Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 23 (1908)

Lt 384, 1908

Hurlbutt, Brother and Sister

Lake View, Clear Lake, California

April 20, 1908

Previously unpublished.

Dear Brother and Sister Hurlbutt:

Last night your case was presented before me, and this morning I write out this message for you. 23LtMs, Lt 384, 1908, par. 1

I am instructed to say to Mr. Hurlbutt, Your life has been one of constant wrestling. You have not shunned physical taxation, but you have spent the powers of mind and body in accomplishing your own desires; you have conformed your life to your own will, while you have neglected the duties you owe to God. At times you have overtaxed your mental and physical powers in your pursuit of worldly interests. Because of this overtaxation, you are now prematurely old. 23LtMs, Lt 384, 1908, par. 2

You and your wife have not acted righteously in the investment of the means that was left in your hands for use in the cause of God. You have hoped to use it to educate young men and women to live useful, God-fearing lives, to train them to habits of neatness and order and industry, and prepare them to fill positions of usefulness in the world. But you were not qualified to do this acceptably. A presentation of conditions altogether different than this has been given me. The condition of things in your home stood in the way of your doing what you planned so as to meet the approval of God. 23LtMs, Lt 384, 1908, par. 3

My brother, what encouragement have you to think that the youth who have been under your care will bring you any reward for your efforts? What youth have gone forth from your home, well trained and qualified to do the will and way of the Lord? In your words and actions you have not given them an example of Christlikeness. The youth have not received from your discipline an experience to make them valuable in the work of the Lord. 23LtMs, Lt 384, 1908, par. 4

Sister Hurlbutt, I have words to speak to you. You have said but little to me, but last night some matters were presented to me of which I must speak to you. Your mother, before she died, bequeathed to you a legacy to be used in giving care and training to neglected youth. It was her desire that these youth should be trained to live lives of usefulness and fitted for the service of God. They were to be taught to keep the Sabbath, they were to be fitted for the future immortal life. Your mother thought that this school should be conducted where the youth could be away from the temptations of city life that prove such a snare to many. 23LtMs, Lt 384, 1908, par. 5

But the work for which your mother planned has not been accomplished. The money left you by her has not been invested as she desired, but has been used to carry out the desires of your husband. Your husband is a hard-working man. He thought he would use this means in carrying out in part the purposes she designed, and you have hoped that the time would come when her plans could be fully followed. But her will could not possibly be accomplished by the plans which you and your husband have laid. This place where you are is not now nor ever has been a place where the mother’s fond expectations could be realized. 23LtMs, Lt 384, 1908, par. 6

Because of worldly investments, your mother’s wishes have not been carried out. She had in view a home where the outcasts and orphans might have the help they needed to become children of the Kingdom. In devoting your means to carrying out the plans of your husband, you have failed, decidedly failed, to keep the charge committed to you. While seeming to be carrying out the wishes of your mother, you have served self. Your husband has taken the youth and taught them how to work the land, but he has not so managed the work that they could have the religious advantages which it was your mother’s wish to give them. 23LtMs, Lt 384, 1908, par. 7

The management and training of youth needs to be conducted on lines altogether different from those on which you have carried them. The work on the farm is not the only thing to be considered. 23LtMs, Lt 384, 1908, par. 8

The youth need to be made intelligent on the subject of health reform and taught how to practice it. Be careful that you do not spoil the beauty of health reform in the estimation of the youth by putting it on a wrong basis. Deal with the matter in such a manner that all must give it respect. If you would recommend health reform to the minds of the children, never set before them food that is stale. Young people, as well as the aged, need food that is good and sweet and wholesome. Care should ever be taken that the food placed upon the table is nicely prepared. That which is left over from the meal should not be kept until it is unwholesome. 23LtMs, Lt 384, 1908, par. 9

Because you have allowed the money left you for a sacred purpose to be misapplied, you have hurt your influence and brought upon you trouble of soul. It has been a grief to you to see the means invested in a way that in no wise accomplished the work that your mother had in mind. The example of Mr. Hurlbutt has not been such as could please and honor God. There are responsibilities in connection with such a school as your mother had in mind that he cannot fill; for he has not made for himself investment for the future immortal life. He has overtaxed his physical powers, used up his vital energies, and is not qualified either physically or spiritually to do the work your mother wished to have done. His influence could not develop traits of character that would fit the youth to live Christian lives. 23LtMs, Lt 384, 1908, par. 10

Mr. Hurlbutt, you have taken too much upon yourself. Your ideas and plans have not been molded and fashioned by the Holy Spirit of God. It has not been your first thought and desire to train your physical, mental, and moral powers to inhabit the courts above. You have not shunned hard work, but you have spent your energies in adding to your land; your mind has been upon the earthly treasures; and while you have used your powers for the gaining of earthly possessions, you have neglected your spiritual needs. If you had lived in humble dependence upon God, you would have found a way to do a large amount of good with the means entrusted to you. 23LtMs, Lt 384, 1908, par. 11

The world is the Lord’s great vineyard. All cities and villages constitute a part of that vineyard. These places must be worked. The Lord designs that consecrated families shall settle in the waste places of His vineyard, and occupy them, as fruit-bearing branches of the Living Vine, as trees of righteousness in the desert places. It is the privilege of such families to sow the seeds of truth and to reap a rich harvest. By visiting families who are in spiritual darkness, they will be the means of bringing blessing to souls. But much of this kind of work, which God would acknowledge, has been left undone. Self-sacrificing efforts for perishing souls have not been made, and the fruit that might have been borne does not appear. 23LtMs, Lt 384, 1908, par. 12

I appeal to you at this time, Mr. Hurlbutt. Let not these discouraging features continue to exist in your experience because of a lack of genuine conversion upon mind and heart. I was charged in the night season to give this special message from God. Seek the Lord now; it is for your present and eternal good to do this. You have not a moment to lose. 23LtMs, Lt 384, 1908, par. 13

Your calculations in the past have not been wise; for you have not laid up your treasure in heaven. The Saviour says to you, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust doth not corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:19-21. 23LtMs, Lt 384, 1908, par. 14

“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. 23LtMs, Lt 384, 1908, par. 15

Every work of a spiritual nature requires patient, persevering labor, in firm reliance upon divine power. God must plan the work of the human agencies; He must be their helper. “Ye are the salt of the earth,” He says to His followers; “but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. 23LtMs, Lt 384, 1908, par. 16

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:13-20. 23LtMs, Lt 384, 1908, par. 17