Earlier text: EVILS OF LAX DISCIPLINE.The following testimony was written in January, 1875, and its truthfulness was acknowledged by Bro. C, who said that it gave him light and hope. Bro. C, you are backslidden from God. Your views of God’s requirements have never been too well defined nor too strict. It is no excuse for you to become remiss in duty and less vigilant, because the course of so many professed Christians is wrong. You have not been consecrated to God. You have not felt your dependence upon him to keep you, and therefore you have been overcome and brought into the slavery of doubt; the bondage of unbelief has chained your soul. You do not glorify God in your life. Our faith sometimes looks to you very questionable. The reason of this is in yourself. In the world, truth and falsehood are so mixed that one is not always clearly discerned from the other. But why has one who professes the truth so little strength? Because he understands not his own ignorance and his own weakness. If he knew this, if he were distrustful of himself, he would feel the importance of divine help to preserve him from the wiles of the enemy. We need to be active, working Christians, unselfish in heart and life, having an eye single to the glory of God. Oh, what wrecks we meet everywhere! what silent lips and fruitless lives! “This,” said the angel, “is because of falling under temptation. Nothing mars the peace of the soul like sinful unbelief.” You should not give up in despair, thinking you must live and die in the bondage of doubt and unbelief. In the Lord we have righteousness and strength. Lean upon him; and through his power you may quench all the214 fiery darts of the adversary, and come off more than conqueror. You may yet become sanctified through the truth; or you may, if you choose, walk in the darkness of unbelief, lose Heaven, and lose all. By walking in the light and working out the will of God, you may overcome your selfish nature. You have been ready to give of your means, but have withheld yourself. You have not felt called upon to make sacrifices which would involve care; you have not had a willingness to do any work for Christ, be it ever so humble. God will bring you over the ground again and again, until with humble heart and subdued mind you bear the test that he inflicts, and are wholly sanctified to his service and work. Then you may win immortal life. You may be a fully developed man in Christ Jesus, or you may be a spiritual dwarf, gaining no victories. My brother, which will you choose? Will you live a life of self-denial and self-sacrifice, doing your work with cheerfulness and joy, perfecting Christian character, and pressing on for the immortal reward? or will you live for yourself and lose Heaven? God will not be trifled with; Christ accepts no divided service. He asks for all. It will not do to withhold anything. He has purchased you with an infinite price, and he requires that all you have shall be yielded to him a willing offering. If you are fully consecrated to him in heart and life, faith will take the place of doubts, and confidence the place of distrust and unbelief. My brother, you are in positive danger through neglecting to carry out health reform more strictly in your own life and in your family. Your blood is impure, and you are still corrupting and inflaming it by the gratification of taste. Never be betrayed into indulging in the use of stimulants; for this will result not only in reaction and loss of physical strength, but in a benumbed intellect. Strictly temperate habits in eating and drinking, with firm trust in God, will improve your physical, mental, and moral health. You are of a highly excitable temperament. You have but little self-control, and under excitement frequently say and do things which you afterwards215 regret. You should call a determined will to your aid in the warfare against your own inclinations and propensities. You need to keep the avenues of your soul open to the reception of light and truth. But when something occurs to test and prove you, prejudice frequently comes in, and you rise at once against what you deem a restriction of your liberty or an infringement upon your rights. The word of God plainly presents before us this truth, that our physical natures will be brought into warfare with the spiritual. The apostle charges us to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. Every perverted appetite becomes a warring lust. Appetite indulged to the injury of physical strength, causes disease of the soul. The lust which the apostle mentions is not confined to the violation of the seventh commandment, but every indulgence of the taste which lessens physical vigor is a warring lust. The apostle declares that he who would gain special victories and make higher attainments in righteousness, must be “temperate in all things.” Temperance in eating and drinking at our tables, as well as the exercise of temperance in every other respect, is essential if we would overcome as Christ overcame. God has given us light, not to be treated indifferently, but to be our guide and help. You need to cultivate self-control. The lesson you should have learned in your youth should be mastered now. Discipline yourself to die to self, to bring your will in subjection to the will of Christ. A deep and thorough conversion is essential, or you, my dear brother, will fail of eternal life. Your service in the cause of God must be more hearty, full, and thorough. You cannot perfect a Christian character by serving God when you feel inclined to do so, and neglecting it when you please. A decided change must take place in your life, and you must obtain a different experience from any you have yet had, or your service will not be accepted of God. Our heavenly Father has been very gracious to you. He has dealt tenderly with you. Sickness and disease came upon you when you were unprepared to die; for216 you had not perfected a Christian character, and had not a moral fitness for Heaven. Satan stood by your side to afflict and destroy, that you might be numbered with the transgressors. Fervent and effectual prayer prevailed in your behalf. Angels were sent to wait and watch about you, to guard and protect you from Satan’s power and preserve your life. God has, in his matchless love, granted you another trial. Not because of any goodness or virtue in you, but because of his mercy, he has answered the prayers of faith. Your probation has been lengthened that you may have an opportunity to redeem the past, overcome the defects in your character, and show in your life that devotion to God which he claims from you. You have had emotions of gratitude, but you have not experienced that heart-felt thankfulness and becoming humility that should have been kindled by his unsurpassed love. You have not sufficiently felt your obligations to God for sparing your life. You have, for pettish reasons of your own, excused yourself time and again from religious duties which devolve upon us at all times and under all circumstances. Feelings of discouragement are no apology before God for the neglect of a single duty. You are not your own; you have been purchased by the blood of Christ. He claims all that you are capable of doing; your time and strength are not your own. God indicated that you could be educated to act a part in his cause; but it was necessary that your mind should be trained and disciplined to work in harmony with the plan of God. You could gain the required experience if you would; you had the privilege presented before you of denying your inclination, as your Saviour had given you an example in his life. But you have not placed yourself in a position to learn all that you could, and all that it was important for you to learn in order to become a correct worker in the cause of God. There were some things to reform in yourself before the Lord could use you effectually as his instrument. Bro. C, it was a sacrifice for you to leave your farm; you enjoyed your life there. You did not come to—217 from choice. You had no knowledge of the work in connection with the publishing interest. But you were determined to do the best you could, and in many respects you have done well. But many things have arisen as stumbling-blocks in your way. The course of Bro. F was wrong in many respects; but you did not preserve your consecration to God; you united with him in spirit, and did not stand free; you displeased God in many things, and separated your soul from him. Satan was obtaining great power over you; your steps had well-nigh slipped, you were almost gone in unbelief, when sickness arrested your course. It was in great mercy that God spared you, and gave you a new lease of life. But you have not made an entire surrender to him; your stubborn will has not been subdued and softened; you need a new conversion. You have been easily fretted and annoyed; you have braced yourself to resist everything that you thought reflected upon you; your feelings have arisen like a flash when anything has touched your pride. Now, my dear brother, this is all wrong. This you must overcome, or the enemy will gain the victory over you. You have felt sick at heart because you did not love the work in ——. You have looked back toward ——; for your heart is there, and your body should be where your heart is. God has been testing and proving you; how have you borne the test? You needed to be planed and polished, to have the rough and jagged points of your character removed, that you might become refined for the kingdom of Heaven. How hard it is for human nature to deny inclination; how hard for men to leave flattering worldly inducements, and, through love of their Saviour and their fellow-men, to deny their own pleasure in order to engage more directly in the service of God. Bro. C, you do not enter heart and soul into the work. You have never made it a direct personal interest, and it is not agreeable to you. Had you been so disposed, you could have trained your mind to better understand the work; but you have, in a measure, held aloof from it; you have not connected yourself closely with it, and tried to become familiar with its various branches. You are not as social and courteous as you should be, and your cold, unapproachable manner is not pleasing to God. You allow your feelings to be easily excited. No man can properly fill a position in connection with the work of God, who is controlled by feeling and moves from impulse. Your mind must come in closer connection with God, and in sympathy and interest you must be more closely identified with those who are engaged in his work, or you can be of no use in advancing the cause in ——. You are too independent and exclusive; you need to soften and assimilate your disposition to the mind and feelings of others. You can, as a business man and as a Christian, do much valuable service for the cause of God, if you will only surrender your will and your way to the Lord. You need to be sanctified by the truth, having your mind elevated above every personal consideration and every selfish interest. I point you to the life of Jesus as a perfect pattern. His life was characterized by disinterested benevolence. Precious Saviour! What sacrifices has he made for us that we should not perish, but have everlasting life! Heaven will be cheap enough if we resign every selfish interest to obtain it. Can we afford to have our own way, and take ourselves out of the hands of God, because it is more pleasing to the natural heart? God requires perfect submission and perfect obedience. Eternal life is worth everything to us. You may come in close connection with God if you will agonize to enter in at the strait gate. You could never be aware of your deficiencies unless you were brought where these deficiencies were developed by circumstances. You have not felt as you should since you have come to ——. You have not entered freely and heartily into the work, and made it your chief interest. You have cherished an independence that could not be maintained if you realized your true position,—that you are an apprentice, learning how to work in the very best manner for the prosperity of God’s cause; that you are a scholar, seeking to obtain knowledge concerning that with which you are unacquainted. You could219 have made much greater progress, had you earnestly tried to serve God as an efficient worker. You have been too reserved. You have not come into close relation with men engaged in the different departments of the work; you have not consulted with them as familiarly as you should to move understandingly. Had you done this, you might have been a more efficient helper. You have moved too much according to your own judgment, and carried out your own ideas and plans. There has been a lack of harmonious connection between the workers. Those who might have helped you, have been reluctant to impart their knowledge to you on account of this lack of familiarity on your part, and also because you move so much from impulse and feeling that they have dreaded to approach you. The Saviour of the world was the adored of angels, he was a prince in the royal courts of Heaven; but he laid aside his glory, and clothed his divinity with humanity. He became the meek and lowly Jesus. He left his riches and glory in Heaven, and became poor that we, through his poverty, might be made rich. Three years he journeyed from place to place, a homeless wanderer. But selfish men will repine and murmur if called to leave their little earthly treasure for Christ’s sake, or to labor in the work of saving souls for whom he gave his precious life. Oh, what ingratitude! No one can appreciate the blessings of redemption unless he feels that he can joyfully afford to make any and every sacrifice for the love of Christ. Every sacrifice made for Christ enriches the giver, and every suffering and privation endured for his dear sake increases the overcomer’s final joy in Heaven. You know but little of real sacrifice and genuine denial of self. You have had but little experience in hardships and taxation of your energies. Your burden has been light, while others have been loaded down with serious responsibilities. The young man who asked Jesus what he should do that he might have eternal life, was answered, “Keep the commandments.” He confidently and proudly replied, “All these things have I kept from220 my youth up. What lack I yet?” Jesus looked pityingly upon the young man; he loved him, and he knew the words he spoke would forever separate the youth from himself. Nevertheless, Jesus touched the plague-spot of his soul. He said to him, “Go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven; and come and follow me.” The young man wanted Heaven, but not enough to withdraw his affections from his earthly treasure. He refused to yield to the conditions required by God in order to enter into life. He was very sorrowful; for he had great possessions, which he thought were too valuable to exchange for eternal rewards. He had asked what he must do to be saved, and the answer had been given; but his worldly heart could not make the sacrifice of his wealth to become Christ’s disciple. His decision was to give up Heaven, and to cling to his earthly treasure. How many are now making the very same decision which fixed the destiny of this young man! Have any of us an opportunity of doing something for Christ, how eagerly should we seize it, and with the greatest earnestness do all we can to be co-workers with him. The very trials that test our faith most severely, and make it seem that God has forsaken us, are designed to lead us more closely to Christ, that we may lay all our burdens at his feet, and experience the peace he will give us in exchange. You need a new conversion; you need to be sanctified through the truth, and to become in spirit like a little child, meek and humble, relying wholly upon Christ as your Redeemer. Your pride and independence are closing your heart to the blessed influences of the Spirit of God, and rendering it as unimpressible as the hard-beaten highway. You have yet to learn the great lesson of faith. When you surrender yourself entirely to God, when you fall all broken upon Jesus, you will be rewarded by a victory the joy of which you have never yet experienced. As you review the past with a clear vision, you will see that at the very time when life seemed to you only a perplexity and a burden, Jesus himself was near you, seeking to lead you221 into the light. Your Father was by your side, bending over you with unutterable love, afflicting you for your good, as the refiner purifies the precious ore. When you have thought yourself forsaken, he has been near you to comfort and sustain. We seldom view Jesus as he is, and are never so ready to receive his help as he is to help us. What a victory you will gain when you learn to follow the opening providences of God with a grateful heart and a determination to live with an eye single to his glory, in sickness or health, in abundance or want. Self is alive, and quivering at every touch. Self must be crucified before you can overcome in the name of Jesus, and receive the reward of the faithful. The Spirit of God will not abide where there is disunion and contention among believers in the truth. Even if these feelings are unexpressed, they take possession of the heart, and drive out the peace and love that should characterize the Christian church. They are the result of selfishness in its fullest sense. This evil may take the form of inordinate self-esteem, or of an undue longing for the approbation of others, even if that approbation is obtained undeservedly. Self-exaltation must be renounced by those who profess to love God and keep his commandments, or they need not expect to be blessed by his divine favor. The moral and religious influence at the Health Institute must be elevated in order to meet the approbation of Heaven. The indulgence of selfishness will surely grieve the Spirit of God from the place. Physicians, superintendent, and helpers should work harmoniously in the spirit of Christ, each esteeming others better than himself. The apostle Jude says, “Of some have compassion, making a difference.” This difference is not to be exercised222 in a spirit of favoritism. No countenance should be given to a spirit that implies, “If you favor me, I will favor you.” This is unsanctified, worldly policy, which displeases God. It is paying favors and admiration for the sake of gain. It is showing a partiality for certain ones, expecting to secure advantages through them. It is seeking their good-will by indulgence, that we may be held in greater estimation than others fully as worthy as ourselves. It is a hard thing to see one’s own errors; but every one should realize how cruel is the spirit of envy, rivalry, distrust, fault-finding, and dissension. We call God our Father; we claim to be children of one family; and when there is a disposition to lessen the respect and influence of another to build up ourselves, we please the enemy, and grieve Him whom we profess to follow. The tenderness and mercy that Jesus has revealed in his own precious life, should be an example to us of the manner in which we should treat our fellow-beings, and especially those who are our brethren in Christ. God is continually benefiting us, but we are too indifferent to his favors. We have been loved with an infinite tenderness, and yet many of us have little love for one another. We are too severe upon those we suppose to be in error, and are very sensitive to the least blame or question in regard to our own course. Hints are thrown out, and sharp criticisms of one another; but at the same time the very ones who throw out these hints and criticisms are blind to their own failings. Others can see their errors, but they cannot see their own mistakes. We are daily recipients of the bounties of Heaven, and should have loving gratitude springing up in our hearts to God, which should cause us to sympathize with our neighbors, and make their interests our own. Thoughts and meditations upon the goodness of God to us would close the avenues of the soul to Satan’s suggestions. God’s love for us is proved daily; yet we are thoughtless of his favors and indifferent to his entreaties. He seeks to impress us with his Spirit of tenderness, his love and forbearance; but we scarcely recognize the223 marks of his kindness, and have little sense of the lesson of love he desires us to learn. Some, like Haman, forget all God’s favors, because Mordecai is before them and is not disgraced; because their hearts are filled with enmity and hatred, rather than love, the spirit of our dear Redeemer, who gave his precious life for his enemies. We profess to have the same Father, to be bound to the same immortal home, to enjoy the same solemn faith, and to believe the same testing message; and yet many are at strife with one another like quarrelsome children. Some who are engaged in the same branch of the work are at variance with one another, and therefore at variance with the spirit of Christ. The love of praise has corrupted many hearts. Those who have been connected with the Health Institute have at times manifested a spirit of finding fault with the plans laid; and Satan has given them a hold upon the minds of others there, who have accepted these persons as blameless, while innocent people have been charged with wrong. It is a wicked pride that delights in the vanity of one’s own works, that boasts of one’s excellent qualities, seeking to make others seem inferior in order to exalt self, claiming more glory than the cold heart is willing to give to God. The disciples of Christ will heed the Master’s instruction. He has bidden us love one another even as he has loved us. Religion is founded upon love to God, which also leads us to love one another. It is full of gratitude, humility, long-suffering. It is self-sacrificing, forbearing, merciful, and forgiving. It sanctifies the whole life, and extends its influence over others. Those who love God cannot harbor hatred or envy. When the heavenly principle of eternal love fills the heart, it will flow out to others, not merely because favors are received of them, but because love is the principle of action, and modifies the character, governs the impulses, controls the passions, subdues enmity, and elevates and ennobles the affections. This love is not contracted so as merely to include “me and mine,” but is as broad as the world, and as high as heaven, and is in harmony224 with that of the angel workers. This love cherished in the soul sweetens the entire life, and sheds a refining influence on all around. Possessing it, we cannot but be happy, let fortune smile or frown. If we love God with all the heart, we must love his children also. This love is the Spirit of God. It is the heavenly adorning that gives true nobility and dignity to the soul, and assimilates our lives to that of the Master. No matter how many good qualities we may have, however honorable and refined we may consider ourselves, if the soul is not baptized with the heavenly grace of love to God and one another, we are deficient in true goodness, and unfit for Heaven, where all is love and unity. Some who have formerly loved God and lived in the daily enjoyment of his favor, are now in continual unrest. They wander in darkness and despairing gloom, because they are nourishing self. They are seeking so hard to favor themselves that all other considerations are swallowed up in this. God, in his providence, has willed that no one can secure happiness by living for himself alone. The joy of our Lord consisted in enduring toil and shame for others, that they might be benefited thereby. We are capable of being happy in following his example, and living to bless our fellow-men. We are invited by our Lord to take his yoke and bear his burden. In doing this, we may be happy. In bearing our own self-imposed yoke and carrying our own burdens, we find no rest; but in bearing the yoke of Christ there is rest to the soul. Those who want some great work to do for the Master can find it just where they are, in doing good and in being self-forgetful and self-sacrificing, remembering others and carrying sunshine wherever they go. There is great need that the pitying tenderness of Christ should be manifested at all times and in all places, not that blind sympathy which would gloss over sin and allow God’s cause to be reproached by ill-doing, but that love which is a controlling principle of the life, which flows out naturally to others in good works, remembering that Christ has said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it225 unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Those at the Health Institute are engaged in a great work. During the life of Christ, the sick and afflicted were objects of his special care. When he sent out his disciples, he commissioned them to heal the sick as well as to preach the gospel. When he sent forth the seventy, he commanded them to heal the sick, and next to preach that the kingdom of God had come nigh unto them. Their physical health was to be first cared for, in order that the way might be prepared for their minds to be reached by those truths which the apostles were to preach. The Saviour of the world devoted more time and labor to healing the afflicted of their maladies than to preaching. His last injunction to his apostles, his representatives upon the earth, was to lay hands on the sick that they might recover. When the Master shall come, he will commend those who have visited the sick and relieved the necessities of the afflicted. We are slow to learn the mighty influence of trifles, and their bearing upon the salvation of souls. At the Health Institute, those who desire to be missionaries have a large field in which to work. God does not mean that any of us shall constitute a privileged few, who shall be looked upon with great deference while others are neglected. Jesus was the Majesty of Heaven; yet he stooped to minister to the humblest, having no respect to persons or station. Those who have their whole hearts in the work, will find at the Health Institute enough to do for the Master in relieving the suffering ones placed under their care. Our Lord, after performing the most humiliating office for his disciples, recommended them to follow his example. This was to keep constantly before them the thought that they must not feel superior to the lowliest saint. Those who profess our exalted faith, who are keeping God’s commandments and expecting the soon coming of our Lord, should be distinct and separate from the world,226 around them, a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Among the peculiarities which should distinguish God’s people from the world in these last days, is their humility and meekness. “Learn of me,” says Christ; “for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Here is the repose which so many crave, and in vain spend time and money to obtain. Instead of being ambitious to be equal to another in honor and position, or perhaps even higher, we should seek to be the humble, faithful servants of Christ. This spirit of self-aggrandizement made contention among the apostles even while Christ was with them. They disputed who should be greatest among them. Jesus sat down, and, calling the twelve, said unto them, “If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.” When the mother of two sons made a request that her sons should be especially favored, one sitting on the right hand and the other on the left in his kingdom, Jesus impressed upon them that the honor and glory of his kingdom was to be the reverse of the honor and glory of this world. Whoever would be great must be a humble minister unto others, and whoever would be chief must be a servant, even as the Son of God was a minister and servant unto the children of men. Again, our Saviour taught his disciples not to be anxious for position and name. “Be not ye called Rabbi; . . . neither be ye called masters. . . . But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant; and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased.” Jesus cited the lawyer to the sacred law-code given from Sinai: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” He told him that if he did this, he should enter into life. “Thy neighbor as thyself.” The question arises, “Who is my neighbor?” His reply is the parable of the good Samaritan, which teaches us that any human being who needs our sympathy and our kind offices, is our neighbor. The suffering and destitute of all classes are our neighbors; and when their wants are brought to our knowledge,227 it is our duty to relieve them as far as possible. A principle is brought out in this parable that it would be well for the followers of Christ to adopt. First meet the temporal necessities of the needy, and relieve their physical wants and sufferings, and you will then find an open avenue to the heart, where you may plant the good seeds of virtue and religion. In order to be happy, we must strive to attain to that character which Christ exhibited. One marked peculiarity of Christ was his self-denial and benevolence. He came not to seek his own. He went about doing good, and this was his meat and drink. We may, by following the example of the Saviour, be in holy communion with him; and by daily seeking to imitate his character and follow his example, we shall be a blessing to the world, and shall secure for ourselves contentment here and an eternal reward hereafter.