(1903年6月25日写于加利福尼亚州圣赫勒那)
致我们疗养院的医生们——
我亲爱的弟兄们：
那些在主的圣工中担任负责职务的人被比作锡安城墙上的守望者。上帝要他们在人间发出警报。要让全平原的人都听到。祸患的日子，荒废毁灭的日子，快临近一切行不义的人。主的手要特别严厉地落在那些没有把人对创造主和救赎主的责任清楚地告诉他们的守望者身上。{SpTB01 3.1}
我的弟兄们，主要求你们严格地省察己心。祂要求你们在每日的行为和彼此的一切交往中披戴真理。祂要求你们有生发仁爱并洁净心灵的信心。你们将良心的神圣要求视同儿戏乃是危险的。你们树立把他人引向错误方向的榜样也是危险的。{SpTB01 3.2}
基督徒无论何往，都应带有基督之义的馨香，表明他们在依从主的邀请：“学我的样式;因为我心里柔和谦卑，这样，你们心里就必得享安息”(太11:29)。你每日都在基督的门下学习吗?学习如何解除疑惑和恶意的猜测，学习如何公平高尚地对待你的弟兄们，为你自己的缘故，也为基督的缘故。{SpTB01 3.3}
现代真理是引人向前向上的，要召集穷苦，受压迫，受苦难和贫困的人。凡愿意的，都要被带进羊栏。他们的生活要发生变化，使他们成为王室的成员，天上大君的儿女。男男女女因听到真理的信息而蒙引导接受安息日，并藉着洗礼加入教会。他们要藉着遵守创造的安息日而带有上帝的印记。他们要自己明白顺从上帝的诫命就意味着永生。{SpTB01 3.4}
钱财和诚恳的努力可以放心投入这样的工作，因为这是一项持久的工作。死在罪恶过犯中的人就这样与圣徒相交，和基督一同坐在天上。他们脚被安置在稳固的根基上。他们也得到能力达到一个崇高的标准，就是信心的最高峰，因为基督徒们为自己的脚把道路修直了，免得瘸子差路。{SpTB01 4.1}
每一个教会都应为自己界内界外的将亡之人作工。信徒们要作为上帝殿中的活石发光，反射天上的亮光。不要做任何漫不经心，杂乱无章的工作。挽救将亡的人不只是为醉酒的人祷告，因为他哭泣并承认自己心灵的污秽就宣布他得救了。有一场又一场的仗要打。{SpTB01 4.2}
但愿每一个教会的成员都感觉到自己对周围之人的特殊责任。但愿每一个自称要站在基督旗下的人都感到自己与上帝进入立约的关系。要做救主的工作。但愿那些开始从事这工作的人在善事上不要厌倦。当得赎之民站在上帝面前之时，那些宝贵的生灵将被点名应声而出，站在那些曾为其下过忠心耐心之苦功，殷勤迫切地劝请其逃到“保障”之人的身边。如此，那些曾在今生世上与上帝同工的人，将领取他们的报赏。{SpTB01 4.3}
一般教会的传道人将不允许真理从他们的讲台上传给人们。仇敌引导他们苦毒恶意地抗拒真理。种种谎言编造了出来。基督在犹太官长手中的遭遇重演了。撒但竭力遮蔽上帝照耀祂子民的每一线亮光。他藉着传道人工作就像在基督的日子藉着祭司和官长们工作一样。认识真理的人岂能加入他一边，妨碍、为难和阻挠那些按上帝指定的方式努力推进祂圣工，将真理的旗帜插在黑暗地区的人呢? {SpTB01 5.1}
我们的信息
包含着第一位和第二位天使信息的第三位天使信息，乃是当代的信息。我们应当高举的旗帜上写着：“上帝诫命和耶稣真道。”世人不久就要面对那位伟大的立法者了。祂的律法曾遭到破坏。而今决不可闭目不见摆在我们面前的大问题。上帝要求祂的子民使律法为大为尊。{SpTB01 5.2}
当晨星一同歌唱，上帝的众子也都欢呼的时候，安息日就赐给了世人，好使人永远记住上帝在六日内创造了世界。祂在第七日安息了，赐福这日作为祂安息的日子，并且将之赐给了祂所造的人，好使他们可以记住祂为又真又活的上帝。{SpTB01 5.3}
虽有法老的反对，上帝还是以祂的大能大力拯救自己的子民出了埃及，为使他们遵守在伊甸园中赐下的律法。祂把他们带到了西奈山，听祂颁布这律法。{SpTB01 6.1}
上帝亲口向以色列人颁布十诫，证明了其重要性。在赫赫威仪之中，祂展示自己作为世界统治者的权威和尊严。祂这样做是为了让百姓铭记祂律法的神圣性和遵守律法的必要性。颁布律法时的能力和荣耀显示了其重要性。我们的救赎主基督从西奈山所说的话，乃是一次交付圣徒的真道。{SpTB01 6.2}
我们与上帝关系的记号。藉着遵守安息日，以色列民要与其他所有的民族区别开来。基督说过：“你们务要守我的安息日;因为这是你我之间世世代代的证据，使你们知道我耶和华是叫你们成为圣的”“这是我和以色列人永远的证据;因为六日之内耶和华造天地，第七日便安息舒畅。”“故此，以色列人要世世代代守安息日为永远的约”(出31:13, 17, 16)。{SpTB01 6.3}
安息日是上帝与祂子民关系的一个证据，表明他们是祂顺命的国民，遵祂的律法为圣。遵守安息日乃是上帝所命定的一个方法，藉以保存对祂自己的认识并将祂忠诚的国民与违背祂律法的人区别开来。{SpTB01 6.4}
这是那曾一次交付圣徒的真道，圣徒们本着道德能力屹立在世人面前，坚定地维护这真道。{SpTB01 7.1}
当我们传扬第三位天使信息的时候，必要遭遇反对。撒但必千方百计使曾一次交付圣徒的真道失效。“将有许多人随从他们邪淫的行为，便叫真道因他们的缘故被毁谤。他们因有贪心，要用捏造的言语在你们身上取利。他们的刑罚，自古以来并不迟延;他们的灭亡也不打盹。”(彼后2:2, 3)。然而尽管有反对，所有的人仍要听到真理的道。{SpTB01 7.2}
上帝的律法乃是所有持久改革的根基。我们要向世人清楚地阐明遵守这律法的必要。遵守上帝的律法乃是最伟大的动机，鼓励人勤奋、节约、诚实，而且公正地彼此相待。{SpTB01 7.3}
上帝的律法要成为家庭教育的手段。父母有最严肃的责任，要顺从这律法，给自己的儿女树立一个严格正直的榜样。身负重责的人，既有深远的影响，就要极其当心自己的作风与行为，始终保持对主的敬畏之心。“敬畏耶和华是智慧的开端”(诗111:10)。那些殷勤倾听主声音并高高兴兴地遵守祂诫命的人，必列在得见上帝的人中。“耶和华又吩咐我们遵行这一切律例，要敬畏耶和华我们的上帝，使我们常得好处，蒙祂保全我们的生命，像今日一样。我们若照耶和华我们上帝所吩咐的一切诫命谨守遵行，这就是我们的义了”(申6:24, 25)。{SpTB01 7.4}
我们作为真理信徒的任务，就是要把上帝律法的不变性呈现在世人面前。传道人和教师，医生和护士，都因与上帝立约而有义务提出顺从祂律法的重要性。我们要显明为一班遵守诫命的人。主已明说祂有一项工作要为世人做成。如何做成呢?但愿我们努力找到最好的方法来完成主的旨意。{SpTB01 8.1}
*****
世界乃是一所培训学校，训练人进入更高的学校，今生乃是为来生作预备。我们要在此世预备好进入天庭。我们要在此世领受相信并实行真理，直到我们预备妥当得在光明中与众圣徒同住在天家。{SpTB01 8.2}
【The Work for This Time】
(St. Helena, Cal.,June 25, 1903.To Our Sanitarium Physicians:)
My Dear Brethren,Those who stand in responsible positions in the work of the Lord are represented as watchmen on the walls of Zion. God calls upon them to sound an alarm among the people. Let it be heard in all the plain. The day of woe, of wasting and destruction, is upon all who do unrighteousness. With special severity will the Lord’s hand fall upon the watchmen who have failed to place before the people in clear lines their obligation to Him who by creation and by redemption is their owner.{SpTB01 3.1}[1]
My brethren, the Lord calls upon you to examine the heart closely. He calls upon you to adorn the truth in your daily practise, and in all your dealings with one another. He requires of you a faith that works by love and purifies the soul. It is dangerous for you to trifle with the sacred demands of conscience, dangerous for you to set an example that leads others in a wrong direction.{SpTB01 3.2}[2]
Christians should carry with them, wherever they go, the sweet fragrance of Christ’s righteousness, showing that they are complying with the invitation, “Learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”Matthew 11:29, 30. Are you learning daily in the school of Christ,—learning how to dismiss doubt and evil surmisings, learning how to be fair and noble in your dealings with your brethren, for your own sake, and for Christ’ sake?{SpTB01 3.3}[3]
Present truth leads onward and upward, gathering?in the needy, the oppressed, the suffering, the destitute. All that will come are to be brought into the fold. In their lives there is to take place a reformation that will constitute them members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. By hearing the message of truth, men and women are led to accept the Sabbath, and to unite with the church by baptism. They are to bear God’s sign by observing the Sabbath of creation. They are to know for themselves that obedience to God’s commandments means eternal life.{SpTB01 3.4}[4]
Means and earnest labor may be safely invested in such a work as this, for it is a work that will endure. Thus those who have been dead in trespasses and sins are brought into fellowship with the saints, and are made to sit in heavenly places with Christ. Their feet are placed on a sure foundation. They are enabled to reach a high standard, even the loftiest heights of faith, because Christians make straight paths for their feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way.{SpTB01 4.1}[5]
Every church should labor for the perishing within its own borders and for those outside its borders. The members are to shine as living stones in the temple of God, reflecting heavenly light. No random, haphazard, desultory work is to be done. To get fast hold of souls ready to perish means more than praying for a drunkard, and then, because he weeps and confesses the pollution of his soul, declaring him saved. Over and over again the battle must be fought.{SpTB01 4.2}[6]
Let the members of every church feel it their special duty to labor for those in their neighborhood. Let each one who claims to stand under the banner of Christ feel that he has entered into covenant relation with God, to do the work of the Saviour. Let not those who take up this work become weary in?welldoing. When the redeemed stand before God, precious souls will respond to their names who are there because of the faithful, patient efforts put forth in their behalf, the entreaties and earnest persuasions to flee to the Stronghold. Thus those who in this world have been laborers together with God will receive their reward.{SpTB01 4.3}[7]
The ministers of the popular churches will not allow the truth to be presented to the people from their pulpits. The enemy leads them to resist the truth with bitterness and malice. Falsehoods are manufactured. Christ’s experience with the Jewish rulers is repeated. Satan strives to eclipse every ray of light shining from God to His people. He works through the ministers as he worked through the priests and rulers in the days of Christ. Will those who know the truth join his party, to hinder, embarrass, and turn aside those who are trying to work in God’s appointed way to advance His work, to plant the standard of truth in the regions of darkness?{SpTB01 5.1}[8]
【Our Message】
The third angel’s message, embracing the messages of the first and second angels, is the message for this time. We are to raise aloft the banner on which is inscribed, “The commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” The world is soon to meet the great Law-giver over His broken law. This is not the time to put out of sight the great issues before us. God calls upon His people to magnify the law, and make it honorable.{SpTB01 5.2}[9]
When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy, the Sabbath was given to the world, that man might ever remember that in six days God created the world. He rested upon the seventh day, blessing it as the day of His rest, and gave?it to the beings He had created, that they might remember Him as the true and living God.{SpTB01 5.3}[10]
By His mighty power, notwithstanding the opposition of Pharaoh, God delivered His people from Egypt, that they might keep the law which had been given in Eden. He brought them to Sinai to hear the proclamation of this law.{SpTB01 6.1}[11]
By proclaiming the ten commandments to the children of Israel with His own voice, God demonstrated their importance. In awful grandeur He made known His majesty and authority as Ruler of the world. This He did to impress the people with the sacredness of His law and the importance of obeying it. The power and glory with which the law was given reveal its importance. It is the faith once delivered to the saints by Christ our Redeemer speaking from Sinai.{SpTB01 6.2}[12]
The Sign of our Relationship to God. By the observance of the Sabbath, the children of Israel were to be distinguished from all other nations. “Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep,” Christ said: “for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.... It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed.” “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.”Exodus 31:13, 17, 16.{SpTB01 6.3}[13]
The Sabbath is a sign of the relationship existing between God and His people,—a sign that they are His obedient subjects, that they keep holy His law. The observance of the Sabbath is the means ordained by?God of preserving a knowledge of Himself and of distinguishing between His loyal subjects and the transgressors of His law.{SpTB01 6.4}[14]
This is the faith once delivered to the saints, who stand in moral power before the world, firmly maintaining this faith.{SpTB01 7.1}[15]
Opposition we shall have as we voice the message of the third angel. Satan will bring in every possible device to make of no effect the faith once delivered to the saints. “Many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.”2 Peter 2:2, 3. But in spite of opposition, all are to hear the words of truth.{SpTB01 7.2}[16]
The law of God is the foundation of all enduring reformation. We are to present to the world in clear, distinct lines the need of obeying this law. Obedience to God’s law is the greatest incentive to industry, economy, truthfulness, and just dealing between man and man.{SpTB01 7.3}[17]
The law of God is to be the means of education in the family. Parents are under a most solemn obligation to obey this law, setting their children an example of the strictest integrity. Men in responsible positions, whose influence is far-reaching, are to guard well their ways and works, keeping the fear of the Lord ever before them. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”Psalm 111:10. Those who hearken diligently to the voice of the Lord and cheerfully keep His commandments, will be among the number who see God. “The Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Lord our God, for our good always,that He might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He hath commanded us.”Deuteronomy 6:24, 25.{SpTB01 7.4}[18]
Our work as believers in the truth is to present before the world the immutability of the law of God. Ministers and teachers, physicians and nurses, are bound by covenant with God to present the importance of obeying His law. We are to be distinguished as a people who keep the commandments. The Lord has stated explicitly that He has a work to be done for the world. How shall it be done? Let us seek to find the best way, and then perform the will of the Lord.{SpTB01 8.1}[19]
This world is a training-school for the higher school, this life a preparation for the life to come. Here we are to be prepared for entrance into the heavenly courts. Here we are to receive and believe and practise the truth, until we are made ready for a home with the saints in light.{SpTB01 8.2}[20]
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