Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 18 (1903)

Lt 107, 1903

Kellogg, J. H.

“Elmshaven,” St. Helena, California

May 8, 1903

Previously unpublished. +^Note

Dr. Kellogg

My dear Brother,—

I received your kind letter the day before yesterday. This morning a great blessing has rested upon me. The peace of Christ fills my soul. I am pleading with my Saviour to reveal His grace and His salvation to you. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 1

I have presented to you your dangers as God has presented them to me, and I shall continue to give you any light that the Lord may give me for you. Ever since the opening of the new year I have felt an intense desire to see you walking in safe paths. I have prayed most earnestly, day and night, that the Lord would give you a new heart. I could think of no other way in which you could be placed on vantage ground. You have allowed too many things to accumulate and engross your mind. You have had altogether too heavy a load to carry. Every day of life that remains to you is precious. I pray that the worldly ambitions that you have cherished may be changed for new, sanctified ambitions. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 2

Your letter expresses your desire to do everything in your power for unity, but you say, Principle must be maintained. I wish to say a few words on the point of maintaining principle. Many make a mistake here. They have worked for so long to maintain principles that are earthborn, that originate in self, that are mingled with worldly policy, that they are in danger of losing their bearings. My brother, you are in danger. You have been weaving into the fabric a pattern different from that which God placed in your hands, a pattern of human invention, a pattern that makes the fabric worthless. God condemns the web in which the pattern is incorrect and misleading. The marred pattern cannot be accepted by Him as His design. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 3

You must preserve principles that are of heavenly origin, not principles that lead you away from God’s holy truth. In the past, you have not, in many things, made the principles of heaven your guide. You need to discern with anointed eyes the difference between pure, ennobling principles and the self-ordained principles of the world. The law of God contains the principles that are to govern your life in every particular; and never can these principles be changed to meet man in his fallen condition. These principles are of value with God because they came forth from Him. He is the Author of the pure principles that are the transcript of His character. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 4

There is no other safe guide for you or for any other human being but the Word of God. This Word is the foundation on which you are to build and the rule by which you are to live. It is the standard by which you will be judged. You are to turn neither to the right hand nor to the left. You are to plant your feet firmly upon the word, “It is written.” There are many doctrines, but the doctrine that has not the ten holy precepts of God’s law as its foundation is an unsafe guide. And the man who does not make these precepts the foundation of his life practice is working on the enemy’s side. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 5

Christ came to this world in the likeness of men. This He did that He might meet human beings where they were. For us He lived a life of sinlessness, and for us He died a death of shame on the cross, redeeming us from the power of Satan. We are His by creation and by redemption. “Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are His.” [1 Corinthians 6:19, 20.] With sincere purpose and full faith receive Christ as your personal Saviour. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” [John 1:12.] 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 6

*****

May 19, 1903

I desire to write some things to you alone. I hoped that I should not have to write these things to you, I hoped that you would see and realize your peril, and make diligent work for repentance. I have received and read your letters to me, and yet I am not relieved. I am instructed that you know not what spirit you are of. When you break the spell that is upon you, we shall know it. Your associates will understand that you are reconverted. You will be meek and lowly. For a long time you have been forsaking God, and you do not see your danger. You are certainly ignorant of Satan’s devices. I tell you the truth: you know not what spirit you are of. Unless the converting power of God comes upon you, you will be left to your own perverted ideas. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 7

We are all praying for you, but it rests with you yourself to decide whether you will surrender all to God. I am instructed to say that you have work to do for yourself that no one can do for you. You have not cleansed your soul from defilement. I plead with you to die to self. You will meet with many temptations; for Satan is working in every way to secure you to his side. You alone can make the determined effort that is needed to make you a free man in Christ. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 8

When you linked yourself up with worldlings, to talk the language of worldlings, the Lord heard your denial to them of the truth that we as a people have received. He could not give you His grace; for you felt no need of it. You were exchanging leaders. I heard you making statements to unbelievers that voiced the sentiments of Satan. An evil spirit had taken possession of you, the same spirit that led Peter to deny his Lord. You did not know what spirit you were of. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 9

Study the record of Christ’s temptation in the wilderness. He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted by Satan. And having been tempted, without yielding in one particular, He is able to deliver those who are tempted. He has exposed the enemy’s points of attack by receiving his assaults and standing firm to His allegiance. He has shown us the weapons by which we are to overcome. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 10

The tempter claimed to have Christ’s honor in view. Evil never seeks entrance to the heart as evil, but as goodness and truth. Satan presented himself to Christ in the wilderness as one in deep sympathy with His sufferings, pitying Him because He was so ill-used by the heavenly universe and even by God Himself. He came as one desiring Him to have the food that, he declared, was being cruelly withheld. Would the Son of God allow His life to be sacrificed to starvation, when by the exercise of His power He could turn stones into bread? His life must be maintained. “Command therefore that these stones be made bread,” the tempter said. [Matthew 4:3.] “Thus your life will be saved.” 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 11

Jesus did not enter into any argument. He took His stand on Bible ground, saying, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” [Verse 4.] His answer was a recognition of God as His Father, a declaration that every appointment and arrangement of God is wise and loving. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 12

I entreat you, my brother, for your soul’s sake, to break the spell that is upon you. It is not God’s will that you continue to be overcome as in the past. Your only hope is to become one of God’s little children. Place yourself under His discipline, and be converted. You are not yet on vantage ground. Make every effort to break the enemy’s power, or you will surely be taken captive. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 13

I am pleading with God for the salvation of your soul. You have not yet broken completely with the enemy. You have not taken your position to break the trap of Satan completely and be fully on the side of truth and righteousness. I ask you now to make thorough work for eternity. Die to self. Break the awful spell that is upon you. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 14

*****

May 23

I feel an intense interest in you. I am praying for you. Your strenuous efforts to carry out your own designs will be to your eternal disadvantage. Although you may present in your offerings the best that you have, as did Cain, it will be worthless unless you bring with it that which shows your faith in Christ. You need the Lord Jesus to sanctify your soul. You need the healing power of the One who gave His life for a fallen world. You have complained and have done strange things, because you could not have your own way. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 15

Christ is the One that you are to represent to the world. You are to put on the wedding garment, else you cannot sit down with the guests at the marriage feast. Your character must be transformed. You can talk the truth, but you do not live the truth, and your life is not an honor to the cause of God. You frequently become provoked with your brethren, because they do not coincide with all that you say. Do you stop to think what representation you are making to the world? Does your example bring to those with whom you come in contact in the world the conviction that they must repent and be converted, else they will perish in their sins? 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 16

To be able to see sin is one thing; to forsake sin is another. It is like plucking out the right eye or cutting off the right hand. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 17

There is a question of life and death for you to settle; you must make a decided change. Your bodily health may give way before you are transformed in mind and character. Your imagination is sick and broken. The spiritual pulse indicates disease. But you have a chance of recovery. Will you improve this opportunity? Will you do what Cain might have done? He might have supplied the lamb for the burnt offering. Cain knew this. He knew what God required. But in rebellion he did that which placed him where so long as life lasted he would be opposed to his Creator. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 18

Will you not ask, What must I do to be saved? Will you not die to self? Unless you do, your efforts will all be valueless. Unless self is crucified, you cannot rest on God any more than Cain could. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 19

Your habit of doubting the sincerity of every one who does not accept your view of things is sapping your faith and your love for the truth. It has become as natural for you to doubt as to breathe. Because your own course is not free from evil, it is most difficult for you to suppose that others are not bringing into their character building the same wrong methods that you are bringing into yours. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 20

You keep salted down and preserved a host of things that should be burned up, cast out of your mind. These things have become to you a cause of awful deception. They are full of power to destroy your faith and hope. You show a wilful persistence in recounting them, judging your fellow men unjustly. You treat your conjectures as truth and feast upon them, and they grow into every fiber of your spiritual life. When any difference arises between you and your brethren, these well-preserved suppositions are brought out, and with them you brace yourself in resistance, when they should be placed where they would be beyond recognition. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 21

If others should as carefully preserve the memory of the incorrect, cruel, unkind things that you have said and done, what impression of you would be made on minds? Think of this, my brother. I know whereof I speak. I should not present these things as I do had I not your best interests at heart. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 22

However greatly a man may be deceived, God is never deceived. He does not accept the lifework when there are brought into it traits of character that dishonor Him. He does not accept the character building when imperfect timbers are used. There are those who for so long have cherished unchristlike traits of character, who for so long have been bringing imperfect timbers into their character building, that they are unconscious of their danger. It is hard for such ones to see themselves as they are. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 23

Your character building is faulty. You have supposed that if you confessed a wrong, your influence would be injured. This is not a correct conclusion. It is necessary for us to confess our wrongs. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 24

Many excuses have been made for you by your brethren. These have done you no good, but rather harm. Your brethren ought, when your spirit was calm, to have sat down with you, and laid plainly before you the evil of your actions. At first you might not have accepted what they said and you might have treated them unkindly. But for them to do this would have been true medical missionary work. 18LtMs, Lt 107, 1903, par. 25