Testimony Treasures, Volume 1 - Ellen G. White

there shall ever be a living testimony in the church. It will be necessary to
reprove and exhort, and some will need to be rebuked sharply, as the case
demands. We hear the plea: "Oh, I am so sensitive, I cannot bear the least
reflection!" If these persons would state the case correctly, they would say: "I
am so self-willed, so self-sufficient, so proud-spirited, that I will not be
dictated to; I will not be reproved. I claim the right of individual judgment; I
have a right to believe and talk as I please." The Lord would not have us
yield up our individuality. But what man is a proper judge of how far this
matter of individual independence should be carried?
Peter exhorts his brethren: "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves
unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with
humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." 1
Peter 5:5. The apostle Paul also exhorts his Philippian brethren to unity and
humility: "If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of
love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my
joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of
one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness
of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on
his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be
in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:1-5. Again Paul
exhorts his brethren: "Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is
evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with
brotherly love; in honor preferring one another." Romans 12:9, 10. In writing
to the Ephesians he says: "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of
God." Ephesians 5:21.
The history of the Israelites presents before us the great danger of
deception. Many do not have a sense of the sinfulness of their own natures
nor of the grace of forgiveness. They are in nature's darkness, subject to
temptations and to great deception. They are far from God; yet they take
great satisfaction in their lives, when their conduct is abhorred of God. This
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