Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Lt 20, 1903

Kress, Brother and Sister [D. H.]

“Elmshaven,” St. Helena, California

January 24, 1903

Portions of this letter are published in HP 179; 7ABC 468-469; 7MR 123-124.

Dear brother and sister Kress,—

I will try to write you a few lines this evening. The question has been raised as to whether Dr. Kress should attend the coming General Conference. This meeting will be but a small one, and I cannot see any light in our brother’s taking so long a journey at this time. The Wahroonga Sanitarium will need him; indeed I cannot see how he can be spared from the work there. As much as I should like to see many of the workers from Australia, I cannot say to them, Drop your work, and come to Conference. Dr. Kress is needed at the Sanitarium. Brother and Sister Burden are needed there also. I think that if Brother Irwin and Brother Salisbury come, Australia will be well represented. 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 1

With regard to the sanitarium work, my advice is that Brother Burden be chosen as manager of the institution. He should not be loaded down with the burden of the health food work. And with regard to the question as to where the health foods should be manufactured, let this be done at Avondale, as it has been in the past, until you have unmistakable evidence that a change will be for the best. 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 2

I wish to tell you, my dear friends, that the work here in America is to be greatly enlarged. So many times there is presented before me the work which ought to have been done in America, but which has not been done, that my soul is very heavily burdened. City after city should have been worked, and if this had been faithfully done, there would have been brought into the truth those who could have gone forth to win other souls to Christ. In every city there should be memorials for God. But the way in which the work has been managed has resulted in a depleted treasury. The lack of effort to plant the standard of truth in the cities of America has brought about a condition of things in which the consuming is larger than the producing; and how the work shall now be carried forward is a difficult problem. 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 3

The field is all ripe for the harvest, but there is no money in the treasury. Calls are coming from Europe for means to advance the work there. From England comes an urgent call for money to help to purchase a building for sanitarium work. We know not how to answer these calls. Unless the work in America is managed in a way different from the way in which it has been managed in the past, we cannot possibly send means in response to the calls for help. 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 4

Oh, my heart aches as there is presented before me the work that might have been done in many places, but which has not been done, because the doing of it demanded money that the treasury could not furnish. And more than this: many of those who claim to believe the truth are merely nominal believers. Their faith will not stand test and trial; unless they are reconverted, they will fall under the deceptions of these last days. 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 5

God’s people require a deeper, more thorough teaching than man can give. Every church member must learn to work. Every one must learn to stand in his lot and place as a burden-bearer. This all must do before they can be rooted and grounded in the truth. There must be cherished in the heart the fixed conviction that the truth for this time is a life-and-death question, not merely a round of ceremonies. We must be filled with a determined purpose to receive power from the Source of all power, that we may impart it to others. Christ must dwell in our hearts by faith. His life must circulate through us, just as the blood circulates through the body as a vitalizing current. 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 6

An occasional glance at God’s Word is not enough. The Word must be planted in the heart, that it may bring forth fruit unto life eternal. Truth abiding in the soul will spread outward, covering with the beauty of holiness the life of the child of God. 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 7

There is absolutely no safeguard against evil but truth. No man can stand firm for right in whose heart the truth does not abide. There is only one power that can make and keep us steadfast—the power of God, imparted to us through the grace of Christ. Self must be conquered by the truth, else Satan will be victorious. 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 8

It is the humble, patient, Godlike worker who will have something to show for his labors. It is not the man himself that makes the doing of the work acceptable to God. It is his earnest efforts to work out the will of God, which he has studied and intelligently accepted as his authority. 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 9

What is the ransom that was paid to preserve, in the deliverance of the transgressor, the honor of Eternal Justice? An infinite sacrifice, even the precious blood of the Son of God. To save the race from ruin, Christ became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. “Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation, received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ; as of a lamb without blemish and without spot; who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by Him do believe in God, that raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.” [1 Peter 1:18-21.] 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 10

What right has Christ to take the captives out of Satan’s hands? The right of having made a sacrifice that satisfies the principles of justice by which the kingdom of heaven is governed. On the cross of Calvary He paid the redemption price of the race. And thus He gained the right to rescue the captives from the grasp of the great deceiver who, by a lie framed against the government of God, caused the fall of man [] who thus forfeited all claim to be called a loyal subject of God’s kingdom. 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 11

Satan refused to let his captives go. He held them as his subjects because of their belief of his lie. He had thus become their jailor. But he had no right to demand that a price be paid for them; because he had not obtained possession of them by lawful conquest, but under false pretenses. 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 12

God, being the creditor, had a right to make any provision for the redemption of human beings. Justice demanded that a certain price be paid. The Son of God was the only One who could pay this price. He volunteered to come to this earth and pass over the ground where Adam fell. He came as the redeemer of the lost race to conquer the wily foe, and by His steadfast allegiance to right to save all who should accept Him as their Saviour. 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 13

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. ... And 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. ... And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.” “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 1:1-4, 14, 16, 12.] 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 14

“Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow in His steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth; who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, he threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously; who His own self bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed.” [1 Peter 2:21-24.] 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 15

“God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” [2 Corinthians 5:19-21.] 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 16

“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.] 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 17

“I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn unto David My servant, Thy seed will I establish forever and build up Thy throne to all generations.” [Psalm 89:3, 4.] God entered into a covenant to deliver the beings He had created. In this covenant both heaven and earth are concerned. 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 18

After all that has been done for the race, how, think you, does God look upon the world? How does He regard the beings whose salvation from irretrievable ruin cost Himself and His only begotten Son so much? Will those who have learned of the great price paid for their salvation, and who claim to have received Christ as their Saviour, pass by with indifference those who are perishing without God and without hope? This is the word that comes to the people of God today, “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.” [Isaiah 54:2, 3.] 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 19

A word further in regard to your work in the Sanitarium. You will probably have to begin small. In all financial matters, economy will have to be the rule. The work will be uphill work, but God will bless you as you strive to make the institution what He desires it to be. Remember that it is to save the souls as well as the bodies of men and women, that at the cost of great sacrifice and much taxing labor, sanitariums are established. 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 20

You may have to brave the unbelief of men and women who have become hardened in guilt. Be merciful; but never lower the standard one inch. In word and example show the tempted ones how to obtain the victory over sin. 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 21

I would warn you again, Dr. Kress, not to come to America without plain evidence that it is your duty to do this. I know that you are needed where you are. 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 22

May the Lord bless you and your wife and sanctify you to His service, and may He help you to walk and work in humble faith, with thankful, contrite hearts, is the prayer of 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 23

Your sister in Christ Jesus. 18LtMs, Lt 20, 1903, par. 24