Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 22 (1907)

Ms 185, 1907

Talk/Talk to Students

Loma Linda, California

May 15, 1907

Previously unpublished.

Matthew 4:1-4. You see there He would not respond to that temptation, but He just kept on the affirmative. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 1

Verses 5-7. No one wants to place himself in a position of peril, then to expect the power of God in reference to himself. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 2

Verses 8-11. Now, here is Satan; at times he will come to us and tempt us in every way to be presumptuous. God does not want us to imperil our life at any time or in any place. He wants us to consider that we are the Lord’s property, and to place ourselves not in peril. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 3

Now here is the Lord’s work to be done right here in this institution, and we shall find there are those whose lives seem to be in a position that it is impossible to save them. But shall we do nothing? We should take right hold and do every possible thing according to the very best intelligence and knowledge that we have, and work for that life. And if it is a life that had been wholly given up to Satan, that is no reason that we should leave them and not make a special effort for them. No; we want to try to make that a special effort, and perhaps it will bring them, if God saw if fit to raise them up to be glorified, to be won to the side of Christ. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 4

And there will be many discouraging things. The helpers may sometimes feel a spirit to rise against this or that or the other. I have found whole institutions nearly ruined by one talking with another, and another talking with another, and stirring up the jealousy and evil surmisings. Now, do not let this come in, because if you do, you are not learning of Christ. What we want is to be preparing for that city—that is out of sight now, but by faith we can view it—that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Now, if we expect a place in that city, we can have it if we will be obedient to the requirements of God. He has given us the special direction to denominate us as His people. In Exodus we read the conditions. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 5

Chapter 20:1-3. The glory of God is to be kept in view. We are to see light in His light. We are to look upon things as He has presented it to us in the Word. Then He gives them the Ten Commandments, and tells them commandment after commandment. Now the Lord would have His people in these last days be in a position that they can glorify His name, and He wants every soul to search the Scriptures. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 6

I feel so pained as I go into places where there are heaped up magazines, magazines, magazines; now that is the devil’s work. You see, it is all full of fiction. If there is a little truth in it, you may think that that will cure the poison of the rest, but you may introduce in the minds of others, things that are in your family that you may have to give an account for. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 7

Now read here in the words that we have spoken to you where Christ resisted Satan, and there He was in our behalf tasting death for every man. He was there suffering with hunger, but he did not rail out at the devil. That would have given the devil a lift. No, He kept quiet. He did not rail out on Satan, but “The Lord saith.” He would speak the words of the Lord, and that is all. Now, we every one of us will be tempted in one way, and in another way, and in still another way; and as we are tempted by the enemy, we are to consider that in every respect Christ was tempted. And He knows just how to succor those that are tempted. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 8

So if we put a brake on ourselves, and will not utter words that are in our natural disposition, when provoked, we gain a victory. Now, that victory stands right out prominent in the books of heaven. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 9

And here you have the younger members in the school. Here are the younger members that are being educated and trained. Let every one that is older, that has had an experience in the things of God, show the meekness and lowliness of Christ, and a firmness and a decision on the right side. And in doing this, let me tell you, we shall gain precious, glorious victories. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 10

This place was brought to us in such a remarkable way. The Lord provided it for us. A building similar to this had been presented to me years ago, and I had, in this country, to talk it over and over and over again. The Lord wanted us to have this. He has placed us where we are for a purpose. And here are Redlands and Riverside and the various towns all around. Every one of us is to be educated and trained so that we shall be in a position to second the work of Christ, to learn of His example, and be in a position that we shall be a co-laborer with Jesus Christ. “Ye are laborers together with God. Ye are God’s husbandry. Ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] That is the truth about the matter. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 11

We want to form characters, in any position where we may be, that will be just after Christ’s similitude. Well, we will have to study the Scriptures to see how Christ carried Himself through all these temptations and all these trials to the victory, and if we do this, we are preparing, right here in this sanitarium as workers, to be fitted up for the kingdom of God. And we want indeed to be in a position so that the Lord God of heaven shall given us the most precious victories day by day, and we shall come off glorious and victorious, and in heaven it will be written in the books that we resisted the devil and he fled from us. That is how it should be. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 12

Exodus 23. Moses was to gather up the truth, the light and grace of God, and he was to carry it out before the people in practice. I am so glad that we have the example of the holy men that did carry out the principles of that which the Lord gave them from Sinai, His commandments, the whole of them to be obedient to His commandments. Now, every one of us wants to study these commandments, and be in a position that we shall have the heart to obey them. Then what does God say to us? He told Moses to come to Him in the mount, and then He told him what He would do. If they would agree to keep His commandments, they should be as kings and priests unto God. This reward would be given them, and it is just the reward that will be given us. God will communicate with us, and we can communicate with God. We do not need to go stumbling along our way and not know what we are about. No, indeed. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 13

God specified: if they would be obedient, and keep His commandments; those are the conditions. He gathered Israel together and laid it out before Moses, and they all lifted up their voice and hands to heaven saying that they would comply with the conditions of God and be obedient. Well, did they? Temptations came. Moses was away from them awhile, and temptations came, and then they made a calf. “These be thy gods which brought thee out of Egypt.” [Exodus 32:4.] Now what a step was that for them to take in idolatry! 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 14

Well, the Lord gave them a chance to redeem themselves. Moses now takes his special position. Now, he says, every one that will come where I am, and take their position on my side, let them come. But how many perished? Three thousand men. They would not come to take their position on the side of Moses, to be loyal and true. They had been disloyal. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 15

Can you see anything like that in our day? It will come. We shall have it. The devils are many, and they are all the time insinuating this thing, and that thing, and the other. And every one is to be braced up, and be Bible students, young and old. The students that shall come into this school need to be led step by step and instructed in the ways of the Lord to do righteously, to work out the truth in character, because God is testing us by His Word. And if we will be obedient, we shall have strength of character under every temptation; we shall not lose our hold upon God. And you want to pray. You want to pray. Sickness will come upon us. One has died recently, and there are others that need strengthening. We are glad to see these brethren looking to this institution. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 16

Brother Warren, we are glad to see you. The Lord will just as surely work for us, and then we must not depart from the actions, we must take care of the physical strength in order to have a soundness of spiritual strength, that we can go forth and that we may proclaim the truth to others. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 17

Ministers and people are in a position where they are taxed sorely. If they will walk circumspectly before God, they may look to their Saviour as their great Physician. While they may do what they can for each other, they must look to the One that gives health, who gave His own life in order that He might take these men in His charge, and take care of them and impart to them of His Holy Spirit. But we must not labor and demand more of the one that carries the burden in the sanitarium. His name is Burden, but he is not to carry all the burdens that come in this institution. You must help him. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 18

But one thing I charge you: don’t begin to criticize, criticize, criticize ones that have to carry the load. Do not get up a spirit of criticism, and drop a word here and a word there. We have seen it done just recently, and we have seen an institution almost broken up just by that thing. One dropped a word, and another a word, and another a word, and another a word. Now God was not pleased with that thing at all. Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 19

Now, here are young people that will be associated—young men and girls—together. They want liberties to go out together. Well, their mothers are not here; their fathers are not here, and therefore the burden rests upon the burden-bearers that are here. These must carry these subjects and not allow them to place themselves in temptation, but offered to go with them if they go out to ride. “Well, I will go with you. I will be as a safeguard; I will go with you.” They do not like that thing at all, but they are not to be given up to do just as they please. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 20

I remember in Australia when we came to a point. The greatest thing needed in Australia is to teach them how to take up duties in the field, do the duties in the house, do whatever work needs doing. Well, so they did not know anything about it. They were just as ignorant. Well, they must get up a ball match. And so they got it up, and the first thing I knew, without having any counsel there were our teachers and ministers all in that ball match. O, what a burden I had! What were the youth there for? It was to become educated in the Scriptures, to know how to take up the work that was there. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 21

Everything was raw; everything had to be established. There was the old hotel where we used to go a quarter of a mile at five in the morning to meet the students, and the grass would crisp under my feet because of the frost, and I would crawl under the fence, and I would climb over the fence, and there I would go and meet the students in the dining room of this building. Well, we had the most pleasant meetings there. The blessing of God came upon us every morning. I never missed a morning. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 22

Then they began to apportion their work to take down the trees and clear the land, and it was pretty hard work. They had not been used to it. But we would encourage them. And one would come with a hand all bruised. Well, said I, I can tell you, if you get some eucalyptus out of the trees and make a charcoal poultice. Get me some of this charcoal and bring it to me, and then you pound that up and I will make a poultice on the hand. In the morning they said, What did you put in that poultice? Why, said I, I put a little common sense in. I knew that eucalyptus was a great remedy, and then I just put that in water, hot water, and I put it on to your hand, and that has worked like a charm, and now your hand is getting better. Now you know just what to do with the rest of your bruises when you get hurt. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 23

Another one said, What shall I do? There is no water that I can drink, there is that water hole that you have settled down by, but there are frogs in that, and they say I must not drink it. Well, said I, we can remedy that. You get me your big cans, and bring them to me, and have them full of water and I will attend to it. I put that water in a large boiler, and I boiled it, and then I put it into a filter, and had it filtered, and then I made this bran coffee. Now, said I, you will not have any sickness, not one of you, if you will attend right to these things. I will do it every time for you. Well, we have got to mix in a little common sense in all our dealings with the young. They saw that we wanted to do for them and favor them, and we would take some pains about it. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 24

Well, thus we can prevent sickness. We can cure sickness largely, if we will, without any drugs. There are no drugs in that, but it is just God’s remedy. I have used it many times with great effect. Well, here are little things we can do for one another, and it binds hearts together. What we want is to act as though we had a living organism, and as though our brain nerve power was created for action. And that we just study into these very things, the remedies that God has prepared for us. And there will be very much less sickness that there is now if we will labor right to the point. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 25

While you are here you can do it. You can wake up your susceptibilities, and improve in every way possible. This institution is built up, a merciful institution; it is to look after suffering humanity, and God is going to help us to have good sound common sense, and He wants every one of us to do our duty to one another. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 26

Well, as I saw that our people were bringing in the baseball, and they were having a great time of it, I suffered. O, I suffered in mind terribly. Finally, I called them together, and I had a conversation with them. What are these youth here for? They are not able to pay their expenses. They get their education by working so many hours a day, and we cannot afford, said I, to have the time occupied in this way, because it runs like wild fire; it will go everywhere, what they do at this school. Well, I talked with them, and talked with them. They began to see the matter, and they changed their course of action and made a confession. They could have played enough before they got there, but when they got there that was another business; it was to study, it was to learn, it is to become acquainted with the principles that are laid down in the Word of God. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 27

Then they came and said, The officers have been around. Here is the Sunday law and the officers have been around watching to see what they could see. Said I, Tell them not to be afraid. I am well acquainted with these officers. I know them, and they are sensible men, and they never will bring you before the courts. But if they do, said I, you have got a remedy; what is that? Take your Bible and go into the bush, as they call the woods, where the settlements are, and then you just instruct them. And they went; most every idle day that they had, they would go into the woods, and they would get a company, and they would teach them in the evening, and they worked. And we had quite a number that came out into the truth from that very teaching. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 28

Now we must get a missionary spirit and try to help every soul that is in connection with us. You want to tell every soul that has a connection with God. But you want to try to get the light right before the people as much as you can, and you will be missionaries then. You will take hold of the work in the right way, and do not let there be any tattling or faultfinding or judging or condemning. Just teach the young people to educate their lips that they may be sanctified; their words may be sanctified, and they may be fitted, yes fitted, to stand before the people. You have got to teach them how to speak, and when they come with their lessons and mumble it over, you tell them to read that over again. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 29

I never went to school after I was twelve years old; because of this accident, I could not. I could not take the lessons. I suffered a great deal to give up the school, but I had to give it up. Now, here the Lord gave me instruction, but that hand would go just like that; I could not hold anything, scarcely, in that hand. Well, the wonder was, the little girl that threw the stone, it seemed in the providence of God, that very girl was placed over our line of seats, and that girl worked to try to have me hold the pen, and the sweat would roll down her face. She was a good deal older than I, but she threw that stone, never thinking, I suppose, it would hit, but it did hit, and it nearly cost me my life. But she knew what the matter with me was, and she would stand over me, and she would hold my hand, and finally she said, It is no use, you cannot do it. And the teachers and the doctors advised me not to attend school. O, how I cried about it! 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 30

But there was a Teacher that came to me, One that is the highest Teacher, “Take your pen and write what I shall give you”—in the instruction that was given me in the night season. “I cannot write; I cannot write.” “Take the pen and write what I shall give you. You want to preserve every word that is possible that I shall give you.” Well, finally they brought me a pen and ink, and I took it in my fingers, and lo, there was not a tremble there. I wrote out what I had been given just as though I had had an education for years, wrote it right out in even hand, fine writing. Well, that gave me courage, and then from that time, I have tried to keep the light that God has given me until I have a series of books. I have written almost everything that I have had, and it is preserved to give to the people. Much has come, and there is much more to come. Well, there, who would have thought that I could use this hand as I have done. When I went to Australia (relates experience of sickness, but how that hand was preserved.) 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 31

I know that God has an interest in us. If He had not, I should have been, after a little, lying in the grave. The doctors said I could not live. They said, It is impossible for you to live. Your lungs are affected, and with the suffering that you have gone through it is not possible that you can live. But in the providence of God I began my work in public labor, to speak to others when I was sixteen years old. And I have been at it ever since, up to the present time, and the Lord has preserved my life, and I thank Him with heart and soul and voice. I will praise Him. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 32

Now, I will not hold you any longer, but I want to tell you this one thing; The Lord can preserved us under difficulties. They would still insist that I should speak to them. Well, they would put me in a chair, and one would take hold of one side of the chair and somebody else the other, and they would carry me up, clear up into the halls were large congregations were, and there I would stand and speak. If I could keep my hands from moving, I could do well, but it was hard work. Now if I have not reason to be grateful, I want you to say so. I have reason to praise the Lord with heart and soul and voice, and I want to tell you, every one of you, all He requires of you is to do your best and put confidence in the Word. It is to do just as God would have you to do. There is a great work before us. We cannot afford to bury the light that God has given us. We want the light of the Word to go out everywhere. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 33

One that is over in Europe says, “Sister White, can’t you let us have a thousand dollars?” There are thousands and thousands of dollars, what shall I do with it? “O, do you multiply the light in books? Give some away, and then work the very best you can and God will help you, and you can publish the books.” Well, they are publishing all through Europe. God is at work, and I am thankful. 22LtMs, Ms 185, 1907, par. 34