Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 7 (1891-1892)

Lt 11, 1892

Haskell, S. N.

North Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia

March 18, 1892

Portions of this letter are published in 5BC 1097; TMK 19.

Dear Brother:

I had a dream some weeks ago, which I designed to write to go in the mail the last steamer. I may have written it, but fear I did not. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 1

I thought we were greatly perplexed in regard to a physician to serve at St. Helena. All at once I saw my guide and several men with him, hurrying down the street as fast as they could go, for we were in a city. I said, “What are these men going to do.” The answer was that they were going to send for Dr. Gibbs to take his position in the Health Retreat. I said, “He should never have left it, but should have corrected his course of action which disqualified him for doing the very work he could have done through the help of God.” 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 2

I was told that no one acting as physician in the Health Retreat had done perfect work with an eye single to the glory of God. These things have been considered in their councils, and it was decided that there was no reason why Dr. Gibbs should be dropped out of the work. In regard to Dr. Gibbs, Satan had worked to make of none effect the will and ways of the Lord. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 3

Do my brethren who act as physicians think that their prejudices against every method of practice but that in which they have been instructed is after God’s mind? Has God marked out a special method of practice upon which they should work, and have they been educated in the very practice the Lord has directed? O, how narrow, how narrow. The very same spirit which leads the Catholics to persecute Protestants stirs [the] prejudices of physicians against their fellow physicians because they do not follow the very same manner of practice which they themselves have been taught. The same spirit has set one denomination in bitterness against another. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 4

Each denomination is under the impression that no other one can be right because other denominations do not view doctrinal subjects according to the creed they have adopted. This is our time of probation when character is being developed, and man will reveal the spirit that is in him, which prompts him in his actions towards his fellow men. The law of God requires that man shall love God supremely, and his neighbor as himself. When through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ this is perfectly done, we shall be complete in Christ. He who strives to be first will be last of all, for the spirit cherished will be expressed in action. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 5

I will tell you Elder Haskell, that unless there is a decided change of sentiment in those who stand in responsible positions, the heart will remain unchanged, corrupted, and although they may talk the truth, their professions will be as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. Those who belong to the medical fraternity need thorough conversion of heart. They have received a mold wholly unlike Christ. O that they could see themselves as God sees them! O that they might understand that the spirit which prompts them to action is in many ways unlike the spirit of the meek and lowly Jesus. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 6

We must seek and serve the Lord with all the heart, might, mind and strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves, or we shall be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, and pronounced wanting. To be wanting when the grand review shall take place is to be wanting forever. There will be no time to go over the ground then and pick up the dropped stitches, no time to prepare for the inspection of heaven. Now is our time, now is our day. Precious and golden opportunities are now ours to become complete in Him, even in Christ Jesus our Lord. If we fail here in this life, there is no second probation. We must now make no failure respecting the Christian character. The pure in heart shall see God. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 7

I long to see the deep movings of the Spirit of God among the medical fraternity who claim to believe the truth, for there are but few who are really doers of the words of Christ. Some think that they are wonderfully advanced in spiritual knowledge, but if they knew God and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent, they would not do many things which they now do, claiming that it is right. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 8

I fear and tremble for myself, I fear and tremble for my brethren, lest they will continue to do as they have done, and time pass into eternity and they be found incomplete in Christ Jesus. I fear that they will be led by another spirit, be filled with Phariseeism, exalted in their own opinions, and blind, utterly blind to their destitution, and will not awake from their death-like slumber until it is too late for wrongs to be righted. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 9

Now, I do not write you this to cast any burden of worriment upon you, but seeing that things are as they are, I write concerning real difficulties and trials, that you may know how to speak a word in season. Let no needless worriment tax your mind, for there are hidden difficulties that will be developed, and they will require all the skill and tact and patience and perseverance that you can command. Jesus will give you help when it is most needed. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 10

Let us hear the words of Christ, “I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.” [John 17:26.] It is possible that God can work in our behalf, for He is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him, than parents are to give good gifts unto their children. Elder Haskell, in God you may trust. Stand out free in Jesus Christ. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 11

“What a friend we have in Jesus,
All our sins and griefs to bear;
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer.” 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 12

You have the agency of the Holy Spirit; lean heavily on God. Let no trifling thing swerve your mind from Jesus. He is your hope, He is your crown of rejoicing. When you feel perplexed and tried, simply rest, do nothing except that which makes you feel rested, then when occasion requires, the Lord will give you a tongue and utterance. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 13

Believers in the truth need the converting power of God, as verily as unbelievers. “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, else I will come unto thee quickly, and remove thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent.” [Revelation 2:4, 5.] Be free yourself, in the Lord. Do not allow your mind to become saddened by dwelling upon disagreeable supposition, but put confidence in your brethren, and do not misinterpret them. Think they mean you well unless you have certain knowledge to the contrary. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 14

Uplift your soul to the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. Be joyful in God. Lay fast hold upon the promises by faith in Christ, saying, “He will be my helper, He will be my advocate to plead my case before the Father.” Trust Him as a child trusts its parents. Look, O look and live, because this experience will be of the highest value to you. Show that you trust and love your brethren, although they may make mistakes. Jesus does not cast them aside when they fail, and say, “I will have no more to do with you.” The cause of God needs your influence now. It is possible that the Lord can love us as He loves Jesus, His only begotten Son. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 15

Our Redeemer determined on nothing less than that through His merits, the love of God should be transfused through the soul that believes in Him. As our life, the vitality of God’s love is to circulate through every part of our nature, that it may abide in us as it dwells in Christ Jesus. United with Christ by living faith, the Father loves us as the members of Christ’s mystical body, of which Christ is the glorified head. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 16

When I know these things, and see expressed in words and deeds such selfishness among professed Christians, I feel a heavy weight upon my spirit. The rebuke of God is upon the medical practitioners, because they do not keep trusting the Lord, do not keep His way, but walk in the sparks of their own kindling. Were they united with Christ, had they the Spirit of Christ, they would have the mind of Christ, and would walk in the sunlight of His righteousness. But the sunshine of His presence is not with them. Certainly I declare unto you, and unto them, that they know not the length and depth, breadth and height of the love of God. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 17

God manifest in Christ is unburdening infinite love in His lessons so clear, full and explicit. We see Divine compassion beaming from His eyes. He illustrates purity and rich grace by His actions. It is this that renders Him glorious above the whole creation. It is this that crowns Him with honor, so that those who behold Him, cannot forbear exclaiming, “He is the chief among ten thousand, the one altogether lovely.” [Song of Solomon 5:10, 16.] Would that professed Christians would behold Him, and by beholding Him become changed into His image from glory to glory. O then how hateful would appear their selfishness and self-esteem. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 18

I tell you, professed Christians are full of pride, self-uplifting. The church is weak, our institutions are tainted through and through with self-glorying, and the men who are guilty of self-exaltation do not discern it. If an angel would speak to them from heaven, they would not believe that they are in imminent danger of losing their souls. They think they know what manner of spirit they are of, and they daily offer to the Lord offerings tainted with the corruption of self. I can only bear my testimony, I cannot do one stroke to reform men. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 19

It is not my work to make men believe. The Holy Spirit of God alone can do this work. But the same blindness that held the Jews from receiving Christ, holds people from receiving Him into the inner sanctuary of their souls today. The soul temple is defiled, and unless it is purged, will become entirely corrupted. The Lord is coming, and yet, as a people, we are far from walking in the light. One has his pet idol, another has his favorite sin, and so it remains that the Holy Spirit can do little for the professed believer. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 20

In anguish of spirit, I cry, “How long, O Lord, how long shall this thing be?” When will Zion arise, and put on her beautiful garments, even the garments of the righteousness of Christ? We have lived so long sinning and repenting, inhaling the tainted atmosphere of the low-lands of earth, that as we catch a glimpse of the matchless love and mercy of God we feel that our thoughts are too poor, our words too limited, our human wisdom inadequate, and we can say nothing. So long has the power of unbelief and sin crippled us that when we would express our admiration of Jesus, we merely lisp like babes. All our wisdom proves to be foolishness. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 21

Christ formed within, the hope of glory, can alone expand the mind. The apostle Paul felt oppressed under a sense of the immensity of the great gift of God through Christ, and he could only bow his knees, and find refuge in prayer, beseeching the God of our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ to make us able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of God which passeth knowledge that we might be filled with all the fulness of God. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 22

Elder Haskell, be free in the Lord. Do not ponder over the past; it will do no good. Press forward, in the name of Jesus press forward. The regenerating Spirit, in all its operations on the human heart, reveals to us the character of Christ as our pattern; for He takes the things of God, and shows them unto us. Look, Elder Haskell, as God presents Christ to the eye prepared to behold Him; He will not cease until the soul is fully conformed to His image. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 23

With much interest in your spiritual welfare, I remain, Your sister in Christ. 7LtMs, Lt 11, 1892, par. 24