Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 21 (1906)

Ms 15, 1906

It is Time for Thee, Lord, to Work

St. Helena, California

January 18, 1904

Portions of this manuscript are published in 3BC 1153.

“Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments; and madest known unto them Thy holy Sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses Thy servant; and gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which Thou hadst sworn to give them. But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to Thy commandments, and refused to obey, neither were mindful of Thy wonders, that Thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage; but Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 1

“Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations; yet Thou in Thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way wherein they should go. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 2

“Thou gavest them also Thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not Thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst. Yea, forty years didst Thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 3

“Moreover Thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners; so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan. Their children also multipliedst Thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which Thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it. So the children went in and possessed the land, and Thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would. And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance; so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in great goodness. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 4

“Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against Thee, and cast Thy law behind their backs, and slew Thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to Thee, and they wrought great provocations. Therefore Thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them; and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto Thee, Thou heardest them from heaven; and according to Thy manifold mercies Thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies. But after they had rest, they did evil again before Thee; therefore leftest Thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them; yet when they returned, and cried unto Thee, Thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst Thou deliver them according to Thy mercies; and testifiedst against them, that Thou mightest bring them again unto Thy law; yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto Thy commandments, but sinned against Thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 5

“Yet many years didst Thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by Thy spirit in Thy prophets; yet would they not give ear; therefore gavest Thou them into the hand of the people of the lands. Nevertheless for Thy great mercies’ sake Thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for Thou art a gracious and merciful God. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 6

“Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before Thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, and on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all Thy people, since the times of the kings of Assyria unto this day. Howbeit Thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for Thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly; neither have our kings, our princes, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto Thy commandments and Thy testimonies wherewith Thou didst testify against them. For they have not served Thee in their kingdom, and in Thy great goodness that Thou gavest them and in the large and fat land which Thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 7

“Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it; and it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom Thou hast set over us because of our sins; also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress. And because of all this, we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.” [Nehemiah 9:13-38.] 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 8

This representation I was instructed to present to the people as occasion required, and to stand boldly in defense of the truth, which will be perverted more and more into strong representations of evil unless there is a decided reformation among those who are in positions of influence. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 9

To Seventh-day Adventists, more than to any other people, the Lord has manifested His great and glorious truths. He has led His people in simplicity in paths of truth and righteousness. Their history is similar to the history presented in the foregoing pages. The people to whom the Lord has been very gracious have not appreciated His favors. When He wrought for them in giving them most precious evidences of His favor, they did not return to Him the glory due unto His name. Yet He did not forsake them altogether. All heaven enlisted in their favor to bear the medical missionary work and the ministry of the Word, blended in one, to all parts of the world. All the facilities of heaven were waiting their demand. Had the will of God been done, the glory of the last message would have been seen, and the last trump would have called forth the righteous dead, who would have been conducted to the mansions Christ has gone to prepare for their reception. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 10

The stronghold that Satan has obtained is the result of a lack of devoted, self-sacrificing principle. Truth is to be proclaimed with all the importance that God designed it to have. The light is to shine forth to all peoples, and tongues, and nations, preparing them for the hour of God’s judgment. The Lord has given line upon line, precept upon precept, after the divine similitude; but many who know the truth have not practiced the principles given in the law of God, but have brought in their own inventions, exalting themselves. Conniving, selfishness, and self-exaltation have leavened the hearts of many with pride, self-importance, and self-glorification; the spread of the gospel message has been obstructed, and God has been dishonored. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 11

The Lord is slow to anger. He has visited with His judgments two of our largest institutions, and even this warning has been misunderstood and disregarded. But the Lord, slow to anger, is great in power, and will not at all acquit the evil working that has been revealed. The wickedness of the wicked is coming to a fearful pass. Many are set to carry out their own perverted ideas. They have closed their ears and hearts to the Lord’s warnings, and they are to be dealt with in the Lord’s own time. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 12

The Lord is slow to anger and great in power. The longsuffering of God with the perversity of fallen human beings has been wonderfully revealed. But had families who know the truth been wholly consecrated to God, the children in these families would have been educated, disciplined, molded, and fashioned by the Holy Spirit. The influence of this consecration would have been felt in the church, and from this fold would have gone forth many men and women imbued with the spirit of the message, to proclaim the truth for these last days. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 13

If the Omnipotent God had not put constraint upon his attributes, if Omnipotence had not been under the stern control of Omnipotence, the wrath of the Lord would have been more decidedly manifest as He viewed the undermining of the influence of the truth, because the very men and women who ought to have been sanctifying themselves through the truth were many of them far below the standard of godliness. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 14

We thank God that He is still giving His testimony from His Word through the few who are walking in the path of life. But instead of the testimonies of a few, there should be multiplied testimonies. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 15

“Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.” [Jeremiah 21:8.] Their ways shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness. They have caused My people to err with falsehoods and with deceptive fables, with false science and false tests. Many have become strangers to the covenant of promise. I the Lord have become wearied with their perversities, but I would not have My holy truth brought into disrepute and contempt by their departure from My law. I have put constraint upon Myself, but I will punish this thing when I shall have every case before Me. I have forborne to cut them down, to disown them; but I will visit their transgression with a rod. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 16

How is it that men and women, in the place of being softened by the long patience of God, repeat and repeat their transgressions of God’s law and encourage in their characters increased resistance? They dishonor God by covering up their evil work and refusing to repent. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 17

But there will be faithful testimonies borne. “And He said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with My words unto them. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel; not to many people of a strange speech and of a hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their forehead. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead; fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 18

“Moreover He said unto me, Son of man, all My words that I shall speak unto thee, receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears. And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord God; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 19

“Then the Spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His place. I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures, that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing. So the Spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the Lord was strong upon me. ... 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 20

“And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at My mouth, and give them warning from Me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. Again, when a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die; because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.” [Ezekiel 3:4-14, 16-21.] 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 21

The times in which we live are times of extraordinary depravity. Perverted principles have been brought into our churches and our institutions. In the psalms of David there are expressions that mean much. “It is time for Thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void Thy law. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.” [Psalm 119:126, 127.] Religious principles are discarded, not by all church members, but by many. By many the law of God is made void. They have the Word of God, but they refuse to obey. The divine precepts have become to them a dead letter. They have refused to obey the law of God, refused to make this law their rule of life. Those who have heard the message of mercy, and have a knowledge of the truth, but have not practiced the truth, become more and still more hardened in rebellion, more determined to follow their own way. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 22

When David in his day saw the departing from the law of God, he expected that a manifestation of divine displeasure would be seen. He looked for the Lord to show forth His righteous indignation. “It is time for Thee, Lord, to work,” he exclaimed; “for they have made void Thy law.” [Verse 126.] He supposed that in their lawlessness men had exceeded the bounds of God’s forbearance, and that the Lord would not longer restrain Himself. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 23

Today we see in the world the same condition of lawlessness that existed in Noah’s day. Then the earth was filled with violence. The Lord told him to build an ark for the saving of the souls of those who would hear the message of warning. During the one hundred and twenty years while the ark was building, Noah gave the warning; but the probation granted resulted in the saving of only eight souls. Those years of probation were not appreciated. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 24

It is possible for men to go so far in wickedness, under continual remonstrance, that God sees that He must arise and vindicate His honor. Thus it is at the present period of this earth’s history. Crime of every degree is becoming more and more strikingly manifest. The earth is filled with violence of men against their fellow men. 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 25

What position will the church take? Will those who in the past have had respect for the law of God be drawn into the current of evil? Will the almost universal transgression and contempt of the law of God darken the spiritual atmosphere of the souls of all alike? Will the disrespect of the law of God sweep away the protecting barriers? Because wickedness and lawlessness prevail, is the law of God to be less highly esteemed? Because it is made void by the great majority of those living on the earth, shall the few loyal ones become like all the disloyal and act as the wicked act? Shall they not rather offer up the prayer of David, “It is time for Thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void Thy law”? Shall the law be less esteemed because the larger number is disloyal? No! “They have made void Thy law. Therefore I love Thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.” [Verses 126, 127.] 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 26

“Blessed are the undefiled in the way,
Who walk in the law of the Lord.
Blessed are they that keep His testimonies,
And that seek Him with the whole heart.
They also do no iniquity;
They walk in His ways.
Thou hast commanded us to keep Thy precepts diligently.
O that my ways were directed to keep Thy statutes!
Then shall I not be ashamed,
When I have respect unto all Thy commandments.
I will praise Thee with uprightness of heart,
When I shall have learned Thy righteous judgments.
I will keep Thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed thereto according to Thy word.
With my whole heart have I sought Thee;
O let me not wander from Thy commandments. ...
Thy testimonies are wonderful;
Therefore doth my soul keep them.
The entrance of Thy words giveth light;
It giveth understanding unto the simple.” 21LtMs, Ms 15, 1906, par. 27

[Verses 1-10, 129, 130.]