Whatever may be Brother—–’s faults, your course is unjustifiable and
unchristian. You have gone back over his history for years and have
searched out everything that was unfavorable, every shadow of evil, and
have made him an offender for a word. You have brought all the powers
you could command to sustain yourselves in your course as accusers.
Remember, God will deal in the same manner with every one of you.
“With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure
ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Those who have taken part
in this disgraceful proceeding will meet their work again. What influence
do you think your course will have upon the students, who have ever been
impatient of restraint? How will these things affect their character and
their life history?
What say the testimonies concerning these things? Even one wrong
trait of character, one sinful desire cherished, will eventually neutralize
all the power of the gospel. The prevalence of a sinful desire shows the
delusion of the soul. Every indulgence of that desire strengthens the soul’s
aversion to God. The pains of duty and the pleasures of sin are the cords
with which Satan binds men in his snares. Those who would rather die
than perform a wrong act are the only ones who will be found faithful.
A child may receive sound religious instruction; but if parents,
teachers, or guardians permit his character to be biased by a wrong habit,
that habit, if not overcome, will become a predominant power, and the
child is lost.
The testimony borne to you by the Spirit of God is: Parley not with the
enemy. Kill the thorns, or they will kill you. Break up the fallow ground
of the heart. Let the work go deep and thorough. Let the plowshare of
truth tear out the weeds and briers.
Said Christ to the angry, accusing Pharisees: “He that is without sin
among you, let him first cast a stone.” Were those
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sinless who were so ready to accuse and condemn Brother—–? Were
their characters and lives to be searched as closely and publicly as they
have searched Brother—–’s, some of them would appear far worse than
they have tried to represent him.
I dare not longer remain silent. I speak to you and to the church at
Battle Creek. You have made a great mistake. You have treated with
injustice one to whom you and your children owe a debt of gratitude which
you do not realize. You are responsible for the influence you have exerted
upon the college. Peace has come because the students have had their own
way. In another crisis they will be as determined and persevering as they
have been on this occasion; and, if they find as able an advocate as they
have found in Brother—–, they may again accomplish their purpose. God
has been speaking to teachers and students and church members, but you
have cast His words behind you. You have thought best to take your own
course, irrespective of consequences.
God has given us, as a people, warnings, reproofs, and cautions, on
the right hand and on the left, to lead us away from worldly customs and
worldly policy. He requires us to be peculiar in faith and in character,
to meet a standard far in advance of worldlings. Brother—–came among
you, unacquainted with the Lord’s dealings with us. Having newly come
to the faith, he had almost everything to learn. Yet you have unhesitatingly
coincided with his judgment. You have sanctioned in him a spirit and
course of action that have nought of Christ.
You have encouraged in the students a spirit of criticism, which God’s
Spirit has sought to repress. You have led them to betray confidence.
There are not a few young persons among us who are indebted for most
valuable traits of character to the knowledge and principles received from
Brother
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—–. To his training many owe much of their usefulness, not only in
the Sabbath school, but in various other branches of our work. Yet
your influence encouraged ingratitude, and has led students to despise the
things that they should cherish.
Those who have not the peculiar trials to which another is subjected
may flatter themselves that they are better than he. But place them in the
furnace of trial, and they might not endure it nearly as well as the one
they censure and misjudge. How little we can know of the heart anguish
of another. How few understand another’s circumstances. Hence the
difficulty of giving wise counsel. What may appear to us to be appropriate,
may, in reality, be quite the reverse.
Brother—–has been an earnest seeker after knowledge. He has sought
to impress upon the students that they are responsible for their time,
their talents, their opportunities. It is impossible for a man to have so
much care, and carry so heavy responsibilities, without becoming hurried,
weary, and nervous. Those who refuse to accept burdens which will tax
their strength to the utmost know nothing of the pressure brought to bear
upon those who must bear these burdens.
There are some in the college who have looked only for what has
been unfortunate and disagreeable in their acquaintance with Brother—–.
These persons have not that noble, Christlike spirit that thinketh no evil.
They have made the most of every inconsiderate word or act, and have
recalled these at a time when envy, prejudice, and jealousy were active in
unchristian hearts.
A writer has said that “envy’s memory is nothing but a row of hooks
to hang up grudges on.” There are many in the world who consider it an
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evidence of superiority to recount the things and persons that they “cannot
bear,” rather than the things and persons that they are attracted to. Not so