Testimonies for the Church, Volume 2 - Ellen G. White

upon a level with common things, and would talk
of heaven and the coming of Jesus as they would of
a horse. They had a superficial knowledge or
theory of the truth, but further than this they were
ignorant. Its principles had not taken hold of their
lives and led them to an abhorrence of self. They
had never viewed themselves in the light in which
Paul viewed himself, which led him to see the
moral defects in his character. They had never been
slain by the law of God, and had not separated
themselves from their impurities and defilement. It
is the favorite occupation of some of this class to
engage in trifling conversation and levity. This
habit they contracted, and indulged upon occasions
which should have been characterized by solemn
meditation and devotion. In doing this, they
manifested a lack of true dignity and refinement,
and forfeited the esteem of sensible persons who
had no knowledge of the truth. This class threw
themselves into a current of temptation and kept
where the enemy led them successfully, and he has
so easily controlled their minds and corrupted their
entire experience that in all probability they will be
unable to recover themselves out of his snare and
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