Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 19 (1904)

Lt 23, 1904

Kellogg, J. H.

“Elmshaven,” St. Helena, California

December 1903

This letter is published in entirety in SpM 341-343. +^Note

Dr. J. H. Kellogg
Battle Creek, Michigan

My dear Brother,—

I praise the Lord for the letters that I have recently received from you. I greatly desire that you may now make a thorough work of repentance for time and for eternity. So long have you been retrograding toward union with the world, that it is difficult for you to see where you might now be standing, had you constantly advanced heavenward. You have lost many blessings because you have not felt your need of light. 19LtMs, Lt 23, 1904, par. 1

If your faith in the Word of God is strengthened; if you will fully accept the truths that have called us out of the world and made us a people denominated by the Lord as His peculiar treasure; if you will unite with your brethren in standing by the old landmarks, then there will be unity. But if you remain in unbelief, unsettled as to the true foundation of faith, there can be no hope of any more unity in the future than there has been in the past. 19LtMs, Lt 23, 1904, par. 2

I am instructed to say that you need to be taught the first principles of present truth. You have not believed the messages that God has given for this time. Think you that while you remain in doubt and unbelief, you can be fully united with those who have stood for the truth as it is in Jesus, and who have accepted the light that God has given to us as a people? 19LtMs, Lt 23, 1904, par. 3

Ask yourself candidly whether you are sound in the faith. Do all in your power to come into unity with God and with your brethren. As a people, we cannot receive the full measure of the blessing of God, while some who occupy leading positions are working against the truth that for years we have held sacred, and obedience to which has brought us what success we have had. 19LtMs, Lt 23, 1904, par. 4

“Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write: These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks: I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil; and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars; and hast borne, and hast patience, and for My name’s sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” [Revelation 2:1-4.] 19LtMs, Lt 23, 1904, par. 5

If you had kept the faith, you would not have left your first love, and you would not have brought yourself into the unsettled condition in which you have been for years. 19LtMs, Lt 23, 1904, par. 6

“And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write: These things saith He that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars: I know thy works that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” [Revelation 3:1, 2.] 19LtMs, Lt 23, 1904, par. 7

These words point out your true spiritual condition. The warning comes: “Dr. Kellogg is not a converted man. Some of his associate physicians are so deceived by Satan that they are unable to distinguish between the true and the genuine, the false and the deceptive. They stand directly in his way, hindering him from making a thorough work of repentance.” 19LtMs, Lt 23, 1904, par. 8

You need an entire change of heart before you can discern the error into which you have fallen. You have listened to the archdeceiver. You do not discern where the sophistries you have received will lead. Read carefully the fifth chapter of Hebrews. You have no time to lose. The angel of God calls, “Close up the ranks. John H. Kellogg, come into line.” 19LtMs, Lt 23, 1904, par. 9

A Bible institute should be held in some place where medical missionary workers and ministers may meet together to study the Scriptures. Let the Bible explain its own statements. Accept it just as it reads, without twisting the words to suit human ideas. “What is the chaff to the wheat?” [Jeremiah 23:28.] 19LtMs, Lt 23, 1904, par. 10

Teach All Nations

The gospel commission as recorded in Matthew was given not only to the disciples of Christ who were then living, but to all who should afterward receive Him. Upon every one who accepts Him as a personal Saviour is placed the burden of proclaiming the gospel message. Will the church today refuse to recognize its obligation to do the work so plainly outlined in the words: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” [Matthew 28:19, 20.] Were it not for the promise of Christ’s presence, we might well draw back. But He says, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” [Verse 20.] 19LtMs, Lt 23, 1904, par. 11

This work is not to be confined to a few. The proclamation of the gospel is not to be limited to one city or to one state. “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.” [Verse 19.] 19LtMs, Lt 23, 1904, par. 12

God is in earnest with His people. He calls upon them to overcome the spirit of covetousness. We must be careful not to tie up the Lord’s means by establishing institutions larger than is consistent with the plan of God. It is His purpose that facilities shall be provided for the advancement of His work in all parts of the world. Large sums of money are not to be invested in one or two places. The erection of many buildings in one place reveals a selfish outlay of means. Thus the money brought into the treasury by the liberality of God’s people is absorbed in one place by those having charge of the work in that place. When men are freed from selfishness, they will not make such earnest efforts to grasp all that they possibly can for the place in which they are most interested. They will be willing to sacrifice their ambitions in order that other places may receive a share of the means available for the advancement of God’s work. 19LtMs, Lt 23, 1904, par. 13

Christ Our Only Hope.

As we see the condition of mankind today, the question arises in the minds of some, Is man by nature totally and wholly depraved? Is he hopelessly ruined? 19LtMs, Lt 23, 1904, par. 14

Men have sold themselves to the enemy of all righteousness. They cannot redeem themselves. Of themselves they can do no good thing. But there is a way of escape. When man sinned, Christ offered to stand as his substitute and surety, in order to provide a way whereby the guilty race might return to loyalty. He took humanity and passed over the ground where Adam stumbled and fell. Without swerving from His allegiance, He met the temptations wherewith man is beset. 19LtMs, Lt 23, 1904, par. 15

Only by accepting Christ as a personal Saviour can human beings be uplifted. Beware of any theory that would lead men to look for salvation from any other source than that pointed out in the Word. Only through Christ can men sunken in sin and degradation be led to a higher life. Theories that do not recognize the atonement that has been made for sin, and the work that the Holy Spirit is to do in the hearts of human beings, are powerless to save. 19LtMs, Lt 23, 1904, par. 16

Man’s pride would lead him to seek for salvation in some other way than that devised by God. He is unwilling to be accounted as nothing, unwilling to recognize Christ as the only One who can save to the uttermost. To this pride Satan appealed in the temptation that he brought to our first parents. “Ye shall be as gods: ye shall not surely die,” he said. [Genesis 3:4, 5.] And by a belief of his words, they placed themselves on his side. 19LtMs, Lt 23, 1904, par. 17

Of Christ it is written, “There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” [Acts 4:12.] “In all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.” [Hebrews 2:17, 18.] 19LtMs, Lt 23, 1904, par. 18