Brethren in Battle Creek
“Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia
September 13, 1897
Previously unpublished.
Brethren in Battle Creek:
I have risen at three o’clock to write my letters to America. If W. C. White were with you now, I should direct letters to him, but I do not think this can be the case. In regard to Brother Henry, those who have helped and sustained him during the years that the Lord has been sending His messages to them, and him, should be very careful how they lay their sins upon him. They have no excuse for doing this. They have not themselves made straight paths for their feet. They have gone out of the way; they have done unrighteously, and unless they turn unto the Lord with contrition of soul, they will never see the Lord Jesus as He is, and be like Him. Let them not now push or crowd any man, for this kind of work is an offense to God. They have done quite enough of this kind of work to spoil their own Christian experience and the experience of all those who have been associated with them. 12LtMs, Lt 7, 1897, par. 1
I write to say that the Lord is not pleased with the attitude of the men who have linked with Brother Henry. They vindicate themselves and censure him. How much better would it be in the sight of God to manifest all tenderness and compassion for him, for they have been guilty, and unless they repent, they will forever stand as guilty before God. Unless they fall on the Rock and are broken, that Rock will fall upon them. 12LtMs, Lt 7, 1897, par. 2
Let no one who has been linked up in the work of bringing the cause of God into disrepute, of dishonoring His name, be presumptuous. God has been appealing to them for years, but they have not heeded His voice. And now, if they expect to receive pardon, they must die to self. Their selfish practices must be put away. All the changing about of men in their different offices of responsibility does not convert them. They remain just as they were before. They put out their own spiritual eyesight by not walking in the light of the Lord and doing His will and His way. In their perversity of spirit, they do as they have done because they are not converted. 12LtMs, Lt 7, 1897, par. 3
Let all now humble themselves before God. Brother Henry is not the only man that refused counsel and followed his own perverted judgment. The spirit that men who have been connected with the work of God have cherished remains to spring into action upon any occasion, because they are unconverted men. These will never see the kingdom of heaven unless they turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart. They have sold themselves to work out false principles, and they will not have the favor of God until they come to Him with penitence, and obtain pardon. O that they would make thorough work for eternity! O that they would humble their hearts before the Lord before it shall be everlastingly too late! 12LtMs, Lt 7, 1897, par. 4
I speak to you in the name of Lord. Search your own heart, your motives, your actions, and then change right about. No longer delay. Those who do not repent will never be changed from unfaithful to faithful sentinels, <wherever they may go.> 12LtMs, Lt 7, 1897, par. 5