moved, you will never believe. The doubt that demands perfect knowledge will
never yield to faith. Faith rests upon evidence, not demonstration. The Lord requires
us to obey the voice of duty, when there are other voices all around us urging us to
pursue an opposite course. It requires earnest attention from us to distinguish the
voice which speaks from God. We must resist and conquer inclination, and obey the
voice of conscience without parleying or compromise, lest its promptings cease, and
will and impulse control.
“The word of the Lord comes to us all who have not resisted His Spirit by
determining not to hear and obey. This voice is heard in warnings, in counsels, in
reproof. It is the Lord’s message of light to His people. If we wait for louder calls or
better opportunities, the light may be withdrawn, and we left in darkness
“It pains me to say, my brethren, that your sinful neglect to walk in the light has
enshrouded you in darkness. You may now be honest in not recognizing and obeying
the light; the doubts you have entertained, your neglect to heed the requirements of
God, have blinded your perception so that darkness is now to you light, and light is
darkness. God has bidden you to go forward to perfection. Christianity is a religion
of progress. Light from God is full and ample, waiting our demand upon it. Whatever
blessings the Lord may give, He has an infinite supply beyond, an inexhaustible store
from which we may draw. Skepticism may treat the sacred claims of the gospel with
jests, scoffing, and denial. The spirit of worldliness may contaminate the many and
control the few; the cause of God may hold its ground only by great exertion and
continual sacrifice, yet it will triumph finally.
“The word is: Go forward; discharge your individual duty, and leave all
consequences in the hands of God. If we move forward where Jesus leads the way
we shall see His triumph, we shall share His joy. We must share t