Brother and Sister N, the influence of unbelieving friends affects you more than you are aware of. They bring you no strength, but darkness and unbelief. You have an individual work in the vineyard of the Lord. You have thought and cared too much for yourselves. Set your hearts in order, and then be in earnest. Inquire: “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” God requires of you an earnest reaching out after Him. He bids you search your own hearts diligently to discover all there that prevents your bringing forth much fruit, and that which will remain. The reason you possess no more of the Spirit of God is that you do not cheerfully bear the cross of Christ. In the last vision I saw that you were deceived in regard to the strength of your love for this world. The cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and you become unfruitful. God requires us to bear much fruit. He will not give commands without giving with them power for their performance. He will not do our part of the work, neither does He require that we do His. It is God that worketh in us, but we must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. “Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” Faith must be sustained by works; the doers of the work are justified before God. You displease God in talking of your poverty, while you have abundance. All that you possess belongs to Him, yet He has seen fit to make you a steward of it for a short time, He is testing and proving you. How will you bear the test? He will require His own with usury. {2T 166.1}

Bror og søster N, indflydelsen fra ikke-troende venner påvirker jer mere end I er klar over. De giver jer ingen styrke, men mørke og vantro. I har et personligt arbejde i Herrens vingård. I har tænkt og bekymret jer for meget over jer selv. Bring jeres hjerter i orden og vær da i alvor. Spørg: "Herre, hvad vil du have at jeg skal gøre?" Gud forlanger af jer at I rækker ud efter ham. Han påbyder at I flittigt skal ransage jeres egne hjerter så I opdager alt hvad der hindrer jer i at bringe megen frugt frem og det som vil blive tilbage. Grunden til at I ikke har mere af Guds Ånd er at I ikke bærer Kristi kors med glæde. I det sidste syn så jeg at I var bedragede med hensyn til styrken af jeres kærlighed for denne verden. Dette livs bekymringer og rigdommenes bedrag kvæler ordet og I bliver ufrugtbare. Gud forlanger at vi skal bære megen frugt. Han vil ikke give befaling fra sig uden også at give dem kraft til at udføre dem. Han vil ikke gøre vor del af arbejdet, han forlanger heller ikke at vi skal gøre hans del. Det er Gud der (167) arbejder i os, men vi må selv finde ud af det med frygt og bæven. »Sådan er det også med troen; hvis den ikke har gerninger, er den i sig selv død.« Tro må understøttes af gerninger; gerningens gørere retfærdiggøres for Gud. Du vanærer Gud ved at tale om fattigdom, selv om du har overflod. Alt hvad du ejer tilhører ham. Alligevel har han fundet det for godt at sætte dig som forvalter over det for en kort tid. Han forsøger og prøver dig. Hvordan vil du stå denne prøve? Han vil kræve sit eget, med renter.