Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 6 (1889-1890)

Lt 22a, 1890

Rogers, Brother

Battle Creek, Michigan

February 9, 1890

Previously unpublished.

Brother Rogers:

I have some things to say to you at this time. The words which Christ addressed to Nicodemus are appropriate to address to you. “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” [John 3:3.] You are not right with God. Your course is not that of a Christian. You have a spotted record in the books of heaven, and you are not fit to be entrusted with the flock of God. The cause of God will do far better without your labor than with it, if in the future you do as you have done in the past. 6LtMs, Lt 22a, 1890, par. 1

Your only hope is in being converted. Fall on the Rock and be broken. You are full of self-esteem, self-sufficiency, and this separates the spirit of God from you; but there are also greater evils that exist in your life and character which disqualify you for handling sacred things. Will you consider the fact that there is a witness present with you who knows the most secret chapters of your life? These chapters have been opened before me, but I hope that I shall not be obliged to open them before others. I have not, as yet revealed, your life experience, hoping that your conscience would become aroused, and if it did awaken, that you might see yourself as you are. Humble your soul before God before it is forever too late for wrongs to be righted. Will you improve the present opportunity to draw nigh to God? You have not a true realization of what sin is. You feel righteous in your own eyes, but your heart is corrupt. “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.” [James 4:8, 9.] Is it not time for you to be alarmed? 6LtMs, Lt 22a, 1890, par. 2

O, the ministry needs cleansing. You do not carry the burden for souls. You do not walk in the spirit of Jesus Christ, but in sparks of your own kindling. It is the defilement of your mind, the hardness of your heart that makes you so self-confident. You have little realization of the sacred character of the work in which you have been engaged. For Christ’s sake, for your own soul’s sake, make thorough work while probation lingers. It is a fearful thing to be lost, and you certainly will be if there is not a decided change in you, if your moral taste is not entirely transformed. The atmosphere that surrounds your soul is tainted, it is like a moral miasma and it is poisonous to live in it and to breathe in it. I will write no more at present. 6LtMs, Lt 22a, 1890, par. 3