176. Maranatha Our Lord Is Coming: Work the Cities From Outposts. June 25, by Ellen G White

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. Second Corinthians 6:17.

As God's commandment-keeping people, we must leave the cities. As did Enoch, we must work in the cities but not dwell in them.

As far as possible, our institutions should be located away from the cities.... It is not God's will that His people shall settle in the cities, where there is constant turmoil and confusion. Their children should be spared this; for the whole system is demoralized by the hurry and rush and noise. The Lord desires His people to move into the country, where they can settle on the land, and raise their own fruit and vegetables, and where their children can be brought in direct contact with the works of God in nature. Take your families away from the cities is my message.

The truth must be spoken, whether men will hear, or whether men will forbear. The cities are filled with temptation. We should plan our work in such a way as to keep our young people as far as possible from this contamination.

The cities are to be worked from outposts. Said the messenger of God, “Shall not the cities be warned? Yes; not by God's people living in them, but by their visiting them, to warn them of what is coming upon the earth.”

When iniquity abounds in a nation, there is always to be heard some voice giving warning and instruction, as the voice of Lot was heard in Sodom. Yet Lot could have preserved his family from many evils had he not made his home in this wicked, polluted city. All that Lot and his family did in Sodom could have been done by them, even if they had lived in a place some distance away from the city. Enoch walked with God, and yet he did not live in the midst of any city polluted with every kind of violence and wickedness, as did Lot in Sodom.

He, Enoch, did not make his abode with the wicked.... He placed himself and his family where the atmosphere would be as pure as possible. Then at times he went forth to the inhabitants of the world with his God-given message.... After proclaiming his message, he always took back with him to his place of retirement some who had received the warning.