Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 15 (1900)

Lt 9, 1900

Brethren in Responsible Positions in the Review and Herald Office

Sanitarium Farm, Hornsby Junction, New South Wales, Australia

January 16, 1900

Previously unpublished. +^Note

To My Brethren in Responsible Positions in the Review and Herald Office:

Letters have come to me for further explanation regarding your duty. I cannot give you any clearer definition of your duty than the Lord has given me, which I have already given you. When you come out of your confusion, it will not be because you have had greater light and more definite particulars. 15LtMs, Lt 9, 1900, par. 1

Those who do not care to practice a “Thus saith the Lord”—in regard to the robbery which God has declared to you, His stewards, has been practiced—will never have any clearer understanding. This robbery has been a most unjust thing in God’s sight. He calls it misappropriation of means. By the most earnest appeals, funds for the Southern field were raised from the people. But the money never reached the field for which it was intended. 15LtMs, Lt 9, 1900, par. 2

The Lord accepts no excuse in this matter. He will not vindicate one of the actions which kept back means from the destitute Southern field. But much has been said in reference to this, and I will now leave the agents in this work with the Lord. It is not evidence that they need. They do not need more light to shine upon their actions. More evidence would have no effect. 15LtMs, Lt 9, 1900, par. 3

God sets the councils of men at naught. Your conclusions are not pure and clean and sound before Him. “The Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him; he also will hear their cry, and will save them. The Lord preserveth all them that love him; but all the wicked will he destroy.” [Psalm 145:17-20.] “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.” [Psalm 146:3.] 15LtMs, Lt 9, 1900, par. 4

“Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God; which made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that therein is; which keepeth truth forever; which executeth judgment for the oppressed; which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth the prisoners; the Lord openeth the eyes of the blind; the Lord raiseth up the bowed down; the Lord loveth the righteous; the Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and the widow; but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.” [Verses 5-9.] 15LtMs, Lt 9, 1900, par. 5

God declares, “Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh.” [Proverbs 1:24-26.] 15LtMs, Lt 9, 1900, par. 6

I have no words with which I can make matters plain to you. I see from the light given me by God that there is no way whereby you may be made to comprehend. When Christ was upon this earth He witnessed against the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done, saying, “Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. ... And thou Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell; for if the mighty works which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee.” [Matthew 11:21, 23, 24.] 15LtMs, Lt 9, 1900, par. 7

These words are applicable to Battle Creek. The moral transformation that is necessary has not been going on there. The need of righteousness and justice has not been realized. The perpetuating of wrong principles in the face of the clearest light, the covering over of injustice and wrong judgment, has been so long carried on that God is wearied with you. You have no time to seek the Lord, no time to correct and redeem the wrongs of the past. 15LtMs, Lt 9, 1900, par. 8

Amid the abounding of Israel’s sin, Christ recognized the grace of God. “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” [John 1:11, 12.] He declared, “My meat is to do the will of my Father, and to finish his work.” [John 4:34.] At the time of His rejection, He said, “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father; and no man knoweth the Son but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.” [Matthew 11:25-27.] Man’s rejection of God did not impair Christ’s confidence in His Father. 15LtMs, Lt 9, 1900, par. 9

Whatever course those in positions of trust may pursue, the principles of truth and righteousness are ever the same. The law of God holds its dignity and power of control. The bridging over of uncorrected wrongs, by the repetition of the same wrongs, leads men in their blindness to do wonderfully strange things. A species of madness seems to come upon them. God cannot pour the healing, restoring current of His power in healthfulness upon men who will not appreciate it. They know not what spirit they are of. God says of them, They will not believe My words, which are eternal life to those who believe. They will not eat of My flesh, they will not drink of My blood. They will not believe the words of My servants. I tell you plainly that I have no explanation to make. 15LtMs, Lt 9, 1900, par. 10

To the brother who opened the letter which I wrote to [Captain] Norman, I would say, I have no objection to every word of it being printed. Then let the particulars of the whole matter be stated. Why should I not credit the statements of my brethren who were supposed to be under the influence of the Holy Spirit? There certainly seemed to be genuine evidence given, and I wrote according to this evidence, supposing that there was no deception. But after the letter had been sent, I said to someone, “I am impressed that that man is a fraud. Our people are under a deception.” That impression urged itself upon me, and then I began to wonder what had become of my letter. 15LtMs, Lt 9, 1900, par. 11

Truth, integrity, uncorrupted judgment, would have returned the communication to me untampered with. That it has been tampered with is only a piece of the same work that has made men so blind that they sell themselves and their honor in a cheap market. 15LtMs, Lt 9, 1900, par. 12

I would have no objection to anyone knowing the contents of that letter. I think that it would be best to publish it, for impressions have been made which are unfavorable to the work God has entrusted to me. Certainly there is opportunity to gain from that letter a clear impression of the work being done here, which needed means to carry it forward, rather than an impression that the work given me was not of God, because the Lord did not show me the fraud. 15LtMs, Lt 9, 1900, par. 13

I understand it all now. I see that by this Norman case the Lord tested and proved men, to see what they would do under temptation. If the money promised had been given to the various objects specified, more harm than good would have been done to our people. Until they saw things clearly, all explanation would have been as darkness. 15LtMs, Lt 9, 1900, par. 14

I leave the matter right here. I was not surprised that the letter had been opened by those who had no moral right to read one word of it. But as the wrong has been fully confessed, I just as freely forgive. The impression made upon the mind of the one who read the letter was not to his advantage or to mine. Evidence is here given him that when men depart from a straightforward course of action, there comes a blindness, an incapacity to comprehend righteousness, justice, and correct principles. That so many such transactions have taken place is evidence that God will not work those whose estimate of righteousness is so low. 15LtMs, Lt 9, 1900, par. 15

I shall not withhold any light given me by God for the managers, unless for some reason I am restrained. But it will not be of the least use for my testimonies to be given to those who do not believe that they come from God. Therefore I shall not burden those who have had light from the Lord, but have refused it as a strange thing. The only hope for those in responsible places is to fall on the Rock and be broken. The Lord will then be able to make them vessels unto honor. But if the Rock falls on them, it will grind them to powder. I feel deeply over the matters that seem so incurable. May the Lord lead you to realize that these things must change before the Holy Spirit can work among you. 15LtMs, Lt 9, 1900, par. 16

God’s promises to believers, instead of leading them to go carelessly on in sin, inspire them with an intense, earnest desire to make thorough work in repentance that needeth not to be repented of. In the day of trial no surface work will stand. Only that faith which works by love and purifies the soul even as Christ is pure is acceptable to God. The difference between worldly, natural sorrow and godly sorrow is that one has respect to the creature. The other has the fear of God in view. One tends to inaction, complaining, murmuring, unreconciliation, and a disregard of a “Thus saith the Lord.” The other leads to obedience, to persevering effort under difficulties. The mind is filled with an earnest seeking of the Lord, with a great fear and dread of repeating the mistakes which God has condemned. There is a forsaking of every false way and a building upon the sure foundation, Jesus Christ. 15LtMs, Lt 9, 1900, par. 17