Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 20 (1905)
Lt 227, 1905
Belden, F. E.
“Elmshaven,” St. Helena, California
July 27, 1905
Portions of this letter are published in PM 248. +Note
Frank Belden
My dear Nephew,—
I hear that you have entered into, or intend to enter into, a lawsuit against the managers of the Review and Herald. I wish to tell you that in this you are not guided by the Lord. This move is instigated by evil angels. God has never prompted you to do any such thing. 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 1
It is a fact that you and Captain Eldridge and A. R. Henry exerted an influence that warped the plans of the Review and Herald and brought oppression into the book work. Wrong principles were brought in, which resulted in your separation from the office. That which you are now prepared to charge on to the Review and Herald is largely the result of your own actions. 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 2
The scheme to pay higher wages to a few men, brought in by you and your associates, was entirely contrary to the principles that had heretofore been practiced in the institution. 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 3
This matter has been clearly presented to me. In the assemblies, your voice was the most urgent and determined to carry out the plans for giving a few men higher wages and to pay a low wage to a large number, who worked with just as much fidelity as those claiming higher wages. You and others have violated the principles upon which our work is to be carried forward. You have followed worldly policy plans. This the Lord forbids. You have had a strong determination to follow a course of your own choosing and have made a record of nonsuccess. 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 4
If you had placed your influence under the direction of the Holy Spirit, and used it as a consecrated talent, it would have won souls to Christ. A presentation has been given me of what you could have accomplished if with humble trust in Jesus of Nazareth you had sought to do the work committed to you. If you had kept your heart in the love of the truth, the saving, sanctifying truth of God’s Word; if you had loved God with heart and mind and soul and strength; if you had co-operated with Him in a way that would have made you one with Him, you would have been greatly blessed. You would not have spent time in discussing questions over which the world was contending, but would have kept continually before you this one question, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” [Luke 10:25.] 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 5
What you have needed for years is a heart truly converted. The time spent on unimportant subjects, such as the gold and silver question, was lost. Our time is the Lord’s. You have failed to realize that by spending time and energy on nonessential things, you were robbing the Lord. Your time, your means, your influence should be carefully cherished. God demands of every soul earnest love for Christ, our sin-pardoning Saviour. The actions, the words, the principles advocated are to be such as will reflect the light of truth to souls in the darkness of error. The work in which we engage is to bear the signature of heaven. Thus we reveal our vital connection and communion with Christ. You have but little time in which to prepare for the mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for those who love Him. 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 6
“Let not your heart be troubled,” the Saviour said to His disciples; “ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And whither I go, ye know, and the way ye know.” [John 14:1-4.] 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 7
I entreat you to stop and consider. What do you suppose you will gain by this strange move that you are contemplating? It is the father of lies, the accuser of the brethren, who is prompting you to make this move. Those who have a living connection with Christ will never be found on Satan’s ground. O that you had devoted your past years to God! 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 8
Of Christ it is said, “He shall not strive nor cry, nor cause His voice to be heard in the streets.” [Matthew 12:19; Isaiah 42:2.] He did not proclaim His own merits or enter into controversy or strife. His wise, gracious words and His deeds of mercy revealed a power far above the power of the priests and rulers. His Godlike character made Him the observed of all observers. He could not be hid. A wonderful power was working in the midst of the people, a power that spoke to their hearts and minds. 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 9
Jesus offended the Pharisees by laying out before them the hollowness of their piety and the unscripturalness of their teachings. He often withdrew from the multitude to avoid an outbreak of hostility. On one occasion He withdrew to the borders of Tyre and Sidon. There He entered into a house and would have no man know it. But He could not be hid. A mother with a sick daughter came with an urgent appeal for aid, and He heeded her request and healed her daughter. Christ was the great Medical Missionary. His whole life was a representation of God. 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 10
O Frank, I have desired to help you, but you would not be helped. You have turned from the testimonies God has graciously given you to bring you under the influence of His Spirit. I now have a warning for you. If you do this wicked thing that you are contemplating, it will do much to place you beyond conviction, beyond the repentance that needeth not to be repented of. Stop right where you are. Believe what I tell you regarding what your influence has wrought and its sure effect upon your life and character. Had you allowed the truth to illuminate your heart, you would have had the discernment that is necessary in order to decide between good and evil. 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 11
It is not because the virtues of truth are in you that you magnify the mistakes of others and exalt yourself. Consider what your record will be in that day when the books are opened and every man is judged according to the things written in the books. “The Father,” declares Peter, “judgeth according to every man’s work.” [1 Peter 1:17.] Hour by hour, day by day He sums up the result of our words, our deportment, our influence, measuring our welldoing or our evildoing. 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 12
In that great day when every work passes in review before God, what will your record be? O what is there in your life to bring the overcomer’s reward? O Frank, what record are you making in the heavenly courts? Life with us all should be an earnest effort to gain a worthy end. But you are today filled with conceited deception. Shall Satan succeed in the game that he is playing for your life? Before you take a step further, will you not, for your soul’s sake, consider and retrace your steps? It is not yet too late for wrongs to be righted. “O that thou hadst harkened to My commandments! Then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.” [Isaiah 48:18.] 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 13
My eye has just lighted on the words found in the third chapter of the first epistle of John: “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our hearts condemn us not, God is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things. And whatsoever we ask we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment, That we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment. And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us.” [Verses 18-20, 22-24.] 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 14
I charge you in the name of Christ to withdraw your suit; for you are wounding Christ by dishonoring His cause. Quite as justly could a suit be brought against you for formulating plans that lessened the power of the Review office to do the work that ought to have been done in sustaining missionaries in the field. Consider the fruit of your own doing—the carrying out of plans that spoiled the record of the institution. Your voice has done much to bring about wrong schemes. You have made many pleas for plans that in their outworking robbed the treasury of God. 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 15
The Judge of all the earth is taking a record of the lives of all who claim to be Christians. We are living in the great day of atonement. Now is the time when every one should confess his sins and closely examine his life history. Repent and be converted, and ask pardon of God, that your sins may be blotted out. You have, my dear nephew, a soul to save or to lose. You need an entire renovation of character. Will you not confess your sins and become a child of God. 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 16
O how I have longed to have an opportunity to talk with you. But had you wanted to see me, I think you would have made an effort when I was in Battle Creek. I concluded that you did not wish to see me. 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 17
I do not want you to be lost. I want to meet you and your wife and daughter in the kingdom of God. The world is fast reaching the condition that Christ warned us of. Murder, strife, theft, hatred, robbery, dishonesty are seen on every hand. I do not want my lot to be cast with the enemies of God. 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 18
Sanctification through the truth—sanctification of mind, heart, soul, and strength—this is our only hope. Guilt and iniquity are making this world a hell. There is a heaven to win and a hell to shun. You have a work to do, and it must be done speedily. I want you to be among the redeemed, glorified ones who have on the robe of Christ’s righteousness. 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 19
I leave these words with you, praying that God will lead you to heed them. 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 20
Your aunt. 20LtMs, Lt 227, 1905, par. 21