"Our affections are to flow in but one direction,
in order that our obligations as servants of Christ be not violated.
When Jesus came,
he found * sins,
* worldliness,
and * dissension in the church;
but it was his work to reverse this order of things.
He would have his church in the world,
but not of it.
He said, "Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up." Matthew 15:13 The church was to be a divine inclosure in the world.
It was to be as a vineyard planted by the divine Husbandman,
and brought under cultivation by him.
It was to be as a nursery planted with trees of righteousness, and although surrounded by evil trees of the world, which brought forth fruit unto death, yet all within the inclosure was designed to be the planting of the Lord, bearing fruit unto righteousness.
The followers of Christ were to reveal the power of the transforming grace of Christ to change the corrupt hearts of men.
The church was to be as a field of wheat,
but a strange hand has planted tares among the wheat,
and it is this mingling of tares and wheat that causes the children of God to weep with sorrow.
The natural, unsanctified elements of human character work against the influence of the Spirit of God. Men of evil minds bring in false doctrines, and in many cases these false doctrines have supplanted the truth of God." Review&Herald 1893 E.G.W.
