Torr, Brother
Lemoore, California, Campground
May 12, 1883
Portions of this letter are published in TDG 141.
Dear Brother Torr:
My apology, for writing you at this time is love for your soul. You are the purchase of the blood of Christ, and I do want you to build here upon the sure foundation, that the storm and tempest may beat upon and about it without loss and destruction. Jesus loves you. Jesus pities you. Jesus will help you if you will only call upon Him and trust in Him as a child will trust in its earthly parents. Jesus will help all who feel their need of help. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 1
You began to run well. You were coming out of the uncertainty and error and leaving false theories. Your feet were finding the sure path, but the enemy was on your track. He knew that you were earnest and determined in any work you engaged in, and he was far more determined to put his blinder before your eyes and make darkness appear to you light and light appear to you darkness. You are in great peril. A cloud of doubt and unbelief is enclosing you. You are ranging yourself in the enemy’s ranks and doing as many others have done—fighting against God. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 2
I have deep sorrow of soul for you because you are grieving my Saviour and causing Satan to exult and the friends of hell to triumph. You had light. God sent me to your home. You treated us kindly. Indeed, you had an opportunity to test the work God had given me. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” [Matthew 7:20.] You were convicted. Your doubts and unbelief were disappearing. Faith was taking the place of doubts. The enemy, an ever-vigilant foe, was watching his agents who were also ready to do his bidding—were at work. They had left the path of truth and were in unbelief, yet, claiming to have great light, thinking they were doing God service, they were warring against God, persecuting Jesus Christ in the person of His faithful ambassador. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 3
I am sorry that these have deceived you, and you should lend yourself to do the work of the enemy. Your talking to others in regard to your erroneous ideas is sowing seed which will produce a harvest which you will not care to reap by and by. What excuse can you offer to God for indulging Bro. [?]’s will and doing not God’s will? Do you wish to meet your work in the judgment? Are we as a people in error, and you have the truth? This is not possible. God has been leading out His people step by step upon the path of eternal truth. My words may have no weight with you although I repeat the words of the beloved disciple: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; ... That which we have seen and have heard declare we unto you.” 1 John 1:1, 3. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 4
We expect to meet the things we have presented before the people in the judgment. But the Word of Life! Oh, do not take a perverted view of it! You will take a wrong view of Bible doctrines, and then you are not a man that will not long rest until you have scattered the seeds of error. Some others view these things as you see them, and as many souls as receive your ideas you balance in the path of error. They will, if they accept your views, eventually become infidels; as you will be, so will [they]. You are walking into Satan’s net and dragging other souls into darkness. Oh, if you could only see your work as God sees it, you would be filled with remorse and horror! 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 5
Stop right where you are. Go not a step farther. Great decisions under circumstances are made very suddenly either for good or for evil. Will you, my brother, retrace your steps and begin to pray, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God? Come to Him as a little child; fall upon the Rock and let self break—let self die. Oh, be warned, be warned and do not go farther into darkness and drag others with you! You must meet the record of your life by and by. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 6
You have declared yourself to be a man of integrity. [Even] if you could sustain this in the past, you will not be able to do this in the future, for when Satan takes control of the mind and men follow where he leads, they become corrupted imperceptibly and act out the mind of their leader and do his works while claiming to be doing the will of God. I entreat of you to think before you go farther and do meet works of repentance. I know my enemies are like vultures—all ready to devour if they can see, or think they can see, the least chance. I have not designed to answer or in any [way] make mention [of] these falsehoods—[these] miserable tirades against me—for I know that all that know me would see that my fruits were a refutation of his miserable slander. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 7
I also have taken no pains to refute [D. M.] Canright’s statements for the same reason; neither have I as yet made any reference to the inconsistent charges or slanders. I knew that Jesus understood it all. Those who wanted to have these things true would believe them, notwithstanding any evidence, the most conclusive, to the contrary. I felt sad when I heard you were circulating these productions which originated from Satan himself. I was sorry that you should be so earnest and so ready to war against that which you know so little about. Are you not afraid to be found with those who are fighting against God? Be careful, my brother, what you do, for you must meet it all again. Unless you are a truly converted man, you will become more and more determined in a wrong course of action. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 8
You are making shipwreck of faith. You are surrounding yourself with an atmosphere of unbelief. You are feeding upon these things which encourage doubt and unbelief. Skepticism is folding you in its hellish grasp, and your only hope is to make a desperate effort to break the chains Satan has bound about your soul. I have scarcely ventured to write a line to these who were arraying themselves against the brethren and the truth because they would pervert my words, misconstrue my meaning and make my best efforts appear dark and dangerous; but I love your soul. I love your wife and dear children. I feel an intense interest for your dear children, and although I know not what use you may make of the lines, I shall send them to you. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 9
We are now preparing matter to quench this flood of venom coming from the mouth of the dragon. We only want the people to see this deceptive, lying spirit, that those who are unacquainted with me may not be deceived. I am in the hands of God. I have not a fear, not a shadow of a doubt in regard to the truth as we hold it as a people. To me it is knowledge—a solemn, earnest reality. All the powers of darkness with all the intrigues of the devil could not for a moment swerve me from this platform. I know whom I have believed and shall go forward doing my work amid opposition and envy and hatred, and if I fall at my post, as I may, God knoweth I will be found faithful and true, and this is my earnest, constant aim. Friend or foe cannot swerve me from my duty. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 10
I have a work to do and in the grace of Christ I shall do it. My only anxiety is for those who are so much more easily inclined to believe a lie than to believe the truth. What shall I do for them? What can I do to save them that they shall not make a lie, neither love the lie after it is made? All I can do is to present Jesus, the precious Saviour, before them as their Pattern. If they love Jesus they will be pure, harmless, undefiled. They will surround themselves with the atmosphere of faith rather than of doubt and skepticism and unbelief. They will talk of Jesus, of heaven, of the Christian’s duties, the Christian’s warfare, and how to successfully resist the powers of Satan. They will not be like vultures preying upon that which they suppose to be the defects of others. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 11
Oh, that Jesus might be revealed to them! Oh, that they might love to dwell upon His matchless charms! Oh, that their hearts might learn with His love! Then we should not be ignorant of Satan’s devices. Our weapons would be turned against our most deadly foes. We should see by faith the pure light, [the] eyes of heavenly angels intently fixed upon us with love to mark our devotion. We should by faith see Satan watching for every misstep, everything that he could use against us, taking advantage of our lack of union and love, making the crooked ways, and with exulting triumph accusing these before the angels of God. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 12
Satan has agents engaged in accusing those who are devoted to the work of God. And oh, how careful should we be not to give Satan any occasion by our crooked ways! Oh, no, we cannot afford to place ourselves on the enemy’s ground for one hour, thinking we may come off when we choose. We must ever keep our feet in the narrow path of holiness cast up by our Redeemer for the ransomed of the Lord to walk in. We must pray, my brother. Here is the rock you will shipwreck your faith on unless you feel your need of prayer. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 13
You need a physician: you [need] the grace of Christ which is the balm of Gilead, that you may walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called that you may be presented to God without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Satan is ever seeking to corrupt us. He is seeking to corrupt you, to pollute you. This is Satan’s aim. Are you letting him do his hellish work? While we are powerless to stay the workings of sin and Satan, help has been provided. Ask and ye shall receive. Two or three may claim the promise; if they ask anything in His name, He will do it. [John 14:14; Matthew 18:19, 20.] He will be inquired of to do these things for us. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 14
O my brother, do not feel so independent that you will not ask help of the only One who can render you the assistance you need to break the snare of Satan. You must be watchful, zealous, faithful and true; humble and trustful, full of tenderness and compassion. Oh, shall we ever see you stand as God would have you, a champion of faith, able to say, “The Lord is my helper” [Hebrews 13:6]; and as Paul said when in imminent danger when he was delivered, “For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve.” Acts 27:23. God is not too high to consent to work for the feeble children of men. Great trials are before us and precious victories; but we must be men and women of prayer. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 15
If we talked unbelief far less and prayed far more, we should become spiritually strong to do battle for God. O, my brother, pray. Teach your children to make God their trust. Thus the cross, [though] heavy for you to lift, nevertheless in lifting it, it will lift you; in supporting it, it will support you. God and angels are watching the progress of His church below. The greatest missionary work, and that which will be as a sweet savor to Jesus Christ, is for you to erect the family altar and teach your children how to seek God. Teach them how to come [to] God. Commence the work in your own heart, and then, with your heart baptized with the Spirit of Christ, lead your children to the Lamb of God. Unless you do this without loss of time, your reaping will be a harvest of bitterness, of anguish. I know whereof I write. Turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die? You are responsible for the influence you exert in your family. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 16
God requires of you that you teach your children to love Him, to pray to Him, to conform their lives to the Pattern. This is a missionary field that has been sorely neglected—left to grow up to briars and thorns. Oh, will [you] cultivate the precious plot of ground just before your own door? This is your work. For this, you are accountable. You cannot neglect this, your work, and be guiltless. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 17
I think of the words of Christ, as He looked from the crest of Olivet on the doomed city of Jerusalem. In broken utterances, He said His heart [was] broken with unrequited love: “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. ... Because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” Luke 19:42, 44. He left no means untried. His offered mercy had been spurned. There was no wearying of His patience. The waves of mercy beaten back by these stubborn, rocky hearts only returned afresh in a fuller tide of untiring, unresting love. But the moment has come when His love is exhausted, when retributive justice must take the place of love, and now He weeps over those who refuse to be saved. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 18
These tears of Jesus embraced all time. The earthly Jerusalem which lay spread out before them was a symbol of mankind at large. They are acting over the very same toward Jesus as did the Jews. He has spared no means. He has withheld no blessings which are essential to bring His people into close relationship to Himself. He has sent messages of rebuke, of entreaty and warning. But His counsels have been despised. The temple courts of the soul have been converted into desecrated shrines, places of unholy traffic, unrighteous barter, selfishness and mammon, malice and envy, pride and passion. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 19
Jesus looks down from the His throne and sees [it] is as in the day when He was upon earth—His ambassadors treated with contempt, their words as idle tales. It is the present unbelief which presents hardness of heart, presents impenitence, that makes us responsible [for] those tears Christ shed as He looked down the ages and saw how few would know Him, how [few would] obey Him. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 20
The most solemn responsibility for the Jews was when Jesus was in their midst. It was that generation who had rejected Him, who were guilty, condemned, rejected of Him. And it [is] now in this day of light and privileges that this nation is arraigned as before the bar of God for their rejection of Christ. “They would none of My counsel: they despised all My reproof.” Proverbs 1:30. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 21
If thou art destroyed, it is thyself who are alone responsible. “Ye will not come unto Me that ye might have life.” [John 5:40.] “If thou, even thou hadst known the things which belong to thy peace.” [Luke 19:42.] Oh, in the words of Christ, “Thou, even thou” is applicable to us individually. We may make a solemn application. We may view Him stooping over His throne yearning with tenderness and pity over those who have no pity for themselves. We hear Him say to us, “If thou hadst been faithful to search thy Bible with humble, prayerful hearts and with a desire to know, how light would have been thy future.” Today is ours. Each of us has a day of visitation. This, thy day, is the present time. It is not tomorrow, but today. If ye will hear His voice harden not your hearts. “If this day ye receive Me, your Saviour, peace is yours, heaven is yours, for I will pardon your transgressions.” 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 22
It is peace, your peace, the things which belong to your peace. Money cannot buy this peace. Intellect cannot reach it; wisdom cannot bribe [it]. It is the gift of Christ. If we will take it, it is ours. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 23
My brother, I know not what use you may take of this letter, but I feel that I have done my duty for this time. I wrote you several pages before this, but I have not been able to place my hand upon it. When I can find it, if I feel free, I will send it to you. I love your family, and I want to meet you in the city of God. 4LtMs, Lt 11, 1883, par. 24