There is much that must be considered, which can not be touched this morning, and I hardly know what to bring before you, because there is so much to say. The light that has been given me for the past fifteen years has been a representation of the great responsibility which is attached to the work of the ministry. The work of the minister should be regarded in a far higher light. It is the low estimate placed on this work that leaves our Conferences in such a weak, feeble condition. We can not afford this. Those ministers who place a low estimate on the work intrusted to them neither do justice to themselves or to the church. Just as long as our ministers fail to feel a sense of responsibility proportionate to the greatness of their work, there will be a deficiency in our Conferences.GCB April 16, 1901, page 267.3

We can not, as a people, allow things to go on in this way. Those who are placed in charge of Conferences should be men who understand the movements of the Spirit of God upon the human heart, so that when the Spirit is absent they will know that something is wrong. Before they give the word of God to the people, they are to understand what it means to talk with God.GCB April 16, 1901, page 267.4

In many minds principles have become so confused that it is difficult for them to grasp correct principles. So great is the dullness of conception that many know scarcely anything of what it means to be witnesses for Christ in these last days. If they only knew, if they only understood, if they could only see what might be in comparison with what is, there would be such an awakening, such a breaking down before God as we have never seen before.GCB April 16, 1901, page 267.5

There is a great necessity for individual examination. You may very intelligently examine your brother-ministers and very closely judge them, while you yourself are in far more need of closer examination and judging than you bestow on them. Many lay burdens on their brethren, weakening and discouraging them by their criticism, instead of uplifting and strengthening them. God wants us to take ourselves in hand. Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith or not. Prove your own selves. Just as soon as you fasten the mind on Jesus Christ, the Saviour who made a complete sacrifice for every one; just as soon as you see that you must be a complete man because he has made a complete sacrifice for you, you will seek earnestly for help from above to overcome your own failings.GCB April 16, 1901, page 267.6

I am not going to specify any one in particular as being in the wrong. There should be a general reformation. A closer examination of self. Ask yourselves the question. “What should I be?” Christ says, “Without me ye can do nothing.”GCB April 16, 1901, page 267.7

My heart has been filled with sadness as I have looked over the field and seen the barren places. What does this mean? Who are standing as representatives of Jesus Christ? Who feels a burden for the souls who can not receive the truth till it is brought to them. Our ministers are hovering over the churches, as though the angel of mercy was not making efforts to save souls.GCB April 16, 1901, page 267.8

God holds these ministers responsible for the souls of those who are in darkness. He does not call you to go into fields that need no physician. Establish your churches with the understanding that they need not expect the minister to wait upon them and to be continually feeding them. They have the truth; they know what truth is. They should have root in themselves. These should strike down deeply, that they may reach up higher and still higher. They must be rooted and grounded in the faith.GCB April 16, 1901, page 267.9

Very many will get up some test that is not given in the word of God. We have our test in the Bible,—the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. “Here are they that keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.” This is the true test, but many other tests will arise among the people. They will come in in multitudes, springing up from this one and that one. There will be a continual rising up of some foreign thing to call attention from the true test of God.GCB April 16, 1901, page 267.10

These things make it necessary that the minister who meets these tests should have a discerning mind, that he may not give credence to any false doctrine. Voices will be heard, saying, Lo, here is Christ, when there is no Christ there at all. It is some human notion which they wish men to accept and believe.GCB April 16, 1901, page 267.11

But the saddest thing is that principles become perverted. Not that there is no one who tries to carry out principle, but that principle has become so daubed with untempered mortar that it will need the closest investigation from the word of God to see if all is in accordance with the principles of true godliness, founded upon a “Thus saith the Lord.”GCB April 16, 1901, page 267.12

God wants those who have come to this Conference to wake up, that they may not be sleeping on the walls of Zion. There should be an investigation of self. When you begin this work, you will find that you have your hands full. Too many who have entered the ministry have not had that thorough, cleansing, refining influence upon mind and character that takes away the chaff, enabling them to bring to the foundation Stone only gold and silver and precious stones. Here is the great need, the great lack. God wants us to come to him just as we are, throw our helpless souls upon Jesus Christ, and be born again.GCB April 16, 1901, page 267.13

The fact is, many have entered the ministry with a babyish, childish, pettish, and self-willed spirit, just as their mothers allowed them to grow up. This is why I am speaking so often to fathers and mothers about realizing the great responsibility that rests upon them. Every particle of this childishness must be left behind. You have grown to the full stature of men, therefore the childish things you entertained; the disagreeable traits of character which you know are not after Christ’s order, your impetuous words, must be put away.GCB April 16, 1901, page 267.14

Words are a talent, and you have no right to use God’s talents in any way but for his glory, for the benefit of every one around you. There must be a thorough conversion of the soul, that there may be a conversion of the tongue and lips. Then the treasure house of the soul will be full of precious truths, because Christ’s character is studied. Then you will be blessed as overseers and shepherds. And when you as shepherds, exemplifying the traits of Christ’s character, come before the flock, they will see the importance of having practical religion, practical godliness, not merely the accepting of a form or a theory.GCB April 16, 1901, page 268.1

Some think that they must be so wonderfully orthodox, but they are not orthodox at all after Christ’s order. They catch some little point and dwell upon it, magnifying it above all else. Of those who do not see as they do they say, “We do not want this man to preach because he does not see this point,” and, “We do not want that man to preach because he does not see that point.” But they do not know what they are about. Leave that man with God.GCB April 16, 1901, page 268.2

It is not for you to dissect the ideas of this one and that one. We served our time at this at Minneapolis. Let there be no more of it in the work of God. God wants us to realize that judgment is right upon us. Let us beware lest before we are aware of it, the thief comes upon us with stealthy tread. Let us stand where we look not at the defects and errors of others, but at Jesus, saying, “I have an individual case pending in the heavenly courts. It means everything to me whether I shall be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary and found complete in him, or whether I shall be found wanting.GCB April 16, 1901, page 268.3

Provision has been made for every one of us to be saved. Those who do not accept the provision made by the shedding of the blood of the Son of the infinite God place their minds on little items, to the neglect of the great truths essential for salvation. They are diverted from the great Pattern, diverted from the study of the character of Christ. Failing to see him, they are not changed from glory to glory, from character to character.GCB April 16, 1901, page 268.4

God wants us to look to Jesus. But we are not Bible-keepers. We do not obey the commandments of God. A lawyer came to Christ with the question, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Knowing what was in the mind of the lawyer, Christ placed upon him the burden of the answer. “What is written in the law?” he asked. “How readest thou?” I wonder whether you do not need your attention called to this. “How readest thou?”GCB April 16, 1901, page 268.5

The question asked by the lawyer is a decided one, and with the answer comes sounding down along the line to our time. The lawyer answered, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” This includes the whole man. The powers of the body as well as of the mind are to be used in the work of God. The whole being is to consecrated to the service of the Master.GCB April 16, 1901, page 268.6

There are many things I wish to say which I shall touch at another time. I want now to say to you, Look unto Jesus, and see in him what you should be. In order to have eternal life we must love God supremely and our neighbors as ourselves. On these two great arms hang all the law and the prophets. These principles take in the entire Bible. We may have faith, hope, and confidence; but these will do us no good unless we have the love of Christ in the soul. The love that the Saviour has expressed for us we are to express for our brethren. This love will exert a vivifying influence upon the life and a reformative influence upon the character. This is what God wants to see.GCB April 16, 1901, page 268.7

As I have seen the fields ripe unto the harvest, and as I have seen the lack of interest manifested in them, I have wondered how you could do as you have done. I can not understand it. If you are connected with him who gave his life to save the world, how can you see the purchase of his blood perishing in their sins without making any efforts to save them? Christ says, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” We are not to give the call to those who have received the truth and understand it, to whom it has been repeated over and over again till some one thinks he must bring in something original. He brings in little fables which are not worth a straw. These he brings forward as tests God has given, when Satan has originated them to divert minds from the true tests God has given. Thou shalt love supremely the God of heaven. This is your first work. And when you do this, you will love your neighbor as yourself. You will treat human beings as souls Christ died to save. Put away all pettishness and fretfulness. All these things are to be purged from the heart. You are to be purified through belief in the truth. God wants us to have the sanctification of the Spirit.GCB April 16, 1901, page 268.8

The truth is to be borne to those who know it not. Labor for souls as they who must give account to God. Every one of you will be called to account for what you ought to have done and did not do. God wants you to be faithful stewards. He wants you to seek for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, he wants you to be hunters and fishers for souls. He wants to see manifested in you the living faith which knows how to labor for souls. He will use men who will seek earnestly for sinners, who will get down on their knees and pray with them. God wants you to make more earnest efforts than ever before to go into the regions beyond, then when the next Conference is held, it will be found that churches have been established in many places. Angels of God are waiting for an opportunity to work with you.GCB April 16, 1901, page 268.9

Christ came to save that which was lost, and he calls you to go forth to labor for those who know not the truth, instead of only sermonizing and doing a little work for the churches. You would then do fifty times as much in encouraging the churches and setting them a right example. God wants you to know how to wrestle, to know what it is to labor for souls, and to carry the burden of souls on your heart. When you are educating them, Christ is educating you. When you are giving them lessons, Christ is giving you his lessons, and these are of the greatest value. To those who have placed stumbling-blocks in the way of their brethren, who have felt it their solemn duty to hold back men who have the truth, and who could give the trumpet a certain sound, I would say, Take your hands off quickly. Feel that you have a work to do for your own souls, and that it is best for you to be about it, lest you lose the chance of so growing up into Christ and be complete in him.GCB April 16, 1901, page 268.10

This is all I feel it my duty to say this morning. This is all you can work upon at present. I have other things to say later on. I will only add, Let us seek the Lord, and let us confess our sins.GCB April 16, 1901, page 269.1

Following this solemn testimony the meeting was continued, for a short time, in which the following ministers responded:—GCB April 16, 1901, page 269.2

G. A. Irwin: It seems clear to me this morning that God has spoken to us. The great moral looking-glass has been laid before us, and I for one have seen myself as I believe the Lord sees me. I want to say that everything that has been said this morning fits my case. And I mean by God’s help to fall on the Rock and be broken, and to confess my sins that I may receive his forgiveness. I feel that I have been one of those who have lost their first love, and that the burden for souls has not rested upon me in the past as it should have rested, that I have not had that tender spirit that was prominent in the life of our Lord and Master. All I can do this morning is to confess my sin and ask God to forgive, and I believe that he will forgive. It is my determination from this time to be a different man by God’s help. I presume there are a great many who would like to speak this morning. We have some time yet, and any one who feels a burden to say something can press right in.GCB April 16, 1901, page 269.3

O. A. Olsen: It must be very evident to us all, brethren, that we have reached a point where there must be a decided turning, a decided change in our attitude and in our experience. And I have been exceedingly anxious both for myself and for my brethren since we came to this meeting that we should not here pass along like the door upon its hinges, swinging back and forth, without any decided change in ourselves. Now the Lord has spoken to us decidedly, pointedly, pointed out our errors, our sins, our wrong doings, and is it not time that we, as we have been exhorted this morning, bring ourselves to such a close examination that we may see and sense these things with a real repentance, turning to the Lord? God means what he says. Brethren, I take the word of the Lord to my heart, and I pray most earnestly that God will comfort my soul, and make me to be just what he would have me be, and I know he is willing to thus work. But to let the matter pass along in an easy way will never do. God wants earnest work, and God help us to fall upon the Stone that we may be broken, that everything of self may be broken up, that God may come in and regenerate us and organize us and shape us after his own divine pattern. I praise God for what he is doing. We are so complacent, we are so easy, and we pass along so smoothly. May God break up the fallow ground of my heart and of every heart. It is time for earnest work, and may God help every soul of us to fall prostrate at his feet, as we have been told this morning.GCB April 16, 1901, page 269.4

R. F. Andrews: I am very thankful this morning, brethren and sisters, for what my ears have heard. I believe that the Lord has been speaking, and I feel so grateful that the Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. Brethren, I can see the hand of God here at this meeting.GCB April 16, 1901, page 269.5

Elder Babcock: Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.GCB April 16, 1901, page 269.6

Elder J. G. Wood: I feel that the words spoken this morning are applicable to me, and I want the Lord to search my heart. I want to go out to stand the test the Lord may give me, that I may be useful somewhere in the salvation of souls.GCB April 16, 1901, page 269.7

S. H. Lane: I thank the Lord that when we go astray he is so willing to invite us back to the right path. I was thinking as we were being exhorted that if each and every one of us would work in these barren fields, the Lord would not suggest that we should do so if these fields were unfruitful. If we would labor in these fields there might be several hundred churches brought into the truth. What would that mean? That would mean a good many laborers to help us in this great work. I have felt for a long time that if we would go out and proclaim this truth as it was twenty years ago, hundreds and thousands would embrace it. I am so thankful that our minds are being brought back to these truths that have made us Seventh-day Adventists,—the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. If we stick to that, all these side issues will drop out and have no place among us. May the Lord help us all to be more faithful and earnest in carrying the truths of the third angel’s message.GCB April 16, 1901, page 269.8

Elder Bordeau: I am of good courage because the Lord is in our midst. I have not said much; I do not claim perfection, but I know that God does love us, and I love him. I love his cause. I love this people, and I purpose to wake up to this precious instruction given to us. I have no other object in life. May God bless us and give us victory through Jesus Christ.GCB April 16, 1901, page 269.9

Elder G. H. Smith: I am glad to see this family lifted up. I am glad that we have come to that time where we can see a much higher standard to attain to, and that in the attainment of that standard, we shall be rooted and grounded so that we shall maintain the good principles of God’s truth in a powerful way before the people, so that they shall be able to take hold of the truth and be saved by it. I praise the Lord for this reproof which he sends in love, and I hope that through Christ I shall be delivered from all that has hindered my work in the past; that we shall stand together, shoulder to shoulder carrying forward the great message to the nations of the world.GCB April 16, 1901, page 269.10

L. R. Conradi: I want to praise the Lord for his goodness to me. This has been the best meeting to me that we have had thus far. This is because I tried to call on the Lord and have him revealed to my heart. I have had my struggles since I have been here, but I thank the Lord I have had victories. I find my heart is becoming softened, and what is said this morning is for me. I want to leave this meeting as another man fitted to go wherever the Lord wants me.GCB April 16, 1901, page 269.11

A. J. Breed: I have felt for a long time that as far as I am concerned I must have a different experience. As I have listened to the many calls that have been made, my heart has been stirred. The things which have been said this morning apply to me. I have found myself growing irritable, and it has seemed as though things which I have tried my best to fight against have been coming into my nature. I see that I must fall on the Rock and be broken. The desire of my heart this morning is to have a deeper, richer experience in the things of God. I must have a power to attend me in my work. I thank God for what is taking place in this Conference. I can see that the Lord is going to lead his people, if they will only be willing to follow. It is the desire of my soul to follow wheresoever he leads. I thank the Lord for the message he has given us this morning. I am asking the Lord to anoint my eyes with eye salve, that I may see. Brethren, I do not want to go out of the work, nor be set aside, but I do desire that there shall be a shaking of the dry bones, and I pray that when they come together again, I will be reorganized through and through.GCB April 16, 1901, page 269.12

G. A. Irwin: This work is an individual work. We are not to search some one else, or try to right up some one else according to our own ideas. We shall have enough to do to get ourselves right before God. Brethren, wherever we may be, we can seek the Lord. It is not necessary that we be in a large gathering in order to seek him. It does seem to me, in view of what has been said—and I am sure we shall each say, “I am the man”—that we should go from this place praying that God will forgive our sins, and that this may be a time when we shall gain a new hold from above. Let us pray that at this meeting we may experience a new conversion, that we may be born again, and go forth with power for service resting upon us.GCB April 16, 1901, page 270.1

SERMON