Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Lt 245, 1903

Kellogg, J. H.

“Elmshaven,” St. Helena, California

October 5, 1903

See variant Lt 245a, 1903. Previously unpublished. +^Note

Dr. J. H. Kellogg
Battle Creek, Michigan

My dear brother,—

I should be unfaithful to my trust as a shepherd, as a watchman on the walls of Zion, were I to keep silent at this time. 18LtMs, Lt 245, 1903, par. 1

I supposed that after the council meeting in Battle Creek, following the Oakland General Conference, your spirit would change. In every way I had tried to bring about unity between the medical missionary workers and the churches. I had told my brethren and sisters to be very careful in regard to the words they spoke concerning you; and I had cautioned them not to criticize you, thus leading you to suppose that they were your enemies. 18LtMs, Lt 245, 1903, par. 2

It was due that hearty confessions be made by you, but in this you did not do thorough work. And this is the reason that no reformation has taken place. I heard of the work being done in Battle Creek. My anxiety was anticipated, and a telegram was sent me saying that peace had been established between the General Conference brethren and the Sanitarium brethren. A letter followed saying that in a most wonderful manner the Holy Spirit had been manifested in the work of uniting ministers with medical missionaries as one in spirit and purpose. But I was instructed by the Lord that thorough work had not been done. 18LtMs, Lt 245, 1903, par. 3

My brother, you have been greatly honored by the Lord. You have been designated as the Lord’s appointed medical missionary, but while standing in this exalted position, you have many times shown yourself to be unworthy of the trust. You have been mingling with worldlings and in spirit have become one with the world. It was while men slept that the enemy sowed tares. This has been presented to me again and again in connection with your experience. 18LtMs, Lt 245, 1903, par. 4

In connection with the matter of issuing bonds with which to raise means for the completion of the Sanitarium, you indulged in a spirit of boasting. This plan for raising means is not endorsed by God. It has been accepted by men, but there will be disappointment. 18LtMs, Lt 245, 1903, par. 5

You have not a true understanding of yourself. As Christ said to Nicodemus, so I am instructed to say to you, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter the kingdom of God.” [John 3:5.] 18LtMs, Lt 245, 1903, par. 6

You have received many letters from me—testimonies in which you have been warned, reproved, and instructed; but because of your great confidence in your own plans and opinions, you have not accepted all these messages. You have been in company with one who has been misleading you. 18LtMs, Lt 245, 1903, par. 7

There is one thing that I must insist upon, namely, that you shall not bring into the company of believers at Washington your spirit, your ambitions, your prejudices, your feelings of envy and jealousy, by endeavoring to establish or control the medical missionary work in that city. The Lord will be pleased to have you stand aside and let the work that He has commissioned His servants in Washington to perform be done without your stamp being placed upon it. 18LtMs, Lt 245, 1903, par. 8

I have borne to you messages of truth in regard to the manner in which you have been carrying on the medical missionary work; and now, if you desire to continue the course that you have been pursuing, please keep out of the way of those whom you think have abused you. Devote your energies to your own work. 18LtMs, Lt 245, 1903, par. 9

On several occasions I have seen one in disguise linked up with you and presenting matters before you in a perverted light. In the future he will work more decidedly upon your mind, unless you choose to be transformed by being born again. When you are under the spiritualistic influence of the wily foe, you are liable to say strange things; for the enemy speaks through you. When the spell under which you have made false representations is broken, and others repeat to you the words that you have uttered, you deny everything. But in the visions of the night I have heard you speak for effect some of the words that you deny having spoken—words which are untrue, but which you cannot help speaking when you are under evil influences. At such times you have no control over mind or spirit and are as fully under the influence of evil agencies as the converted are under the influence of the Holy Spirit. You do not resist the enemy. By him you are led to do many things that are an abomination in the sight of God, but of the nature and character of which you have no real knowledge and never will have until you are truly converted. 18LtMs, Lt 245, 1903, par. 10

At the beginning of the General Conference of 1901, I spoke of the evils that had come into our work and of the reformation that must take place. Those who heard the messages that were given me for the Conference, especially the first three talks, felt impressed that I was speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. But you have intimated that it was you who gave me that inspiration. 18LtMs, Lt 245, 1903, par. 11

My brother, you know that there is no truth in such an insinuation. We had no important conversation in regard to the matters concerning which I spoke until after my testimony had been borne. If you had talked with me before about these matters, you would have broken your agreement. I had brief talks with you about commonplace matters, but you know that you did not impart to me the thoughts brought out in my talks to the General Conference. 18LtMs, Lt 245, 1903, par. 12

You have given the enemy the advantage over yourself, and at times you act in a manner that is unbecoming to a Christian. You feel that you are abused; and so you are—but chiefly by yourself. You convey to others the impression that your brethren greatly abuse you; but in this you are deceived. There are times when you have not dealt openly and righteously with your brethren, but deceptively. 18LtMs, Lt 245, 1903, par. 13

Under the influences of evil, your deceptive powers have been sharpening. The sentiments that you entertain and advocate are in some ways similar to and even more dangerous in their results than the sentiments in regard to “holy flesh,” which I rebuked while at the General Conference of 1901. You need to heed the testimonies given you before it is everlastingly too late. 18LtMs, Lt 245, 1903, par. 14

If those who sustain you only knew how near the brink of ruin you are, some would nobly take their stand on the Lord’s side and would strive manfully to save their own souls and also to save your soul. I pray that those who by their blindness have helped you along in the downward way may now seek the Lord most earnestly for divine enlightenment, that they may know how to help you to break the spell of skepticism and unbelief that has been upon you. 18LtMs, Lt 245, 1903, par. 15