Manuscript Releases, vol. 2 [Nos. 97-161]

Item 2

Build Carefully on the Rock

I am inquiring what I ought to do or say that will change the condition of your mind. I have had the most intense interest in your behalf, and may the Lord guide my pen. The Lord has made you a man of His appointment, and angels of God have been your helpers. I have written that the Lord has placed you in the very position that you are in, not because you are infallible, but because He would work your mind by His Holy Spirit.... On no account should you be entangled and woven up in any work that will endanger your influence with Seventh-day Adventists, for the Lord has appointed you to fill a place of His appointment, to stand before the medical profession, not to be molded, but to mold human minds. Every day you are to be under the supervision of God. He is your Maker, your Redeemer. He has a work for you to do, not separated from Seventh-day Adventists, but in unity and harmony with them, to be a great blessing to your brethren in giving to them that knowledge which God has given you. 2MR 339.2

We are God's great building. Every stroke, every stone put into the building is only a part of the whole. Every worker is himself to become just what God designs he should be in building his own life with pure, noble, upright deeds, that at the end he may be a symmetrical structure, a fair temple, honored by God and man. God must be in this work. “Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.” Through you He has worked, and will work to do honor to His name by trusting to you these great responsibilities. “We are laborers together with God,” and God would use you and me and each individual who engages in His service. Each is to stand upon his watchtower and listen attentively to that which the Spirit has to say to him, for every word and act leaves an impress not only on our characters, but upon the characters of others engaged in the work. 2MR 339.3

The Lord would have you stand forth as Daniel, every phase of your character under His own ministration, that day by day you may grow into a structure that will stand forth, not as a perfect whole in itself, but connected with the work of other chosen workmen, as a beautiful temple for the Lord, a living witness to the value, stability, and nobility of the man who keeps his eye single to the glory of God. 2MR 340.1

Your faculties are separate and distinct, yet each is dependent for its success upon the other. So each day God works with His building, stroke upon stroke, to perfect the structure, which thus grows into a holy temple for the Lord. One stone mislaid affects the whole building. This figure represents human character, which is to be wrought upon, point by point. There is not to be a flaw in it, for it is the Lord's building. Every stone must be perfectly laid, that it may endure the pressure placed upon it. God warns you and every worker to take heed how you build, so that your building may bear the test of storm and tempest because it is riveted to the eternal Rock. Take heed how you build. Every hour may be spent in placing the stone on the sure foundation, ready for the day of test and revelation, when we shall be seen just as we are. 2MR 340.2

This warning God presents to me as essential in your case. He loves you with a love that is immeasurable. He loves your brethren in the faith, and He works with them to the same end that He works with you. His church upon the earth is to assume divine proportions before the world, as a temple composed of living stones, every stone emitting light. This building is to be the light of the world, a city set on a hill, which cannot be hid. It is composed of stones laid close together, stone fitting to stone, making a solid building. All the stones are not of the same form or shape. Some are large, some are small, but each has its own crevice to fill. And the value of each stone is determined by the light it reflects to the world. This is God's plan, and He would have all who profess to believe His word fill their respective places in the great, grand work for this time. 2MR 341.1

We are, dear and much-beloved brother, living amid the perils of the last days. Every mental and physical power is to be cultivated, for all the powers are essential to make the church a building which will represent the wisdom and character of the great Designer. We are to cultivate the talents given us by God. They are His gifts, and are to be used in their right relation to each other, so as to make a perfect whole. God gives the talents, the powers of the mind; man makes the character. The mind is the Lord's garden, and man must cultivate it earnestly in order to form a character after the divine similitude. 2MR 341.2

The Lord has wrought with you, my much-respected brother, enabling you to act your part as His workman; but there are other workmen who must act their part as God's agents, His members, who help to compose the whole body. Bear in mind, all are to be united as parts of a great machine. The Lord's church is composed of His living, working agencies who derive their power to act from the Author and Finisher of their faith. The great work resting upon God's individual workers is to be carried forward in symmetrical harmony.... 2MR 341.3

God's people are not to be in confusion, lacking order, harmony, consistency, and beauty. The Lord is greatly dishonored when unity does not exist among His people. I have been sensibly impressed with the strife, discord, and emulation in society. Those who believe the truth for this time must know that truth is a unit. Spasms of feeling are not inspiration. The unity that God requires must be cultivated day by day; the lips must be sanctified, the tongue, the voice, must be trained to do the right kind of service if we would answer the prayer of Christ. The disunion that has existed among those who claim to believe the last message of mercy to be given to our world is a great hindrance to the advancement of our work. All are to be united in one as Christ is one with the Father, their powers illuminated, inspired, and sanctified, making a complete whole. God is dishonored by the variance existing among His people. Those who love God and keep His commandments are not to draw apart but press together. [See Philippians 2:1-4.] 2MR 342.1

The Lord does not forsake you, my brother. Bear in mind that this world is but the pilgrimage through which we are passing, that the future world is the home to which we are going. Have faith in God.—Letter 73, 1899, pp. 1-5. (To J. H. Kellogg, April 17, 1899.) 2MR 342.2