Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 25 (1910 - 1915)

Ms 83, 1910

San Diego, California

April 16, 1910

Previously unpublished.

Deuteronomy 4:1-7. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 1

It will be well for us to consider that if we make the move toward God, if we make the advancement to come to Him, He understands it, and He will be to us a present help in every time of need. “Keep therefore and do them”—not profess merely to do them—“for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for?” [Verses 6, 7.] 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 2

God waits to have us call upon Him, and if you call upon Him, He will draw nigh to you. He will impress your minds; He will speak words through His servants to you. What we want is a humble, understanding, contrite heart. It is not the great pretensions that we make, but it is the relation in which we stand toward God that we honor Him, that we glorify Him, that we will do His will. And when we do this, we shall realize impressions upon our minds and hearts that will give us courage, that will increase our faith, that will bring us into a right relation to Jesus Christ, who has given His life for us. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 3

The nations were watching to see what was meant by bringing these people away from Egypt. We want the impression made upon the people wherever we are that we have a right relation to God and that He is our understanding and our strength. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 4

“And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons.” [Verses 8, 9.] 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 5

There is something He gives them to do: “Teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons.” [Verse 9.] There is our work plainly laid before us. Do we do it? Do we realize, fathers and mothers, the importance of the work that is given us to do, to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts, in our words, in our actions, and on every point to realize that we are under allegiance to God, under allegiance to Jesus Christ? Do we realize that every individual soul of us is to understand the right relation that we have toward the children, our own children and also the children that shall come under our supervision in our schools that we are establishing? 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 6

Every soul wants to have a decided heart interest in these schools, to fulfil their part of the contract, and when they have filled their part of the contract, you may be sure there will be a response. The power of God will rest upon you, and will rest upon those for whom you are working. It is not we ourselves individually that make the impression, but it is the God whose commandments we are trying to obey in carrying out the directions that He has given us toward all that are around us. We call upon Him, we pray to Him, we draw nigh unto Him, and He draws nigh unto us. Are you not grateful for this, that you have the Creator of the universe pledged that if you will comply with the conditions He will fulfil to the letter His part? 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 7

(Verse 10): “Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.” There is a great work neglected there. When every soul of us shall realize what we might have done, when we come up to the preparedness that we must have in order to glorify God, I want to tell you there will be more careful working on our part in the home life, in assemblies that we shall meet with, to give the trumpet a certain sound, to tell the truth just as it is in Jesus. What we need above everything else is reality and humility. We need a reality in all that we do, and it will set its stamp upon the people. They will understand it, because there is no certainty that is carried in the Christian life but that it makes its impression. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 8

We want not to be found wanting in the day of God. We cannot afford it. I want that life that measures with the life of God. I want that preparation that I must have if I see the King in His beauty. And every one of us wants to humble ourselves, not to exalt ourselves, not to feel that I am superior to everybody else around me, but you just take right hold with the humblest souls, and if you are earnest and true and realize your responsibilities, it is God’s angels that make the impressions. They are right around us. They are here today, and not only the true, good angels, but there are angels here today that rebelled in heaven, and they are watching every opportunity possible to gather to themselves the people with their deceptions. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 9

You know how it was. The angels got to quarreling in heaven. They wanted the highest place, and were determined to have it. Just so they do on the earth. Just so they do in our churches. What we want is to walk humbly with God, in prayer to seek Him, and then when we walk humbly by faith, the evil angels cannot touch us. The angels who fell had been so exalted that they knew what righteousness was and what unrighteousness was, but they wanted a place that was higher than the one they had in the place of fulfilling the very work that they could do; and in this they sinned. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 10

They fell from heaven, and they are on this earth today. And the intelligence that they had in heaven—do you think it is all gone from them? No, indeed. They are working every plan now in this st issue that is coming to the world, that they shall have the supreme advantage, and they have beautiful sentiments that they had in the heavenly courts, that they will use, the most beautiful sentiments. I have seen and heard them as they were using these very sentiments. And I have asked our brethren who were in peril, Do not you suppose that these fallen angels can present things in the most wonderful light to the people? They certainly can, and if they mingle in their works these sentiments, which they will, and which they are, people will get the impression that that is just the truth they want when it is just the thing they do not want. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 11

What we want is that every soul of us should walk humbly with God—no exaltation of one man to feel that he is capable of carrying everything. Just as soon as we begin to know that these angels that fell from heaven are at work upon human minds, we are to walk humbly with God, and when we will do this, the sacredness of the truth will be so impressed upon human minds that they will co-operate with us and co-operate with God. When I have seen individuals that want the highest place and highest glory, I have said, Poor souls, you are losing all. I have felt so sad I could not express it to them. And I have felt intensely sad because those angels that fell from heaven have intelligence; they did not leave their intelligence, but kept it. They can do a work that appears to be genuine, and they are doing it. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 12

Now what we want is a religious experience individually, an experience through humble prayer and working by living faith to help others that are around us, humbling our souls not to be the biggest one, but to take right hold to help the feeble and those that need our help. Angels will make the impression, heavenly angels from the courts above. But we do not want to mingle with those that wanted to be so high they would be equal with God. What we need is humble, unperverted religion, and characters that can reach the very ones that need to be reached. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 13

There is a great work to be done in our world. We have looked at San Diego again and again, and we have felt that there must be a work accomplished here, and that while many people were moving in here, we must be moving very cautiously and tenderly toward them to see if we cannot win them to see the beauty of truth. God will help us. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 14

What a work is before us, and we want that work to be carried out intelligently. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 15

“(For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.” [Verse 31.] There He was, holding that for those that were obedient. Will we be obedient? Will we consider that we are wholly dependent upon God? 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 16

“And because He loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt; to drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.” [Verses 37, 38.] 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 17

He brought them out from Egypt, and there was a cloud that accompanied them everywhere they went, that encircled Christ Jesus. He drove out the nations before them. Now there is to be no self-exaltation, no boosting up of self, but you stand humbly with God, and see how much good you can accomplish for those that need your help, and angels of God will come right in to make the impression. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 18

“And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He hath commanded us.” [Deuteronomy 6:24, 25.] That is the very position we must be in. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 19

Here is a mutual agreement. Man agrees to give his heart to God; man agrees to study the light of God and His teaching, lest he shall depart from it. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 20

“When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou.” [Deuteronomy 7:1.] Now all these nations God will deal with if you will place yourselves in right relation to God, that He can work your mind so that His blessing can be received before all these people. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 21

“And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy upon them. ... For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: but because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God.” [Verses 2-9.] 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 22

Now that is what you are to know. That He is God, that He is to be honored, that your characters must be brought into harmony with God. You are not to be fretful, even in your own family. You can speak kindly and teach them without being cross and irritable. We believe you can do it. I have taken children from many families, child after child. Brother George Amadon, in whom we have so much confidence, was a mischievous boy working on the tow path with the horses. And then there was another one that his mother could not do anything with. She said that his salvation depended upon his being with someone that he respected. She asked me if I would take him, and I said, Certainly. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 23

We would take these boys aside and tell them what we took them for. We told them that we wanted them to be prepared to stand in review before God. We wanted them to stand where they would have strength before God, and could call Him their Father. They are alive today, and when I go into Battle Creek, there is a hack that comes up, and these two gray-headed men meet me, and call me Mother; and they say, Where should we have been today had it not been for you? That is all the pay I want. I thank God we can help one another. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 24

Deuteronomy 7:8-18. Now you can read this, and all of chapters seven and eight, and go on and study more than I have time to read. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 25

The Lord is dealing with His people, and the one point I was afraid you would never know is that the angels that strove in heaven for the highest place have to be shut out of heaven, and now they are determined to war against God and those that are seeking to obey God. Now let every one of us today make a covenant with God by sacrifice. If such pains are taken to bring the people into right relation to God, to preserve us from these fallen heavenly intelligences, they fail, and then they change their course to do the mischief toward God. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 26

We want to stand faithful to our God and true as steel to principle. Will we do it? Or will we go on as some have, to think they should have their own way in everything, and they will wrestle for it and wrestle for it, and God will wrestle counter to them, and yet they will wrestle for it with all their might. Now, they would better change, or they will lose their souls. What we want is a living connection with God, and He will soften and subdue our natural temperaments, and as we pray and believe and draw with all our power in harmony with God, He will accept us with pleasure. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 27

I am so glad that I can speak these words to you. Since I was fifteen years old I have been engaged in public labors, giving a message here and there and somewhere else. I am now in my eighty-third year, and I want to say, My love for God, my reverence for God has not diminished. I want to exalt my Saviour, and I want that every one of you should exalt Jesus Christ. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 28

Fathers and mothers, connect with your children. Pray with them. Encourage them. They need encouragement. Why? Because the fallen angels will bring the most beautiful things to present before them in various ways, and they will think that is the highest education. If they can get that education, they will think it is the very highest education that they can have. The highest education that we can have is to be God’s obedient children. It is to have a mind subject to Christ, who laid aside His royal robes and kingly crown and came into our world as a little child to bear all the infirmities of children, and He gave the evidence to all that He had the mind of God, and was doing it. He made all that sacrifice, and at last He was stretched on the cross at Calvary. But before that He was in prayer. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 29

The thought that He was taking the sins of the world upon Him seemed as though it would crush Him; it seemed so in the humanity of His nature, and yet never had He failed on a point. In His agony He said, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” but if not, strengthen me to drink it. [Matthew 26:39.] And as He prayed, the great drops of bloody sweat moistened the sod of Gethsemane. He went to His disciples, hoping to find them watching, but they were asleep. Are any of us asleep? God help us! We are facing a crisis. Christ was facing a crisis then. We shall have conditions that we do not dream of, and we will need to be in close relation with God. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 30

As Christ was suffering in agony, a mighty angel came from glory and strengthened the divine sufferer to bear all that. He said, “Not My will, but Thine be done.” [Luke 22:42.] Taking the cup trembling in His hand, it seemed that the destiny of the lost world was balanced, as I viewed it. But the strength came from heaven to go through the ordeal, to die in our behalf. What are you willing to suffer for Christ’s sake in order to help others that are weak and trembling and do not know what to do? Shall we every one of us brace ourselves up? Shall we seek to be humble before God, and meek and lowly? Shall we seek for unity? God grant that we may. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 31

But the divine Sufferer hung upon the cross, and while there, there was one that prayed while another was mocking Him. One said, Master, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Christ replied, “Verily I say unto thee, today”—stretched there upon the cross in agony—“thou shalt be with Me in paradise.” [Luke 23:43.] 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 32

I have much matter which I would like to bring before you. Let us trim our lamps and have them burning. Christ was not left in the grave. Angels from heaven were sent to roll back the stone from the sepulchre, Christ’s life came from heaven, and He walked forth from that sepulchre, proclaiming, “I am the resurrection and the life.” [John 11:25.] Thank God! We have a living Saviour. Do not act as though He were dead, because He has the same power, and we are having a living issue here in this world, and we want to be in a position where we can grasp infinity by a living faith. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 33

When they came to anoint the Saviour, they said, He is risen! He is risen! They could not believe it, but it was a fact. The mighty angel had rolled back the stone, and He had come forth from that grave a mighty Conqueror. “I am the Resurrection and the Life,” He could proclaim to every one of them. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 34

My heart feels so earnest at this time that every one of us should come in right relation to God. We cannot afford to lose a day. We cannot afford to lose our time. We must do our very best by sacrifice and self-denial to bring a knowledge of the truth before the inhabitants of all these cities that are right around us. Time is short. We are facing eternal realities, and we are to take up this work as we never have taken it up before. I lie awake hours and hours in the night, while the representation is given me of what we might be and of what are not, and that is why I have consented to come here today to speak to you. We want the help of every one of you. We do not want to exalt you and we do not want any to exalt themselves, but we want you to come in the humility of Jesus Christ and seek to save perishing souls. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 35

We want you to work for souls as those that must give an account, and if you save one soul, why it is just one soul saved to Christ. And if you are a winner of souls, as they come into the city of God, with the crown upon their heads, as they look upon you they will know just what you have done for them, and they will lay their crowns at the feet of Jesus, and then touch the golden harps and fill all heaven with rich music and with songs to the Lamb. We want the victory. We do not want to stop short of it. We have a heaven to win, and a hell to shun, and we want the help of every living soul to bring souls into the truth. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 36

I may have an opportunity to speak here again. They have appointments out for me in Los Angeles, to speak in a hall, and I shall go there from here. But pray for me. I believe in prayer. I believe that our faith and humility can grasp the hand of infinite power. Satan is watching with all his bribes to get us into a position where we shall bring no glory to God. Will we come up to the help of the Lord against the mighty? 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 37

I do not know how to stop. I ask you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth to help me and to help others. Every one that will live a life of humility and meekness, every soul that will do this, rise upon your feet. May God help you in this matter. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 38

Praying: I thank Thee, heavenly Father, I thank Thee for this pledge. I pray Thee to give a large amount of Thy Holy Spirit to these souls that they may follow on to know the Lord, that they may know that His going forth is prepared as the morning. God will give you strength. Amen. 25LtMs, Ms 83, 1910, par. 39