Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 25 (1910 - 1915)
Ms 73, 1911
Sermon/Thoughts on 2 Peter 1
Oakland, California
July 8, 1911
Previously unpublished.
2 Peter 1:1-8. How important it is that we understand the provisions. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 1
Verses 9-10. He repeats it over and over again. That is stated in a few words, the positiveness of our receiving and working out the principles of righteousness. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 2
Verses 11-12. There are things that are so essential that they are to be repeated over and over again because our salvation hinges upon our obedience to all these requirements of God. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 3
Verses 11-16. Do not feel offended if the straight truth is brought home to your heart and you think they mean you. Perhaps they do if you think so. Then take heed. Let us remember something. What is it? There is a heaven to win, and a hell to shun. We have taken hold of the Bible truth, and we are to follow that truth circumspectly. We are to follow on to know the Lord, that we may know that “His going forth is prepared as the morning.” [Hosea 6:3.] 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 4
[2 Peter 1] Verses 16-21. There is a good deal said in this, and what we want is that in every essential we comply with the words herein written. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 5
We have a heaven to win, and we shall win it by doing our duty faithfully here in this world day by day. To those who have the light of a knowledge of Jesus Christ we want to say, You are preparing just as long as you are looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith. And we want individually to have a knowledge of the Word of God. We want to be strong in the Mighty One. We want to gather the light of heaven into our souls, and not stop there because we are men and women. We want to be moved by the Spirit of God to communicate the very light and knowledge to our children that they may understand what it means to take hold of eternal realities, and we cannot afford to let the time pass unimproved. We cannot afford to let our children go hither and thither and anywhere as they please. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 6
We have a sacred solemn work before God, to be followed out in behalf of our children. This work we cannot neglect under any circumstances. The father and the mother are under obligation to God to take up this work intelligently, to educate and train their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. When the children do a wrong thing, it is not right to come upon them suddenly and strike them. I would not have dared to correct my children in that way. I would just sit down and talk it over with them, and tell them that they are God’s property and I wanted them to form characters for the future immortal life. You just throw your arms right about them, and say, Let us pray about it and ask God about it. When you bow down and start to pray, they will begin to weep and pray to God that He will forgive them. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 7
Many of us forget that a blow does not do any good. If the children are doing wrong, take them away alone, and pray with them, and then ask them to ask God’s forgiveness. You will find that such lessons are lasting. We want our children. They are God’s children, and shall we let then depart from righteousness and godliness right in our homes, right before us? You will find that such treatment will bring them to Christ sooner than all the beatings that you can give them. We want a knowledge of how to conduct and train our children for the future, immortal life, and we cannot afford to let the matter pass when the wickedness of the wicked is increasing continually. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 8
Educate, talk with your children, train your children. Fathers and mothers, this is your duty. You have brought these children into the world, and now we want you to so arrange matters that you can take them into the heavenly courts. You are to give them a knowledge in regard to Christ and salvation, and give them to understand that there is a heaven to win. Your children are not to be left because company has come to your home. You have a duty to do, and you are to do that duty intelligently and bring your children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. If you do this, you will have your family to go with you, and I thank the Lord that we can have the privilege of doing this now. We may not always in the future have the privilege, for the works of the devil are growing stronger and stronger, and we want to stand in right relation to God. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 9
The duty of fathers and mothers is not to be neglected for any visitors who may come into your home. Let the light of heaven come through you to your children. Pray with them, talk with them, wrestle with God in their behalf, and if you weep over them it will not hurt you. It will give them a sense of how you regard their souls and their future life. If they accept, it will be one of the greatest victories that can ever be gained in your family, and will give evidence to those around you that you consider that their eternal interest is above everything else in the world. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 10
We want to labor for children as well as for parents. We want to see the children converted, and we shall see them converted. Now the work is to live on the plan of addition, just as it is given here. You are to follow out this very chapter, and you want to read it and take is as food, and as wisdom, and as righteousness and as truth in Jesus Christ, and if you do this, you will have your children with you, I certainly believe. We are all passing in review before God today, and the souls that shall be convicted of the truth and will take hold of the truth as it is written right in His Word can labor intelligently for outside parties. But do not in any way neglect your children’s interests. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 11
Do not go to any party of pleasure or to anything that will divert your minds from the interest that you should exercise in behalf of your children. Fathers and mothers, you have a most sacred responsibility to fit your children for the future immortal life. This is the reason that we appoint meetings like this. Let us every one of us open our hearts to the blessed Word of God. That is what we want, and we do not want to lose heaven. We do not want to go there and say, “Where are my children? They are not here.” 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 12
God will help every one of us if we will only do the best we know. We have no time to lose. We must improve the present opportunity to seek the Lord with all our heart and mind and soul, and here is a great opportunity. The Lord wants every one of us to come into right relation with Himself. I am so thankful that the Lord is helping me and strengthening me, after I thought that I was growing too old to stand before the public. But I do not dare to let loose. I can see some words that I can speak to one and another, and to the congregation. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 13
We want the truth on every point. We want it to practice by, and we want in every case to be patient, kind, and friendly in every way that we can. Do not sow tares but sow wheat, that it shall produce fruit, and we can have the fruit. We can labor with our neighbors. We can speak to them of the knowledge of God, and by doing this, light and truth will shine into our own hearts. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 14
We read, “But there were false prophets also among the people.” [2 Peter 2:1.] We have got to stand the ground, and we want our lives to be spotless, without a wrinkle or any such thing. We want to follow on to know the Lord, that we may know that His going forth is prepared as the morning. It is preparation we must have. We must understand that our own selves must be consecrated to God. The Lord is coming, and we must prepare for His coming. In the place of your visiting and doing no one any special good, go right out to your neighbors with the Bible in your hands, and try to teach them the truth as it is in Jesus. We must give an account for the light God has given us. He will let increased light shine upon us. We want a character that will stand the test of the judgment. We must not neglect our children for visitors. Tell them kindly that you must give your time to your children. You cannot give your time to mere chatting about clothes and bonnets and hats, etc. We want now to have the dress that shall be spotless, that will stand before the Son of God in His kingdom, without spot or wrinkle in our character. We want to bring Christ into our homes. When I see the children, it makes my heart ache, and I want to do something or say something for them. Children, Jesus wants you to give your lives to Him. He wants you to serve Him, and He will imprint His image upon your character if you will do this, but you cannot afford to be lax. You cannot afford in any way to go contrary to the light that your religious parents shall bring to you, in order to have your own way. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 15
God wants you, children. You are bought with a price, even the precious blood of the Son of God. Christ came into our world, and He suffered and was crucified in a most shameful manner, when Pilate said, “I find no fault in Him.” [John 19:4.] How do you think he will answer to God in the judgment for condemning the Son of the infinite God? The nails were driven through His hands and His feet, and His side was pierced through with a spear. What was all this for? It was because Satan was raging against God, and thus they treated the Son of God in His suffering. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 16
Will you let yourselves be intimidated in any way by reproach or anything that can come upon you? Will you cease to warn your neighbors? Will you receive the light that may come to you in this camp meeting, and will you seek in every way to win souls to Jesus Christ? There is a future before us, and we want the souls that are in this congregation to look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 17
If you lay hold by faith upon Jesus Christ to carry out these principles that are in the Word of God, just as surely will God give you strength and grace and power to follow on to know the Lord. He knows us. He knows our characters. He knows how to deal with us, and half of us do not know how to deal with ourselves intelligently. Now let us take right hold intelligently to serve God with all our hearts, remembering that Christ was crucified in a most cruel manner, notwithstanding Pilate declared, “I find no fault in Him,” yet he surrendered Him into the hands of murderers. [Verse 6.] 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 18
We want every one of us to come to an intelligent knowledge that we have not only our individual souls to save, but there are souls all around us that we can labor for. Notwithstanding my age, I am writing and putting into print the words of the Scriptures to appeal to those nigh and afar off. I am trying to do the best I can. Night after night I lie awake all night, pleading with God that He would work upon hearts. I have my workers at St. Helena putting out my books, while I am here making appeals to the people that they may see the necessity of giving their lives to carry through the very history that they ought to carry through as overcoming by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 19
Now how it is with us? How do we stand before God in righteousness? Are we overcomers by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony? Are parents helping their children to overcome? There is truth that is to be borne to the people. There is a grand review coming, and the reason that I wanted to speak to you here was to draw your attention to that grand review. There is a grand review coming when every case is to be decided. Have we washed our robes in the blood of the Lamb? 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 20
Have we lived, as is represented here, on the plan of addition, adding grace to grace, and receiving the intelligence that it is our privilege to receive, to act out the words of the Scriptures? God wants to put us to work. He wants us to turn our eyes away from the temptations and elements that are coming into every city, town, and village. We must stand against it. We must be in a position that we can educate our children away from the dangers and teach them to hide in Jesus Christ. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 21
We want to be made white in the blood of the Lamb. I can hardly represent this. It is set forth in the Word of God, and all through the Bible it is shown that we should follow on to know the Lord. I have no need to read it to you. It is right here in the Word. Here is this large company. Are they washing their robes and making them white in the blood of the Lamb? Are you doing it? May God rouse up every soul that is in this congregation that they will seek to help their children, their families, and their neighbors that are around them. There are neighbors that you are to labor for. Go right in and take your Bibles and read to them the promises of God and the inducements to follow on to know the Lord. Read them these, and then bow right down and pray with them, and you will find that you are doing Christ’s work. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 22
Now, we have a grand review before us, and we want to know how we shall stand in that day. It depends on how you stand today. If you will stand in righteousness, in truth, to witness to God’s truth today no matter what others may say about you, that does not make you what they think you are, whether righteous or unrighteous. We have a true and holy God. Are we preparing for the transfer to the city of God when the gates shall be swung back on their glittering hinges and nations that have kept the truth shall enter in? Bible truth is here. Have you studied it to see what evidence you have that you are keeping the Bible truth? 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 23
God wants us at every step. Our God cannot look upon any impurity of character at last. Today you have your opportunity, and if you fail when the judgment shall come and the books shall be opened, it will be because you did not improve your opportunity. At that day it will be revealed who has stood firmly to righteousness and truth and exalted God and tried in every way possible to win souls to the truth. What we want is heaven. What we need is that light that reflects upon us here to show us the way heavenward. And the Lord will take us and welcome us in. When we are once inside the city of God, once welcomed there, no tempting devil will come to us after that. Are you preparing for the grand review? Are you preparing to meet our Saviour who hung upon the cross to show you what truth is? 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 24
The only Son of the living God gave Himself for you, and now He wants you to bring in a character that is without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Will you begin to cast off the works of darkness? Will you make diligent work for repentance? Will you come to God just as you are? I am now in my 84th year, and yet God has strengthened me to take the Scriptures and bring them before the people, that they might understand more clearly. That is my work. Night after night I do not close my eyes in sleep, and in the day time I am preparing matter that is to go out in the books. I am just finishing the life of Paul. What preciousness there is in that life! If I can show some seed here today I should say Amen to that. I want heaven. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 25
There is a pure God that is looking upon us, and He cannot bear impurity. He wants you to cleanse your souls from all filthiness of the spirit, that you may be pronounced fit to enter those golden gates and to have the crown of life placed upon your brow and have the golden harp placed in your hands. There are musicians there, and you strike up their notes that are borne to the glory and honor of Him who gave His life for the human family. Let us strive for that home. Once inside the gates there will be no tempting devil there. You want now to do you work for humanity. You want now to urge the people to come to Jesus. You want now to do something for Jesus. Just as I have read here, it is a precious work. I will not hold this large congregation longer. I will say, God help you. 25LtMs, Ms 73, 1911, par. 26