Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 15 (1900)

Lt 33, 1900

Kellogg, J. H.

“Sunnyside,” Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

February 27, 1900

Portions of this letter are published in 2MR 241; 4MR 138-144. +^Note

Dear Brother:

I received your last letter to me, written from Mexico, and read its contents with pleasure. I am pleased at any news of the advancement of the work in the institutions already established. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 1

The night after receiving that letter, a representation in regard to the medical missionary work was again brought before me in clear, strong figures, that I could not but understand. The great sorrow that came upon you because of my letter has been a complete mystery to me. I have recently sent you letters in my own handwriting, one written in New Zealand in 1893. In examining my writings, I find other letters, written in Switzerland in 1887, all of which you have had. More letters I have written, full of cautions and warnings. Wherein have I changed? 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 2

More recently, I have written of figures that have been presented before me in regard to the gospel wagon. Then I had a view of the work which you have been doing for several years. I was lost to everything around me. I saw the large work established by you in Chicago, and the money that was invested. There was presented before me a long roll of paper, having upon it figures of a startling character, while in large letters was inscribed, “Consumers, but not producers.” The figures showed the amount of God’s money that had been invested in that enterprise in Chicago, and the results to the work all over the world. The representation was most disheartening. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 3

The whole vineyard of the Lord has been robbed to carry on a work that is never-ending. It has consumed means that should have supplied the necessities of foreign fields. The means spent in Chicago would have given to new fields advantages for doing the very work that God has designated should be done. Look at the destitution that exists in portions of the field in foreign countries, and in contrast see the investment made in one great city. It shows that there has been a misappropriation of means which is not yours to do with as you please. God’s treasury needs to be replenished. There must be set in operation facilities in the translation of books and in the support of missionaries in the field. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 4

All this was presented in a vision given to me at midday. It laid upon me a burden which none could understand. I could not understand it. I was overwhelmed with the things presented. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 5

When I came to myself, I was like one stunned. Night after night the picture was before me. I saw the investment you were making, the money you were consuming; and what would the end be? I will not say. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 6

“Who has required this at your hands?” was the question asked. [Isaiah 1:12.] “Sister White,” you bemoan, “somebody has set things before you in a wrong light.” No, no; things that no one knows have been presented to me. I have been made to understand the ambitious projects that have bound up in one wicked city means which should have helped the work in this new world and put us on standing-ground. But all the necessities of this field, which were kept before you, seemed to you of less importance than the great things you were creating. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 7

All our entreaties, all our poverty, which you knew, all our inability, which was indeed impossibility, was before you; but the things of your own creation closed your senses to our great need. The Lord signified that we should make a center here, that in this country should be established the very same work that we had started in America by the greatest self-denial and self-sacrifice at every step. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 8

I have no hesitancy in saying that God did not set you at that work in Chicago. I was instructed to call for help from the Sanitarium, not from your own personal funds, but from the Sanitarium that had been established at first with the funds of our people. I was instructed that I had the first and strongest claim upon the Sanitarium, and that I should call upon its managers to establish in this country the same work that we had started in America. I was at the same time shown how the Lord had greatly honored you, not in your Chicago enterprise, but in placing you in connection with the Sanitarium, one of His own instrumentalities for the uplifting of humanity. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 9

As I write, my soul burns within me to see how the money has been used to consume, but not to produce. Then when this matter has been progressing for years, and the destitution of the work in this field has been urgently presented, you send your own funds. This gift we will not accept; we are not beggars, but the Lord’s workers, called to lift up His ensign, to proclaim the day of the Lord, the closing work of this earth’s history. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 10

To whom would it be more fitting to entrust the use of means than to the very one with whom the Lord has been communicating for so many years—the one whom the Lord has made a channel of light to the people? 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 11

Three mornings ago I laid my hand upon several papers, exchanges from America, sent me about two years since. In the New York Observer of August 6, 1896, I saw your name, and the heading, “Dr. Kellogg’s Work, The Workingman’s Home, and Medical Missionary Work in Chicago.” There followed an account of the work then going forward, and the large amount of means required to sustain it. Since that time the work has greatly extended, and of course a much larger amount is required for its support. As I read the article, and thought of these things, I could understand the light given me by the Lord as to what the principles of truth and righteousness would lead the Sanitarium supporters and workers to do; that they should make it their first business to aid the work in this country, where the Lord had sent experienced workers fitted to carry forward His work. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 12

We should have had at this date a large, well-built edifice with surrounding grounds in a beautiful location, where we could cooperate with God in caring for sick and suffering humanity. Through this work in connection with the gospel ministry, the light of truth would shine forth. The people who are in ignorance would have an opportunity to become acquainted with health principles, and many would be led to practice the self-denial essential for health of body and clearness of mind, and they would be brought to comprehend what is truth for these last days. This is the work to be done. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 13

In the Sanitarium at Battle Creek as a center, the Lord gave you your work, all that you could carry successfully. The medical missionary work was ever to be as the arm to the great work that was to prepare a people to stand in the day of God so soon to be realized. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” [Psalm 111:10.] The gospel ministry of truth for these last days, in its sacred dignity, is to stand as the body; Christ Himself is the head; and the medical missionary work is to be the arm and hand. Only a thorough instruction in God’s Word will suffice for the saving of souls that are ready to perish. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 14

Our work in camp meetings brings us in touch with all nationalities and all classes, rich and poor, high and low; and it brings us in connection with the sick and suffering. These camp meetings should be regarded as verily God’s instrumentalities as are the sanitariums. Their work is essential. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 15

The work of our schools also is essential. God has a church, and education in schools is not on a solid basis unless it is carried on in connection with the church, and is founded on the principles of God’s Word. Thorough instruction in the Word of God imparts an education that will be as lasting as eternity. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 16

Our school in Australia has been established and carried on at a heavy financial sacrifice. If some of the means absorbed in the Chicago mission and similar enterprises had been appropriated to the necessities of institutions of God’s own appointment in this new field, the Lord would have been much better glorified; for then we could have received to impart to others. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 17

Through the work of schools and sanitariums the light of the gospel, in clear, steady rays, would have penetrated far and near. The truth of God would have been as a city set upon an hill. If the ensign of truth can be lifted in educational institutions and in sanitariums for the sick, in the islands of the sea, and in many countries, more would be accomplished in bringing souls to the truth than can be accomplished by all other methods that can be devised. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 18

There are many communities where all are in humble circumstances, where many of the refinements, comforts, and some even of the seeming necessities of life are lacking. But when the truth is received by these people, what a change is wrought! Tobacco is seen to be a needless expense, as well as an injury to the health. It is discarded, and the means thus saved is used in paying teachers to instruct the children, that they may be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 19

Many who know not the truth are coming to understand that their home training and Sunday school teaching will not accomplish the work that is essential for this time. The present truth must come to the people. They need Bible truth, the special truth for this time. Our churches must be a living temple for God; every stone composing the temple must be a living stone, emitting light. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 20

Often the greatest amount of good will be accomplished by camp meetings. In most cases these should [be] held [for] two or three weeks. These meetings should be so conducted as to make them object lessons of neatness, order, and good taste; and at the same time there should be a careful regard to economy. At these meetings the truth is brought before people who would never enter a church, and many are convicted and converted. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 21

In every place where believers are raised up, humble churches should be built. If possible, these should be dedicated to God free from debt. But it is better to hire some money rather than not to build. If a man has money and, after donating what he can, will make loan, either without interest or at a low rate of interest, it would be in the order of God to use the means when necessary. But if possible, church buildings should be dedicated free from debt. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 22

All these lines of work require money. God does not now lay upon His people the same work which was laid upon Muller. Muller did a noble work. But God has given His people a work to do after a different plan. To them He has given a message for the whole world. They are to enter territory after territory, and make aggressive warfare against soul-destroying sins. God bids them, “Lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” They are to engage in house-to-house labor, opening the Scriptures to those who are in darkness. Rich and poor alike are to be instructed. The youth must be labored for with persevering zeal to win them to the truth, that they also may become laborers together with God. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 23

All that is involved in camp meeting effort can never be fully traced out. God is calling upon souls, and we should stand ready to gather in the harvest as soon as the work of ministry begins. The warning is to be given by every converted soul. This is the missionary work to be done. Money is to be invested, not in expensive buildings, but in the best methods of reaching and saving the largest number of souls unto Jesus Christ. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 24

The ministry is not to be belittled or criticized. The men appointed to the ministry are not to be censured because they do not give soul and body to that which is termed medical missionary work. God has given to every man his work. It is not the duty of the ministers to do as you have done. If they did, they would rob the destitute, suffering fields that have just as good a claim to help as have the people in the wicked city of Chicago. It is your duty, Brother John, to respect the ministry just as fully as you think your work should be respected. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 25

Should you carry out your own way, means would be drawn from the treasury to support the enterprises of your creation, until the missions to which God has appointed a special work would be destitute of every facility for carrying on that work. God gave you a special work to do, and He gave you great encouragement by presenting definitely before you what He expected you to do. You were to stand in your lot and place as faithfully as did Daniel. The Battle Creek Sanitarium was to be an instrumentality in establishing other sanitariums to do the very work God designed they should do. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 26

To neglect the very work God has given you, and take up a work He has not appointed, is not the devising of the Lord but your own devising. You cannot carry the work in Chicago as you have been doing, and perform acceptably the work the Lord has appointed you. No one who believes that we are giving the last message of mercy to the world is required by God to go over the ground you are going over. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 27

You may think that you can discard the name of Seventh-day Adventist, and make a name for yourself, because of your supposed prosperity. But just as surely as you yield to this temptation, you will understand what the warnings mean that God has been sending you for years. I want you to be saved, and I want the Seventh-day Adventists in America to be saved from the evil effects of human methods and devising. I expect to come to the next General Conference if I can see my way clear to do this. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 28

O John, for Christ’s sake do not spoil your record! Would that your colleagues had less confidence in human ideas, and ploughed deeper into the Word of God. Then they would understand that they are to be in harmony with God, a part of His great firm. If you take this that I have written as you did the letter which contained cautions and the highest encouragement, if you go on in your own way until you are humbled by God, be sure that your own course of action has brought the result. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 29

You think that I am no longer your friend; but all my sympathy and influence are with you when you are working in harmony with God. Whatever opinion you may have of me, I cannot, dare not sustain you in the wrong. I know that the things I have told you are true to the letter. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 30

You may unwittingly misrepresent matters to your colleagues; but bear in mind that Sister White has not changed. I have borne to you a decided testimony to save you from making mistakes by pursuing a course of self-exaltation. This very fact should be enough to gain your confidence. I would not speak unless compelled to do so. Do not take any course to blind the eyes of those who ought to perceive all things clearly. Keep off the enemy’s ground. Do not, in order to vindicate your course, seek to impair confidence in the testimonies God has given me to bear. If God has ever spoken by me, you have been working on wrong lines. Put your hands to the work God has given you, and let there be a decided change in your speech concerning the ministry of God’s appointment. 15LtMs, Lt 33, 1900, par. 31