Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 9 (1894)

Ms 11b, 1894

Brighton, Australia

February 10, 1894, 11:00 a.m.

Probably a variant of Ms 11, 1894.

“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinance of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.” [Isaiah 58:1, 2.] 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 1

A people is here represented as seeking the Lord in obedience to His will, but in reality they have forsaken God. “They ask of Me the ordinance of justice.” [Verse 2.] This was the condition in which Christ found the Jewish nation. The priests and Pharisees looked at their outward forms and ceremonies, their form of worship, and thought that these would certainly commend them to Christ. 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 2

Christ showed them that they did not have the spirit of meekness and lowliness. “Behold,” He said, “ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day to make your voice to be heard on high.” There is a voice that God bids shall be heard on high; it is the voice that gives the trumpet a certain sound. “Is it such a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord?” [Verses 4, 5.] 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 3

This is not the kind of fast that the Lord takes pleasure in. “Is not this the fast that I have chosen, to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” [Verse 6.] 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 4

Why, you say, I have been taught that we are not saved by our good works. No, you are not; but you cannot be saved without them. You cannot depend on your good works for salvation; you must have a living dependence upon God. When there is a living connection with God, when Christ is abiding in the heart by living faith, the human agent does the works of Christ, he speaks the words of Christ, and reveals a character like the character of Christ. 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 5

When our life and character is hid with Christ in God, we cannot afford to let impulse or passion control our words or actions. We must keep the Saviour’s example ever before us. We must do as we believe Jesus would have done under similar circumstances. If trials come, we are not to manifest a rebellious spirit. When we are oppressed, and burdens [are] placed upon us which we think others should bear, we are not to let self rule. In such experiences we are to learn to take the burdens to the right one. “Come unto me,” Christ says, “all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give your rest.” “Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart.” [Matthew 11:28, 29.] Whatever of conflict or trial we are called to pass through, if we accept this truth of heavenly origin, meekness and lowliness of heart will be revealed in all our actions. 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 6

We need to clearly understand the work that is before us. It is a work of mercy and love. We are to work in Christ’s lines, and just as Christ worked. In the parable of the nobleman who before going on his journey gave to every man his work saying, “Occupy till I come,” Christ and his followers are represented. [Luke 19:12, 13.] To everyone his work, and this work is Christ’s work. The human agent is to cooperate with the divine. He is not to feel that all he has to do is to stand to his individual self. He has a broader field that this. “Occupy till I come.” Be laborers together with God. We need to understand clearly what it means to be laborers together with God. We cannot do this merely with our intellect or education. We must be imbued with the Spirit of Christ. 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 7

We cannot buy the grace of Christ with money; we cannot obtain it by eloquence or by the power of our intellect. It is a gift received by us from heaven. We are to occupy according to the knowledge we have, sensing our responsibility, and letting our light shine to those around us; and in doing this we work the works of God. 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 8

“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, and to let the oppressed go free; and that ye break every yoke?” [Isaiah 58:6.] When we present to others the perfection there is in the law of God, we are presenting that which will loose the bands of wickedness, and free those who are oppressed by the enemy. Our enemy is he who rebelled against the law of God in heaven, and who fell because of his disloyalty. When we work in his lines we are fastening our fellow men in the shackles of oppression. In obedience to Christ we are free, for he came to make us free. “His servants ye are whom ye obey.” [Romans 6:16.] 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 9

“To let the oppressed go free.” What can we say to the oppressed? We can show them that obedience to the requirements of Christ means freedom, liberty, salvation. “And that ye break every yoke.” [Isaiah 58:6.] 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 10

God requires our faithful service. Nothing must be allowed to come between Him and our souls, for we are of infinite value to Him. We cannot trust our salvation to man. We must search the Scriptures for ourselves, and know what they teach. 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 11

“Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh.” [Verse 7.] We cannot do this work if we live selfish, extravagant lives, using every dollar we possess to make a place for ourselves in this world. We are to honor God by showing that we esteem the purchase of His blood. We are to show that we value humanity from God’s standpoint. The Son of God died to redeem the human race, to give the freedom which can come through His alone. 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 12

Christ was the representative of the Father. Let us consider the character of His work, and what the Spirit of God led Him to do. He declared of Himself in the synagogue at Nazareth, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted; to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised.” [Luke 4:18.] 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 13

When Christ came to the earth He found the truth hidden by error. He had to rescue truth from the error that surrounded it and present [it] to men in such a way as to show the loveliness of its character. Error may be hoary with age, but this does not make it truth. The Jews held their customs received through traditions of the fathers, from age to age and generation to generation. Christ said to them, “Ye are blind.” “Ye are ignorant both of the Scriptures and of the power of God.” [Matthew 23:17; 22:29.] They were teaching for truth the traditions of men. Christ came, He said, to give “recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that were bruised.” [Luke 4:18.] 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 14

You can see that the work of Christ is the same work that Isaiah declares to be the work of His professed people. God has given you the glorious light of truth. He has chosen you to be His peculiar people, a royal people, a holy nation. What are you doing to show forth the power of Him that hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light? When God lets His light shine upon you, do not let your mouth be stopped by tradition. Speak the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. Let the Spirit of God speak. Do not mingle self and selfish ideas and opinions with your work. Present the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, and let the truth make its own impression. 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 15

There is a little church in Denver where no one who has to work for a living is allowed to worship. Everyone of the working class is excluded. And therefore Christ is excluded, for He was a worker, toiling at the carpenter’s bench as an example to us. On one occasion a noble family took their seamstress to this church, and the other members were greatly offended, and remonstrated with them that they should bring one worker in. These souls are hiding themselves from their own flesh. The Saviour of mankind took His position with the poor. He preached the gospel to the poor in such simple language that they could understand Him. 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 16

“A certain man,” said Christ, “made a great supper, and bade many; and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I 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. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So the servant came, and shewed the Lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry, said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the Lord said unto his servant, Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” [Luke 14:16-23.] 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 17

We are to let the bright rays of light shine upon all classes in clear steady lines, that they may see and follow the words of Jesus. “I, if I be lifted up,” Christ said, “will draw all men unto me.” [John 12:32.] This is the work we are to do, to draw. Shall we go to the highest? Yes, to the highest powers on earth and tell them that we have a truth that will satisfy every soul. This is a truth so broad and deep that it will satisfy every want that man can feel. Present to the higher classes the precious truth. There are many in palaces who long for something they cannot find. The truth will satisfy these souls. Paul had converts in Caesar’s household. He did not tell them to come out from their luxurious homes, but to honor God in the place [where] He had stationed them. 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 18

“Hide not thyself from thine own flesh.” [Isaiah 58:7.] Go to work right where you are. Among every class of people there is work to do. Lift up your eyes and look; the fields are ready for the harvest. Men are interposing themselves between Christ and the people. They are working in the lines of the enemy instead of in the light and power of truth. God wants to see in the human agent the power that says, Come, for all things are now ready. He wants to see His people giving their fellow men food. They are hungry. They do not want froth and fables; they want the Word of the living God. “Except ye eat my flesh and drink my blood,” Christ said, “ye have no life in you.” [John 6:53.] When His disciples heard these words they were offended, for they did not discern spiritual things. Christ said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.” [Verse 63.] To eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God is to be doers of the Word. We have a work to do in going to the people who have souls to save or lose and teach them the terms of salvation. “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” [Matthew 4:10.] 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 19

The prophet tells us what our experience will be if we work in Christ’s lines, refusing to become self-centered, and spending our time in brooding over our own troubles and afflictions. If we will take time to consider that there are others besides ourselves in the world, “thy light,” he says, “shall break forth as the morning, and thy health shall spring forth speedily.” This health is a spiritual as well as a physical health. “Thine health shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee; and the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.” [Isaiah 58:8.] Our sin is taken away, and the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us. Jesus Christ becomes our righteousness; and the glory of the Lord is our rereward. 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 20

If the righteousness of Christ goes before us in the path we travel, and His glory follows in our wake, we are surely a blessed people. We stand out distinguished by light and love and power, and the world sees that here is a people who will work according to the law of God. 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 21

“Then shalt thou call, and the Lord will answer: thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” [Verses 9-11.] 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 22

The Lord responds to our call and says, What shall I do for you? He will give us the very thing that our souls hunger for. Christ says, “If ye do these things, I will answer. I am with you, right at your side.” What is the reason that men are in obscurity? The light is shining, and Christ says, “Then shall light shine in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday. And the Lord shall guide thee continually.” If Christ’s words to us continue, we cannot remain in darkness. “And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” [Verses 10, 11.] [For] those who trust in Jesus, and drink of the water that He gives, it shall be in them “a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” [John 4:14.] 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 23

“And they that be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations. And thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.” [Isaiah 58:12.] 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 24

What is the matter? Do we see any waste places down here in 1894? “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth; and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” [Verses 13, 14.] 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 25

We need to understand what the breach here mentioned means. Let us look at the fourth commandment. We have assembled here today to acknowledge that the Lord created the heavens and the earth in six days, and that on the seventh day He rested, that He sanctified and blessed the seventh day and set it apart for man to observe as a day of rest and worship. In observing this day, we honor God’s memorial which calls to mind the only true and living God. God gave the seventh day Sabbath to man as a memorial of His work of creation. Satan, the enemy of God, has instituted Sunday observance, and God calls him the man of sin, because he has thus perpetuated transgression. [2 Thessalonians 2:3.] The breach that has been made in the law of God has been a breach for many years. Shall it always be a breach? 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 26

“Why do you always talk about the Sabbath?” so many ask. “Why do you talk about Christ?” Suppose a fence enclosing a valuable field of yours should be broken down in one part. Which part of that fence would receive the most of your attention? Would it be the part that was secure? No; the breach would be that which would occupy your time and thought until the enclosure was secure again. It is so with the law of God. The Sabbath of the law of God is the breach in the wall. It has been broken down. “The foundation of many generations” is the seventh day Sabbath. [Isaiah 58:12, 13.] “This is the sign,” God says, “between me and thee throughout your generations.” [Exodus 31:13.] 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 27

The world has taken the liberty of putting in the place of the seventh day Sabbath a day that God has not sanctified and blessed, and it worships God on that day as though it had not departed from His ordinances. The Protestant world has taken this delusion, cradled and nourished it. But God does not accept this spurious sabbath, and shall we accept it? “Six days shalt thou labor,” He says, “and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” [Exodus 20:9, 10.] Then let us work to repair the breach; let us raise up the foundation of many generations, that we may be called the repairers of the breach, the restorers of paths to dwell in. 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 28

We each need to become intelligent in faith and doctrine, that we may be able to give to every man that asketh us a reason of the hope that is in us. Let us seek God, that we may find Him. He wants us to seek Him. May He help us to come to the place where we will uplift the Sabbath that has been trampled under the feet of men. Let us pray that our eyes may be anointed with eyesalve, that we may see. “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and wilt call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” [Isaiah 58:13, 14.] Let us hide under the promise, and find our refuge in Christ. He will establish us in truth and righteousness, and the glory of the Lord will be our rereward. 9LtMs, Ms 11b, 1894, par. 29