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Selfishness Rebuked
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influence had been a blighting curse rather than a blessing. It was
also a place where much good might have been accomplished, even
by you. Had you been consecrated to God, and unselfishly working
for the salvation of souls for whom Christ died, your labors would
have been wholly successful. You understood the arguments of our
position. The reasons of our faith, brought before the minds of those
who have not been enlightened in regard to them, make a decided
impression if minds are not filled with prejudice so that they will not
receive the evidences given. I saw some of the very best material to
make excellent Sabbathkeeping Christians in the vicinity of-----and-
----; but while some were charmed with the beautiful chain of truth,
and were about ready to decide upon it, you left the field without
completing the work you had undertaken. This was worse than if
you had never entered it. That interest can never be raised again.
For years light has been given upon this point, showing the
necessity of following up an interest that has been raised, and in
no case leaving it until all have decided that lean toward the truth
and have experienced the conversion necessary for baptism and
united with some church or formed one themselves. There are no
circumstances of sufficient importance to call a minister from an
interest created by the presentation of truth. Even sickness and death
are of less consequence than the salvation of souls for whom Christ
made so immense a sacrifice. Those who feel the importance of the
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truth, and the value of souls for whom Christ died, will not leave an
interest among the people for any consideration. They will say: Let
the dead bury their dead. Home interests, lands and houses, should
not have the least power to attract from the field of labor. If ministers
allow these temporal things to divert them from the work, the only
course for them to pursue is to leave all, possess no lands or temporal
interests which will have an influence to draw them from the solemn
work of these last days. One soul is of more value than the entire
world. How can men who profess to have given themselves to the
sacred work of saving souls, allow their small temporal possessions
to engross their minds and hearts, and keep them from the high
calling they profess to have received from God?
I saw, Brother A, that your influence in the vicinity of-----and-----
has done great injury to the cause of God. I knew what that influence
was while you were at Battle Creek last. As I have been writing out