Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Lt 110, 1899

Wessels, Sister

“Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

August 8, 1899

Portions of this letter are published in UL 234.

Dear Sister Wessels:

You have passed through many trials in your lifetime, and if your children knew it all, they would seek to save you any extra worriment on their account. The Lord knows all about it, and He will not leave you or forsake you if you will be guided by His counsel and keep His way. Hold fast the beginning of your confidence firm unto the end without wavering. You may ever feel thankful that there is One who will never forsake you, never, never disappoint you. Keep your mind and heart stayed upon God. Be firm as a rock to the principles plainly revealed in the Word of God. Keep looking to Jesus. He knows every pang of anguish you feel. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 1

I did not ask John to come to Australia to afflict you, to make you feel that he loved you less or would forget you. The dangers of your family were presented to me. Philip has the qualifications which would make him a useful worker, a Christian in heart, soul, and life, if he will submit to God, if he will bear the discipline of God. But he is not yet where he can see himself as he is. He loves business, and his danger is that if he can obtain money to engage in business, he will accept any tempting offer that may be presented to him. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 2

Unless some affliction comes to purify and refine him, unless something changes the state of mind which he has been in, he will become the sport of Satan’s temptations. In that case he will be no spiritual help to any member of the family, but only an anxiety and sorrow. May the Lord impress his heart. When once he has given himself up to disregard plain light and knowledge, to break the Sabbath and become disloyal to truth and the faith once delivered to the saints, it will be easier for him to travel over the same road again for Satan will not readily let go his hold. And if Philip will not yield for the sake of Christ, who gave His life for him, what inducement will be of sufficient weight to impress his mind and change his principles? 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 3

Philip has a godly wife, who has followed him with her prayers, and who has behaved herself wisely. But the work of individual action lies with Philip himself, who must be led to say, I have dishonored my best Friend. I have put stumbling blocks in the way of sinners, instead of trying to help them and win them to Christ. When Philip sees his own weakness and realizes how greatly he has dishonored God, he will co-operate with his Redeemer. He will do what he knows to be right, whether or not he has all the feeling which he thinks he should have. Feeling is of little value. Faith in God and in His Word is worth everything. If Philip lays hold of the hand reached out to save him, grasping the hand mighty to save, and keeping hold of it, saying, “I will never let go,” that hand will never relax its hold. But he can refuse to hold the hand, and thus be lost. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 4

The Lord is merciful and compassionate, full of pity and love. He who wept over Jerusalem has shed tears for every soul He has created, saying with mournful utterance, “O that thou hadst known, even thou in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace.” He has not yet passed the irrevocable sentence, “But now they are hid from thine eyes.” [Luke 19:42.] The Lord help Philip to see his refuge, and make his escape from the enemy who is seeking his life that he may destroy him. There is light and peace and joy for him if he will show that repentance that needeth not to be repented of. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 5

My heart yearns after every member of the Wessels family. If Philip had been the faithful steward God designed him to be, the now wayward members of the family would not be on the enemy’s side. If their brother Philip, to whom they looked for counsel, had continued to be a true servant of the Lord Jesus, co-operating with Him, these precious ones would have been helped, their feet would now have been treading the narrow path of self-denial which their Saviour trod. The Lord is still saying, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” [John 6:37.] Thank God, the truth never changes, whatever course poor, tempted souls may pursue. Christ is still calling, “Return unto me, and I will return unto thee, and heal all thy backsliding.” [Malachi 3:7; Jeremiah 3:22.] “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and I will have mercy upon him, and to our God; for he will abundantly pardon.” [Isaiah 55:7.] 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 6

Dear Mother Wessels, I have words to speak to you. Be careful how you use the goods the Lord has entrusted to you. “Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” [1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.] My sister, will you acknowledge the Lord’s ownership of you? Will you realize that all you have is the Lord’s? As a faithful steward of means, you are to study His Word and see what He says to you. The Lord requires everyone to serve Him with full purpose of heart. His Word points out the way in which we are to do this: “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] We are to seek to be like Jesus, to reflect His image and imitate His example. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 7

He left the glories of the heavenly world and His high command, laying off His kingly crown and the rich and glorious garments He wore as commander in the heavenly courts, and clothed His divinity with humanity, that He might become one with humanity and stand at the head of the race of fallen beings, using His divine power in their behalf. This He did that through the virtue of His character He could give man an example of what he should be and might be through faith in Him. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 8

Everyone, whatever his capabilities, is God’s possession, bought with a price; and through the help that Christ can give, he may be a laborer together with God. Hear His invitation to all, not one is left out: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke”—of restraint and obedience—“upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.] If you are uneasy under Christ’s yoke, the fault lies in yourself. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 9

Christ became poor that through His poverty we might become rich. All this humiliation the Lord of glory endured to give men and women an example of what they should do to inherit eternal life, the riches of glory. He places His goods in the hands of His people, and on these goods they are to trade, that He may receive returns. It is all His. Every dollar in our world is His, and He has a perfect right to specify how His lent talents shall be used. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 10

The Lord is soon to come; and, my beloved sister, let us not who are mothers in Israel, invest our money in buildings, or in any way tie it up so that it cannot be used for the advancement of the work of the Lord in our world. It is too late now to build houses which consume the means which the cause of God needs so much. Put your means where it can be used in the Lord’s work. This is what the Lord would have you do. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 11

The man who hid his talent in the earth, because he did not want his lord to have the use of it, would not have borne the test any better, had he been given five or ten talents. He would have bound up his means so that his lord could not be benefited by them. How many feel just as that man did? When the lord required his own from him, with the increase that the one talent should have gained, he said, “I knew thee, that thou wast an hard man, reaping where thou hast not strewed, and gathering where thou has not sown; and I was afraid.” [Matthew 25:24, 25.] The lord repeated his words, asking him why, if he knew he was so exacting in making his terms, he did not use his talent so that he could have brought in double through its use. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 12

The way in which the unfaithful servant abused his trust showed the texture of his character. If he had faithfully used that one pound to help the work along because he had an interest in it, that one pound would have doubled under the supervision of God. He would have been given a larger amount to use in helping the work. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 13

Do any of us invent places to hide or bind up the means we have no particular use for, thinking that we do not care to have it invested in the work which must be done in saving souls? One soul saved is worth more than the whole world. Then if the money God has placed in the hands of men be hid away, so that it cannot be used in doing the very work God designs shall be done, will the Lord be pleased or displeased? We can advance God’s work in the earth with the means we do not need. Instead of investing our money in buildings, we can use it to cause the gospel to be heard in new places. The truth must go to all tongues and nations on the face of the earth. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 14

Christ, the Majesty of heaven, gave up all His glory, that men should not perish but have everlasting life. God did not withhold His only begotten Son, but with Him He gave all the facilities, all the advantages of heaven, that all who believe in Christ as their personal Saviour may have eternal life. He gives men and women the privilege of being co-laborers with Christ by investing in His cause the very means He has placed in their hands. The Lord of life and glory worked to bring life and immortality to light through the gospel, and He requires all who believe in Him to follow His example, working with Him as His human agencies to sound the note of warning to the world. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 15

“The end of all things is at hand.” [1 Peter 4:7.] “Sell that ye have, and give alms. Provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not.” [Luke 12:33.] “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.” [Matthew 6:19.] There is danger that thousands of pounds will be lost through the business management of those who take counsel from the arch-deceiver, who is laying his plans at this important period of the earth’s history to gather to himself all that should be brought to the Lord for the advancement of His work. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 16

“Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” [Verses 20, 21.] If the Lord’s money is invested in worldly enterprises, the mind is constantly directed earthward, instead of heavenward. “The light of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single (to the glory of God), thine whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, (as was that of the slothful servant), thine whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness.” [Verses 22, 23.] 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 17

The Lord desires everyone to work for his own spiritual and eternal good. This can only be done as we obey the lessons Christ has given. If we gain the eternal reward, we must follow the example of Christ our Pattern, who did good and only good with the Lord’s entrusted talents. He cheerfully gave up His life to ransom a wicked, apostate race. But today selfishness, worldliness, pride, and self-indulgence are constantly consuming the means entrusted to those who claim to be Christians. They are misappropriating the money which the Lord requires them to use to bring many sons and daughters to Him. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 18

When Christians work as the Head of the church worked, they will not be constantly contriving how they can use the Lord’s money for their own pleasure. Is it not honor enough for them to be co-operating with the world’s Redeemer. Worldly schemes, worldly investments, made to please and glorify self, bring no returns worth the having. God condemns them, and what God condemns is not safe for any living soul to practice. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 19

“Be not conformed to this world, 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.” [Romans 12:2.] Here is an experience to be gained which will not prove disappointing. The mighty God, who through Jesus Christ created man, calls upon every soul to prove Him, and see what this will bring to all who do this. They are tested and tried, and in conformity to the will of God, they realize what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of their Creator. Worldly conformity is hindered and made impossible through obedience to the plain, simple “Thus saith the Lord.” Gospel sanctification and transformation of soul, body, and spirit sends the feet of all such through the strait gate into the narrow way, the path cast up for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in. In co-operation with God, they work as Christ worked for the souls and bodies of their fellow men. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 20

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” [1 John 2:15.] The Lord calls upon you, my dear sister, to look at these things with eyes enlightened not by worldly advisers, but by His Spirit. Take the Word as it reads. I want you to place yourself where the riches of the glory of heaven shall shine before you and behind you and on every side of you because you are all light in the Lord. The Lord does not want you to be worried and troubled by seeing the goods He has lent you invested where His blessing is withdrawn from their use. Those who invest their money in this way will become literally poor; for God cannot bless their means. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 21

I might say more, but I have not time. I have not slept since half past two this morning. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 22

I remain, my dear sister, 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 23

Yours with much love. 14LtMs, Lt 110, 1899, par. 24