Sister
Copenhagen, Denmark
June 3, 1887
Portions of this letter are published in LYL 83-84.
Dear Sister:
I have heard that you are intending to marry a man that is not a believer. I am unable to write you a long letter; but I will say if you take this step, you depart from the plainest injunctions of God’s Word and cannot expect or claim His blessing upon such a union. All the promises of God are on condition of obedience to Him. He keepeth truth forever, and there is no unfaithfulness in Him. We feel ourselves happy if we have the assurance of benefits received from finite beings upon whom we feel we can rely. In our faith we dismiss our cares and our anxieties in the perfect hope that our confidence will be fully justified, but what security should the believer feel who has the written Word of a holy God? His promise is verity and truth; upon His Word he may stay his soul and rest calmly and securely if he complies with the conditions upon which the promise is made. Have you taken God’s Word as your counselor? Have you listened to His voice of wisdom? I know the heart is wayward, wilful, perverse in its promptings. Influences are not wanting to sway the soul in the direction of selfish desires. Satan stands ready to infatuate the mind and soul to pursue a course directly contrary to God’s expressed will, that he may separate that soul from God, and he interposes his temptations and gains control over the mind and the heart’s affections. This is Satan’s studied plan to lead souls to turn from One mighty in counsel to the persuasion of minds who have no love for God, no love for the truth. 5LtMs, Lt 1, 1887, par. 1
God has blessed you with great light, and the Lord expects of you to study His will, to carefully follow the directions given you in His Word. You are infatuated, you are being ensnared to your ruin. You have reason to be grateful to God every hour. Rely upon Him, whose wisdom is given in counsel in His holy Word. He has a care for His children above that of the most affectionate parent. He sees the end from the beginning and for this reason has left us promises and cautions and has forbidden His children’s pursuing a certain course which will be ruinous to themselves. 5LtMs, Lt 1, 1887, par. 2
Now you will be left without excuse with such a Source to which you may look for guidance and counsel in perplexities and trouble. Man may err, but God cannot err. He has heaven and earth at His command, and He knows what we have need of even before we ask Him. Our prejudices, weaknesses and self-deceptions and ignorance often prompt us to take steps in a forbidden path that God knows is hurtful to our souls. He sits above the earth. He sees all its confusions. He sees all the arts and devices Satan has prepared to ruin souls; and if left to our own finite judgment, how often should we miss our way! how often be deceived by pretensions and appearances, and wreck our present happiness and our higher interests! We need to carefully study God’s Word all through the journey of life that we may be guided safely to the haven of eternal rest. 5LtMs, Lt 1, 1887, par. 3
Where the cloud rests, let us cheerfully abide. When it moves to guide our way, let us follow. Whatever difficulties we meet in the way, still trust in our Leader. Where we cannot see our way which He chooses for us, He guides our feet. 5LtMs, Lt 1, 1887, par. 4
Now, my dear sister, you are in great danger. I warn you not to stumble upon the path God has forbidden you to place your feet. Make God your confidence; make Him your adviser, your exceeding great reward. He is your Rock. 5LtMs, Lt 1, 1887, par. 5
The apostle Paul sends down the note of warning along the line to this time. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” [2 Corinthians 6:14-18.] 5LtMs, Lt 1, 1887, par. 6
The Lord expressly has forbidden His people to marry with unbelievers. His ancient people were expressly charged again and again not to marry with unbelievers, and God knows what is best for the soul’s eternal interest and for its present good. I warn you off from this forbidden ground: approach it not. I warn you as God’s delegated messenger to form no marriage with an unbeliever. It will prove a snare to draw your heart and your affections from God. Your soul is in constant peril. I beg of you to think of this matter deeper than you have hitherto done. You are making a contract to be life-lasting; therefore let not any infatuation or any deception come into this matter. You are God’s property. Christ has bought you with the price of His own blood; and if you expect to see Jesus as He is, and to be made like Him; if you expect the crown of eternal life, you must be an obedient child here to all God’s requirements. 5LtMs, Lt 1, 1887, par. 7
I might tell you of different cases here that God has shown me in Europe who have made a similar mistake to that you are now making, the wretched reality they now experience of being bound to the unbelieving companions, hindered in all spiritual advancement, notwithstanding the solemn promises made that they would not in any way hinder them in their religious privileges. What are their promises worth? The most solemn promises broken! How can it be otherwise, the two serving under different generals, one in deadly opposition to the other? Where, then, is the sweet harmony? How can the moral taste and inclinations which are at variance blend together? The believing wife loves Jesus, the husband loves himself and the ways of sin; where is the harmony? 5LtMs, Lt 1, 1887, par. 8
God has given the case plainly and decidedly in His Word and now the question is, Shall the Lord be obeyed? or shall the inclinations of the unsanctified heart control? 5LtMs, Lt 1, 1887, par. 9
My sister, look well to your steps; listen to no promises; believe only the Word of God which will make you wise unto salvation. Trust not in your own heart, for the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. I love your soul, for you are the purchase of the blood of Jesus Christ. He has paid a dear price for your redemption, and you are not your own to dispose of yourself as you may think best. You must give a solemn account in the judgment how you have appropriated your God-given powers, whether you have placed yourself in the position where you would be attracted to Christ, to heaven, or to earth and hell. These things call for your serious reflection and decided action in accordance with the plainest directions laid down in the Word of God. Now is your time of temptation, now is your time of trial; will you resist the enemy? or will you place yourself in a position where his power will be exercised over you and control you? It is a life-or-death question with you. May the Lord help you to see every snare of Satan and avoid them, and cling to Jesus with heart and soul and mind and strength. 5LtMs, Lt 1, 1887, par. 10
Yours with love. 5LtMs, Lt 1, 1887, par. 11