Sermon/Sermon at Sanitarium Chapel, Sabbath forenoon.
Sanitarium, St. Helena, California
August 10, 1912
Previously unpublished.
Romans 6:1-5. “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 1
I want to present to you that there is a position that our church should occupy that is a special one. We are to stand forth as we have taken the yoke of Christ upon us; we are to stand forth, and we are to honor the profession that we make that we are one with Christ. And we are to yield ourselves to honor and glorify His name. And why we should feel that we are free from any particular burdens, I cannot see. We want to be in that position that we can honor our Lord, that we can glorify His name. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 2
Now, I have a special message to bear to this people, and this is the message that I bear to you: It is that we are to keep ourselves separate from the influences of the world. We are to stand in our position relative to Jesus Christ as the One that has given His life for us, that we should give our life to Jesus Christ. There is a work to be done for every one of us, that we shall bring ourselves into conformity to the will of God, to carry out His work, to carry our His words, to practice the life of Christ. We can do this if we will give ourselves to the sanctification of the Spirit of God. We can do it. Being justified freely by His grace—now how full this is! We can be if we give ourselves, if we make the consecration. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 3
Romans 4:1-3. “What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 4
And now in the fifth chapter we read: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 5
“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” [Verses 1-10.] 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 6
What we want to present to you at this time is the necessity of our exercising a faith in Jesus Christ’s power to save every one of us if we will come into harmony with the conditions. That condition is that we give ourselves to God. And we each know whether we have made up our mind that we will give ourselves without reserve to obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ, and if we do this, we shall certainly come into that position that we can claim the righteousness of Christ. It is for us, and we need not go stumbling along and not know where we are going. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 7
We want that faith that works—it is a working faith; it is a trusting faith; it is a faith that takes right hold of the Infinite One. And I wanted to say to each one of us, we have souls to save and it does not become any one of us to exalt ourselves, but to be in a position of obedience to the will and the ways of God. And we can do this. But will we do it? Will we come into that position? There is power that will be exercised in our behalf if we will walk humbly with God; but the question is, Will you do it? Will you come into that position that you can claim that Christ is your Saviour? Will we come into that position that we know that we have the evidence in our own experience that if we follow on to know the Lord, we shall know His going forth is prepared as the morning? 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 8
We are not to be satisfied with a half experience or with a name. Here is where the danger is in a church like this, that there will be a loose, lax spirit that will come in and we cannot afford it. We want to say to young and old that we are to honor God who gave His only begotten Son to the crucifixion. We are Christ’s property because He has bought us with a price, and none of us are at liberty to do as we please, just as it happens to come into our mind. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 9
We want to honor God, that God can honor us. We want that faith that works by love. When we consider how much work there is to be done in this world, if we will follow on to know the Lord, we shall know His going forth is prepared as the morning. The Lord would have us honor Him. How can we honor Him? We can honor Him by living faith—I take Thee, Lord, at Thy word. Thou hast said it. And now I want to take Thee at Thy word. I want to follow on to know the Lord. I want to give my heart to Jesus Christ. I want to suffer for Christ’s sake, and have that living faith so that I can grasp the promises, and He will give it to us. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 10
But if we are unbelieving, and if we allow in the church things that ought not to be, then the difficulty of not carrying out the principles of truth and the principles of righteousness rests on the church—those whose names are there. We cannot afford to put Christ to open shame by a life that is dishonoring to God. We cannot afford it. We want that life that will do honor and glory to our Maker; and those who will follow on to know the Lord shall know His going forth is prepared as the morning. It is not to give a few streaks of light. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 11
I have a message to bear here, a special message. From the light that has been given me, there are those connected with the church that do not know what religion is. They are not connected with Jesus Christ; and that these persons shall connect with the church, what is the matter? Are they in families? Where are they? What are they doing that they do not honor God? Now the Lord commands us, everyone of us to follow on to know the Lord, and it is our privilege to honor Him by obeying His requirements; and then we shall not dishonor Him by looseness and laxness of character. We cannot afford it. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 12
We are coming up to the judgment, and we want to be prepared to meet the Lord when He shall come, and say, Lo, this is our God, we have waited for Him. We cannot have any loose actions that shall take place in the church. From the light that God has given me, there will have to be reformation in this church. There will have to be a depth of searching of heart, a reconversion with many, many, that profess the truth. And you cannot afford to make a mistake here, where eternal interests are involved. We want to follow Christ, and to obey Him. And we want to be fitted up for the kingdom that He is fitting for us. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 13
Fathers, mothers, we want to know what you are doing for your children? Are you waiting for somebody else to come in and convert them, or are you doing the duty of fathers and mothers? Are you bringing them to a position where they must be obedient if they are in your household? For this is what God requires. And if not then what? If no restraint can be brought to bear upon them, what are you going to do about it? The fathers and mothers must do their duty. They must bring their children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; and we want that all that shall connect with this church shall follow on to know the Lord, that they may know His going forth is prepared as the morning. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 14
There are plenty of youth in our world that have no light, but when the light of heaven is shining every Sabbath here, and when the light of truth is presented, what influence does it have upon the youth of professed Sabbathkeepers? We want to say that there must be, from the light God has given me, a diligent work with our young men, and when this takes place, we shall see such a moving of the Spirit of God as we cannot now describe. To let the youth come up, do about as they please, go when they want to go, and come when they want to come, dishonors God. Our Saviour is dishonored. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 15
We want every one that shall hear these words to believe that it is the truth. And we want the salvation of God to come into our families. No scolding; no fretting. I made up my mind I would not have that, at any rate, in my house. When the children disobeyed, I would take them and talk with them. I would tell them I would not do as I knew many were doing, lay the rod upon them, or the rattan, but I would tell them: Now, you have done a wrong thing. You have grieved the Spirit of God. You have grieved Christ who gave His life for you. I have taken you and adopted you as my children, and if you will come into right order, I will help you in every way possible. My husband was an invalid, and so we would take them out to ride in our carriage, and we would take our dinner, perhaps, out in the grove, and we would make it as pleasant for them as we could. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 16
But then I told them, You have done a wrong thing, and now what are you going to do about it? I am going to let this go until the evening, and I do not want you to go to bed with this sin upon you. I would make them see that they had done wrong, and they must repent of that wrong. And here, said I, is the whip. I never want to strike you a blow. I never want to do it. And I am not going to use it on you now, because you are all stirred up in yourself, and it would not be much account. But you go to evening, and then we will talk matters over. And when it come to the evening, as we would talk matters over, and they had the whole day to think of it, they said, We did do wrong. I would find that they would make their confession, and in that way I was molding their character so that I did not have to strike them a blow. They were boys, and rude and rough, but they saw I did nothing in passion. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 17
Now, said I, the evening is come and I am going to pray with you. I knelt down, and I prayed with them. I asked the Lord that their hearts might be subdued, and they be converted. Well, before I would get through they would come right to me, and put their arms around me, and say, Forgive us; we won’t do it again, we won’t do it again. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 18
Well, this is the way. Instead of giving them a hurried blow that made them ten times worse, it was to have them melted down. If I could get an apple it was a strange thing, for there were scarcely any around. I would always purchase them, and I would put one under their bowl at the table. Well, they knew that I cared for them, and this is the way we tried to manage them. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 19
Now, the light given me is that something needs to be done right here on these very grounds. We need the converting power of God. The fathers need to manage their children in such a way that their hearts will be broken, and when their hearts are broken, then you can expect that there will be some reformation. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 20
The Lord of heaven is looking down upon us; and I want to tell you how it is presented to me. Here is God who has given His only begotten Son, that these unconverted youth might be converted and brought into the truth. Now this is the way that I tried to manage it. I would get them something that they could not get themselves, and I would try to talk with them, and soften their hearts, and the Lord blessed me in it. But to let the youth go unchecked in such a place as this, which it is so sacred to me, [is not the way to manage.] My husband and I searched out this place, and then how carefully we worked to preserve every penny, that we might erect the building here, the first building. We would move so that we did gain special victories, and then we added house to house, that we might put in our patients. I want to tell you that the Lord worked with us, and the salvation of God was right with us in doing our work in this line of reform. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 21
It is no use to scold and to fret and all this, because you are educating yourself and you are educating your children in that line. What we want is to be conformed to the image of Christ. What we want is that we shall in our character represent Jesus Christ, and that will bring more souls to the truth than anything else that we can do. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 22
Well, this was the plan that we entered into, and I want to tell you that there is to be, if I have any influence that can ever be exerted, a set of youth that shall be retained here that will not stand to cause perplexity and work counter to God. You know when you are working counter to God. You know, those who are here, whether you are walking in harmony with God or not. You must consider there are those who have to bear the expenses of this one and that one and the other one. We want the Lord Jesus to be welcomed right into our homes here, but we are not to serve the devil. We are not going to permit it at all, and we want it to be understood thus. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 23
And now I have this to say to you: We have a heaven to win, and a hell to shun. That is what we have. And will we take hold of this matter intelligently? Will we bring up those who are here to watch and to pray? You need not scold, because that will only do them harm. But we want to tell them that we do not allow any such things, because the angels of God are looking down upon us from above, and we are seeking to win heaven, and we cannot admit any such things here. We want the youth here to understand this matter, that they are not to presume upon the institution to act out their frivolity and their schemes and their plans, to counterwork what we are earnestly trying to work out to save souls. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 24
The Lord is coming, and we want that your children shall have a home in the kingdom of glory, as well as we; and we want them to have salvation. And I wanted you to know my mind, because it has been presented to me from the Lord that the influence of this institution must be of a character that will have a correct influence upon the minds and hearts of those that patronize this institution. And the schools that are here, we want the Lord Jesus to walk through our midst; and I thought I must tell you this before I left. 25LtMs, Ms 82, 1912, par. 25