Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 2 (1869 - 1875)

Lt 11, 1870

Howard, Brother

Skowhegan, Maine

September 5, 1870

Previously unpublished.

Dear Brother Howard:

I feel burdened and distressed in regard to your case. I know that you do not realize the injury you have done to the cause of God in Maine. Had this occurred merely once, it would not be as discouraging. But from the light God has given me, feelings of jealousy and rebellion have been cherished by you for years. God has sent His chosen servants to help the people, but when they have come you have felt that they had come upon your ground and invaded your rights. You have kept yourself prepared to withstand them, let them pursue whatever course they might. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 1

You have had an inward desire to control matters in the state of Maine yourself. You have been blind to your deficiencies and have not seen the necessity of thorough, efficient labor in Maine. Therefore when the help God has sent has come to Maine, you have felt jealous, suspicious and rebellious. But little could be done until your case was disposed of. As soon as your case was taken hold of, to get you out of the way that their time and labor might not be wholly lost, you have maintained a sullen indifference or a stubborn, resistant position. You have appealed to your own sympathy and there has not been wanting men and women who are not especially enlightened by the Spirit of God to sympathize with you. And when the servants of God have been convinced that their hard labor must be in vain, unless you could come into a different position and they would labor for you, who was blocking up their way? A division of feeling would take place and a part would become disaffected, for they could not see you as God saw you. They could not see you as God had caused His servants to see you,—some because of lack of experience; others who were ever ready to be found on the wrong side, ever found on the side of Satan, would be all prepared to decide Brother Howard is dealt wrongly with. Poor Brother Howard is abused. Brother Howard is pushed. These have never borne the weight and burden of the cause. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 2

The work of God has never been seen in its sacredness and its exalted character been appreciated. Yet such dare to withstand the influence of the servants God has sent to help the people. Such, I saw, did not resist the men, but God. They murmured not against the men, but God, who was working thorough them. In short, these unwise ones array themselves against God, meddling with things that they have no knowledge of, in order to sympathize with and flatter a man whom God is displeased with and sent His servants to reprove, exhort, correct, rebuke with all long suffering and doctrine. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 3

This work has been acted over and you brought around discouragement upon God’s servants and hindered the advancement of the work of God time and again. After Satan has gained his object, suspicion put in minds, doubts and unbelief sowed in hearts, then you have come to the crisis where you must yield up your unreasonable, foolish, wicked prejudice and rebellion or the people of God yield you up. You have not been fully prepared to break away from the truth and from the people of God, and you could but see in part as facts were so plainly before you that your course, censurable and blameworthy, you have acknowledged that you have been wrong sometimes with brokenness of spirit, but the work has never been deep enough wrought to transform the man. It has touched the surface but not changed the principles underlying the actions. Therefore upon a similar occasion he was all prepared to act over the same things when brought under similar circumstances. Satan gained his object, all he designed; he had caused seeds of suspicion, distrust and unbelief to cut off the influence of the testimony borne by the servants of God whom He has especially sent with a work to do for His people. That work is totally defeated in the cases of at least a number and they are placed in a more dangerous condition than before the servants of God came to them, through the events which have been brought about by one or two men standing in resistance and rebellion to God’s work. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 4

Brother Howard goes on with not a hundredth part of the sense of the work he has done. The seed sown springs up and bears fruit and the result of the course passes into eternity. This has been done over and over. Now I am feeling that no more can be hoped for the future than we have hoped in the past. In the last view I saw that Brother Howard has not earned the confidence of the people. When he does, his labors will be appreciated. He could have carried a reputation in this cause and this work. [He] has done more harm to the cause of God by his wrong course, his lack of energy, his envy, his jealousy, and suspicion than all the good he has done in this cause and work. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 5

I was made to see these things. I looked diligently to see how many souls he had brought into the truth as fruits of his labor. I saw that his general influence in a place was such that it told more against the truth than all the efforts he had made would tell in its favor. If he at first made a good impression, the longer he remained, the worse would be the real state of the cause than when he came. When I saw this state of things I felt fearful that Brother Howard would not see himself so as to make the change of his character and course of action to meet the will of God. The confession made Sunday was a wound to God’s cause. Impressions were given, that many carried away, that Brother Howard was pushed, crowded, and this would do just what Satan wanted to be done, destroy all the efforts made in behalf of these persons. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 6

We rejoiced to have Brother Howard come as far as he did, Monday, in confession. But Brother Howard has not yet met the mind of the Spirit of God. He has this work to continue until he redeems the past. He has not exercised that repentance that needeth not to be repented of. He has not yet died to self. He has not yet seen the great sin he has committed against God’s cause and sees not that every time he permits himself to be controlled by Satan, he becomes weaker and has less strength to resist the next attack of Satan. Satan works directly through Brother Howard to serve his purposes and he can do it better through one who professes to be a teacher than through the worst sinner. One man professing to be in the truth and enlightened of God, Satan will use him with tenfold better results to his cause and to injure the work of God than he can a wicked man. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 7

These ministers are paralyzed by Satan. They have played themselves into his hands and Satan has eagerly seized them and used them as his agents to reach a class that he could not otherwise affect. And then, these men seem to feel that they are the sufferers. Achan secreted a golden wedge and a Babylonish garment, and Israel was slain in battle because the frown of God was upon Israel, for this man had departed from the directions which he had given. There is more than one man in Maine whom Satan has used to weaken and depress Israel and destroy souls. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 8

Brother Howard, I fear [that] unless you make an entire change here at this meeting and are a transformed man, you will slide back just where you have been. Brother Howard, your labors have lacked efficiency. You have not built up. If your efforts were successful in [remainder missing.] 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 9

September 5, 1870

Skowhegan

Upon the Camp Meeting Ground

In the evening while Brother Waggoner is preaching, as you made acknowledgments today, we were encouraged. We hoped and prayed that you might continue the work of humiliation and confession until you had made a clean track behind you. But the afternoon meeting has closed and we feel a heavy weight upon our spirits in reference to your case. I know that you have not realized the injury you have done to the cause of present truth in Maine. Had you been found deficient and on the wrong side, merely once, it would not be as discouraging. But your occupying a wrong position has been so many times repeated, your case looks discouraging. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 10

From the light God has given me, feelings of jealousy and rebellion have been cherished by you for years. God has sent His chosen servants to help the people in Maine and strengthen the cause there. But when they have come, you have not been prepared to help them. You have frequently felt that they had come upon your ground and invaded your rights. You have kept yourself in a position to question, to doubt and to draw off, let them pursue whatever course they might. You have had a strong desire to control matters in the State of Maine. Your experience has not been of that character that your influence could advance the cause of [God], that the prosperity of the cause of God will in any special sense be entrusted to your dictation. You have not earned a reputation of being an efficient workman, a burden-bearer in the cause of God. The work of God and the cause of present truth has not prospered in your hands. You are not aroused. You see the cause languishing, but are not agonized. You do not see the work to be accomplished to keep the cause in a healthy condition. You are too ease-loving, too indolent to put your whole being into the work. The cause of present truth for these last days demands men energized by the Spirit and power of God. Satan is working upon the right hand and upon the left to oppose the work of God to deceive, ensnare, and destroy souls for whom Christ has died. And unless God’s servants possess earnest perseverance and untiring energy, Satan will be successful in out-generaling them. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 11

Men of God chosen to be shepherds of the flock must continually feel the responsibility of their mission, the burden of their work. This burden cannot be safely laid off for a moment. Sobriety, solemnity should rest upon men who are a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men. Yet God is not pleased with His laborers being gloomy, desponding and unbelieving, for in thus doing, they are a cloud instead of being a sunbeam diffusing light. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 12

Brother Howard, you have not seen the deficiencies in your character which, unless overcome, disqualify you from building up the cause and producing healthy action in the body of believers. Where your influence has been felt the most, the cause of God has languished and there has been felt the greatest discouragement. You feel at liberty to be guided by your feeling. If you are disinclined to labor, you will not; if you do not feel like speaking and praying, you will not. Those who wait for their shepherd to move forward suffer loss. The brethren have not felt free to move independently of you while you professed to be God’s minister to feed the flock. You do not [feel] the necessity of disciplining L. M. Howard and bringing him up to the work, whether he feels like it or not. You do not move from principle but from impulse. When you do get aroused, you then exercise yourself with some energy, showing that you possess the power to do very much more than you have done. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 13

You have not been willing to be instructed. You have scorned the advice and help of others when it was just what you needed. When God’s servants have come to Maine, you have felt jealous, suspicious and rebellious. Your spirit was enough to dishearten and discourage if you did not say a word, but your words have been such as to create sympathy in others for you, and to cause distrust to exist in their minds in regard to the servants of God. While they have been trying to help you, you have been hurting them and making their labors hard. You have not been grateful and humble. God has been displeased with your course. God’s servants could accomplish but little until your influence was counteracted and got out of the way. As soon as your case was taken hold of, from very necessity to make their labors a success, you have maintained a sullen indifference, a stubborn, resistant position, resisting all their efforts for your good. Your language has been, I won’t be driven. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 14

You would not be helped yourself and hindered others from receiving the help they needed and that God designed that they should have. You have not seen your crime,—your great sin in this and the injury you have done to souls and the work that now has to be put forth by the worn servants of God to counteract your influence. You have said much. It has been here a little and there a little, and Satan stands by your side to make your words of the greatest possible advantage to his own cause. You do not know the effect of your words in your family and in the church. Your blind insinuations frequently reveal more of your dissatisfaction than you are aware of. From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 15

You have appealed to your own sympathies and pitied yourself. Your wife and children have pitied you. Oh, how much more pleasing to God and how much better for your own interest, would it have been for you to [have] humbled your heart before God, repented in the presence of your family of your deficiencies in training them, and confessed your negligence of duty in the church of God. Then with confessions and tears bowed before God with your family in humble acknowledgment of the light given of God in mercy for you, while you had time to correct your deficiencies and right your wrongs, that you need not come up to the judgment unready. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 16

There has not been wanting men and women who are not especially enlightened by the Spirit of God to sympathize with you. Satan rebelled in heaven. He was one of the honored angels there, but he was jealous of the Son of God. He was not alone. He had sympathizers. Many of the heavenly angels were on Satan’s side and united with him in his determined rebellion. He was thrust out of heaven and his sympathizers who had joined him in his rebellion shared his fate. Ever since the fall of Satan, those who have been disaffected and caused the work of God to be hindered and the hearts of His servants to bleed, when reproved they have had sympathizers. Some who are not wise in the things of God are almost always to be found on the wrong side. And these sympathizers will exist until the close of time. The leaven of dissatisfaction and malice will spread so easily that frequently the whole lump is leavened. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 17

The servants of God become discouraged and disheartened as they see their energies crippled, their useful labor nearly, if not quite, destroyed. The record is borne to heaven of that sinner who [had] done the wrong and upon him will rest the consequences of his own wicked course. While angels weep and Satan laughs, the deceived sinner may be feeling that he is the one aggrieved. Satan blinds his eyes to himself that he may lead on to his own ruin and also through him work the ruin of many. When the servants of God have been fully convinced that their hard labor must be in vain unless Brother Howard should come into a different position, and have labored especially for him, that he might not block up their way but clear the King’s highway, a division of feeling would take place and some who professed the truth and were as honest as the angels before they were disaffected by Satan, have been deceived and played themselves into the hands of the enemy by giving their influence to the one who made angels weep, and Satan and his angels rejoice by sympathizing with the ones who in their blindness see the necessity for such close, earnest, personal labor. They had so little sense and burden of the work themselves, they could not see that the cause of God demanded the very work done in order to clear the King’s highway. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 18

They were all burdened and dissatisfied because one man’s pride was hurt, his unsanctified feelings touched; but they had seen the precious cause of truth languishing and burdened, the servants of God discouraged and disheartened in their labor. But this was not of as much consequence in their estimation as the feelings of one unconsecrated man. The precious cause may suffer, but this fails to arouse their zeal to correct the evil. Their sorrow is not for God’s cause, but for the one who has brought all the evil. How inconsistent! These inexperienced ones do not see as God seeth, neither as He has made His servants to see and feel. God has laid on His servants burdens which they cannot be excused from bearing. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 19

Brother Howard, you have been doing a work that God does not approve; yet take whatever course you will, there are some who are ever ready to be found on the wrong side, ever are drawn to Satan’s side in a case of emergency, when the weight of every one should be on the side of right, on the side of God irrespective of the feelings of any one. These unwise ones will begin to pity and sympathize with Brother Howard and they will decide that he has been dealt hard with and has been hurt. Had these souls a true sense of the exalted character of the work and felt its sacredness, how different would be their views and their actions. They would not dare to withstand the influence of the servants God has sent to help the people. Such do not resist the men, but God. They murmured not against the men but against the Lord who had sent them and who was working through them. They are fighting not against the men but God. They are meddling with things too high for them to understand or appreciate, unless they are themselves cleansed and sanctified. They have not a correct knowledge of what they are warring against or what work they are doing in their sympathy with those whom God is displeased with, and sent by His servants a special reproof to correct their errors. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 20

Brother Howard, it was sufficient for you to be found once overcome by the adversary of souls in separating your interest and sympathy from the servants of God. And could you have felt the sin, the wrong of the course you had pursued, you would have been so guarded that Satan could not so easily use you as his agent to accomplish his design a second time. But you have felt before as you now feel, that too much has been expected of you and your wrongs have been magnified which have caused you to be discouraged and hindered you from accomplishing what you might in the cause of God. This is all false reasoning. You weaken your own hands. Your course brings the frown of God upon you and makes you weak, without courage or energy. If you would make thorough work, turn your eyes to yourself and be willing and anxious to see your defects, you would repent and reform. If you would consider what you might be and the work you have the ability to do, if you had the disposition; and then in the fear of God in His strength lay hold resolutely of the work, you would have rejoicing in yourself. Your courage would be good. You have no one to blame but L. M. Howard for your present, discouraged condition. You have neglected to take the burdens you might. You do not have confidence and faith in God. You move by impulse. You have followed feeling. You would preach when you felt to, and pray when you felt to, and when you chose you let both praying and preaching alone. You felt no special responsibility or burden of the cause of God, yet you claim to have been for years a representative of Jesus Christ. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 21

You have furthered the interest of Satan and strengthen the hand of the wicked by your course. You have brought discouragement upon God’s servants and also upon His people. You have hindered the advancement of the work of God, time and again. After Satan has gained his object and through you suspicion, distrust, jealousy and unbelief has been sown and taken root and there is appearance of a bountiful harvest, then comes the crisis where positions must be taken distinctly somewhere on the side of the servants of God and against you, or in favor of you and against them. Then you are obliged to yield up your unreasonable, wicked prejudice or rebel against the work of God. You have not dared to venture to fully break away from the truth and from God’s people. Facts were before you that unless you were willfully blind, you could see your course was censurable and blameworthy and you have made some concessions. You have had brokenness of spirit but the work has never been deep. 2LtMs, Lt 11, 1870, par. 22