Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)
Lt 132, 1901
Haskell, Brother and Sister
St. Helena, California
October 7, 1901
Portions of this letter are published in Ev 87-88; 7MR 393; 10MR 227-228. +Note
Dear brother and sister Haskell,—
I want to tell you not to leave the field in which you are working until some one goes there who is fully qualified to carry the work forward successfully. I have had messages from the Lord, which I have given to our people over and over again, that there are many monied men who are susceptible to the influences and impressions of the gospel message. The Lord has a people who have never yet heard the truth. Keep to your work, and let the property that shall be donated to the advancement of the truth be so used that a center shall be established in New York City. Let proper persons, who have never revealed the selfish, grasping spirit which withholds the means that ought to be used in the large cities, be selected to carry forward the work, because God acknowledges them as His chosen ones. 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 1
It has been presented to me, but I dare not express it or hardly breathe it, that in such cities as New York, Utica, and Buffalo, God will move upon the hearts of monied men, when the Bible and the Bible alone is presented as the light of the world. In these cities the truth is to go forth as a lamp that burneth. 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 2
The question has been asked, Why have you made a specialty of laboring for the lowest, most debased class, passing by the men of discrimination and talent? There is a field all ripe for the harvest, and the Lord has means whereby this field shall be worked. There are men of large business capabilities who will accept the truth, men who will believe and obey the Scriptures, who from the treasure house of the heart can bring forth things new and old. Controlled by the Holy Spirit, these men will move in a way that will clear away obstructions, so that the people may be warned of the soon coming of the Lord. 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 3
It is not the men who are apparently the most eloquent, it is not the young men who do not reveal the sanctification of the truth, who are the most efficacious in sowing the seed and gathering the harvest. The Lord has placed you in New York as His workman to give the message to the people, saying, “Come, for all things are now ready.” [Luke 14:17.] 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 4
“A certain man 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 that servant came, and showed his 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 the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.” [Verses 16-24.] 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 5
In many testimonies I have stated that wealthy men, who have their Lord’s money, will be moved by the Spirit of God to open doors for the advancement of the truth in large cities. They will use their entrusted means to prepare the way of the Lord, to make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 6
Those who work in the large cities are to reach if possible to the high ones of the world, even to ruling powers. Where is our faith? God has presented to me the case of Nebuchadnezzar. The Lord worked with power to bring the mightiest king on the earth to acknowledge Him as King over all kings. He moved upon the mind of the proud king until Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged Him as “the most high God,” “whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation.” [Daniel 3:26; 4:34.] 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 7
Is not God to be honored and glorified in the world today? 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 8
Nebuchadnezzar set up in the plain of Dura an image of gold to represent himself and the kingdom of Babylon, and an herald cried aloud, “To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up; and whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.” [Daniel 3:4-6.] 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 9
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, three Hebrew captives, refused to obey the command to bow before the image. They steadfastly adhered to their loyalty to Jehovah. They were brought to the king, and he reasoned with them, but they answered, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” [Verses 16-18.] In this confession of faith the Hebrew youth were guided by duty and conscience. They had unquestioning faith in God, and they were determined to honor Him at all cost. Standing before the angry king, with the image in sight and the sound of the entrancing music in their ears, they thought of the promise made to the prophet Isaiah more than one hundred years before: “Fear not; for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name: thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” [Isaiah 43:1, 2.] 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 10
When the king saw that his words had no effect on them, he was beside himself with rage. In his fury he commanded “that they should heat the furnace one seven times hotter than it was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.” [Daniel 3:19, 20.] 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 11
But there was a God above the human king, and while the men who executed the command were consumed by the heat of the furnace, the Lord preserved His faithful ones. They were seen by Nebuchadnezzar and his lords walking unhurt in the fire, the flames consuming only the cords which bound them. 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 12
But Nebuchadnezzar saw four men walking in the fire, and he said to his lords, “Lo, I see four men walking in the midst of the fire, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” [Verse 25.] The Hebrew captives had borne faithful witness regarding the Son of God, who was to come to this world as the Prince of life. And when Nebuchadnezzar saw some one walking in the flames with the youth, he recognized Him as the Son of God. 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 13
Too amazed to think of his greatness or his dignity, the king stepped hastily from his throne and went near to the furnace. In a clear, determined voice he cried, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither.” [Verse 26.] And they came forth, to be honored by the king of Babylon because they had honored the God of heaven. Their deliverance was a grand testimonial to God’s power. True to duty, they had been proof against the flames. Only their fetters had been burned. “The princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.” [Verse 27.] And Nebuchadnezzar spake and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their God. Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.” [Verses 28-30.] 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 14
Once again God humbled Nebuchadnezzar; for we read, “Nebuchadnezzar the king unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.” [Daniel 4:1-3.] He then recounts the history of the great display he had made for his own glory, and how God humbled him; and ends with the words, “Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment; and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.” [Verse 37.] 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 15
Dear brother and sister Haskell, I am so glad that God manifests through you His power and His grace in favor of the truth. I hope that you will be sustained and strengthened and blessed. And you surely will be if you walk humbly with God. Be of good courage. God’s providence will certainly open your way and give you precious victories. It is our duty to place ourselves where God has signified we should be. He was in your going to New York City, working just as you have been working for those not of our faith. 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 16
The time that has been used in preaching to our churches has not strengthened them, but has a tendency to make them weak and helpless, and to be fed with milk and not with strengthening food. God has been calling upon His ministers to leave the ninety and nine and hunt for the lost sheep. Your experience is to be a lesson for all who are hovering over the churches—consumers and not producers. We tell you to put your trust in God. Let Him guide you. The Lord Jesus is answering your prayers. “Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall 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 noon day; 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.” [Isaiah 58:9-11.] 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 17
When you can no longer remain in that cold climate, my dear brother and sister, come to us here on the Pacific Coast, where the climate is milder. I cannot begin to tell you how we should rejoice to have your help. We do not think that it is the will of God for you to sacrifice your health. We want you to be in the very best place possible during the winter. Come to us; we can make you comfortable, and you can be a help to us in many ways. 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 18
I have not felt like writing to you before. We have been passing through a severe conflict. Ever since we came here, our experiences have been very trying. But the Lord will work matters out all right. I now see with my eyes that which I had been shown regarding the Sanitarium here. We would be glad to see a different condition of things, and we do expect to see the salvation of God. 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 19
I have been persuaded to go to Healdsburg this morning to be present at the opening of the school. A. T. Jones, Willie, Sara, and I will drive over. I got up at twelve o’clock tonight and found under my door a letter of great importance from Dr. Kellogg. I had written to him, sending him copies of that which I had written Dr. Sanderson. This letter was a response. Dr. Kellogg has sent for Dr. Sanderson and his wife to come to Battle Creek. Yesterday a meeting of the medical Board was held at the Sanitarium. What the result is I cannot tell until I see Eld. A. T. Jones, who is now asleep on a lounge in my parlor. It is now three o’clock. At four we shall leave for Healdsburg. When I return, if I can get an extra copy of the letters I sent the Doctor, I will send them to you. 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 20
Move steadily forward. God will prepare your way. He lives and He reigns in our changing world. We need more faith. 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 21
I shall leave this disjointed letter for Maggie to copy and send. Please excuse all imperfections. If you knew one tithe of what we have been passing through, you would not be surprised that I have not been more punctual. 16LtMs, Lt 132, 1901, par. 22