Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 22 (1907)

Lt 362, 1907

Baird, Brother and Sister [A. S.]

Loma Linda, California

November 5, 1906

Previously unpublished.

Dear Brother and Sister Baird:

I am pleased to hear of you through my grandchildren. I am thankful for the interest you are taking toward these young people, whom we love in the Lord, and also as those who are joined to us by natural ties. We are glad that they may be associated with you, in whom we are also greatly interested. May the Lord bless you in your work. 22LtMs, Lt 362, 1907, par. 1

Tell Sister Baird that I have a decided interest in her, that she may be, in the truest sense of the word, a Christian, that she may have the evidence that she is born again. I desire that she may be able to say, “We are all the children of God by [faith in] Christ Jesus.” [See Galatians 3:26.] The exercise of faith in Him entitles us to a participation of His divine nature. 22LtMs, Lt 362, 1907, par. 2

My brother and sister, if you are tempted to spend money needlessly, will you not refuse to yield to the temptation? We see so many poor souls that need advantages, but whose circumstances are such that they are unable to obtain them. I would be glad to act as your steward to invest in such efforts whatever means you can spare. I will account to you for every penny that I may receive from you. I have helped some such cases, and I must continue to help them until some way opens before them. I present this as a blessed opportunity for you to lay up treasure beside the throne of God. Thus self-denial may be exercised for a worthy purpose. 22LtMs, Lt 362, 1907, par. 3

Above everything else, keep your souls clean and free from selfishness. I desire that you may both be devoted children of God, that if I meet you no more in this life, I may entertain the hope that “of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” [1 Corinthians 1:30.] May you be sustained and nourished by Christ as the branch is nourished by the vine, or as the members of the body receive action and guidance from the mind. 22LtMs, Lt 362, 1907, par. 4

Yesterday, by request, I spoke to the patients in the parlor from the fifteenth chapter of John. “I am the true Vine, and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit, He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 22LtMs, Lt 362, 1907, par. 5

“Now ye are clean”—how?—“through (obedience to) the Word which I have spoken unto you.” [Verses 1-3.] 22LtMs, Lt 362, 1907, par. 6

Unless we follow on to know the Lord by a living experience, we shall not become members of the royal family that will come into possession of eternal life. We are to be purified through the spirit of self-denial and self-sacrifice, an example of which Christ has given us in His life. 22LtMs, Lt 362, 1907, par. 7

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me.” [Verse 4.] Bear this in mind, and endeavor to manifest the true features of a religious character. Unless this is the case, you cannot have the evidence that you are fruit-bearing branches of the vine. I want to meet you in the heavenly courts. 22LtMs, Lt 362, 1907, par. 8

“I am the Vine; ye are the branches. He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit”—in good works of self-denial and self-sacrifice, in efforts to be a blessing to others. [Verse 5.] 22LtMs, Lt 362, 1907, par. 9

“For without Me ye can do nothing. ... If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” [Verses 5, 7.] 22LtMs, Lt 362, 1907, par. 10

These words of assurance are a great comfort to every soul that believes. Then let us believe, that we may receive the rich blessings of the grace of God. 22LtMs, Lt 362, 1907, par. 11

I am thankful that you have had a part in the work of the school and the sanitarium at Takoma Park. I shall be pleased, if in the providence of God it is my privilege again to visit these institutions. The Lord has blessed us in the establishment of our work there. 22LtMs, Lt 362, 1907, par. 12

Whatever may come, be of good courage in the Lord, and ever bear a living testimony to the grace of Christ. 22LtMs, Lt 362, 1907, par. 13