s side.
YI January 9, 1896

“Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.” Here Jesus struck a blow at the arrogance and cruel intolerance of the Jews. Both priests and people were, as a rule, overbearing, quarreling with all who opposed them, severely critical and resentful of any reflection cast upon their own acts. Jesus said of the Pharisees, “Ye tithe mint, and rue, and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God.” The Saviour desired to teach his followers a lesson of mercy that they should not be wanting in that tender compassion which pities and aids the suffering and erring, and avoids magnifying the faults of others. 2SP 208.1

The merciful are “partakers of the divine nature,” and in them the compassionate love of God finds expression. All whose hearts are in sympathy with the heart of Infinite Love will seek to reclaim and not to condemn. Christ dwelling in the soul is a spring that never runs dry. Where He abides, there will be an overflowing of beneficence. MB 22.2

*The merciful “shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7). “The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself” (Proverbs 11:25).
*There is sweet peace for the compassionate spirit, a blessed satisfaction in the life of self-forgetful service for the good of others. HP 238.5

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*“Love your enemies,” He bade them; “bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven,” Matthew 5:44,
“for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil,” Luke 6:35
“He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matthew 5:45
“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” Luke 6:35 8T 286.7

He would have us love those who oppress us and do us harm.
We must not express in words and acts the spirit they manifest, but improve every opportunity to do them good. UL 220.3

He who is truly converted will be so filled with the love of God that he will long to impart to others the joy that he himself possesses. 9T30.2

The manifestation of hatred never breaks down the malice of our enemies. But love and kindness beget love and kindness in return. Although God faithfully rewards virtue and punishes guilt, yet he does not withhold his blessings from the wicked, although they daily dishonor his name. He allows the sunshine and the showers to fall upon the just and the unjust, bringing alike worldly prosperity to both. If a holy God exercises such forbearance and benevolence toward the rebellious and the idolatrous, how necessary it is that erring man should manifest a like spirit toward his fellow-men. Instead of cursing those who injure him, it is his duty to seek to win them from their evil ways by a kindness similar to that with which Christ treated them who persecuted him. 2SP 224.1

His love received, will make us, in like manner, kind and tender, not merely toward those who please us, but to the most faulty and erring and sinful. MB 75.1

It is not earthly rank, nor birth, nor nationality, nor religious privilege, which proves that we are members of the family of God; it is love, a love that embraces all humanity. Even sinners whose hearts are not utterly closed to God’s Spirit, will respond to kindness; while they may give hate for hate, they will also give love for love. But it is only the Spirit of God that gives love for hatred. To be kind to the unthankful and to the evil, to do good hoping for nothing again, is the insignia of the royalty of heaven, the sure token by which the children of the Highest reveal their high estate. MB 75.2

Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. “If ye fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: but if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.”

It was the same Jesus who commanded that love should be the ruling principle in the old dispensation, that commanded that love should be the ruling principle in the hearts of his followers in the New Testament. The working out of the principle of love is true sanctification. Those who walk in the light will be the children of the light, and will diffuse light to those who are around them in kindness, in affection, in unmistakable love. “God is love: and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” Unless love is cherished in the soul, and that continually, Christ does not abide in the heart…. The heart that is filled with the grace of Christ will be made manifest by its peace and joy; and where Christ abides, the character will become purified, elevated, ennobled, and glorified.
YI November 8, 1894 — “Walk Even as He Walked”

God requires every heart to be filled with pure, clean, sanctified, Christlike love. …Christ declares, “Without me ye can do nothing.” Then open the door of the heart and let Jesus in. He is the great worker as well as the law-giver. The members of our churches need to awake to the realization that they must have none of self and all of Jesus. We must cooperate with the Lord Jesus. …Let your swelling, struggling heart break for the longing it has for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Let everyone who has had an experience in their life in Christ show an earnest faith in God as the true worker. Show that you realize that you are only a channel through which God works. 1888 1700.1

The Lord Jesus demands our acknowledgment of the rights of every man. Men’s social rights, and their rights as Christians, are to be taken into consideration. All are to be treated with refinement and delicacy, as the sons and daughters of God. HDL 31.3

We must have our lives so hid with Christ in God that when bitter speeches and scornful words and unkind looks meet us, we shall not permit our feelings to be stirred up against this class, but shall feel the deepest sympathy for them, because they know nothing about the precious Saviour whom we claim to know. We must remember that they are in the service of one who is the bitterest enemy of Jesus Christ, and that while all heaven is opened to the sons and daughters of God, they have no such privilege. You ought to feel that you are the happiest people upon the face of the whole earth. Notwithstanding, as Christ’s representatives, you are as sheep in the midst of wolves, you have One with you who can help you under all circumstances, and you will not be devoured by these wolves if you keep close to Jesus. How careful you should be to represent Jesus in every word and action! You should feel when you arise in the morning, and when you go out upon the street, and when you come in, that Jesus loves you, that He is by your side, and that you must not cherish a thought that will grieve your Saviour.... TMK 183.4

The evil angels may be all around you to press their darkness upon you, but the will of God is greater than their power. And if you do not in word or action, or in any way, make Christ ashamed of you, the sweet blessing and peace of God will be in your heart every day you live.36 TMK 183.5

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*“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.... Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Matthew 22:37-39.
God will accept nothing less than this. CT 345.1
*Without the exercise of this love, the highest profession of faith is mere hypocrisy. 1SM 218.1

The Lord demands all the powers of the mind and being. It is his will that we should be conformed to Him in will, in temper, in spirit, in our meditations. 3SM 201.2

Move every day under God’s mighty working power. 3SM 201.3

The greatest praise that men can bring to God is to become consecrated channels through whom He can work.
Time is rapidly passing into eternity. Let us not keep back from God that which is His own. …

He asks for a whole heart; give it to Him; it is His, both by creation and by redemption.
He asks for your intellect; give it to Him; it is His.
He asks for your money; give it to Him; it is His. “Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price.” 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.
God requires the homage of a sanctified soul, which has prepared itself, by the exercise of the faith that works by love, to serve Him.
He holds up before us the highest ideal, even perfection. He asks us to be absolutely and completely for Him in this world as He is for us in the presence of God. AA 566.1

The Bible teaches that obedience is more than just doing right. It is more than doing what we are told to do. Obedience is the service of love. God’s law shows us what He is like. Love is the very center of the law. God’s government in heaven and on earth is built on His law of love. STJ 58.1

The precepts of the Decalogue are adapted to all mankind, and they were given for the instruction and government of all.
Ten precepts, brief, comprehensive, and authoritative, cover the duty of man to God and to his fellowman; and all [are] based upon the great fundamental principle of love.—Patriarchs and Prophets, 305 (1890). 1MCP 248.2

Obedience—the service and allegiance of love—is the true sign of discipleship…
Here is the true test. If we abide in Christ, if the love of God dwells in us, our feelings, our thoughts, our purposes, our actions, will be in harmony with the will of God as expressed in the precepts of His holy law. SC 61.1


The character is revealed, not by occasional good deeds and occasional misdeeds, but by the tendency of the habitual words and acts. SC 57.2


*The neglect to cultivate tender consideration and forbearance for one another has caused dissension, distrust, faultfinding, and general disunion.
God ... calls upon us to put away this great sin and to strive to answer the prayer of Christ that His disciples may be one as He is one with the Father....
It is the special work of Satan to cause dissension, ... that the world should be deprived of the most powerful testimony Christians can give it that God has sent His Son to bring into harmony turbulent, proud, envious, jealous, bigoted minds.... OHC 237.3

If we have a sense of the long-suffering of God toward us, we shall not be found judging or accusing others. When Christ was living on the earth, how surprised His associates would have been, if, after becoming acquainted with Him, they had heard Him speak one word of accusation, of fault-finding, or of impatience. Let us never forget that those who love Him are to represent Him in character. HDL 31.1

*In this last meeting with His disciples, the great desire which Christ expressed for them was that they might love one another as He had loved them.
Again and again He spoke of this. “These things I command you,” He said repeatedly, “that ye love one another.”
*His very first injunction when alone with them in the upper chamber was “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”
To the disciples this commandment was new; for they had not loved one another as Christ had loved them.
*He saw that new ideas and impulses must control them; that new principles must be practiced by them; through His life and death they were to receive a new conception of love.
*The command to love one another had a new meaning in the light of His self-sacrifice.
The whole work of grace is one continual service of love, of self-denying, self-sacrificing effort.
During every hour of Christ’s sojourn upon the earth, the love of God was flowing from Him in irrepressible streams.
All who are imbued with His Spirit will love as He loved. LHU 298.2


*We lose much by not dwelling constantly upon the character of Christ.
Manuscript 16, 1890


*When as individual members of the church, you love God supremely and your neighbor as yourself, there will be no need of labored efforts to be in unity, for there will be oneness in Christ as a natural result. The ears will no longer be open to reports that will injure your neighbor, and no one will take up a reproach against his neighbor.
The members of the church will cherish love and unity, and be as one great family.
*Then we shall bear the divine credentials to the world, that will testify that God has sent His Son into the world.
Christ has said, “By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one for another” (John 13:35).
The divinity of Christ is acknowledged in the unity of the children of God. 11MR 266.2

No provision has been made for Christians to draw apart from each other. By our unity and love we are to reveal the character of Christ.
11MR 50.1


*Sin has extinguished the love that God placed in man’s heart. The work of the church is to rekindle this love.
*The church is to co-operate with God by uprooting selfishness from the human heart, placing in its stead the benevolence that was in man’s heart in his original state of perfection. WM 14.0



*When men are bound together, not by force or self-interest, but by love, they show the working of an influence that is above every human influence.
*Where this oneness exists, it is evidence that the image of God is being restored in humanity, that a new principle of life has been implanted.
*It shows that there is power in the divine nature to withstand the supernatural agencies of evil, and that the grace of God subdues the selfishness inherent in the natural heart. LHU 298.3

In our home we have no dissension, no words of impatience. My workers are different in temperament, and their ways and manners are different, but we blend in action and stand united in spirit, seeking to help and strengthen one another. We know that we cannot afford to be a variance because we differ in temperament. We are God’s little children, and we ask Him to help us to live, not to please ourselves and to have our own way, but to please and glorify Him.—Letter 252, 1903. Ev 102.5

Christians are to cultivate self-restraint, love, forbearance, and unity one to another by the cords of brotherly love. Thus they will together exercise faith, hope, and love toward God; they will have tender consideration for all of like precious faith, and will draw toward those who love God. There will be fellowship such as the world knows not of. Ed 241.4?

Many people may be brought together in a unity of religious faith whose opinions, habits, and tastes in temporal matters are not in harmony; but if they have the love of Christ glowing in their hearts, and are looking forward to the same heaven as their eternal home, they may have the sweetest and most intelligent communion together, and a unity the most wonderful. There are scarcely two whose experience is alike in every particular. The trials of one may not be the trials of another, and our hearts should ever be open to kindly sympathy, and all aglow with the love that Jesus had for all his brethren.... GW92 400.1


*If we would be true lights in the world, we must manifest the loving, compassionate spirit of Christ.
*To love as Christ loved means that we must practice self-control.
It means that we must show unselfishness at all times and in all places.

It means that we must scatter round us kind words and pleasant looks. These cost the giver nothing, but they leave behind a precious fragrance.
Their influence for good cannot be estimated. Not only to the receiver, but to the giver, they are a blessing; for they react upon him.
*Genuine love is a precious attribute of heavenly origin, which increases in fragrance in proportion as it is dispensed to others.... ML 80.2

If we will love one another as Christ has loved us, the barriers that separate us from God and from one another will be broken down, and many obstacles that hinder the Holy Spirit’s flowing from heart to heart will be removed ML 185.3

*Let every one begin from this hour to seek the kingdom of God.
*If there are wrongs that should be confessed, then let the work of confession begin.
*The apostle has exhorted us to confess our faults one to another, and to pray one for another, that we may be healed.
*If there are difficulties that stand in the way of union and love one for another, let us, in the love and fear of God, for Christ’s sake, and for our souls’ sake, put them away.
*Let everything like prejudice and unkindness die, and come into harmony, that we may be at peace among ourselves.
We cannot cherish unkindly thoughts and feelings, and still be Christlike.
Life is not made up of great sacrifices and wonderful achievements, but of little things.
Kindness and love and courtesy are the marks of the Christian...
*In our association with each other, let it be ever remembered that there are chapters in the experience of others that are sealed from mortal eyes.
*There are sad histories that are written in the books of heaven, which are sacredly guarded from prying eyes.
*There stand registered long, hard battles with trying circumstances, arising in the very homes, that day by day sap the courage, the faith, the confidence, until the very manhood seems to fall to ruins.
To such, words of kindness and of affection are welcome as the smile of angels.
*A strong, helpful grasp of the hand of a true friend is worth more than gold and silver. It helps him to regain the manhood of the man.—Letter 16, May 15, 1886

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*"All things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28).
Could your eyes be opened, you would see your heavenly Father bending over you in love; and could you hear His voice it would be in tones of compassion to you who are prostrate with suffering and affliction.
Stand fast in His strength; there is rest for you. HP 272.5

*When trials and tribulations come to you know that they are sent in order that you may receive from the Lord of glory renewed strength and increased humility, so that He may safely bless and support and uphold you. ML 185.2

*Adversity and trial will only give them an opportunity to show the sincerity of their faith and love. TMK 257.2

All that has perplexed us in the providences of God will in the world to come be made plain. The things hard to be understood will then find explanation. The mysteries of grace will unfold before us. Where our finite minds discovered only confusion and broken promises, we shall see the most perfect and beautiful harmony. We shall know that infinite love ordered the experiences that seemed most trying. As we realize the tender care of Him who makes all things work together for our good, we shall rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.... AH 542.2

The Father’s presence encircled Christ, and nothing befell Him but that which infinite love permitted for the blessing of the world. Here was His source of comfort, and it is for us. He who is imbued with the Spirit of Christ abides in Christ. Whatever comes to him comes from the Saviour, who surrounds him with His presence. Nothing can touch him except by the Lord’s permission. All our sufferings and sorrows, all our temptations and trials, all our sadness and griefs, all our persecutions and privations, in short, all things work together for our good. All experiences and circumstances are God’s workmen whereby good is brought to us. HDL 30.3

The apostle Paul, who had received many revelations from the Lord, met difficulties from various sources, and amidst all his conflicts and discouragements, he did not lose his confidence and trust in God. Under the special tuition of the Holy Spirit, his judgment was purified, refined, elevated, sanctified. The devising of human beings and of the enemy against him, were to him a means of discipline and education, and he declares that thus he gained most excellent knowledge, because he made the Lord Jesus his dependence.

Jesus feels every pang of sorrow felt by those who are consecrated to His service, and who, under great difficulties are doing His work. Let us dwell upon the love of Jesus, that we may have courage and faith….

We know that trials await us. But those who are true and steadfast will have a strong and powerful defense in God. …Let us be always cheerful, that others may not catch from us the spirit of discouragement. Sing praises to the Lord; sing praises to His holy name.
RH November 1, 1903 — Words of Courage

Those who occupy themselves in opposing his work and his servants, we leave to serve their own master, while we press forward to spread the triumphs of the cross.

And those who busy themselves in finding fault with the servants of God—are they laboring with zeal and energy to build up his kingdom? In this work they have little interest. Their mission is to weaken and tear down. This is the work of Satan, and he employs the ability of every man whom he can control.

There will ever be some who take delight in dwelling upon the real or supposed faults and failures of others, and who employ their time in seeing, hearing, or reporting something that will destroy confidence in the person criticised. Few are without visible faults; in most persons careful scrutiny will reveal some defect of character; and upon these defects in others, some professed Christians delight to dwell….

They leave the distasteful work of caring for their own souls and repenting of their own sins, and climb upon the judgment seat to condemn another. RH August 28, 1883 — Our Present Position

The true followers of Christ will not be found biting and devouring one another. RHAugust 28, 1883 — Our Present Position

Brethren and sisters, let not your souls be disturbed by the efforts of those who so earnestly seek to arouse distrust and suspicion of Sister White. These attacks have been repeated hundreds of times during the past forty years; but my labors have not ceased; the voice of warning, reproof, and encouragement has not been silenced. The evil reports framed concerning me have injured those who circulated them; but they have not destroyed my work. Before some of these opposers had an existence, I was shown what would come, and from what source. In the day of God, those who have been seeking to prove me a deceiver must answer for their course.

Many ask, Why do you not contradict these reports? Why allow them to be circulated? The same question has been asked again and again for the last forty years. My answer is, in the language of one of old, I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down. God has called me to reveal to others by pen and voice, what he has revealed to me. In his strength I must go forward in this solemn and important work, knowing that it is soon to bear the test of the Judgment. While false accusers are doing what pleases themselves, I will seek only to please Him who has given me my work. Christ is our leader, and if we follow him, we shall see his triumph and share his joy.

To those who have long been acquainted with my labors, I leave the burden of stating the truth in these matters. If any who have had an experience in this message and who understand the relation which I have sustained to it, are inclined to believe the false statements of my enemies, nothing that I might say would influence them. Those who make the slanders and those who circulate them are actuated by the same spirit. I do not expect the manufacture and circulation of false reports to cease. As long as I am faithful in reproving sin, and in presenting before the people the perfection of Christian character, Satan’s enmity will be stirred against me. If I were to leave my work to correct every false statement made concerning me, I would have time to do little else. Satan’s purpose would be accomplished, could he thus put an end to my labors.

I have not changed in character or in my manner of labor since you first listened to the messages of comfort, encouragement, and warning which God has given me for his people. I am the same in plainness and severe simplicity of dress; the same in bearing an earnest, decided testimony for God; the same in deep interest in the truth. I cherish the same faith, the same hope, the same love for souls for whom Christ died.

Brethren and sisters, have no fears that I shall become disheartened by the cruel attacks of my enemies. I expect them in greater measure, and only wonder that they have not been more frequent. Think of Jesus. How much was said against him. How he was despised and hated. See him laboring for a short time in one place, and then forced to hasten to another to save his life, that he might finish his work, and give to the world the light of a pure and noble example. We may strengthen our faith and quicken our love by going often to the foot of the cross, and there contemplating our Saviour’s humiliation. Behold the Majesty of Heaven suffering as a transgressor! Spotless purity, untarnished righteousness, did not shield him from falsehood and reproach. He meekly bore the contradiction of sinners against himself, and yielded up his life, that we might be forgiven and live forevermore. Are we willing to follow in his steps? The only reason why we do not now suffer greater persecution is, we do not in our lives more faithfully exemplify the life of Christ. I assure you, brethren and sisters, if you walk as he walked, you will know what it is to be persecuted and reproached for his sake.

If we hope to wear the crown, we must expect to bear the cross. Our greatest trials will come from those who profess godliness. It was so with the world’s Redeemer; it will be so with his followers. I should doubt whether I were a child of God, if the world, or even all professed Christians, spoke well of me. Those who are in earnest to win the crown of eternal life need not be surprised or disheartened because at every step toward the heavenly Canaan they meet with obstacles and encounter trials. The opposition which Christ received came from his own nation, who would have been greatly blessed had they accepted him. In like manner the remnant church receive opposition from those who profess to be their brethren.

But “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” It is good for me to tread a hard and humble path, to encounter difficulties, to experience disappointments, to suffer afflictions and bereavements. The Saviour knows what is best. Faith grows by conflict with doubt and difficulty and trial. Virtue gathers strength by resistance to temptation. The life of the faithful soldier is a battle and a march. No rest, fellow-pilgrim, this side the heavenly Canaan.

When our enemies try to place upon us the black robes of unrighteousness, let us not become exasperated at their injustice. When your efforts are falsified, when your motives and your works are painted in colors black as ink, remember those who were treated the same before you. How have the saints of God in ages past been maligned, traduced, and persecuted! For centuries their names were covered with infamy. All that the hosts of hell could do was done to heap reproach upon them as the vilest of men. But John in holy vision beholds the faithful souls that come up out of great tribulation, surrounding the throne of God, clad in white robes, and crowned with immortal glory.

Leave Sister White in the hands of God. If the work in which she is engaged be of God, it will prosper; otherwise it will come to naught. RHAugust 28, 1883 — Our Present Position

In this life we are placed under the discipline and government of God to form characters and acquire habits for the higher life. All the scenes in which we must act a part, are to be carefully studied; for they are a part of our education, a part of God’s great plan. We should bring solid timbers into our character building; for we are working both for this life and the eternal life. And as we near the close of this earth’s history, we either rapidly advance in Christian growth, or we rapidly retrograde toward the world. RH December 13, 1892 — Let the Trumpet Give a Certain Sound

Temptations will come in like a flood; but we need not fail nor be discouraged while we know that the bow of promise is above the throne of God. We shall be subject to heavy trials, opposition, bereavement, affliction, but we know that Jesus passed through all these. These experiences are valuable to us; the advantages of varying experiences are not by any means confined to this short life; they reach into eternal ages. Through patience, faith, and hope, in all the changing scenes of earth, we are forming characters for the everlasting life. And whatever we are called upon to bear, we may be assured that all things work together for good to those that love God. RH December 13, 1892 — Let the Trumpet Give a Certain Sound

It is good that afflictions come upon us; for we may thereby prove the Lord, and find him very precious unto our souls. The Lord designs that his people shall be happy, and he opens before us one source of consolation after another, that we may be filled with joy and peace in the midst of our present experience. We are not to wait until we shall get into heaven for brightness and comfort and joy. We are to have them right here in this life. I testify to all who love and serve God, that we miss very much because we do not grasp the blessings that may be ours in our afflictions. All our sufferings and sorrows, all our temptations and trials, all our sadness and griefs, all our persecutions and privations, and in short all things, work together for our good. The apostle says, “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” All experiences and circumstances are God’s workmen whereby good is brought to us. Let us look at the light behind the cloud. O, how much of comfort the murmurers and complainers lose in not bearing all things patiently! Never by thought or word or action give the impression that the Lord is a hard Master, reaping where he has not sown, and gathering where he has not strawed. RH February 27, 1894 — Let Your Light Shine

The fact that we are called upon to endure trial shows that the Lord Jesus sees in us something precious which He desires to develop. If He saw in us nothing whereby He might glorify His name, He would not spend time in refining us. He does not cast worthless stones into His furnace. It is valuable ore that He refines. FLB 64.2

God never leads His children otherwise than they would choose to be led, if they could see the end from the beginning and discern the glory of the purpose which they are fulfilling as co-workers with Him. FLB 64.3

He who is imbued with the Spirit of Christ abides in Christ. The blow that is aimed at him falls upon the Saviour, who surrounds him with His presence. Whatever comes to him comes from Christ. He has no need to resist evil, for Christ is his defense. Nothing can touch him except by our Lord’s permission, and “all things” that are permitted “work together for good to them that love God.” FLB 64.5

Our heavenly Father has a thousand ways to provide for us of which we know nothing. Those who accept the one principle of making the service of God supreme, will find perplexities vanish and a plain path before their feet. FLB 64.6

The things we may so much desire to do may become a reality after God has proved us in the school of experience, and among our greatest blessings may be counted the thing we were not privileged to do, that would have barred the way from doing the very things best calculated to prepare us for a higher work. The plain, sober duties of real life were essential to prevent the fruitless striving to do things that we were not fitted to do. Our devised plans often fail that God’s plans for us may be a complete success. Oh, it is in the future life we shall see the tangles and mysteries of life, that have so annoyed and disappointed our fond hopes, explained. We will see that the prayers and hopes for certain things which have been withheld have been among our greatest blessings. OHC 318.3

We need not expect all sunshine in this world. Clouds and storms will cluster about us, and we must be prepared to keep our eyes directed where we saw the light last. Its rays may be hidden but they still live, still shine beyond the cloud. It is our work to wait, to watch, to pray, and to believe. We shall prize the light of the sun more highly after the clouds disappear. We shall see the salvation of God if we trust in God in the darkness as well as in the light. OHC 318.4

All trials, all afflictions, all peace, all safety, health, hope, life, and success are in God’s hands, and He can control them all for the good of His children. It is our privilege to be suppliants, to ask anything and everything of God, submitting our request in submission to His wise purposes and infinite will. OHC 318.5