shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am.” If ye
put down oppression and remove the speaking of vanity, if ye draw out
your soul to the hungry, “then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy
darkness be as the noonday: and the Lord shall guide thee continually,
and satisfy thy soul in drought [famine], and make fat thy bones: and
thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose
waters fail not.”
Read Isaiah 58, ye who claim to be children of the light.
Especially do you read it again and again who have felt so reluctant
to inconvenience yourselves by favoring the needy. You whose hearts
and houses are too narrow to make a home for the homeless, read it; you
who can see orphans and widows oppressed by the iron hand of poverty
and bowed down by hardhearted worldlings, read it. Are you afraid that
an influence will be introduced into your family that will cost you
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more labor, read it. Your fears may be groundless, and a blessing
may come, known and realized by you every day. But if otherwise, if
extra labor is called for, you can draw upon One who has promised:
“Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall
spring forth speedily.” The reason why God’s people are not more
spiritually minded and have not more faith, I have been shown, is
because they are narrowed up with selfishness. The prophet is addressing
Sabbathkeepers, not sinners, not unbelievers, but those who make great
pretensions to godliness. It is not the abundance of your meetings that
God accepts. It is not the numerous prayers, but the rightdoing, doing
the right thing and at the right time. It is to be less self-caring and more
benevolent. Our souls must expand. Then God will make them like a
watered garden, whose waters fail not.
Read Isaiah 1: “And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide
Mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear:
your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the
evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do
well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead
for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord:
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though
they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and
obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye
shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken
it.”
The gold mentioned by Christ, the True Witness, which all must
have, has been shown me to be faith and love combined, and love takes
the precedence of faith. Satan is constantly at work to remove these
precious gifts from the hearts of God’s people. All are engaged in
playing the game of life. Satan is well aware that if he can remove love
and faith,
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and supply their place with selfishness and unbelief, all the remaining
precious traits will soon be skillfully removed by his deceitful hand, and
the game will be lost.
My dear brethren, will you allow Satan to accomplish his purpose?
Will you submit to lose the game in which you desire to win everlasting
life? If God has ever spoken by me, you will just as surely be overcome
by Satan, instead of being overcomers, as the throne of God stands sure,
unless you are entirely transformed. Love and faith must be won back.
Will you engage in this conflict anew and win back the precious gifts
of which you are nearly destitute? You will have to make efforts more
earnest, more persevering and untiring, than you have ever yet made. It
is not merely to pray or fast, but it is to be obedient, to divest yourselves
of selfishness, and keep the fast which God has chosen, which He will
accept. Many may feel grieved because I have spoken plainly; but this I
shall continue to do, if God lays the burden upon me.
God requires that those who occupy responsible positions should
be consecrated to the work; for if they move wrong, the people feel
at liberty to follow in their footsteps. If the people are wrong, and the
leaders lift not their voice against the wrong, they sanction the same,
and the sin is charged upon them as well as the offenders. Those who
occupy responsible positions should be men of piety, who continually
feel the burden of the work resting upon them.
*****
Chap. 3 - Selling the Birthright
Dear Brother D: I have been designing to write to you for some time,
but our labors have been so constant and wearing that I have had no time
nor strength to do so. In my last vision your case was shown me. You
were in a
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critical condition. You knew the truth, you understood your duty, and
you had rejoiced in the light of the truth; but because it interfered with
your worldly pursuits, you were about to sacrifice truth and duty to your
own convenience. You were looking at your own present pecuniary
advantage and losing sight of the eternal weight of glory. You were
about to make an immense sacrifice for the flattering prospect of present
gain. You were just upon the point of selling your birthright for a mess
of pottage. Had you turned from the truth for earthly gain, it would not
have been a sin of ignorance on your part, but a willful transgression.
Esau lusted for a favorite dish, and sacrificed his birthright to gratify
appetite. After his lustful appetite had been gratified he saw his folly,
but found no space for repentance though he sought it carefully and with
tears. There are very many who are like Esau. He represents a class
who have a special, valuable blessing within their reach,—the immortal
inheritance, life that is as enduring as the life of God, the Creator of the
universe, happiness immeasurable, and an eternal weight of glory,—but
who have so long indulged their appetites, passions, and inclinations,
that their power to discern and appreciate the value of eternal things is
weakened.
Esau had a special, strong desire for a particular article of food,
and he had so long gratified self that he did not feel the necessity of
turning from the tempting, coveted dish. He thought upon it, making
no special effort to restrain his appetite, until the power of appetite bore
down every other consideration and controlled him, and he imagined
that he would suffer great inconvenience, and even death, if he could
not have that particular dish. The more he thought upon it, the more his
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desire strengthened, until his birthright, which was sacred, lost its value
and its sacredness. He thought, If I now sell it, I can easily