From the Pen of Inspiration - Heaven’s Part in Life’s Conflict
By
Ellen White
Finally, my
brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.
Put on the whole
armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto
you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day,
and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt
about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet
shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield
of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the
wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:10–17.
“Now do we do it?…Do we take
the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of
God?
“I wish to call your
attention…to the importance of everyone understanding that we cannot keep
ourselves, that God has angels. These angels from heaven communicate with
the children of men, and not one of us, by anything we may do, can uphold or
keep ourselves. We are where we are, kept every moment by the power of
God. I have thought that we do not make the ministration of heavenly
angels as important as we should.
“We do not…keep in
remembrance that every soul with whom we are connected has the guardianship of
heavenly angels, sent forth to minister unto those who shall be heirs of
salvation.
“I want you to consider this
point, What should we do without them? I want you to consider what kind of
position we should be left in if we had not the ministry of holy angels.
“From my text we see that
‘we wrestle not against flesh and blood.’ We meet the opposition of men,
but there is someone behind that opposition. It is the prince of the
powers of darkness, with his evil angels, who is constantly at work. We
want to consider, all of us, that our warfare is against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world.
“Who is it that is ruling
the world today? And who is it that has chosen to stand under the banner
of the prince of darkness? Why, it is nearly the whole world at
large. All the world that has not accepted Jesus Christ has chosen for
their leader the prince of darkness, and just as soon as they stand under his
banner, they have connection with evil angels.
“Either the evil angels or
the angels of God are controlling the minds of men. Our minds are given to
the control of God or to the control of the powers of darkness, and it will be
well for us to inquire where we are standing today—whether under the
blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel or under the black banner of the powers
of darkness. We must make every preparation in our power in order to resist the
enemy of souls. Every provision has been made; everything in God’s plan
has been arranged so that man should not be left to his own impulses, to his own
finite powers, to carry on the warfare against the powers of darkness in his own
finite strength, because he would certainly fail if he were thus left to
himself. I thank the Lord that we have a power provided for us.
“When Christ bowed on
Jordan’s banks He encircled the race with His own human arm, while with His
divine arm He grasped the throne of the Infinite. And what does that
mean? It means that finite man, who is connected with the earth, is again
united with God through the merits of Christ, and earth is again united with
heaven.…
“In the Psalms David speaks
of God’s being a refuge and a strong tower, a refuge and a fortress; unto Him we
can run and we can be saved. How precious is the thought that God is our
refuge and that He will be our helper in all times and in all places, and that
in every emergency we have God with us. He says that He will give His
angels charge over us to keep us in all our ways.
“But why can we not take
this matter in? As we walk the streets, or wherever we are, Satan is on
our track. When Christ engaged to fight the battles for man on this little
speck of a world, He engaged to stand as our substitute and surety, and God put
all heaven into His hands, with all the facilities and all the powers that
heaven could afford. Now heaven is open to man, and the light and the
glory of heaven is imparted to him through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord.
“Then in our God we have a
helper, and we will trust in Him. We must constantly look in that
direction, believing that the angels of God are round about us, and that heaven
is in communication with us, because these heavenly messengers are…watching and
guarding the children of men. They keep us from the influence of sin and
sinning, and when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifts
up for us a standard against the enemy.…
“There will be constant
temptations that will come to a church, large or small, no matter where it is,
and the temptations will come just according to the circumstances. How is
it with us? Are we standing with the whole armor on, so that we can work
in harmony with the angels of God who are working for us? If we separate
ourselves from these angels by taking our own course of action, then we place
ourselves where the wicked one can tempt us.…
“Curiosity is something
bewitching, as says the apostle: ‘Who hath bewitched you, that ye should not
obey the truth?’ [Galatians 3:3]. Do you think the devil is asleep?
He is not asleep, he is wide-awake, and he is on the track of every one of
us. We are right upon the very borders of the eternal world. While
some are at strife on little points of doctrine—oh my soul!—they had better be
fasting and praying and seeking God with all their hearts that they may find
Him.…
“We are nearing the end; we
are nearing the judgment; and every power that can break up our unity, our
harmony, our pressing together, is at work to hinder our sustaining…[what] God
has established. Every influence that can be brought to bear to bring us
in connection with tendencies that are evil will arise, and Satan will use his
power to confuse the minds. We want to stand as men and women of
God.…
“Brethren and sisters, we
need a great deal more of God. The angels of God are in our midst, and we
want to put ourselves under their guardianship. We must be pressing
together, and sustaining one another. In the place of drawing one another
down, in the place of beating on the wrong track, we want to work where God
works; we want to exert a telling influence in behalf of God’s people, and we
want to listen for the voice of God. We want to hear what it saith.
“We are now coming down to
the last days, and the devil wants to shake and confuse the confidence of His
people.…He wants to bring persons where they will have a bad influence, where
they have no love for the truth and things which we believe to be of God.
“Those who are
doing…missionary work had better find out from whom they get their orders; they
had better find out who has commissioned them to do this wonderful missionary
work. We want to see that they are sailing under the proper colors.
We want to see that they are laboring in harmony with the influence of the
Spirit of God.…
“We want to stand as a unit,
and those who stand ready to quibble over little points of doctrine to maintain
their ideas are not really converted. Just as soon as you are truly
converted, this quibbling will cease. You need to go to God with your
Bible, with fasting and prayer. God wants us to be united in bringing this
people up to a right standard,…for Satan is playing a deep game for their souls
and many will be ensnared.
“Angels of God are all
around us. You do not discern them with your human vision. Satan and
his angels are here…today. Oh, we want to know these things, and fear and
tremble, and to think much more of the power of the angels of God that are
watching over and guarding us than we have done hitherto.
“We want to place ourselves
under the blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel. We do not want to be
serving Baal. We do not want to be giving ourselves up to the powers of
darkness. Angels of God are commissioned from heaven to guard the children
of men, and yet they draw away from their restraining influences and go where
they can have communication with the evil angels. And then the evil angels
fasten impressions in their minds that they will never get rid of so long as
they live, just as going to the theater, billiard hall, and all such places lead
them from the path of God to stand under the black banner of the prince of
darkness. Oh, that we might all obey the injunction of the apostle (read 2
Corinthians 6:17, 18).…
“The vials of God’s wrath
and the sprinkling of them, are already coming. What is the matter that we
do not discern it? It is because the light of truth does not affect the
heart. The Spirit of God is being withdrawn from the world.
“You hear of calamities by
land and by sea, and they are constantly increasing. What is the
matter? The Spirit of God is taken away from those who have the lives of
men in their hands, and Satan is coming in to control them, because they give
themselves to his control. Those who profess to be the children of God do
not place themselves under the guardianship of the heavenly angels, and as Satan
is a destroyer, he works through those men and they make mistakes.…
“And see the storms and
tempests! Satan is working in the atmosphere; he is poisoning the
atmosphere, and here we are dependent upon God for our lives—our present and
eternal life. And being in the position that we are, we need to be
wide-awake, wholly devoted, wholly converted, wholly consecrated to God.
But we seem to sit as though we were paralyzed. God of heaven, wake us
up!
“Don’t you read the
newspapers and see the casualties? And don’t you feel afraid to place
yourself out of the guardianship of the holy angels, under the control of the
evil angels by going right where they are? Will you invite them to connect
with you? Can we afford it? Why, you insult the living God if you
do; and you are not converted, whoever you may be, rich or poor, high or low, in
office or out of office; it is an abomination in the sight of God. And not
only is it an abomination in the sight of God, but it is an abomination in our
land. Let us stand clear from all these things, that the converting power
of God may come into our midst.
“May God help us, brethren
and sisters, to realize that this is missionary soil. We claim to be
missionaries and workers for Christ, but while you are laboring, be sure that
you are seeking to build up what God is building up. Be sure that you are
working with all the powers of your being to build up the church, to establish
it, and to bring all the piety and all the devotion that the Spirit of God will
impart to you, into the church that it may be a living church, and that you may
be light bearers to the world.…
“Shall we take hold of this
work? Shall we take hold of it right? God help us to work where the
angels work; God help us to work where Christ works; God help us to work where
God works, that we may see the salvation of God.—Manuscript 1,
1890.” [Sermon at Battle Creek, Michigan, February 1, 1890.]
Sermons and Talks, vol. 2. 57–70.
October 2001 Table of Contents |