Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Ms 159, 1903

A Message to Leading Physicians

NP

September 4, 1903 [typed]

Portions of this manuscript are published in UL 261; 5BC 1146; 6BC 1118.

I have words to address to those who occupy responsible positions as physicians. My brethren, the Lord has committed to each of you a work, which is plainly outlined in His Word. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 1

Those who are connected with the Sanitarium at Battle Creek have the evidence that the testimonies of the Spirit of God that were borne by me during the General Conference of 1901 were of God. In giving the message that came to you, I in no way sought to exalt myself. I have no evidence that any time I have done this; but, as I am not at liberty to write to Dr. Kellogg, I address these words of instruction to you. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 2

My brethren, in the name of the Lord, I say to you, Be careful how you voice the words and practice the methods of Dr. J. H. Kellogg; be careful how you accept the version that he gives of the testimonies that God has revealed to me for His people. God’s work and Dr. Kellogg’s work are not in harmony; and if you sustain all his propositions, as you are in danger of doing, the Lord God of heaven will not be pleased with you. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 3

I will not have any controversy with the doctor, for his words are often unreliable, because the enemy works upon his imagination, and he suggests things that are untrue. Those who hear these statements are liable to accept as true many things that will separate them from the great Medical Director, if they carry these things out in practice. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 4

The Lord Jesus was displeased with Dr. Kellogg’s course of action at the Oakland General Conference. On this occasion the heavenly messengers were viewing all that took place. The doctor’s words and deportment were of a character to bring no glory to God. Our brother is not led by the Spirit of God. His threats that he would bring the law to bear upon those who crossed his track—that he would do this, or that—revealed that he was in the same spiritual condition as are those to whom the message to the Laodicean church is addressed—“neither cold nor hot.” And to all such the Lord gives the warning, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth. ... Be zealous therefore, and repent.” [Revelation 3:16, 19.] 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 5

I passed through a painful experience in Oakland. The Lord instructed me that I was to have no words with Dr. Kellogg, lest I give him occasion to misinterpret me, and to present my words in a false light to you, who are so much in need of clear discernment in order that you may avoid betraying sacred trusts and walking contrary to God. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 6

The showing in Battle Creek is not after the likeness of the divine. In this letter I will not specify details. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 7

What is the sin against the Holy Ghost? The first three messages that I bore during the last General Conference in Battle Creek—messages that bore unmistakable evidence of being given under the inspiration of the Spirit of God—were referred to in the presence of Dr. Kellogg. His response was, “I gave her that inspiration.” 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 8

These words are written in the books of heaven. I mention them to you, because the Doctor may have spoken them to you and to others. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 9

Before I bore these messages during that Conference, I had no words with Dr. Kellogg, excepting once, when I inquired if certain ones were attending the meeting. I avoided talking with him in regard to matters; I did not want to give anyone an opportunity to speak with me; for I had a special message to bear. Until these messages had been borne, not one syllable in regard to these matters passed between Dr. Kellogg and myself. Afterward, I spoke to him regarding some points, but even on this occasion very few words passed between us. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 10

At one time during the Conference, the Doctor came into my room and told me that during one of my talks, his brother Will K. Kellogg sat by his side and was deeply moved by what I was saying. The tears were flowing freely, and he said to his brother, “John, she speaks by the inspiration of the Spirit of God; she speaks as one having authority from God.” And as the Doctor told me this, he said, “My own heart was thrilled by the power of God. His Spirit sustained you in speaking as you did.” 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 11

But the enemy, he who worked upon the minds of the angels in heaven to create disloyalty, has been working upon human minds. The Lord has represented to me that Satan links up with Dr. Kellogg and imbues him with evil devisings. Our erring brother will suggest many things that have not the inspiration or the sanction of the Holy Spirit of God; and I desire that you—physicians upon whom important responsibilities rest—shall be men of clear spiritual discernment, and that you shall not act like blind men. I desire that you shall be on guard: for Dr. Kellogg’s course is not straightforward. God has represented these matters to me. There are matters that we do not now discern, that will soon break upon us; and I am anxious that none shall be deceived. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 12

The Lord has given great light to Dr. Kellogg; but much of this light has never come to you. Warning after warning has been sent to him. Notwithstanding all this, he is still urging that our brethren sign the documents that he has formulated with the assistance of lawyers upon whom he is leaning. To bring any such thing into the cause of God in these last days is to counterwork the work of the Lord. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 13

I have been instructed that the crowd of people who patronize the Sanitarium at Battle Creek is a snare to the physicians and the nurses there and, in the end, will result in the loss of souls. This institution is not doing the work that God designs should be done in our sanitariums—the work of giving the last message of mercy to a deceived, deluded world that must meet Jehovah over His broken law. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 14

Every satanic agency is now at work with power from beneath. The day of death is not set before us in the Word as the great constraining motive impelling us to be wide-awake and determined in improving our opportunities. What motive does God present in His Word to all His workers—to ministers and to gospel medical missionaries?—“The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly.” [Zephaniah 1:14.] And before the coming of this last great day, we are to proclaim the last message of mercy to a fallen world, to prepare men and women for the Lord’s second coming. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 15

Everything that can be devised by the enemy to occupy the mind, and to divert attention from this message, will be devised. But we are to go forward in the proclamation of the Word of the Lord. The end of all things is at hand. The coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, is very near. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 16

At this time, when wickedness is at its height, ministers of the gospel are crying, “Peace and safety.” Upon the minds of those who are thus set at rest, “sudden destruction cometh.” [1 Thessalonians 5:3.] Unprepared, they shall not escape. Christ will not come with a still, small voice when He comes to bring hope and peace and joy to those who have proved faithful. In the day of His coming, the last great trumpet is heard, and there is a terrible shaking of earth and heaven. The whole earth, from the loftiest mountains to the deepest mines, will hear. Everything will be penetrated by fire. The tainted atmosphere will be cleansed by fire. The fire having fulfilled its mission, the dead that have been laid away in the grave will come forth—some to the resurrection of life, to be caught up to meet their Lord in the air; and some to behold the coming of Him whom they have despised, and whom they now recognize as the judge of all the earth. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 17

All the righteous are untouched by the flames. They can walk through the fire, as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked in the midst of the furnace heated seven times [hotter] than it was wont to be heated. The Hebrew worthies could not be consumed because the form of the fourth, the Son of God, was with them. So in the day of the coming of the Lord, smoke and flame will be powerless to harm the righteous. Those who are united with the Lord will escape unscathed. Earthquakes, hurricanes, flame, and flood cannot injure those who are prepared to meet their Saviour in peace. But those who rejected our Saviour, and scourged and crucified Him, will be among those who will be raised from the dead to behold His coming in the clouds of heaven, attended by the heavenly host—ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 18

In speaking of the flood in Noah’s day, the apostle Peter declares: “Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water perished: but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. ... The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” [2 Peter 3:6, 7, 10.] 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 19

This scene has been presented before me as fully as I could bear to behold it. Then the scene has changed, and scenes of things existing at the present time have passed before me. In these scenes I have beheld men who have been placed in positions of trust as watchmen, as financiers in the work of God, molding and fashioning their works after a worldly model which God condemns. The medical missionary work is sick and needs the power of the great Healer before men can accomplish the work in harmony with the name. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 20

I have much more instruction that I desire to write out in regard to these points and hope to find time soon to do so. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 21

“The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly.” [Zephaniah 1:14.] The Lord Jesus has given to every man his individual work. He who takes upon himself wonderful responsibilities that God has not placed upon him will feel that he must draw to his work all the resources that he can possibly gather to carry out his plans, irrespective of the great work that is to be done in our world by other men who are in God’s service. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 22

Christ gave His life for the salvation of the world, not one locality. No one place is to be worked over and over again, in order that those in that place may make a great showing, while the other parts of God’s world are left barren and unworked. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 23

Christ’s sacrifice for the salvation of the world is full of meaning. God’s only begotten Son gave Himself for us—a fallen order of beings. He must stand as the propitiation not only for our sins, but for the sins of the whole world. He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He Himself bore our sins. As John the Baptist was baptizing converts in the waters of Jordan, he beheld Jesus in the distance, coming toward him; and as the Saviour approached the banks of the river, John extended both his arms to Him, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” [John 1:29.] 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 24

“Christ also hath loved us,” writes Paul, “and hath given Himself for an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor.” [Ephesians 5:2.] This is the oblation of a life-gift in our behalf, that we may be all that He desires us to be—representatives of Him, expressing the fragrance of His character, His own pure thoughts, His divine attributes as manifested in His sanctified human life, in order that others may behold Him in His human form, and, comprehending God’s wonderful design, be led to desire to be like Christ—pure, undefiled, wholly acceptable to God, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 25

Christ calls for service altogether different from that which is given Him. Men in positions of responsibility should, through the power of the Holy Spirit, reveal the Redeemer much more clearly to the world than they have revealed Him. The infinite God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son a sacrifice for us, in order that, receiving Him in faith and practicing His virtues, we should not perish, but have everlasting life. My brethren, how do you suppose He regards the lack of spiritual enthusiasm manifested over the record of the great sacrificial offering made for our individual salvation? 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 26

All human ambition, all boasting, is to be laid in the dust. Self, sinful self, is to be abased, not exalted. By holiness to God in the daily life here below, we are to manifest the Christlife. The corrupt nature is to become pure and undefiled; subdued, not exalted. We are to be humble, faithful men and women. Never are we to sit upon the judgment seat. God demands that His representatives shall be pure vessels, revealing the beauty of sanctified character. The channel is always to remain unobstructed, that the Holy Spirit may have free course; otherwise the teacher and the writer will gloss over the work that must be done with the natural man in order to perfect Christian character; and he will present his own imperfections in such a way that he makes of none effect God’s truth, which is as steadfast as the eternal throne. And while God calls upon all His watchmen to lift the danger signal, at the same time He presents before them the life character of the Saviour as an example of what they must be and do in order to save their souls. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 27

Concerning His disciples, Christ prayed, “Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy word is truth.” [John 17:17.] A pleasant, self-satisfied feeling is not an evidence of sanctification. A faithful record is kept of all the acts of the children of men. Nothing can be concealed from the eye of the High and Holy One, who inhabiteth eternity. Some make Christ ashamed by their course of devising, planning, scheming. God does not approve of their conduct; for the Lord Jesus is not honored by their spirit and their works. They forget the words of the apostle: “We are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.” [1 Corinthians 4:9.] 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 28

In consequence of the unfaithful lives of men who adorn not the doctrine of Christ our Saviour, Bible truth is blasphemed. My soul is grieved night after night, and day after day, as I view the present situation. 18LtMs, Ms 159, 1903, par. 29