Testimony for the Church — No. 15

Epistle Number One

Dear Bro.:—I have been designing to write you for some time, but our labors have been so constant and wearing, that I have had no time nor strength to do so. Your case was shown me in the last vision given me. You were in a critical condition. You knew the truth, you understood your duty, and in the light of the truth you had rejoiced; but because it interfered with your worldly pursuits, you were about to sacrifice truth and duty to your own convenience. You were looking at your own present, pecuniary advantages, and losing sight of the eternal weight of glory. You were about to make an immense sacrifice for the flattering prospect of present gain. You were just upon the point of selling your birthright for a mess of pottage. Had you turned from the truth for earthly gain, it would not have been a sin of ignorance on your part, but willful transgression. T15 27.1

Esau, because he lusted for a favorite dish, sacrificed his birthright to gratify appetite. After his lustful appetite was gratified, then he saw his folly, but found no space for repentance although he sought it carefully, and with tears. T15 27.2

There are very many who are like Esau. He represents a class who have a special, valuable blessing, within their reach,—the immortal inheritance; life that is as enduring as the life of God, the Creator of the universe; happiness immeasurable, and an eternal weight of glory. Yet there are very many who have indulged their appetites, passions and inclinations, so long that their powers to discern and appreciate the value of eternal things are weakened. Esau had a special, strong desire for a particular article of food, and he had gratified self so long, he did not feel the necessity of turning from the tempted, coveted dish. T15 27.3

He thought upon it and made no special effort to restrain his appetite, until the power of appetite bore down every other consideration, and controlled him, and he imagined he would suffer great inconvenience, and even death, if he could not have that particular dish. The more he thought upon it the more his desire strengthened, until his birthright, which was sacred, lost its value and its sacredness. He thought, Well, if I now sell it, I can easily buy it back again. He flattered himself that he could dispose of it at will, and buy it back at pleasure. He bartered it away for a favorite dish. When he sought to purchase it back, even at a great sacrifice on his part, he was not able to do so. He then bitterly repented his rashness, his folly, his madness. He looked the matter over on every side. He sought for repentance carefully and with tears. It was all in vain. He had despised the blessing, and the Lord removed it from him forever. You have thought if you should sacrifice the truth now and go on in a course of open transgression and disobedience, that you would not break over all restraint and become reckless, that if you should become disappointed in your hopes and expectations of worldly gain, you could again interest yourself in the truth and become a candidate for everlasting life. But you deceived yourself in this matter. Had you sacrificed the truth for worldly gain, it would have been at the expense of life everlasting. Under the parable of a great supper, our Saviour shows that many will choose the world above himself, and will as the result lose Heaven. The gracious invitation of our Saviour was slighted. He had been to the trouble and expense to make a great preparation at an immense sacrifice. Then sent his invitation. But they with one consent began to make excuses. “I have bought a piece of ground and must needs go and see it, I pray thee have me excused; and another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them; I pray thee have me excused; another said I have married me a wife, therefore I cannot come.” The Lord then turns from the wealthy and the world-loving, whose lands and oxen and wives were of so great value in their estimation as to outweigh the advantages they would gain by accepting the gracious invitation he had given them to eat of his supper. The master of the house was angry and turned from those who had thus insulted his bounty offered them, and turns to a class who are not full, who are poor, who are hungry, who are not in possession of lands, and houses, they are maimed and lame, halt and blind, and they will appreciate the bounties provided, and in return will render the master sincere gratitude, unfeigned love and devotion, and yet there is room. The command is to go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. “For I say unto you that none of these men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.” Here is a class rejected of God because they despised the invitation of the Master. The Lord declared to Eli, They that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Says Christ, “If any man serve me let him follow me, and where I am there shall also my servant be; if any man serve me him will my Father honor.” God will not be trifled with. Those who have the light and reject it, or neglect to follow it out, to them it will become darkness. An immense sacrifice was made on the part of God's dear Son, that he might have power to rescue fallen man and exalt him to his own right hand, make him an heir of the world, and a possessor of the eternal weight of glory. Language will fail of estimating the value of the immortal inheritance. T15 27.4

The glory, riches, and honor, offered by the Son of God, is of such infinite value that it is beyond the power of men or even angels to give any just idea of its worth, its excellence, its magnificence. If men, plunged in sin and degradation, refuse these heavenly benefits, refuse a life of obedience, trample upon the gracious invitations of mercy, and choose the paltry things of earth because they are seen, and it is convenient for their present enjoyment to pursue a course of sin, Jesus will carry out the figure in the parable; such shall not taste of his glory; but the invitation will be extended to another class. Those who choose to make excuses, continue in sin and conformity to the world, will be left to their idols. There will be a day when they will not beg to be excused, not one will wish to be excused. When Christ shall come in his glory and with the glory of his Father, and all the heavenly angels surrounding him, escorting him on his way, with voices of triumph, while strains of the most enchanting music fall upon the ear, all then will be interested; not one indifferent spectator. T15 29.1

Speculations will not then engross the soul. The miser's piles of gold, which are before him, which have feasted his eyes, are no more attractive. The palaces which proud men of earth have erected, and which have been their idols, are turned from with loathing and disgust. No one pleads his lands, his oxen, his wife that he has just married, as reasons why they should be excused from sharing the glory that bursts upon their astonished vision. All want a share, but know that it is not for them. T15 30.1

They call in earnest, agonizing prayer for God to pass them not by. The kings, the mighty men, the lofty, the proud, the mean man, alike bow together under a pressure of woe, desolation, misery; inexpressible, heart-anguished prayers, wrung from the lips, Mercy! mercy! Save us from the wrath of an offended God! A voice answers them with terrible distinctness, sternness^* and majesty, “Because I have called, and ye have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and ye have not regarded; but ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh.” T15 30.2

Then kings and nobles, the mighty man, and the poor man, and the mean man, alike, cried there most bitterly. They who in the days of their prosperity despised Christ and the humble ones who followed in his footsteps, men who would not humble their dignity to bow to Jesus Christ, who hated his despised cross, now are prostrate in the mire of the earth. Their greatness has all at once left them, and they do not hesitate to bow to the earth at the feet of the saints. They then realize with terrible bitterness that they are eating the fruit of their own way, and being filled with their own devices. In their supposed wisdom they turned away from the high, eternal reward, rejected the heavenly inducement, for earthly gain. The glitter and tinsel of earth fascinated them, and in their supposed wisdom they became fools. They exulted in their worldly prosperity as though their worldly advantages were so great, they could, through them, be recommended to God, and thus secure Heaven. T15 30.3

Money was power among the foolish of earth, and money was their God; but their very prosperity has destroyed them. They became fools in the eyes of God and his heavenly angels, while men of worldly ambition thought them wise. Now their supposed wisdom is all foolishness, and their prosperity their destruction. Again rings forth in shrieks of fearful, heart-rending anguish, “Rocks and mountains, fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand.” To the caves of the earth they flee as a covert, but they fail to be such then. T15 31.1

Dear brother, life or death is before you. Do you know why your steps have faltered? Why you did not persevere with courage and firmness? You have a violated conscience. Your business career has not been straightforward. You have something to do here. Your father did not regard these things in the correct light. You regard them as do worldlings in general, but not as God regards them. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Hast thou done this? Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. If this commandment is obeyed, it prepares the heart to obey the second, which is like unto it—love thy neighbor as thyself. All the ten commandments are embodied in these two specified. The first takes in the first four commandments, which show the duty of man to his Creator. The second takes in the last six, which show the duty of man to his fellow man. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. They are two great arms sustaining all ten of the commandments, the first four and the last six. These must be strictly obeyed. T15 31.2

“If ye would enter into life keep the commandments.” Very many who profess to be Christ's disciples will apparently pass along smoothly in this world, and men will regard them as upright, godly men, when they have a plague spot at the core, which taints their whole character and corrupts their religious experience. T15 31.3

“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” This forbids the taking advantage of our fellow-men in order to advantage ourselves. We are forbidden to wrong our neighbor in anything. We should not view the matter from the worldling's stand-point. To deal with our fellow-men in every instance, just as we should wish them to deal with us, is a rule we should apply to ourselves practically. God's laws are to be obeyed to the letter. In all our intercourse and deal with our fellow-men, whether believers, or unbelievers, this rule is to be applied: Love thy neighbor as thyself. T15 32.1

Here many who profess to be Christians will not bear the measurement of God; when weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, will be found wanting. Dear brother, “Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean, and I will receive you, and be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” What a promise is this. But we are not to lose sight of the fact that it is a promise based upon obedience to the command. God calls you to separate from the world. You are not to imitate or follow their practices, nor be conformed to the world in your course of action in any respect. But be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. T15 32.2

God calls for separation from the world. Will you obey? Will you come out from among them, and remain separate and distinct from them? For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? You cannot mingle with worldlings, and partake of their spirit, and follow their example, and be at the same time a child of God. The Creator of the universe addresses you as an affectionate Father. If you separate from the world in your affections, and are not sullied with its corruption, remain free from its contaminations, escape the pollution that is in the world through lust, God will be your Father, he will adopt you into his family, and you shall be his heir. In place of the world, he will give you, for a life of obedience, the kingdom under the whole heavens. He will give you an eternal weight of glory. Immortal life that is as enduring as eternity. T15 32.3

Your Heavenly Father proposes to make you a member of the royal family, that through his exceeding great and precious promises, you might be a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. The more you partake of the character of the pure, sinless angels, and of your redeemer, Jesus Christ, the more vividly will you bear the impress of the divine, and the more faint will be the resemblance of the world. The world and Christ will be at variance, because the world will not be in union with Christ. The world will also be at variance with Christ's followers. In the prayer of Christ to his Father, he addresses him thus: “I have given them thy word, and the world hateth them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” T15 33.1

Your calling is a high, an elevated one to glorify God in your body and spirit which are God's. You are not to measure yourself by others. The word of God has presented you an unerring pattern, a faultless example. T15 33.2

You have dreaded the cross. It was an inconvenient instrument to lift, and because it was covered with reproach and shame, you have shunned it. T15 33.3

The health reform you need to carry out in your life; to deny yourself, and eat and drink to the glory of God. Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. You need to practice temperance in all things. Here is a cross you have shunned. T15 33.4

To confine yourself to a simple diet, which will preserve you in the best condition of health, is to you a task. Had you acted up to the light Heaven has permitted to shine upon your pathway, much suffering might have been saved your family. God will not come into your family, and especially bless you, and work a miracle to save your family from suffering, when your own course of action has brought the sure result. A plain diet, free from all spice, and the disuse of flesh-meats, and grease of all kinds, would prove to you a blessing, and save your wife a great amount of suffering, despondency, and grief. T15 33.5

Again, you have not pursued a course which would assure to you the blessing of God. If you would have his blessing attend you, and his presence to abide in your family, you must obey him, and do his will irrespective of losses or gains, or your own pleasure. You are not to consult your desires, nor the approbation of worldlings, who know not God, and seek not to glorify him. If you walk contrary unto God, he will walk contrary unto you. If you have other gods before the Lord, your heart will be turned away from serving the only true and living God, who requires the whole heart, the undivided affections. All the heart, all the soul, all the mind, and all the strength, does God require. He will accept of nothing short of this. No separation is allowed here. No half-hearted work will be accepted. T15 34.1

In order to render to God perfect service, you want clear conceptions of his requirements. You should indulge in the use of the most simple food, prepared in the most simple manner, that the fine nerves of the brain be not weakened, benumbed nor paralyzed, making it impossible for you to discern sacred things, and to value the atonement, and the cleansing blood of Christ as of priceless worth. “Know ye not that they which run in a race, run all; but one receiveth the prize? So run that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly: so fight I, not as one that beateth the air. But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that I by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” T15 34.2

If men, for no higher object than a wreath or perishable crown, as a reward of their ambition, subjected themselves to temperance in all things, how much more should those who profess to be seeking, not only an unfading crown of immortal glory, but a life which is to endure as long as the throne of Jehovah, and riches that are eternal, honors which are imperishable, and an eternal weight of glory. Will not the inducements presented before those who are running in the Christian race, lead them to practice self-denial, and temperance in all things, that they may keep their animal propensities in subjection, keep under the body, control the lustful passions and appetite? Then can they be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. T15 34.3

If the exceeding precious and glorious reward promised, will not lead us to welcome greater privations, and endure greater self-denial than worldly men who are seeking merely a bauble of earth, a perishable laurel which brings honors from a few of the worldly, and hate from more, we are unworthy of everlasting life. Our zeal, perseverance, courage, energy, self-denial and sacrifice, should excel in earnestness and intensity, those who are engaged in any other enterprise, to that degree that the object we are seeking to attain is of higher value. The treasure we are after is imperishable, eternal, immortal, all over glorious; while that which the worldling is in pursuit of is fading, endures but a day, is perishable, fleeting as the morning cloud. T15 35.1

The cross, the cross, lift it, Brother ——, and in the act of raising it you will be astonished to find the cross raises you. It lifts you, it supports you, and in adversity, privation and sorrow it will be a strength, and a staff to you. You will find it all hung with mercy, compassion, sympathy and inexpressible love. It will prove to you a pledge of immortality. May you be able to say with Paul, “God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.” T15 35.2

The Spirit of the Lord has been striving with your wife for some time. If you would yield all to God, she would have strength to take her position to seek to live out the truth. If you choose to turn from the truth you will not go down alone; you will not only lose your own soul, but will be the means of turning others out of the way, and the blood of souls will be in your garments. Had you maintained your integrity, your mother, your brother ——, and one who now hovers over the brink of the grave, might have been enjoying the consolation of the Spirit of God, and now had a good experience in the truth. Ever bear in mind, my dear brother, we are accountable for the influence we exert. Our influence gathers with Christ or scatters abroad. We are either helping souls in the narrow path of holiness, or we are hindering them; a stumbling-block to them, turning them out of the way. You, my much-esteemed brother, have no time to lose. Be in earnest to redeem the time, because the days are evil. Your associates, those whose company you have chosen, have been a hindrance to you. Come out from among them, and be separate. Draw nigh to God, and come in closer union with his people. Let your interest and your affections center in Christ and his followers. Love those best who love Christ most. Sever the links which have bound you to those who love not God and the truth. What communion hath light with darkness; or what part hath he that believeth, with an infidel. T15 35.3

You are in imminent danger of making shipwreck of faith. You need all the strength you can obtain from the people of God, those who possess hope, courage, and faith. But do not neglect prayer, secret prayer. Be instant in prayer, encourage a spirit of true devotion. In your business career you have a work to do. Just what, I am unable to tell you; but something is wrong. Search carefully. We are doing up work for eternity. All our acts, all our words, are to be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary. A just and impartial God is to determine all our cases, every event of our life history. He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much. And he that is unjust in the least, is unjust also in much. T15 36.1

Let nothing obstruct your progress in the way to everlasting life. Your eternal interest is at stake. There must be a thorough work wrought in you. You must be fully converted or you will fail of Heaven. But, Jesus invites you to make him your strength, your support. He will be to you a present help in every time of need. He will be to you as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. Let it not be your great anxiety to succeed in this world. Let the burden of your soul be, How shall I secure the better world. What have I to do to be saved. In saving your own soul, you save others. In lifting yourself you lift others. In fastening your grasp upon the truth, and upon the throne of God, you aid others to fix their trembling faith upon the promises of God, and his eternal throne. The position you must come into, is to value salvation dearer than earthly gain, to count everything but loss that you may win Christ. The consecration on your part must be entire. God will admit of no reserve, of no divided sacrifice, no idol can you cherish. You must die to self, die to the world. Renew your consecration to God daily. Everlasting life is worth a lifelong, persevering, untiring effort. T15 36.2

I was shown in regard to your brother ——, that he had been convinced upon the truth for some time, but influences had held him back. His wife had hindered him from obeying his convictions. But in her affliction she sought the Lord and he was found of her. Then her anxiety was for her husband, that he should embrace the truth, for she repented that she had opposed her husband, that her pride and love of the world had so long kept him from receiving the truth. Like a tired, wearied child, in search of rest, but unable to obtain it, she at length complies with the gracious invitation, “Come unto me, ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Her weary, burdened soul, seeks her Lord, and with repentance, humiliation and earnest prayer, she cast her burden upon the great burden-bearer, and in him realizes rest; received the evidence that her humiliation and earnest repentance were accepted of God, and that for Christ's sake he had forgiven her sins. T15 37.1

I was shown, ——, that you had but a short time to work. Do up your work thoroughly, redeem the time. Let not a blot tarnish your Christian character in your business transactions. Keep your garments unspotted from the world. Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. Temptations may be all around you, but you are not compelled to enter into them. You may obtain strength from Christ to stand unsullied amid the pollutions of this corrupt age. “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Keep the eye steadily fixed upon Christ, upon the divine image. Imitate his spotless life, and with him, you will be partaker of his glory and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. T15 37.2

E. G. W.

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