True as steel (94)

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

                T r u e    a s    S t e e l            (  4  related  phrses )                     

                  The  phrase  'true as steel'  appears  94  times in the published writings of EGW                   See page on Original site                              Related phrases:    true as steel to principle  ( 56 ) ( below )

   The church is in need, not of burdens, but of earnest workers; not of faultfinders, but of builders in Zion. Missionaries are really needed at the great heart of the work — men who will keep the fort, who will be true as steel to preserve the honor of those whom God has placed at the head of His work, and who will do their utmost to sustain the cause in all its departments, even at the sacrifice of their own interests and lives, if need be. But I was shown that there are but few who have the truth wrought into their very souls, who can bear the searching test of God. There are many who have taken hold of the truth, but the truth has not taken hold of them, to transform their hearts and cleanse them from all selfishness. There are those who come to-----to help in the work, as well as many of the old members, who have a fearful account to render to God for the hindrance they have been to the work through their self-love and unconsecrated lives. { 4T 194.1} 

 

   Until Christ shall appear in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, men will become perverse in spirit and turn from the truth to fables. The church will yet see troublous times. She will prophesy in sackcloth. But although she must meet heresies and persecutions, although she must battle with the infidel and the apostate, yet by the help of God she is bruising the head of Satan. The Lord will have a people as true as steel, and with faith as firm as the granite rock. They are to be His witnesses in the world, His instrumentalities to do a special, a glorious work in the day of His preparation.  {PM 386.2}  { 4T 594.3} 

 

 
  Never let your tongue and voice be employed in discovering and dilating upon the defects of your brethren, for the record of heaven identifies Christ's interests with those He has purchased with His own blood. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren," He says, "ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25: 40). We are to learn to be loyal to one another, to be true as steel in the defense of our brethren. Look to your own defects. You had better discover one of your own faults than ten of your brother's. Remember that Christ has prayed for these, His brethren, that they all might be one as He is one with the Father. Seek to the uttermost of your capabilities to be in harmony with your brethren to the extent of Christ's measurement, as He is one with the Father. . . .  {HP 178.4}

 

 
  Every good soldier is implicit and prompt in the obedience he renders to his captain. The will of the commander is to be the will of the soldier. Sometimes the soldier may be surprised at the command given, but he is not to stop to inquire the reason for it. When the order of the captain crosses the wishes of the soldier, he is not to hesitate and complain, saying, I see no consistency in these plans. He must not frame excuses and leave his work undone. Such soldiers would not be accepted as fitted to engage in earthly conflicts, and much more will they not be accepted in Christ’s army. When Christ commands, His soldiers must obey without hesitation. They must be faithful soldiers, or He cannot accept them. Freedom of choice is given to every soul, but after a man has enlisted, he is required to be as true as steel, come life or come death.—Manuscript 7 1/2, 1900. { Ev 648.1} 

 

  God calls for men whose hearts are as true as steel, and who will stand steadfast in integrity, undaunted by circumstances. He calls for men who will remain separate from the enemies of the truth. He calls for men who will not dare to resort to the arm of flesh by entering into partnership with worldlings in order to secure means for advancing His work--even for the building of institutions. Solomon, by his alliances with unbelievers, secured an abundance of gold and silver, but his prosperity proved his ruin. Men today are no wiser than he, and they are as prone to yield to the influences that caused his downfall. For thousands of years Satan has been gaining an experience in learning how to deceive; and to those who live in this age he comes with almost overwhelming power. Our only safety is found in obedience to God's word, which has been given us as a sure guide and counselor. God's people today are to keep themselves distinct and separate from the world, its spirit, and its influences.  {FE 501.2} { CH 290.2} 
 
  In their labor the under-shepherds must closely follow the directions and manifest the spirit of the Chief Shepherd. Skepticism and apostasy are met everywhere. God wants men to labor in his cause who have hearts as true as steel, and who will stand steadfast in integrity, undaunted by circumstances. Amid trial and gloom they are just what they were when their prospects were brightened by hope, and when their outward surroundings were all that they could desire. Daniel in the lions’ den is the same Daniel who stood before the king, encircled by the light of God. Paul in the dark dungeon, awaiting the sentence which he knew was to come from the cruel Nero, is the same Paul who addressed the court of the Areopagus. A man whose heart is stayed upon God in the hour of his most afflicting trials and most discouraging surroundings, is just what he was in prosperity, when the light and favor of God seemed to be upon him. Faith reaches to the unseen, and grasps eternal things.... { GW92 140.1 } { 4T 448.1 } 

 

  The Lord will have a people as true as steel, and with faith as firm as the granite rock. They are to be His witnesses in the world, His instrumentalities to do a special, a glorious work in the day of His preparation. . . .  {Mar 127.1}
 
  The Lord calls for the men who are connected with sacred things to be as true as steel to His work and to the cause of God. His instrumentalities are to be first in all their thoughts and plans; they are to be guarded as a sacred matter. The Lord's coworkers are to use every jot of their entrusted ability and knowledge for Him. . . .  {PM 42.5}
 
  I am urged by the Spirit of God to counsel my brethren to unite with one another in labor. Love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous, be true as steel to one another, but crush that feeling of superiority over your brother ministers which leads one to feel that he cannot link up with others in labor. No one man should feel that he must do the whole work. However experienced or well qualified he may be, there is need of other talents to unite with his. It is a mistake to think that one man’s train of thought will accomplish the work for all hearts in a religious effort. Men of different minds are needed, men whose hearts are tenderly led out to win souls. Different methods of labor are really essential in sowing the seeds of truth and gathering in the harvest. It is often the case that men of the humblest ability will reach hearts that have been steeled against another man’s labors. Much praying is essential. The soul’s drawing nigh to God in communion means God’s drawing nigh to the soul that is seeking Him. There needs to be greater devotion of heart and life in service to God. { TM 251.1} 

 

                                    true as steel to God                
  While we should put forth earnest efforts for the masses of the people around us, and push the work into foreign fields, no amount of labor in this line can excuse us for neglecting the education of our children and youth. They are to be trained to become workers for God. Both parents and teachers, by precept and example, are so to instill the principles of truth and honesty into the minds and hearts of the young, that they will become men and women who are as true as steel to God and His cause.  {CG 314.4}  {CT 165.3}

 

            T r u e    a s    S t e e l    t o    p r i n c i p l e                             

        This phrase appears 56 times in the published works of EGW

                           True  as  steel  to  principle                        

 

  Let not one rasping word be spoken. Let all sharp speeches that you are disposed to make, be kept to your individual self. Be as true as steel to principle, wise as a serpent, but harmless as a dove. If your words are not to hurt anyone, you will have to speak only the words that you are sure will not be harsh and cold and severe. . . . Of all the people in the world, reformers should be the most unselfish, the kindest, the most courteous, learning Christ's ways and words and works.-- Letter 11, 1894. {Ev 303.3}

 

 
  There are lessons for us to learn from the experience of the apostles. These men were as true as steel to principle. They were men who would not fail nor be discouraged. They were full of reverence and zeal for God, full of noble purposes and aspirations. They were by nature as weak and helpless as any of those now engaged in the work, but they put their whole trust in the Lord. Wealth they had, but it consisted of mind and soul culture; and this every one may have who will make God first and last and best in everything. They toiled long to learn the lessons given them in the school of Christ, and they did not toil in vain. They bound themselves up with the mightiest of all powers, and were ever longing for a deeper, higher, broader comprehension of eternal realities, that they might successfully present the treasures of truth to a needy world.  {GW 25.1}  { RC 26.5} 

 

  What God wants is men who are as true as steel to principle. Unless we have such men, we shall not know when the devising of the enemy comes. We shall not know when he speaks as he spoke through the woman in Paul's day.  {RH, June 29, 1905 par. 20}

 

  Every canvasser should be truthful, honest, and faithful. How many souls might be saved from temptation, and how much sorrow might be avoided, if all our workers were trained to be as true as steel to principle! -- Manuscript 20, 1904.  {CM 95.2}

 

  God has men in reserve, prepared to meet the demand, that His work may be preserved from all contaminating influences. God will be honored and glorified. When the divine Spirit impresses the mind of the man appointed by God as fit for the work, he responds, saying, “Here am I; send me.” ... Nehemiah showed himself to be a man whom God could use to put down false principles and to restore heaven-born principles; and God honored him. The Lord will use in His work men who are as true as steel to principle, who will not be swayed by the sophistries of those who have lost their spiritual eyesight. { SD 213.2}
 
  Calebs have been greatly needed in different periods of the history of our work. Today we need men of thorough fidelity, men who follow the Lord fully, men who are not disposed to be silent when they ought to speak, who are as true as steel to principle, who do not seek to make a pretentious show, but who walk humbly with God, patient, kind, obliging, courteous men, who understand that the science of prayer is to exercise faith and show works that will tell to the glory of God and the good of His people. . . . To follow Jesus requires wholehearted conversion at the start, and a repetition of this conversion every day (Letter 39, 1899).  {1BC 1113.6}

 

  These men who in the past gave themselves to God and to the uplifting of His cause were as true as steel to principleThey were men who would not fail nor be discouraged; men who, like Daniel, were full of reverence and zeal for God, full of noble purposes and aspirations. They were as weak and helpless as any of those who are now engaged in the work, but they put their whole trust in God. They had wealth, but it consisted of mind and soul culture. This every one may have who will make God first and last and best in everything. Although destitute of wisdom, knowledge, virtue, and power, we may receive all these if we will learn from Christ the lessons that it is our privilege to learn.  {MYP 33.2}
 
  Among the children of Israel who were carried captive to Babylon at the beginning of the seventy years' captivity were Christian patriots, men who were as true as steel to principle, who would not be corrupted by selfishness, but who would honor God at the loss of all things. In the land of their captivity these men were to carry out God's purpose by giving to heathen nations the blessings that come through a knowledge of Jehovah. They were to be His representatives. Never were they to compromise with idolaters; their faith and their name as worshipers of the living God they were to bear as a high honor. And this they did. In prosperity and adversity they honored God, and God honored them.  {PK 479.1}  { CSA 52.7 } 

 

  Among the children of Israel carried captive to Babylon were men as true as steel to principle, men who would honor God at the loss of all things. In the land of their captivity these were to carry out God’s purposes as His representatives. Their faith and their name as worshipers of the living God they were to bear as a high honor. { SS 248.1 } 
 
  We shall in the future, as we have in the past, see all kinds of character developed. We shall witness the apostasy of men in whom we have had confidence, in whom we trusted, who, we supposed, were as true as steel to principle. { 3SM 411.3} 

 

   The Lord’s chosen people proved themselves untrustworthy. They showed themselves to be selfish, scheming, dishonorable. But among the children of Israel there were Christian patriots, who were as true as steel to principle, and upon these loyal men the Lord looked with great pleasure. These were men who would not be corrupted by selfishness, who would not mar the work of God by following erroneous methods and practices, men who would honor God at the loss of all things. They had to suffer with the guilty, but in the providence of God their captivity at Babylon was the means of bringing them to the front, and their example of untarnished integrity shines with heaven’s luster ( The Review and Herald, May 2, 1899, par. 2). { 2BC 1040.2 } 
 
  God demonstrated to the people for whom He had done so much that He would not serve with their sins. He wrought, not through those who refused to serve Him with singleness of purpose, who had corrupted their ways before Him, but through Nehemiah; for he was registered in the books of heaven as a man. God has said, “Them that honor me I will honor.” ( 1 Samuel 2:30).  Nehemiah showed himself to be a man whom God could use to put down false principles and to restore heaven-born principles; and God honored him. The Lord will use in His work men who are as true as steel to principlewho will not be swayed by the sophistries of those who have lost their spiritual eyesight.  The Review and Herald, May 2, 1899. { YRP 272.4} { 3BC 1135.4 }  { RH May 2, 1899, par. 5 }

 

  The Lord’s people are to be as true as steel to principle. He has pointed out the work devolving on every church member. He declares that the church members are faithfully to do their duty to those within their own borders. They are generously to support their own poor. They are to engage in systematic missionary work, teaching their children to keep the way of the Lord and to do judgment and justice. { WM 182.1} 
 
  Today we need men of thorough fidelity, men who follow the Lord fully, men who are not disposed to be silent when they ought to speak, who are as true as steel to principle, who do not seek to make a pretentious show, but who walk humbly with God, patient, kind, obliging, courteous men, who understand that the science of prayer is to exercise faith and show works that will tell to the glory of God and the good of His people.... To follow Jesus requires wholehearted conversion at the start, and a repetition of this conversion every day.  { SD 207.3} 

 

  Walk and work in the spirit of Christ. Stand ever on guard, for temptations will come, and the Lord’s disciples are to be as true as steel to principle.... Be sure to reveal the character of Christ. The Lord will be your efficiency, your strength, and your exceeding great reward if you will trust constantly in Him.  { TMK 128.6 } 

 

   
   

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