Talk/Morning Worship at Paradise Valley Sanitarium
National City, California
May 3, 1907
Previously unpublished.
We are very glad to have an opportunity to speak to the few that are here, and we hope that ere long there will be a larger number. That is what we are hoping for, and we have confidence in our Saviour, that He wants every one of us to work to the point, to have a living faith, a substantial faith, that He can comfort our hearts with the knowledge that Christ is our Saviour, and that they may put our whole trust in Jesus Christ. 22LtMs, Ms 178, 1907, par. 1
He consented to lay aside His royal crown, to lay aside His royal robe, and clothe His divinity with humanity, that He might come to this world with divinity and humanity combined, that those that were in such need would have the power of Satan broken over them. He saw that Satan was holding the minds and the will of men under his control, and He consented to come to our world as a little child, to take humanity upon himself that humanity might touch humanity and that humanity might lay hold upon divinity, and there receive power to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. O what a sacrifice! Tempted, the Son of the infinite God, tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin, without a taint of sin! Beset by the enemy with the strongest power, He stood forth before humanity, so that His spirit might imbue humanity with a power that they should be kept from the evil power of the deceptions of the wily foe, and that they should see the grace and salvation revealed in His divinity. 22LtMs, Ms 178, 1907, par. 2
I am so thankful, I am so glad, that when disappointment comes, and I feel that it is hard to bear this or that, in a moment the reflection is, What has Christ borne in order to give you a way of escape in order that He may imbue you with His Holy Spirit, that you may become a light unto the world, a saving power to those that are in darkness? 22LtMs, Ms 178, 1907, par. 3
Now, I want to say that I have felt an intense interest for this institution. When I saw it uninhabited, and not one benefitted with it, I said, We must have that institution. And yet the money was wanting. But in the providence of God it came within our reach, and we took hold of this institution. Now we have great confidence that the Lord God of heaven will work as He has worked before. 22LtMs, Ms 178, 1907, par. 4
Into this house there came the hardest cases. I have been here when some of the hardest cases have been right here in this institution. I have knelt down by the bedside of the dangerously ill ones that were in conflict with pain and suffering, and it did not seem that there was one possibility out of a hundred that they would go through, but they did go through. When I saw a lady wheeled out before my door—I had had a little praying season before for her—I said, “You are better; I see it in your countenance.” “I know I am,” she said. “I know I am. I know I feel better, and I know,” said she, “the power of the Lord came upon me.” Now that is just what we want. 22LtMs, Ms 178, 1907, par. 5
I told you that little incident because I felt that the Lord did come into this institution, and I want to say He has been in this institution with some of the hardest cases. Souls have been converted here; souls have been transformed by the power of the grace of God. They are sleeping in Jesus, and they will come up in the morning of the resurrection. They came here unbelieving, but the Holy Spirit of God worked with them until they were brought into subjection to the will and mind of Christ. Now, that is just what we want to do more. We want that the souls who shall come in here shall be animated by that living faith that will take hold of the Infinite. We want every soul who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He came into the world to heal sick and suffering humanity, that He has provided this institution, so that we shall have it to call the sick and the afflicted, and that they shall realize the saving power of the grace of God. 22LtMs, Ms 178, 1907, par. 6
Now, we shall need to be instant in prayer. When we keep the helpless soul hung upon Jesus Christ’s merits, then the words of the lips, the words that shall be spoken, shall elevate, shall ennoble, shall sanctify, and the very impression God makes, we cannot make it; God makes the impression. He wants every one of us to sanctify ourselves to the Lord, every one of us who walk in humility of mind before Him. He wants every one of us to be obedient to all His commandments, that not a reproach shall fall upon us justly. They may talk about us, they may say this and that and the other, but it need not be true. We want a right hold from above. 22LtMs, Ms 178, 1907, par. 7
“Let not,” said Christ, “let not your heart be troubled.” [John 14:1.] Now this was the last lesson that He gave to His disciples before He left them, one of the last. Let us take the Word, let us with the simplicity of children trust the Word. Let us hang our hopes on Jesus. Do not allow a word of censure or of faultfinding and of complaint and speaking evil. Do not let it come into this institution. 22LtMs, Ms 178, 1907, par. 8
Well, now we are striving for heaven. We are calling all the means possible to invest in the work and in the cause of God, not merely in this place, but in various cities, that the note of warning shall be given: “Prepare to meet thy God.” [Amos 4:12.] 22LtMs, Ms 178, 1907, par. 9
Let us all remember that Christ is ours, and we are His. We are His property. He has bought us with an infinite price. Do not let us dishonor Him so that in our words or in our actions we shall in any way block the way for a single soul. We cannot afford it. Why? They are bought with a price, even the precious blood of the Son of God. A being infinite with God, He could embrace the whole world in His compassion and in His mercy, if they would embrace Him. Now, every soul of us we wants to remember we are not our own property, we are bought with a price. “Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God’s.” [1 Corinthians 6:20.] 22LtMs, Ms 178, 1907, par. 10
I leave with you these few words this morning. I expect to have an opportunity to speak with you again, but I want every soul to think upon the words that I have given you. They are the words of the living God, the words that are found in your Bibles. They mark out the path that leads through this world, why? To fit every soul through Jesus Christ to come up to the golden gates of the city, that they may be thrown back upon their glittering hinges and the nations that have kept the truth shall enter in. 22LtMs, Ms 178, 1907, par. 11
It means something to us whether we are in pursuit of the heavenly or the earthly. The earthly passes away. The earthquakes are everywhere now, nearly, and difficulties and troubles, but we are preparing to become members of the royal family above, the children of the heavenly King, to sit with Christ upon His throne. “For to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even ... his throne.” [Revelation 3:21.] Now overcome an impetuous temper. Overcome these hasty words which mar the soul of somebody else. Be kind. Let us be patient, let us be accommodating, let every one of us be pleasant, and think evil of no one. Let every one of us resist the devil, that he may flee from us. He will flee from you if you resist him. Why? Because there is a whole legion of angels right around the souls that Satan is tempting, and these angels of God will just as surely raise up a standard for you against the enemy, if you will raise it. You make the attempt to resist the devil, and that standard flies right up and Satan cannot in any way approach you. 22LtMs, Ms 178, 1907, par. 12
Now let us pray more, and let us talk less. Let us search the Scriptures. Let this be a place where God’s honor shall dwell. I believe you want it so, and may the blessing of God rest upon every one, young and old that is striving for the victory, and at last you will become a member of the royal family, the children of the heavenly King. 22LtMs, Ms 178, 1907, par. 13