Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 24 (1909)

Lt 126, 1909

Cummings, Brother and Sister [R. S.]

St. Helena, California

September 19, 1909

Portions of this letter are published in MM 28-29.

Dr. R. S. Cummings
Paradise Valley Sanitarium
National City, California

Dear Brother and Sister Cummings:

I was much pleased to receive the letter from Brother Cummings, dated September 15, 1909. We have just returned from our long journey to the East. During this trip I have labored continually for over five months, and during this time the Lord has strengthened me to speak to our people over seventy times. As I stood before the people, the power of the Lord would rest upon me, and I had great freedom in delivering my message. 24LtMs, Lt 126, 1909, par. 1

Especially was this true at the General Conference in Washington. I was enabled to speak clearly, and with a voice that could be heard by all the people in that large assembly. I knew that the Lord gave me utterance, and that my messages were given under the deep movings of the Spirit of God. The blessing of the Lord was so marked that I felt that I could never distrust His power. That I might have strength to deliver these messages to the people, I visited in private with but few individuals. 24LtMs, Lt 126, 1909, par. 2

Some will have a decided change in their future work if they heed the messages given about the importance of our entering new fields. The mistaken methods that have characterized some of our work in the past will be seen in its true light. If men pass over these warnings without giving them due attention, if the work of criticizing and hindering is followed, the Spirit of the Lord will be dishonored. 24LtMs, Lt 126, 1909, par. 3

As Christ’s followers, we are to work with all rational methods to preach the gospel of present truth. Not only by words but by deeds we are to give evidence that Christ is willing to unite with His devoted ministers today in healing the sick and suffering. The Lord would revive in the minds of His workers a living faith in His power. When we increase in the faith of the gospel of Christ, and encourage that faith as it is presented in the Word of God, there will be in our sanitariums, not only a practical knowledge of how to treat the sick upon right principles, but the manifestation of a living faith in God that will lead the workers to call upon the great Physician for divine assistance. And the Lord will come to the help of such in response to their faith in His power. 24LtMs, Lt 126, 1909, par. 4

Because we have sanitariums for the healing of the sick, we are not to cease to call upon the great Healer. When we are urged to establish sanitariums, it is not that we may depend alone upon the simple remedies used, but that we may point the afflicted ones to the mighty Healer of disease. We are to plead for His power to work in harmony with our medical ministrations. The work of our sanitariums would be far more successful if the physicians would read the Word more earnestly and put its precepts into practice, if they would preach the kingdom of God and pray for the healing grace of Christ to come upon the afflicted. 24LtMs, Lt 126, 1909, par. 5

Let us present the gospel to the sick, connecting Jesus, the great Healer, with the simple remedies used; and our living faith will be answered. But those who come to the great Healer must be willing to do His will, to humble their souls and confess their sins. As we lay hold of divine power with a faith that will not be denied, we shall see the salvation of God. 24LtMs, Lt 126, 1909, par. 6

Christ declared that He came to recover men’s lives. This work is to be done by Christ’s followers, and it is to be done by the most simple means. Families are to be taught how to care for the sick. The hope of the gospel is to be revived in the hearts of men and women. We must seek to draw them to the great Healer. In the work of healing, let the physicians work intelligently, not with drugs, but by following rational methods. Then let them by the prayer of faith draw upon the power of God to stay the progress of disease. This will inspire in the suffering ones belief in Christ and the power of prayer, and it will give them confidence in our simple methods of treating disease. Such work will be a means of directing minds to the truth and will be of great efficiency in the work of the gospel ministry. 24LtMs, Lt 126, 1909, par. 7