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January 3, 1882
A Happy New Year.
By Mrs. E. G. White
"I wish you a
happy New Year," will soon be repeated far and near, by parents and
children, brothers and sisters, acquaintances and friends. In a world
like ours, this New Year's greeting seems far more appropriate than the
Merry Christmas so lately echoed from lip to lip. On every hand are pale
faces, brows furrowed with pain and care, or forms bowed with age.
Wherever we turn may be seen the garb of mourning. The suffering, the
care-worn, and the aged can no longer be merry. In many a household there
is a vacant chair; a beloved child, a husband and father, whose presence
gladdened the last Christmas and New Year's festivity, is gone from the
circle. A merry Christmas seems a mockery to that bereaved family. {RH,
January 3, 1882 par. 1}
But whatever the cares
and sorrows of life, whatever the mistakes and errors of the past, the
"Happy New Year," when uttered as an expression of love or
respect, falls pleasantly upon the ear. And yet, are not these kindly
wishes often forgotten with the utterance? How often we fail to carry
their import into the daily life, and thus to aid in their fulfillment.
The New Year's greeting is frequently uttered by insincere lips, from
hearts that would not forego one selfish gratification in order to make
other's happy. Recipients of gifts and favors every new year, many accept
these as their due. Receiving daily the bounties of Heaven, sunshine and
shower, food and raiment, friends and home,--all the unnoted yet
priceless blessings of life,--they forget the claims of the Giver; forget
that God has left them a legacy in his poor; and that Christ, the Majesty
of Heaven, identifies himself with suffering humanity in the person of
his saints. {RH, January 3, 1882 par. 2}
Says our Saviour,
"It was I whom you neglected. While your wardrobe was supplied with
costly apparel, I had no comfortable clothing; while you feasted, I was
hungry; while you were absorbed in pleasure, I was sick, a stranger, and
uncared for. Let those who would have a happy new year, seek to honor God
and make all around them happy. Let them share the gifts of Providence
with those more needy, and bring to the Lord their offerings of
gratitude, their sin-offerings, and their free-will offerings. {RH,
January 3, 1882 par. 3}
Let us review our own
course during the past year, and compare our life and character with the
Bible standard. Have we withheld from our gracious Benefactor that which
he claims from us in return for all the blessings he has granted? Have we
neglected to care for the poor, and comfort the sorrowing? Here, then, is
work for us. {RH, January 3, 1882 par. 4}
Upon many, God has
bestowed his gifts with a lavish hand. Will they make corresponding
returns? Some of these persons, when in poverty, were faithful in the
smallest trust committed to them. They would sooner deny themselves of
the comforts, or even the necessaries of life, than to withhold their
offerings from the Lord's treasury. God has rewarded their faithfulness
by prosperity. But now a change comes over the recipients of his bounty.
Their wants increase faster than their income, and they no longer return
to God the portion which is his due. Thus is developed that same spirit
of covetousness which proved the ruin of Judas. {RH, January 3, 1882 par.
5}
Let us each bring our
souls to task. Let us see if we have brought all our offerings to God. I
would do this for myself as an individual. It may be that I have been
remiss during the past year. I know not when or where, but to make sure
that I have done my whole duty, I will at the first of the year bring an
offering to God to be appropriated as may seem best, to some one of the
branches of his work. If any of you, my brethren and sisters, are
convicted that you have failed to render to God the things that are his;
if you have not kindly considered the wants of the poor; or if you have
withheld from any man his due, I entreat you to repent before the Lord,
and to restore fourfold. Strict honesty toward God and men will alone
meet the divine requirements. Remember that if you have defrauded a
neighbor in trade, or in any manner deprived him of his own, or if you
have robbed God in tithes and offerings, it is all registered in the
books of Heaven. {RH, January 3, 1882 par. 6}
Many are bemoaning
their backsliding, their want of peace and rest in Christ, when the past
year's record shows that they have separated themselves from God by their
departure from strict integrity. When they will faithfully examine their
hearts, when they will open their eyes to see the selfishness of their
motives,--then their prayer will be, "Create in me a clean heart O
God; and renew a right spirit within me." God requires us to have a
pure heart and clean hands. Let those who have committed wrong give proof
of their repentance by seeking to make full restitution, let them in
their after-life give evidence of a genuine reformation, and they will
assuredly enjoy the peace of Heaven. {RH, January 3, 1882 par. 7}
Let us enter upon the
new year with a clean record. Let faults be corrected. Let bitterness and
malice be uprooted. Let right triumph over wrong. Let envy and jealousy
between brethren be put away. Heartfelt, honest confession will heal
grave difficulties. Then, with the love of God in the soul, there may
flow from sincere lips the greeting, "I wish you a happy New Year."
{RH, January 3, 1882 par. 8}
Many who were with us
at the beginning of 1881 are not here to welcome 1882. We ourselves may
not live to see another year. Shall we not seek to improve the little
time allotted us? Will not the church of Christ turn from their
backslidings? Will they not cast aside their idols, repent of their love
of the world, overcome their selfish greed, and open the door of the
heart to bid the Saviour welcome? May the beginning of this year be a
time that shall never be forgotten,--a time when Christ shall come in
among us, and say, "Peace be unto you." {RH, January 3, 1882
par. 9}
Brethren and sisters, I
wish you, one and all, a happy New Year.
"We live in
deeds, not years; in thought, not breath;
In feelings, not in figures on
the dial.
We should count
time by heart-throbs when they beat
For man, for
duty. He most lives
Who thinks most,
feels noblest, acts the best." Ellen G. White, {RH, January 3, 1882
par. 10}
January 15, 1903
A New Year's Letter
Elmshaven, Sanitarium, Cal.,
Jan. 4, 1902.
My dear Brethren and Sisters:
The old year, with its burden of record, has passed into eternity, and
the new year has begun. Let us gather up the treasures of the past
year,--our remembrances of God's goodness and mercy,--and carry them with
us into the new year. Let us brighten the future by the thought of past
blessings. {PUR, January 15, 1903 par. 1}
"Work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you,
both to will and to do of His good pleasure." Let us cooperate with
the Lord Jesus. Only thus shall we be able to accomplish our part of the
work. He is our efficiency. He will give us power. Let us plant our feet
firmly on the platform of eternal truth; then we may know that over us is
the protection of God. {PUR, January 15, 1903 par. 2}
Oh, what wonderful
blessings and opportunities God has in store for those who wear Christ's
yoke! Trouble comes to us because we manufacture yokes for ourselves,
refusing to wear the yoke of Christ. {PUR, January 15, 1903 par. 3}
"Being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." To
be justified means to be pardoned. To those whom God justifies He imputes
Christ's righteousness; for the Saviour has taken away their sins. They
stand before the throne of God justified and accepted. They have
crucified self, and Christ abides in their hearts. {PUR, January 15, 1903
par. 4}
My brethren and
sisters, during this new year let there be among you no accusing. This is
the work of the enemy. If he can lead professing Christians to accuse and
condemn, he is served as he desires to be. Let no one, by yielding to
feelings of envy, weaken the hands of his brother, so that the work
entrusted to him is marred. {PUR, January 15, 1903 par. 5}
Be very careful how you
carry reports. Often what you tell to others, though seeming to you to be
truth, is misrepresentation. Thus false conclusions are formed. Thread
after thread of misrepresentation is woven into the web, until the
pattern is spoiled. Oh, how many hearts are grieved and wounded because
of statements made by those who do not really know that what they report
is true! How much pain is caused by cruel handling of reputation!. The
course of those who utter the slander would be just as dark if
represented as they represent the course of the one whom they are
accusing. {PUR, January 15, 1903 par. 6}
I ask you to study the
eighteenth chapter of Matthew and the thirteenth chapter of first
Corinthians. Pray earnestly for grace, and then prepare your hearts to
receive the answer to your prayer. {PUR, January 15, 1903 par. 7}
We are being tested and
tried. May the Lord of heaven shut us in with Him, that the wicked one
may have no power over us. {PUR, January 15, 1903 par. 8}
Often, when the Lord
works upon a certain man's mind to do certain things for the advancement
of His work, another man thinks that he can see defects in his
fellow-worker's efforts. Let him keep to his own work. The Lord, who sees
the end from the beginning, will fulfil His purposes. He will unite with
the one to whom He has entrusted His work, and will bring about its
accomplishment. He knows just what is needed. {PUR, January 15, 1903 par.
9}
Christ is the great
Master-worker. We are laborers together with Him. He has a right to give
each one his work. And let each one be sure to do the work given him. He
who neglects his definite work for the work that some one else has in
charge is out of place. Thus time is lost, confidence abused and shaken,
and the work hindered. When we learn to attend closely to our own work,
the Lord will help us, and all parts of His cause will move in harmony.
Ellen G. White. {PUR, January 15,
1903 par. 10}
December 26,
1882 Holiday Gifts.
By Mrs. E. G. White.
The holiday season is fast
approaching with its interchange of gifts, and old and young are intently
studying what they can bestow upon their friends as a token of
affectionate remembrance. It is pleasant to receive a gift, however
small, from those we love. It is an assurance that we are not forgotten,
and seems to bind us to them a little closer. {RH, December 26, 1882 par.
1}
Brethren and sisters,
while you are devising gifts for one another, I would remind you of our
heavenly Friend, lest you should be unmindful of his claims. Will he not
be pleased if we show that we have not forgotten him? Jesus, the Prince
of Life, gave all to bring salvation within our reach. Oh, matchless
love! he left his royal home, his high command, and stooped to share our
poverty and shame, that we might be exalted to share his riches and his
throne. His glorious perfection called forth the admiration of the
angelic host; yet he, their adored Commander, came down to a world sunken
in sin, that he might give us a perfect example in his life. Step by
step, he descended to the deepest humiliation, that he might reach
fallen, guilty men, and lift them up to become sons of God. For us he
submitted to insult and shameful abuse. For us he denied himself at every
point. He suffered even unto death, that he might give us eternal life.
{RH, December 26, 1882 par. 2}
It is through Christ
that we receive every blessing. We may come to him in our poverty and
need, and he will listen to our petitions, and supply our every want. We
are dependent upon him every moment for grace and strength to maintain
our integrity and to continue in his love. How often we need to have the
bread of life broken to our souls! How often we need to be refreshed at
the fountain of living waters! Every temporal as well as every spiritual
blessing, is a continual witness of his beneficence, The recurring
seasons, with the rich and varied blessings which they bring, the
refreshing rain and the glad sunshine, every good thing we receive,
attests the continuance of our Creator's gift to man. {RH, December 26,
1882 par. 3}
Shall not all these
precious tokens of his love call forth a response from us in free-will
offerings for his cause? Shall not our heavenly Benefactor share in the
tokens of our gratitude and love? Come, brethren and sisters, come with
your children, even the babes in your arms, and bring your offerings to
God according to your ability. Make melody to him in your hearts, and let
his praise be upon your lips. Let us rejoice that our Saviour liveth to
make intercession for us in the presence of Jehovah. As a people we have
backslidden from God; let us return unto him, and he will return unto us,
and will heal all our backslidings. Let us, upon the coming Christmas and
New Year's festivals, not only make an offering to God of our means, but
give ourselves unreservedly to him, a living sacrifice. {RH, December 26,
1882 par. 4}
From this time till the
opening of the new year, let the theme of our thoughts be, "What
shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take
the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my
vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people." You have
taxed your inventive powers to prepare something that will surprise and
gratify your friends. Let us in these last days of 1882, be as anxious,
as earnest, as persevering, to render to God that which is due him. {RH,
December 26, 1882 par. 5}
While our heavenly
Father has crowned our lives with abundance to supply our temporal wants,
his mercies have been abused because they were so full and free. Many
forget that their obligations to God increase with the continuous
manifestations of his love and care, and that all these call for
acknowledgment from us in gifts and offerings to sustain the various
branches of his work. Such have now a precious opportunity to redeem the
past, and to show that God has the first place in their affections. Let
not our best thoughts, our most earnest efforts, our most precious
offerings, be given to earthly friends, while our Creator is neglected
and forgotten. I speak to those who profess to be his dear children: What
will you bring to God as a token of your love and gratitude? However
small the offering, he will accept it, if it is the best you have to
bring, and is given in love and sincerity of heart. {RH, December 26,
1882 par. 6}
I feel sad as I think
how many are so engrossed with thoughts of their friends and the gifts
they are preparing for them that they will lose sight of their
obligations to God. They will not seek to purify the soul temple from
defilement that they may present to the Lord an offering in
righteousness. During the past year, Satan has been making most earnest
effort to sow discord and dissension among brethren. Now, as the old year
is passing away and the new year coming in, is a good time for those who
have cherished alienation and bitterness to make confession to one
another. "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for
another, that ye may be healed." This is the Lord's direction; will
we obey him, or choose to remain in pride, and justify our course of
wrong? Oh! that many may seek to have the sins of the past year blotted
out, and pardon written against their names in the heavenly record. {RH,
December 26, 1882 par. 7}
We must forgive those
who trespass against us, if we would obtain pardon and grace when we
approach the mercy-seat. Mercy and love must be cherished by all who
would be followers of Jesus. When Peter asked, "Lord, how oft shall
my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?"
Jesus replied, "I say not unto thee, Until seven times; but Until
seventy times seven." He then enforced the duty of forgiveness, by
the parable of the two debtors. One was forgiven a debt of ten thousand
talents, and then refused to show mercy to his fellow-servant who owed
him a hundred pence. The pardon granted to that hard-hearted servant was
revoked, and he was delivered to the tormentors. Our Lord makes the
application of the parable in these impressive words: "So likewise
shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive
not every one his brother their trespasses." {RH, December 26, 1882
par. 8}
Here is work for every
family and every church. Make haste, brethren and sisters, to improve the
few remaining days of 1882 in setting your own hearts in order, and
making every wrong right. Remember that we shall be forgiven only as we
forgive. Let all enmity, dissension, and bitterness die with the old
year. Let kindness and brotherly and sisterly affection revive in our
hearts. We may open the new year with a clean record. How happy the
thought! Let us draw near to God "with a true heart in full
assurance of faith," that the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding, may keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. {RH,
December 26, 1882 par. 9}
I entreat the followers
of Jesus not to let the precious opportunities of these coming days pass
unimproved. Let not time and means be spent in preparing gifts which will
benefit neither giver nor receiver. Remember that both your time and
means are intrusted you of God, and that he will call you to account for
the manner in which you employ his gifts. As Christians we cannot honor a
custom which is not approved of Heaven. Let us, rather, seek to bring our
hearts into a right condition, to free ourselves from pride, vanity,
selfishness, and every other evil, and let mercy, truth, goodness, and
love dwell therein. Let us remember the Lord our Creator, and bring to
him the offering of gratitude, and he will accept not only the gift but
the giver. We may have such a spirit of love and joy in our hearts and
homes as will make angels glad. {RH, December 26, 1882 par. 10}
If all the means that
will at this holiday season be expended to gratify unsanctified desire,
or that will be needlessly invested, were brought as an offering of
gratitude to God, to be used in advancing his cause, what an amount would
flow into the treasury! Who are willing this year to deviate from their
usual custom? How many will turn their thoughts and plans into a more
elevated, heavenly channel? In this time of peril and backsliding from
God because of selfish indulgence, will we not look from the human to the
divine? Will we not show our remembrance of God and our gratitude for his
continual mercies, and, above all, for the gift of his dear Son? Shall we
not seek to conform to the Divine Model? to imitate Him who went about
doing good? {RH, December 26, 1882 par. 11}
I address my brethren
upon whom God has bestowed of this world's goods: What will you do at the
beginning of this new year to show your gratitude to the Giver of all
your mercies? Will you return to him in willing offerings a portion of
the gifts he has freely bestowed upon you? Will you, by your Christmas
and New Year's gifts, acknowledge that all things belong to God, and that
all the blessings which we receive are the result of divine beneficence?
{RH, December 26, 1882 par. 12}
When Jesus ascended to
Heaven, he committed his work on earth to his disciples, and bade them
carry it forward in his name. As followers of Christ we are to be his
representatives among men. The salvation of perishing souls calls for our
personal effort and for our means. This should be the great object
continually before us. It is to accomplish this that God has intrusted us
with means. Let us then render to him that which is his own. Let the men
of means make a free-will offering to God by liberal gifts for our
publishing houses and other institutions. These important
instrumentalities in the cause of God are heavily burdened and seriously
crippled in their work for want of means. There are still debts upon some
of our houses of worship. If we would this year deny ourselves, and by
our offerings clear these from debt, would it not be pleasing to our
heavenly Father? {RH, December 26, 1882 par. 13}
And it is not the
wealthy alone that can aid in advancing the work of God. If our young men
would but deny self for the truth's sake, if they were willing to work hard
and economize, they might have a capital with which to pay their expenses
at college, and thus qualify themselves for greater usefulness, and they
might also have a reserve fund to answer the calls for means for the
different branches of our work. If our young sisters felt the claims
which God has upon them, they would dispense with ornaments and needless
trimming, and would earnestly seek for the inward adorning; and instead
of expending all their earnings for clothing or in selfish indulgence,
they would have something to spare for the cause of Christ. {RH, December
26, 1882 par. 14}
In every church,
however small, special efforts should be made to show our gratitude to
God by bringing our offerings for his cause. Let those who desire a
Christmas tree make its boughs fruitful with gifts for the needy, and
offerings for the treasury of God. And let the children learn the
blessedness of giving by bringing their little gifts to add to the
offerings of their parents. {RH, December 26, 1882 par. 15}
The claims of God
should take the precedence of any and every other, and should be met at
any cost or sacrifice to ourselves. However small our income, we should
faithfully reserve for him that which he claims as his. Saith the Lord,
"Them that honor me I will honor." To withhold our tithes and
offerings from the treasury of the Lord, is accounted of him as robbery.
Yet are there not many, even among us, who meet all other claims before
the claims of God? Some bring no offerings for his cause, and even
withhold the tithe, which he has distinctly reserved for himself. Some of
these persons are yet in apparent prosperity. In his great mercy God is
still sparing them that they may see and put away their sin. Others are
already feeling his curse upon them. They are brought into straitened
circumstances, and feel less and less ability to give, when if they had
made God's claims first, and had with a willing heart brought their
offerings to him, they would have been blessed with more means to bestow.
{RH, December 26, 1882 par. 16}
"God loveth a
cheerful giver," and if we with a grateful heart bring our gifts and
offerings to him, "not grudgingly or of necessity," his
blessing will attend us as he has promised, "I will open you the
windows of Heaven, and pour you out a blessing." And though it may
have cost self-denial and sacrifice on our part, the approval of our
conscience and the blessing of Heaven will make this holiday season one
of the happiest we have ever experienced. {RH, December 26, 1882 par. 17}
While urging upon all
the duty of first bringing their offerings to God, I would not wholly
condemn the practice of making Christmas and New Years gifts to our
friends. It is right to bestow upon one another tokens of love and
remembrance if we do not in this forget God, our best friend. We should
make our gifts such as will prove a real benefit to the receiver. I would
recommend such books as will be an aid in understanding the word of God,
or that will increase our love for its precepts. Provide something to be
read during these long winter evenings. For those who can procure it,
D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation will be both interesting and
profitable. From this work we may gain some knowledge of what has been
accomplished in the past in the great work of reform. We can see how God
poured light into the minds of those who searched his word, how much the
men ordained and sent forth by him were willing to suffer for the truth's
sake, and how hard it is for the great mass of mankind to renounce their
errors and to receive and obey the teachings of the Scriptures. During
the winter evenings, when our children were young, we read from this
history with the deepest interest. We made it a practice to read
instructive and interesting books, with the Bible, in the family circle,
and our children were always happy as we thus entertained them. Thus we
prevented a restless desire to be out in the street with young
companions, and at the same time cultivated in them a taste for solid
reading. {RH, December 26, 1882 par. 18}
Those in charge of our
publishing houses at Battle Creek, Mich., and Oakland, Cal., have been
led by a sense of duty to make a careful selection of the best books,
which they offer for sale at reasonable rates. Those who wish books will
do well to purchase these in preference to the great mass of current
literature that will strengthen neither mind nor morals. Many of our
people already have the "Life of Christ." The "Life of
Paul," now offered for sale at this Office, is another useful and
deeply interesting work which should be widely circulated. The volumes of
"Spirit of Prophecy," should be in every family, and should be
read aloud in the family circle. More than one-half of our people know
little or nothing of the contents of these books, and they are losing
much by their neglect. {RH, December 26, 1882 par. 19}
The Testimonies contain
instruction which meets the case of all, both parents and children.
Should these be read aloud to the entire family, the children as well as the
parents would be benefited by their counsels, warnings, and reproofs.
While these are placed out of sight and neglected for the reading of
fictitious, sensational literature, both yourselves and your children
will be retrograding mentally and spiritually. {RH, December 26, 1882
par. 20}
Many Sabbath-keepers
neglect to take the Review, and some have neither the Review nor the
Signs. They plead as an excuse that they cannot afford to take these
papers which it is so important for them to have. But in many cases
several secular papers will be found upon their tables for their children
to peruse. The influence of most of the periodicals of the day is such as
to render the word of God distasteful, and to destroy a relish for all
useful and instructive reading. The mind assimilates to that which it
feeds upon. The secular papers are filled with accounts of murders,
robberies and other revolting crimes, and the mind of the reader dwells
on the scenes of vice therein depicted. But indulgence, the reading of
sensational or demoralizing literature becomes a habit, like the use of
opium or other baleful drugs, and as a result, the minds of thousands are
enfeebled, debased, and even crazed. Satan is doing more through the
productions of the press to weaken the minds and corrupt the morals of
the youth than by any other means. {RH, December 26, 1882 par. 21}
Let all reading of this
character be banished from your houses, let books that are useful,
instructive, and elevating, be placed in your libraries and upon your
tables, with the Review and Herald, our church paper, and the Signs of
the Times, our missionary paper, and the effect upon both parents and
children will be good. During these long winter evenings, let parents see
that all their children are at home, and then let the time be devoted to
the reading of the Scriptures and other interesting books that will
impart knowledge and inculcate right principles. Let the best reader be
selected to read aloud, while other members of the family are engaged in useful
occupations. Thus these evenings at home may be made both pleasant and
profitable. Pure healthful reading will be to the mind what healthful
food is to the body. You will thus become stronger to resist temptation,
to form right habits, and to act upon right principles. {RH, December 26,
1882 par. 22}
There is in many
families professing to believe the truth, a shameful neglect of searching
the Scriptures. They are ignorant, when it is their privilege to be wise.
All should take time for the daily study of the word of God, with earnest
prayer that they may learn the way of life and salvation. That holy word
is a sure guide, and will enable all who search its pages to distinguish
between its sacred truths and the false doctrines so widely taught in these
times of peril. I urge upon you, my brethren and sisters, the necessity
of searching the Scriptures. Your eternal destiny depends upon your
understanding and obeying them for yourselves. There the plan of
salvation is clearly set forth, God's claims are plainly stated, and if
we are his obedient children we shall search carefully and prayerfully to
learn his will that we may do it. {RH, December 26, 1882 par. 23}
We need to think more
of God and less of ourselves. If we would but think of him as often as we
have evidence of his care for us, we would keep him ever in our thoughts,
and would delight to talk of him and praise him. We talk of temporal
things because we have an interest in them. We talk of our friends
because we love them; our joys and our sorrows are bound up with them.
Yet we have infinitely greater reason to love God than to love our
earthly friends; we receive more from him than from any other friend, and
it should be the most natural thing in the world to make God first in all
our thoughts, to talk of his goodness and tell of his power, and to
respond to his love by our free-will gifts and offerings for his cause.
All things belong to God; and the rich gifts he has bestowed upon us, the
glories of the heavens, the beauties of nature, the bounties of his
providence, are not for us to worship; they were not given to absorb our
thoughts and love so that we should have naught to give to God; they are
to constantly remind us of him, and to bind us in bonds of love and
gratitude to our gracious Benefactor. Oh! I entreat you who profess to
love God to be less self-caring. Center your affections upon Jesus, your
Redeemer. Give up all for him, be willing to make any and every sacrifice
to save souls for whom he died. Give him your loving homage, your willing
service, and he will bestow upon you the priceless gift of everlasting
life. {RH, December 26, 1882 par. 24}
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