Hypocrisy is peculiarly offensive to God. A large majority of the men and women who profess to know the truth prefer smooth messages. They do not desire to have their sins and defects brought before them. They want accommodating ministers, who will not arouse conviction by speaking the truth. They choose men who will flatter them, and in their turn they flatter the minister who has shown such a "good" spirit, while they revile the faithful servant of God. . . .
Many praise the minister who dwells on the grace and mercy and love of Jesus, who is not particular to enforce duties and obligations, who does not warn of the danger of hypocrisy, or present the terrors of God's wrath.
The Lord's work is earnest and decided, above deceit and hypocrisy. His true shepherds will not praise and exalt man. They will come before the people with a plain "Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel." They will bear His message, whether men will hear or whether they will forbear. If men despise God's Word, and trust in oppression, hypocrisy, and worldliness, they must declare against them God's denunciations, that, if possible, they may be aroused to repentance. If they are too proud to repent and confess their errors, to turn to God, welcoming His salvation and seeking His favor, the Lord will remove His light from them and will leave them to walk in the way they have chosen.
Those who drive the Lord's faithful messengers into corners, who discourage them, who stand between them and the people, that their message may not have the influence God designed it should, are answerable for the deceptions and heresies that come into the church as a result of their course. They have a fearful account to render to God. After the Lord has repeatedly warned His people, and they still refuse to hearken to His voice, and will not be instructed, their guilt becomes peculiarly abhorrent to Him. The record of their rebellion is written in a book before Him, and will confront them when the judgment shall sit and the books shall be opened.--Manuscript 10, Feb. 16, 1899, "Words of Warning." TDG 55
There is nothing more calculated to strengthen the intellect than the study of the Scriptures. No other book is so potent to elevate the thoughts, to give vigor to the faculties, as the broad, ennobling truths of the Bible. If God's word were studied as it should be, men would have a breadth of mind, a nobility of character, and a stability of purpose rarely seen in these times. SC 90
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Isaiah 58:1 (King James Version)