Haskell, Brother and Sister
St. Helena, California
October 18, 1910
Portions of this letter are published in UL 305; 7MR 407.
Dear Brother and Sister Haskell:
I have received and read your letters. I thank you for your painstaking efforts to write to me. You write the very news that I wish to hear. I am pleased to hear from you and to know of your successful meetings. The good report is like cold water to a thirsty soul. Let every one of us have increased faith, and let us walk humbly before God. O how much suffering of soul I have experienced as I have seen time passing, and the many places to which my attention has been called still unentered by our workers. Were these places worked as they should be, many souls would rejoice in the light; for Christ is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. I wish that I could unite with you in your work. 25LtMs, Lt 104, 1910, par. 1
Maggie is with us again. Her husband is united with her in the faith and is proving very useful in the place. They have one child, a very nice little lad of two and a half years. I wish I could tell you how well Maggie and her husband fit in. They can both act their part, Maggie as copyist and her husband in the various lines of work on the farm. Maggie takes hold as if she had not been separated from us for over three years. We thank the Lord for these workers. Maggie’s past experience in my work will be useful. 25LtMs, Lt 104, 1910, par. 2
I am trying to complete some unfinished chapters on Old Testament history. I am hoping that I shall be able to get together matter for the completion of a book covering the ground between the end of David’s reign and the birth of Christ. 25LtMs, Lt 104, 1910, par. 3
There is a world to be warned, and we are twenty years behind in the doing of this work. Our work will be harder now than it would have been; for difficulties have arisen that did not then exist. The years are rapidly passing, bearing away their record for eternity. Wherever you see work to be done, do your very best, after the order of Christ. Place yourselves under the discipline of God. He who professes to be a Christian, and yet acts out the spirit of a worldling, bears testimony that he is a false disciple. We are to be consecrated workers, according to the charge given in the thirty-third chapter of Ezekiel: 25LtMs, Lt 104, 1910, par. 4
“So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul. 25LtMs, Lt 104, 1910, par. 5
“Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; thus speak ye, saying, If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? 25LtMs, Lt 104, 1910, par. 6
“Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth. When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it. 25LtMs, Lt 104, 1910, par. 7
“Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; if the wicked restore the pledge and give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.” [Verses 7-16.] 25LtMs, Lt 104, 1910, par. 8
Had the message gone forth as the Lord specified that it should go, in the power of the Spirit, thousands would have been brought to a knowledge of the truth. The Lord gave me a message to bear at the last General Conference. Some of the leading men did not co-operate with me; but I held up the work that God desired to see done by converted men, men who could demonstrate the power of the Christian religion. Heaven is to be reflected in the character of the Christian. In the way Christ worked, he is to work. Our cause should be years in advance of what it is. It was God’s plan that those in darkness should see great light. A wonderful work might have been done had the leading men been under the Holy Spirit’s guidance. If the messages given me had been received, the good tidings of the gospel should have been borne in many places, and bright rays of heavenly light would have shone into the darkness. Songs of praise would have been heard from many lips. Many souls is our great cities, wearied and perplexed, not knowing what is truth, would have heard the glad tidings of the gospel. 25LtMs, Lt 104, 1910, par. 9
Had the light given by God been heeded, strong, well-organized companies would have been sent out into the cities to take the truth to those in the darkness of error. But the opportunity that the Lord presented to His people, in the messages that He sent them, was not accepted. 25LtMs, Lt 104, 1910, par. 10
Christ’s work was one of constant progress. In His life He has left us an example of how we are to labor. Constantly He went about doing good. His life was one of unselfish service. In the temple, in the streets, in the field, by the wayside, wherever He went, He spoke to souls of God. Through Him the light of the gospel shone forth to weary, oppressed souls. Christ preached the gospel and healed the sick. His tender, pitying love rebukes all selfishness and heartlessness. 25LtMs, Lt 104, 1910, par. 11
Wherever Christ went, He scattered blessings. Listen to His lessons of kindness, and His far-reaching words of invitation; “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.] There was no wearying of His patience, no repressing of His love. 25LtMs, Lt 104, 1910, par. 12
I am charged with a message to all upon whom the light of truth has shone. They are to labor patiently and perseveringly for the thousands perishing in their sins, scattered in all lands like wrecks on a desert shore. All who share in Christ’s glory must share in His ministry, helping the poor, the weak, the homeless. We must be intensely in earnest, using every capability in the Lord’s service. Precious results will surely follow unselfish efforts. From the great Teacher, the workers will receive the highest of all education. 25LtMs, Lt 104, 1910, par. 13
We talk of higher education. This is the highest education—to make the life of Christ our constant lesson book. Let every soul whose name is on the church books put away all pride, all frivolity, all desire to follow the fashions of the world. We are to receive from Christ the highest education possible, in order that we may not lead souls into paths that God forbids. There is to be no limit to the perfection of the example that we are to set unbelievers. No loose, shiftless work is to come into our religious experience and training. Human beings have no right to think that there is a limit to the efforts they are to make in the work of soul-saving. Those who are truly converted will understand that they will never see the Lord in His glory unless they form characters that will harmonize with the character of Christ. Those who are indifferent in regard to bringing thoughts and words and actions into harmony with Christ will never enter the gates of the city of God. Precious results will follow the efforts made out of sincere love for Christ. The Lord calls upon His people to take up the work to which He has been calling them from the first. 25LtMs, Lt 104, 1910, par. 14
God demands that those who claim to be His children shall offer Him their undivided service. Profession will not save us. False disciples will be punished according to the evil that they have done to the cause of God. Of what value are the words spoken if the course of action contradicts the profession of faith? 25LtMs, Lt 104, 1910, par. 15
Clear, distinct light comes to every one who claims to be a Christian. Does he live the life of Christ in the home, and thus teach his children to speak right words and do right deeds? Is he, in spirit and word and act, an illustration of what a Christian should be? There are many who will lose heaven because they are not Christlike. 25LtMs, Lt 104, 1910, par. 16