Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 21 (1906)

Lt 244a, 1906

To My Brethren in Battle Creek

St. Helena, California

June 6, 1906 [typed]

Variant of Lt 244, 1906. Previously unpublished.

To my brethren in Battle Creek:

I have words to speak to all to whom they may apply. I shall go over the ground just as I am led by the Holy Spirit, step by step. There are those who have been duped by men that are linked together to support each other. I could name individuals, but this may not be essential. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 1

I have received a letter from Elder G. C. Tenney. He writes as an honest man, and I believe he has been an honest man. He is now as a man deceived. He should never had gone to Battle Creek the last time he went there. I have had a deep interest in Elder Tenney, and in the past I have regarded him as a man who feared God and kept His commandments. But when he left Australia and linked his interest with the physicians in Battle Creek, he followed his own impulse instead of moving in the counsel of God. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 2

We are living in an age of this earth’s history when men must seek counsel of God, and not be seduced from the truth by men who have no real faith in Christ. Let no one regard it safe to follow human impulse. Brother Tenney has been drawn away from the truth more than he has suspected, and his connection with men in Battle Creek has been to his great injury. The light of his past experience is going out. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 3

There has been an association of men in Battle Creek who today would be standing on the platform of eternal truth had it not been for the production of sentiments in Living Temple that had no foundation in truth. Brother Hiland Butler was an honest, true, Christian man; but he became linked up with men whose influence led him to refuse the counsel of God. He opened his mind and heart to those who were teaching the sophistries of Satan, and as the result, he has been deceived and misled and has become confused. His faith today is leavened with the seducing sentiments of Satan, and he will lose his soul unless he accepts the truth that he cherished in former years. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 4

The same deceptive delusion that has confused Brother Hiland Butler’s mind has exerted a baleful influence in deceiving other minds also. The Lord has been greatly dishonored. Men who have had a genuine experience in times past have acted as men who are dazed, asleep to their danger. The enemy has been sowing tares among the wheat. Men have been faithfully warned of their peril, but they have refused to accept the testimonies of warning and have failed of seeing the dangers surrounding them. Their faith has become no longer assurance. The stealthy work of satanic agencies has come in and spoiled their faith and Christian experience. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 5

Elder A. T. Jones, strong in his own strength, mingled with the men who were out of the way and soon became confused himself in his faith. He has seemed to give no credence to messages I have communicated to him, warning him not to sustain the very ones whom he has sustained. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 6

When it was proposed that the old Battle Creek College should be reopened in order that the helpers of the sanitarium might have many educational advantages, the Lord signified plainly that Battle Creek was not to be made a great educational center, but that the schools in each union conference should be strengthened. The Battle Creek College had been removed for a purpose, and this purpose was not to be thwarted by the plans of men. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 7

Brother A. T. Jones argued that the proposed reopening of the old Battle Creek College was merely a temporary arrangement to meet a seeming necessity. He did not seem to realize that God is able to meet all such necessities. Notwithstanding the cautions I gave him, he went to Battle Creek and helped to carry out this plan of doing a great educational work in Battle Creek. The result of his action has proved decidedly detrimental to the spiritual health of those who have been drawn to Battle Creek. Every one who has united with Elder Jones in this movement will, not long hence, have to meet results—the responsibility for which he will not care to have rest upon his soul. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 8

Had every laborer, to a man, who claimed to believe the testimonies that have stood the test for over half a century, taken his position firmly on the right side of questions that have come up in connection with the Battle Creek Sanitarium during the past few years, the division that exists today would not be seen. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 9

Some have advanced the idea that the Battle Creek Sanitarium was rebuilt in Battle Creek because of counsel given by the General Conference Committee to this effect. Those who make this claim do not take into account the fact that the very one who claimed to believe the testimonies had been receiving many, many testimonies on the necessity of developing new centers in unworked fields—testimonies that plainly indicated the will of God concerning the Battle Creek Sanitarium managers. In the light of these communications, they should have known their duty after the fire. Dr. Kellogg knew that anything I might say in addition to these communications would be in harmony with the instruction I had already communicated to the sanitarium managers through my letters to him. The Lord had plainly declared His own will. But the Doctor took counsel with Brethren Daniells and Prescott, and other men, none of whom had had the advantage of the wonderful flood of light which had been thrown upon the Doctor’s pathway for years. If they had had copies of all the testimonies that had been sent him, they would never have consented to the erection of even a small building in place of those that had burned down. But in their determination to labor in unity with Dr. Kellogg so far as possible without sacrificing principle, they gave their assent to the original plans of rebuilding. Afterward, without their consent, these plans were changed and enlarged upon. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 10

In past years errors have crept into the medical work, and these have resulted in great evil. The Lord has signified that Dr. Kellogg should be guided by divine counsel, and that he should heed the messages God has given him. The Lord instructed me, “You can help him;” but he refused to be helped. And no one else can help him so long as he refused the counsel God has given. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 11

Dr. Kellogg has not been capable of carrying the great responsibilities he so eagerly embraced. Too much commercial work has been mingled with his medical missionary work. His capabilities that should have been developed under God in the work of caring for the sick and of being a physician of the soul, as well as of the body, have, in more recent years, been used largely in the work of launching out in enterprises that necessitated the gathering of many responsibilities that the Lord never intended he should bear. The Chicago work was not in all respects carried on in the right way. Too great an effort was made to feed a large class. Too much money was used in doing slum work. God did not lay upon Dr. Kellogg the responsibility of doing so much of this kind of work. The Lord declared, “He is My physician.” 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 12

There was a work to be done for the poor, as well as for the rich. The gospel was to be preached to all classes, that the richest of the Gentiles might be brought in, as well as the lowliest. Both Jew and Gentile are to be reached by the last message of mercy that is to be given to the world. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 13

In the record of the Acts of the Apostles, we see the disciples of Jesus manifesting a Christlike activity in medical missionary work. All their efforts were put forth in the strength of the divine united with the human. Like a stream, which may be traced back to its source, their medical missionary work was so genuine that it could easily be traced back to the Great Medical Missionary. In the work of the Lord’s agencies, the one Chief Agent is recognized as the real, actuating force. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 14

The medical work in our sanitariums is to be a source of education. The church is to labor in union with Christ. Every worker is to be a partaker of the divine nature and is to be unhindered by disobedience, unbelief, and worldliness. Every talent possible is to be taught and illustrated. Had Christ remained on this earth, He would have been a compassionate Redeemer, a faithful Counselor of each and every one. The Word of God is to be taught in the perfection of the glory that the Word contains—truth, eternal truth, unadulterated with the sophistries of men or of satanic agencies. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 15

The Lord gave to Dr. Kellogg the privilege of carrying forward the same work that He Himself had exemplified in His own life on this earth. The same Holy Spirit that abode in Christ was, by divine promise, to be imparted constantly to every disciple of His. Even Christ, during His ministry, was in His divine-human nature constantly receiving the Holy Spirit and imparting blessings as He went about doing His appointed work. And Christ declared to His disciples: “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” [Acts 1:8.] This is the instruction given to all our medical workers and ministers. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 16

The disciples of Christ were to have a new experience after Pentecost. The promise of the Father now became the promise of the Son. The same Holy Spirit that abode in Christ when He imparted to them the instruction He was constantly receiving was to be the source of their intelligence and the secret of their power in doing the very work that Christ had done. In bearing witness of Him, they were to have a precious experience. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 17

As they accepted their responsibilities, as their testimony identified them with Christ their educator, they were commissioned by Him not to depart from Jerusalem, but to “wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of Me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And He said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 18

“And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.” [Verses 4-11.] 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 19

This is the event we are looking for. Let this first lesson be written in large letters, to be read by all; for this is the key that unlocks all the history that follows and explains all the future lessons. The qualification that was to give the essential evidence that they were Christ’s witnesses was their endowment with the power of the Holy Spirit. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 20

That which Dr. J. H. Kellogg has needed is a knowledge of the science of truth through diligent searching of the Scriptures. I am commissioned to say that all who are enlightened by the Spirit of God must see the unscriptural position that some have taken in attempting to justify their crooked course instead of confessing their sins. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 21

Dr. Kellogg has been in need of wise counselors. I have been looking over the many testimonies that have graciously come to him for the past thirty years and his responses to these communications. He has acknowledged that had he followed out plans which have been interrupted by timely messages of counsel and admonition, these plans would have been attended with failure; and he has expressed great thanksgiving for the gift of God in giving these messages of light that have been coming to the people of God for so many years. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 22

If necessary, the letters of instruction sent him, and his replies, will be placed in print. They may save some souls from making shipwreck of their faith; for they will evidence that some have been departing from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. 21LtMs, Lt 244a, 1906, par. 23