Digging For Truth

               d i v i d e d     H E A R T            (  2  RELATED  PHRASES  )                     

   If you much longer pursue the course you are now following, you will become infidel in regard to the truth and in regard to the word of God. Watch and pray always. Dedicate yourself unreservedly to the Lord, and it will not then be difficult to serve Him. You have a divided heart. This is the reason that darkness, instead of light, encircles you. The last message of mercy is now going forth. It is a token of the long-suffering and compassion of God. Come, is the invitation now given. Come, for all things are now ready. This is mercy’s last call. Next will come the vengeance of an offended God. { 2T 225.1}

  God purposed through Christ that fallen man should have another trial. Many misunderstand the object for which they were created. It was to bless humanity and glorify God, rather than to enjoy and glorify self. God is constantly pruning His people, cutting off profuse, spreading branches, that they may bear fruit to His glory and not produce leaves only. God prunes us with sorrow, with disappointment and affliction, that the outgrowth of strong, perverse traits of character may be weakened and that the better traits may have a chance to develop. Idols must be given up, the conscience must become more tender, the meditations of the heart must be spiritual, and the entire character must become symmetrical. Those who really desire to glorify God will be thankful for the exposure of every idol and every sin, that they may see these evils and put them away; but the divided heart will plead for indulgence rather than denial. { 4T 354.2} 

  The work of Christ was not a divided heart service. Christ came not to do his own will but the will of Him that sent Him. Jesus says, “Step in the footprints of my Sonship in all obedience. I obey as in partnership with the great firm. You are to obey as in co-partnership with the Son of God. Often you will not see the path clearly; then ask of God, and he will give you wisdom and courage and faith to move forward, leaving all issues with Him.” We want to comprehend so far as possible the truly human nature of our Lord. The divine and human were linked in Christ, and both were complete. { 3SM 135.3} 

  I do not recommend pleasure parties where young people assemble together for mere amusement, to engage in cheap, nonsensical talk, and where loud, boisterous laughter is to be heard. I do not recommend this kind of gathering, where there is a letting down of dignity, and the scene is one of weakness and folly. Many times young men for whom heavenly intelligences have been waiting in order to number them as missionaries for God, are drawn into the gatherings for amusement, and are carried away with Satan’s fascinations. Instead of being afraid to continue their association with girls whose depth of mind is easily measured, whose character is of a cheap order, they become enamored of them, and enter into an engagement. Satan knows that if these young men enter into an engagement with cheap-minded, pleasure-loving, worldly-minded, irreligious young women, they will bind themselves to stumbling-blocks. Their usefulness will be largely crippled, if not utterly destroyed. Even if the young men themselves succeed in making an unreserved surrender to God, yet they will find that they are greatly crippled by being bound to an untrained, undisciplined, unchristlike wife, who is dead to God, dead to piety, and dead to true holiness. Their lives will prove unsatisfying and unhappy. These gatherings for amusement confuse faith, and make the motive mixed and uncertain. The Lord accepts no divided heart. He wants the whole man. He made all there is of man. He offered a complete sacrifice to redeem the body and soul of man. That which he requires of those whom he has created and redeemed, is summed up in these words, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.... Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” God will accept nothing less than this. { SpTEd 82.2 } 

  Many are on the enchanted ground of the enemy. Things of the least importance — foolish social parties, singing, jesting, joking — engross their minds and they serve God with a divided heart.... The declaration of Christ, “No man can serve two masters,” is unheeded. { OHC 79.2} 

  Many are on the enchanted ground of the enemy. Things of the least importance— foolish social parties, singing, jesting, joking— engross their minds and they serve God with a divided heart.... The declaration of Christ, “No man can serve two masters,” is unheeded. { OFC 94.5}  and  { SD 286.6 } 

  The great sin of God’s people at the present time is, we do not appreciate the value of the blessings God has bestowed upon us. We serve God with a divided heart. We cherish some idol and worship at its shrine. The truth of God is elevated and holy, sanctifying the soul, if brought into the life and interwoven with the character. God is seeking with His truth to make us a separate and peculiar people. This is the influence of the truth. Our obedience and devotion are not equal to our light and privileges, and the sacred obligations resting upon us to walk as children of the light are not fulfilled by us. As Christians we fail to come up to our high calling. Warnings and reproofs have been given us from God but only for a time have an influence upon us because we do not consider it as our lifework to press forward and upward to the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. { TDG 50.3} 

  God will not occupy a divided heart or reign from a divided throne. Every rival that holds the affections and diverts them from the God of love must be dethroned. The Lord demands all that there is of us, and there must be no reserve. Christ has purchased us, we are His heritage, and we are to be honored by being co-laborers with Jesus Christ. Wear the yoke with Christ, and daily walk with God. How shall we do this? By laying hold upon the help which God has provided. The Lord has said, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” ( Matthew 7:7).  { TMK 63.3} 

  Abundant provision has been made that all who desire to live a godly life may have grace and strength through Jesus our divine Redeemer. The Christian’s life is not to be one of burdens and cares, although the cross must be lifted and the burdens borne; for the servants of God are to draw peace and strength from the Source of their strength, and in so doing they will find life full of happiness and peace.... The whole being must be consecrated to God, for our precious Saviour never shares a divided heart.  Our inclinations and desires must be under the control of the Spirit of God, and then we shall be strengthened to fight the good fight of faith. We should daily ask, What are the Captain’s orders?  { TMK 92.5} 

  God has given us many things in this life upon which to bestow our affections, but when we carry to excess that which in itself is lawful we become idolaters.... Anything that separates our affections from God and lessens our interest in eternal things is an idol. Those who use the precious time given them by God—time that has been purchased at an infinite cost—in embellishing their homes for display, in following the fashions and customs of the world, are not only robbing their own souls of spiritual food, but are failing to give God His due. The time thus spent in the gratification of selfish desires might be employed in obtaining a knowledge of the Word of God, in cultivating our talents, that we might render intelligent service to our Creator.... God will not share a divided heart. If the world absorbs our attention, He cannot reign supreme. If this diminishes our devotion for God, it is idolatry in His eyes.... { TMK 322.3} 

  Some have a strong, masterly spirit for the wrong. They are dead weights, stumbling-blocks in the pathway of others, causing them to fail in doing their God-appointed work for time and for eternity. But shall the temple of the human soul be thus wrecked for eternity? Will not those in this house of worship rise up in their God-given, moral independence, and say: “I will no longer give God a divided heart. I will serve him with undivided affections. I will no longer misrepresent his sacred truth. I will arise and shine. I will sanctify myself through the truth. I will obey the truth.” Will you not make this resolve today, December 25, 1897? Will you not today pledge yourselves before God to seek him with all your heart, to cease from all evil-speaking, to put away every trait of character that has dwarfed and crippled your religious life? Will you not resolve to be fully on the Lord’s side? { HM November 1, 1897, Art. B, par. 13 }

  The great sin of God’s people at the present time is that we do not appreciate the value of the blessings God has bestowed upon us. We serve him with a divided heart. There are many who are cherishing some idol, and worshiping at its shrine. God’s truth is elevated and holy, sanctifying the soul, if brought into the life and interwoven with the character. God is seeking by means of his truth to make us a separate and peculiar people. This is the influence the truth should have upon us. Our obedience and devotion are not equal to our light and privileges; and the sacred obligations resting upon us to walk as children of the light, are not fulfilled by us. As Christians we fail to come up to our high calling. Warnings and reproofs have been given us from God, but they influence us only for a time, because we do not consider it as our life work to press forward and upward to the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. Oh that God’s people would consider their superior advantages, and understand from the light of his word that we must be judged according to the light which shines upon our pathway! All the privileges and opportunities given us by God are designed to make us better men and women. The people of God must move from settled principle, making it their first concern to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then go on from light to still greater light. If we fail to profit by the light, and become cold and hard-hearted, and are not easily impressed with the truth, and the energies of the soul become palsied, we cannot reasonably expect that judgment will be given in our favor, because, like Capernaum, we are exalted to heaven in point of privilege. { RH April 12, 1887, par. 4 }

  I feel thankful that it is the privilege of every one to do as we have just sung, “Tear every idol from Thy throne, and worship only Thee.” I am thankful that it is not too late for wrongs to be righted; it is not too late to examine our own hearts, and prove ourselves, whether we are in the faith or not; it is not too late to assure ourselves that Christ is abiding in our heart by faith. If we compare ourselves with the great moral standard, we shall understand what are our defects of character. But whatever our defects and short-comings, we should not be discouraged. We must see our sins, and put them away; for Christ cannot abide in a divided heart. { RH August 27, 1889, par. 1 }

             n o t    a c c e p t    a    d i v i d e d     H E A R T                                

  He who presents to men infinite riches and an eternal life of blessedness in His kingdom as the reward of faithful obedience, will not accept a divided heart. We are living amid the perils of the last days, where there is everything to divert the mind and allure the affections from God. Our duty will only be discerned and appreciated when viewed in the light which shines from the life of Christ. As the sun rises in the east and passes toward the west, filling the world with light, so the true follower of Christ will be a light unto the world. He will go out into the world as a bright and shining light, that those who are in darkness may be lightened and warmed by the rays shining forth from him. Christ says of His followers: “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” { 3T 403.2} also appears  { RH December 15, 1874, par. 21 }

  He who presents to men infinite riches and an eternal life of blessedness in His kingdom as the reward of faithful obedience, will not accept a divided heart. We are living amid the perils of the last days, where there is everything to divert the mind and allure the affections from God. Our duty will only be discerned and appreciated when viewed in the light which shines from the life of Christ. As the sun rises in the east and passes toward the west, filling the world with light, so the true follower of Christ will be a light unto the world. He will go out into the world as a bright and shining light, that those who are in darkness may be lightened and warmed by the rays shining forth from him. Christ says of His followers: “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” { 1TT 383.2} 

  Gatherings for amusement confuse faith and make the motive mixed and uncertain. The Lord accepts no divided heart. He wants the whole man. He made all there is of man. He offered a complete sacrifice to redeem the body and soul of man. That which He requires of those whom He has created and redeemed is summed up in these words: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.... Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Matthew 22:37-39. God will accept nothing less than this.— Special Testimonies On Education, 80-83. { CT 345.1}