Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Trying to understand God is like trying to understand the universe. Here a little, there a little and still we have only a little idea. Every idea and model of the universe they have come up with has been repudiated and rebuilt within a few years. The greater the sophistication of the equipment, the greater the confusion.
However, God does want us to know about His character and His work for us. After sin, when He was no longer able to walk and talk with us physically, He provided a symbol of His redeeming work: the sacrifice of a lamb. The lamb had to be perfect and sacrificed. God was letting us know that our sins provided God with a choice. He could let us die in our sins, or He could choose to come live among us perfectly and then sacrifice Himself for our sins. He chose to take our sins and offer Himself as a sacrifice for us. I still am not able to wrap my stupid mind around that kind of love. Not only was He willing to do it, He required Israel to rejoice about it. Do we rejoice when we sacrifice for others?
It became a bit more complicated after Jesus brought the Israelites up out of Egypt. He made a nation out of slaves. He wanted them to be His representatives to the world, showing forth His love and character as represented by the Ten Commandments. The tabernacle services, rituals, rites, feast days and sacrifices were not used as a church system. They were instituted for two reasons.
1) To show the work and administration of a loving God for our salvation from sin.
2) To keep the nation of Israel a united and cohesive unit. As the Israelites gathered three times a year around the Ten Commandments, they were to be reminded of their sins in breaking the Ten Commandments and that a Messiah would come to pay their “death-penalty”. They were also reminded of the perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping life they were to live.
However, the Israelites forgot the “sin” part and thought it was salvation from their enemies. They thought they were brought up out of Egypt because they were the descendants of Abraham, and as such, important and righteous. They forgot what Jesus said about them, “After the LORD has expelled them before you, you are not to say to yourselves, ‘The LORD caused me to enter and possess this land because of my righteousness.’ On the contrary, it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is dispossessing them before you to confirm what the LORD promised by an oath to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Know that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving to you this good land to inherit, for you are a stubborn people.” Deuteronomy 9:4-6. They forgot that. Their self-righteousness became their god. Their temple and its laws became their god. They forgot the meaning of everything they were doing at the temple. They thought the round of ceremonies was what made them righteous.
And so it is today in our churches, denominations and religions of the world. All are involved with a round of ceremonies without any understanding as to the “why”. Instead of looking to Jesus, they are looking to their church, denomination or religion. Paul in Galatians is attempting to bring the people back to Jesus. He is trying to explain the relationship between Israel and Jesus through human explanations. Here is one of those explanations.
Galatians 4:1 to Galatians 4:31
Now what I am saying is this: As long as an heir is a child, he is no better off than a slave, even though he owns everything.
Jesus brought the Israelites up out of Egypt and gave them “everything” in the Land of Promise. And if that were not enough, if they had been faithful to their high calling, the world would have been theirs. But they became stubborn, prideful and sinful by turning away from obedience to Jesus.
As a nation they were slaves, like a child is heir to his father. They forgot that the Promised Land didn’t belong to them, it belonged to Jesus. He was “giving” it to them to possess under His authority. They were to manage it for Him. They were to do nothing without His approval. “For the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with Me.” Leviticus 25:23. “They made kings, but not through Me. They set up princes, but I knew it not.” Hosea 8:4. I think we today have forgotten that we are strangers and sojourners with Jesus on this earth. Too many of us are trying to take possession of this earth and the things God has lent us to manage for His glory.
Instead, he is placed under the care of guardians and servant managers until the time set by the father.
Israel was under the care and guardianship of the Temple rules, ceremonies, rites, rituals, feast days, and the perfect sacrifice until liberated from them by the death of Jesus. These “guardians” and “managers” were to keep the Israelites focused on the perfect and sinless Messiah who was to come and make the atonement for their sins. They were to recognize that it was their sins that caused the death of the lamb and the coming Messiah.
It was the same way with us. While we were children, we were slaves to the basic principles of the world.
As in the physical, so in the Spiritual. The Land of Promise represented Heaven. On the way there they were to develop characters of perfection that would allow them to continue living in the Land of Promise. They were “children” that needed to learn how to develop characters of perfection. They were to leave the basic principles of this world and learn the principles of Heaven. The Tabernacle services, rites, laws and services were to point them to that perfect sacrifice which represented the coming perfect Messiah. They were to learn how to live His perfect life.
But when the appropriate time had come, God sent his Son, born by a woman, born under the Law, . . .
When the time came to abolish the shadows of the temple services, rites, laws, feast days and sacrifices for their instruction in righteousness, Jesus came in person to teach them how to live the perfect, sinless and commandment keeping life. Then He was to pay the penalty for their past sins as the perfect Lamb of God. Year after year they had been laying up their sins in the temple and now it had to be cleansed. Jesus came to clean it out. He was born under both laws:
1) The Ten Commandment law. He came to fulfill in His life the Ten Commandments in order to demonstrate to us how to live the perfect and sinless life. He was the perfect Lamb.
2) The Temple laws. Then He fulfilled and abolished the temple laws of sacrifices, rites, rituals, ordnances, services and traditions that foreshadowed Him.
. . . in order to redeem those who were under the Law, and thus to adopt them as his children.
Those who had kept the Ten Commandments perfectly, living under the temple laws as commanded by God, such as the parents of John the Baptist (Both of them were righteous before God, having lived blamelessly according to all of the commandments and regulations of the Lord. Luke 1:6), they would be redeemed from under those temple laws of services, sacrifices, feast days, rituals and rites and be adopted into Jesus as their living Temple.
Now because you are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts to cry out, “Abba! Father!”
The Spirit of God has always been in the world. In Genesis, “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Genesis 1:2. This exemplified the work of the Spirit of God in hovering over and around people who were in the darkness of sin and to create a new creation of Light in them. “Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” Psalm 143:10. That is the work of the Spirit of God in both Old and New Testaments. Jesus was the Father in both Old and New Testaments to His children. “A Father to orphans and an advocate for widows is God in His holy dwelling place.” Psalm 68:5. “He will announce to me ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.” Psalm 89:26.
So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if you are a child, then you are also an heir because of what God did.
Keep in mind, the New Testament is simply using Old Testament concepts. There is nothing “new” in the New Testament. This was a concept the Jews had forgotten. It wasn’t “new”, only “new” to them. The Jews who became Christians, along with the Gentiles, were to be free from being slaves to sin and the temple services, rituals, rites, customs, traditions and sacrifices. No different than the Israelites in the Old Testament who were set free from their bondage of slavery in Egypt and from their sins. That was the allegory. However, the Israelites kept looking back and wanting to return to their slavery in Egypt and their sins. So too the early Christians. They were looking back to the easy method of simply preforming all the temple laws while they continued in sin. But as the Israelites were to be free from the Egyptian slavery, so they were to live free from sin. They failed. They refused to be free from sin. And keep in mind, if they lived in obedience to the Ten Commandments, they would also, in the Old Testament, have been freed from the burdensome sacrifices. Sacrifices were only for sinners.
However, in the past, when you did not know God, you were slaves to things that are not really gods at all.
“In the past”. Our pagan lives, our sinful lives, are to be “in the past”. You cannot “know God” if you are still sinning. You are either a slave to sin or a slave to God. When you know the love of God in sacrificing His life for you, how can you go on crucifying Him with your sins? “For it is impossible to keep on restoring to repentance time and again people who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have become partners with the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of God’s word and the powers of the coming age, and who have fallen away, as long as they continue to crucify the Son of God to their own detriment by exposing Him to public ridicule.” Hebrews 6:4-6.
But now that you know God, or rather have been known by God, how can you turn back again to those powerless and bankrupt basic principles? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again?
When Paul was with the Galatians, He taught them from the Old Testament. He used the history of the Israelites as examples of what happens when we sin and what happens when we live as God’s children. The Israelites were constantly returning to Egypt, if not physically, in their emotions. God kept asking them “why?”. Why do we keep returning to our sins that only destroy us?
The second part of that “Why” was, certain Jews were infiltrating them and trying to convince them they had to return to the temple laws for their salvation.
You are observing days, months, seasons, and years.
Here again Paul is showing what “law” they were to turn away from. Those “days, months, seasons, and years” were the temple laws of ceremonies, feast days, traditions and rituals. Nothing there in the Ten Commandments. Some may try to equate, “observing days”, as the 7th-day Sabbath. But they are not. Those days were the days set aside to prepare for the feast days. They were not “holy” days, but filled with lots of work in preparation for the feasts. But the 7th-day Sabbath was set aside as holy from the creation of the world. That day was for the whole world. You were not to do any secular work on that day. The other days were only for Israelites in preparation for the feast days. Also, Paul used “days”, not “day”. The 4th Commandment only mentions one “day”, the 7th day as the Sabbath. The word “days” was used for the feast-day sabbaths.
I am afraid for you! I don’t want my work for you to have been wasted!
Paul just isn’t talking about himself. Through Paul, God is talking to all of us. God is afraid for us. He doesn’t want His work of atonement to be wasted on you. “Stop your transgressing—the deeds by which you’ve rebelled—and then make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, you house of Israel?” Ezekiel 18:31. “Tell them, ‘As certainly as I’m alive and living,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I receive no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Instead, My pleasure is that the wicked repent from their behavior and live. Turn back! Turn back, all of you, from your wicked behavior! Why do you have to die, you house of Israel?’” Ezekiel 33:11. There is an important point to be made here. We are responsible for our salvation, not God. “Make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.” It isn’t God work, it is ours. God did His work for us, now it is time for us to do our work for Him.
I beg you, brothers, to become like me, since I became like you. You did not do anything wrong to me.
The heart of God is weeping for you. He is calling on you to “become like Me”. Why? Because He became like you. He took on humanity to take your sins. Why continue in sin? Jesus is the One who loves you. Turn to Him and live.
You know that it was because I was ill that I brought you the gospel the first time.
It was because of our illness, the illness of sin, that Jesus brought us the gospel of salvation from sin. Many keep thinking, and preaching, that “salvation” means eternal life. No! Salvation is “salvation from sin”. That is the only way we get our eternal life. That is the gospel Paul was taking to both the Jew and the Gentile.
Even though my condition put you to the test, you did not despise or reject me. On the contrary, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, or as if I were the Messiah Jesus.
The human condition of Jesus did put Him through a test. We did despise and reject Him. However, as they did not despise or reject Paul but accepted him and took him in, so we are to take Jesus into our hearts. We are not to despise His humble and sacrificial life for us. We are to accept the same in our lives.
What, then, happened to your positive attitude? For I testify that if it had been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.
God wonders what has “happened to your positive attitude”? We start out loving Jesus and praising His name, but then our eyes become focused on the world and our churches.
So have I now become your enemy for telling you the truth?
For many, yes! Jesus has become their enemy because He tells them the truth that they must live the perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping life. Giving up their sins is just too much. This is war. The Christian is at war with the sin within him. The world is at war with Christians who live by the teachings of Jesus.
These people who have been instructing you are devoted to you, but not in a good way. They want you to avoid me so that you will be devoted to them.
How true! The churches are very devoted to their members who honor them and pay them well. But when their members become Christians and live by the teachings of Jesus, then it is war. Who do you want devoted to you? Those who hate Jesus by refusing to live in obedience to His teachings, or Jesus who gave His life for you?
(Now it is always good to be devoted to a good cause, even when I am not with you.) My children, I am suffering birth pains for you again until the Messiah is formed in you.
That is a powerful statement: “Until the Messiah is formed in you.” That formation is the accumulation of all ten of the Ten Commandments. We are to form the Messiah’s character in our lives. Jesus suffered “birth pains” for you. You must do the same in order to form His character in you.
Indeed, I wish I were with you right now so that I could change the tone of my voice, because I am completely baffled by you!
Paul understood how easy it is to become involved in all those temple services, ceremonies, rites, rituals, traditions and sacrifices. He used to be involved in them. But when he found Jesus, none of those were important: only Jesus. We humans need something we can “see”. It is way too easy to make the external our salvation. We need to “see” with the eye of faith and put that faith to work in changing our characters. I too am baffled when I see people involved with the “Messianic” organizations. All show, no substance.
Tell me, those of you who want to live under the Law: Are you really listening to what the Law says?
This is kind of a “pun-on-words”. They were thinking of going back and living under the law of the temple services, rituals, rites, traditions and ceremonies. Therefore, Paul asks them if while doing that, “are you really listening to what the Law (the Ten Commandments) says”? No, they were not. As long as the devil can fill our minds with non-essentials, we don’t have room for the essentials: the Law of the Ten Commandments. Wasting time with the temple laws was distracting from the Law of character development.
For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman.
Paul is going back to the Old Testament to straighten them out. As an allegory he uses Abraham’s two wives. His true and legal wife, Sarah, was free since she was the legal wife of Abraham. But Hagar was the slave of Sarah. Hagar was the one who had to do all the work of rituals, ceremonies, rites and services of taking care of the free woman, Sarah.
Now the slave woman’s son was conceived through human means, while the free woman’s son was conceived through divine promise.
Ishmael was born into bondage. His mother was a slave. Yes, Abraham had a child through her, but it didn’t change her condition. Listen to what God told her. “And He said, ‘Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?’ She said, ‘I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.’ The angel of the LORD said to her, ‘Return to your mistress and submit to her.’” Genesis 16:8, 9. The son was still a slave woman’s son. And, the son was born by the will of man and a lack of faith, not by the will of God.
On the other hand, Sarah’s son Isaac was born of a promise through the free wife. He was free from the bondage of being a slave. For one reason: God called and promised Isaac, not Ishmael. Isaac was born by faith, Ishmael by human contrivance.
This is being said as an allegory, for these women represent two covenants. The one woman, Hagar, is from Mount Sinai, and her children are born into slavery.
The Israelites at Mount Sinai were “born” into a covenant that enslaved them to the temple services, rites, rituals, sacrifices and ceremonies. Even the Old Testament called them a burden. “Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them.” Isaiah 1:14. Those burdens were there to protect the Israelites from getting involved with paganistic practices. They were to turn the eyes of Israel toward the perfect Lamb of God who would come to deliver them from their sins. That was the Old Covenant. The New Covenant abolished the temple.
Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery along with her children.
In the Old Testament, God said, “For it is to Me that the people of Israel are servants. They are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” Leviticus 25:55. They were to be slaves to God, living in obedience under the temple laws that were to bring them closer to God through belief in the coming Messiah. The Jews were attempting to put that yoke back on the neck of Christians. Listen to Peter. “Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear?” Act 15:10.
But the heavenly Jerusalem is the free woman, and she is our spiritual mother.
When Jesus died on the cross, the Jews and all mankind were free from the temple services, ceremonies, traditions, rites, rituals and sacrifices. Now we are not looking forward to the coming Messiah to set us free, we look back to the Messiah who did set us free from sin and those temple laws.
For it is written, “Rejoice, you childless woman, who cannot give birth to any children! Break into song and shout, you who feel no pains of childbirth! For the children of the deserted woman are more numerous than the children of the woman who has a husband.” So you, brothers, are children of the promise, like Isaac.
Sarah could not give birth. But through the promise of God she gave birth. And through Isaac, her children have spread out over the whole earth. As Christians, we are “children of the promise” and are free from the temple laws of ceremonies, sacrifices, rites, rituals and services. All gone. We also are to spread out over the whole earth with the gospel.
But just as then the son who was conceived according to the flesh persecuted the son who was conceived according to the Spirit, so it is now.
Yes it is. Those who want to be enslaved again by the Messianic laws and rituals, rites, ceremonies, services and traditions do persecute those of us who live as the free children. Also, the children of Ishmael are still persecuting the son of the promise.
But what does the Scripture say? “Drive out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman must never share the inheritance with the son of the free woman.”
Drive them out of your life. Drive out the old slave master of the temple and church rites, ceremonies, services, holy days and traditions. They had, and have, nothing to do with eternal life.
So then, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman.
Yes we are. We are to be free of sin and all those church rules, traditions, rites and ceremonies. “You are My friends if you do what I command you. John 15:14. Start acting like it by living it.
INMATE LETTERS
Dear Brother Ron,
I have read “Change Your Life Biblically” multiple times. Also, I’ve read the “Book of Matthew with Commentary” through multiple times. Each time it speaks deeper and deeper to me. Your teachings have spoken straight to my heart. I was always the typical cynic. But since finding Jesus and your humble ministry, my world is opening up. I have no money. I trade my food just to get stamped envelopes to write.
Luis, KY
Dear JCPM,
Thank you for responding back. I’ve heard many great things and programs that can be taken while in the system. I’m requesting the book, “Change Your Life Biblically”. I want to sign up for any programs that will benefit myself and many others. Thank you,
Michael, AZ
JCPM,
I would love to start the Bible study “Change Your Life Biblically” and also receive any and all the information on how I can sign up for a pen-pal. Thank you for everything.
Michael, ID
JCPM,
Will you please send me some information how to receive your study? Given info from friend said it was a good one to do. Please and thank you.
Victor, IN
Hello JCPM,
I am 25 and am trying to have a true honest relationship with God. I got a letter from you guys about helping me change my life. I love you guys help let me tell you a little about my life. Well, I am in prison for aggravated robbery and shooting someone. I took it to trial and lost and got 19 years. No one died. I have been locked up for 5 years. I have a 7-year-old daughter I have not seen in 5 years. Please help me to have a better relationship with God.
Earl, OH
JCPM,
I want to say, I am very interested in your Bible study. I would love everything you guys have to offer. I get out next year. I am 24 years old.
Tarik, ID
Peace,
I’m contacting you because I am interested to find out more about what career opportunities you offer. And I will also like to participate in your free Bible study & earn my certificate. Please send me the book, “Change Your Life Biblically”. My out date is 2035.
George, VA
Dear Brother Ron,
I have been on a journey trying to get closer with God. I was hoping you could send me the Change Your Life Biblically” Bible study. I am looking forward to receiving your material. I was recommended by a friend. I am very interested in gaining more biblical knowledge.
Forrest, ID
I am very interested in furthering my knowledge and understanding in the Holy Bible. I want to be educated on the teachings and illustrations of Christ. I want to discern His parables and His miracles as well as how to pray to my God. I want to discern where we are in the Bible with current times. I hope and pray to gain all this and more from participating in Bible studies. I want “Change Your Life Biblically”.
DaJuan, CA
Hello,
I have received your postcard in the mail recently. I would like to say, I am interested in all you have to offer. Please help me to get into the 8-step program. I’m not sure what I need nor need to do, but if you can help me with career opportunity, I would be grateful for your time.
Micah, MN
Testimony for God’s Children
My Dear Family in Christ,
We really do need to get out of the cities. The God-hating far Left is in control and are determined to destroy all who serve God. We have been warned. The future lives of your children are in your hands.
Influence of Social Surroundings, part 2
Lot was paralyzed by the great calamity about to occur; he was stupefied with grief at the thought of leaving all he held dear on earth. But as he lingered, the angels of God laid hold upon his hand, and the hands of his wife and two daughters, and brought them out of the city, and charged them to flee for their lives, neither to look behind them nor to stay upon all the plain, but to escape to the mountains.
How reluctant was Lot to obey the angel and go as far as possible from corrupt Sodom, appointed to utter destruction! He distrusted God and pleaded to remain. Living in the wicked city had weakened his faith and confidence in the justice of the Lord. He pleaded that he could not do as he was required, lest some evil should overtake him, and he should die. Angels were sent on a special mission to save the lives of Lot and his family; but Lot had so long been surrounded by corrupting influences that his sensibilities were blunted, and he could not discern the works of God and His purposes; he could not trust himself in His hands to do His bidding. He was continually pleading for himself, and this unbelief cost him the life of his wife. She looked back to Sodom, and, murmuring against the dealings of God, she was changed to a pillar of salt, that she might stand as a warning to all those who disregard the special mercies and providences of Heaven. After this terrible retribution, Lot no longer dared to linger by the way, but fled into the mountains, according to the direction of the angels. The sinful conduct of his daughters after leaving Sodom was the result of wicked associations while there. The sense of right and wrong was confused in their minds, and sin did not appear as sin to them.
The case of Lot should be a warning to all those who wish to live godly lives, to separate themselves from all influences calculated to lead them away from God. Lot remained so long among the wicked that he was only able to save himself and two daughters, and even they were corrupted in morals by their sojourn in Sodom.
God means what He says, and He will not be trifled with. Oh! how many shortsighted, sinful mortals plead with God to induce Him to come to their terms, while if they would only yield themselves unreservedly into His hands He would compass their salvation and give them precious victories.
Sister K, you are in danger of making decisions that will be very injurious to you. God has a work for you to do which none can do for you, and without doing this your soul cannot be saved. God loves you and is unwilling that you should perish in the general ruin. He invites you to leave those things which hinder your spiritual advancement, and to find in Him that strength and consolation which you need. You have cares and burdens to bear in your family that often worry you; but if you do only those things necessary to your temporal comfort and happiness, you will find time to read your Bible with prayerful interest and to perfect a Christian character.
Brother K, you have had many discouragements; but you must be earnest, firm, and decided to do your duty in your family, and take them with you if possible. You should spare no effort to prevail upon them to accompany you on your heavenward journey. But if the mother and the children do not choose to accompany you, but rather seek to draw you away from your duties and religious privileges, you must go forward even if you go alone. You must live in the fear of God. You must improve your opportunities of attending the meetings and gaining all the spiritual strength you can, for you will need it in the days to come. Lot’s property was all consumed. If you should meet with loss you should not be discouraged; and if you can save only a part of your family, it is much better than to lose all.
Dear brother and sister, as parents you are in a great measure accountable for the souls of your children. You have brought them into existence; and you should, by precept and example, lead them to the Lord and the courts of heaven. You should impress them with the thought that their temporal interests are of little consequence when compared with their eternal welfare.
These dear children are living among worldly people, and they are imbibing a love for the vanities of life. Your son L is a kindhearted, fine-spirited boy; but he needs the watchful care of a mother whose daily experience in the Christian life will fit her to counsel and instruct him. He is at just that age when a tender, judicious mother can mold him by her influence; but I fear, Sister K, that you seek rather to mold your children after the fashion of this world, and neglect to teach them that the important work of life is to form characters that will ensure immortality.
If L neglects to become acquainted with religious subjects and practical Christianity, his life will be a mistake. He should see that he needs an education in spiritual things, that he may use his abilities wholly for God. The Lord calls for young men to work in His vineyard. Young men should not neglect the essential branches of education. But if they turn their entire attention to secular study, and neglect to become intelligent on the great subject of religion, and do not acquire a Christian experience, they are becoming disqualified for the work of God. However favorable the educational advantage may be, something besides the knowledge of books is necessary to save the soul and lead others to repentance. Devoting a period of years to the acquisition of scientific knowledge alone is not preparing to be an efficient laborer in the service of God.
Young men should devote much time to study; but they should also unite physical labor with their mental efforts, and put in practice the knowledge they have gained, that by useful exercise all the faculties of the mind and powers of the body may be equally developed. They should not neglect the things necessary to salvation, nor consider them secondary to anything in this life.
Dear brother and sister, God loves your family, and desires to shower His special blessings upon you, that you may become instruments of righteousness in leading others toward heaven. If entirely consecrated to God, Brother K could do a great amount of good in a community where his advice and influence would be better received and appreciated. We have strong hopes that both of you will correct that which is wrong in your lives, and renew your faith and obedience to God, receiving new strength from Him who has promised to help those who call upon His name.
Young Brother L, you have made a mistake in your life. In closely pursuing your studies you have neglected the development of all your faculties. The moral growth should never be dwarfed in the effort to acquire an education, but should be cultivated in a far higher degree than is usually deemed necessary. My dear young brother, you have been ambitious to secure knowledge. This ambition is praiseworthy; but in order to gratify it, you have neglected your eternal interests and made them secondary to your studies. God and heaven have occupied a subordinate position in your affections. The claims of God’s holy law have not been sacredly observed in your daily life. You have desecrated the Sabbath by bringing your studies into that holy time which was not yours to occupy for your own purposes. God has said: “In it thou shalt not do any work.”
If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” You have yielded to inclination rather than duty and made your studies paramount to the expressed command of the Most High.
Our camp meetings are arranged and held at great expense. God’s ministers who advocate unpopular truth, labor excessively at these large gatherings to bear the message of mercy from a crucified Redeemer to poor fallen sinners. To neglect or treat these messages with indifference is to slight the mercy of God and His voice of warning and entreaty. Your absence from these meetings has been very detrimental to your spiritual welfare. You have missed the strength that you might have gained there by listening to the preached word of God, and mingling with the believers of the truth. Your mind has been lulled into a fatal apathy in regard to the well-being of your soul. You have exalted your secular education above the knowledge to be gained in the school of Christ. Experience in a true religious life is necessary in order to form a character acceptable to God and to secure the pure virtues that will bear the light of heaven.
What anxiety you have manifested to discipline your mind by study, to become properly conversant with your textbooks, that you might pass a creditable examination before instructors, friends, and interested spectators! How ambitious you have been to prove that you have been a diligent student and have faithfully employed your time in storing your mind with useful knowledge! You have been as sincerely anxious to progress in your studies as you have been to secure the commendation of your friends and teachers. You have justly earned the honors you have received for scholarship. But how has your mind been disciplined in religion? Have you not unthinkingly placed the kingdom of God and His righteousness below your advancement in the sciences? True, some of the human faculties were given more especially for the purpose of engaging in temporal matters, but the higher powers of the mind should be wholly consecrated to God. These control the man, these form his life and character. And while you should not neglect your secular studies, you have no right to give them all your attention, but should devote yourself especially to the moral and spiritual requirements of your heavenly Father.
How little anxiety you have manifested to improve the religious advantages within your reach to gain a more thorough knowledge of the laws of God, and determination to abide by them! You have made little effort to become a loyal and intelligent Christian. How, then, will you be prepared to pass the grand review, where all your deeds and words, and the inmost thoughts of your heart, will be laid open before the great Judge and the assembled saints and angels? You have had little ambition to obtain a spiritual fitness to bear this close examination in the presence of that exalted throng. What, then, will be the final decision as to your moral and religious attainments, that decision from which there is no appeal? What will be the honors accredited to you because of your faithfulness in preserving the required harmony between religion and the pursuit of the sciences? Will you stand as one possessing unfaltering moral courage, in whom is shown excellence of human knowledge united with a holy zeal for God and the obedience of His law?
My brother, you should consider the wisdom of God as all in all. Religion must go hand in hand with science, in order to make your education a sanctified means of doing good and turning others to the truth. The more we learn in the school of Christ, the more eager we are to advance in that knowledge. All our acquirements are of little value unless the character is ennobled by religion. God has special duties for every individual to perform, and a decision will be passed upon every case as to the faithfulness with which these duties have been accomplished.
The Lord frequently places us in difficult positions to stimulate us to greater exertion. In His providence special annoyances sometimes occur to test our patience and faith. God gives us lessons of trust. He would teach us where to look for help and strength in time of need. Thus we obtain practical knowledge of His divine will, which we so much need in our life experience. Faith grows strong in earnest conflict with doubt and fear. Brother, you may be a conqueror if you take careful heed to your ways. You should devote your young life to the cause of God and pray for success. You should not close your eyes to your danger, but should resolutely prepare for every difficulty in your Christian advancement. Take time for reflection and for humble, earnest prayer. Your talents are marked, and you are hopeful in regard to your future success; but unless you comprehend the weakness of your natural heart you will be disappointed.
You are just starting out in life; you have arrived at an age to bear responsibilities for yourself. This is a critical period in your life. Now, in your youth, you are sowing in the field of life. That which you sow you will also reap; as was the seed, so will be the harvest. If you are neglectful and indifferent concerning eternal things you will sustain a great loss yourself and, through your influence, will prevent others from fulfilling their obligations to God.
Both worlds are before you. Which will you choose? Be wise and lay hold of eternal life. Swerve not from your integrity, however unpleasant your duties may appear in the present emergency. It may seem that you are about to make great sacrifices to preserve your purity of soul, but do not hesitate; press forward in the fear of God, and He will bless your efforts and recompense you a thousandfold. Do not yield your religious claims and privileges in order to gratify the wishes of your unconsecrated friends and relatives. You are called to take your position for the truth, even if it should be in direct opposition to those who are closely connected with you. God forbid that this last trial should ever come to you, to test and prove your integrity for the right.
Lay the foundation of your Christian character upon the eternal Rock of salvation, and let the structure be firm and sound.
We hope that your mother will aid you and your brothers and sisters in your efforts to perfect true characters after the pattern of Christ, that you may have a moral fitness for the society of holy angels in the kingdom of glory. 4T 111-117.4