Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 19 (1904)
Ms 114, 1904
Directions Regarding Work for Colored People
College View, Nebraska
September 17, 1904
This manuscript is published in entirety in PCO 124-127. +Note
I have a message to bear in every place. I call upon our people in America to awake to the responsibilities resting upon them. In your donations, be sure that you give liberally to sustain the work that is being done for the colored people in the Southern field. There are mission schools and sanitariums to be established for this people, and the work calls for means. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 1
In sending means for the missionary work for the colored people, conducted by the Southern Missionary Society, be careful to state distinctly that this is the object for which the money is to be used, and let it be passed quickly to those having this work in charge. If you desire to give to the Huntsville school, the colored sanitarium, the building of schools and meetinghouses, or to other specific lines of work for the colored people, be very careful to state your wishes plainly. If care is not taken in regard to this, the money will not always find its way to the places where it is so much needed. There is yet much to be done in this field. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 2
God has shown for human beings an infinite depth of love, and yet how far short we fall of appreciating this love. Christ died on the cross of Calvary that sinners might be redeemed from the slavery of sin and placed on vantage ground before God. Think of the wonderful love that the Father revealed in making this sacrifice. It is ours to point those outside the fold to this love, ours to tell sinners what Christ has done for them and what they may become through His transforming grace. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 3
We desire that in all that is done, the Lord’s name shall be glorified and His cause advanced. Never was there a time when wise generalship was so much needed as at the present time. Human prejudice is not of God. To be guided by impulse is very dangerous. Human impulse is a poor commodity and can not take the place of sanctified reason. The Lord Jesus is looking upon every soul with intense interest. He has declared that the spiritual character of His church is to be carefully maintained. The church is in the world and is to do a work for the world, but the doors of the church are not to be opened to worldliness. “Every plant which My heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up.” [Matthew 15:13.] The church must be strictly guarded. Its sacred character must be demonstrated to the world. “Ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” [Philippians 2:12, 13.] 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 4
Every line of work now to be done in the South is to be carefully and studiously carried forward from point to point. The workers are to make the most of the opportunities that come to them to become acquainted with the leading men in the world. They are to set an example that will magnify and honor the truth. Every church is to work in a way that will reveal Christ. There is to be no coldness and indifference in the work. Sanitariums and schools for the white people and for the colored people are to be established. In the providence of God, we have a most beautiful location for our colored school in Huntsville. And the school is to be provided with buildings and facilities that will compare favorably with the location. The good work being done there for colored students is to receive encouragement. After the school term is over, the students are not to be left without employment, to seek for it among worldlings. A great deal is lost when this is done. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 5
All are to work unitedly, doing their best to help the students at this school, some of whom are fatherless and motherless, doubly orphaned. A deep, sensitive compassion should be felt for these youth. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 6
There is none too much land in the school farm. The school is to be so conducted that Christ can look upon it with pleasure. The farm is to be a noble representation of the work that the Lord wishes to see done on it. All connected with the school are to be trees of the Lord’s planting, revealing in their lives fruit that harmonizes with the purposes and work of the school. Their words and deeds are to bear witness to the difference between sin and obedience, revealing the transforming power of the grace of Christ on the hearts of those who give themselves to Christ as His children. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 7
The students who have given their hearts to the Lord are to be prepared to go forth as workers for Him. They are members of His family. It is His desire that everything about the school shall be neat and orderly. Nothing is to be left to go at loose ends. Special evangelistic work is to be done for those students who enter the school unconverted. There should be a church school for the younger ones. Before all is to be kept the thought that Christ is their Saviour, that they are called and chosen by Him. Strict discipline will be needed, and this can be secured by faithful instruction. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 8
The Lord has long looked for this work to be done at the Huntsville school. A great deal of work was done on the farm by Brother Jacobs. He was faithful and diligent in his work, trying to educate the land just as the minds of the students may be educated. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 9
God designs that this family of colored students shall furnish a representation of reform. In this locality the white can work for the colored people. The students are to be treated as the Lord’s property, bought with a price. The actions of those who believe that the Lord is soon to come are to harmonize with this belief. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 10
Special efforts are to be made to instruct the colored believers in the North. They may be found in twos and threes in many places, and they would be willing to receive instruction from their white brethren. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 11
I am bidden to say that there never was a time when we needed to be more zealous. Every one who can is to deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Christ. There is a solemn work before us. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 12
We are not to take the position that white believers are to worship by themselves and colored believers by themselves. But neither are we to say that they are to worship together. In some places prejudice against the association of the races is so strong in the minds of the whites that they would not attend meeting if colored people were present. Both races must hear the saving truth that we have to present; and in places where the prejudice is so strong, let the colored people be given help to provide themselves with a place for worship in which they may meet together by themselves. When the mingling of whites and colored believers brings offense to the whites, other plans must be adopted; for both classes must hear the message that means so much. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 13
In the efforts that are made in the South to proclaim the message for this time, the work for the whites and the blacks will have to be done separately. The colored believers must be provided with meetinghouses of their own. This is the plan that has been followed in Nashville. The colored believers there have a neat, roomy meetinghouse, in which they can worship God in accordance with the light He has given them. Our colored brethren and sisters should be thankful for the privilege of meeting together for the worship of God and of working for their fellow men. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 14
We must do all in our power to remove the barriers that would prevent us reaching all classes of white people in the South, high and low, rich and poor. Thus the Lord has presented the matter to me. In cities where the prejudice against colored people is very strong among the whites, we must accommodate ourselves to circumstances and follow a course of action that will remove all hindrance to the acceptance of the truth. We must gain access to the white people. God has given us a message of great importance for them which they must hear. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 15
When the Lord Jesus sent His disciples forth on their first missionary journey, He charged them not to go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but to go to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” [Matthew 10:6.] Why? Because if the disciples were to go to the Gentiles, the Jews would not listen to their message. After they had given the message to the Jews, they were at liberty to proclaim the truth to all nationalities, high and low, free and bond, rich and poor. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 16
Today the truth is to be proclaimed to all nations and kindreds and tongues and peoples. Christ desires us to labor in a way that will not arouse prejudice; for when prejudice is aroused, some are cut off from hearing the truth. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 17
After Christ had been crucified and had risen from the dead, He remained with His disciples on this earth for forty days, giving them much instruction. The time came when He must ascend to His Father. But He promised to send them His Spirit as His successor. This Spirit was to be the guide and counsellor of the church, teaching the disciples and bringing to their remembrance the things that Christ had told them. By the Spirit, under Christ’s own dictation, there was given to the church its only code and charter. No human being could interfere to prevent Christ’s followers from having the divine sufficiency of the Spirit. Said Christ, “My kingdom is not of this world.” [John 18:36.] It has no principles in common with the world. Human patronage is not to be sought by it. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 18
The Holy Scriptures are to be just as precious to the colored man as to the white man. In the South the white believers and the colored believers, because of the prejudice existing, may meet together in different houses of worship. But every church, whether composed of white or of colored members, is to reveal to the world a representation of Christ’s sufficiency. Every church is under the most sacred obligation to show that they are seeking a preparation for the future life in the earth made new, where there will be no lines of distinction. God will put up no walls of partition between the white and the colored believers. Men have put up their barriers in this world, but there are no such barriers in the home that Christ is preparing for those who love Him. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 19
We are still in this world, where these barriers exist, and we must work in a way that will enable us to reach all classes. Let not the present obstructions worry you and destroy your faith and confidence in God. Let the believers in the South, both white and black, become, through the transforming grace of Christ, like the heavenly pattern. If the white church is to become a holy temple for God, the character building of the members must be after the character building of the meek and lowly Jesus. If the black man has given himself to God as His child, let him believe that he is just as precious in His sight as are His white children. He may lift his head toward the light and become a partaker of the divine nature. It is his privilege to reveal the character of Christ. By the divine presence, he may be transformed in heart and mind, and from him may radiate heaven’s dazzling beams. Christ may shine forth from him the perfection of all righteousness. The glory of the Saviour is his defense. 19LtMs, Ms 114, 1904, par. 20