Times of the end

Many have tried neutrality in a crisis, but they have failed in their purpose. No one can maintain a neutral ground. Those who endeavor to do this will fulfill Christ's words, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other, or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon" [Matthew 6:24]. Those who begin their Christian life by being half and half, whatever may be their intentions, will at last be found enlisted on the enemy's side. Double-minded men and women are Satan's best allies. Whatever favorable opinion they may have of themselves, they are dissemblers. All who are loyal to God and the truth must stand firmly for the right because it is right. To yoke up with those who are unconsecrated and yet be loyal to the truth, is simply an impossibility. We cannot unite with those who are serving themselves, who are working on worldly plans, and not lose our connection with the heavenly counselor. We may recover ourselves from the snare of the enemy, but we are bruised and wounded, and our experience is dwarfed.... When a man loses the shield of a good conscience, he knows that he has lost the cooperation of heavenly angels. God is not working in him. Another spirit inspires him. And to be an apostate, a traitor to the cause of God, is much more serious than death, it means the loss of eternal life. Manuscript 87, August 19, 1897, (see also TDG 140; 3RH 561, col 3)

by ELLEN G WHITE