Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 25 (1910 - 1915)

Ms 64, 1910

Sermon/Thoughts on Isaiah 58

Lodi, California

February 2, 1910

Previously unpublished.

I want to say that the representations that have been given me are very earnest and very striking, and that God requires every one of us to come into line. We see the wickedness of our cities, and every soul that is to stand must inquire, What is my condition before God? How am I to be a co-laborer with Jesus Christ? How am I to show to the world that I am a laborer together with God? While I live in this world, having the truth of God’s Word to study, what am I doing? 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 1

Now in Isaiah I read in regard to some things. Isaiah was to lift up his voice like a trumpet, and he was to give the warnings: 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 2

“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and Thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and Thou takest no knowledge?” Isaiah 58:1-3. The answer comes: “Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors.” Last part of verse 3. There they counted all that they had done, that they were to be paid for it, that God must reward them for all that they had done, such wonderful things. Now theirs was a service of self-righteousness, and we do not want that. They will have pay for all that they have done. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 3

“Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness.” The wickedness of that! “Ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord?” Verses 4, 5. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 4

Now there is a brighter picture that comes. “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” Verse 6. That is what we are to do now that are living in the last days of this earth’s history. That is the very work that we are to do. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 5

“Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day.” Verses 7-10. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 6

God is counting it all. He is fitting it all up so that you shall have that suitable reward for the deeds of mercy and kindness and justice. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 7

“And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Verses 11-14. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 8

Now I want to say that night after night there is presented before me that all at once affliction and sorrow and distress will be brought upon our people. They [Satan and his angels] are fixing it all up all the time; they are preparing for it. Then what are we to do? We are to do the very best we can to enlighten the world while we can do it. Satan says, You watch; I will get the world; I will get them all under my banner, and who can resist the whole world with this little handful of people that claim to believe the Sabbath and thus and so? That is what he will talk. And here is the very thing that will spring upon us unawares, and we seem so easy; many seem so satisfied that they do not take hold to be laborers together with God. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 9

They do not understand that Christ traveled. And how did Christ travel? He just had the Word of the Lord in His hand, and He would walk; He would sit down first and talk awhile, then He would rise up and go through the length and breadth of certain places, and the people would follow Him where He would lead. He would lead them right away from the cities, away to places where they were retired. In one journey He gathered as many as five thousand. And He said, This people have been with me three days. They are weary and hungry, and they have used up the food that they had; now what shall we do? What have you got to eat? Well, five loaves and a few small fishes, but what are they among so many? 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 10

Now here is a nice grassy plot. Tell them to sit right down, men and women. When all were seated, He said, Bring forward your food. They brought it, and there He broke it in small pieces and distributed to the multitude; and every time that they had distributed all they had and came back for more, there was a supply, and they kept increasing and increasing until the multitude had got through. Then what did He say?—Gather up the fragments; let nothing be lost. There was a something wonderful in that that teaches us that all of the works of Christ that shall be manifested in our day by message or in any way of helpfulness, it is to have it as a credit. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 11

God wants us as a people to know that the end is near. It is not long that we shall have the peace that we enjoy today. He wants that we—every soul of us—shall attend to one special thing—to know that we have a living connection with God, to know that our dispositions and our tempers and all these things are being overcome through the blood of the Lamb and His testimony that He was giving from the Word continually. Now we have a work to do in that very line, all of us. How many, if I should ask you, are prepared? How many are prepared to meet the revelation of Christ in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory? 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 12

How many could say, I am ready for it? I have a living connection with God. I believe Him. I trust Him. I will follow on to know the Lord, that I may know His going forth is prepared as the morning. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 13

I want you to think of these things. I want every one of you to be ready for the Lord. Not a spot, not a wrinkle, must be upon your characters. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 14

I see so many who, if a word is spoken that they take exception to, think it means them, or something like that. They are very, very disorderly about it; they do not like it at all. And yet these are the very places where I have stood before them time after time and tried to bring before them the precious Word in all its requirements. But they scarcely remember it after it has been spoken. Some do, and some do not. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 15

What are we preparing for? We are preparing to see the King, to meet the King, the King of righteousness; and if we have followed on to know the Lord, we shall know His going forth is prepared as the morning. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 16

Now about our work that is resting upon us. If a message is brought to our churches that disagrees with our ideas, or that does not just exactly please us, that word will get around; it will be talked all through our publishing houses, perhaps all through our sanitariums—not so much, though—and here there will be the stirring up of a response. But do they know? Do they understand, unless they are prepared for the grand review, the case is lost for them, no eternal life for them, because Satan is gathering his forces everywhere, hoping that when that day shall come, that they will present such numerous satanic agencies that they can overcome everything, that their righteousness shall not avail them. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 17

But what are we doing ourselves individually that we may stand without fault before the throne of God? That has been on my mind for weeks and weeks. How can I present it to the people that they can get hold of it, that they can sense it? Are they prepared for the grand review? Are they fitting themselves up? 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 18

I do not want to come to you and tell you that this is your fault, and that is your fault. You know it yourself if you take the Word. You understand it. Those that are not right, they know themselves that they are out of line. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 19

Now we want to know who is getting ready for the great review. That is on my soul night and day, and I cannot get it off. It is going to come. Things will come upon us suddenly that we do not expect. They will come suddenly; but if we have our hearts cleansed, sanctified, ennobled by the example of Jesus Christ; if we have our eye fixed upon the perfect Pattern, then shall our light break forth as the morning, and the glory of the Lord shall be our rereward. Why? Because we have cleansed our souls; because we have come into harmony with Christ’s character. By beholding we have become changed into His divine image. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 20

Now that is upon my mind night after night. Night after night I am talking to the people, and I can get but a very few hours’ sleep. Matters will break in upon us suddenly. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 21

What I want to know is, What are you doing to bring the truth before unbelievers? What are you doing to wake them up to see their danger? Many will turn to you and say, You never told us these things; you never warned us, and we did not know anything about it. Well, your neighbors do not know it, and the burden that rests upon my mind is that there are so many that do not carry any burden for souls. They come to church, and they say a few words in church, and they act as though that were the end of the matter; but they know better from the Word of God. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 22

Night after night I am standing before the people in Mountain View, in Oakland, and in different sanitariums, and I am asking them what they are doing in order to bring the light of heaven to shine into the minds of the people. And then I feel that if God gives me strength to present before our people that they are not obtaining the living things of the Spirit of our God in our printing offices, even in our sanitariums, and in our churches, they are not doing the very work that will be a light to the world. And Satan rejoices that you are in that position. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 23

The light comes to me that unless our people are transformed by the grace of God, many souls will be left to perish in ignorance because they were never told these things. Now where is our labor for the souls that do not understand the truth? What are you doing for them? Realizing as you ought to realize that the end of all things is at hand, what are you doing yourselves through self-denial and self-sacrifice to bring the truth before the souls that are ready to perish? As these things are brought before me I have felt I never would meet with our people unless I would wake them up to understand they have a work to do that they do not appreciate, that they do not understand, and it is high time they were coming into line. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 24

What time have you set when you are going to be refined by the Spirit of God and ready for His coming? If I should ask you, how many would rise? I would not dare to ask you, for fear some of you would tell a lie and get up. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 25

I want to tell you the scene has been presented before me night after night, that if we would take hold of the power of God that we can get hold of and grasp, we should see the salvation of God going forth as a lamp that burneth. But self, self, self is pampered, and appetite is indulged, and we need to rid ourselves of the objectionable traits of character that God may work with us and by us and through us, that we may know when to speak a word in season. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 26

Now here are our institutions. Our sanitariums need to stand where they understand the work of God and carry it forward in straight lines, and everything that we are to do professedly as children of Christ, do it in reality because we believe, because we want to glorify God. Do not spend your money for that which is not bread. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 27

I entreat of you to consider how many of our cities are lying here and have been lying here, and God has been sending His message over and over and over again, that they are perishing in their sins. But I cannot see that it makes much impression upon the people. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 28

My son wanted me to go and travel with him on the last long journey that we took and thought it would take only a few weeks. But I felt the burden on me, and it was five months before I saw my home; and I am in my eighty-third year. Now I might excuse myself, but how dare I do it? When I come before the people the Lord strengthens me to speak to them and gives me a message. And every soul that is being cleansed by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony [receives a blessing]. You could not sit in quietude and leave the world all around you unwarned. Now the Lord wants you to wake up. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 29

At times I felt on that journey that I could not stand before the people. Sometimes I would talk twice a day. There was a lady who had given means to build a nice, plain, small meetinghouse for the people to gather together. “And now,” she says, “what am I going to do? Here are these colored people, and the prejudice is such that you cannot do anything if you bring them into the congregation. I will build a brick meetinghouse for them.” And she did. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 30

Well, after I had spoken an hour to the white congregation, they said, “Now there is a brick meetinghouse; can’t you speak a few words to them? You need not speak long—just a few words.” I had in my mind whether I would speak long or not. If God wanted me there, He would give me strength. So I went. After I had talked with our people—and we had an excellent meeting, then a baptism, and then a testimony meeting—I went to talk to the colored people a few words that they wanted me to give them. But I gave them just as interesting a discourse as I did to the white people, and you should see how eagerly they grasped it, how thankful they were. “Now,” said I, “give your testimonies; we want your testimonies.” Well, they would stand right up and give a clear, nice testimony, short, or course. Now don’t you think I was glad to hear them sing and shout the praises of God? Oh, I was! These colored people are not responsible for their color, but the prejudice that exists in these states where slavery has been carried out is a terrible prejudice. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 31

I want to tell you that God lives. I want to tell you that God reigns; and I want to say to you that the Lord God of Israel is going to work for His people if you will be worked. Here are those who can go out, who have the light of truth. Let them begin to open the Scriptures—to go to a house and just begin to open the Scriptures. Take a few books to sell, and then begin to tell people what there is in these books. As you begin in that way you may get somebody interested, and then before you go away you will give them quite a discourse, and get on your knees and ask the blessing of God to come on them. That is missionary work, and that is the work that God holds us accountable for not doing. There is a world to be saved and you can go in a kindly manner. They may abuse you, they may say so and so, but never respond to what they say; you just put forth another argument; and when they try to put you down on that, you just put forth another argument. Never repeat what they say; never take it into your lips, but you just remove their prejudice. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 32

Where are our missionaries? Who are they? Where are they? There are some in foreign countries, and there are some that are laboring with all the strength and soul and power to get means to enter the fields where these workers are to do the work. We have entered them, we know what they are. We have had a chance to see; and I want to say that if I were younger than I am now, I would venture in that kind of work. ... [Incidents at Alden School.] 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 33

Now what are those doing that could do something? What are you doing to warn the world? We are preparing, supposedly, for the grand review. And how will it stand with us when there is a world all around us and there is no spirit of trying to do missionary work? 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 34

Then again means are wanted. Means are needed for the very work that Loma Linda needs to have done for it. They want help; they want strength; they want you to give and do what you can in every way with your means to help them to advance the work. “The Lord is coming, let this be the herald note of jubilee.” He is waiting for gray-headed men, He is waiting for youth, He is waiting for men of all ages to give some of their time and some of their attention to perishing souls that are around them, and yet they contentedly let them go on. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 35

God help you to take some books and go around where these people are, and in a kindly manner ask them if they want to purchase these books, and then you get a good chance to tell them what there is in them. Then they will say, “Well, I would like to read it; I think I will take it.” That is the way they did with Object Lessons. I intended Object Lessons for this very work, and it was all so simply written that those who purchased it felt amply repaid; they felt that they had a precious, precious history in these books. I know of a good many that have embraced the truth by reading them. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 36

Now you can begin with that kind of missionary work, and then you can in every way possible aid the work that is going on wherever you are by dropping a word in season. Is it you that makes the impression? Is it you? “Ye are laborers together with God.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] You are dropping the words of truth into the minds of the people. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 37

We have no time to stop to quarrel in any of our institutions. We are to put on the working harness in every institution that we have, and then do you draw with Christ with all your strength of capabilities of mind, and help them where they need help, and encourage them by the Word God, by reading to them? The Lord wants us to come into line. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 38

But I ask you, who today would stand up and say they were ready for the grand review? Who has done his duty to win souls to Christ? Who has carried the burden? Who has practiced self-denial and self-sacrifice, that when such things are brought up as they will bring before you in regard to the upward grade that the physicians are to take in our world, they need means, and every one that can help with the means—don’t put on anything that will take money unnecessarily. Dress neatly, and then you can talk with them; you can tell them the great opportunities that there are before them. You can kneel down and pray with them; and if angels are not there in the room, then I should be disappointed. But I know they would be there. Angels are waiting to co-operate with men; and just as soon as there is a line of communication, they will take up these souls that are perishing without Christ. The angels of God are waiting to impress their minds. It is not your words that impress them, but you just give the words, and remember, “Ye are laborers together with God” [verse 9], and that is blessed companionship for every one of you. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 39

The salvation of God will be revealed in your homes, and we shall see the grace of God in much greater power; and that is what we want—the power of true religion. We want to reveal it, but we do not want to stand watching for fear somebody wants to get some of our money; and therefore we will stand back, and we will not give. You will stand back forever when you do that. Now God wants every one of us to COME INTO LINE, and to deny ourselves for Christ’s sake, and to speak a word in season for those that need our words and self-denial and self-sacrifice. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 40

Here are our cities. How are they ever going to be warned? Here are our cities that are perishing in their ignorance, and God wants to help us to bring them up to the high standard of His righteousness. Will you act your part? Will you be laborers together with God? God grant that you may take hold of the work as it is. There is a world to be saved. I am trying to prepare matter to send out into the highways and into the byways. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 41

I dedicated two books, The Ministry of Healing and Christ’s Object Lessons [to missionary work], and not one penny from them have I appropriated to myself. I know that many have been brought to the truth through reading them. Now carry some around, and tell the people about the books, and tell them it is a gift to our people, and you will find that the books will go. You can use the Object Lessons for your schools, and not drop them as they have been dropped. Just take hold, and believe God knows and understands His own instrumentality, and He will carry out the work if men are not too wise to engage in it, and to walk in humility and prayer for suffering humanity. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 42

It is time that we were aroused, and may God help us to bring souls to a knowledge of the truth. They may speak to you and turn you to one side, but they do not hurt you—only your feelings. They will feel sorry for it afterward; they will be ashamed of it. We want our people to act like men and women who are saving souls, as they that must give an account. You have got to give an account for the souls you have been in communion with, and yet have done no work to save from perishing. God grant that you may arouse, is my prayer. 25LtMs, Ms 64, 1910, par. 43