Signs of the Times, Book 1 - Ellen G. White

deny that the power of God is manifested through his servants; but still, in
some points, the work does not accord with their ideas. If with their finite
judgment they can find but the semblance of an excuse, they are free to
challenge and disbelieve.
In the carrying forward of his work in the earth, and the manifestation of
his power, God does not consult the will or imperfect judgment of men. His
plans and methods may be directly opposite to those approved by human
wisdom. If men would criticise and condemn the Saviour's work, when they
had such evidence of divine power as the miracle at Bethesda, can we
wonder that they criticise and condemn those through whom he works
today? Unbelief will always find an excuse for its existence. God designs
that men shall believe, not because there is no possibility of doubt, but
because there is abundant evidence for faith. Christ bade the Pharisees,
"Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are
they which testify of me." The Jewish teachers professed to be expounders of
God's word; but had they prayerfully studied and rightly understood its
teachings, they would not have substituted their own traditions for the law of
Jehovah.
The Saviour continued, "Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have
life." "Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of
me. But if ye believe not his writings how shall ye believe my words?"
Those who begin by doubting and disbelieving the Old Testament, will come
to doubt and disbelieve the New. We cannot afford to slight or neglect any of
the provisions of God's grace, any of the manifestations of his Spirit. Those
who do not gratefully accept and improve the warnings, counsel, or reproofs
of divine mercy, will little by little come to regard them with indifference.
They feel that it is optional with themselves to receive or reject the light from
Heaven. Like the Jews in Christ's day, they reject the clearest evidence,
because they find some pretext for doubt, something to criticise.
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