Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 16 (1901)

Lt 46, 1901

Caro, E. R.

Oakland, California

June 12, 1901

Portions of this letter are published in MM 127-128. +^Note

Dr. E. R. Caro

Dear Brother,—

I have received and read your letter. Thank you for writing. I have felt much sorrow of heart as I have considered the condition of things in the Sanitarium at Summer Hill. That you could do as you have done has been a great grief to my soul. I knew that the attitude you assumed, if not seen and corrected, would bring about just the result that it has brought. I saw that unless faithful, experienced workers were brought in, the work in the Sanitarium would be greatly hindered. The matter was opened up before me, and the light given me was that Brother and Sister Burden would move solidly and intelligently, in conscientious integrity, and that they would be a great help to the work in Australia. 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 1

I am much distressed in regard to the situation. I know not how the matter will come out. Just now we have many calls to make for help. The Scandinavian institutions must be relieved, and the work in the Southern mission field must be firmly established. And there are many more places which need assistance. 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 2

We hope that the Lord will give victory to the work in Australia. But when I see your lack of judgment and your strange management, I tremble for the future of any institution over which you preside. You have brought wrong principles into your character-building. You have not felt the necessity of economy. O, what will undo your erroneous education in this respect? Had your spiritual perception been clear, you would not, under any circumstances, have made the record that you have. You would not have done as you did when every effort was being made to raise means to establish a sanitarium which would give character to the work. 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 3

It was God’s expressed will that Brother John Wessels should connect with you. You were to have a wise manager close by your side so that you would not imperil the work being done in the Sanitarium at Summer Hill preparatory to establishing a larger institution. 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 4

God gave you influence. It was His desire that you should pursue a course which would enable Him to use you. At the Maitland camp-meeting He wrought in introducing you to the people as one through whom He would work. But you spoiled the influence He gave you. As the Lord’s servant you should have stood forth in all humility, putting your trust and dependence upon God. But you did not do this. You had an idea that you would be able to work to more advantage if you stood forth in your own individuality, not as one whom the Lord had set apart to do a special work. You thought that you should be introduced to your audience in a formal, worldly manner. You thought that thus you would gain influence with the higher classes. Before the whole heavenly universe you testified to your choice of recognition. Had you felt as anxious to put on Christ as you were to follow worldly policy, you would not have counted so largely on worldly influence for success. Your course of action led you away from the very means which God designed to use in giving you influence and success in the world. You placed yourself under human influence. The power which God gave you was blanketed by the human influence which you chose as superior to the influence of heaven. 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 5

In speaking of your spectacles and other things which you had for sale, you let yourself down to a very cheap level, and the people lost the impression that you were a man moving under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He is only working to get money, they said. You could not have pursued a more effective course to hurt yourself and to hurt the work in Maitland. 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 6

“Israel is an empty vine; he bringeth forth fruit unto himself; according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images. Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty; he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.” [Hosea 10:1, 2.] 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 7

“When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died. ... O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. I will be thy king; where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?” [Hosea 13:1, 9, 10.] “O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord; say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will we render the calves of our lips. ... I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away from him.” [Hosea 14:1, 2, 4.] 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 8

May the Lord quicken your perceptive faculties, that you may realize that His righteousness alone is to be the strength of His people. 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 9

Your wrestling in Sydney to make a show in order to reach the higher classes was all a mistake. To walk in the way of worldly policy is not God’s way of reaching the higher classes. That which will reach the higher classes is a consistent, unselfish presentation of the gospel of Christ. 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 10

The Lord showed me that you made a decided mistake in taking, in addition to your regular wages, all the money that you obtained from your eye, ear, and throat work. This was a snare to you. It had a misleading influence upon you. Your great desire for display led you into extravagance, and you used for the running expenses of the Sanitarium the means donated for the work on the new building. Because the money was used in this way, the men working on the Sanitarium farm were not provided with proper facilities for work, and the delay caused by this was a great loss. 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 11

These things show that you are no manager and that Brother Sharp is no manager when he is managed by you. The movements that have been made reveal defective plans and defective judgment. If you would learn your lesson from these experiences, correct the inclinations—as natural to you as your breath—which are born of selfish indulgence. You may not recognize these inclinations as selfish, but such they are. Your soul’s salvation is imperilled by the threads of selfishness which you are drawing into your life. 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 12

It is not right for you to use money in making a display and it is not right for your mother to supply the deficiency caused by your extravagance. When she does this, she is not pleasing the Lord; for He has lessons for you to learn. Christ says, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me.” [Matthew 16:24.] 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 13

I write this for your present and future good. It will not be safe for you to connect with the Sanitarium unless you are willing to hear the voice of God. He says, “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.] Christ will help you if you will learn of Him what it means to act consistently with the name of medical missionary. When your work does not harmonize with this name, you are not doing what you should to represent the great Medical Missionary. In charging a high price for a few minute’s work you are not living out the word missionary. You dishonor God when you bear the name of medical missionary and do work which bears no trace of missionary effort. When you act just as any other worldly physician, what is there to designate you as a medical missionary? 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 14

We have a most solemn work to do in our world. This work is a testing work, and will decide the destiny of souls. It is to prepare a people to stand in the day of the Lord, and it is not to be after the order of the world. It is to be a work after God’s order. 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 15

Our sanitariums are to act a part in this work, and those connected with these institutions are to beware lest by their weakness they mar the work. God will not acknowledge any physician who, while connected with his institution, feels at liberty to set an example that will lead souls in unsafe paths. It is in the power of physicians to do a great deal of harm, to sadly misrepresent the great Physician; but those who thus corrupt their way before the Lord will be judged by Him for this. 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 16

There cannot be a greater evil than for a physician bearing the name of medical missionary to cause souls to stumble by his inconsistent course of action. To those who are called to deal with diseased minds and diseased bodies, I say, “Make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way.” [Hebrews 12:13.] All work that leads away from truth and righteousness is of the great deceiver, not of truth and righteousness. 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 17

If those who claim to be children of God do the wrong deeds which non-professors feel at liberty to do, their profession as a Christian is a shame to them. The physician claiming to be a Christian who is grasping and over-reaching, desirous of obtaining gain, is written in the books of heaven as unrighteous. He is putting excuses into the mouths of the ungodly to continue in their unchristian course. He is strengthening the hands of unbelievers, giving scoffers an excuse for saying that Christianity is a farce, a pretence. Those Christians who comply with the suggestions of the enemy dishonor the One whom they profess to love and serve. They may escape detection from their brethren, but this does not make them honest in the sight of God. To escape detection by human beings does not make a man honest. God sees every action and reads every motive of the heart. 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 18

Those who are in any way connected with the institutions established to advance the work of God should be as transparent as clear water. The temptation comes to a man to pursue a wrong course of action for the sake of gaining money. He commits himself to that which the Lord cannot endorse. And daily the spiritual life of that man grows weaker. Only that which is pure and lovely and of good report is it safe for us to follow. Human beings are under the most sacred obligations to God to be holy and uncorrupted; for they have been bought with a price, even the precious blood of the Son of God. By their baptismal vows they are solemnly pledged to do nothing which will bring an evil report upon the Christian name. Before the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the professing Christian pledges himself to discourage pride, covetousness, unbelief. And as the true Christian seeks to fulfil this pledge, he grows in self-distrust. Constantly he places more dependence upon God. His reverence and love for the Saviour continually increases, and he is a living witness for his Master. He realizes what it means to be a child of God. He has a realizing sense that the cleansing blood of Christ secures for him pardon and elevation of character. In spirituality he grows like the lofty cedar. Daily he holds communion with God, and he has a treasure house of knowledge from which to draw. He is mighty in the knowledge of the Scriptures. His fellowship is with the Father and the Son, and he knows more and still more of the divine will. He is filled with a constantly increasing love for God and for his fellow men. 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 19

May God help you, my dear brother, to recover yourself from every snare. While there are many who are dwarfs in the religious life, may you grow to the full stature of a man in Christ Jesus. I have not, by any means, given you up; but you need, my brother, to obtain a different experience, or you will not be an overcomer. I have strong hope that you will see the necessity of digging deep and laying the foundation sure, that your house, founded upon the eternal Rock, may endure the storm and tempest. 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 20

“Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” [Ephesians 6:11-18.] 16LtMs, Lt 46, 1901, par. 21