Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 3 (1876 - 1882)

Ms 3, 1877

Talk/Work Earnestly for the Unsaved

1877

Formerly Undated Ms 141. This manuscript is published in entirety in 18MR 281-285.

When we engage with all our hearts in the work, we are closely allied to the angels; we are co-workers with the angels and with Christ; and there is a sympathy with heaven and with us, a holy, elevated sympathy. We are brought a little closer to heaven, a little closer to the angelic hosts, a little closer to Jesus. Then let us engage in this work with all our energies. Do not become weary in the work. God will help us. Angels will help us; because it is their work, and the very work they are seeking to inspire us with. If we can engage in it, can you not see that the angelic host will be all around us, and the excellent glory will drop upon us, just as naturally as the dew falls upon the grass? 3LtMs, Ms 3, 1877, par. 1

Do not be influenced by what others may say about you. I have had persons come to me, wanting to tell me what this one or that one for whom I was laboring had been saying about me. Said I: Away with these reports; what has that to do with their salvation? My work is to bring them back to the fold. 3LtMs, Ms 3, 1877, par. 2

This is a work you must take hold of earnestly; and when you find a wandering sheep, call him to the fold; and leave him not until you see him safely enfolded there. May Heaven let the Spirit that was in our divine Lord rest upon us. This is what we want. He tells us, “Love one another, as I have loved you.” [John 13:34.] Go out for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 3LtMs, Ms 3, 1877, par. 3

If there is any point on which you have committed one wrong, although they may have committed one hundred, take that which you have done out of the way, and open the way for them to come back again. Perhaps that was the very thing that was keeping a soul away. In your humility, confess your one wrong; and perhaps it may touch him, and lead him with weeping to confess his hundred wrongs, and to take them out of the way. Thus a soul for whom Christ died will be saved. 3LtMs, Ms 3, 1877, par. 4

Our Lord was rich and exalted in heaven; but He left the glory that He had with the Father before the world was, and came down to this earth to become a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, to be mocked at by the very ones He came to save, and at last to give His life for them. 3LtMs, Ms 3, 1877, par. 5

In your experience perhaps you may say, I have tried to save this one and that one, and they have only wounded me, and I am not going to try to help them any more. But do not become discouraged if they do not at once return to the fold. Reach out still for your fellow mortals around you. You shall reap if you faint not. Remember that the reaping time is coming, and you will have an abundant and precious harvest. But if you faint before the harvest time shall come, you will lose all the reward. 3LtMs, Ms 3, 1877, par. 6

I want you to remember Jesus, the suffering Son of God. He came to die for the fallen race, and how did they receive Him? They met Him with scorn and indignity, and at last hung Him upon the cross. Such was their treatment of Him who came to save them and to exalt them to the throne of God. 3LtMs, Ms 3, 1877, par. 7

Ought you then to become weary? Should you faint, who are partakers of the heavenly benefit? Or will you say, Let me drink of the cup; let me be baptized with the baptism; let me be a co-worker with God and the heavenly angels, and act some part in the salvation of mortals around me? Let this be your work. 3LtMs, Ms 3, 1877, par. 8

There is a great work before us. There are men and women straying from the fold of Christ, and as they become cold and indifferent, and lose all disposition to return, they will not run after you. You must take them where they are. You must place the straying one on your shoulder, and carry him back to the fold, and there let him remain. 3LtMs, Ms 3, 1877, par. 9

Some years since, I had a dream. I dreamed we were out upon the water. There were several in the boat besides myself, and there were other boats about us. The other boats were watching to see what course our boat would take. We had, every one of us, oars, and were rowing with all our might. While we were thus urging our boat along, I saw two or three of the other boats capsize, and the persons thrown from them began to sink. They had no power to save themselves, or to get hold of the boat again. 3LtMs, Ms 3, 1877, par. 10

I said, Let us put about the boat, and pick up these souls. The answer was, Let them come to the boat; they can see the boat; let them come to us. I looked and saw them sinking and rising and struggling for life. I said, We must put the boat about and pick them up. The answer again was, Let them come to the boat, and then we will pull them in. After waiting a few minutes more, I said, Give me the oars, and I began to row with all my might. Said I: Help me, we must go to these individuals and save them where they are. With that, the others took hold of the oars again and rowed with me to get to these individuals. Now, said I, Take hold of me. Then I would reach down, even to the bottom, it seemed to me, exerting all my strength, and would pull one out of the water. Others followed the example. This we did repeatedly, taking them to the shore, and leaving them there for others to work over, as some of them were nearly lifeless. Said I: Work over them; every one will live. Then we would cry out to those in the boats, “Reach down your arms to them, and bring them up.” 3LtMs, Ms 3, 1877, par. 11

I then went to examine those who had been brought to the shore, and as I turned them over to look at their faces, I recognized the faces of my brother, my sister, and my near friends. I kneeled down, and I cannot express such thanksgiving as I raised to Heaven, that God had given us strength to save them. 3LtMs, Ms 3, 1877, par. 12

I do not know whether this means that these were my natural brothers and sisters; I think it means those connected to us by still closer ties in the church. Said Jesus, “Whosoever doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is my mother and sister, and brother.” [Matthew 12:50.] 3LtMs, Ms 3, 1877, par. 13

I want to say, brethren and sisters, that we must labor for the wandering where they are. You need not expect that those who have the chilling influence of the world upon them to manifest anxiety for their own souls. We must manifest it for them. Do you appreciate salvation? Do you appreciate the great sacrifice that has been made for you? If you do, God help you to deny yourselves, and make this sacrifice for your fellow men. “Love one another, as I have loved you,” said Christ. [John 13:34.] He left the glory and splendor which he enjoyed on high. None of these were sufficient to hold him there and prevent him from coming down to elevate you. And now are you willing to engage in the work with all your energies, and help your fellow mortals around you? God give you a spirit of self-denial. 3LtMs, Ms 3, 1877, par. 14

Love—how sweet it is! It is the bond of perfectness. What is the gold which the True Witness counsels us to buy of Him? It is faith and love combined. Faith leads us to act. And what is love?—A tender care and solicitude for perishing souls. Faith and love go hand in hand. And this love the church as a general thing is almost entirely destitute of. And now shall we earnestly labor to win back this grace? 3LtMs, Ms 3, 1877, par. 15

We have lost disinterested benevolence. As you enter into the houses of your brethren and sisters, do not be afraid to manifest your feelings of love and sympathy. It is the little things of life that make up the sum of life’s happiness or misery. It is the little things, if they are right, that are of the greatest service. 3LtMs, Ms 3, 1877, par. 16

I would like to say much more, but my time is up. 3LtMs, Ms 3, 1877, par. 17