Historic Seventh-day Adventists claim to be desirous of and preparing for the latter rain of the Holy Spirit. The only way that this desired blessing can ever happen is through confession and forsaking of sin. In the letter we have been studying (Letter 16, 1888, written by Ellen White to an immoral administrator in an Adventist institution), repeated appeals are made to this leader to confess and come into harmony with the character of God. These appeals are for the remnant today who desire this promised blessing to come in this generation.
“You are preaching to others the binding claims of the law of God, but how does your own character stand in the light of that great moral standard of righteousness? You are weighed in the balance and found wanting. Will you now receive this light and humble your heart before God? Will you claim and accept longer the sympathies and the compassion and false estimate others will place upon you? Will you allow the cause of God to be burdened and reproached on your account? Will you confess your sins?
“The true happiness of the people of God depends upon righteousness of life and purity of character and true benevolence of heart. When their will harmonizes with the will of God; when they act as they know is right toward God and their fellow men, then they may claim peace and rest in Jesus Christ . . . . The heart is in harmony with God, they have the love of God in their heart and the love for their fellow men; perfect love united to a perfect life constitutes true happiness.
“A single unrighteous act of will, or bitterness, envy, jealousy, or evil surmising will quench the Spirit of God and banish from your heart true happiness. One emotion of hatred or ill will or of revenge, or an evil act or word toward one whom Christ calls ‘the least of these My brethren’ [Matthew 25:40], gives Satan the advantage over you, makes you a transgressor of God’s law, and will surely destroy the peace of the soul, and will stand as an act done to Jesus Christ in the person of His saints.
“Even hatred to an evil worker will place you in a position where your judgment will be warped and you will not be a doer of the work of Christ to render good for evil. While you despise the sin, you should love the souls of those for whom Christ has paid the price of His own blood.
“The desire for revenge, or any emotion but that of tender, pitying love as Jesus exercises toward us, fallen sinful humanity, injures the soul and is registered against us in heaven. Nothing short of perfection of character will meet the standard of God’s law. The great power of God will surely come to His people if they are obedient children and are living in accordance with the character of Christ. . . .
“We see God looking down upon the church with displeasure, because there are those who claim to be God’s representatives who have not in precept and example pointed to purity and holiness, but to earthliness and sensuality.
“Your sin stands charged against you in the books of heaven. We must labor in God to lead the people to the fountain of life. Your character is blotted and defiled by sin, and yet you have had messages sent from heaven to you which you have not heeded or appreciated. Now is your day; now is the time for you to humble your heart. Confess your sins. ‘He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy’ [Proverbs 28:13].” Manuscript Releases, vol. 21, 164–166.