Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 15 (1900)

Lt 106, 1900

To Whom It May Concern

“Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

July 17, 1900 [typed]

This letter is published in entirety in BCL 37-39.

Officers of Medical Missionary Association and the Battle Creek Sanitarium

To Those Whom It May Concern:

How shall we advance the work of God? Shall we say to the ministers, We are ready to dismiss you; we will carry forward the medical missionary work according to our own ideas, and Dr. Kellogg shall be our king? You do not work as we desire you to, and we want none of your counsel. 15LtMs, Lt 106, 1900, par. 1

Has the Lord given medical missionaries the work of disparaging the ministry and exalting their own work in contrast? Nay verily. We wish all to understand this. The Lord does not design His work to be done after the manner in which it has been carried forward for years. In America the unworthy and unrighteous received advantages which the class who should have God’s favors do not obtain. The work has been swayed in wrong lines. Shall it continue thus? Shall there be no change? God says, Set things in order, and connect with Me. God has the salvation of a world before Him, not the salvation of those in one or two places. The gospel must be preached in all the world, for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come. 15LtMs, Lt 106, 1900, par. 2

Many are asking me how I regard the ministry of the gospel with reference to the medical missionary work. These two lines of work should blend. They both help to compose the body. The genuine medical missionary work should not be exalted above the gospel ministry. Some are in danger of regarding the medical missionary work as the body, when it is only the arm and the hand. 15LtMs, Lt 106, 1900, par. 3

God has given Dr. Kellogg every encouragement to believe that the heavenly angels would be by his side if he would pursue a right course. But notwithstanding the warnings and reproofs which have been given him, he has persistently followed his own way. He is now demonstrating the truth of the warnings which have been given him. He has not done what he might have done as God’s steward to build up the work in solid lines, that it might in the highest degree represent Christ. He has been diverted from the right way. He has deceived himself and those who are associated with him. I would warn him again of the danger of the road over which he is traveling. God has given no mortal man license to judge His delegated ministers in the way Dr. Kellogg has judged them. Dr. Kellogg has no more right to judge the ministers than the ministers have to judge him. 15LtMs, Lt 106, 1900, par. 4

The time will come when Dr. Kellogg will see that his spirit and actions have not been such that God could say to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” [Matthew 25:23.] When the heavenly eyesalve is applied to his eyes, he will see his course as it really is. He will see that some phases of the work are just as much opposed to the teachings of the gospel as are the works of the enemies of the cross of Christ. 15LtMs, Lt 106, 1900, par. 5

As a people we must stand together, refusing to be coerced into signing contracts, binding ourselves about in order to be favored. God says, “Stand bravely for the right; follow Bible principles; and I will be with you as your Helper.” But when God’s people play the cowards as they did at the meeting concerning Lincoln College, they show that they fear man more than they fear God. When God is with a man, that man receives power from on high, and [he] can guide and direct, but when a man is controlled by another spirit, his wisdom is to be regarded and treated as foolishness. 15LtMs, Lt 106, 1900, par. 6

God will be with His people just as long as they follow His directions. If He says to one, Go to Nineveh, and warn the inhabitants of that wicked city of their danger, He sends His angels with His servant to protect him till his work is done. But we need to remember that in our association and connection with the depraved, there are bounds and barriers which cannot safely be overstepped. We need to be guarded, lest the atmosphere surrounding our souls shall become clouded, and through Satan’s deceptive power we shall lose all sense of the difference between righteousness and holiness and defilement and sin. 15LtMs, Lt 106, 1900, par. 7

Man’s only safety is a constant, earnest belief in the truth. We are to follow the very lines of work God has laid down. Satan is ever on the ground, taking advantage of every circumstance to prevent man from being sanctified through the truth as it is in Jesus. He seeks to lead them to pursue such a course that he can lead them to carry out his own purposes. 15LtMs, Lt 106, 1900, par. 8

The Lord desires memorials for Him to be established in all parts of the world. Here in Australia we have tried to advance in God’s appointed way, taking the Bible as our rule of faith and practice. The only safety for the cause and work of God in these last days, when deception is so prevalent, is to preserve the principles which have been the foundation of our success. If we desire to have God’s blessing, we must practice Christ’s self-denial and self-sacrifice. Study the Word of God. Walk and work as Christ walked and worked. Man must put away the ambitious schemes which have puffed them up and exalted them in their own estimation, when they should always keep humble. Let those who desire to follow a course of action which represents the life of Christ hear His words, “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me.” [Mark 8:34.] 15LtMs, Lt 106, 1900, par. 9

God help His servants to cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils. They have trusted in human help until they stand under the displeasure of God. 15LtMs, Lt 106, 1900, par. 10

*****

Right principles are to be strenuously maintained by the people who claim to be the chosen of God. The work in our institutions is to be as open as the day. The people have a perfect right to know what is done in these institutions. They are not to be left in ignorance as to how the money they donate to the cause of God is appropriated. And those in positions of responsibility in our institutions are not to grasp the highest wages. Do not repeat the experience of the last fifteen years. Christ says, “Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” [Matthew 11:29, 30.] That which makes the burden so grievously heavy is when we meet the influence of men who have an intense desire to be original, to bring in a new order of things. Men who know little of practical godliness and true Christian service have been placed first as leaders. 15LtMs, Lt 106, 1900, par. 11

*****

Christ’s atonement includes the whole human family. No one, high or low, rich or poor, free or bond, has been left out of the plan of redemption. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” [John 3:16.] The duty of God’s stewards is to represent Christ, to stimulate men to rise from the atmosphere of worldliness to the pure atmosphere of heaven. Men and women need to realize day by day that Christ is their Pattern. They are to follow His footsteps. He says, “Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.” [Matthew 11:29.] This is the great practical lesson which is to be thoroughly and intelligently learned. 15LtMs, Lt 106, 1900, par. 12