Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)

Lt 135, 1899

Kellogg, J. H.

“Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

August 29, 1899

Portions of this letter are published in 4MR 131-133; 11MR 308.

Dear Brother:

I have been more grieved than I can express at the word that has come to me from you regarding the matters about which I have recently written to you. I have recently found a manuscript which I wrote to you while in Wellington, New Zealand, about five years ago, a copy of which was sent to you at that time. I have sent to you the original letter, just as I wrote it, so that you may see that the light has been coming to you for several years upon the same points about which I have written you several times recently. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 1

And why is it that I have written to you so often? Because there is none other whom you consider of sufficient authority to heed. This is the way the matter is represented to me. Your brethren and associates in the medical college and in the sanitarium are not the ones who can help you. You are your own authority. If the men connected with you were as true to you as they ought to be, you would hear words of counsel from them which you have not had. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 2

Your position is a most perilous one. The whole situation has been laid open before me, and you are warned not to follow the example of Nebuchadnezzar. Your attitude toward your ministering brethren has been just as I have stated it to you, and your dangers have not been exaggerated. The brethren connected with you have often heard your remarks regarding the leading workers in the General Conference, and your students have heard you demerit the ministers; and this has not been pleasing to God. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 3

You cannot properly build up and manage the medical missionary work while giving it the prominence which you have thought that it should maintain. By representing the gospel ministry as inferior to the medical missionary work, you have placed a wrong mold upon that work. If your fellow workers were men who felt that they must honor God by speaking the truth plainly at all times, they would have told you that the Lord could not be glorified by the words which you have so often spoken against others. Cautions and kindly counsels should have been given by those connected with Dr. Kellogg. I speak understandingly. The unfaithfulness of your associates in this matter has led you to suppose that they endorsed all that you have said, and this is recorded in the books of heaven. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 4

Not once or twice, but many times, the ministers have been presented to me as sitting before you in meetings; and you have made charges against them that have brought no credit to yourself. The impression left upon minds has been that you regarded your judgment as superior to that of others. But should your methods be followed by your brethren in all things, they would not be walking in the way of the Lord. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 5

Your speaking of the ministers before your classes, and exalting the medical missionary work above the work of the ministry, is bringing in a state of things that is not in harmony with the third angel’s message. I was shown that angels veiled their faces when they heard your words in regard to God’s servants. These men have been given a work to do for God, and many of them are doing this work just as faithfully as you are doing your work. Some are laboring under more discouraging circumstances, because they have not the advantages and facilities which you possess for the prosecution of their work. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 6

The swaying of things so heavily in one line is not after the Lord’s plan. The wisest use is not being made of means. The thousands of dollars that were invested in the Boulder Sanitarium would have accomplished a hundredfold more good in the saving of the souls and bodies of men, if it had been sent to some other country, where there is a dearth of facilities for the prosecution of the work. Strongholds, cities of refuge, must be built up in many lands, that the truth may go forth in connection with the medical missionary work to all parts of the Lord’s vineyard. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 7

I was shown that the means which has been coming so rapidly from what you may call your own pocket is the Lord’s money, and it should not be expended just as you may fancy. You have exaggerated ideas regarding some features of the work, and to please you, some of the workers connected with you have given exaggerated reports of the encouraging features of their work, while the objectionable features, which should also have been reported, have not been presented. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 8

The field is large, and there is a great work which must be done. Not in one or two lines alone, but in every line. One man, or several men, are not to undertake to compass the whole field. We have a worldwide message. The planting of the Lord is to be in many places. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 9

The medical missionary work must be as closely connected with the work of the gospel ministry as the hand and arm are connected with the body. You need the gospel ministry to give prominence and stability to the medical missionary work; and the ministry needs the medical missionary work to demonstrate the practical working of the gospel. The Lord would have His work carried forward symmetrically and harmoniously. His message must be carried to all parts of the world. There is a large vineyard to be worked. The wise husbandman works the vineyard so that every part produces fruit. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 10

Read the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah. This chapter will tell us what is the work before us. “The Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.” [Verses 1-3.] 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 11

Please consider what this [fourth] verse means: “And they shall build up the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, and the desolations of many generations. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your ploughmen and your vinedressers. But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord; men shall call you the ministers of our God; ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in your glory shall ye boast yourselves.” [Verses 4-6.] 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 12

“I therefore beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. And unto every one of us is given grace according to the measures of the gift of Christ.” [Ephesians 4:1-7.] 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 13

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and in the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the slight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ.” [Verses 11-15.] 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 14

Some things have been opened before me which I have not written, and which I shall not write if it can be avoided. You move in strong lines. You carry a large weight of influence, and if you stand on the wrong side, you will sway the work in lines that are not right. And it will bear, not the divine credentials, but the mold and the fashioning of men. I have greatly feared that you would injure yourself, and do a work that would have to be undone as verily as Elder Olsen’s work has had to be undone. The Lord moves in straight lines, and He will have each part of His work united with the other. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 15

I am very sorry that the men connected with you are afraid to speak plainly, and give you their judgment when it does not accord with your opinion, for God will surely remove their light and judgment from them, if they consent to have disparagement of His servants in the ministry by assenting to your words. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 16

Your associates have displeased God in passing over your unjust remarks, which have exerted an influence against Christ’s representatives. You may point to some defects in these men, some mistakes that they have made; but could not the Watcher point to mistakes which you have made, which are just as offensive in His sight? It is best that we be very careful how we present before others in a disparaging light those whom the Lord has honored in the work of opening His Word to the people. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 17

Brother Kellogg, the Lord calls for a halt, while you sit down and count the cost, to see whether you will be able to finish the building which you have begun. My brother, you are in danger. You are making many plans that you can never carry through. In your effort to embrace so much in the rescue work, you are in danger of divorcing yourself from the leading and most urgent features of the last gospel message. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 18

There must be camp meetings held to reach all classes, and at every place where these camp meetings are held, a home should be established where educated workers can teach all classes of learners how to work in medical missionary lines in connection with the Bible workers. All are to be taught how to carry the work to towns and cities that have not yet heard the message. Thus the light of truth will shine forth in many places. Meetinghouses must be built and humble buildings hired or erected to be used where treatment can be given to the sick. By this means the work of the gospel and the medical missionary work will be bound together. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 19

If the means which has come into the hands of our people had been properly used, there would have been established many centers of influence, where there is now simply nothing. This barrenness of many fields in regard to the light of truth testifies loudly against us as a people. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 20

Brother Kellogg, you need complete rest, at frequent intervals, that you may find your bearings. You need to unload your mind of cares, that you may study your relation to the work. Never allow yourself to feel that you are a controlling power. God is the Sovereign of the world. His hand is able to hold the lines of government, and if we will be led and instructed by Him, He will use us to do His work in preparing a people to stand in the great day of God. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 21

Christ wept over Jerusalem, saying, “O that thou hadst known, even thou, in this thy day, the things that belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.” [Luke 19:42.] The sins committed by professed Christians are no excuse for a single soul. Hypocrites are in the churches all through the land, but that does not justify us in blaming Christ and His ministers. Christ gave His life to save all who believe in Him. Those who really believe in Jesus have no pretense about them. They are genuine Christians. In heart and soul and action they are true to one another. There are tares among the wheat, but the true Watcher knows the false from the true. He never makes a mistake in His estimate of the characters of men, and after a time He will separate the tares from the wheat. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 22

The Saviour points men to the cross of Calvary, as an evidence of His love for them. He has told men how to love one another as Christ has loved them. Jesus is the only true pattern for the world. If we choose to copy a defective pattern, it will be our own loss. A perfect life, a holy character, is presented before us. All who are overcomers will have the crown of life that fadeth not away. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 23

A heaven of bliss is placed before you, and Jesus says that you may have it. It is yours if you will take it. “Take hold of my strength, and make peace with me,” He says, “and ye shall make peace with me.” [Isaiah 27:5.] May the dear Jesus reveal Himself to you as He has done to me, is my prayer. He is the One “altogether lovely,” and the chiefest among ten thousand. [Song of Solomon 5:16, 10.] Believe, only believe. Commit the keeping of your soul unto him as unto a faithful Creator. Jesus will forgive you, and make your character like his own pure character, if you will open the door of your heart and let Him in. He wants to give you His peace, His joy, His comfort. If you will let Him do this, He will cause you to triumph gloriously. 14LtMs, Lt 135, 1899, par. 24