Unbelief and Murmuring Exalt Satan, April 30

And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. Numbers 21:8. The same lesson that Christ bade Moses give to the children of Israel in the wilderness is for all such souls suffering under the plague spot of sin. From the billowy cloud Christ spoke to Moses and told him to make a brazen serpent and place it upon a pole, and then bid all that were bitten with the fiery serpents to look and live. What if, in the place of looking as Christ commanded them, they had said, “I do not believe it will do me the least bit of good to look. I am too great a sufferer from the sting of the poisonous serpent.” Obedience was the object to be gained, implicit and blind obedience, without stopping to inquire the reason or the science of the matter.... Looking at self will give you neither light nor hope nor peace. The longer you look and ponder over these things, the more dark and discouraged will you become. You please the enemy of God and of the human race by keeping in the cave of darkness where there is not a ray of the Light of life.... If men and women could only see and realize how their unbelief and mournful murmurings exalt Satan and give him honor, while they rob Jesus Christ of His glory in the work of saving them, wholly and entirely, from all sin! ... He broke the fetters of the tomb and came forth to take again His life that He laid down for us. He ascended on high, having led captivity captive and received gifts for us. All this suffering He endured for us.... He will be our helper, and He will be our refuge in every time of need. He should be revealed in our Christian experience as all-sufficient, a present Saviour. Only look and live. We dishonor God when we do not go forth from the dark cellar of doubts into the upper chamber of hope and faith. When the Light shineth in all its brightness, let us take hold on Jesus Christ by the mighty hand of faith. No longer cultivate your doubts by expressing them and pouring them into other minds, and thus becoming an agent of Satan to sow the seeds of doubt. Talk faith, live faith, cultivate love to God; evidence to the world all that Jesus is to you. Magnify His holy name. Tell of His goodness; talk of His mercy; and tell of His power.—Manuscript 42, 1890.