Lt 4, 1859 1EGWLM 691

September 2, 1859, [Kensington, Connecticut]¹

See notes on Ellen White's diary entries for September 1 and 2, 1859 (Ms 7, 1859).

Letter to
William Peabody.²

As indicated in this letter, “Brother Peabody” is of advanced age and has “considerable means.” Probably this description can fit only William Peabody of Monroe County, New York, 68 years old and worth $10,000 to $15,000 at the time of writing. (See notes below.)

Previously unpublished.

A stewardship challenge for William Peabody, a man of “considerable means.” 1EGWLM 691.3

Dear Brother Peabody: 1EGWLM 691.4

I will try to write you what was shown me in vision nearly one year ago. I saw that the truth of God would progress, that there was a great work to do, and that the stewards of God have not moved fast enough. They moved too slow. 1EGWLM 691.5

Dear Brother, I saw that the Lord wanted your means which He has lent you. He calls for you to use it to advance His cause. I saw that there was but a little time for you to use the means which He has lent you in advancing His work.³

William Peabody, a relatively wealthy farmer from New York, with real estate worth $15,000 in 1850, had become a Sabbathkeeper in 1853. At the time Ellen White wrote to him he was 68 years old and probably not in the best of health. When he died at 75 it was said that “his death was the result of lingering consumption, under which he had suffered for several years.”

I saw that your business was in an unsettled, perplexing state, and you must begin to square up your business. Get it into a snug compass. Be getting ready to move to the better country, even the heavenly. I saw that you should work as fast as possible to remove the means which God has lent you from the hands of unbelievers and transfer it to the believers, and aid in advancing the last message of mercy ever to be given to the world. I saw that you should be getting things in a close compass, and be preparing for the last great work of the third angel.⁴

Exactly what is intended here is not clear, but it may be counsel for Peabody to sell his land holdings so that he would be in a better position to make donations. A comparison of the 1850 and 1860 censuses indicate that he had made changes in that direction. Whereas in 1850 his land was worth $15,000, in 1860 it was listed at only $2,650, whereas his “personal estate” was valued at $8,500. (The 1850 census did not require information on personal estates.)

I saw that had you been using your means more freely for the cause of God you would have been better off today. I saw that He required much of His servants that they have not performed. And when they become close, selfish, worldly, and covetous, and keep the means which God has lent them, He who has entrusted them this means will reach down His hand to show them how quickly He can scatter and take away what they have. When God's stewards claim the means He has lent them as their own, God often touches what they have and will scatter it. I saw that there was a withholding which tendeth to poverty, and a scattering which increaseth. 1EGWLM 692.1

In the last vision given me in Michigan, June, 1859,⁵

This probably refers to the vision recounted in Testimonies for the Church, (vol. 1, pp. 185-195), part of which deals with the stewardship of “brethren … who have large possessions” (p. 191). It appears that in this vision Ellen White was shown the case of William Peabody and perhaps other well-to-do members, but the published account was phrased in general terms, omitting individual names. The date of the vision is discussed in Ms 6, 1859 (note on June 4 entry).

Dear Brother, I have seen that there was a lack among those who have means. They lack faith in the result and success of this message. If they would venture something on the success of this message, it would be more pleasing to God. Their faith would work and their works would preach loudly to unbelievers. 1EGWLM 692.3

I will now write you what I saw concerning God's stewards, those who have considerable means. You were shown me among those whose faith must work, and your means be more freely imparted to advance the cause of present truth. I feel called out to say a few words to you. You are in a responsible place. You have a work to do to impart of your substance to the cause of God. 1EGWLM 693.1

Dear Brother, inquire carefully, What is my duty? I believe you are willing to do your duty if you know what it is. Many think they are sacrificing but they do not know what it is to sacrifice. A sacrifice decreases, it never increases, but decreases and consumes. I do not know how you can be clear and do your duty without rendering to God the increase of all your substance, and even more than the interest of your means. When you think of touching the principal do you not start back? Do you not shrink? I must speak plainly. I believe that God requires even more of you than the interest. From what God has shown me, you will have to touch the substance, the principal; then you will sacrifice.⁶

According to figures published in the Review, at his death William Peabody left a legacy to the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association of $1,035 and another to the Western Health Reform Institute of $1,219.92. He was also a frequent contributor to church causes during his life.

If you do not work fast, “The day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.” [Zech. 14:1.] “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” [Luke 12:33, 34.] It will be much better for you to send your treasure before you into heaven. You should be now using it when the cause can be benefited by it, when the cause of God actually needs it, rather than to wait until a time when the cause is better able to take care of itself. God is constantly raising up men to aid with their substance to advance the truth. This work will go forward. It will be extensive. It is now it needs help. 1EGWLM 693.3

Your life is not secure. Apply your means as you want it while you can. You may live to go through the time of trouble with the remnant, and you may be one of that number who are called blessed. “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord,” etc. Your head is already white. You are ripening up for the great harvest. Act the part faithfully which God assigns you, that at His coming it may be said of you, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” etc. 1EGWLM 693.4

From what I have seen, you should allow yourself in your old age all the necessaries of life's comforts. Nourish your strength. For the sake of saving means, do not in any way expose your health. Take good and faithful care of God's temple. Your health is more to be prized than money. And you should never let means stand in the way of your spiritual interest or hinder your being benefited by assembling with the saints as often as you can, especially in their great gatherings.⁷

On his seventieth birthday William Peabody wrote a letter to the Review that included the following sentiments: “I live alone in this village as to keeping the Sabbath. There are none nearer than Rochester. I sometimes go about thirty miles [48 kilometers] to meeting. This is my great enjoyment.”