Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Ms 60, 1901

Diary/“Today I spoke both in the ...”

Battle Creek, Michigan

April 23, 1901

Portions of this manuscript are published in OHC 209, 255. +^Note

Today I spoke both in the morning and the afternoon upon the Southern missionary work. Late in the afternoon I spoke to the missionaries going to foreign countries, many of whom were to leave the next day. The Lord gave me much freedom. This was to me a very solemn occasion. Probably I shall never see these friends again until time has ended and the trump of God calls the dead from their graves. My prayers shall ascend to God that these dear souls who are going to their appointed fields of service may have that spiritual sinew and muscle which will enable them to do excellent work for the Master. 16LtMs, Ms 60, 1901, par. 1

Christ is our life. The soul in whom He abides will meet the requirements of His principles in thorough devotion and consecration to God. Christ’s personal contact with the soul builds it up, supplying its ever-recurring wants. He is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. He is our sufficiency. Upon Him the spiritual life is dependent. 16LtMs, Ms 60, 1901, par. 2

Spiritual joy is the result of a consciousness of Christ’s saving presence. An indwelling Christ is the cause of ever-increasing power. He is the life-blood of the soul. If He abides with us, we may say, “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” [Galatians 2:20.] 16LtMs, Ms 60, 1901, par. 3

How deep, and broad, and far-reaching was the prayer Christ offered to His Father just before His crucifixion. In this prayer He said, “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and thou in me; that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me; for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.” [John 17:17-24.] 16LtMs, Ms 60, 1901, par. 4

This seems to be almost too much for us to expect. But we may believe; for it is Christ who is speaking. His promises are as complete as was His sacrifice. Shall we not try to be complete in Him who has made such a wonderful offering for us? 16LtMs, Ms 60, 1901, par. 5

Christ declared, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven; not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead; he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. ... It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” [John 6:51-58, 63.] Then how diligently we should search the Scriptures, that we may understand every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 16LtMs, Ms 60, 1901, par. 6

In physical life the blood is made up of the food we eat. So in spiritual life, Christ will be formed in us if we eat His Word. He who searches the Scriptures diligently and by prayerful meditation grasps the precious instruction, has spiritual perceptions which are clear beyond the ordinary; for he enjoys the continual development by which Christ rewards the persevering industry of the earnest, determined mind. 16LtMs, Ms 60, 1901, par. 7

“The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field, the which, when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” [Matthew 13:44.] When Christ abides in us His life renews the soul as the blood in the physical body gives life to the whole being. He says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. ... Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches; He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” [John 15:1, 4-8.] 16LtMs, Ms 60, 1901, par. 8

Are we fruit-bearing branches of the true vine? Read and study the fifteenth chapter of John. Bring the life of Christ into your spiritual circulation. The food we eat at one meal does not satisfy us forever. We must daily partake of food. So we must daily eat the Word of God, that the life of the soul may be renewed. In those who feed constantly upon the Word, Christ is formed, the hope of glory. A neglect to read and study the Bible brings spiritual starvation. 16LtMs, Ms 60, 1901, par. 9

The first psalm describes a man of true principle. “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so; but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous; but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” [Verses 1-6.] 16LtMs, Ms 60, 1901, par. 10

Christ, the great Physician, has given a prescription for every believer. He must eat the food provided in the Word of God. And the faith that works by love to God and man is dependent not only upon the food we eat but upon the air we breathe. If we associate with those who are evil, we breathe an atmosphere tainted by the malaria of sin. Be sure, by association with the meek and lowly followers of Jesus, to breathe a pure, holy atmosphere. 16LtMs, Ms 60, 1901, par. 11