Manuscript Releases, vol. 4 [Nos. 210-259]

MR No. 232—On the Work in New York City

The Holy Spirit cannot be revealed to the church members in Greater New York while dissension and strife exist. Would it not be well for you to lay aside “all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,” and “as new born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby”? 4MR 272.1

If you would unitedly put away your peculiar hereditary and cultivated traits of character, and work together, the Lord could work through you. But souls will not be convicted and converted until you come into unity and Christian fellowship. Lose sight of self. Keep your eyes fixed on the Redeemer. 4MR 272.2

The Lord calls upon those now working in Greater New York to repent and be converted. Both ministers and lay members are standing in their own light, and are wasting many precious opportunities. There is great need of coming together with deep humiliation and sincere repentance because of the lack of unity and brotherly love that has been manifested. In the Word, Christians are instructed not to neglect the assembling of themselves together. If need be, come together with fasting. Make most diligent search for the cause of your soul-sickness, which must be healed. Until in every sense of the word you are Christians in your associations with one another, until you love as brethren, how can your efforts for unbelievers be acceptable to God? Your first work is to be converted yourselves.... 4MR 272.3

Those who are of the household of faith should never neglect the assembling of themselves together; for this is God's appointed means of leading His children into unity, in order that in Christian love and fellowship they may help, strengthen, and encourage one another. My brethren and sisters in Greater New York, if you would come together for prayer meetings; if, after confession of sin and humiliation of soul, you would have a love-feast—every heart filled with true love for his brethren—you would see the salvation of God.... 4MR 272.4

Unconsciously every true worker will say, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? Am I not working at the close of the day? I must walk in the light as one of the children of light. I must lay aside ‘every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset,’ and run with patience the race that is set before me. I am striving for a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” 4MR 273.1

“Walk in the light.” To walk in the light means to resolve, to exercise thought, to exert will power, in an earnest endeavor to represent Christ in sweetness of character. It means to put away all gloom. You are not to rest satisfied simply in saying, “I am a child of God.” Are you beholding Jesus, and, by beholding, becoming changed into His likeness? To walk in the light means advancement and progress in spiritual attainments. Paul declared, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect; but ... forgetting those things which are behind,” constantly beholding the Pattern, I reach “forth unto those things which are before.” To walk in the light means to “walk uprightly,” to walk “in the way of the Lord,” to “walk by faith,” to “walk in the Spirit,” to “walk in the truth,” to “walk in love,” to “walk in newness of life.” It is “perfecting holiness in the fear of God”.... 4MR 273.2

Talk faith, and your faith will increase. Cease lamenting. Work in Christ's lines. With loving endeavor strive to please Him. His excEllence will help you to be Christlike. Ever stand ready to lift up the hands that hang down and to strengthen the feeble knees. Shine as lights in the world, attracting others by the brightness of Christ's glory revealed through your good works.... 4MR 274.1

I address this letter to the several churches and companies of believers in Greater New York. God help you to walk in the light. Walk so that your life will reflect rays of light to others. If you work as God designs you should, many of such as shall be saved will be added to your numbers. Confide in the love of Jesus, and you will have grace to save perishing souls. Your path will be as the path of the just—“a light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”—Letter 98, 1902, pp. 3, 4, 6, 7, 10-12. (To the church and companies in Greater New York, July 8, 1902.) 4MR 274.2

God's encouraging message of mercy should be proclaimed in the cities of America. Men and women living in these cities are rapidly becoming more and still more entangled in their business relations. They are acting wildly in the erection of buildings whose towers reach high into the heavens. Their minds are filled with schemes and ambitious devisings. God is bidding every one of His ministering servants: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression; and the house of Jacob their sins.”... 4MR 274.3

At this time, when there are persons, even among worldlings, who are willing to concede favors to us, let not the brethren of responsibility at the center of the work be slow to acknowledge the good work begun. Let them encourage the efforts of their fellow workers to plant the seeds of truth in new soil. Let them not be negligent or slack in sustaining these workers. When the Lord opens ways to establish small institutions in different places, let the men in positions of trust help their brethren to take advantage of these offers by advancing means to them, and giving them words of good cheer. Let not our leading brethren discourage God's servants from entering these providential openings.—Manuscript 154, 1902, 1, 2. (“Our Opportunity to Work the Cities of America,” October 24, 1902.) 4MR 274.4

Letters come to me from different places, saying, “Sister White, you must help us here. No other voice can give us the help that we so much need. We can not go farther without assistance.” It was thus in New York City, and this is the reason that I undertook my journey East late last fall. 4MR 275.1

From the light that I have had, I know that New York City must be worked, and that now is the time for this work to be done. Elder Haskell has struggled to gain a foothold there; but where is the means to begin the sanitarium work and the hygienic restaurant work that should be established in many localities in that great city? We are glad to be able to say that already a restaurant has been opened in Brooklyn.—Manuscript 133, 1902, 4. (General manuscript entitled “Fragments,” October 30, 1902.) 4MR 275.2

Let the believers living near the place where you are holding meetings share the burden of the work. They should feel it a duty and a privilege to help to make the meetings a success. God is pleased by efforts to set them at work. He desires every church member to labor as His helping hand, seeking by loving ministry to win souls to Christ. 4MR 275.3

The people in Greater New York need gospel teaching. But the parade you make destroys the impressions that God desires you to leave on their minds by your presentation of truth. Christlike words and deeds have far more influence for good than all the outward show and expensive preparations that can be made. Expending money for display is not the way to get the truth before the people. It is the way to keep Christ hidden. Conduct your meetings with the solemnity befitting the importance and sacredness of the testing truths that you are presenting, praying constantly, and constantly drawing nearer to God. 4MR 276.1

Lift up Christ, the sin-pardoning Saviour. Bend all your efforts to proclaiming His message of forgiveness. A great work is to be done. In the future there will be many conversions. Some now in error will be preaching the truth.—Letter 190, 1902, pp. 2, 3. (To E. E. Franke, December 11, 1902.) 4MR 276.2

There is the great city of New York. Much might have been done in it that had not been done. Are you surprised that I should keep these cities before the notice of our people? We have scarcely touched Greater New York with the tips of our fingers.—Letter 187, 1905, p. 2. (To “Dear Brother,” probably A. G. Daniells, February 26, 1905.) 4MR 276.3

God has looked upon the great display made by some who have labored in New York; but He does not harmonize with that way of preaching the gospel. The solemn message becomes mingled with a large amount of chaff, which makes upon minds an impression that is not in harmony with our work. The good news of saving grace is to be carried to every place; the warning must be given to the world, but economy must be practiced if we move in the spirit of which Christ has given us an example in His life service. He would have nothing of such outlay to represent health reform in any place.... 4MR 276.4

All the grand displays that have been made in the medical missionary work, or in buildings, or in dress, or in any line of adornment, are contrary to the will of God. Our work is to be carefully studied, and is to be in accordance with our Saviour's plan. He might have had armies of angels to display His true, princely character, but he laid all that aside, and came to our world in the garb of humanity, to suffer with humanity all the temptations wherewith man is tempted. He was tempted in all points as human beings are tempted, that He might reveal that it is possible for us to be victorious overcomers, one with Christ as Christ is one with the Father. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not; but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. 4MR 277.1

God calls upon Seventh-day Adventists to reveal to the world that we are preparing for those mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for those who will purify their souls by obeying the truth as it is in Jesus. Let every soul who will come after Christ, deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Him. Thus saith the great Teacher.—Letter 309, 1905, pp. 5, 6. (To. J. A. Burden, November 1, 1905.) 4MR 277.2

I have seen representations of several locations in high altitudes, that should be secured for sanitarium purposes. Your description of the property forty-eight miles from New York City seems to correspond to these representations. In such places the air is bracing, and induces deep breathing, which is very beneficial. And the offer of this property for twenty-five thousand dollars or less seems to be very reasonable. 4MR 278.1

I hope that Dr. Kress and others will examine this piece of property. I would be in favor of purchasing it if it commends itself to the best judgment of our brethren who see it. I am pleased with the description you have given, and especially of the water privileges. Some improvements would doubtless have to be made, but these need not all be put in at once. Strict economy should be exercised. It seems to me that our people should be able to raise the amount necessary for its purchase and equipment for sanitarium use. 4MR 278.2

Our cities are to be worked with the third angel's message. Notwithstanding the light that has been given, there seems to be but little accomplished so far.—Letter 136, 1909, p. 1. (To G. B. Starr, October 14, 1909.) 4MR 278.3

You should feel a decided responsibility for the working of New York City. The men in the business houses of New York and other large cities, as verily as the heathen in foreign lands, must be reached with the message. The enemy would be rejoiced to see the grand, saving truth for this time confined to a few places. He is not inactive. He is instilling into the minds of men his deceptive theories to blind their eyes and confuse their understanding, that the saving truth may not be brought to their knowledge. Soon the Sunday laws will be enforced, and men in positions of trust will be embittered against the little handful of God's commandment-keeping people.—Letter 168, 1909, p. 5. (To the officers of the General Conference, December 1, 1909.) 4MR 278.4

Missions should be established in all our large cities, and earnest efforts put forth for these neglected centers. The workers should receive training, that they may labor discreetly and intelligently. When camp meetings are held there should be a decided interest manifested for the people in the vicinity.—Letter 172, 1909, p. 3. (To J. E. White and wife, December 22, 1909.) 4MR 279.1

I have been pleading with the Lord to roll the burden on the watchmen. Presidents of conferences and church elders must work. Two and two, laborers are to be sent forth into the unworked cities. No man is to be authorized to carry the work alone. 4MR 279.2

I am charged to repeat the warnings given in the past—that it is not by making a great display that the work in New York and other places is to be carried forward. In the past mistakes have been made in the work in New York, mistakes which placed an erroneous stamp on the work, [Reference is to the work of E. E. Franke in 1901-1903.] and left a wrong impression on the minds of those who witnessed the wonderful performance. Much time has thus been lost, and many false impressions made, regarding our work and the truth we believe.—Manuscript 59, 1912, 4. (General manuscript, entitled, “Fragments,” August 13, 1912.) 4MR 279.3

During my stay in southern California, I was enabled to visit places that in the past have been presented to me by the Lord as suitable for the establishment of sanitariums and a school. For years I have been given special light that we are not to establish large centers for our work in the cities. The turmoil and confusion that fills these cities, the conditions brought about by the labor unions and the strikes, would prove a great hindrance to our work. Men are seeking to bring those engaged in the different trades under certain unions. This is not God's planning, but the planning of a power that we should in no case acknowledge. God's word is fulfilling; the wicked are binding themselves in bundles ready to be burned. 4MR 280.1

We are now to use all our entrusted capabilities in giving the last warning message to the world. In this work we are to preserve our individuality. We are not to unite with secret societies or with trade unions. We are to stand free in God, looking constantly to Christ for instruction at every step. All our movements are to be made with a realization of the importance of the work to be accomplished for the Lord. 4MR 280.2

I have been instructed that the work in southern California should have advantages that it has not yet enjoyed. I have been shown that in southern California there are properties for sale on which buildings are already erected that could be utilized for our work, and other properties in localities especially suited to sanitarium work, and that such properties will be offered to us at much less than their original cost. In these places, away from the din and confusion of the congested cities, we can establish sanitariums in which the sick can be cared for in the way in which God designs them to be cared for. In our efforts to help the sick, we are to take them away from the cities, where they are continually annoyed by the noise of trains and street cars, and where there is little besides houses to see, to places where they can be surrounded by scenes of nature, where they can have the blessing of fresh air and sunshine. 4MR 280.3

This subject was laid out before me in Australia. Light was given me that the cities would be filled with confusion, violence, and crime, and that these things would increase till the close of this earth's history. There is much to be said on this point. Instruction is to be given line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little. And our physicians and teachers should be quick to see the advantages of retired locations for our sanitariums and schools. 4MR 281.1

Properties such as these to which I have referred are being offered to us, and some of them we should purchase when it is plain that they are what we need, and when provision can be made for their acquisition without a burdensome debt. Where there are orchards on these places, so much the better, but on other properties, where the buildings are just what we need, trees can be set out. 4MR 281.2

The fact that, in many cases, the owners of these properties are anxious to dispose of them, and are therefore willing to sell at a low price, is greatly in our favor. We must study economy in the outlay of means. At this stage of our work, we are not to erect large buildings in any of the cities. And we are not to follow extravagant and unduly large plans in our work in any place. We are to remember the cities that have been neglected and that must now be worked. The people in these cities must have the light of truth. In our establishment of sanitariums, we are not to spend large sums of money in the erection of costly buildings; for there are many places to be worked. We are to be wise in securing advantages already provided that the Lord desires us to have. We are to be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves in our efforts to secure country properties at a low figure, and from these outpost centers we are to work the cities. 4MR 281.3

The work in southern California is to advance more rapidly than it has advanced in the past. The means lying in banks or hidden in the earth is now called for to strengthen the work in southern California. Every year many thousands of tourists visit southern California, and by various methods we should try to reach them with the truth. 4MR 282.1

Our medical missionary work in Los Angeles should be in a far more favorable position than it is. The Lord designs that much more shall be done in this city than has been done there. But I cannot speak freely about this at present; for fear that men will take advantage of what I say, and will endeavor, by my words, to vindicate wrong plans. Some of the brethren in Los Angeles have at times lacked spiritual discernment. They have not always been able to see what could be done by proper effort on their part. A large work has been done in some lines, but the methods followed have not been such as to bring glory to God in the saving of souls. 4MR 282.2

I have been instructed that the greatest work that we can do in this life is to prepare ourselves and to help others to prepare for the future immortal life. We are to arrange our business in such a way that we and all who are connected with us shall be able to serve God with all our powers. We must allow nothing to intervene that would obscure our vision of heavenly things. 4MR 282.3