Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 15 (1900)

Lt 29, 1900

Fellow Workers in Maitland

“Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

February 17, 1900

Portions of this letter are published in SD 194, 239; Ev 355.

Dear Fellow Workers in Maitland:

I have heard of the demonstration made at the baptism. This demonstration shows very clearly what spirit is working in the children of disobedience. There are in this world two armies, the army of Christ and the army of Satan. Satan’s army is opposed to truth and righteousness, and it is his spirit that is exercised against those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus. God’s children are hated and despised by the synagogue of Satan. The spirit that works against them today is the same spirit that crucified Christ. 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 1

Read the book of Daniel, chapter by chapter, and recognize the spirit that works in those who are under the control of the enemy of God. Many of these are church members, instructed by ministers who are doing just what God told them not to do. 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 2

God Himself instructed Moses to charge the people of Israel to teach their children the commandments, when they rose up and when they sat down, and when they went out and when they came in. The commandments were compiled into verse and song, to be sung during the march through the wilderness. Great stress was laid by Jesus Christ upon the importance of parents giving their children the right kind of an education. The instruction given in this point was positive. There were no if’s or and’s about it. God declared that His blessing would rest upon the obedient and His curse upon the disobedient. 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 3

Were those who made the disturbance at the baptism obedient or disobedient? They were children who have been taught from the pulpit to despise those who are keeping the commandments of God. In the book of heaven <many of> the youth of Maitland are recorded as Sodomitish children. But who has made them thus? Have they been given that education God told Moses the parents of Israel were to give to their children? Parents have followed the example set by the ministers, who profane the most sacred ordinance of God by taking their stand on the worlds side of the question, refusing to obey the commandments of God. They bring their children up in disobedience to God. Will not such parents have a sad record to meet? The Word of the Lord is plain and distinct, but they prefer to listen to the falsehoods of the religious teachers. 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 4

Now, while Satan’s fury is aroused against the commandment-keeping people of God, shall those who have been convicted turn from truth to accept error? Will the wife encourage her husband to resist the Spirit of God? Will the husband oppose his wife if she wishes to obey a “Thus saith the Lord”? 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 5

Let the people know that you bear a commission from the Most High, that you have a heaven-sent message. Men and women may shun the reproach they are called upon to bear for Christ’s sake, they may do the works of the children of transgressors, but as surely as they do this, they will receive the reward of the evildoer. They may climb to places of distinction, they may stand high in the literary world, and with proud superiority they may resist the truth of heavenly origin; but in the end they will lose all. 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 6

Our happiness and salvation depend upon eating the bread of life; that is, obeying the words and doing the works of Christ, advancing righteousness and restraining unrighteousness. Nothing can give such self-reliance, such courage, such an increase of talents and ability, as a true estimate of the requirements of God’s law. Nothing will give us such firmness and confidence, such an appreciation of talents bestowed upon us, as a realization that we are “laborers together with God” [1 Corinthians 3:9], and that we must have respect unto all of His commandments. 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 7

My fellow workers, remember that you have a sacred work to do for the Master. The Lord is willing to train and educate everyone who looks to Him for light regarding the path of duty. It is the high privilege of every man, woman, and child to cooperate with God. Christ sacrificed His life in order to save those ready to perish. All may share with Him in the divine work of turning many souls to righteousness. “They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever ... Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand.” [Daniel 12:3, 10.] 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 8

“Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you; continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” [John 15:8-11.] “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you. ... At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” [John 14:15-18, 20, 21.] 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 9

Love for Jesus Christ leads us to obey God’s commandments, which are a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, securing for us the illuminating, purifying, blissful presence of both the Father and the Son. He who is obedient can commune with God even as did Enoch. But those who hear the truth and refuse to obey, because there is a cross involved, forget that Jesus was nailed to the cross to make it possible for them to obey the commandments. He became the Sin-bearer and died on the cross to secure salvation for every sinner who repents and returns to his loyalty to God. Only through Christ can we obtain access to the Father. 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 10

“God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” [John 3:16.] Those who turn from the light so graciously given them by God, because to obey involves worldly inconvenience, crucify the Son of God afresh. 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 11

They turn from light to the beggarly elements of the world. Faith in Christ is the only means of justification, sanctification, and communion with God. He who refuses to rob God, by disregarding His command concerning the Sabbath, distinguishes himself from worldly, selfish scheming, and to him is the promise made, “Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” [Isaiah 58:14.] 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 12

“No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath called him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for the mastery, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.” [2 Timothy 2:4, 5.] He must be yoked up with Christ, who declares, “I have kept my Father’s commandments.” [John 15:10.] Christ does not receive into His firm anyone who disregards the principles found in the first four and the last six commandments, which enjoins love to God and man. We show supreme love for God by loving our neighbor as ourselves, and by giving Him the light and influence of a perfect conformity to the will of God. 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 13

Every man who claims to love God supremely and his neighbor as himself is pledged to honor God by exalting His law. As he does this, he receives from the Source of all power light and heavenly knowledge to impart to others. Having received the heavenly anointing, he is filled with a desire to take to others the truth of the Word. In entire dependence upon God, he seeks from Him a right understanding of that faith which works by love and purifies the soul. He strives to work in complete harmony with God. As the servant of the Lord, he strives to lead others to realize their obligation to obey God. 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 14

To every one whose mind is enlightened in regard to truth will come the temptation to evade the consequences of obedience. He will be tempted to continue in error. Satan seeks to lead him into one false theory after another. For all such ones, patient effort must be put forth. “The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient”—as he meets those who pervert the Scriptures. “In meekness instructing those who oppose themselves”—who bring up every possible objection against their keeping the Lord’s Sabbath, thus opposing themselves, placing stumbling blocks in their own way. “In meekness instructing those who oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” [2 Timothy 2:24-26.] 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 15

There has been a terrible apostasy from the teachings of the Bible and from the practice of the gospel. False teachers, professing to be teachers of righteousness, induce men, women, and youth, by perverting the Scriptures, to take a position against the truth. They falsely accuse those who place themselves on the side of truth in obedience to the Word of life. They oppose that which God calls good and promote that which He calls evil. The Lord will suffer them to continue for a little while, and then their wickedness will be made manifest to all. 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 16

The Word of God is open to all. Those who study this Word, asking the Lord for wisdom, will become wise unto salvation. Those who refuse to do this, who turn from the Bible and from books which make Bible truth easy to be understood, take responsibility of their course upon themselves. “Sin lieth at the door.” [Genesis 4:7.] All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and, like its Author, is perfect. He who breathed into man the breath of life, and made him a living soul, has also breathed into His Word the breath of life. It is a life-giving power. “The word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” [Hebrews 4:12.] 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 17

Divine grace in the newly converted soul is progressive. It gives an increase of grace, which is received, not to be hidden under a bushel, but to be imparted, that others may be benefited. He who is truly converted will work to save others who are in darkness. One truly converted soul will reach out in faith to save another and still another. Those who do this are God’s agencies, His sons and daughters. They are a part of His great firm, and their work is to help to repair the breach which Satan and his agencies have made in the law of God by trampling under foot the genuine Sabbath, and putting in its place a spurious rest day. 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 18

God calls upon all to turn away their feet from the Sabbath, to cease from making His holy day a common working day. Your work, believer, is to co-operate with God in raising up the foundation of many generations. “Thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father.” [Isaiah 58:12-14.] 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 19

This is the work before us. God calls upon those who have been given light and evidence to ask themselves the question, “Whose side am I on?” Will you continue to trample on the day which God has sanctified and blessed? Or will you acknowledge the truth by taking your feet off the Sabbath? Your Creator and Redeemer calls upon you to render to Him the fruit of obedience. Will you do this? 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 20

I now leave this with you, my fellow workers, to read to the Kerr brothers. Ask them not to turn away from the evidence God has given them. God calls upon them to place their influence upon the side of righteousness, irrespective of worldly loss or gain. “What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul, or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” [Mark 8:36, 37.] 15LtMs, Lt 29, 1900, par. 21