Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897)
Lt 49a, 1897
Workers in our Institutions
NP
September 1897
This letter is published in entirety in SpM 87-90.
Unity in Work and in Counsel
To the Workers in our Institutions:
The Spirit of the Lord has presented to me things which I now present to you. There needs to be a deeper work of grace among God’s workers. Their minds, their spirit, and their characters need to be molded and fashioned after the similitude of His divine character before He can work in and through them. Less of self and more of Jesus Christ must be seen in their lives. Close and trying tests are coming to all, and the religion of the Bible must be interwoven with all that we do and say. All business transactions are to become a fragrance as from God, because of the presence of God, which is to be mingled with every action. 12LtMs, Lt 49a, 1897, par. 1
Individually, you should realize that you are in the presence of the unseen Watcher. Your methods, and your temperaments need to be fashioned after the divine Pattern. Constantly you should cherish the thought, I am in the presence of the One whom I love and fear and reverence. I must think no thought and do no action in my own spirit or after my own inclination. Unless I have the mind and the spirit of God, I cannot be safely trusted with sacred responsibilities. My own mind, my own judgment, must not rule. It is the mind and judgment of the great I AM, that must bear rule. 12LtMs, Lt 49a, 1897, par. 2
If we would obtain an all-round experience, we must plough deep for truth and wisdom. We must cultivate faith in the Word of God. The alpha and omega of our experience must be “Thus saith the Lord.” As brethren, located where you must be more or less connected in your work, you must draw closer together, in your counsels, in your associations, in spirit, and in all your work. Each one among you is to stand nobly in his lot and place, doing the work which God has committed to him. Every individual among you must do for these last days a work that is great and sacred and grand. Every one must bear his weight of responsibility before God. 12LtMs, Lt 49a, 1897, par. 3
The Lord is preparing each one to do his appointed work, and each one is to be honored and respected as a brother chosen of God and precious in His sight. No one man among you is to be made the counsellor for all. One man is not to be selected as the one to whom all plans and methods shall be referred, while others are not consulted. If this is done, errors will appear, wrong moves will be made, and harm rather than good will be done. No one should be afraid of the other, lest he shall have the highest place. Each is to be treated without partiality and without hypocrisy. 12LtMs, Lt 49a, 1897, par. 4
The same line of work is not to be committed to each one, and therefore you need to counsel together in that freedom and confidence that should exist among the Lord’s workmen. All need to have less confidence in self, and far greater confidence in the One who is mighty in counsel, who knows the end from the beginning. 12LtMs, Lt 49a, 1897, par. 5
As you cultivate respect for one another, you will learn to respect Jesus Christ. You are to show no preferences, for the Lord does not show preferences to His chosen ones. He says, “I call you not servants, but friends; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” [John 15:15.] This is the confidence that the Lord would have you cherish toward one another. Unless you do this more than you have in the past, you will not walk and work under the dictation of the Spirit of God. God would have you united in pleasant cords of companionship. As the Lord’s workmen, you are to open your plans to one another. These plans must be carefully and prayerfully considered, because those who do not do this the Lord will leave to stumble in their own supposed wisdom and superior greatness. 12LtMs, Lt 49a, 1897, par. 6
“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another.” [Verses 16, 17.] No one must suppose that his wisdom will secure him from making any mistakes. God desires that the greatest should choose that humility, that will lead him to be the servant of all if duty demands it. 12LtMs, Lt 49a, 1897, par. 7
But while you are to love as brethren, and think mind to mind, soul to soul, heart to heart, life to life, you are individually to lean your whole weight upon God. He will be your support. He is not pleased when you depend on one another for light and wisdom and direction. The Lord must be our wisdom. We must know individually that He is our sanctification and redemption. To Him we may look, in Him we may trust. He will be to us a present help in every time of need. 12LtMs, Lt 49a, 1897, par. 8
Whatever your duties may be in the various lines of work, always remember that God is the General over us all. You must not withdraw from Him to make flesh your arm. We are too much inclined to measure ourselves among ourselves, and compare ourselves one with another, placing our own estimate upon the importance of our work. But these comparisons may fall wide of the mark. The Lord does not estimate by position or rank. He looks to see how much of the Spirit of Christ you possess, and how much of His likeness your life reveals. He who loves the Lord most, listens most earnestly and intently for the voice of God, and as he loves most, he is most beloved by the Father. “Learn of me,” says the greatest Teacher the world ever knew, “for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” [Matthew 11:29.] 12LtMs, Lt 49a, 1897, par. 9
There is need for this prayer to be offered: “O my best Friend, my Maker, my Lord, shape and mold me into Thy divine likeness. Make me entirely like Thyself. Refine, purify, quicken me, that I may represent the character of God.” We must not think that religion and business are two separate things; they are one. All who trust in the Lord implicitly will be tested and tried, then the superscription of God will be placed upon them. 12LtMs, Lt 49a, 1897, par. 10
There is important work before us. And we must prepare for this work by preparing our own hearts. Heaven must be cherished in our hearts, and the rubbish of selfishness excluded, that Christ may change us into His image. As this work goes on, by beholding Christ we are changed from glory to glory, and from character to character. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. 12LtMs, Lt 49a, 1897, par. 11
We must humble self, today, tomorrow, and constantly. With a willing, sanctified heart, we must co-operate with God. We are living in the time when Satan has come down in great power. He is walking about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. But the Lord is ready to take away the sin that hinders us from yoking up with Christ. If we wear the yoke of Christ, He will be our Immanuel—“God with us,” supplying every weakness with His strength, every inefficiency with His power and success. [Matthew 1:23.] But if we take glory in ourselves, He removes His excellency from us, and we no longer ride prosperously. 12LtMs, Lt 49a, 1897, par. 12
Take up the stones, remove the rubbish from your hearts. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. God’s servants need constantly to lay hold with one hand of souls ready to perish while with the hand of faith they lay hold of the throne of God. Souls possessed with evil spirits will present themselves before us. We must cultivate the spirit of earnest prayer mingled with genuine faith to save them from ruin, and this will confirm our faith. 12LtMs, Lt 49a, 1897, par. 13
God designs that the sick, the unfortunate, those possessed with evil spirits, shall hear His voice through us. Through His human agents He desires to be a Comforter such as the world has never before seen. His words are to be voiced by His followers: “Let not your heart be troubled: neither let it be afraid.” “Ye believe in God, believe also in me.” [John 14:27, 1.] 12LtMs, Lt 49a, 1897, par. 14
The Lord will work through every soul that will give himself up to be worked, not only to preach, but to minister to the despairing, and to inspire hope in the hearts of the hopeless. We are to act our part in relieving and softening the miseries of this life. The miseries and mysteries of this life are as dark and cloudy as they were thousands of years ago. There is something for us to do: “Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” [Isaiah 60:1.] There are needy close by us; the suffering are in our very borders. We must try to help them. By the grace of Christ, the sealed fountains of earnest, Christlike work are to be unsealed. In the strength of Him who has all strength, we are to work as we have never worked before. The time of need and necessity makes plain our great need of a present, all-powerful God, in whom is everlasting strength, and in whose power we may work. 12LtMs, Lt 49a, 1897, par. 15
The secret of success is not in our learning, not in our position, not in our numbers, nor the greatness of our talents; it is not in the will of man. The Lord God of Israel is our strength. The willing and obedient will gain victory after victory. The Lord’s workers must feel their inefficiency, must contemplate Christ, and conquer through Him who is the thought of all thought, the strength of all strength. Grasp the hand of Christ, and say, I will not let thee go except Thou bless me. He will respond, Keep near to me; I will hold your hand. My grasp shall never relax. Possess your souls in patience, in meekness, in humbleness of mind, and yet, “Arise, shine, for thy light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon thee.” [Verse 1.] 12LtMs, Lt 49a, 1897, par. 16
Day by day God must be with us, preparing us to learn of Him, that He may teach us perfect obedience, that we may be ever with Him. 12LtMs, Lt 49a, 1897, par. 17