Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Lt 226, 1903

Wessels, Andrew

“Elmshaven,” St. Helena, California

October 9, 1903

Portions of this letter are published in Te 103-104; TSA 59-60.

Mr. Andrew Wessels, My dear friend and brother,— 18LtMs, Lt 226, 1903, par. 1

The letter that you wrote me gives me a great deal of hope and courage in the Lord. You ask what you ought to do. My answer is, Break away from your worldly associates. You can confess Christ just where you are. The Lord Jesus will be honored by your words as you tell your friends that you want to be a child of God. The Lord has given you abilities by which you can glorify Him. Confess your determination to be a Christian. Stand firm for the right. 18LtMs, Lt 226, 1903, par. 2

Do you use tobacco or intoxicating liquor? Cast them from you; for they becloud your faculties. To give up the use of these things will mean a hard battle, but God will help you to fight this battle. Ask Him for grace to overcome, and then believe that He will give it to you, because He loves you. Do not allow worldly companions to draw you away from your allegiance to Christ. Rather let your mind be drawn from these companions to Christ. Tell them that you are seeking for heavenly treasure. You are not your own; you have been bought with a price, even the life of the Son of God, and you are to glorify God in your body and in your spirit, for they are His. 18LtMs, Lt 226, 1903, par. 3

The Lord has not cut you down in your youth. He has spared your life and is drawing you to Himself. Thank the Lord with heart and soul and voice for sparing your life. Give yourself unreservedly to Him. Let not your surrender be half-hearted. This would make you neither cold nor hot; and a lukewarm Christian is offensive to God. Put your whole strength unto the work of turning away from the temptations that have made you forgetful of God and unappreciative of His goodness and His grace. 18LtMs, Lt 226, 1903, par. 4

Jesus has given His life for you. Decide that while in the past you have robbed Him of the service rightly His, and have used in the enemy’s work the powers that Christ has purchased, you will now give to God all that you have and are. Bring to Him your life, which is of far greater value than you have realized. 18LtMs, Lt 226, 1903, par. 5

You have slighted the Saviour for society that has not improved your mind or elevated or refined your character. Your association with worldlings has not given you peace, but has left you restless and unsatisfied. Christ wants you to come to Him. He says to you, “Follow Me, and you shall not walk and work without seeing any improvement in life and character.” The Saviour wants you to be converted; He wants you to be a vessel unto honor, that He may work through you. He desires you to come to Him now, without further delay. He will forgive your sins if you will ask Him; for He says, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” [John 6:37.] 18LtMs, Lt 226, 1903, par. 6

Christ is the touchstone of all hearts. He is the revealer of the Father and of the Father’s love. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” [John 3:16.] “No man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.” [Matthew 11:27.] 18LtMs, Lt 226, 1903, par. 7

Christ is also the revealer of the hearts of men. He is the exposer of sin. By Him the characters of all are to be tested. To Him all judgment has been committed, “because He is the Son of man.” [John 5:27.] 18LtMs, Lt 226, 1903, par. 8

Then what is the work that you are to do? You are to receive the precious Saviour as your very best friend, and honor Him by doing His will. “As many as received Him”—choosing Him above all other friends—“to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on His name.” [John 1:12.] Receive Him as your light and life. He so loved you that He died that you might live forever. Believe in Him. Regard him as your best and truest friend. Come to Him, saying, “Lord, I give myself to Thee just as I am. I have wasted many years of the life that Thou didst redeem by the sacrifice of Thine own life. Wilt Thou forgive me?” 18LtMs, Lt 226, 1903, par. 9

Christ has made it possible for you to be received as a member of the royal family, a child of the heavenly King. The Saviour will receive you as you come to Him and will give you power to overcome. He declares, “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” [John 17:3.] Will you not appreciate this great gift of life, eternal life in the kingdom of God? Read in the Scriptures of the advantages offered to those who live for Christ, and you will see that those who live for self will at last lose all. Do not allow the world to engross your thoughts. Take your position on the side of Christ. Be willing to share the trials and disappointments and self-denials that came to Him in the life that He lived for us on this earth. 18LtMs, Lt 226, 1903, par. 10

Christ asks you, my dear brother, to choose to serve Him, to come out from the world, and be separate. As you fully consecrate yourself to Him, your heart will be filled with a joy that is deep and satisfying. “Ask, and ye shall receive.” [John 16:24.] Believe the invitation, and ask of the precious Saviour the things you know that you need and have not yet received. Surrender yourself unreservedly to Him who gave His life for you. As you do this, you will receive power to become a son of God. You will then be the Lord’s helping hand, reaching out to help others to step up on to the platform of eternal truth. 18LtMs, Lt 226, 1903, par. 11