Chapter 39—Self-Control and Fidelity
We have no right to overtax either the mental or the physical powers so that we are easily excited and led to speak words which dishonor God. The Lord desires us to be always calm and forbearing. Whatever others may do, we are to represent Christ, doing as He would do under similar circumstances.
Every day one in a position of trust has decisions to make on which depend results of great importance. He has often to think rapidly, and this can be done successfully only by those who practice strict temperance. The mind strengthens under the correct treatment of the physical and the mental powers. If the strain is not too great, it acquires new vigor with every taxation.
None but a wholehearted Christian can be a true gentleman.
A neglect to conform in every particular to God’s requirements means certain failure and loss to the wrongdoer. Failing to keep the way of the Lord, he robs his Maker of the service that is His due. This reacts upon himself; he fails of gaining that grace, that power, that force of character, which it is the privilege of each to receive who surrenders all to God. Living apart from Christ, he is exposed to temptation. He makes mistakes in his work for the Master. Untrue to principle in little things, he fails of doing God’s will in things greater. He acts on the principles to which he has accustomed himself.
God cannot connect with those who live to please themselves, to make themselves first. Those who do this will in the end be last of all. The sin that is most nearly hopeless and incurable is pride of opinion, self-conceit. This stands in the way of all growth. When a man has defects of character, yet fails of realizing this; when he is so imbued with self-sufficiency that he cannot see his fault, how can he be cleansed? “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.” Matthew 9:12. How can one improve when he thinks his ways perfect?
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When one who is supposed to be led and taught by God turns out of the way, because of self-confidence, many follow his example. His false step may result in misleading thousands.
Consider the parable of the fig tree:
“A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: and if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.” Luke 13:6-9.
“Then after that.” In these words there is a lesson for all who are connected with the work of God. A period of probation was granted to the tree that bore no fruit. And in like manner God bears long with His people. But of those who have had great advantages, and who are standing in positions of high and sacred trust, and yet bear no fruit, He says: “Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?”
Let those connected with the Lord’s special instrumentalities remember that He will call for fruit from His vineyard. Proportionate to the blessings bestowed will be the returns required. Heavenly angels have visited and ministered in every place where God’s institutions are established. Unfaithfulness in these institutions is a greater sin than it would be elsewhere, for it has a greater influence than it would elsewhere have. Unfaithfulness, injustice, dishonesty, conniving at wrong, obstruct the light which God designs shall shine forth from His instrumentalities.
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The world is watching, ready to criticize with keenness and severity your words, your deportment, and your business transactions. Everyone who acts a part in connection with the work of God is watched, and is weighed by the scales of human discernment. Impressions, favorable or unfavorable to Bible religion, are constantly made on the minds of all with whom you have to do.
The world watches to see what fruit is borne by professed Christians. It has a right to look for self-denial and self-sacrifice from those who claim to believe advanced truth.
There have been, and will continue to be, among our workers those who do not feel their need of Jesus at every step. They think they cannot take time to pray and attend religious meetings. They have so much to do that they cannot find time to keep their souls in the love of God. When this is the case, Satan is on the ground to create vain imaginations.
Workers who are not diligent and faithful do incalculable harm. They set an example for others. In every institution there are some who are rendering wholehearted, cheerful service; but will not the leaven affect them? Shall the institution be left without some sincere examples of Christian fidelity? When men claiming to be representatives of Christ reveal that they are unconverted, their characters gross, selfish, impure, they should be separated from the work.
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The workers need to realize the sacredness of the trust with which the Lord has honored them. Impulsive motives, fitful actions, must be put aside. Those who cannot distinguish between the sacred and the common are not safe stewards of high responsibilities. When tempted, they will betray their trust. Those who do not appreciate the privileges and opportunities of a connection with the work of God will not stand when the enemy presents his specious temptations. They are easily misled by selfish, ambitious projects. If, after the light has been presented to them, they still fail of distinguishing right from wrong, the sooner they are disconnected from the institution, the purer and more elevated will be the character of the work.
No one should be retained in any one of the Lord’s institutions who in a crisis fails of realizing that His instrumentalities are sacred. If workers have no relish for the truth; if their connection with the institution makes them no better, brings to them no love for the truth, then, after sufficient trial, separate them from the work; for their irreligion and unbelief influence others. Through them evil angels work to mislead those who are brought in as apprentices. You should obtain for apprentices those who are promising youth, those who love God. But if you place them in connection with others who have no love for God, they are in constant danger from the irreligious influence. The halfhearted and worldly, those who are given to gossip, who dwell on the faults of others, while neglecting their own, should be separated from the work.
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Chapter 40—Danger from Improper Reading
As I see the danger that threatens the youth from improper reading I cannot forbear to present still further the warnings given me in regard to this great evil.
The harm that results to the workers from handling matter of an objectionable character is too little realized. Their attention is arrested and their interest aroused by the subject matter with which they are dealing. Sentences are imprinted in the memory. Thoughts are suggested. Almost unconsciously the reader is influenced by the spirit of the writer, and mind and character receive an impress for evil. There are some who have little faith and little power of self-control, and it is difficult for them to banish the thoughts suggested by such literature.
Before accepting the present truth, some had formed the habit of novel reading. Upon uniting with the church, they made an effort to overcome this habit. To place before this class reading similar to that which they have discarded is like offering intoxicants to the inebriate. Yielding to the temptation continually before them, they soon lose their relish for solid reading. They have no interest in Bible study. Their moral power becomes enfeebled. Sin appears less and less repulsive. There is manifest an increasing unfaithfulness, a growing distaste for life’s practical duties. As the mind becomes perverted, it is ready to grasp any reading of a stimulating character. Thus the way is open for Satan to bring the soul fully under his domination.
Works that do not so decidedly mislead and corrupt are yet to be shunned if they impart a disrelish for the study of the Bible. This word is the true manna. Let all repress the desire for reading matter that is not food for the mind. You cannot possibly do the work of God with clear perception while the mind is occupied with this class of reading. Those who are in God’s service should spend neither time nor money for light reading. What is the chaff to the wheat?
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There is no time for engaging in trifling amusements, the gratification of selfish propensities. It is time that you were occupied with serious thoughts. And you cannot dwell upon the self-denying, self-sacrificing life of the world’s Redeemer and find pleasure in joking and jesting and whiling away your time in foolishness. You are greatly in need of a practical experience in the Christian life. You need to train the mind for the work of God. The religious experience is to a great degree determined by the character of the books you read in your leisure moments.
If you love the Scriptures, and search them whenever there is opportunity, that you may come into possession of their rich treasures, then you may be assured that Jesus is drawing you to Himself.
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him.” Colossians 2:8-10.
We cannot be complete in Christ and yet be ready to grasp those things that come from the so-called great men of the earth, and place their wisdom before the wisdom of the greatest Teacher the world has ever known. To seek knowledge from such sources is represented in the word as seeking to drink from broken cisterns that can hold no water.
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Let the truth of God be the subject for contemplation and meditation. Read the Bible, and regard it as the voice of God speaking directly to you. Then will you find inspiration and that wisdom which is divine.
The gathering together of many books for study too often interposes between God and man a mass of knowledge that weakens the mind and makes it incapable of assimilating that which it has already received. The mind becomes dyspeptic. Wisdom is needed, that man may choose aright between these many authors and the word of life, that he may eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God.
My brethren, discard the streams of the lowlands and come to the pure waters of Lebanon. Never can you walk in the light of God while you crowd the mind with a mass of matter which it cannot digest. It is time we resolved to have heaven’s help and allow the mind to be impressed with the word of God. Let us close the door to so much reading. Let us pray more and eat the words of life. Unless there is a deeper work of grace in mind and heart, we can never see the face of God.
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Chapter 41—Avoid Debt
God does not want His work to be continually embarrassed with debt. When it seems desirable to add to the buildings or other facilities of an institution, beware of going beyond your means. Better to defer the improvements until Providence shall open the way for them to be made without contracting heavy debts and having to pay interest.
The publishing houses have been made places of deposit by our people and have thus been enabled to furnish means to support branches of the work in different fields and have aided in carrying other enterprises. This is well. None too much has been done in these lines. The Lord sees it all. But, from the light He has given me, every effort should be made to stand free from debt.
The publishing work was founded in self-denial and should be conducted upon strictly economical principles. The question of finance can be managed if, when there is a pressure for means, the workers will consent to a reduction in wages. This was the principle the Lord revealed to me to be brought into our institutions. When money is scarce, we should be willing to restrict our wants.
Let the proper estimate be placed upon the publications, and then let all in our publishing houses study to economize in every possible way even though considerable inconvenience is thus caused. Watch the little outgoes. Stop every leak. It is the little losses that tell heavily in the end. Gather up the fragments; let nothing be lost. Waste not the minutes in talking; wasted minutes mar the hours. Persevering diligence working in faith, will always be crowned with success.
Some think it beneath their dignity to look after small things. They think it the evidence of a narrow mind and a niggardly spirit. But small leaks have sunk many a ship. Nothing that would serve the purpose of any should be allowed to waste. A lack of economy will surely bring debt upon our institutions. Although much money may be received, it will be lost in the little wastes of every branch of the work. Economy is not stinginess.
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Every man or woman employed in the publishing house should be a faithful sentinel, watching that nothing be wasted. All should guard against supposed wants that require an expenditure of means. Some men live better on four hundred dollars a year than others do on eight hundred. Just so it is with our institutions; some persons can manage them with far less capital than others can. God desires all the workers to practice economy, and especially to be faithful accountants.
Every worker in our institutions should receive fair compensation. If the workers receive suitable wages, they have the gratification of making donations to the cause. It is not right that some should receive a large amount and others, who are doing essential and faithful work, very little.
Yet there are cases where a difference must be made. There are men connected with the publishing houses who carry heavy responsibilities and whose work is of great value to the institution. In many other positions they would have far less care and, financially, much greater profit. All can see the injustice of paying such men no higher wages than are paid to mere mechanical workers.
If a woman is appointed by the Lord to do a certain work, her work should be estimated according to its value. Some may think it good policy to allow persons to devote their time and labor to the work without compensation. But God does not sanction such arrangements. When self-denial is required because of a dearth of means, the burden is not to rest wholly upon a few persons. Let all unite in the sacrifice.
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The Lord desires those entrusted with His goods to show kindness and liberality, not niggardliness. Let them not, in their deal, try to exact every cent possible. God looks with contempt on such methods.
Workers should receive compensation according to the hours they give in honest labor. The one who gives full time is to receive according to the time. If one enlists mind, soul, and strength in bearing the burdens, he is to be paid accordingly.
No man should be granted an exorbitant salary, even though he may possess special capabilities and qualifications. The work done for God and His cause is not to be placed on a mercenary basis. The workers in the publishing house have no more taxing labor, no greater expense, no more weighty responsibilities, than have the workers in other lines. Their labor is no more wearing than is that of the faithful minister. On the contrary, ministers, as a rule, make greater sacrifices than are made by the laborers in our institutions. Ministers go where they are sent; they are minutemen, ready to move at any moment, to meet any emergency. They are necessarily separated, to a great degree, from their families. The workers in the publishing houses, as a rule, have a permanent home and can live with their families. This is a great saving of expense and should be considered in its bearing on the relative compensation of laborers in the ministry and in the publishing houses.
Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 7 pp. 199-208
