Letters to Physicians and Ministers

Christ the Medium of Prayer and Blessing

Balaclava, Victoria, Australia,

March 25, 1898.

To a Sanitarium Physician:

My Dear Brother,

I have just received your letters. I see that you are having a close battle financially. I am so glad that you can heed the encouragement in the words, “Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me.” Isaiah 27:5. Let us have faith in God. Let us put our trust in Him. He understands all about the situation in which we are placed, and He will work in our behalf. He is honored when we trust in Him, bringing to Him all our perplexities. “Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name,” Christ says, “that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” John 14:13. God's appointments and grants in our behalf are without limit. The throne of grace itself is occupied by One who permits us to call Him Father. SpTB01 13.1

“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. Jehovah did not deem the plan of salvation complete while invested only with His love. He has placed at His altar an Advocate clothed in our nature. As our intercessor, Christ's office-work is to introduce us to God as His sons and daughters. He intercedes in behalf of those who receive Him. With His own blood He has paid their ransom. By virtue of His merits, He gives them power to become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. And the Father demonstrates His infinite love for Christ by receiving and welcoming Christ's friends as His friends. He is satisfied with the atonement made. He is glorified by the incarnation, the life, death, and mediation of His Son. SpTB01 13.2

In Christ's name our petitions ascend to the Father. He intercedes in our behalf, and the Father lays open all the treasures of His grace for our appropriation, for us to enjoy and impart to others. “Ask in My name,” Christ says. “I do not say that I will pray the Father for you; for the Father Himself loveth you. Make use of My name. This will give your prayers efficiency, and the Father will give you the riches of His grace. Wherefore ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” SpTB01 14.1

Christ is the connecting link between God and man. He has promised His personal intercession. He places the whole virtue of His righteousness on the side of the suppliant. He pleads for man, and man, in need of divine help, pleads for himself in the presence of God, using the influence of the One who gave His life for the life of the world. As we acknowledge before God our appreciation of Christ's merits, fragrance is given to our intercessions. As we approach God through the virtue of the Redeemer's merits, Christ places us close by His side, encircling us with His human arm, while with His divine arm He grasps the throne of the Infinite. He puts His merits, as sweet incense, in the censer in our hands, in order to encourage our petitions. He promises to hear and answer our supplications. SpTB01 14.2

Yes; Christ has become the medium of prayer between man and God. He has also become the medium of blessing between God and man. He has united divinity with humanity. Men are to co-operate with Him for the salvation of their own souls, and then make earnest, persevering efforts to save those who are ready to die. SpTB01 14.3

We must all work now, while the day lasts; for the night cometh, in which no man can work. I am of good courage in the Lord. There are times when I am shown distinctly that there exists in our churches a state of things that will not help but hinder souls. Then I have hours, and sometimes days, of intense anguish. Many of those who have a knowledge of the truth do not obey the words of God. Their influence is no better than the influence of worldlings. They talk like the world and act like the world. O, how my heart aches as I think of how the Saviour is put to shame by their unchristlike behavior! But after the agony is past, I feel like working harder than ever to restore the poor souls, that they may reveal the image of God. SpTB01 15.1

*****

Pray, yes, pray with unshaken faith and trust. The Angel of the Covenant, even our Lord Jesus Christ, is the Mediator who secures the acceptance of the prayers of His believing ones. SpTB01 15.2