Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Lt 181, 1899

Wessels, Philip

Maitland, New South Wales, Australia

November 6, 1899

Previously unpublished.

Dear Brother:

We feel a deep interest in you, but the interest we feel is as nothingness compared with the interest Christ has in you and the love He has for you. “We are laborers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] The Lord Jesus is the great Worker, as well as the Lawgiver. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God that worketh in you, to will and to do of his good pleasure.” [Philippians 2:12, 13.] God works and you work. Do not hang down your head as a bulrush, but lift it up, and trust wholly in God. Do not be discouraged, Philip. The Lord will be your helper. If you walk obediently and lawfully, He will be your strength, your front guard and your rearward. Let your swelling, struggling heart break for the longing it has for God, for the living God. Remember that the Lord is the one efficient power and agent in the work of the sanctification of the Spirit. 14LtMs, Lt 181, 1899, par. 1

Do not stop at any halfway service. The Lord wants to save us, soul, body, and spirit. Eternal life offers the highest encouragement for the most earnest and valiant efforts in the outlay of every mental and spiritual energy and efficiency. In partnership with angels, we are to be the channels through which the grace of Christ is to flow. You may be a victor, but only as Jacob became a victor—by mighty wrestling with the angel Jesus Christ. Jacob prevailed because he would not let the angel go. If you lay hold of the Lord by faith, refusing to let go, He will give you His blessing. You will have courage because you have surrendered yourself to God, and thus secured the co-operation of divine agencies. 14LtMs, Lt 181, 1899, par. 2

O Philip, my brother, wrench yourself free from every power that would hold you away from Christ. Work yes, work with unceasing energy, striving as if your salvation depended upon eternal vigilance. Trust in God, as though the result of the whole work depended upon Him. Thus there is a combination of forces. How glad Satan would be to see you a weakling, bending under every burden. You must work, Philip, with strong spiritual sinew and muscle, and with a bounding heart, as seeing Jehovah always at your right hand. 14LtMs, Lt 181, 1899, par. 3

Do not, I beg of you, let any attitude taken by your brethren discourage you. You must recover yourself from the snare of the enemy. Let your heart be full of thankfulness to God, for He proffers you His Omnipotence, His divine strength. In every place do your best to help some other one. You have lost spiritual strength; now recover it step by step. Work with heart, mind, and strength, as a laborer together with God. Pray and trust, and when you feel your nothingness, the Lord will gird you with His strength. 14LtMs, Lt 181, 1899, par. 4

I cannot say half that I want to say. Do not repulse or be repulsed. Know that you have a mighty helper in God, and the faith now tried will ere long become a victory. There is a world to be saved. You can act a part in this grand work. Having recovered yourself from the snare of Satan, the Lord will surely strengthen and keep you, and fit you, for a place where you can be a more efficient worker. I point you to the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. Your wife has been loyal and true to God and loyal and true to you. May Jesus take your children in His loving arms, and bless them. 14LtMs, Lt 181, 1899, par. 5

One of your little flock needs the greatest tenderness and the utmost care. Nothing like hasty temper must be manifested in dealing with the one who needs the most tender solicitude, else its mind will not recover from the influence. Nothing like hasty words or movements should be seen or heard in its presence, unless you would spoil its capabilities for life. This may not be understood by you. But there is one in your little flock in whom no fear should be aroused by harsh words. Time will change its character for better or for worse, according to the way in which it is treated. Never cause it any physical pain by punishment. It has a sense of terror which destroys its power of reason if any harshness is used. God help you all as a family, is my most earnest prayer. 14LtMs, Lt 181, 1899, par. 6