Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 19 (1904)

Ms 160, 1904

Talk/Talk to College Students

College View, Nebraska

September 15, 1904

Previously unpublished.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-5. Will we remember all this? Will we bear that in mind, what is the will and mind of God concerning us, that we are in the light all the time? Shall we take our position as those that are taught of God, that God does not hide His counsel from us? 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 1

Verses 6-11. Now that is our position. We are not to be in a position to watch the defects of those that are around us. In doing that we place ourselves upon the judgment seat, and we are judging. This is not our proper place. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 2

If we see one in error, we should go to them kindly and tell them in regard to the matter, and so by every means possible present to them the truth in contrast with error. There is always a truth with which we can meet error. Let this never be forgotten. And the church is to watch for souls as they that must give an account. Not that you are to watch for their haltings and watch for their errors, but that you are to watch for the prosperity of souls, that you may speak a word in season and out of season. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 3

Now begin to remove these difficulties in the name of the Lord, and in the spirit of Christ, and feel that this is the very work that God has given His church members to do. When you do that work, then if you have a work to do for outsiders, you are prepared, you have cleared the rubbish from the door of your heart. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 4

Time is very precious, and right here as the scholars are going into the school, it is a splendid opportunity, if you have carried difficulties, to go right to them and tell them, “We want this school to commence without a shred of difficulties between you and me.” We cannot afford it. Time is too short. We want to live as brethren and sisters, and here it says, “Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 5

What kind of a presentation are you giving as God’s building? Now, He says, there is a foundation laid. I have laid a foundation. Every man that buildeth on this foundation, every man that puts his work on this foundation, hay, wood, stubble; gold, silver, or precious stones, every phase of it shall be tried. And if it is nothing but hay, it will all be consumed. But if it is gold and silver and precious stones, your works will abide. Well, the fire will consume all the rubbish that you have brought in, therefore be very careful what kind of appearance you present of the Word of God, of the truth. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 6

Do not manufacture anything like tests. Do not manufacture anything that claims to be truth, when there is no truth in it. What you want is a truth that can be substantiated by the Word of God, syllable by syllable, and present that which you know will stand the fire of the last days. And if you have not done that, it is best for you to take right hold of it sensibly like men that are cultivating a farm. Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 7

Now, if you want to present to the world a building of which God will not be ashamed, if you want to present a building that bears the test of His workmanship, be careful what you entertain in your hearts, faith and truth and righteousness. You want to know where you are. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 8

The man may repent of his years of work in putting hay and wood and stubble on God’s foundation, and yet when it comes to the test after his rubbish is consumed, yet if he repents, I want to tell you that he may be saved as by fire; but how much has he lost? How many souls are giving error to these souls and unsettling the foundation of this one and that one and the other one with something that we have not substantiated as truth since 1844? God wants us to stand, having on the foundation gold and silver and precious stones that will stand the test of fire in the judgment. It becomes us, if we think anything of eternal life to consider, to be in a position where we shall test ourselves by the Word. Do not take anybody’s say so; do not take anybody’s highest sophistry. Why, there is no high sophistry. What is it that we want? We want the truth that shall stand the test of the sophistry of these last days. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 9

We are too late in the winding up of this earth’s history to be building for naught and putting into other minds our heresies, our sophistries, our vain interpretation of the Scriptures, our misinterpretation. Well, you need not receive them. No one of you needs to. But I am sorry, to see that minds are so weak. Many that think they are substantial, their minds are so weak as to hand to a human man, or the human ideas that come from men, ideas that sweep away all the foundation that God has made in the experience of more that half a century. Can you afford it? 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 10

I ask you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, to be careful how you build. Take heed how you build. If you build for time, it is for eternity. You may be putting up a false, pretentious building. Others will be charmed with just that pretension, and they will build just after your example. Now you cannot take that mind, you cannot cure that mind that you have led astray. Yourself may be saved as by fire, but there are souls that have taken their example from you that may never repent; therefore take care how you build. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 11

We have but little time yet before us, and we cannot afford to build superficially. What we want is to take the plain Word of God, just what it says. Now He tells us in (Matthew 28), He tells us something there that gives you a certainty about these things. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 12

Verse 16. Now if they had gone to some other mountain, they would not have found Jesus there. They had to go to the mountain that Jesus had appointed, and there they met Him. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 13

Verse 17. “Some doubted.” There are always doubters. There are some who consider it a virtue to be very critical. They criticize themselves out of their own faith, and they criticize others until they have no faith. Does that pay? That is working in the devil’s line. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 14

Verse 17-20. “Commanded you.” Now He has commanded you the things that are essential to give us eternal life, and “lo, I am with you, even unto the end of the world.” 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 15

You may step all over the pathway, you may take up a laborious work, and work at these things as long as time lasts, or you last yourself, and all that you thought you had benefitted is worthless. Will it pay? I say it will not pay. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 16

We are now forming characters for eternal life. We had some splendid meetings at Melrose, where the sanitarium is located. There was a tent pitched there. They were having the council meetings, but there was a man who had a special burden. He wanted us to consider the subject of whether the world was round or flat. I sent word to him that I had no burden, because Christ had not commanded me anything of the kind. He had not given me any of that work to do. But I concluded that God would take care of all that was in the world whether it was round or flat, and we need not distinguish that in order to have salvation, because there were a number pushing such things in to keep us from the very main question. What was that? 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 17

That question is to be found in Luke 10. There you will see the very question that is to have a bearing upon our lives. He tells us in Luke that those who rejected the plain message that He sends, “even the very dust of your feet,” verses 11-13. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 18

Now there is a people who would appreciate the truth if they had it. There is the city of Boston; they could labor there and do evangelistic work, and they could work in various lines to reach the people. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 19

Verse 14. “Capernaum.” There is where His greatest labors were spent, His greatest miracles wrought. Verse 15. Why? Because they had not improved their privileges. They had had the plain word from Jesus Christ, and they had chosen fables in the place of the Word. Now that is just the result. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 20

Verses 16-18. What was He referring to? He is just coming to the point that His death was to demonstrate. His death was to demonstrate that he who was occupying the position of Satan, occupying the position of false theories in regard to religion, he would be exposed in all his fallacy. You cannot afford it. Time is too short. Now, as He lifted His hand to heaven, in anticipation He saw the time when the power of Satan would be broken. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 21

There is a time before us when the message is to go with a loud cry, and those that have taken part in the beginning and have held fast their confidence to the end will have a part in that grand work. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 22

Verse 19. Do you know every serpent they tread upon? No more than the children of Israel. God kept the serpents bound that they could do them no harm. But when they became so indifferent to all the mercies the Lord had given them in leading them out, and were constantly murmuring and complaining, Christ—where was He? He was in the pillar of cloud. Every word that Moses gave them came from Christ, and Christ gave it to the people. Well then, when they insulted the Lord by departing from Him, He let the serpents loose upon them. The plague was upon them, and they were dying off, and then they came to Moses. “Pray for us, pray for us, that this plague may be removed.” [Numbers 21:7.] 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 23

Then the Lord gave to Moses the words, Erect a pillar with a serpent upon it, and there was that every one who shall look upon that serpent shall be healed of the plague. Don’t you see how strange it was that they should take a look at the serpent? What did it mean? It means that you are to believe every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. You are not to reason about the thing itself. What God has said is truth, and you are to do it. They did look, and every one who looked was healed. If they chose not to look, then the healing did not come. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 24

[Luke 10] Verse 20. It is worth everything to us whether our names are written in heaven. It means everything. If we are not faithful so that our names can be written in heaven, we never will enter the pearly gates of the city of God. If you continue in sin, you never can enter the kingdom of God. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 25

Now it is time to put it away. Now it is time that the soul shall be washed from sin and uncleanness, and there be a preparedness to enter that kingdom. Do it as quickly as you can. Do not leave this meeting until you have an evidence that your soul is under the moving influence of the Holy Spirit. Begin at once to work out that point. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 26

Verse 21. From them that are stretching for the highest sophistry, the highest education, He has hid the great substantial truths that shall live through time and last through eternity. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 27

Verses 22, 23. So we can see if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end. That is just what we can see. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 28

Verse 24. There was a great crowd around Him. There was a great crowd of Pharisees, of priests and rulers, that hoped to catch something out of His lips whereby they might condemn Him and kill Him. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 29

Verse 25. That is your question. Now let Christ answer it. Verse 26. Others had put the lawyer up to ask this question. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 30

Verses 27, 28. This is the very work that is appointed unto us. Then the lawyer ... Verse 29. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 31

Then they think, How many shall we take in as our neighbor? And Christ gives that whole parable; you can read it in Luke 10:25 to the close of the chapter. You can find out what you can do to inherit eternal life. That is the very parable Christ has brought up. He did not tell you that there is a wonderful higher education that you have to obtain in sophistries, and in various spiritualistic ideas, but He gives you the solid foundation that He Himself has created by giving His own life for the life of the world. He knows what our foundation is. Will you study these things and remember them? 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 32

My very being is drawn out after God. We want to be in a position where the truth shall have its cleansing, refining, elevating, ennobling power upon the human mind, and all the sophistries in the world cannot begin to climb up to that tower which is given unto us who will live upon the plan of addition. God help us to add faith to faith, virtue to virtue, and so live that we shall honor our Redeemer. We shall glorify our Saviour by our works, and the works testify of the surety of the truth and faith which we represent. We must represent the truth. We are not to represent any fallacy. There are some who greatly desire to get hold of some new thing to make a test of. Now right here is God’s test, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God ... mind.” [Verse 27.] Does that not take all there is of a man? Does it not take every power of your being? You have no right to let your thoughts run at random, to read novels, to study books and pour over those that tell of hypnotism and all these fallacies that are existing in these last days, because Satan is right by your side when you do it. He instills his own sophistry right into your minds. Take the Bible. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 33

That Bible will stand the test of ages. Persecution, which is about to open upon us in so wonderful a manner, may save some of these souls that have gone into heresy, but we cannot afford to spoil God’s heritage. We are God’s heritage. He has bought us with a price. He has given His own life for us, that we should have eternal life in the kingdom of God to glorify Him through the eternal ages. And I tell you it will be good business. You need not be afraid that you will get tired of glorifying God. There is everything in heaven that can be desired. There is everything that could make the soul happy and full of glory to God. I know what I am talking about. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 34

Now here I read in the chapter that I opened before you, 1 Thessalonians 5:8, 9. He has not appointed you to wrath. He does not want you to be where His wrath shall come upon you. He wants you to be where, for your own beauty and loveliness of character you can reflect His divine image. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 35

Verses 9-11. Remember you are together now. You are going to be together in this school. “Comfort yourselves together.” Work on the principles of the Bible, “and edify one another, even as also ye do.” 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 36

Verse 12. Now that is the command that our Lord Jesus Christ has given us through His own workman. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 37

Verses 14-18. How much politeness do you show to God? You are very polite to one another. But I ask you, for the blessings of God that He bestows upon you, how much thanksgiving and praise and glorifying God do you give Him? Once it was so that when we would get into a meeting and the blessing of God would come upon us, you would hear, “Praise God, Glory be to God.” That is what you would hear. It has to be old-fashioned, but God help us to revive it. Whoso offereth praise glorifieth God. That is the word. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 38

Now you are to know them which labor among you. Verse 13. You have to have that peace. That is the word, and you must have it. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 39

Verses 14, 15. Why shouldn’t you? “Let your light so shine ... in heaven.” [Matthew 5:16.] There is something that they see. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 40

[1 Thessalonians 5] Verse 18. If we should hear now and then when a sermon is being preached, and our hearts are touched, if we should hear a “Thank the Lord,” if we should hear, “Praise the Lord,” do you suppose any would think that fanaticism is coming upon us? I think they would think the old-fashioned religion had come. That is what I think. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 41

Verses 19-26. Now here is a practice that was in those days when they met: The brethren greeted the brethren with a holy kiss, and the sisters greeted the sisters with a holy kiss. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 42

But I want to say, now, that I am through on these things. I do not know but that I have given you the application, and that every one of us shall at this meeting keep our tongues from all expressions of wrong—all faultfinding, all murmuring and complaining. Let every one use his talent of speech in such a way that God shall be glorified. And if you do this, before you get along in this meeting you will realize the comfort and peace and hope and consolation, and you shall have time to express it, what God has done for you. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 43

May the Lord strengthen and bless every one of you and give you strong consolation. Now that is what He wants us to have, and shall we disappoint Him? God forbid. Let every one of us come right up from the lowlands where we have been, and realize that He has given us a voice, and He wants that tongue and that voice sanctified, that you shall express the glory of God, and that there shall be no complaining or faultfinding or anything or the kind, but you may use your tongue and your voice to glorify God and give thanks to Him. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 44

Now, these things I present before you. All the highest sophistry I have seen, would come. I have seen it for years. I have warned for years that it would come. Well, it has come. Now all these sophistries will not prove anything that will sustain you in the time of trouble and anguish that must come upon the world, to every soul, to try all that dwell on the face of the whole earth. I want to tell you, every soul, keep your tongues with a bridle. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 45

When you are before those that do not acknowledge God, be sure that not a trifling spirit comes upon you, a laugh or a giggle or any such thing as that to the young, but you speak with sobriety. You speak and act as men and women who have a soul to save or a soul to lose, and the God of all consolation will be with you and you will have a clear-cut testimony to bear in the church. You will have a clear-cut testimony to bear before unbelievers, and the Lord of heaven will come into your heart and purify your mind, and you will grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. God help us that we may work to the point. 19LtMs, Ms 160, 1904, par. 46