Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Lt 105, 1898

Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.]

“Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

November 28, 1898

Portions of this letter are published in 3SM 200-201; TMK 226; 7MR 388-389; BTS 06/1915.

Dear Brother and Sister Haskell:

I rise this morning at half past three o’clock. On Friday I sent you a few very hastily written lines. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 1

Last Friday I spoke to the students and workers at the school for the first time during the summer term. Brother Radley was present. I felt that a good impression was made. The meeting was held at half past five a.m. I know the Lord was in our assembly. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 2

I understand that the boys’ dormitory is full, yet students continue to come to the summer term. There is need of more prayer and firm faith in God, that these new students may be correctly managed. Some, I suppose, are professed believers; others are not. But the Lord is present, and He will work out His purpose and will for the good of all who will be worked. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 3

I thank the Lord that I was able to speak to the people one week ago last Sabbath. I could stand but a few moments, and continued sitting while I addressed the people. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 4

My time has been fully occupied in writing. Sister Peck and W. C. White have been carefully reading the matter prepared for Christian Education. For many mornings I have been up at two o’clock a.m. writing to America and Melbourne. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 5

Last Friday Brother Colcord and his family came, also Brother Belden and his wife from Norfolk Island. On Sabbath I spoke in the forenoon. I could not stand and address the people. Brother Heaton and his wife and Brother Woods from Awaba were at the meeting. We sent our carriage part way to meet them. But it was quite hot, and Sister Heaton could not attend the meeting. She was taken very sick and was unable to attend meeting. When they were coming, she walked over the worst part of the road, and this greatly fatigued her. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 6

Yesterday we visited Awaba, and met with a little company. I spoke to them of the simple yet grand theme of the love of God. Brother and Sister Heaton were very much pleased. But the road through the woods to Awaba is very rough. At times Willie, May White, and I walked. The hills and gulches were very bad. Brother Constandt drove the team. I am sure it would not be safe for a carriage to pass over these roads when the rains come. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 7

In returning, we followed a road which was three miles further round. This road was better, but there were hills to climb, and at times it looked doubtful if we could get the horses up. May and Willie walked up all these hills. Willie was not well. He had had very little sleep the night before, and did not care to drive the horses. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 8

Sister Peck and Sara came in a single wagon. They got over the ground better than we did, for I had my phaeton. I think that a Sunday school will now be established at Awaba, and once in two weeks someone will go on horseback or in the cars to meet with them. I am very thankful to my heavenly Father that for the last three times I have spoken, I have been able to speak standing, but it has been with difficulty. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 9

Herbert Lacey has a little daughter, a few days old. All are doing well. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 10

In regard to my tent, Willie thinks it has been sent, but when was it sent? We shall need it as soon as it can be conveniently sent to Newcastle, for some will soon have to be on the campground, making preparations for the meeting. Will you tell us when you will be able to leave Brisbane? How is the outlook now? We are feeling deeply in earnest. The time has come when we are to expect large blessings from the Lord. We must rise to a higher standard on the subject of faith. We have too little faith. The Word of God is our endorsement. We must take it, simply believing every word. With this assurance, we may claim large things, and according to our faith it will be unto us. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 11

One thing I know, If we humble our hearts before God, if we seek to abide in Christ, we shall have a higher, holier experience. There will be a cementing of heart unto heart. We shall not pull apart. This is where we are not doers of the Word. We preach the Word, but we do not obey. Until as a people we walk in the light of God’s Word, we shall not see that work accomplished which He is willing to do for us. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 12

The work of faith means more than we think. If means genuine reliance upon the naked Word of God. By our actions we are to show that we believe that God will do just as He has said. The wheels of nature and of providence are not appointed to roll backward nor to stand still. We must have an advancing, working faith, a faith that works by love and purifies the soul from every vestige of selfishness. It is not self, but God, that we must depend upon. We must not cherish unbelief. We must have that faith that takes God at His word. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 13

“The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” [Matthew 11:12.] We need to experience a resurrection on the subject of faith. Without faith (a faith that will rely upon a plain statement of the Word) it is impossible to please God. A faith that is not sustained by works is worthless. Says the apostle, “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say, ... Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.” [James 2:14, 18.] That faith, if cherished in our hearts, will necessarily draw after it the good works which justify and endorse the faith of the believer. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 14

Good works are indispensable as the fruit of faith, and are the sure evidence that we have passed from death unto life, because we love our believing brethren. This is not to say that our brethren are to step exactly in our footprints. True faith in God will lead us to understand that each is a worker. God works upon human minds, and all who love God will love their brethren. They will be zealous of good works. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 15

True faith consists in doing just what God has enjoined, not manufacturing things He has not enjoined. Justice, truth, mercy, are the fruit of faith. We need to walk in the light of God’s law; then good works will be the fruit of our faith, the proceeds of a heart renewed every day. The tree must be made good before the fruit can be good. We must be wholly consecrated to God. Our will must be made right before the fruit can be good. We must have no fitful religion. “Whatsoever ye do, ... do all to the glory of God.” [1 Corinthians 10:31.] 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 16

O what a field is opened before me! Our people must have the deep working of the Spirit of God every day. They must have a faith that works by love, a faith that emanates from God. There must not be a thread of selfishness drawn into the fabric. When our faith works by love, just such a love as Christ revealed in His life, it will be of a firm texture; it will be the fruit of a will subdued. But not until self dies can Christ live in us. Not until self dies can we possess a faith that works by love and purifies the soul. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 17

“We love him, because he first loved us.” [1 John 4:19.] True conversion, true sanctification, will be the cause of the change in our views and our feelings toward one another and toward God. “We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” [Verse 16.] We must increase in faith. We must know the sanctification of the Spirit. In earnest prayer we must seek God, that the divine Spirit may work in us. God then will be glorified by the example of the human agent. We shall be workers together with God. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 18

Sanctification of soul, body, and spirit will surround us with the atmosphere of heaven. If God has chosen us from eternity, it is that we might be holy, our conscience purged from dead works to serve the living God. We must not in any way make self our god. God has given Himself to die for us, that He might purify us from all iniquity. The Lord will carry on this work of perfection for us if we will allow ourselves to be controlled by Him. He carries on this work for our good and His own name’s glory. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 19

We must bear a living testimony to the people, presenting before them the simplicity of faith. We must take God at His word, and believe that He will do just as He has said. If He chastises us, it is that we may be partakers of His divine nature. It runs through all His designs and plans to carry on a daily sanctification in us. Shall we not see our work? Shall we not present to others their duty, the privilege they have of growing in grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ? 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 20

“This is the will of God, even your sanctification.” [1 Thessalonians 4:3.] We have not pressed forward to the mark of the prize of our high calling. Self has found too much room. Oh, let the work be done under the special direction of the Holy Spirit. The Lord demands all the powers of mind and being. It is His will that we should be conformed to Him in will, in temper, in spirit, in our meditations. The work of righteousness cannot be carried forward unless we exercise implicit faith. Move every day under God’s mighty working power. The fruit of righteousness is quietness and assurance forever. If we had exercised more faith in God and had trusted less to our own ideas and wisdom, God would have manifested His power in a marked manner on human hearts. By a union with Him, by living faith, we are privileged to enjoy the virtue and efficacy of His mediation. Hence we are crucified with Christ, dead with Christ, risen with Christ, to walk in newness of life with Him. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 21

We are not to hold ourselves in our own hands. We are to drop self into the hands of God. We have been losing our faith, in the place of increasing it. “These signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” [Mark 16:17, 18.] 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 22

This is a small part of that which the Lord has revealed to me. Our lack of faith is the reason that we have not seen more of the power of God. We exercise more faith in our own working than in God’s working for us. God designs that everything possible shall be done to enable us to stand heart to heart, mind to mind, shoulder to shoulder. This lack of love and confidence in one another weakens our faith in God. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 23

We need to pray as we never have prayed before for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, for if there was ever a time when we needed this baptism, it is now. There is nothing the Lord has more frequently told us He would bestow upon us, and nothing by which His name would be more glorified in bestowing, than the Holy Spirit. When we partake of this Spirit, men and women will be born again. There will be a firm pressing together, a firm, unwavering faith in God will be seen. The Sun of Righteousness will be in our midst, with healing in His wings. Souls once lost will be found, brought back, and kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 13LtMs, Lt 105, 1898, par. 24