Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Lt 159, 1899

Lindsay, Harmon

“Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

October 11, 1899

Portions of this letter are published in 9MR 372.

Dear Brother Harmon Lindsay:

The letters received by Brother John Wessels are of a character to confuse him. If it was wrong to hold Brother Wessels when he should have come to Australia, where is the consistency of calling him to return. John Wessels is not God. He cannot deliver you, and if it is his duty to be in this country now, he would be no help to you in Africa. Why do you not call upon the Lord, and believe that He will hear your prayers, and answer, Here I am? God is to be your dependence and your trust. It is not in the power of man to be always joyous and free from temptation. Christ does not promise that the Christian’s service will be without trial and conflict, but He says, Lo, I am with you always. I will never leave or forsake those who trust in Me. 14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, par. 1

Brother Harmon Lindsay, you have had your talent done up in a napkin quite long enough, and as a result you have become spiritually weak. Humility is a precious talent. It is one of the attributes which every Christian must possess. Christ says, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.] 14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, par. 2

Meekness and lowliness of heart is a Christian virtue, but it is no virtue for a man to demerit himself, and entertain a worse opinion of himself than is profitable. The soul of man is of such value that nothing can compare with it. He should always remember, I have been bought with a price. The price paid for man’s redemption marks the value God places upon him. The love of God, the value of Christ’s life, is placed in the scales, and nothing, not even the whole world, can balance them. 14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, par. 3

There are some who offend God by measuring their capabilities and attainments, by overrating their powers and knowledge. They are proud of their abilities, because they belong to them. Self is exalted, and swells to large proportions. Man talks of all he has done to advance the cause of God, but he is no more in favor with God than is the worst sinner. 14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, par. 4

When a man submits to the yoke of Christ, and learns the lesson of meekness and lowliness of heart, he is a fit subject for the kingdom of God. As he studies the Word, his mind expands. “The entrance of thy word giveth light, it giveth understanding to the simple.” [Psalm 119:130.] The more he advances, the more he learns, the more his illumination increases, and he discerns that it is his duty to work out his own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that is working in him, to will and to do of His good pleasure. When he turns his face to the Sun of Righteousness, he is humbled as regards himself, but he sees more clearly the value of his own soul, which is proportionate to the value of the offering made to save the world. 14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, par. 5

The offense against the law cannot possibly cease until the penitent sinner lays hold by faith of Christ’s righteousness. He accepts this, that he may be freed from all blemish. This is the antidote for all sin. He casts himself, just as he is, into the scale, with the death and intercession of the Son of God in the other, and claims pardon. The death and intercession of the Son of God is placed in the one scale, and the sinner’s defective life in the other. 14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, par. 6

Man must ask forgiveness for sin with earnest, fervent prayer. Thus he reveals Christian humility, which is of great value in God’s sight. When man gives himself wholly to Christ, he can resist the devil in and through Christ Jesus. Through faith and trust in God under trial, he is made meet to enjoy the inheritance of the saints, when every overcomer shall wear the crown of life in the kingdom of God. 14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, par. 7

Brother Harmon Lindsay, for a long time you have been losing your spiritual activity. If you now make a full consecration to God, you may be cured. The churches are filled with lifeless members. The soul through which God cannot breathe the breath of life is a spiritual corpse. What can be conceived more terrible than a form of godliness without the living energies which constitute life? He who does not submit himself to God’s authority, who picks flaws in the lives of others, who is unbelieving, faultfinding, altogether selfish, without love to God or his fellow man, without piety, without humility, is dead while he appears to live. 14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, par. 8

Brother Harmon Lindsay, wake up. Let the breath of heaven circulate through your soul. Consecrate yourself to God daily, and He will shine through you. If you take up your appointed work, you will see and understand. Study how you can execute that work in a trustful, happy state of mind. You have a stewardship, and God loves you, and does not want you to make a failure. Die to self, and live unto God the new life, and you will be safe. You have had more than one talent entrusted to you, but for some time back you have been a very dull student. To some only one talent is given, but that one talent, if traded upon, will gain another talent. These two, put out to usury, will gain two more. The four, working on the same principle, make eight. Thus you are to trade upon your Lord’s goods. Humble duties, faithfully done, bring honor to God. Let no man feel that he is not sufficiently qualified to work for God. Let him go to work and become qualified by using what he already has, with a determination to improve. In whatever line our work is, we are to improve. 14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, par. 9

Brother Lindsay, I have a most earnest longing of soul that you shall do right just where you are. Give your whole soul to the work. Annie Wessels Lindsay, I am instructed to call upon you to stay up the hands of your husband. You do not need John over there. Harmon Lindsay, wake up and strive. When Edson White has been in a hard place, he writes to me, Mother, your letters came to me, and in every one you charged me solemnly, Do not fail nor be discouraged. That has saved me from many a failure. Brother Lindsay, I do not want that in the heavenly record it shall be written of you, Weighed in the balance, and found wanting. Christ is intensely desirous that you shall succeed just where you are. Suspend your labors? No; call upon the Lord to help you, that you may not only be a consumer of God’s grace but a provider, a living channel of light. What is happiness but the exercise of the energies of the soul in behalf of perishing mortals? Your growth in wisdom has a relation to God. You must be about your Father’s business. There is a call for qualified persons in the various activities of life. Let none be drones in the hives of workers. 14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, par. 10

The Lord has taken John away because his efficiency would not give place for others to put to the tax every spiritual sinew and muscle. Your time, my brother, has for a long time, been spent in doing little. Pray, Brother Lindsay. Ask that you may receive. Shoulder your God-given responsibilities. Fill your time with labor, and win back that which you have lost in capability. No one has a moment to spare. Make God your trust. 14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, par. 11

Bring all the kindness possible into your family, yet be firm to serve God with heart and soul and mind. Take Annie with you. If she would consecrate her life entirely to God, she would be a channel of light. I cannot see how it is John Wessels’ duty to go back to Africa, when the light I had was that he should come here. Had he followed the conviction of his own soul, he would have come when he first decided to leave, and we would now be two years in advance. I am sorry that this is not so. If you will seek the Lord, and humble your heart before Him, you will have wisdom and strength and grace to overcome. Much love to all. 14LtMs, Lt 159, 1899, par. 12