Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 21 (1906)

Lt 38, 1906

Wahroonga Sanitarium Family

St. Helena, California

January 23, 1906

Portions of this letter are published in 3MR 39; 9MR 40; 6Bio 76-77.

To the Wahroonga Sanitarium Family

Dear Fellow Workers:

I am very grateful to my heavenly Father for the great mercy and goodness that He daily bestows upon me. I can go up and down stairs as easily as I could at any period of my life. I am thankful for my reason. My mind is clear, and I am able to do a great deal of writing. My mind is very much occupied just now in the endeavor to present in the best way the facts in regard to our early experience in the proclamation of the truth that we held. I do not wish to ignore or drop one link in the chain of evidence that was formed as, after the passing of the time in 1844, little companies of seekers after truth met together to study the Bible and to ask God for light and guidance. As we searched the Scriptures with much prayer, many evidences were given us under the manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s power. What deep importance was attached to every evidence that God gave us! The truth, point by point, was fastened in our minds so firmly that we could not doubt. 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 1

Men and women came to the different places where meetings were appointed to be held, to see if they could not bring in their false theories. But although they would advance erroneous and sometimes fanatical teachings, we had the truth so firmly established in our minds that we had nothing to fear. 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 2

And now, after half a century of clear light from the Word as to what is truth, there are arising many false theories to unsettle minds. But the evidence given in our early experience has the same force that it had then. The truth is the same as it ever has been, and not a pin or a pillar can be moved from the structure of truth. That which was sought for out of the Word in 1844, 1845, and 1846 remains the truth today in every particular. 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 3

Soon after the passing of the time, the light of the true Sabbath shone forth in all its importance. We embraced it and kept faithfully the rest-day of the Lord. We were greatly blessed in obeying this truth. 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 4

God made the world in six days, and on the seventh day He rested, setting it apart as holy. “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.” [Genesis 2:1-3.] 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 5

When the world, because of its iniquity, was destroyed by a flood, that massive boat, the ark, was used by God to save all who would hear the warning and turn from their unrighteousness. But eight persons only were saved. All were tested by the truth that Noah preached, and those who believed were saved. Enoch was translated; for in his generation he was righteous, and God did not allow him to see death. 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 6

When the law of God was proclaimed in awful grandeur from Sinai, God specified the seventh day as the day on which His people were to rest. And once again, He said to Moses, “Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily My sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you; everyone that defileth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done, but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord; whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.” [Exodus 31:13-17.] 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 7

What have we to give up of the leadings and teachings of God as seen in the first chapters of our experience, after the passing of the time and our bitter experience? Nothing. We have held this truth firmly for the past half century, and as we review our history, we see that we have been led and taught of God. We have had most precious and positive testimony to bear from the Word. We saw that there was a work to be done in our world. The third angel’s message must be proclaimed as present truth, the facts concerning the Lord’s Sabbath must be made known. It must be shown that the seventh-day Sabbath is the Lord’s memorial of creation. We went to every place in which we could find an opening, presenting the Scripture evidences for the observance of the Lord’s Sabbath. This truth has always been made prominent in our teachings. 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 8

We have had to pass through some trying scenes, but we had a mighty Helper to aid us at every point and to sustain us in difficulties and perplexities. And now, at the age of seventy-eight, I glorify God that we have not seen any evidence from the Word that would unsettle our faith in the messages that we have borne to the world since 1844. At that time we became established on solid evidence; and although various other messages have come, and different ones have presented something new, we have found our house built upon solid rock, and its foundation stands secure. 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 9

We are in deed and in truth living in the closing scenes of this world’s history. When Christ was upon the earth, He outlined the various things that we would meet in the last days. We now stand braced for trial, trusting in the One who has promised to be with us. 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 10

Christ’s Sermon on the Mount tells us what we shall meet. The only safe thing for us to do is to walk in the light of the teachings of the Word, studying earnestly the instruction given in the Sermon on the Mount. In this sermon, Christ specified the blessings that would come to us if we would place ourselves in the attitude of receiving these blessings. But in order to receive these blessings, we must accept the terms that Christ has laid down. 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 11

No one need lose his bearings who will study this sermon given by the Saviour. “Ye are,” Christ said, “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. 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 12

“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.” [Matthew 5:14-18.] There is then to be no change in the enforcement of the law concerning the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath. 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 13

The kings and rulers of the earth, however great their power, are to consider themselves under a Ruler who owns the world. No earthly ruler is to be looked upon as above the Ruler who made the world in six days, and rested on the seventh day, sanctifying and blessing it, and giving it to man to be set apart as holy, and observed to the glory of His name. But priests and rulers have set up the first day of the week to be observed by the beings God has made. They compel His creatures to transgress the law of their Creator. Man has set himself above the Lord of heaven and has turned human beings aside from the observance of the day that God, as their Creator, declared to be kept holy as a sign between Him and them throughout their generations forever. 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 14

We are every one of us to look from finite men to the Omnipotent God, who has the ownership of all to whom He has given life. They are under His government, and when finite rulers make laws that conflict with a plain, “Thus saith the Lord,” we are to obey the law of God. Shall man dare to take the place of God, setting aside the laws of the Ruler of the universe and placing in their stead human enactments? Shall he dare to compel obedience to these human laws? 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 15

Here is where the man of sin finds his place in prophecy. What is sin? The Lord defines it as “the transgression of the law” [1 John 3:4]—the law of Him who holds the life of every human being in His hands and by whom every one will be judged according to his works. Hereafter, when the Lord shall come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, every man will know who God is. Those who have trampled upon His law will then realize the sinfulness of sin. 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 16

God exalted the seventh day, placing upon it His signature; but man, exalting himself above God, places the Sabbath of the Lord out of sight and exalts a day that has no sanctity but that given it by the Papal power. In this, the man of sin “exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” [2 Thessalonians 2:4.] 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 17

“Think not,” Christ said, “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, the same shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” [Matthew 5:17-19.] 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 18

“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.” [Verse 20.] 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 19

Christ has a supreme right to present to the world the law that must be obeyed. Those who transgress this law, however high their position in this world, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. 21LtMs, Lt 38, 1906, par. 20