Dear Brethren and Sisters in Healdsburg:
Do not forget that the most dangerous snares which Satan has
prepared for the church will come through its own members who
do not love God supremely or their neighbor as themselves. Satan
is continually striving to wedge himself in between brethren.
He seeks to gain control of those who claim to believe the truth,
but who are unconverted; and when he can influence these, through
their own carnal nature, to unite with him in trying to thwart
the purposes of God, then he is exultant.
The Health Institute, the college, the
ministry, and the missionary societies, are all instrumentalities
which God employs for the accomplishment of His work. If Satan
can in any way invent something which will divert talent and
means from these instrumentalities into another channel, he will
do it. There are some who are deceived in themselves. While flattering
themselves that they are doing God's work, they are playing into
the hands of the great deceiver and rendering him effectual service.
Beware of these deceptions. Ever remember what is due to our
Christian profession as God's peculiar people; and beware lest,
in the exercise of personal independence, your influence may
work against the purposes of God, and you, through Satan's devices,
become a stumbling block, directly in the way of those who are
weak and halting. There is danger
of giving our enemies occasion to blaspheme God and heap scorn
upon believers in the truth.
Be especially guarded against becoming
a tool in the hands of the enemy to divert the minds of any--men
and women, or children--from an entire surrender of themselves
to God and to the great work for this time. Beware of flattering
the young by holding out to them the prospect of financial gain,
wonderful educational advantages, or great personal achievements.
Flattering words are sweet to the unconsecrated heart, and some
who think they are standing firm, are dazed, allured, and intoxicated
with hopes that will never be realized. A great wrong has been
done in this way. All should think and speak modestly of their
own capabilities, and should be careful not to encourage pride
and self-esteem in others. Men and women, unless consecrated
to God, are weak in moral power and may be entirely mistaken
in their estimate of human ability and of what constitutes Christian
fidelity. Present no inducements which will lessen the interest
of any in building up an institution which God has said should
be built up.
Brother A does not manifest good judgment
upon all occasions and in all matters. He is not well-balanced,
and unless he walks in humility before God, he will make dangerous
mistakes. He lacks discernment, and therefore misjudges character,
using such extravagant words of flattery to some as will hurt
their souls. He will lead them to think that they can do some
great thing, and thus they will neglect the little duties lying
directly in their path.
I do not plead for inactivity, but I plead
for this selfish, worldly spirit to be overcome. Any enterprise
which will unite the interests of church members, and will bring
harmony and unity of effort into the work of God, may be safely
entered into. But never, never forget that you are either servants
of Jesus Christ, working strenuously for that unity of believers
which Christ prayed might exist, or you are working against this
unity and against Christ.
Those who seek to lessen the interest of any
in the school at Healdsburg, or in the missionary work in any
of its branches, are not working together with God, but are working
under another captain, whose aim is to weaken and destroy. Your
usefulness, brethren and sisters of the Healdsburg church, requires
that you be straightforward in all your dealings; that you be
humble, holy, and undefiled. There should be less proud self-seeking,
less self-importance. When the members of the church are clothed
with humility, when they put from them self-esteem and self-seeking,
when they seek constantly to do God's will_then they will work
together in harmony. God's Spirit is one. . . .
The crisis is just before us when each
will need much strength from God in order to stand against the
wiles of Satan, for his deceptions will come in every conceivable
form. Those who have allowed themselves to be the sport of Satan's
temptations will be unprepared then to take the right side. Their
ideas will be confused so that they cannot discern between the
divine and the satanic.
There will come a crisis in every one of
our institutions. Influences will be at work against them from
both believers and unbelievers. There must be no betraying of
confidence or holy trust now to benefit or exalt self. We should
constantly watch our life with jealous care lest we leave wrong
impressions upon the world. Say it, act it: "I am a Christian.
I can not act upon the world's maxims. I must love God supremely
and my neighbor as myself. I cannot enter into or connive at
any arrangement which will interfere in the slightest manner
with my usefulness or weaken my influence or destroy the confidence
of anyone in God's instrumentalities." . . .
Remember that God's people are but a little
flock compared with the professedly Christian world and the myriads
of world-adoring men and women. They are to be Bible Christians,
examples to our youth of righteousness and exactness in all things.
Every influence surrounding the young should
be of a holy character, and this influence should begin in our
own families. The sacred and the common should not be commingled.
