DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: I regret the necessity of presenting the following pages for your perusal. They are personal testimonies from Sister White to Elder E. P. Daniels, which she has been sending to him during the last four years. I have deep sorrow of heart that he has not with steadfastness of purpose fully accepted and carried out these testimonies, but, instead, has become restive under reproof, sent his credentials back to the Conference Committee, and has struck out to labor on his own hook.
He claims that he cannot labor for the Conference for the sum that the Conference has paid him. They paid him as much per week for the last year as any other laborer in the Conference, and he is the only one but what expressed themselves as “perfectly satisfied” with their allowance. The following testimonies will explain why he demands so much means to get along.
In sending these testimonies to me, Sister White said, “Have as many copies made of them as you deem necessary, and send to such churches as in your judgment you think proper to have them.” In another letter she says: “East and West the impression is gone that I am sustaining Elder Daniels. I will have the credit of doing this when I am seeking in private to set his true condition before him, and to have him correct his course of action, that he may stand in a fair light before the world.”
I have had printed a limited number of copies, because it was the most feasible way to multiply them. We shall only put them in the hands of our own people. They are not for general distribution. In behalf of the California Conference,
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH, Pres.
BASEL, Switzerland, August 6, 1886.
DEAR BROTHER AND SISTER DANIELS: Again my mind is much exercised in regard to you. I dreamed that I was in your home sitting at your table, but I could not see that the teachings that you have given others on self-denial and health reform were carried out. I groaned in spirit, and said, “Brother Daniels, you are going into darkness.” The Lord has shown me that you have such traits of character that, should you be prospered financially, you would be in danger of losing your soul. You would not be economical; you would use your means too freely; your wants would increase, and you would not practice self-denial. I was shown that the Lord in mercy has kept you in the school of poverty that he might save your soul.
Sister Daniels has lessons to learn in economy. I saw that you, Brother Daniels, had been tested by poverty, and that the Lord would test you with prosperity. If your use of his blessings and the advantages he gives you should not be in accordance with your faith and your instructions to others; if you should not appropriate the means God brings in your hands, in accordance to your faith, then he would come closer to you by affliction, disappointment, and privations; for I saw that you do not know yourself. You would be led on by your natural inclinations, building high hopes on future prospects, but God would put his hand against you. He can in3a moment take from you the power he has intrusted to you, by which you should glorify him. If left to yourself, to follow your own will and judgment, you will surely ruin your soul. Both you and your wife need to learn in the school of Christ.
Nebuchadnezzar was warned by God not to pursue a certain course; but his prosperity elevated and deceived him, and in an unguarded moment he exclaimed, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?” The instant he uttered these words, the sentence was issued that felled the tree. The blessings God had bestowed upon him were removed, his reason was taken away, and the mighty ruler was driven from men to find his place among the beasts of the field.
There are many ways in which God can punish, and punishment will surely follow wherever pride is indulged. “Pride goeth before destruction.” Let a man be lifted up by a sense of his own ability, and trust in his human strength, and he will surely be overcome by temptation. God will bring him down. He will teach him his utter weakness, that he may feel his need of divine aid. Let anyone glory in his wisdom or his talents, or in anything but Christ and him crucified, and he will learn that the Lord alone is to be exalted.
Now, Elder Daniels, stop just where you are and consider; bring forth fruits unto righteousness such as you have not brought forth. A great deal was said about the injustice that was manifested when you did not receive credentials, and desired to labor in the cause and work of God, and could do so much good. Your credentials have been restored, and now God is waiting to4see what you will do, whether you will give yourself unreservedly to his work or will please yourself. Will you connect in your work with those who will lead you to meet the world’s standard rather than the standard of Christ? My heart is very sad when I think of the state of things in Healdsburg. I know the church is not in a right condition. I know that your plans and ideas have fashioned some of its members not to their spiritual advantage, but to their injury; and the end is not yet. I was in my dream led into the church, into the college, and into your house. I sat at your table and visited your rooms, fitted up for your students, and I was led to see beneath the outward appearance, and I was very sad. I saw the working of things at present and what they would be in the future, which was far from being in God’s order or according to his arrangements. I was shown some things in your family; the dangers that threatened your children of receiving a wrong stamp of character, a mould that will not be easily effaced, vanity, pride, love of dress, self-will, and anything but the meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price. May the Lord open your eyes to see and your heart to feel the necessity of an entire change.
You do not know how to use means, but God is proving you, and will you stand the test? But as I have written to you so fully in my former letter, I will now forbear.
The Lord would have all who act a part in his work, bear testimony in their lives to the holy character of the truth. The end is near, and now is the time when Satan will make special efforts to distract the interest5and separate it from the all-important subjects that should arrest every mind to concentrated action. An army could do nothing successfully if its different parts did not work in concert. Should each soldier act without reference to the others, the army would soon become disorganized. Instead of gathering strength from concentrated action, it would be wasted in desultory meaningless efforts. Christ prayed that his disciples might be one with him as he was one with the Father. A limited number united under one head, all obeying orders, will accomplish more than ten times the number who are drawing apart, who expend their strength on many things at the same time. Whatever good qualities a man may have, he cannot be a good soldier if he acts independently. Good may occasionally be done, but often the result is of little value, and often the end shows more mischief than good. Those who act independently make a show of doing something, attract attention, and flash out brightly, and then are gone. All must pull in one direction in order to render efficient service to the cause. In Healdsburg some have acted from self-will. They have a high appreciation of their own ability. They put a great estimate on their own plans, and are all ready to take offense at the doings of others, and they refuse to act in concert. Now these, I saw in my dream, were attracted to you, and God’s blessing cannot attend them, because his spirit does not rule in their hearts, or control their actions.
God requires concerted action of his soldiers, and in order to have this in the church self-restraint is essential; self-restraint must be exercised. But some in Healdsburg, as well as in other churches, will have to6learn this lesson; they will have to learn to forego their own wishes and preferences for the good of others. We have determined adversaries; we know not their number or their position. Satan works through agencies which we do not always see; through some whom we do not suspect. When we think Satan is routed, he is only preparing to make an attack to discomfit and repulse. When we fancy ourselves secure, we are in the very greatest danger. Watchfulness and prayer combined with persevering effort to keep the rank and file unbroken, is more necessary than ever before. The work of the cause of truth in Healdsburg is a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. Satan has brought elements into the Healdsburg church that will ever be a source of trial, unless these unconverted members shall see their defects of character as they have never yet seen them, and will repent of their evil surmisings, their envy, their fault-finding, their accusing of the brethren, their walking after their own independent judgment. These have made independent assertions, and are bold and forward, not knowing their place, and not realizing the order that must be observed in the church of God.
Such are a greater affliction to the church than any of the influences we meet with from unbelievers. The very worst elements will become instruments in the hands of Satan to obtain sympathizers. For this reason we see the need of using great caution in selecting persons to take responsibility in the school and in the church; for Satan will set these unsanctified ones to work to clog the wheels, to question, to find fault, to create suspicion, disunion, and a disordered state of things;7and all the time they will think they are doing God’s service. These elements are already to work in the church, but their work is not yet fully developed. Much is kept in the dark. An under-current is working. Satan lays hold of those who are self-willed, and who move from impulse, and skillfully diverts them into channels where they will be an element of weakness in the church.
Our conflict with Satan and his host must be earnest and determined. The enemy will use these rebellious ones to worry, confuse, and perplex those who would stand as bold, faithful soldiers for Jesus. We wish you to understand your danger, to know what gins and snares Satan has set for you. The warfare is waging now, and will continue to the end. The church must be a unit. I wish, my brother, that you had spiritual discernment, but in this you are deficient. I entreat you in the name of Jesus to seek wisdom from God; for Satan is surely coming to you as an angel of light. It is not easy to meet and withstand foes who wear the same dress as do the soldiers of Christ. But let the Lord come in and work with your efforts. God would have you and your wife consecrated to his service, but you both need divine enlightenment, you need to be careful with whom you connect, to take heed whom you admit into your confidence. The Lord will help you if you feel the need of his help. But he is found only of those who seek him with faith, in earnest, humble prayer. May the Lord guide and control you is my prayer. Yours with love, ELLEN G. WHITE.8HEALDSBURG, Cal., April, 1888.
DEAR BROTHER AND SISTER DANIELS: When I think of your worn and nervous condition when we were united in our labors in Lemoore, Selma, and Fresno, I am troubled on your account. The April meeting is before us, and I am perplexed over many matters that I know will call for much taxing labor on my part. My brother, I know that you want to be right with God, but you do not keep yourself firmly in the right way. If you kept a steady hold from above, you would be an efficient laborer in the cause of God, but there are many influences within and without that are striving for the mastery, and you are lacking in fixedness of purpose to go forward and upward, to gain the heavenly prize. There are dangerous avenues before you, leading off from the right path, and none are more exposed to peril than yourself, although you do not imagine yourself in any danger.
You frequently grow impatient at the words of counsel and caution that God addresses to you through his servants. You will not think that there can be danger in your pathway until you are entangled, and can see afterward that you have made a mistake; then you become discouraged. Your case was opened before me in Switzerland, as you well know. I saw you were in danger from your hereditary tendencies, and your habits of life. You are of that nature that you should fear to follow your strong and sometimes fierce impulses. The more experience you gain in spiritual things, the more deeply you will realize your own weakness, and feel your need of clinging close to the Lord as your counselor. One of the deplorable defects9of the original apostasy was the loss of man’s power to govern his own heart, and when there is a separation from the Source of your strength, when you are lifted up in pride, you cannot but transgress the law of your moral constitution. It is then that you break away from the control of conscience, and perverted habits and practices gain the ascendancy over reason; impulse bears sway, and carries you away from the control of principle. You indulge in disloyal feelings, and you need to be restored to yourself almost as much as you need to be restored to your God. You do not hear warnings as you should, because you do not think them applicable to your case. I tremble for your safety.
The church in Fresno has re-enacted that which has taken place in other churches. Some have been taken up with your preaching and have been charmed with your manners as a man. The Lord has seemed to be very near at times, and has spoken through you, and then, had you lived out that which you preached to others, you would have been a savor of life unto life but you have not kept humble and lowly in spirit. You knew that your influence and labors were appreciated, and it hurt you when others referred to your mistakes in financial management. You have conversed in a way to draw upon the sympathy of your brethren, and they thought they were doing God’s service in placing means in your hands. In this they were deceived. They did not know your weakness, for it was the worst thing that they could have done for you. It was like the unwise indulgence of parents to unreasonable children. You needed to learn many lessons of10the Great Teacher to bring into your daily practical life. If you would make a success as a representative man in the truth, you will have to practice economy. You should not allow yourself to be tossed to and fro by the exercises of your mind, or to be affected by circumstances. Your surroundings color your religious experience, and are woven into all your discourses, and the weakness of your character is made apparent under temptation and trial. You do not think but that your mountain standeth sure. You do not realize that you are in an enemy’s land, where foes are lurking behind every bush and jutting rock, to surprise you when off your guard. If you would only sense your danger, realize your weakness, and overcome your defects of character, you could do much good; you can and must do this, if you would have eternal life. Then you would watch unto prayer, sending your earnest, longing desires to the mercy-seat with a perseverance and determination that could not be denied, and when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord would lift up a standard against him.
You are in danger of losing the confidence of your brethren, because you do not practice that which you preach. At one time you urge one thing, and at another time another, because some idea strikes you in a different light. Feeling sways you. You are not rooted and grounded and settled in the truth, and therefore you are easily moved. There must be deep heart work in your case, for I have been shown that unless you have power to resist inclination and impulse, you will be overcome by the enemy of God and man. You need to cultivate genuine faith; for it is inseparable11from repentance, transformation of character, and the bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit. The reason you have not overcome many of the weaknesses of your character is not because you are satisfied with yourself as you are, but you have not the moral courage to war against your inclination. You should be determined to accept the light which God has given you, which has called your attention to his precepts and injunctions, and follow the expressed will of God.
For years, testimonies have followed you upon the subject of economy and the wise expenditure of means, but neither yourself nor wife have made decided changes in your practices, if you could obtain money to use. You love display, you love indulgence of appetite, you love to gratify your taste; and the same traits of character shown in yourself are reproduced in your children, and you will reap that which you have sowed. There never can be sufficient means granted you for your labors to sustain your indulgence of extravagant, spendthrift habits. Why do you not learn of those brethren who comfortably support themselves and their families on less money than you receive for your labors? The reason that you are in embarrassed circumstances is not because your wages are not enough to support you as a Christian, but you do not manage your means in such a way as to keep you from embarrassment. If you had twenty dollars a week you would still complain of financial pressure, because your habits of expenditure would keep pace with your means.
In Healdsburg, the Lord wrought through you, not because you were perfect, but notwithstanding your imperfections.12Self soon was mingled with your work. When you realized that the Spirit and power of God were working with the people, if you had humbled yourself, if you had walked carefully and softly before God, feeling your unworthiness and his goodness, the influence you left in Healdsburg would have been far better than it now is. You charge all your financial embarrassment to circumstances.
You can talk well in regard to parents training their children. Your wife, whom I love and respect in the Lord, would make an excellent lecturer upon this subject. But your own practices contradict the excellent principles that you have presented. She does not live out her own teachings. When your customs are seen and your home life practices revealed, the people become confused and disgusted. You do not train your children for usefulness, and to practice self-denial, and to keep the way of the Lord. Why are you so irresolute in purpose, so feeble in action, so vacillating in principle, so weak in faith? These things are a mystery to those who have an opportunity to become acquainted with you in the pulpit and at home. Elder Daniels, they see you one day strong and self-assured, next day they see in you a complete change. You affirm strongly things exactly opposite to what you affirmed as strongly the day before. If you were indulging in the use of wine, beer, or brandy, I could see a reason for this changeableness. But I sincerely hope that you will not form the habit of indulging in intoxicating drinks; for then Satan will be able to do with you what he will. The wine you recommended to be that which could be used freely and without evil effects,13I used one tablespoonful for a time, but I was afraid of it.
When I was shown the great need of reform in the education and training of your children, I was filled with pain that I cannot express, because I saw that you did not act your part in bringing about the best good of your children. You need the work of the Spirit of God in your own heart; for right principles are not governing your life action. If you were right with God you would not be doing as you have been doing in reference to your children; you would not present such an example as you have in their management. You should depend far less upon self and far more upon Jesus. If you were closely connected with God you would rule your children wisely. Zua is impulsive; she lacks experience in the right direction; she needs to be guided and restrained instead of being indulged and flattered. If you were discerning, if your souls were imbued with the sanctifying power of the truth, you would need no advice in regard to her attending Snell’s Seminary. If you were asked concerning the daughter of another, you would know just what course parents should pursue in relation to the education of their child. Your advice would be sensible. You have placed barriers in the way of Zua’s salvation, for you have yourselves chosen as her associates the vain, the proud, the unbelieving.
Sister Daniels loves dress. She is weak on this point. She desires to see her children arrayed according to the customs of a fashionable world. The word of God has specified how Christians should dress, and parents are to see that his directions are carried out rather than14the wishes of their children. God will hold parents accountable for sowing seeds of vanity in the hearts of their little ones. Paul writes concerning the dress of women, saying: “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array, but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.” “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”
My brother, how can your wife in the fear of God rebuke the sins, fashionable follies, and love of dress as she does when seeking to meet the world’s standard? Can you present an example in the dress of your children to the world? Have you not encouraged your daughter, Sister Daniels, to dress as other school-girls dress who have not the fear of God before them, whose whole aim is to make a display? Can the Master sanction your course in placing your daughter where she is constantly in the society of those whose conversation, whose manners, whose characters, bear only the worldly mould? Your daughter may receive a certain polish, a gloss, which may please her parents, and give her ideas as to what constitutes a lady, but it may be entirely contrary to the expressed will of God. Is the refinement of the world that which will elevate her in the scale of moral value with God? Will she have as great a care to possess a meek and quiet spirit, that she will meet the approval of the self-sacrificing15Redeemer, as she has to meet the approval of her worldly associates? You knew that the tendencies of your child would lead her to imitate the fashions she sees, so as not to appear odd and singular. You may say that there are many Sabbath-keepers who dress just like the world. This has always been so and always will be so. Christ said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Are you not set as shepherd to watch for souls as they that must give an account? Sister Daniels, you have not met your solemn responsibilities as a mother in aiding your daughter to deceive her father in regard to her dress and expenditures. Both of you have been deceived. You have been carried away with false ideas in regard to the training of your children. You must be thoroughly transformed by the grace of Christ, so that you can teach your children by precept and example the good and right way. Zua is full of affectation and deception. She is superficial in nearly all her attainments. Her school life has given her an outside polish, but her heart is unrenewed; for she has no love for God, no love for the society of Christians. She is in the ranks of the enemy, and should she die to-day, she would not enter the kingdom of heaven. Paul is in no better condition, and your youngest girl is far from having a lovely character. Your own training is in every way defective. May the Lord have mercy upon you, that you may not lose your soul and the souls of your children.
We are urged by the Spirit of the Lord to bear a pointed testimony against the idolatry of dress in this16age. If we are right with God, we will discard everything of a deforming character, such as paniers, bustles, unnecessary plaiting, and fashionable arrangement of the dress upon the body. Ministers and ministers’ wives should be an example in reproving the fashionable display in our sisters who claim to believe the truth. They should have their children dressed in a way that God would approve, presenting them to the church in simplicity, and modesty of apparel. Far greater pains should be taken to instruct them so that they shall have beautiful characters and keep the way of the Lord than to have them make a stylish appearance, taking the way of the Sodomites. The Scripture says, “As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them.” Moreover the Lord saith, “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abominations before me; therefore I took them away as I saw good.” I appeal to you in the name of the Lord to study your Bibles, to be doers of the word, and to educate your children that they may know the way of the Lord, so that the curse of Eli may not come upon you.
Children should be kept free as possible from the demoralizing influences of the fashions of this age. Fathers who minister in word and doctrine should have their children examples of what they teach to others in the pulpit. When you realize the responsibility that rests upon you, your life and character will be elevated and ennobled, and you will seek to reach the17high standard God has erected. Ministers should be far more earnest and anxious to train their children so that they shall meet the Lord’s standard than that they may meet the approval of the world. I do not wish you to be blindfolded by the enemy, to feel flattered because your daughter is praised and petted by those who do not keep the commandments of God. What if sickness or death should come upon your children? What if their reason should be taken away, and their souls unsaved, where would the blame lay? Has your work been done according to the light and knowledge you have had? Have you followed the directions of Holy Writ? Have you not educated and trained your child to fall in love with fashionable dress because you have not firmness of principle to deny her desires? Have you taught your children that they must have moral courage in order to be God’s peculiar treasures, separate from the spirit and habits of those who love not God and keep not his commandments?
If Zua should take a course according to the Bible directions, she would have no inclination to remain at the Seminary in Oakland. Have you not given permission for your daughter to go out from among those of like faith into the society of those which her natural inclination chooses as companions? The Lord said to the people of Israel, to gather their children into their houses with them and strike their door-posts with blood, that the destroying angel might not cut down their children. If they were found in the homes of the Egyptians, they would perish with unconsecrated idolators. Now you are utterly at fault; you are letting the enemy take your children out of your hands18in separating them from those who are connected with God, and allowing them to drift into the society of worldlings. “Consistency, thou art a jewel.” Unless you change, you will constantly erect barriers around your children to hold them away from Christ; you will bind them with the world, because it pleases their carnal minds. When the angel with the writer’s inkhorn shall place a mark upon those who love Jesus and keep his commandments, another angel will follow with destroying weapons in his hand, and the commandment will go forth, “Slay utterly old and young, both maids and little children and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.” Will you not carefully look at these things, and think upon them? Will you not, for the sake of your children, do the work for which God has made you responsible? I feel greatly burdened over these things. The children of Sabbath-keepers who have had their own way, and have been gratified in all their wishes, will, in consequence of their selfishness, idolatry, and unrighteousness, be unfit for heaven, but they will be fit for the last plagues. Unless parents arouse from their present condition, and do their appointed work, they will perish with their children.
Paul is a boy who has good qualities as well as objectionable traits of character. His evil traits have been cultivated and indulged rather than restrained. You have not taught him the sinfulness of a sullen, stubborn disposition, and firmly restrained this growing evil, and even in the expression of his countenance your indulgence is leaving its mould. The impressions19made in youth are most abiding, and early life is the best time to cultivate correct habits. Paul has been encouraged to be exacting and particular in his diet at the table, but you should set the food before him, and never allow him to turn from it in disdain, calling for something that you have not provided. He may cherish his exacting habits in regard to his diet, until he shall be disagreeable to himself and all connected with him. If he were obliged to labor according to his strength, hunger would give him a relish for his food and remove his murmuring. Decided measures should be taken in this matter. I love this son of yours; he can be moulded in the right way, for if properly trained he will respond after a time. You should never allow your children to find fault with their food, to murmur because spice, pepper, pickles, and condiments are not placed before them. You should not allow them to indulge largely in meat eating, unless you want them to become nervous, irritable, and discontented. Give your boy something to do. Teach him to be industrious. He has naturally no love for work; he loves indolence and seeks to shirk responsibility. If you want your children to bless you, teach them to be useful and self-denying. Restrict their reading. They should not be allowed to pour over the pages of novels or story books, filled with the tales of lust and knavery, for it will not leave a heavenly influence on their minds. They are young and inexperienced, and will be just what you make them. All such habits of reading will cut up by the roots the principles of virtue which enter into the formation of a good, firm character. Novel reading is like taking poison, and will sooner or later reveal its20bitter results. The mark for good or evil made upon the characters of your children is not written in the sand, but is traced as on enduring rock. Their associations will have to be guarded; for what is learned from the words and habits of their companions, will mould the whole after life. The company your children keep, the principles they now adopt, the habits they now form, are settling the destiny of their future with an almost infallible certainty.
Heretofore what I have said to you has left no lasting impression, but will you not now become a different man? If you do not, I greatly fear that you will depart from the faith. I pray you to keep the path of honor and truth. Do not accept money as a gift from your brethren. Bring your wants within your means. Make no extravagant purchases for yourself or for your children. May your wife be the help and strength to you that she should be in aiding you to correct your deficiencies, which mar your work and which ought not to exist. There are personal weaknesses which will make you feel that you should leave the ministry, so that your lot would be easier. You may feel that some other employment would be better for you financially, but you would find that it would be a mistake. You are not qualified to become a financier. Your hopes are large, you have glowing anticipations that have never yet been realized, and never will be. You make large outlays on the preparation for future promises of real success, but you will be disappointed. But if you endure unto the end as a humble, faithful, godly shepherd of the flock, your reward will be a crown of glory that fadeth not away.21The good hand of the Lord is over you in that you are permitted to bear the glorious message of truth to others. May the Lord give you such clear views of Jesus that your soul will be enraptured. I commit these plain words to you both, to tell you that one-half your usefulness is counteracted by defects that you can and must overcome. Make thorough work for eternity, as in the sight of God.
Elder Daniels, I am your friend because I tell you the truth. You are engaged in a solemn work, and as an ambassador of Christ, I desire that you should make no failure, but give full proofs of your ministry. Pray much, my brother, talk less. Pray that you may be endowed with wisdom and courage necessary to accomplish the work, whatever it may be. Say before God, “I will do my duty with an eye single to thy glory.”
Difficulties will arise in your path, and you may feel the deficiency of your character, the littleness of your ability, as a minister of the gospel, in comparison with the greatness of the work. But if you had the greatest intellect that was ever given to man, it would not be sufficient for your work. “Without me ye can do nothing,” says our Lord and Saviour. The result of all we do rests in the hands of God. You should look upon Christ, his self-denial, the reproach he endured, the abuse he bore for man, that you may be well balanced. When the blessing of God attends your labors you should become neither vain nor ambitious. When disaster comes you should not be depressed, and success should not elate you. The prosperity of the cause of God should always be kept in view. May the Lord22help you not to have a fluctuating faith, but a faith that will lay hold upon God, with steady, persevering confidence, whatever may betide. ELLEN G. WHITE.
OAKLAND, Cal., April 24, 1888.
Dear Brother and Sister: At times I feel much burdened on your account. I am fearful that you will not keep self under control, that you will not move discreetly in all things, and so lose the confidence of your brethren. I do not wish them to feel at one time that you are a man of great value, because you are led and taught of God, and at another time to be disappointed in you, because of your unconsecrated life, and your great want of spiritual wisdom. I want you to preserve your influence with the people, and I know that you can do it if you put the power of your will on the right side; if you will ever feel your weakness, and the necessity of constant help from God.
I was very much surprised at the remark you made to Brother and Sister Maxson, referring to your mistakes in Healdsburg. You told them that Sister White said, “Stop just where you are, or you will meet with disappointment and failure.” And when you presented the interest that you had in real estate and in the mine, you said Sister White did not advise you to have nothing to do with them, but said, “Yes, it will prove a success.” And it has proved just as she said. Have you forgotten, my brother, that I urged many reasons why you should not connect yourself with these financial speculations? But you presented the matter with so many words, and said so much about its being no tax23to you, as you claimed to be only a figure-head in the real-estate business; you had nothing special to do, your brethren did the work, and it was through the interest they had to help you that you were induced to engage in it, hoping to make money, that I concluded to say no more just then; but I thought that when I was rested, I would lay it open before you, just as I viewed it from a Bible standpoint.
I have tried to study over this matter to find out where or when I sanctioned your engaging in real-estate business or in the mining; but I cannot remember even an assent of my mind, and hence could not have given you any encouragement. You had no authority for making that statement. I shall need to be very careful of my words, not to say anything in conversation that can be taken by any of my brethren as an assent to their plans in entering into financial enterprises. From the light the Lord has been pleased to give me from time to time in regard to your case, I know your dangers, and the peculiarity of your temperament too well to give you any encouragement to interest yourself in business of this kind; for you are not successful as a financier. You had already entered into this business when you asked counsel of me, and I knew that anything I might say in direct opposition to your plans would only create unpleasant feelings. I had a large amount of work on hand just then, for I had to make many personal efforts for individuals whose feet had wandered away from the right way. I knew it would be difficult for me to obtain from you the real bearings of the case, because you would see great success where I would only see peril to your soul. It is perilous for you24to engage in, or even to taste of, these enterprises. And as I understand matters more fully, I am more and more convinced that these business enterprises will bind about your testimony, and greatly injure your influence.
Have you not been set apart by the Lord to do a special work, to be a representative of Christ upon the earth? Then it is your duty to give yourself wholly to his work. Your heart, your mind, and your body, belong to the Lord, and should be entirely subject to him. You cannot engage in any of these business transactions and keep your heart and mind unaffected and uninjured. The Lord wants all there is of you. I believe this to be a scheme of the enemy to weaken your influence as a minister of Christ, and to imperil your soul.
Your business entanglement in Michigan injured your influence there as a representative of Jesus. Had you attended to the preaching of the word in Healdsburg, had you wisely brought your own habits in domestic life in harmony with the holy law of God, you would to-day stand in a position before the people where you could do them great good. You should feel the necessity of working perseveringly day by day to overcome the natural defects in your character. If you would do this, you would not be so strongly tempted to branch out and devise plans to make more money to meet your increasing expenses. With your present remuneration for your labors, and the consideration which will be made in regard to your wife’s wages, you should be supplied abundantly with means, if you will only study to live within your means. But you seldom do this. You use money altogether too lavishly. Jesus is your example25in all things. You ought to have learned before this to be careful that your expenses do not exceed your income. Bind about your wants.
It is a great pity that your wife is so much like you in this matter of expending means, so that she cannot be a help to you in this direction, to watch the little outgoes, in order to avoid the larger leaks. Needless expenses are constantly brought about in your family management. Your wife loves to see her children dress in a manner beyond their means, and, because of this, tastes and habits are cultivated in your children which will make them vain and proud. If you would learn the lesson of economy, and see the peril to yourselves, and to your children, and to the cause of God, in this free use of means, you would obtain an experience essential to the perfection of your Christian character. Unless you do obtain such an experience, your children will bear the mould of a defective education as long as they live.
Your expectations in a business line have always been large and flattering. You are a man who talks things out just as they appear to you; and when you are engaged in financial enterprises, you present them in such glowing colors that you injure those with whom you associate. Your conversation has savored of covetousness. It is not your business to lead men and women to invest means in worldly enterprises. Your eager hopes and pursuits in worldly matters have proved a curse to you spiritually; and you really mar the work of God that is in your hands. You have not only been reproved, but faithfully warned in the word of God and by direct testimony, in regard to your individual errors.26“If the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”