Those Bearing Responsibilities in Washington, D. C.
St. Helena, California
December 27, 1906
Previously unpublished.
To those bearing large responsibilities in Washington, D.C.:
It has been shown to me that it is very essential that wise judgment should be manifested by those in charge of our college at Takoma Park. The teachers in the school in Washington need more of the Holy Spirit and less of self-importance. “Walk before Me, and be thou perfect,” were the words I was instructed to speak. [Genesis 17:1.] 21LtMs, Lt 397, 1906, par. 1
In our schools, teachers and managers should bestow special labor upon men of low degree, that they may be brought to a full understanding of the truth. Our teachers are to seek out the men who have less self-esteem than others; for these are the ones who will not exalt themselves when given a work to do. They will look after the poor and friendless, the ignorant and erring, and will go aside with the discouraged to pray with them. Teach them that their conscientious convictions are to be preserved, and not sacrificed; for under God each has a special work to do. 21LtMs, Lt 397, 1906, par. 2
The leading men in the school and sanitarium in Washington should realize that their greatest need is to be daily taught of God how to lift up the erring and open the understanding of the ignorant. Principals and teachers, remember that in all your ministrations, you are liable to make mistakes. Let God correct your errors of judgment. Minister in Christ’s lines. Give an example of humility and dependence upon a higher authority than your own. Your greatest work is to seek and to save that which is lost. Walk humbly with God. Learn of the great Teacher. Study the Word with diligence and earnest prayer. And fear lest by your example you turn the lame and the weak out of the way. Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost. Pastors and teachers should strive very much more than they do to be faithful to their charge. 21LtMs, Lt 397, 1906, par. 3
Unless our teachers seek the things that are above, students will go from the school unprepared to stand the tests and trials of these last days. Christ is our pattern; study His ways and His methods. Do not think that your ways are perfect, and you have no need for reform; for unless the grace of Christ’s meekness is upon you, you will not know the way of the Lord. There is a lack of spirituality. Some have not been learning of Christ; they have not accepted the invitation, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” [Matthew 11:29.] 21LtMs, Lt 397, 1906, par. 4
There must be faithful instructors in our schools in Washington—faithful, humble, teachable men. The man who is seeking his own will and way is not a safe teacher and guardian of the flock. If those placed in the responsible position of teachers fail to keep their own souls in the love of God, they will leave the impression on the minds of students and church members that they are unfaithful shepherds. Teachers cannot neglect their responsibilities for their own pleasure or profit. They must not count their honor of the first importance. 21LtMs, Lt 397, 1906, par. 5
“Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy way to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed My voice, saith the Lord. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you; and I will take you one of a city and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: and I will give you pastors according to My heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding, and it shall come to pass, when ye shall be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord; neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more. And at that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. In those days the house of Jacob shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north, to the land that I have given for an inheritance for their fathers. But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call Me, My Father; and shalt not turn away from Me.” [Jeremiah 3:12-19.] 21LtMs, Lt 397, 1906, par. 6
These words were repeated very solemnly to me, “Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal thy backslidings. Behold we come unto Thee; for Thou art the Lord our God. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of the mountains; truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. For shame hath devoured the labors of our fathers from their youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. We lie down in shame, and our confusion covereth us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day, and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.” [Verses 22-25.] 21LtMs, Lt 397, 1906, par. 7
When men refuse to take warning, when counsel is turned from, the judgments of the Lord will come. God is waiting to be acknowledged in the calamities that He sends upon His people. All who return to Him with all the heart, and humble themselves before the Lord by confession and repentance, He will graciously accept and restore to their former prosperity. God would have the glory of the gospel dispensation appear. In the establishment of His church, the Lord began with one nation, but it was His plan that the transforming power of His grace should spread from nation to nation until all the world, Jew and Gentile alike, should receive the message of His grace. 21LtMs, Lt 397, 1906, par. 8