CCh - Counsels for the Church (1991)

1 CCh - Counsels for the Church (1991) FOREWORD AS THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST MOVEMENT HAS GROWN IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD, MEMBERS WHO SPEAK AND READ THE VARIOUS LANGUAGES HAVE YEARNED FOR THE TESTIMONIES FOR THE Church , WHICH, IN FULL OR IN PART, HAVE EDIFIED AND BLESSED THE Church THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO PUBLISH IN EACH LANGUAGE THE FULL CONTENT OF THE NINE TESTIMONY VOLUMES AND THE MANY OTHER SPIRIT OF PROPHECY BOOKS. THERE IS PRESENTED IN THIS VOLUME, HOWEVER, A SELECTION OF GENERAL Counsels DRAWN FROM THESE SOURCES WHICH WILL PROVE OF GREAT SERVICE AND PRACTICAL HELP TO THE Church . THE SELECTION OF MATERIALS, WHICH HAVE BEEN CONVENIENTLY GROUPED IN THE SIXTY-SIX CHAPTERS OF THIS VOLUME, IS THE WORK OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE ELLEN G.

2 WHITE ESTATE, WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CARE OF MRS. WHITE S WRITINGS AT THE WORLD HEADQUARTERS OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST Church IN SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND, IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. IT HAS BEEN A PAINSTAKING TASK TO GATHER, ARRANGE, TRANSLATE, AND PUBLISH IN THIS BOOK A COMPREHENSIVE SELECTION OF MATERIALS FROM THE MANY E. G. WHITE BOOKS. BECAUSE OF THE LIMITATION OF SPACE, ONLY THE MORE ESSENTIAL Counsels ON VITAL THEMES COULD BE INCLUDED. EVEN THIS PRESENTS A WIDE RANGE OF SUBJECTS. IN SOME CASES THE SELECTION IS CONFINED TO A FEW PARAGRAPHS AT A TIME TAKEN FROM SCATTERED SOURCES. REFERENCE TO THE BOOKS FROM WHICH THE SELECTIONS HAVE BEEN DRAWN ARE FOUND IN ABBREVIATED FORM AT THE CLOSE OF EACH CHAPTER.

3 BY REFERENCE TO THE KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS YOU CAN EASILY FIND THE BOOKS TO WHICH THE LETTERS REFER. NO ATTEMPT HAS BEEN MADE TO INDICATE BY ELLIPSIS MARKS THAT PARAGRAPHS OR SENTENCES HAVE BEEN DELETED. DO NOT CONFUSE THE INTRODUCTION, WRITTEN BY THE TRUSTEES, WITH THE WRITINGS OF MRS. WHITE HERSELF, WHICH COMMENCE WITH CHAPTER 1. IT IS WITH SATISFACTION AND JOY THAT THIS BOOK IS NOW MADE AVAILABLE TO THOSE WHO HAVE WAITED SO LONG FOR ITS APPEARANCE. THAT THE PRECIOUS counsel AND INSTRUCTIONS THAT FILLS THESE PAGES MAY DEEPEN THE CONVICTION OF EACH READER IN THE TRUTHS OF THE ADVENT MESSAGE, BROADEN HIS CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE, AND HEIGHTEN HIS EXPECTATION OF VICTORY IN THE FINAL DAY WHEN OUR LORD SHALL RETURN, IS THE SINCERE PRAYER OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE ELLEN G.

4 WHITE ESTATE. Table of Contents Introduction 9 1. A Vision of the Reward of the Faithful 33 2. The Time of the End 37 3. Prepare to Meet the Lord 41 4. Union With Christ and Brotherly Love 43 5. Christ Our Righteousness 47 6. The Sanctified Life 50 7. God Has a Work for You to Do 58 8. Here Am I, Lord, Send Me 64 9. The Publications of the Church 72 10. Belief in a personal God 74 11. Christians to Represent God 78 12. In the World but Not of the World 83 13. The Bible 86 14. The Testimonies for the Church 91 15. The Holy Spirit 98 16. Keep Clear God s Connection with Man 101 17. Purity of Heart and Life 107 18. The Choosing of a Husband or Wife 112 19. Marry Not an Unbeliever 120 20. Marriage 125 21. A Happy, Successful Partnership 129 22.

5 The Relationship Between Husband and Wife 133 23. The Mother and Her Child 138 24. The Christian Father and Mother 143 25. The Christian Home 148 26. Spiritual Influence in the Home 151 27. Finance in the Home 154 28. Family Activities During Holidays and Anniversaries 158 29. Recreation 160 30. The Avenues to the Mind Which Must be Guarded 166 31. Choice of reading 168 32. Music 172 33. Criticism and Its Effects 174 34. counsel Concerning Dress 180 35. An Appeal to Youth 184 36. The Proper Discipline and Education of Our Children 190 37. Christian Education 202 38. The Call to Temperate Living 214 39. The Importance of Cleanliness 218 40. The Food We Eat 221 41. Flesh Foods 228 42. Faithfulness in Health Reform 233 43. The Church on Earth 240 44. Church Organization 244 45.

6 The House of God 249 46. Treatment of the Erring 254 47. The Observance of God s Holy Sabbath 261 48. Counsels on Stewardship 272 49. The Christian Attitude Toward Want and Suffering 283 50. Christians in All the World Become One in Christ 287 51. The Prayer Meeting 292 52. Baptism 295 53. The Lord s Supper 298 54. Prayer for the Sick 303 55. The Medical Work 308 56. Relations With Those Not of Our Persuasion 312 57. Our relations to Rulers and Laws 314 58. Satan s Deceptive Work 319 59. False Science Satan s Modern Robe of Light 322 60. Satan s Lying Wonders 329 61. The Coming Crisis 333 62. The Sifting Time 338 63. Some Things to Remember 342 64. Christ Our Great High Priest 347 65. Joshua and the Angel 350 66. Behold, I Come Quickly 355 Introduction The Prophetic Gift and Ellen G.

7 White PREPARING TO MEET CHRIST ALL SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS LOOK FORWARD LONGINGLY TO THE TIME WHEN JESUS WILL COME TO TAKE THEM TO THE HEAVENLY HOME THAT HE HAS GONE TO PREPARE FOR THEM. IN THAT BETTER LAND THERE WILL BE NO MORE SIN, NO DISAPPOINTMENTS, NO HUNGER, NO POVERTY, NO SICKNESS, AND NO DEATH. WHEN THE APOSTLE JOHN CONTEMPLATED THE PRIVILEGES THAT AWAIT THE FAITHFUL, HE EXCLAIMED: BEHOLD, WHAT MANNER OF LOVE THE FATHER HATH BESTOWED UPON US, THAT WE SHOULD BE CALLED THE SONS OF NOW ARE WE THE SONS OF GOD, AND IT DOTH NOT YET APPEAR WHAT WE SHALL BE: BUT WE KNOW THAT, WHEN HE SHALL APPEAR, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM. 1 JOHN 3:1,2. TO BE LIKE JESUS IN CHARACTER IS GOD S AIM FOR HIS PEOPLE. FROM THE BEGINNING IT WAS GOD S PLAN THAT MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN FAMILY, CREATED IN HIS IMAGE, SHOULD DEVELOP GOD-LIKE CHARACTERS.

8 TO ACCOMPLISH THIS, OUR FIRST PARENTS IN EDEN WERE TO RECEIVE INSTRUCTION FROM CHRIST AND THE ANGELS IN FACE-TO-FACE CONVERSE. BUT AFTER ADAM AND EVE SINNED, THEY COULD NO LONGER FREELY SPEAK TO HEAVENLY BEINGS IN THIS MANNER. SO THAT THE HUMAN FAMILY MIGHT NOT BE LEFT WITHOUT GUIDANCE, GOD CHOSE OTHER WAYS TO REVEAL HIS WILL TO HIS PEOPLE, ONE OF WHICH WAS THE MEDIUM OF PROPHETS. TO ISRAEL, GOD EXPLAINED, IF THERE BE A PROPHET AMONG YOU, I THE LORD WILL MAKE MYSELF KNOWN UNTO HIM IN A VISION AND WILL SPEAK UNTO HIM IN A DREAM. NUMBERS 12:6. IT IS GOD S PURPOSE THAT HIS PEOPLE SHALL BE INFORMED AND ENLIGHTENED, KNOWING AND UNDERSTANDING NOT ONLY THE TIMES IN WHICH THEY LIVE BUT ALSO WHAT IS YET TO COME.

9 SURELY THE LORD WILL DO NOTHING, BUT HE REVEALETH HIS SECRETS UNTO HIS SERVANTS THE PROPHETS. AMOS 3:7. THIS CONTRASTS GOD S PEOPLE, THE CHILDREN OF LIGHT 1 THESSALONIANS 5:5, WITH THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD. THE WORK OF THE PROPHET INCLUDES MUCH MORE THAN JUST MAKING PREDICTIONS. MOSES, A PROPHET OF GOD WHO WROTE SIX BOOKS OF THE BIBLE, WROTE VERY LITTLE ABOUT WHAT WAS TO COME IN THE FUTURE. HIS WORK IS DESCRIBED BY HOSEA IN ITS BROADER SENSE, BY A PROPHET THE LORD BROUGHT ISRAEL OUT OF EGYPT, AND BY A PROPHET WAS HE PRESERVED. HOSEA 12:13. A PROPHET IS NOT ONE WHO IS APPOINTED BY HIS FELLOW MEN, NOR IS HE SELF-APPOINTED. THE CHOICE OF A PERSON TO BE A PROPHET IS ENTIRELY IN THE HANDS OF GOD.

10 BOTH MEN AND WOMEN HAVE FROM TIME TO TIME BEEN CHOSEN BY GOD TO SPEAK FOR HIM. 10 THESE PROPHETS, THESE MEN AND WOMEN CHOSEN OF GOD AS CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION, HAVE SPOKEN AND WRITTEN WHAT GOD HAS REVEALED TO THEM IN HOLY VISION. THE PRECIOUS WORD OF GOD COMPRISES THESE MESSAGES. THROUGH THESE PROPHETS MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN FAMILY HAVE BEEN LED TO AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONFLICT THAT GOES ON FOR THE SOULS OF MEN, THE CONFLICT BETWEEN CHRIST AND HIS ANGELS AND SATAN AND HIS ANGELS. WE ARE LED TO AN UNDERSTANDING OF THIS CONFLICT IN EARTH S CLOSING DAYS, AND OF THE MEANS PROVIDED BY GOD TO CARE FOR HIS WORK AND TO PERFECT THE CHARACTERS OF HIS PEOPLE. THE APOSTLES, THE LAST OF THE BIBLE WRITERS, GAVE US A CLEAR PICTURE OF THE EVENTS OF THE LAST DAYS.