Latter Rain

"The more simple the education of our workers, the less connection they have with the men whom God is not leading, the more will be accomplished. Work will be done in the simplicity of true godliness, and the old, old times will be back when, under the Holy Spirit's guidance, thousands were converted in a day. When the truth in its simplicity is lived in every place, then God will work through His angels as He worked on the day of Pentecost, and hearts will be changed so decidedly that there will be a manifestation of the influence of genuine truth, as is represented in the descent of the Holy Spirit."

"The most of those who compose our congregations are spiritually dead in trespasses and sins....The sweetest melodies that come from God through human lips--justification by faith, and the righteousness of Christ--do not bring forth from them a response of love and gratitude. Though the heavenly Merchantman displays before them the richest jewels of faith and love, though His voice invites them to buy of Him `gold tried in the fire,' and `white raiment that they may be clothed,' and `eyesalve that they may see,' they steel their hearts against Him, and fail to exchange their lukewarmness for love and zeal; but fold their hands in complacency, make a profession, but deny the power of true godliness. (see 2 Tim 3:5)....

"When professed Christians feel no burden to enlighten the minds of those who are in darkness; when they fail to make use of the rich grace of Christ, and cease to impart the knowledge they have received, they become selfish, narrow, bigoted, and their capacity to receive more and more heavenly illumination decreases rather than increases. They become less discerning, lose their appreciation of the richness of the heavenly endowment, and failing to value it themselves, they fail to present it to others. It is only as God sees His professed people eager to be laborers together with Him, that He can impart to them light and grace; for then they will make every interest secondary to the interest of His work and cause. With such workers the heavenly intelligences will co-operate. Jesus says, `Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto Me.' It is the union of the Holy Spirit and the testimony of the living witness that is to warn the world. The worker for God is the agent through which the heavenly communication is given, and the Holy Spirit gives divine authority to the word of truth....

"The truth for this time has been presented from the holy oracles, and has been witnessed by the power of the Holy Spirit. It has been clearly shown that in the righteousness of Christ is our only hope of gaining access to the Father....Those who reject the evidence already presented would not be convinced by more abundant proof....Unless the transforming grace of Christ cleanses and purifies the soul, they will go on from darkness to greater darkness.

"If we would see light in God's light, we must abide in Christ....But stubbornness effectually bars the way of the Spirit of God....But without the aid of the Spirit of God the soul cannot be renewed, a new heart cannot be created within. The Lord is at work seeking to purify His people, and this great work is retarded y unbelief and stubbornness....Light has been shining upon the church of God, but many have said by their indifferent attitude, `We want not Thy way, O Lord, but our own way.' The kingdom of heaven has come very near, and they have caught glimpses of the Father and the Son, but they have barred the door of the heart, and have not received the heavenly guests; for as yet they know not the love of God.

"Think how great was the light that was given to the Jews, and yet they rejected the Lord of life and glory....The light became brighter and brighter, until there was no escaping the conclusion that Christ was no ordinary teacher; but when conviction is disregarded, when evidence is rejected, men are forced to take a position of active opposition and stubborn resistance. The Spirit of God followed the impenitent, with warnings and entreaties, the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness illuminated the mind; but many refuse the compassion of a loving Saviour, and would not permit their hearts to break and melt under the beams of His love. They refused the message of mercy, refused to do what God required in the way that God required, and their offerings were as devoid of merit as were the offerings of Cain...

"Under the mighty impulse of His (Jesus's) love, He took our place in the universe, and invited the ruler of all things to treat Him as a representative of the human family. He identified Himself with our interests, bared His breast for the stroke of death, took man's guilt and its penalty, and offered in man's behalf a complete sacrifice to God. By virtue of this atonement, He has power to offer to man perfect righteousness and full salvation. Whosoever shall believe on Him as a personal Saviour shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

"Oh, how my heart was drawn out in wrestling prayer to God that He would manifest His power on the Sabbath day and greatly bless His people. He did all this and far more than I had asked. It seemed that a tidal wave of the glory of the Lord swept over the congregation, and many, many souls were filled with a rich blessing of God, and this occasion to them was one never to be forgotten. They bore testimony that the power of God thrilled through and through them....Others bore testimony of the power of the Holy Spirit that came upon them."

"I rejoiced when I heard that the Holy Ghost had been poured out upon our people in America, and I have been anxiously waiting new developments in America as was seen after the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost. I thought similar fruits would be seen, that the missionary spirit of God would burn in the hearts of all upon whom the Spirit of God was manifestly moving."

"The glory of God came into that meeting. It seemed at times at the commencement of the meeting that the glory of God was about to drop upon us, but it did not come only to a few, but at this time like a tidal wave it swept through that congregation, and what a time of rejoicing....But the Spirit of God has an influence upon the human heart that shows itself in the countenance, and the shining of the very face reveals Jesus within....The light of the glory of God was there."

"Many precious testimonies were borne, but yet there is not that fullness of faith that reaches out for a fullness of the blessing of God, as it is our privilege and duty to have. I fear many will go away from this meeting greatly in need of the very blessings that it is their privilege to receive, just now."

"Now brethren I want to tell you when the Spirit of God comes into our midst it will strike the minds that are ready to receive it. But if their minds are not open to receive it, they are all ready to pass judgment upon the messenger and the words spoken, and in the place of coming to God and asking Him to give them a new heart and a new mind, and that the transforming influence of the grace of God shall be upon them, they commence to find fault and pick flaws."

"...the Lord was to revive His people and give them light in clear distinct rays that would lead to the magnifying of Christ. The Lord's command to His people through His messengers was, `Go forward.' And now Satan determined to hold the people away from the light that the rich blessing of God should now come upon the delegates."

" Now our meeting is drawing to a close and not one confession has been made, there has not been a single break so as to let the Spirit of God in. Now I was saying what was the use of our assembling here together and for our ministering brethren to come in if they are here only to shut out the Spirit of God from the people?"

"It was after one week had passed away before there was a break (in the prejudice against the message) and the power of God, like a tidal wave, rolled over that congregation. I tell you, it was to set men free; it was to point them to the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world....the mighty movings of the Spirit of God were there....God revealed His glory."

"I saw that the power of God attended the message wherever it was spoken. You could not make the people believe in South Lancaster that it was not a message of light that came to them....it was a week before there was a break in the meetings. But like a wave of glory, the blessing of God swept over us as we pointed men to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. The Lord revealed His glory, and we felt the deep movings of His Spirit."

"...those who have set themselves against my message, and have not been moved to change their position of resistance notwithstanding all the Lord has given me to say in demonstration of the Spirit and power, I have no hope could be helped by anything I should say further. They have resisted the appeals of the Spirit of God. I have no hope that the Lord has a reserve power to break down their resistance. I leave them in the hands of God, and unless the Lord places upon me a decided burden to speak words in the Tabernacle I shall not attempt to say anything until those who have acted a part to hedge up my way shall clear my path. If they have not recognized the Spirit of the Lord in the messages I have borne they will recognize it less now...

"At the time of the loud cry of the third angel those who have been in any measure blinded by the enemy, who have not fully recovered themselves from the snare of Satan, will be in peril, because it will be difficult to discern the light from heaven, and they will be inclined to accept falsehood....The evidences that God has given will be no evidence to those who have blinded their eyes by choosing darkness rather than light. After rejecting the light, they will originate theories which they will call `light,' but which the Lord calls sparks of their own kindling, by which they will direct their steps."

"According to the light that has been given me--and just how it is to be accomplished I cannot say--greater strength must be brought into the managing force of the Conference. But this will not be done by intrusting responsibilities to men who have had light poured upon them year after year for the last ten or fifteen years, and yet have not heeded the light that God has given them."

"You need greater light, you need clearer understanding of the truth which you carry to the people. If you do not see light yourselves, you will close the door, if you can, you will prevent the rays of light from coming to the people....No one must be permitted to close the avenue whereby the light of truth shall come to the people. As soon as this shall be attempted, God's Spirit will be quenched....Let the love of Christ reign in hearts here....When the Spirit of God comes in, love will take the place of variance, because Jesus is love; if His Spirit were cherished here, our meeting would be like a stream in the desert...

"There are but few, even of those who claim to believe it, that comprehend the third angel's message; and yet this is the message for this time. It is present truth. But how few take up this message in its true bearing and present it to the people in its power. With many it has but little force. Said my guide, `There is much light yet to shine forth from the law of God and the gospel of righteousness. This message understood in its true character, and proclaimed in the spirit will lighten the earth with its glory."

"The rebuke of the Lord will be upon those who would be guardians of the doctrine, who would bar the way that greater light shall not come to the people....Let no one run the risk of interposing himself between the people and the message of heaven. The message of God will come to the people; and if there were no voice among men to give it, the very stones would cry out."

"You may encase yourselves in pride, and continue to reject Christ in the person of His messengers. If these men do this, the words of the apostle will find an application in their case, as in the time of the Jews: `He came to His own, and His own received Him not....You reject Christ by rejecting the message He sends; in so doing, you place yourselves under the control of the prince of darkness. Your spiritual discernment has been blunted. God has sent messages of light to His people which would have been as healing balm had they received them...

"It is a grievous sin in the sight of God for men to place themselves between the people and the message that He would have come to them as some of our brethren are now doing. There are some who, like the Jews, are doing their utmost to make the message of God of none effect....From Christ, the light of the world, shone forth the clear, bright beams of His Father's glory. Yet the Jews comprehended it not.

"There is an alarming condition of things in our churches. Says the word of God, `Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you. For among My people are found wicked men; they lay in wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men....The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and My people love to have it so, and what will ye do in the end thereof?' `They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, peace, peace; when their is no peace.' `And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not; therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by My name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh, and I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brethren.' God will surely fulfill His word to those who will not hear, will not see and refuse the light which He sends them.

"If the church refuses to hear the voice of the heavenly Merchantman, refuses to open the door, then Christ will pass on, and it will be left destitute of His presence, destitute of true riches, but saying in self-righteousness, `I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.' (Rev 3:17)

"Many who refuse the message which the Lord sends them are seeking to find pegs on which to hang doubts, to find some excuse for rejecting the light of heaven....When men close their eyes to the light that God sends them, they will reject the most evident truth, and believe the most foolish errors. It is Satan that leads men to take false positions....

"God has sent message upon message to His people, and it has nearly broken my heart to see those who, we thought, were taught and led by God, fall under the bewitching power of the enemy, who led them to reject the truth for this time.....However, truth will move on, passing by those who despise and reject it. Although apparently retarded, it cannot be extinguished. When the message of God meets with opposition, He gives it additional force that it may exert greater influence. Endowed with vital, heavenly energy, it will cut its way through the thickest barriers, dispel darkness, refute error, gain conquests, and triumph over every obstacle....

"There are many who have heard the message for this time and have seen its results, and they cannot but acknowledge that the work is good, but from fear that some will take extreme positions, and that fanaticism may arise in our ranks, they have permitted their imagination to create many obstacles to hinder the advance of the work, and they have presented these difficulties to others, expatiating on the dangers of accepting the doctrine. They have sought to counteract the influence of the message of truth....Men will catch at words and statements that they suppose to be faulty, and will magnify and falsify these utterances....

"The message of God has been presented to the people with clearness and force; it is the very message which God means that His church shall have at this time. Your refusal to listen to it, your rejection of it, while it will not stop the work, will result in great loss to your souls. Every ray of light that God has given to His people is necessary for them in the emergency that is to come; but is the rays of heaven's light are not discerned, if they are not appreciated, accepted, and acted upon, you will lose the heavenly benefit yourselves, and keep the light from others whom God designed should receive it through you....

"With the glorious light of truth emanating from God, with abundant evidence that the work for this time is ordained of heaven, beware that you do not harden your hearts and ask for further proof...`If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.'"

"The time of trouble is before us. The angels are, as it were, just loosening the four winds, but they cannot loose them yet. The church is too far behind her privileges....The question is, How long will God wait for our tardy movements? Instead of lying before God in humility, man has exalted himself and has indulged in high ideas of his own importance and loftiness, and his eyes have been closed to the glory of Christ. When Christ beams forth upon the soul, all glory is rendered unto Him who is seen to be the only One full of grace and truth. His glory alone should fill the soul....

"As never before we should pray not only that laborers may be sent forth into the great harvest field, but that we may have a clear conception of truth, so that when the messengers of truth shall come we may accept the message and respect the messenger. Oh, that darkness may not settle upon any soul, but that the illuminating Spirit of Christ shall fall upon His people. Spiritual things are spiritually discerned, and the glory of our Redeemer is His character; this we must behold with spiritual vision....

"The message which the messengers have been proclaiming is the message to the Laodicean church....The church of God is to shine as a light to the world, but Jesus is the illuminator, and He is represented as moving among His people. No one shines by his own light. The Lord God almighty and the Lamb are the lights thereof. The message given us by A. T. Jones, and E. J. Waggoner is the message of God to the Laodicean church, and woe be unto anyone who professes to believe the truth and yet does not reflect to others the God-given rays....

"The Laodicean message has been sounding. Take this message in all its phases and sound it forth to the people wherever Providence opens the way. Justification by faith and the righteousness of Christ are the themes to be presented to a perishing world....The voice of Jesus, the great vendor of heavenly treasures, is calling to you, `I counsel thee to buy of Me Gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed.'"

"The atmosphere of the church is so frigid, its spirit is of such an order, that men and women cannot sustain or endure the example of primitive and heaven-born piety. The warmth of their first love is frozen up, and unless they are watered over by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, their candlestick will be removed out of its place..."

"I inquire of those in responsible positions in Battle Creek, What are you doing? You have turned your back, and not your face, to the Lord. (see Ezekiel 8:16)...What is the message to be given at this time? It is the third angel's message. But that light which is to fill the whole earth with its glory has been despised by some who claim to believe the present truth. Be careful how you treat it. Take off the shoes from off your feet; for you are on holy ground. Beware how you indulge the attributes of Satan, and pour contempt upon the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. I know not but some have even now gone too far to return and to repent.

"I state truth. The souls who love God, who believe in Christ, and who eagerly grasp every ray of light, will see light, and rejoice in the truth. They will communicate the light. They will grow in holiness. Those who receive the Holy Spirit will feel the chilling atmosphere that surrounds the souls of others by whom these great and solemn realities are unappreciated and spoken against....

"The Spirit of God is departing from many among His people. Many have entered into dark, secret paths, and some will never return. They will continue to stumble to their ruin. They have tempted God, they have rejected light. All the evidence that will ever be given them they have received, and have not heeded. They have chosen darkness rather than light, and have defiled their souls....many have listened to the truth spoken in demonstration of the Spirit, and they have not only refused to accept the message, but they have hated the light. These men are parties to the ruin of souls. They have interposed themselves between the heaven-sent light and the people. They have trampled upon the word of God and are doing despite to His Holy Spirit.

"The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones. This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It presented justification through faith in the Surety; it invited the people to receive the righteousness of Christ, which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God. Many had lost sight of Jesus. They needed to have their eyes directed to His divine person, His merits, and His changeless love for the human family. All power is given into His hands, that He may dispense rich gifts unto men, imparting the priceless gift of His own righteousness to the helpless human agent. This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel's message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of His Spirit in a large measure....

"Now, it has been Satan's determined purpose to eclipse the view of Jesus and lead men to look to man, and trust to man, and be educated to expect help from man. For years the church has been looking to man and expecting much from man, but not looking to Jesus, in whom our hopes of eternal life are centered. Therefore God gave to His servants a testimony that presented the truth as it is in Jesus, which is the third angel's message, in clear, distinct lines....

"Those who received the message were greatly blessed, for they saw the bright rays of the Sun of Righteousness, and life and hope sprang up in their hearts. They were beholding Christ....The Sun of Righteousness shines into our hearts to give the knowledge of the glory of Jesus....the Lord would manifest His great grace unto His chosen ones...

"I would speak in warning to those who have stood for years resisting light and cherishing the spirit of opposition. How long will you hate and despise the messengers of God's righteousness? God has given them His message. They bear the word of the Lord. There is salvation for you, but only through the merits of Jesus Christ. The grace of the Holy Spirit has been offered you again and again. Light and power from on high have been shed abundantly in the midst of you. Here was evidence, that all might discern whom the Lord recognized as His servants. But there are those who despised the men and the message they bore. They have taunted them with being fanatics, extremists, and enthusiasts....

"I have no smooth message to bear to those who have been so long as false guideposts, pointing the wrong way. If you reject Christ's delegated messengers, you reject Christ. Neglect this great salvation, kept before you for years, despise this glorious offer of justification through the blood of Christ and sanctification through the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit, and there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation. I entreat you now to humble yourselves and cease your stubborn resistance of light and evidence."

"In the manifestation of the power that lightens the earth with its glory, they will see only something which in their blindness they think dangerous, something which will arouse their fears and they will brace themselves against it. Because the Lord does not work according to their expectations and ideas, they will oppose the work."

"I was shown in vision, and I still believe, that there was a shut door in 1844. All who saw the light of the first and second angels' messages and rejected that light, were left in darkness. And those who accepted it and received the Holy Spirit which attended the proclamation of the message from heaven, and who afterward renounced their faith and pronounced their experience a delusion, thereby rejected the Spirit of God, and it no longer pleaded with them.

"When the third angel's message is preached as it should be, power attends its proclamation, and it becomes an abiding influence. It must be attended with divine power, or it will accomplish nothing. I am often referred to the parable of the ten virgins, five of whom were wise, and five foolish....In the parable, the ten virgins had lamps (Bibles), but only five of them had the saving oil with which to keep their lamps burning. The wise and foolish have their Bibles, and are provided with all the means of grace; but many do not appreciate the fact that they must have the heavenly unction. They do not heed the invitation, `Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me,...and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.'..

"If you have been permitted to stand in the presence of the Son of Righteousness, it is not that you may absorb and conceal the bright beams of Christ's righteousness, but that you may become a light to others....There are persons who have received the precious light of the righteousness of Christ, but they do not act upon it; they are foolish virgins. They prefer the sophistry of the enemy rather that the plain `Thus saith the Lord.' When the blessing of God rested upon them in order that they might become channels of light, they did not go forward from light to greater light; they permitted doubt and unbelief to come in, so that the truth which they had seen, became an uncertainty to them....They are foolish virgins indeed, choosing darkness rather than light, and dishonoring God."

"The first, second, and third angels' messages are to be repeated. The call is to be given to the church: `Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird....Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.'....

"Every specification of this parable (10 virgin) should be carefully studied. We are represented either by the wise or by the foolish virgins....They (foolish) have heard and assented to the truth, but they have never brought it into their practical life. The oil of grace is not feeding their lamps, and they are not prepared to enter into the marriage supper of the Lamb. The oil is the holy grace that is sent down from heaven; and there must be an inward adorning with that grace, if we would stand when He appears."

"I know that a work must be done for the people, or many will not be prepared to receive the light of the angel sent down from heaven to lighten the whole earth with his glory. Do not think that you will be found as vessels unto honor in the time of the latter rain, to receive the glory of God, if you are lifting up your souls unto vanity, speaking perverse things, in secret cherishing roots of bitterness brought from the conference at Minneapolis....

"When the lips of the watchman are touched with a live coal from off the altar by the Lord of hosts, the trumpet will give a certain sound, very different from the sound we have hitherto heard. God has a living testimony for the world....He who understands the dignity of our calling, the sacredness of our work, commands that we declare the message with unshrinking heart....

"Infidelity to God has been making its inroads in our ranks; for it is the fashion to depart from Christ, and give place to skepticism. The cry of the heart has been, `We will not have this man to reign over us.' Baal, Baal, is the choice. The religion of many among us will be the religion of apostate Israel, because they love their own way, and forsake the way of the Lord. The true religion, the only religion of the Bible, that teaches forgiveness only through the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, that advocates righteousness by the faith of the Son of God, has been slighted, spoken against, ridiculed, and rejected. It has been denounced as leading to enthusiasm and fanaticism. Take it back while it is not too late for wrongs to be righted; for you have sinned against God. But it is the life of Jesus Christ in the soul, it is the active principle of love imparted by the Holy Spirit, that alone will make the soul fruitful unto good works. The love of Christ is the force and power of every message that ever fell from human lips."

"But not all are following the light. Some are moving away from the safe path, which at every step is a path of humility. God has committed to His servants a message for this time; but this message does not in every particular coincide with the ideas of all the leading men, and some criticize the message and the messengers. They dare even to reject the words of reproof sent to them from God through His Holy Spirit....

"The prejudices and opinions that prevailed at Minneapolis are not dead by any means; the seeds sown there in some hearts are ready to spring into life and bear a like harvest. The tops have been cut down, but the roots have never been eradicated, and they still bear their unholy fruit to poison the judgment, pervert the perceptions, and blind the understanding of those with whom you connect, in regard to the message and the messengers....

"Infidelity has been making its inroads into our ranks; for it is the fashion to depart from Christ, and give place to skepticism. With many the cry of the heart has been, `We will not have this man to reign over us.' Baal, Baal, is the choice. The religion of many among us will be the religion of apostate Israel, because they love their own was, and forsake the way of the Lord. The true religion, the only religion of the Bible, that teaches forgiveness only through the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, that advocates righteousness by the faith of the Son of God, has been slighted, spoken against, ridiculed, and rejected. It has been denounced as leading to enthusiasm and fanaticism. But it is the life of Jesus in the soul, it is the active principle of love imparted by the Holy Spirit, that alone will make the soul fruitful unto good works. The love of Christ is the force and power of every message for God that ever fell from human lips....

"I know that a work must be done for the people, as many will not be prepared to receive the light of the angel sent down from heaven to lighten the whole earth with his glory. Do not think that you will be found as vessels unto honor in the time of the latter rain, to receive the glory of God, if you are lifting up your souls unto vanity, speaking perverse things, in secret cherishing roots of bitterness....

"This is the danger to which the church is now exposed--that the inventions of finite men shall mark out the precise way for the Holy Spirit to come....And because the Spirit is to come, not to praise men or to build up their erroneous theories, but to reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment, many turn away from it. They are not willing to exchange their own righteousness, which is unrighteousness, for the righteousness of Christ, which is pure, unadulterated truth. The Holy Spirit flatters no man, neither does it work according to the devising of any man....When it shall come as a reprover, through any human agent whom God shall choose, it is man's place to hear and obey its voice."

"Those whom God has sent with a message are only men, but what is the character of the message they bear? Will you dare to turn from, or make light of, the warnings, because God did not consult you as to what would be preferred? God calls men who will speak, who will cry aloud and spare not. God has raised up His messengers to do His work for this time. Some have turned from the message of the righteousness of Christ to criticize the men and their imperfections...and the message that would bring healing and life and comfort to many weary and oppressed souls, is, in a measure, excluded; for just in proportion as men of influence close their own hearts and set up their own wills in opposition to what God has said, will they seek to take away the ray of light from those who have been longing and praying for light and for vivifying power. Christ has registered all the hard, proud, sneering speeches spoken against His servants as against Himself.

"The third angel's message will not be comprehended, the light which will lighten the earth with its glory will be called a false light, by those who refuse to walk in its advancing glory....We entreat of you who oppose the light of truth, to stand out of the way of God's people. Let Heaven-sent light shine forth upon them in clear and steady rays....Messages bearing the divine credentials have been sent to God's people; the glory, the majesty, the righteousness of Christ, full of goodness and truth, have been presented; the fullness of the Godhead in Jesus Christ has been set forth among us with beauty and loveliness, to charm all whose hearts were not closed with prejudice. We know that God has wrought among us....Shall we be like the lepers that were cleansed who went on their way, and only one returned to give glory to God?...

"We are to be constantly receiving and giving. We are to be living channels of light. The transforming grace of Christ must come to every minister...There must be a living testimony borne, pointing out the necessity of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God upon every church-member, that light may shine forth to others that are in darkness."

"Why is it that men do not believe upon sufficient evidence?--Because they do not want to be convinced. They have no disposition to give up their own will for God's will. They are unwilling to acknowledge that they have cherished sinful unbelief in resisting the light that God has given them. They have been hunting for doubts, for pegs upon which to hang their unbelief. They have been ready to accept testimony which is weak and insufficient, testimony which God has not given them in His word, but which pleases them because it agrees with their ideas, and is in harmony with their disposition and will. These souls are in great peril. If they will bow their proud will, and put it on God's side of the question; if they will with humble, contrite hearts seek for the light, believing that there is light for them, then they will see light, because the eye is single to discern the light which comes from God. They will acknowledge the evidence of divine authority. Spiritual truths will shine forth from the divine page. But the heart must be open for the reception of light, for Satan is ever ready to obscure the precious truth which would make them wise unto salvation. If any do not receive it, it will forever remain a mystery of mysteries to them....

"There is a lack of moral and spiritual power throughout our Conferences. Many churches to not have light in themselves....There Redeemer has withdrawn His light, the inspiration of His Holy Spirit, from their assemblies...The deep movings of the Spirit of God are not with them; the glorious presence of the King of saints, and His power to cleanse from all moral defilement, are not manifest among them....

"There is to be in the churches a wonderful manifestation of the power of God, but it will not move upon those who have not humbled themselves before the Lord, and opened the door of the heart by confession and repentance. In the manifestation of that power which lightens the earth with the glory of God, they will see only something which in their blindness they think dangerous, something which will arouse their fears, and they will brace themselves to resist it....Talent, long experience, will not make men channels of light, unless they place themselves under the bright beams of the Son of righteousness, and are called, and chosen, and prepared by the endowment of the Holy Spirit....

"Light is to shine forth from God's people in clear, distinct rays, bringing Jesus before the churches and before the world....These are God's agencies for communicating the knowledge of truth to the world. If through the grace of Christ His people will become new bottles, He will fill them with the new wine....And every ray of light received is to be communicated to other. One interest will prevail, one subject will swallow up every other,--Christ our righteousness....

"Christ says, speaking of the Comforter, `He shall not speak of Himself;' `He shall testify of Me;' `He shall glorify Me.'...As the Saviour came to glorify the Father by the demonstration of His love, so the Spirit came to glorify Christ by revealing to the world the riches of His love and grace. If the Holy Spirit dwells in us, our work will testify to the fact,--we shall lift up Jesus. Not one can afford to be silent now; the burden of the work is to present Christ to the world. All who venture to have their own way, who do not join the angels who are sent from heaven with a message to fill the whole earth with its glory, will be passed by. The work will go forward to victory without them, and they will have no part in its triumph."

"The peculiar work of the third angel has not been seen in its importance....It is not in the order of God that light has been kept from our people,--the very present truth which they needed for this time....The third angel's message comprehends more than many suppose. What interpretation do they give to the passage which says an angel descended from heaven, and the earth was lightened with his glory? This is not a time when we can be excused for inactivity. If this work, which was so essential, had been taken up by our ministers, there would be today a far different state of things in all our churches....

"We should especially seek God for grace and power to be given to His people now....But every conceivable thing that the enemy can bring against the people of God, to hinder them in their work, will be employed. The Lord, on the other hand, bids all to be awake and to watch; for it was while men slept, that the enemy sowed tares."

"In 1888 in the General Conference held at Minneapolis, Minn., the angel of Revelation 18 came down to do his work, and was ridiculed, criticized and rejected. And when the message he brings again, swells into a loud cry, it will again be ridiculed, spoken against and be rejected by the majority."

"There must be earnest effort to obtain the blessing of the Lord, not because God is not willing to bestow His blessing upon us, but because we are unprepared to receive it. Our Heavenly Father is more willing to give His Holy Spirit to them that ask Him, than are earthly parents to give good gifts to their children. But it is our work, by confession, humiliation, repentance, and earnest prayer, to fulfill the conditions upon which God has promised to grant us His blessing....While the people are so destitute of God's Holy Spirit, they cannot appreciate the preaching of the word; but when the Spirit's power touches their hearts, then the discourses given will not be without effect. Guided by the teachings of God's word, with the manifestation of His Spirit, in the exercise of sound discretion, those who attend our meetings will gain a precious experience, and returning home will be prepared to exert a healthful influence....We must enter upon the work individually....

"The attention of the people must be gained; unless this can be done, all effort is useless; though an angel from heaven should come down and speak to them, his words would do no more good than if he were speaking into the cold ear of death. The church must arouse to action. The Spirit of God can never come in until she prepares the way....

"O my brethren, will you grieve the Holy Spirit, and cause it to depart? will you shut out the blessed Saviour, because you are unprepared for His presence? Will you leave souls to perish without the knowledge of the truth, because you love your ease too well to bear the burden that Jesus bore for you? Let us awake out of sleep. `Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."

"After the outpouring of the Spirit of God in Battle Creek it was proved in the college that a time of great spiritual light is also a time of corresponding spiritual darkness. Satan and his legions of satanic agencies are on the ground, pressing their powers upon every soul to make of none effect the showers of grace that have come from heaven to revive and quicken the dormant energies into decided action to impart that which God has imparted. Had all the many souls, then enlightened, gone to work at once to impart to others that which God have given to them for that very purpose, more light would have been given, more power bestowed. God does not give light merely for one person but that he may diffuse light, and God be glorified. Its influence is felt....The aggressive power of the truth of God is dependent upon the cooperation of the human agent with God in piety, in zeal, in unselfish efforts to get the light of truth before others."

"There have been things written to me in regard to the movings of the Spirit of God at the last conference {1893}, and at the college, which clearly indicate that because these blessings were not lived up to, minds have been confused, and that which was light from heaven has been called excitement....We must be very careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in pronouncing the ministration of His Holy Spirit a species of fanaticism....That God did abundantly bless the students in the school and the church, I have not one doubt; but a period of great light and the outpouring of the Spirit is quite generally followed by a time of great darkness. Why? Because the enemy works with all his deceiving energies to make of none effect the deep movings of the Spirit of God on the human subject....The fact is evident that they did not appreciate or walk in the light or follow the Light of the world....

"The results after the working of the Spirit of God in Battle Creek are not because of fanaticism, but because those who were blessed did not show forth the praises of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light, and when the earth is lightened with the glory of God, some will not know what it is, and from whence it came, because they misapplied and misinterpreted the Spirit shed upon them. God is a jealous God of His own glory. He will not honor those who dishonor Him."

"Has the Lord graciously opened to you the windows of heaven and poured you out a blessing? Oh! Then, that was the very time to educate the teachers and students how to retain the precious favor of God by working in accordance with increased light, and send its precious rays to others. Has Heaven's light been given? And for what purpose has it been given? That the light should shine forth in practical works of righteousness....

"When the Lord gave to Battle Creek the riches of His grace, were there those in responsibility who could have directed these souls as to how to improve upon the endowment given...They need to pray much more and consider that the convictions which flow out from a well-ordered life and a godly conversation, from a living, decided Christianity, are the preparation of the garden of the heart for the seeds of truth to be planted for a fruitful harvest, and for the Sun of Righteousness when He comes with healing in His beams. Let your righteousness so shine before men, `that they may see your good work, and glorify your Father which is in heaven' (Matthew 5:16)....The church illuminates the world, not by their profession of godliness, but by their manifestation of the transformating, sanctifying power of the truth on life and character."

"The Lord has condescended to give you an outpouring of His Holy Spirit. At the camp meetings, and in our various institutions, a great blessing has been showered upon you. You have been visited by the heavenly messengers of light and truth and power...How does Christ subdue His chosen people to Himself?--It is by the power of His Holy Spirit; for the Holy Spirit, through the Scriptures, speaks to the mind, and impresses truth upon the hearts of men....`He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.'...

"Through the deep movings of the Spirit of God, I have had opened before me the character of the work of the visitation of the Spirit of God. I have had opened before me the danger in which souls would be placed who had been thus visited; for afterward, they would have to meet fiercer assaults of the enemy, who would press upon them his temptations to make of none effect the workings of the Spirit of God, and cause that the momentous truths presented and witnessed by the Holy Spirit, should not purify and sanctify those who had received the light of heaven, and thus cause that Christ should not be glorified in them. The period of great spiritual light, if that light is not sacredly cherished and acted upon, will be turned into a time of corresponding spiritual darkness. The impression made by the Spirit of God, if men do not cherish the sacred impression, and occupy holy ground, will fade from the mind. Those who would advance in spiritual knowledge must stand by the very fount of God, and drink again and again from the wills of salvation so graciously opened to them. They must never leave the source of refreshment; but with hearts swelling with gratitude and love at the display of the goodness and compassion of God, they must be continually partakers of the living water....

"`But I said unto you, That ye also have seen Me, and believed not.' This has been literally fulfilled in the cases of many; for the Lord gave them a deeper insight into truth, into His character of mercy and compassion and love; and yet after being thus enlightened, they have turned from Him in unbelief. They saw the deep movings of the Spirit of God; but when the insidious temptations of Satan came in, as they always will come after a season of revival, they did not resist unto blood, striving against sin; and those who might have stood on vantage-ground, had they made a right use of the precious enlightenment that they had, were overcome by the enemy. They should have reflected the light that God gave to them upon the souls of others; they should have worked and acted in harmony with the sacred revealings of the Holy Spirit; and in not doing so, they suffered loss....

"There is certainly great need of a change in the present order of experience; for the sacredness of present truth is not realized as it should be, but the change we need is a change of heart, and can only be obtained by seeking God individually for His blessing, by pleading with Him for His power, by fervently praying that His grace may come upon us, and that our characters may be transformed....We too have failed to take in the greatness, to perceive the beauty of the truth which God has entrusted to us today....

"...the third angel's message...will go with mighty power, and do its work, and will be cut short in righteousness....Do you have an appreciation of the work and mission of the Holy Spirit? Do you realize that the Holy Spirit is the agency whereby we are to reach the souls of those around us? When this meeting shall close, will you go from here and forget the earnest appeals that have been made to you? Will the messages of warning be left unheeded, and the truth you have heard leak out of your heart as water leaks out of a broken vessel?...

"The third angel's message is swelling into a loud cry, and you must not feel at liberty to neglect the present duty, and still entertain the idea that at some future time you will be the recipients of great blessing...Today you are to have your vessel purified that it may be ready for the heavenly dew, ready for the showers of the latter rain; for the latter rain will come, and the blessing of God will fill every soul that is purified from every defilement. It is our work today to yield our souls to Christ, that we may be fitted for the time of refreshing from the presence of the Lord--fitted for the baptism of the Holy Spirit."

"An unwillingness to yield up preconceived opinions, and to accept this truth, lay at the foundation of a large share of the opposition manifested at Minneapolis against the Lord's message through Brethren {E.J.} Waggoner and {A.T.} Jones. By exciting that opposition Satan succeeded in shutting away from our people, in a great measure, the special power of the Holy Spirit that God longed to impart to them. The enemy prevented them from obtaining that efficiency which might have been theirs in carrying the truth to the world, as the apostles proclaimed it after the day of Pentecost. The light that is to lighten the whole earth with its glory was resisted, and by the action of our own brethren has been in a great degree kept away from the world....

"The Holy Spirit exalts and glorifies the Saviour. It is His office to represent Christ, the purity of His righteousness, and the great salvation that we have through Him. Jesus says, `He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you.' John 16:14. The Spirit of truth is the only effectual teacher of divine truth....

"Our heavenly Father waits to bestow upon us the fullness of His blessing. It is our privilege to drink largely at the fountain of boundless love....yet the children of earth, who need so much the help that God only can give, seem satisfied to walk without the light of His Spirit, the companionship of His presence....Prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven's storehouse, where are treasured the boundless resources of Omnipotence....

"God intends that even in this life the truths of His word shall be ever unfolding to His people. There is only one way in which this knowledge can be obtained. We can attain to an understanding of God's word only through the illumination of that Spirit by which the word was given. `The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God;' `for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.' 1 Corinthians 2:11, 10. And the Saviour's promise to His followers was, `When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth....For He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you.' John 16:13, 14."

"The Lord God of heaven will not send upon the world His judgment for disobedience and transgression until He has sent His watchmen to give the warning. He will not close up the period of probation until the message shall be more distinctly proclaimed. The law of God is to be magnified; its claims must be presented in their true, sacred character, that the people may be brought to decide for or against the truth. Yet the work will be cut short in righteousness. The message of Christ's righteousness is to sound from one end of the earth to the other to prepare the way of the Lord. This is the glory of God, which closes the work of the third angel."

"Soon I heard a voice like many musical instruments all sounding in perfect strains, sweet and harmonious. It surpassed any music I had ever heard, seeming to be full of mercy, compassion, and elevating, holy joy. It thrilled through my whole being. Said the angel, `Look ye!' My attention was then turned to the company I had seen, who were mightily shaken. I was shown those whom I had before seen weeping and praying in agony of spirit. The company of guardian angels around them had been doubled, and they were clothed with an armor from their head to their feet. They moved in exact order, like a company of soldiers. ...their features, marked with severe internal anguish, now shown with the light and glory of heaven....

"I heard those clothed with the armor speak forth the truth with great power. It had effect. Many had been bound; some wives by their husbands, and some children by their parents. The honest who had been prevented from hearing the truth now eagerly laid hold upon it....I asked what had made this great change. An angel answered, `It is the latter rain, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the loud cry of the third angel.'

"Then I say another mighty angel commissioned to descend to the earth, to unite his voice with the third angel, and give power and force to his message. Great power and glory were imparted to the angel, and as he descended, the earth was lightened with his glory. The light which attended this angel penetrated everywhere, as he cried mightily, with a strong voice, `Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen...The work of this angel comes in at the right time to join in the last great work of the third angel's message as it swells to a loud cry. And the people of God are thus prepared to stand in the hour of temptation, which they are soon to meet. I saw a great light resting upon them, and they united to fearlessly proclaim the third angel's message....

"The light that was shed upon the waiting ones penetrated everywhere, and those in the churches who had any light, who had not heard and rejected the three messages, obeyed the call and left the fallen churches....the light shone upon them, and they were privileged to choose life or death....A compelling power moved the honest, while the manifestation of the power of God brought a fear and restraint upon their unbelieving relatives and friends so that they dared not, neither had they the power to, hinder those who felt the work of the Spirit of God upon them....

"I was pointed down to the time when the third angel's message was closing. The power of God had rested upon His people; they had accomplished their word and were prepared for the trying hour before them. They had received the latter rain, or the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and the living testimony had been revived. The last great warning had sounded everywhere, and it had stirred up and enraged the inhabitants of the earth who would not receive the message....The plan of salvation had been accomplished, but few had chosen to accept it....Loud, wailing cries were heard in every direction, `It was you who kept me from receiving the truth that would have saved me from this awful hour."

"Now we have the precious opportunity of making our calling and election sure. Every soul is to proclaim the truth because it is the truth. There must not be with any of us a betrayal of sacred trusts....Let us raise high the standard of victory, proclaiming in the strength of Jehovah, the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, while believing with all the heart that `the Lord our righteousness' will be our defense in that day....

"At this time the Lord has precious truth to open to us. It is not new truth, but old, old truth, although to the receiver it is new, grand, inspiring, and glorious truth. It has been rescued from the companionship of error, and has been placed in the framework of truth. Long enough have the Lord's precious words of truth been perverted to serve the purpose of the enemy.

"Christ was the great Teacher of truth, and to Him we must come to learn of the great doctrine of justice, grace, and mercy. His words are as seeds that germinate and take root, and are again to be sown and cultivated by His delegated ambassadors. The disciples were put in close connection with eternal, essential truth; for it was laid open to their understanding; but they failed to comprehend it in its fullness, and although the living oracles are in our hands, although we have some understanding of the inspired books of the Old and New Testaments, there is much that even in our day we do not see and comprehend....

"The promise of the gift of the Spirit of God is left as a matter to be little considered by the church. It is not impressed upon the people, and the result is only that which might be expected,--spiritual drought, spiritual darkness, spiritual declension and death. Minor matters occupy the mind and soul, but divine power which is necessary for the growth and prosperity of the church, which would, if possessed, bring all other blessings in its train, is lacking, although it is offered to us in infinite plentitude....But why do we not hunger and thirst after the gift of the Holy Spirit, since it is the means whereby the heart may be kept pure? The Lord designs that divine power shall co-operate with human effort. It is all-essential for the Christian to understand the meaning of the promise of the Holy Spirit just prior to the coming of our Lord Jesus the second time....

"The Lord will hold both ministers and people responsible for the light which shines in our day. God calls upon all who claim to believe present truth, to work diligently in gathering up the precious jewels of truth, and placing them in their position in the framework of the gospel. Let them shine in all their divine beauty and loveliness, that the light may flash forth amid the moral darkness. This cannot be accomplished without the aid of the Holy Spirit, but with the aid of the Spirit we can do all things. When we are endowed with the Holy Spirit, we by faith take hold of infinite power....The Saviour of the world sends His divine messenger to the soul, that men may dig for the truth, that by its revelation they may dispel the multitude of errors. This is the Christian work."

"When God's people humble the soul before Him, individually seeking His Holy Spirit with all the heart, there will be heard from human lips such a testimony as is represented in this scripture, `After these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.' There will be faces aglow with the love of God; there will be lips touched with holy fire, saying, `The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.'...

"Those who profess to believe the special truths for this time need to be converted, and sanctified by the truth. As Christians we are made depositories of sacred truth, and we are not to keep the truth in the outer court, but bring it into the sanctuary of the soul. Then the church will possess divine vitality throughout. The weak shall be as David, and David as the angel of the Lord. One question will be all absorbing,--who shall approach nearest the likeness of Christ? Who shall do most to win souls to righteousness? When this is the ambition of believers, contention is at an end; the prayer of Christ is answered.

"Jesus longs to bestow the heavenly endowment in large measure upon His people. Prayers are ascending to God daily for the fulfillment of the promise, and not one of the prayers put up in faith is lost....When, after Christ's ascension, the Spirit came down as promised, like a rushing, mighty wind, filling the whole place where the disciples were assembled, what was the effect? Thousands were converted in a day. We have taught, we have expected, that an angel is to come down from heaven, that the earth will be lightened with his glory. Then we shall behold an ingathering of souls similar to that witnessed on the day of Pentecost.

"But this mighty angel comes bearing no soft, smooth message, but words that are calculated to stir the hearts of men to their very depths. That angel is represented as crying mightily with a strong voice, saying, `Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.' `Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.' Are we indeed as human agencies, to cooperate with the divine instrumentalities in sounding the message of this mighty angel who is to lighten the earth with his glory?

"How great and widespread must be the power of the prince of evil, which can be subdued only by the mighty power of the Spirit. ...If those who have had great light have not corresponding faith and obedience they soon become leavened with the prevailing apostasy; another spirit controls them....Others who have not had so great light, who have never identified themselves with the truth, will under the influence of the Spirit, respond to the light when it shines upon them....The Spirit sets home the truth in such a manner as to arouse the conscience to discern and acknowledge the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. Men see themselves as transgressors of the law of God. By faith they behold the infinite love of God in the gift of Jesus to our world. By faith they see the sentence of condemnation erased, and their names recorded in the book of life. They see the robe of Christ's righteousness presented to them, preparing them for the mansions above, that they may stand spotless before the Father....

"We have absolute need of the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit....We have need of divine illumination....His transforming grace upon human hearts will lead to unity that has not yet been realized; for all who are assimilated to Christ will be in harmony with one another. The Holy Spirit will create unity.

"`He shall glorify Me.' `This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.' The Holy Spirit glorifies God by so revealing His character to His people that He becomes the object of their supreme affections, and by making manifest His character in them. They see clearly that there was never any righteousness in the world but His, no excellence in the world but that derived from Him. When the Spirit was poured out from on high, the church was flooded with light, but Christ was the source of that light; His name was on every tongue, His love filled every heart. So it will be when the angel that comes down from having great power, shall lighten the whole earth with His glory. May the Lord help His people to see and understand what is truth."

"As the members of the body of Christ approach the period of their last conflict, `the time of Jacob's trouble,' they will grow up into Christ, and will partake largely of His Spirit. As the third message swells to a loud cry, and as great power and glory attend the closing work, the faithful people of God will partake of that glory. It is the latter rain which revives and strengthens them to pass through the time of trouble. Their faces will shine with the glory of that light which attends the third angel."

"The whole earth is to be lightened with the glory of God's truth. The Lord will not close up the period of probation until the warning shall be more distinctly proclaimed. The trumpet must give a certain sound. The law of God is to be magnified, its claims must be presented in their true, sacred character, that the people may be brought to decide for or against the truth. Yet the work will be cut short in righteousness. The message of Christ's righteousness is to sound from one end of the world to the other. This is the glory of God which closes the work of the third angel....

"You have long expected the wonderful startling events that are to take place just prior to the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Now I ask, are you prepared to give the trumpet a certain sound?...We have been waiting in anxious expectancy for the cooperation of the human agency in advancing the work. All heaven, if I may use the expression, is impatiently waiting for men to cooperate with the divine agencies in working for the salvation of souls."

"God cannot glorify His name through His people while they are leaning upon man and making flesh their arm....Words have been given me to speak to the people of God: `Lift Him up, the Man of Calvary. Let humanity stand back, that all may behold Him in whom their hopes of eternal life are centered....

"It is to the thirsting soul that the fountain of living waters is open. God declares: `I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.' To souls that are earnestly seeking for light and that accept with gladness every ray of divine illumination from His holy word, to such alone light will be given. It is through these souls that God will reveal that light and power which will lighten the whole earth with His glory."

"Before the close of this world's history, those who are willing to accept the evidence will have the dark veil removed from their minds. Hearts will be cleansed through accepting Christ during the time that the whole world is lightened by the glory of the angel that comes down from heaven."

"God has a work for His people to do for the world, and if they will work in harmony with one another and with heaven, He will demonstrate His power in their behalf as He did for His first disciples on the day of Pentecost. Those days in which the disciples prepared themselves by prayer and putting away of all disunion, brought them into such close relation to God that He could work for them and through them in a marvelous manner."

"We invite you to come to Jesus, to believe in Him, and receive from Him the outpouring of His Holy Spirit. He will give you this if you ask in faith believing. Then work in harmony with Him to disseminate truth. If you will seek individually to answer in your lives Christ's prayer for His disciples, you will follow on to know the Lord. (see Hosea 6:3) This is not like the fading strength and glory of the setting sun, but like the morning, the rising sun, which is ever increasing in warmth and light and power."

"The Lord desires to see the work of the third angel's message carried forward with increasing efficiency. As He has worked in all ages to give courage and power to His people, so in this age He longs to carry to triumphant fulfillment His purposes for His church. He bids the saints advance unitedly, going from strength to greater strength, from faith to increased faith in the righteousness and truth of His cause."

"Christ's presence means advance. He imbues men, women, and children with a sense of individual responsibility. We need to feel the sacred, sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit, that we may hear Christ saying to us, `Follow Me.' `He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.' (John 8:12)."

"Place yourself where the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness can shine into all the chambers of your mind and into the soul-temple. Ye are the light of the world, God says. He will make those who are faithful in the church radiant with the word of God. His Spirit will be communicated to human instrumentalities, giving them light before which moral darkness must flee away."

"But though the prince of darkness will work to cover the earth with darkness, and with gross darkness the people, the Lord will manifest His converting power. A work is to be accomplished in the earth similar to that which took place at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the days of the early disciples, when they preached Jesus and Him crucified. Many will be converted in a day; for the message will go with power. It can then be said: `Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost.' It is the Holy Spirit that draws men to Christ; for He takes the things of God, and shows them unto the sinner. Jesus said: `He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you.'

"The work of the Holy Spirit is immeasurable great. It is from this source that power and efficiency come to the worker for God; and the Holy Spirit is the comforter, as the personal presence of Christ to the soul. He who looks to Christ in simple, childlike faith, is made a partaker of the divine nature through the agency of the Holy Spirit....As Christ was glorified on the day of Pentecost, so will He again be glorified in the closing work of the gospel, when He shall prepare a people to stand the final test, in the closing conflict of the great controversy....

"When the earth is lightened with the glory of God, we shall see a work similar to that which was wrought when the disciples, filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaimed the power of a risen Saviour. The light of heaven penetrated the darkened minds of those who had been deceived by the enemies of Christ, and the false representation of Him was rejected; for through the efficiency of the Holy Spirit they now saw Him exalted to be a prince and Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel, and remission of sins. They saw Him encircled with the glory of heaven, with infinite treasures in His hands to bestow upon those who turn from their rebellion. As the apostles set forth the glory of the only begotten of the Father, 3,000 souls were pricked to the heart, and they were made to see themselves as they were, sinful and polluted, and Christ as their Saviour and Redeemer. Christ was lifted up, Christ was glorified, through the power of the Holy Spirit resting upon men....As they looked upon His spotless righteousness, they saw their own deformity and pollution, and were filled with godly fear, with love and adoration for Him who gave His life a sacrifice for them. They humbled their souls to the very dust, and repented of their wicked works, and glorified God for His salvation....

"The revelation of Christ by the Holy Spirit brought to them a realizing sense of His power and majesty, and they stretched forth their hands unto Him by faith, saying, `I believe.' Thus it was in the time of the early rain; but the latter rain will be more abundant. The Saviour of men will be glorified, and the earth will be lightened with the bright shining of the beams of His righteousness. He is the fountain of light, and light from the gates ajar has been shining upon the people of God, that they may lift Him up in His glorious character before those who sit in darkness....

"It is Christ in His fullness as a sin-pardoning Saviour, that the sinner must see; for the unparalleled love of Christ, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, will bring conviction and conversion to the hardened heart. It is the divine influence that is the savor of the salt in the Christian. Many present the doctrines and theories of our faith; but their presentation is as salt without savor; for the Holy Spirit is not working through their faithless ministry. They have not opened the heart to receive the grace of Christ; they know not the operation of the Spirit; they are as meal without leaven; for there is no working principle in all their labor, and they fail to win souls to Christ. They do not appropriate the righteousness of Christ; it is a robe unworn by them, a fullness unknown, a fountain untouched."

"I have laid out the matter as it has been presented to me. The third angel's message, in the place of swelling into a loud cry, is being smothered. It is to increase in the power of the Spirit of God. The time has come when the whole earth is to be lightened with the glory of the angel which came down from heaven. A decided work is to be done in presenting the truth for this time, the truth that will sanctify the soul; for we are in that age of the world's history which Christ declared should be as the days of Noah were."

"Never has there been a time when man has been so responsible to God as he is at the present hour. Never has there been a time when man's position has been so critical as it is now. All things in nature and in the world at large are charged with intense earnestness. Satan, in co-operation with his angels and with evil men, will put forth every effort to gain the victory, and will appear to succeed. But from this conflict, truth and righteousness will come forth triumphant in victory. Those who have believed a lie will be defeated; for the days of apostasy will be ended."

"I saw that many who enjoyed the truth of the first and second angel's messages and felt the power and glory of the messages have since rejected the light that came from heaven, called it of the devil, and there was more hope of sinners than of such. Many that know nothing of the first two messages saw not their effects and their glory, that have not hardened their hearts, will be brought to the light of truth. As they see one precious link of the chain, they could understand and see the whole chain and joyfully acknowledge the first and second messages. But those who have called the power of the Holy Ghost that attended these messages of the devil, and will not hear the third, are those who will be shut out."

"How my heart yearned for souls to be converted. We must have a burden for those that are ready to perish. We should in their behalf hunger and thirst after righteousness. Who will wake up? Who will arise and shine because their light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon them?"

"We need now to arise and shine, for our light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon us. We have no time to talk of self, no time to become like the sensitive plant, that cannot be touched without shrinking. In Jesus Christ is our sufficiency. Will we talk of faith? Will we talk of the glorious hope, of the full and abundant righteousness of Jesus Christ, provided for every soul? I tell you in the name of the Lord God of Israel that all injurious, discouraging influences are held in control by unseen angel hands, until every one that works in the fear and love of God is sealed in his forehead....

"Let us work as we have never done before. Let us put self aside, and lay hold of Jesus Christ by faith. Let us reveal Him to the world as the one altogether lovely and the chiefest among ten thousand....`and they cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.' Let us take up the praise of God here below. Let us unite with the heavenly company above. Then we shall represent the truth as it is, a power to all who believe."

"Isaiah was permitted in vision to look into the holy place, and into the holy of holies in the heavenly sanctuary. The curtains of the innermost sanctuary were drawn aside, and a throne high and lifted up, towering as it were to the very heavens, was revealed to his gaze. An indescribable glory emanated from a personage on the throne, and His train filled the temple, as His glory will finally fill the earth. Cherubim were on either side of the mercy-seat, as guards round the great King, and they glowed with the glory that enshrouded them from the presence of God. As their songs of praise resounded in deep, earnest notes of adoration, the pillars of the gate trembled, as if shaken by an earthquake. These holy beings sang forth the praise and glory of God with lips unpolluted with sin....

"While he listened to the song of the angels, as they cried, `Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory,' the glory, the infinite power, and the unsurpassed majesty of the Lord passed before his vision, and was impressed upon his soul. In the light of this matchless radiance that made manifest all he could bear in the revelation of the divine character, his own inward defilement stood out before him with startling clearness. His very words seemed vile to him.

"As humanity, with its weakness and deformity, was brought out in contrast with the perfection of divine holiness and light and glory, he felt altogether inefficient and unworthy. How could he go and speak to the people the holy requirements of Jehovah, who was high and lifted up, and whose train filled the temple? While Isaiah was trembling and conscience-smitten, because of his impurity in the presence of this unsurpassed glory, he said, `Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal (symbolizes "purification" and "the potency of the efforts of the servants of the Lord") in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar; and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.'...

"When the Spirit of Christ stirs the heart with its marvelous awaking power, there is a sense of deficiency in the soul, that leads to contrition of mind, and humiliation of self, rather than to proud boasting of what has been acquired. When Daniel beheld the glory and majesty surrounding the heavenly messenger that was sent unto him, he exclaimed, as he described the wonderful scene, `Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained not strength in me; for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.' The soul that is thus touched will never wrap itself about with self-righteousness, or a pretentious garb of holiness; but will hate its selfishness, abhor its self-love, and will seek, through Christ's righteousness, for that purity of heart which is in harmony with the law of God and the character of Christ. He will then reflect the character of Christ, the hope of glory."

"We have now come to the last days of the work of the third angel's message, when Satan will work with increasing power because he knows that his time is short. At the same time there will come to us through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, diversities of operations in the outpouring of the Spirit. This is the time of the latter rain."

"I stated [at the 1888 General Conference Session] that... there was to be special light for God's people as they neared the closing scenes of this earth's history. Another angel was to come down form heaven with a message, and the whole earth was to be lightened with his glory. It would be impossible for us to state just how this additional light will come."

"The third angel proclaims his warning with a loud voice. `After these things,' said John, `I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory' [Revelation 18:1]. In this illumination, the light of all the three messages is combined." (see also Last Day Events, p 70, 78, 111)

"The gospel of Christ is the law exemplified in character. The deceptions practiced against it, every device for vindicating falsehood, every error forged by satanic agencies, will eventually be eternally broken, and the triumph of truth will be like the appearing of the sun at noon day. The Sun of Righteousness shall shine forth with healing in His wings, and the whole earth shall be filled with His glory....

"The work to be done now is that of sounding this last message of mercy to a fallen world. A new light is coming from heaven and taking possession of all God's people....And all who are laborers together with God will contend most earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. They will not be turned from the present message which is already lightening the earth with its glory. Nothing is worth contending for but the glory of God. The only rock that will stand is the Rock of Ages. The truth as it is in Jesus is the refuge in the days of error."

"The whole earth is to be lightened with the glory of the Lord. The pure in heart shall see God. It is those who are following the Lamb whithersoever He goeth that will receive the power from that angel that came down from heaven `having great power.' The first message is to be repeated, proclaiming the second advent of Christ to our world. The second angel's message is to be repeated, `Babylon the great is fallen...'[Revelation 18:2, 3]."

"Unless those who can help in ____ are aroused to a sense of their duty, they will not recognize the work of God when the loud cry of the third angel shall be heard. When light goes forth to lighten the earth, instead of coming up to the help of the Lord, they will want to bind about His work to meet their narrow ideas. ...to dictate even what movements shall be made when the work goes forward under the direction of the angel who joins the third angel in the message to be given to the world. God will use ways and means by which it will be seen that He is taking the reins in His own hands. The workers will be surprised by the simple means that He will use to bring about and perfect His work of righteousness. Those who are accounted good workers will need to draw nigh to God, they will need the divine touch. They will need to drink more deeply and continuously at the fountain of living water, in order that they may discern God's work at every point."

"Christ's true followers are kind, tender, pitiful. They will realize the meaning of the work of the angel of Revelation eighteen, who is to lighten the whole earth with his glory, while he cries with a loud voice, `Babylon the great is fallen...' [Rev 18:2]. Many will heed this call....

"The third angel's message is to be given to our world in clear, distinct lines....The Sabbath truth is the message to be proclaimed with a loud voice, as represented in the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah. And in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation we read, `The third angel followed them...' [Verses 9, 10]. This messages embraces the two preceding messages. It is represented as being given with a loud voice, that is, with the power of the Holy Spirit. The impression made by this message will be proportionate to the earnestness with which it is proclaimed....

"The eighteenth chapter of Revelation reveals the importance of presenting the truth in no measured terms, but with boldness and power. There must be no toning down of the truth, no muffling of the message for this time. Satan has devised a state of things whereby the proclamation of the third angel's message shall be bound about....

"We stand as the remnant people in these last days to promulgate the truth and swell the cry of the third angel's wonderful, distinct message, giving the trumpet a certain sound....we are announcing the message of the third angel and of the other angel's that follow the third, the second time proclaiming the fall of Babylon....This message is to come to the churches. We are to consider the best plans for accomplishing this. The message must be so presented as to command the attention of reasoning minds."

"During the proclamation of the third angel's message, `another angel' is to `come down from heaven, having great power' and the earth is to be `lightened with his glory' [Revelation 18:1]. The Spirit of the Lord will so graciously and universally bless consecrated human instrumentalities, that men, women, and children will open their lips in praise and testimony, filling the earth with the knowledge of God, and with His unsurpassed glory, as the waters cover the sea.

"Those who have held the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end will be wide awake during the time that the third angel's message is proclaimed with great power. During the loud cry, the church, aided by the providential interpositions of her exalted Lord, will diffuse the knowledge of salvation so abundantly that light shall be communicated to every city and town. The earth will be filled with the knowledge of salvation. So abundantly will the renewing Spirit of God have crowned with success the intensely active agencies, that the light of present truth will be seen flashing everywhere.

"The saving knowledge of God will accomplish its purifying work on the mind and heart of every believer. The Word declares: `Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes' [Ezekiel 36:25-27]. This is the descent of the Holy Spirit, sent from God to do its office-work....All who have not received the light will be convicted....

"Amidst the confusing cries, `Lo, here is Christ! Lo, there is Christ!' will be borne a special testimony of truth appropriate for this time, which message is to be received, believed, and acted upon....The eternal truth of the word will stand forth free from all seductive errors and spiritualistic interpretations, free from all fancifully drawn, alluring pictures. Falsehood will be urged upon the attention of God's people, but the truth is to stand clothed in its beautiful, pure garments as the Spirit of truth....

"As men, women, and children proclaim the gospel, the Lord will open the eyes of the blind to see His statutes, and will write upon the hearts of the truly penitent His law. The animating Spirit of God, working through human agencies, leads the believers to be as one mind, one soul, unitedly loving God and keeping His commandments--preparing here below for translation."

"There is soon to be [a] tremendous crisis. It is making its way with mighty strides, while the men who ought to be catching the life-giving message from the Word of life, and sounding the last warning to a fallen world, have put out their spiritual eyesight and placed themselves with the deceivers. `And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory...[Revelation 18:1-4]....

"Those who receive Christ as a personal Saviour will stand the test and trial of these last days. Strengthened by an unquestioning faith in Christ, even the illiterate disciple will be able to withstand the doubts and questions that infidelity can produce, and put to blush the sophistries of scorners.

"The Lord Jesus will give the disciples a tongue and wisdom that their adversaries can neither gainsay nor resist. Those who could not be reasoning overcome satanic delusions, will bear an affirmative testimony that will baffle supposedly learned men. Words will come from the lips of the unlearned with such convincing power and wisdom that conversions will be made to the truth. Thousands will be converted under their testimony.

"Why should the illiterate man have this power, which the learned man has not?--The illiterate one, through faith in Christ, has come into the atmosphere of pure, clear truth, while the learned man has turned away from the truth. The poor man is Christ's witness. He cannot appeal to histories, or to so-called high science, but he gathers from the word of God powerful evidence. The truth that he speaks under the inspiration of the Spirit, is so pure and remarkable, and carries with it a power so indisputable, that his testimony cannot be gainsaid....

"This message is a testimony message. (see change in Upward Look, p 277) Received into honest hearts, it will prove an antidote for all the world's sins and sorrows. No conditions of climate, of poverty, or ignorance, or of prejudice can hinder its efficiency, or lessen its adaptability to the needs of mankind.

"The last great conflict is before us, all about help is coming to all who love God and obey His law; and the earth, the whole earth, is to be lightened with the glory of God. `Another angel' is to come down from heaven. This angel represents the giving of the loud cry, which is to come from those who are preparing to cry mightily with a strong voice, `Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen...[Revelation 18:1, 2]."

"The presentation of this message is to result in the conversion and sanctification of souls. We are to feel the power of the Spirit of God in this movement. This is a wonderful, definite message. It means everything to the receiver, and it is to be proclaimed with a loud cry. We must have a true, abiding faith that this message will go forth with increasing importance till the close of time."

"There are thousands who are praying as did Nathaniel for the light of truth. Christ's lightbearers must not be unfaithful. There is work to do in our world for many souls and God calls us to labor for souls who are in darkness of error, but praying for light, for the revealing of God's Holy Spirit."

"Before the close of this world's history, those who are willing to accept the evidence will have the dark veil removed from their minds. Hearts will be cleansed through accepting Christ during the time that the whole world is lightened by the glory of the angel that comes down from heaven."

"Artificial lights may appear, claiming to come from heaven, but they cannot shine forth as the star of holiness, the star of heavenly brightness, to guide the feet of the pilgrim and the stranger into the city of our God. Shall we allow heaven's brightness to be eclipsed by artificial lights? False lights will take the place of the true, and many souls will be for a time deceived....The true light now shineth, and will light up the windows of the soul that are opened heavenward."

"I shall never, I think, be called to stand under the direction of the Holy Spirit as I stood at Minneapolis. The presence of Jesus was with me. All assembled in that meeting had an opportunity to place themselves on the side of truth by receiving the Holy Spirit which was sent by God in such a rich current of love and mercy. But in the rooms occupied by some of our people, we heard ridicule, criticism, jeering, laughter. The manifestations of the Holy Spirit were attributed to fanaticism. Who searched the Holy Scriptures as did the noble Bereans, to see if the things they heard were so? Who prayed for divine guidance? The scenes which took place at this meeting made the God of Heaven ashamed to call those who took part in them, His brethren. All this the heavenly Watcher noticed, and it is written in the book of God's remembrance....

"As things now exist in Battle Creek, the work of God cannot be carried forward on a correct basis. How long will these things be?...The enslaving of the souls of men by their fellow men is deepening the darkness which already envelopes them. Who can now feel sure that they are safe in respecting the voice of the General Conference Association? If the people in our churches understood the management of the men who walk in the light of the sparks of their own kindling, would they respect their decisions? I answer, No, not for a moment. I have been shown that the people at large do not know that the heart of the work is being diseased and corrupted at Battle Creek"

"Let not one ray of light from heaven be held in questioning and doubt. In great power the Lord has revealed to you His grace, His mercy, and His love; and he who charges the work of God to undue excitement, and calls it fanaticism, is certainly standing on dangerous ground....It will become harder and harder for them to understand the message of God. Why?--Because they are sinning against the Holy Ghost; and as a result of their resistance, they place themselves where they cannot recognize the Spirit of God, but set themselves against every instrumentality that God might use to save them from ruin....

"It is a dangerous thing to doubt the manifestations of the Holy Spirit; for if this agency is doubted, there is no reserve power left by which to operate on the human heart. Those who attribute the work of the Holy Spirit to human agencies, saying that an undue influence was brought to bear upon them, are cutting their souls off from the fountain of blessing....he who rejects the revealings of the Spirit of God, and charges the work of God to human instrumentalities, is in danger of placing himself where repentance and faith will not come to him. He refuses to permit the Holy Spirit to melt his heart into tenderness and contrition, and that which should have softened him is looked upon as fanaticism; thus he is led to refuse the heavenly gift....The Spirit strives in vain; for all the sufficiency of the gospel is inefficient to subdue the soul and correct the error. The habit of resistance is so fixed, he has so long interpreted light to be darkness and fanaticism, that the most manifest working of God's Holy Spirit becomes to him not a savor of life unto life, but through his unbelief, a savor of death unto death....

"The record of the past year, and of the years previous has passed into eternity, but the grace and mercy of God, that have been so abundantly bestowed, have not met with a proportionate response in good works. Grace and truth have been shining forth in distinct rays the past year; but Satan has worked to make of none effect the heaven-sent refreshing of the shower of grace."

"Encircling the throne of God is the rainbow of the covenant, a symbol of the pledged word of God that He will receive every sinner who gives up all hope of eternal life on the ground of his own righteousness, and accepts the righteousness of the world's Redeemer, believing that Christ is his personal Saviour, able to save him from his sin, and to keep him from falling. Unless Christ is the ground of our hope, we shall not inherit eternal life.

"The provision made for the salvation of men through the imputed righteousness of Christ, does not do away with the law, or lessen in the least its holy claims; for Christ came to exalt the law and make it honorable, to reveal its exceeding breadth and changeless character. The glory of the gospel of grace through the imputed righteousness of Christ, provides no other way of salvation than through obedience to the law of God in the person of Jesus Christ, the divine substitute. In the old dispensation believers were saved through the grace of Christ, as presented in the gospel, as we are saved today."

"How precious to the Jewish nation would have been the light of the Sun of Righteousness!...They would have been justified through His blood, and sanctified through His Spirit. They would have known what it was to have the combined work of the Son and the Spirit in the soul. But the scribes and the Pharisees became blind by failing to acknowledge the spiritual light that God sent to them....Blinded by unbelief, they refused to accept the evidences God had graciously given them. They walked in a way of their own choosing, because it agreed better with their sinful practices than the way of the Lord, and they did not discern the fruit of holiness; for they had chosen darkness rather than light.

"He whose heart is not open to receive the bright beams of light from the Sun of Righteousness, will meet with terrible loss; for the light that is in him will become darkness, because of the rejection of additional light, and he will walk in darkness, and lead others out of the path of peace and joy and righteousness in the Holy Ghost. He who is thus blinded will cease to grow in grace. The Lord Jesus is waiting to give the light of life to those who are in darkness, in order that they may show forth the praises of Him that hath called them out of darkness into His marvelous light. If the rejecters of the Lord Jesus Christ could have seen what would be the result of turning away from the world's Redeemer, of cherishing their own ideas and exalting themselves in their own wisdom, what a picture would they have beheld!...

"If they had spiritual understanding, they would have seen and understood the mission of Christ. The light dimly seen at first would have increased in brightness, expanding unto the perfect day. If they had followed on to know the Lord, they would have known that His goings forth are prepared as the morning. Oh, what a light would have shone upon Judah and Jerusalem had they but welcomed the light that was sent them of heaven! What a transforming power would have been manifest in life and character! They would have been just what Jesus longed to have them be,--a living, shining light in the darkness. They would have borne the noblest credentials that any one of the followers of Christ can bear. They would have been representatives of Christ, monuments of the power of the Spirit of God upon human hearts. The Spirit of God would have worked a miracle upon the heart, changing it from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. They would have known what is meant by the regeneration of the Spirit, for the whole moral taste would have been changed, and they would have loved the things they once hated, and hated the things they once delighted in.

"The words of Christ to the Pharisees come home with power to every living soul to whom the light of the Sun of Righteousness has been revealed. To those who have caught a glimpse of celestial truth, to whom have come some rays of enlightenment, is the warning given. For your souls' sake do not turn away and be disobedient to the heavenly vision. You may have seen something in regard to the righteousness of Christ, but there is truth yet to be seen clearly, and that should be estimated by you as precious as rare jewels. You well see the law of God and interpret it to the people in an entirely different light from what you have done in the past, for the law of God will be seen by you as revealing a God of mercy and righteousness."

"As the divine endowment--the power of the Holy Spirit--was given to the disciples, so it will today be given to all who seek aright. This power alone is able to make us wise unto salvation, and to fit us for the courts above. Christ wants to give us a blessing that will make us holy. `These things have I spoken unto you,' He says, `that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.' Joy in the Holy Spirit is health-giving, life-giving. In giving us His Spirit, God gives us Himself,--a fountain of divine influences, to give health and life to the world."

"Divine power was arrayed on the side of redemption. See the people coming in from all directions to hear the apostle witness to the truth as it is in Jesus....They find the apostles...proclaiming, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the divinity of Christ....Conviction and anguish seized the heart of the people. `They were pricked in their heart, and said...what shall we do?'...

"The Holy Spirit, sent from heaven by the benevolence of infinite love, takes the things of God, and reveals them to every soul that has an implicit faith in Christ. By its power the vital truths, upon which the salvation of the soul depends, are impressed upon the minds of men, and the way of life is made so plain and clear that those who are ignorant, who have not had the advantage of great learning, need not err therein....`As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on His name.'

"The promise of the Holy Spirit was the brightest hope and the strongest consolation that Christ could leave His disciples when He ascended to heaven. The truths of God's Word had been buried beneath the rubbish of misinterpretation; the maxims of men, the sayings of finite beings, had been exalted above the Word of the living God. Under the enlightening power of the Holy Spirit, the apostles separated truth from false theories, and gave to the people the Word of life....

"Today there is danger that, as of old, the Holy Spirit will be rejected because it comes in a way not in accordance with the minds of men. Because it comes, not to praise men, or to build up their erroneous theories, but to reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment to come, many turn away from it. They are not willing to exchange their own righteousness [which is unrighteousness] for the righteousness of Christ, which is pure, unadulterated truth. The Holy Spirit flatters no man, neither does it work according to human devising; and if it comes as a reprover, it is man's place to hear and to obey its voice....

"...the Holy Spirit, working upon the mind, awakens an earnest desire for truth uncorrupted by error. He who is really desirous to know what is truth can not remain in ignorance; for precious truth rewards the diligent seeker. We need to feel the converting power of God's grace, and I urge all who have closed their heart against God's Spirit to unlock the door, and plead earnestly, Abide with me....Its presence will soften our hard hearts, and fill us with joy and rejoicing, transforming us into channels of light. ...It dwells with each soul who well receive it, speaking to the impenitent in words of warning, and pointing them to Jesus, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. It causes light to shine into the minds of those who are seeking to co-operate with God, giving them efficiency and wisdom to do His work.

"The Holy Spirit never leaves unassisted a soul who is looking to Jesus. It takes of the things of Christ, and shows them to the seeker. And if the eye is kept fixed upon Jesus, the work of the Spirit ceases not until the soul is conformed to His image. Through the gracious influence of the Spirit the sinner is changed in spirit and purpose, till he becomes one with Christ. His affection for God increases; he hungers and thirsts for righteousness, and by beholding Christ he is changed from glory to glory, from character to character, and becomes more and more like his Master. Christ is formed within, and by His Spirit He fulfills the promise, `I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.' `The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.'"

"For the daily baptism of the Spirit every worker should offer his petition to God. Companies of Christian workers should gather to ask for special help, for heavenly wisdom, that they may know how to plan and execute wisely. Especially should they pray that God will baptize His chosen ambassadors in mission fields with a rich measure of His Spirit. The presence of the Spirit with God's workers will give the proclamation of truth a power that not all the honor or glory of the world could give....

"To the repentant sinner, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, the Holy Spirit reveals the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world....Having brought conviction of sin, and presented before the mind the standard of righteousness, the Holy Spirit withdraws the affections from the things of this earth and fills the soul with a desire for holiness....

"In many places consecrated men and women may be seen communicating to others the light that has made plain to them the way of salvation through Christ. And as they continue to let their light shine, as did those who were baptized with the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, they receive more and still more of the Spirit's power. thus the earth is to be lightened with the glory of God....To the end of time the presence of the Spirit is to abide with the true church.

"But near the close of earth's harvest, a special bestowal of spiritual grace is promised to prepare the church for the coming of the Son of man. This outpouring of the Spirit is likened to the falling of the latter rain...But unless the members of God's church today have a living connection with the Source of all spiritual growth, they will not be ready for the time of reaping. Unless they keep their lamps trimmed and burning, they will fail of receiving added grace in times of special need....

"To His people Christ is now saying: `Arise, shine, for thy light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee.........so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all nations.'"

"`Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature' is Christ's command to His workers. But this plain declaration has been disregarded. Even though the light has been given again and again, men are called from the fields...There was a time when this work was made necessary, because our own people opposed the work of God by refusing the light of truth on the righteousness of Christ by faith. This they should have received and reechoed with heart and voice and pen, for it is their only efficiency. They should have labored under the Holy Spirit's dictation to give the light to others....

"The great object of the advent of the Holy Spirit is distinctly specified by Christ. `When He is come,' He said, `He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.' This light has been kept before our people for years. The power of the Holy Spirit has been largely manifested at Battle Creek, the great heart of the work, to be communicated to those in the highways and hedges, that the mass of human beings under Satan's sway of sin and death might be reformed and renovated by the Spirit's power. But when light has come to those at the center of the work, they have not known how to treat it."

"Those who have been convicted under the presentation of the Word, will range themselves under the bloodstained banner of Prince Immanuel. They will see and understand as never before that they have missed many opportunities for doing the good they ought to have done. They will realize that they have not worked as zealously as they should to seek and save the lost, to snatch them, as it were, out of the fire."

"The powers of darkness will assail us, but we have a God who is above all. He can take care of His people. He can make a refuge for His people wherever they are. What He wants us to do is to stand where He can reveal His glory through us, that it may be known that there is a God in Israel, and that in behalf of His people He will manifest His power."

"The message in regard to the fall of Babylon must be given. God's people are to understand in regard to the angel who is to lighten the whole world with his glory, while he cries mightily, with a loud voice, `Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen' [Revelation 18:2]. The solemn events which are now taking place belong to a series of events in the chain of history, the first link of which is connected with Eden."

"The message must go from east to west, and from west to east again. A great shaking must come up. The professed believers in the truth for this time are asleep. They need to awake because the light of truth has not only flashed upon them, but rightly done its work. God will have representatives in every place in all parts of the world.

"The message of the angel following the third is now to be given to all parts of the world. It is to be the harvest message, and the whole earth will be lightened with the glory of God. The Lord has this one [last] call of mercy to [give to] the world, but the perversity of men diverts the work from its true bearing, and the light has to struggle amid the darkness of men who feel themselves competent to do a work that God has not appointed them to do."

"We should diligently study the word of God, and pray in faith that God will restrain the powers of darkness, for as yet the message has gone to comparatively few, and the world is to be lightened with its glory. The present truth--the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus--has not yet been sounded as it must be....

"Each individual soul is on trial for his life. Has he given God that which belongs to Him? Has he surrendered to God all that is His as His purchased possession? All who cherish the Lord as their portion in this life will be under His control, and will receive the sign, the mark of God, which shows them to be God's special possession. Christ's righteousness will go before them, and the glory of the Lord will be their rearward. The Lord protects every human being who bears His sign."

"You must not only be watching and waiting, but praying and working. Have on the wedding garments. The third angel's message embracing more than the finite mind of man comprehends. Consider, the earth is to be lightened with its glory. The truth must be published far more extensively that it yet has been. It must be defined in clear, sharp lines before the people....

"John's attention was called to another scene: `and I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God' [Revelation 7:2]. Who is this?--the angel of the covenant. He comes from the sunrising. He is the Dayspring from on high. He is the Light of the world....He cried as one who had superiority over the hosts of angels in heaven, `to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads' [verses 2, 3].

"Here is the divine and the human united. The command is given to the four angels to hold in check the four winds until they receive His summons....Judgment and wrath were to be repressed only for a little space until a certain work was done. The message, the last message of warning and mercy, has been retarded in doing its work that needs to be done. The angel that is to lighten the earth with his glory has waited for human instrumentalities through whom the light of heaven could shine, and they thus cooperate to give in its sacred, solemn importance the message which is to decide the destiny of the world....

"When this probationary time shall close, there is no opportunity for those who have received the warning message, the proclamation of pardon and salvation, and have refused--have turned from the light and truth, and accepted fables--to be justified. There is no second bidding to the marriage feast, no intermediate state when another call will be made to come to the heavenly feast....

"Everyone who will hear the message and believe the truth will no longer be confined, bound to creeds, but will take the Bible as his guide, as the very creed of life, as the water of Salvation. The very intensity of the light shining from heaven makes men messengers of truth and salvation. They cannot hold their peace. They have accepted the truth and emerged into the light, the light shining in these last days.

"He who occupies the position of Judge is God manifest in the flesh. What a consolation it will be to recognize in the judge our Teacher and Redeemer, bearing all the marks of the crucifixion, from which shine forth beams of glory, giving additional value to the crowns which the redeemed receive from His hands, the very hands outstretched in blessing over His disciples as He ascended."

"I saw that we sensed and realized but little of the importance of the Sabbath to what we yet should realize and know of its importance and glory. I saw we knew not yet what it was to ride upon the high places of the earth and to be fed with the heritage of Jacob. But when the refreshing and latter rain shall come from the presence of the Lord and glory of His power, we shall know what it is to be fed with the heritage of Jacob and ride upon the high places of the earth. Then shall we see the Sabbath more in its importance and glory. But we shall not see it in all its glory and importance until the covenant of peace is made with us at the voice of God, and the pearly gates of the New Jerusalem are thrown open and swing back on their glittering hinges, and the glad and joyful voice of the lovely Jesus is heard, richer than any music that ever fell on mortal ear, bidding us enter."

"How is it that these pamphlets denouncing the Seventh-day Adventist Church as Babylon were scattered abroad everywhere, at the very time when that church was receiving the outpouring of the Spirit of God?...calling people out from the fellowship of a church that is enjoying a season of refreshing?"

"The angel who unites in the proclamation of the third message is to lighten the whole earth with his glory. A work of world-wide extent and unwonted power is here brought to view. The Advent movement of 1840-44 was a glorious manifestation of the power or God; the first message was carried to every missionary station in the world, and in this country there was the greatest religious interest which has been witnessed in any land since the Reformation of the sixteenth century; but these are to be far exceeded by the mighty movement under the loud cry of the third message. The work will be similar to that of the day of Pentecost. Servants of God, with their faces lighted us and shining with holy consecration, hasten from place to place to proclaim the warning from Heaven. By thousands of voices, all over the earth, the message will be given. Miracles are wrought, the sick are healed, and signs and wonders follow the believers. Satan also works with lying wonders, even bringing down fire from heaven in the sight of men. Thus the inhabitants of the earth are brought to take their stand.

"The message will be carried, as was the midnight cry of 1844, not so much by argument as by the deep conviction of the Spirit of God....many whose minds have been impressed have been prevented from fully comprehending the truth or from yielding obedience. Now the rays of light penetrate everywhere, the truth is seen in its clearness, and the honest children of God sever the bands which have held them. Family connections, church relations, are powerless to stay them now. Truth is more precious than all besides. Notwithstanding the agencies combined against the truth, a large number take their stand upon the Lord's side."

"Occasionally divinity flashed through humanity, the glory escaped through the disguise of the flesh, and brought forth an expression of homage from His disciples. But it was not until Christ ascended to His Father, not until the descent of the Holy Spirit, that the disciples fully appreciated the character and the mission of Christ. After the baptism of the Holy Spirit they began to realize that they had been in the very presence of the Lord of life and glory. As the Holy Spirit brought the sayings of Christ to their remembrance, their understanding was opened to comprehend the prophecies, to understand the mighty miracles which He had wrought. The wonders of His life, in all its sacredness, greatness, and glory, passed before them, and they were as men wakened from a dream. They realized that `the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us [and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father], full of grace and truth.' They seemed of much less importance in their own eyes, after the awakening to the fact that Christ had been among them, than they did before they realized this....They were often filled with remorse at their stupidity and unbelief and misapprehension as they recalled His lessons of instruction which they had but dimly understood when He had spoken them in their presence, and which now came to them as a fresh revelation. The Scriptures became a new book to them....

"How dimly they had comprehended the prophetic Scriptures! How dull they had been in taking in the great truths which testify of Christ!...Their eyes were holden so that they did not fully recognize the divinity in the garb of humanity. But after they were illuminated with the Holy Spirit, how they longed to see Him again, and to place themselves as learners at His feet!...

"They asked themselves why...Why did we allow earthly considerations and the opposition of priests, rulers, and rabbis to confuse our senses, so that we did not comprehend the fact that a greater than Moses was among us, that One wiser than Solomon was instructing us? How dull were our ears! How feeble was our understanding!...

"But how these things now stirred their hearts as they realized their unbelief! With what assurance they went forth to proclaim a crucified and risen Saviour! All fear of Jewish authorities was gone. They felt no timidity; for they realized that the Sun of Righteousness was shining upon this dark world. They realized that the central source of all the world's light was made known to them, and they were blessed in comprehending that which worldly-wise men, with all their boasted science, theology, and philosophy, did not comprehend. The light and life of the world could be understood better by a handful of uneducated fishermen, who had experienced the love of God through Jesus Christ, than by those who were lifted up in self in their supposed intellectual greatness.

"But how sad a thing it was for Heaven to look upon,--a world seared and marred with the curse of sin, covered with gross darkness, and yet insensible of the healing beams of the Sun of Righteousness! Christ asserted that the Pharisees, priests, and rulers chose darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. They cared not to acknowledge Christ, because it brought them into close contact with the Father, who would not tolerate sin, selfishness, and hypocrisy. Christ's mission was not to explain the complexity of His nature, but to give abundant light to those who would receive it by faith. Fallen men who should believe on Him would receive the full advantage which could be produced through the mysterious union of humanity with divinity....`But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.'"

"`Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.' God has left nothing undone that could in any way work for the recovering of man from the toils of the enemy. He poured upon the disciples the Holy Spirit, in order that they might be enabled to co-operate with divine agencies in reshaping and remodeling human character. Of the Holy Spirit Jesus said, `He will reprove [`convince,' margin] the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.' The Holy Spirit is not only to sanctify but to convict. No one can repent of his sins until he is convicted of his guilt. How necessary it is that we should have the Holy Spirit with us as we labor to reach fallen souls. Our human abilities will be exercised in vain unless they are united with this heavenly agency.

"Men have fallen low, they are sunk in depths of sinful degradation, and it is because of a lack of knowledge, of the want of connection with vitalizing truth, and because they are contaminated by the corrupting influence of error....Truth alone can make men free. The liberty that comes through a knowledge of truth is to be proclaimed to every creature....Every human being who will submit to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit, is to be used for the accomplishment of this divinely conceived purpose....

"As light is revealed, by following that light we may escape from all darkness; for He has said, `He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.' The rays of the Light of life shining from the Lord Jesus enable humanity to pick their ground, to wage successful warfare, and triumph over the powers of darkness. This glorious Light reveals the abundant entrance into the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Walking in its beams we find ready admittance there.

"The great General is not only leading a few soldiers; but the Captain of the Lord's host is leading the armies of both heaven and earth to battle; they are marching on to a glorious victory. Every soldier is to put on the whole armor of God, and fight courageously, realizing that he is battling in full view of the invisible universe. If the Lord's army will obey orders, they will find themselves influenced by the Holy Spirit to work the works of God. The battlefield is glorified with the light shining from the cross of Calvary....

"The end of all things is at hand. God is moving upon every mind that is open to receive the impressions of His Holy Spirit. He is sending out messengers that they may give the warning in every locality. God is testing the devotion of His churches and their willingness to render obedience to the Spirit's guidance. Knowledge is to be increased. The messengers of Heaven are to be seen running to and fro, seeking in every possible way to warn the people of the coming judgments, and presenting the glad tidings of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. The standard of righteousness is to be exalted. The Spirit of God is moving upon men's hearts, and those who respond to its influence will become lights in the world. Everywhere they are seen going forth to communicate to others the light they have received as they did after the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. And as they let their light shine, they receive more and more of the Spirit's power. The earth is lighted with the glory of God.

"But, O, sad picture! those who do not submit to the influence of the Holy Spirit soon lose the blessings received when they acknowledged the truth as from Heaven. They fall into a cold, spiritless formality; they lose their interest in perishing souls; they have `left their first love.' And Christ says unto them, `Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.' He will take His Holy Spirit from the church, and give it to others who will appreciate it....

"Laws and rules are being made at the centers of the work that will soon be broken into atoms. Men are not to dictate....Who can say how many avenues of light have been closed by arrangements which the Lord has not advised nor instituted?...He will pass by men who have not followed His counsel, men who feel capable and sufficient to work in their own wisdom; and He will use others who are thought by these supposedly wise ones to be wholly incompetent. ...

"The Spirit is poured out upon all who will yield to its promptings, and, casting off all man's machinery, his binding rules and cautious methods, they will declare the truth with the might of the Spirit's power. Multitudes will receive the faith and join the armies of the Lord....The safeguards which false shepherds have thrown around their flocks will become as naught; thousands will step out into the light, and work to spread the light."

"The third angel, flying in the midst of heaven and heralding the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus, represents our work. The message loses none of its force in the angel's onward flight, for John sees it increasing in strength and power until the whole earth is lightened with its glory....The message of truth that we bear must go to nations, tongues, and peoples. Soon it will go with a loud voice, and the earth will be lightened with its glory. Are we preparing for this great outpouring of the Spirit of God?

"Human agencies are to be employed in this work....The voice that would say, `Wait; do not allow yourself to have burdens imposed upon you,' is the voice of the cowardly spies. We want Caleb's now who will press to the front--chieftains in Israel who with courageous words will make a strong report in favor of immediate action...even though the cowardly ones stand with stones in their hands, ready to beat them down for their testimony....

"Can we not discern the signs of the times? Can we not see how earnestly Satan is at work binding the tares in bundles, uniting the elements of his kingdom, that he may gain control of the world? This work of binding up the tares is going forward far more rapidly than we imagine. Satan is opposing every obstacle to the advancement of the truth....But the righteousness and strength of Christ avail for all who will claim His merits.

"Are we of the number who shall gather around the great white throne, singing the song of the redeemed? There are no cold, formal ones in that throng. Every soul is in earnest, every heart full of thanksgiving for the marvelous love of God and the overcoming grace that has enabled His people to conquer in the warfare against sin. And with a loud voice they swell the song: `Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb."

"There are those who have prided themselves on their great caution in receiving `new light,' as they term it; but they are blinded by the enemy, and cannot discern the works and ways of God. Light, precious light, comes from heaven, and they array themselves against it. What next? These very ones will accept messages that God has not sent, and thus will become even dangerous to the cause of God because they set up false standards."

"...you who have a connection with sacred things, God bids you to be careful where you place your feet. He holds you accountable for the light of truth, that it shall shine forth in clear and distinct rays to the world. The world will never help you by its devices to let your light shine. They stand under their leader, the great deceiver, who works through his human agents to eclipse the light. God calls upon you to shine. With intense solicitude trim your lamps, take the oil of grace in your vessels, and keep your lamps trimmed and burning, that your light may shine bright and clear amid the moral darkness of this world. All who hold the truth should hold it in righteousness, and appreciate its value and sacredness. They should ask wisdom of God, that they may send its rays into all the highways and byways of life....

"Many who claim to believe the truth have rested in the theory, and have not felt the necessity of maintaining vital connection with the pure, sacred springs from which they must derive their life and inspiration. When they should have been earnestly praying to heaven, humbling their hearts before God, they have been busy with human calculations, human imaginings, have been exalting self in place of exalting the Lord. Yet they seemed unaware of their danger of leaving the precious principles of truth."

"The blessing of God cannot come upon those who are idlers in His vineyard....They misrepresent the character of Christ. How can God let the showers of His grace come upon the churches that are largely composed of this kind of members? They are of no manner of use in the work of God....The power of the grace of God cannot be given in large measure to the churches. It would dishonor His own glorious character to let streams of grace come upon the people who will not wear the yoke of Christ, who will not bear His burdens, who will not deny self, who will not lift the cross of Christ....

"Every truly converted soul will be intensely desirous to bring others from the darkness of error into the marvelous light of the righteousness of Christ. The great outpouring of the Spirit of God, which lightens the whole earth with his glory, will not come until we have an enlightened people, that know by experience what it means to be laborers together with God. When we have entire, whole-hearted consecration to the service of Christ, God will recognize the fact by an outpouring of His Spirit without measure; but this will not be while the largest portion of the church are not laborers together with God. God cannot pour out His Spirit when selfishness and self-indulgence are so manifest; when a spirit prevails that, if put into words, would express that answer of Cain,--`Am I my brother's keeper?' If the truth for this time, if the signs that are thickening on every hand, that testify that the end of all things is at hand, are not sufficient to arouse the sleeping energy of those who profess to know the truth, then darkness proportionate to the light which has been shining will overtake these souls....

"It is not the ministers alone, but the laymen, who are not contributing all that they can to persuade men, by precept and example, to accept the saving grace of Christ. With skill and tact, with wisdom received from above, they should persuade men to behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world....

"I was shown that if God's people make no efforts on their part, but wait for the refreshing to come upon them and remove their wrongs and correct their errors; if they depend upon that to cleanse them from filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and fit them to engage in the loud cry of the third angel, they will be found wanting. The refreshing power of God comes only on those who have prepared themselves for it by doing the work which God bids them, namely, cleansing themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."

"As the disciples, filled with the power of the Spirit, went forth to proclaim the gospel, so God's servants are to go forth today. Filled with an unselfish desire to give the message of mercy to those who are in the darkness of error and unbelief, we are to take up the Lord's work. He gives us our part to do in co-operation with Him, and He will also more on the hearts of unbelievers to carry forward His work in the regions beyond. Already many are receiving the Holy Spirit, and no longer will the way be blocked by listless indifference....And we are to work with as much more fervor (than the disciples), to be accompanied by the Holy Spirit in as much greater measure, as the increase of wickedness demands a more decided call to repentance."

"We know that Brother Jones has been giving the message for this time, meat in due season to the starving flock of God. Those who do not allow prejudice to bar the heart against the heaven sent message, cannot but feel the spirit and force of the truth. Brother Jones has borne the message from church to church, and from state to state; and light and freedom and the out-pouring of the Spirit of God has attended the work."

"Brethren, we have little time in which to work. Certainly we need to stop complaining about each other, and lay our whole hearts open before God, that we may receive the Holy Spirit. Years ago the time came for the Holy Spirit to descend in a special manner upon God's earnest, self-sacrificing workers. The Lord will greatly bless His tried and chosen ones if they will cooperate with Him. When the Holy Spirit came down in the day of Pentecost, it was like a rushing, mighty wind. It was given in no stinted measure; for it filled all the place where the disciples were sitting. So will it be given to us when our hearts are prepared to receive it."

"Here are brought plainly to view those who will be vessels unto honor; for they will receive the latter rain. Every soul who in the light now shining upon our pathway continues in sin will be blinded, and will accept the delusions that come from Satan. We are now nearing the close of this earth's history. Where are the faithful watchmen on the walls of Zion who will not slumber, but faithfully declare the time of night? Christ is coming to be admired in all them that believe. How painful it is to contemplate that the Lord Jesus is being kept in the background! How few magnify His grace and exalt His infinite compassion and love. There will be no envy, no jealousy, in the hearts of those who are seeking to be like Jesus in character."

"Under the showers of the latter rain the inventions of man, the human machinery, will at times be swept away, the boundary of man's authority will be as broken reeds, and the Holy Spirit will speak through the living, human agent with convincing power....The living water will flow in God's own channels."

"Every truly converted soul will be intensely desirous to bring others from the darkness of error into the marvelous light of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The great outpouring of the Spirit of God which lightens the whole earth with His glory will not come until we have an enlightened people who know by experience what it means to be laborers together with God. When we have entire, wholehearted consecration to the service of Christ, God will recognize the fact by an outpouring of His Spirit without measure; but this will not be while the largest portion of the church are not laborers together with God. God cannot pour out His Spirit when selfishness and self-indulgence is so manifest, when a spirit prevails that if put into words would express that answer of Cain,--`Am I my brother's keeper?'"

"We must reach out the hand of faith, and grasp the hand of our Redeemer. We must not wait for the latter rain. It is coming upon all who will recognize and appropriate the dew and showers of grace that fall upon us. When we gather up the fragments of light, when we appreciate the sure mercies of God, who loves to have us trust Him, then every promise will be fulfilled. `For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations' (Isaiah 61:11). The whole earth is to be filled with the glory of God."

"When the laborers have an abiding Christ in their own souls, when all selfishness is dead, when there is no rivalry, no strife for the supremacy, when oneness exists, when they sanctify themselves, so that love for one another is seen and felt, then the showers of the grace of the Holy Spirit will just as surely come upon them as that God's promise will never fail in one jot or tittle. But when the work of others is discounted, that the workers may show their own superiority, they prove that their own work does not bear the signature it should, God cannot bless them."

"Before giving us the baptism of the Holy Spirit, our heavenly Father will try us, to see if we can live without dishonoring Him. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you....They (James and John) did not realize that before they could share Christ's glory, they must wear His yoke and daily learn His meekness and lowliness."

"We do not know through whom it (Holy Spirit) will be manifested. But I speak not my own words when I say that God's Spirit will pass by those who have had their day of test and opportunity, but who have not distinguished the voice of God or appreciated the movings of His Spirit. Then thousands in the eleventh hour will see and acknowledge the truth."

"We have now the invitations of mercy to become vessels unto honor, and then we need not worry about the latter rain; all we have to do is to keep the vessel clean and prepared and right side up, for the reception of the heavenly rain and keep praying, `Let the latter rain come into my vessel. Let the light of the glorious angel which united with the third angel, shine upon me; give me a part in the work; let me sound the proclamation; let me be co-laborer with Jesus Christ.' Thus seeking God, let me tell you, He is fitting you up all the time giving you His grace. You need not be worried."

"When the Third Angel's Message shall go forth with a loud voice, the whole earth shall be lightened with His glory, the Holy Spirit is poured out upon His people. The revenue of glory has been accumulating for this closing work of the Third Angel's Message. The prayers that have been ascending for the fulfillment of the promise, the descent of the Holy Spirit, not one has been lost. Each prayer has been accumulating, ready to overflow and pour forth a healing flood of heavenly influence and accumulated light all over the world."

"The latter rain is coming on those that are pure--all then will receive it as formerly....None receive the latter rain but those who are doing all they can. Christ would help us. All could be overcomers by the grace of God, through the blood of Jesus. All heaven is interested in the work. Angels are interested....

"How long, then angel of God, before the message will go with a loud voice? Other things to be accomplished. They (the church) must make themselves more vile. If Jesus should make His appearance in their midst, they would despise Him. They advocate their errors for a-while, until the people get disgusted with it, then they add another. Nights upon their beds, horror gets hold upon them. Can ye not see it?...He (Satan) has got them safe in the snare. The honest are getting disgusted. Satan works at the very ones that do him the most harm....Satan works in different ways to steal the mind off from God."

"The law of God is to be magnified. Its claims must be presented by our workers, in our books and papers, and through the spoken word. The knowledge of its holy character is to become widespread. The message of Christ's righteousness must be proclaimed from one end of the earth to the other. Our people are to be aroused to prepare the way of the Lord. The third angel's message--the last message of mercy to a perishing world--is so sacred, so glorious. Let the light go forth as a lamp that burneth. Mysteries into which angels have desired to look, which prophets and kings and righteous men desired to know, the church of God is now to unfold.

"This representation is an illustration of the way in which the truth for this time is to go. A large work is to be done by many who have commenced in a small way. Many souls will be reached, not through display, not through any devising on the part of man, but because of the working of the Holy Spirit on the hearts of the human agencies."

"He (God) wants every living soul that has a knowledge of the truth to come to their senses. He wants every living power to arouse; and we are just about the same thing as dead men. And it is time that we should arise and shine because our light has come, and the glory of the Lord has arisen upon us..."

"But God still has a people in Babylon; and before the visitation of His judgments, these faithful ones must be called out, that they `partake not of her sins, and receive not of her plagues.' Hence the movement symbolized by the angel coming down from heaven, lightening the earth with his glory, and crying mightily with a strong voice, announcing the sins of Babylon. In connection with his message the call is heard, `Come out of her, My people.' As these warnings join the third angel's message, it swells to a loud cry....

"As the time comes for the loud cry to be given, the Lord will work through humble instruments, leading the minds of those who consecrate themselves to His service. The laborers will be qualified rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the training of literary institutions. Men of faith and prayer will be constrained to go forth with holy zeal, declaring the words which God gives them. The sins of Babylon will be laid open. The fearful results of a union of Church and State, the inroads of Spiritualism, the stealthy but rapid progress of the papal power,--all will be unmasked. By these solemn warnings the people will be stirred. Thousands upon thousands have never listened to words like these. In amazement they hear the testimony that Babylon is the church, fallen because of her sins, because of her rejection of the truth sent to her from Heaven. The people go to their former teachers with the eager inquiry, Are these things so? The ministers present fables, prophesy smooth things, to soothe their fears, and quiet the awakened conscience. But many refuse to be satisfied with the mere authority of men, and demand a plain `Thus saith the Lord.' The popular ministry, like the Pharisees of old, are filled with anger as their authority is questioned; they denounce the message as of Satan, and stir up the sin-loving multitudes to revile and persecute those who proclaim it.

"As the controversy extends into new fields, and the minds of the people are called to God's down-trodden law, Satan is astir. The power attending the message only maddens those who oppose it. The clergy put forth almost superhuman efforts to shut away the light, lest it should shine upon their flocks. By every means at their command they endeavor to suppress the discussion of these vital questions. The church appeals to the strong arm of civil power, and in this work, papists are solicited to come to the help of Protestants. The movement for Sunday enforcement becomes more bold and decided. The law is invoked against commandment-keepers. (Note: the law was passed after the message of the loud cry went forth declaring Babylon to be the church!) They are threatened with fines and imprisonment, and some are offered positions of influence, and other rewards and advantages, as inducement to renounce their faith. But their steadfast answer is, `Show us from the word of God our error,'--the same plea that was made by Luther under similar circumstances. Those who are arraigned before the courts make a strong vindication of the truth, and some who hear them are led to take their stand to keep all the commandments of God. Thus light is brought before thousands who otherwise would know nothing of these truths."

"The only hope for our churches today is to repent and do their first work....Well may the people fear and tremble under these words: `Except thou repent, I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place.' What then? `If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!'...Shall the candle that once burned brightly, sending its light amid the moral darkness of error, gradually go out, until it is quenched in darkness?

"How was it with Ephesus? She knew not the time of her visitation. She did not heed the solemn admonitions of God. She did not maintain a vital connection with Christ, and grievous wolves entered in, and spared not the flock. That church, once beloved of God, that might have sent her bright rays amid the moral darkness to enlighten many souls, permitted her light to go out....

"When men listen to the Lord's message, but through temptation allow prejudice to bar the mind and heart against the reception of truth, the enemy has power to present the most precious things in a distorted light. Looking through the medium of prejudice and passion, they feel too indignant to search the Scriptures in a Christlike spirit, but repudiate the whole matter because points are presented that are not in accordance with their own ideas....

"Should the Lord's messengers, after standing manfully for the truth for a time, fall under temptation, and dishonor Him who has given them their work, will that be proof that the message is not true? No, because the Bible is true. `To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them' (Isaiah 8:20). Sin on the part of the messenger of God would cause Satan to rejoice, and those who have rejected the messenger and the message would triumph; but it would not at all clear the men who were guilty of rejecting the message of truth sent of God.

"One matter burdens my soul: The great lack of the love of God, which has been lost through continued resistance of light and truth, and the influence of those who have been engaged in active labor, who, in the face of evidence piled upon evidence, have exerted and influence to counteract the work of the message God has sent....

"Jesus has presented to them the precious jewels of truth, the riches of His grace and salvation, the glistening white vesture of His own righteousness, woven in heaven's loom and containing not one thread of human invention. Jesus is knocking. Open the door of the heart, and buy of Him the precious heavenly treasure....

"I have deep sorrow of heart because I have seen how readily a word or action of Elder Jones or Elder Waggoner is criticized. How readily many minds overlook all the good that has been done through them in the few years past, and see no evidence that God is working through these instrumentalities. They hunt for something to condemn, and their attitude toward these brethren who have zealously engaged in doing a good work, shows that feelings of enmity and bitterness are in the heart. What is needed is the converting power of God upon hearts and minds. Cease watching your brethren with suspicion....

"Many have been convinced that they have grieved the Spirit of God by their resistance of light, but they hated to die to self, and deferred to do the work of humbling their hearts and confessing their sins. They would not acknowledge that the reproof was sent of God, or the instruction was from heaven, until every shadow of uncertainty was removed. They did not walk out into the light....

"Evidence has been piled upon evidence, but they have been unwilling to acknowledge it. By their stubborn attitude they have revealed the soul malady that was upon them, for no evidence could satisfy them. Doubt, unbelief, prejudice, and stubbornness, killed all love from their souls. They demanded perfect assurance, but this is not compatible with faith. Faith rests not on certainty, but on evidence. Demonstration is not faith.

"If the rays of light which shown at Minneapolis were permitted to exert their convincing power upon those who took their stand against light, if all had yielded their ways, and submitted their wills to the Spirit of God at that time, they would have received the richest blessing, disappointed the enemy, and stood as faithful men, true to their convictions....The light has been withdrawing from some, and ever since they have walked in sparks of their own kindling. No one can tell how much may be at stake when neglecting to comply with the call of the Spirit of God.

"In order to have better opportunities in the future, they must improve the opportunities they have already had, yield to the Spirit of God, and heed the voice from heaven, giving prompt obedience from willing hearts. God will not be trifled with. The sin committed in what took place at Minneapolis remains on the record books of heaven, registered against the names of those who resisted light; and it will remain upon the record until full confession is made and the transgressors stand in full humility before God."

"We should be the last people on earth to indulge in the slightest degree the spirit of persecution against those who are bearing the message of God to the world. This is the most terrible feature of unChristlikeness that has manifested itself among us since the Minneapolis meeting. Sometime it will be seen in its true bearing, will all the burden of woe that has resulted from it."

"It is evident that he walks with God; that he has been with Jesus and learned of Him. He has brought the truth into the inner sanctuary of the soul; it is to him a living reality, and he presents the truth in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. The people hear the joyful sound. God speaks to their hearts through the man consecrated to His service....

"The offered visits of the Holy Spirit are met with the words of Felix to Paul, `Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.'...The heavenly messenger has been repulsed by the determined will....It is thus that despite has been done to God's gracious messenger, the Holy Spirit.

"Are not the teachers in our schools in danger of blasphemy, of charging the Holy Spirit of God with being a deceiving power, and leading into fanaticism....A succession of showers from the living waters has come to you at Battle Creek. Each shower was a consecrated inflowing of divine influence; but you did not recognize it as such. Instead of drinking copiously of the streams of salvation, so freely offered through the influence of the Holy Spirit, you turned to common sewers, and tried to satisfy your soul-thirst...Those who are satisfied with little spirituality have gone far in unfitting themselves to appreciate the deep movings of the Spirit of God....If they are visited again by the Holy Spirit, I hope they will not call righteousness sin, and sin righteousness."

"The men in responsible positions have disappointed Jesus. They have refused precious blessings, and refused to be channels of light, as He wanted them to be. The knowledge they should receive of God that they might be a light and blessing to others, they refuse to accept, and thus become channels of darkness. The Spirit of God is grieved."

"Through the medium of a familiar intercourse, He (Jesus) illuminated their minds to understand the sublime truths which they were to reveal to the world. But their work was not to be entered upon till they should know of a surety, by the baptism of the Holy Ghost, that they were connected with heaven. They were promised new courage and joy from the heavenly illumination they should then experience, and which would enable them to comprehend the depth and breadth and fullness of God's love....

"Elder Jones and myself occupied the preaching hours, and the Lord imparted to the speakers His grace in rich measure. The congregation were deeply interested, and many who were undecided have balanced in the right direction, and we believe that many more will decide for the truth as a result of this meeting. The sweet peace and quietness of God seen to be in all....Now that the enlightenment of the Spirit of God has come, all seem to be learning fast, but at first the lessons presented seemed strange and new, and their hearts and minds could not take them in. More real good could now be accomplished in one day than in one full week before, because they have now opened their hearts to Jesus, and He is abiding with them. All regret that they have been so long ignorant of what constituted true religion. They are sorry that they have not known that it was true religion to depend entirely upon Christ's righteousness, and not upon works of merit."

"You need to be baptized in the cheerful sunshine of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and have far less of the--what shall I call it?--the desire to carry out your own opinions, when it would be better for you to believe that your opinions can and should be modified....Let your tongue be dipped in the oil of the love and grace of Christ....

"The law and the gospel, revealed in the Word, are to be preached to the people; for the law and the gospel, blended, will convict of sin. God's law, while condemning sin, points to the gospel, revealing Jesus Christ, in whom `dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.' The glory of the gospel reflects light upon the Jewish age, giving significance to the whole Jewish economy of types and shadows. Thus both the law and the gospel are blended. In no discourse are they to be divorced....

"Over the spiritual eyes of altogether too many there has been hanging a veil. Many have been teaching the binding claims of God's law, but have not been able to see to the end of that which was abolished. They have not seen that Jesus Christ is the glory of the law. The bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness are to be reflected from His messengers upon the minds of sinners, in order that they may be led to say, with one of old, `Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law' (Psalm 119:18)....

"When precious rays of light from the Sun of Righteousness have shone upon our pathway, some have opened wide the door of the heart, welcoming the heaven-sent light into the chambers of the soul. They receive the words of Christ Jesus gladly. Others have needed the divine anointing to improve their spiritual eyesight, in order that they may distinguish the light of truth from the darkness of error. Because of their blindness, they have lost an experience that would have been more precious to them than silver and gold. Some, I fear, will never recover that which they have lost.

"When strong-minded men once set their will against God's will, it is not easy for them to admit that they have erred in judgment. It is very difficult for such men to come fully into the light by honestly confessing their sins; for Satan has great power over the minds of many to whom God has granted evidence sufficient to encourage faith and inspire confidence. Many will not be convinced, because they are not inclined to confess. To resist and reject even one ray of light from heaven because of pride and stubbornness of heart, makes it easier to refuse light the second time. Thus men form the habit of rejecting light."

"Bear in mind that the undeserving are made perfect through the merits of Christ, while the Saviour, the Son of God, undeserving, is made sin for us. He bore our sins in His own body on the accursed tree, and you, my brother, relying wholly upon Jesus, not trusting to what you have done or may do, through faith in the atoning sacrifice, have life, pardon, and the peace of Jesus Christ. You may claim all this rich endowment because Christ has borne the punishment of your own sins, all undeserving, that you undeserving may go free and receive the rich treasures of His grace....

"You are accepted in the beloved. I have had the most earnest desire that you should perfect a Christian character, not in your own strength, but in the strength and in the virtue and righteousness of Christ. The donation of the Holy Spirit was the greatest gift God could bestow upon finite man...this endowment specially signalized the enthronement of the only begotten of the only begotten Son of God in His mediatorial kingdom."

"`I have glorified Thee on the earth; I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do.' We should all bear in mind that to every man God has given his work. There is no one in the entire human family who has not been entrusted with talents to be wisely used and improved. Said Christ, `I have glorified Thee in My human character, perfecting that character for the benefit of all humanity, to show human beings that man can keep the law of God in a world of sin and transgression, and through being a partaker of the divine nature, stand as an overcomer. "To him that overcometh will I grant to sin with Me in My throne."' Christ is our pattern."

"`The Holy Spirit cannot be revealed to the church members...while dissension and strife exist....If you would unitedly put away your peculiar hereditary and cultivated traits of character, and work together, the Lord could work through you. But souls will not be convicted and converted until you come into unity and Christian fellowship. Lose sight of self. Keep your eyes fixed on the Redeemer....You are not placed in this field of labor to create dissension and alienation. Sweep away the evils that have crept in. "Consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works."...

"`The prayer of Christ is not yet answered. There is a work to be done that still remains undone. Although proclaiming the gospel message, yet ministers and lay-members are envious, full of strife, destitute of the love that should be in their hearts....Will you seek for the blessing of the Holy Spirit, that you may answer the prayer of Christ? Would it not be well for you to pray that you shall not disappoint the Lord Jesus by failing to be His instrumentalities? When in word and deed you answer His prayer, putting away all variance, His Spirit will bear witness that you are His instrumentalities, and the world will take knowledge of you, that you have been with Jesus and have learned of Him.'...

"The Christian pilgrim is not left to walk in darkness. Jesus leads the way. Those who follow Him walk in the sunshine of His presence. The path that the pilgrim treads is clear and well-defined. Christ's righteousness goes before him--the righteousness that makes possible the good works characterizing the life of every true Christian....

"God designs that everything possible shall be done to enable us to stand heart to heart, mind to mind, shoulder to shoulder. This lack of love and confidence in one another weakens our faith in God. We need to pray as we never have prayed before for the baptism of the Holy Spirit: for, if there was ever a time when we needed this baptism, it is now.

"There is nothing the Lord has more frequently told us He would bestow upon us, and nothing by which His name would be more glorified in bestowing, than the Holy Spirit. When we partake of this Spirit, men and women will be born again. There will be a firm pressing together. A firm, unwavering faith in God will be seen. The Sun of Righteousness will be in our midst, with healing in His wings. Souls once lost will be found, and brought back and kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time."

"The opposition in our own ranks has imposed upon the Lord's messengers a laborious and soul trying task; for they have had to meet difficulties and obstacles which need not have existed. While this labor had to be performed among our own people, to make them willing that God should work in the day of His power, the light of the glory of God has not been shining in clear concentrated rays to the world. Thousands who are now in the darkness of error might have been added to our numbers. All the time and thought and labor required to counteract the influence of our brethren who oppose the message has been just so much taken from the world of the swift coming judgments of God. The Spirit of God has been present in power among His people, but it could not be bestowed upon them, because they did not open their hearts to receive it."