Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 21 (1906)

Ms 138, 1906

Sermon/Thoughts on 2 Peter 1

St. Helena, California

March 24, 1906

Previously unpublished.

Sabbath, March 24, 1906

Sermon, Mrs. E. G. White, St. Helena Sanitarium Chapel

“Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” [2 Peter 1:1.] 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 1

Well, unless we are in a position to recommend that, it will be of no benefit to us. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 2

“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” [Verses 2, 3.] 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 3

There is a work for us to do, to be sure that we obtain that knowledge. Unless we can have that knowledge, in and through Jesus Christ, we cannot in this world prepare for the heaven that He is preparing for us. We know not how long we may be permitted to be in this world. We do not know; and while we are here, we want to lay hold of the eternal strength, that we may be an example to all that are around us. We cannot afford to make any mistake in this time of trial, in this time of test. We are being tested here. Christ has died for us, and we shall be successful if we lay right hold upon Christ to do for ourselves. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 4

“According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers (Now take this in—oh, it means everything!) of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” [Verses 3, 4.] 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 5

“His divine nature.” [Verse 4.] A question was asked if Christ brought His divine nature. Of course He did. He was humanity and divinity combined. Here He was tempted in all points like as we are, that He might know how to succor those that are tempted; and then every soul that will follow His example and His teachings shall be a partaker of that divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. If you want heaven, why, you must every one strive for it. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 6

“And beside this, giving all diligence, add (work on the plan of addition) to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” [Verses 5-8.] 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 7

Now here the heart is to be sensitive to the influences of the Spirit of God. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 8

“But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” [Verse 9.] 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 9

He has backslidden; he has become cold; he has become indifferent; he has become careless; he has gone right after the practices and fashions of the world, imitating them; and you cannot afford it. Not one of us can afford it. You want all of heaven to bring into your life through practical living the life of Christ; and that is the only way you can have it. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 10

“Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.” [Verse 10.] 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 11

Here is our spiritual life insurance policy, and here it is the securing of what? A life that measures with the life of God. It is an eternal life that we are to grasp. Oh, in these things we want to become acquainted with Jesus Christ by a practical knowledge of Him, by being partakers of His divine nature, that we may be in a position that we can claim His promises, and in doing this we shall be an example to all that are around us. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 12

“For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” [Verse 11.] 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 13

Well, now, look at all these promises. Will we work on the plan of addition, or subtraction? If you have capabilities of mind, powers of mind, ingenuity of mind, you can understand this Scripture, so that it may be your life insurance policy, for eternal life. The riches—why, what are they? The eternal weight of glory, an entrance to be ministered unto you. Here you are to be eternally secure—a thousand years in the city of our God, and then things will have transpired on this earth so that the enemy of God shall be taken down, and here the earth will be purified, so that that city will not be corrupted, nor any inhabitants in that city shall know what corruption is. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 14

Now, if we are to have these gracious promises, shall we begin work on the plan of addition? We can see that the wickedness is increasing everywhere all around us, in every city, in every town. You never heard such happenings as we are having now in the daily papers and in all our observation. Well, then what? What about that? We want right here, now, to begin in this world. I wish that our people, who profess to believe in keeping the commandments of God and escaping all the influences that are around them through lust, would get a burden, as they did have it in their conversion to the message that the apostles brought, when they brought their magical books, everything of the kind, and they burned them up. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 15

Now the enemy is making this prevalent today. The papers, the magazines, you can have them cheap; you bring them into the house, and you lay them on the table, and you take hold of them and read them when you haven’t any time. You want the Word of the living God, to eat it and drink it. We, every one of us, want it, and we cannot afford to have all these specious devisings brought right into our house, and pay money for it, we can govern that ourselves and become acquainted with all the trash, the miserable pictures you find. Why, the Bible does not represent any such pictures. We do not want the sight of our eyes, and our senses—we do not want them perverted with any such sights, neither do we want our appetite to be desirous for any such things. It is the Word of the living God that we desire to know. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 16

Christ is the bread of life, and He declares in John that those that feed upon Him—the sixth chapter of John tells us about it—that if you feed upon Him, ye shall have eternal life, you will be observers of the Word. It is eternal life eternal to us. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 17

And now we want our minds to be spiritualized. We cannot afford to have a single penny put into these miserable things that come to us. We have papers, we have magazines, we have books; and we want to reserve every penny that we can to help provide books that others shall have them. The Word is the bread of life; and if ye eat and drink of the bread of life, why, then, your experience will be composed of what you eat and what you drink, as your bodies are composed of what you eat and what you drink. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 18

Now here, as it is presented to me so many times, is the cause of the great want of spirituality among those that claim to believe the message of truth. What is the matter with them? Why, they have given their appetite to trash, the appetite of the mind, and they cannot afford it. Now what we want is something substantial, that will protect us against what is coming in. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 19

Well, what is it? Why, Satan is coming down, in great power, and he comes to deceive and leads astray the very elect; and you cannot afford it; you cannot afford to be led away. You want that help that comes from Christ, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. You are to be a partaker of the divine nature. There is nothing else that can save us. Christ comes in His divine nature, and here is every soul will be enlightened according to what you study, according to what you give the mind to feed upon. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 20

We see that we have troubles and difficulties, that there are those that are led away, how? What through? The devising of Satan. He is watching every mind, every chance, that he may crowd in his scientific problems and get the mind to studying and searching on these things; so that they do not have an appetite to lay hold upon the food that Christ gives us—His Word. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 21

His Word, He says, is spirit, and His Word is life. Well, it is essential for us, and we want right here in this world to be in a position where we are partakers of the divine nature, where we are living upon the plan of addition, and all the time accumulating knowledge, that our feet shall stand on the platform, the Rock of Ages, upon eternal truth, the foundation which nothing can wreck. That is what we need. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 22

The light is given to me in regard to the poor understanding of those that have been in the truth, that these sophistries, and this mysticism, and doing away with the personality of God, and with the personality of Christ, will get the hall-room of the heart all ready for these miracles that Satan will come to work right in our midst. Some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. That is what we read, and therefore we want to be in a position so that we will understand how He has given them. Then what does He tell us, what assurance does He give? My messenger shall go before you. Oh, that is worth a world! My messenger shall go before you. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 23

There they are preparing the hearts to receive the message; and we find now in foreign countries, why, the truth is opening doors in a wonderful manner. When I have seen them, I have felt that I would make any sacrifice on my part, so that I could get the truth into these places. I have let them have my books without taking any returns from them, but let them translate them, put them into all languages, and then let the truth go forth as a lamp that burneth. We cannot afford, if we have had the instruction that we have had, to take time to gather large schools together and hold them for years. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 24

Go right into places where they know not the truth, and begin to work intelligently, and the Lord God of Israel will send His messenger before you. That is the way I have had to work; and unless those promises had been given to me in my very young years when I started to travel, timid and fearful, why, I could not have gone—no voice, had not had a voice. I had lost it, and they said I could not live but about three months, and yet the Lord said, “Go, go, and My messenger shall go before you.” I never knew that there was such a power, till then. My messenger shall go before you. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 25

The accident that occurred to me so many years ago, which seemed to be unto death, the Lord made unto life; and when I stood before the people in the churches, I could not utter any words aloud. I would stand and try and try for about five minutes to utter a sound, and then: My messenger shall go before you. Oh, how I hung to it! Shall I have to give it up, and these people have come, expecting to hear me? And then everything would break away. I could talk two hours and a half, just as well as I could fifteen minutes. Now, I thought, I have surely gotten the victory, but after that I could not talk again. I was tempted several months. Traveling all the time, I had to go through that process until I had proved my Lord; and then that test was taken away, and I could speak clearly. And now I could speak clearly to thousands of people. And I have had an experience. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 26

People come up and say, “I have got something new here, and want to bring it before you,” then they come with something that will undermine the position that we have occupied on the truth that is rock bottom; something they want us to receive. I have told them, “I could pile up books that high that God has bidden me to write.” 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 27

Then there was this accident that I had, that brought me to where I was reduced to a skeleton, and I could not attend school. I could not remain in school at all. After I got so that I could go, I thought it was a little strange, but it happened that the very girl that threw the stone was my monitor in school, over my section of seats, to teach me how to write. My hand was quivering; I could not write. She would try to steady it, and then she would turn, and the tears would roll down her cheeks. She knew what she had done to me; and then they had to advise me not to try to attend school; so I did not attend it after I was nine years old. After that, I could not advance. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 28

So at one time the Spirit of God came upon me, and brought me out of a discouraging trial, and said, “Write, Write the things that I shall give you.” These words the Holy Spirit of God spoke. “Why,” said I, “I cannot write; I cannot hold my hand steady.” “Write the things that are given you of God.” That is all. No assurance was given me. I sat right down and took my pen in my trembling hand, and I wrote better than I write today, because I have to produce so much writing, and in such a hurry. But there my hand was steady, and that has never failed me. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 29

When I was in Australia, eleven months with the malaria, and with inflammation, I could not step nor walk, and it was there I was sick eleven months. Well, I never had a happier time in my life. They made a frame that they could put before me, and that arm was never affected. The whole body was affected; every nerve had to lie on rubber; but that arm was always so I could write; and in eleven months I wrote twenty-five hundred pages, that went out to the world everywhere. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 30

Well, now, that is how my writings have been given; in sickness or in health, that hand is never affected. Here I could not move that hand to my head. I could do nothing to dress myself, but that hand could write. These are evidences I have had all the way along. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 31

So, how do you think I shall be affected, when they come up and tell me, “Why, we have got something here, and we want to bring it before you, because we don’t think that you have got the truth.” Well, I know I have got the truth. I know where the power has come from. I know how the communications have come. I know how my life has been spared again and again when it was thought that I must go down into the grave. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 32

Perhaps there are some here who were in Healdsburg when we had a camp meeting there, and they thought I was dying, and they took me out upon a sofa, and they laid me on the platform there, and then I said to Willie, “Will you raise me up?” Well, he raised me up, put his arm around me, and I stood there upon my feet, pale, emaciated, not a particle of color in my face, lips, ears, or any part of my features; and it seemed as though the whole of Healdsburg was out to that camp meeting. They watched it, and they saw the blood coming, coming, saw the streak as it came up to my lips, to my ears, to my forehead. Well, I was healed there; my life was preserved. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 33

I want to tell you—circumstance after circumstance has happened in this way, that has demonstrated from whom my power came; and I take no credit to myself, but I have books piled up that I have written, and have been writing continually, that are prepared for the people. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 34

Now when any one comes in with their sophistry, and with their presumptuous errors, I know where I am. I know a messenger has gone before me, and has exercised a power to keep breath in my body. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 35

Before that large crowd they had an evidence of the healing power of God. Such things have been given to me all through my life. Now do you think I could go back, in order to agree with some that are running into special errors, and I could accept their errors in order to be in unity? No; they will have to come to that which God has given as truth. I am willing all my writings should go to every part of the work, and I have done all I could to make it go. When the Lord has given me light, I appreciate it highly; and I want to say to you all, I want you to put away the nonsensical magazines; I want you to take the books where the messenger has gone before me and given me light and strength and the healing power of God to carry on the work. I know that that is truth. No one can bring in anything that would change my mind on these points. I have nothing to give up in order to be in harmony with those that shall come up with their errors, and specious devisings—nothing at all. This has been acted over—the healing power of God upon my body—again and again. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 36

(Here was related the incident of being healed on the cars. Eight camp meetings attended thereafter.) 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 37

Now I want to say, We want to be in a position to believe if God has sent anything through testimonies. You want to search by Bible, and compare it with the Bible, and see what it says; and if you will do this, you will understand it. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 38

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” [1 John 3:1-3.] 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 39

Here is the very work that is resting upon us to perform. Do not, I beg of you, listen to the unbelief that will be crowded into your mind, and sophistries. Some are to depart from the faith. Where are they? Who are they? Who is departing from the faith laid down, the very foundation that we were on a whole century ago? We are on the very same foundation; we have the same evidence, and we worked on it day and night, to know in regard to the sanctuary question, and in regard to the personality of God, and of Christ, and of all these subjects. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 40

There were only a few of us, but we would get together, and we would begin in the early evening, and work through the truth, and then they would get to the point: “We cannot handle that; we must give it up; we cannot handle it.” 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 41

The power of God came upon me then, and light was reflected through the frail instrument, and it was brought out clearly. Again and again, and over and over, as it was opposed, there substantiated; every species of doctrine that we had been holding. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 42

Now, you see, it is not possible for us to let go of this and take hold of some of these new suppositions and fallacies. We cannot do it. And I mean to present before the people, how God has wrought. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 43

You have listened to Elder Loughborough. He was with us from almost the first of our work, and he knows and he understands these things, and others understand them. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 44

I want to tell you: Take Patriarchs and Prophets, and Desire of Ages, and the Great Controversy; there it was that I wrote out these things. Nobody manipulated my writings; why, sometimes I did not know that I wrote. I was taken right up in the night, and there I would write page after page, and in the morning I would find those pages. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 45

(Speaks at length regarding the manner in which testimonies are given and written out in the night season; nobody manipulates the writings.) 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 46

Now I want every one of you to burn up your old magazines and your novels, for every soul that is here, you want to understand what is truth. You want to live on the plan of addition, and God has promised to work on the plan of multiplication. You will have your your life insurance policy in the kingdom of our God, by the knowledge you may reap if you will. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 47

You may fill your mind with trash but that does not do it any good. You will have enough of it, because everything is pouring in; but what we want is the precious Word. Christ has said, “If ye eat My flesh and if ye drink My blood, ye shall have eternal life.” He says, again, “The flesh profiteth nothing, the words that I speak unto you are spirit and life.” [John 6:54, 63.] That is the Spirit and life. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 48

We do not half appreciate it. We want to use every capability that God has given us, of mind and soul and body; and we want the doors open for the truth to go; we want no infidelity; we want no skepticism; and we want none of the sitting up long at night, to influence other minds. We want none of that. We want the truth as it is in Jesus; and we want to feed upon Christ; for He is the bread of life. We want to know what saith the Scriptures. And I am dealing in Scriptures all the time, what Christ has said, what the apostles have said, and what steps some are taking to what? Oh, to deny the faith, and we cannot afford it; we cannot afford to go into that line at all. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 49

Now, I will not keep you, but I want you, every one, to take your Bibles, and ask Christ to here send His messenger to prepare your soul that you may understand what saith the Scriptures, because it means everything to us. Of course it does; and here is a world to be saved. You have no right to be wavering, wavering, wavering here, and not knowing where to stand. Why? Because we have the Bible, and last night, in visions of the night, it was presented to me to present to you that you need here a thorough conversion. You need here a mind disabused. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 50

It will mean everything—yes, one soul is worth more than the world; and then it makes every difference with you what kind of a story you are listening to; and we want the eternal mind of Jehovah; we want that mind that shall give us the truth. And as I have read to you in Peter, so I would ask you to read the seventeenth chapter of John, and see that last prayer of Christ, with His disciples, and see if you are framing yourselves to love Christ and the truth, so that you can be one with Christ and one with the Father. That means everything to us individually. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 51

You study the seventeenth chapter of John, and you see where it places you and me. May God let His Spirit come upon us. But why? I am receiving letters all the time, how doors open in foreign countries, and those that have thought to go but were afraid they would not allow an entrance to the Word. Brother Conradi writes me that there is nothing to hinder. The Spirit of God goes before them, and gives them the freedom that they would not have asked for six years ago, because they could not get it. But now what do we want? We want that our means should be used intelligently. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 52

I am doing everything I can, all the foreign books, giving up the royalty on them, and only to keep them in circulation, that they may have them everywhere. I want to tell you that God told me Christ’s Object Lessons would help in our schools; if you realized how I appreciated that word from the Lord, I think all of you would put to the stretch every muscle and every energy and every speck of influence you have to prepare the way for the schools which must be established in many places. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 53

Also, now, the Ministry of Healing, why, I get nothing for that. That does not come to me. My brethren have united with me in getting that out, and that I have made a free gift. Do what you can to free our institutions from debt. Will you do it, in the name of the Lord? I have done all I can do in regard to it, and I know that God has helped me in writing those books. I am thankful that the matter was out and Sister Davis gathered it together and put it together. I am thankful that she was with me to do this. She now sleeps in Jesus. Her work is done. I will not hold you any longer. 21LtMs, Ms 138, 1906, par. 54