My brethren, will you bear in mind that the soul of Edson White is as precious in the sight of the Lord as is your own soul? Will you bear in mind the fact that Satan would have a more decided triumph should my son be left to perish in his sins, than he would in destroying some other soul? It is the enemy that prompts men to act out in words and works that which will prove a temptation to Edson White. Had you spoken words of hope and courage, they would have been influential in uniting his heart with your hearts, and did not Christ pray for this union?9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 1

If those who profess the faith had long ago done the very work the Lord would have had them to do in connection with Edson White, instead of interposing their spirit between him and God’s working, he would now have been a chosen vessel unto God, and would have been qualified to so have opened the Scriptures to others that many would have been saved through his instrumentality.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 2

O that men would not hinder the work of God! I shall speak out now, for I dare not hold my peace. Never did men stand more in need of the baptism of the Holy Spirit than do those who are placed in positions of trust and who are handling sacred things at the Review and Herald office. There are those in the office who know not what manner of spirit they are of. They frequently speak and act as though they were dealing with insensible marble, rather than with sensitive human souls for whom Christ has paid the price of His own life.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 3

Souls for whom Christ died, who are precious in the sight of God, have been hurt, and bruised, and wounded; but as the purchased possession of Christ, every injustice done them, every wound of the soul given to them, is charged to those who injure them as though it had been done to Christ Himself. He alone knows how strong are Satan’s temptations over human souls. Every sheep and lamb of His fold that has been driven away into the wilderness, and has not been diligently sought after, and found, will be charged to the account of those who have taken an unfeeling course toward the erring and the weak. The blood of souls will be found upon those who have looked on with hardness of heart while the erring have been left to perish.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 4

Since coming to this country, I have aided many youth, many men and women, with my means in order that they might obtain an education and be fitted for the work of God. I realized that the souls of these youth were just as precious in the sight of God as were the souls of my own children. And do my brethren suppose that I shall be less interested and less in earnest for the salvation of my own son than for the advancement of those who are not related to me by ties of blood? Do those who are handling sacred things in the office have no God-given sense concerning Edson’s salvation? Do they not feel that it is their duty to have a lively interest in my son, and to forward his spiritual interests, when I feel an interest for other people’s sons and daughters and seek to aid them not only by Christ-like sympathy, but by expending my money upon them?9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 5

My husband and myself always tried to help the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, giving them tangible proof of our interest in and love for them. Shall not those who claim to be laborers together with God have hearts of flesh that will be sensitive to understand the needs of others? Oh, let there be most earnest prayer that you may individually have a keen sense as to what are the requirements of the law of God. You will then see your own deficiencies, and will look unto Jesus, pleading for His converting power to transform your characters.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 6

I have been shown that I must not fail nor be discouraged in making efforts for Edson’s salvation, for if I let go, who will care for his soul? Edson White has given himself to the work just as the Lord would have him do. But when he has given himself to the work, some human agent who has been full of evil-surmising, envy, and jealousy has claimed to be very zealous for God concerning his case, [and] has set into operation a plan by which his labor was to be remunerated in so small, selfish, and unjust a way that he became discouraged, and the result was that he was several times compelled to give up the work in order to support himself.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 7

I know that if he had been dealt with as a Christian worker should have been dealt with, if he had been treated as a brother in the faith should be treated, who was trying to do his best in the work, Edson White would have been encouraged and would have gone on from victory to victory, and as a result of his labors many souls would have been saved to the cause of God. He is adapted for work both in the Sabbath school and in the pulpit, for he can teach the Scriptures. Today he should have stood far advanced as a worker in the cause had proper appreciation been shown to him. But when I saw what manner of spirit was manifested toward him by his brethren when he was doing a noble work, when I saw men pursue a course that would discourage him in many ways, I thought there were too many odds against us, and I had given up the thought of having him in the work.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 8

I have been shown that here I made a mistake, and that Edson made a mistake. He should not have left the work; he should have gone forward as one of God’s human agents and resolved not to be moved by the cheap, small dealings that sometimes cause great discouragement to the worker. There should have [been] consideration on the part of those who knew that his father and mother under divine guidance had given their lives to the work, that they had struggled through poverty, and had suffered afflictions and trials, that they themselves were strangers, in order to save souls.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 9

My husband died of overwork. Sometimes his fellow laborers appreciated him, and sometimes they were very dull and had no sense of his self-sacrificing life. Is nothing due to his son? The Lord knows all about these things. His soul is precious, and when I see that he is obtaining a rich experience, that there is a genuine ring to his testimony, I shall encourage him to press forward and upward in order that he may attain to the mark for the prize of his high calling in Christ Jesus. Can you who have stepped into another man’s labors do any less? Shall you not work in Christ’s lines? Shall you permit spiritual blindness to characterize your work in connection with the sacred cause of God? Shall self triumph, and Christ’s example be ignored and shall I be silent? Never, never.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 10

I have told him not to be discouraged, because I have been shown that as he gives himself fully to the work, the angels of God will be by his side to open to him the treasures of the Word of God, and to cause the jewels of truth to shine forth in beauty and richness. I have now a plea to make, not only as a mother for her son, but as an ambassador for Christ, and that is, for Christ’s sake keep your hearts in the tenderness and love of God. If you see that Edson needs your counsel, withhold it not; but if reports come to you of an unfavorable character, do not turn into a moral iceberg, and take up a reproach against your neighbor. Go to him if you think he is in error, not to censure and condemn him, not to thrust him on Satan’s battle ground by the harsh words that spring so readily from your lips, but go to talk to him as one who binds up, heals and restores.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 11

We need, oh so much, physicians for the soul, who have been educated in the school of Christ, and who can work in Christ’s lines. Christ has announced the mission for which He came to earth. He said, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; and to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.” [Isaiah 61:1-3.]9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 12

Who are laborers together with God in this blessed, spiritual, medical missionary work? Who have learned the trade of the Master and know how to deal skillfully with souls for whom Christ has died, and thus be a savor of life unto life to those that perish? When the Holy Spirit shall do its office work, hearts of stone will become hearts of flesh, and Satan will not work through those who are sanctified to counteract the work that Christ came into our world to do. Many of you need to be thoroughly converted, and thoroughly restored, before you can be safe men in positions of trust and will have quick discernment to know how to deal with sensitive human minds.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 13

I have held my peace altogether too long. I know that my son was deserving of blame at one time; but I also know that those who were so ready to discourage and to blame were in many ways as blameworthy as he. This fact does not excuse or lessen his sin; but it points out the fact that those who are in positions of trust have need of discernment in order that they may do the very work that God requires at their hands in dealing with such erring cases as that of Edson White. Let those in positions of trust deal with him just as Christ would have dealt with him.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 14

I cannot be clear before God without presenting this matter to you as it has been presented to me. I tell you most solemnly in the name of the most high God, in whose hands is your life, your happiness, your soul, that you are in a perilous spiritual condition. Some of you have been planting thorns in your pillow, and <unless you repent,> when you shall be in need of peace and comfort, you <will> find none. You have been ready to hurt and bruise, but not to bind up. You have been ready to destroy, but not to save. I dare not let you go on without warning, lest your blood be required at my hands.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 15

I now entreat that those who form the conference, who have consented to take Edson and his fellow workers under their guardianship as human agents whom God will use for good, will be melted and subdued and transformed by the grace of God. I entreat that they reveal not the attributes of the enemy but represent Christ in their life and character by manifesting love one for another. You are to love others as Christ has loved you, and thus the world will see that you bear the likeness of Christ. It is not only Edson White who needs your tender sympathy and care, but it is others as well.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 16

There are responsibilities devolving upon every man who is in the service of Christ which he cannot safely ignore. Loyalty to the Captain of your salvation demands from you a different class of work than that which has come forth from your hands. You have joined the army of Christ, you are under most solemn obligations to manifest Christ to the world in character. “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith; quit you like men, be strong. Let all things be done with charity.” Love “suffereth long and is kind.” [1 Corinthians 16:13, 14; 13:4.] “Put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.” [Colossians 3:12-14.]9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 17

Unless the precious love of Jesus is brought into <your> life, you are not abiding in Christ. For your own soul’s sake, for the sake of other souls, for the sake of Christ who died to save the souls of all, I beg of you to be kind, to cultivate Christlike politeness, to manifest respect and deference, and to deal with others as the purchased of the blood of Christ. An amazing responsibility rests upon every one who claims to be a Christian. Do not seek to pass off counterfeit coin for the genuine. Do not steal Christ’s name, and misrepresent Him in character, for in so doing you injure every one who is a true Christian. Living a false life yourself, you will suspect that others are no more true to their profession than you are yourself. Having no real confidence in your own character and principles, you will have but little faith that others are better than yourself. We have duties to <do for> those with whom we associate, and we are to be to others all that the name Christian signifies. It means Christlike.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 18

How astonished should we be could we hear the Lord’s estimate of individuals. Do you think the scribes and Pharisees upon whom Jesus pronounced His woes were pleased with the picture He presented before them? Will any who are now in positions of sacred trust make it necessary for Christ to denounce them before the world as He denounced the Pharisees? There is need of most decided reformation in the characters of many, or else the very same denunciation will be heard by the assembled universe concerning men in our cause, as the scribes and Pharisees heard concerning themselves.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 19

Men judge of Christ by the character of His professed representatives. They estimate His mercy, tenderness, forbearance, and love by the manifestation of these same attributes in His followers. If you will receive the impression of the Spirit of God, you may have a deeper insight into what it means to be a Christian, and may become God’s men of opportunity. You need to learn to tread softly before the Lord. Place this motto in memory’s hall: “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit ye like men; be strong. Let all things be done with charity.” [1 Corinthians 16:13, 14.] We are a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. Never lose sight of the love with which Christ has loved you. “Love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous.” [1 Peter 3:8.] Seek the Lord while He may be found.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 20

When you as men in sacred positions of trust are brought to know the love of God, you will abhor your past life practices in many things where you have dealt hardly with the purchase of the blood of Christ. There are some who you do not regard as of value who are of value with God. Christ is preparing many for a place at His table, and for a wedding garment, whom you have no special interest in or love for, and whom you treat in a manner that is offensive to God. The religion of Christ makes men kind, makes them thoughtful for others’ good. Those who have the religion of Christ are not cold-hearted and unsympathetic, but they draw with Christ. Those who have an experience in the love of Christ, who bow in penitence before Him, find that self-sufficiency no longer exists. They no longer live for self, their life is hid with Christ in God, and they can say with all their heart, “I live, nevertheless not I, but Christ liveth in me.” [Galatians 2:20.]9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 21

Brother Henry, Jesus calls upon you to die to self. Occasionally you have had a self-satisfied feeling when you have obtained some victory over yourself, and yet you have not admitted Jesus as an honored guest into your heart. You will not honor Christ by representing Him in character until you throw wide open the door of your heart and welcome in the heavenly Guest. He never comes where He is not heartily welcome. When you open the door of your heart to Jesus, then you will know what it means to love Him who has first loved you, and has given His life for you.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 22

Your business practices need to be remodeled after the practices of Christ. You will never see the glory of Jesus Christ in His kingdom unless you see His glory, that is His character, now and reveal the same in your practical life. You need, by an experimental knowledge, to know what true religion is. There are others in as great peril as yourself. Your case represents the case of some who are associated with you.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 23

For Christ’s sake, for your own soul’s eternal interest, surrender to God and become as a little child, or you will never hear the welcome benediction, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” “Well done, thou good, and faithful servant. ... enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” [Matthew 25:34, 21.] That joy is the joy of seeing souls eternally saved in the kingdom of God through your instrumentality. I beseech of you, let not this present opportunity pass by. The Lord Jesus will accept of you if you come to Him just as you are. If you receive the Lord, you will be a living witness of His grace. It will be made manifest what the truth can do in remodeling defective character after the divine similitude.9LtMs, Lt 71a, 1894, par. 24

Lt 71, 1894

Lt 72, 1894