Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 21 (1906)

Lt 225d, 1906

Sadler, Brother and Sister [W. S.]

St. Helena, California

June 28, 1906

Previously unpublished. +^Note

Dear Brother and Sister Sadler:

I have a message for you. There are some who think themselves able to estimate the importance of the work the Lord has given me. Their own minds and their judgments are the standards by which they weigh the testimonies. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 1

Said my Instructor, “Say to these men that God has not committed to them nor to anyone the work of passing judgment upon the character of the testimonies. Those who attempt this are sure to err in their conclusions. The Lord would have them adhere to their appointed work. If they will keep the way of the Lord, they will be able to discern clearly the character of the work that has been appointed to me for the past sixty years. The publications containing the messages the Lord has given to me have been widely circulated.” 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 2

I have received instruction regarding my work. I have been instructed that I am not to claim any title except that of a messenger appointed of God. “Your work,” said my heavenly Instructor, “embraces more than the work of a prophet.” The gift of prophecy is included, but that alone does not specify the many lines of work to which I have been called as the Lord’s messenger. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 3

Often concealed wrongs in the life of individuals are opened to me, and I am bidden to bear a message of reproof and warning. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 4

I have been told that many who give heed to the false science of the enemy would denounce my work as that of a false prophet, and they will place upon the message such interpretations as would tend to change the truth of God into a lie. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 5

I am instructed that the term prophet would signify one who manifests the gift of prophesying, but much more than the work of a prophet has been given to the Lord’s messenger. The care of the orphan, the widow, and the afflicted is to be one branch of my work. I am to take an interest in the establishment of institutions for the care of the sick and to specify the reforms that are needed in those already established. I am given an insight into the ways and the work of those connected with our publishing houses and am bidden to give instruction that those who are brought into these instructions as apprentices are to be considered as a sacred charge and to be carefully guarded. Especially are the poor and the orphans to receive the tender care of those in authority. Their spiritual interests are to be looked after. No unkind spirit is to be manifested toward them. They are to be trained and qualified to go forth into new fields and bear responsibilities in the work of God. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 6

The sanitarium is to be a place over which the great chief Missionary shall preside as the counselor of those who seek to follow the example of Christ in the work of relieving the sick and the suffering. In all their work there is to be a recognition of the Lord Jesus, who gave His life to purchase the souls of the afflicted ones to whom they have to minister. A spirit of commercialism endangers the work of the medical practitioner. I have warnings to give both to physicians and to ministers, that they must realize their accountability to make spiritual interests first in all their work. They are bidden to keep their souls pure and undefiled, that they may give no occasion for temptation to the youth. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 7

With pen and with voice I am bidden to bear a straightforward message. I am often called to stand before large congregations to speak on various lines of the work of God. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 8

To the ministers I am bidden to say that the Lord will work with them. He is their efficiency. I am bidden to bear a testimony of solemn warning to those who engage in commercialism. Business cares and commercial interests should not burden the mind of the physician. He is not to be so commingled with worldly practices that the ministry of healing shall be neglected. Many souls need the benefits of a Christian influence, and our physicians are to be saviors of the soul as well as of the body. The largest numbers are not to be congregated in one sanitarium. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 9

There are some in our sanitariums who have developed a spirit of secularism, a spirit which would result in the abolition of Christianity. When such minds begin to work on other minds, it is better to separate such individuals from the institution without delay. There is sure to be a low standard in those who have no respect for the Lord Jesus Christ. They beguile the unwary, and they make an easy conquest of those who are not deeply and truly religious. Those who demerit the atonement of Christ, and consider that the religion of Christ is unsatisfactory in bringing about so-called reforms, who tear down the very foundations of faith in the Word of God, are a danger to the morality and Christianity of those who are brought in connection with them. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 10

There are many even in our institutions who allow themselves to stand on a low level. When a large sanitarium is crowded with all classes of worldlings, there is but one safeguard, the truth as it is in Jesus. It behooves every surgeon, every physician, every nurse to keep themselves free from commercial projects which tend to divide their interests. They will otherwise work at a great disadvantage. Commercialism and sanctification through the truth cannot unite. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 11

True religion consists in practicing the words of the living God. Unless the love of Jesus is kept alive in the soul, piety will vanish as flax before the flame. The truth of God is to be maintained in our sanitariums. The managers, the physicians, the nurses must experience its power. The law of God is to be held sacred in spite of every contrary influence and all opposing sentiments. The religion of Jesus Christ can guide, can purify. He is our wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. Then we are a savor of life unto life. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 12

Why were our sanitariums purchased except to hold fast to Bible truth as an antidote against the malaria of infidelity, against all the false science the enemy would introduce? [When] the truth of God [is] brought into the heart of the [receivers], Christ is to them power to become the sons of God. The great antidote for physical and spiritual disease is the truth of God abiding in the soul by living faith, guiding the life. With this in our possession, we can believe, and we can receive power from the great Missionary. God and man are united in the grand work of saving the souls and the bodies of the afflicted. They may be given a hope for this world and through faith they may be fitted for eternal life in the heavenly courts. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 13

Our sanitariums are to become educating centers, where the heavenly messengers will be welcome, where those who love and fear God shall ever find a home. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 14

As the Lord’s messenger I have been bidden to exert every influence to be a blessing in restoring the sick to health, and to minister in the Word of God, pointing to the great Healer of the sin-sick souls. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 15

Do not allow yourselves to be beguiled or ensnared by the cunning craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive ignorant, unwary souls. The sanitariums need to be cleansed as Christ cleansed the temple courts of their commercial enterprises. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 16

My life has been a life of burden-bearing.

Not one of God’s ministers is to be treated unkindly. If they become aged in the work of God, they are to be tenderly cared for. A fund should be provided to make them comfortable while they live. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 17

When one who is actively engaged in the Lord’s work is thought to be in error, the Lord has often given instruction to His messenger that they are not to be crowded out of the work, nor to be treated harshly. This work God has given me to do. (Give here a brief statement of my work at the Fresno meeting.) In many such cases when a wrong course was to be pursued, the Lord has sent a message of warning to the men in office to guard them from any wrong action. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 18

The printed testimonies show the extent of the work that has been covered for the last fifty years. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 19

I am now instructed that I am not to be hindered in my work by those who engage in suppositions regarding its nature, whose minds are struggling with so many intricate problems connected with the supposed work of a prophet. It embraces the work of a prophet, but it does not end there. It embraces much more than the minds of those who have been sowing the seeds of unbelief—tares amid the wheat—can comprehend. 21LtMs, Lt 225d, 1906, par. 20