Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 17 (1902)

Lt 80, 1902

White, J. E.

“Elmshaven,” St. Helena, California

May 25, 1902

Portions of this letter are published in TDG 154; 5MR 368-369. +^Note

My dear son Edson,—

I have read your last letter to me, and the copy of your letter to Brother Shireman. I hope that Brother Shireman will listen to the counsel of his brethren. This will be his safety and his strength. The Lord has not qualified any one of us to bear the burden of the work alone. He has associated together men of different minds, that they may counsel with and assist one another. In this way the deficiency in the experience and the abilities of one is supplied by the experience and the abilities of another. We should all study carefully the instruction given in Corinthians and Ephesians regarding our relation to one another as members of the body of Christ. 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 1

In your work, Edson, you must consider the relation that each worker sustains to the other workers connected with the cause of God. You must remember that others as well as yourself have a work to do in connection with this cause. You must not bar your mind against counsel. In your plans for the carrying forward of the work, your mind must blend with other minds. You have trusted too many times to your own judgment and have not been willing to take advice and counsel. If any one differed from you, you have said at once that it was because he had been prejudiced against you. Even after it has been demonstrated that in following your own way you have made a mistake, you have not charged the blame to yourself, but to faults in some one else. We shall all be tempted by the enemy to do this. 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 2

My son, you will have to change this attitude and cherish a spirit of confidence in the wisdom of your brethren, else you will lose your bearings, as many others have done, and will set down as your enemies those who are your friends. We must be willing to take advice and caution from our brethren. We are connected with the service and cause of God, and we must individually realize that we are parts of a great whole. We must seek wisdom from God, learning what it means to have a waiting, watching spirit, and to go to our Saviour when tired and depressed. 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 3

You must learn to give up your will and your way and to receive light from those whom God has made His helping hand, those by whom He designs that you shall be helped. Go to Christ for relief. Cling to Him. Stay long enough to yield up your will to the will of God. Many are in too great a hurry to pray. With hurried steps they pass through the shadow of Christ’s loving presence, pausing perhaps for a few moments within the sacred precincts, but not waiting for counsel. They have no time to sit down, no time to remain with the divine Teacher. With their burdens, they return to their work. 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 4

My son, this is what you have been doing, and therefore you have not the peace and joy and grace that you so much need. Why do you not wait for a leaf from the tree of life? This will soothe and refresh you, filling your heart with peace and joy. 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 5

Let us by faith place ourselves in the hands of the Redeemer. He alone can do for us the work that must be done to enable us to offer God acceptable service. 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 6

Do not allow yourself to think of the ill-treatment you have received. Fix your thoughts upon the Saviour. Go apart from the bustle of the world, and sit down under Christ’s shadow. This you must do if you receive the rich blessings He is waiting to bestow on you. Give your thoughts to high and holy things. Then, amidst the din of the daily toil and conflict, your spiritual strength will be renewed. 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 7

You had a wonderful, a peculiar experience after the Lord Jesus manifested Himself to you after your departure from Him. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. He wants to work with you, but not in your way. He wants to work with you, but not in your way. He wants to work in His own way. Come apart, and rest awhile. There are higher ranges for your thoughts to take than those they have yet taken. 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 8

“If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels of mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” [Philippians 2:1-5.] 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 9

Carefully study the prayer Christ offered for His disciples and for us before His sufferings in Gethsemane. 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 10

“I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth; thy Word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” [John 17:15-21.] 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 11

O my son, if it were not possible for us to reach this wonderful attainment, if it were not possible for us to be one as Christ and His Father are one, these words would never have been uttered. Shall we pass lightly over these precious words, failing to bring them into our life-practice? Shall we become so absorbed in the activities of life that we lose a sense of the wonderful possibilities and probabilities that there are for us in the attainment of unity with one another and with Christ? We are to be one as Christ and God are one, that the world may believe that God has sent Christ into the world to save sinners. 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 12

The sure evidence that a tree is good is the bearing of good fruit. The world marks the difference between true believers in Christ and worldlings; for true believers become Christlike in character. They bear the signature that marks them as sons of God. Their work is the heavenly endorsement that Christ is the true Teacher, the Sent of God. 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 13

“And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.” [Verse 22.] “Even as we are one.” What a testimony to the world in favor of Christianity this union would be! It would be an indisputable witness that God has sent His Son from heaven to our world. Nothing but His coming could produce such wonderful results. 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 14

“I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” [Verse 23.] 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 15

What an impression so practical an outworking of Christlikeness would have on the world! The unity among Christ’s followers would be so marked that all would be compelled to acknowledge it to be of heavenly extraction. They would see that such unity would come only from the highest, holiest source. So convincing in power would it be that many would be converted. Its sanctifying influence would win souls to the truth. 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 16

“Father, I will that they also, whom thou has given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory; ... for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee; but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name; and will declare it; that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.” [Verses 24-26.] 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 17

Shall we not determine that from now on we shall make a decided change in our words, our deportment, our character, that we shall no longer keep the truth in the outer courts, but receive it into the heart, that the sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit may be seen in our lives? Then ministers and people would be upright in all matters of business, large and small. They would live in obedience to the laws of that kingdom in which, as Christians, they have their citizenship. They would do that which is wise and righteous, because Christ is their righteousness. They would not in any way act like fractious children. How blessed it would be for us to bear such fruit to the glory of God. 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 18

Christ is mine and I am His. It is positively necessary for us to sit down and think of how Christ our Saviour descended from heaven, from the throne of God, clothing His divinity with humanity, to show all mankind what human beings may become if they will unite their weakness to His strength, if they will die to self and live to Christ. Thus the strong, unchristlike traits of character that they have cherished will be softened, subdued, purified. They will unite one with another, that they may be one with Christ in God. 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 19

Christ came to this earth and suffered the sorrows, disappointments, and griefs of humanity, that man might stand on vantage ground before angels and before men, revealing to the world the attributes of God. Let us put self out of sight and think more of Christ. People are longing to hear of the Saviour from those who have learned of Him His meekness and His lowliness, and who can therefore speak words of sincere experience. Such ones inspire faith and confidence. They show no coarseness of speech, no carelessness of attitude; for they realize that they are representatives of Christ. By loving one another as He has loved them, they bear witness of Him to the world. They eat His flesh and drink His blood, and this is to them eternal life. They are like Him in character, in manner, in dealing. They rely upon Him as their efficiency, realizing that their power for usefulness is derived from Him. Self is dead, because Christ’s life is their life. In all their daily perplexities and conflicts, they show a firm, unwavering reliance on His power. They have proved the truth of the words, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.” [Isaiah 26:3.] 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 20

Our work is to help one another by following Christ closely, testifying in spirit, in word, in action, that God is love. Those who love Christ will certainly love those for whom Christ died. What a help and comfort it is to meet a fellow pilgrim from whose face there shines the reflection of Christ’s righteousness! From the heart of such a one there can but flow the warmth of God’s love. 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 21

O how sad it makes the angels when we fail to recognize the presence of the Saviour. His promise is, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:20.] He does not want any one to carry a burden of oppression. Our conflicts may be severe, but we may know that as we go forth as ministers of righteousness, doing good to all we meet, Christ goes before us. Let us go on our way rejoicing, praising God for the privilege of bringing the sunshine of Christ’s love into the lives of those we meet. Then those with whom we associate will rejoice as they come within the sphere of our influence. In listening to our words and noting our actions, they will be made better. The impression made on their minds will be, “He has been with Jesus and learned of Him.” [See Acts 4:13.] 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 22

Shall we not be real Christians? Shall we not bring all of heaven that it is possible to bring into our lives here below? 17LtMs, Lt 80, 1902, par. 23