Manuscript 15, 1896
Revelation
April 27, 1896
The word revelation means all that the definition of the word would signify, and this is the title of the last book of the Bible. A thing revealed is not a thing eclipsed and placed in obscurity and mystery. When a matter is unfolded, the mystery is opened. This book is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John; who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” [Revelation 1:1-3.]
In the book of Revelation we read of a special work that God would have His agents do in these last days. They have a special warning to give to the world. All the institutions that have been established in His providence are to lift up the standard of the third angel’s message. God has blessed these institutions, and given them prosperity, as His chosen agents have acted as co-workers with Jesus Christ, and have communicated the wisdom which He imparted. God has given prosperity to the Sanitarium, and to Dr. Kellogg as God’s instrumentality. Your prosperity, Dr. Kellogg, has been in proportion to the efforts you have made to make the truth stand forth in its purity. Your medical practice has been attended with success because of His blessing, and if you will acknowledge Him in all your ways, He will direct you into paths of complete victory. The earnest zeal which has been manifested by Seventh-day Adventists under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has been acknowledged of God.
The Health Institution has not been brought into favor simply because of the talent, skill, or wisdom of one man. It is because God has had faithful instrumentalities that have consented to be worked by the Holy Spirit, and many influences have been combined in bringing about the prosperity of the Sanitarium. The time that has been spent in communing with God, in seeking His help before undertaking to relieve those who were in a critical condition, has brought angels to the side of the doctor and his assistants. In transacting your business that has been so important, you have succeeded, according as you have trusted in God. He has been by your side just as verily as Christ was by the side of those who were suffering when He walked among them on earth.
It is God who gives power to make men efficient in His service. He will impart power to His workers who have an eye single to His glory. But there is danger that you yourself or your associate physicians may set God aside, and trust in your own wisdom. If any of you entertain the thoughts and cherish the feelings that Nebuchadnezzar cherished, you will be in danger of passing through a trying experience. God had revealed Himself to Nebuchadnezzar in giving him the dream of the great image, and in sending His servant Daniel to explain its meaning. God had made known to the king what should be hereafter, and his kingdom was represented by the head of gold. The king and his counselors were flattered by the idea that the head of gold represented Babylon, and each successive kingdom was represented by a baser metal, signifying that as the nations should separate more and more from God, they would decrease in value. Heathen counselors flattered the king, and caused him to place himself before the people as an object of worship.
God had greatly honored the king in communicating with him; but He allowed him to follow his own inventions. He set up a golden image in the plains of Dura, and commanded men to bow down before it. It was exceedingly costly and magnificent, representing the kingdom of Babylon and magnifying the king who ruled over that kingdom. But the three Hebrew captives who cherished the knowledge of the true God refused to worship the image that the king had set up, and for their loyalty to the God of heaven they were cast into the burning, fiery furnace. But the Lord Jesus was with them, and preserved them from all harm. He manifested Himself unto them even as He has promised to manifest Himself unto us.
Jesus says, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him.” [John 14:21.] The king saw the form of the Fourth, and was convinced that the God of the three Hebrews was the living God. He acknowledged the wonderful miracle that had been wrought, but because he did not continue to walk in the light he lost the holy impression that had been made upon his mind. But God saw fit to give the king another dream that is recorded in the fourth chapter of Daniel.
Dr. Kellogg, please read this chapter prayerfully and carefully, and present it before all your associates. Under another symbol, His power and glory was presented before Nebuchadnezzar. Read this with a heart open to understand its significance. The interpretation was plainly given to the proud king and [was] followed by a message from God. The counsel was given to the king in these words, “Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor.” For a time Nebuchadnezzar was impressed by the warning and counsel that had been given him, but a heart that is not fully transformed by the grace of God soon loses the impression of the Holy Spirit.
For twelve months the king was placed on trial, but at the end of that time he manifested the spirit that had led him to set up the golden image. At the end of twelve months he was walking in the royal palace of Babylon. “The king spake and said, Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?” While the words of self-glorification were in the mouth of the king, “There fell a voice from heaven saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; the kingdom is departed from thee. And thou shalt be driven from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field; thou shalt be made to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee; until thou knowest that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever he will.” [Verses 30-32.]
This message from God was fulfilled. The king of Babylon, because he neglected to heed the testimonies of warning that had been given him, suffered the most humiliating punishments. Warnings had been given him of God; Daniel had appealed to him to change his course of action, to break off his sins by righteousness, in order that this terrible sentence might not be fulfilled. But self-indulgence, inordinate ambition, was not eradicated from his heart, and after a time revealed itself in words of vanity.
Dr. Kellogg, it is essential that you read carefully and prayerfully this whole chapter. The Lord has placed you in an important position. He will honor you just as long as you honor Him. The dream given to the king of Babylon is a very striking one. Nebuchadnezzar was the greatest ruler, the most powerful king, of the time, and the prosperity of his kingdom, which had been given him of God for the glory of God, caused the Lord to designate that kingdom as the head of gold. But Nebuchadnezzar turned the warnings of God against himself. Instead of tracing out the end of all earthly things and the setting up of God’s everlasting kingdom, he turned aside to follow the imaginations of his proud heart, thinking that his kingdom should be a more extensive and powerful kingdom than it then was.
The dream given him was very explicit, but the magicians, the astrologers, the soothsayers, and the Chaldeans could not make known to the king his dream or tell the interpretation thereof. Those who do not love and fear God cannot understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. They cannot approach unto the throne of Him who dwelleth in light unapproachable; and the things of God are to them mysteries of mysteries. But the king bears testimony to the fact that the servants of God understand the things of God. Daniel told the dream and the interpretation thereof before the king.
Daniel was esteemed by the king because of his unswerving integrity, for he was faithful in honoring God at all times and in all places. His wisdom was unexcelled, and neither he nor his fellows would make any compromise to secure positions in the court, or even to preserve life itself, when the honor of God was involved. In the early part of his acquaintance with Daniel, the king had found that he was the only one who could give him relief in his perplexity, and now at a later period, when another perplexing vision is given him, he remembers Daniel. Calling him into his presence, he says, “O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretations thereof.” [Verse 9.]
Then Nebuchadnezzar related his dream, saying, “I saw, and behold a tree in the midst of the earth, and the height thereof was great. The tree grew and was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth. The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: and the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the branches thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. I saw in the visions of my head, upon my bed, and, behold a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven. He cried aloud, and said thus, Hew down the tree, and cur off his branches, shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit: let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches.
“Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field: and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth: let his heart be changed from a man’s, and let a beast’s heart be given him, and let seven times pass over him.” Now mark what is said by this heavenly messenger as to what is the purpose of the fulfillment of this vision. “The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the Holy One: to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdoms of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the lowest of men.” [Verses 10-17.]
This was the dream that came to Nebuchadnezzar, and he appealed to Daniel to declare the interpretation. Daniel was much troubled as he saw the significance of the dream was, but he told the king what would befall him, saying, “Thou shalt be driven from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and thou shalt be made to eat grass like oxen, and shalt be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdoms of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.” [Verse 25.] Then Daniel exhorted the king, as we have before presented, to break off his sins by righteousness, and his iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. But the light from heaven was not accepted, and did not exert a saving influence upon his character. Those who receive light will either change their course of action, or else the Word of the Lord will become less and less palatable, and will finally be set aside. The king did not heed the words of warning, and he greatly perverted his ways.
The statement, “Thou art this head of gold,” flattered his vanity, and his rule became oppressive. [Daniel 2:38.] He exalted himself, and determined that his kingdom should be like an image that was all gold. He cherished jealousy of other kingdoms, and after the light God gave him had been made clear to his mind, he still perverted his course of action, and exalted himself before God. His rule that had been to a great extent just and merciful, because God had imparted wisdom, now manifested the vanity and oppression of the human heart. The reason God had given him was misapplied and misused in glorifying himself, and was finally dethroned. He followed the instincts of the beasts; he ate the food they ate, and acted as they did. For seven years the king was an astonishment to all his subjects. He was an example of what it is to be humbled of God, because he did not honor God, but made himself as God.
The Lord gave him the truth, but he did not practice it. The universe of heaven said to the king of Babylon, “Thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” [Matthew 16:23.] The ways of men are opposed to the ways of God. The Lord Jesus gave lessons to His disciples to show to us all that it is through His grace alone that we shall be able to discern spiritual truths. “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” [John 14:15-17.]
To us who believe have been committed the oracles of God. The books of Daniel and Revelation are full of matter which concerns every one of us. We should study these books, and let the Lord God of Israel communicate truth to us, so that we may be able to communicate the truth to others who live in these last days. The Lord would have His people learn of Jesus. God forbid that those for whom He has wrought shall become highminded and be left to their own way as was the king of Babylon.
Those who are regarded as wise men, who are exalted to positions of trust, may be tempted to take a course like that of the king of Babylon, but rather let them be taught by the Lord’s dealings with this king and understand that all human glory will certainly be stained. God will leave men to their own exalted ideas, and prove that the wisdom of men is foolishness. God would have men learn through the experience of others that human imaginations are not current with God. The Lord sets His seal upon those who build their characters according to the Pattern shown them in the mount. We are safe only as we follow Jesus, and drink from the fountain of wisdom which is pure and undefiled.
The lesson that the Lord would have all humanity learn from the history of the king of Babylon is that all those who walk in pride and self-exaltation, He is able to abase. The chastening that came upon the king of Babylon wrought reformation in the heart of the king and transformed him in character. Before his humiliation he was tyrannical in his dealings with others, but now the overbearing, fierce monarch is changed into a wise and compassionate ruler. Before his humiliation he defied and blasphemed the God of heaven, but now he acknowledges His power and seeks earnestly to promote the happiness of his subjects. At last the king had received his lesson. “Come all ye that fear God, and I will make known to you what he hath done for my soul.” [Psalm 66:16.]
The Lord designed that the greatest kingdom in the world should show forth His praise. Nebuchadnezzar says, “At the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth forever and ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” [Daniel 4:34, 35.]
In the experience of Nebuchadnezzar is contained a lesson to which we should give heed, lest we fall into temptation. The perils of the last days are upon us, and we should watch and pray, read and heed the lessons that are given us in the books of Daniel and Revelation. In mercy the Lord has wrought in behalf of the Sanitarium, the college and the Review and Herald office. Just as long as those in connection with these institutions walk humbly with God, heavenly intelligences will co-operate with them; but let all bear in mind the fact that God has said, “Them that honor me I will honor.” [1 Samuel 2:30.] The Lord manifested Himself to the four Hebrew youth in the courts of Babylon. They were surrounded with temptations on every hand, yet God set a hedge about them in order that they should not be corrupted, because they preserved their simplicity of faith. There is a lesson in this for us.
When the Lord specified that there should be a health and temperance institution at Battle Creek, He also specified what should be its object. It was not to be fashioned after the character of any other institution in the world. It was to stand as a Seventh-day Adventist institution that would give character to His cause in the world. It was also to be an asylum for those who should accept the truth, to which they could resort when sick. It was to be a place where the truth should be made to shine out, not where it should be placed under a bushel. The truth should be the all important thing in the institution. The Lord designed that it should be a place where He would be honored in word and deed, where His law should be magnified, where the true faith of the Bible should ever be made prominent before its patrons.
In these last days it is our duty to ascertain the full meaning of the first, second, and third angels’ messages. All our transactions should be in accordance with the Word of God. The first, second, and third angels’ messages are all united, and are revealed in the 14th chapter of Revelation from the sixth verse to the close. The whole gospel is to be proclaimed throughout the world.
The advice given to students to the effect that it is essential for them to go to Ann Arbor in order to obtain a finished education is a mistake. They will obtain an erroneous education in which errors and infidel sentiments will be mingled with truth. Many thus advised become unsusceptible to the truth, and a season spent at Ann Arbor will serve to mold their characters after a false standard. Is the soon coming of Christ a reality to us? Let every student seek to reach the highest point of education and be fitted for an inheritance with the saints in light. If he is educated in such a way as to reach this, he will learn that which will continue through eternal ages.
The banner of the third angel has inscribed upon it, “The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” [Verse 12.] Our institutions have taken a name which sets forth the character of our faith, and of this name we are never to be ashamed. I have been shown that this name means much, and in adopting it we have followed the light given us from heaven. Let us hear what the Lord saith, “And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: everyone that defileth it shall surely be put to death: wherefore whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. … It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” [Exodus 31:12-14, 17.]
The Sabbath is God’s memorial to His creative work, and it is a sign that is to be kept before the world. There is to be no compromise with those who are worshiping an idol sabbath. We are not to spend our time in controversy with those who know the truth, and upon whom the light of truth has been shining, when they turn away their ear from the truth to turn to fables. I was told that men will employ every policy to make less prominent the difference between the faith of Seventh-day Adventists and those who observe the first day of the week. In this controversy the whole world will be engaged, and the time is short. This is no time to haul down our colors.
A company was presented before me under the name of Seventh-day Adventists, who were advising that the banner or sign which makes us a distinctive people should not be held out so strikingly, for they claimed it was not the best policy in securing success to our institutions. This distinctive banner is to be borne through the world to the close of probation. In describing the remnant people of God, John says, “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” [Revelation 14:12.] This is the law and the gospel. The world and the churches are uniting in harmony in transgressing the law of God, in tearing away God’s memorial, and in exalting a sabbath that bears the signature of the man of sin. But the Sabbath of the Lord thy God is to be a sign to show the difference between the obedient and [the] disobedient. I saw some reaching out their hands to remove the banner, and to obscure its significance.
The land that has been abundantly blessed of God is fast filling up the cup of its iniquity. The figures on the side of iniquity are rapidly reaching the sum of corruption which was reached by the Amorites, and by the Jewish nation, once the elect people of God. In the days of Christ they made void the law of God, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, and this led them to reject the Son of God. When the people accept and exalt a spurious sabbath, and turn souls away from obedience and loyalty to God, they will reach the point that was reached by the people in the days of Christ.
Oh, if the world could only know this perilous fact, and turn away from the course which they are pursuing! How short-sighted is the policy that is being brought in by the rulers in the land to restore to the man of sin his lost ascendancy! They are manifesting wonderful zeal in taking this spurious sabbath under the care and protection of their legislatures, but they know not what they are doing. They are placing upon a false sabbath divine honors, and when this is fully done, persecution will break forth upon those who observe the Sabbath that God gave in Eden as a memorial of His creative power. Then the commandments of men will be clothed with sacred garments, and will be pronounced holy.
Shall anyone then choose to hide his banner, to relax his devotion? Shall the people whom God has honored and blessed and prospered refuse to bear testimony in behalf of God’s memorial at the very time when such a testimony should be borne? Shall not the commandments of God be more highly esteemed when men pour contempt upon the law of God?
Medical missionaries must be sent into all parts of the world to carry relief to suffering humanity. The president of our General Conference asks, Shall we build or shall we not build? Shall we provide a building to accommodate our students who are being educated for medical missionary work? We answer, There will be no need of building in a short time. If our people will heed the light that God has given them, and will move out of Battle Creek, ample room will be provided for our students who are connected with the Sanitarium. Too many responsibilities now center in Battle Creek. A shaking will take place there, and people will not crowd so constantly and so persistently into Battle Creek as they have done in the past irrespective of the warnings of God. We have not the men to fill positions of trust who will carry forward the work successfully; but let those who remain in Battle Creek be faithful sentinels in carrying the light to other towns and cities. They could do a work for the Master by letting their light shine forth.
When the law of God is being made void, when His name is dishonored, when it is considered disloyal to the laws of the land to keep the seventh day as the Sabbath, when wolves in sheep’s clothing, through blindness of mind and hardness of heart, are seeking to compel the conscience, shall we give up our loyalty to God? No, no. The wrongdoer is filled with a satanic hatred against those who are loyal to the commandments of God, but the value of God’s law as a rule of conduct must be made manifest.
The zeal of those who obey the Lord will be increased as the world and the church unite in making void the law. They will say with the Psalmist, “As for me I love thy commandments above gold, yea; above fine gold.” [Psalm 119:127.] This is what will be sure to occur when the law of God is made void by a national act. When Sunday is exalted and sustained by law, then the principle that actuates the people of God will be made manifest, as the principle of the three Hebrews was made manifest when Nebuchadnezzar commanded them to worship the golden image in the plain of Dura. We can see what our duty is when the truth is overborne by falsehood.
The law of God cannot be made void by the law of a nation. When the law is trampled in the dust, the sacredness of the commandments of God will be vindicated by those who are loyal to Him. We are to make no railing accusation against the nations, for this would close our way so that we could not set the light before the people. Every objection raised against the commandments of God will make a way for the advancement of truth, and enable its advocates to present its value before men. There is a beauty and force in the truth that nothing can make so apparent as opposition and persecution. When this is revealed, many will be converted to the truth.
Many who profess the truth do not know its preciousness, nor realize the richness of the assurances God has given. And they will not understand this until they are pressed into places of difficulty. But then they will understand what the Saviour means when He says, “I will manifest myself unto them.” [John 14:21.] When surrounded by those who have not the love of God, the Christian will realize how precious it is to have communion with God, and to obtain views of eternal redemption.
Day by day we are to learn by searching the Scriptures that God does not exalt one man for the purpose of controlling the minds and the practices of another. Everything that is done to direct people to follow the sayings and observe the customs of men, in opposition to what the Lord has said, is wrong. Those who dare to take the guidance of men, should understand that these very men need to be guided by that voice which has said that there is to be no lording it over God’s heritage. We have need of broadminded, deep-thinking men; but we do not need men who, because they are in positions of trust, will think that they should put the yoke upon their fellow men. Those who think that their position gives them this authority had better become Bible students.
The end [purpose] of all government was beautifully set forth by the Lord in the symbol of a tree that gave shelter to the beasts of the field and to the birds of the air. Nebuchadnezzar was at one time a superior ruler, a man more compassionate toward his subjects than was the ruler of any other heathen nation, and his rule was symbolized by a lofty tree. But the man who thinks it is his prerogative to command his fellow men, and says, You shall, and, You shall not, is entirely out of his place. He takes upon him that which was never given him, and lords it over God’s purchased possession. Every man is accountable to God for his actions. The man in a position of trust who is guided by the Spirit of God will always protect the weak, relieve the needy, and look after the widow and the fatherless.
Manuscript 16, 1896
“Let Him That Thinketh He Standeth Take Heed Lest He Fall.”
May 10, 1896
“Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness.” [1 Corinthians 10:1-5.] The experience of Israel, referred to in the above words by the apostle, and as recorded in the 105th and 106th Psalms, contains lessons of warning that the people of God in these last days especially need to study. I urge that these chapters be read at least once every week.
“Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them, as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” [1 Corinthians 10:6, 7.]
In the hearing of all Israel, God had spoken in awful majesty upon Mount Sinai, declaring the precepts of His law. The people, overwhelmed with the sense of guilt, and fearing to be consumed by the glory of the presence of the Lord, had entreated Moses, “Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” [Exodus 20:19.] God called Moses up into the mount that He might communicate to him the laws for Israel, but how quickly the solemn impression made upon that people by the manifestation of God’s presence passed away! Even the leaders of the host seemed to have lost their reason. The memory of their covenant with God, their terror when, falling upon their faces, they had exceedingly feared and quaked, all had vanished like smoke. Although the glory of God was still like devouring fire upon the top of the mount, yet when the presence of Moses was withdrawn, the old habits of thought and feeling began to assert their power. The people wearied of waiting for the return of Moses, and began to clamor for some visible representation of God.
Aaron, who had been left in charge of the camp, yielded to their clamors. Instead of exercising faith in God, trusting to divine power to sustain him, he was tempted to believe that if he resisted the demands of the people they would take his life, and he did as thy desired. He collected the golden ornaments, made the molten calf, and fashioned it with a graving tool. Then the leaders of the people declared, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” [Exodus 32:4.]
When Aaron saw the image he had graven, he pleased the people, and he was proud of his workmanship. He built an altar before the idol, “made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.” [Verses 5, 6.] They drank and feasted, and then gave themselves up to mirth and dancing, which ended in the shameful orgies that marked the heathen worship of false gods.
God in heaven beheld it all, and He warned Moses of what was taking place in the camp, saying, “Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it forever. And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.” [Verses 10-14.]
As Moses came down from the mountain with the two tables of the testimony in his hand, he heard the shouts of the people and, as he came near, beheld the idol and the reveling multitude. Overwhelmed with horror and indignation that God had been dishonored, and that the people had broken their solemn covenant with Him, he cast the two tables of stone upon the ground, and broke them beneath the mount. Though his love for Israel was go great that he was willing to lay down his own life for them, yet his zeal for the glory of God moved him to anger, which found expression in this act of such terrible significance. God did not rebuke him. The breaking of the tables of stone was but a representation of the fact that Israel had broken the covenant which they had so recently made with God. It is a righteous indignation against sin, which springs from zeal for the glory of God, not that anger prompted by self-love, or wounded ambition, which is referred to in the words of Scripture, “Be ye angry and sin not.” [Ephesians 4:26.] Such was the anger of Moses.
“And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.” And Moses “saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies.)” [Exodus 32:20-23, 25.]
To us the warning is given. “All these things happened unto them for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come.” [1 Corinthians 10:11.] Mark the influence of their extremes and fanaticism in the service of the great master worker, Satan. As soon as the wicked one had the people under his control, there were exhibitions of a satanic character. The people ate and drank without a thought of God and His mercy, without a thought of the necessity of resisting the devil who was leading them on to the most shameful deeds.
The same spirit was manifested as at the sacrilegious feast of Belshazzar. There was glee and dancing, hilarity, singing, carried to an infatuation that beguiled the senses. Then the indulgence in inordinate, lustful affections; all this mingled in that disgraceful scene. God had been dishonored; His people had become a shame in the sight of the heathen. Judgments were about to fall on that infatuated, besotted multitude. Yet God in His mercy gave them opportunity to forsake their sins.
“Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side?” The trumpeters caught up the words, and sounded them through the trumpet, “Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.” [Exodus 32:26.] All who were repentant had the privilege of taking their stand beside Moses. “And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.
“And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.” [Verses 27, 28.] There was no partiality, no hypocrisy, no confederating to shield the guilty, for the terror of the Lord was upon the people. Those who had shown so little sense of the presence and the greatness of God, and who, after the exhibitions of His majesty, were ready to depart from the Lord, would be a continual snare to Israel. They were slain as a rebuke to sin, and to put a fear upon the people to dishonor God.
I cannot now consider this history further; but I ask you, in every city, in every town, in every household, I ask every individual to study the lesson of this Scripture, bearing in mind the words of inspiration, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” [1 Corinthians 10:12.] Here is presented the only election that is brought to view in the Word of God. It is those who take heed lest they fall that will be accepted at last.
There can be no presumption more fatal than that which leads men to venture upon a course of self-pleasing. In view of this solemn warning from God, should not fathers and mothers take heed? Should they not faithfully point out to the youth the dangers that are constantly arising to lead them away from God? Many allow the youth to attend parties of pleasure, thinking that amusement is essential for health and happiness; but what dangers are in that path! The more the desire for pleasure is gratified, the more it is cultivated, and the stronger it becomes. The life experience is largely made up of self-gratification in amusement. God bids us to beware. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” [Verse 12.]
I ask you who are living at the very heart of the work to review the experience of years, and see if the “well done” can truthfully be spoken to you. [Matthew 25:21.] I ask the teachers in the school to consider carefully, prayerfully, Have you individually watched for your own soul as one who is co-operating with God for its purification from all sin and for its entire sanctification unto God? Can you by precept and example teach the youth sanctification, not devotion to the arch deceiver, but sanctification through the truth unto holiness, obedience to God?
Have you not been afraid of the Holy Spirit? At times it has come with all-pervading influence into the school at Battle Creek, and into the schools in other localities. Did you recognize it? Did you accord it the honor due to a heavenly Messenger? When the Spirit seemed to be striving with the youth, did you say, Let us put aside all study, for it is evident that we have among us a heavenly Guest? Let us give praise and honor to God. Did you, with contrite hearts, bow in prayer with your students, pleading that you might receive the blessing which the Lord was presenting to you? The great Teacher Himself was among you. How did you honor Him? Was He a stranger to some of the educators? Was there need to send for someone of supposed authority to welcome or repel this Messenger from heaven? Though unseen, His presence was among you. But was not the thought expressed that in school the time ought to be given to study, and that there was a time for everything, as if the hours devoted to common study were too precious to be given up for the working of the heavenly Messenger?
If you have in this way restricted and repulsed the Holy Spirit of God, I entreat you to repent of it as quickly as possible. If any of the educators have not opened the door of their own hearts to the Spirit of God, but closed and padlocked it, I urge you to unlock the door, and pray with earnestness, “Abide with me.” When the Holy Spirit reveals His presence in your schoolroom, tell your students, The Lord signifies that He has for us today a lesson of heavenly import, of more value than our lessons in ordinary lines. Let us listen; let us bow before God, and seek Him with the whole heart.
Let me tell you what I know of this heavenly Guest. The Holy Spirit was brooding over the youth during the school hours; but some hearts were so cold and dark that they had no desire for the Spirit’s presence, and the light of God was withdrawn. That heavenly Visitant would have opened the understanding, would have given wisdom and knowledge in all lines of study that would be employed to the glory of God. The Lord’s Messenger came to convince of sin, and to soften the heart hardened by long estrangement from God. He came to reveal the great love wherewith God has loved those youth. They are God’s heritage; and educators need the “higher education” before they are qualified to be instructors and guides of youth.
The teacher may understand many things in regard to the physical universe; he may know all about the structures of living things, the inventions of mechanical art, the discoveries of natural science; but he cannot be called educated unless he has a knowledge of the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. A principle of divine origin must pervade our conduct and bind us to God. This will not be in any way a hindrance to the study of true science. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the man who consents to be molded and fashioned after the divine similitude is the noblest specimen of the work of God. All who live in communion with our Creator will have an understanding of His design in their creation, and they will have a sense of their own accountability to God to employ their faculties to the very best purpose. They will seek neither to glorify nor to depreciate themselves.
The knowledge of God is obtained from His Word. The experimental knowledge of true godliness, in daily consecration and service to God, insures the highest culture of mind, soul, and body; and this consecration of all our powers to God prevents self-exaltation. The impartation of divine power honors our sincere striving after wisdom for the conscientious use of our highest faculties to honor God and bless our fellow men. As these faculties are derived from God, and not self-created, they should be appreciated as talents from God to be employed in His service.
The heaven-entrusted faculties of the mind are to be treated as the higher powers, to rule the kingdom of the body. The natural appetites and passions are to be brought under control of the conscience and the spiritual affections.
The Word of God is to be the foundation of all study, and the words of revelation, carefully studied, appeal to and strengthen the intellect as well as the heart. The culture of the intellect is required, that we may understand the revelation of the will of God to us. It cannot be neglected by those who are obedient to His commandment. God has not given us the faculties of the mind to be devoted to cheap and frivolous pursuits.
The case of Daniel is an instructive one. Daniel was taught by God, and he co-operated with God. He exerted all his powers to work out his own salvation, and God worked in him to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Of Daniel and his companions it is written, “As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom; and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.” [Daniel 1:17.] These youth were sincere, faithful Christians. True education must be all-sided, not one-sided. Such an education Daniel and his fellows were determined to have. They sought to acquire knowledge for a purpose, to honor and glorify God. They must perfect a Christian character and have a clear intellect in order to stand as the representatives of the true religion amid the false religions of heathenism.
To them the will of God was the supreme law of life. They practiced temperance in eating and drinking, that they might not enfeeble brain or muscle. In order to preserve health, they felt that they must avoid the luxuries of the king’s table, and they would not partake of wine or any stimulating drink. Under God they were in perfect training, that all their faculties might do highest service for Him. God required these youth to keep themselves from idols.
The religion of Jesus Christ never degrades the receiver; it never makes him coarse or rough, discourteous or self-important, passionate or hard-hearted. On the contrary, it refines the taste, sanctifies the judgment, purifies and ennobles the thoughts by bringing them into captivity to Jesus Christ. God’s ideal for His children is higher than the highest human thought can reach. The living God has given in His holy law a transcript of His character.
The greatest Teacher the world has ever known is Jesus Christ. And what is the standard He has given for all who believe in Him to reach? “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” [Matthew 5:48.] As God is perfect in His high sphere of action, so man may be perfect in his human sphere. The ideal of Christian character is Christlikeness. There is opened before us a path of continual advancement. We have an object to reach, a standard to gain, which includes everything good and pure and noble and elevated. There should be continual striving and constant progress onward and upward toward perfection of character. See 2 Timothy 3:14-17; Romans 15:4; Colossians 2:8-10.
This is the will of God concerning every human being, even your sanctification. In urging our way upward, heavenward, every faculty must be kept in the most healthy condition, to do the most faithful service. The powers with which God has endowed men are to be put to the stretch. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” [Luke 10:27.] Man cannot possibly do this of himself; he must have divine power. What shall the human agent do in the great work? “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” [Philippians 2:12, 13.]
Without the divine working, man could do no good thing. God calls every man to repentance, yet man cannot even repent unless the Holy Spirit works upon his heart. But the Lord wants no man to wait until he thinks he has repented before he takes his steps toward Jesus. The Saviour is continually drawing men to repentance; they need only to submit to be drawn, and their hearts will be melted in penitence.
Man is allotted a part in this great struggle for everlasting life; he must respond to the working of the Holy Spirit. It will require a struggle to break through the powers of darkness, and the Spirit works in him to accomplish this. But man is no passive being, to be saved in indolence. He is called upon to strain every muscle and exercise every faculty in the struggle for immortality; yet it is God that supplies the efficiency. No human being can be saved in indolence. The Lord bids us, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” [Luke 13:24.] “Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Matthew 7:13, 14.
I entreat the students in our schools to be sober-minded. The frivolity of the young is not pleasing to God. Their sports and games open the door to a flood of temptations. You are in possession of God’s heavenly endowment in your intellectual faculties, and you should not allow your thoughts to be cheap and low. A character formed in accordance with the precepts of God’s Word will reveal steadfast principles, [and] pure, noble aspirations. The Holy Spirit co-operates with the powers of the human mind, and high and holy impulses are the sure result.
Daniel and his companions had a conscience void of offense toward God. But this is not preserved without a struggle. What a test was brought on the three associates of Daniel when they were required to worship the great image set up by King Nebuchadnezzar in the plain of Dura! Their principles forbade them to pay homage to the idol, for it was a rival to the God of heaven. They knew that they owed to God every faculty they possessed, and while their hearts were full of generous sympathy toward all men, they had a lofty aspiration to prove themselves entirely loyal to their God.
To meet the appeals of the king and his counselors that they could comply with the royal edict, they had a store of arguments set forth most eloquently. The demand appeared contemptible to them. With Daniel as their companion, they had prayed and fasted that they might understand the dream which God gave the king. The Lord had heard their cries, and had given to Daniel wisdom to interpret the dream; thus their own lives and the lives of the astrologers and soothsayers had been saved. Now the very men who had escaped death through the mercy of God to His servants were led by envy and jealousy to secure the decree in regard to the worshiping of the golden image.
The king declared to the three Hebrew youth, if “ye fall down and worship the image which I have made, well; but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace, and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hand?” The youth said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.” [Daniel 3:15-19.]
Those faithful youth were cast into the fire, but God manifested His power for the deliverance of His servants. One like unto the Son of God walked with them in the midst of the flame, and when they were brought forth, not even the smell of fire had passed on them. “Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.” [Verse 28.]
Thus these youth, imbued with the Holy Spirit, declared to the whole nation their faith, that He whom they worshiped was the only true and living God. This demonstration of their own faith was the most eloquent presentation of their principles. In order to impress idolaters with the power and greatness of the living God, His servants must reveal their own reverence for God. They must make it manifest that He is the only object of their honor and worship, and that no consideration, not even the preservation of life itself, can induce them to make the least concession to idolatry.
These lessons have a direct and vital bearing upon our experience in these last days. My soul is deeply stirred at the things that have been represented before me. I feel an indignation of spirit that in our institutions so little honor has been given to the living God, and so much honor to what is supposed to be human talent, but with which the Holy Spirit has no connection. The Spirit of God is not acknowledged and respected; men have passed judgment upon it; its operations have been condemned as fanaticism, enthusiasm, undue excitement.
God sees that which the blind eyes of the educators cannot discern—that immorality of every kind and degree is striving for the mastery, working against the manifestations of the power of the Holy Spirit. The commonness of conversation and the low, perverted ideas are woven into the texture of character, and defile the soul.
The low, common pleasure parties, gatherings for eating and drinking, singing and playing on instruments of music, are inspired by a spirit that is from beneath. They are an oblation unto Satan. The exhibitions in the bicycle craze are an offense to God. His wrath is kindled against those that do such things. For in these gratifications the mind becomes besotted, even as in liquor drinking. The door is opened to vulgar associations. The thoughts allowed to run in a low channel soon pervert all the powers of the being. Like Israel of old, the pleasure lovers eat and drink and rise up to play. There is mirth and carousing, hilarity and glee. In all this the youth follow the example of the authors of books that are placed in their hands for study. The greatest evil of it all is the permanent effect these things have upon the character.
Those who take the lead in these things bring upon the cause a stain not easily effaced. They wound their own souls, and will carry the scars through their lifetime. The evildoer may see his sins and repent; God may pardon the transgressor; but the power of discernment which ought ever to be kept keen and sensitive to distinguish between the sacred and the common is in a great measure destroyed. Too often human devices and imaginations are accepted as divine. Some souls will remain in blindness and insensibility, ready to grasp cheap, common, even infidel sentiments, while they turn against the demonstrations of the Holy Spirit.
It is a fearful thing for any soul to place himself on Satan’s side of the question, for as soon as he does this a change passes over him, as it is said of the king of Babylon, that his visage changed toward the three faithful Hebrews. Past history will be repeated. Men will reject the Holy Spirit’s working and open the door of the mind to satanic attributes that separate them from God. They will turn against the very messengers through whom God sends the messages of warning. Even now I fear that the very things I am seeking to make plain will be misapplied, misinterpreted, and falsified. Some have felt it a virtue to educate themselves in this line, and by their misapplication they make of no effect the messages God sends.
I urge upon all to whom these words shall come, Review your own course of action, and “take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come upon all them that dwell upon the face of the whole earth.” [Luke 21:34, 35.]
Ms 17, 1896
Individual Responsibility
May 13, 1896
In the night season I was listening to one who spoke with authority. Words of counsel in regard to the responsibilities that are to be borne in the sacred work of God were spoken. The Teacher said, There should be no haphazard work. Much of this has been done. Men have assumed authority, but the people should not depend upon poor, finite, erring men. They should put their entire trust in the wisdom that finds its strength in the wisdom of God. The inconsistency of centering so many responsibilities in Battle Creek has been presented many times, but the counsels have not been acted upon. The reproofs and warnings from the Lord have been evaded and interpreted and made void by the devices of men. There has been counter-working against God, and the judgment of men has been received.
In Battle Creek, and in other places, building has been added to building, for the sake of making an imposing display. Men have supposed that this would give character to the work. Their own characters needed the transforming grace of Christ, which would enable them to represent Christ. This alone is sufficient to give character to the work. Nothing can be done without his grace. The Lord suffers impediments to arise, that his wisdom and power may humbly and earnestly and perseveringly sought, and be distinctly manifest. Nothing will so quickly and decidedly separate the soul from God and bring defeat, as for man to lift up his soul unto vanity, and speak proudly and boastingly, and in a masterly manner to his fellow men, who are the property of God. “Ye are not your own; … ye are bought with a price,” even the precious blood of the Son of God. [1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.] The Lord alone is to be exalted. Let every human agent keep in his place, and not seek to get into the place where God should be. There has been altogether too much trusting in men.
In Battle Creek you have evidence that men who have had the most to say are not walking with God. There is abundant activity, but not many are working in partnership with Christ, and those who walk apart, and work from Him, have been the most active in planning and inaugurating their methods. If they had that wisdom that cometh from the Source of all wisdom they would move considerately, and would study more earnestly the relation of cause to effect. They would discern that a few minds in Battle Creek are not to be the power to manage every thing in connection with our work.
The state conferences must have men at their head who love and fear God—capable men who will learn in the school of Christ to be laborers with Him, to wear His yoke and lift His burdens. They are to be partners with Christ in the sacred service of soulsaving. All the members of the church are to labor interestedly, zealously, not striving, as many have done, to see who shall be the greatest, and how to secure the highest wages, but striving to win souls for Christ, which means a part of the firm, in partnership with Christ. Let all try to do their best.
The matter was laid before me, which I was trying to present before the brethren. There is altogether too much responsibility imparted to a few men in Battle Creek, and these men need the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, else they will lead God’s heritage in false paths. The conferences are watching every move made at the center of the work. The different conferences have been led to look to the leading men at Battle Creek, feeling that no important move can be made without their approval. This tendency has been growing stronger, until it is a serious hindrance to the advancement of the work. This arrangement should never have been. The Lord would have His people under His jurisdiction. They [should] look to God, inquiring of Him in faith, and follow on to know the working of His providence.
The arrangement that all monies must go through Battle Creek and under the [control] of the few men in Battle Creek is a wrong way of managing. There are altogether too many weighty responsibilities given to a few men, and some so not make God their Counsellor. What do these men know of the necessities of the work in foreign countries? How can they know how to decide questions which shall come to them asking for information? It would require three months for those in foreign countries to receive a response to their questions, even if there was no delay in writing.
In each country a man should be appointed to work in the general interests of the cause. He need not be a preacher, and he must not be a policy man. He should be unselfish, a man who loves, who honors and fear his God. His whole time should be devoted to the work. He should plan unselfishly and in the fear of God. Let him be general agent for that country, and let him be connected with a council composed of the very best men, that they may counsel together, and attend to the work within their borders. There should be businessmen appointed to do the same in the different states in America.
The men who act as presidents of state conferences should be carefully selected. Then let these men bear the responsibilities of the conference in a most thorough, earnest, God-fearing manner. If they are not qualified to do the work thoroughly and successfully, do not keep them in that position.
A mass of matter is laid before the General Conference; every burden is carried to Battle Creek. This makes the presidents of the state conferences very irresponsible. Many are not growing in aptitude and in judgment. They make mismoves, when they should have advanced experience sufficient to enable them to make right moves, because they seek counsel of God. As presidents of their several conferences, they should realize that they must be faithful in positions of trust. These conferences are to be to them a school, in which they are to reveal managing ability. They are to learn, learn, and educate, educate. They are to do firm, Christlike work, binding it of, so that it shall not ravel out.
He who is selected as the president of the General Conference should, in the fear of God, stand in his lot and place, without partiality, and with unselfish interests. He should be a faithful steward. He should be a priest and wise ruler over his own house. He should make manifest that he understands the work of governing his own family wisely and in the fear of God. If this is neglected, he will carry his defects with him into his work. If any man evidences that the love and fear of God is kept away from the center of his being lest the truth should control his life-practice, while worldly things are made all and in all, he is not the man, even for local elder.
Advice is asked of those in Battle Creek regarding matters which could just as well be settled by men on the ground, if they would seek the Lord, and which ought to have been done within their own borders. The Lord declares he is nigh all that call upon Him with a sincere heart. Said Christ, “Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” [Matthew 7:7.] This promise is made doubly and trebly sure. There is no failure with God. Today men who are presidents of conferences are less efficient and strong and able than they should be, because they place man where God should be, and they receive only that which man can give them.
Presidents of conferences, you will be wise if you will decide to come to God. Believe in Him. He will hear your prayers, and come to your assistance, in much less time than the public conveyances could bring one, two, three, or four men, from a long distance at a great expense, to decide questions which the God of wisdom can decide far better for you. He has promised, “If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.” [James 1:5.] If you will sincerely humble your hearts before Him, empty your soul of self-esteem, put away the natural defects of your character, overcome your love of supremacy, and come to God as a little child, He will bestow on you His Holy Spirit. When two or three shall agree as touching anything, and shall ask the Lord, in the name of Jesus, it shall be done for them.
When it is deemed expedient to invest means in school buildings, in sanitariums, or in homes for the poor in any country, in order to establish the work there, the Lord would have those who are living in that locality walk humbly before him, and show that they realize their personal dependence upon Him, and that they believe in His willingness to help them to plan, to devise, to arrange intelligently for His work. He is as willing to give wisdom to those who feel the value of divine grace as to give wisdom to some other mind, who will then, at great expense, communicate the same to you. Where is your faith? Will men turn from the God of wisdom to seek wisdom from finite men, sending for men from a long distance to come and help you out of perplexity. How does the Lord look upon this?
Each one may entertain the idea that he believes in God. You are working in one part of His great moral vineyard, and He has told you that if any man lack wisdom, He is to ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not. This world is but a little atom in the vast domain over which God presides, and yet this little fallen world is more precious in His sight than the ninety and nine which went not astray from the fold. If we will make Him our trust, He will not leave us to become the sport of Satan’s temptations. God would have every soul for whom Christ has died become a part of the vine, connected with the parent stock, drawing nourishment from it. Our dependence on God is absolute, and should keep us very humble; and because of our dependence on Him, our knowledge of Him should be greatly increased. God would have us put away every species of selfishness, and come to Him, not as the owner of ourselves, but as the Lord’s purchased possession.
Daniel sought the Lord three times a day, in earnest prayer for wisdom and strength and courage to carry forward the enterprise of representing the only true God in wicked Babylon. You will often be perplexed to know what to do next; but do not get pen and paper and write your perplexities to Battle Creek. There may be disagreement upon some points, but your Counsellor is nigh. Bow before Him, and tell Him of everything you need. Can the men in Battle Creek give you light? They cannot understand your necessity. Because they are not on the ground, they may say No to some things, when, had you asked of God, He would have answered, “Go forward, and I will be with you, and give you grace.”
For many years an education has been given to the people which places God second, and man first. The people have been taught that everything must be brought before the council of a few men in Battle Creek. God has given you an opportunity to see the weakness of finite men. Are there not men in the different states of America who walk right in the sight of God. Are there not registered in the books of heaven the names of those who love and serve God. Cannot they plan. Have those in Battle Creek been given superior reason and wisdom that God will not give those in the churches and state conferences? “If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” [Verse 5.] The churches would realize one hundredfold more of the workings of the Holy Spirit if ministers would educate all to bear in mind that they have a God nigh at hand, and not afar off, and that they can honor God by seeking Him for help and wisdom just where they are. Then will they have ability which will strengthen the General Conference.
There is talent in every place, but it is not always recognized. This talent should be discerned and set [to] work. Under the operations of the Spirit of God, talent will grow by being used. But God is greatly dishonored when men are placed in the position where God should be. He alone can give unerring counsel. The men in Battle Creek are only men, finite, erring men. Because they have acted as though they were gods of other men’s consciences, they are not to be looked up to as gods. If they had less confidence in themselves, and more confidence in the great I AM, thereby showing that they were emptied of self and had only [an] eye single to the glory of God, they could represent the grace of Christ as counselors.
Men have been in counsel in Battle Creek who cannot appreciate the situation of matters in the different localities as those can who are right in the ground; and it is not wise for men to seek to men, and place such dependence in a few men at Battle Creek, some of whom have walked apart from God for years. To accept the judgment of these men, and to send for them from a long distance to sit in council, has done great dishonor to God. By this you show that you place men, who are unsanctified in heart, where God should be.
Supposing that some mistakes are made by those in different places. They may be of far less consequence than the errors made by those at the heart of the work. Cannot you go to the great Leader, who is mighty in counsel, and cannot He restore? Cannot He work in your behalf? Will He not do it if you go to Him as little children go to their parents? There is altogether too much lofty self-sufficiency in the human agent. God cannot work with such an element of pride. If it is not laid down, if self is not humbled, God cannot work. Those who send all their perplexities from the different parts of the world to Battle Creek show the wisdom of men, and not the wisdom of God. A few finite men in Battle Creek, who are not always under the molding of the Holy Spirit, are ready to devise and plan, but God does not plan with them. They have not sought God in humility of mind.
August 2, 1896
My attention has been called to the instruction the Lord has been pleased to give in Gospel Workers. I have arisen at three o’clock, a.m., and have read the matter in this little book: p. 232, “Conference Presidents” [p. 413 in 1915 edition]. The same things have been presented to me again and again. Will our brethren take heed to these things? Or will they turn aside from the light? The president of the General Conference should act upon the light given, not walk contrary to this light. If you in Battle Creek close your eyes to the testimonies God has been pleased to give you, and think it wisdom to walk in the fire of the sparks of your own kindling, it will spoil the church. Such men are not qualified to become either ministers or presidents of conferences, for they have not taken counsel from the Source of all wisdom.
He who is placed as a president of [a] conference must learn that the human heart is wayward, and that it needs to be strictly sentineled by watchfulness and prayer. As he seeks the Lord conscientiously and constantly, he is taught of God to grow into a representative man, and can be trusted as God trusted Abraham. He needs the whole armor of God, for he has to fight the good fight of faith, and having done all that the Spirit of God has taught him to do, to stand. His enemies may be those of his own household, his wife and children, or they may be his own hereditary and cultivated tendencies, which continually seek for the mastery. Man is human and defective in character, and must battle for the victory. Everyone who begins aright must begin at his own heart. Let the fervent prayer go forth from unfeigned lips, “Create in me a clean heart, O God,” and it will bring the response, “A new heart will I give thee.” [Psalm 51:10; Ezekiel 36:26.]
Lessons need to be learned by all who shall step into places where they are to be proved and tested by God, to see whether they shall be registered day by day as faithful and true stewards of God’s entrusted talents. Have they shown that they have the fear of God before them, whether they are superiors, inferiors, or equals? They need to cherish the truth as an abiding principle, that it may sanctify the soul. The creating, transforming power of God’s Holy Spirit will make them co-partners with Jesus Christ. Yoked up with Christ, they can be more than conquerors through Him.
The man who is fully sensible that he is in the service of Jesus Christ will aspire for the friendship of God. He will lie low before God, that he may be nothing, and God everything. Such a man is a co-partner with Christ, fitted to preside over a state conference. If he proves himself circumspect, he is prepared for any position, according to his experience and qualifications. Let the churches understand that such a man is to be trusted and sustained. They may go to Him, and talk with Him. Such a man will never feel sufficient to carry the work even of a state conference without the constant grace which God will give. He will not choose to do the work and bear the responsibility alone. Through wise management, he will have the tact to recognize talent in others. He will use those who have this talent, and help them, while they help to share his burdens.
It is a selfish thing for men who feel that they have some service to do for the Master, to wish to be alone in their work, and to refuse to connect with those who would be a help to them, because they fear that they will not obtain all the credit for doing the good work which they flatter themselves they will do. This has greatly hindered the work of God. Let brother lay hold of brother. Link up a Peter and a John. Let each encourage his brother to stand by his side, doing zealous, interested service as partners in the great work. Two or three can pray together, sing the praises of God together, and grow up into the full stature of workers together with God. Perfect harmony must be cherished. All must serve the Lord as little children, feeling that they are branches in the same parent stock.
Let the presidents of state conferences walk humbly with God, and they will not have occasion to write to the president of the General Conference to leave his work to settle little matters for them. Even many large matters may be carried to God, and God will give counsel in every state conference. The Lord can be approached by all. He is much more accessible than the president of the General Conference. Let the president of the General Conference educate the presidents of state conferences to take care of their portion of the moral vineyard where they are situated wisely, without laying their burdens up on him.
Lead these men who have ability and talent to look to God that they may be taught by Him. Teach them to go to the Fountainhead for instruction in righteousness. Search the Scriptures. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” [2 Timothy 3:16, 17.] What then is your excuse for turning for counsel from one who is infinite in wisdom to finite men who are as weak as yourselves? One has suffered for you, the Just for the unjust.
How many petty grievances the men traces upon paper, and pours into the soul of his fellow men. How unwise it is to perpetuate and communicate to others those things you had better have kept to yourself. Never trace a line of discouragement. If you do just as Jesus has told you to do, you will find help. “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” [Matthew 11:28, 29.]
The Lord God has given abundant evidence of His willingness to carry our burdens. As we lift His burdens, He lifts you and the burdens also. He invites all, who labor and are heavy laden, “Come unto me.” You are not told that you just go ’round the world to Battle Creek to tell your troubles and unload your burdens to your fellow men. “Lo, I am with you alway,” Christ says, “even till the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:20.] “I am a God at hand, and not afar off.” [See Jeremiah 23:23.]
Ms 18, 1896
The Danger of Self-Sufficiency in God’s Work.
May 30, 1895 [typed May 6, 1898]
God is continually exercising His love toward the beings formed in His own image. He regarded us of such value that He gave His beloved Son to a shameful death to save us from ruin. No earthly parent ever manifested for his children such tender, disinterested love as He, the holy God, has shown toward the transgressors of His law. He has affectionately studied the happiness of His own heritage, and He delights in the manifestation of harmony and love among His children.
As sons and daughters of God, and members of the royal family, we are to learn of Him daily, that we may do His will and represent His character. The love of God received into the heart is an active power for good. It quickens the faculties of the mind and the powers of the soul; it enlarges the capacity for feeling, for loving. He who loves God supremely will love all the children of God. He will over approach them with a respectful demeanor. And whatever his position of trust, his own considerate courtesy will win for him confidence and respect. If this spirit pervaded our institutions, leading everyone to manifest toward his fellow-workers a love that is without dissimulation, these institutions would be a representation of heaven on earth. They would be a perpetual testimony to the world of what sanctifying truth can do when practiced by the receiver. Every man desires that this love may be exercised toward himself; and God calls upon him to reveal the same spirit toward others.
The Lord will never sanction the exercise of arbitrary authority, nor will He serve with the least selfishness or dishonesty in the dealing of men with their fellow men. Yet these things have been manifest in the management of affairs in connection with the work in Battle Creek. Words cannot express too strongly the offensive character of the disposition to rule or ruin which has for years been revealed, and which has been strengthening by exercise.
As the state of things existing in the Office of publication has been presented before me by the Holy Spirit, I have not withheld the message that God has given me for the men in responsible positions. Again and again I have been moved upon to reprove the selfishness that, as you know, has prevailed in many lines of the work. Men who know little of the working of the Spirit of God upon their own hearts have exalted themselves beyond measure in undertaking to force others to accept their terms and come under their control. There are those who regard no man’s judgment as superior, or even equal to their own. They are narrowing the work by disregarding the suggestions of men of experience, because these ideas do not coincide with their own plans. At the same time, these very ones are not willing for others to exercise their independent judgment. Plans are set on foot for restricting the liberty of the workers. Through these oppressive plans, men who should stand free in God are trammelled by restrictions from those who are only their fellow laborers.
Men in the office at Battle Creek have acted as if they had jurisdiction of other men’s intellect and conscience, and could manipulate them to serve any purpose which they might choose. They have had an opportunity to reveal how much they themselves really have the cause of God at heart. If it can be advanced through their plans for compelling others to sacrifice for it, they are glad to see its prosperity. While grasping all the benefit possible for themselves, they have, both in the matter of royalties and other lines felt it their prerogative to crowd down the very ones whom God was using to diffuse light. Of the work of these persons they have made very little, while they made much of their own, that bore the stamp of the unsanctified human agent. It would have been better for the cause today if these men had never put their hand to the work. They have tried to force their ideas upon those who have the cause much nearer their hearts than some of these who are so forward to dictate.
How does the spirit of self-exaltation and grasping for arbitrary authority compare with the spirit and example of Christ? Our people, who talk of religious liberty, have lessons to learn as to what liberty in Christ really is. The Lord has marked the oppression that has been practiced. To the men that are working in lines that are not in accordance with Bible principles He declares that He will not accept the means gained in this way.
Brother Olson’s eyes have not always been clear to discern; he himself has been misled, and has sanctioned wrong by sustaining men that were not walking in the light. His course has not been pleasing to God, in favoring many of the propositions that have been acted upon since the Minneapolis meeting. Since that meeting, he has not, at all times, borne a straightforward, unflinching testimony for the right. From his compromising position, the men who were trying to carry things according to their own will have thought that he sustained their plans.
Now it is represented to me that financial matters have become embarrassed. The employment of worldly plans and methods by some of our responsible men has entangled their feet in the snares of Satan, and has laid a net in which the Lord’s work is becoming entangled, and from which there will be difficulty in extricating it. Now Brother Olsen shrinks from taking a decided course, for he fears the results.
If the Lord had not sent line upon line, and precept upon precept, the case would be entirely different. But light has been given, and yet many have chosen darkness rather than light. I tell you that which I know: God has been greatly dishonored by the conniving to bring money into the office by robbing brain workers of their rights. Brother Olsen needs to have, as co-laborers, different men to represent the cause of God—men who are surrounded by an entirely different atmosphere.
To those at the heart of the work, who have treated their fellow men as if they had hearts of steel, I testify that upon the record of the books of heaven they stand enrolled as those that are not doers of the words of Christ. Your ingenious devising and your confederating to sustain one another will not avail to give you a more favorable showing before God. You must be brought to see what has been the foundation principles of your management. The selfishness, the oppression and robbery, must cease before God can look with favor upon your work.
And you, my Brother Olsen, are not clear before your God. While you allow yourself to be influenced and molded as you have been, you are virtually saying to those whom God reproves, It is well with you. For years the Lord has been setting their sins before them, yet the reproofs and warnings are unheeded. What does it mean? I am sore troubled in your behalf, because you do not regard the light given. Unless you shall make a decided change in your policy, and no longer permit yourself to be guided by the words of unwise counsellors, the light in you will become darkness, and you will not have a clean record in the books of heaven.
Biblical Institutes.
The holding of so many Biblical institutes among our own people is not wise. The object is good in itself, but there is a more urgent work to be done in carrying the light of truth into regions where it has not penetrated. The laborers held to work for those who already have a knowledge of the truth are kept away from the people who know it not. Souls in spiritual blindness, prejudiced by those who misrepresent the truth, have been left unhelped. O the neglect that will be charged against individuals, organizations, and churches in that day when every man shall be judged according to the deeds done in the body. Then it will be found how great was the measure of responsibility for failing to extend the work to the regions beyond.
The Lord has bidden us look to Jesus for spiritual knowledge, not that we may hide the light under a bushel, but that it may give light to all who are in the house. God has given His Son “for a light of the Gentiles; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.” [Isaiah 42:6, 7.] Please read also Isaiah 43:9-13; 44:3-8.
When institutes and similar meetings are held, let them be held at some other place than Battle Creek. Let them give character to the work and spread the knowledge of the truth in localities where it is not known. This may not be convenient, but, I ask, was it convenient for Christ to leave the royal courts? Was it convenient for Him to leave His honor, His glory, and His high command, and humble Himself to become one with us? Our Saviour came to this world that was all scared and marred with the curse. He did not go to worlds unfallen, but to those who needed Him most. His example we, to whom He has entrusted His work, are to copy. He calls us to feed the hungry sheep and lambs. Christ reached to the very depths of human woe that He might rescue us, but how do His methods of labor compare with those of many who profess to believe on Him?
Building in Battle Creek.
You ask in regard to the propriety of erecting more buildings for our work in Battle Creek. Has not the light been given in regard to this matter? No doubt many urge, “It will be more convenient to have additional buildings.” What if it is? Shall the Lord’s money be used in adding building to building, when there are so many places where there are none? Have you, my brother, read the testimonies on this point, and then put them aside, as others have done, and never looked at them again? In what kind of condition is Battle Creek, that you should seek to bring in more people to be leavened with the influences that prevail there? The cloud of God’s wrath is already gathering over the cities where great light has been shining and has not been appreciated, and where those who profess the truth have misrepresented it in their characters, in their spirit, and in the atmosphere that surrounds their souls.
From the very last letter I sent to Battle Creek, but a few weeks ago, I read the testimony, “The money spent in enlarging the institutions in Battle Creek might far better be devoted to planting the truth in places where it had not yet taken hold.” Money has been entrusted to human agents to be invested, to be put out to the exchanger and increased by use. Again and again the men in positions of truth have had laid before them the necessity that the Lord’s vineyard be more equally worked. Places in the very shadow of Battle Creek are overlooked. The field is the world. Every part of it is the Lord’s, and should receive due attention. No one locality is to swallow up every resource that can be obtained to multiply its facilities, while the larger parts of the field are left destitute. This policy is not inspired of God. The gracious calls of mercy are to be given to all parts of the world.
Read the Word; read and consider; do not be so active that you cannot stop to hear the counsel of God. Our people must have the testimonies, many of which have reached only to Battle Creek, to be there argued away. Those whom the Lord has warned feel that the warning means something else; they explain it to signify exactly the opposite of that which the Lord has said.
With the example of Christ before you, can you plead convenience for the erection of more buildings and the centering of more interests in Battle Creek? Our people have deep, earnest lessons to learn in the experience presented in the words of Christ: “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” [Luke 9:23.] You are not to choose the most convenient task, and, because selfish practices have been followed, continue the same course. Look to Christ, and learn how He dealt with humanity. He loved His neighbor better than He loved Himself. He denied Himself that He might be a perfect example for us.
With unfeigned reliance upon the righteousness and efficiency of our Redeemer, we are to consider that as sons and daughters of God we are no longer our own. In receiving Christ we become dead unto the world. Our high vocation—the very highest that any human being can have in this life—is this, that we are called to be children of God. The whole future life is to be consecrated to the service of God. Sacred obligations rest upon every soul. All the faculties of mind and body are God’s property; and every hour spent in selfish gratification or self-uplifting will bring it’s returns in a harvest which none will care to garner.
Personal Appeal.
God calls upon you who are connected with His instrumentalities to do His work according to His plans, not your own. He calls for an entire consecration of yourselves to Him. If you heed the requirement, it will be a blessing to you in this life and the inheritance of life eternal. There is now a precious period, though short, allotted to you for repentance and improvement.
Brethren A. R. Henry and Harmon Lindsay, God is in earnest with you. Your duty is plain and imperative. Your minds need cultivation, that you may discern heavenly things, and choose them above the common and the earthly. Let not the present opportunity pass unimproved. Unless the warnings that God in His mercy is sending to you are heeded, before a long time shall elapse, you will make shipwreck of faith.
You have sown the seeds of unbelief all along the line. And you have so long refused the evidence of the operation of the Holy Spirit that it is questionable whether you will ever again recognize the light from heaven. It may even appear as darkness to you, until the time shall come when every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess to God.
Instead of regarding it as your imperative duty to cultivate personal piety, with a zeal proportionate to the preciousness of the holy faith you profess, and the responsibility of your position, you have suffered yourselves to drift along, your impulses controlled by unholy imaginations and prejudices, until your course is an offense to God. What wonder that you lead the minds of others into the same channels? What wonder that some, following you, turn away from the rock foundation of eternal truth, to build, as you are building, upon the sand. It is a grievous robbery of God to become so blinded, as you are today, because you have refused heaven’s light, slighted the appeals that God has sent you, and have done your best to prove them inconsistent, and have declared them untrue. Your assertions have not made them untrue, but by your resistance against God, your hearts have become hard and stubborn.
Again I appeal to you: Will you now be zealous and repent? You have shown your zeal in strong words and oppressive measures toward your brethren. Now I beseech you to give evidence of earnest repentance before it shall be forever too late.
Those who, notwithstanding the light given, have yoked up with you as men imbued with the Spirit of God, and actuated by a self-denying interest in His cause, make themselves responsible for the influence you have exerted and will exert contrary to the truth. Guilt will rest upon those who have placed increasing responsibilities upon you, when you have no living connection with God.
A condition of things has been brought about that, unless God in mercy shall interpose, will work disaster to His cause. Inexperienced minds are being troubled at the outlook. For reasons that you can give, God is not moving upon the hearts of His people to supply the treasury. When you shall receive the Holy Spirit’s unction by returning unto the Lord with full purpose of heart, you will see yourselves in a new light altogether. You who are finite, erring, and unsanctified, have supposed that God’s children were put under your jurisdiction, for you to plan for them, and bring them to your terms. The policy you have labored so hard to establish in your connection with the work is an offense to God.
He has never justified any arrangement, through organization, discipline, or laws, whereby men who have evidenced that they are not susceptible to the Holy Spirit’s moving shall use their power to sustain others in a like disregard of the Spirit’s work. But such has been the arrangement that has prevailed. You have made it hard for those whom you do not especially like, while others who are self-serving have been favored and exalted. Partiality and hypocrisy have excluded the Spirit of God from many hearts, and [have] left them as destitute of His grace as the hills of Gilboa were destitute of dew or rain. Let it no longer [be] regarded as your privilege to control God’s heritage.
The Lord Himself will turn and overturn, and set things in order. He has the responsibility of His own work, and He has not entrusted the management of His people to unsanctified human hands.
It is hard for men to learn their real weakness and ignorance and inefficiency. It is hard for the ambitious heart to receive God’s ideas and plans with unquestioning faith and obedience. Some have very high ideas of the importance of their own individuality, and by their headstrong course are saying, We want not God’s way, but our own way.
The time is near when God by His providence will make manifest what principles have been cherished by the men connected with the management of His work. Unless these men are converted, they will be separated from the work. But the appeals and warnings given have had no more effect upon their hearts than the messages of Christ had upon the Pharisees, and I greatly fear in their behalf, lest they shall continue to walk in the same path, manifesting the same exacting and intolerant spirit, as did the ruling Pharisees; I fear that the same judgments will fall upon them because they have rejected the Lord’s reproof, and have set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their eyes.
My brethren, in the name of the Lord I counsel you to seek Him by repentance and confession. Let your sins of omission and commission go beforehand to judgment, that pardon may be written against your names, that you may be accounted worthy to stand before Him when He shall appear.
Ms 21, 1896
Communications to Leading Brethren
“Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, Australia
June 6, 1896
This morning I will state the matters which have been opened to me and urged upon my mind by the Holy Spirit of God. I must speak those things which I have heard. Every provision has been made for the sinful human race. By receiving Jesus Christ, and believing in him, those who were dead in trespasses and sins are brought nigh by the blood of Christ. The love of Christ and its constraining power is what is needed in the heart. This grace, coming through faith in Christ Jesus, makes an end of sin in the human heart. The sinner sees the fountain which has been prepared, at infinite cost, that he may wash his robes of character, and make them white in the blood of the Lamb.
And the Lord Jesus says, “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.” [Revelation 3:4.] O blessed, blessed possibility. “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my father, and before his angels.” [Verse 5.] “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.” [Matthew 10:32.]
“And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in pure linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” [Revelation 19:6-8.] Here are the possibilities open to the servants of God. Those who seek the Lord sincerely will always find Him to be the propitiation for their sins. He has made reconciliation for iniquity. In his epistle to the Hebrews, Paul states, “In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” [Hebrews 2:17.]
“Know ye not, brethren, for I speak to them that know the law, how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he liveth. But if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that he should be married to another, even to him that is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sin, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held, that we should serve him in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.” [Romans 7:1-6.]
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom we also have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us.” [Romans 5:1-5.]
In what sense can it be said that God is reconciled to the sinner? Will He excuse my guilt if I continue to transgress? We may all understand the meaning of this reconciliation. Every obstruction is removed, and through Jesus Christ, access to God is secured. Man is urged and welcomed to the pardoning love of God. By His love for fallen man God is honored and glorified and magnified through Jesus Christ. God can be just, and yet pardon the transgressor. O what love, what matchless love. The justice, holiness, and truth of Christ is vindicated in the law, and therefore there is nothing to hinder God’s mercy descending, abundant, free, and full, in pardon, taking away sin and imputing the righteousness of Christ. Those who accept this pardon form themselves into a glorious channel of co-partnership with Jesus Christ, to communicate the grace of pardoning love to those who are in the darkness of error.
God justly condemns all who will not receive and believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. Christ is standing hungry at the door of our hearts, longing to pardon all who will come unto Him that they may have life. O, what words what precious words are these. He is not merely merciful, but is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Our work is to hear his voice open the door of our hearts, and welcome the heavenly Guest. We then stand before God and the whole heavenly universe as innocent, though undeserving, while Jesus carries our guilt. He takes the load, which it was the lot of the sinner to bear.
What responsive love, what gratitude, what thank offerings should ascend to God, because Christ has died to make reconciliation for our sins, and by His complete obedience bring in everlasting righteousness! Christ has paid all that man owes to God from the beginning of his life. Sin is the transgression of the law, and through Christ man must now render perfect obedience to that law. By His righteousness of active obedience, Christ clothes me with His righteousness, in order that I shall not continue in sin, but perfect a character after the similitude of Christ.
June 7
As you see, I commenced this letter yesterday, but other things have been urged upon me. I am sorry to have to continue to write matters bringing censure from the Lord upon those in responsible positions.
In the night season I was in an important meeting. I was greatly burdened, and I was urged to speak. But I knew not what words I should speak. I said, “I have no strength. My heart aches.” I inquired, Why have you daubed the walls of Zion with untempered mortar? When you felt that something should be done in the case of Brother A. R. Henry and Brother Harmon Lindsay, why did you frame flimsy excuses. As faithful stewards why did you not say plainly, Brethren Henry and Lindsay, the Lord has signified that you are not the men for the place you occupy. For years you have been working counter to the Holy Spirit of God. Both of you have had strong convictions of the truth, such as the Lord gave to the Jewish nation; but you would not see the light. You have resisted evidence until your souls are well-nigh ruined. Your only hope is to gather up the rays of light you have despised and rejected, and in contrition of soul do thorough work for repentance, for nothing short of this will God accept.
But, O, how ashamed should those be who have turned away from the counsel of God, and have tried to cover up the impression God would have made upon these men. Unfaithful stewards, the censure of God is upon you. The Work of God has been receiving a wrong mold. Reproofs have come to you from the Lord, and some have felt deeply over the matter, but in some things they have acted unwisely. While they believed the testimonies, they neglected to move as wise men who have a sense of the value of the souls for whom Christ has died. Others who were given plain testimonies buried them away as far as possible, that others should not know of the reproofs given. When the matter was presented to them, they went on, contrary to the testimonies in almost every point, putting their own construction upon them, saying that they did not mean thus and so, when they meant just as stated, to correct and arrest them in the course they were pursuing. It was to reprove their wrong course of action that the Lord sent the testimonies, but they did not take heed to them.
Others have acted indifferently. They cared for none of the cautions or reproofs. They had a self-sufficient, masterly spirit. This evidenced that the grace of God was not in their hearts. They dictated, and tried to force their opinions and their ideas upon others. They made of no account the words of reproof given to them. By precept and example they were filled with their own doings, and counteracted the work to be done. They would not concede to right; they would not consent to correct wrongs, and to walk in the light. Self, self, self, was their center. No unity was seen, but disorder and dissension was manifested.
The effect of grace on the human heart never leads to exalted ideas, but puts self in the dust, and exalts Jesus. Grace always imparts to the character a modesty, a meekness and lowliness of heart, showing that those who possess it are diligent, earnest workers in the school of Christ. They have a sense of propriety and good taste. The love of Jesus always opens and expands the heart. But there is great need of constant watchfulness. That important personage, self, needs to be vigilantly guarded, that it shall not try to rule God’s heritage, or to compel the conscience of their brethren. This kind of work is offensive to God. Those who have been the most zealous in doing this work, have eyes, but they see not; ears have they, but they hear not, lest they should be converted, and I should heal them, saith the Lord.
I am perplexed to know how to present the truth, as it is, before you, and yet so that those who believe the testimonies will treat them as wise, level-headed men should, so that they will not move impulsively, and make of none effect the influence of the testimonies, which they must receive and act upon. When correction has come, not only have those who have despised the human channel through whom the Lord works, acted wrongly, but the ones who want the testimonies to be acted upon have moved indiscreetly. What can be done to set things in order, so that all shall move with clear, intelligent judgment, under the molding influence of the Spirit.
June 10
In the night season I seemed to be in a room where a few men were assembled. These seemed to be earnestly engaged in business transactions. I was surprised to see Elder Olsen leaning over a desk, casting up accounts. One of commanding appearance gently touched him on the shoulder, and said, What is your business here tonight? Elder Olsen answered, I was figuring up the cost of the publication of certain books. The question was then asked him, Who gave you this work to do? The Lord has not laid this work upon you. The Master has not counselled you to do this. You cannot do this class of work successfully. God has not given you the qualifications necessary for the work of devising and planning in financial matters. He has given to every man his work, according to his known ability. He does not require you to gather any such burdens to your soul. Do you not know that the work of God is being covered up with false sentiments and principles? The people are being led in false paths. Many mistakes are being made. The present state of things is not the working of the providence of God.
You are out of your place. You have not stood in faithful steadfastness. From your first connection with the work, you have not set wrongs right. You have been misled. Your individuality has been, in a large measure, merged in men who have closed their eyes and ears to the voice of Jesus, who is seeking entrance to the door of their hearts, longing to soften and subdue them. You have heard with their ears, and seen with their eyes, and followed their judgment.
The Lord has not given you this financial work to do. It will be a terrible weight upon your soul. You are mingling the common fire with the sacred. Neither has He provided for you as helpers those whom you have chosen as you counsellors and your companions in your journeys from place to place. Through human influence you have been led blindfolded. The specious working of the prince of darkness has not been discerned by you. Satan works through men who withdraw from God, and close the door of their hearts against Jesus. Thus he binds many under his yoke, and they stand under his banner. It is not along men of gross passions through whom he works out his purposes. He secures many souls by attaching them with silken threads to men whom they suppose have ability, but who have taken a decided part with the enemy of Jesus Christ to work against the Lord.
Through your connection with the men whom you have chosen as companions, they have obtained an influence over you which has enabled them to devise, plan, and execute, and you have been bound up with them. You have given your decisions as a captive who was being bound, and who was without power to break the spell upon him. You have had most painful convictions, but you have never viewed matters in regard to the testimonies in a clear, correct light. You have been walking in a path where Christ has not led the way.
Others have been leavened and misled by your position. You professed to believe the testimonies, and yet did not walk in the light which God was pleased to give you. Unless these men who have leavened the work make a desperate effort, their pride and stubbornness of heart will lead them where they will never return to the safe path. When doing the service of God, beware with whom you become linked in friendship. Do not yoke up with men whom you know are not led by Christ. Do not allow your voice, your influence, or your example to mislead. Beware lest you yourself prove to be an agent whom the enemy uses to place upon the work of God a mold that is not God’s inscription, and is not after God’s fashioning.
Much that has been done for several years will have to be counteracted. This means, to some,the undermining of faith and confidence in the work. Woe unto men to whom God hath entrusted talents and acquirements, but who have perverted them to a wrong use. O, may God pity and save His heritage.
Those who abuse God’s entrusted talents with ingratitude, use His gifts as weapons wherewith to oppress His people. They have assaulted the most sacred things and made light of truth and righteousness; and you know it. What more can God do for these men to save them from making complete shipwreck than what He has already done? What means can He devise more than they have had that will make them susceptible to the office work of the Holy Spirit? Woe to men and women who are honored and exalted by being kept in high positions, and who cover the sins of injustice and robbery and oppression with bewildering enchantments, who lead the minds of all that they can, away from sacred restraints.
Woe to those who obliterate the line of demarkation between the world and the cause of God by their profession of faith, which is mingled with injustice and fraud, thus giving such a mold to the sacred cause of God that nothing can now be regarded as sacred. Nothing that has been molded by their counsel and methods and influence is now reliable. Had these men whose words the Lord does not voice, walked in the counsel of the Lord, they would not have walked into delusions when light was flashing all around them. They have deceived the weak understanding of those who know them only by the influence their position gives them.
There are many like-minded who hang upon their words, as if the false, perverted ideas they presented possessed the power of truth and righteousness. O what blindness, what deception! While they speak smooth words, the poison of asps is under their tongue. Under the pretense of superior light and understanding of the inward working of things, they present matters connected with our institutions, and imperceptibly they sow the seeds of suspicion and deception, and scatter the sparks of rebellion against the work of the Lord and the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness; and they boast of their works.
Woe unto those who are betrayers of sacred trusts, betrayers of men. Their part will soon be acted. O that they would break this deception now, even now in this their day, that they might know the things which belong unto their peace. The very ones who have been and are still being deceived, will, unless a thorough reformation is wrought, lift up their hands to God in complaint and mourning, to draw down upon themselves the punishment they have earned.
Be not deceived! God will not be mocked. Mistake not the present omens as a final decision. The decision will be pronounced by Him who never makes a mistake. He weighs actions, and actions testify to character. The wrongdoings of men have their season and time, and unless they repent, He who weighs with other scales than those held in the hands of infatuated, blinded, worldly-wise men, who view transactions from a worldly standpoint, will reward them according to their deeds. Their glory, their usurped authority, their putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity, will bring its sure results. All these things have their limit, their season. All come to an end. “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” [1 Peter 1:24, 25.]
“Behold I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed.” [1 Peter 2:6-8.] Mark the words. God had appointed the Jews, as His purchased possession, to honor and glorify His name by faithful service, by being co-laborers with Jesus Christ. But they did not keep the faith.
So today the showers of God’s blessings, that He has directed earthward to soften and subdue the obdurate heart, have been despised by men connected with His work. Better, far better, would it have been for the work and cause of God if these men had not had any connection or part in it. The light that lighteneth every man that cometh into the world shined in their hearts, but they turned from this light, and cherished opposition and unbelief. Their words, ridiculing the words and appearance of the Holy Spirit of God, have had an influence upon many as the words of wise men. But did those rejecting the Spirit of God know that there was a Watcher beside them, recording in His book their words and the result, marking down all their scoffing and all their ridicule at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit?