Testimonies for the Churches Chapter 1 Present Opportunities page 11.4 – 11.6
The church of Christ is God’s agency for the proclamation of truth; she is empowered by Him to do a special work; and if she is loyal to God, obedient to His commandments, there will dwell within her the excellence of divine power. If she will honor the Lord God of Israel, there is no power that can stand against her. If she will be true to her allegiance, the forces of the enemy will be no more able to overpower her than is the chaff to resist the whirlwind. {8T 11.4}There is before the church the dawn of a bright, glorious day, if she will put on the robe of Christ’s righteousness, withdrawing from all allegiance to the world. {8T 11.5}
The members of the church need now to confess their backslidings and press together. My brethren, allow nothing to come in that will separate you from one another or from God. Talk not of differences of opinion, but unite in the love of the truth as it is in Jesus. Come before God, and plead the shed blood of the Saviour as a reason why you should receive help in the warfare against evil. You will not plead in vain. As you draw near to God, with heartfelt contrition and in full assurance of faith, the enemy who seeks to destroy you will be overcome. {8T 11.6}
These are wonderful promises and words of encouragement, but just like every other promise in God’s word, there are conditions placed upon the promises. On page 14, paragraph 1 of Testimionies 8 Mrs. White makes the following statements which would make all those preceding promises of no effect if they are not carefully considered and followed to the full extent, because with God it is all or none. You can’t give ninety nine percent to God. You have to give it all to God or you are just wasting your time.
Testimonies for the Churches Chapter 1 Present Opportunities page 14.1
But let God’s people remember that only as they believe and work out the principles of the gospel can He make them a praise in the earth. Only as they use their God-given capabilities in His service will they enjoy the fullness and power of the promise whereon the church has been called to stand. If those who profess to believe in Christ as their Saviour reach only the low standard of worldly measurement, the church fails to bear the rich harvest that God expects, “Found wanting” is written upon her record. {8T 14.1}Luke 14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Here is another most glorious proclamation which Ellen White makes about the church.
Acts of the Apostles page 9.1
The church is God’s appointed agency for the salvation of men. It was organized for service, and its mission is to carry the gospel to the world. From the beginning it has been God’s plan that through His church shall be reflected to the world His fullness and His sufficiency. The members of the church, those whom He has called out of darkness into His marvelous light, are to show forth His glory. The church is the repository of the riches of the grace of Christ; and through the church will eventually be made manifest, even to “the principalities and powers in heavenly places,” the final and full display of the love of God. Ephesians 3:10. {AA 9.1}
Many and wonderful are the promises recorded in the Scriptures regarding the church. “Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.” Isaiah 56:7. “I will make them and the places round about My hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season;
The striking reality which that quote presents is that Mrs. White says, “Through the church will eventually be made manifest, even to “the principalities and powers in heavenly places,” the final and full display of the love of God.” Do you know what that means? It means that the angels, principalities and powers in heaven don’t even understand the what the full display of God’s love really is nor entirely what it means. But God has chosen to reveal the full display of His love through the church. I think I can say that to people all day long, but they still won’t understand what this implies. God Himself has not demonstrated the full display of his love, yet He has chosen His church for this work.
It means that the members of the church cannot reach this point unless they learn how to love one another as Jesus loved the disciples and the church. How can I say that? Well Jesus Himself said the following:
John 13: 34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
If Jesus said it, it’s true. There are tens of thousands of Christian denominations in the world. If the Adventists of the world were loving one another the way that Jesus loved His disciples and the church, then as He clearly stated, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples,” the world would know that Adventists were the true disciples of Christ. They wouldn’t have to search through 30,000 denominations to find it. The fact that the world cannot see any difference in the Adventist church and any other church is because we have failed to listen and heed the words of our Lord.
This brings us back to the quote in Testimonies 8 Pge 11.6, “The members of the church need now to confess their backslidings and press together. My brethren, allow nothing to come in that will separate you from one another or from God.”
In His statement, Jesus said he was giving a New commandment to the disciples, but it was no new commandment. In 1John 2:8, John is repeating the Lord when he says, “a new commandment I write unto you.” But in verse 7 in the same chapter of 1John he says, “Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. This is because he was following the line of thought which Jesus was using when He first said it. Even Ellen White attests to this. That is that the commandment was given to the Jews in the book of Leviticus.
The Review and Herald December 18, 1894 par. 10
Let all read and understand these words of John, in order that they may make no mistake. To what commandments is John referring? He says, “Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you; because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him?” {RH, December 18, 1894 par. 11}
“If thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him; yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee. Take thou no usury of him, or increase; but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.” How tenderly the Lord regards all who are suffering and in want! They are to be helped, not to be oppressed. “Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase. I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.” {RH, December 18, 1894 par. 12}
So in other words, if we don’t learn these lessons, then we will not be able to partake in the latter rain.
The General Conference Bulletin July 1, 1900 A Testimony Unity Among Believers
It is our God-given duty to love one another as Christ has loved us. The performance of this duty brings with it the blessedness of peace and quietude in the Lord and the ennobling and uplifting of the whole being. Those who neglect this duty can never reach perfection. Those who love as Christ loved are born of God, and are “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 21}