Chapter 10—Remarkable Experiences and Labors
—Loss of the First-Born
“In 1855 I was shown that those brethren who moved from the
East to the West were in danger of becoming worldly-minded; and
warnings were given me for them. I saw that it was right that some
of them should move to the West; that the brethren in those rugged
New England States had had more experience, and were more inured
to trials and hardships than those in the West; that it was in the order
of God that some should move; but that there were those who had it
in mind to make such a move for the sake of gain. This should not
be their object. The object should be to glorify God, and to advance
his cause. And to accomplish this they must live out their faith, and
show a regard for present truth above everything else. I saw that it
would be in the order of God for brethren in the East to associate with
those in the West; and if they were standing in the counsel of God,
they could be of great benefit to the western brethren by their example
and experience.
“I saw that those who moved to the West should be like men
waiting for their Lord. ‘Be a living example,’ said the angel, ‘to those
in the West. Let your works show that you are God’s peculiar people,
and that you have a peculiar work—the last message of mercy to the
world. Let your works show to those around you that this world is not
your home.’ I saw that those who have entangled themselves should
break the snare of the enemy and go free; that they should not lay up
treasures upon earth, but show by their lives that they are laying up
treasure in heaven. If God had called them to the West, he had a work
[329]
for them to do—an exalted work—to let faith and experience help
those who had not a living experience. The attraction should not be
to this poor, dark world, but upward to God, to glory, and to Heaven.
They should not let the care and perplexity of farms here engross the
mind, but contemplate Abraham’s farm. We are heirs to that immortal
inheritance, and should wean the affections from earth, and dwell upon
heavenly things.
150