Digging For Truth : Men in positions of trust (69)

Quotations from the writings of Ellen G. White with the phrase . . .

M E N i n p o s i t i o n s o f t r u s t ( 4 RELATED PHRASES )

The phrase 'Men in positions of trust' appears 69 times in the published writings of EGW page not on Original site Related phrase: men in responsible positions ( ) + in positions of trust ( below )

One day at noon I was writing of the work that might have been done at the last General Conference, if the men in positions of trust had followed the will and way of God. Those who have had great light have not walked in the light. The meeting was closed, and the break was not made. Men did not humble themselves before the Lord as they should have done, and the Holy Spirit was not imparted. { PH151 9.1 } also { LDE 57.1}

Perfection of character is attained through exercise of the faculties of the mind, in times of supreme test, by obedience to every requirement of God’s law. Men in positions of trust are to be instrumentalities in the hands of God for promoting His glory, and in performing their duties with the utmost faithfulness they may attain perfection of character. { 2SM 161.2}

The history of this departure from right principles stands as a solemn warning to men in positions of trust in the cause of God, that they may not fail in integrity, but firmly adhere to principle. The greater the responsibilities placed upon the human agent, and the larger his opportunities to dictate and control, the more harm he is sure to do if he does not carefully follow the way of the Lord and labor in harmony with the decisions arrived at by the general body of believers in united council. { AA 199.1}

In the work of God no kingly authority is to be exercised by any human being, or by two or three. The representatives of the Conference, as it has been carried with authority for the last twenty years, shall be no longer justified in saying, “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we.” The men in positions of trust have not been carrying the work wisely. { ChL 26.2}

The men in positions of trust should regard the means they handle as God’s revenue, and use it in an economical manner. When there is an abundance in the treasury, they are not to invest it in adding building to building in places already provided with memorials for God. Hundreds of other places are in need of this money, that they, too, may have something established to represent the truth. All parts of the Lord’s vineyard are to be worked. The power to use and disburse the Lord’s money is not to be left to the judgment of any one man.—Medical Ministry, 164, 165. { ChL 72.1}

These things have gone as far as they should without someone protesting against them in plain words. The Lord’s time to set things in order has fully come. There are men in positions of trust who have not had an experience in the leading out of this work, and these men should walk with humility and caution. In the night season I was present in several councils, and there I heard words repeated by influential men to the effect that if the American Sentinel would drop the word Seventh-day Adventist from its columns, and would say nothing about the Sabbath, the great men of the world would patronize it; it would become popular, and do a larger work. This looked very pleasing. These men could not see why we could not affiliate with unbelievers and non-professors to make the American Sentinel a great success. I saw their countenances brighten, and they began to work on a policy plan to make the Sentinel a popular success. { CW 96.1}

Thus the work has gone forward till the tares have appeared. The harvest of corrupting influences does its work, and in the place of the fine gold of character being found in men in positions of trust, there are revealed principles which, if cherished, will bring disaster and defeat, spiritual blindness, nakedness, and despair. { 17MR 223.3 }

Every day men in positions of trust have decisions to make upon which depend results of great importance. Often they have to think rapidly, and this can be done successfully by those only who practice strict temperance. The mind strengthens under the correct treatment of the physical and mental powers. If the strain is not too great, new vigor comes with every taxation. But often the work of those who have important plans to consider and important decisions to make is affected for evil by the results of improper diet. A disordered stomach produces a disordered, uncertain state of mind. Often it causes irritability, harshness, or injustice. Many a plan that would have been a blessing to the world has been set aside, many unjust, oppressive, even cruel measures have been carried, as the result of diseased conditions due to wrong habits of eating. { MH 309.3}

To absorb a large amount of means in a few places is contrary to Christian principles. Every building is to be erected with reference to the need for similar buildings in other places. God calls upon men in positions of trust in His work not to block the way of advance by selfishly using in a few favored places, or in one or two lines of work, all the means that can be secured. { 7T 53.2}

One day at noon I was writing of the work that might have been done at the last General Conference if the men in positions of trust had followed the will and way of God. Those who have had great light have not walked in the light. The meeting was closed, and the break was not made. Men did not humble themselves before the Lord as they should have done, and the Holy Spirit was not imparted. { 8T 104.1}

Once again, before the great destruction of the world by fire, there is granted a period of test and trial. Men are given opportunity to show whether or not they will be loyal to God. Satan is seeking to lead men in positions of trust to seek the regeneration of the world by plans of their own devising. These men desire to be reformers, but they fail because they do not work in Christ’s lines. Can they reform others, when they cannot reform themselves? ... { UL 88.6}

Just as soon as the men in positions of trust realize their inability to do God’s work, and submit to God’s wisdom, the Lord can work with them. He will supply all our necessities if we will empty the soul of self. And when God works, give His name the glory. Do not receive praise from men. When self is abased God can work. Israel exalted herself, and the Lord abased her. { BTS October 1, 1910, par. 4 }

The Lord is soon coming, and for this very reason we need our schools, not that we may be educated after the order of the world, but that our institutions of learning may be more like the schools of the prophets,—places where we may learn the will of God, and reach to the very highest branches of science, that we may better understand God and his works, and the character of Jesus Christ whom he has sent. The Lord requires that there shall be faithful work done in his household day by day. The people of God must be gaining more and more skill and experience; for there will be increased work for all, and especially for men in positions of trust. As we near the end, Satan will be moved to make a desperate effort to overthrow all those who dispute his claim to supreme authority on earth, and the people of God must be prepared for the struggle. God requires the full exercise of all the ability he has given to men, that they may do to the extent of their natural and cultivated powers, all that is possible for them to do. Every agency is to be quickened, that the great work may be accomplished, and we must work with an intensity that we have never felt before. No man can leave his post of duty without betraying sacred trusts, without endangering the salvation of his own soul and the souls of others. You are to be true to your entrusted work, and not to be seeking after something new and strange. { GCB October 1, 1896, Art. B, par. 2 }

When a person comes to a minister or to men in positions of trust with complaints against a brother or a sister, let the minister ask, “Have you complied with the rules our Saviour has given?” And if he has failed to carry out any particular of this instruction, do not listen to a word of his complaint. In the name and Spirit of Jesus, refuse to take up a report against your brother or your sister in the faith. If members of the church go contrary to these rules, they make themselves subjects for church discipline, and should be under the censure of the church. This matter, so plainly taught in the lessons of Christ, has been treated with strange indifference. The church has either neglected her work entirely in the matter of correcting evil, or has done it with harshness and severity, thus wounding and bruising souls. Measures should be taken to correct this cruel spirit of criticism, of judging the motives of others, as though Christ had revealed to men the hearts of their brethren. The neglect of doing aright, with wisdom and grace, the work that ought to have been done, has left churches and institutions almost inefficient and Christless. { RH April 16, 1895, par. 9 }

“Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” You are just as dependent upon Christ for all that you receive as is the weakest, poorest, and humblest soul. “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” A mere speculative belief amounts to nothing. Do you believe on the Son of God as your personal Saviour? Then if you believe with all your heart, God dwells in the soul, and the soul in God. You represent Jesus. Those who are in positions of trust are on test and trial, to see if they will be wise men in positions of trust, to reveal whether Christ is working in and through them, so that he can represent his character and express himself in their words and actions toward his heritage, for whom he has given his own precious life. He will not suffer those who are entrusted with responsibilities to harm his children. He will punish all who are acting in his stead, if they suffer one to be hurt, bruised, or discouraged, and become crippled in spirit or influence through the course they pursue, or if they look with indifference on the wrong course of another who claims to believe the truth. He will surely punish the one who misrepresents Christ in character, in words, in attitude. Every arbitrary exaction of man toward his fellow man will react upon himself in double measure. Just in proportion as the human agent is a partaker of the divine nature, he will be in sympathy with Christ. Jesus says, “A new commandment I give unto you [that ye tolerate one another?—No], That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” { RH May 26, 1896, par. 6 }

As the work of God advances in our time, there is an increasing need of men of keen discernment,—men who know God and trust in him for their understanding,—men who are working for his name’s glory. In the days of Israel men were set apart as judges, to decide regarding what was right, and what was wrong. Surrounded by corrupting influences, they endeavored faithfully to warn the people against the things that were wrong, and to exalt righteous principles, and thus to keep the cause of God from contamination with evil. His cause is just as sacred now as it was in ancient times. Today men in positions of trust, in every place, should be faithful guardians of the purity of the church and everything connected with it. We need, O so greatly! keen discernment and clear spiritual eyesight. In this day of sin and abounding iniquity, our eyes need to be anointed with the heavenly eyesalve, that we may see all things clearly. The great and solemn truths for this time, as outlined in the book of Revelation, are to be proclaimed to the world. Into the very designs and principles of the church these truths are to enter. { RH October 26, 1905, par. 7 }

The love of Christ for the human family led him to assume human nature, and to submit to every test that human beings must bear, that man might be brought into right relation to his Maker. Human beings had taken sides with the first great rebel, and the angels whom he had deceived. When Satan and his rebel host were defeated and cast out of heaven, they did not give up the struggle against right. Satan’s work has been the same since the days of Adam to the present, and he has pursued it with great success, tempting men to distrust God’s love and to doubt his wisdom. And in the great closing work of the rebellion the powers of evil will unite in a desperate struggle to work out their deceptive plans to lead souls to ruin. Ministers and physicians and men in positions of trust as lawmakers will unite in this work of rebellion. Thousands are already taking their place on the side of satanic agencies. Some of these wear a pretentious garb of righteousness, but it is the form of godliness without the power. Clear light has been permitted to shine upon all; but when Satan’s sophistries are heeded, when men and women reject light and evidence, gradually they become converted to the theories that Satan offers. Too late, too late they will see that angels of God are in the warfare against all who have departed from the faith. { RH September 30, 1909, par. 12 }

those in positions of trust

"Here is opened before me a Thus saith the Lord, which I present before you. God is to be feared for He is a jealous God. Those who in his providence are placed in responsible positions to do his work have the whole heavenly universe opened before them, from which they may draw. I have been shown of God that His work has been greatly marred because the spirit and attributes of Satan have been allowed to have a controlling power. Silence gives consent, and when men who are engaged in the sacred work of God allow their own likes and dislikes to prevail, so that they themselves do, or allow another to do, the least act of injustice to the brethren of Jesus Christ, it is registered as done to himself in the person of his followers. These men may not be erring, they may make mistakes; but let those in positions of trust take heed how they treat all such; let them remember that they themselves are not free from errors and mistakes.” 1888, page 1298 par. 1

I am instructed by the Lord to say that position never gives a man grace or makes him righteous. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Some men entrusted with positions of responsibility entertain the idea that position is for the aggrandizement of self. Let no manager think that all minds must be subjected to his mind, that all wills must be subordinate to his will, and that all methods must be laid aside for his methods. Greater injury cannot be done to any institution than by allowing such a man to remain in his position, after proper test and trial. It is a sin against God to permit unfaithful stewards to remain in positions of trust; for the Lord’s people are liable to be misled by their unfaithfulness.— Manuscript 154, 1902. { MM 165.4}

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Men in positions of trust (69)

M E N i n p o s i t i o n s o f t r u s t ( 4 RELATED PHRASES )

those in positions of trust

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