Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 20 (1905)

Lt 95, 1905

Kress, Brother and Sister [D. H.]

“Elmshaven,” St. Helena, California

March 14, 1905

This letter is published in entirety in 10MR 44-48. +^Note

Dear Brother and Sister Kress,—

I did hope to have time and strength to write to you fully in this mail; but I can write but little; for I have a tired brain. Many letters come to me, and I try to respond, but there is for me none of that feeling of safety in writing that there once was; for sometimes a wrong interpretation is placed on my writings, and it is becoming a very serious matter to write in full confidence even to those who for years have known my views. I do not wish you to think that any of this applies to you. I have been free to write to you, and I am glad that you have written freely to me. 20LtMs, Lt 95, 1905, par. 1

The time has come when whatever I may write in private letters to some of our brethren will do little good; for those who have not held the beginning of their confidence firm unto the end will be liable to interpret my communications in a false way. To have ministers and physicians, who have long known the truth, using my writings in a way that gives the impression that these writings uphold the very sentiments that are condemned by the testimonies I have received from God places a very heavy burden on my soul. These men place such an interpretation on extracts which they take from my writings, that the reproofs given by God are made of no effect. The Lord God of heaven declares: If they repent, I will pardon their transgressions; but if they do not repent, I will call them to account for that which they have misinterpreted in order to serve theories that are not true. By their course, souls have been led astray; and when I cease My forbearance, because they will not repent, I will punish them for all the evil they have done by mingling false sentiments with the true. They have departed from the faith themselves and have led others astray. 20LtMs, Lt 95, 1905, par. 2

This manner of working is making my burden heavier than God ever designed it to be. This painful experience makes my heart ache. I am instructed to say [to] those who endeavor to tear down the foundation that has made us Seventh-day Adventists: We are God’s commandment-keeping people. For the past fifty years every phase of heresy has been brought to bear upon us, to becloud our minds regarding the teaching of the Word—especially concerning the ministration of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary and the message of heaven for these last days, as given by the angels of the fourteenth chapter of Revelation. Messages of every order and kind have been urged upon Seventh-day Adventists to take the place of the truth which, point by point, has been sought out by prayerful study and testified to by the miracle-working power of the Lord. But the waymarks which have made us what we are are to be preserved, and they will be preserved, as God has signified through His Word and the testimonies of His Spirit. He calls upon us to hold firmly, with the grip of faith, to the fundamental principles that are based upon unquestionable authority. 20LtMs, Lt 95, 1905, par. 3

God has placed in our hands a banner on which is inscribed the words, “The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” [Verse 12.] “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ,” He declares. [Revelation 12:17.] At all times and in all places we are to hold the banner firmly aloft. God’s denominated people are to take a firm stand under the banner of truth. The truths that we have been proclaiming for more than half a century have been contested again and again. Again and again the facts of faith have been disputed, but every time the Lord has established the truth by the working of His Holy Spirit. Those who have arisen to question and overthrow the principles of present truth have been sternly rebuked. 20LtMs, Lt 95, 1905, par. 4

“Unto the angel of the church at Ephesus write: These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars in His right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks: I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil; and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars; and hast borne, and hast patience, and for My name’s sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” [Revelation 2:1-5.] 20LtMs, Lt 95, 1905, par. 5

Among the many things which those to whom this message applies are truth, there are theories that are so objectionable that they endanger the faith and spoil the experience of many. 20LtMs, Lt 95, 1905, par. 6

“Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” [Verse 5.] They are not to give heed to seducing spirits. They are not to remove one pin from the foundation of truth that the Lord has built up from point to point by the ministration of the Holy Spirit. If one point is yielded, there is no surety that other points will not be discarded; and point by point, the structure of truth will be assailed and discarded. 20LtMs, Lt 95, 1905, par. 7

“Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” [Verse 4.] This represents a moral fall. There can be no abatement of this love without a moral fall. God calls for unity among His people in these last days, but there cannot be unity without firm adherence to right principles. 20LtMs, Lt 95, 1905, par. 8

“And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write: These things saith He that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars: I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect before God.” [Revelation 3:1, 2.] 20LtMs, Lt 95, 1905, par. 9

With some there is an outward show, a form of godliness, but there is no real power; and against them is pronounced the sentence, “Thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting.” [Daniel 5:27.] They are deficient, yet, in false confidence, they are deceiving themselves and misleading others. Yielding to Satan’s sophistry, they stand on a false track, and by their representations endeavor to tear down truths that God has made fast, never to be moved. By their course, the inexperienced are led to wonder whether these special truths are not, after all, errors that ought to be shunned. When brought into strait places, they will give up the Sabbath and its powerful endorsement, and the more they are opposed in their apostasy, the more self-sufficient and self-deceived they become. They have lifted up their souls unto vanity, and God says, “Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” [Revelation 3:3.] 20LtMs, Lt 95, 1905, par. 10

“Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with Me in white; for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.” [Verses 4, 5.] 20LtMs, Lt 95, 1905, par. 11

Those addressed in the message to the church in Sardis have heard and received the principles of truth. We are to be true to the evidences that God has given us in the representation of heavenly things. We are to hold fast the things that we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. The right path is plainly outlined before us. Those who misinterpret the precious things God has given me for His people; those who take the sentiments by which God so beautifully shows the difference between the earthly and the heavenly, removing these sentiments from the position in which God has placed them, and making them testify to seducing errors, are removing landmarks. They cherish sentiments which they should resolutely have discarded. In an unmistakable, decided manner the reproof of God has come to them, forbidding them to spoil the people of God, forbidding them to teach sophistry for truth. 20LtMs, Lt 95, 1905, par. 12

Dangerous things have been written and dangerous things have been said, which God declares that our youth should not hear. I am bidden to say in the name of the Lord, “Beware of the leaven of philosophy and false science that has been introduced among the medical missionary workers at Battle Creek. Beware of the spiritualistic leaven that has already been placed in the meal, to leaven many minds. By the introduction of this leaven, the messages sent by God to His people are made of no effect. The leaven works until the whole mass is leavened.” 20LtMs, Lt 95, 1905, par. 13

The messages that the Lord has been giving me for the past half century have never, never sanctioned the cherishing of these erroneous sentiments. And yet the assertion of some is that Sister White teaches these very things. I say in the name of the Lord that the truth has been misinterpreted and misapplied. 20LtMs, Lt 95, 1905, par. 14

I am filled with sorrow because statements made under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and designed by God to be a great blessing to His people, to guard them against the seducing sentiments of Satan, are woven in with spiritualistic views and are thus made to testify to falsehoods of Satan’s own creating. How can I say to our people, Harmonize with peace, and say, Unify. God gives me the message, Beware of the leaven of those who have been destroying the faith of Seventh-day Adventists. There are those to whom I fear to write personally. God says, Beware of the leaven of those who have stepped off the platform of truth. Those who use my writings, given me by God, to build themselves up in sophistry and deceptive theories, steal that which was given to establish souls in the sanctification of the truth, and use it to testify to theories against which I am bidden to warn our people. Beware of the leaven that some who have lost their connection with God will introduce, declaring their theories to be in harmony with that which Sister White has written. 20LtMs, Lt 95, 1905, par. 15

Have I not a knowledge of how to present these things without spoiling the faith of our people? I shall write just as God bids me write. What I have written, I have written. Every word is truth. I am to give to the people of God the warnings given me. But I am not to send these warnings in private letters to those who claim to be vindicating the truth, while in reality they are leading in a false track. 20LtMs, Lt 95, 1905, par. 16

“Unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked; I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne.” [Verses 14-21.] 20LtMs, Lt 95, 1905, par. 17