Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 8 (1893)

Lt 41, 1893

Corkham, D. A.

Bank’s Terrace, Wellington, New Zealand

May 16, 1893

Portions of this letter are published in UL 150; 2MCP 456, 480.

D. A. Corkham
Hantsport, Hants Co., Nova Scotia

Dear Brother,

I have read your letter with much interest, and will try to help you. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,” as our heavenly Father is perfect in His sphere. [Matthew 5:48.] So also those for whom Christ has given His own life that they may not hopelessly perish. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” [John 3:16.] In this expressed love we are to believe for our individual selves, and live that belief, not in your own strength but trusting in the efficiency and righteousness of Christ. “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.” 1 John 4:9. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 1

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” 2 Timothy 1:9, 10. The Lord wills not that any soul should perish. His mercies are without number, and He will not leave His purchased possession that He has given His own life to ransom to become the sport of Satan’s temptations. All heaven is given to all those who believe in Jesus Christ as their present personal Saviour. And no soul can dishonor God more than claiming to believe the truth and yet wearing the garments of mourning as though [he were an] orphan. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 2

“For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” Matthew 18:11-14. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 3

The Lord does not leave His wounded and bruised sheep to the power of Satan to be torn in pieces. He is ever strengthening His own when they are weak. He delivers the tried and tempted ones from the enemy’s power. The Lord Jesus never forsakes any soul that puts his trust in Him. And those who claim to be sons and daughters of God must trust in Jesus always. To do otherwise is to disown that He loves us, and by going [about] depressed, covering ourselves with garments of heaviness and mourning, we make a very bad representation of Christ. We virtually say [that] our Lord is a hard, tyrannical Master. This is lying against the precious Saviour who gave His own life that He might make it possible for all to believe in Him [and] confide in His interest and love for sinful man. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 4

“He shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.” Psalm 72:12. “I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.” Isaiah 27:3. You do great injustice to my Saviour when you walk as though in the shadow of darkness. You are never to walk in the fire and sparks of your own kindling, subject to feelings and emotions. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 5

Jesus said, “He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” [John 8:12.] Now if you are following another leader than Christ, who is Light and Truth and Life, leave that leader and follow Jesus, the Light of the world. Is the Lord pleased to have you tossed about as the restless waves of the sea? No! No! I tell you He bids you be strengthened, stablished, rooted and grounded and built up in the most holy faith. Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price which cannot be estimated. Then your owner is God, the mighty God, and for the price paid look to the cross of Calvary. This fluctuating between hope and fear grieves the heart of Christ, who hath given you unmistakable evidence of His love and hath chosen you. “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, He may give it you.” [John 15:16.] 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 6

I am so sorry that you have been so earthly and sensual. I am pained at the heart that any one who has had the evidence of sins forgiven should lose sight of Jesus and separate from His companionship, and keep company with the prince of darkness and have communications with him and entertain his suggestions, and act out his plans. There is not the semblance of an excuse for you in doing thus, and showing dishonor to your best Friend. He promised that He would never leave nor forsake you, that He would be with you always even unto the end. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 7

That you should take up with the companionship of Satan, the apostate and traitor, and do after his works, after you had the knowledge of Jesus Christ, is a mystery to the universe of heaven. It makes your sin none the less because many others have done as you have done. Your only safety is in confessing your sins to Jesus Christ your Intercessor in your behalf. Take not your weight of woe to human beings. You have one Mediator, Jesus Christ the Righteous. In contrition of soul go to Him and tell Him all your sins. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness ... My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous ... that ye sin not.” [1 John 1:9; 2:1.] 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 8

Here is where you bring yourself into condemnation, that you continue to sin. In the strength of Christ cease to sin. Every provision has been made that grace should abide with you, that sin shall ever appear the hateful thing that it is, sin. “And if any man sin,” he is not to give himself up in despair and talk like a man who is lost to Christ. “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” [Verses 1, 2.] 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 9

When the enemy tempts, the very first inclination to move one particle from the strictest integrity gives Satan the advantage, and the barriers are broken down. Then comes one temptation after another to go directly contrary to the plainest directions of the Word of God and follow the mind and will of Satan. For Satan, with his confederacy of evil, is ever watching his opportunity to ensnare and ruin the souls of those who have enlisted under the banner of Jesus Christ. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 10

You did run well for a season. You did taste and see that the Lord is good. You state, “I came under temptation, I began to find fault with my brethren.” When you yielded to that temptation you of course could not be “looking unto Jesus” [Hebrews 12:2]; you could not be a doer of His Word, and while criticizing your brethren you could not be answering the prayer of Christ in being one with your brethren. This prayer was offered to His Father, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.” [John 17:20.] 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 11

The work of every true disciple of Christ is in their words and spirit and action to win souls to Jesus Christ. The Lord has not placed any man on the judgment seat to find fault and condemn his brethren. The prayer of Christ was to be a standing signal warning against all this kind of work, because the influence of all such work will scatter away from Jesus Christ, and poison the souls of all who are exercised thereby. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 12

Listen to the prayer of Christ just prior to His crucifixion: “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory (character) which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” [Verses 21-23.] 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 13

That is a statement that it would be well if every human mind could be enlarged so as to receive it as it reads. The possibility of the Lord loving those who believe in Jesus Christ as He loves His Son is to be demonstrated to the world by their unity with Christ, expressing His character and cherishing that unity and love for one another which bears the credentials to the world that God has sent His Son into the world to link human heart to human heart in the strongest bonds of unity and Christian brotherhood. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 14

When we see the prayer of Christ so lightly regarded, and so little effort made to cultivate oneness with brethren, then we know that a spell of the enemy is upon such, is upon that human agent. In whatever calling or position he holds, he is finding fault and representing to the world variance, discord, and dissension. Is Christ divided? No! 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 15

If a brother errs, then the path that his brother is to travel is plainly marked out, so no one need to make a mistake and stumble. “If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church.” [Matthew 18:15-17.] Then it is time enough to tell it unto the church. Do not publish your differences unto the world, for Satan and his confederacy of evil will make the most of this dissension to use against the saving power of the grace of Jesus Christ. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 16

There must be no divisions among you. In unity is strength. How greatly Christ is misrepresented, by those who claim to believe in Jesus, by their disregard for the words of Christ spoken to them just prior to His crucifixion, is an amazement to the heavenly angels who are commissioned to minister unto those who shall be heirs of salvation, to bind heart to heart by the golden chain which binds Christ to God. And all be bound up, brother with brother with Christ in God. “Bind up the testimony, and seal the law among my disciples.” [Isaiah 8:16.] 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 17

Our individual work is to surrender ourselves to God. To be purified, refined, ennobled, and sanctified through the truth. We need to cultivate and strengthen that faith that works by love, and purifies the soul. The religion of Jesus Christ is so plainly delineated that no one need make any mistake. “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you.” [John 13:34.] Can the human mind take it in and comprehend it? It is impossible, unless the human agent is a partaker of the divine agent and has continually a living sense of the great sacrifice made for him, that he through faith in Christ might not perish but have everlasting life. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 18

“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” [Verse 35.] Here it is our privilege to bear the credentials to the world that the Saviour in whom we believe is the only begotten Son of God, because all who stand under His banner present to the world a united front. What can be the grief of Christ and the heavenly angels to see those who are called by His name doing the very opposite of that which Christ has told them they must do and prayed to His Father in heaven that they should do. “This is my commandment that ye love one another, as I have loved you.” [John 15:12.] These words in (John 13) are enforced in John 15:14. And with greater force are repeated in (vs. 17): “These things I command you that ye love one another.” 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 19

We must live the requirements of God in Christ Jesus. We should be in earnest. While we shall discern things that are evil, even in those who profess to love God, you are to do the very work the Lord has left you to do, to deal faithfully and in a Christlike manner with the erring. Flatter no one because you think you can assimilate with them, for this close linking together with one or two to the exclusion of others is called partiality and hypocrisy. For frequently the faults in them are left unreproved and excused while some others who follow the Lord more closely may be neglected and passed by, and some who are in great need of tender words of sympathy and encouragement are left outside the ring. This is not a wise and sanctified union, and the human agent needs the enlightenment of the divine Spirit. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 20

There never was a time when the world needed a more plain and decided testimony borne against moral wrong than today. Deal with these errors and wrongs faithfully. Labor to restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be tempted. Study the Word of God critically, prayerfully, and you will have divine enlightenment. All that God requires of you is to live the knowledge you have received, but do not cultivate criticism. The living upon others’ defects in character is fatal to spirituality. Do not set yourself up as a judge of others. Look unto Jesus, talk of Jesus. Dwell upon the great plan of redemption, and keep your mind guarded lest you think evil and speak evil of others, and pronounce your judgment upon their ways and works. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 21

Let all practice the prayer of Christ, seeking by every means in their power for unity and harmony. Unbelief has taken possession of the human mind and darkened the soul temple with the hellish shadow of Satan. If you allow the mind’s eye to continue to behold this shadow, your faith will be swallowed up in it. This is Satan’s purpose: to cut off every ray of light that shall come to you from the Light of the world, to encourage and strengthen the human soul. But it is by beholding Christ, and being charmed with His beautiful character, we become changed into His divine image. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 22

It is not wisdom for you to look at yourself, and study your emotions, for in thus doing you are separating yourself farther and farther from God. Look away from yourself to Jesus. You may acknowledge that you are a sinner, while at the same time it is your privilege to recognize Christ as your Saviour. He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 23

Difficulties and suggestions will be presented by Satan to the human mind, that he may weaken faith and destroy courage. He has manifold temptations that can come trooping into the mind, one succeeding another; but to closely study your emotions and give way to your feelings is to entertain the evil guest of doubt, and by so doing you entangle yourself in perplexities of despair. You may inquire, What shall I do under these terrible suggestions? Expel them from the mind by looking at and contemplating the matchless depths of a Saviour’s love. Do not exalt your feelings and tell of them and worship them whether good, bad, sad, or encouraging. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 24

“We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place; until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.” [2 Peter 1:19.] The Word of God is your assurance. “As many as received Him to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” [John 1:12.] The soul’s supply for nutrition is in Jesus Christ. A legal religion will be always a very troublesome guest. A natural religious life is a deception. A Christlike religious life is full of self-distrust, but grasps the hand of Christ firmly and still more firmly as temptations press their hellish shadow upon the soul. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 25

There is a warfare for every soul. It is to fight inch by inch the good fight of faith by the weapons of the Word of God, “It is written.” Keep the storehouse of the mind well supplied with “It is written.” Thus meet every advance of the enemy, and you are in this educating and training the soul for more stern tactics of the enemy. Truth, the Word of God, Faith in His Word is to be your armor and furnish you with weapons of warfare, and you will be supplied with a sensitiveness and keen perception that you will not be ignorant of Satan’s devices. “But having done all to stand.” “Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might.” “Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil.” [Ephesians 6:13, 10, 11.] 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 26

If the provision has not been made for you that you may be thoroughly equipped, then these words only tantalize you. But our God is true. We may depend upon Him under every and all circumstances. The word of God is to be studied and it is to be our assurance. It is the weapon of our warfare in wholly and completely overcoming every temptation of the enemy. Satan presents every worldly attraction, every lying, deceiving bribe that he shall eclipse and intercept your view of Jesus Christ and His plainest requirements. Ephesians 6:12-18. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 27

When the enemy begins to draw the mind from Jesus, and His mercy, and His love and His all-sufficiency, then do not devote any time to consider your feelings. Flee to the Word. Here is placed before the eye of the mind Him who made the world, He who is the Light of the world. In the searching of the Scriptures with a determination to find the hidden treasures therein, the mind’s eye finds the heavenly. The all-absorbing theme is Christ, and this is revealed [as] the object of His instructions, to impress upon the human mind the nature and necessity of the moral excellence which God and heaven require, that we may feel the need of the Christlike character and study Christ and the conditions of redemption, His divinity, His atonement, the provision made in the Comforter—the Holy Ghost. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 28

Christ is found to be all and in all. The sayings of Christ possess a value [in] which, if every student of the Scriptures were sensitive to discern, they would see a signification and value far beyond that which they now receive or understand from a casual reading. Their unpretending appearance is to be a prayerful, humble, teachable spirit brought to the searching of both Old and New Testament Scriptures, the sayings of Christ in the Old Testament as verily as in the New. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 29

The sayings of Christ are to be impressed upon the human mind and inscribed upon the soul, not merely in the sense in which His hearers at that time could reach; but in the sense which He Himself attached to them. When the Holy Spirit shall convey these to the mind they reflect a light and reveal a significance which has not been before appreciated. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 30

When Christ overtook the disciples as they journeyed to Emmaus, and were sad, and after telling their pitiful story, Jesus reproved them for their unbelief and slowness of heart “to believe all that the prophets have spoken.” “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” [Luke 24:25, 27.] And when their eyes were opened to know that it had been Christ Himself that had been talking with them, they said one to another, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures?” [Verse 32.] 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 31

Yours Respectfully. 8LtMs, Lt 41, 1893, par. 32