When it is said of a man that he “just lives to make money,” the force of the expression is that he is devoted to that one thing; that his whole mind and heart are absorbed in that as the one great matter above all others; that he is wrapped up in this, and has no time for anything else.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.3

Very good. That is the force of this blessed word of the Lord Jesus: “He ever liveth to make intercession” for us.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.4

He is devoted, given up, to that one thing of making intercession for us.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.5

The one great thing above all others, the one thing which he considers most worthy of his attention, the one thing in which his whole mind and heart is absorbed, is making intercession.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.6

The one thing in which he is so wrapped up that he has no time for anything else, is making intercession for us.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.7

Thank the Lord for that. “He ever liveth to make intercession” for us. That is the one thing that he ever lives for. Then there is no danger of his ever forgetting us. There is no danger of our ever being left out.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.8

For thou “I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me.” When does he think upon me?—“Ever,” certainly. For “he ever liveth to make intercession” for us.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.9

And because of this he saves to the uttermost all who come unto God by him.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.10

“Which Spirit Have You Received?” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 74, 47, p. 744.

“NOW we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God.”ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.1

There are just two spirits,—the spirit of the world, and the Spirit which is of God. Everybody has one or the other. Nobody has, and nobody can have, both at once.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.2

The line is clear-cut and absolute between these two spirits. Which do you choose? To which of these do you incline? To the ways of which one do you conform?ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.3

Do you care more for what the world will think than for what God says? If so, then you have received, not the Spirit of God, but the spirit of the world.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.4

When the world dictates that you shall wear frills, feathers, furbelows, and the finery and frippery of fashion generally, while God says you shall adorn yourselves “in modest apparel,” to which do you listen? which is the easier for you to follow? If you listen to the dictates of the world, and if it is easier for you to follow the world, in these things, then you have received not the Spirit which is of God, but the spirit of the world.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.5

When the world’s pride and lust of the eye dictates that you wear rings earrings, jewels, “gold and pearls,” and such “costly array,” while God says “not” such “array,” which do you obey? which is most satisfying to you? which pleases you best? And the men need not pass all this over to the women. If you yield to the dictates of pride and the lust of the eye in doing the very things that God plainly says for you not to do, assuredly it is plain enough that you have received, not the Spirit which is of God, but the spirit of the world.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.6

Perhaps you have said, and will now say, “What I shall wear is nobody’s business but my own.” That is perfectly true; and we will stand by you forever in that. We say, too, and in your behalf, What you shall wear is nobody’s business but your own. That is a thing that is for you, yourself alone, to decide.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.7

But here is the point: While it is a matter altogether for yourself to decide as to what you shall, and what you will, wear, yet you say that you want the gift of the Holy Spirit, you want to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Perhaps you are praying for the Holy Spirit to be given to you. Probably you have asked God’s ministers, may be you have even asked us, to pray for you, that you may receive the Holy Ghost. But the world cannot receive the Holy Spirit. Therefore if you incline to the world, to the fashions, the finery, the pride, and the display, of the world, you cannot receive the Holy Spirit, it matters not how much you pray. So long as you receive and indulge the spirit of the world in the wearing of jewels, gold, and pearls, and in fashionable display, you simply cannot receive the Spirit of God, it matters not how much we or any other of God’s ministers may pray for you.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.8

No; the Spirit of God and the spirit of the world are not yokefellows. They will not, they cannot, go together at all. Therefore, while it is indeed nobody’s business but your own what you shall wear, or whether you shall conform to the world’s ways or not, yet at the same time, when you tell us that you want to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, and when you ask us to pray that you may receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, it is our place, as ambassadors of Christ, to tell you that the world cannot receive the Spirit of God. As ministers of Christ we are obliged to tell you that the Holy Spirit will not baptize fashion, worldly display, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. In faithfulness to God and to you, we must tell you that you cannot receive the Spirit of God while indulging, or entertaining, or inclining at all to, the spirit of the world.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.9

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God.” Is this so with you? Do you prize the Spirit of God more than you do the spirit of the world? Do you care enough for the Spirit of God to give up the world, the things, the ways, and the spirit, of the world, that you may have that good Spirit? Do you say Yes?ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.10

Then do you, just now, repudiate forever the spirit of the world, and receive forever the Spirit of God, so that you can and do say, in a living faith, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God”? Please do so, and be free forevermore. “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.”ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.11

“Are You Agreed?” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 74, 47, pp. 744, 745.

“CAN two walk together, except they be agreed?”—No.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.1

If two persons, even dear friends, are walking together, arm in arm, and strike a disagreement, they either stop at once, and come to an understanding, or else they drop arms and walk no farther together.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.2

It is literally true, therefore, and it expresses itself in the natural, unconscious actions of men, that two cannot walk together, except they be agreed.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.3

Now you want to walk with God. And God wants you to walk with him. But how can you walk with him unless you agree with him?—You cannot.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.4

It matters not how much you want to walk with him, it matters not how hard you try to walk with him, you simply cannot walk with him unless you agree with him.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.5

But when you do agree with him, you can—yes, you will—walk with him, just as certainly as you walk at all. There is no power in the universe that can keep you from walking with God when you agree with him.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.6

But it is not really walking with God at all, to walk with him a while, and then walk apart from him for a while. Really to walk with him is to walk with him all the time; it is to abide with him, and walk. And in order to walk with him all the time, it is only necessary to agree with him all the time.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.7

Do you, then, agree with him all the time? Do you agree with him in everything? He has told you all things that you ever need to know, in order to walk with him all the time. In his Word he has told you all his counsel, in order that you may be perfect, “thoroughly furnished unto all good works;” in order that you may know and have “all things that pertain unto life and godliness.”ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.8

Do you, then, agree with him in everything that he has said in that Word? If you do, there is nothing in the universe that can prevent your walking with him always.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.9

But how shall you agree with him, if you do not know what he says? Therefore, of course, you must diligently read his Word to know what he says, so that you can intelligently agree with him. And when you have read his Word, do you then agree with him in everything that you have read? Do you?ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.10

When you have read what he says, do you accept it at once as the settled truth, and say, “That is so”? or do you hesitate, and query, and say, “How can that be so? I cannot see that; I do not understand that”? If this latter is the way—and you know that much of the time that is the way—that you do, then will you call that agreeing with the Lord?ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.11

When he has told you a thing, and you reply, “How can that be?” do you think that that is agreeing with him? When you have read his plain Word, spoken to you in your own plain, every-day language, and you reply, “I can’t see that; I don’t understand it,” will you say that that is agreeing with him? In so doing, decidedly you are not agreeing with him; and so long as you stand so, you cannot, simply cannot, walk with him.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.12

But you will say, “How can I agree with him till I understand what he says?” That is just where the whole secret lies; instead of agreeing with him, you want him to agree with you. Instead of yielding your ideas, and implicitly accepting what he says, whatever it may mean, you insist that what he says shall be submitted to your understanding; and if it agrees with your understanding, you will accept it, and agree with him; otherwise you will not. But that is not agreeing with him at all; that is insisting that he shall agree with you.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 744.13

All that you need to know in order to agree with God, is to know what he says. And when you know what he says, if you have more confidence in him than you have in yourself, if you allow that he knows more about it than you do, you will agree with him whether you understand it or not. Therefore the Lord directs, “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.”ARSH November 23, 1897, page 745.1

Do you not see, then, that understanding of the Scriptures comes from God just as certainly as do the Scriptures themselves? Do you not know that you are to forsake your understanding as well as all the rest of yourself? “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Do not ask that what the Lord says shall be submitted to your understanding. No; but submit your understanding to what the Lord says. “Casting down imaginations [reasonings], and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”ARSH November 23, 1897, page 745.2

Find what the Lord says: that is easy, for it is all plainly said, in simple language. Then accept that as the settled truth, without any “if’s,” or “and’s,” or “but’s,” or “how’s,” or any queries of any kind whatever. Agree with it as the settled truth, saying, “That is so.” Do this with everything that is said in the Bible. As soon as you read it or hear it, say, without any hesitation, “That is so.” This, and this only, is agreeing with God. And so agreeing with him always in all things, you will as surely walk with him always.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 745.3

“Enoch walked with God three hundred years.” Enoch agreed with God, there was no difference of opinion between them, for three hundred years. Enoch walked with God only because he agreed with him. Agreeing with God, it was impossible not to walk with him.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 745.4

So it is, and so it will be with you. Agree with him always, and you will walk with him always. You cannot possibly walk apart form him when you agree with him. That very Word of his, in which you agree with him, will itself hold you in the way with him.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 745.5

Therefore we “desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing.”ARSH November 23, 1897, page 745.6

Please study all this carefully; for we are going to call your attention to some things that the Lord has said, so that you may agree with him, and walk with him safely and securely.ARSH November 23, 1897, page 745.7

November 16, 1897

November 30, 1897