Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 17 (1902)
Lt 4a, 1902
Caro, Brother and Sister
“Elmshaven,” St. Helena, California
January 3, 1902
Portions of this letter are published in AH 381-382; MM 133. +Note
Dear brother and sister Caro,—
God calls for the service of the whole being. He will not accept a divided heart, a service given partly to Him and partly to self. When the lawyer came to Christ with the question, “Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life,” Christ answered, “What is written in the law? how readest thou?” “And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” And Christ said, “Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live.” [Luke 10:25-28.] 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 1
Christ came to reinstate in the earth the divine government, to vindicate God’s holy law, to make an end of transgression, and to bring in everlasting righteousness for His people. The completeness of His atonement is the assurance that as we give ourselves to God, we shall be accepted in the Beloved. 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 2
The Saviour is now pleading before the throne of God in our behalf—our compassionate, sympathetic, faithful High Priest. “It became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering. ... In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.” “We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” [Hebrews 2:10, 17, 18; 4:15.] 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 3
In order to be our Redeemer, Christ must know by experience what we suffer. He must know what is meant by a wounded, bleeding heart. He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. He was made perfect through suffering. He knows how to sympathize with and help a suffering church. Then let those who are in trouble bring their sorrows to One who can help them—One who is too wise to err and too good to do them harm. 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 4
In order to become acquainted with the disappointments and trials and griefs that come to human beings, Christ reached to the lowest depths of woe and humiliation. He has traveled the path that He asks His followers to travel. He says to them, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” [Matthew 16:24.] But professing Christians are not always willing to practice the self-denial that the Saviour calls for. They are not willing to bind about their wishes and desires in order that they may have more to give to the Lord. One says, “My family is expensive in its tastes, and it costs much to keep it.” This shows that he and they need to learn the lessons of economy taught by the life of Christ. 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 5
One family that indulges expensive tastes will spend in self-gratification money sufficient to support two families with proper economy. I would advise those whose tastes are so expensive not to connect with a work that calls for constant self-denial and self-sacrifice. 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 6
To all comes the temptation to gratify selfish, extravagant desires, but let us remember that the Lord of life and glory came to this world to teach humanity the lesson of self-denial. Just before His ascension, He gave His disciples the work to which they were to make all else subordinate. “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth,” He said. “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” [Matthew 28:18-20.] 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 7
Think of the greatness of the work before God’s people. The world is to be warned. To all parts of the earth the message of present truth is to be carried. This work calls for means. Those who are inclined to be extravagant must overcome their desire to indulge self. Only thus can they be true followers of Christ. Those who take the name of Christian are to follow their Leader. He resigned His high position in the heavenly courts. Laying off His kingly crown and royal robe, He clothed His divinity with humanity, that humanity might lay hold of divinity, becoming partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. He died for sinful human beings, that they might live forever in the kingdom of God. 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 8
I ask those who live in the vanity of self-indulgence, Will you continue to act as if there rested on you no responsibility to practice self-denial? For what purpose are you living? What good are you accomplishing? Can you afford to live for self? Can you gain eternal life while you live thus? Has not God a place and a work for you? Is there not something more for you to do than merely to please and gratify self? 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 9
Sister Caro, you are not a happy woman, because you do not view things in a right light. You are not satisfied. Forget self, and work for others. Use in unselfish service the powers of body and mind. Thus you will find true happiness. Thus is the use that God intended you to make of the human machinery, and upon this use of it depends its harmonious action. 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 10
There are higher attainments for you. No longer cherish such an exalted idea of yourself that you are unwilling to do for others the work that your Lord and Master did while on this earth. 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 11
There is much for us to learn from God’s great book of nature. Notice the loveliness of the roses and the lilies and the pinks. Educate yourself to love these beautiful things. Draw from them lessons of trust, and teach these lessons to your little ones. Pointing to the lilies, Christ said, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?” [Matthew 6:28-30.] 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 12
My sister, do not rest content to be merely an ornament. Such a life will never satisfy a mind created to grasp eternal realities. Within your reach are God’s choicest blessings. 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 13
You can have them if you will awake to the thought that you have a higher life to live than you have been living. Will you not use your physical, mental, and moral powers in the Master’s service? Your husband needs your help in planning to reduce the expenses of his family. In the near future this will have to be done. Help your husband by personal activity. Do not live for self-gratification. This will never bring you real happiness. 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 14
I am intensely desirous that you shall rise above the dwarfing ideas that you have entertained with regard to what constitutes a lady. These ideas are altogether out of harmony with God’s ideas, and therefore your mind is sick, diseased. It does not meet the mind of Him who has bought you with a price. You yourself are not satisfied with your attainments. How can you be? As you are now, life’s prospects cannot appear altogether inviting. Life’s realities must be painfully oppressive to your sensitive, discouraged feelings. But it is not too late for you to make an effort to be a useful wife and mother. With the simple, childlike confidence that it is the privilege of every Christian to have, believe that you will yet see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Remember that the Lord designed your life to be a blessing to those around you. He has a higher standard for you to reach than you have yet reached. Do not spend your time and strength in the effort to be a lady in the eyes of the world. She who is a true lady in God’s sight is the one whose life is filled with good works. 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 15
You need not be an invalid, and you will not be unless you allow wrong ideas and habits to make you thus. If you would bring into your life the principles of genuine health reform, this would have a saving influence on yourself and your husband. 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 16
Christ prayed for His disciples, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” [John 17:15.] This prayer is the rule by which you are to regulate your life. Those who receive the Spirit of Christ realize that there is in His words more than appears on the surface. The Christianity of the true believer looks beneath the surface, and sees in Christ’s teaching a religion perfectly adapted to every human being—a religion ever actively engaged in doing good. 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 17
The cultivation of the intellect is not of the right order if it lifts the mind above the simplicity of the gospel of Christ. We need to exercise faith, faith in hearing God’s Word and faith in practicing it. No one who lives is at liberty to do as he pleases. Christ has pointed out the path in which every one is to travel. “Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” [Matthew 7:13, 14.] 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 18
I entreat you and your husband, my dear sister, to become trees of righteousness. Profession is worthless without corresponding practice. Christ declares, “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, and figs of thistles. Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringing not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” [Verses 16-20.] 17LtMs, Lt 4a, 1902, par. 19