MR No. 82—Additional supplementary material for the SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 7

MR No. 83—Not released

MR No. 84—Used in Selected Messages, bk. 1 or 2

MR No. 85—All material published, mostly in Questions on Doctrine

MR No. 86—Additional material used in Selected Messages, bk. 1 or 2

MR No. 87—Not released

MR No. 88—Materials For A Youth's Instructor Article

[Release requested for use in the Youth's Instructor.] 

I am much pained at heart to see your course of action. If I should judge you by the fruits you bear I should suppose you were not a tree in the Lord's garden, but a bramble bush. I supposed when you were connected with Homer that you would be a blessing to him as a soldier of Christ, leading him to Jesus while the sweet invitation of mercy is heard; that you would listen to its voice yourself and draw Homer to the attractive loveliness of Jesus Christ. We see you working in entirely an opposite line from this. Had it not been for the influence that you have had over him I have not a doubt but that he would have been seeking the Lord most earnestly and repenting of his sin. I am deeply disappointed in you. 1MR 374.1

I inquired Monday evening just before the close of the old year if Homer would be at the meeting for the youth and was told by Sister McDearmon that she feared he would not. Then she told me that her heart was sorely distressed on Homer's account. That in company with you he was doing that which she never allowed him to do—going to parties in the evening and not coming home until a late hour in the night. She was greatly burdened and distressed for Homer. She feared that if he did not seek the Lord during the special meetings he would go on as he had done, in careless neglect of his own soul. 1MR 374.2

I asked her if she had talked with Homer. She said she had, but she—to whom he ought to listen and whom he ought to obey—has but little influence over him now, because your influence is so much stronger. I asked her, “Have you talked with John?” She said she had, and you stood up boldly and asserted that there was no harm in your visiting good society, and her words of solicitude and remonstrance had no effect. 1MR 374.3

Last night I was solicited to go to the meeting for youth in the tabernacle. Although I had sent for the doctor, because several of us were sick and I myself was sick, yet my interest was so great for the young I went to the meeting. I looked to find you and Homer present but you were not there.... We had a very precious meeting. Fifty came forward for prayers and many of them were seeking the Lord for the first time. I was sorry that you and Homer were not present. It might have been the time when the Lord would have impressed his heart and he would have heard the voice of the dear Saviour inviting him to open the door of his heart and let Jesus in. I watched everyone that came in, but you were not among them.... 1MR 375.1

While I enjoy seeing young men and young women cheerful and happy, I am pained greatly to see them pursue the path you are traveling, because your influence and example lead others away from Jesus. You are cultivating the tastes and appetite in yourself and others for those things which do not give solidity to your character, and do not represent the Christian life. Homer says to his grandmother, “John is a Christian; he belongs to the church; he will not do anything that is wrong.” But his grandmother, who has had charge of him from his childhood, feels greatly distressed over the way things are going.... 1MR 375.2

I want you to look in the mirror of God's Word and see for yourself whether you have been exerting an influence over Homer to be a doer of the Word. Have you been teaching him to obey all the injunctions of God, especially the fifth commandment, which is the first commandment with promise? I have been much surprised at the quality of your experience in religious things, for it certainly is greatly wanting in the elements essential to stand the test of the proving of God. Everything is to be shaken that can be shaken, and those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Where will you stand in the testing time? 1MR 375.3

Are you, my brother, growing up heavenward? Are you growing to the full stature of a man in Christ Jesus, your living Head? Are you becoming fixed, rooted and grounded in the truth as it is in Jesus, who is your source of joy, your peace and your happiness? Is He the crown of your rejoicing? If so, you will reveal this. 1MR 376.1

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me... that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.... Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.... Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples” (John 15:1-8). Can you, my brother, claim the right of discipleship? Are your fruits unto holiness? 1MR 376.2

“If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love. These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:10-14). 1MR 376.3

Will you thoughtfully and prayerfully not merely read but study these words? They mean much to you—yes, everything to you and to me and to Homer. Every word spoken by Christ should be graven upon the tablets of the soul. From the lips of Jesus are the words spoken, “Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples” (John 15:8). Here is the evidence of your discipleship. “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20). 1MR 376.4

Will you consider what is the quality of the fruit that you are bearing? Are you a fruit-bearing branch on the parent vine stalk, or are you producing fruit that bears no resemblance to the living vine? I ask you seriously and solemnly, What is the character of the fruit that you produce? Does it do good to souls? Is it the fruit of self-denial, of self-sacrifice, the fruit of meekness, patience, long forbearance, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness and love? Is this fruit budding and blossoming for God and His glory in working as Christ worked to save perishing souls? Remember, if “ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be My disciples.” Without this evidence you are not Christ's, neither is Christ yours. You have no right to the Christian name.... 1MR 377.1

This is My commandment, That ye love one another”(John 15:12). What quality is this love? A love just such as Christ revealed in His life. “Love one another, as I have loved you” (John 15:12). A love for the soul that would part with selfish gratifications and practice stern self-denial in order to elevate, ennoble, and sanctify those with whom we associate. 1MR 377.2

“And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth” (John 17:19). Do you love those with whom you associate well enough to forego your desire for amusement and self-pleasing that you will not place these souls in the path of temptation, that you will not beckon them to pursue a course of fun and frolic which leads to the extinguishment of serious thoughts in regard to the salvation of their souls? 1MR 377.3

Do you cultivate personal piety and living principles, plainly inculcated by Christ, that your youthful friends may follow where you lead the way, upward and forward to obedience to God? 1MR 377.4

No doubt you please the unconsecrated and unconverted. It is no marvel that they enjoy your companionship, for your course of action gives no disturbance of conscience where Christ's love and praise and honor are not expressed in words or actions. But what is the quality of your love? Is it of a character to make your associates more Christlike? Will it have a tendency to bring solid timbers into their character building? 1MR 378.1

What sort of a character would you like to possess before the whole world? Would you like to be respected and valued by those who are good and God-fearing? Then act in a manner to gain their respect. You will surely have an account to render to God for the fruits revealed in your associations with Homer and the youth generally.... You are a false guidepost, pointing the wrong way, misleading souls who are blinder than yourself, who have never known what it is to be under the control of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. 1MR 378.2

Those whom you suppose to be your friends may love the halfhearted, unconsecrated, unchristlike life you are living. They may through their association with you encourage you to think that in order to be happy you must have pleasurable enjoyments called innocent amusements, but masked by Satan to destroy your spirituality and theirs. They cannot pay a ransom for your soul, neither can you pay a ransom for theirs. Everyone who is saved must be saved by his faith in Jesus Christ.... 1MR 378.3

Is it possible you have ever tasted of the blessings which come from genuine service to Jesus Christ? Is it true you have enlisted under Christ's banner? Shall we be compelled to look upon you as a deserter to the ranks of the enemy? It appears thus to me. You certainly are not today under the banner of Jesus Christ.... Is not Christ ashamed of such a soldier as you have been for at least the larger part of the year that has rolled into eternity with its burden of record? How will your self-indulgence stand in the sight of God and holy angels? ... What have you done for Jesus? How stands your record in the book of God's account? ... 1MR 378.4

Here is the young man Homer.... The grandparents have loved him, labored for him, and prayed for his salvation, that he might meet his mother in the kingdom of God and that they might say, “Here is your child that we have educated and disciplined, prayed for and labored for. He is made white in the blood of the Lamb.” 1MR 379.1

But here this young man has been in your society, and the hearts of those who love him and want him to be saved see that you—who should be a laborer together with God to draw and attract this youth to Him—are leading him away from God.... How does the universe of heaven look upon you? At the very time when every jot of your influence should be on Christ's side of the question, your name is registered as a trifler, a vain, self-sufficient, self-confident person, leaving the character to form itself as chance may direct.... 1MR 379.2

How do you know that there will ever be another opportunity so favorable for Homer and others of your associates to fall in with the overtures of mercy? Why do you not reflect as to what seed you are sowing, when you deliver yourself up at such a critical time as this to indifference, spiritual sloth and pleasure loving? Whom are you serving, God or the devil? If you refuse to listen to the words of counsel and follow your own humor and inclination, and enjoy amusement; if you allow yourself to float carelessly down with the current on the tide of life, ready to receive any impression or go in any direction the current of pleasure may lead you, what kind of a harvest do you expect to gather? You need to seek God now while He is to be found, for I know that God is not pleased with you.... 1MR 379.3

You are educating Homer to receive ideas that will lead him to superficial views of what constitutes a Christian character. You do not come up anywhere near to the Bible standard yourself, and your influence is to lead others to be satisfied with low attainments. While we have been earnestly laboring for the conversion of the youth, you, with other youth, have been leading them to be satisfied with hopes and pursuits that will disqualify them to stand amid the perils of the last days. You have had great light. You have been placed where you have had opportunities and privileges to know God's requirements, and you are quick to discern evidence presented as to what is truth. You will be without excuse in the great day when every soul will be judged, not by his own ideas of the standard of righteousness but by God's own moral standard of holiness. By that he will stand or fall. 1MR 380.1

I love your soul. I have been deeply interested in you. I want you to be right with God. I greatly desire you should be truly and unmistakably converted to God and sanctified through the truth. Eternal life is worth everything to you, or it is worth nothing. Truth will produce beauty in the soul. A mere profession of faith will never save you, for it is as a sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. God forbid that you should longer remain in a deception, that the fountain which should send forth sweet water should be poisoned; the vine which should bear rich clusters of grapes produce only wild berries. 1MR 380.2

May God help you to see value of the soul for which Christ has paid the purchase money of His own precious blood. Take right hold in earnest to work for the salvation of souls. God requires this of you. I will leave these lines with you. I deeply deplore that the fear and love of God is not circulating more thoroughly through the family where you make your home. We are amid the perils of the last days, and now if a man is to be connected with God he needs to cleave close to the only power which can give him the victory, and that power is Jesus Christ. 1MR 380.3

John, I had hoped that you would do honor to your Redeemer. You greatly need depth of thought and deep heart work. Youth are generally ready to say, when appealed to, “I am as good as that young man. He loves pleasure and sport, and practices no more self-denial and self-sacrifice than I do. He belongs to the church, as a Christian. I am not a Christian, and I fear I would do not better than this young man.” 1MR 381.1

Because of so many half-hearted professors, very many youth are inclined to think that religion that needs fun and frolic, jesting and joking, would not be any benefit to them, and the subject of religion is presented in an unfavorable light. Religion should not be made to appear gloomy and unattractive, something calculated to detract from their happiness, making life tasteless and unenjoyable. Those who really enjoy the love of God will have joy and peace. Religion was never designed to make one pleasureless. What can be productive of greater happiness than to enjoy the peace of Christ, the bright sunshine of His presence? Can darkness or discontentment surround your soul? Will dark despair brood over you? Never, while your faith is in Jesus Christ. 1MR 381.2

John, you have been cultivating your fun and frolic-loving propensities. Have you grown in grace? Have you felt the great importance of daily educating the heart and mind to cultivate your higher, nobler faculties? You need to obtain more correct views of religion. You are impulsive, emotional, spasmodic in your religious service. Great caution needs to be exercised by you, else you will make great mistakes. You do not go to the bottom of things. You must not follow the bent of your own mind. You have hereditary tendencies not the most favorable for the perfection of Christian character, and you may lose your soul unless you view the great matter of eternal interest in a different light.... 1MR 381.3

I hope you will take to heart what I have written and let it sink deep into your heart. You can be kept by the power of God alone. Then yoke up with Christ. Make your aim high, and dig deeper than you are now doing. Lay your foundation on the rock. 1MR 382.1

Will you serve God or Baal? “Choose you this day whom ye will serve” (Joshua 24:15). I know you are not serving God with your undivided affection. Stand not in the way of sinners—which you are certainly doing now. Make straight paths for your feet, let the lame be turned out of the way. I hope you will put away your trifling and be watchful unto prayer. Be sober, be serious, and yet cheerful and a sunny Christian.... 1MR 382.2

May the Lord help you to be a full Christian, entire, wanting nothing. Letter 10, 1890, pp. 1-14. (To John Fulton, January 2, 1890.) 1MR 382.3

White Estate 

Washington, D. C., 

November 14, 1956. 

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