Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 19 (1904)

Lt 61, 1904

Brethren Bearing Responsibilities

“Elmshaven,” St. Helena, California

February 1, 1904

Portions of this letter are published in TDG 40; MM 33. +^Note

To my brethren bearing responsibilities,—

When God entrusts men with responsibilities, He expects them to obey His law. They are to deal justly, realizing that the Lord beholds all their dealings with their fellow men, and that He will punish every unjust, oppressive action. God gives men opportunities to become one with Christ and one with Him. Those who walk in the fear of God, meditating upon His character, will daily become more and more like Christ. Those who choose not to know God will be ostentatious and boastful. 19LtMs, Lt 61, 1904, par. 1

There are many who put on what they think to be great dignity. But in God’s sight they are fools. They have not looked into the divine mirror, and they do not know how ridiculous is their pretension in the sight of a holy God. He who looks beneath the surface despises their self-sufficiency. They may hold positions of trust in the church or in the world, but so long as they continue to dishonor their Creator, making themselves the object of worship, they are an offense to Him. 19LtMs, Lt 61, 1904, par. 2

God does not take pleasure in punishing those who walk contrary to Him, giving a false representation of His character. But unless they repent, the time will come when they must reap the sure reward of their course of action. 19LtMs, Lt 61, 1904, par. 3

God says, “Say to My people, It is not for want of opportunities and privileges, not because there is no means of knowing My will, that sinners perish. They perish because of their unwillingness to come out from the world, and be separate from selfish practices, dealing with justice and mercy.” Every soul will be judged by the knowledge that has come to him. Those who turn from the presentation of truth and righteousness, refusing to follow God’s way, and taking their own way, will reap as they have sown. Saith the Lord, “Come out from among them, you that profess to know the truth, yet accept the world’s ways, and mingle the leaven of unrighteousness with your pretentious righteousness. Come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean, and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” [2 Corinthians 6:17, 18.] 19LtMs, Lt 61, 1904, par. 4

Those who profess to be Christians, yet do not the works of a Christian, will have no excuse to offer in the day when every case stands out as it is. The line of demarcation between the obedient and the disobedient, between those who serve God and those who serve Him not, is to be clear and distinct. Those who have entered into a covenant to serve God are to fear lest their lives be such that they will not show the contrast between truth and error. They are not to turn aside to vain visions and human conjectures and flatteries. The lives of the righteous are to put to shame those who refuse to offer their allegiance to God. 19LtMs, Lt 61, 1904, par. 5

O that those who have a knowledge of the truth realized the result of failing to reach the Bible standard. God calls upon His people to walk before Him in all humility. He would have them reach higher and still higher in spiritual knowledge. He holds out every inducement to lead men to return to their allegiance to Him. The world would have seen the salvation of God, thousands upon thousands of souls would have been converted, if church members, instead of following the world, had consecrated their talents to the enlargement of Christ’s kingdom in the earth. 19LtMs, Lt 61, 1904, par. 6

There is a great work to be done. My heart aches as I think of the many who are unready to meet their Lord and of the wasted time that has passed into eternity. “O God, have mercy upon Thy people,” is my prayer. Grown-up men and women are acting like little children. There is not a particle of excuse for the strife and alienation that exist among us. 19LtMs, Lt 61, 1904, par. 7

No human, kingly power is to bear rule in any line of God’s work. There is but one supreme authority—the authority of God. Those occupying positions of trust are the ones, above all others, who should render perfect obedience to God. 19LtMs, Lt 61, 1904, par. 8

God is seeking to lead men to humble themselves. He tries to guide them to place their feet in the steps of the great Medical Missionary. But the Redeemer is often disappointed and crucified afresh by those professing so much. 19LtMs, Lt 61, 1904, par. 9

The Work of Our Physicians

If ever there were those who need to give their character building careful examination, it is our physicians. There has been on the part of many of them a gradual relaxation of piety, or self-control, or purity, of holiness, of watchfulness. An entire change of mind and spirit is needed before they can claim to be acceptable workers. 19LtMs, Lt 61, 1904, par. 10

I know of what I am speaking. Satan is working with all the deceptive power that he possesses. He knows what it is to be a free, glorified being. He knows what happiness he enjoyed in his exalted position in the heavenly courts. He knows, too, that he has lost this happiness forever, and it is his desire to prevent others from enjoying it. He seeks to deceive and allure, if possible, the very elect. 19LtMs, Lt 61, 1904, par. 11

That man only who daily and hourly lives a Christian life can perform aright the duties of a physician. Let our physicians seek to understand the solemn responsibilities of their profession and to realize how much is involved in dealing with those who are sick in body and mind. Often the life of the patient is in the hands of the physician. One false movement of the instrument in an operation, and the life would be sacrificed. How solemn the thought! How important that the physician shall be ever under the control of the divine Physician. 19LtMs, Lt 61, 1904, par. 12

Let the one who is trying to prolong life look to Him to direct his every movement. If the physician knows that by his side is One who is life itself, One who can accomplish that which human beings cannot attempt, what confidence this knowledge will inspire! And what a blessing the physician can be in a sickroom if he has learned to trust constantly in Him to whom belong the souls of those to whom he ministers. The Saviour will give him tact and skill and dealing with difficult cases. 19LtMs, Lt 61, 1904, par. 13

Before performing a critical operation, let the physician ask for the aid of the great Physician, and let him gain courage from the thought that Christ is a very present help in every time of need. Let him work as seeing Him who is invisible, the One who is faithfulness and truth. Let him assure the suffering one that God can bring him safely through the ordeal, that in all times of distress He is a sure refuge for those who cast their care upon Him. 19LtMs, Lt 61, 1904, par. 14

When success is the result of the physician’s efforts, let him give God the glory, telling the patient that his life has been saved because he was under the shadow of the heavenly Physician’s protection. This acknowledgment of God’s power will be of great benefit both to the physician and the patient. 19LtMs, Lt 61, 1904, par. 15

Let physicians realize that they are to watch for souls as they that must give an account; that they are to work for soul-saving as well as for body-saving. We are thankful that there are many physicians who, through faith in God, are qualified to minister to the soul as well as to the body. Many more souls would be won to the truth in our Sanitariums were all our physicians alive to the importance of their work as Christ’s ambassadors. Let physicians make God their counselor. Let them never undertake a case without placing themselves under the direction of the only One who can rightfully claim kingship—He who is the Lord of body and soul. 19LtMs, Lt 61, 1904, par. 16