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the institution, young or old, thus intimate with a married woman or
young girls, he would have seen the evil and with no soothing words
would have made short work of this matter.
He stated he should have done so, but that he considered he was a
minister, above suspicion and above temptation, he had thought, and
therefore it was safe for him to do that which would be sin in another.
He acknowledged that this was wrong reasoning, but every time the
matter was talked upon he brought forward the same excuses.—
Letter
53, 1888
(written February 10, 1888).
No Confession, No Conversion—Dear Brother C: You may say,
Has the Lord shown you this peculiar case of Elder M and Mrs. N?
[149]
If I had my diary here, written during my last trip to Denmark,
Norway, and Sweden, I could read to you some things therein. In a
vision of the night I was passing through the rooms of the institution,
and saw the very scenes which did take place there in this familiarity,
men with women and women with men. My soul was deeply troubled,
and I arose and wrote out these things at one o’clock in the morning....
I was shown at a certain time when the Spirit of the Lord was
working upon those connected with the institution, some confessions
were made. They seemed to be assembled in a meeting of worship.
Elder M was standing upon his feet, and the Spirit of God was deeply
moving upon his heart to confess his way out of darkness into the
light. But he spoke only in general terms. He in no wise cleared his
soul from the stains of wrong on his part in connection with Sister N.
He trembled for a while under the prompting of the Spirit of God, but
refused to humiliate his soul before God in lifting the cross.
A Diverging Path With Satan as Leader—From that time he
began to walk in darkness, contrary to light and truth. He had a
molding influence upon Sister N. She felt at one time that she could
never be free, unless she made a humble confession. But Elder M
molded matters to please himself. He might have made straightforward
work; he might have come out of darkness into the light; he might have
drawn near to God; and the Lord would have forgiven his sins, and
lifted up a standard for him against the enemy. But he has verily turned
away from the light and the convictions of the Spirit of God, as did the
assembly of the Jews at Nazareth, when Christ announced Himself as
the Anointed One.... It is a dangerous thing under circumstances like