Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 20 (1905)

Ms 86, 1905

The Washington Sanitarium

St. Helena, California

July 14, 1905

Portions of this manuscript are published in 1MCP 11; 2MCP 713; 2MR 53.

To the Officers of the General Conference and the Managing Boards of the Washington Sanitarium and the Training College,— 20LtMs, Ms 86, 1905, par. 1

From the light that God has given me, I know that the sanitarium building should be the next one erected on the school and sanitarium property. As quickly as possible this institution should be built and put in running order. Let no excuses be made as to why this should not be done. The matter was presented to me in this way: The school buildings were to be erected and the school put in running order, but we were not to wait until everything was done that could be done before work on the sanitarium should be begun. 20LtMs, Ms 86, 1905, par. 2

This is in accordance with the statements which I have made before our people, that the school buildings should be put in order to do acceptable work, and that there should be no delay in hastening forward the sanitarium building as the next essential improvement to be made on the ground. 20LtMs, Ms 86, 1905, par. 3

I do not feel at liberty to state all the reasons why this should be done, but I know that the work on the sanitarium building should be begun as soon as satisfactory designs can be secured. Let the students help to put up the buildings. Obtain the necessary workers, and let the work be started as soon [as] consistent. The school buildings were needed, and it was right that they should receive the first attention; but all that it is necessary to do on these buildings need not be done now, before work on the sanitarium building is begun. 20LtMs, Ms 86, 1905, par. 4

The putting up of the sanitarium building is the work that should now receive attention. The school buildings were erected in order that the youth who were to take part in building the sanitarium might be properly cared for while they were gaining an education. The one who has charge of these youth is to learn daily from the great Teacher. Sanctified wisdom is needed by the workers. There is need of men of capability. Many youth may take part in various lines of work if they will wear the yoke of Christ. 20LtMs, Ms 86, 1905, par. 5

We have seen the school buildings; they are an object lesson of how our work should be done. Now we must advance another step by putting up the main building of the sanitarium. This institution will be needed in connection with the school in the education of students. It would be a great mistake to leave the sanitarium till the last. Let a strong force be organized and put to work in the erection of the sanitarium. Let the best designs be followed, and make everything as complete as possible with the means allotted to the work. It will be for the best interest of the sanitarium to plan for the erection, later on, of several small cottages. These cottages will be a great blessing in many respects. Patients will come who will need greater quiet than can be obtained in a large building. Those who are too sick to go up and down stairs, even in an elevator, and who cannot bear the opening and shutting of doors will gain a great blessing from the quiet of these cottages. 20LtMs, Ms 86, 1905, par. 6

The school and the sanitarium should be closely united in their work. The one aim of the work done in both institutions should be the saving of souls. What is truth, Bible truth? What does it comprehend? In our institutions these questions are to be answered. “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” [Matthew 16:24.] This is the true higher education. The students are to be taught to carry a burden for the souls for whom Christ has given His life. The teachers in the college should be prepared to give health talks before the students. 20LtMs, Ms 86, 1905, par. 7

We are to be on guard against Satan’s deceptive arts. He will take possession of human bodies and make men and women sick. Then he will suddenly cease to exercise his evil power, and it will be proclaimed that a miracle has been wrought. We need now to have a true understanding of the power of Jesus Christ to save to the uttermost all who come unto Him. How did Christ answer the lawyer’s question, “What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” [Luke 10:25-27.] 20LtMs, Ms 86, 1905, par. 8

“When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the Lord thy God. Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.” [Leviticus 19:9-11.] “All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.” [Revelation 21:8.] 20LtMs, Ms 86, 1905, par. 9

“Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him; the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shalt fear thy God; I am the Lord. Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty; but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor. 20LtMs, Ms 86, 1905, par. 10

“Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people; neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor: I am the Lord. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart; thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord. ... 20LtMs, Ms 86, 1905, par. 11

“Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man; I am the Lord. And if a stranger sojourn with thee, thou shalt not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord thy God. 20LtMs, Ms 86, 1905, par. 12

“Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt. Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the Lord.” [Leviticus 19:13-18, 32-37.] 20LtMs, Ms 86, 1905, par. 13

How explicitly the Lord has laid down the directions that are to guide us in our associations with one another! There is no excuse for any one to misrepresent the character of God. Those who come to our schools to receive an education are to be taught to obey the charge, “Ye shall therefore keep all My statutes, and all My judgments, and do them; that the land whither I bring you to dwell therein spew you not out. And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nations which I cast out before you; for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. But I have said unto you, Ye shall inherit this land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people. ... And ye shall be holy unto Me; for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be Mine.” [Leviticus 20:22-24, 26.] 20LtMs, Ms 86, 1905, par. 14

Men and women are not to study the science of how to take captive the minds of those who associate with them. This is the science that Satan teaches. We are to resist everything of the kind. We are not to tamper with mesmerism and hypnotism—the science of the one lost his first estate, and was cast out of the heavenly courts. 20LtMs, Ms 86, 1905, par. 15

The science of a pure, wholesome, consistent Christian life is obtained by studying the Word of the Lord. This is the highest education that any earthly being can obtain. These are the lessons that the students in our schools are to be taught, that they may come forth with pure thoughts and clean minds and hearts, prepared to ascend the ladder of progress, and to practice the Christian virtues. This is why we wish our schools connected with our sanitariums and our sanitariums with our schools. These institutions are to be conducted in the simplicity of the gospel given in the Old Testament and in the New. 20LtMs, Ms 86, 1905, par. 16

By Him who suffered on the cross of Calvary the invitation is given, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” [Matthew 11:28-30.] We are to live on the plan of addition, as presented in the first chapter of Second Peter. A study of this chapter will bring help and strength and blessing. As we follow on to know the Lord, we shall know that His goings forth are prepared as the morning. We shall be strengthened to meet the foe and to resist his insinuations. There is no eloquence more powerful than the eloquence of the meek, lowly life of the true Christian. 20LtMs, Ms 86, 1905, par. 17