Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Lt 271, 1903

Haskell, Brother and Sister [S. N.]

“Elmshaven,” St. Helena, California

December 17, 1903

Portions of this letter are published in 2MCP 771. +^Note

Dear Brother and Sister Haskell,—

I have received your letters. Thank you for writing. I have written no fewer than three letters to you, but have not been able to get them copied, so you did not receive them. I will now write you a few lines and will send the letter in my own handwriting. I hope that you will be able to read it. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 1

I have just finished a letter to Brother Brunson. I shall send a copy of this letter to you and Elder Butler. If you think that there is any part of it that he is not prepared to receive, let it wait until another time. I am not always anxious to place all matters before the ones I wish to help. When an express charge is given, then I send the instruction as quickly as possible. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 2

I should like to see you and talk with you. There is much that I might write, but I do not want to write anything of a disagreeable nature unless I am obliged to. I want to let disagreeable matters alone if I can. I do not wish to disturb your mind as mine has been disturbed ever since I returned to America. I have carried a very heavy burden almost all the time since coming from Australia. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 3

Last night the Lord gave me victory, as He has again and again in times of trouble and difficulty. I had a most precious experience in bringing the perplexities on my mind to the Burden-bearer. I thank the Lord for the relief that I obtained. I have been so greatly relieved that I will not now tell you of the difficulties that I have had to meet. In the future, I may write to you of these things, if I think it best to do so. I am of good courage in the Lord. While He spares my life, I will not dwell on matters that cannot bring relief to any one. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 4

Let us try to keep standing in the brightness of the Sun of righteousness. Let every word we speak be uplifting. The Lord is my sun and my shield, and I have comfort and peace in Him. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 5

I have been enabled to say some very plain things to those who have become confused. I dared not do otherwise than to tell them the truth, because a message was given me for them. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 6

I am convinced that the more we dwell upon the high, elevating themes of truth, the more clearly shall we discern what is truth. The Lord has a whole heaven full of blessings for us, and He says, “Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” [Matthew 7:7.] Then let us cease talking unbelief and in love speak the words of promise. Even when called upon to utter the plainest things, we must speak in a way that will not offend. We must talk faith, and pray in faith, and receive by faith. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 7

A Song of Trust

“Now therefore,” God said to Moses, “write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel. ... 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 8

“Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel. And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong, and of good courage; for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them; and I will be with thee.” [Deuteronomy 31:19, 22, 23.] 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 9

“Give ear, O ye heavens; and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.” [Deuteronomy 32:1-3.] 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 10

Let us speak of God’s goodness and tell of His power, according to His wondrous works. Let there be from henceforth an unreserved consecration of the talent of speech to God’s service. There is a cheapness in our words that misrepresents God. Let us speak words that will honor His name. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 11

“He is the Rock; His work is perfect; for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth, and without iniquity: just and right is He.” [Verse 4.] This is the first time in the Scriptures that God is called a rock. The name signifies the everlasting nature of His character. Building upon the Rock, we build upon a sure foundation. If we keep His commandments, we may know that we are in the path of safety. In trouble, we may place ourselves upon this Rock and know that we shall stand secure. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 12

“The way of transgressors is hard.” [Proverbs 13:15.] Then let us turn from our natural and cultivated tendencies to wrong. Let men and women turn to the Lord. Let every one change his unchristlike spirit and words and acts. Let there be no more criticism, no more drawing apart. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 13

The seventeenth chapter of John and many other precious things in the Word should be formed into song and sung by the people of God. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 14

If the Lord be with us, we are secure; for He is the Rock. He will protect those who do as He commands. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 15

The first four verses of the thirty-second chapter of Deuteronomy should be often repeated. When will men learn that no dependence can be placed on the human heart without the keeping power of God? However great His mercies, the natural heart will prove itself deceitful and desperately wicked. We can advance the cause of God only as we make the Lord our trust and our dependence. Earthly subterfuges are worthless; and worthless also is dependence on human methods and on the wisdom of men who do not respect and honor God enough to keep His commandments. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 16

“This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments; thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart and with all thy soul. Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in His ways, and to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His judgments, and to hearken unto His voice; and the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be His peculiar people, as He hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all His commandments; and to make thee high above all nations which He hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God.” [Deuteronomy 26:16-19.] 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 17

Nothing displeases the Lord more than for His people to be so ready, as some are, to affiliate with the world. Many are the warnings that have been given, testifying to the danger of going to worldly lawyers and leaning upon them, introducing into God’s work things that they have framed. But for years there seems to have been a determination to lean upon worldly counsel and to bind up with the world. This seems to have become a settled determination on the part of some of our physicians. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 18

“Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through and steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye; if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness. No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” [Matthew 6:20-24.] When will men come to think rationally and sensibly? There are those who are certainly acting very foolishly. Why?—Because they are not daily converted, as vessels unto honor. Self swells to large proportions. As soon as men are placed where they can exercise power over others, they seem to be as those bereft of common sense. I speak thus because I have seen the outcome of the self-importance of certain ones. I wish to present this matter just as the Lord has presented it to me. Their swelling pride and self-sufficiency make it necessary to move them from their position of trust. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 19

How sad it is that human beings so soon forget that they are to be laborers together with God, working as Christ worked, studying His life, keeping in mind the words of caution that He spoke. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 20

“I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing.” [John 15:5.] 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 21

Let us never forget these words. What is the consequence when one in a position of responsibility becomes so highly exalted in his own estimation that he feels that he no longer needs counsel? He does not abide in Christ, but is cast forth as a branch and is withered. Christ is man’s only efficiency. He who trusts in himself becomes self-sufficient and does many foolish things. Christ cannot give him His co-operation. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 22

“If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” [Verse 7.] These are the conditions of receiving blessing. You are not to run ahead of Christ, supposing that He will follow the one who should follow Him. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 23

Let not human beings be so presumptuous as to run ahead of Christ. Let every one walk prayerfully, humbly, realizing that without Christ, he can do nothing. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 24

“Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples. As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you; continue ye in My love. If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love. These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” [Verses 8-12.] 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 25

Who is fulfilling the conditions laid down in these words? Who is loving others with the unselfish, self-sacrificing love that Christ revealed in His life? When we believe and live the words of the Lord, our fruit-bearing will be tenfold what it is now. 18LtMs, Lt 271, 1903, par. 26