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Beware

Rejecting Truth

The great danger with our people has been that of depending upon men and making flesh their arm. Those who have not been in the habit of searching the Bible for themselves, or weighing evidence, have confidence in the leading men and accept the decisions they make; and thus many will reject the very messages God sends to His people, if these leading brethren do not accept them. Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, page 106

Danger in Rejecting Light

It is an astonishment to the whole universe that men do not see and do not acknowledge the bright beams of light that are shining upon them; but if they close their hearts to the light, and pervert the truth until it is interpreted to be darkness, they will imagine that their own criticism and unbelief is light, and will not confess their opposition to the ways and works of God.

By pursuing a course like this, men who might have stood fast to the end, will place their influence against the message and messenger that God sends.

But in the day of judgment, when the question is asked,

"Why did you intercept yourself, your judgment and influence, between the people and the message of God?" they will have nothing to answer.

If they open their lips then, it will only be to say that they now see truth as God sees it.

They will confess that they were full of pride of opinion, trusted in their own judgment, and strengthened the hands that sought to tear down that which God had commanded to be built up. They will say,

"Although the evidence was strong that God was working,

I would not acknowledge it; for it was not in harmony with what I had taught.

I was not in the habit of confessing any error in the past in my experience;

I was too stubborn to fall upon the Rock and be broken.

I determined to resist, and not be converted to the truth.

I would not reveal the fact that I thought my course was wrong in any degree, and my light went out in darkness."

To such the words apply,

"Woe unto thee, Chorazin!

Woe unto thee, Bethsaida!

for if the mighty works, which were done in you

had been done in Tyre and Sidon,

they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes."

Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, October 21,1890

The Sin of Rejecting Evidence

The sin for which Christ reproved Chorazin and Bethsaida was the sin of rejecting evidence that would have convinced them of the truth, had they yielded to its power.

The sin of the scribes and Pharisees was the sin of placing the heavenly work which had been wrought before them in the darkness of unbelief, so that the evidence which should have led them into a settled faith was questioned, and the sacred things which should have been cherished were regarded as of no value. I fear that the people have permitted the enemy to work along these very lines, so that the good which emanated from God, the rich blessing which He has given, have come to be regarded by some as fanaticism. Selected Messages Book 1, page 142

(Are you thinking this paper is from a fanatic ? . . Check back with Ellen G. White, she will refer you to her source— God)

The spies hurry away to report to the rulers this work of Jesus, and that the "world is gone after him." In performing this miracle, the Saviour took a decisive step toward the completion of his earthly mission. The grandest evidence of his life was now given that he was the Son of God, and had control of death and the grave.

Hearts that had long been under the power of sin, in rejecting this proof of the divinity of Jesus, locked themselves in impenetrable darkness and came wholly under the sway of Satan, to be hurried by him over the brink of eternal ruin. The Spirit of Prophecy Volume Two, page 366,

Men, women, and youth, God requires you to possess moral courage, steadiness of purpose, fortitude and perseverance, minds that cannot take the assertions of another, but which will investigate for themselves before receiving or rejecting, that will study and weigh evidence, and take it to the Lord in prayer. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." Now the condition: "But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord." This petition for wisdom is not to be a meaningless prayer, out of mind as soon as finished. It is a prayer that expresses the strong, earnest desire of the heart, arising from a conscious lack of wisdom to determine the will of God. Testimonies for the Church Volume Two, page 130

Those who have put on Christ by baptism, by this act showing their separation from the world and that they have covenanted to walk in newness of life, should not set up idols in their hearts. Those who have once rejoiced in the evidence of sins forgiven, who have tasted a Saviour's love and who then persist in uniting with the foes of Christ, rejecting the perfect righteousness that Jesus offers them and choosing the ways that He has condemned, will be more severely judged than the heathen who have never had the light and have never known God or His law.

Those who refuse to follow the light which God has given them, choosing the amusements, vanities, and follies of the world, and refusing to conform their conduct to the just and holy requirements of God's law, are guilty of the most aggravating sins in the sight of God. Their guilt and their wages will be proportionate to the light and privileges which they have had. Testimonies for the Church Volume Three, page 365

Opposition to Faithful Warnings

It is not a new thing for a man to be deluded by the arch-deceiver and array himself against God. Consider your course critically before you venture to go any further in the path you are traveling. The Jews were self-deceived. They rejected the teachings of Christ because He exposed the secrets of their hearts and reproved their sins. They would not come to the light, fearing that their deeds would be reproved. They chose darkness rather than light. "This is the condemnation," said Christ, "that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." The Jews pursued their course of rejecting Christ until, in their self-deceived, deluded state, they thought that in crucifying Him they were doing God service.

This was the result of their refusing light.

You are in danger of similar deception.

It will be profitable for your soul, Brother G, to consider where the path which you are now traveling will end. God can do without you, but you cannot afford to do without God. He does not compel any man to believe.

He sets light before men, and Satan presents his darkness.

While the deceiver is constantly crying,

"Light is here; truth is here,"

Jesus is saying:

"I am the truth; I have the words of eternal life.

If any man follow Me,

he shall not walk in darkness."

God gives to us all evidence sufficient to balance our faith on the side of truth. If we surrender to God we shall choose the light and reject the darkness.

If we desire to maintain the independence of the natural heart, and refuse the correction of God, we shall, as did the Jews, stubbornly carry out our purposes and our ideas in the face of the plainest evidence, and shall be in danger of as great deception as came upon them; and in our blind infatuation we may go to as great lengths as they did, and yet flatter ourselves that we are doing work for God.

Testimonies for the Church Volume Four, page 230

(Emphasis supplied)

14-ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN, AM I?

15-CLING TO YOUR BIBLE

16-RIVETED TO THE ROCK

17-SPIRITUALISM

18-ONLY THOSE WHO....

19-UNDERMINING THE FAITH!

20-THE WORD OF GOD

Danger in Rejecting Light

The Sin of Rejecting Evidence

Opposition to Faithful Warnings