Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 13 (1898)

Lt 56, 1898

Wessels, Brother and Sister [John]

June 28, 1898

Portions of this letter are published in 4Bio 355. +^Note

Dear Brother and Sister John Wessels:

I have been hoping that we would receive a letter from you in regard to the prospect of your coming to Australia. We would very much like to have you here when the decision is made regarding the location of a sanitarium. We have felt loth to make this decision before you should be on the ground to aid us with your judgment. We have had excellent opportunities for purchasing houses and land, which could be fitted up without a great outlay of means. If you were only here, and would invest means in purchasing, a good and important work could go forward. You are not asked to do this as a gift, but to establish the institution, that we may do the work that seems to be essential. 13LtMs, Lt 56, 1898, par. 1

Your judgment would help us very much. 13LtMs, Lt 56, 1898, par. 2

The work is moving along as well as could be expected. At the present time the Health Home is full. We want Sydney to be worked. Money is needed to invest in buildings. We see a large number of people who are destitute of a knowledge of how to take care of themselves. We feel a great desire to advance the work. I would quote some words of Scripture that are highly appropriate, “Yet now hear, O Jacob, my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee: Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen, for I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses. 13LtMs, Lt 56, 1898, par. 3

“One shall say, I am the Lord’s; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them show unto them. Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a god beside me? yea, there is no God, I know not any.” [Isaiah 44:1-8.] 13LtMs, Lt 56, 1898, par. 4

If there are not thirsty ones all around us who need to be refreshed and restored, I know not where they may be found; and the Lord declares His purpose to “pour water on him that is thirsty.” [Verse 3.] We are trying to work to the utmost of our ability and means. If you can invest yourself and some of your means here in doing service for God, I do not think you will be disappointed. 13LtMs, Lt 56, 1898, par. 5

“Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou are my servant: I have formed thee: thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel. Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; ... Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof.” [Verses 21-24, 26.] 13LtMs, Lt 56, 1898, par. 6

God is carrying forward a special work, and here He represents Himself as supplying the necessities of His created universe. He satisfies the desires of the soul, as well as moistening the dry lips and cooling the tongue. The Lord is good. He is gracious. He not only supplies our spiritual necessities, but our temporal needs. 13LtMs, Lt 56, 1898, par. 7

The abuse of the appetite has greatly lessened our hold on life. The taste is a precious gift from God, but it becomes a snare when cultivated to lust after those things which are evil. It is the indulgence and misapplication of the appetite that produces so much evil. But the evil exists and will continue to increase, the more it is gratified. 13LtMs, Lt 56, 1898, par. 8

I can write only a few lines this morning. I have not slept since one o’clock. 13LtMs, Lt 56, 1898, par. 9

How many forget the individuality of the soul and the great necessity of the human race! We need a sanitarium in Australia. We desire to be the Lord’s agencies, to do all in our power to supply the necessities that have been created by wrong and perverted appetite. 13LtMs, Lt 56, 1898, par. 10

We should not use the drugs and narcotics used by worldly physicians to relieve the necessity which the abuse of appetite has created in the physical structure. Our work now is to point men and women to the cross of Calvary. Through His death on the cross, Christ has provided a supply of His rich grace. This is the water of life, and the spring from whence it flows is never exhausted. It is deep and wide and pure. God is nearer than we think to poor hungering, thirsting souls. We have the privilege of receiving the water of life direct from Christ. To the woman of Samaria Christ said, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. ... Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life.” [John 4:10, 14.] 13LtMs, Lt 56, 1898, par. 11

This is a great work that we have commenced in Australia, and it has advanced more rapidly then we had reason to hope, with our dearth of means and workers. But all, saints and sinners, must hear the last message of mercy to a fallen world, that they may be warned, and turn from sin to the living God, that they may taste and see that the Lord is good. The men and women who know the truth are to be doers of the Word. Only when they connect themselves with the Source of light can they be safe teachers. They must find the wellspring from which flows forth the water of salvation. Living streams flow forth from Christ, and each soul may form a connection with the Source of the water of life. 13LtMs, Lt 56, 1898, par. 12

Brother and Sister Haskell are doing a good work in the school. The school is composed of an excellent class of students, who, we hope, will go forth to labor as missionaries for the Master. We need your help. Tell us when your promise is to be fulfilled. We shall hold you to your promise, unless the Lord gives you light to go to another place. 13LtMs, Lt 56, 1898, par. 13