Chapter 28—Sympathy for the Erring Dear Brother A,I have risen early to write to you. Additional light has been given me of late, for which I am responsible. Twice while in this state has the Lord revealed Himself to me. While pleading with Him in the night season, I was shown in vision many things connected with the cause of God. The state of things in the church, the college, the sanitarium, and the publishing houses located at Battle Creek, and the work of God in Europe and England, in Oregon and Texas, and in other new fields, was presented before me. There is the greatest need of the work in new fields starting right, bearing the impress of the divine. Many in these new fields will be in danger of accepting the truth or assenting to it, who have not a genuine conversion of heart. When tested by storm and tempest, it will be found that their house is not built upon a rock but upon sliding sand. Practical godliness must be possessed by the minister and developed in his daily life and character. His discourses should not be exclusively theoretical. {4T 321.1}

(321) Kære bror A: Jeg er stået tidligt op for at skrive til dig. Yderligere lys er blevet givet mig på det sidste, hvilket jeg er ansvarlig for. Herren har åbenbaret sig to gange for mig, medens jeg var i denne stat. Da jeg bad med ham i nattestunden, fik jeg vist i et syn mange ting, der havde med Guds sag at gøre. Tingenes tilstand i menigheden, colleget, sanatoriet og forlagene i Battle Creek og Guds arbejde i Europa og England, i Oregon og Texas og på andre nye marker, blev fremstillet for mig. Det største behov for det nystartede arbejde på de nye marker, er det guddommelige præg. Mange af disse nye marker vil være i fare for at antage sandheden eller forsvare den, men ikke har hjertets virkelige omvendelse. Når de prøves af storm og fristelser, vil de finde at deres hus ikke er bygget på en klippe, men på glidende sand. Enhver prædikant må have praktisk gudsfrygt og skal udvikles i hans daglige liv og karakter. Hans prædikener bør ikke kun være teoretiske.