Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 14 (1899)
Ms 165, 1899
Words of Counsel to Ministers and Physicians
NP
December 26, 1899 [typed]
Portions of this manuscript are published in TMK 304; 1BC 1113; 6BC 1084-1085, 1087; 7ABC 461, 476; 1MR 223-224; 5MR 114, 134-135. +Note
“And there were certain Greeks among them, that came up to worship at the feast; the same came therefore to Philip, ... and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew, and again Andrew telleth Jesus.” [John 12:20-22.] 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 1
When the Saviour heard these words, His countenance lighted up. Divinity flashed through humanity. He saw in anticipation His death on the cross and the glorious victory resulting therefrom. His heart swelled with love for the human race. He answered, “The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 2
“If any man serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor. Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then there came a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. The people, therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered; others said, An angel spake to him. Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.” [Verses 23-32.] 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 3
Soon was to be offered the great Sacrifice to which all the Jewish offerings pointed. When with the cross before Him, the Saviour uttered the sublime prediction, “Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up, shall draw all men unto me.” [Verses 31, 32.] He saw that the great apostate, who had been expelled from heaven, was the central power in the earth. Looking for Satan’s throne, He found it set up where God’s throne should have been. He saw all men worshiping the apostate, who inspired them with rebellion. The inhabitants of this world had prostrated themselves at Satan’s feet. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 4
Christ declared, “Where stands Satan’s throne, there shall stand My cross, the instrument of humiliation and suffering. No single principle of human nature will I violate. Clothing My divinity with humanity, I will endure every temptation wherewith man is beset. I will call to My aid the powers of heaven, that men and women, imbued with My Spirit, may overcome as I overcame. As evil agencies have arrayed themselves in opposition to God, so human influences united with divine agencies will work to oppose Satan and bring in righteousness. My benevolence and grace will find employment for human instrumentalities. The work out of My purposes in behalf of degraded humanity require that divine and human forces be combined. This will be necessary in order to successfully resist the power that would eclipse every ray of light from heaven. All My faithful, believing ones are needed to cooperate with Me. Clothed in the whole armor of righteousness, men are to stand in the power of My might.” 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 5
In the councils of heaven the cross was ordained as the means of atonement. This was to be God’s means of winning men to Him. Christ came to this earth to show that in humanity He could keep the holy law of God. “I have kept my Father’s commandments,” He declared. [John 15:10.] The Saviour proposed to reestablish the principles of human dependence upon God and co-operation between God and man. He purposed to unite God and man by the golden chain of love. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 6
Christ’s identity with man will ever be the power of His influence. He became bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” [John 1:14.] Adam’s sin plunged the race into hopeless misery. Christ, by His human relationship to men, drew them close to God. He might have cut Himself loose from fallen beings. He might have treated them as sinners deserve to be treated. But instead, He came still nearer to them. He clothed His divine nature with the garb of humanity, and demonstrated before the heavenly universe, before the unfallen worlds, and before the fallen world how much God loves the human race. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 7
“Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; ... he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.” [Isaiah 53:4, 5.] He was made “sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” [2 Corinthians 5:21.] If we inquire, “Why art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth the winefat?” He can answer, “I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there was none with me.” [Isaiah 63:2, 3.] 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 8
Christ could not have done this work had He not been personally spotless. Only One who was Himself perfection could be at once the Sin-bearer and the Sin-pardoner. He stands before the congregation of His redeemed as their sin-burdened, sin-stained Surety, but it is their sins He is bearing. All through His life of humiliation and suffering, from the time that He was born an infant in Bethlehem till He hung on the cross of Calvary, and cried in a voice that shook the universe, “It is finished,” the Saviour was pure and spotless. [John 19:30.] At any time in His life He could offer His enemies the challenge, “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” [John 8:46.] He offered Himself without spot to God. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 9
Jesus turned His whole being into a sacrifice. There is nothing that can be compared with the vastness of His plan for the salvation of man. And those who are truly imbued with the rich grace of God will be filled with the spirit of self-sacrifice. Those who have an experimental knowledge of the love of God will not only desire the success and enlargement of the work under their supervision; they will do their utmost to lift the standard in destitute regions. The message must be given. If the Lord’s money is invested in enterprises in one country only, if men do not strive to set in operation in other fields the work they deem so necessary in their own little world, how can the Lord bless them? 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 10
Brethren, do not, I beg of you, build up the work only in the places where you are presiding. Plan your work with reference to the field as a whole. If you wish to advance the glory of God, you must not allow one thread of selfishness to appear in your calculations. Christ expects every one of us to remember that He died for the world. He died not merely for one or two or three cities, but for the whole world. His self-sacrificing love brought Him from the heights of heaven to the depths of humiliation. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 11
To save perishing human beings, the Son of the infinite God turned His whole life into a sacrifice. He knew that divine power would come upon men, that the Holy Spirit would make His servants mouthpieces for God. Men and women are Christ’s ordained agencies. He makes them the channel through which to communicate His grace. The ministry of the Word [is] God’s appointed plan for the spread of the gospel. He has promised to give the Holy Spirit to those who preach the Word. But unless ministers are controlled by this Spirit, they speak not of God but of themselves. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 12
Let every one remember the words, “We are laborers together with God; ye are God’s husbandry; ye are God’s building.” [1 Corinthians 3:9.] God works upon mind and heart, and this work produces character. “Ye are God’s building.” You are representatives of the great Master-Worker. God forbid that we should neglect to learn the trade of character building. The course to be pursued in this work is not according to the ideas of the world; the fashioning is not similar to the fashioning of the world. Those who enter the work of God without hiding self in Christ will soon disconnect themselves from the Master’s building. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 13
Paul writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ; according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before him in love; having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 14
“In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are in earth; even in him.” [Ephesians 1:3-10.] 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 15
Notice the beginning of Paul’s letter to the Galatians: “Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by men, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) and all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: Grace be unto you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.” These high, holy, mighty powers stand at the head of the great firm. “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father, to whom be glory both now and for ever.” [Galatians 1:1-5.] 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 16
How wise [of] Paul to present the paternal character of God. He appreciated, as few now appreciate it, the meaning of the words, “Our Father.” He was so filled with the Spirit of Christ that he understood God’s relation to human beings. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 17
False principles and false doctrines were entering the church at Galatia, just as they are entering the churches today, and the apostle’s heart was hurt and bruised. “I marvel,” he writes, “that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.” [Verse 6.] God had called Paul to do advance work, but he had the same difficulties to meet that will be met by all those who labor for God in 1899. “There be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ,” he continues. [Verse 7.] Middle men, claiming to believe the truth, were bringing in heresies, mingling Jewish traditions with the teaching of the gospel, saying, “Except ye be circumcised after the manner of the Jews, ye cannot be saved.” [Acts 15:1.] 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 18
Paul saw that this was turning some away from the truth, and he said, “As I said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after men. For I neither received it of men, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” [Galatians 1:9-12.] 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 19
The Lord has a work for His people to do. They are to make known the truth in its purity. The work of preaching Christ and Him crucified is to be the highest, grandest, and most important work ever done in our world. We have need of deep, earnest faith, faith which believes in God’s Word, faith which binds the soul in close union with the perfect, divine-human heart of Christ. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 20
The work given to ministers is to preach the truth. Unless they are guarded, they will surely muffle the truth by human ornamentations. Let no minister suppose that by flowery discourses he can convert souls. Let him be renewed by the grace of Christ. This means that he must yoke up with Christ and learn His meekness and lowliness. Pride is death to spirituality. Every worker should feel that for all his success he is indebted to the great Worker. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 21
The Lord has a special work to be done. This work is not to be done in accordance with man’s planning. Medical missionary work is to be closely connected with the ministry of the Word, bound up with the third angel’s message, the last message of mercy and warning to be given to the guilty world. The work of health reform, is to be bound up with the gospel. These cannot be separated, for God has united them. When these parts of the work are carried forward on correct lines, the third angel’s message will be given in accordance with God’s purpose. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 22
God has connected with work of the physician with the work of the minister. Both are needed. Each is to strengthen and give influence to the other. Physicians and ministers are engaged in one and the same great work, a work which embraces truths of infinite importance. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 23
The work of advocating the principles of health reform is not to be a haphazard work; it is a work which is deep and broad and high, and essential work, the credentials of which are its practical workings. Because we are health reformers, we are not to make a raid upon people’s habits and practices. This is striking too directly at the gods they worship. Instead, we are to offer them something better. Why have we established health reform institutions? That we may give people a practical demonstration of the principles we advocate. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 24
We cannot ask religionists to give up their beliefs unless we offer them something better. The church members of today attend fairs and sociables. Gluttony and drunkenness is seen. They serve the gods of this world, offering them time and money. The Lord’s lent treasures are misapplied and abused. His husbandry and building are destroyed. Some are intelligent in regard to the result of this course of action. Others are ignorant, they do not know, nor do they care, for appetite has bound them in chains. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 25
The heavenly angels are intensely interested in those who are fighting the good fight of faith. Our Saviour is watching earnestly the warfare between good and evil agencies. Satan is working constantly to bring in interests that will so absorb men’s minds that they will lose eternity out of their reckoning. Those in high places are so deeply taken up with that which concerns common, worldly enterprises that they have no sense of their spiritual needs. For this reason the Lord has directed the establishment of institutions upon a plan entirely different from that followed by the world. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 26
It is God’s will that sanitariums shall be erected. These institutions are to be conducted on gospel principles. The gospel is to give character to every sanitarium that shall be established among Seventh-day Adventists. The first sanitarium erected in this new world is to be founded and conducted on right principles. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 27
Every sanitarium established among Seventh-day Adventists should be made a Bethel. Those who are connected with this branch of the work should be consecrated to God. Those who minister to the sick, who perform delicate, grave operations, should remember that one slip of the knife, one nervous tremble, and a soul may be launched into eternity. Physicians should not be allowed to take so many responsibilities that they have no time for special seasons of prayer. Those in the sanitarium should be prayed with. By earnest prayer physicians should show their dependence upon God. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 28
The light upon health reform must be given to the world. Educate, educate, educate, in the sanitarium and out of it. Lead all with whom you come in contact to think of Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 29
For all our institutions, and especially for our sanitariums, the very best helpers should be selected. Much depends on physicians. There is serious danger that if a physician receives from the Lord ability and tact, he will think that the glory should be given to him. Only by giving all the honor to God, who by His Holy Spirit has given us all we have, can our sanitariums properly represent the truth. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 30
I would say to our physicians, Ask men and women to accept as their Saviour the One whom the Word declares can accomplish all things. Tell them that you believe the Word of God and His promises, that you would not dare to undertake critical operations without first making them special subjects of prayer. Invite them to come to Jesus with all their sins, and let Him take them away. As a people we have a truth which is distinct from all other professions of faith. But if our physicians have no more faith than other physicians, how can they be witnesses for God? There is need, great need, for us to live the pure, grand doctrines we hold. We need to show our faith by our works. Those who claim to believe the Bible just as it reads need to show by word and action that the mind is filled with a knowledge of present truth, that this truth exercises a positive influence upon the life, sanctifying the soul. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 31
Our physicians need to reform in the matter of making high charges for critical operations as is the custom of the worldly physician. A change will have to be made in this matter, for the Lord does not approve of robbery. In the past physicians have acted as though the law did not apply to them in regard to their charges. But because they are physicians they are not beyond the domain of God’s law. It is not just or righteous for our physicians to follow a worldly standard in their charges. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 32
Neither are ministers of the gospel to set the highest price on their work in behalf of the souls for whom Christ made a voluntary offering. Freely and willingly He died on the cross that He might save all who come unto Him. Christ is our Pattern, and unless men are willing to learn in His school how to reveal His meekness and lowliness, they will not be successful in their work for Him. Neither will they be successful in winning eternal life. It is those who honor the Lord who are honored by Him. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 33
Those who are partakers of the divine nature pray earnestly, and asking, they receive. They seek diligently to understand the commandments of God, that they may make no mistake. They delight to do the will of God, that they may be distinguished as loyal members of the Lord’s great firm. They love their brethren and are bound up with them by the cords of Christian fellowship. They are humble men, as singular for their humility as was Moses. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 34
Moses was the greatest man who ever stood as leader of the people of God. He was greatly honored by God, not for the experience which he had gained in the Egyptian court, but because he was the meekest of men. God talked with him face to face, as a man talks with a friend. If men desire to be honored by God, let them be humble. These who carry forward God’s work should be distinguished from all others by their humility. Of the man who is noted for his meekness, Christ says, “He can be trusted. Through him I can reveal myself to the world. He will not weave into the web any threads of selfishness. I will manifest myself to him as I do not to the world.” 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 35
When Jesus talked with the Samaritan woman, He did not reprove her for coming to draw from Jacob’s well, but He presented something of far greater value. In comparison with Jacob’s well, He showed her the fountain of living water. “If thou knewest the gift of God,” He said, “and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water ... Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but 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, 13, 14.] 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 36
The living water is the Holy Spirit. This is a constant satisfaction to the thirsty soul. It is the absence of this Spirit that creates in men a desire to dishonor the spiritual fountain with which they are connected. He who is truly united with Jesus Christ receives a constant supply of living water. Depending on this supply of rich of rich grace, which brings great and still greater blessing, God’s servants are not worried or anxious about their future standing. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 37
There are some physicians who think it necessary to have the favor and influence of the world. All that our physicians gain in this line will be to them great loss. He who is the author and finisher of our faith has never given us any encouragement to think that the world and the popular churches will be in accord with the truth which is as a sharp, two-edged sword, cutting to the very heart of worldly practices and human selfishness. When a physician feels that he must do something to gain the favor of the world, when he chooses to separate from the work of God and connect with the world, flattering himself that thus he will obtain widespread influences, he divorces himself from God and goes on a warfare at his own charges. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 38
In time, his motives are read even by worldly men, and he loses all by his selfishness. God will not serve with any man who links himself with worldlings or church members to secure influence. Influence must come in God’s way, or it is not of the least value. The wisdom of the wise is foolishness with God. “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise that they are vain; therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours, ... and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” [1 Corinthians 3:20, 21, 23.] Please read the second chapter of First Corinthians. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 39
Those who are not daily taught by the Lord, in answer in their earnest petitions, are ignorant of divine grace. They walk contrary to God, even though they may have had many advantages. There are many physicians who have no conception of the truths revealed by searching the Word, because their minds are preoccupied by a variety of things which disqualify them to meet God and answer to Him for their relationship to Him. There are those who love darkness rather than light. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 40
Shall the physicians who are a part of God’s great firm expect such men to sustain them and give them wisdom and influences? Are they not as broken reeds? Will the Lord be pleased to have His servants solicit their sustenance and influence? God has not marked out any such course for His workers. The less we depend upon human policy or inventions to make our work a success before the churches [or] the world, the more success we shall have. Men will feel that there is nothing to be alarmed about in seeing ministers moving from place to place with their cotton meetinghouse, if they desire to be under the influence worldly elements can give them. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 41
The Holy Spirit is fully acquainted with every barrier created against the truth, and is able to communicate light and the knowledge of God’s Word to us as Christ’s representatives. The divine power is at our command. We may rely upon God as all-sufficient. We need not exchange the wisdom of God for the wisdom of men. The Holy Spirit taught the writers of the Bible what truths it was necessary to communicate to the human race, and gave them language in which to clothe the ideas given them by God. The Bible is our textbook, our Counsellor. In it are to be found the very leaves of the tree of life. It is an expression of the will and character of God, and is a perfect rule of faith and practice. Let us not go to men in the darkness of unbelief, who know not the work we have done and are doing, to be sustained and upheld by their influence. We could not give God greater offense than to do this. They are without spiritual discernment, without a knowledge of the history of God’s people. We cannot expect them to comfort and support those who are called to do a work which they know nothing of. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 42
Our physicians surely do not realize that by their actions which they suppose recommend them, they are making their influence of none effect. If they cannot advance in faith, if they cannot stand on vantage ground in regard to truth and its various lines, the work may as well stop where it is. The Holy Spirit is the power which must attend the proclamation of divine truth. Physicians and ministers give themselves away when they go through a program of being introduced to a congregation after they have in the same place spoken to hundreds and thousands. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 43
Men who know not the truth look up to the man who seems to them to have had divine enlightenment. They are convinced that this man is imbued with a Spirit that comes from God, that he is under the teaching of the Holy Spirit. But when a teacher, be he physician or minister, turns for patronage and influence to those who have listened to him with astonishment, and marveled at the gracious words spoken, the conviction is swept away. The worldly policy appears, and this weakness makes of none effect the work of the teacher. The solemn, serious impressions made by the Holy Spirit are effaced. The people thought the teacher was holy, set apart by the Lord to do a special work; but now they are inclined to believe that his work was a scheme connected to deceive them and get their money. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 44
In Newcastle, in Maitland, the sound of the truth has gone forth, the trump of the Word of God has been heard. The work of health reform in these places must not take the form of a private enterprise. This will kill the influence of the ministry of the Word and medical missionary work. The people will say, We have all we can attend to among ourselves. We do not approve of this private, personal drawing for means. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 45
Tell your wants to God in prayer; but for Christ’s sake, for the truth’s sake, do not pursue a course which will belittle the sacred, elevated work we have to do. We bear the most solemn message ever given to our world, and physicians and ministers, with all other workers, are to draw together. They are not to pull apart. The physician is not to think that he will be more popular if he stands out separate from the gospel ministry. Doctors and ministers must draw together. Dr. Caro’s movement in hiring a hall and striking out in his own lines to do as he thought best, without counselling with his brethren, shows a want to sound judgment. If he had any influence, this influence was needed by the workers just at the time that the tent was being moved. This was the time in which he should have used his influence to draw people to the meetings which were to bind off the work of the camp meeting. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 46
Such a lack of perception is calculated to do great harm. If Dr. Caro withdraws his part of the work at the time it is most needed, if at the time when the battle goes the hardest he establishes interests of his own, he certainly is not the man to be [connected] with the sanitarium. If when the interest seems to decline we leave it, we give an impression that is detrimental to the work which has cost so much money and so much hard effort. Unless we renounce dependence on worldly wisdom, unless in faith we rely on divine guidance, and bind our interests firmly together, we shall be weak rather than strong. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 47
It will take double work to remove the impressions made on the people of Maitland by the wrong moves that have been made. From some minds these impressions can never be effaced. My brother, you have certainly shown poor tact in fighting the powerful spiritual foes which have set themselves to oppose the Lord’s work. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 48
As Daniel was praying, an angel came to him, saying, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days; but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained with the kings of Persia. Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days; for yet the vision is for many days.” [Daniel 10:12-14.] 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 49
We have certainly been hindered by Dr. Caro drawing apart from the gospel ministry, and going out to work on his own responsibility. In his shortsighted discernment, Dr. Caro has greatly retarded a work which God purposed should be done. We pray that the work may recover from the result of a division of forces. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 50
The wisdom of this world, of which worldly men are proud, in which they glory, brings no honor to God. Let not any man deceive himself by thinking that he has superior wisdom. Paul declares, “If any man among you seemeth to be wise,” ... if he thinks that alone he is able to do an important work—“let him becomes a fool that he may be wise.” [1 Corinthians 3:18.] His only hope is to renounce dependence on human wisdom, and realize his need of divine guidance at every step. He is to seek every day for the Holy Spirit’s power which God gives to all who are humble and trustful. He is to stand on vantage ground before the world, before angels, and before men, for he is seeking for light. He depends on God to show him the way. He does not rush on in self-confidence. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 51
Let those who have been blessed by a knowledge of the Word of God remember the words of Paul, “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered, but God giveth the increase. ... Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one; and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are laborers together with God; ye are God’s husbandry; ye are God’s building.” [Verses 5, 6, 8, 9.] 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 52
All should understand that their efficiency comes from God. When we have spiritual discernment, we shall know that we are dependent on the Lord and not on man, and when we know this, the Lord will not have to withdraw Himself from us to bring us to our senses. We shall feel that God alone is to be honored. The men who make God their trust, who are true to the power of the Holy Spirit, will be made effectual in the salvation of men. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 53
Those who try to carry forward in right lines the work of health reform will meet with opposition; for the world calls for the broad road of self-indulgence, while Christ says, “Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is to gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” [Matthew 7:13, 14.] 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 54
A strait gate means a gate difficult to enter. By this illustration Christ showed how hard it is for men and women to leave the world and the attractions it holds, and heartily and lovingly obey the commandments of God. The wide gate is easy to enter. Entrance through it does not call for the restrictions which are painful to the human heart. Self-denial and self-sacrifice are not seen in the broad way. There depraved appetite and natural inclinations find abundant room. There may be seen self-indulgence, pride, envy, evil surmisings, love of money, self-exaltation. Those who enter at the wide gate can be selfish and greedy. They can plunder their fellow men and rob God of that which belongs to Him. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 55
The doctrine we believe speaks for itself in our deeds and words. “Ye shall know them by their fruits,” Christ said. “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” [Verses 16, 18.] 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 56
Our work for this time is not to be done by enticing words of man’s wisdom, such as were used by heathen orators to gain applause. Speak in the demonstration of the Spirit, and with the power which God alone can impart. The testing truths for this time are to be proclaimed by men whose lips have been touched with a live coal from off God’s altar. Such preaching will be a decided contrast to the preaching usually heard. Faithful, God-sent messengers are a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men, not because they place themselves in high positions, but because they show that they are strengthened and helped by the Spirit. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 57
The movements which have been made in America, and which have been begun here to separate the medical missionary work from the ministry, are not of God’s devising. Those who do medical missionary work must go forward on their own responsibility. The gospel and medical missionary work must go forward hand in hand, as God has appointed. The work is to be bound together. How can God’s purpose be fulfilled if it is all arms, without a head to devise wise plans and movements? 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 58
In the ministry of the Word it is not only the words of the minister that are needed. Reading of the Scriptures, prayer, [and] singing, are essential. All these help to make the work a complete whole. So the varied gifts and talents entrusted to God’s people are to be united in one body, under one acknowledged head—Jesus Christ, who has redeemed us by His own blood. Thus we testify to the world that we do not stand under human guidance, but under a heavenly Leader. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 59
Christ was sent by God to redeem men. As faithful soldiers, we are to act in His name and under His authority. He is the Captain of our salvation, and we are to obey His orders. The unity in the Lord’s family on earth must be perfect. The ministers and physicians who are under the training and guidance of the Lord Jesus will work intelligently, not to attract men to themselves, not to exalt themselves, but to win souls to Christ. As servants of God we are to do this work faithfully. As laborers with the great Husbandman, we are to work together. The success of the work is due to Him alone, and to Him is to be ascribed all the glory. 14LtMs, Ms 165, 1899, par. 60