Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Lt 41, 1903

Braucht, F. E.

“Elmshaven,” St. Helena, California

February 24, 1903

Portions of this letter are published in MM 47-48; UL 69.

Dr. F. E. Braucht

My dear Brother,—

There is need for every physician closely and critically to examine himself. What is his religious experience? Does he allow self to rule? Does he make his own wishes and desires supreme? Does he keep the glory of God ever before him? Is he learning daily of Jesus? If this is your experience, those with whom you are connected will be led nearer to the Saviour. Why?—Because you are constantly beholding Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. You will not need to try to shine. You will not be able to help shining. As you behold Jesus, His brightness comes into your life. In your words there is elevated thought and sanctified intelligence. Those with whom you associate take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus and have learned of Him, for you reflect His image. You have esteemed His words more than your necessary food. You have sat at His feet and learned of Him. Your words and works testify to your union with Christ. 18LtMs, Lt 41, 1903, par. 1

I wish to say that there is danger of our physicians’ taking themselves into their own hands, thinking that they understand best what they should do. They think that those who offer them counsel do not understand their capabilities or appreciate their value. This is the stumbling stone over which some, at least, have fallen. You are not beyond the temptation of thinking that you can do better work alone than when linked up with your brethren. The very ones who think this are the ones who need the companionship and help of a fellow laborer. 18LtMs, Lt 41, 1903, par. 2

My brother, the Lord needs your help in His work. Will you not be His helping hand? It would be a serious mistake for you to accept a worldly position, where it would not be possible for you to do the medical missionary work that God desires you to do. Do not make this mistake. Place yourself under the guidance of the greatest Medical Missionary the world has ever known. Under His direction you will gain increased capabilities for doing His work. 18LtMs, Lt 41, 1903, par. 3

The Lord’s people are to testify, by Christlike lives, that God has a people on the earth who represent the pure and holy company that will meet around the throne of God when the redeemed are gathered into the holy city. Those who in this earth love and obey God will be accounted true and pure and loyal, worthy to dwell with Him in the heavenly courts. 18LtMs, Lt 41, 1903, par. 4

Will our people awake to their individual accountability? Will they realize that as those who have a knowledge of present truth their work is clearly defined? We are to be laborers together with God. We are to show plainly that we are on the Lord’s side, fully identifying ourselves as believers in the principles that called us out from the world to take our stand on the platform of eternal truth. We are to proclaim the message for these last days—the message that the coming of the Lord is near. Let every one resolve to be like Jesus. Let us wait and watch for the coming of our Lord in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Christ is the Head of His church. He alone is to be exalted and honored. When His ambassadors fail to honor Him by refusing to give evidence that they are God’s peculiar people, they are going backward and not forward. 18LtMs, Lt 41, 1903, par. 5

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” [1 Timothy 4:1.] Soon this will come to pass; for we are near the close of this earth’s history. “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; which in time past were not a people, but now are the people of God; which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles; that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.” [1 Peter 2:9-12.] 18LtMs, Lt 41, 1903, par. 6

I pray that the people of God may not cast aside the peculiarities of their faith. Christ is glorified by a life of constant, well-defined faith. Paul declares, “The life which I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” [Galatians 2:20.] Christ is to be glorified by the living, working faith of His people. The just shall live by faith. 18LtMs, Lt 41, 1903, par. 7

Christ has not left His people to stumble along in darkness. He has marked out the way before them. He says, “He that will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.” [Mark 8:34.] It is along the path of self-denial, the royal highway cast up by the Redeemer, that God’s people are to travel. 18LtMs, Lt 41, 1903, par. 8

My brother, bow in submission before Him who has brought life and immortality to light. Let your will and the will of Christ be one. Talk this, pray this, live this. God’s word to us is, “Go forward,” and this word we are to obey, though we shall meet with obstacles seemingly as insurmountable as the Red Sea. [Exodus 14:15.] Let us trust the Lord God of heaven to open the way before His people. “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass.” [Psalm 37:5.] This patience of the soul is the rest of faith. The Lord will bless His tried, faithful people. He will not leave them to become confused. 18LtMs, Lt 41, 1903, par. 9

In the last great day every word, every act, will be subjected to the crucial test of the Judge of all the earth. The new covenant that God has made with His elect will not cover one trace of evil. God says, “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” [Ezekiel 36:25-27.] The beginning of all true reformation is the inward cleansing of the Holy Spirit. It is this regeneration that constitutes men and women children of God. Thus they are prepared to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Those whose souls are lifted up unto vanity dishonor the name of Jesus. They are not transformed in character, and therefore they are not prepared to show what it means to be a medical missionary working in connection with Christ. 18LtMs, Lt 41, 1903, par. 10

The Lord calls for heartfelt repentance from those who claim to be His people. Self-indulgence is to find no place in their lives. The church of God is to be jealously guarded from every phase of dishonesty, every taint of corruption. The love of Christ is directly opposed to all avarice, all pride, all pretense. The Lord calls for humble, contrite hearts. He will work by His Holy Spirit upon all who will be worked, all who love Him and keep His commandments. And they will make the presence and power of God so manifestly to appear that the enemies of the truth will be compelled to say that God and His angels are indeed the friends and helpers of those who serve Him. 18LtMs, Lt 41, 1903, par. 11

Schism and division are not the fruits of righteousness; they are of the wicked one. The great hindrance to our advancement at this time is the selfishness that prevents believers from having true fellowship with one another. The last prayer that Christ offered for His disciples before His trial was that they might be one in Him. Satan is determined that this oneness shall not be; for it is the strongest witness that can be borne that God did indeed send His Son to reconcile the world to heaven. But the union for which Christ prayed must exist among God’s people before there can be in the church here below the enlargement and power that God longs to see. 18LtMs, Lt 41, 1903, par. 12