I have a warning for you from the Lord. “All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.” “The meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way.” [Psalm 25:10, 9.] I feel very sad in regard to your case, for you are pursuing a course that is deciding your eternal destiny. You are in great trouble of mind, and you have given that mind to be worked by the powers of darkness. Satan is striving to destroy you, body and soul. When in Minneapolis, you took a turn that has influenced all your movements since then in the wrong direction. You must know that you are pursuing a course similar to that of Judas, who betrayed his Lord.13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 1

Your supposed wisdom in financial matters has led your brethren to cling to you, and to regard your judgment as superior. They have made a mistake. Notwithstanding all the light God has given His people in regard to the righteousness of Christ, they have not had spiritual eyesight to discern that all wisdom is from God. They have not discerned the truth. Linked up with Harmon Lindsay, you have betrayed sacred trusts, and you have both greatly hurt the cause of God. You must answer for your course of action before God. Would it not be well for you to consider what the end of all this will be? You have already gone as far under the inspiration of Satan as it is in any way safe for you to go. It is your privilege now to make a decided change. In the name of the Lord I warn you not to take one step further in the path you have entered upon. This is a life and death question. Call a halt, I beseech of you. Call a halt before it is everlastingly too late.13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 2

How disappointed is your Saviour in you in that you allow your self to be governed by your own wayward fancies. How hard it is for you, in your own finite wisdom, to rightly explain or understand what is moral truth. Your exactions are not just or right. The Lord weighs all our actions. O that you could have a knowledge of your own wayward heart, before it is too late for wrongs to be righted. Your mind is tossed to and fro. Your fears and conflicts are continual. The Word of God tells you that you are bought with a price, that you are not your own. Through the sacrifice of Christ, you are made the living temple, not of the world, but of your Father which is in heaven. Who will be your consolation when through your own choice and course of action, you will have severed the last link that binds you to God and to your brethren?13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 3

There is reward and forgiveness with God, and if you now humble your heart as a little child before Him, He will receive you. “At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them and said, Verily, I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as a little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whosoever shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a mill stone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe unto that man by whom the offense cometh.” [Matthew 18:1-7.]13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 4

The Lord sends His message to you. Satan is playing the game of life for your soul. Temptation is upon you, but shall the enemy have the victory? Will you ward off financial embarrassment by a crime which will react upon you both with a force that you do not now dream of? The test to barter your own soul for a mess of pottage, to become a traitor, is upon you. I want you to humble yourself before God. The Lord asks you to draw your feet from the precipice upon which you are standing, and walk in safe paths. Will you pursue a course that will forever separate you from the people of God? Ask yourself, Will it pay? Will you reveal to the world that you are a traitor, a betrayer? Will you rob the cause of God in order to be revenged? What a position for you to be in! Fearful and fatal will be the effect upon your eternal welfare. As the test came to Hazael, just so surely your test has come.13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 5

Will you consider that it was you yourself who acted a part in the work that has brought the displeasure of God upon His instrumentality in Battle Creek? Not you alone, but those also who were connected with you, had warning after warning. God desires that the principles upon which his institution was first established shall be maintained at any cost. There must be a close searching of the Scriptures, to know the way of the Lord.13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 6

Under the gracious influence of God, you have often felt the moral obligations devolving upon you. But after the influence you received at the Minneapolis meeting, where it was popular to talk doubt, to question and resist the light God was sending, the sentiments there suggested one to another acted upon your mind and heart like a poisonous malaria. Although every evidence that was essential was given in regard to the work which the Lord had begun in behalf of His people, although those present felt the convicting power of God upon heart and mind, they did not possess humility of heart to the acknowledging of the truth. They revealed that more evidence would accomplish nothing for them. It was not evidence that they needed, for this had been abundant. They needed meekness and lowliness of heart to confess.13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 7

Had you yielded your pride and self-sufficiency then, you would have softened your heart, and been converted. But you kept your feet in the path of unbelief. You hated the messages sent from heaven. You manifested against Christ a prejudice of the very same character [as]—and more offensive to God than—that of the Jewish nation. Nothing but spiritual blindness could so obscure your discernment that you would not see the working of the Spirit of God. You did see it, but you would not yield to it. You refused to admit the truth of the heaven-sent message.13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 8

You, and all who like yourself, had sufficient evidence, yet refused the blessing of God, were persistent in refusing because at first you would not receive it. You did not search the Scriptures to obtain clearer light, but to obtain something with which to brace your mind to reject the Spirit of God, and strengthen your unbelief. This is your stumbling block, which no one but yourself can remove. Because of your false ideas, you cannot obtain a right understanding of what is truth and what constitutes the third angel’s message. Had this blind obstinacy in you been yielded, you would have humbled your heart, and received the greatest blessing you ever had in your life. O what a terrible thing it is for any one to be deceived and deluded by Satan!13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 9

“Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light; let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. Behold all ye that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand. Ye shall lie down in sorrow.” [Isaiah 50:10, 11.]13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 10

You and Harmon Lindsay have rejected the light sent you from heaven, which, if received, would have made you wise men. Your natural traits of character would have been brought into subjection to the Spirit of God, and your great desire would not have been to make provision for yourselves, in a way that is not honorable or righteous. These plans to follow the imagination of your unsanctified hearts have brought upon you blindness of mind and increased stubbornness of heart, until you could not feel the necessity of saving your souls unto eternal life. In your present state, you are both an offense to God. Your human, secret devising is as an open book before the Lord. He knows all your works, all your purposes of evil. He knows all your uncertain speculations. That eye that never slumbers or sleeps is cognizant of every action, of every scheme laid to betray His cause. You have laid your plans to hinder the work of God, and to bring reproach upon His cause. The Lord says, “Shall I not judge for these things?” [Jeremiah 5:9.]13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 11

What are God’s purposes toward you? They are to take you, poor worms of the dust, and transform you, molding your characters after the divine similitude, and fitting you to be the companions of angels and to hold communion with God. But you have cunningly laid plans to do injury to the cause of God, to divert the means into selfish channels, knowing all the time that these plans would bring embarrassment upon the work of God. But this is all written in the books of heaven. You have chosen another school than the school of Christ. You are bending your footsteps in the road that leads to death and hell, and this is the reason I write to you at this time.13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 12

Christ came to our world to counterwork sin. God has given His only begotten Son to die for sinners. He “so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” [John 3:16.] “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” “Their web shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they know not, and there is no judgment in their going. They have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.” [Isaiah 59:1, 2, 6-8.]13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 13

I call upon you in the name of the Lord. “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your way my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” [Isaiah 55:6-9.]13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 14

It is a sad position that you are in, and yet the Lord says, If they will return unto me with contrition of soul, I will heal them. Will you dare to defy God? Will you provoke His wrath against you? Do you know what you are doing? You little know the evil of an unconsecrated heart. Hazael is by no means the only illustration of the solemn truth that the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. The history of Hazael is a memorable instance of the depths of evil to which men sink when under the control of satanic agencies.13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 15

Taking advantage of circumstances, Satan arouses all the evil tendencies of the natural heart. He seizes opportunities for setting on fire every evil propensity, until the man who has had every opportunity for obtaining a rich experience in spiritual things, but who did not appreciate his advantages, becomes the dupe of the father of deception and falsehood. Such a man little knows the evil of the unsubdued, natural heart. A spark is enough to turn his unsanctified temper into a seething cauldron that he cannot control. He is not master of himself. Satan speaks through him, and he is a channel for the power of darkness. He is under the molding hand of Satan, and he has so long been subjected to his control that he has no power to go from the snare to go.13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 16

Thus it is with A. R. Henry. His brethren will do him no good by treating him harshly, neither will they do him good by conceding to his demands; for that would sustain him. If he is determined to bring forward accusations against me, let him know that he is not bringing them against me, but against the Lord, who has given me words of warning and reproof. It is against the Lord that he brings his charges.13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 17

The Lord has given me a message still again, that A. R. Henry has not worked on right principles, that he has dishonored God. Yet the Lord invites him to return, to repent, to humble his proud heart. He is arraigning the Lord for speaking to him in regard to his wrong course of action. Will the brethren pray for him, that the Lord may have mercy upon him. But if he will not hear, in no case gratify Satan by buying A. R. Henry’s silence with money. If the case is put into court, obtain the wisest counsel, and let the man become as Hazael. In no case dishonor God. If any of the brethren have pursued a wrong course toward A. R. Henry, let them take it out of the way and, if possible, save his soul from death. But it will not save his soul to gratify a covetous spirit, which shows that money is what he desires. Living in a straight place, will he sell his birthright, as did Esau, for a mess of pottage?13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 18

I hope that A. R. Henry will bring forth fruit meet for repentance. Lay to heart the solemn truth, which will be entered on the record book of heaven, Here is a man arrayed against God, showing to the universe of heaven and to worlds unfallen, in clearer and still clearer light, that his character is molded by satanic agencies.13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 19

The mind cannot conceive, nor the tongue express, the depths to which it is possible for the stubborn, jealous soul to sink who rejects light and refuses all entreaties, all warnings, all prayers. Oh, how needful that we all pray for Christian consistency. We are in the world, living among people whose eyes are shut to light, whose ears are open to hear all that is possible of the faults and errors of those who claim to believe the truth. Give no occasion for the devil to gain the victory. All hell triumphs when you do. Oh, how earnestly we should strive and pray that the hateful temper, the stubborn will, shall be brought into submission to God.13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 20

Watching unto prayer will save many souls. If our words and tempers are sanctified, we shall adorn the doctrine of Christ our Saviour. If our brethren conduct themselves as saints of the most high God, if they show under every test that they have faith in Him whom they profess to serve, if they are not easily provoked, they will be witnesses for Christ. Those who are by faith children of Abraham have a high calling, and they leave an example that is in accordance with their light and privileges. They trust in Him whose day Abraham saw afar off.13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 21

I entreat of you, A. R. Henry, to break the power of Satan. No longer be fastened a slave to his chariot wheels. God’s power alone can break this chain, break the fetters of Satan. Heaven is worth everything to you. Then break with Satan. Flee to Christ before it is everlastingly too late. A few more steps in the path you are pursuing will place you where light and truth will have no power over you. I send you this, for my soul has been wrestling in agony in regard to your case. I want you to be saved. I want you to have life, that life that measures with the life of God. I want to see you a victor. I want to see you an overcomer. Will you be this? Pursue the course you have entered upon, and you will divorce your soul from God; and then what?13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 22

In much affliction on your account, I remain,13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 23

Your friend.13LtMs, Lt 15, 1898, par. 24

Lt 14b, 1898

Lt 16, 1898