Proportionate to the light

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

           P R O P O R T I O N A T E    T O    T H E    l i g h t         (  5  RELATED  PHRASES )                        

                The  phrase  'Proportionate to the light'  appears  37  times in the published writings of EGW                 page NOT on Original site                                        Related words:    proportionate to the value ( 53 ) - -  proportion  ( 740 ) - -  in proportion to the light  (below )   - -   proportional  (  )   - -  disproportionate  (  )   

  Every truly converted soul will be intensely desirous to bring others from the darkness of error into the marvelous light of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The great outpouring of the Spirit of God, which lightens the whole earth with his glory, will not come until we have an enlightened people, that know by experience what it means to be laborers together with God. When we have entire, whole-hearted consecration to the service of Christ, God will recognize the fact by an outpouring of his Spirit without measure; but this will not be while the largest portion of the church are not laborers together with God. God cannot pour out his Spirit when selfishness and self-indulgence are so manifest; when a spirit prevails that, if put into words, would express that answer of Cain,—“Am I my brother’s keeper?” If the truth for this time, if the signs that are thickening on every hand, that testify that the end of all things is at hand, are not-sufficient to arouse the sleeping energy of those who profess to know the truth, then darkness proportionate to the light which has been shining will overtake these souls. There is not the semblance of an excuse for their indifference that they will be able to present to God in the great day of final reckoning. There will be no reason to offer as to why they did not live and walk and work in the light of the sacred truth of the word of God, and thus reveal to a sin-darkened world, through their conduct, their sympathy, and their zeal, that the power and reality of the gospel could not be controverted. { RH July 21, 1896, par. 2 }  also  { LDE 193.3 }

 

 
  In this day we have been privileged to have increased light and large opportunities, and we are held responsible for the improvement of light. This will be manifested by increased piety and devotion. Our loyalty to God should be proportionate to the light which shines upon us in this age. { 3SM 345.3} 

 

  Our faith is not proportionate to the light God has given us. The reason for this is that the carnal mind, which is at enmity with God, has not been cleansed. When our hearts are emptied of all selfishness, and cleansed by the Spirit of Christ, we shall be vessels meet for the Master’s use. { PUR August 28, 1902, par. 6 }

 

 Let none plead as an excuse for not keeping the Sabbath, that their fathers died accepted of God when keeping the first day of the week. No doubt they were accepted; for they did not sin against the light that is shining upon you in your day. God would have us walk in the light which shines upon us. We are to appreciate the truth that is presented to our understanding; for if we do not walk in the light, it becomes darkness, and our darkness will be proportionate to the light that is given. { RH April 25, 1893, par. 11 }

 

  Thus Satan works today through his evil angels. He confederates with men who claim to be in the faith; and those who are trying to carry forward the work of God with fidelity, having no man’s person in admiration, working without hypocrisy and partiality, will have just as severe trials brought against them as Satan can bring through those who claim to love God. Proportionate to the light and knowledge these opposers have is Satan’s success. The root of bitterness strikes deep, and is communicated to others. Thus many are defiled. Their statements are confused and untruthful, their principles are unscrupulous, and Satan finds in them the very helpers he needs ( Review and Herald, September 14, 1897). { 4BC 1142.4 } 
  Thus Satan works today through his evil angels. He confederates with men who claim to be in the faith; and those who are trying to carry forward the work of God with fidelity, having no man’s person in admiration, working without hypocrisy and partiality, will have just as severe trials brought against them as Satan can bring through those who claim to love God. Proportionate to the light and knowledge these opposers have is Satan’s success. The root of bitterness strikes deep, and is communicated to others. Thus many are defiled. Their statements are confused and untruthful, their principles are unscrupulous, and Satan finds in them the very helpers he needs. { RH September 14, 1897, par. 5 }

 

  Those who have put on Christ by baptism, by this act showing their separation from the world, and that they have covenanted to walk in newness of life, should not set up idols in their hearts. Those who have once rejoiced in the evidence of sins forgiven, who have tasted a Saviour’s love, and who then persist in uniting with the foes of Christ, rejecting the perfect righteousness that Jesus offers them, and choosing the ways that He has condemned, will be more severely judged than the heathen who have never had the light, and have never known God or His law. Those who refuse to follow the sight which God has given them, choosing the amusements, vanities, and follies of the world, and refusing to conform their conduct to the just and holy requirements of God’s law, are guilty of the most aggravating sins in the light of God. Their guilt and their wages will be proportionate to the light and privileges which they have had. { BEcho September 19, 1898, par. 5 } also { 3T 365.3} 

 

  If the truth for this time, if the signs that are thickening on every hand, that testify that the end of all things is at hand, are not sufficient to arouse the sleeping energy of those who profess to know the truth, then darkness proportionate to the light which has been shining will overtake these souls. There is not the semblance of an excuse for their indifference that they will be able to present to God in the great day of final reckoning. There will be no reason to offer as to why they did not live and walk and work in the light of the sacred truth of the Word of God, and thus reveal to a sin-darkened world, through their conduct, their sympathy, and their zeal, that the power and reality of the gospel could not be controverted. { YRP 310.3 } 

 

 All who know the truth should impart this knowledge to others. We need now to train men, and set them at work, giving them every facility for the impartation of truth. There is at this time a great dearth of laborers. Scores of men and women might be set at work. This need should have been foreseen. Our faith is not proportionate to the light God has given us. When our hearts are emptied of all selfishness, and cleansed by the Spirit of Christ, we shall be vessels meet for the Master’s use. { AUCR August 1, 1902, par. 8 }

 

 In this day we have been privileged to have increased light and large opportunities, and we are held responsible for the improvement of light. This will be manifested by increased piety and devotion. Our loyalty to God should be proportionate to the light which shines upon us in this age. But the fact that we have increased light does not justify us in dissecting and judging the character of men whom God raised up in former times to do a certain work and to penetrate the moral darkness of the world. In the past the servants of God wrestled with principalities and powers, and with the rulers of the darkness of this world, and with spiritual wickedness in high places, the same as we, who bear aloft the banner of truth, do today. These men were God’s noblemen, his living agencies, through whom he wrought in a wonderful manner. They were depositaries of divine truth to the extent that the Lord saw fit to reveal the truth that the world could bear to hear. They proclaimed the truth at a time when false, corrupt religion was magnifying itself in the world. { RH November 30, 1897, par. 2 }

 

 “The world would not be what it now is if professed believers in Christ were receivers of his divine nature. It is the example of men who claim to believe the truth, but who do not practice the truth, that detracts from the influence of Christianity. They hold the truth as a theory, but unrighteousness surely characterizes their course of action. Many reveal that they are far away from Christ, because they are destitute of Christianity. Please read the ninth and tenth chapters of Ezekiel. Should we not seek to understand the work which God requires us to do? Its results are sacred and awful. If one thread of selfishness is woven into God’s service, He is greatly dishonored. Unless those who have knowledge of the truth are sanctified through the truth, their profession counts for nothing, and their condemnation will be proportionate to the light granted them, which they have not honored by walking in the light as Christ is in the light. Truth as it is in Jesus is the creating power of Christ. Those who claim to have advanced light must reveal the influence of that light in their words, their deportment, their voice, their actions, at all times and in all places. { GH January 1, 1900, par. 4 }

 

  We shall not be accepted and honored of God in doing the same work that our fathers did. We do not occupy the position which they occupied in the unfolding of truth. In order to be accepted and honored as they were, we must improve the light which shines upon us, as they improved that which shone upon them; we must do as they would have done, had they lived in our day. Luther and the Wesleys were reformers in their time. It is our duty to continue the work of reform. If we neglect to heed the light, it will become darkness; and the degree of darkness will be proportionate to the light rejected. { 4SP 186.2 } 

 

  God will not treat men according to the position they occupy, according to their possessions, or their color, but according to the character they have formed. Thus will be decided the case of each one. The punishment of those who have had abundant opportunity to know the truth, but who in blindness and unbelief have contended against God and His messengers, will be proportionate to the light they have rejected. God greatly favored them, giving them peculiar advantages and gifts, that they might let their light shine forth to others. But in their perversity they led others astray. God will judge them for the good they might have done, but did not. He will call them to account for their misused opportunities. They turned from God’s way to their own way, and they will be judged according to their works. By walking contrary to the principles of the truth, they greatly dishonored God. They became fools in His sight by turning His truth into a lie. As they have been distinguished by the mercies bestowed on them, so they will be distinguished by the severity of their punishment. { RH June 25, 1901, par. 16 }
 
  The confusion which weakens the church of God is a result of the work of unconsecrated men, whose narrowness of vision prevents them from seeing the loving-kindness shown them by God. They fail to see that God gives to them in order that they may impart to others. All the counsels of God are faithful and true. He disciplines His people that He may lead them in the right way. If they refuse to be instructed, if they will not heed the command to impart what they receive, God can not use them. When God’s people become so blind that they lose sight of principle, when they partake of the same spirit that is stirring the hearts of the ungodly, they can not bear God’s sign or seal. The severity of their punishment will be proportionate to the light which they had but to which they did not give heed. { ST October 31, 1900, par. 11 }

 

   

 

                                            proportionate  to  the  light  received

  Seventh-day Adventists are handling momentous truths. More than forty years ago the Lord gave us special light on health reform, but how are we walking in that light? How many have refused to live in harmony with the counsels of God! As a people, we should make advancement proportionate to the light received. It is our duty to understand and respect the principles of health reform. On the subject of temperance we should be in advance of all other people; and yet there are among us well-instructed members of the church, and even ministers of the gospel, who have little respect for the light that God has given upon this subject. They eat as they please and work as they please. { 9T 158.1} 

 

  Seventh-day Adventists are handling momentous truths. More than forty years ago [in 1863] the Lord gave us special light on health reform, but how are we walking in that light? How many have refused to live in harmony with the counsels of God! As a people, we should make advancement proportionate to the light received. It is our duty to understand and respect the principles of health reform. On the subject of temperance we should be in advance of all other people; and yet there are among us well-instructed members of the church, and even ministers of the gospel, who have little respect for the light that God has given upon this subject. They eat as they please and work as they please.  { CCh 235.1}  also  { CD 404.1} 

 

   Seventh-day Adventists are handling momentous truths. More than forty years ago the Lord gave us special light on health reform, but how are we walking in that light? How many have refused to live in harmony with the counsels of God! As a people, we should make advancement proportionate to the light received. It is our duty to understand and respect the principles of health reform. On the subject of temperance we should be in advance of all other people; and yet there are among us well-instructed members of the church, and even ministers of the gospel, who have little respect for the light that God has given upon this subject. They eat as they please, and work as they please. { CD 24.2}  and  { CH 131.4} 

 

 Seventh-day Adventists are handling momentous truths. More than forty years ago the Lord gave us special light on health reform, but how are we walking in that light? How many have refused to live in harmony with the counsels of God? We as a people should make advancement proportionate to the light received. It is our duty to understand and respect the principles of health reform. On the subject of temperance we should be in advance of all other people; and yet there are among us well-instructed members of the church, and even ministers of the gospel, who have little respect for the light that God has given upon this subject. They eat as they please, and work as they please. { RH February 24, 1910, par. 16 }

 

  Christ overlooked the world and all ages from the height of Olivet; and his words are applicable to every individual who slights the pleadings of his divine mercy. Scorner of his love, he addresses you today. It is “thou, even thou,” who shouldst know the things which belong to thy peace. The retribution of the sinner will be proportionate to the light which he has received.  { 3SP 13.2 } 

 

       i n    P R O P O R T I O N    T O    T H E    l i g h t                                

   

 
  All sin unrepented of and unconfessed will remain upon the books of record. It will not be blotted out, it will not go beforehand to judgment, to be canceled by the atoning blood of Jesus. The accumulated sins of every individual will be written with absolute accuracy, and the penetrating light of God’s law will try every secret of darkness. In proportion to the light, to the opportunities, and the knowledge of God’s claims upon them will be the condemnation of the rejecters of God’s mercy.   { TMK 359.4} 

 

 

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